Paradise: day 1

"That looks like a cruise ship!"

So it does! That's because it's Paradise, one of the Margaritaville At Sea vessels, and it was our destination there at the Port of Palm Beach, Florida. That was my first view of it, from the jump seat in Christina's van. Anthony had driven us the seven hours down yesterday, to West Palm Beach, then she drove us to the port this morning for our noon-1 PM boarding time.

Here is my first niece, with me, waiting our turn outside the Port terminal. 

"And just where are you? I'm not seeing you in this photo. Is she talking to you?" 

Actually, she is! You can see my reflection in the window, over her left shoulder. That's him in front of her.

"LOL! Are they wearing matching shirts?!?"

You betcha! The girls have on matching outfits, too, though in muted peach tones. Really cute, too, as you'll see later.

That was us, about 11:30 AM. Two hours later, there she comes up the gangplank! You can see him trailing behind her with his dad's walker. 

"Why did it take that long for them to board?"

There was some snafu with their paperwork, so they called her back. I waited for about fifteen or twenty minutes for them to come. I tried to get the girls in the shot, but they moved too quickly! LOL!

The cabins weren't quite ready yet, so everyone was encouraged to go to Deck 10, mid-ship, to have lunch. They didn't have to tell us twice!

"Let me guess. You've got Jimmy Buffett's cheeseburger in Paradise!"

So close! It's actually without the American cheese, but with plenty of pickles. The dining area is called Cheeseburger In Paradise, of course. Great grilled burger!

They all chose other options in the High Tides Market to munch. With six areas there that are included in our ticket, there are so many choices, from pizza to deli sandwiches to international dishes! Plus, of course, ice cream.

"Did you remember to bring Lactaid pills?"

Oh, yeah!

"What's this map for?" 

It's on the wall of every stateroom, showing the ports we can visit. 

Our cruise is the 4-Night Bahamas Duo, as we'll have stops at Nassau and Freeport. My cabin is 4089, on the Coral Reef deck, and is Ocean view. I love it! I'm hoping to see stars outside the porthole very night!

"Oh, that will be lovely!!! But what's with the magnets from your fridge?"

They're for my cabin door, so I can easily find it in that long hallway. There's even a fb group for this cruise and they had nice hints like that one. Christina turned me on to that!

It was 5 PM before I had access to them, as I had to wait for my bag to be delivered. That was fine, as we had the "Sail Away Party" on Deck 11, mid-ship, by the License To Chill Pool, to keep us busy! That's the Fusion Groove band on the stage - they were awesome! Such a large repertoire they had! I even danced to The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights", as I just can't resist that song!!! I even had a woman come up to me after and tell me what a great dancer I was! That is still so nice to hear!

"Wow, good to hear that even with the hitch in your giddy-up you still got it, girl!"

Just a little bit. I knew to stay away from the line dances. Christina joined those, though, and even had the girls come and join her for the Conga line! And when they asked for folks for the "Strong Woman" contest during the party, she jumped to be in it!

She even won a free beer just for holding that stein out there during "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"! 

"And where were Miyah and Chloe during all this dancing and such?"

They were already in their swimsuits, so you know they were in the pool! Christina let them stay for an hour or so, until the party ended. Then they bounced down to Deck 4, Forward, to their cabin to change for dinner.

We went fancy, choosing Fins Dining. Can you believe they've never experienced white-tablecloth restaurants?

"I don't doubt it. Having children doesn't much allow that in the budget."

Hey, wanna hear something funny? We all read the title as "Fine Dining"! That gives us a little inside joke for this family vacation!

I chose Cuban crab cakes to start, then Jerk Chicken, with Key Lime Sponge Cake to finish. Let me just say this: that dessert is at the top of my list for next time! That's toasted marshmallow on its left - yum!

"Oh, that does sound totally delish!!! Tart and sweet, together! I wonder it willl be on the menu again?"

I certainly hope so. Oh, remember I said the girls were dressed in matching outfits? Well, there they are... and them being so cute snagged us front row seats at a reserved table! That's in the Stars On The Water Theatre, on Decks 8 & 9 Forward. We'd come early, hoping for good seats for the "Nassau Nights Variety Show". We couldn't have gotten any better than these! We had songs and dances and even aerial work on silks!!! Wow!!!

"Wow!! What a great ending for your first day!!!"

Magnificent, just magnificent!!! Sweet dreams for all tonight!

 

on the way to Paradise!

It'll be an early night for the five of us at the America Extended Stay motel, that's for sure!

I'm just glad the room has two queen beds and a fold-out for the girls, because I definitely need to stretch out after being in the middle row of the van all day.

Thanks, Christina, for letting me ride along, and for setting us up tonight!

I was at her house by 11:15 this morning, then we left from Hinesville about an hour later.

She had to drop the two dogs off at the pet sitter's house first, so she was running that errand when I arrived.

But we got on the road, so that was good!

She even packed us a picnic lunch for the road!

(smile!) 

We stopped once for fresh cold ICEE's, then we stopped again at the Wendy's in Port St. Lucie so they could get Frosty's.

We girls all made bathroom breaks at the two stops, of course.

Anthony was driving and he stayed in the van both times.

No more stops were needed after that, so we arrived in West Palm Beach around 7 PM - hooray!!!

Time to stretch and get the luggage up to our third floor suite!

Then it was what to do about dinner.

Christina wanted to check out Skinny Burger, so off we set!

That turned out to be downtown, with scant little parking available for a van on a balmy Sunday evening.

We even circled around three times before we gave it up and headed back toward the Cracker Barrel near the motel.

It was after 9 PM by the time we got food to the table, but it was hot and it was tasty and it was plentiful!

That gave all of us some to take back for breakfast tomorrow.

That's good, since the motel just offers little muffins and coffee.

Hey, we were going to be eating on the ship, so all we needed was some energy to get us going!

Woohoo!!!

Now, time to sleep...

and wait for our vacation aboard the Paradise ship!

(smile!)

young men, bad choices

I meant to start my AMC A*list yesterday, but dillydallied here at the house too long.

Sure, I could have had a rare night flick, but the parking lot is still too dark for me after sundown.

Hopefully, not for much longer!

Today, I was determined to see at least one movie, with that being an epic tragedy that I've known for decades.

(Thanks, Mr. Jenkins at Armstrong State College, for having a class that was all about the Greeks!) 

That's when I hit upon a theme!

Just as last week's had focused on females, this one is all about males.

Specifically, it's about young men making bad choices.

That's just as the title of this post forecast!

 

Take the first one on this dance card: "The Odyssey".

I watched it today, in the Big-D screening room, along with more than a hundred other folks.

Honestly, that's the format I'd suggest for it, unless you can get IMAX.

That huge screen really brings the ancient tale to life!

Matt Damon is perfect as the aged warrior who has been away from his kingdom for two decades, first because of the War with Troy, then because he and his men were lost at sea, then because he was too busy staying stoned on lotus leaves to think about Ithaca.

So, what makes him a young man?

At the start of this journey, he was only in his early 20's.

He left behind a young wife and infant son, who we only see as... a young man in his early 20's, plagued by all the suitors seeking his mom's hand for the last decade or so.

So, what was the bad decision 'Odysseus' made when he was young?

How about leaving his wife and child to go fight someone else's war?

Then, on the trip back, his choice to shoot an arrow at the Cyclops, when they had already escaped its cave and were safe?

That creature was the son of Poseidon... and their escape vessel was a ship.

Yeah, not a good decision.

That got them good and lost, sending them into other obstacles, like Charydis and Circe and the Titans, as well as lots of bad weather.

So nice to be reminded of all those adventures!

(smile!) 

And what's that about "Obsession" for later today?

Well, I did get the ticket with my A*List, but I'm not going to see it.

It just fits with my theme, right?

Remember, I watched it last month.

That young man, "Bear", is in his early 20's and uses a 'Wish Willow' to place a spell on his coworker so she has to fall madly in love with him and respond to his sexual advances.

Tsk, tsk, where's the free will in that?

He learns soon enough that there's a price to be paid for such a wish.

Silly young man, only thinking of his own desires!

(smile!) 

Then, to complete the theme, I selected "Young Washington".

Yes, I've already seen it, so I know the story line.

The events in the film were based on real ones when George Washington was a young man, in his early 20s', wanting to become part of the British militia, even though he was born in the Colony of Virginia.

You can't be a Brit if you weren't born in England, right?

Then he volunteered to be part of their militia, and ended up choosing a fort location that led to the deaths of several of his men when they were ambushed from higher ground.

Of course, one of those killed had been a friend who had warned him of the fort's poor location and potential for such ambush.

I guess the good news is he learned from those mistakes when it came time to fight against those very same Brits he'd tried to join.

(smile!) 

So, on paper at least, my dance card is full, even though I shall be on a cruise next week and unavailable for cinema-bopping.

Woohoo!!!

i think the word you want is 'fiasco'

"The word I want?"

Okay, then, the word that would be more appropriate for this episode of the S&K Friday Fiesta than that last one. We all knew that John and Sherry Schomburg would be in town and would be visiting with their friends from the old neighborhood - that is, my brothers and the Kameron brothers and Betsy - at Jalapenos of Sandfly. We knew because Smitty told us last week.

"Oh, how very nice! Always good to see old friends and hear the tales form "back in the day" that seem to come out then!"

You would think so, right? But when Tony and Laura arrived, a fourth table was added to the end and suddenly they were cut off from the regular crowd. They found themselves sitting by the Schomburg's daughter, Ashley, as well as her husband and their two young daughters (ages 4 and 6, as I recall). That was not good. When I joined them, that seemed to add to the unsettled feeling somehow, and Tony and Laura left.

"What? You mean, they didn't stay to eat? Seriously?"

Tony said he felt he'd been disrespected, and i could understand that. This is the only time of the week when he is with men who aren't coworkers. This is his time with his brother and friends he's known since he was a kid. I could understand where he was coming from, as I went through a lot of that when I returned from the Navy.

"Even so, this was a special occasion. John and Sherry were just trying to have family and friends time, so the arrangement was thrown off."

Not quite. The first two tables were as they always are, with the guys on one side and the gals on the other. Where it all fell apart was the middle table with that young family. I feel like things could have been handled better, but, oh well. Then Laura returned, solo, and TOOK A CHAIR - from the third table - TO ADD TO THE FIRST TABLE - so she could sit with the other gals of our regular party - AND THEY MADE ROOM FOR HER. Like, seriously. She couldn't sit with me and the guests for this one meal???

"Oh, this doesn't sound like it's gonna end well..."

So I bounced up to that first table and got onto all the gals from disrespecting Ashley and her family, who were there as guests. They left Ashley and her husband to just sit as outcasts at that third table, as none of the gals were talking to them. Well, God bless Betsy! She picked up her plate and her drink and came down to the fourth table with me!!! She's such a trooper!!! And she ended up charming the little girls and giving Ashley a chance to eat her meal!

"Well, that sounds marvelous! That Betsy, she can carry on a conversation with just about anyone, can't she?"

Yes, she can! As I said, God bless Betsy. I'm glad I have the cruise next week, so I will have at least one week away. Maybe it's time for me to take a break from this. After all, the Schomburgs started it with Smitty and Mary, like ten years ago, so I'm just along because I'm a Smith kid. Maybe I need to start a new tradition, like the second Thursday go out with just my brothers. Something like that. We'll see. But I'm not gonna let it bother me tonight, as the Atlanta Rhythm Section put it. "The world is in an uproar and there ain't no end in sight, but I will not let it bother me tonight, no, I won't." I have a birthday vacation that starts on Sunday and all else can wait until my return.

"Good for you. Don't let it put you off and make you miss it. I know how much you hated missing out on that Las Vegas trip last fall. You go with Christina and her girls and have a wonderful summer holiday together, as y'all have for the past few years. See you when you return... and don't forget the sunscreen!". 

contract signed between TFP and JKLM!!!

After what seems like forever, Two First Posts officially has a manager of the restaurant and bar at this location - hallelujah!!!

I'm so thankful that Doug has persisted in putting his legal expertise into that contract, and that I was able to lend my proofreading skills to it.

Kat had even engaged Brenda to rewrite some portions, but those met with the approval of all there tonight - hallelujah!!!

We actually had a pretty good crowd: me, Doug, and Joe Cetti for Post 36; John Parker, Sabrina, Brenda, and Eric for Post 500; contractor Justin; and Kat and Mike for the JKLM Enterprises team.

Sure sounds like a quorum to me!

The others agreed and once the contract was revised for the last time and printed, both parties for JKLM signed it, as well as the President of TFP (Doug Andrews) and proxy Vice President (John Parker).

Surely opening the doors of Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Barbeque & Grill can't be too far distant now!

Justin has the chandelier installed and it looks quite nice!

The tray needs another coat of paint, but it does dress up the joint! 

He's to pour a concrete pad for the dumpster and the grease trap, then install a fence around it to keep out any riffraff.

 

Eric brought in some tasty treats to sustain us during the meeting.

The green ones are key lime cakes, the red are red velvet cakes, and the dark orange are sweet potato cakes.

I had been concerned that they would be crazy sweet, but, to my delight, they were actually quite good and hardly sweet at all!

I had one of the sweet potato and one of the key lime.

Oh, one more thing: Eric and Doug found my NFCU koozie!!!

 

I had left it there about a month ago, at the meeting when Doug had brought sandwiches and Kat had the kids with her.

I had put it down, with my almost empty water bottle, to help clean up.

Then, I'd been distracted by trying to remember to take a photo of the street light pole so I could report it.

And just look at it now!

Such a nice light there in the parking lot, isn't it?

What else was there of interest at this meeting?

 

Oh, yes, the folks from Eagle Global came to give us their pitch!

Brenda and Eric met them at an American Legion meeting in Columbus and was quite impressed with the fundraising abilities of their gaming machines.

So, Craig Franklin, the co-founder of that group, came in with the district guy (Sam) and the local guy (Addie) to talk of the different possibilities.

Here's the important part: Two First Posts gets 43.5% of all income from the gaming devices, free and clear.

The partnership is in conjunction with Georgia Lottery, who gets 13%, with the other 43.5% going to Eagle Global.

All we have to do is deposit the cash from the game players into the TFP account; then, every Wednesday, Georgia Lottery will remove 56.5% (their cut and EG's cut) and we just watch out bank balance grow.

Sounds pretty sweet, right?

We would have to invest in the rental of a minimum of two machines from Georgia Lottery, as a cost of $125/machine/year.

I do hope we'll vote to do so next week, though I've let all know I will be on a cruise, so they'll have to do so without me.

(smile!)

I do feel that we've accomplished so much tonight!

Let's keep that momentum going!

laundry and list done!

That was the carrot to justify my rewards this afternoon.

If I got all the clothes washed and dried and put away, I could have a leisurely double feature, double header, at the cinema. 

So, here are the clothes, in the quadruple machine which I like at Suds.

Sadly, it had a problem with its drain, so there were still suds in the last few items in the washer as I was unloading it.

Ack. 

I had to rinse those by hand, then took them home to dry.

The rest all went into the single dryer, as usual.

I know, I know, it's been almost five months since I was at the laundry!

If not for being able to do small batches during my dog-sitting forays since February, I would have run out of undies a long time ago.

Fortunately, those were spaced out such that those small loads were exactly what I needed, when I needed it.

i thank You, God.

Then, as my reward I finished off my AMC A*List with two more "determined women" films, without realizing I had a theme until I saw the image.

See what I mean?

"Gail Daughtry And The Celebrity Sex Pass" was already discussed.

That leaves the other two, both seen this afternoon and prevening.

I still don't understand why "Moana" was made as "live-action", as it followed the 2016 animated film exactly.

My guess is they wanted to do so while The Rock was still pretty buff.

After all, Dwayne Johnson isn't gonna get any younger, right?

He's 54 years old now, and certainly looks it, but he still looked good enough to stand in for a demigod that had been on a desert isle for 1000 years.

(smile!)

I don't know why they changed out the girl, swapping out Auliʻi Cravalho and replacing her with Catherine Laga'aia, as they are only 5 years apart in age, but there may have been an availability issue.

I'm just thrilled that they kept Jemaine Clemente there to voice that "Shiny"-loving treasure crab!!!

I followed that with a conversation with both Trey and Tom!

The two managers were changing shifts, so it was nice to chat with both.

I found out that parking lot lights should be at least started by the end of this month - hooray!!      

Then I ate pizza for slunch while I watched "Supergirl".

Bless her heart, she was having a rough time on her 23rd birthday, as it seemed to be just another day of getting drunk, like so many others.

Then, of all the bars in that alien world, the little girl walks into hers, seeking someone to kill Krem, the creep that slaughtered her sword-making family.

Kara Zor-El tried to shake the girl, but her dog, Krypto, seemed to like her so the trio seemed stuck together for a while.

That didn't last long before Krem came calling... and reminded her of something her father had told her: to be good.

It was the same message her cousin CLark kept throwing at her.

They weren't telling her to 'behave', they were trying to get her to acknowledge the goodness in her heart.

Pretty good movie!

Maybe I'll be able to see that one again in a couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, that trio will have to do.

Now, I'm going to watch "8 Days: To The Moon And Back" with my dinner. 

I recorded the 2019 PBS documentary a few days ago and now, when naught is on except FIFA soccer, it's perfect for me!

It promises to have actual cockpit voice recordings, as well as recordings from the Houston Space Center and various news broadcasts, so I'm looking forward to it.

I imagine it'll be much of the same things I heard at the Kennedy Space Center, but, still, that's pretty awesome stuff!

What a moment in history that was for the entire world!

Shhh... it's starting...

sparkle of fireflies

An old boyfriend from high school posted this on his fb page.

"I just learned that a group of fireflies is called a sparkle...

and now the world feels a little more magical!" 

He's Father Michael Kavanaugh these days, and we once wrote letters back and forth as he was in divinity school and I was in my "C" school classes.

One of these days, he and I are meeting for lunch, but not today.

This is Tina Tuesday and I've 

spent it with my first niece!!!

Incredibly, unbelievably, it was just me and her...

no children... 

no boyfriend...

just the two of us!

I have felt so special! 

We began with "Sing" at NCG Cinema, one of the last of its "Summer Camp" films, eating popcorn and singing along!

Then we were off to Olive Garden, naturally.

I had asked if she thought that might be doable and she'd replied, "what a silly question, Aunt Tina!"

(smile!) 

I'm so glad she arranged this island of time with me before our vacation with the family next week!

Wmla, my dearest Christina!!!