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Tomorrow morning we set sail on our first cruise. If Internet access is reasonable I’ll try to post an at-sea update or two with some pictures.

Well, Wendy and I will go on our first cruise ever, a 5 day Caribbean tour. We’ll be on the Carnival ship, Holiday, their oldest and smallest ship. At 733 feet, though, it doesn’t seem small to me. Our destinations are Progreso, Yucatan, and Cozumel, Mexico.

I’ve been browsing around, reading cruise reviews, and of course you can find everything from horror stories to excellent reviews. About 75% are positive. One review in particular was straightforward and helpful.

I just hope it’s not 5 days of waiting in lines for everything we want to do and heavy crowds everywhere we turn. Some good food, good company, and a relaxed atmosphere would be really nice. We’ll be in good company anyway… Wendy’s parents and sisters are going, and we always have good times together.

We’ll be on the starboard side, lowest deck, with a picture window, situated just about mid-ship. They do have wireless Internet access, and if it’s less expensive than gasoline I’ll probably use it.

After a week we finally got our little Aiden back for a visit. If you read this please pray for Mindi as she fights for custody of Aiden.

Anyway, for last night and half a day, he was back with us. It was sooo good to have him back. I have rarely gone more than 2-3 days, usually less, without seeing Aiden. The floors were alive as Aiden and I flew our Buzz Lightyears all over the house, hunting and defeating “bad guys”. Later, he was plundering my office and found a Star Trek Enterprise model I’m going to build. He asked, “Is that Papa’s toy?” “You wanna play with me?” That fascination ended once he spotted a giant Power Rangers Sticker/Color book I had hidden away for him. The rest of the night we were stretched out across the table sticking stickers and coloring Power Rangers. This morning, more of the same.

After we had a breakfast of Hot Wheels cereal with marshmallow cars, we watched an episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Wendy was at work, so sensing our opportunity we headed over to K-Mart to buy a new Ninja Turtle Action Figure. Now… I told him he could only have one. Well, I really said, “Nana said only one”, so I wouldn’t be the bad guy. (And because she really did say that)

As we strolled down each aisle, TMNT’s were quickly forgotten, as he would find a new toy to carry every few minutes replacing the last. First the Red ranger, then a Megazord, then Spiderman, then Superman; one by one he carried them up and down the aisles. Occasionally he would say “I want bunch”. I just said, “Me too, but Nana said only one.” We finished the toy aisles and were passing a clearance rack. The Superman hit the floor (I guess he couldn’t fly) as Aiden became oblivious to him and focused on a pair of Batman Action Figures with Light-up Neon Wings and various Weapons attachments. Wow – and, they were 1/2 price.

Aiden quickly did the math for me.

Batman: ($14.00 x 0.5) = $7.00
Superman: ($16.00 x 1.0) = $16.00
Batman x 2 = (($14.00 x 0.5) x 2) = $14.00
((2.Batman)=$14.00) < ((1.Superman)=$16.00)
“Hmmm” he said, “Logic would suggest buying 2 Batman Figures will you save money”

I of course agreed, and he got two. Nana will understand when Aiden explains it to her. So he tucked those two packages under his arms and carried them around contently as I finshed picking up a few other items. After shopping, we headed to Micky D’s for our Happy Meal.

Here’s my math: Life + Grandchildren = Happiness

Wendy and I went to see Wild Hogs tonight. This movie is genius. Tim Allen, John Travolta, Martin Lawrence, William H. Macy. A foursome I never would have guessed would star together. Each of them in characters mostly different than I would typecast them into. That plus Ray Liotta as a bad guy, along with Kevin Durand, who was spectacularly funny while being “stupid tough”, and then a gay highway patrolman played by John C. McGinley, was all just pure laughs. No politics. No social statements. Guys getting old, seeking more out of life than the routine. I loved it, so did Wendy. This movie was genius in casting, genius in it’s target market, and genius in it’s acting. You didn’t think Tim could act? Just watch… This one will be a “buy” for my DVD collection, and as anyone who’s seen my collection knows, that’s rare. Not even sure you can call something a collection if there’s less than 20. This is the type of entertainment I wish Hollywood would produce more often.

Disclaimer: I think you need to be 35 or older to “get” this movie.