THE SECOND LAUNDRY DAY

February 4, 2016

While I got up and began rehearsal for today’s 10 a.m. talk, Bonnie got up and went to the laundry, and now our clothes are clean and sweet smelling, with fresh duds to wear for the rest of the cruise, and also while hanging out in Edgewater.

All was normal after that until I arose from my after lunch nap to prepare for my 2 p.m. talk.  Bonnie was napping, but she rolled over, looked at her watch, couldn’t read it, and asked me what time it was.  I told her it was 1:45.  She said, “Don’t you need to get moving.”  And then it dawned on me.  For 4 days I’ve been doing my afternoon talk at 4 p.m., and now I am back on the 2 p.m. schedule, and I almost missed my own talk.  As Charlie Brown says, “Good grief!”  But I made it, and it was a good audience.  Two more talks tomorrow (“The Incredible Hermitage”) and Saturday (“Are We There Yet?”) and the assignment for this cruise is completed.

Bonnie went to arts and crafts and got a door hanger to cross stitch on a plastic form.  She has enjoyed the crafts.  One was cheesy, but the rest have been nice, and a couple have been extra nice.

Katie is taking Bonnie and I and Andy and Beth to the steakhouse Saturday night.  That is a great treat.  The only negative is, we will miss our great waiters and Table 168 and tomorrow night will be our last time with them.  So we will take our tip envelops with us and give them tokens of our appreciation for their hard work.

Andy told a story at dinner tonight about one of his cruises.  I am on board as a lecturer.  He is the dance instructor, with Beth as his partner.  Sometimes he sails as a single dance host, and dances with any lady who needs a partner – some are single, some widows, and some have husbands who don’t like to dance.  One cruise, he was dancing with all the ladies when the Captain called him over to give him orders for this cruise.  His job, the Captain said, was to dance with a woman about 50, who was on board with her daughter, a real beauty, in her early 20s.  Andy did as ordered, and danced virtually ever dance with the mother for the 30 day cruise while the Captain sat every night with the daughter, pitching woo.

The captain had a cocktail party reception for all on board guests and we went, consumed cokes and some tasty hor d’oeuvres, and then went off to supper.  This is the final formal night of the cruise, and I think there were more tuxedos out tonight than at the earlier times, or maybe I was just in a better position to see them.

Tonight’s after dinner entertainer was “The World’s Fastest Juggler.”  He is also a comedian and put on a great show.  Tomorrow night the kids in the crew put on a variety show – we’ve seen it and look forward to the repeat.

So ...

TTFN