Cruising!

Greetings to the two of you who read my blog! :-) Yes, I know it's been a few days since my last post...but it's been a busy two weeks. Please stay with me, as this may be a lengthy entry to detail the goings-on lately.

From June 15th through 17th, I was out of town on business in Minneapolis for a client "summit". Travelling with me was my boss and one of our attorneys who was leaving the firm to start a new job in Tampa. It was, from my perspective, a very successful client visit. The boss and I networked with a few of the client's representatives and some other firms from across the country. No real eye candy to speak of, but there isn't much of that in Cincinnati...so no big loss.

Then, as the two of you already know, my son and I went on the Disney cruise. All I have to say about that is "WOW"! If you've never taken a cruise before, I strongly endorse it now. And, if you've ever had the thought of taking one of the Disney cruises, I would say "go for it"! The cruise staff (or as Disney calls them the "cast") went out of their way to make everything special...from the fantastic food to the Broadway caliber shows...everything was in perfect order. A couple of examples of just how well they treat their guests:

1) On Monday evening, my son and I had dinner at the fanciest of the family restaurants on the boat. While I was trying everything different I possibly could (from cold papaya and mango soup to escargot to duck), I also encouraged Matthew to try a few different things. God love him he actually did! On this particular night, he had deep fried camembert, raspberry vinagrette dressing on his salad, and grilled salmon. He also mixed that with Coke and chocolate ice cream. At the end of the meal, I think the combination got the best of him, and he ended up getting sick...all over the floor of this fancy restaurant. For five minutes or so he couldn't stop vomiting. An assistant server (Jaru, from the Czech Republic), stayed with Matthew for 25 minutes, getting him water, holding a cold compress over his neck, and reassuring him that everything was okay. She even had the medical staff on alert, in case it was something other than just a bad reaction to some good food. She did all of this...even though she was not part of our serving staff, but relegated to other tables! Her kindness and concern for Matthew, who was a complete stranger, will be a lasting memory for me. Each subsequent day she would make a point to see if he was feeling better. I know it wasn't necessary, but I felt the need to thank her with a special gratuity (aside from the effusive thanks I'd already given her). Wouldn't you know it brought tears to her eyes? She attempted to refuse, but I wouldn't hear of it. Jaru, thank you for making our cruise so wonderful!!!

2) On Wednesday, the last full day, we ran into Jacqui Perry, the Cruise Director, in the elevator. She asked the two of us (remember, there are 2500 guests on board) how we liked the cruise. We told her that it was fantastic...then I asked if I could make a recommendation that they offer a cookbook with some of the ship's recipes, since it would be nice to attempt to recreate the culinary delights (particularly the soups). She asked if we had checked the gift shop, and we replied that we had, but to no avail. She asked me what our room number was (I figured nothing would come of it). Wasn't I surprised when, later that afternoon, I approached the stateroom to drop off some pictures I'd purchased. There was a cast member, dropping off an envelope. When I opened it, I was shocked...four postcards (no, they hadn't been for sale, I checked again later) with pictures of four different soups and the recipes for making them! It goes to show that, from the top on down, they really try to make you feel special. Jacqui, thank you for making us feel like people, and not just random guests.

Aside from the illness, the only other negative was that my obstinant son (I wonder where he gets that trait) decided that it was too cloudy on Monday to use suntan lotion. In the course of two and a half hours, he managed to burn himself pretty badly in the sun. I tried, but figured that he would eventually have to learn that "father knows best" the hard way. It wasn't until yesterday that he finally started to feel a little less pain.

Needless to say, we'll be taking the seven day cruise next year...in fact, we booked it while on the ship, thanks to a 10% discount and $200 room credit special they were offering. Next year Matthew will be in the "teen" age bracket, and I'm sure we'll do less together than we did this year. However, I'll always have the fondest of memories from this cruise!

Countdowns and Alien Invasions

I've been wondering to myself what exactly I'm going to look forward to once I return from the Disney cruise. I think I'm in "obsession" mode...or maybe it's just excitement. We're down to 8 days from departure now.

Yes, I've gone over the edge. At least not over the edge of the boat...that is an ordeal still to come. However, I just HAD to get a Disney CD to get myself in the "mood" (yeah, I know...like I really needed it). The only one which had three of the four songs I wanted to hear was the "Disney Princess Song Collection". I listen to it practically every day. I've managed to convince a co-worker to plan to do a duet of Aladdin's "A Whole New World" with me at our annual holiday party in December.

You know I'm severely addicted when I am volunteering to do "scaryoke".

Realizing that I have to do something drastic to curb my yearning for all things Disney, I chatted online last night on gay.com. Suffice it to say that I did the thing I haven't done in a long, LONG time...had someone overnight. We'll just call the young guy "Chile Pepper". Laden with a strong South American accent, quality of verbal communication was at a premium. But the guy wasn't supposed to be around just to talk weather, right? When he tried to start round FOUR this morning, I finally had to give up the ghost and end the fun.

Oh, yeah...little Chile Pepper LOVES Disney. Go figure! Unbelievingly, he doesn't like Mexican food...says it's too spicy.

Tomorrow is the annual Cincinnati Gay Pride Parade. They are anticipating possibly a 50% increase over last year's attendance. Many attribute it to the passage of the ballot issue which repealed our city's gay discrimination. I prefer to think that the reason more people will be there tomorrow is because I'm not marching this year. I was not asked to return, because last year was my first march, and it hailed. I suspect the parade organizers didn't want to have to fight frogs, locusts, or other pestilence which might rear its ugly head if I marched again.

I know it's probably ironic to say this, but I will likely be away from the old blog for a time. I will be in Minneapolis three days immediately before the DISNEY cruise. I will also be in Jacksonville for three days immediately following the DISNEY cruise. Maybe I'll get Michael and DJ to "guest blog" for me. They may be spending some time here, since I have A/C and their landlord won't fix theirs.

Don't worry, guys...I washed the bedlinens thoroughly, and will be taking the Princess CD with me....