thoughts from the deep recesses

I've spent three full days at the kids' school this week finishing up a memory book for K.'s class. Hours and hours and hours in front of a computer. I'm done. Took it down to the printers this afternoon. And now, I'm packing and leaving in the morning for a weekend scrapbooking retreat. I'll be back after the weekend. And maybe next week, I'll have a little bit more normal week and can actually blog. We'll see. Happy weekend friends. Smooch you all.

We began our first day with the sail away party out of Tampa. We flew to Tampa the day before the cruise began to avoid any last minute hassle with travel. Asia had saved up hotel points, so our hotel was free, and since his brother, Aaron lives in Tampa, our transportation was also free! After breakfast in the hotel and a scary shuttle ride with an interesting bunch of folk from South Carolina (this was just our introduction into the world of southerners... the boat was loaded with these people) we had a short wait in line and were on the ship by 11:30 am. Sail away wasn't until 4:00, so we had some time to get to know the ship before we left the port. The Legend is a very well designed vessel, and we figured her out before we even got into our cabin. When the cabins were available, we found our way to our home for the week - #6187 on the Empress Deck. Sail Away was uneventful. Nobody threw streamers or confetti like on the Love Boat. I could hardly believe we were the ones on the

So, yes, we're home. And yes, I'm busier than ever. And yes, we had a WONDERFUL time. Seriously. The best vacation. Ever. Except maybe Paris. But that was just SO different. Cruising is a wonderful way to vacation. We're already trying to figure out when we can go again. Loved it all. Some pictures... and I'll try to get back and give more details in the next couple of days. For now - Images of the Western Caribbean - 2007.

Packing. Probably not sleeping much tonight... never do before a big trip. Thinking about sunshine and warm, blue waters... Can't believe it's actually here. See you on the 21st!

So yesterday was a fun day for me, gettin ' all those comments from ya'll ... Especially from those of you who seldom comment. I loved your comments so much I felt like I should respond to each of you individually. So here I go. Ken - where have you been? You don't know who Sanjaya is? He's a boy who was on American Idol and looks just like an Indian version of Kyler . It's uncanny how much he looks like him. He was a terrible singer. Karla - maybe we should go to coffee sometime? Rod - I love that you read my blog. You're like another big brother to me. I get warm fuzzy feelings just thinking about your visits. And yes - I do read your blog. Patti - any friend of Kelly's is a friend of mine. Seriously. We'll have to meet next time I visit. Corey - I suspected you might pick Rosie. And Pain Au Chocolat - YUM! Seriously - chocolate and bread are my two favorite foods in the world - put them together and I'm in heaven. Miss you, friend. Marie - Ew .

How did it get to be Wednesday? Seriously. There aren't enough hours in the day - even when you're up at 2:00 am. And no - I didn't get up at 2:00 this morning. I slept all the way until 5:00! Anywho - I decided I needed something new to blog. Something to shake you all out of your 'thoughts from the deep recesses' stupor. Something to get your blood pumping and your fingers tingling. Something to inspire long and meaningful comments. From you. My beloved readers. It's a new weekly Thoughts From the Deep Recesses feature. It's "Getting to Know you Wednesday" Now this could either be lots of fun, or it could just totally flop, and I could go to bed crying because my blog readers are a bunch of takers who only come here to read and never interact. Like a piece of fresh fruit, you squeeze the juice out of my hard-written and well thought out posts and then you toss them aside, wandering on to the next blog with a simple click of your mouse. You read

Insomnia sucks. Sunshiny and warm here... 75 yesterday. Supposed to 80 today. Gotta love the sun when it's accompanied by actual warmth. Slowly finishing up all the loose ends of things for the cruise. Tomorrow is errand day - when I have to get everything I've forgotten to buy before this. Like disposable waterproof cameras and the like... Does anyone know if you can use US postage to mail post cards from the Carribean? Online bill paying is so great. Can you tell I'm brain dead right now? Confession: I occasionally make Hamburger Helper. A big stack of pancakes sounds fabulous right now. Pedicure in two days. Yay! New weekly blog post idea tomorrow. Stay tuned! Happy Tuesday, my dear friends who are probably very much still asleep...

Disturbing. That's the only word I can come up with. View at your own risk. This is why people think scrapbookers are silly. (Now, where can I get me some of them housework-doing mice?)

Schmarmy. That's all I can say about the look on my face. This is me, probably around 1972... Looking back, I think I had an inordinate amount of self-confidence as a child. I never felt inferior or shy. I was extremely happy. And tenacious. Trusting. And sure. I can attribute a lot of these things to steady parents. I always knew what to expect. That's a good thing for a child. 1972 was a good year. So were 1973, 1974, 1975... You get the picture. I was one blessed kid. I'll never take that for granted. Happy Friday, friends. Have a lovely weekend.

Leaving the post office today I was behind a van for a business specializing in "Cooking Oil Filtration and Fryer Maintenance." Now, I can bet that none of you ever wanted to do that when you grew up... Lots of scrapbooking paper on ebay this week... clearing out is a good thing. Cracklin ' Oat Bran is the best cereal ever. So yummy. Plus, I love anythin ' that leaves of that final 'g'. Made an appointment today for my pre -cruise pedicure and gel tips for my nails. That'll be nice. I'm using a gift certificate for a local spa that Asia gave me last year for our anniversary... in June. Yea, I'm slow. School newspaper went out today. Now it's time to start the sixth grade yearbook. How do I end up doing all these things? The basketball hoop has been getting lots of love lately. Love spring weather and the sound of a ball bouncing outside my window. I really love Costco. For photo developing. And shredded cheese. And the big box of General Foo