June 23, 2004: Tunisia, South Africa

We took a tour of Tunisia which is the northern part of Africa. The buildings are all white with blue shutters. It is supposed to be 95 degrees today. That is why our tours were early in the morning. I didn't notice a lot of women dressed in Arab gear. This country is more liberal. 55% of the women go to college so that is pretty high for here. They used to have a law where women students could not wear their Arab gear to school, but that has since been changed in the past few years.


I don't think I would want to be stuck here, though. It is real humid and hot, and there isn't much air conditioning. People here are quite poor and constantly beg you to buy their goods. But, it wasn't as bad as it was in Mexico at the Pyramids, when my mom and I went several years ago.


My aunt and her friend did get their luggage Monday night.  So, they were happy about that. It was found in Nice.


Everytime I see a dog, I think of my Maggie. I sure do miss her. She always brightens my day.


Tonight is our formal night so we will all get dressed up.


Like I said before, we haven't been too pleased with this cruise line. They are so unorganized, not really service oriented like the other cruises we have been on, and they don't put chocolates on your pillow at night. This is a first since we have always got a piece of chocolate on our bed. That must not be a tradition for Europeans.
There are quite a few Italians on the ship. They are all thin and good looking people, but boy, they are chatter boxes. They never shut up. We were at this house in Capri and behind a bunch of Italians and they were so loud. I think that would drive me crazy.


My grandpa is happy that I am going to type up his diaries of when he was in World War II. We were talking about it since he was in Italy, Sicily and northern Africa when he taught. It will be a big project, but I think it will be worth it in the end.


I am going to take a snooze before dinner. Tonight was our formal night. Tomorrow, we will be in Pallma de Mallorca. I heard that Michael Douglas has a big fancy home there.

June 22, 2004: Pallermo, Sicily

Today, I am in Pallermo, which is on the northern part of Sicily. It is around 4 p.m. right now (6 hours ahead of you). We took a tour today of the city and got to see the catacombs. It was an eerie place to go. Hundreds of years ago, the wealthy people in Europe used to have their bodies kept in crypts so that their families could come and visit. There are about 6,000 corpses in this place. Some still have the skin on them and there are clothes over them. They had the women in one room, the men in another, and the little ones in another. To me, it is pretty disgusting to preserve a body that long for people to come to see. But, they didn't have burials like we did back then, so this is how it was done. I wasn't supposed to take pictures, but I snuck and took some. Then, I noticed on my way out, that there was a security camera.


We also saw some beautiful churches. We stopped at the big Opera House which is beautiful. Then, we stopped at a local outdoor market and saw them slicing tuna. It kind of makes you not want to eat it.  I am not a seafood lover, anyway.


Their zuchinis are long and skinny and their raspberries are smaller than ours. I got a picture of a cotton tree with cotton on it which was interesting.


Last night for our entertainment, there was a man and a woman who did impressions of famous people using their hands in front of light. They did an excellent job. I don't know how the guy was able to do this, but it was pretty amazing. It might sound cheezy, but it is a talent, if I might say.


This afternoon, my mom and I went on the curly slide on the ship. My mom was scared to go, but she went and loved it. She went down twice and I went down 3 times, since I am a kid at heart.


Tonight is casual night and tomorrow night is our first formal. Tomorrow, we will be in Tunisia which is the northern part of Africa.

June 21, 2004: Naples, Italy

Well, my aunt and her friend, Marnie still don't have their luggage. Costa thinks it is still in New York, so they have been borrowing clothes from the rest of us. No one has even told them they are getting money to buy new clothes.

I am having a good time on the trip, but I suggest that no one take Costa Cruise line. This particular trip with Costa caters to the Europeans. There are only 75 people out of 3,000 that are Americans on the ship. You waste time waiting for people to tell us stuff in several different languages.

Today, we went to the island of Capri which isn't far from Naples. It is a cute little island. Of course, we didn't learn a whole lot because of all of the languages. We have never had this problem with other cruise lines because they always spoke English and I think they catered to us.

One thing I will say is that Costa is not very organized with some things. It's very strange. We have been on 8 cruises now and this one is the worst for organization.

But, the food on the boat has been really good. I don't know what they do with their scrambled eggs, but they are sure good.

We had already gone to Pompeii on a prior cruise, so that is why we wanted to see Capri. Oh, the boat over to Capri was rocky and some people barfed. They gave everyone barf bags, if you can believe that. I felt queasy on the way over, but it was better on the way back. I don't get sick on these big boats, but sometimes, I do on the smaller ones. When we go on the ferry to Milwaukee in July, I am going to take some medicine, as I heard it is a bit rocky and 2 1/2 hours would be long feeling queasy.

We got some good Italian chocolates in the store on the boat. They don't put chocolates on your pillow at night like on the other cruises, so we had to treat ourselves.  The chocolates were actually quite mellow and tasty.

January 2004: Maggie's Debut

Betsy Floyd, a nurse I work with at Muskegon County Health Department, was giving away some pekingnese/pomeranian/poodle mix puppies.   In the beginning, Jean Chang, our epidemiologist, wanted the white puppy, but then decided against it, which was great for me.
Maggie was born on November 30, 2003, underneath a computer.   Betsy brought Maggie to my house at 6 weeks old.   She was only 3 pounds and so adorable.   I have never had a pet in my life, so this was all going to be a new experience for me.   Maggie looked so chubby.

Maggie had a bunch of visitors on her first day, including Patty Kmiecik, Beth Short, Matt Tomasiewicz, Cody, and Conner Schotts.     She ran all over the house, trying to hide under the lazyboy or behind the refrigerator.

My mom left to do some errands, so I was alone with Maggie and she got behind the refrigerator and I panicked.    I had no idea what to do and was scared she was going to get hurt, so I called Betsy.

I called Betsy many times during the first 6 months with questions.     Maggie is so loveable with everyone. I have never seen such a friendly dog.

Maggie truly has been a blessing to me, for which I am very thankful.   Now, I know why 'DOG' spelled backwards is 'GOD'.   

November 2003: Meeting Bob the Bachelor/Shawn's Wedding

We went to Chicago for a visit. I heard that Bachelor Bob was going to be at the Borders bookstore on Michigan Avenue.  

I not only got to meet Bachelor Bob, but he also gave me a big rose. They had a vase of long stem red roses behind him and I asked him if I could have a rose. He said not only would
he give me one, he will give it to me personally. Oh boy, I was in heaven!  I walked around Chicago all day with the rose. At one of the stores, a clerk commented on it and I told her who I got it from. Then some other clerks heard it and we all talked about the show and all. They gave me real good service and were at my beckon call. I felt like a celebrity.

My mom and I each got ourselves an American girl doll that looks like us. I got the one with brown hair and green eyes and my mom got the one with blue eyes and brown hair.

We also got to see the Festival of Lights parade downtown. It was a beautiful night for watching the parade. The temperatures were in the 60s.

Then, we drove to Oak Park and had dinner with two of my old coworkers.

Sunday, we went shopping in Downers Grove. We stayed at a hotel in Downers Grove, too. It brought back alot of memories as I used to live out there for a year. I also lived in the city for 3 years. I am surprised that I remembered how to get around everywhere.


On November 23, 2003, we went to my friend, Shawn Young's wedding in Oak Park which was very nice. It was at the North Century Club. It's beautiful inside. I think it was a club for women back in the day. Shawn had around 80 guests at the wedding, so it was a small wedding. I got to see a bunch of my friends from Western there, so that was neat.

Today, we went shopping in Oak Brook and then came home.

October 2003: Health Department

I started working in the Health Department in October 2003.     I started out as a clerk in the STD clinic.   Wow,  that was far different than property assessing or market research.     I checked in clients for STDs, passed out condoms, and learned all about the different diseases.      At times, the subject matter was quite fun to joke around about.    

I met many wonderful people at the Health Department, such as:    Betsy Floyd (nurse), Terry Schrader (nurse), Helen Thomas (Immunization Clerk), Julie Henley (clerk), Jeanne Reenders (previous STD clerk, now at the Sheriff's department), Penny Boynton, Donna Syers, Tiffany Peterson, Jackie Balcom, Dawn Benkert, Linda Borgerding, Deb Wilson, Mary Young, Ivi English-Bene, Kathryn Kibbey, Joyce Rademacher (nurse), Milly, etc.         There are over 70 employees, so I can't list all of the names, but I have worked with most of them at one time or another.   

I have worked in the STD program, Vector Control (Dog Licensing), Food Safety/Licensing,  and Immunizations.    My favorite program has been Immunizations.        I have learned something from each of the programs, for which I am truly blessed.    

It hasn't always been the easiest departments to work in over the years, but I have met many wonderful people and learned so much.   
    

August 9, 2003: Volunteering at the Tall Ships Event/Matthew

This afternoon, I volunteered to work at the Tall Ships. I was dreading it before I went and wondering why I signed up to volunteer. When I first signed up to volunteer, I was so excited and then when the reality came, then I was thinking why did I do this again?? 

I worked at the West entrance by the YFCA and passed out the maps and answered questions for people. I think I was doing pretty well. My feet got tired after 2 1/2 hours. By 4 p.m., I decided to take a short break and this security lady came up and we talked a bit. She was telling me about how she had to work for 15 hours today and she was so tired. She said that she just came back from Marquette, Michigan as her sister was in the hospital for overdosing on tylenol.
I guess her sister took 48 pills. The sister had some kind of depression but none of the medication was working. I guess the sister had 4 kids and alot of health problems, too. Boy, some people sure have some messed up lives. I feel bad for them.

Then, I was talking to my neighbor whose son I used to take to the movies, ice cream, ride bikes with, etc, and she was telling me about Matthew going back up north to see his father this weekend. He was just in a car accident a week ago. I didn't know the whole story of the accident until today. Apparently, Matthew had quit his job in Tennesse which is good because he was doing some dangerous work where he was climbing polls to fix cables. He had no training
on this job and the foreman was a druggie. Matthew didn't like the job nor the apartment he was renting, as it was infested with cockroaches. Anyway, he and two of his friends were on the way back and on I-69 in Lansing and the friend driving swerved off the shoulder and the car rolled several times. None of them had seatbelts on and Matthew and one of the kids flew out the passenger door and landed by the woods. I guess the car hit 4 or 5 trees. They are sure lucky they are alive as most people would die in that kind of accident. This all happened around midnight. Then, he was rushed to the hospital as he had a concusion.
 

Matthew had a wonderful mom and brothers here in Muskegon, but when he turned 13, he decided he wanted to live with his dad up north. His stepmom up there was mean to him and so was his stepbrother. His stepbrother tried to drown him when he was a kid and Matthew swam across the lake to get away. So much happened to Matthew living up there.

Now he has a chance to start his life over and find a job here, but he decides to visit his dad this weekend up north and see his two friends before they went back to Tennessee. Apparently, he called his mom today to say that he was thinking of going back down to Tennessee. I am hoping and praying he doesn't go down there and stays up here and gets a job. His brother back here in Muskegon is willing to sell his truck to him for a good price and his mom said he could
stay with her as long as he would like. I sure hope he doesn't go back to Tennessee.
Matthew was such a sweet child and he would come to my house all the time and I would take him places and treat him like a little brother.  I invited him to the movie this past week, but he said he couldn't go because of having to put neosporin in his head, but that he thanked me for thinking of him.
He told his mom to let me know he wouldn't be in Muskegon this weekend as I was going to go over and play checkers with him. Please pray that he stays here in Muskegon and away from those people who treat him so poorly. I think he needs to be around some better people than some of the ones you find up in the boonies.

It breaks my heart to see a child treated like that and grow up thinking that is the norm.

I am sure thankful that I haven't had to go through things like that. I have always had people who cared about me and so thankful for that.