I'm On A Boat

I woke up this morning and told Brooke and Jess that I dreamt that the waves were so bad, I could feel myself being lifted off the bed. However, they informed me that that was not a dream, and that I most likely had. Jessica got up earlier than us and got coffee, informing us that the waves were about 12 feet high. And you could tell. Everyone walking through the ship looked drunk, which I admit has been very amusing to watch. But, we spent the entire day in bed, watching movies because none of us could get out of bed without feeling like we were dying. Plus, it is freezing outside. Not literally, but comparatively. And plus, no one is allowed on the upper decks because the water is so rough. We watched Ice Age 3, G-Force, Dear John, The Boys Are Back, An Affair to Remember, and The Notebook. Talk about being movied out. Whew.

We forced ourselves to get ready for dinner, seeing as it was a formal night. And since we’d had such a great dinner in Da Vinci last night, we tried it again. And we got an even better couple – Vikki and Bill. They were from Atlanta, and just had the best accents. Vikki even made fun of Southern accents because she thought one of her cousins was over exaggerating when she exclaimed at a party once – “Mutha, this peacan pai is ta dai fao!” (Translation: “Mom, this pecan pie is to die for.”) And ever since then, we’ve been saying it randomly, with passersby giving us death stares occasionally. But back to their story. They offered it up without us even asking, therefore they were awarded bonus points in our minds! Well actually, they told us how Bill proposed first, so here is that story. Anyways, Bill admitted to being a complete romantic before they told us the story, so we knew it had to be good. They are an older couple who got married later in life, and you need to know that for this story to make sense. They had been dating a while, and Bill had never brought up marriage. Vikki wanted to know if she was just wasting her time, because after all, she was “no spring chicken.” So, she asked him and he said to her, “I don’t want to talk about it unless I plan on doing it.” And that did not please Vikki. It actually was a “splash of cold water” to her, but she stayed with him none the less. A month or so went by, and they had planned a trip to NYC to visit Bill’s brother and friend and their girlfriends. They planned a triple date type thing in the restaurant at the top of one of the Twin Towers. Vikki was distracted and looking around at the beautiful skyline of the city, when Bill stood up and started offering a toast to the group. Vikki admitted that she wasn’t paying attention, until all of a sudden Bill said something to the effect of “And I wanted you all to witness my proposing marriage to my beautiful girlfriend, Vikki.” She snapped out of her daydreams and immediately said yes.

Now, back to how they met. They both worked at a bank and Vikki was higher up in the ranks, in charge of the hiring department. Bill wanted to hire a man who didn’t meet all of the qualifications, but thought he deserved the job nonetheless. He went to Vikki who said quite frankly that there was nothing she could do and that company policies were policies for a reason. Bill told her she was wrong, and Vikki said she went home and realized that Bill had opened her eyes to the cruelty of the situation and then she couldn’t stop thinking about him. She stepped down from her position and immediately called Bill, who then simply asked her if she liked the Atlanta Braves. The very next day, he took her to their game against the Reds, and they have been together ever since. Bill actually still has the tickets to the game framed, and that was about the cutest thing ever. They completely made my night.
But then we went to see Martin Kaye’s tribute to Elton John, and that made my night a little more. And we sat on the side of the piano where we could actually see him playing. I am still amazed at how gifted he is. Plus, he played with no music in front of him, like he does every night. We changed into jeans and sweatshirts, Jessica went to bed, and Brooke and I went to the back of the ship to sit outside and chat. However, we also discovered the late night buffet. Which is a good thing, because otherwise, I would have been there every night. Since boarding, we have only had dessert after dinner maybe 4 times, and it has been hard. And this buffet had all sorts of desserts. Since Jessica was in bed, we decided to indulge just a tiny bit with chocolate cheesecake, brownies, and some other chocolatey goodness. Sadly, it was not as delicious as it sounds. It was almost regrettable, but we decided it was a good decision none the less and that Jessica wouldn’t find out. Well, at least until she reads this or someone rats us out to her…

After we looked out into the black abyss of the night on the Atlantic, we headed back up to Skywalkers. You can imagine our disappointment in ourselves when we got out of the elevator to the Cupid Shuffle. I’m starting to think that the DJ can just sense when we come in and plays it immediately. But, since we were in comfy shoes and clothes, we sat it out and enjoyed the insanity of the couples busting some moves on the dance floor. Brent and Alex joined us for a bit, and we just chatted about all sorts of nothing before heading back down to our room. And that’s where we are now. About to pass out…