Back to Reality

Well I definitely enjoyed my trip. It was nice to live in the moment for 2 weeks. I didn't have to think about how we were going to make it to a new destination - I just went to sleep and woke up in one. Oh the wonders of cruising I discovered, but I won't rub your face in it much longer. Just for the time it takes for a short reflection.


While every spot was great, my favorite was Pompeii because you really got a good idea of how people lived as opposed to seeing an ancient site in the middle of a modern city. The picture above is actually a hot food restaurant, think ancient McDonald's. I met some great people including a number of newlyweds who were pretty close to us in age and I got spoiled with the tea selection on board - at least two cups a day. I went to the store today and didn't find the kind I was looking for :-(

Okay okay, actual reflection now. It was nice living in a fantasy world, no worries and amazing experiences like our fabulous window overlooking the shopping area of the ship (great people watching spot). No responsibilities like laundry and planning things to do - everything is taken care of for you. It was nice to feel loved and care for, but the ship doesn't really care for your spirit. There was a chapel but there were no Christian services for the two Sundays we spent on board. One was at sea all day so we definitely couldn't get to Mass and the other was in Egypt - just as unlikely, so we had a service ourselves with the Sunday readings and boy were they needed! Other than that, I got really lazy and I'm paying for it now. I'm too wired to sit and reflect even thought that is something I love doing.

So I have tried to reflect and think about what is worth writing about. I think my trip came at the perfect time. I stopped over analyzing all the little decisions I am trying to make and remembered to enjoy life in the here and now. No thoughts about buying a house or what to do about where and when I am volunteering (am I in the right place or not?). All I did was enjoy lots of quality time with my husband going to shows and having dinner with different people every night. The ship was also so calming that my mood swings were greatly diminished and I was surprised to have cramps when I got home because my usual early warning signs weren't there. Even though at this point I was most definitely back to reality, I felt grateful. I was given such a blessing that I could handle one day of suffering. I could pick up my cat (whom I missed) and be thankful that I have people (and cats) to love and take care of me. My marriage is great and re-energized by the trip and we get along pretty well even in my trials because he is so good at taking care of me. We are not stressed by the pain (at least not yet) because it does not mean we are infertile. There are many couples that have it worse than us. My reality really isn't so bad and I'm glad to be back.