Back on the Sea Again

Oct. 8 I can’t sleep tonight; images from the Angles and Demon’s movie must be waking me up! (Actually I discovered, when Steve got up, that I had set my alarm clock one hour back, instead of one hour forward, so it is 6:00 AM instead of 4 AM. That makes me feel better! Hated to waste that good sleep time by being awake!) The movie was a very intense and well done. This is one case where I liked the movie better than the book. I didn’t like all the gory death scenes in the book.

The show was projected on the gigantic screen outside, so we were sitting on lounge chairs, and the waiters bought us popcorn, pizza, cookies and milk—how cushy is that! Ron Howard was the director and the scene from the Vatican were amazing. I’m sure The Catholic Church didn’t allow filming there, so everything must have been constructed replicas, which were amazing.  It was a little windy, so we had jackets to keep warm.

New friends we met and dined with often.
Robert & Diane Widdison on our right have relatives in SJC

We are on the long voyage home now. I think 7-10 days is enough vacation for me; I’m starting to feel like a real bum, and am ready to get home and do something useful for the world. Yesterday we went to the ship’s book group of The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. There were only 4 of us there, but we had a good discussion. The assistant tour director led the discussion, but he wasn’t a family man, so I don’t think the book had much meaning for him. However, for those in the Church who recognize the importance of families and generational connections, it is especially meaningful, as we know the eternal nature of families and the importance of passing on a legacy of values and character, and optimism. I hope you will all read this book.

Afterwards we played Trivia with about 100 people. A lady from the book discussion and her mother-in-law helped form our little team. We got 19 out of 20 right. We would have gotten all of them, but couldn’t understand the Welsh accent of the MC (who was also the book discussion leader). He was asking for a synonym of “awes” meaning to cross water. We tried to get him to spell it, but he wouldn’t…What he was trying to say in “real English” was oars. If we had been able to translate, we would have gotten the word paddle!

One of the theaters on board

We’ve finally been able to rouse some interest with our group in playing games, and have met at 10 AM the past few mornings and have taught them about 4 card games. We also learned one called Thirty-one. The only problem is that the tables are so small, that we’ve had to change the game of “Nines” down to “Sixes” but it is played the same way. Yesterday as we were leaving I spotted another group playing the same game, but they call it “Dumb Luck” which is a better name for it!

Our tour leader Len Geertsen with Marilyn and JT Beech from St. Anthony

Attended a Latin a musical called “Caliente” two nights ago—getting us ready for Ensenada, I guess. It was very energetic and fun. Earlier this week they had a Luau at 10:30 PM. We stayed for awhile, but it was a little rainy and we left after a quick nibble at the buffet table. This could qualify for one of Dante’s Inferno punishments, with piles of food surrounding people who are trying to overcome food addictions! Dad has done pretty good on food control and is walking about 3 miles each morning. I’ve been a slacker, but did get up yesterday and resumed my regime. It’s only 65 degrees right now, so I’m going to wait for another hour or so to go out.