32 sleeps to go: Diamonds are a girls best friend.

Well here we go… Online booking-in thingo taken care of… now all I have to do is turn up.

On one of my rare Sundays off work, sitting in the sun on the beach today,

(practicing using my camera J) I can hardly believe in 32 more sleeps I will be shivering in my boots. Everyone that knows me knows my aversion to being cold.

This is the LAST PLACE ON EARTH anyone would expect me to go… J which tickles me somewhat cos it makes the ruse all that sweeter.

A few of my family have been too sure of my choices for way too long now… should be fun seeing their reactions.

The latest thing to go into my suitcase was my watercolour pencils/paints and a cartridge paper journal… sometimes a picture tells a thousand words so if you see me sitting on the deck painting, come over and see how truly dreadful my painting skills are. It doesn’t matter anyway, cos I intend writing my personal journal over the top of the paintings. And I intend using Alaskan water to activate the paints just for authenticity. J

I rarely draw these days – I can only think of one person that has received any of my masterpieces of late. A bon voyage/Christmas gift as I recall.

Anyway, somehow I think the sights I am about to see might just inspire me to take up the pencils again. And I’m really looking forward to that simple pleasure.

Ok, the camera…. Now this is actually a friends professional camera and so far, my efforts are less than exciting.

Her advice? Leave it on Auto Lis… can’t get anything wrong on that ….”

Not really my style though. I love to experiment with photography so I might just play with the buttons a bit and see what I come up with.

Lisa: “Tan.. how do I get those dripping water shots?”

Tan: “Lis.. leave it on Auto… those shots are too hard… you’ll need a tripod”

Now that was like a red rag to a bull. I hate being told I can’t do something so I am now making it my business to find out how to achieve those shots and will present her with a framed photo of SOME DRIPPING THING on my return. J There’s got to be some ice somewhere in Alaska that will yield the desired result.

So prepare yourself Tan… it’s a-coming your way. J

I’ve got this odd mix of nerves and excitement bubbling around at any given time on the insides. Cruising is an unknown quantity so I’m sure I’ll make the odd faux pas while I learn the ‘right’ way to cruise.

Not sure if you could count the Blue Lagoon Cruise in Fiji.. although it was nearly as long as this one to Alaska but on a considerably smaller tug boat.

That’s my only foray into a life a sea. I’ve spent a lot of time in, on, under, beside the water, just not cruising.

Ok, another thing that is taking up a lot of brain power is the formal nights.

I am kind of coming around to wanting to dress up to the nines. The necessity for the glam gown to be squishable and lightweight is a given… I’m more worried about the growing pile of shoes that are going to have to be accommodated in precious suitcase real estate. This cull is going to be traumatic – I can see that coming.

Oh, to be a bloke that only needs a pair of hiking boots and a ‘good pair’ of shoes… two pairs of shoes is an unattainable goal… never ever going to happen. First there’s the uggies, then there’s my leather boots ( oh ok… I’ll only take one pair - L ) then there’s the gym shoes, then there’s the walking shoes, then there are the ‘good’ shoes. Then there are the other walking shoes for Disneyland. And the other good shoes. And the sandles. And of course, the other good shoes.

The formal gown is yet to be acquired. That alone will require a full day of searching and then agonizing that my butt looks too big, my flat stomach is years away, my legs are not up to scratch, and various other less than perfect body parts that I’d rather hide than expose with the obligatory strapless number. For starters, the Double D’s would object. I might be refused entry into the dining room for insufficient yardage.

And while I’m not generally opposed to such exposure, it might just put some poor diners off their tucker.

Yep, the dress is fraught with pitfalls… not the least of which would be the fact that I’ve not worn a dress in YEARS. I hate them. Don’t get me wrong… they feel wonderfully feminine when they swish when you sashay into a room, the trouble is ,the picture in my head is way short of the one the real world would observe.

Anyway, what the hell, I don’t get to indulge that ‘dripping with faux diamonds’ look all that often so I might just let the whim take me along for the ride. And while my preferences might be more 'Cindi Lauper music video' than Chanel, it’ll be fun to see how I scrub up.