Times are changing - literally.

Yesterday......well not yesterday, actually a day that ceases to exist sometime between 2 days ago and today.......we crossed the international dateline. In a blink of an eye, we went from 6 hours behind the east coast to 18 hours ahead of the east coast. We skipped from Monday to Wednesday. If you think, "no big deal", you'd be wrong. It's disorienting especially when trying to connect to loved ones back home. Big things like saying "tomorrow" two days ago or saying "yesterday" today are complicated and you have to rethink a relative reference we take for granted every day. Well every day doesn't exist on a westbound trip around the globe, specifically February 7, 2023. There are at least 2 people out of 2200 on the ship who were born on Feb 7th. One was a Milestone birthday and they had big plans. Can you imagine? You plan a world cruise to celebrate your 75th birthday on Feb 7th , and the day magically disappears?. Poof! You'd have to question what you did wrong to create such bad karma.

The whole trip is surreal in so many ways, you'd never think to check, "will February 7th exist on our cruise?". Why wouldn't it? Will there be air to breathe and water to drink? Of course. Is this cruise even really 111 days? Now I'm not sure. Technically, there are 113 days between Jan 5 and April 27. But despite that we lost 24 hrs in the blink of an eye, we gain it back at an hr per time zone change, of which there will be 24. So it should be a break even. But somehow it's not. Or maybe it is. It's more mind boggling than you think.

At the other end of the mind boggling spectrum are simpler, less impactful decisions (but still requiring you to stop and think), like this morning I had to think, "do I take my Tuesday pills or my Wednesday pills? What if you're on birth control pills? I'd abstain from "relations" for at least a month just to be safe. In the end, it's not anxiety producing, I just find it so interesting that something so normal and everyday can become so challenging.

That was the big excitement for the day. I worked 4 hrs, ran 4.4 miles in 1hr on the treadmill, a small but steady increase, after which I weighed myself and I've actually lost weight on the cruise thus far. Crazy, right? I reminds me of a song from Fiddler on the Roof.

"TEVYE: He lost weight on a cruise?. Unheard of, absurd. He lost weight on a cruise? Unthinkable. Where do you think you are?" If you sing it in your head in a Jewish accent, it's much funnier. Trust me!

I had some hot tub time in the middle of it all that and just like that, it was time for dinner. Days just fly by. Dinner was my go-to salmon on a salad. There were other great choices but I found if I have a little variety with the appetizers, then I don't need something new and different for the main course. I had fried pot stickers, then a cream of garlic soup. Both were great and not huge portions. Then the salmon salad and I skipped dessert which means I skipped the after dinner drink that accompanies it. Which brings me to my next point.

If I'm completely transparent, I have made a recent change in my diet that has made a big difference. Water, and lots of it....in lieu of alcohol. Perrier, to be exact. The drink package is great....but it's easy to go a little overboard (not a good reference on a cruise), not to excess, just up to and including indulgence. For the first 30 days, I drank a lot, ate a lot and thankfully managed to maintain my weight thru a lot of exercise. In the last 4 days, I've been cutting back on food and alcohol while maintaining my exercise, which is having positive results . I also learned that perrier is unlimited and free on our package, hence why I also took a bath in it.....just kidding. But I am drinking about 5 a day, even during my workouts!!! Which reminds me again of Fiddler on the Roof. "TEVYE: He's drinking perrier during his workout? Unheard of, absurd. He's drinking perrier during his workout? Unthinkable. Where do you think you are? In Moscow? In Paris?" Don't forget the Jewish accent.

The show was good, a production show, meaning the cast of the ship performed. Lots of singing and dancing and sequins. It was glitzy. That was followed by a short stint at the casino...a minor loss. Today I felt like a winner compared to the losses of the other players. $200, $400, $1000. And it went FAST. I simply walked away with half of what I started.

I also managed to get a great sunset pic or two.

The sunrises and sunsets have been extraordinary. Here's a few more from other days

Tomorrow is land again, bay of islands new Zealand. So excited!!!! We have a big excursion planned as well. Till tomorrow.