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Thursday, December 31, 2009

Have a great 2010! 


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Sunday, December 27, 2009

Vacation, Part 4: end of cruise, Downtown Disney.... 

Am very tired from the visiting the in-laws' house tonight for a delayed Christmas dinner. Was snowed in for Christmas Eve and day, and the roads were only completely plowed and safe to drive across town this afternoon following FIVE consecutive days of snow. But now I'm ready to pick up where I left off in my tale of Caribbean and Disney adventure.....

To be honest, my memory of Wednesday, November 11 is kinda spotty. It was our "day at sea", meaning we had no off-ship excursions or obligations of any kind except dinner. I was heading to mega-flare land from all the activity and lack of sleep since Saturday.

Don't know when I woke up, but it probably wasn't very late because of the usual intercom announcements. Dan went and did something with his family, I think, and I lounged, watching the debarkation presentation on the TV. I found out much to my surprise that we were supposed to have everything except our day bags packed and ready to be picked up by 9pm THAT NIGHT, while we would be at dinner, even though we didn't leave the ship until the next morning.

Sounds simple enough, having your bag picked up 12 hours before you disembark. But you have to remember to have your next day's clothes out, or you'll have to get off the ship in your pajamas, heh heh. And you have to set aside something to hold your morning toiletries and night clothes.

You also need to have your customs forms ready and your shipboard account settled. All the things you charged on the ship go automatically to your credit card, but you have to figure out tips for the room and dining staff. I spent some time doing this and filling out a lengthy survey.

Did finally gather up enough energy to head with Dan and his family to one of the theatres for a 1pm showing of "Up" in 3-D. Dan hadn't seen it before, and I had, but not in 3-D. I liked how the waterfall scenes became so much more real looking with the effects, and Dan enjoyed the whole thing as I had hoped he would.

But the movie was pretty much the extent of my capacity for the day. There was a nice Broadway-style show that evening that Dan's parents, grandfather and Virginia went to see, but I was just too brain fried for any more entertainment, so I hung out in the stateroom for awhile. Probably just as well, because I had to get my ginormous suitcase re-packed and figure out what all had to go in it and what needed to go in the day bag.

After I had cleaned out every drawer and shelf and had gotten everything sorted or at least accounted for, I was ready to leave the room for a bit. Dan and I went to Shutters, the gallery where they posted all the photos that had been taken of you by staff on board the ship. We decided to purchase three: one of our whole group, one of Dan and I at Triton's the first night, and one of Dan and I during the pirate party. Then, because we were done with shipboard charges, we went to do an early check-out so I wouldn't have to settle my bill the next morning when I would be even more brain-fried.

Once we had all our obligations taken care of, Dan and I wandered around to check out anything on the ship we hadn't viewed yet. Other than some sketches and other artwork in lobbies and such, we'd covered everything, so we just sat in one of the atriums and people watched while I had a snack. One of the things I never tire of is listening to the accents of people from all over the world.

We went back to the stateroom when the first dinner shift started, and I took my evening shower. I was sooooo wiped out afterward I would have given anything to just lie down and sleep for several days, but we needed to get our suitcases out into the hall ready to be picked up before we headed to dinner. When we left the room, I was shaking and confused and very glad to be using the wheelchair.

Our last dinner was at Parrot Cay, a Caribbean-themed restaurant. Luckily, the wait staff knew me well enough to bring me an unsweetened iced tea right away, and the caffeine made me feel a bit better. And I had ordered the night before, so I had no decisions to make.

The cold papaya and mango soup I had was amazing! The main course was poached halibut with clams and mussels, which was delicious but surprisingly filling. By the time I had ice cream for dessert, I felt like I would explode.

There was actually one more deck party that night, but no way was I capable of going. Like the night before, once Dan and I got back to the stateroom, he got to go to sleep immediately, and I fought to stay alert and upright for three more hours. And once again, my book sat pretty much unread in my hand as I conked out most uncomfortably on the couch until Dan woke me up and told me it was time to come to bed.

The morning of November 12 came much too early as we needed to get our morning routine done, finish with the stateroom, load up our day bags and be back at the Parrot Cay restaurant for breakfast by 8am and be off the ship by 9am. I was grateful that breakfast was ala carte so I could easily order only what I needed, scrambled eggs and some fruit. I thought we were pretty much good to go, but I was wrong.

It seems that I had been so brain dead that I had failed to notice a HUGE clerical error on our check-out statement. Dan had to run over to Guest Services and get it resolved before we could leave, and the clock was ticking. And Virginia had left the room keys in her stateroom, not realizing they were needed to check out, and didn't know about the customs forms, so that needed to be straightened out too.

We ended up being one of the last groups to disembark. We searched and searched for a missing bag only to discover that it was right in front of us and its owner had forgotten what color it was. And we needed assistance getting through customs.

One off the ship, we were in for a nasty surprise: tropical storm Ida had followed us to Port Canaveral, Florida. It was windy, raining and probably 40 degrees outside. I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, and of course my warmer clothes were in the big suitcase that had been sent ahead.

We did manage to catch the very last bus which took us back to the Orlando airport. There was a video to watch, but I dozed uncomfortably pretty much the whole trip. Was quite grateful for the wheelchair once we got to the airport, because I was toast.

We waited around for Dan's grandfather and Virginia to get picked up, and then Dan, his parents and I caught another Disney bus to go to the All Star Movies hotel. I think I dozed off during that ride too. Our hotel is one of the Disney properties, but it is one of the furthest out.

Even though it was mid-afternoon, it took a ridiculously long time to get checked in for some reason. I was too exhausted and cranky to inquire about it. After some wandering around, we found the building our room was in and unloaded everything.

Then everyone wanted to know if we were going to go eat or go to Downtown Disney or what. I kind of flipped out then because I was freezing (the air conditioning was on in the room!) and too tired to even form a coherent sentence, let alone form a game plan. The last thing I felt like doing was shopping.

But after I threw my little temper tantrum, I made myself calm down, put on the jeans and sweatshirt I had planned to wear on the plane back to Sioux Falls, borrow Dan's hooded sweatshirt to wear over that and figure out what I was gonna do about lunch. The hotel had a food court, which is pretty much second only to buffets for being a dangerous place for a celiac to eat. But I didn't have the energy to go anywhere else.

After wandering around the food court for awhile, I didn't really see anything promising, so I asked one of the people working at the counter what I might be able to eat. She brought the head chef out of the back, and he was soooo nice, a huge relief because my nerves were totally frayed. He actually offered to make me my own personal-sized gluten free pizza, and I gratefully accepted.

Couldn't find any unsweetened iced tea anywhere, but I did notice they had hot water and tea bags, so I was able to make some hot tea and get some desperately needed caffeine into me. Once I did that and had some pizza, I was considerably more cheerful. I agreed to give Downtown Disney a shot.

The cool thing about staying at a Disney resort is that the shuttles are free and will take you anywhere in Disney World. It was a verrry long ride to Downtown Disney, but I was more willing to endure it with warm food in my tummy. We arrived about 4pm I think.

Downtown Disney is basically specialty shops with a few restaurants and activities thrown in for good measure. I'm not really much of one for shopping, but I forgot all about that once I saw the adorable Christmas ornaments in the first shop window, heh heh. And they had some cute outdoor holiday displays along with a carousel, so I had a few things to take pictures of.

Too funny - I had warned Dan against purchasing too many souvenirs, but I turned out to be the problem, not him. The Christmas store had entire displays of things I would have loved to bring home, like stuffed Eeyores with candy canes in their mouths. The ornaments were really lovely, but also really breakable, so not suitable for having on the plane with me.

My resolve wavered and then finally disappeared in the clothing store. I got a pink nightshirt with Eeyore on it saying "it's never too early for chocolate", to replace the decade-old faded nightshirt I had. And because I don't have enough long-sleeved t-shirts, I got a purple thermal one with a Mickey Mouse graphic on it.

The one completely frivolous thing I just had to have was a small stuffed Pluto. It was simply too adorable to leave behind. Then I was finally ready to call it quits on the purchases.

Dan's parents got tired and wanted to have a snack at McDonalds, so Dan and I agreed to meet them later while we checked out the rest of Downtown Disney. There were some interesting displays, like giant Tinker toys and an even larger Loch Ness Monster made of Lego. Shockingly, while taking pix, I discovered I had filled up an entire memory card, which meant I had taken probably 600 photos on the trip (luckily, I had brought a backup card)!

The wind picked up after the sun went down, and we all were getting kinda cold, so we went back to the entrance to catch the bus by 6pm. Some French ladies who were laden with shopping bags sat next to us and chatted excitedly all the way back, which was amusing. I got bits and pieces of their conversation, but my French is awfully rusty these days.

Back at the room, everyone else dropped off to sleep pretty early, but I of course had to stay up for awhile, so I sat in a chair and read my book and propped my feet up on the edge of the bed since there was no other place to elevate them. I think I called it a night about 11pm.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Happy Holidays! 


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Wednesday, December 23, 2009

No guitars harmed in making this video.... 

A musician, angry that United Airlines damaged his $3500 guitar and wouldn't admit it, made this hilarious video about the situation. This is the same airline that lost my wheelchair....


Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Disney Cruise, Day 3: Castaway Cay and Pirates! 

Took a verrrry long time to edit all the pix I took on the rest of the cruise, but at last it's done. Have to admit I had some nice shots, if too many, to choose from. So now to continue with the tale of Caribbean adventure....

Tuesday, November 10th started much the way the previous day did: early, with intercom announcements waking me up. But I'd decided I wanted to try a day trip to Disney's private island, and I would need one of their sand wheelchairs, which were first come, first served, so I was actually motivated to leave the stateroom by 9am. Since the ship had docked, Dan was feeling better again, and I think the prospect of hanging out on a white sand beach appealed to him too.

I slathered myself with waterproof sunscreen, put on a swimsuit with a t-shirt and shorts over it, put water and snacks in a tote bag, and we were ready to roll. Once off the gangway, we were handed some towels, so we were totally set. There was a fairly smooth pathway for us to use, and we followed that while checking out the first piece of scenery: a model of The Flying Dutchman, which was used in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" films (a pic of which appears above).

I'd read in our itinerary that none other than Captain Jack Sparrow was to make an appearance (not actually Johnny Depp, of course, but someone who looked like him). Sure enough, while we were admiring the gorgeous blue-green Caribbean water, a golf cart pulled up with everyone's fave pirate in it. Dan was kind enough to take a pic of me with Captain Jack.

After that photo op, we strolled around for a bit to get pix of the family beach which was nearest us and the gorgeous trees and flowers. When we reached the spots where the sand wheelchairs were, it had begun to rain, but I didn't mind as I already had a swimsuit on as long as the camera stayed dry. We left my personal wheelchair in exchange for the beach-ready one.

Sand wheelchairs are like regular ones except for the wheels, which are enormous inner tubes. It's like being in a very bouncy dune buggy. They are a pain to turn around, but Dan found he could make them go straight forward really fast, heh heh.

To actually get to Serenity Bay, the beach for grown-ups only, you have to go to the part of the island furthest away from the ship. Fortunately, there is a tram that will take you there. By the time we got to our destination, the rain was already letting up.

And so we set off to tackle the white sand with me giggling as I bounced around in the wheelchair. We stopped before long because Dan spotted a rainbow. I tried to photograph it, but it didn't come out as well as I would have hoped.

There were only a couple of people who had gotten to the bay before us, so we had our choice of where to hang out. The beach was already lined with chairs and tables with umbrellas. We decided on a spot about halfway out.

Serenity Bay is even more amazing than what we had seen at Nassau. Because it was a secluded cove, there were no waves, so I could actually wade without fear of getting knocked over by an undertow. And the water was crystal clear, so I could see exactly where I was walking and thus avoid stepping on coral or shells.

Dan doesn't typically get into the water when we visit a beach, but this time he did because it was so calm. He was the first one to notice the fish swimming around our ankles. There were tiny silvery ones as well as blue and green ones about six inches long.

Dan decided to go back and stretch out in one of the lounge chairs, but I was too excited to stop even though common sense would have dictated that I go rest. I continued to wade, slowly and carefully, watching the fish and watching the clouds dissipate and the sun come out. When I was about chest deep in the water, to my surprise, grey sting rays were floating past me.

I would have loved to have stayed right there all day, but I started feeling wobbly, so I made myself turn around and head back to the beach. Dan was a tiny dot in the distance. By the time I got to the chairs, I was pretty weak and shaky, my own fault completely, but I didn't care.

Hung out with Dan on the lounge chairs while I got some strength back, realizing to my regret that I had brought nothing to read. People began arriving in greater numbers, and one group sat in the chairs next to ours: a married couple, their two grown daughters, and the husband of one of the daughters. The mom told me she was originally from Trinidad and Tobago, and she said this beach reminded her of a place she used to go to as a child.

Unfortunately, lounge chairs really bother my back, so I needed to go sit in a standard one. Some people had taken theirs and placed them just far enough into the water that they were half submerged, and I decided to imitate them. The group that had settled near us did the same.

One hilarious moment occurred when a school of yellow striped fish swam right under our chairs. I let out a tiny gasp of surprise, but the man next to me, a huge muscular guy, squealed like a little girl and floundered around. His family could not stop laughing, and neither could I.

Later, the woman from Trinidad went out on a rented inner tube, and she got stuck in it. Her laughing husband and son-in-law waded out and towed her back in and got her unstuck. Luckily she found this amusing too.

By the time I realized I had forgotten to re-apply my sunscreen and was already starting to get some color (which my doc had told me was a no-no), the beach was beginning to fill up and Dan was getting restless. I verrrry reluctantly abandoned my Caribbean beach bum chair and got ready to leave. We went to rinse as much of the sand off as possible, which admittedly, is never enough.

We took the tram back to the mid-section of the island where there was an outdoor barbecue. I couldn't eat there because I had not made any arrangements in advance, but Dan had lunch while I snacked on what I had brought with me and had some iced tea. He said the food was pretty good.

Once nourished, we checked out the shops in the area. I found some really gorgeous, cool t-shirts, but none in my size. One place had some art work that I just loved, but I honestly have no unadorned wall space in my home, so I got a refrigerator magnet with my fave print on it, one of a loggerhead turtle. And I found some cool teardrop shaped earrings with a small nautilus design in the center and pieces of what looked like abalone around the edges.

Then Dan obliged me by taking me over to the family beach so I could look around. Wayyy more crowded than where we had been, but a nice beach with a huge water slide, para-sailing, jet skis, and lots of other stuff to do. There was also a nice view of the ship, which still looked huge even from a distance.

After awhile, tropical storm Ida reminded us that its influence wasn't completely gone yet, and the wind picked up again. We left the beach, snapping a few more pix of the flora as we headed back to turn in the sand wheelchair and pick up my own again. We got back to the stateroom about 2:30pm.

Took a proper shower, the only way to get rid of last remnants of sand, and dressed for that evening's theme, a pirate party. I didn't actually have any sort of costume, but I wore my "Pirates of the Caribbean" t-shirt with black capri pants and large hoop earrings. There was one more stop I wanted to make on the gangway now that I was cleaned up: I wanted to meet Pluto and have my pic taken with him, which I did.

Back on the ship, we agreed that we were both in the mood for a tropical drink, but I can't drink much due to my ailments, and Dan didn't want to be even close to tipsy when the ship started moving again, so we decided to split one. We got a strawberry daiquiri made with dark Bahamian rum. Delicious!

We had thought that the highest deck, number 10, was not wheelchair accessible, but upon closer inspection, it was, and the views were awesome, making me regret I had not gone up there sooner to take pix. Got some shots of Castaway Cay from there, and a nice fellow passenger generously offered to take a pic of Dan and I together. Then we went down to the stateroom for a bit of rest.

Dan and I had agreed to go to a showing of the brand new 3D version of "A Christmas Carol" with the rest of our party at 5:45. We met Dan's parents, grandfather and Virginia at the theatre. We sat in the back row where there was space for wheelchairs.

Probably only five minutes into the movie while I was enjoying the pretty 3D effect of falling snow, the effects of the enormous amount of activity of the day and lack of sleep came up and walloped me. No matter how hard I fought it, I could not stop myself from dozing off. So my memory of the first third of the movie is pretty spotty.

I did manage to get alert enough to watch the last two thirds of the movie. I must say I didn't care for the middle portion when they shrunk Scrooge down and had him chased by demonic horses, which made no sense at all. The ending was much better in comparison.

Luckily, Dan had decided take Dramamine and Tylenol an hour prior to the ship leaving port, and it actually worked: he felt well enough to fully participate in dinner. But Dan's dad was having sinus problems from the air fresheners in the rooms as well as some sea sickness of his own, so he had to skip out. The rest of us met at the Animator's Palate restaurant for our pirate-themed meal.

Dan's mom brought some extra scarves along, so I put a hot pink one on my head like a bandanna, more girlie looking than fierce, but kinda funny. We had brought our camera along to get photos of the wait staff, and we were glad we did, because they were in full pirate regalia. Dan had a proper bandanna with skulls on it and an eye patch for good measure.

Dan and I ordered the same thing: mahi mahi with a macadamia nut crust. Mine was a gluten free version, but there was no difference in appearance between Dan's and mine. Scrumptious, as was the cold melon soup and coconut rice pudding.

Toward the end of dinner, the staff invited everyone to participate in a pirate "parade" around the restaurant. Some people were wearing bandannas with Mickey Mouse ears on them, others with Goofy ears. They even did a little pirate limbo.

Then it was off to deck 9 for the ship-wide party, but because we had the late dinner, it was already in full swing when we arrived. We did luck out, though, and snag the last available place in the wheelchair-accessible area. Couldn't see much of the stage from there, but the big screen was visible so you could tell what was going on.

Lots of singing and dancing by Mickey and friends until Captain Hook and his crew "captured" the ship. Entertaining but not too scary for kids. The best part, though, were the fireworks: Disney ships are the only ones to have fireworks shows.

After the entertainment ended, there were actually snacks available, but as we had just finished supper, we had to maneuver my wheelchair very carefully around that crowd. Once back to the stateroom, Dan dropped right off to sleep, but I of course had to stay up to digest supper, so I propped myself up the best I could on the couch and picked up my book. Next thing I knew, Dan woke me up by throwing something at me from across the room because it was 1:30am and I needed to go to bed.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Disney Cruise, Day 2: Nassau, Bahamas.... 

Sorry for the delay. Did the Christmas card thang complete with holiday letter, and I'm STILL in a dang flare! But the vacation sage continues....

November 9 began much earlier than I was hoping it would. The captain started making announcements on the intercom at 6:30am about the ship having docked, when passengers could disembark, etc. So much for sleeping in.

But I was curious whether there was any sort of view from the ship of our destination, so Dan and I and the camera left the stateroom around 9am, heading for our favorite hangout, deck 9. Near one of the pools was Minnie Mouse in a tropical print dress posing for pix with the passengers. There weren't a lot of people around because many had gone on morning excursions, so I had my picture taken with Minnie.

When I got to the open-air part of the deck, I couldn't believe how gorgeous it was! On our right was Nassau proper, and on a nearby island to the left, the Atlantis resort. And a few nice-looking homes within sight as well.

The Caribbean Seas was an amazing shade of turquoise. In some areas, it was more blue and others more green, but most places it was a combination of the two. The wind had not died down a whole lot and was probably still about 30mph, so I was glad I had decided against a harbor tour because I saw the boats out there and they were tossing around something terrible.

Dan was feeling better now that the ship was in port, which was quite a relief. We spent a fair amount of time admiring the view and taking pix and laughing at the birds hanging around the deck looking for handouts. When I had photographed the area from every possible angle, we went back inside and ran into non other than Goofy and Max, and they posed for a picture with Dan.

While strolling the deck a bit later, I noticed that the foosball table had nobody playing, so I challenged Dan to a game even though I hadn't played in at least a decade. I surprised myself by winning by a point. Beginner's luck, heh heh.

After that, Dan got a sandwich and I got some fresh fruit from a stand by one of the pools. There are few things better than actual fresh pineapple! That stuff shipped still green to the mainland doesn't count.

At noon, it was finally time to embark upon our excursion in Nassau. We met with the rest of the group and headed off the ship, across the dock and into Festival Place, where the shuttle met us. It was a full bus of about 24 people.

In the Bahamas, the rules of the road require you to drive on the left. I'd never experienced this before, so it was a bit odd at first. And while not a requirement, it does seem that all drivers operated their vehicles as fast and as close to other vehicles/buildings/people as possible, heh heh.

One the way to our first stop, Ardastra Gardens, our driver gave us some history and trivia about the buildings we were passing and about Nassau in general. It took maybe 15 minutes to reach our destination. Ardastra Gardens is a combo zoo and botanic gardens featuring mainly exotic birds.

Our first order of business was meeting and hand feeding Lory birds, small brilliantly colored parrots. Dan and I went inside a large enclosure where the birds were flying around. We each took an apple slice and waited to see if we got any takers.

Dan was insanely popular: almost immediately, two birds landed on his head, one on his shoulder and one on the camera! I couldn't do anything but laugh. When his apple slice was gone, the birds left, and Dan could pick up the camera and take a few pix of the gorgeous red bird that had perched on my hand.

After we left the enclosure, we had some time to wander around. Nearby, there was a "crossing" road sign with a picture of a flamingo on it, and wouldn't you know it, actual flamingos crossing the road in front of it. Cracked me up.

We also saw peacocks, turtles, other birds I couldn't identify, and a meerkat. I stepped out of my wheelchair to get a good shot of the turtles, and when I turned around, more flamingos were walking past Dan and my chair single file on the path! Kinda surreal.

I took some pix of the beautiful flowers and plants and was going to check out more animals, but it was time for a show to start. Believe it or not, several of the flamingos had been trained to march in unison around a grassy gazebo area. A "drill sergeant" would bark out orders, and the birds would change direction or whatever was asked of them.

These birds looked different from any flamingo I had seen before. For one thing, the males were five feet tall! And instead of the pale pink birds you see in zoos in the U.S., these were an intense reddish orange, the result of their diet in the Bahamas.

Members of the audience were invited to go into the center ring to meet the birds, which I did. I was told to stand still in a certain spot, and they would come to me. Before I knew it, I was surrounded by birds, and most surprised when one of the females leaned against me like she was giving me a hug; her feathers were very soft.

After the show, we went toward the entrance where the macaws were. We were asked if we wanted our photo taken with the birds. I was given a cockatoo, which mistook my short hair for feathers which needed preening, heh heh, and Dan had a macaw standing on a hat on his head, which I thought was hilarious.

Then it was back to the shuttle and a 45 minute tour of downtown Nassau. The history was pretty interesting. Our last stop was at Fort Fincastle, which had been built in the late 1700's to ward off enemy invaders.

Near Fort Fincastle were various vendors, the closest of which was a guy with fresh coconuts and a large blade with which to chop them. Like the pineapple, coconut tastes very different right off the tree. The milk is sweet, the meat chewy and the jelly, well, jelly-like, heh heh.

When the tour ended, Dan volunteered to push me in my wheelchair around town a bit. The Hard Rock Cafe wasn't far off. I bought a black long-sleeved t-shirt with the logo in silver and gold.

We wandered for awhile longer until I started getting too tired, and then we headed back to the dock. Took some last pix of Festival Place and the exterior of the ship and went back to the stateroom so I could rest a bit. Ate a snack and watched a couple of ABC shows on the TV, one of which I really liked called "Modern Family".

By 5pm, I was feeling less wiped out but more stiff and sore, so I headed for the pool area. It was still too windy to put my towel on a chair without it blowing away, so I tied it to a hand rail again, but the pool was calm enough to swim in, and I did approximately the equivalent of one lap in it before going to a hot tub. Got to talk to a nice couple who were originally from Ohio but now worked for Disney and were on their first cruise.

Went back to the stateroom around 6pm and got cleaned up. It was supposed to be "dress up" night for dinner, which meant I was supposed to put on a dress, but I don't own one, so I wore a matching top and long skirt, which I figured was close enough. Found out the hard way that ankle-length skirts and wheelchairs don't exactly get along, heh heh.

Unfortunately, once the ship left port around 7pm, Dan immediately got seasick again. He took some Dramamine right away, but it was only partially effective. So he was queasy again when we went to dinner at 8:15.

The restaurant we were assigned to this time was called the Animator's Palate. All along the walls of the restaurant are black and white sketches from various Disney animated films. During the course of the dinner, some of them become color, which is cool.

Dan's parents and grandfather and Virginia hadn't gotten off the ship, but had instead seen a performance of "Toy Story: The Musical", which Virginia said was excellent. Since I had ordered the night before, my dinner had already been modified to be gluten free. I had whitefish with a five-spice Chinese sauce which was amazing, tomato salad, and a small ice cream sundae.

Dan got through the main course but had to leave before dessert. Dan's mom pushed my wheelchair back to the stateroom. In the room, we had fresh towels made into the shape of a monkey (the previous night had been either an elephant or a dog, we weren't sure) with squares of chocolate for the eyes.

I had to stay up a few more hours to digest my dinner, but the sheer magnitude of all the activity of the past three days came rushing at me big time like a sledgehammer. I found myself at 1am with an open book still in my hand and a horrible crick in my neck. I wondered how I was gonna make it through the rest of the week and went to bed hoping against hope for some genuine restorative sleep.

Friday, December 11, 2009

In case you missed it.... 

The now-famous Pink Glove Dance....


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