(my ex, that’s who. According to V the only way one could multitask was to have more than one brain or processor. Which I get, but the switching happens so fast that it’s virtual multi-tasking, but anyway. He’s also the one who said ‘can’t compute with fruit’ and we all know that’s a load of bull, too.)

Anyway! Happy Bouncy Happy Days! J came in with the ‘yes’ verdict on whether he and K were interested in the cruise option for Mom’s 50th. The cruise is now booked, deposits paid, and most of us paid in full while we were at it. Yay! This is such a load off of my mind. I have been working on scheduling this trip for almost a year. I knew last birthday what I wanted to do for her but when I told her about it, she wanted to include the entire family. Which I could see, but that made the planning and budgeting infinitely more difficult. Add in the fact that I had to get a new car last Fall, my medical issue, the scheduling around K’s school schedule, my work deadlines, and affordability for all and you come up with what I did: no way this is going to happen.

Plan B was formed: long weekend at a beach house in St George Island. Research done, plenty of options found, we just needed to settle on a date and so forth. Dithering abounded, but we started to get somewhere. Until, of course, I called the rental agency to verify the availability of a weekend rental and was told, at best, those sorts of rentals were only done maybe a month before hand to allow optimal opportunity for the owners to get weekly renters instead. Which I understand from a economical point of view but I really wish they’d been a little more clear in the policies they have splashed all over the information site. Argh!

Plan B was becoming Plan C when Aunt decided maybe she’d go in for the full week if Mom stayed out there with her and then the rest of us could come and go as our schedule allowed. Mom wasn’t sure how entertained she could keep herself for a week on a beach, so the lagging began again.

Until I found a new way to do Plan A, but did we want to go back to that at this late date? And could everyone make those arrangements (time, money, etc.) with less time to prepare? Turns out, after a few days on tenderhooks, we could.

So, back to that multitasking thing: my 101 list (over there –>, up near the top right corner, see it? 101 Scraps? yes, that) has three things on it that will be taken care of by this one trip: throw Mom a fantabulous 50th birthday weekend, take Mom on a cruise, and get a passport. By mid-June I will have done all of those things. That, my friends, is multitasking!

Take that, V!

Of course, there is one thing that this also means: No ship movies for 3 months.

What am I talking about? Well, at the Oscar party it came up that neither Izzie, nor I, nor Palmie had seen the new version of Posiedon. We discussed renting it. And, as is our want, it was bound to turn into a disaster movie party. I was even planning the line-up and the food in my mind. Now? It will not be happening til at least late June because here’s a whole host of movies I’m not allowed to see before the cruise or else I might need a valium cocktail to get me on board:

• Posiedon
• The Posiedon Adventure (original)
• Posiedon (the made for TV remake)
• Titanic
• U471 (or whatever its called)
• Hunt for Red October
• Das Boot
• Speed 2
• or any other movie that involves a boat and a catastrophe…

But come July? July is totally safe for such things! In fact, those locally who are prone to engage in such movie-watching-and-mocking parties? Here’s the line-up I have in mind:

Posiedon (the new one)
Twister (but of course!)
and a vote to be taken for the following:
Volcano vs. Dante’s Peak
Armageddon vs. Deep Impact

Who’s in???