The idea of never turning down a bargain isn’t always a good one, but Bob and I found a four-day Carnival Cruise aboard the Carnival Paradise with Catalina and Ensenada, Mexico as ports.
The price including port fees is less than fifty dollars a person a day for the two of us. Top this unbelievable price with a port side stateroom with a large window and you can see why we couldn’t turn down the offer.

This is one of the perks of retirement. These offers from bargain cruise groups come along at the last minute. We discovered this one about a week ago which gave us plenty of time to arrange for our pet and home sitter, finish off the left-overs and perishable food in the refrigerator, and pack.

Packing is a breeze, at least for me. I have one spot in the closet where I put what I call “my cruise wardrobe”. Almost everything is there and I can pack in a relatively short time. Then when I return from a cruise, clothes go off to the cleaners or the washing machine, and back to the cruise section of the closet; ready for the next adventure.

Neither Bob nor I am fans of Carnival Lines. Like most folks of our age, we prefer a little more sedate cruise with less loud music and fewer over-imbibing passengers. However, the spontaneity and the sense of adventure, mixed with the bargain price has us truly looking forward to this get-away.

Our plans include a short walk around the Catalina tourist area and back to the ship in time for lunch. We probably won’t even get off the ship in Mexico. This trip is going to include lots of time walking the promenade deck, working in the weight room, and time in the hot tub. Our goal is to come back more physically fit than when we left. Surprisingly, I think we can do it.

Be back posting in about six days. Until then I will check in on my Blackberry and comment on posts when possible.

Oh the magic of being six years old with all the imagination and creativity that flows through young veins. I just had to share this photo of Jade that her mother sent recently. I am not sure it speaks to what the well-dressed snow-bunny is wearing this season, but it speaks volumes about being six years old and full of imagination and creativity. It makes me believe that perhaps unicorns and fairies still frolic close by and it is time I open my mind and my eyes to all possibilities.

I am on my way to have morning coffee with friends. Think I will dig out the bejeweled sunglasses and the red feather boa. Who says we should leave all the fun to six year and seven year olds. Those of us in our sixties and seventies need a little light hearted magic too!

I haven’t blogged for awhile. The desire to write seemed to leave when we lost our Annie. I found myself without energy and without my little “muse” unwilling to spend time at the computer.

However, yesterday I received a call from Mary and Jay. You know her as the writer of Momma’s Corner. She called herself the “Wellness Police” and was checking up on me since I hadn’t been on line for so long. Wow, I cannot tell you how much that phone call did for me. It was so exciting to add voices, both hers and Jay’s to the words I have read for years. It was like talking to an old friend and it was the pleasant jolt that has me returning gratefully to the keyboard.this morning.

So thanks to both of you. You are the living proof that kind words and thoughts acted upon make all the difference in the world.. Thank you, too to everyone else who called or left comments. Each little gesture of kindness did not go unnoticed or unappreciated.

I have updated the photo of Annie in A Little Ray of Sunshine. Bob took this photo three days before she died. It shows how she stole all the bones and was sleeping on top of at least four and guarding the rest. The photo reminds me that this little non-angel was blessed with good health all of her fourteen years and that Bob and I were fortunate to be her companions.

The following is a comment that my husband Bob, made to a post about a young army sergeant wounded in Iraq. That post can be found in the blog section of Cal-MOAA’s Website.

Bob and I both searched the web without finding the name of the young marine. We are hoping someone will read this and be able to supply a name and a special fund to aid him beyond what our Veteran’s Hospitals are able to do. We would like to contribute to that fund in the name and memory of Bob’s friend, Buck.

From Bob. . .

Last night on TV, I caught a heart rendering portrayal of a young marine who lives today thanks to our military doctors. After many surgeries, he is able to talk, see and hear but his facial features are now unbelievably twisted and scarred into a cruel caricature of his once handsome appearance. Add to this calamity, the amputation of his left arm. However, this young man was blessed with a loyal and supportive fiancée and credits her with his will to survive.

The couple have recently married and the TV program showed clips from their full military wedding. A happy pair who had already taken on so much about to launch into a life of wedded bliss. I could not help but think of how much respect and help this young couple deserves from all of us. Hopefully, a contributory fund will be established to assist these newlyweds in alleviating immediate financial concerns.

For me this also brought back a remembrance of a friends WWII wounds and facial disfigurement. His name was George “”Buck”" Gillespie from Alturas, California. A grenade explosion during the invasion of Italy cost him the sight of both eyes. In his case as in the young Marine’s case, many surgeries were performed after Buck was stabilized and returned to California. However, being blind, Buck didn’t worry about his looks. He wouldn’t let his blindness get in his way. He built a two car garage by himself and in the process fell off the roof. Fortunately he only broke an ankle and not his undaunted spirit.

It was during this time that I first got to know Buck and my house in Gardena, CA became the poker session location for him and a half a dozen other blinded veterans, utilizing Braille playing cards and bowls to hold the chips.

Buck wasn’t one for self-pity. He had a strong desire to help other disabled veterans. He frequently criss-crossed the USA visiting and providing encouragement to others. Before long, he became the head of the Blinded Veterans of America in Washington D.C.

As destiny would have it I too left California and was stationed at BuShips at the same time he moved to the area. Daily we boarded the same bus on Lee Highway in Arlington, VA for the trip to downtown Washington. How wonderful it was back then to share experiences with a man who was making a difference.

Buck eventually settled in Connecticut and I in California Then about ten years ago, I received a welcomed phone call. Buck would soon be visiting in Southern California and hoped we could get together. Well, of course, I was ecstatic about seeing my old friend again and we had a great time during which Buck introduced me to the joys of vegetarian pizza.

Buck passed away a few years later. He died while attending a Blinded Veterans Reunion in Washington D.C. He was an inspiration to all of us and I wonder at the words of wisdom he might have had for the young marine whose story went across the airwaves last evening.

Kristi and the twins left in a flurry of packing similar to the one heralding their arrival. Traveling with twins is a little like moving an army… not that I have moved armies. However, bringing in car seats, little beds, twin strollers, and twin rockers, not to mention bottles, diapers, a plastic tub, cute little clothes, practical little clothes, warm little clothes and God knows what else is a feat that even the great Hannibal would have acknowledged as mind-boggling. And then four days later doing it all in reverse. The days in between were wonderful beyond words.

All of you who have known the joy of grandparenting know how enthralled I was with seeing, holding, and getting to know my grandbabies better. So we fed, burped,changed , and sang our way through the days. Twins are a lot of work and Kristi has the procedure down to an art. I on the other hand, couldn’t remember which one had the last bottle or which one had been asleep longest. I considered placing stick it notes on their little chests. You know little messages to myself like “all ready burped”, “needs bottle,” “diaper change at two o’clock etc.

All that remains is the wonderful, but fading baby powder smell in the bedroom, a bottle brush on the window sill in the kitchen, a half drank bottle of formula in the refrigerator, and four small outfits that were left hanging on the hall closet door. Hopefully, next week I will meet Kristi in Mojave which is about half way between our towns and give her the forgotten items especially the clothes which are already close to being too small.

I am already looking forward to the next visit and thinking what it will be like as the twins grow and begin to walk. This poor house will certainly need some baby-proofing by then. As I look around I can see a dozen breakable things to put up high and so many cupboard doors that are way too easy to open. Well, it will all be worth it. Here’s to our first successful four night visit. May there be hundreds and hundreds more. I am blessed.