Oh my bags are packed...

     Anh has had the bulk of the packing done for several weeks.  She's really good at this.

     I keep wondering what I'm forgetting.  I've been making lists and checking off as I get each thing done.  Sometimes I think done is simply when you quit whether the task is completed or not.  This morning it was fiddle with the irrigation system.  Make sure everything is getting water.  I discovered numerous fountains where the spray nozzles have broke off and so they shoot a stream of water straight in the air.  I also spent some time whacking at the banana leaves that shade mango trees.  Also whacked on some of the coconut trees.  Trimmed the roses.  Mailed our ballots for the November election.  Bought food for the ducks.  Did some house cleaning.  Harvested some bananas for a friend.  Checked in for our flight.  Inventoried needed papers; passports, plane rides, car rentals.

     Then this evening we had supper with Anh's cousin and his wife and our friend John from Georgia and his friend Ky.  As usual, the conversation was all in Vietnamese, so I'm not telling anyone what was said.  We ate at the new Ginger Bistro in Cape Coral.  They've only been open about a week and the place was packed.

     I thinned out my reading list, mostly so I can fit the books in my backpack.  The list was quite long and almost certainly overly optimistic.  While the trip is for fun, I am trying to stay focused on my studies.  So I'll be working on Mounce's "Basics of Biblical Greek".  I have several books to read about Postmillennialism, I have a lunker of a book on Biblical Hermeneutics copyrighted in 1890.  And to round out the festivities, R.C. Sproul's book on the holiness of God, John Pipers book called "Think, the life of the mind and the love of God".  I'm thinking these should test my self-discipline. 

     The other big test is weight control.  I have set a goal for myself to lose weight on this cruise.  This could be an historic undertaking; who loses weight on a cruise?  Pray for me! :)

     The plan is to journal our grand voyage on this blog.  So if you're interested you're welcome to come along vicariously.  Our Med cruise this time last year resulted in thousands of pictures so I'm sure there will be some here as well.

     This picture was taken today about 1600 looking NNW from my back step.  I thought the storm cloud looked pretty cool.  We've been getting these afternoon storms almost daily.  Some more dramatic than the rest.