2-13 Cruise Update

Here is what I know after my 2 conversations with Carnival today:


All passengers were given the option of getting on a bus that goes straight to Galveston or Houston OR to get on a bus for a roughly 2.5(!) hour drive to New Orleans where 1,500 hotel rooms have been reserved for Thursday night so they can eat, shower, and rest before taking chartered flights to Houston on Friday. Wouldn’t you choose option 2? Then all of our Marshall ladies would get on another bus from Houston to Galveston to get their cars and make the drive back to Marshall. Whew! According to Carnival, there were not enough hotel rooms in Mobile. All passengers have already made their choice but the Carnival care people said they don’t have that information yet and couldn’t tell me what my mom chose, but should tomorrow morning. They said the ship should be close enough to shore tonight where you might be able to get a cell signal if their phones are turned on. I doubt that but maybe.

Other tidbits:

• Partial power
• Working toilets in 70% of ship, less likely to have working toilets in the back, but those people are being offered toilets in other areas.
• Technical teams have been working and the ship now has running water. Cold showers are available.
• Weather – There is a front moving in so the temperature will drop a little bit.
• Reports of urine soaked carpets and sewage on the walls may be true. Guests that used the toilets in their cabins may have had issues with overflow but the sanitation crew would have been called immediately to clean that up. “That is certainly not the situation everywhere."
• Enough food, not typical cruise ship amount but meals are scheduled and everyone knows when they’re getting food. Another ship (not a cruise ship) may be delivering food today.
• When get to Mobile (ETA Thursday afternoon), it will take several hours to get through channels, which it does even for fully operational cruise ships. They won’t know the exact time that the ship will arrive until mid-morning tomorrow.
• Triage area will be available if needed.
• They will have to go through customs so it will take some time before they will be able to board the busses.
• Will have a way for guests to call family if their cell phones are dead or they don’t have cell phones.
• A third tugboat has been dispatched to help with towing due to challenging conditions.

Are you kidding me?

My first thought when they said they were towing the ship to Mexico was, "Does everyone on the ship have a passport?"  Clearly, clearly, no one at Carnival thought of this and now that you find out that 900 passengers DON'T have passports, you expect everyone to believe that the primary reason for going to Mobile is because of the strong currents?  Such crap.

And this statement from http://www.carnival.com/Core/FAQ.aspx?faq=update - "Currently, public and cabin toilets are operational in certain sections of the ship" - Which parts?  None that my mom was aware of when I talked to her 5 hours ago.  Thanks for communicating this out to the passengers.  And now she gets to continue to experience this for another day, which apparently is "roughly the same time the ship would have arrived in Progreso."  24 hours is not "roughly" when there's no (or "limited" according to Carnival) power or toilets.  Don't use the word "roughly" to try to convince me that it's a good thing that you have no idea what you're doing.

 I am thankful that I got to talk with my mom today around 3:45.  She was able to pick up a signal from the 2 cruise ships that stopped by to give them food and take a passenger that needed dialysis.  She confirmed that some people were sleeping in tents in public spaces but that her and her friends were able to sleep in their beds, that it wasn't THAT hot.  Thank goodness for that.  A bed can make all the difference.  Obviously, she's ready to get home but she couldn't be with a better group of women who are no doubt supporting each other, laughing, and praying their way through this "vacation."

Don't get me wrong, it makes us all feel better that the ship will be coming to the US and not going to Progreso, where they then would've had to take a bus/ferry to Cancun, fly from Cancun to Houston, and then take a bus to Houston (the original plan), but how can an experienced cruise line who has been through this emergency situation before not be more aware of the currents and passport requirements and be better prepared to deal with this?  I guess the same one that let this ship that has known engine problems go out into sea in the first place.  Can't wait to ask my mom whether she ever intends to use her future cruise credit....

Happy birthday Blake!

With the national championship on last night, we started talking about how we were doing the exact same thing 3 years ago:  Just hanging out at some friends’ house talking about maybe going to a hockey game that weekend, unless of course baby Blake decided to come early but ha ha, that wouldn’t happen.  After all, I just went to the doctor 3 days ago.  Nothing was happening.  We have a c-section planned for this breech baby in 13 days on January 20.  We have a plan.  We have a schedule.  Just how I like it.  I should’ve known better…we’d already had some surprises along the way with this pregnancy, why should the birth be any different?  

The next day, January 8, 2010, whaddya know?  I go into labor and here comes Blake, 12 days before the c-section, 18 days before his due date.  Completely unprepared with all the “stuff” (no car seat in the car, no bed ready at home, no packed hospital bag) but COMPLETELY ready to meet and hold our little guy (who I might add was 7 lbs 4 oz…I mean can you imagine if we’d gone another 12 days?!?!)  

The past 3 years with Blake has been….I don’t know, there are no words.  I love that little boy so much.  So much that sometimes I just stare at him and study his little nose and big blue eyes and he looks at me and says, “What Mommy?  What?”  And I just squeeze him and tell him, “I just love you so much honey!”  And that’s enough for him and he just goes about his day while I marvel at the amazing opportunity God has given me to be his mom.  I cannot believe we no longer have a 2-year old.  We’re so looking forward to celebrating at his birthday party this weekend and soaking up every day of the next year!  Happy 3rd birthday Blake!

Big Boy Bed!

Look who is on night 5 of his big boy bed!  He loves his new train sheets and the freedom of being able to get in and out all by himself.  We've been pleasantly shocked at how well it's working out.  He doesn't get out after we leave the room and even stays in bed in the morning and after naps until we come get him.  I had heard of people saying their kids did that last part but NEVER thought our rambunctious little man would.  He's been sleeping longer at night and taking longer naps too!  Crossing our fingers this keeps up when he goes back to school tomorrow after being out for 11 days.

I'm 95% done with his new big boy room which has a bigger big boy bed but we're not planning on moving him up there for a few more months.  I can only hope that one goes as smoothly!

Smart Thieves, Stupid Me

What a day.  Have you ever done something incredibly stupid and something bad happens and you kick yourself because you could have prevented it?  This morning I drove Blake to school, got him out, DID NOT LOCK my car, took him in, came out to my car and tried to start it when it said “no key” (car has keyless entry).  My thought process:  “How could that be?  I just drove Blake here.  I obviously had my keys.  Did I take my purse or keys inside?  No.  Did my purse fall out of my car?  No.  Oh crap, my purse was stolen out of my car.”  (Okay, so the words that went through my head weren’t exactly that G-rated but that’s still the conclusion I came to.) 

My heart pounding because I was so incredibly mad, I ran inside and told the principal and we pulled the security cameras and called the police.  While waiting for the police to show up, the principal and I scanned the video and talked about how shocked we were that there was a really dishonest parent out there that would see a purse in a car, grab it, and get in their car and drive off after taking their kid to school like it was any other day.  But you can imagine the look on our faces when we saw a white Land Rover/Pilot style SUV drive up the entry, pull through the parking lot, stop directly at my car, someone quickly got out of the passenger side, opened the passenger side door of my car, grabbed my purse, jumped back in their car, and drove off.  Seriously????  Did that just happen?  And in all of about 20 seconds? 

Now I know it’s stupid that I left my car unlocked.   I do it every time I take/pick Blake up from school (which the thieves either saw me do before or saw me do today…I’m hoping it was just today because the thought of someone watching your habits feels extremely violating).  Randy and I, and other parents, have even left our car running in those 103 degree days while we ran in to pick up our child.  I always assumed it’s just parents around, it’s safe.  It never occurred to me that someone could be scoping out the area.  So if you have a child and ever leave your car running or your car unlocked or any of your valuables exposed because you think you’re just running in for a minute,  DON’T DO IT.  This all happened in 20 seconds…it took them no time at all.  They knew exactly what they wanted and moved quickly.  From now on, I will put everything in the trunk, take my keys with me, and lock the door.   And I’ll also try to be more vigilant in watching what’s going on around in me instead of being so consumed in my own comings and goings.  

The police came and watched the video, got a copy, and even took fingerprints (very CSI-ish!).   Meanwhile, Randy was using the Find my iPhone app to track my phone.  We tracked it less than a mile from Blake’s school and then remotely locked it but the thieves must have seen that it got locked and turned it off because we can no longer locate it anymore.   We also remotely wiped it and AT&T deactivated the SIM so somehow the phone can never be used again.  With all this technology, it’s a wonder that anyone would even try to steal a phone these days.  I could care less about my wallet being stolen but it really bugs me about my phone because there are pictures and videos of Blake on there and that just feels so personal for some thief stranger to be looking at.  And obviously it really bothers me that my car and house keys were in my purse and they know where we live from my license.   But that’s what the locksmith and house alarms are for so that’s the best we can do.   

We went to the Primrose school down the street to ask if they had anything happen that day.  They hadn’t but the same thing had happened there about a year ago.  The lady’s car was running but they only took her purse, not her car.  We also found out from our local insurance company that it happened at another school in the area.  The police and both schools said that it’s fairly common for thieves to target preschools because parents are typically running in to drop their kids off and don’t take their personal belongings or lock their car.  Smart thieves.  Stupid me.  But hopefully you or someone else can also learn from my mistake. 

Potty Training

Got this note from Blake's teacher in his daily sheet from school today:

"Blake had an amazing day potty training wise. If you would like to start potty training here at school in underwear, we are ready when you are!  I think now is a great time!"

Why does part of me just sink when I read this?  Because we're being L-A-Z-Y.  Our child sleeps all night, he knows (even if he doesn't always obey) the word no, we're in a good routine, life is good, and the thought of disrupting all that by throwing away the diapers does not sound appealing.  Wow, what kind of parents are we?  In our defense, it's not like we're not doing anything.  He sits on the potty at home and does his thing and that's great.  But IF something happens, the diaper is there.  No diaper = potential mess for mommy/daddy to clean up.  Another reason - being out and about with no access to a potty or worse(?) public restrooms.   Even though I should be motivated by the money we'll save on diapers, I really have no problem paying for convenience.  So if I bit the bullet and tried to get Blake to put on his new Lightning McQueen big boy underwear today to test it out and he wanted no part of it, who am I to rush him?

Ms. Drew

Since I went back to work when Blake was 3 months old, we have been so blessed to always have such wonderful caregivers.  First with Mrs. Rhonda, who was truly an answered prayer and cared for our baby as if he was her own, and now with Ms. Drew.  

Some people just have that special ability to really connect with children – on an emotional level where they just always know the right thing to do or say to make the children feel better, on a physical level where they really get down on the floor with the kids and play, on an intellectual level where they take every opportunity and turn it into a teaching moment, and on a friend level where the kids just want to hang out with them.  That is Ms. Drew.   More often than not, she has soft music playing and all the kids happily engaged in an activity when I pick Blake up, she picks him up every morning to wave bye to us when we drop him off, and she even offered me a hug when I started to lose it when Blake moved to her class.  


Thank you Ms. Drew for all you've done for Blake and for your incredibly sweet note that we look forward to sharing with Blake over the years:

"In the toddler room I always thought of Blake as confident, funny, and quick to learn. However, having him in my class these last few months has offered me a whole new perspective. While my previous judgements were accurate, they were lacking in magnitude. Blake wins over a room when he walks in. He is not just funny, but hilarious. He has had me doubled over laughing on more than one occasion. And he is not just quick, but that special kind of bright not found often. He is lucky to have such engaging and loving parents. I wish I could express the depth of my love for him, but this note just couldn’t contain it."

You are irreplaceable and will be deeply missed by all of us, but we wish you all the best in Ohio!