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Princess is backing up.

Good morning, thanks for the Fleet Report and Daily; thank you @kazu for filling in for Rich while he's away exploring the world on a BHB! I remember going out caroling with friends as a child, all bundled up with songbooks in hand that were borrowed from school. Mmmmm sangria, a great summertime drink - I think while we were in Barcelona, I drank enough that if I had to give a blood sample, it would have come out as sangria. Definitely celebrating Sacagawea today - a brave, strong woman. Well last night was fun - we met DH's kids (DS, DD and her DH) at a restaurant where we had a great dinner and then drove about 15 miles out of the city to the casino. DH and I sat down side by side at the penny slots and he promptly ran out of money ($20). On the other hand, mine seemed to be the hot seat, as I kept going and going and going. Suffice to say, I won a good amount of holiday money for us! Unfortunately, the rest of the family didn't do well at all, but that's how it usually goes for me as well. I think it was just my lucky day. Today it's clean up and pack up to get ready for the trek to Calgary tomorrow. It usually takes us about 8 hours - that includes stops along the way for yarn from one small town, and a few hours later just to get a coffee and stretch our legs. I'll have to run out to make sure there's enough food for Sochi - our lovely neighbour will be coming in twice a day to feed her while we're gone. I'm going to pass on the drink of the day, will let others enjoy the white wine, but look forward to today's recipe. For us however, it'll be leftovers from last night's dinner, as the portions were huge. We'll be enjoying reheated dry ribs and Caesar salad at the kitchen table tonight. And wine. Prayers for everyone who is in need, in pain, in grief, and who just need to know others care. Cheers to all with celebrations. Smooth Sailing! ☺️☺️☺️ Gerry

That's it for me for today; thanks Dave and all the sail-away addicts!

Deep throaty toots!

It might need another paint job!

The zooms today are amazing !!!

Loving the zoom !!!!

Yay!! Bon Voyage!

Sounds like departure toots.

That's exactly what I was thinking!

Just heard dropping lines on the Zaandam.

Good morning, thanks for the Fleet Report and Daily! I remember the hard ribbon type of candies we used to get at Christmas when I was a child - they're pretty hard to find these days. Definitely a good day for heroes and heroines - thank you for everything they've done to help others, often risking their own lives in the process. If I'm looking for an evergreen, all I have to do is look out our kitchen window, as there are lots of them in our back yard. It's cool and dark out there this morning; the sun doesn't get up until 9:11 this morning, so it'll be dark for a couple of hours yet. Still no snow, but according to the radio there could be some coming in on Sunday, just in time for Christmas. Sending good vibes to everyone who is in the path of the storms along the East coast. We got most of our gifts delivered last night after dinner - the best part was when we dropped a bunch at our new Ukrainian family's apartment. It's their first Christmas in Canada and they've gone all out in their decorating. They went to a thrift store where they purchased a tree and baubles, and their apartment looks like a Christmas explosion! As we left, I said to DH that I wondered where they'll store all that stuff after! LOL We look forward to a post-Christmas celebration with them when we return from Calgary. @St Pete CruiserBon Voyage; enjoy your cruise! For everyone with a December birthday, I think we can all identify with this: I'd love to try the drink, I think I'd like the wine, and the menu suggestion sounds very good. I won't be cooking tonight as DH's kids decided we all needed a "casino night" so we're meeting at a restaurant for dinner and then we'll head to the nearby casino for a couple of hours of fun and hopefully good luck as well. I'm not sure what's on the menu, but there will be good food, lively conversation and much laughter. And wine. Prayers for everyone who is in need, cheers to all with celebrations. Smooth Sailing! ☺️☺️☺️ Gerry

I’m looking forward to your experience because you never know, we might book that itinerary in the future. BTW, we’ve had inside cabins in the past and loved them!

Good morning, thanks for the Fleet Report and Daily! Most of the cookies I usually make at this time of year are already baked. I've known a few twins over the years, but have never been one. We definitely appreciate flake day on the "frozen tundra"! Yesterday in fact, we did have flakes - enough that the roads and driveways were covered with a bit of it, 1/2 inch is what the airport reading tells us. Our snow removal guy was out there in the pitch black with his blower and cleaned off the driveway, the front sidewalk and then went and did the back patio. I guess he's just trying to earn his keep for the month, as it doesn't look like there'll be much more before it's over. As far as baking goes, all I have to do today is make the easy turtles using small pretzels, rolo candies and pecans - like I said, easy. I like them because they're both sweet and salty and appeal to a broad range of people. I make them in the mini muffin papers which also makes them an easy last minute gift if needed. Not much happening today - laundry . . . it just doesn't end, does it? I'm not quite finished the gift wrapping and we have to drop a couple of gifts off this evening to some people who are still gainfully employed during the day. @ottahand7wishing you a very Happy Birthday with many happy and healthy returns of the day! @kazujust to let you know I'm stealing your "gift wrapping" meme - I love it!! I'm going to pass on the drink, and not sure about the red wine - hints of maple sausage? I'd try it, but it might be a one and done. I love today's menu suggestion - there's a Greek restaurant in town that makes delicious lemon chicken orzo soup. We haven't been there in a long time, but will maybe suggest it as an after Christmas lunch date with DH. I've made it at home as well, but don't have some of the ingredients on hand to do it today. For us it's leftovers as the pork roast from yesterday turned out to be a bit larger than I thought, so that's what we'll be enjoying at the kitchen table tonight. And wine. Prayers for everyone who is in need, in pain, in grief, and in the midst of wars. Cheers to all with celebrations. Smooth Sailing! ☺️☺️☺️ Gerry

Good morning, thanks for the Fleet Report and Daily! Yay for maple syrup - I like it with peanut butter on pancakes. I don't have any more ugly sweaters, I gave them all away. Thank goodness for the Wright Brothers and their persistence with an amazing invention, otherwise we'd have to drive to ports to board the BHB's. Yesterday we went out early to do some last minute shopping - we discovered our "almost daughter" Sophia and her family had given us something that was way too expensive, so we felt we had to reciprocate. We ended up getting them an Instax camera with a couple of extra rolls of film and a food saver with additional rolls of bags. I'm glad we decided to open the gifts ahead of time, rather than leaving it till Christmas morning when we would have felt uncomfortable having given them so little. After Christmas I'm going to have a chat with her to say that we'd prefer small gifts, or even gifts of food, rather than putting out a lot of money on things. This morning I'm going to clear off the dining room table and bring out the wrapping paper, tape, ribbons and tags and get to the task of wrapping gifts. I like to use wrapping paper for the children, so that each gift is wrapped individually - for me it's more fun to see them taking the paper off the gifts, rather than simply opening a bag and pulling out the contents. DH helps me by bringing me coffee and Bailey's from time to time. This morning is a good time to do it because he'll be watching his news programs on TV and I'll enjoy the Sunday morning oldies on the radio as I wrap. @grapau27how sad for Pauline's friend; I'm so glad she has you and Pauline to give her support. @seagarsmoker and @Petunia1950 Bon Voyage! Welcome back to all the Daily-ites from your pre-holiday cruises. I hope everyone stayed safe during the storms, and for those it hasn't hit yet, be careful! I'm going to pass on the drink (bourbon), will let others enjoy the wine, and would love the menu suggestion, but DH doesn't care for lamb - at all. I've got a very small pork roast that will make it's way into the oven along with potatoes, carrots, celery and onions for a one pot dinner that we can enjoy at the kitchen table tonight. And wine. Prayers for everyone who is in need, cheers to all with celebrations. Smooth Sailing! ☺️☺️☺️ Gerry

Many people really like the Elemis products, but I find they dry my hair out terribly, so I bring my own shampoo and conditioner in travel size bottles.

Just for the fun of it I decided to take a look at the PTZ webcam for Port Everglades. I wonder if either of the 2 ships will depart this afternoon?

Good morning, thanks for the Fleet Report and Daily! Acknowledging the Day of Reconciliation for those who have been wronged. Oh @richwmn, you had me at chocolate!!! I'm sure we (read: DH) have some stupid toys around here somewhere - he's always looking at things wondering what he can do to make them better or make them into something else. Thus is the life of the wife of a mad scientist. I totally agree with today's quote. I'm sorry to hear our Daily family in Florida are in for a storm - looking at the PTZ webcams for Fort Lauderdale and Key West show a lot of rocking and rolling, and in the case of Key West, intense rain. I hope everyone there stays safe. And @kazuhave you ever thought of moving somewhere else in Canada where you aren't always pummeled with storms? I can't imagine the stress knowing there's another blast of something coming! We had a busy day yesterday - I made 2 batches of sugar cookies in the morning, followed by a batch of Christmas Crack. Just as it was cooling and I was preparing to make another batch, the doorbell rang and friends we haven't seen in a long time just happened to be driving by, so stopped in to say hi. I made lunch for the 4 of us and we spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on what's been happening in our families over the past number of years. As soon as they left, we hopped into the shower, changed and headed over to a local church where we enjoyed Handel's Messiah, not getting home till nearly 11. Today should be a quieter one, the only thing I have to do is continue making the Christmas Crack, then a batch of Puppy Chow for DS, and wrapping some gifts. I think I'd like the drink of the day, would like to see the recipe for the menu suggestion, and am sure I'd enjoy the wine. For us it's going to be a simple dinner of burgers made in the George Foreman, tater tots from the air fryer with a side salad at the kitchen table tonight. And wine. Prayers for everyone who is in pain, in need, and in senseless wars. Cheers to all with celebrations. Smooth Sailing! ☺️☺️☺️ Gerry

Yay! Sorry it wasn't more clear, but then you're a moving object! Also sorry we didn't catch @Crazy For Cats on a close-up. Bon Voyage everyone! I'm done for the day, time to make another batch of Christmas Crack before the afternoon gets away from me. Thanks Dave, and all the sail-away addicts!

Hope we caught @CruisingAndDiving!

I don't believe so.

@Crazy For Cats I spotted you!

At least it doesn't appear that the PP is in charge.

Be sure to wave like crazy so the camera catches the motion - we'll wave back!

I can just see her backing into the screen!