Cruisin'

I have to tell you, I am dizzy with trying to keep up with Nick lately. I don't know if he's coming or going most days as it is but he's added a new little "quirk" to our lives - Things he wants to do before he dies (now that he's 18). I kid you not. You know, most of us don't make a "Bucket List" until our 30's so I'm a tad-bit freaked out that he's got this going on right now.

First thing that he threw at us was that he wanted a tattoo. Not a big deal - I have one and Frank has one. The next thing that he threw our way was that he wanted to get some sort of weird piercing in his ear. Not like an earring, mind you, but one of those things that's about the size of a dime and is like pounded in to your ear and stretches it. I got VERY vocal on that one even before I let Frank know about it and then Nick's girlfriend chimed in and so I think we dodged that bullet.

Now he wants to go on a cruise. Okay, that's pretty tame but why? It's just something that he wants to do in the Fall with his girlfriend. Okay, they'll both be out of high school and over 18, there's not much I can say about it, right? So we're out driving yesterday (yes, he's STILL not driving solo) and he's like, "Hey, you should come on this cruise with us!"

???

I'm sorry, but all that went through my mind at that moment was that I would have rather DIED than have my mother come on a romantic getaway with me when I was 18. Then 18-year old me shut up and the 41 year old mother joined the conversation. I was really curious as to WHY he would ask me this and after HOURS of roundabout discussion it turns out that his girlfriend's parents would not really be agreeable to the two of them going alone. I was very pleased with that.

So we then broke in to a family discussion because by now we're home from driving and Frank is home from work and we talk about the possibility of ALL of us going on this cruise. Now, I have to be honest here, the thought of going on a cruise does NOTHING for me. It's not on my bucket list, I can tell you that! Would it be nice? Sure. Would we have fun? Absolutely. The conversation kind of broke down because Frank would rather not go as chaperon's and just take our own cruise, just the two of us. Awwww... Then, later on in the night my sister called (who is a seasoned cruiser) and I was telling her about it. Nick is looking at a Carnival Cruise because he's paying for it himself and it would leave from South Carolina like mid-September. I tell her how they need a chaperon and she's like "I'll do it but tell Nick that I won't do a Carnival Cruise - they are like the Kmart of cruises."

And she's serious.

I say let him chose the cruise line that he wants, in the price range that he wants. Chances are by next month he may change his mind about the damn cruise anyway. Still...she ran the idea by me of BOTH of us going as chaperon's and THEN she would do a Carnival Cruise.

Tempting...

*Today's Examiner.com article is on February's programs at the NC Museum of History. You can read about it HERE. Thanks!*