Today was a very beautiful day in Vancouver. I had mandatory IPM for today but was able to get off the ship for about an hour and a half after straightening out a switching dilemma with security. I knew that I didn’t have a ton of time to go back to Stanley Park, but I did want to walk and enjoy the gorgeously sunny day anyway.
I took my camera back to the park where I shot the heron in hopes of seeing it again, but instead saw Canada geese and ducks and a very young and unintimidated crow that appeared to be dead until I was only about a foot away from it and it started to move away from me. I stayed as long as I could and then I made my way back to the ship where I got ready to cover gangway detail.The 5:00 pm meeting went well. Julie wasn’t able to lead it so she assigned parts for each of us to lead. I really enjoy speaking about stuff I know so it was much more interesting than standing there like we usually do while she says all the info. Afterwards we got ready for our welcome aboard party.
Crystal had a migraine this week and was unable to join us. I was really sad about that because this week the kids looked at me the first night as though I was an alien from outer space when I asked them to dance for one of the games. They wouldn’t move around at all (I don’t expect much - just a little finger jiving or SOMETHING) so I kept moving from game to game to find something that might intrigue them. Overall the night ended fine, after 2/3rds of my tweens signed themselves out before 9 pm due to boredom, but HEY I would rather they go where they will be more entertained if my best isn’t good enough for them. Hopefully this isn’t a sign of things to come for this week. We’ll have to wait and see :)
Thursday July 26th: First Sea Day
Today the seas where a little rough and many of the kids looked a little green. I ended up taking both halves of the Bonine and ate a stack of ginger snaps to ward off the green monster myself. Even after the other half of the medication I still felt the headache, but I failed to wear the wristbands today so who knows.
I was a bit nervous this week about doing scavenger hunts. These kids have some crazy tendencies that came out today but I divided them up by simply numbering them off and not doing anything special to orchestrate the groups and they worked together perfectly. They had such a blast they actually want to keep their same teams and finish the rest of the scavenger hunt on Monday night. Wow!
Friday July 27th: Tracy Arm & Juneau, AK
Tracy Arm was very lovely today and slightly sunny. I’m hoping that the overcast weather on our sea day will translate into sunny ports this week. Strangely with the sunny sea days we kept having rainy ports, so I’m hoping that the opposite will hold true this week. One can only hope.
Juneau this week was gorgeous! If I’d had more time I would have definitely gone up the tramway or to Mendenhall Glacier it was so nice.
This week though, in an effort to not waste all my tip money on internet cards, I went to the library until close at 5 pm to try and register for two more classes and fill out financial aid paperwork. Unfortunately in my haste to finally get off the ship I failed to bring all the documents I have collected along and therefore could only just start the FAFSA for this semester coming up. I also was only able to register for one class and not two as the other newly added class still conflicts with my schedule. So, this fall I so far have only 3 classes and need to find out if I am able to get financial aid for less than full time or do I simply pick up a class like bowling in order to get financial aid. A fun class would allow me to relax a little and get some exercise maybe. I wasn’t serious about bowling, but maybe there is something else I might enjoy. Dad suggested a business class, but I’m already so extended with the three classes I will be taking that I would need a no brainer type class to enjoy and not stress over if I want to stay sane and keep up the GPA, so I’ll have to think long and hard about what I will take. I only have 4 weeks to decide so hopefully I’ll have a quick revelation.For our survivor night most of the kids had to leave early so it was a little weird to do mystery food at 9 pm when usually it’s the last activity at 9:45. I have two great boys this week though that really wanted to do it before going home for the night so I revamped the order of activities for them. It ended up being girls night after that so we ended on Eye Q test with picture puzzles and snack and they seemed ok with that. Yay! :)
Saturday July 28th: Skagway, AK
Today I planned to go to Haines, AK on the ferry and spend the day there taking pictures. The weather was supposed to be nice for once and I was really looking forward to it. I woke up though with some gastro problems and had stomach cramps and really didn’t feel up to going. During out monthly General Drill I felt unwell and so after I relaxed until 11:15 am when I was to meet Rebecca to go to the ferry. I prayed about whether or not I should make the trip, I didn’t want to be too far from a bathroom and also knew I wouldn’t fully enjoy the trip and my prayer was answered. When we got to the ferry terminal it was closed with no mention of whether or not there would be a ferry that day anyway. Turns out in my frenzy to get ready while not feeling completely 100% I also forgot my wallet, so it’s a good thing we didn’t go.
On the dock we saw an amazing sight that made up for missing the ferry. We saw harbor seals playing about 20 feet from us in the water.
I guess playing isn’t really what they were doing, they were hunting salmon. I watched for about an hour as they stalked their prey and herded it to the place of no escape and dived for the prize. At one point two of the seals started fighting cuz I guess one got the other’s prized fish and they had to “take it outside”. :) They were quite cute. Many said they were sea lions, but they were definitely harbor seals. Sea lions have little flaps at the ear canal that look like little ears and harbor seals simply have flat holes in the sides of their heads. I’ve included a few photos of them in my collection for this week.After watching the seals for a while James from Shore Ex came over and talked to me again for a bit. I am convinced that he is trying to take his chances with me again after a bit of a reprieve. I honestly haven’t done ANYTHING to encourage the guy, but he’s now asking me to dinner again. I keep politely changing the subject, but he just doesn’t get it. I will unfortunately not be able to ever look at him the same again either after talking to him on the pier with a huge wad of chewing tobacco in his bottom lip. I was so repulsed I thought I would vomit right there on his shoes but kept a stoic face out of kindness. Thankfully I only run into him occasionally and don’t actually work in his department.
Country Carnival was a sweeping success tonight. It truly was about the most fun I’ve had at a carnival this summer. They kids had fun, behaved quite well, and really appreciated what we did for them in preparation and execution. I really honestly like this week’s kids even though I was a little skeptical at the beginning of the week.
Sunday July 29th: Glacier Bay Day
It was overcast with low hanging clouds in Glacier Bay National Park today. This actually was ok as the temp was decent and the air was only mildly misty at times. The tweens and I hung out at the railing for a full half hour watching some amazing avalanches cascade down the face of Marjorie. It was truly breathtaking and I was so glad to have been able to witness it. One of my guys had wanted to go in and then all of a sudden a huge crack and boom was heard and a good 10 second avalanche and he no longer wanted to go in but rather stay out even longer than we were able. :) It just takes some cool sights in nature to pique a child’s interest.
For movie night we watched Cheaper by the Dozen, the new version with Steve Martin, while the kids sat and talked and quoted the movie. Normally I would have been shushing them but no one seemed to mind not being able to hear so why get my “britches in a knot”. I had already seen the movie and wasn’t missing anything, so I ate my popcorn and enjoyed spending time with the kids. After the movie ended we played spoons. This weeks kids are spoons fanatics, fine by me because the game is really fun! We play whenever there is down time between activities.
I went to the fellowship meeting tonight, but was unable to sing again this week due to laryngitis. Instead I shared about how despite the fact that I couldn’t sing praises to God I could still PRAISE God with every breath that was in me. Praise Him in any way that I was able to. There were a handful of visitors there this week, guests who’d been invited by our very bold Lido friend Prayudi. More than one of them piped up to say that being in our fellowship was actually the highlight of their cruise. Wow. You just never know when and how you might be a blessing to someone else. Keep that thought in mind this week.
Monday July 30th: Ketchikan, AK
Well, sadly I must report that I had 3 bouts of the “runs” between 12 am and 2 am and so I decided to not attend my excursion that I was scheduled to go on. I do at times have episodes after eating certain things, but usually they happen within an hour and usually within about 20 minutes of ingesting the offending cuisine. I hadn’t had anything since about 9 pm last night so I don’t think it was related to that, but who knows. I decided to lay low and just rest and catch up on sleep.
By 4:40 pm I still had a lot of gurgling going on but hadn’t had any new episodes, but Liz said that I had to go to the Health Services anyway to be cleared to work. I didn’t want to go there, because it was only those few times and such, but if I should have the dreaded N virus that will remain nameless it would not be good if I spread the contagion to other crew and guests. So, I went and saw the doctor and was promptly placed in 72 hour quarantine in my cabin. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. Thankfully the 72 hours began at the time of my last episode, so I’ll be back to work on the first sea day. So I am now looking at 2 full days locked in my room to rest, relax, catch up on e-mails, watch tv, and not have anyone bother me. I feel really bad though for Liz because now we are short a Club HAL staffer, but thankfully I don’t room with anyone from Club HAL or we’d be down 2. There is an upside to that.
I received phone calls from a few people wishing me well, and of course a concerned “please let me know if there’s anything I can do” call from James and then it was blissfully just me. I know this sounds bad, but I’m grateful for the 2 days off.
Tuesday July 31st: Final Sea Day
Today I was awakened by the room service guy calling to see if I was ready for breakfast. Sure, why not. I ordered a bagel and jam, fresh fruit and grape juice. Unlike last year in isolation (when I was the well roommate) I ate like a queen. This summer I’m not enjoying the privilege so much as I’ve now gone the opposite direction gastro-intestinally speaking and am not really that hungry.
After breakfast and an hour of television I went back to sleep until about 3 pm. I guess I really did need a break and am thankful to have this opportunity to get rest. My sinuses are acting up again, causing my laryngitis, but I’m hoping to not have to go back on antibiotics but rather rest and drink lots of fluids and hope and pray it dissolves on its own.
I ordered lunch around 4 pm and then caught up on a tv series I’m watching on DVD per a friend loaning them to me. Thankfully I’d gotten them prior to my isolation so that I’ve had something to do. I also finished a long novel in the past 2 days. It was a suspense novel that actually kept me in suspense until the end without the usual disgust at suspecting every plot twist and turn. Maybe it’s my film training and knowing what makes a successful script, but this plot was actually suspenseful and I was glad for that.
Hopefully tomorrow will be restful and enjoyable as well because then it’s back in the trenches full force on Thursday.
Hope you had a good week. This one certainly went differently then I had planned, but it just goes to show you that He is in control and His timing is perfect, how ever crazy that may seem.
Be blessed and be a blessing,
T
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