CrabbyPatti

I am sorry to hear of your difficulties. I want to thank you for the guide. We used it in 2017 and drove up to Whitehorse for the day. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed several stop. The guide with information from a "local" was so handy to have. Thank you. Denise

Good Morning Everyone, It has been a bit since I have posted. Been busy with Dad. He is doing better now that the infection has cleared. But he is no longer able to get up and ambulate to his chair and is in bed all the time. Fortunately, we do have a special mattress which rotates and keeps him changing positions. He still smiles and occasionally says something that we can understand. We have put cruise plans on hold for the moment to care for Dad but I must share the "dream or nightmare" that I had with you! The other morning I woke up early from a "dream/nightmare" I was finally on a cruise! But while I was looking over my room, preparing to unpack, a lady and three beautiful girls came in the room and said that is was "their" room and they would be staying! Then her hubby bounds into the room and says he is going to take a shower, he proceeds to shower and come back into the room stark naked!🤩 I then checked the bathroom and was angry as he left it a mess! I remember waking up and thinking how am I going to share a room with 5 people I don't know even if the girls are cute!😂 When hubby woke up I told him I need a cruise but not this one! Prayers and good thoughts for all that need them. Keep posting your cruise pictures. I will get back one of these days! Denise

Good Evening Everyone! Hope all are doing well. I guess I can celebrate all the days topics today! I have 2 siblings. Golf I will celebrate through a Grandson playing. He is playing for his high school team and is off at a match today. Doing pretty well for not much experience and borrowed golf clubs! But he is having fun learning. We will celebrate farm animals here as we still have a few on the last 3 acres of my Grandparents farm (now our families) We also have chicks hatching in the incubator (in the extra bathroom, most temperature stable area) today. Grandsons were quite excited to watch the process. Once they are all dry and fluffy they move out to the barn. Grandson Myles was working on names for all the chicks when he was here. I think Spring is finally here, My tulips are about to bloom and the Lilacs are budding!

Good Afternoon Everyone! Happy Anniversary to the "Daily" I love how this thread has evolved over the past three years but remains full of caring, supportive, friendly folks who have shared of their lives both the ups, downs and laughs we have experienced. I may not post often but I check it daily it offs laughs and encouragement when I need it! This past week was a whirlwind I picked up some shifts for a colleague who went to care for a friend receiving chemo and my Dad ended up in the hospital! Fortunately another colleague was able to fill in for me one day and the on other days, I would see Dad before work and after work! Our current boss loves having the 3 of us (as we had worked several years in an ER together) we are use to status changes on the fly! Dad came home yesterday and is doing better. Unfortunately the dementia is taking its toll, but we are able to keep him comfortable at home. Keep posting the ports, I can dream of the next cruise to go on! I also love the recipes and shake things up and surprise hubby with new things on the table every so often! Must keep him on his toes! Take care and thank you again to all who contribute and make this thread what it is! Denise

Good Evening! Just now getting to the daily, busy day here. I can celebrate Frozen food day as I keep a freezer stocked! I figure between the freezer and pantry I could feed us for 6 months! Might become boring but we would eat! I think this comes from my Grandma's lessons from the great depression when they lived out in the farm county. She taught me a lot of canning and then freezing for the "winter" I do have to remind my self that I no longer have a houseful of kids to feed! But I have been known to send dinners home with my daughters when they stop by! We had good news for Dad. We had a special, rotating mattress for his hospital bed finally arrive today (it has been on the way since November) Hopefully it will help in positioning him and keeping him from developing any sores. With 2 people we have been getting him up to the chair once a day, but with this bed, his wife can help change his position when we are not there. Just pleased that we can keep him comfortable at home. @Cruzin Terri So glad you did not have a blood clot. Be sure to rest! Thank you all for the pictures of the port today. I have enjoyed looking at them. Take care everyone. Denise ps Hubby must have known it was "oreo" day he just came home with some!

Good Morning! Rabbit, Rabbit, White Rabbit! Been a busy morning so far, took Holly (the dog) to daycare, she goes once a week just to be familiar with other people as she is fearful of other people and situations. They have really been great helping her be a better canine companion, she gets to be the "office" dog and when we travel I have a safe place for her to stay! Then over to Dad's for his morning care, he was alert and smiling today, ate his breakfast well, so should be a good day. Now in a bit will take hubby for a colonoscopy, fingers crossed for no problems, (high family history for cancer, so he has these on a regular schedule). The meal of the day looks good, but I think I will plan that for later in the week, when hubby can enjoy it. Guess I celebrated National Peanut Butter day as I had some on toast for breakfast, before I knew it was the day! The sun is shining here beautiful day maybe we are getting close to spring (yesterday we had a bit a snow when we got up). Take care and wish you all well. Denise

Good Evening Everyone, It has been a while since I posted, but I manage to take a few minutes most days to read the daily. I love the bantering back and forth over our various happenings in our lives. Sharing makes us know that we are not the "only ones" having life happens moments! I am still caring for Dad with his dementia, overall he is physically doing better, we are actually getting him up and ambulating him short distances in the house. Considering when he was discharged from the hospital in December bed bound, that is a big change. @marshhawk So sorry to read about Neko. It is hard to loose those furry friends. @0106 I have purposely bought some of those "banned" books to keep on my shelf and share with the Grands! I want them to be able to read them, think about things and discuss the contents even if they may not agree with the content. My four children are quite articulate and well read, my hopes are that the Grands will be too. @dfish Thank you for the daily recipes, I always enjoy the new ideas or reminders of "old" ones we have forgotten about. The hamburger gravy over mashed potatoes was a comfort food growing up and I will say I made it for the kids when they were young and things were tight! I have been chuckling over the "refrigerator saga" most of us have experienced. We went through it in July 2020 with waiting 8 weeks for a new one to come in while the old one was threatening to quit working! Keep posting those travel pictures, I love to see them. Wishing you all well, hugs and prayers to those of you that are hurting. Denise

Thank you! I have missed having Bread pudding. Will try this tomorrow! Denise

Good afternoon Everyone! I can appreciate squirrels, if they follow the rules at my place! The rule is stay off the house and stay out by the walnut trees! We have three walnut trees, two I planted, the third came up, by the chicken pen! I suspect a squirrel buried the walnut, but the tree it is in a nice location and provides shade for the chickie pen. They also have a "highway" around the place following the fence. Fortunately the dog keeps them away from the house so they stay off the house! The past year we haven't had as many around, which makes me wonder if the neighbors have done something to discourage them? My Mom feeds them at her retirement apartment and enjoys watching them (my brother buys her "shelled" peanuts) so there isn't a shell mess to clean up! I'll get a hug when hubby gets home today, I know he will be tired as he is over helping his Dad "clean". Chicken dish looks delicious I'll save the recipes for another time as I am not sure when Hubby will get home. Keep warm everyone, it has started snowing again here................ Denise

Good Afternoon everyone! I am taking a break from organizing one of the kitchen cupboards..............did I have a premonition that I needed to organize the cupboard? LOL. I will pass on dressing up any of the pets. Miss Princess would likely leave me injured if I tried! Mr. Boots at 19 years old is to much of a gentleman to have me dress him. Though like @Cruising-along as a young girl we had a tabby cat that we dressed and he rode in the doll buggy. Never once did he bite or scratch, he was the perfect cat for kids, he just enjoyed being with us. @Quartzsite Cruiser Thank you for the well wishes for Hubby, he is feeling better, but still not much energy. @grapau27 Glad to hear they have a plan for Sarah. Wishing her well. Sure like the pictures everyone has posted of the port, beautiful destination! Well I best quite procrastinating and go finish the kitchen cupboard as it will be hard to have dinner with all my cookbooks on the kitchen table! Have a good weekend. Denise

Good Morning Everyone! I tend to be skeptical at times, but I hide it well. Many years of hearing implausible stories in my line of work tended to make me that way! I am so tired of playing Covid dodgeball, trying to not take anything to our elderly parents. About 10 days ago, Hubby caught a bad head cold, didn't feel well for several days. He tested a couple of times for Covid and was negative. He was improving (the head cold) but seemed to be short of breath with any activity and blood pressure was up. Unable to get an appointment with doctor so he went to Emergency yesterday (he later text me to let me know where he was!) They ran some cardiac tests to rule out heart problems and did a CT of his lungs. Well everything was negative except the lung scan, it showed the typical "Covid changes" in his scan. So last week he had Covid even though tests were negative. So hopefully he didn't share it with anyone, I feel fine, but worry I may have "carried" it to the folks, with out being sick. I like the idea of the Salmon burgers the recipes look good. But tonight we are scheduled for "left overs" plenty to be used up! Wishing everyone speedy healing and improved health! Have a great weekend. My Friday the 13th "Black Cat" (Yes, she is on the table, and no she should not be. First time in 5 years she broke the rule, not sure why she chose to do so!) Denise

Good Morning Everyone! Would love to visit Bar Harbour one of these days. Enjoying all the pictures people have posted. Take care everyone, I am enjoying your cruise plans and pictures you have been posting! Keep them coming! Denise

@richwmn Thank you for taking us along! One of these days I would love to do a world cruise, but not sure it will be in the cards! So I will enjoy hearing about your travels. Enjoy your cruise! Denise

Good Evening Everyone! Iceland looks like a wonderful place to cruise too............one of these days we just may go! Someone must have looked in my pantry for the meal today, as I am using a butternut squash tonight to make a Harvest Salad with some chicken on the side! Thank you Roy for keeping Dad on the rotation. He was hospitalized November 25th and stayed for 10 days, hospital tried to discharge him earlier but I put my foot down and said not until they deliver a hospital bed (hospital was in charge of that!) as it took 5 fireman and a sling to take him from his bedroom to the ambulance the day he was admitted (usually he could walk but was too weak). I am giving him IV antibiotics via a "pic" line every day. Folks, please make sure you have a patient advocate if you go to the hospital, I firmly believe Dad's health would have been compromised if I had not been their to intervene. (I still think the medical resident is trying to recover, when I questioned him and told him he was wrong and he needed to see the attending! He didn't know I have been a critical care/emergency nurse longer then he has been on this earth! and yes I was right!) I realize that Dad is failing, but he was awake, smiling and said a few words today to celebrate his 88th birthday. Dad, his wife and I actually talked about our Panama Canal cruise plans (on hold for the moment) not sure how much he followed, but he was smiling while we talked. I am so glad we have Alaskan cruise memories to share, he really enjoyed it. Everyone take care and thanks for being so kind to all. I really appreciated this group while we were in the hospital, it is a kind, thoughtful group, that I could escape too while waiting in the hospital. Denise

Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone! I haven't posted in ages, but I try to take a few minutes everyday to read the posts. It helps me to realize I am not the only one going through life's ups and downs. The posts that you share of cruises and ports are really enjoyed. I realize that one day I may see some of them, I have a bucket list growing after reading of your adventures! Dad's dementia is getting worse, I am over at his house 1-3 times a day, depending on my brother and step sisters schedules. We have had some good caretakers and but frequent "call outs" so it makes scheduling things a mess. He started with a hoarse voice and low grade fever Tuesday fortunately with some nebulizer treatments, he seems to be doing okay. All the kids and Grands were supposed to be here for dinner today finally a gathering after so long! But then one Grandaughter tested positive for the Influenza A and they canceled plans to come. Then # 3 daughter and family have got an upper respiratory bug and stayed home! But we had a nice dinner with my oldest daughter and her family and my Mom. She enjoyed seeing the two Great Grandsons! We definitely has too much to eat, all of it too good! Told hubby I am not cooking for the next three days...............we will survive on leftovers! I am Thankful for CruiseCritic and the adventures we can share. Stay well. Denise

Good Evening Everyone! Haven't posted in a while but still check in to see what is happening with everyone. My prayers to those who have lost loved one recently. I am a retired ER nurse. Worked 29 years in ER it was good career, but one day I realized that I had just had enough, put my notice in the next day...............hind sight it was fortunate that I did as it was 2019 I just got out before Covid, my colleagues that I am still in touch with have had an awful time (at times I felt guilty that I wasn't with them, but I found a different part time job and now work with one of my former colleagues! We make quite a team with our background. ( I am supposed to be retired but keep going back ................guess I am not quite ready to retire completely!) Hubby and I are still looking for a Panama Canal cruise for next year, a lot depends on Dads needs so we haven't made any firm plans. We enjoy reading about those of you that have been on some recent cruises and sharing your pictures! Thank you for sharing! Denise

Good Evening Everyone, This day is a tough one, my memories of it are as clear as the day it happened. I was getting ready for my shift at the emergency department of our local hospital and heard the news on the radio, we then turned on the TV and I saw the awful picture as the 2nd plane flew into the building. Even though we were across the country our emergency plans were initiated, a surreal feeling to experience. I knew some of our fire department colleagues who were sent to help and it really affected them. My Grand children know about 911(none of them were born yet) and I want them to know about all the first responders and other people who stepped up and helped where ever they were needed without thinking twice about it, they are heroes. My prayers to all who were affected in someway by 911. We will never forget! Denise

LOL at buying another one. Dave and I have frequently bought jackets in Ketchikan simply because they offered them for $ 19.99! They have made perfect "chore" coats once we got home! We laugh now and then say we need to go to Alaska to get a new coat! Denise

Good Afternoon, I think I have caught up after being at "fair" last week. The Grandson's did well with their exhibits and won many top awards. Monday, they all went back to school, but half days for the first 2 days so they have been here at lunchtime. They are so funny, talking about school, they all want to talk at once! My Dad's caretakers did well while I was gone at the fair (kinda a trial run, as I was still in town and could respond if I was needed for him) makes me think maybe we would plan a short 7 day cruise (better then nothing!) so will see how things develop. I love the "National Beach Day" We were supposed to take a 3-4 day trip to the Oregon Coast to celebrate our anniversary, but didn't feel that we could be that far with Dad. So yesterday we ran up the road about 50 miles and had a nice prime rib dinner, and spent the night at a casino. Lost a couple of dollars (we don't spend much) but knew they had a nice restaurant and were gone a "whole 19 hours" not the beach but it was a good "getaway" even though it was short! Take care everyone and stay safe! Please continue to post those port/cruise pictures it keeps me thinking.................. Denise

@marshhawk Call me a terrible person but during the Covid lockdown, When the weather was bad I spent a lot of time watching various you tube videos about pier runners! It helped lighten the time when we were "stuck" at home! Denise

Oh, boy going to be a long week................what a "run on" sentence I wrote in above post! LOL Denise

Good Morning Everyone! Going to be another warm one here today and for the next week. Bit worried about the heat as Monday starts our county fair. Always harder on the kids and critters when it is so hot ( and parents!) Love the honeybees, I am allergic, but still appreciate them, just cautious when I am out. Last night we went to dinner and I had a drink with dinner told hubby it would taste better on a ship! We will celebrate our 44th Anniversary on Friday while at the fair. I help with the grands and critters and his mens group from church makes and sells waffle cones with ice cream as a charity fundraiser. So we will toast with a waffle cone and ice cream on Friday! @grapau27 Congrats to you and Pauline on your 41st Anniversary on Monday! @cat shepard I think I might be that OCD picture by the end of fair week. Stay safe and healthy everyone, I'll check in when I can this week. Denise

Good Evening, We celebrate "Black" cat day here. Princess is long haired black cat..........or so we thought. She showed up as a starving kitten on the back porch in the middle of a snow storm. We thought she was black for a few days until she decided that we were not scary people and we could pick her up. We then found a white spot on her chest! She picked the right house to show up at, we fed her and she stayed! @kazu I am so sorry to hear about Shadow. Hope she is located quickly. Enjoying the port pictures today. I will try to attach a picture on Princess, I was laughing when I realized what was on the computer screen. Apparently she felt I was spending too much time on "Cruise Critic" Denise

Good Morning Everyone! Been a busy week, getting caught up on the daily. @rafinmd You can take Dad and son off the care list. Thank you all for the thoughts and prayers for them. Son and family have recovered from Covid, fortunately they were not too sick, just miserable for a few days. Dad is doing better with his dementia, and the two caretakers we have hired to help us are working out well. So fingers crossed, we stay on an even path for now. My daughter has included a book and project on the Navajo Code talkers in her history class, her middle schoolers seem to enjoy learning about them, glad she has worked it into the classroom. It was cooler yesterday so we were able to get our hay for the winter. I was so happy to find "old lady bales" they weigh about 65 pounds, instead of the usual 80-100 pound bales! These I can move by myself! Fortunately I got the hay stacked up before I entertained the dog............I went to move the bird feeder (to clean the wasp nest out of it) stepped wrong and fell flat on my side, with bird feeder flying out of my hands! The dog comes over and put her face in my face to see why I was laying on the ground.........did I want to play? After a few minutes I managed to get up, spray the wasp nest and looked around to see if anyone saw my "graceful" act! A few bruises and my dignity hurt, so I came inside and chilled the rest of the day by reading the daily. Be safe everyone, I am enjoying your pictures and memes! Denise

Hello Everyone! Thank you for the welcome back. We had a good week at camp with only a few minor "owies"! Always a good camp week when I don't need to call a parent or transport someone for medical care! And the important thing is the kids all seemed to have a good time, we work real hard to see that all kids are included and no one is left out! Thank you for the well wishes for my Dad and son. Son and family all ended up with Covid, but are recovering nicely. The care takers I had lined up to help with Dad while I was gone, worked well (his wife is there to supervise). Good day to celebrate! We have always had a cat or 2 that own us. Boots is 18 and getting frail, sleeps most of the time now. Princess is 5 and her name fits her attitude! Zucchini day here I grated up 3 oversized ones that were given too me, tomorrow will make some zucchini bread and cookies it freezes well. Also going to try a new recipe for zucchini fritters for dinner, will let you know if it is a repeat! @atexsix I am sorry to hear your Dad is not doing well (hugs to you for caring for him). As a caretaker I was on the fence about leaving for a week for camp, I am glad I was able too, it gave me time to "recharge" a bit. The caretakers are working out for the moment, but I am now exploring options as for Dad's safety, I may need to move him into assisted/nursing home before much longer. Just wish I had a crystal ball to tell me the right/best thing to do. thank you those that are posting your port pictures! Love seeing them! Denise