The Big Catch-Up Post of Rassilon
(Not really, but I couldn't think of any wittier subject line... which is pretty pathetic, really.)
So there's a lot to catch up on! I've been living The High Life lately--or, well, I did for a week, at least. I was on The Love Boat. (Not really. I was on the Golden Princess, though, which *is* a Princess cruise ship. To Alaska!)
Mom and I went on the cruise together, and it was a LOT of fun. The Golden Princess is freaking HUGE, and absolutely gorgeous... and the same can be said for Alaska.
We left from Seattle (convenient, that) on a Saturday, spent Sunday at sea (with swell so bad even *I* was seasick, and I'm NEVER seasick), and visited Juneau on Monday. I really liked Juneau, though I think I'd feel kind of trapped in a town where the only way out is by air or boat. If I couldn't get in my car and drive out of there in case of emergency--if I were dependent on someone else to get me out of there--I'd be REALLY uncomfortable. Still, it's a very nice town with very nice people.
Tuesday was Skagway, which was a lot of fun. Skagway's pretty much a tourist town; my understanding is that the town's pretty much deserted in the winter; they bring in workers for the cruise season. (There were 3-4 cruise ships in port at EVERY place we stopped. Think about that. Most of those ships hold well over 1000 passengers... that means they're dropping off at least 5-6 THOUSAND people every day in these towns!) Skagway was a mining town originally, as were most Alaskan towns (I believe), and they've kept it completely "pioneer" looking, with the buildings from the 1800s maintained in near-pristine condition. There's electricity and all, of course, but the buildings sure LOOK authentic. My favorite was the Red Onion Saloon, which was a brothel back in the day. There was a sign in the window: "BROTHEL TOURS. $5 for 15 minutes--just like in 1893!" Cracked me up.
Wednesday was Glacier Bay, and I have to say, it was by far the highlight of the trip. The glaciers we saw were mind-boggling and absolutely gorgeous. It really takes you back 30,000 years to when these monsters covered half the continent. In fact, where I'm sitting right now--the third floor of my apartment building, on my sofa in my living room--was covered with a MILE of ice. A MILE. OF ICE. There are no words. And even better, on our way back down out of Glacier Bay, we cruised (slowly) through a bay--whose name I've forgotten, dammit--where there were TONS of humpback whales. They were surfacing all around us, slapping the water with a flipper, and even one guy who was breaching about 2 miles off the port bow, over and over and over again. I got a shot of him! It's kinda grainy because it's at the very limits of my point-and-click camera's zoom, but by God, it's a breaching humpback whale!
Thursday was Ketchikan. By this point, I don't mind telling you that I was getting kind of tired of walking around looking in shops, but that's what Mom wanted to do--and I wanted to explore a bit, too, because after all, how often do I get up to Ketchikan, Alaska?--so off we went. We only had about 4 hours in Ketchikan, so we wandered around (it's not a huge town, but I did really like it) and got back to the ship about 45 minutes before we were supposed to be on board. We dropped off our stuff in our stateroom and went up to the buffet for lunch... and to watch all the little ant-like people lining up to get back on board. I know, but we were amused. :)
Thursday afternoon and most of Friday were spent at sea, steaming our way down to Victoria, BC. We only docked there for about 3 hours as well, Friday evening, but Mom and I have been to Victoria so often that we didn't bother going ashore. Instead, we went and played trivia and Family Feud in one of the lounges. It was surprisingly fun--but then again, you know me: I'm a mutant anyway.
Saturday we got back to Seattle, and were off the ship by 10 a.m. It took about 3-4 days for the last of my sea legs to go away; for a while there, I was sitting on my sofa and feeling as though I was being rocked in a gentle swell. It's weird the way your mind gets used to things like that, even after so short a time!
And here's where I discover that I have somehow not only broken, but utterly shattered, all laws of nature, God, and man. I got on the Wii Fit to see how much I'd gained over the week on a cruise ship--you know, where there's food available 24/7 and it's all been pre-paid, so you can eat whatever you want whenever you want, and I did?--and I was astounded.
I lost 3.3 pounds.
LOST. ALMOST THREE AND A HALF POUNDS. ON A CRUISE.
WTF??
And here's the even better news: That 3.3 pounds brought my total weight loss to just over forty pounds.
FORTY POUNDS. SINCE CHRISTMAS. (That's a bit over 18 kilos.)
It's almost hard to realize how much weight that is. I know I walk more quickly without thinking about it, and I climb stairs much more easily, and I can work out for longer without having to stop and rest, and my clothes fit differently... but it's been such a gradual change, that I didn't really REALIZE how much that was. Until I took my sister's advice and went to the grocery store, and picked up a 40-lb bag of dog food.
WOW.
Do it, you guys, if you've a mind. Pick up forty pounds of something--dog food, cat litter, weights, whatever. That's what I'd been dragging around with me!
And here's the scary part. That's about a quarter of what I need to lose.
BUT!!!
FORTY POUNDS!!!
Talk about incentive to exercise more. Woohoo! :D
So now that I'm home and not planning to go anywhere else this summer, I think I need to d/l the new Doctor Who and watch it. (I've only seen two episodes... *digs hole in sand with toe*) And I DEFINITELY need to finish Ulysses. You lot have been uber-patient with me, but it's time to put fingers to keyboard and just DO it.
So there's a lot to catch up on! I've been living The High Life lately--or, well, I did for a week, at least. I was on The Love Boat. (Not really. I was on the Golden Princess, though, which *is* a Princess cruise ship. To Alaska!)
Mom and I went on the cruise together, and it was a LOT of fun. The Golden Princess is freaking HUGE, and absolutely gorgeous... and the same can be said for Alaska.
We left from Seattle (convenient, that) on a Saturday, spent Sunday at sea (with swell so bad even *I* was seasick, and I'm NEVER seasick), and visited Juneau on Monday. I really liked Juneau, though I think I'd feel kind of trapped in a town where the only way out is by air or boat. If I couldn't get in my car and drive out of there in case of emergency--if I were dependent on someone else to get me out of there--I'd be REALLY uncomfortable. Still, it's a very nice town with very nice people.
Tuesday was Skagway, which was a lot of fun. Skagway's pretty much a tourist town; my understanding is that the town's pretty much deserted in the winter; they bring in workers for the cruise season. (There were 3-4 cruise ships in port at EVERY place we stopped. Think about that. Most of those ships hold well over 1000 passengers... that means they're dropping off at least 5-6 THOUSAND people every day in these towns!) Skagway was a mining town originally, as were most Alaskan towns (I believe), and they've kept it completely "pioneer" looking, with the buildings from the 1800s maintained in near-pristine condition. There's electricity and all, of course, but the buildings sure LOOK authentic. My favorite was the Red Onion Saloon, which was a brothel back in the day. There was a sign in the window: "BROTHEL TOURS. $5 for 15 minutes--just like in 1893!" Cracked me up.
Wednesday was Glacier Bay, and I have to say, it was by far the highlight of the trip. The glaciers we saw were mind-boggling and absolutely gorgeous. It really takes you back 30,000 years to when these monsters covered half the continent. In fact, where I'm sitting right now--the third floor of my apartment building, on my sofa in my living room--was covered with a MILE of ice. A MILE. OF ICE. There are no words. And even better, on our way back down out of Glacier Bay, we cruised (slowly) through a bay--whose name I've forgotten, dammit--where there were TONS of humpback whales. They were surfacing all around us, slapping the water with a flipper, and even one guy who was breaching about 2 miles off the port bow, over and over and over again. I got a shot of him! It's kinda grainy because it's at the very limits of my point-and-click camera's zoom, but by God, it's a breaching humpback whale!
Thursday was Ketchikan. By this point, I don't mind telling you that I was getting kind of tired of walking around looking in shops, but that's what Mom wanted to do--and I wanted to explore a bit, too, because after all, how often do I get up to Ketchikan, Alaska?--so off we went. We only had about 4 hours in Ketchikan, so we wandered around (it's not a huge town, but I did really like it) and got back to the ship about 45 minutes before we were supposed to be on board. We dropped off our stuff in our stateroom and went up to the buffet for lunch... and to watch all the little ant-like people lining up to get back on board. I know, but we were amused. :)
Thursday afternoon and most of Friday were spent at sea, steaming our way down to Victoria, BC. We only docked there for about 3 hours as well, Friday evening, but Mom and I have been to Victoria so often that we didn't bother going ashore. Instead, we went and played trivia and Family Feud in one of the lounges. It was surprisingly fun--but then again, you know me: I'm a mutant anyway.
Saturday we got back to Seattle, and were off the ship by 10 a.m. It took about 3-4 days for the last of my sea legs to go away; for a while there, I was sitting on my sofa and feeling as though I was being rocked in a gentle swell. It's weird the way your mind gets used to things like that, even after so short a time!
And here's where I discover that I have somehow not only broken, but utterly shattered, all laws of nature, God, and man. I got on the Wii Fit to see how much I'd gained over the week on a cruise ship--you know, where there's food available 24/7 and it's all been pre-paid, so you can eat whatever you want whenever you want, and I did?--and I was astounded.
I lost 3.3 pounds.
LOST. ALMOST THREE AND A HALF POUNDS. ON A CRUISE.
WTF??
And here's the even better news: That 3.3 pounds brought my total weight loss to just over forty pounds.
FORTY POUNDS. SINCE CHRISTMAS. (That's a bit over 18 kilos.)
It's almost hard to realize how much weight that is. I know I walk more quickly without thinking about it, and I climb stairs much more easily, and I can work out for longer without having to stop and rest, and my clothes fit differently... but it's been such a gradual change, that I didn't really REALIZE how much that was. Until I took my sister's advice and went to the grocery store, and picked up a 40-lb bag of dog food.
WOW.
Do it, you guys, if you've a mind. Pick up forty pounds of something--dog food, cat litter, weights, whatever. That's what I'd been dragging around with me!
And here's the scary part. That's about a quarter of what I need to lose.
BUT!!!
FORTY POUNDS!!!
Talk about incentive to exercise more. Woohoo! :D
So now that I'm home and not planning to go anywhere else this summer, I think I need to d/l the new Doctor Who and watch it. (I've only seen two episodes... *digs hole in sand with toe*) And I DEFINITELY need to finish Ulysses. You lot have been uber-patient with me, but it's time to put fingers to keyboard and just DO it.