Holland America, despite what they originally told our travel agent, actually doesn’t allow prego women to sail past their 24th week. Since we’ll be at 24.5 weeks, we can’t go. They did, however, take our money and refuse to give it back. Our options are to cancel the trip and pay a cancellation penalty or reschedule for earlier (impossible) or later (either waiting 6 months after BB is born and taking him with us, or leaving him behind for 5 days). I just wrote up a nice dispute letter for my credit card company. Think twice before cruising with Holland America. Their ships and itineraries are nice, but their customer service isn’t.

As always, though, God has added a silver lining. First, we discovered the problem ahead of time instead of flying to San Diego and getting sent home. I might have gotten a bit ugly. And used some colorful language. Second, we’ve decided to use that vacation time to stay home and relax. No overtime for me, no appointments with other people, no problems. As far as you’re concerned, we are gone! We hope to work on BB’s room and the apartment, get lots of rest, maybe stay a night in a nearby hotel, watch movies, play video games, or whatever else we feel like doing.

I am also sad to report that my mom finally put our old white and brown chihuahua to sleep yesterday. His official name was Mickey, but we called him Mick or Mee-Mee. Mom took great care of him all his life, and he was around 15 years old, which is like 200 in dog years. After seeing his poor body slowly shutting down over the last several months, we finally all decided it was time to end his suffering. May he rest in peace.

In happier news, Sunday is Jenny’s 32nd birthday! We’re getting the family together Saturday night for dinner at Grand Luxe Cafe in the Galleria. I love how Jenny doesn’t whine about her age every time a birthday rolls around. She’s happy for an excuse to spend time with friends and family and enjoy cake and presents.