Day 57 ~ On the way to Aqaba…

People don’t take trips… trips take people. ~ John Steinbeck

Back when we crossed the International Date Line in February, we leaped forward in time by 24 hours, losing an entire day. We’ve been getting that day back in small increments. Through a series of nights spread over our cruise where we turned back our clocks (sometimes by only ½ an hour!) and the fact that  home has “sprung forward” an hour for daylight savings time, by my calculations, we are only seven hours ahead of our loved ones now. My computer is still on Ozark time so while it’s 1 AM there, it’s 8 AM here and we’ve already had our breakfast.

When I checked my email this morning, I discovered my publisher had sent me page proofs for A COLDWATER WARM HEARTS CHRISTMAS, a Lexi Eddings book that’s due out in October. The revisions were done before we boarded the Pacific Princess in January, but this is my final chance to run through the manuscript and catch as many errors (typos and such) as I can before it goes to print.  Fortunately, one of Kensington Publishing’s excellent copy editors is also giving it a look-see.

So guess what I’ll be doing on the next few sea days?

I have to get it done before we get to the Mediterranean, because we’ll be embarking on a marathon of port days one after another. I’m worn out just looking at the schedule, but so excited about seeing all the wonderful places ahead of us! Tomorrow, we reach Aqaba, Jordan and the DH & I are taking a tour to Wadi Rum—the desert where Lawrence of Arabia and more recently, The Martian were filmed.

But I thought I’d share a few pics from our formal night last night…

Vicki popped by for a little help with her hair. Green is definitely her color!

The DH sneaked up on me on our balcony while I was transfixed by calm Red Sea. (Guess he thought you needed to see the back of my hair too!)

Here are the DH and I ready for our evening. As you can see, we are color coordinated. He's wearing a lavender shirt to go with my purple gown. (I’m a believer in marking my territory!)

Left to right--David, the DH, me, Vicki, Leo, Shirley, Craig, David (every 3rd man on the ship is named David!) & Emily

Then tonight, we had a senior officer join us at Table 60—Leo, the Hotel Manager. That means he oversees everything non-mechanical or nautical on the ship, so anything to do with our cabins, all the dining venues and bars is under Leo’s purview.  Only the captain ranks higher. Our waiter, Raj, was nervous as a cat about serving the big boss, but the dinner went off without a hitch. I was so happy for him. Leo may make the help tremble, but to us passengers, he was an affable, fun fellow who taught us all to make Christmas trees out of our napkins.

Now I need to practice making my tree and the Sydney Opera House every night until we disembark!