HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! ....what? it's the 10th!?

Me: Happy New Year, blog.  I haven't been around.

Blog:  Yeah. I noticed.   

Me:  You see, I've been doing other things. Without the Internet. 

Blog [aghast]:  What's that?  Without... The Internet?  How can this be?  

Me: Well, you see, it's because I was on a very large ship sailing around the Caribbean Sea with Famous People.*  

Blog: Ah. Well. That explains it.  

Me: Yes. Here are some pictures.  I'll talk about letting go of things and what I want for the coming year and all that stuff that Every Other Blog In Creation talked about two weeks ago while I was packing my family of four to get on a floating hotel for a week in another post.

Blog: Ok.....

Blog: I missed you.

Me.  I know.  I missed you, too.  Though not enough to take a single picture of food while I was gone.

Blog:  I understand.  You were on vacation.

Me:  Thanks.  I heart you.

Blog: Shut up and make with the pictures.

It's good to be on a boat with old friends.
Peter Sagal and my husband, Bill.

Fruity Rum Drinks in Neon Plasticware!  With FRUIT!

A view of the ms Eurodam from the beach at Half Moon Cay, Bahamas

Beautiful!

Happy.

Having stupidly watched Titanic two weeks before the cruise,
I was happy to see these awesome lifeboats that also served as shuttles to the islands.

The Paul F. Tompkins Memorial Mustache Formal.
Paul's not dead or anything, he just couldn't join us on the cruise.
Formal wear was optional, mustaches were mandatory and provided.
I brought monocles for Bill and me.

A theater full of geeks every night.  What's better than that?

This is as close to Jamaica as I got.
I was in the stateroom with my 3 year old who was throwing up from a virus for three days.
My 5 year old went ashore with my parents and came back braid-less,
but bearing color-changing gifts of barrettes, rings and nail polish.
She didn't start throwing up until the next day.

If you squint, you can see the crescent moon just under the  clouds.

Why almost 400 people were sailing on the ms Eurodam last week:
As best I can, from left to right:
John Hodgman, Wil Wheaton, John Roderick, Paul and Storm, Jonathan Coulton, Dammit Liz, David Rees, Molly Lewis, Mike Phirman, Peter Sagal, Bill Corbett (my husband), Stephen Toulouse, Kevin Murphy.

The scarriest of all the towel animals.
Towel Monkey.

I cannot tell you all that happened here.  But I can tell you that I had a wonderful time and am so lucky and so happy to have been a part of it all.  I saw some of the best performing I've ever seen, I hung out with some really amazingly talented people.  I had real conversations with people I've admired for years (one in particular since I was 12 years old), and got to meet their amazing families.  I met new friends and grew real connections.  Thank you so much, Jonathan, Paul and Storm, Liz, the Universe, for putting this all together.  Thank you, Bill  for including me in it.  Even though our poor children were throwing up for days, I still got to have nights most people only dream about.  Thank you to my parents for coming along and making those nights possible by watching the kids and for getting us really sweet chairs on the beach in the Bahamas.  I hope you got a good vacation out of the deal, too.  Thank you Holland America, for making my first cruising experience awesome enough - even with sick kids - to consider and look forward to a second.  With service and food like that, I'm sticking with you kid.

Thanks for being patient with me, Blog.  I'll start taking pictures of food again now.

*may not contain actual famous people.

Empty the Camera - Vacation

Empty the Camera is a series where I share things that don't have enough story for their own big ol' post.  Enjoy, won't you?

I ate this for lunch on vacation recently.  

That's right.  Bacon, Butter Toffee Peanuts and White Wine.  

Lunch of vacationing champions.

Same trip - giant mutant marshmallows. 

I still have a lot of the pink ones left.  I see Rice Krispie Treats in their future.

Same trip - my dad bought us all Wax Lips.  

Yummy.

(Why does one of my eyes look bigger than the other?)

ALSO on this trip: Hummingbird Wars!

  

 This inspired me to get a feeder at our house.  

And it's working!!

Different trip - we ate at the restaurant at the resort we were staying at.  

They had something called TOTCHOS on the menu. 

Tater Tot Nachos.  Seriously. 

How could I not order that?  Brilliant.  Will have to try them at home.

Back from vacation: Fat and Happy.

This week my family went up to a lake in Northern Minnesota.  It was glorious.  The weather was beautiful, the lake was crystal clear, the cabin was spacious and wonderful, and I got to build two campfires and stuff myself silly with marshmallows.  

While we were up there, we finalized our plans for the Jonathan Coulton Cruise in January.  Bill is performing, along with others, on the cruise and we're very happy to be able to go with him and enjoy the Caribbean in January!  

SO-  Having stuffed myself with marshmallows and hot dogs cooked over a campfire for a week (not to mention ALL the BACON!), and having spent said week in my old-lady swim dress (no, there are no pictures), and having finalized plans to go on a fabulous week-long cruise with awesome people (including, but not limited to, my family), I would now like to drop some dress sizes. 

Last year I dropped 27 pounds by doing weight watchers and yoga.  This year I gained it ALL BACK.  Every single pound.  I just stopped paying attention.  But now I have a goal.  And I'm really good with a project.  SO.  I will keep cooking, I will keep eating delicious food.  I will not give up wine or sweets or pasta.  I will, however, be on Weight Watchers, doing yoga (possibly going to a gym! Gasp!), writing everything down, drinking tons of water, chewing gum, and watching my portions.  I will not belabor it here, for this is not a weight-loss blog, but if you have any interest in how I'm doing, or if you're involved with a similar personal project, I invite you to follow my new Twitter Account and play along at home.

Happy eating!

Images Here, Here, Here and Here.  The marshmallow one's the real deal.