The clock moves slowly forward,
While I wait for your response.
One, two, three seconds seem like years,
So hard to act with nonchalance.
The waiting is killing me,
Every second an eon.
Perspective has a way of changing,
So soon after telling her she’s the one.
But in reality it’s only a moment,
And is over in a snap.
Course I took one step forward,
Kicking myself as I take one step back.

I remember ripping off the paper,
And seeing the box within.
Pulling out the contents,
But I can’t remember what it was or when.
I think it was during winter,
Perhaps Christmas or even Hanukkah.
But it just doesn’t jog my memory,
I wish something would help me go ‘aha!’
I’m sure it was lovely,
and brightened my day.
But I just can’t recall,
Some present received on some holiday.

As they run into the room,
Faces full of hope.
Asking mother if it’s time,
Her answer is still ‘nope’.
Not yet time to open gifts,
Santa hasn’t yet stopped by.
But if they go back to bed,
The time will surely fly.
So off to bed they again go,
But they’re sure they cannot sleep.
Even if they just close their eyes,
And try to count some sheep.
But start to slumber they do,
Dreaming of Christmas day.
When they’ll see family,
And have new toys form Santa’s sleigh.
But they’ll have to wait,
Until the morning chimes.
Because it’s still Christmas eve,
And not yet time.

Nobody’s around,
And I have nothing to do,
It’s a lonely night.

Close your eyes,
Don’t say your goodbyes.
Tomorrows a new surprise,
Close your eyes.

Don’t worry or fret,
There’ll be no regrets.
No problems or threats,
Don’t worry or fret.

Just dream of me,
Just rest and be.
Soon you’ll see,
Just dream of me.

My love for you is like the seasons,
Having no rhyme nor reasons.
Like the spring it appears fresh and new,
With every smile I see on you.
Like the summer it is nice and warm,
Able to fight off any storm.
Like autumn it is lovely to behold,
Much more precious than any gold.
But like winter snow upon the ground,
I keep it hidden and unfound.
Perhaps one day I’ll let it free,
But right now, I know it is not meant to be.

The blood boils within me,
Eyes yearning to glare.
My tongue wants to say something,
Perhaps I should dare?
Every time I think that though,
Reality sets in.
The downsides flow through my mind,
And I know it wouldn’t solve a thing.
Nor would it help later on,
The repercussions could be the pits.
Really not good at all,
Under the circumstances..
My best bet is to reign it in.

I wonder how it would be,
Solitude all around me.
Letting the trials of life slip away,
And just relaxing from day to day.
No worries, no cares, no stress at all,
Doing naught, except maybe the swimmers crawl.
Oh how grand it seems,
For shame it’s only in my dreams.
My mind can be so cruel at times,
Yet further in it I explore and climb.
Daring to go off on tangents,
Rarely hindered by the suspense.
Every turn is someplace new,
And though I know I must soon say adieu.
My day will be just a little better,
Soon as I share the dream in this letter.

Darting back and forth,
Running for all I’m worth.
Every where I turn,
Another reality discerned.
My mind is so confused,
Somehow I’m not amused.
Course when all is said and done,
And the story has been spun.
Perhaps it’s not some scheme,
Ending up instead to be a dream.

So confused,
The days seem to be getting harder.
Running to and fro,
Every turn I make seems to be wrong.
No matter what happens tho,
Go on I must.
Til I reach the end of the journey.
Home with you.

Ship was docked in Malaga, Spain today. I didn’t go on any excursions this port however since the one that I wanted to do was sold out. That one was a tour of some castles and then a stop at a Picasso museum. Although someone who did go said that the Picasso museum, which is the main thing that caught my attention for that tour, wasn’t that impressive.

Instead I went with a couple of people form the group I was with and we took a shuttle into town and then rode an open air tour bus and just took a ride around the city. I got a couple decent photos, although it was hard to keep the safety rail out of the shots, and a slow shutter lag isn’t the best for shooting from a moving vehicle.

The show this evening was awesome, It was a tribute to Bobby Darin & The Rat Pack with Vocalist Jamie Frasier. While he didn’t sing any of the songs I really knew I still found it more enjoyable than the show last night. That one was a Broadway type show called “The Big Easy”. That one was a tribute to New Orleans, and while there were a few songs I knew, wasn’t that interesting to me.

After the show I went up to the panorama deck and watched for a few minutes as the ship passed through the Strait of Gibraltar. Unfortunately we’re passing through at night so didn’t see too much, but at least there were lots of lights so I could tell where shore was.

Just got back from watching tonight’s show on board the ship, a juggler/comedian by the name of Goronwy Thom. Was very funny, and have to give props to someone who not only juggles on a moving ship, but does it while riding a unicycle that’s at least 6 feet tall. Although not as many props as the sword swallower from the last cruise.

Went on the Pisa by Trolley excursion today. Wasn’t bad, although the trolley was kind of cramped. The tour guide said he’s gotten 56 people in there before, but we had trouble with just 46, so I’m wondering if those 56 people were grade schoolers.

Other than that it was a good tour, the trolley drove us around the city of Pisa and the guide pointed out various buildings to us before we stopped and were allowed to wander around where the Leaning Tower is, along with a couple other historical buildings.

I have a few good pictures, although not as many as I’d hoped for. Since it was raining I had my camera in a waterproof case, and unfortunately later on the lens got foggy so some of the pictures turned out looking rather dreary. Although, the effect is kind of neat, so I may post a few anyways, I’ll have to think about it.

Well, today was a lot better than yesterday. We did the Rome on Your Own excursion, which was great since we didn’t get herded like cattle. Granted we got a bit bewildered as to where we were and how to get where we wanted but we managed.

First thing we saw was the Spanish Steps, which honestly I’m not sure why they’re so special, but they were nice looking I guess, for steps.

Next thing we saw was the Trevi Fountain, which was pretty nice, at least it looked more extravagant than other fountains I’ve seen, unlike the Spanish Steps. While there we also had some gelato, which was very good.

After that we made our way to the Colosseum. We did take a guided tour there, but that one wasn’t as bad as the Vatican City tour. The guide waited for people and she spoke more clearly. Also, getting the tour we were able to bypass the line to get in, so if we hadn’t have done the tour we wouldn’t have had time to go into the Colosseum. Although, like the Sistine Chapel yesterday I actually thought the Colosseum would have been bigger.

After that we decided to get a taxi back to where we needed to meet the bus instead of walking since it was mostly uphill from where we were. And actually it wasn’t that bad, only about 5 euros. Now I’m not sure how far it actually was, but it was worth it not to have to walk back.

After we got back to the ship we had the lifeboat drill, and then dinner. Fortunately, tomorrow the excursion I’m on doesn’t start until later in the morning so I’ll get to sleep in.

Oy! After about 10 hours in airplanes we made it safely to Italy. Although I was envious of the people in business class, since their seats laid almost all the way back. But I did manage to sleep for most of flight so that helped.

After landing we got our luggage and got it headed to the cruise ship, and then the real “adventure” started. Since we couldn’t get on board the ship for a few hours we decided to do a tour so we wouldn’t be wasting the time. We decided on the Holy Rome excursion, which is a tour of the Vatican.

Unfortunately, today the Vatican was even more busy than normal as apparently 300 Spanish were being blessed by the Pope today. I’ve also decided I don’t like guided tours. Our guide kept telling us we had to hurry and didn’t have time to stop and look at other stuff because we had to get to the Sistine Chapel before our time was up, but in the very next sentence she’d tell us to notice the beautiful art work before again telling us not to stop. I also got left behind before this a couple times as I was taking pictures. Don’t get me wrong, the Sistine Chapel was nice, but honestly I was more interested in a lot of the sculpture and architecture in the museum. Not to mention I like going at my own pace and looking at what interests me, not being herded like cattle. Regardless of all that tho, I did manage to take quite a few pictures, a couple of which are very nice if I do say so myself. But, I’m not even going to try and guess as to when I’ll have them posted since I still have pictures from previous vacations waiting to go up.

Fortunately, the excursion we’re doing tomorrow is “Rome on your own” so we’ll be given a map and be able to see what we want and take our time, as long as we’re back on the ship in time. Frankly, I don’t want any of my pictures to be of our ship leaving without us.

Yay! The day is here. I’ll be leaving for the airport in a couple hours and then after a layover in Chicago we’ll be on my way to Italy. We’re leaving Saturday afternoon but won’t arrive until Sunday morning. We’ll also be arriving before we can board the cruise ship so we’ll be doing some sightseeing when we get there to kill some time. I plan on checking in while on vacation as well, assuming this ship is like the last one and has internet access. I hope so, because not checking my mail for two weeks would mean needing another vacation when I got back to go through and delete spam, both in my inbox and from the comments. Thank goodness for comment moderation

Wave goodbye to what you know,
Off to the grind is where you go.
Running the race with no end in sight,
Kan’t think straight from the plight.

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Went to the A.Y.U. reunion concert last night at EMU last night. And before you start wondering, no I hadn’t heard of them before either. They are an A Capella group. One of the members was on the Invisible Man tv show and so I know him through the fan club, and that’s how I heard about the concert. Defintately glad I went. Not only was the music great, but the banter between them was cool as well. They defintately put on a wonderful show.

They said they’ll be putting video from the concert on YouTube so when they do I’ll try and remember to post links.

Update: First videos are now on YouTube, yay!