busy busy busy

July 30, 2014
I know, it’s been ages since I last updated. My parents were here last week, which definitely kept me busy: work, family time, work, oh yeah I should eat, work, family time, sleep somewhere in there, friends I should hang out with them some too, work, excursion, dinner, etc, etc. My bottom bunk (since I don’t currently have a roommate) was a giant jumbled pile of clothes since I would have 2 minutes to change every time I ran to my room: work clothes, smart casual, ashore clothes, OB clothes, formalwear, pajamas, and more uniforms.

As stressful and busy as it is working with family on board, I really did enjoy it! Definitely wouldn’t like it every week, but it’s nice every once in a while.

Things have settled down(ish) now, with only one month left for me here. It’s gone by so quickly! I haven’t been able to do much of anything on my list! Hardly any hikes, and very few excursions; the next few weeks I feel are going to be very full for me trying to get stuff done!

I understand how some people could get really tired of Alaska, mainly because of the rain, definitely having a lot of rain gets you down and prevents a lot of adventures, but still, there’s just SO MUCH to possibly do when it IS sunny, that I doubt I’ll complain about coming back for a full summer contract another year (maybe not next year… I want to make it to the Baltic), maybe I’ll be able to get stuff done (and not have to work most Skagways, which is the best place to do hikes, but you need a bit of time for that, which I haven’t had, nor have I had a hiking buddy).
Anyway, this week has been my week of rest; every 7 weeks should be one of rest, right? Just like every 7 days; time to reflect, relax and appreciate everything God has given. I’m long overdue for that; I don’t think I’ve really stopped GO-ing since my vacation after the Nieuw A. It’s nice, I guess perfect timing seeing as it’s been raining the last two ports. I only got off ship in Juneau to run some errands (I needed goldfish, a Dr. Pepper, and a crepe; the essentials in life, haha), and that only took an hour. And with General Drill and Port day in Skagway, I didn’t even try to get off there. I have gotten a good bit of work stuff done. I helped Christine number and organize the programs (I kind of miss doing that, Erskine’s FAO helped me get really good at that kind of thing, and in my opinion it’s therapeutic work, simple, easy and repetitive, which sometimes I need to get my mind off all the craziness that’s going on outside. I decorated lots of letters for our kids this week as well! All my tweens, and most of the kids ones are complete, except for the actual letter-writing part; but they’re pretty! That’s the most important thing, right? Haha, it was good for me :)

Jenn is back after her short fill-in on the flagship, and we found out yesterday that Jordan got promoted to Show Host, so he’ll be leaving us in Vancouver. It seems this summer is definitely the summer of Club HAL switch-arounds, especially on this ship. I’ve never really seen it this bad with transfers and the like. Of course, it’s my first time in Alaska so it might be like this every year, and I’ve just missed it all by being in New England/Canada and the Med. So much for the idea at the beginning of the contract that we’d have a stable group in Club HAL for the entire summer… It’s almost over anyway, so I’m just going with it...