Hi Cruise Gang,
Tig, I died laughing when I saw all those mouseketeers! You're hilarious!
I didn't take the day off the other day. I was in a better mood when I woke up in the morning, so I went in.
M,Tu, Th and F I do music therapy in a psychiatric nursing home, and on Ws I teach 4th grade catechism. What's new about my job is that I've been assigned to the floor with all ventilator residents! God bless them... imagine trying to communicate with bed-ridden mentally-impaired people who cannot speak, all on respirators. It's a challenge, and it breaks my heart to see these people like this. My job up to this point was working with people in groups, the ones that can walk themselves down to the recreation room. So it's a big change. And on Wednesdays, I have my St. Columba School kids, The kids make me laugh and feel great. I love it.
Now, about passports, we broke down and got them during the mad rush before the price went up. It was expensive, but now I feel it's done, we have them, and if we wanted to we could get on a plane to anywhere tomorrow morning with passports in hand. I just feel more secure having them.
Grim, I love your cooktop. I'm totally ignorant about brand names for these things, but I do know I prefer gas stoves over electric. Yours looks like a professional restaurant model, really cool. Keep us up on the progress with your new home.
It's so cold here in NY right now, and we're getting ready for some serious rain. I'm bundled up in my pink Disney Princess robe, watching my beloved Mets on tv and doing my Dising at the same time. I was thinking of you, Jill, today when I was picking Jesse up from school and a child said "can I ride my trike, mommy". Wow, if he only knew what the possibilities are when he grows up!
The other night I sat my family down and had a meeting (yeah, we're as corny as the Brady Bunch).

I gave them hand-outs describing all the excursions, including maps, and I told them we'll meet again next week to discuss tentative plans. Do you all realize that in 4 months we can book excursions??? And we can do it online right at the
DCL site, I think. (Have you all seen the new website? It's a lot better than it was before.) I don't want to spend tons of money on excursions, so this is my idea which I will present to my family:
St. Maarten
Mel and Chad will do the 7:45 AM Mountain Bike excursion for 3.5 hours while Jesse and I do the 8 AM Under Two Flags tour for 3 hours. We'll meet back on the ship for lunch/shower for Mel and Chad, and then head out to sightsee Philippsburg and Marigot on our own.
St. Thomas
7:40 AM St. John Trunk Bay 5-Star Adventure for 4.5 hours
Back to the ship to wash up, and then to Annaberg Ruins if there's time.
I've never been to these ports before, so I don't know how much of a big deal it'll be to go back to the ship in the middle of the day and then go back out. This is what I'm used to doing in the parks. From what I've read, there are cabs right there at the port, so I'm giessing it's not like we have to walk all the way into "town" to get a ride. Any thoughts??