Yo, ho.

Who you callin' a--?!

ETA: I don't think my experience was indicative of any general trend last year. In fact I'm pretty sure all the bits I'm surly about are uncommon to the cruise and to the group. And in the end wtfever it's a vacation FREE AT LAST, FREE AT LAST--!

(Hi, Sea Monkeys!)

My head is stuck in one of those ruts where I think it's a different day of the week than it is. It feels like Thursday but it isn't. And while I'm relieved that I didn't miss class this morning because I don't have class on Wednesday, I'm a little bummed I'm not as close to the end of the week as I thought I was. Sheesh, brain, get in gear!

Weekends are usually great because, hey, WEEKEND, but I'm particularly looking forward to this weekend because it's the start of another week on the Nerdboat. J and I went last year and while I had some discomfort during (some of the nerds were too hardcore, one really hurt my feelings, I generally felt brushed off a lot-- not in a sexist way, I don't think that's an issue with this crowd, but... It was hard to speak up several times, which is more me than it is them-- and more than once I was ignored which sort of turned my stomach on the "this is the nicest group of nerds around" vibe I'd expected based on all the online lead up, despite all the smarts there were some really stupid things said I didn't think were funny at all...), we did meet some very neat (nice!) people, and I'm looking forward to repeating that experience. There were plenty of great people on the cruise last year, I am certain there are plenty of great people this year. I've tried to thicken up my skin a bit since last year and pretending like the paragraph long parenthetical digression doesn't exist, I am excited about this vacation. 

It'll be the first time we've gotten to take a break together since the wedding. Christmas was so busy and we drove to Florida and back, so it wasn't the most relaxing of vacations. This is not our honeymoon (I am not sharing my husband with a 24 hour game room on our goddamn honeymoon), but it will be very, very nice to get away from it all together and have someone else make our bed and play on the beach together and get dressed up for fancy dinners even if only one of us is excited about that and yadda yadda...

Lessons learned last year:

• Pack the micro usb cord for the Kindle (it helps a lot that we can use one of the phone chargers for the Kindle this time around). I can't get stuck two pages from the end of The Hunger Games again, but best not to take chances.
• Not everyone will respond with the pleasantness I expect in return for my own pleasantness. But it is anxiety-inducing to worry about and dickish not to be pleasant, so if my feelings get hurt I will find something else to do. It's a huge, huge boat. In addition to all the JCCC activities there's the cruise stuff.
• There are definite cliques to this thing. That's okay. 
• I can play Dominion (I think this point alone is going to make next week much better)
• Dominion is better with four players (ditto)
• Check the hair dryer in the cabin the first day.
• Bring plastic bag for swimsuit, probably will not be dry when repacking
• Air freshener. Do it.
• Apply sunscreen with lotion first thing after drying off from shower, every day. Even at sea days.
• Remember everyone is human and it is very, very doubtful anyone ever means to hurt any feelings, ever.
• Kayak (check!).
• Bring container, not bag, for make up, bobby pins, etc. Easier to snap a lid on the stuff than constantly tie, untie a bag.

One of my favorite pictures from last year was taken a few minutes before the group photos, by a Sea Monkey who was really nice but I never got to thank: J and I, playing our 3DSes on the bow of the ship. If I can find this Sea Monkey again I will thank him profusely and ask him to take another this year. My favorite memories were laughing with J and the concerts, which are both going to be fantastic this year, too.

Is it Thursday yet?