How do we liven up this board?

[ILoveScotland]

Carol, hope the chemo works for your cousin. If not, have her doctors even started looking for a bone marrow donor?

I'm in Wilmington, NC which is about 90 miles south of New Bern. I've come down for an overnight retreat for clergy participating in a health program. The drive took less than 2 hours which was good. I'd expected 2 lane highways but had 4 lanes for about 70 of the 90 miles. Home tomorrow afternoon.

Beth

[Tom47]

Be back to chat - dental appt.... had to rush down to Los Angeles over the weekend to visit my cousin who is hospitalized - she has acute leukemia - had 5 blood transfusions within a week and now she is undergoing chemo for 7 straight days - hope she will be ok if not, then bone marrow options will have to be considered-- boy! Narce was driving the 5-1/2 hrs to and fro but I was the one who was tired - sleeping while sitting up is not very comfy! it would have been ok if I had been dreaming of cruises!! in this case, YOUR cruises ... I have to wait til Dec for mine!

carol

Hi Carol

Sorry to hear about your cousin. I hope all goes well.

Tom

[cctn]

Hi Carol

Sorry to hear about your cousin. I hope all goes well.

Tom

 

Thank You TOm- our family circle and close friends have been praying very very hard for her -

Beth - they are trying the chemo first then will consider the bone marrow next..

She has two sisters and lots of nieces/nephews so hopefully if they need a match, they will be able to provide...

thank you for your thoughts -- carol

[plt2087]

This is plt2087 or chuck and have not responded lately as been busy and now I am in Hawaii for 6 notes and not on cruise but would love to and would be nice to have a roommate and I am single at 65 years of age. I am staying at the military hotel hale koa on waikii.

I will pray for that unfortunate person"s relative at daily mass once I return from hawaii on 29th o will respond to all my cruise critic"s comment"s

[Cruisercl]

Carol,

My prayers are with your cousin and your family. It is a tough road. Try to keep positive - these treatments can and do work.

[cctn]

Carol,

My prayers are with your cousin and your family. It is a tough road. Try to keep positive - these treatments can and do work.

 

 

Thank You so much = we all feel confident and hope all treatments will cure her - Carol

[cctn]

This is plt2087 or chuck and have not responded lately as been busy and now I am in Hawaii for 6 notes and not on cruise but would love to and would be nice to have a roommate and I am single at 65 years of age. I am staying at the military hotel hale koa on waikii.

I will pray for that unfortunate person"s relative at daily mass once I return from hawaii on 29th o will respond to all my cruise critic"s comment"s

 

 

Thank You Chuck - or I should say Mahalo.... appreciate your prayers and also hope my cousin will be A-ok after her treatments are done -

I have seen the military hotel there on Waikiki - nice location - we try to go to Honolulu once a year but if we can't make it, we never let two yrs go by without a visit there.... we stayed at the military bungalows at Wainae once cuz my BIL is in the military and he was able to get a place for us one yr - continue to have fun and enjoy!!!and again, thank you for your prayers.... Aloha - carol

[ILoveScotland]

Home from my retreat. Bought gas for $3.39 a gallon and then saw it for $3.31. It was only that low in one little stretch of highway.

Hi Chuck. I've never been to Hawaii. From the east coast it is a major undertaking. I can get to Europe more easily.

Beth

[cctn]

Beth, what a bargain on the gas price -- we are at the $4.59 to $4.89 ...

I hate to say this, but when it became 44 cents many many moons ago in the mid 70's, we all thought we would just perish !!

I love Hawaii - so much that i would never want to cruise over there - I just want to be on the islands all day and all night - no schedules for dinner, no dressing up - just wander around in tshirts/summer clothes - eat in local places, hang out at the beach ( I am not a beach person, Narce is, but I go to sit and lie and enjoy the water)... I love Oahu the best, then Maui, Big Island and Kaui - we have our regular routine and all our favorite places to eat on Oahu -

carol

[cctn]

Beth - forgot to answer your question - yes, they have considered my cousin's 2 sisters and she has several niece and relatives in the area and they are ready - her niece told me that my cousin is doing fine and no side effects with the chemo- tomorrow will be her 6th day... thanx. carol

[Cruisercl]

Beth, what a bargain on the gas price -- we are at the $4.59 to $4.89 ...

 

I hate to say this, but when it became 44 cents many many moons ago in the mid 70's, we all thought we would just perish !!

 

I love Hawaii - so much that i would never want to cruise over there - I just want to be on the islands all day and all night - no schedules for dinner, no dressing up - just wander around in tshirts/summer clothes - eat in local places, hang out at the beach ( I am not a beach person, Narce is, but I go to sit and lie and enjoy the water)... I love Oahu the best, then Maui, Big Island and Kaui - we have our regular routine and all our favorite places to eat on Oahu -

 

carol

 

I love Hawaii too! I have been 4 times; I took a month-long class there in college. You can imagine how much fun that was! I have done a round trip cruise between LA & Hawaii and I have done a land vacation. Each has its own benefits. When you live in the middle of the country you are always flying to get to an ocean! One of my favorite things to do is visit the Arizona Memorial-very humbling but helps me appreciate what we have in the USA and that people paid a price for it. It honors those well.

 

I saw gas here (MN) for $3.36 yesterday; I think our highest lately was $3.99. It has been over $4 before though.

 

Carol-wonderful that your cousin is feeling good during her chemo treatments.

 

TGIF!!

Have a good day all...:D

[ILoveScotland]

Gas has never gotten above $4.00 here although it has come close. What always amazes me is the difference in prices within only a few miles. It's still $3.58 here, but the place where I got it for $3.33 is not 30 miles away.

The outlying clouds of Sandy have reached us, but we're not to have any rain until tomorrow. So, I'm going out today to do every chore I can think of from grocery shopping to stopping by the pharmacy to buying cat food and litter for the two weeks I'll be away. Then I can stay home all weekend and organize and pack.

And watch the Weather Channel to see where Sandy goes. There are several models with predictions that she'll go ashore anywhere from Washington, DC up to Boston. Most seem to think it will be around New Jersey. For now the prediction is that will happen by Monday night which means I should have no problems flying to NYC on Wednesday and boarding the Brilliance on Friday.

The only problem might be that the Brilliance is heading south from Quebec City, so we don't know how the storm will impact the route she'll take.

Carol, hope the chemo works for your cousin and glad to know there are lots of options for bone barrow if it comes to that.

Beth

[Cruisercl]

Gas has never gotten above $4.00 here although it has come close. What always amazes me is the difference in prices within only a few miles. It's still $3.58 here, but the place where I got it for $3.33 is not 30 miles away.

 

The outlying clouds of Sandy have reached us, but we're not to have any rain until tomorrow. So, I'm going out today to do every chore I can think of from grocery shopping to stopping by the pharmacy to buying cat food and litter for the two weeks I'll be away. Then I can stay home all weekend and organize and pack.

 

And watch the Weather Channel to see where Sandy goes. There are several models with predictions that she'll go ashore anywhere from Washington, DC up to Boston. Most seem to think it will be around New Jersey. For now the prediction is that will happen by Monday night which means I should have no problems flying to NYC on Wednesday and boarding the Brilliance on Friday.

 

The only problem might be that the Brilliance is heading south from Quebec City, so we don't know how the storm will impact the route she'll take.

 

Carol, hope the chemo works for your cousin and glad to know there are lots of options for bone barrow if it comes to that.

 

Beth

 

Sounds like you have a plan to deal with BIG Sandy; please be safe. :)

[cctn]

Carol,

My prayers are with your cousin and your family. It is a tough road. Try to keep positive - these treatments can and do work.

 

 

Today was her last day - I just got a FB message from her and she said she was ok during the week, very little nausea and her appetite was good - drank a lot of fluids - keeping our fingers crossed that the chemo did what it was suppose to do - and praying a lot too!! Thank You for your added prayers and thoughts -- carol

[cctn]

We noticed that today gas was $4.09... $4.19 and $4.29 -- almost 50 cents cheaper -

Beth - my thoughts are with you - hoping everything will be A-ok and you will have a safe and NOT stormy journey=

Have a good Sunday everyone - we are having our adult nieces/nephews and two grandnephews over for late lunch/early dinner -- 9 of us total - should be fun -

Carol

[ILoveScotland]

I made myself go to bed last night. Slept pretty well but had dreams of a river overflowing its banks. Woke up before sun came up so waited until enough daylight to look outside. The lovely canal is over its banks a wee bit but just that. We will continue to have rain all day, but my anxiety level is greatly reduced.

Now Sandy is headed north with forecast for her to make her left turn toward Delaware, NJ and NY tomorrow. The forecasts are not good in terms of wind but mainly storm surge and rain. Even the West Virginia mountains are supposed to be affected by getting up to 3 ft of snow! A local weather guy said he thinks the name Sandy will be retired as happens with major storms.

Beth

[ILoveScotland]

Today was her last day - I just got a FB message from her and she said she was ok during the week, very little nausea and her appetite was good - drank a lot of fluids - keeping our fingers crossed that the chemo did what it was suppose to do - and praying a lot too!! Thank You for your added prayers and thoughts -- carol

Glad the chemo hasn't been to hard on her. Now prayers for it to have worked!

Beth

[ILoveScotland]

Forgot to say....all the airlines have waived their fees for changing flights for those of us flying to or from airports affected by Sandy. Since I qualified on both counts I have changed my plans and am not going to New York City on Wednesday. Instead I'm flying to Newark on Thursday and staying in a hotel near the airport and will go over to the Cape Liberty cruise port on Friday. I'll miss my two nights in the big city, but there's always another time plus I had a week there in May.

The Brilliance is still north visiting Nova Scotia today, I think, so there should be no problems with her getting to Cape Liberty Friday morning.

Beth

[cctn]

Just praying for your safety - Beth and everyone in the east coast -

Watched the Giants this afternoon - good victory - niece/nephews over - had a good feast and great time - always enjoy the company of these kids - I say Kids even tho' they are all in their early 40's now -

chat more manana - carol

[ILoveScotland]

Just getting over here after being on the roll call for the Brilliance cruise off and on for the past 24 hours. The Brilliance is in St. John, New Brunswick today and is staying overnight and leaving tomorrow afternoon. Because of that she will not stop at Bar Harbor as planned. So, unless there's some major problem, she should arrive at Cape Liberty Friday morning.

Now the question is how many of us on the roll call will actually get to the ship. So many of us are impacted by the storm, and even someone like me wonders if the Newark Airport will be open and USAirways flying there by Thursday. I've even looked at the possibility of renting a car, but the idea of driving 10-11 hours, even if spread over 2 days, is not a good one.

Anyway, at long last the clouds are leaving us here after what was a harrowing day for me yesterday as the waters of the canal behind my condo rose and rose and rose some more making those of us in close proximity think of the flooding caused by Irene last year. However, about 4 p.m. the rain stopped, and the wind changed direction, and the waters started going down.

So, all is well. But, this storm is gigantic with clouds reaching 2000 miles across and causing snow in the NC mountains and on up through the mountains of West Virginia in addition to the hurricane force winds, rain and storm surges in the NE.

Well, back to see how my fellow roll call cruisers are.

Beth

[SC LTC]

Just getting over here after being on the roll call for the Brilliance cruise off and on for the past 24 hours. The Brilliance is in St. John, New Brunswick today and is staying overnight and leaving tomorrow afternoon. Because of that she will not stop at Bar Harbor as planned. So, unless there's some major problem, she should arrive at Cape Liberty Friday morning.

 

Now the question is how many of us on the roll call will actually get to the ship. So many of us are impacted by the storm, and even someone like me wonders if the Newark Airport will be open and USAirways flying there by Thursday. I've even looked at the possibility of renting a car, but the idea of driving 10-11 hours, even if spread over 2 days, is not a good one.

 

Anyway, at long last the clouds are leaving us here after what was a harrowing day for me yesterday as the waters of the canal behind my condo rose and rose and rose some more making those of us in close proximity think of the flooding caused by Irene last year. However, about 4 p.m. the rain stopped, and the wind changed direction, and the waters started going down.

 

So, all is well. But, this storm is gigantic with clouds reaching 2000 miles across and causing snow in the NC mountains and on up through the mountains of West Virginia in addition to the hurricane force winds, rain and storm surges in the NE.

 

Well, back to see how my fellow roll call cruisers are.

 

Beth

 

B safe

[ILoveScotland]

Anxiety still reigns! Flights from across the country to Newark are cancelled for tomorrow, but it would appear that we can fly in on Thursday. That's a change for several on our roll call, but if the flights really are going in then we can all get there.

Now the issue is whether the Cape Liberty port has sustained any damage and if the Brilliance can get into port and get us out on Friday as planned.

In the grand scheme of things this really is a minor issue even though it does produced anxiety at a certain level. However, the news seems to get worse instead of better as one story after another on TV reports some horrific tale with horrific videos as well. I watch for a while and then have to turn off the TV completely or watch one of the shopping networks or something else that requires no thinking.

Hope you're all doing well.

Beth

[cctn]

My NJ friends are all ok - thank goodness - they lost their power and that was it -

seeing the pics on fb and listening to the news really makes me feel so sorry for everyone involved...

Beth - I do hope the best for you - and will be thinking of you and your cruise and other adventures -

Carol

[ILoveScotland]

Carol, good news about your friends in NJ. One of my friends who is to be on the Brilliance Friday is okay, but she left her home on Monday afternoon, and she only checks in occasionally. She lives on a hilltop with absolutely no danger of flooding, but she could have wind damage. I think she's going home today to find out for sure. Another friend who lives right on the ocean in a condo is safe in a hotel, but she doesn't know yet about her home.

The devastation continues to astound me.

Meanwhile, the Brilliance is in Portland, ME and looking good!

Beth

[ILoveScotland]

Well, I have now checked in for my flights tomorrow and have boarding passes. Things are looking up.

Beth