St. Louis Sal

27 minutes ago, dfish said:

I still think this is the best Clydesdale ad.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyP0JsyvYnA

Definitely one we will always remember.

Good morning, all! 
 

A sunny, but cold day today in St Louis. 
 

Not a huge fan of the Super Bowl. My church sponsored a Souper Bowl Sunday this month where you could make donations of canned soup for our local food pantry for your favorite team. Our final vote was for…..the Cincinnati Bengals! That may partly be because Stan Kroenke (Ram’s owner) is not a popular person in St Louis and we don’t want to see his team win. That’s sad because honestly Super Bowl XXXIV was the most exciting game I ever watched when the Rams played for St Louis. Good luck Cincinnati!

I cheated and watched the Clydesdale commercial ahead of time and I agree with @StLouisCruisersit’s not the best. Foreign ownership of Anheuser-Busch Brewery has been disappointing, although they did keep the Clydesdales, including the breeding farm in mid-Missouri. 
 

The food and drink today sound like winners. I haven’t been to the destination.

I did my online church this morning, but I also appreciated your sharing @grapau27I really enjoyed that message especially the story about C.S.Lewis.

Praying for all on the cares list 🙏 and a toast to cruises and visitors and grandchildren and all the happy times. 🍷

Take care, all

St Louis Sal
 

I’m late finishing our Daily from Saturday, but couldn’t resist sharing our marriage story. My second cousin and DH’s first cousin got married in 1969 and we were both in the wedding party. They matched us up more as a joke than anything else-we are 10 years apart and the opposite of each other in every way. But we hit it off, began dating and got married a little over a year later. We’ve been married 51 years. We were willing to share each other’s interests (I’ve been to auto races, he’s been to the ballet) and we balance each out since he rarely talks and I never stop. Sadly our cousins divorced after 15 years and my cousin just passed away this week after a long battle with MS. DH and I took the sickness and health vow very seriously as he has severe coronary artery disease (was once considered as a candidate for an artificial heart) and is a leukemia survivor. Now he stays strong to be my care giver with my ALS. We have truly been blessed.

St Louis Sal

Good afternoon, all!

I dipped in to the Daily a few times earlier, but did not weigh in on things.

I almost needed my sunglasses inside today as the bright sunshine glinting off all that sparkly white snow is pretty blinding. Our temps are going up into the 40’sF so maybe some melting.

I love frozen yogurt (and ice cream and gelato). I think there are a lot of politicians that should be lame ducks, the sooner the better. As for chopsticks, I have had so many lessons and they just didn’t take. If I have a bowl of mostly rice, I can shovel it in, but a plate with pieces of chicken, carrots or pineapple will defeat me every time. 
 

The meal, drink and wine are a winning trifecta! Does the Jim Beam Collins count as my vitamin C with the OJ? Haven’t been to the destination. Does anyone know who is the originator of that quote? I’ve heard it attributed to a lot of people.

I am having a quiet day after yesterday. Going to the theater and then out to eat was pretty exhausting. DD’s, a friend and I saw The Prom at the Fox Theatre and my friend gifted me with a tiara so I could be a prom Queen 😂. Afterwards I got my margarita and a platter of chicken flautas instead of a burrito. I have leftovers for today. So many of you remind us about wearing a mask, I thought I’d post my headshot so you can see my tiara and my mask.

Prayers to all on the cares list 🙏. And woohoo, may the celebrations be plentiful 🍷.

Take care, all St Louis Sal

5 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Good afternoon.

We have just got home from church.

We sang the National Anthem at the end of the service for Her Majesty the Queen Platinum (70th) Jubilee.

Graham.

I think I have not expressed my appreciation for your sharing of these messages. They are so riveting, truths delivered simply that touch our hearts. I may have missed it, did you ever share your priest’s name? I would like to quote him in my upcoming meditation at our local retirement home where I preach semi-regularly. 
 

Thanks again for sharing,

St Louis Sal

1 hour ago, grapau27 said:

Pauline said thank you too.

The hat was black to match her outfit.

Graham.

Glancing around at the other guests, I believe Pauline was the most stylish of the attendees. Did it rain? I noticed she was prepared. 
 

St Louis Sal 

Good morning all!

Ice cream for breakfast😳? Not too appealing on any day, but certainly not right now when it’s only 8 degrees F outside. I have given myself a chill thinking about it. 🥶 I’ll skip the shower thing and offer my condolences to weathermen. They really take a beating over their forecasts. They had this last one pegged except it arrived a little later than they predicted.

I may have a veggie burrito this evening. We are off to the theater this afternoon (at least we will if the roads are okay) and we’re thinking of going to the Mission Taco Joint for dinner. A drink called Summer Breeze on such a snowy, cold day is funny. The wine sounds like it will be good.

Looking forward to pictures of a destination I haven’t been to. 
 

Prayers for all on the cares list🙏 and I will toast to celebrations (maybe with a margarita, if I’m having a burrito).

Take care all,

St Louis Sal

Good morning all!

It’s a balmy 14 degrees, but at least it stopped snowing. It looks like we got about about 9-10 inches. Love the comment @superomathat your main roads are clear of 10 inches. Not so here. In fact one of our issues is that our main road is also a state highway, we have to wait for the state to plow it and we are low on their list apparently. So it usually works that you struggle to get out of your subdivision, have nice clear side streets and then turn onto Telegraph Rd (aka Hwy 231) and plow through the mess. 
 

I will take a pass on the days and the food although the drink sounds good and I rarely reject a wine 😉. The description of bubblegum day from @grapau27 reminded me that our kids won’t be chewing gum in school today because, with the bad weather, they’ve switched to a half day of virtual learning after which they can go sledding.

I have not been to Mozambique, but I have a lot of friends who have traveled there. My church here in Missouri has something called the Mozambique Initiative where we pledge to support individual pastors or whole churches. My church paid the salary of one pastor for quite a few years. Some have traveled there to meet the friends they made. One thing that stayed with me was the comment that when it’s time for the church offering, Mozambicans come down the aisle singing and dancing, they are so happy to give their offering. That does not happen at my church. One friend said, after church, one of the farmers came to him and gave him a live chicken to take back to his church in St Louis, because that man wanted to help. Poor Tom, what a dilemma, delighted for the gift, but knowing he could not get a live chicken on the plane. Looking forward to any pictures shared.
 

Prayers for all on our care list 🙏 and a toast to celebrations everywhere 🍷.

Take care all,

St Louis Sal

Greetings!

Thanks for posting about your cruise. I really wanted to know what you looked like, so  here you are!
 

St Louis Sal

On 1/11/2022 at 6:23 PM, rkacruiser said:

Something missed :  Protestant services with an ordained Protestant Minister on Sundays as well as on the appropriate holidays that ought to "require" such a person.  One of the best sermons by a Methodist Minister (from Dallas as I recall) was provided during a cruise.  (However, one of the worst experiences with religious services was by a husband/wife duo on my Prinsendam Christmas/New Year's Cruise.  Communion, each Sunday, including Christmas Eve, seemed to be all that they could do.  No message, most disappointing.  My traveling companion stopped attending.)

 

Somethings positive:  The Grand Dutch Cafe and the New York Pizza and Deli on Nieuw Statendam are good additions to one's cruise experience.  The Rolling Stone Rock Room is an excellent music venue as long as the group has a diverse and lengthy playlist.  Night after night of the same songs, while I like them, becomes tedious to hear.  

That pastor you mention was probably Greg Neal. If so, I don’t doubt his sermon was a great one, he is an excellent speaker, a wonderful minister (and he loves cruising).
 

Because I’ve cruised over Christmas so much, I’ve had the chance to meet quite a few pastors and like you have experienced some of the best and at least one of the worst. On one Christmas Eve we experienced the worst sermon (basically an anthem of praise for his own church and hardly a mention of the birth of Christ) and no communion. We decided to stay for the Catholic midnight service since we felt we hadn’t really been to church. The priest offered communion to those non-Catholics present because he said we had no access to the sacrament. I had never heard of that before or since, and although I didn’t partake, I felt such a sense of love and acceptance that it made up for the rather awful Protestant service we had sat through. 
 

And I’m with you on the Grand Dutch Cafe, loved that place on the Koningsdam.

St Louis Sal

14 hours ago, esther e said:

This is an off-shoot of a post regarding what you like and don't like on HAL.

 

Can I add that if I were in charge all the doors to verandahs would be sliding rather than opening with a handle.  I can't enjoy a verandah because I am an elderly solo traveler and have a fear of the door swiftly closing on me if there were a stiff breeze.  I don't have the strength any longer to push open this very heavy door and would be thrilled to just slide one open.

 

I would also like to see High Tea served as before and not in the dining room.  There was something so elegant about a small table by the window for 2 or 4 with a tea service.  I liked that.

I hear you on the door thing. On one of my cruises the door shut before I had my foot all the way out and it slammed the back of my ankle. I ended up with a gash and bruises. In hindsight, I should probably have reported it. 
 

St Louis Sal

Good morning all!

Well, here I sit watching the blowing snow; it’s only 17 degrees, brrr. Hard to tell how much we have and it’s not supposed to stop until later this afternoon. My poor car is in the driveway, encased in ice, covered in a blanket of snow 😢.

Good days. We feed the birds (nothing more beautiful than a male cardinal against the snow). The day the music died is a sad remembrance of loss; I was only 10, but I remember people talking. I’ll hum a little “Chantilly Lace” in remembrance. I’ve never had a golden retriever, but they are so beautiful. My next door neighbor raised and trained them. Our. previous dachshund (also named Fritz) fell in love with Amber. He would sit at the fence and watch her with the goofiest, love-struck expression. One day he got in her yard, ran to her and she stepped all over him. The romance was over. 
 

The food, drink and wine sound good, although I’m curious as to when these flavored martinis became a thing. Haven’t been to the destination.

Lots of people needing prayers today 🙏 and I will raise a glass in celebration later today 🍷.

Take care all,

St Louis Sal

1 hour ago, albingirl said:

She should be fired.  Period.

Not when certain other people all along weren’t even reprimanded. Let’s not forget that the *** did go after others as well, including gays, handicapped and the Romany people. What they did was indeed a crime against humanity. And what I’m seeing in America now (for instance the recent *** display in Florida, plus the bomb threats against HBC [historically black colleges]) tells me that we didn’t wipe this out as completely as we thought. (Okay, my activist voice will try to stay silent, but please don’t post this kind of stuff, I cannot, will not stay quiet.)

St Louis Sal

Good morning all!

Big change in the weather from yesterday!  From 60 degrees and sunny to this mornings freezing rain ☹️. Should transition to snow this afternoon, but the totals are just guesstimates,  They are showing close to 24 hours of snowfall!

Of the days, Ukulele Day is interesting. Used to travel with an older friend who always carried a rather small suitcase. Almost like magic, out of that suitcase would come an endless collection of lovely outfits AND her ukulele. (RIP,  Katie Hug.) 

Love Mark Twain quotes; we claim Samuel Clemens as our own and a visit to Hannibal MO is always fun, including Mark Twain Cave.

I will skip the meal and the drink today, but a glass of Prosecco would be nice. Haven’t been to today’s destination. 

Lifting up all on our prayer and concerns list 🙏 and a toast to the lucky ones on our celebrations list 🍷. 
 

Take care all,

St Louis Sal

It’s been awhile since I’ve done Belize. It is a tender port and as I remember, we were anchored pretty far out. The first time I visited was with my DH who isn’t a fan of excursions so I signed up by myself for a ship excursion to Lamanai. Highly recommend this if it’s available. My excursion included a bus ride which let me see the countryside and a boat ride to Lamanai on the New River. (When you arrive you are almost in Mexico and pretty far away from your ship!) Our tour guide was excellent and when I decided not to climb the highest ruin, he took my camera and snapped pictures for me. We had lunch served by some church ladies with a little local shopping (I have a box made of native Belizean woods). It rained while we were on the river (why you should always have a rain poncho in the islands). This turned out to be one of my favorite ship excursions.

Second visit with my daughters, we snagged two other shipmates and did a van tour with a driver. Point of fact, Belize has some amazing potholes that looked like they could swallow our van. We circled back through the downtown area before arriving back at the dock for a little dockside souvenir shopping. 
 

I enjoyed Belize, my husband was happy to hang out on the ship.

St Louis Sal

p.s. Disclaimer, the pic is not mine, my Belize pictures are not on my IPad. But mine look like this and in fact while leafing through a travel magazine one day, I turned a page and thought, wait I have this picture, I’ve been there and indeed it was an article on Lamanai

Good morning all!

It’s 48 degrees and beautifully sunny here in St Louis, but with the winter storm warning hanging over our head, there is a sense of foreboding (and a run on the grocery stores). It looks like a wintry mix to start by the end of the day (I hate ice) turning to snow. How much? Predictions range from 3” to a foot so we will see. 
 

A group of friends and I usually celebrate Chinese New Year at our favorite Chinese restaurant, but with the higher Covid numbers we are putting it off. We may get together next week at my house and celebrate with fortune cookies. Politics is every day around my house as I am an activist of sorts. I try hard here to not let any political comments creep in. 
 

Haven’t been to Japan (had a friend who taught there for several years, she can’t wait to go back) so looking forward to pictures, I’ll skip the dessert and the wine is rather expensive. I love Manhattans though. A bartender told me a long time ago that Manhattans were for people who wanted to get drunk quicker 😉.

Prayers for all that need them 🙏 and what fun to have an opportunity to join vicariously in celebrations 🍷.

Take care everyone,

St Louis Sal

2 hours ago, Suslor said:

“Yo, you know the drill” is one inane answering machine message I’ll never forget 🤪. I also ignore calls that we don’t recognize and pick up if we know them and they’re leaving a message. If the television is on the name/number is posted on the screen. I’m amazed how many “people” want to buy our home. 
 

I agree about all the people interested in my houses. Weird thing is, we put our daughters on our vacation condo and now THEY get calls wanting them to sell OUR house and farm!  Plus the people who want to buy our “house” in Hillsboro are clueless as that log home was the victim of arsonists several years ago.

St Louis Sal

Good morning all!

Happy Sunday. Looking forward to online church this AM (thank you @grapau27for your postings, can never have too many good sermons). 
 

Despite testing negative for Covid, I am still under the weather, continued runny nose, slight nausea and very tired 😢. I may reach out to my doc to see if I can do a telehealth call, although we were planning to drive back home tomorrow. 
 

I’ll skip the days today. Interesting quote “imperfection is beauty” from a woman whose beauty was her trademark.

I’ll take the meal and wine, skip the drink, not a fan of the mint julep. Haven’t been to the destination, watching fir pictures.

Thank you Rich, Roy, the food and drink department, and everybody that shares here on the Daily. Love the jokes, memes, pictures and talk of everyone’s pets (still missing Fritz the dachshund so much 😢).

Shall pray for all on our cares list this morning at church 🙏 and vicariously celebrate all the happy times (bring on the baby pictures). 
 

Take care,

St Louis Sal

16 hours ago, zgscl said:

This was the day 1 menu out of San Diego going to Mexico. I believe Coastals were on the same rotation. I frankly don't recall seeing Beef Wellington at all, but I was mostly in specialty dining for this cruise and could very easily have missed it. You can always keep specialty dining for the first night and once you see the menu change your reservation as soon as you board. 

 

 

 

 

Maybe it’s because I haven’t cruised in awhile or maybe because it’s lunch time, but I’m looking at this menu going “Yes! Yes! Yes!”  I’d take any and all of it. 
St Louis Sal

Good morning all!
 

Thanks for all the lovely messages on my “return” to the Daily. My Covid test was negative, but they suggest a second test 24-36 hours later. Still having same symptoms of runny nose, tiredness, so just not feeling up to going anywhere. I have two doctor appts scheduled next week so hoping I am still negative and feel a bit better.

Data Privacy seems unlikely in this day & age. I haven’t worked since early retirement back in 1999, so sad 😉. I think I have a kazoo in the drawer somewhere. Like the Potter quote. Been to England a lot, but somehow missed Liverpool. Skipping the meal, Prosecco is a favorite and rum punch makes me think of Mary Poppins. 
 

The weather here has been a mix of clouds and sun. I thought it was quite nippy yesterday, but there were golfers out.

Today we have Suddenlink, our WiFi provider, coming to put new boxes in for our TVs, possibly a new router. Our community has negotiated a group deal which is quite good, giving us a higher data speed and extra channels for slightly less than I was paying. BUT, I have heard nothing but complaints from various neighbors on how the install is being handled, so I’m a bit worried. Since we are here in Branson only part time, these things are extra difficult to schedule anyway. Here’s hoping.🤞

I was sorry to hear about someone else being diagnosed with ALS. I would love to talk with Vickie if she needs an extra ear with some experience. 
 

I love reading about everyone’s cruise experience on the live from threads, but I can’t help feeling that there are no more cruises in my future. My DD’s say I can do it and I have two ALS friends, one flew to Mexico, took her travel scooter, the other flew to Miami and took a cruise, used his Go chair. They are cheerleaders, but…

Prayers for all on our concern list, wishing you health, safety and good caregivers 🙏 and raising a glass in celebration (later, it’s only 8 am here 😉) 🍷

Take care all

St Louis Sal

Good morning all!
 

Sorry to have been MIA for awhile. It was partly from being busy, but also discouragement with logging in/posting issues. So I went back to being a lurker. I apparently missed Jan 11 when several of you said you missed me. 💗.

Gotta love Chocolate Cake Day 👏. Only punched the clock at one job-working as the interline cashier at Dohrn Transfer (trucking company) during college. I remember the concern over whether National Geographic would be ruined when it was sold.

Good quote. I’ll skip the meal. Sausage, meh. Cabbage, meh. But the drink and wine sound like winners. Haven’t been to Trinidad and Tobago. 

As my ALS continues to advance and I got a power wheelchair, I also needed a mobility van. It took a bit of time to pick out and more time to arrange financing, but we now own a Toyota Sienna Hybrid van with a Braunability conversion. Our next step is to have them install an electronic docking device for the chair so DH doesn’t have to kneel down and strap me in (those 82 year old knees of his don’t like it). 
 

My birthday was January 16th and we went out to dinner with our DD’s and a friend. We are all triple vaxxed, ate in a private dining room, wore masks in and out. This past Friday I woke up not feeling great-runny nose, achy and a general feeling of malaise. Then over the weekend I discovered my friend had tested positive for Covid. She works at SIU-E as a counselor. She may have gotten it from a co-worker. So I now have a Binax test and will be using it shortly. We shall see if I might be a spreader. I have isolated since last Friday and so far DH seems okay. 
 

Sorry I missed yesterday’s destination, which I have visited many times. I can’t resist sharing from our 2018 trip which was a last minute (literally a week and a half before departure) decision to take the last cruise/land tour of the season. If it comes through, the video clip is me standing in the Resurrection River between Seward and Anchorage. We stayed at a resort whose name I’ve forgotten. I had hoped we’d stay at Alyeska which I love, but this spot was not bad. Okay, it’s giving me an error message, maybe I’ll try it in another posting.

Continuing to keep everyone on the concern list in my daily prayers 🙏. And love vicariously celebrating the happy times. 🍷

Take care all, keeping my fingers crossed as I submit this. 
St Louis Sal

p.s. Well, it didn’t post and just sat here all day! 

5 hours ago, Naismith said:

But they are repositioning the ship BECAUSE the charters postponed.  Which may well have been a COVID-inspired decision.  The Country Music Cruise scheduled on Jan 15th had some Big Names playing, and those folks may have refused to go on board because of Covid.

I live in Florida, where I usher at a performing arts venue, and we have had quite a few acts cancel January bookings because of the Covid surge.

So many things are being cancelled. My symphony concert this evening is now a shortened chamber concert because so many musicians are under quarantine right now. Both our Art Museum and History Museum are shuttered until February 1 because they had so many employees out they couldn’t safely open. I was surprised that the Malt Shop Memories Cruise actually sailed back in October-the performers on that one are among some of the oldest performers sailing with Starvista. 
 

St Louis Sal

Good morning all!

I figured I try posting again today; I’ve just about given up with posts disappearing or insisting on taking over the beginning of the day thread 🤦‍♀️.

No cookie baking for me, too difficult and really I’m not that enthused about it. I love wreaths, Christmas and otherwise. Migrant farm workers have always worked our crops in the USA. While at Eckerts Farms to pick apples one day, I met one of the workers, he was from a town in Mexico and spoke no English. We should think about the workers when looking at the abundance of fruits and vegetables in your our grocery stores.

Thank you, Jay Leno, for the laugh. I’m going to say, for Missouri, Roy Blunt is the designated driver because Josh Hawley sounds like he has been hitting the hard stuff. Of course Blunt is no great shakes either. However I must thank them for this weeks passage of the ACT for ALS bill which will fund research and drug development. 
 

Haven’t been to Taiwan. I’ll skip the meatballs and the brown derby, think I’ve had the wine, but not sure.

My fervent prayers 🙏 go out to all on the cares list and thankfully we can join vicariously in some happy times 🍷. (Loved the picture of Camilla, her smile was radiant!)

Take care all,

St Louis Sal 

Good evening all!
 

It has been a busy week so I have mostly read, not posted (although who knows, I might not have been able to post anything anyway). 
 

Mountains are my passion, love the places with mountains AND beaches. We frequently donate dog and cat food to our local shelters plus I also give dog/cat food to our food pantry for their care closet. Bagels are okay; fond of Panera Cinnamon Crunch Bagels bread-sliced (apparently a St Louis thing).

Bring on the drink, the wine and a nice prime rib!! Sadly haven’t been to Brazil, appreciating the photos & videos.

Last night was crazy. DD’s and I had gone to the movies to see “West Side Story”. About 45 minutes in cell phones began going off with a tornado warning. The movie was paused and employees went around alerting patrons to move to a safe area. I had transferred from my travel wheelchair to a theatre recliner. So up I got and carefully transferred back to my wheelchair. DD’s helped and several other patrons also offered (much appreciated). We stayed in the safe area for an hour until the all clear was sounded. Nothing came close to us, but there were tornados west, north and to the east of us (including Edwardsville IL where the Amazon warehouse partially collapsed). We eventually got to go back in and finish the movie (plus they issued free tickets as a thank you for our cooperation. 🙂)  I was amazed to see in the news this morning all the devastation 😢.

Offering prayers 🙏 for all those in need on our care list ( @kazuespecially praying for you and Jose). And thanks to all on our celebration list for allowing us to join with you vicariously 🍷

Take care all,

St Louis Sal

P.S. I loved this  “West Side Story” remake,  some wonderful singers and dancers, great performance by Rita Moreno. Definitely one of the rare times where a stage musical made a great transition to the screen and is the equal or better of the 1961 movie. 

Good morning all!
 

I admit to being a little sad this morning as normally I would be cuddling with Fritz to read the Daily. I am intrigued by the days. I have always said computer hackers can figure out my password easier than I can. Personal space was always important, but more so now during Covid. I have lots of mason jars around although I haven’t canned anything for many years. I used to do pickles and made pear jam from the fruit of our tree.

The recipes look delish thanks @dfish, we just happen to have pork chops defrosting, perfect timing. I love a Merlot and I wish someone would make me the drink.

I notice that the Eurodam is in Cartagena. I missed commenting on that destination, but really appreciated the pictures people shared. I have been there twice; the second time, on the advice of some on our roll call, I booked a Crepuscule (twilight) walking tour with Marelvy Peña-Hall. I am hoping she is still giving tours in this Covid time. Although the tour did a lot of walking (and wouldn’t be good for anyone with mobility issues) it was fantastic and one of the best tours ever.
 

And the award for the best tour ever goes to…Patrick in Bora-Bora.  I remember swimming in the lagoon and pinching myself saying “you are in Bora-Bora, you are really in Bora-Bora”. The water, the food, the drinks, Patrick and the other guides, all a day to remember forever. My pictures are from 2010, so they are not on my IPad, I will just enjoy all of yours. 
 

Prayers going out to all who need them. A church friend of mine is undergoing surgery this am for a leaky aortic valve. May there be healing, health and strength for all 🙏. And to the happy celebrations, a glass of Merlot later today in appreciation 🍷.

Take care all, 

St Louis Sal

p.s. I thought this posted this morning, only to notice this evening it was missing?? CC did save it for me, so here it is.