As promised, here is the story about Harry Potter book 5 & me.
As you know, I breezed through books 1-4 the Christmas prior to June of 2003. I was so VERY excited for the fifth book to be released. But much to my dismay, when summer came around I was slated to join the MS Veendam in Alaska for a two week contract as a youth counselor, followed by a flight to Florida to join the MS Zuiderdam for eight weeks in the Caribbean. The book was to be released the day after I joined the Ryndam. I knew I'd be able to pick it up in the airport on my way to Florida, but like any good Veruca Salt impressionist and victim of mass marketing, I wanted it NOOOOOOOW! Ah well, my excitement would have to wait. No way around it.
When I boarded the Veen I was absolutely delighted to find not one, but TWO of my favorite Cruise Staff fellas. Dale (who also happens to be one of my favorite humans on the planet) and Luke (Cruise DJ and Man-whore extraordinaire). They joined the same day I did and it was SO fun to see them again. We were all assigned cabins right next door to each other (Crew areas on ships are divided into halls according to job. It gives the residents a better chance at a good night's sleep/quiet hall because they all share similar shifts, hopefully.) Lucky for me, the guys were in the habit of leaving a key in their door. I say lucky because two things happened:
1. Knowing better, but stupidly believing people when they said that Alaska was quite warm in the summer, I packed for the Caribbean because I didn't have room in my luggage to pack for both the Caribbean and Alaska (and I wouldn't be going home between the two destinations to re-pack). The weeks I spent in AK were the last two of the season (For all cruise ships- they would thereafter reposition to warmer posts) and many of the ports were foggy, overcast, drizzly and, yup, you guessed it: COLD!!
Well, the guys were on the Veen for a six month assignment, so they had packed for colder weather (I think the Veendam was repositioning to Baja/South America after Alaska... so they were prepped for all kinds of weather) and I may have helped myself to Luke's clothes, he being the taller of the two and me liking loose-fitting clothing. (Besides, this wasn't the first time I'd worn his clothes and I knew they fit... nothing skanky happened! I promise! Read all about it here: http://cmewander.blogspot.com/2011/04/nat-fat-rat-and-travel-nightmares.html )
It all happened quite by accident at first - I was freezing, the guys weren't home, so I borrowed a sweatshirt. I washed it and returned it the next day and borrowed another - that's when Luke caught me. "Are you wearing my sweatshirt?" he asked, surprised. I batted my eyes at him and explained that I was freezing and could I prettttttty please borrow it?
He shrugged, smiled and said (like the man-whore he is) "Sure, but you know this means we're sleeping together!" I just laughed, smooched him on the cheek and left. (He knew I was [am] Mormon and there was NO way that was happening.)
---
2. When I returned the second sweatshirt I noticed something interesting sitting on the shelf in Luke's wardrobe. HARRY freaking POTTER, book 5. Yah. I don't know how he obtained the copy of that book. We'd been at sea since boarding the ship and the day the book was released was one of those sea days... I was both perplexed and thrilled!! After thinking about it for a minute, I realized I shouldn't have been surprised that Luke had managed to sweet talk his way into getting a copy of the book early. The man was a born flirt and could charm the scales off a snake.
I may have taken two items from Luke's wardrobe that evening. Can you guess what they were?
For the most part, Luke and I had different work schedules, but sometimes our free time overlapped. Luke was very quick to come-a-knocking at my door looking for that book. *Bang*Bang*Bang* "Christy where's my book??"
My response: "Five more minutes, Ma!"
Of course I gave him the book when he asked for it. But we definitely competed to see who could finish it the fastest. It really irked him that I was a very fast reader.
Sadly, I was only about halfway through the book when I left the Veendam. But I was able to pick up my very own copy (and finish it) before joining the MS Zuiderdam (I had an overnight in Florida).
--
So there you have it: My adventures in Alaska with my man-whore friend Luke, stealing his clothes and his book and having a ridiculously fun time.
The book was good too.
--
I was looking through my photos for a good Alaska pic and realized that I didn't take a single photo during that contract. Not one. I wasn't heavily into photography at that point and didn't have a digital camera of any kind, so there you have it. No Alaska. Besides, I think it looked too much like the Northwest (where my parents live) and I wasn't overly impressed by any of it. Don't hate.
As you know, I breezed through books 1-4 the Christmas prior to June of 2003. I was so VERY excited for the fifth book to be released. But much to my dismay, when summer came around I was slated to join the MS Veendam in Alaska for a two week contract as a youth counselor, followed by a flight to Florida to join the MS Zuiderdam for eight weeks in the Caribbean. The book was to be released the day after I joined the Ryndam. I knew I'd be able to pick it up in the airport on my way to Florida, but like any good Veruca Salt impressionist and victim of mass marketing, I wanted it NOOOOOOOW! Ah well, my excitement would have to wait. No way around it.
When I boarded the Veen I was absolutely delighted to find not one, but TWO of my favorite Cruise Staff fellas. Dale (who also happens to be one of my favorite humans on the planet) and Luke (Cruise DJ and Man-whore extraordinaire). They joined the same day I did and it was SO fun to see them again. We were all assigned cabins right next door to each other (Crew areas on ships are divided into halls according to job. It gives the residents a better chance at a good night's sleep/quiet hall because they all share similar shifts, hopefully.) Lucky for me, the guys were in the habit of leaving a key in their door. I say lucky because two things happened:
1. Knowing better, but stupidly believing people when they said that Alaska was quite warm in the summer, I packed for the Caribbean because I didn't have room in my luggage to pack for both the Caribbean and Alaska (and I wouldn't be going home between the two destinations to re-pack). The weeks I spent in AK were the last two of the season (For all cruise ships- they would thereafter reposition to warmer posts) and many of the ports were foggy, overcast, drizzly and, yup, you guessed it: COLD!!
Well, the guys were on the Veen for a six month assignment, so they had packed for colder weather (I think the Veendam was repositioning to Baja/South America after Alaska... so they were prepped for all kinds of weather) and I may have helped myself to Luke's clothes, he being the taller of the two and me liking loose-fitting clothing. (Besides, this wasn't the first time I'd worn his clothes and I knew they fit... nothing skanky happened! I promise! Read all about it here: http://cmewander.blogspot.com/2011/04/nat-fat-rat-and-travel-nightmares.html )
It all happened quite by accident at first - I was freezing, the guys weren't home, so I borrowed a sweatshirt. I washed it and returned it the next day and borrowed another - that's when Luke caught me. "Are you wearing my sweatshirt?" he asked, surprised. I batted my eyes at him and explained that I was freezing and could I prettttttty please borrow it?
He shrugged, smiled and said (like the man-whore he is) "Sure, but you know this means we're sleeping together!" I just laughed, smooched him on the cheek and left. (He knew I was [am] Mormon and there was NO way that was happening.)
---
2. When I returned the second sweatshirt I noticed something interesting sitting on the shelf in Luke's wardrobe. HARRY freaking POTTER, book 5. Yah. I don't know how he obtained the copy of that book. We'd been at sea since boarding the ship and the day the book was released was one of those sea days... I was both perplexed and thrilled!! After thinking about it for a minute, I realized I shouldn't have been surprised that Luke had managed to sweet talk his way into getting a copy of the book early. The man was a born flirt and could charm the scales off a snake.
I may have taken two items from Luke's wardrobe that evening. Can you guess what they were?
For the most part, Luke and I had different work schedules, but sometimes our free time overlapped. Luke was very quick to come-a-knocking at my door looking for that book. *Bang*Bang*Bang* "Christy where's my book??"
My response: "Five more minutes, Ma!"
Of course I gave him the book when he asked for it. But we definitely competed to see who could finish it the fastest. It really irked him that I was a very fast reader.
Sadly, I was only about halfway through the book when I left the Veendam. But I was able to pick up my very own copy (and finish it) before joining the MS Zuiderdam (I had an overnight in Florida).
--
So there you have it: My adventures in Alaska with my man-whore friend Luke, stealing his clothes and his book and having a ridiculously fun time.
The book was good too.
--
I was looking through my photos for a good Alaska pic and realized that I didn't take a single photo during that contract. Not one. I wasn't heavily into photography at that point and didn't have a digital camera of any kind, so there you have it. No Alaska. Besides, I think it looked too much like the Northwest (where my parents live) and I wasn't overly impressed by any of it. Don't hate.
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