I'm Just Wondering

Every evening on the ship we received a newsletter filled with information about the next day. They listed activites on board and posted info on the island we were visiting as well as arrival and departure times. They also noted what time the sun would rise and set. Fortunately for me, my husband is an early riser, so I got to see the sun rise several times during the week.

The thing I want to know is, how do they know when the sun is going to rise? What I mean is, how can they say it will rise at 6:13 a.m. when the rising of the sun is such a glorious and gently unfolding process?

Has the sun truly risen when you are sitting in total darkness and you see the first small ray of light at 6:13 a.m.? Or has the sun officially risen when all the darkness has dissipated at 6:13 a.m. and there is only light that is visible?

Home From the Sea

and already wondering when I can return! We had a wonderful time. Re-entry to the real world has been a little rough (how about a vacation to recover from the vacation?) We got home late Sunday night and I could have kicked myself for not taking Monday off.

I'll be writing more and posting a few pictures soon and I am looking forward to reading about what all has been going on in blogdom while I have been away.

I have had a few computer problems that kept me from posting sooner, but I think (hope) I may have those ironed out now.

Annie's Antidote for Anxiety

I finally figured out what to do with this little figure. One might say I am off to carpe my diem! Thanks for all the encouragement and the well wishes in comments on the previous post. Sorry I never got around to acknowledging them in the comment section.

The hair is cut, the toes are not painted (and likely will not be), the huge camera memory card has been obtained, I look like the original white elephant in my swimsuit (never fear, there will be no pictures of that sight!) and now, it is time for the beloved (ha ha) last-minute "crunch-time". Here is hoping I do not lose my sanity before my ship comes in!

I'll be back....

Is My Hair Too Big?

Thanks to the woman I work with and her sister, I am going Friday for a new cut and style, nothing too drastic, but something different, for my trip. They wanted to do something for me and this is what they came up with. The sister was worried I was going to be insulted! Heck, no! I was planning on getting my hair cut this weekend anyway. I have neglected it far too long. I told them everything was all right as long as I did not see any cameras following us around like on that show where they ambush the people and make them over! Those people would have a field day with me. I am not exactly a paragon of stylishness!

I am getting excited. We are leaving on the 15th so I don't know how much posting or reading of blogs I will be doing in the meantime. I only have a jillion things left to do before we leave.

Don't you just love the little drawing? We went to Natchitoches the past weekend and my daughter and I took photos while hubby took care of business. Natchitoches is the town where they filmed Steel Magnolias. We drove by the house, but did not get any photos of the house.

This is what the photo looked like before I worked on it. It is actually a big basket of impatiens hanging from the light post.

Rita, One of Many Storms (and Not All Were Hurricanes)

The gap has been closed.

The fence has been straightened. The two cedar trees are dim memories.

It's been a year and I have no words, only fragments of thought that may not make sense to anyone but me:

• When I pass that certain place on the interstate, I still see cars lined up for miles, each one moving so slowly that I could walk faster than they are moving.
• In that same place, I see my son and his buddies splitting off in an opposite direction from me. Something broke in my heart that day and I still feel that splintering.
• It all feels surreal.
• Honestly, there are days when I almost wish I had stayed and been blown away by the damn storm. It might have been easier than facing the "new normal" that all storms bring.
• While waiting to go home, I got so tired of hearing "we''ll come back stronger and better" that I wanted to smash that radio to bits, even though it was our only connection to my home.
• I'm here now, a year later with all my "stuff" intact, but my heart still hurts.
• I strongly dislike "new normals".

And yet, in spite of continuing pain, I would have to agree with the man who prayed this morning:

"Lord, thank You for the joys of this week. And thank you for the trials of this week too, for it is in the trials that we learn perseverance."

I would also add that it is in the trials that we learn the anchor holds.

Leap

For My Friend AMDP --

I made this a few months ago with my friend AMDP in mind (Thanks, AMDP, for introducing me to the Joan Anderson’s writings). She is one of only two of my “real life” friends who know about this blog. I think AMDP reads fairly regularly and sometimes checks out a few of the blogs on my blogroll list. Though we do not see each other often, we have managed to keep in touch with each other in our own haphazard fashion through nearly thirty years (Gasp! Has it really been that long?).

So, A, if you're reading, this one prints up real well. I can send you a copy if you'd like.

Little did I know when I was creating this that I would be taking my own bold and scary leap of faith.

It all began one morning at work when my husband called and said they wanted to do something for him, and they had intended to talk to him earlier, but didn't, and now, they had to have an answer today, this very afternoon.

Do you know how hard it is to commit to a week-long trip when things are so unsettled at home? Do you know how badly I needed to get away (and hubby too). My heart was saying "thank you God" as I told my husband I would have to think about it and call him back. Actually, about all I could say out loud was "Wow". I got off the phone and called my "guide for proper motherly behaviour", my own mother, and asked her what she thought. She said go for it. I called my older daughter and she said basically the same thing. I was worried that I was being selfish, because things are unsettled with my son (though he is in a protected place at the moment). The last few years have been such a battle, for many reasons, and I can certainly use the break.

I just never expected that my ship would come in in such an unexpected way, but it has, and it is mine, all mine, at least for the week of October 15 - 22! We're goin' on a cruise! We're taking in the Southern Caribbean on the Adventure of the Seas! I am so excited. I am so very grateful.

I plan to take gobs of photos. I plan to read and write. I plan to get up and see the sun rise at least once or twice. I plan to bring lots of sunscreen. I plan to spend some quality time visiting with God on that great big ocean of His.

In the meantime, I will be packing and praying that things will remain calm enough around here so that I am not worried with what I am leaving behind. (I am also praying that through some fluke, we might get a cabin, room, (what do they call those things--quarters??) with a view of the ocean (and a balcony)...now that would be a miracle! Truth is, as long as I am not under the water line, or at least, blissfully unaware of it, I will be grateful. (Jim, do NOT tell me any different!)

(And please, God, no hurricanes. Leastwise, not while I am on the boat, I mean, ship.)

So Much Pain in This World