His wisdom revealed

Well NOW I think I understand why my long-anticipated vacation was dashed to bits 2 months ago by the loss of my job. Yes, HE works in mysterious ways and I think I know what He was up to now.

Now I don't claim to hear the voice of God or his angels or anything, but even I can take a hint, ya know? His message to me did not come in the form of a vision or a burning bush, but in the form of a CNN News weather report.

Yes, He truly IS amazing, no? Do you think I'm being sacreligious? Don't. I'm a good Irish Catholic here people!

See, I was wondering WHY OH WHY (and this was often in my prayers too) did I lose my job, therefore cancelling my very long overdue trip back home to the states. I haven't seen my Dad in 17 years, he just turned 74 on Sept 16th, and he is pretty ill. I am actually very blessed to still have Dad around, he is so ill. I was planning to visit him to start off with, (and my brother that lives near him in Ft. Lauderdale) then work my way across the country to Denver to visit friends, and then on to Los Angeles to see Mama and my friends. But my plan? To start off my visit with my Dad, who lives in West Palm Beach, I planned to arrive at Miami Int'l Airport day after tomorrow, so that I could be in the city of my birth, with my Dad, on my Birthday, which is this Thursday.

It would seem that God, in his infinite wisdom and being all-knowing, KNEW what he had planned for the poor Floridians this hurricane season 2004. *crosses self*

See, if you will recall, Hurricaine Charlie a few weeks ago hit land in West Palm Beach. It looks like Hurricaine Jeanne - a much stronger storm - is going to come on land in just about the same place. Hmmmmmm, I'd really rather see my home state in a better condition rather than in an extreme State of Emergency, if you know what I mean? Jeanne is supposed to come ashore sometime tomorrow or early morning Monday. Yes kiddies, about the same time I would have been ATTEMPTING to land at MIA. Hmmmmm. Yes, definetly the job loss was a big ole NEON sign: "Cyn, DON'T GO HOME FOR A VISIT JUST YET!".

Coincidentally, the last time I went through Miami, when I tried to surprise my Dad was in September 1992. We were going on a Carribbean cruise for a week departing from the Port of Miami and I thought I would surptise Dad, so I didn't warn him. BIG MISTAKE. I flew in to MIA with Z and a pack of friends for the cruise about 2 weeks after Hurricaine Hugo devastated Miami. It was depressing. He had evacuated for the hurricaine, and apparently all the water brought termites to life in his house, so it was under a fumigation tent when I was calling to tell him I was in Miami.

The bright side was that the hotel we were supposed to stay in was flooded and had such severe water damage on all floors, so Norwegian Cruise Line put us in the Fontainbleu Hilton on the beach instead. People were whining at the airport when the cruise line rep informed us and I said "HEY! THIS IS A PRIME HOTEL! Stop yer whinin y'all!!" Woooohooooo! Loveley hotel with many nice memories for me when I was little. Dad loved to take us there all the time. Anyway, that trip was the week of my 21st birthday.

A few intersting things happened on that cruise.

#1) The boyfriend-girlfriend couple of the 6 others with us broke up right before we left LA on the flight. Can you imagine a trip with a couple that has just broken up, paid in full for the non-transferrable vacation package? Oh. Joy. Quickie room re-assignment. Aka, nightmare from hell.

#2) Before we checked out of the hotel to board the ship, we had time to kill, and Carol, our ALWAYS HUNGRY friend HAD to eat, so we ended up sitting in a Burger King. The genuis Carol forgot that she had put her wallet on her tray, and when we left she, like the good customer she is, dumped her trash in the garbage bin. Wallet included. When did she realize that she didn't have her wallet? 2nd day at sea right before dinner. We spent most of the next day, our first day off the ship on the beautiful island of St. Martin looking for the damn AMEX office so she could pick up her replacement card and travellers checks. Oh yeah, with the bickering broken up couple.

#3) On September 30th, my birthday, our ship sailed through the Bermuda Triangle. I have certification from the Captain and the Navigator stating it, as a birthday gift, so THERE!

#4) Also on September 30th, I solidified my everlasting love of NCL's 'Bahama Mama' drink recipie. My friends bought me one after another over and over again. I don't remember MUCH after dinner when we started drinking. Well, not much other than me saying "Where's Issac? Gimmie another one Issac! Where's Doc? Where's Gopher? Heeeeeeeeeee!" (Que Love Boat theme here). Ok, well that and the limbo contest. (no, I didn't win, ok?)

If y'all love me, you will FIND ME THAT DAMN RECIPIE, cause it is my favorite evvah drink in the whole wide world. And..........

#5) A Tropical Storm cropped up RIGHT where our ship was almost at the end of our cruise. We couldn't outrun it. The crew never told us what it was until the next day when we had finally sailed out of it. If they had told us, perhaps we (yes, ME included in this WE) would NOT have been hanging onto the light fixtures and over the ships railing (with one foot hooked around it for "safety") at the stern of the ship (which looked like Titanic, btw) to watch the waves crashing against the hull wildly. (Hey, we were quite sober, but it was fun and very pretty!) The storm picked up during dinner, which looked like we were on a gigantic teeter-totter in the formal dining room. One side of the dining room Up the other down, up-down, up-down. It was kind of comic. The stern antics were after dinner while it was still relatively mild. When it started raining on us on deck we decided to get our soggy asses in.

I am proud to say that I didn't get seasick. When the storm got SO bad that I couldn't walk without being thrown bodily into the nearest wall, I decided to go stuff my butt in my bed with the lovely Optional Side Rails LONG after most of my shipmates had scurried off to their rooms. The ship we were on was, at the time, the largest passenger ship afloat. (The Norway) The way the ship was groaning and creaking in the strengthening storm was a bit disturbing, I will tell you that. Of course when I got back to our cabin (Z continued wandering around with the video camera taping) and got in my bunk, I discovered something else interesting and to be honest, I was a bit concerned too.

Our stateroom was pretty high up in the ship. Even so, I realized just how bad the storm was in the relative quiet of the cabin (other than the ship sounding like it was gonna fall apart, big iron monster that she is). I realized that I could hear water hitting the hull right behind my head as the ship was tottering from side to side like a toy boat. THAT was... upsetting. I said a prayer and passed out listening to the sound of the water behind my head. When we woke up, it was smooth sailing and calm seas. That is when we found out that the previous nights adventure was a tropical storm!

Did I ever get to see Dad that trip? Nope. Boy was he pissed that he missed my visit too. So now, even though he was very dissappointed that I have had to delay my trip (and I am too!), I guess I am meant to see my birthplace not all wrecked and damaged, huh? Ya think?