It's busy

In my new world, I now have 6 active email accounts:

- One for the work I'm doing in Care Transitions
- One for my work with the Evidence-Based Report Company
- One for my legacy work with Aspen
- One for my new Company
- One for my personal email
- One for notifications from sales places (Amazon, Apple, Etc)

It's crazy. I'm going to work to only work in one calendar at least. Now, they don't all have a lot of traffic (except my personal email and my legacy Aspen account which has been locked onto by spam-bots and gets about 75 trash messages a day). But it's still a lot to think about.

I'm in full ramp-up mode with the new business and it's exciting. I sat with one of my partners, Paul, earlier this week, and we talked about all of the opportunities we have cooking - we ran out of time before we got to the last of them. 2015 will be wild, but 2016 will be when I take over the world.

But it's not all about work: Life is busy otherwise too - the kids in full school mode, the holidays cooking up… My delightful in-laws just closed on a house and will be living just 8 minutes from us as soon as next week: I'm in mourning over losing my excuse for going to eat horrible Chicago hotdog food, but am very happy to have them nearby.

I'm taking a break from playing music with the band for December, but I did get the studio set back up (after being shoved to one end of the basement to allow access to the holiday decorations). Got it all back together last night and celebrated with an hour of playing.

A Perfectly Good Airplane

For the past year, I've been having forbidden thoughts about work - grumbling and dissatisfaction that I've needed to keep inside my brain and off the blog on the very off off off chance that someone from my company was going out to read it. I know that's a long shot - with very few updates in the past 2 years, this isn't exactly TMZ. But still, I didn't want to upset the apple cart.

I don't know when my work changed from fun to fun-but-tolerable to tolerable-with-mitigating-fun to tolerable. It was gradual, clearly. There were some frankly terrible times - my year in Cleveland was just horrible. But some very good times as well: I will recall my trips to Johnson City TN fondly for the pizza and BBQ, if not the client. But sometime just over a year ago, something clicked in my brain that said "move on".

I took some strong steps - I spent time with a career counselor (the wonderful George Dow) and he helped me figure out a few very important things: First, I am happiest in a small group where I can be a star. Second, I thrive in the informal and love to manage chaos. Third, structure and stability (in work) bore me and I look to leave. This mapped to my career, pointing to happy times (forming the DW team at Express) and grumpy times (being the director of that group and managing the team). It explained why I was growing unhappy at Aspen - we had grown to over 70 people, and needed to put management in place to enforce standards, build predictability, consistency. We weren't scrappy anymore, we were the leaders.

It also helped me work out what I would NOT do well at: For years I've watched ineffectual hospital IT leadership, and thought "I could do this better" - I've been entranced with the idea of taking what I know about all aspects of healthcare IT and bringing it to a hospital, having my coordinated vision leap them forward. With George's help, I realized this is a TERRIBLE idea - The dream of making change is fine, but to be an Executive in one of these places is fundamentally NOT a job I have the temperament for. I got no time for all of the budget, management, and minutae that make up 90% of the job, only to have that 10% where my vision could make a difference (assuming the rest of management would accept the vision).

I was forced to really think about what I'd really like to do, and the answer came back: Pretty much what I do already, but without any airplanes, and without the growing bureaucracy. But I challenged myself to add to the dream - If money was no object, what would I do? I'd design software to make patients and care givers lives a bit easier. I know there's not a lot of money in startups, but I got to thinking what if there was a way to combine my loves?

That's jumping ahead: A year ago, I started to realize I needed to move. So I started saving, and started networking, and began the long process of telegraphing my exit. I actually talked about this with my boss a year ago - told him the process I was going through, and let him know there was a good chance I'd be moving on. That was a risk, but a good one I think. Because I also wanted to make sure I did this whole thing ethically - I didn't want to leave anyone in the lurch or have to lie.

So I focused on building out a second layer below me - so that when I left, my managers would be able to take over. I reduced the number of projects I was directly engaged in. I made myself more unavailable outside of core hours… I started laying the groundwork for a world without Jimmy. It felt strange, but also liberating.

This was unbelievably stressful, by the way. There's a saying about skydiving: Who would jump from a perfectly good airplane? There's another, saltier anecdote from my past - in the 1990s slinging COBOL for a life insurance company, there was a chain smoking programmer named Eric: We were talking about the upcoming Y2K programming efforts, and he was amazed at the money that was on offer: "Hell, for that kind of money, I'd blow dogs". It's relevant to my story, because whatever frustrations I might have had, it could not have been denied that I was making GREAT money, and would be for the foreseeable future. Who would walk away from that?

In the stress, I grew to have some awareness of patterns in my own behavior - when stressed, I'd spend. When stressed, I'd get sarcastic. I wouldn't share my feelings, would keep a stiff upper lip and say "everything's fine". Earlier this year, we went to therapy to figure out that it wasn't all fine, and I started to get a grip on my reactions. It opened a floodgate to let us deal with years of poor communication and assumptions. I know that if we hadn't had our flashpoint and started seeking therapy, I could never have continued with my plans to move on with work - that would have been too much chaos for us to handle.

As an adjunct, we went to see Ruth Hayden, who is a regular guest on MPR, and she helped us identify money patterns we both have, and the historical and emotional roots in these behaviors. I spent a lot of time looking into the brain of me as a kid, and started to realize what was going on then, and how that behavior translated to a 47 year old man buying lego sets when he feels unstable. It was eye-opening.

SO - solid guidance - career counseling, personal counseling, money counseling… it all helped build a very strong foundation. I'm not 100% there yet, but I got to a point in mid-summer when I realized that even with the counseling, the job still needed to change - it was a major life stressor and dissatisfaction piece. Oh man did I want to just QUIT. But we worked together to sit tight and get plans together for the big move: Don't jump FROM, jump TO. The only problem was, there was a limit to how much TO I could build while still in the FROM.

In early Fall, the wheels started turning for my company to merge with another company. This would be my opportunity to get out with a payout, which could fund my next move. All the pieces started to come together: I knew what I wanted to do, I had some partners to do it with, I was in a better place with money and emotions, and most importantly, I had new tools for communicating with my love. We just needed to keep our heads down until the company sold, and then jump ship.

Ah, but remember that part about "Ethically?" In the process of joining the companies, I got to know the other company, and I came to realize that it would send a terrible message to have us merge and THEN have me leave. It would be better to have me leave BEFORE the merger for my own reasons, let them control the narrative, and then have it be old news when it came time to announce the merger to the whole team. I went to the owner and let him know my decision.

I'd love to say it all came together perfectly: In truth, there was a whole lot of ugliness in the merger process - and I don't think that the relationships between the partners of our old company will ever be mended. I will say that I am grateful to all of my partners for banding together to ensure I did get a payout (which was at risk for a time). It says something to me that the night of the merger, 4 weeks after I announced my resignation, the owner of the NEW company called me and sent me a bottle of champagne. I still haven't had a conversation with the old owners.

And now I'm 5 weeks into my new world. I have a new company name, I've been working on projects, but I've also NOT been full time billable - I wanted to give myself a little time to get things arranged. I have been networking with friends, seeking out some great new larger-scale opportunities, and I'm frankly amazed at the amount of interesting work that is out there: This is work that I could never have got at my old company - it's just a bit too far outside of the mission…

I have not had a single minute of regret in finally making the move - one of the first things I did was take George Dow out to lunch and bring him up to speed. We toasted our iced teas at a year well spent. It's been a ton of work.

My new company is called Covalent Health Solutions: In chemistry, Covalent Bonds are where atoms share electrons - strength through sharing and cooperation. It seems right as I set out to "do what I am good at doing" in a company that works the way I want it to work. The bonds are family, love, ethics, integrity, and joy.

Hopefully it won't be as long before another update - I'm not sitting on my thoughts anymore - I'm not afraid of any bosses finding out anything, I'm secure in my decisions and my plans for moving forward. I can share again.

Quincy Caesar and the Desolator

This one stuck with me for a couple of days: My family was in Portland visiting my friend Caesar Filori, in a very cool glass high-rise - he had a very swanky apartment and while it's sunny outside, there are windows tinted so it always looks like sunset. The apartment is not unlike Frasier Crane's one from the sitcom, with a conversation pit and a dining room table against a wall of windows.

Caesar has surgically altered his appearance to look like a 50-ish Quincy Jones, but it's still Caesar in there. He did it for the love of a woman, a 50+ old black woman with a shaved head and wearing a dashiki - she must be a poet or something. There are pictures throughout the apartment of the two of you - one him serenading her with a saxophone, another a close up of her smiling with him kissing the top of her bald head. Big silver hoop earrings.

After dinner he asks if we want to go on a cruise - I say "sure!" and he smiles and press a button on the dinner table: The entire apartment is jettisoned suddenly out the front glass, which retracts - and I realize the apartment is actually a vehicle - a huge vehicle.

Now, this vehicle is way too big for the roads, but fortunately there's a network of roller-coaster rails strung across the city, going over roads, sideways up buildings, looping around corners - the apartment is tearing ASS through town toward the river. I realize that there's a word for this sort of vehicle - it's a "desolator" - designed to move away from the storms and droughts that global warming is bringing - it's both a response to the crisis, and an accelerator.

The dream ends with you piloting the apartment onto a canal, deploying a hovercraft skirt, where it joins a procession of other desolators of varying sizes (Caesar's is one of the smaller ones), headed toward a futuristic silver city in the distance.

And that's where the dream ended.

Spring Break 2014: Update Five – A Day at Sea, Castaway Cay, and the trip home

Thursday:  Day at Sea

Well, Pirate night proved exhausting for Bella – while most of us woke up a little late, Miss Bella was zonked.  After all of the activity the night before, we decided to let her sleep in, and Pamela left her a series of post-it notes around the cabin to let her know where we were and what she could do with herself.  We took Isaac up to breakfast, and dropped him at the Oceaneers Club…

It sounds like we’re foisting him off every time I write that, but there are two key details:  First, it’s where he WANTS to be – he has been asking to be checked in non stop all trip, and Thursday at Sea we told him he could be at the club as much as he wanted to be…  which meant pretty much all day.  Second, the Club is really cool:  There are a lot of counselors in there, and they make sure the kids mix things up:  I’ve seen Isaac playing “gaga ball” – which is a catch-game on a touch-sensitive floor somehow…   Playing video games…  but also sitting with a counselor and 3 other kids playing Uno or Apples to Apples.  They make sure kids are engaged.  So it’s ALMOST like school.  So for those reasons, while it almost felt like cheating to drop him off, it was a wonderful thing for him.

Bella would go in there too, and she’d opt for the more guided art and cooking activities…   and she especially loved sitting with a counselor and helping younger kids with their projects.  She’s a great teacher’s helper, and she had that “serene” face on…  but she also had check-out privileges and went to some pin-trading events (swapping Disney lacquered pins with the crew!). 

So why were we so interested in getting Isaac checked in, and leaving Bella to her own devices?  We had another grown-up meal at Palo with the dashing Ian – BRUNCH.  It was a buffet plus prepared dishes:  Ian walked us through ALL of the offerings on the buffet, telling us what was special and what we could miss…   and the chef came out to talk to me about what had walnuts.  They were very concerned and wanted to make sure they wouldn’t kill me (I kept telling them it’s a MILD allergy, but you don’t mess with litigation).  We buffet'ed and had a few dishes prepared as well, and enjoyed the Prosecco too.  It was a wonderful two hours.

We hooked up with Isaac and Bella after our brunch and we had a pleasant light lunch (or more to the point, watched them eat) before teaming up to finish up the video mystery (Rizzo the Rat did it, but there are actually several endings possible) and started the “who kidnapped the Dalmatian puppies mystery” – spoiler alert, it wasn’t Cruella this time!  We didn’t get a chance to finish that mystery, because Isaac wanted to be back in the Oceaneer club, and Pamela and Bella wanted to go to a Towel folding class…  They learned how to do the Monkey on a hanger, the Elephant, and the Rabbit.  Isaac was excited to be at the Club because they had some interactive time with Crush the turtle from Nemo – talking to them.  Me?  I got a run in.

I got to take three 5k runs during the week – twice outdoors on the Deck 4 track, and once on a machine.  Thursday was a pretty choppy day on the seas, and Pamela spent a little time with her feet up waiting for the Dramamine to take hold.  It was way too windy on deck 4, so I tried the treadmill up on deck 11, and it felt like the elevation on the treadmill just kept randomly engaging – the bumpy sea added quite the element of surprise to what is usually a pretty predictable run.

Dinner was at Animators again – we TOTALLY lucked out by getting Animators three times in our trip – and this night we were greeted with a piece of paper asking us to draw a character:  At the end of the night, we were shown an animation showcase of our characters walking, jumping, and dancing around – it was completely amazing – and each area of the restaurant had their own set of drawings going – so somehow they scanned about 1000 of these things in and inserted them into a very cool template.  It was a pure delight to see.  While we ate (before the animation showcase) they showed footage of just about every single food-related moment in every Disney movie:  I know they could have just shown Ratatouille, but it was well represented. 

Would it shock you to hear that Isaac wanted to go back to Oceaneers after dinner?  Or that Pamela and Bella went to see yet another live show?  I took some quiet time in the 12^th floor bar (big overstuffed leather chairs and couches looking out the stern of the ship) and enjoyed a Macallan 18 while blogging about Tuesday and Wednesday and letting myself relax.  I was supposed to get Isaac to bed around 830 so that we’d be well rested for Friday, but when I went to pick him up, I heard he was out on a Field Trip:  They brought him down to another theater (the ship is filled with them!) to an interactive show called Mirror Mirror, with a few of the Seven Dwarves and the Magic Mirror from Snow White – I peeked in and saw Isaac in the front row, on the edge of his seat with a huge smile on his face…  and I decided that we’d deal with Friday on Friday, and he needs to enjoy this. 

We all made it back to the room at almost the same time, shared stories about our evening, and got down to rest for a big day…  

Friday:  Castaway Cay

First, a correction to my last update – Apparently Cay is pronounced “Key” – so we went to Castaway Cay, not Castaway Key.  And not Quastaway Quay either.  (Seriously, Quay is pronounced Key too?  What’s UP with that?)

We woke up to find the boat executing a massive 3 point turn to BACK into the docking area for Castaway Cay – a Disney-managed island in the Bahamas.  The only people allowed here are Disney cruisers, and they get 2 visits a week, and the rest of the time to groom and clean.  The shops and food stands are run by the ship crew (Darma our server was flipping burgers).  5000 people descended on the area as it opened at 9, and stayed until the ship pulled away at 530. 

There are 2 major swimming beaches, a cool water slide complex, and a private “adults only” area with dining, bars, and beaches that we will need to take on faith “exists”.  We got off the boat by 10, found a shady spot on a beach (under a palm tree), and raced off to swim and play.  90 minutes later after a few rides down the water slide and a lot of splashing in the water, we went to the BBQ area for burgers, dogs, and tropical fruit (I ate a whole lot of fresh mango and papaya), then right back to the beach to build a sand version of our ship (no pictures on that – it was either our ship, or a hot dog).

I worked up a thirst and went to grab a beer from one of the many stands (also selling smoothies and girl-drinks), and discovered it was two-for-one.  Well, I did not need two, and Pamela didn’t want one, so I walked up the beach, found a guy with a red face and a friendly demeanor, and offered it to him.  He was genuinely appreciative, and I’m sure he’ll have a hell of a story for his twelve step group next week (“It was hot on the beach and this guy just GAVE it to me…”). 

Time flew by on that beach – we were shocked to find 5 hours had passed and it was time for our “schedule activity” – feeding and petting stingrays!  We were grouped around floating feeding platforms – the 70+ de-barbed stingrays in the lagoon knew to swim up for food, and we took turns with pieces of squid and shrimp, as these slimy cool creatures swam up and chomped the food one nipped my finger and it felt like a nutcracker - flat ridged "bars" instead of teeth - not painful at all.  We were encouraged to pet them (SOFT!), and they all had names (I think the guy was making them up on the spot, but he showed us identifying marks he uses to discern them).  We had a presentation on how they’re humanely captured – many rescued from nets and injured, and allowed to live here in a big group, with tourists annoying them only twice a week.  It seemed a good compromise for them – food and protection and healthcare.

After the feeding, we were given snorkels and invited to paddle around and watch them swim – and we saw the one visiting Barracuda – he doesn’t bother anyone and comes and goes as he pleases through the fence – as do the baby Rays who show up every few months.   Bella and I spent the full time allowed out there communing with the Rays.  Isaac was freaked out by them (and they are freaky), and spent his time on the beach making more castles, and Pamela enjoyed the petting/feeding, but didn’t feel like snorkeling, so we all had our own experience…

Castaway Cay was a well cultivated attraction to allow us to experience an island paradise while not worrying about where our wallets were – it’s as “real” as Epcot, but that’s not a bad thing – the water, sand, sun, and sea life were real, and so was our fun.  I loved it.  Isaac asked if we could just move there and send for the puppies.  I said I’d take it under consideration.  Also:  None of us got sunburnt.  Thank you Pamela for your diligent reminders about sunscreen…  we saw the benefits.

We joined the throng re-boarding the ship at 430 – wanted to be on well before they started nagging us – and got ready for dinner.  Enchanted Garden this time, good as always…  but we hightailed it out of there for the final events:  Isaac wanted one last toot at the Oceaneers, Bella and I wanted to see Captain America Winter Soldier, and Pamela wanted to pack without any of us getting underfoot.  It was a win-win-win situation.

At Oceaneers, they’ve had a game where a group of kids sits in front of a video wall, where Stitch (from Lilo and Stitch) is trying to escape a space prison – the kids shout directions and he goes where they tell him to:  Tonight, once he escaped, he came out in character and played with the kids with a dance party:  Isaac told me all about it – they took turns in the middle of the dance floor making up crazy dance moves for everyone else to try.  Isaac was absolutely thrilled with the activity, and it was a perfect ending to the week for him.

Bella and I grabbed perfect center seats and donned our 3d glasses for Captain America:  It was a great movie – but not one that Isaac would have liked – you sort of need the context of the first movie, and a bit of distrust in government for it to work.  Bella and I were elbowing eachother at cool parts and it was a great shared experience.  Also Black Widow is fantastic. 

We all converged back at the room to find Pamela had packed us up and Jong had taken our suitcases:  Alas, we had tried to make our clothing stretch just right, but we ran out of several key items – Pamela and Bella made an emergency run to the shops and came back with some socks, sweatpants and shirts to make sure we were all appropriately dressed in non-stinky clothes.  The kids were asleep by 11, and we were down by midnight, with the alarms set for an early wake-up.

Saturday – Time to go HOME:  

Woke up at 550 am (with my alarm having been ringing for 5 minutes and being well integrated into my dream – the sound of the alarm became the sound of the ship docking), for breakfast at 645 and disembarkation at 8am.  It was NOT an easy wake-up considering how late we stayed up, but we made it zombie-like through it all.  Darma was true to his word and showed a very sleepy Isaac how he did his disappearing crayon trick.  We got hugs from the staff, and we boarded the gangplank, I turned around and whispered “good bye” with a tear in my eye. 

Customs wasn’t a problem, and Ernest Borgnine picked us up at the door with our luggage.  His cheerful, braying voice was a bit hard to take with as sleepy as we all were, but it was nice not to have to be fighting crowds on a bus.  The Orlando airport was a zoo, and we passed several feral bands of spring break revelers, happy we weren’t any part of that.  We sat in the Delta Club – a quiet oasis where the kids were able to Netflix a bit (Bella had been jonesing for some Cake Boss).  The flight loaded and departed on-time, and we’re happily jetting home to 40-degree weather – not quite the 100 degree temperature delta I suffered in February coming home from the conference, but not pleasant….  We're coming home.

Additional Thoughts on the Trip:

First:  It was one of the best vacations we’ve taken in a long time:  It ranks right up with Boyds for magical “perfectness” and I’m sold on the Disney Cruise experience.

Second:  I know I’m writing about a lot of action, but it’s also important to note that there was a lot of downtime and independent time too – we all got a lot of time to unwind and do what we wanted to do:  Isaac wanted to play, and he played.  Bella wanted a lot of time with us, and we gave it to her.  Pamela and I wanted time to connect and be grown-ups together, and we got it. 

We wanted to have no stress, and we were largely successful.  I got a little nervous about Grand Cayman – going out into the real world…  and Isaac’s bedtime intensity was a bit much to handle sometimes…   but in all, the goal of a memorable, fun, relaxing trip was achieved. 

I’m grateful to Pamela for all the work she put into organizing this:  Her research, her work with Lorna Klefsaas our travel agent, and her commitment to packing the perfect suitcase really paid off.  I feel very lucky to have such a great partner, and such great kids to write about.  I’m grateful to have a good job that allows me to pay for a vacation like this, AND where the few times I tried to check in to work, I had my partners and bosses shut me down and tell me they have it under control and not to check in again OR ELSE. 

Here ends the trip blog, but if I remember any other details, I’ll be sure to post them.  Thanks for reading!

Spring Break 2014 - Extra Update: Random Details

Of course I forget things – just imagine how much I’d forget if I didn’t have this blog?  Here are some additional details:

One:  We watched Pirates of the Caribbean 1 on Tuesday afternoon during some downtime – I forgot what a thrill ride that movie is, and Isaac loved it – and it was good pre-work to getting Bella and Isaac in the mood for Pirate night.  Johnny Depp really did amazing work on that movie…  and note to Disney – eyeliner and a wig are not QUITE enough to fool me into thinking that guy for the photo op Jack Sparrow, but I’m willing to play along.

Two:  Our cabin steward it named Jong and we love him – he’s very sweet with a sing-songy voice and he leaves folded towel animals on our bed every night.  I have decided to pack him in our luggage and bring him home with us.  The towel animals have been a point of contention for us, however, as when Isaac has been raging at bedtime, he’s destroyed the animal in the process (usually starting with an “unintentional” roll over it..) – Bella has been furious with him.  We've taken to making sure we look at the animal before it's Isaac's bedtime.

Three:  This is a very international crew – there are scads of South Africans, Eastern Europeans, Pacific Islanders, Western Europeans – it’s fun to see passengers talking in different languages to staff – I overheard two German girls chatting up a german man serving pastries…   Also, the South African accents are just such fun to listen to – by the end of this trip I may have a terrible imitation ready.

Four:  A key detail from our trip to Grand Cayman:  There were two “gates” in the ferry terminal – one for the Carnival Cruise Line, and one for us Disney people.  The Carnival gate was a serpentine line going to the front of the terminal with tired pissed off people in it.  The Disney gate had no line, and as we walked through, we were handed a cool towel for our foreheads, and steered to a hydration station with water (with mint leaves or watermelon) and lemonade.  It was a definite Disney Difference.

Five:  I am amused but also a little disturbed with the Disney fetishization of Pirates:  They do realize that the way Pirates get “treasure” is not by digging it up on a beach but mostly by robbing people, right?  So Pirate Mickey probably has killed a guy, or ordered it at the very least.  Isaac hinted as much by pointing to all of the skulls and crossbones and saying “All this pirate stuff has got me thinking about ‘the usual’ (which regular readers know is his word for “death”).

Six:  There are movies on board – there’s a premiere of Captain America 2 tonight, and they’ve been playing Muppets Most Wanted and Frozen all week, but it’s been impossible to find the time with all the other things we have done – we’ll just have to carve out that time when we get home.

Ok those were my updates – tomorrow we’ll get caught with our day at sea and our visit to Castaway Key (the private Disney island in the Bahamas)

Spring Break 2014 - Part 4 – Two Days in Port

Tuesday – Costa Maya

I start this update with a callback – I forgot that for Formal day on Sunday, I treated myself to a spa service – a facial and shave.  It was very well done and refreshing, with an arm and scalp massage that relaxed me wonderfully.  On a tippy ship, there is no straight razor use, alas, but the Gillette she used was just fine.  Only downside to the experience was the hard sell on product at the end – Pamela reported similar from her massage:  My feeling is that if I’ve been your client for a few services, go ahead and recommend something.  But day one?  No, you’re not getting me to buy.  That said, I did buy the scrub because it did feel very nice.

Tuesday was a sea day in the morning, with a visit to Costa Maya, a tourist trap near Belize:  We had talked to a family who had been doing cruises for years, and they related that as recently as 5 years ago Costa Maya was a cute small place with an interesting Mayan temple you could visit.  It’s been built up and filled with duty free shops and pushy locals, and every travel site told us to use the day as a “ship day” to have fun while half the ship is away.  AND SO WE DID.

Isaac did wake up a bit grumpy, but a massive plate of bacon and some play time at Oceaneers helped smooth him out a bit.  In the evening, chilled out with some room time and ordered room service for Isaac and Bella, then checked them into Oceaneers because it was time for a DATE NIGHT!

There are ample adults-only opportunities on board – a nightclub, a pool, a spa, several bars (including Ooh La La, where we finished off our Veuve Cliquot before dinner), and two very good restaurants – Remy is French, Palo is Italian.  We did Palo, and spent two hours with a very sweet young south African named Ian (ee-YAN was the pronounciation).  We had a window seat in a beautiful wood paneled restaurant, enjoying our time, catching up and connecting. 

We decided against going out to party any later – we wanted to make sure Isaac would be well rested, so we pulled the kids out and I put Isaac to bed without MUCH grief.  He was resolved not to have a freakout like the previous nights and really really really tried to keep it together.  But after finishing reading, he was lying there, and started asking questions like “if you had to sacrifice yourself to save someone you loved, would you do it?  What about for a robber?  A stranger?”   Suddenly a dam broke and he started wailing about never ever wanting to die or talk about dying ever again – and he ran off to the bathroom and puked his guts out.  I actually think it was a stress puke if that makes sense – he didn’t seem feverish or sick in anyother way, and calmed down.  HE IS A SENSITIVE BOY – don’t let his wild side fool you.

Pamela and Bella (now the “Theater Society”) snuck out to see another live show – this one called “Magic” about people looking back at their childhoods as they prepare for college and the crazy adult world.  Pamela was fine up until the marionettes and monkeys.  Something about that rubbed her the wrong way, but Bella seemed to love it all – and especially loved having more mom time. 

Bella has really been blooming on this trip – taking care of Isaac, trying all kinds of new foods, doing lots of art, and going out on solo excursions on the ship to test her independence, but also mom-daughter dates too.  Isaac has the more colorful anecdotes, but Bella has been a real pleasure to watch on this trip.

Wednesday - Cozumel

Wednesday was another port day – we pulled into Cozumel at 8am and the ship literally emptied out – and we decided on another ship-day:  The kids kicked it off with TEN rides in a row on the AquaDuck:  There was no waiting at all, and they stopped only when they decided ten was a good number.  One funny detail is that they snap pictures of every rider and try to match them up with facial recognition technology.  That night we logged into our picture account and saw ten almost identical pictures of Isaac and Bella grimacing on the slide (the pic is snapped at a big splash point), but on number ten, Bella remembered the picture and gave a big thumbs-up! 

After that adventure, Pamela had a spa service – some sort of thai wrap experience:  I dropped the kids off at the Oceaneers club, and joined her in the spa for some relaxation:  They have a sauna, two steam baths, heated lounge chairs, soaking tubs, and “experience showers” – with scents and different sprays:  “Caribbean rain”, “waterfall”, “cool mist”, etc.  I tried them all out and found that a lot of people must love the experience of freezing cold water, because daaaaaaamn that was some coldness. 

It was comic – I didn’t know about the spa shoes, and burned my feet in the sauna (radiant heat from the floor?), then screamed from the icy shower, then walked into the room with the heated chairs and was floored with the smell of SOMEONE in there having farted, a lot (unless it was some evil “product” I was not refined enough to appreciate), and finally landed in a soaking tub, which didn’t cause me any trouble at all, and Pamela joined me.  With her help I revisited the other experiences, and the farters moved on as well, so we were able to chill out for a good bit of the afternoon.

Wednesday night had another bonus – PIRATE NIGHT!  Captain Jack Sparrow joined us on board and as you have seen from the pictures on Facebook, Pamela outdid herself as usual by packing full pirate outfits for the whole family:  I must say my outfit was amazing – we were stopped by many guests and crew.  We met pirate Mickey and Jack Sparrow (who paused to appreciate Pamela’s Silpada BLING – he really liked it!) had dinner in Animators again (our servers were dressed up too), and went up to a big party on deck.  There was a drama where we were all inducted into Pirate Mickey’s crew, but then Captain Hook tried to take over – we had to repel him with our dance moves and singing, and we represented.

After a good party, Isaac and I retired, and Bella and Pamela insisted on going out to party more – and they got back close to Midnight, having danced at the big pirate party and watched fireworks (they were at 1030pm which is way too late for Isaac, and frankly late for me as well!).  It was such a perfect cruise day we were just in shock – we wanted to rebook immediately – DO THIS FOREVER!!!  

More to come in the next update – it’s time to go get Isaac out of Oceaneers (Bella and Pamela are at another show, of course!!!)