Ultimate Scrapbook Cruise Day 5...

I was welcomed to Jamaica by the traditional vibrations and shaking that came with the Carnival Freedom docking in the port. I didn't even bother to open my eyes this time. I wussed out and decided not to do any excursions in Jamaica. In fact, I did not even get off the boat. Instead, I slept in until 10 a.m. and only got up because my stomach was rumbling. Apparently it had gotten use to the thrice-daily feasts we enjoyed on the cruise. But at least my slightly hazy feeling I had had the day before was gone. I was re-energized and ready to go again. My roommate, Michelle, did go on a tour of Ocho Rios, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I have a feeling that my husband, Rodney, and I will be cruising there again, one day, so at least we will be able to share Jamaica for the first time together.

But, I did want to appreciate the beautiful island, so I headed up to the top deck and shot some photos my surroundings. The water was so clear, the landscape so green, it was hard to believe that Jamaica isn't the peaceful paradise Grand Cayman was. Having chosen to become independent from the British decades ago, the Jamaicans have never been able to achieve the prosperity the Caymans have.

The rest of the day, I relaxed in a lounge chair, caught some sun (I couldn't go back without at least a little bit of tan, now could I?) and reread "New Moon" from the "Twilight" series. It turned out that Michelle and a number of the gals on the Ultimate Cruise had either read, or were reading, books in the Stephenie Meyers vampire romance series. We spent plenty of time chatting about the books, being careful not to ruin anything for the others further behind in the series. It's nice to know I'm not alone in my guilty pleasure.

Tonight's dinner was the second and final elegant night, so I put on make up and donned an outfit and little fancier than jeans or capris. No formal photos this time, but we did get a group shot of our dinner companions with our own cameras. Lisa was exhausted from her horseback ride on the beach and took a nap instead. A good idea, since our group had Heidi Swapp's "Daily Life Planner" class after supper.

I didn't envy Heidi having to try to instruct 30 tired and recently over-fed women at 8:30 at night, but she did a great job. Michelle and I were easily able to follow her instructions, even when they got a bit complicated, creating the date dial on the front of the journal. In her introduction to the project, Heidi said she has been working on finding ways to get more energy to do more things, and since she is living in China, she's done some research on Chi and the cycles of energy. Finding the good things that energize you can be tough, so she designed this journal to help people discover the things that energize them at different times.


Of course, this project is not yet complete, either. I need to add some bling, rub-ons and some other elements. Heidi had some great interactive elements, but my favorite was the date dial. Those of you who have followed my work know I love interactive elements that turn, flip and spin. And Heidi came up with a way to have two dials that are together, but work independently. I hope she shows more people how to do this through her classes, I really thought it was a stroke of "necessary" genius. She said she was determined to make it work and it was a late night epiphany. Loved it!

A few nights earlier, Heidi had also shared with us some of her new products that will be introduced next week at CHA. She asked that we not share photos or too much information, but we did get samples of some of it. I have to admit that I am kind of excited about the "invisible" and "masked" opportunities that will be coming soon!

And, of course, no Carnival Cruise evening is complete with a towel animal, this one reminiscent of our eating habits aboard the ship.


Day 6 was a day at sea, and you know what that means: Classes!