A me day

Well since it’s the weekend it must be time to blog eh?

When I took Wednesday off to do my presentation for MidWeek Break at the library I decided to make it a ‘me’ day. I slept in and made my way (noisily as I was left with the car waiting to go into the shop for an exhaust system repair – think Trailer Park Boys and you’re not far off) to Yarmouth in time for the presentation. There were some technical glitches between my mini laptop and the library projector which were finally remediated by the cable company cameraman. Since I hadn’t saved the PowerPoint presentation in the older version this was the precipitating factor – good to be reminded of that now, not on the cruise ship. The talk was well received, recorded and otherwise uneventful.

I had time for a Frenchy’s shop following and scored big time…For 50 bucks I found a nice black purse, a faux alligator leather laptop bag, two large reusable shopping bags, two sets of double sheets (the animal print one the boy declared suitable for Austin Powers, Man of Mystery), a pair of navy cushions for my living room, three pairs of slacks, capris, shorts, cardigan and a top. Since I was on a tight timetable when it came time to try items on I was forced to jump into them, take a quick look, make an immediate decision and move on. As opposed to trying things on multiple times, mulling over my choice and then talking myself into something. The investment isn’t large and this rapid method is obviously superior when I look at my cache.

I headed back to the library and had a mentoring session with the Writer in Residence. The previous week there had been almost 60 people attend the original session for the Writer in Residence program which will have monthly programs. The mentoring session focused on my dream of travel writing and some resources for memoir – yes I do plan on still nagging at my kids after I’m gone - since I have so much free time to write, however it was a great boost to my creativity. And she had some good links for my presentation on PEI as well.

I picked up a few groceries and bought lipstick, socks (in a nod to the fall cruise temperatures) and travel toiletries so I’m good to go. When I arrived home to find our boarding letter, which is the equivalent of a ticket as entertainment staff aren’t issued tickets, had arrived the excitement mounted. This letter contained not just the category ex. inside passenger stateroom or officer’s cabin but the room assignment so I can tell you that we’ll be aft and starboard, have a window, twin beds and 170 sq ft. of space on the main deck ex. where the restaurants, theatre and gangplanks are to enjoy our cruise. You’d think we were royalty; well we’re going to pretend we are.

The other evening after getting the laundry off the line as I was sitting in front of the computer with Gary gazing back at me from beside the laptop it became clear that he was looking intently at my right shoulder. When I glanced to the right I noticed something moving there. This precipitated a wild dance of jumping, brushing and yelling which Gary watched calmly, then jumped down to investigate a…caterpillar. Whew.

I stayed after work last evening for the cruise ship meeting and so had a couple of hours to work on the lobstering presentation. At the meeting I sat next to the graphic designer who I will commission to design my cruise speaking business cards. The meeting was interesting as it was run by the new Tourism Mgr who was a classmate of the oldest daughter meaning he is all of 25. He was never accused of lacking imagination so this is right up his alley. I flicked through my PowerPoint for him, offered to entertain the onboard guests gratis on Oct 25th and he was impressed. Since he is my hookup with the Cruise Director on the Balmoral it is looking pretty good for me to have an in with an agent free gig in my future.

Major management/workgroup problems are looming at work with issues percolating for some time but coming to a head with pandemic planning. One of my co-workers said today on the phone as she was describing all the insanity to her husband he told her that she looked like she was doing Tae Kwon Do with her arms waving around like that. A meeting is scheduled for the 24th and our team has all made exit plans should the discussions not go well. Since I have reinvented myself multiple times, although this isn’t necessarily desirable, it is certainly possible. We shall see.

On a more pleasant note we’ve been invited to the summer neighbours for supper tomorrow so it will be nice not to have to provision ourselves. Ah.