marshhawk

I did read on the googly news that Carnival will announce any decision regarding pre cruise testing on their August update. I am waiting for August until I panic.

Happy Wednesday Morning Dailyites! Today I am taking my friend Debbie to get her second cataract surgery. I will pick her up, take her to the appointment, come home, walk the neighbors dog, pick Debbie back up and take her home. And then this afternoon I have a zoom meeting with the Louisville symphony. I saw on the weather news that they are about to get the heavy rains that ST. Louis got yesterday. So meeting may or may not take place. The front yard is beginning to look like a meadow, so I am hoping the lawn guys come today. I love the quote by Camus. I am not enjoying the heat, escaping to anywhere is not going to help right now. We all have it. But I do need rain. I dont know what the meal of the day is, but i think it was posted while I have been here. Have a great day!

I made it twice, once with half of the large lemonade, (i made lemonade with the other half.) I put all the cool whip in with the pudding and the lemonade. The second time I used lime aide, again splitting it, thinking that the whole can would be too much, and I only used half the cool whip. I then added the other half of cool whip on top. It was just like a key lime pie, and the book club said they enjoyed it. And then one day I went crazy, and made the pie with chocolate pudding, and instead of adding lemonaide, I threw in a cup of chocolate chips......I digress. Either way it does need to sit in the fridge. Enjoy...!

I basically went on line shopping today, hoping that i bought the right sizes...two pairs of bearpaw slides, full of lots of fuzziness, they keep my feet warm unless i'm in more than an inch of snow. a simple black dress, to pack easily and change out with jewelry. and for our upcoming cruise in September, a pair of shorts for Chuck to go with his new shirt. so i now have the Caribbean, Alaska and Europe covered...HA! oh and a ring from signals, I'll let you know how it holds up. (this was from DH)

I certainly wasnt looking for sympathy with my story , to explain the stalking and the weirdness you have to start at the beginning, and why angels were looking out for me. Why I loved my aunt and weird uncle, and why it is so important to look after all children, because they are children. My mom only knew "nuts" and that's the way she went. When i have bad moments, I know where I got them from, even though we were not related. and I love all of you for becoming my family.

@Quartzsite Cruiser Georgia gets the water faucet joke! By mid August, the secret of making great coffee with cold, goes out the window. @StLouisCruisersSandi, I have to admit and @richwmn that I am not a Varsity fan. When I first moved south, I was married to someone from Spartanburg SC, and they have something similar, called the Beacon. So we would head up to Spartanburg, crash at the parents house and go eat there. Great turkey clubs, and great onion rings. The owner, Mr. White would ask me, if the Beacon was better than the Varsity, and since the only time I had eaten at the Varsity I ended up getting sick, i always told Mr. White that yes the Beacon was better. Plus, are you really going to tell the man that is about to feed you his food isn't good? Also being yelled at scared me-What'll ya have!

@Live4cruises I am so sorry to read about your cat Mykonos. Lots of love to him, and catnip. Please give him a gentle kitty hug from me.

Chuck update-thank you for your prayers. No biopsy done. What they think happened was that a bit of bone, either from having the teeth removed, or from the surgeries, was moving around. It nestled on a nerve in his mouth, and every time he ate, drank, had a smoke, it exasperated the nerve, and was putting him over the edge in pain. But as of late last week, the bump was gone, it was no longer there. And the pain was less, and when they looked today? There was nothing to do a biopsy on. This is great news, now to get him off all the drugs......

It's from a movie, I don't remember which one, and the line says, you are just the tip of the iceberg. It has something to do with the insanity of their family, and that while she is the tip of the iceberg, the rest of the family under the water level is MUCH bigger. So lets start with my grandmother on my mother's side. She was married, she had 5 sons, her husband left her, and she went to work in the family business, which was Motorcycles. Marsh Motorcycles. All 5 of her sons grew to about 17 years old and left home. And then she met James Gibson, my grandfather, and even though she was older, Fannie had a way about her. He proposed several times, and she finally agreed to marry him as long as no children were involved. She suffered from depression, anxiety and lets face it, she was a bit crazy. She got pregnant and gave birth to my mother. Several years later, she found out she was pregnant again, and threw herself out of their apartment window, trying to kill herself and the child. My aunt Ginna. She of course failed, was hospitalized and gave birth to my aunt. But because she didn't want the child, she refused to name her. So baby had no name for several years. She showed anger and frustration towards the baby, and mommy dearest, picked that up, and started abusing her sister, and Nanna tries to "off" herself again, and back into the insane house again. This time my grandfather didn't know what to do with 2 small girls, so he packed them off to live with his mother and father in north central Canada. I have a picture of the two little girls living in a mud house. My aunt looked happy, and mom, well she wanted better. This was the pattern for all their lives, my mom abusing, either physically or emotionally her little sister. When they got to college, my dad met my aunt, and asked her out several times. My mother didn't want her sister to get him so she wheedled her charms into Dad, and he dropped the younger sister, and married my mother. My aunt quit school, got a job in Brazil at the American Consulate and met my uncle. They married, moved back to the states (he was Brazilian and no one in the family liked him.) I did, but i did think he was a bit weird, always asking me personal questions, but heck he came from another country . So since her sister wasn't around to be abused, I became the abused. And while she was verbally abusive to me, she would get my father to be physically abusive to me. And 4 out of 5 nights a week, he beat the crap out of me. However, one day, after I explained to him that I was not the problem, he took off from work, followed me home, and listened to the tirade of mommy dearest towards me. Neither of us knew my dad was in the house. He walked quietly up the stairs an told my mother to shut up. He told me to leave and go to my friend Paul's house and to come back in a couple hours. Any further beatings towards me were instigated by my actions with him, not because my mom told him to beat me, and when asked, he did. I loved my aunt, she was sweet, intelligent, educated and worked as an assistant to a Dean at Wagner College. My uncle, it turns out was stalking me, showing up places I had no idea that he was there, because they knew about the beatings. They knew about the abuse. And they wanted to make sure I wasn't becoming my mother. Turns out that my neighbors also knew (you can hear things), and if they saw me walking home from school, my girl friend's father would often pick me up and drive me home. The last time I saw my aunt and uncle was when I started dating Chuck, and I wanted them to meet him, that was back in 2002. Unfortunately Chuck's father got very ill, and he had to fly out to AK to be with his family, and I got to spend 3 days with my aunt. This was when my uncle told me that he had been to my graduations, (high school and college). I thought he was weird, but he and I talked a lot over the next couple of years, and he did explain a lot to me. About my adopted family. So I guess, he wasn't as weird as I thought. My aunt developed Alzheimer's and my uncle got cancer. He called to tell me why he stalked me, and he asked my permission to die. I knew how much my mother had suffered her last year, and I said yes, he had my permission, I was OK, and he said he thought he had about 5 more months. He died 3 weeks later. My aunt lived for another 10 years, totally not knowing any one around her. I hope my cousins looked after her. But our calls stopped when they were beginning to scare her. I am just the tip of the iceberg. And Nanna? Well she died in a mental institute in 1971. Another attempt too many. My brother does not want his kids to know this part of our history, so I do not know them well, my nephew wont talk to me, and my niece ignores me.

Happy Tuesday Dailyites! The computer is very slow this morning, and I am trying to be very quick. We need to leave in an hour to get Chuck to his appointment. I loved my aunt. When I get back today I will expound on that story. My uncle, her husband told me some creepy stuff when I last saw him, but he explained later. He stalked me. Who would admit that.? And again, I will explain later.

@Quartzsite Cruiser Thank you for the information. I had no idea that BFF wanted to see more of towns than wildlife. Right now, I'm up to over 2500 dollars in requested shore excursions, and he said he tried to book a few, but they said they were already full. For next May. I've been holding off booking and paying for them as he has only made the deposit on the cruise. I want to go to the World War II sites in Alaska. As does DH. BFF wants to wander towns??? Yes, I want to see them, but I want to see as much country as I can.

and for the Culinarians today

@erewhon I hope you get your zip back. I sit at my desk calling people, scared I will fall asleep before I get the answering machine or an actual person. You were one of the missing, that I was missing. DH finally admitted that he didn't feel well after the booster, but more nauseous than "dead". Graham and Sandi have both been very quiet today, and that has worried me. Maybe they are both napping today. The heat has been terrible, and I went out to get the mail, at 9 tonight there was no breeze just HOT air every where. I think we need some funnies today....

Well there was a pretty argument earlier today about getting HAL to end pre cruise covid testing. I kept reading, but it kept getting angrier, and thought, this is like the Carnival page, let me come back home. So I checked in here a couple of times, and because i was (working) busy, thought better of posting. You never know where those bosses of mine will show up.🙀 But yes, there are fewer posts from the usual suspects....we need to fix that! But it's summer, everyone may be doing something...like melting.... I talked with someone in TX today that said they had had enough of the political climate, and the actual temperature and were heading up to Colorado for 4-5 months. I asked where, and he said 80 miles north of Durango. I said I have a friend in Durango, @durangoscots, and it made me smile to say that. I wonder why the dogs didn't bark if the bear was there. Probably didn't want to give away their location. I know I wouldn't say anything if I saw one. I would hide and call the police. or animal control. @Quartzsite CruiserI love your pictures of the whale shark. OMG, it's on my list to see! In the wild, not at the Atlanta Aquarium. They are impressive! Thanks for the packing tips. I still didn't get any info about Kodiak or Sitka. Ship to port distance. BFF thinks he should just wander the woods alone in Kodiak. I would hate for him to be eaten by a bear. Chapter three is packing tips. You all have been so helpful! Just wait until I ask how to pack for the Europe cruise for 25 days. Oh yes, I will have free laundry service on that cruise. It's the style of clothing. I know I'm American i just don't want to stand out as one.

2016, second week of September. It snowed in the Yukon and followed us down the mountains back into Skagway. We about froze in Glacier Bay. I wore three pairs of everything that day, couldn't fit in a booth at lunch without taking several layers off. I loved every minute of it.!

The last time I was in Alaska, I had my vest, a flannel lined rain jacket, two sweaters, two pairs jeans, socks, (there were times I was still cold) but while I had one dress, and a skirt, and fancy leggins with a fancy top, I'm not sure that I can get away with that on a formal (gala) night in the MDR. I like the idea of doing some laundry, but I am pushing the BFF to add the laundry package. I will be wearing compression stocking/socks on the flights this time. I will be wearing my walking shoes, take one pair of dressy sandals to dine in, and I'm planning on getting another pair of Bear paws slides for the cruise. Back packs of a decent size sound good. If it's not too big, then I can just stick it under my feet. How dressy to you get?

Happy Monday Dailyites! I have not had any "zip" since that booster on Tuesday. I think even my sense of mischief has taken a break. @0106 Thank you for the great recipes today. They look a whole lot more appealing than @aliaschief's Haggis. I have a few questions for you all- one is regarding Kodiak. BFF and I finally hooked up with excursion ideas for next May. How far from the town does the ship dock? Is this a town where we can walk off the ship and be in town, or are we docked outside of town? And if we tender in to Sitka, the same question. We are on the Nieuw Amsterdam if that matters. And now for my main question today- most of my cruises have been 7 days long, and except for the Alaska cruise we took back in 2016, we have for the most part driven to our embarkation port. So suitcase size has not been a problem. My question is, how much do you pack, or what do you pack for a 14 + cruise. The two guys are hemming and hawing about having to pack fancy outfits for dinner (me too actually) to see if we can actually pack all in a small suitcase, and not have so much to carry around or pay extra for the luggage. I managed Alaska last time in a small suitcase, but we were only gone for 11 days, this time we are going to be gone for 20. I need suggestions, on how to pack light, and stay warm in May in Alaska. Thanks!

What a morning most of you had! I'm so glad that Ren's team won @StLouisCruisers! I'm glad he is not a bull fighter, you'd never get over the nerves! @grapau27Thank you again for my Sunday Church fix. I waited too long to show it to Chuck, and now, the screen is dark. We got up early to watch the F1 race and then , Chuck realized he had missed a meeting up with a friend (he was an hour off) so we went grocery shopping. Not sure what he can eat after the biopsy, so I didnt buy anything for Tuesday night. I am taking my friend Debbie to her eye appointment for her second cataract surgery on Wednesday, and then on Thursday we are back at the oncologist. So even though we managed to spend 150.00 bucks, I really only have food for Monday and Wednesday night. I actually am hungry, so I'm fixing shrimp cocktails, and Chuck is fixing Steak. I have some left over orange rice from our Vietnamese dinner last night, and I'll fix a small salad. A feast! I have two cousins, haven't spoken to them in years, I have no idea where they are, but if I know them, they are up to no good. On the other hand, through Ancestry, I have over a 100 cousins. Maybe too many.

@ger_77 I was so sorry to hear of the loss of your dear friend/cruise friend. You are right, there are people who you meet in life, that are soul sisters and brothers, and when you are together it feels complete. Sometimes, they are there only for part of your life, and sometimes they are there a few times in your life, and sometimes like two wheels on the same cart you roll through life together. Enjoy the memories. My neighbor asked me last July to start walking her dog at 12:30 every day. Unless I am out of town, I am attached to that dog. She refuses to walk on grass, and is walking at high noon in the southern heat down the street on the street, grumbling and mumbling the whole way. When we get to the corner, she does her business on the grass, I pick up bag up, and we walk back home. She loves her air conditioning. And so do I. She gets walked before 7 a.m., at 12:30 (my turn) at 6 p.m. and again at 8, and then since her mom doesnt sleep but two hours, she lets her out two or three times in the middle of the night. I have tried repeatedly to get the the dog to walk on the grass, but she thinks that's trespassing, and wont do it.

@Live4cruises Happy Birthday!

@summer slope I Hope you have a great birthday!

Happy Saturday Dailyites! While my grandfather on my dad's side was a farm manager, pretty much all his life, my grandfather on my mothers side, ( I called him Pa) was a man of many talents. He was one of the first to fly float planes, he was a Mason, and one of his many jobs, was as a cowboy. He had an interesting bunk mate, during his cowboy times, a man who I know you all know, a very young, James Cagney. When I was young I always dressed up as a cow girl. I was still buying Annie Oakley outfits and cowboy hats in high school. (remember I grew up in NJ) I was sort of an odd duck. My dad got me, my mother was rather appalled, but since I had to wear a school uniform -creating myself into something else made me happy. l love the quote today. It is so easy to change the world for the better each day. Just make someone smile. You people here do this every day. And the smiles make the reader feel joy, and they carry it on to someone else. A tiny wave around the world of joy. It passes state lines, border to other countries, across the seas.... It's amazing. On a more serious note, I told Chuck last night that we can help the world more, by not driving everyday. If we all took one day off a week where we didn't get in the car, we can change the world. Of course everyone else has to do the same thing, and that's the problem, getting everyone on board to not drive on one day a week. We chose Monday. He rarely has to go anywhere on a Monday. We just need to make sure that what we need to get done can be done on the weekend, so that Monday is a no drive day. Wish us luck on getting our lives organized enough to live up to our goal. @kazuI love your begonias. I bought some two years ago, and they all died back to nothing, but this year, they came back, smaller than before, but it was pretty amazing. Have a wonderful day!

I spoke to someone in Louisville KY last night, her husband had gone to the post office, as they had not received any mail all week. The post office told him that they did not have enough employees to deliver the mail, the packages, and the junk mail (third class mail) so they are rotating, and should get their mail every other week, until they can hire people. Have you ever heard that you cant get your package that was shipped UPS or Fedex because they have no one to deliver it? I haven't. Maybe they pay way too much. So no one wants to deliver mail? It's not just little towns in the west, this is happening in middle America. I know plenty of seniors that dont have money that would enjoy delivering, maybe not standing and sorting, but driving around delivering half of the day. Would have to be better than not getting your mail. first they took away the stamp machines, so that employees would have jobs, and then they get rid of the jobs, maybe they want every one to get post boxes at the station, so that don't have to do anything.