Soon I will be packing, loading luggage into the van and catching a flight to Ft. Lauderdale for our upcoming cruise.

Until then, it’s business as usual in the World of Weeks. Here is the latest.

DW Clarity Group has been slow to get up and running. The primary reason for this is due to hubby’s rotator cuff surgery he had just over 4 weeks ago. He knew he wasn’t going to be able to teach any classes for several weeks, so there wasn’t a huge rush to get things moving forward. Although his arm is still in a sling and will likely be in a sling for several more weeks, his recovery is going very well.  This has made it possible for him to put more focus into the business and it’s beginning to pay off.  He flew to a customer site this week for an in-person class. He also signed a contract with another company that will hopefully send training our way. We have other classes on the schedule for September and October so even though we aren’t yet where we want to be, we are seeing some definite signs of growing the business.

Our oldest daughter is back at school with a full schedule.  She is on pace to graduate this December with an Associates in Science and an Associates in Art.  She will also be taking the required test to get into the radiography program.  Once it is all said and done, she waits to hear if she has been one of the students selected for the program.  We’re crossing all fingers and toes for her success.

Unlike the oldest, the second daughter had decided college wasn’t her thing.  But then . . . . She changed her mind.  And she didn’t change her mind quickly.  No, she waited until we only had about a week left before classes started.  We rushed to get her in to take the placement exam.  She did very well and was approved to enroll in English 101.  Unfortunately, waiting until the last minute doesn’t leave many options for class days or times, but we did find a time that was somewhat convenient for the oldest to bring her home after classes.  She has now turned in her first two college papers and got a 10/10 on her first paper.  She is still waiting for the grade for the second.  For this semester, at least, she is doing dual enrollment to help finish up her high school credits while earning college credit.  Hopefully she will find this experience to be much better than she thought and will want to continue. 

In addition to her college class, she is currently taking a driver’s training course.  She recently got her driver’s permit and now hubby gets to take her out driving to get her required 50 hours in behind the wheel.  And I did mean hubby will take her.  My nerves can’t handle sitting in the passenger seat, especially with a new driver.

The younger two kids are not yet back in school.  My original plan was to begin last week, but with our cruise so close, I decided that starting school then taking a break after such a short time didn’t make sense.  Even though learning happens daily in our house, their official school year begins the day after we return home. I think it’s going to be a fun year for both of them.  At least I hope it will be.

The other big news from World of Weeks is that we now have a new family member.  One of our oldest daughter’s good friends made a move across 4 states and is now living with us.  They were able to transfer with their job and so far, everything has gone well.  They will also be helping us out by taking care of our pups while we’re gone. 

Lastly, because we are cruise addicts (yes, I admit that I am a cruise addict), we booked another cruise for 2028.  This cruise is a little surprising because I agreed to go on one of Royal Caribbean’s smaller ships – Vision of the Seas. 

I truly prefer the bigger ships for many reasons so why book a cruise on a smaller ship? I liked the itinerary and since bigger ships aren’t able to sail to all ports we will be able to visit some of those ports. This particular itinerary will take us to Barbados, Grenada, St. Lucia, Antigua and St. Thomas.  It is a 7-night cruise that leaves from Puerto Rico, so we get the opportunity to visit some awesome places on a port heavy schedule.  Since we’ll be in port every day but one, a smaller ship with less to do should be fine.  We also booked a suite, which will give us more space (smaller ship can mean smaller staterooms) and the rooms are less expensive on the smaller, older ships.  We are getting a suite for less than we have paid on some of the larger newer ships.

Stay tuned for more cruise news, photos and life in the World of Weeks coming to a blog near you.