Cruising-along

Good morning all! As Karen @luvteaching said, it's a very soggy morning here. Supposedly tomorrow will be sunny, we'll see! Math was always my worst subject -- if it's genetic as Gerry @ger_77 said, I must have inherited my Mom's lack of mathematical abilities because my Dear Dad was an accountant. DH also majored in accounting, so he takes care of that for us! When I was younger I participated in a lot of cookie exchanges. I'm not sure how many times we've been to Ketchikan, but we were there twice this year. Photos to follow. I'll pass on the drink and red wine, the meal would be good but with chicken. Tonight we'll be having leftover beef stew. I got very good news last night from my sister -- DBIL's latest PSA test showed a marked improvement since his treatment started. His PSA went down from 6.9 to 3.85 so we're all celebrating that! Bon Voyage @Nickelpenny! Bon Voyage Rich @richwmn -- we'll see you in 11 days!!! Our first cruise was in 2004 on the Amsterdam. Sandi @StLouisCruisers we also went on a kayaking tour out of Ketchikan! Ketchikan from our balcony this past May I loved this piece of art work outside a shop The Koningsdam in Ketchikan In September we were in Ketchikan on the Celebrity Solstice. We had a tour to the Lumberjack show (corny but surprisingly fun and good) and to the Saxman Native Village. They put on a very good show, and we enjoyed it all. One of many totem poles in the village. And of course Dolly's House. On another cruise (12-day Denali) my BFF and I took the tour through Dolly's House.

We aren't big drinkers either, but were thrilled with this deal. Even a couple drinks/day plus coffees, water, etc. makes it a great deal.

Good evening everyone, lots of news today. Joy @Seasick Sailor I'm so sorry you were sick! It's scary when things like that happen. Paul @kochleffel Congratulations on the great course grade! I've gotten almost the whole upstairs deep-cleaned, just the master bath to do now and then I'll start the downstairs. The laundry is done until a last wash before we go. Also I still need to pack my carry-on bag, but there's plenty of time to do that. I hope everyone had a good day!

Good morning all! Interesting collection of days, I like the quote but will pass on the meal, drink and wine. We will go to Moorea on the GANZ but not to this port. We have a private tour the first day and a HAL tour the 2nd day. We got our boarding time and have 10:40 also. I'm not holding my breath, as it changed at least 3 times for our last cruise. One person on our roll call got 10:20! Looking forward to sailing with Rich again and meeting all the Dailyites on this cruise. Not long now!

Enjoy your time in San Diego and the Volendam, Rich! Looking forward to sailing with you again (this time for 94 days!)

Good morning all! We're going to have 2 days of sunshine (!), and up to the mid 50's today. All good days, but I'll pass on the Sangria. The quote is so true. Yay another Marlborough SV! But one I haven't tried, so I'll be looking for it. I also would probably like the drink, but will pass on the meal. I like spicy but it doesn't like me. I plan to start deep cleaning the house, one room at a time before we leave on the 1st. That way it won't be too tiring. It especially needs it after having the DGSs here. Thank you Jacqui @kazu for stepping up and filling in for Rich! Great job too! We were in Avalon on a Pacific Coastal on the Westerdam in October of 2014. We didn't do much, walked around a bit and did the glass bottom boat ride. The casino

Good morning all! We have a rainy morning here, 50 F heading for 52 today. Not bad for the week before Christmas. I've never been crazy about hard candy and will choose chocolate over hard candy every time. I have admiration for all heros and heroines, and since I live in the Evergreen State I only have to walk out of my house to find lots of evergreens. I miss Phyllis Diller, another great quote. The meal sounds yummy, I think I'd like the drink but will pass on the red blend. We were in Souda-Chania on a Med cruise in 2021. Strangely I didn't take many photos, thank you Lenda @Quartzsite Cruiser for yours! We took the shuttle to Chania and went to the market, bought some things, and also more flowers for our cabin. Very happy to see that our luggage is now in San Diego! Yippee! I hope they enjoy their stay until we join them in a couple weeks. 😄 Today starts our self-quarantine in efforts to stay healthy before the cruise. Yesterday we both got our hair cut (next hair cuts will be on the ship), and stocked up on food to get us through the next 2 weeks. We will be going to DD's house to get outdoor hugs a few days before we leave though. Cannot leave without more hugs! Bon Voyage @St Pete Cruiser!

Good morning all! We're pretty tuckered out after having the DGSs for 3 days and then yesterday our early family Christmas celebration. We didn't get home last night until nearly 9 but it felt like midnight we're so tired -- but a good tired. Today other than getting my hair cut I plan to do absolutely nothing other than a little straightening the house after our little "whirlwinds" stayed here. I didn't need to bake cookies this year, DDIL made so many -- all excellent too. There are no twins in either of our family trees, and we haven't had snow here -- yet. Usually ours doesn't start until January if we get any at all, so I'm hoping we have clear roads when we have to get to the airport on the 2nd. I'll pass on the meal, drink and wine today. DS makes Alton Brown's eggnog every year and we were thankful to bring some of that home with us last night. So good! Our luggage was last tracked just 130 miles north of San Diego yesterday. Making good time! Happy Birthday Nancy @ottahand7!

Good morning all! Another quick post, we slept late this morning after being up late last night at the Lights of Christmas display. But a few photos from last night -- and today I need to make the Lumpia I'm bringing to DD's house for our early family Christmas celebration. We'll also be bringing the DGSs home after an activity-filled 3 days with them. This Nana is very tired but a good tired. The next 2 weeks will be filled with getting the house in order and getting ready to leave for the GANZ. Will catch up on all the posts tonight -- have a great day everyone!

No apology necessary!

Correct, Roy. We’re sailing out of San Diego not Port Everglades. I’m sure the bags will get there in plenty of time. We aren’t leaving until January 3.

Ours have been sitting in Tacoma since the day they were picked up here. So only went about an hour away. Probably waiting for more to arrive or just busy with Christmas. The boys are having a movie/popcorn/brownies afternoon and I'm resting up for the next game of UNO. I'm pleased with the Santa mugs they painted. The 8-year-old gave his a brown mustache and said his is the "young Santa". 🤣 After dinner we'll be going to the Christmas lights show, and hopefully then straight to bed...

Thank you! I don’t understand it either 😂 and have a sister who is the same. I ask her if we’re really related!

Good morning all! This is the start of day 2 of our busy weekend. When I started reading the Daily I was the only one awake, now everyone is up so I'll make this short. We're having a great time with the DGSs. They had a wonderful time at the Taekwondo party last night, and after getting back to our house we played a couple rousing games of UNO (I lost every time) and then they spent some time playing with their Gak (kind of a tradition here since they were small). Everyone went right to sleep and slept well. We have a full day ahead. Terry @smitty34877 Is it too late to ask for the chocolate you don't want? 😂 I'll take anything chocolate covered except for insects. Preferably dark chocolate, but I won't turn down any chocolate. Love the quote, the drink would probably be good, and maybe on the turkey stuffed peppers but I would prefer ground beef. Pass on the red wine. I'm loving the photos of Sydney since we'll be there in February and have never been there. We'll have 2 days. The first day we have an all-day private tour to the Blue Mountains. Lenda @Quartzsite Cruiser did you ride the train that does the vertical drop? I'm wondering how I would do on that....hate heights and hate feeling like I'm dropping straight down. If it's slow it wouldn't be as bad, but fast no way. 😲 The second day we have a HAL tour of the city and the opera house. We were going to do the HOHO but instead decided to do everything as simply as possible this trip. Well time to feed these growing boys! We measured Foster last night -- at 10 1/2 he's slightly over 5 feet already!! He'll be tall like his Dad. Have a great day everyone!

This was my favorite “towel animal” too. Laughed so hard and then found our stewards outside waiting for my reaction. 🤣

I'd like to start with the Lemon Drop, then Apple pear cucumber salad Glazed duck breast Tiramisu Thanks!

We're on 7 aft. Here is the recipe @erewhon posted here last month: 300 grams digestive biscuits 100 grams butter melted 250 grams condensed milk 2 x 45 gram packs of Kit Kat 100 grams Nestle milk chocolate Crush digestive biscuits in food processor. In medium sized bowl, mix together crushed biscuits, butter and condensed milk. Add chopped Kit Kat, fold into mixture. Scoop mixture into an 8 x 8 cm baking tin, level out the mixture, Refrigerate until set. Melt milk chocolate pour over the set base. leave to set. (Recipe says to add another 100g of butter to the chocolate when melting, but I did not do so). Of course I had to ask Google the substitutions for grams to ounces 😉 I'm guessing a little goes a long way, very sweet! But oh my it looks good. Oh and I just used a rolling pin and crushed the biscuits, seemed to be ok.

I'm so glad you did it! You do deserve it and will be very glad you have the balcony on the long cruise. Wondering if you're anywhere near us, we're on deck 7. If you haven't already, don't forget to email Tallulah so she can make the change on the spreadsheet. 🙂 I've got the Kit Kat Slice in the fridge @erewhon -- it looks so good!

Good morning all! I'm happy to see 3 days of sunshine and even a high of 56 F today! I'm all for cat herders, have never re-gifted and never will, and I like iced tea but not a fan of hot tea. I'll also pass on the meal (spice) and drink but the wine sounds good. 🙂 I like the quote and love GWTW -- have read the book a few times and we own the movie. This will be a very busy weekend. Today we'll pick up the DGSs after school, get them to a Taekwondo Christmas party, and then bring them home with us for the weekend. We have a lot planned, some Christmas crafts, and a Christmas Lights viewing tomorrow night. We went to the same one last year and it's the best in our area. Then on Sunday the family will have our early Christmas gathering. They're doing it early for us, so we can self-isolate before the cruise. Trying our best to stay healthy before we leave! Prayers for all on the Care List and cheers for all celebrating.

So glad to hear that Tudor is still on the NS. We've enjoyed him on a couple cruises -- love his humor! When DH told him it was our 50th anniversary cruise, he turned to me and asked with a straight face "And how many years for you?" Brian @POA1 I probably missed it, but I'm wondering if Captain O'Driscoll is Captain?

I will be making it this weekend! I know everyone will love it. Susan I'm so, so sorry. It isn't only the frustration, but having to sit at home waiting....

Do it Lorraine!

I'll start with a Lemon Drop, then Caesar Salad, Fried Chicken, and the Pavlova. Thanks!

Well our luggage has been picked up now, 1:30 PST. When he saw all the bags he asked if we were moving LOL. @CrabbyPatti Sending hugs -- 3 months isn't long -- it does get better with time but we'll always miss our Dads. It's been 5 years for me and I still can't believe he's gone. Happy birthday to your daughter! Glad to hear your FIL is doing better after having Covid.

Bruno @atexsix It's good to hear from you, but I'm sorry you and dear Dad are having health issues. Thank goodness your stroke was mild with no new deficits. The views from your townhouse must be wonderful on a clear day! Hope to hear more from you but understand about the limitations on free time. Hope to hear you're able to take that cruise next fall.