The start of our fourth day on the Rotterdam...Holland America's new flag ship. It has been an interesting three days so far. Not all of that being 'in a good way' interesting. Being back on board has been and is amazing. There are around 950 passengers which is less that half of the 2600 - 2800 capacity. Some areas have felt slightly spooky being as empty as they have been....that seldom holds true for the bars we frequent LOL but guess that;s not surprising.

Yesterday's interesting was a note left in the state room stating James was required to go to guest services with his passport and his American Residency certificate,\.....which of course he does not have as we reside in the UK. We did go down and had the President's proclamation which states that non-citizens who are spouses of American citizens are not subject to the proclamation regarding the travel ban. We also pointed out that the passport has an entry stamp dated July 14, 2021!They copied his passport and the clerk read the section of the proclamation and then eventually asked for us to come back a second time with our marriage certificate. We have not heard anything further...yet. So fingers crossed they accept our argument or it will be a very short cruise.

That has been the negative...the list of positives include just sitting on the Lido Deck on our first sea day enjoying the view...the atmosphere...listening to others sitting and enjoying just being back on a ship. Talking to the lovely staff...remembering how gracious and  friendly they are and enjoying their joy at being back to work. We can only imagine how difficult of time they have had during this pandemic.

Our first meal in our favorite specialty restaurant was GREAT...looking forward to trying the other restaurants on board.

Time to get ready to get cleared for going ashore today....wish us luck!!

 Cruising again....we hope. Today we are due to board the beautiful brand new Rotterdam. Holland America's brand new flag ship. I can't wait!

Of course this is 2021 and we have't cruised since 2019 due to Covid-19. The world has changed since then as we all are  well aware of.  Nothing to do with travel is 'easy' and probably won't be for some time to come. We left home the day before we were to travel early enough in the day to allow for our "fit to fly" PCR tests. Three hours later once we received the negative test results we breathed a sigh of relief knowing we passed that barrier.

We flew the next day, but not before showing out test results, our vaccination certificates, and the four forms required by the powers that be in the Netherlands to the airlines prior to getting out boarding passes. Another sigh of relief.

We enjoyed the time in the business class lounge the came with our tickets...thank you BA for the points to pay for tickets...not a luxury we are used to (thank you BA for accepting points for our tickets) We also had a lovely, abet short flight to Amsterdam....and though long lines at passport control a pleasant surprise that there was no hassle in getting into the Netherlands.

Getting to the hotel was 'interesting' and upon arrival we were met with a huge que to get to the front desk. Both of our sense of humor were waning  at this point which is never a good thing.  Finally get to the desk and check in went well till the desk clerk tried to scan our vaccination certificates and couldn't. He accept 'seeing" them which was great....but when we got into the room my husband googled it and found that the EU after three months has not approved recognition of the NHS certificates. 

Walking around a very damp Amsterdam the effects of their not doing so became apparent. We enjoy visiting the Hard Rock Cafes when we are travelling and I was looking forward to updating my Amsterdam tee shirt. Alas...no certificate that their scan won;t accept no entry. So no new Amsterdam shirt this visit. We did stop and have a drink at the Zwart Cafe and mew the loveliest man who owned it. He gave James some beer mats after a discussion about beers etc. Also had a good burger and glass of wine at another small place with a nice young woman who ran it, We enjoyed our day, but it could have been better.

We are now waiting for our time slot to board the ship...of course being 2021 we have a Lateral Flow test to take before they will allow us on the ship...and even though you are 99.999% sure that you no not have Covid...you can't help but worrying about it. The ups and downs of the different stressful moments in trying to travel have really taken their toll on us....the difference in our overall demeanor is so different than we would usually be at this point of our travels....fingers crossed.

My lovely vivacious daughter died a week ago and my heart is broken. She died on the 29th anniversary of her little brothers death. How cruel can life be...don't ask.

We may not have saw things the same way...had many different opinions...and disagreed on stuff...but we loved each other...we had the same warped sense of humor...questioned people being *stupid*...and she liked who she was...which meant I did okay getting her there.

This has been a very hard month. My daughter is ill, very ill. She is better than she was 11 days ago when I was in the UK and her doctors were calling me for orders...thinking that was dying...a fast trip over to Texas very scary to find she had thankfully rallied and was starting to show signs of her body fighting back. Thank you to my beautiful son and daughter in law how decided I should not face this alone...and then my Aunt Nina & cousin Debby for driving down from Arkansas deciding they were going to fill the same void. Some people hate their family, mine may frustrate me..but I love them! My husband arrived from the UK and relieved the family from babysitting me..and though a rough time it has been wonderful having him here. We don't see eye to eye, but we compliment each other in wonderful ways, To our horror we received news that a friend has cancer that there is no hope..this couple have no children and have been to get he since their mid teens, some 50 years ago. They are handling it as people do. I have some experience in this area unfortunately....I sent her these words tonight. I found you find strength where you don't expect it..humor is your friend. ..a good cry is needed often. Know you are loved dear friend do what you guys need to do to get through this. Life isn't kind. .it is just life!

It has been AGES since I have posted anything...and I am not sure why,except for the fact that if you look up procrastinator in a dictionary you'll see a photo of me! We have had a couple lovely trips this year...including one cracker of a trip to the States in January/february, and a four night *taster* cruise around the Aegean. I am now 65 years old and still weigh way too much and have decided that this HAS to be the year of getting fit. My inspiration is my husband who has lost about 23 kilos since the first of the year! One of the things we have done is cut down our alcohol intake a LOT. We no longer have *tea timers* or one before bed...etc...etc which is wonderful. recently I have given up beer or wine when we are out and about during the day. Unlike my husband I require three meals a day, in fact would probably do better to get all my food ready in the morning and be allowed to graze all day. The alcohol reduction made a difference...more for the husband than for me...after shifting 6-7 kilos I came to a standstill. So now with giving up any wine or beer during the day and using my Wii I am redoubling my efforts to lose weight. This week has been pretty good...we were out on Monday night and again on Friday night when I had a few drinks...and I have been exercising my socks off. This morning I weighed 1.5 kilos less than I did the last time I weighed myself. Which of course could be a fluke as weight does fluctuate with no apparent reason. Next Sunday I will again weigh myself and see what happens.

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Christmas 2011

Well, here we are. Trip to the States is history....fun, hectic, poignant and many other things. There were MANY family members gathered in Florida. My nieces did a wonderful job in making us feel welcome and loved. My brother died about 6 weeks before the trip. I chose not to return for the funeral...I avoid them when I can...and thankfully have a family who understand my feelings. His wife and two of his three children were there for Thanksgiving....so we were able to share hugs, tears and laughter. It was a special time.

The nieces had a get together planned for the Sunday before Thanksgiving, the Wednesday before, for Thanksgiving itself, for the day after Thanksgiving and a last breakfast get together on the Saturday. At each of these gatherings there were between 20 and 40 people....to say my poor husband was family'd out by the end of the visit would have been the understatement of the year!! When these get together's weren't happening we were with my granddaughter and great niece and sometimes my daughter and her partner...so there was no real down time.

We left Florida on the Tuesday morning after Thanksgiving and drove to Charleston where we stayed for three nights. Charleston is a lovely place with lots of American history...and provided us with the down time we needed. Leaving ther on Friday morning we arrived in Leesburg Virginia around 5:00PM at my son's home. Where we were made to feel very welcome indeed.

I had a wonderful week with the family doing crafts, baking with the granddaughters and cooking some of our favourite meals for them. Very good week indeed. We even made tie-dyed tee shirts! I think Ellie and Sydney enjoyed it almost as much as their Grandmum Alice!!

Back in the UK on December 10...just in time to get ready for Christmas. Had friends over for a meal on the following Saturday and now the count down to a lovely quiet day on Christmas follow by a friend joining us for Boxing Day.

Am cooking a beef brisket after soaking it in a brine solution for 8 or 9 days. I'll know in another 1 & 1/2 hours how it did and if it tastes like proper corned beef. Have a ham to bake this evening as we like to have ham for grazing on over the holdidays, along with that corned beef.

We heard yesterday that a friend from Cesme died last Saturday. Tony was one of life's characters...and was the only person who actually said to me "jolly good old girl" in the course of a conversation once and it amazed me because it didn't sound silly or strange coming out of his mouth!! I shall miss him and my heart goes out to his wife Jo. I am afraid she may have a hard time of it. Tony was almost 81 and enjoyed a robust good health virtually up to his death. I will miss him, but I won't mourn him. I can only hope for a similar death for myself!

I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy Healthy 2012!!

Wii Fit & EA Active...second try!

Last year I was successful in losing the weight I wanted to before a trip to the States....but...it has all came back PLUS some. It was not a good winter and spring for several reasons and I let myself gain about 10 pounds + the ten I lost. Needless to say I am not a happy camper.

About three weeks ago I started back on my Wii Fit Plus and it really felt good!! Am also doing some exercising with friends six mornings a week on some outdoor exercise equipment we have available to us here. The weight wasn't shifting, but have to say I have noticed some of my clothes wasn't feel *quite* as tight as they had been...which is a good thing.

My cousin and her daughter posted on facebook that they had started using the EA Active Trainer on their Wii and it sounded like they were getting a good workout. I had purchased Active while back in the UK....but hadn't opened the box yet. They inspired me to get it out and see what it was all about...and after three days of the 30 day challenge I love it!!

So far I am doing both the Fit Plus and the Active. Thirty minutes on the Fit Plus and whatever time the workout takes on the Active. I have weighed myself and will do so again at the end of the challenge. Am doing this first 30 days at the lowest intensity and plan on a second challenge set at medium and a third challenge at high.

We have a three week trip planned in November to the States again to see family...I have just under three months. My goal is to lose 20 pounds by then. Wish me luck!!!