Good lord, I can't wait for vacation time.  I have it to spend, just haven't been able to lock in plans yet.  But, when it happens it will be VERY welcome!  I've been rather busy the last few weeks getting plans in place for a very special group cruise.

It's my first one, and I thought it would be neat to make it a theme cruise.  I've been interested in gourmet food and wine and all, and so I thought, "Hey, why not a culinary-themed cruise?"  Even I admit I probably went a bit further than I probably intended to do, but I think it's going to be a great project!  I've been able to secure the cooperation of a local chef who's had his own restaurant for 20 years (fine dining, let me tell ya!) and developed a very good reputation in the area.  He's going to come on the cruise and do cooking demonstrations and teach cooking classes and other events like that.  Also I'm arranging for some wine-tasting events on board - I think it'll be a great way to get a vacation AND indulge in a hobby! There's a good market for that here, so I'm hoping it will be a success.

Right now, we're working on the marketing materials for the cruise - we've got 99% of the stuff worked out for the actual planning phase (pricing, who does what, expenses, etc.) so after we get the marketing materials finalized and printed, it's off to the races (or, rather, to the booking phase).  Everything needs to be fully paid by the beginning of January, so that'll leave about a five-month booking window, which is just a little less than usual, but I think it'll be enough time.  I really can't wait - I first started working on this project late January - had my first meeting with the chef beginning of April, and we have been doing everything else since then.  Now that most of my timetable is completed, I really feel like I'm getting somewhere - I am hoping this project helps to start establish my reputation as a very good travel resource in the community and a "go to" guy for culinary-themed travel.

But, dang - what a lot of work! Picking the itinerary, picking the ship, reserving cabin space (and hoping I reserved enough!), figuring out the financing and profit/loss, determining the marketing opportunities and making choices based on a marketing budget (which I also had to create), and working with the chef to meet his requirements for participation as well as my requirements.  And we haven't even started BOOKING the cruise yet!  Of course, that's really the easy part - the cruise doesn't sail until April of 2009, so really, this project won't fully be over until the ship gets back home right before Tax Day!

But, what a thrill! I think this one of the things I like the most, and can do well.  I hope it works and doesn't end up exploding in my face like a lab experiment gone wrong!

I got some really good news today.

I wear a cochlear implant to hear (and hear rather well, considering) and I've had my current model for little over 10 years now.  Earlier this year, I discovered that my model is being discontinued.  This means no more repair work - once something breaks, if there's nothing in the warehouse left over to replace it, then tough luck.

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From time to time, I print out my journal entries here.  I add them to my collection, which includes several journal books from my early college days up until I started on Xanga (none of which are full, incidentally.  They all cover different periods of my life but rarely make it to the halfway mark).  I was getting some older ones from 2000 - 2005 organized into a binder I'm keeping them in, and did a little skimming about what I wrote back then.

What I read at first startled me, then shocked me, but then I realized it was okay. 

See, a person's writing over the years is supposed to be like a painter's periods: each "era" in life has its own distinct color, flavor, feeling, and rhythm.  In good cases, the journey along the timeline reflects a growing maturity, becoming wiser, and reflecting upon the lessons learned.

That's what initially startled and shocked me.  When I read back in 2000, I was really immature for the age I was at the time (21) and it reflected itself in my words.  As I moved on to subsequent years, I realized this pattern showed up time and time again.  I would be all immature about something, experience things that year to change my life view or help me to grow up in some other way, and thereby my maturity level was raised.

It was good to see that happen over time, realizing that I have become more and more mature throughout the years.  More responsible.  More .. well, adult.

Then, I look at my life now, and I have to laugh - I know I still have a LONG way to go!