April 9th
North Pacific en route to Kodiak

I set the alarm so I could watch the morning show live.  Nothing earth shattering this morning; & I wasn’t sharp or fast enough for the prize puzzles. I stepped out on the verandah; it’s sunny, brutally cold out there. I jumped back under the covers with the Kindle.  When Capt. Glenn came on at 9, he reported that we were sailing at 17 knots (20 mph) on 3 engines.  It was 34* outside; the low pressure is still behind us; & the winds will pick up this afternoon.  His thought for the day was....”Be thankful for what you’ve got; not sad for what you don’t have.”

I was still lounging when Celeste called just before 10.  She was lonely up in the Bistro; & told me to get my butt up there.  I packed up my stuff; walked passed the photo shop on my way.  I could see that Christine was crying about something; & I had to ask.  She said Lianne got word that her grandmother had died this morning.  They were very close; & she’s devastated.  How sad for her, to be so far away.  I made it to the Bistro at 10:20.  Had some juice & a tart; Celeste & I were chatting & working on photos until lunch time.

They set up an Easter Gala Buffet in the Crystal Cove.  I went down to take photos before it got totally destroyed.  But we continued to ‘work’ until Bill walked in & said he was hungry about 12:45.  So, we all went down together & served ourselves from the buffet.  I had jumbo prawns, lobster tail, sushi, eggplant parmesan & creamed spinach.

There seemed to be a few less tables of food than the other gala buffets. There may have been a larger selection of desserts.  The galley crew had created a few whimsical Easter themed decorations.  Someone even arranged smoked salmon on a tray to spell ‘Easter Gala’.

After lunch, I took care of some front desk business, where I learned that someone was celebrating a birthday.  I thought Ane was telling me (by using head nods & raised eyebrows) that it was Leroy’s birthday. So, I went over to where he was standing; & started singing happy birthday (poorly mimicking Marilyn Monroe’s rendition at President Kennedy’s party). Halfway through my stellar performance, Ane’s waving her hands ‘no-no;’ & pointed in the other direction to Darko.  Feeling slightly embarrassed but not too intimidated to try this again, I started walking towards Darko. Celeste turns toward me & says, ‘hey, did you know today’s Darko’s birthday’?  There went my surprise!  Everyone at the reception desk had their chuckle for the day....at my expense.

I went back up to the ‘office’ while Celeste went to her memoir writing class.  Che came in for a snack.  Then Kris & Betty sat & chatted a while. Celeste joined me when her class was over.  In the late afternoon, Pat’s good friend (Kelly) came through to tell us that Pat was quite ill & confined to her cabin. Seems like Ray had just gotten well; & now she’s down for the count.  About 5, everybody got up to start preparing for their evening activities.

Front                                                                                Back

I decided to go up to the C.U. & get online to create some cards for everybody with my American Greetings membership.  I carefully chose the perfect birthday, get well & sympathy cards; & TRIED to print them. Nothing would come out of the printer.  Jackie figured out that the programs used on the website did not speak the same language as their printer software.  I was so disappointed.  But Jackie came to my rescue (as only a mother of a little girl could do).  She stood over my shoulder for well over an hour, converting the greeting card projects into seperate documents using a different file format, saved them ‘somewhere’, & then magically made them come out of the color printer.  She then got out heavy paper stock, her trusty scissors & a glue stick; & proceeded to create greeting cards as if she were making paper dolls. I didn’t understand what she was attempting to do; so I couldn’t be of any help. Two hours later, I had 3 precious cards. She even created envelopes (Jackie rocks)!

I distributed the cards to Darko’s desk, Lianne’s work counter & Pat’s cabin; & got home at 7:30.  It’s French night in the dining room; & believe it or not, I’m tired of escargot.  So, I placed my dinner order from the regular room service menu.  I had caesar salad & spaghetti bolognese.  As good as always.

I had missed General Hugh Shelton’s talk this morning; he’s the former Commander in Chief of the Special Forces & later became the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  So, I watched the rerun on TV while I ate.  The subject was the threats to America’s national security.  I found it very informative; & it was presented in such a way that I actually understood. Maybe because the winds had whipped up the seas or the abundance of pasta I downed today......whatever it was, I literally crashed at 10:30.