The last two days have been interesting, to say the least. Starting from when we departed from the port of Montevideo, we had about 36 hours of extremely rough seas -- very high waves, causing a lot of bucking of the ship, and some serious pitch and yaw. I liken it to walking on a roller coaster, and thank my lucky stars that I am on a fairly decent sized cruise ship, and not a 39 foot sailboat. The waves have been to a point where you can feel the bow of the ship jumping up in the water, followed by a huge crash as we land back down on top of the ocean.

It’s been an indulgent two days, sort of. Both mornings have started with the sunrise stretch program in the fitness center (very interesting to stretch as you are riding the waves, don’t think I’d want to do any yoga poses in this water), followed by either a 1/2 hour of ab work or a 1/2 hour of circuit training, after which, Wayne joins me for some more cardio. Yesterday it was a half hour on the elliptical, today, 20 minutes of running (the first time in nearly 4 years) on the treadmill. Both mornings have been filled with a hasty breakfast of cereal and yogurt, followed by our activities.

Yesterday, my morning was getting an hand treatment, followed by apple classes, and then an Indian buffet for lunch (small portions, thank you!). Yesterday afternoon was one class, followed by my foot treatment, and then off to the Pinnacle Grill for dinner with Sue and Ivan. OMG! The menu was to die for -- we all had something wonderful. Shish kebabs, salmon, lobster macaroni & cheese and Argentinian beef. The food was fantastic, presented wonderfully, with silent, efficient service. Sue, Ivan, Wayne and I spent a lot of time catching up on the last 2 1/2 years since we last met on the MacMania 8 cruise, and noted that much has happened in all our lives since then. It was an extremely pleasant evening, and I may wind up meeting up with Sue and some of her other girlfriends for a long weekend in New Mexico this year.

It’s always nice to solidify friendships! They have signed up with Insight Cruises for MacMania 14, so we will all be cruising together down the Rhine River, starting in Amsterdam and ending up in Southern German. We will also have 3 or 4 days in Paris at the tail end, I will need to brush up on my German, and Wayne his French.

I think I need to make it out to Atlanta before April so I can buy a few pairs of glasses... =]

Following dinner, we went up to the Crow’s Nest to watch the second half of the SuperBowl. I was holding my breath for Dianne, despite her Packers’ solid halftime lead, as the Steelers are famous for their second half comebacks.

This was a difficult Superbowl to root for -- the Steelers beat the Jets, so I didn’t have a team in the race. But my two close friends are each fanatics about their teams, and I certainly didn’t want to get either of them upset!

The game ended after midnight here, so it was off to bed. We were so tired, and the cabin was rising and falling at quite a roller coaster rate, so we fell asleep quickly, awakening to calm seas. Almost so late that I missed my sunrise stretch program!

Today starts a new chapter in my physical fitness regimen. I’m attending “Boot Camp” fitness classes that start today. There are only 4 during the course of the 12 day cruise, but they seem very challenging. The instructors give you an exercise plan to take home at the end of the cruise, which I may be able to fold into my Wii Fit/walking regimen. It is my fervent hope to be in much better shape at the end of this cruise than I was when we embarked. Working out is feeling good, though, and it’s nice to see how much more flexible I am after only three days of the stretching program.

Back to more classes with Sal. We arrive in the British Falklands tomorrow, and hope to grab a cab to go see penguins, and then possibly walk back to port - about 4 miles, so a little over an hour. Here’s hoping for penguin pix!