It's Almost Here

Up until now, this cruise/vacation has been months away or next year. Now it is just days away and in a few hours, it will be THIS YEAR!

If you know me, you know that I am totally a jeans and t-shirt kind of guy. Formal is a button down shirt, jeans and nicer shoes than tennis shoes. I am gonna have to go buy clothes so I can eat at night. I know Tracy is fired up about dressing up and I currently would be banned to the room after 5 PM with my current wardrobe.

So, I am gonna have to go out and buy some kahki/docker type pants. I am scrounging an electrical converter and another duffel bag with wheels.

I can pack without even thinking for a motorcycle trip around the country. Not so this time! Oh well, I will have a credit card, so I can buy anything I HAVE to have.

I am gonna go out and have a nice time tonight for New Year's Eve and starting Wednesday, I gotta get serious about getting ready.

The "Diva" Dresses

According to the cruise documents, we have approximately two formal nights per week on the cruise. Now I don't know about you (and by you, I'm talking to the women reading this...although a couple of you guys might have been the same way...I'm just sayin' ), but when I was a little girl, I loved playing dress up. Growing up, I loved getting a new dress for Easter every year and having new shoes to match. When I started dating, I had a whole ritual for getting dressed and ready to go out. And to this day, when the holidays roll around, I love seeing all the fabulous dresses -- beaded and bejeweled, sashed, gathered, diaphanous, slinky or fat with fabric -- and dream of an occasion for me to buy and wear one. So having formal nights on the cruise gives me an opportunity to pull out all the stops, even though Joe, Brett and Jon are rolling their eyes at having to put on a suit just to eat dinner.

I daydream about being dressed to the nines at dinner, with an orchestra playing in the background at the edges of an empty dance floor, and Joe is suddenly overcome with Cary Grant syndrome and asks me to dance. He escorts me to the floor, and I discover that he's been taking dance lessons at Arthur Murray just to surprise me. As we're twirling around the floor, all eyes watching, he whispers in my ear that I am the love of his life and he wouldn't be surprised if every other person on the ship was incredibly jealous of me at that moment. God, I should write romance novels.

So anyway, I have these two "diva" dresses. I bought them several years ago when we lived in California and I was singing in a performance group. I wore them when I sang a couple of torch songs: "Someone to Watch Over Me" and "Cry Me a River." I was like Michelle Pfiefer in Fabulous Baker Boys, except without the crawling on the piano part. But I haven't had them on in over three years, and until recently, I certainly wouldn't have fit in them. Tonight I had a little try on session, and they fit! Like a glove, baby! I'm so excited...now I can't wait for formal nights. Okay, Joe, time for you to call Arthur Murray.

Let's Get Serious

So, last night, armed with a couple of catalogs, a legal pad and my favorite pen, I set to work on my packing list. Those of you who know me best, know that I don't do anything without a list. Well, okay, sure, there are a couple of things, but if there's a deadline involved, you can bet the farm that I have a list somewhere nearby. I guess it's a sort of security blanket for my scattered mind...or I'm obsessive and compulsive (or is it anal and compulsive? or compulsive and obsessive? whatever...).

Anyway, I knew that I had most of what I need to take on this adventure, but I recently lost some weight over the summer/fall (shameless fishing for compliments), so I don't have a lot of shorts in the drawer - and it's summer down under. Luckily, most stores are having sales this time of year...coincidence? I don't think so. I found just what I needed and made some last minute web purchases today. All that's left to do is have a try-on session with the "diva" dresses I plan to take for the formal evenings onboard.

Next on the agenda is to get a couple of suitcase zippers repaired and then it's time to pack. I feel like I might be rushing things, but then I realize we're two weeks out from departure. It's time to get busy!

Of course, Joe never makes lists. He'll pack on the fly and get by just fine. Ah! to lead a charmed life like his! I'm sure he'll have to go shopping for something forgotten. But neither of us has ever turned down a shopping opportunity. And we're not about to start now.

T'was the Day After Christmas

And all through our house -
empty boxes and wrappings, and somewhere, my spouse.

He's hiding, I'm sure, so the clean up he'll miss
but make no mistake, he can't hide from this:

Sixteen days 'til vacation! It's coming up fast!
A year in the making - and it's here, at last.

We've booked all our flights, got our cruise information.
And this week we should get hotel confirmation.

We've read all the scoop, and we've chosen excursions.
(There's so much to read, and so many versions!)

This trip will be special, there's no doubt in my mind.
And I've been so excited I can't wait to unwind.

Our first stop's Tahiti, and my master plan:
To lay on the beach and work on my tan!

Not Specific about the Pacific

It occurs to me that I haven't been specific about exactly what this vacation will include. So, here goes.

We leave from LA on Jan. 12 and fly to Papeete (pronounced: pah-pee-ette-tay), Tahiti. We'll make our way over to the island of Moorea and stay for a couple of days...getting used to the time change, working on our tans, etc. Then we fly to Sydney where we'll board the Holland America ship the MS Statendam...but not before hanging out in Sydney for a couple of days. Like I'm going to fly into Sydney and go, "Hey there's the opera house, there's the harbor, okay! let's get on the ship and leave." No sir! I'm there to see sights, drink beer with the locals, shop, drink beer with more locals, go to the beach, and drink beer with the locals. We'll be in Sydney for about 2 1/2 days.

The cruise takes us to Melbourne and to Burnie Tasmania, then we sail for New Zealand and hit Milford Sound, Fjordland National Park, Dunedin, Timaru and Picton. We cruise through Queen Charoltte Sound and Captain Cook Ship Cove before heading on to Wellington, Napier, Tauranga and finally, two weeks after departing Sydney, we end up in Aukland.

We'll spend a day in Aukland, then fly back to Papeete and on to LA...we'll be back in Dallas on February 3. Unfortunately, it will be over with all too soon...just like anything that you build up so much anticipation for.

It's trips like this that support my and Joe's mantra: no kids, no pets, no plants!

All those folks taking holiday vacations

It's really hard watching all my colleagues' e-mails announcing their holiday vacation plans: "I'll be out 12/26-1/2 and won't be checking messages."; "I'll be out of the office during Christmas week and will not have access to voice mail or e-mail."; and my favorite, "I'll be gone 12/24 - 1/2 at a place far, far away from here. A place where service is a word used to describe what happens on Sunday mornings and blackberries are summertime fruits."

It's hard watching everyone else skedaddle for the holidays, since I'll be stuck covering for most of them. But I guess revenge is sweet, as it occurs to me that because it's the holidays, a lot of the people who would otherwise be calling me will be gone as well. That won't be the case when I go on vacation and they have to cover for me! Aha! I drink deeply from the revenge well. But, then, I would drink deeply from most any well.

Choosing Excursions

There are soooo many choices (all of them expensive) for our down under adventure. Not so surprising: we chose the ones that include drinking and eating...that would be chocolates, cheeses, olives, wines, beers, the list is huge...just like we'll be by February. The downside is that by the time we get to Aukland, it's time to enjoy a couple of days on the beach. But I guess folks down there are used to seeing whales...hmmm.

There are just a few things that I HAVE to do while I'm there. I have to throw a boomerang (or see someone do it successfully). I have to see a kangaroo up close and personal (I'd like to feed one). I have to hold a wombat (and sing the wombat song...a composition from my high school days). I have to buy a "shout" for a local or two (a shout is a round of drinks). And I have to shop for opals and something made with local wool...maybe some Uggs. I'm sure Joe's thinking, "Ugh! She's shopping again/still!"

We're 25 days out!

Nothing to do with the cruise: Chistmas picture

This is from the morning after the Christmas party (yeah, I know...Estee Lauder just rolled over in her grave).

That tree is comin' down!

tick tock

Well, here we are: one month out from vacation. And, yes, Virginia, I've started my packing list! Since it will be summer there, we'll be all about shorts, t-shirts and suntan lotion. Our cruise docs tell us that there are laundry facilities on board, so I'm thinking that will reduce my suitcase by about 1/3...there's good news.

It's weird...we had our Christmas party a week ago, so all our decorations were out early. We're having a small Christmas in Amarillo during the actual holiday, but my mind is already on the south pacific...can I take the tree down now??? I guess that's tacky.

This weekend we'll be choosing excursions. Wine tasting, pub crawl, a trip to Mt. Cook, a couple of Kodak moments in Fijordland and shopping...my kind of excursions! Guess I'll be sure to pack the Chaser.

37 days to go

Joe is already on a shopping spree. I'm working to lose those last ten pounds so I can feast at the chocolate buffet. I've committed to taking my workout clothes...a novelty for my packing list. We got our cruise documents and all our flights have been confirmed (first class all the way, baby!). Last weekend we bought our travel booklets. I think I'm really starting to get excited! I only hope that I can keep my desk clear. Today I got a request to go to one of the offices in my territory in January...yikes! No can do...you'll just have to wait until February. I'm sure that won't be the only request. I'll just have to get used to saying, "Hey, I'm going on vacation...you'll just have to fin for yourself for awhile." I think I can get used to saying that!