Won't you let me take you on a sea cruise? Ooooheee Oooheee Baby!

It was a really tough day but with the help of two naps...I managed to survive. The day was spent on Deck 10 reading, laughing at yellow Speedo man (he also had matching yellow Croc's AND yellow sunglasses) and enjoying the sun. I used plenty of sun screen and did just fine but some of our group didn't think they needed sun screen. They were wrong. Several of us went to one of the lounges this evening and enjoyed the live music. I'm not sure enjoyed is the right word but we were certainly entertained. The group was called Amadeus and consisted of two Asian girls and a piano player. They have beautiful voices but whoever made their musical selections should be smacked...hard. They opened their show with Neal Sedaka's CALENDAR GIRLS and it went like this, "I wuve I wuve my wittle cowander gurl! Januwary..you tart the weer off fine...Febuwary..You're my wittle valwentine!" Of course our group thought this was hysterical and requested Whitney Houston's hit I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU, Neil Diamond's SWEET CAROLINE plus any other song we could think of that had a lot of L's. At least nobody can say we are hard to entertain.

Souvenir Glasses and Chris's Dobbers

Anyone who has ever been on a cruise is very familiar with the souvenir glass. The cocktail waiters and waitresses prowl the pool and sun deck constantly taking drink orders and trying to upsell to the souvenir glass which of course costs more. The first day the glass just appears and you think, "Oh OK, I really really need a neon pink glass on my desk for pens and pencils." By the time the 4th glass appears you start to get a little testy. AGAIN...I DO NOT WANT THE SOUVENIR GLASS, JUST PUT MY DAIQUIRI IN A REGULAR GLASS THANK YOU VERY MUCH. This afternoon Doug had enough of the uninvited and unwanted souvenir glasses and told our waiter that if he brought another one it would be pitched over the side of the ship with the waiter still attached. Hmmm, I think that was the last of the souvenir glasses for Doug! However, the rest of us were not so lucky. Think ebay would be interested in a set of 12 neon colored souvenir glasses? OK...now back to Chris's Dobbers. Last night we were all on the deck enjoying the band, having a few drinks and Chris & Megan got in the hot tub. Chris performed a short water ballet routine and was working on her encore when suddenly her dobbers fell clear out of her swim suit. We all thought about telling her but....naaaaaaa it was more fun to sit back and laugh. Even made Yellow Speedo Man's eyebrows stand at attention.

All Aboard!

The twelve of us arranged to meet in the South end of town and condense 6 vehicles to 2 cars and 1 pickup that seats 4 adults. OK...two of those adults have to be rather short stature but fortunately Sid and Debi fit that bill and in fact they were body doubles for the Munchkins in The Wizard Of Oz. Of course we had more luggage than would fit easily into the cars and the pickup bed was designated as the "over flow luggage area". You can never have too many shoes, right Chris? John brought trash bags to put the luggage in (in case it rained) and huge sheets of plastic to cover the bed of the truck and of course...what else?? DUCT TAPE! We looked like a genuine redneck parade going down Hwy 17 with plastic and duct tape flapping in the breeze. It was a proud proud moment for all of us. I have been the one who put this little excursion together so guess who was over 30 minutes late? Yep, that would be me. HEY! I had to stop and pickup my dry cleaning which led to another drama as I had asked them to fold my clothes and my plan was to s l i d e my clothes ever so gently into my suitcase. Well...ppphhhhuuu. They had put my clothes in boxes and not only could I not get the boxes open to retrieve my clothes, my luggage was at the bottom of the pile so I tossed the boxes in the back and we took off for Charleston. About halfway to Charleston it dawned on us that we would be entering a military ship yard and would need to present our passports and cruise tickets. I had my passport but unfortunately it was in the side pocket of my buried suitcase. Chris had all 4 passports for her family but her other three family members were in another car. We stop at the first gate and of course I have to dig my suitcase out from the bottom of the pile, Chris is running down the line of traffic looking for her family to give them their passports, people are honking and yelling at us and TommyB and Brian just pretended not to know who we were. We finally get through security, all three vehicles in the covered parking garage and the unloading begins. I swear we look like the Clampitt's....what a crew! Our cabins are on the same floor as the casino and when we booked this trip being close to the casino seemed like a great idea. One of these days I will learn that it is much more efficient for me to take my "allotted" gambling money and flush it down the toilet on the first day. That way the outcome is the same and I don't have to worry about it the rest of the trip. It is a beautiful night and we are all meeting up on the sun deck and check out the hot tubs. Tough life.

It was a really good plan!

I was going to work until Noon, let the carpet cleaners in at the rental, go home to take a nap, take Rosemary out to dinner, finish packing and be in bed by 9. Well...ppffffffftb. After completing 7 new proposals (of course I whined every step of the way) I left work about 2 and had to call Rosemary to let the carpet cleaners in as they beat me home. Just as I walked in the door the rental management company called and wanted to meet me at the rental for a walk through and sign the paperwork. Sigh..OK. I meet the agent and he tells me that if I can finish the cabinets and get all my crap (the way he said it was much nicer) he would start showing it this weekend. FINE So, I am boxing up my supplies (4 trips to the car), put the third coat of sealer on the cabinet doors, wipe down the counters AGAIN and by this time its 6pm. Soooooo, I walk over to Rosemary's and she wipes the white cabinet dust off my ample behind (navy blue pants, very attractive), I wipe the sweat off, wash my hands and we go to dinner. Dinner at Lone Star was wonderful...filet, grilled shrimp and TommyB had the ribs. I took Rosemary and TommyB home and THEN went to the mall to get my nails done. I got home, threw a load in the washer, STARTED packing and I don't care if it rains for the next 7 days. My behind is going to be in a deck chair reading my book! Don't you know my friends are looking forward to spending the next week with me??

One more day. One more day. One more day.

That's what I keep telling myself! I have to get my desk cleaned off tomorrow and then it's time to pack and leave for our cruise. I plan to spend 7 days sitting in the sun reading or 7 days on the observation deck in a big comfy chair reading and watching it rain. Know what? I'm FINE either way. This is our second year for this group to travel together and we have so much fun. Nobody is quite right so we have a lot in common.
Myrtle Beach hosted the Republican debates this evening at The Palace Theatre. Ron Paul did a "walk about" with his supporters and the media at Broadway At The Beach this afternoon and for whatever reason BATB still has their Christmas decorations up. We aren't talking a candle in the window wreath on the door...we are talking forty foot trees and a butt load of larger than lifesize deer dressed in little outfits which I find a little Stephen Kingish. I was thinking good grief, we have known these folks are going to be here in January for how long now? A year? Soooo...do we take our decorations down after Christmas like normal people? Naaaaaa......look at it this way, we're already decorated for Christmas of 2008!

SOME people.

Picture this...I am on a step ladder, painting the inside of a kitchen cabinet, paint in my hair, spritzing to high heaven and my phone rings. It's my good buddy Chris....she had just left the tanning salon, had her hair done, manicure, pedicure AND she wants to know if I'm packed yet! Packed? Uhhhh, no and not only am I NOT packed but my hair isn't done (done sounds so much better than bleached), I sure as heck am not tan, and I haven't had a manicure or pedicure. However, I did use gasoline and a wire brush to get the paint off of my arms.

Shoes!

For someone who LOVES shoes, I work way too close to The Rack Room...and it would probably make things simpler for everybody if I just had my paycheck sent directly to The Rack Room. When I die I plan to be cremated but there has to be a viewing because Anny insists that she has to actually see someone laid out in a casket before she can accept that they are dead. That last statement bothers me. What makes Anny so sure I'm going first? OK, back to the shoes. When I die and am all stretched out in my casket I want the lower part open so you can see what shoes I'm wearing. If it's sandal season please make sure someone buffs my callouses and checks for toe hair. Ha! I bet you are all lining up for that job!