From a Cluttered Desk

I am Tammy Cardwell, she of the cluttered desk. (Hey, you think I'm kidding?!) I'm having a blast here in Blogland and invite to you to peruse my ramblings. Like a buffet, they offer variety - essentially whatever makes it to the top of the piles that sometimes clutter my brain. We'll eventually cover it all - homeschooling, God, our church, the Eclectic Homeschool Online, books I'm writing and publishing, conferences I speak at, the joys of grandmotherhood, and hopefully chocolate. Of course, this is only what's near the top now. Who knows what's in those piles?

This is the last one, I promise! I’ve just got a few more pictures I want to share that didn’t fit anywhere else.

Oh… Did I leave this one out of my first post? I think I did?

This is Good Company at the preliminary competition. They got good responses from the judges, though they also got critique. Those of us who know Morgan thought it was especially great that the female judge LOVED her outfit. She told Morgan she wanted it. LOL!

I cannot tell you how awesome this cruise was. I don’t know that I would enjoy a regular cruise anywhere near as much. The Music Boat Cruise, put on by Premier Christian Cruises, is a totally Christian affair. The music played over the sound system was Christian, the entertainers were all Christians, and as far as I could tell the passengers were also Christian. Courtesy ruled the day and you could really be yourself, your whole self, without concern that the other people on the elevator would think you were nuts because of your "God talk."

I don’t imagine the cruise line appreciated us much, though, because they didn’t make anywhere near as much money off us as they do other people. The casino was pretty much a ghost town, with only a few people playing occasionally. When I went by one time, the staff members were all at the Texas Hold ‘em table, playing poker. The bars, too, were frequented more by those of us who had "fountain fun cards" and were in search of sodas than by people who wanted alcohol. I only saw one person get drunk the whole time. (He really made a spectacle of himself too, and was thenceforth known as "the drunk," at least by us.)

The people really were the best part of the cruise. I’ve shared several pictures of friends and family already, but here are a few more.

First, Morgan and Dencie. You’ve seen me refer to Dencie before, I think. She’s our church’s minister of music and Morgan (Good Company) is her oldest daughter. And yes, they are sitting at the bar, but I have been asked to make it quite clear that for them it was a soda bar. LOL!

And then here’s me with Terri, one of my room mates, and Kim, the man who bought the hat in Key West that my sons just had to copy. Lest anyone wonder, I thought we were all getting close together for the picture; if I’d known Terri was standing off the the side, I’d have been standofish as well so that it wouldn’t have looked quite so much like Kim and I were together. LOL! Oh, and yes… <cough> This photo does reveal just how out of date my avatar is.

Finally, here’s a glimpse of one of my favorite things about this cruise - the water. People always tell you that the water is an unbelievable shade of blue. Well, I now believe it, and I understand those Crayola colors a whole lot better. Oh my goodness… We must have spent hours just watching the ocean!

Here. This was our view for much of the time.

Yes, the water really is THAT blue!

Look!

The boat produced beautiful wakes. We spent hours watching the living artwork. Okay, so water isn’t technically alive, but it really was like watching a constantly changing art display. My sister took other pictures that show the waves better, but I had to share this one because, again, it is such an astoundingly beautiful blue!

One more. This is one of the "art" pictures she took for me, one of my favorites, obviously. She took it late in the evening, hence the dark dark blue. Oh man…

Yeah, if I had the option of getting back on that cruise tomorrow, I would take it. They’ve already announced the 2009 Music Boat cruise and were taking reservations, discounted reservations even, while we were still on ship. Had it been an option, I would so have signed up already. Music Boat 2009 is definitely a destination I recommend considering. That cruise ROCKS!

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C