I keep getting on later, and later, and later . . .
And I keep having to read pages, and pages, and pages . . .
I hate trying to guess how many pages and posts we will have by December.
Lisa W. - I look forward to trying to speak some Greek while on the cruise - that would be fun. My Greek just keeps getting rustier, and rustier and rustier. While we belong to our Orthodox Church here, we do not attend often . . . It is really tough. DW has never felt comfortable in the church 100%, as she was raised Lutheran. It is my boyhood church, but the only fond memories for me of that was my time as an altar boy. We attended more regularly when my DS was an altar boy too - but now he is at college. My DM always wanted me to become a priest. My family was of meager means growing up, and there were many of much more means than that at the church. I always felt like a kind of "second class" citizen. Since I had no Greek friends growing up, I also kind of rebelled against my ethnicity to fit in at school. I grew up in a lower middle class neighborhood that all the ethnic people moved out of when they became successful. We lived in the house my dad's parents lived in.
These days, I love the Orthodox faith, and value my heritage, but I find it difficult to deal with the politics that happen with the people inside a church building. I attend when I can, I especially attend Easter and all of Holy Week. We are thinking of switching to the other Greek Orthodox Church in town, but it is a tough decision for me because of the good memories I do have. DD's Godparents are from the other church, as were mine. It's kind of a funny thing, but I feel closer to my faith, by not interacting a lot with the congregation of my church. BTW - we always spelled it yaya, and papou. Go figure.
I badly want to go to Greece, but the timing has never been right to do it. My dad's family was from Lefkatha, and island close to Athens. My Mom's family was from a village in the central part of Greece.
I saw that you guys were dining early too, and if that does not change, maybe we can get on the same dining rotation and nearby. We are currently linked with Lisa G's family, and have enjoyed dining with them the last two cruises. I do know, however, that a lot of the W. Coast people prefer the later dining.
Thanks for the info Lisa G on the letter. I can always hope to try and get a better deal. I really like the photo on the web site of the terminal. It is so funny that there are a lot of details in that picture that I have NEVER noticed! I am always in too much of a hurry to get INSIDE to even look around or notice. Lisa, do you think DU can tell us the chances of getting DIS'ers who are on the same dining time in the same rotation and nearby each other? And, BTW (by the way) I would NOT drive in DC unless you absolutely had to. PJ is right - the train to Union Station would be a much better bet, and Union Station is a really neat place too. From there the Metro can get you just about anywhere.
Well, that's my catching up for the day. Still haven't done a thing with that CD that came in the mail. Good night all, and over to you West Coast.
John