We Have Arrived!

Yes siree, we have been to the Final Frontier and returned to tell the story! I've been posting pictures and patter about our recent Alaskan Cruise on the Ruby Princess that celebrated our Ruby Anniversary on Facebook, but thought I'd like to document our wonderful trip on my blog, too. 

To recap —

Wednesday found us heading to Raleigh as we were flying out of RDU on Thursday. We finally arrived in Seattle at 3:00 a.m. Pacific Time, after delays for gale force winds at our layover airport, San Francisco. Needless to say, we had zero energy for sightseeing the next day. Still we managed a taste of the town.

We loved flying first class. I found a great deal...and you only celebrate #40 once, right?

[Friday - early Sunday — See previous post]

Sunday embarkation —

OMG! I had no idea how huge the ship would be!

The terminal at Pier 91

They snapped this as we boarded. The blue dot I'm wearing at we were First Time Cruisers (please help if we appear lost!)

My blue card...don't go anywhere without it! (I lived in constant fear of dropping it overboard...;-)

It was such a glorious day...

...and we were having so much fun in the sun!

See you in a week, Seattle!

Monday — Mr. T and I were spending our first full day at sea...making our way up the Inside Passage from Seattle to Ketchikan. What started out as smooth sailing turned more and more choppy as the day and evening progressed...I was glad I'd gotten a prescription for scopolamine patches to help curb any nausea (I've used them before during vertigo episodes). We decided to stick with a low-key plan, foregoing the Formal Night in favor of enjoying a light supper and watching movies.

Splash-splash! Not so smooth sailing on the first day...

...but I found the Knitters and Natters Group!

Tuesday — "If it's Tuesday, it must have been Ketchikan, AK!" We were THRILLED to realize that, after a rough day & night at sea, we were coming into our first port. We had gained an hour in the early morning when we crossed into Alaska Time, so our Eastern Time zone body-clocks were thoroughly confused by now. No matter...we had a fun day ahead, taking the Ketchikan Duck Tour. Oh, and, of course I had plenty of time to find the local yarn shop...just in case you were wondering...😘

As we disembarked, we got our first view of our cabin and balcony on the back. Sweet!

Visitor Center...looking for a mailbox...

Our 'ship' for the day..."Miss Jillian"

We were excited to see a bald eagle, just a few minutes after our 'Duck' entered the water.

Goodbye, Ketchikan! It has turned out to be a beautiful day. Now, on toward Tracy Arm Fjord and then Juneau.

Wednesday — Had an early-early start this morning when we realized before dawn (4:13 a.m.!) that the ship had slowed significantly; looked out our balcony to see much calmer water, much less wake...with chunks of blue ice...? Heigh-dee ho! Today we saw our first glacier...in the Tracy Arm Fjord! And after that we visited the capitol of Alaska: it is said of Juneau that you can only arrive here in one of 3 ways: by boat (as we are); by plane; or by birth canal! (The only "road" goes just so far out of town and then you have to turn around.) 

[Now, if you are keeping count with me, you may realize that just leaves 4 states: Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana for me; the Dakotas, Montana, and Idaho for Mr. T. Then we can check off ALL 50!!!]

It was cold, so cold...and the blue icebergs got larger and more numerous as we went deeper into the fjord. 

Panoramic of where we turned the ship around

Snap from the ship's info channel...turning to head to Juneau

They got this one as we disembarked at Juneau, where we visited the Rainforest Gardens, Mendenhall Glacier, and Mt. Roberts via the tram.

Welcome to the Rainforest Gardens!

Mr. T found a totem.

What a wonderful photo-op! Mendenhall Glacier and Nugget Falls outside of Juneau, AK

High above Juneau harbor

Mr. T has the wing span of a Canada Goose!

Thursday — Day 4 finds us making our way to Skagway, population 828 (until the cruise ships arrive and swell the count by several thousand)...which, as it turns out, was not only the gateway to the Klondike Gold Rush, but is also known as The Garden City of Alaska. We docked at 6:00 a.m. (early), breakfasted quickly on the balcony, and disembarked among the first folks ashore: we had a train to catch to Canada! And then a suspension bridge to traverse. And a jewel of a garden to visit...and a tasty lunch to enjoy. Let's get this day rolling. All aboard!!

Checking our passports before we board...we're going to Canada!

Selfie on the train from Skagway!

Scenery out the window

Glacier lake in Fraser, BC, Canada: as soon as Canadian Customs cleared us, we got off the train and back on the bus...headed to the Suspension bridge. 

I think I can, I think I can...

Mr. T is right behind me.

Chilling out with new friends...the Mounties! Now, back to Skagway and lunch in Jewel Gardens.

Lilacs in bloom everywhere!

Chihuly's been here! It's been a perfect day...

...time to say goodbye to Skagway, in the most beautiful way possible...

Friday — This was an 'at sea' day...not necessarily the best part of the cruise, IMHO. You see, we learned that while we LOVED Alaska, taking excursions, and milling about on our own in port, we were not so enthused with the "at sea" days. Since we are neither big-time shoppers nor even small-time gamblers, the shops and casino aboard ship were lost on us...and we've already established that it was too cool for the pools...so there are relatively few "at sea" pictures. Sigh. Still, I started the day with the Knitters, made my way forward to a bracelet craft class, and enjoyed a fun drinks-dance contest. The weather was still cold and had turned rainy...so inside activities were in order. This was also the second Formal Night, which we wanted to enjoy.

It's Baked Alaska Night at the Botticelli! 

Here's our formal night picture, taken at the Botticelli Restaurant. 

Saturday — my Knitters Group met one last time at 9:00 a.m., as we wouldn't be docking until after 6:00 p.m. Then I had an appointment in the Lotus Spa for a mani-pedi. Surprisingly, while waiting for my manicurist, I met a couple who were from Winston-Salem...he even played golf on the course near our house! Small world, yes?!

When we finally docked in Victoria, BC, we thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Butchart Gardens. Oh, Canada! 

Then, we were back in Seattle for a day before heading cross-country to RDU...happy we went, happy to be home!

San Francisco, one more time...

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I will soon add a link here to our Shutterfly Photo Book I'm working on. Stay tuned...

Bon Voyage, Y'All!

Shhhhhh. Don't tell anyone...because Mr. T is concerned about my over-sharing info that thieves might use on social media...but we are not in Kansas (or North Carolina) anymore, Toto. But we ARE in Oz!

This is a screen capture from the United app, showing our first flight, RDU to SFO, on Thursday. Finally made it to our hotel room in Seattle at 3:00 a.m. PDST...which is 6:00 a.m. body-time. Oh my goodness that bed felt fab-u-lous!

Here's a "Purple Mountains' Majesty" snap from my window seat. Wow!

We tried a new Seattle restaurant called Sharps Roaster...yum!

And we took advantage of the hotel amenities before leaving...walking off that yummy meal...

Of course, it's rained daily in OZ. Thanks to one of those treadmills, I reached 10k steps on FitBit Challenge Day!

Woo hoo!

And now we are ready to go board our ship, the Ruby Princess! I have my traveling togs on:

Stay tuned for more updates!

Turning Back Time

End of a month, end of a quarter. Where has the time gone? It was Winter...and now it's Spring, as evidenced by this first rose bloom in Missy M's back yard.

It's been a busy 13 weeks since 2016 began. One might say "life-altering." But I'll get to that momentarily. Please know that I have had several good reasons for my recent silence...or, at least they seemed good to me at the time. (There's that word again: time.)

Let's see if I can recap...

January and February — In reviewing my calendar for that first month, I am struck by how ordinary the days and details appear. After the Holidays, I had several "usual" things scheduled, including meetings relating to Master Gardening, my historical book club, and various and sundry doctor appointments. But by mid-month, we knew that "ordinary" and "usual" were two words we would never, ever again use to describe January 2016. 

While on his first week away from home since his knee replacement surgery and recovery last October, Mr. T was asked to meet his VP for breakfast while in Maryland. When I returned home from a meeting at the Extension Center, I had a text that read "be careful what you wish for." And I knew, then and there, what the subject of our subsequent phone call would be: retirement. 

To paraphrase Shakespeare*: "Be not afraid of retirement...some achieve retirement and some have retirement thrust upon them." We were working our plan for T's retirement to be "achieved" following his next birthday...a more or less "official" retirement age, if you will. But, the chickens of some unfathomly poor and unbelievably numerous corporate decisions made in Japan and in Germany since 2009 came home to roost last year. And "workforce reduction" was supposedly a last straw. Blah, blah, blah...I could go on (and HAVE, at length). Bottom line: retirement was thrust upon T in mid-January when he accepted a package. And we have spent these last several weeks digesting options and rewriting our script.

At first, we thought we should accelerate our move to GA, and we began a whirlwind of activity around that chore. Then, we came to our senses, took one giant step back, and two very deep breathes...and decided to give it some time and space. 

After Mom's death in 2011, I went through grief counseling and am reminded of some excellent advice I was given then, summed up much better than I could write below. I think it just might apply now:

"Usually it is wise to avoid making hasty decisions, especially in matters of such consequence as moving...I offer this useful rule of thumb: Make no major decisions for at least six to twelve months..., until you've experienced all the seasons of your emotions. This...happened barely two months ago, and I would expect that at this point, you're both still frozen in a state of shock, barely able to believe (much less able to make any sense out of) what has happened to you. You and your wife are extremely raw and vulnerable right now, and not in the best frame of mind to be making major decisions, such as moving." (From The Grief Healing Blog Post " To Move or Not: Making Decisions in the Wake of a Recent Loss")

To be clear, we have discovered that T's "grief" over this loss isn't so much about the job itself; it's more about the loss of the right to make the decision on our own timeline. The job...the product...the company: those things have all changed so drastically and not-for-the-better over the past 5 years...those things were already "lost" to the point that many "what if" scenarios have been discussed over our morning coffees for many, many moons now, including the possibility of a package being offered. So, it wasn't necessarily a surprise that it was offered...just when it was offered. So many senior management assurances had been given that there wouldn't be a workforce reduction...both empty and false, as it turned out. Ah well, in our heart-of-hearts, we knew better...why else would we have even ventured to discuss the possibility? Why, indeed.

So, our retirement schedule moves forward from September to February (or June, since that's when the package ends). And our moving schedule moves from May to..., well we are still working on the date. Let's just say "not May."  The good news? Because of all the preliminary work we did in January, we have most of the major decisions made and lined up (who our Realtor will be, how we will prep our house for market, what we will do, where we will be moving to); it's just the pesky when question that's still up in the air at the moment. Sigh. 

We decamped to Georgia for the last two weeks in January and the first few days in February, to serve as dog- and house-sitters while Missy M met a rather aggressive work-travel schedule. There, I had a bit of successful eye surgery (YAG-laser) to correct a problem I've had since my first cataract surgery in 2012 (yay!). We had returned to HPNC for a couple of weeks sans our dogs who remained behind while we took care of some things "back home." While we were in NC, one of the most frightening episodes of my recent memory happened in GA...giving me chills just recalling it.

Somehow and for some unknown reason, our part-Australian Shepard Winston decided to go on walkabout by digging his way under M's fence to freedom. Panic ensued, and then we put Operation "Find Winston" into high gear, with fronts in two states NC and GA. I truly don't wish to relive those horrible hours when he was missing, so let's just move forward to the time four days later when he reappeared and tried to dig his way back into the fenced yard. That didn't work so well, so he walked around to the front of the house and waltzed into the open garage door. "Here I am!" Good grief. We arrived a few hours after he had returned, ever so thankful that he was unharmed and none-the-worse-for-wear, other than extremely hungry and so tired that he slept for nearly 12 hours straight. 

Mr. T spent the next week building an "auxiliary fence" (a fence beyond the current fence, all the way back to M's rear property line), along with a gate in the existing fence, creating what we now call The Outback...more or less a huge doggie play area in the un-tamed part of the property. The Drool Gang loves it! Well, all except Dixie, who still prefers the sofa inside the air-conditioned house, thank you very much.

Yes, we have already turned on the AC here. Of course we have also had mornings (including the first day of Spring) when we had to turn on the fireplace. Nothing new, right?

March — And that brings us to the present-but-rapidly-ending month. Mr. T and I headed back to GA for Easter, enjoying Easter Brunch at Ray's On The River (photo below), albeit without M who has had an awful upper respiratory infection. She's better now, thanks.

And I'm now continuing my journey on to Mississippi to attend Homecoming at the W. Even though this year has a tough act to follow from WHC2015 (refresh your memory of that trip by visiting that post here: http://adsit2.blogspot.com/2015/04/lost-and-found.html   ), I am truly looking forward to reconnecting with my college friends. Should be a fun weekend, turning back time as Cher would say.

I mentioned there were several reasons for my absence, didn't I? Time for me to wrap this post up with my final reason. I have been filtering some comments that come through to my blog...some that have given me cause for concern. I started this blog more or less as a journal for myself, a place to touch base with friends and family, and a repository for pictures I wanted to share. All has been well until this year, when I started receiving and rejecting comments in foreign (read that: non-English) languages. I neither read nor speak these languages, so I have no way of knowing what is being shared by way of the comment section on my blog. For that reason, I have turned OFF that capability. 

Need to get in touch with me? Let's use the old-fashioned way: email! I trust you remember that...

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*"Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them". - (Quote from Twelfth Night, Act II, Scene V).

Setting Records and Keeping Traditions

We just came inside after having taken advantage of the first bit of sunshine in several days. Thanks to the recent rains, the lettuces and other greens are looking great! I harvested a nice salad's-worth plus several carrots. Still, I have grave concerns about our gardens, which seem to think Winter is over, causing bud-break to occur on the blueberry bushes, the grape vines, the peach trees, and many of the roses, as well as flower buds to pop out along with the Rip van Winkle daffodils, The problem? Let the picture tell this story:

I know! This is plain freaky, isn't it? Predicting a high for Boxing Day of 72° is bad enough. Recording a temperature of 73° at noon is worse...because we know it will go higher in the afternoon. I don't like feeling like I'm celebrating Christmas in Australia…unless I'm actually getting to celebrate Christmas in Australia (where, according to one of our new fave TV shows, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, which is filmed in Melbourne, they celebrate "Christmas in July"…but I digress...;-)

Anyway, that's the way it's been all along the East Coast this year...where many cities have set record high temperatures. Here in HPNC, we are playing along with the crowd, tying the Christmas Day high. We are also maximizing our electric bill...but not because of using the heat. Oh no, we had to turn on our AC on Christmas Eve for the first time since we celebrated the Holidays in Kissimmee. Florida. In 2003. 

Point-of-fact, we haven't turned our central heating units on this year, managing the few cold days (and nights) before this heat wave with the gas fireplace and lots of socks and sweaters (and lovely, warm quilts!). But no fireplace on this Christmas. We settled for the video-on-demand 'fireplace' on TV instead. 

Still, in spite of the weird weather, we were in festive moods to enjoy the traditions of the Season: Christmas Dinner (turkey with the trimmings, sort of like Thanksgiving Redux)...which we had on Christmas Eve for the first time; opening of "one present each" on Christmas Eve (which is the traditional pair of WINTER pajamas...;-); and then stockings first, Monkey Bread second, presents third, and Breakfast Casserole and Ambrosia fourth on Christmas Morning. (It's because we have finally realized, after several years of saying "we're just too full to eat Christmas dinner" on Christmas night after all we eat on Christmas morning that we moved Dinner to Christmas Eve...;-). We did have enough room on Christmas Day to eat generous slices of family fave, coconut cake with pineapple filling. Hey, we can be flexible while keeping the traditions!

Here are some photos of the Season:

Finally got the tree up in the great room...with 4 whole days to spare!

…and here it is Christmas morning after Missy M added her gifts.

The oldest ornament on the tree, circa 1965.

The newest ornament on the tree...a knitted sheep

One of Nana/Momma/Edith's painted ornaments (l); one of Missy M's picture memory ornaments (r).

Missy M's baby pic (r); a handmade ornament (l)

An ornament from 2006...made at the glassworks in Louisville

A pared-down mantle: few Nutcrackers made their way down from the attic; stockings were MIA (never fear...we used the little stocking ornaments instead, per Missy M's suggestion!)

Ner's Coconut Cake with Pineapple Filling

Monkey Bread for Christmas morning...recipe below:

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Monkey Bread:

Please, please, please...don't use a recipe that calls for biscuits. You will sacrifice both flavor AND aroma.
 

Ingredients:

To make bread "ring:"

• 12-18 frozen dinner rolls (I used 22 Rhodes-brand frozen rolls this year...too many!)
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted (not margarine...or any kind of substitute)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1-2 tablespoons cinnamon
• 1/2 cup pecans, rough-chopped

Icing:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 T. butter, melted
• 2-4 T. milk

Directions:

1. The night before you wish to serve, micro-melt the stick of butter in one bowl; mix together the sugar and cinnamon in another bowl. Brush a couple of tablespoons of melted butter into the bottom and sides of a Bundt pan, and sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of the cinnamon-sugar mixture and the pecans over the butter. [When you invert the "ring," this will make a nice topping.]
2. Then dip each frozen roll in the remaining butter, followed by rolling it in the bowl of cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place each prepared roll into the pan, starting with the bottom layer of 6-8 rolls and staggering the placement in any subsequent "stacks". Mix any remaining butter with remaining cinnamon-sugar, then pour over/between the rolls. Cover with plastic wrap, place in a cold oven (do NOT heat!), and let sit overnight. (If you use more than 12 rolls, put a cookie sheet pan underneath to catch any drips, as the rolls WILL rise during the night.) 
3. In the morning, remove the plastic wrap, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 30-35 minutes. To prevent over-browning, cover top of pan with foil during the last 10 minutes of baking.
4. When done, remove pan from oven and immediately turn over onto a plate big enough to catch all the syrup that will drip out of the pan. Make sure you get ALL the syrup and nuts from the bottom.
5. Combine the icing ingredients (powdered sugar, 2 T. melted butter, and enough milk to get the right consistency) and drizzle over the bread. Enjoy warm!