Today was my birthday! I’ll spare you trying to guess, it’s number 47. I’m getting oooold! :)

Wayne made a big deal out of my birthday, calling me birthday girl and asking me what I wanted to do all the time. But it was very hard to feel like the day was special, because the whole *week* was so special. Not that that’s a bad thing…

I got a bit more sleep but was still feeling crummy, so Wayne went off to the on-board store to see what they had. He got me some cold medicine and some cough syrup, and those both helped some. It was a very low-key day, which also helped; I didn’t need to expend much energy.

We had breakfast at the buffet, despite it being my special day, because we took too long getting moving and it was the only thing still serving breakfast when we rolled out of the cabin. That was really ok; breakfast at Versailles would have been served to us, but the food would have been disappointing.

After breakfast we went back to the cabin; I got caught up on my blog posts and Wayne read on his Kindle. He decided he wanted to go sit in a hot tub before we got off the ship, so we went up to the pool deck to check out the air temperatures. It was reasonably warm, considering it was overcast and we were going pretty fast, so we suited up and got in the hot tub. At first I wasn’t going to join him, not wanting to make myself sicker, but seeing as it wasn’t terribly cold outside I decided it would be ok. The hot tubs are really more like warm, not hot, so they don’t have to worry about drunk people fainting in the hot water. Wayne would have preferred it to be hotter, but I like it when it’s just comfortably warm.

Eventually we got hungry, so we got out (that was a couple of freezing moments, drying off and putting robes back on!), went back to the room to change clothes, and then back to the pool deck for hot dogs and beer. I brought my laptop up and we sat at a starboard table so we could watch Vancouver Island go by (our cabin was on the port side, which was now facing the open ocean). Sadly I didn’t have a lens that could photograph it well:

It started getting a bit colder, so we went back to the room. I sat inside and Wayne sat on the balcony with his binoculars, which he used to see some whales not too far from the ship. Late afternoon we got our suitcases out and packed everything we didn’t need that night or in the morning, so we wouldn’t have to get up so early (they wanted us on the move by 8:00 am in the morning).

Wayne had told me that morning that we had dinner reservations at 8:00 pm at Le Bistro, which was our favorite dinner place of the ones we had tried. He had requested a table in the “wine cellar”, which meant we could hear Mr Motown play while we had dinner. As soon as we got seated, he went and had a conversation with Mr Motown (whose real name is Stan Sykes, and he’s *really* good). A few minutes later I heard my name… Wayne had asked him to play “Some Kind of Wonderful” for me. Awww! :) He also had the restaurant employees sing Happy Birthday and bring a small cake. It was all very sweet, and even though it was such a low-key day, it was the best birthday I’ve had in a long time.

After dinner we went out and spent an hour or so listening to Mr Motown. When he finished for the night, we moved over to the Red Lion Pub and listened to Kenny, the other “lounge singer” onboard, for a little while. When I started getting sleepy, we headed back to the cabin.

For posterity, here are the words to “Some Kind of Wonderful”, by Grand Funk Railroad:

I don’t need a whole lots of money,

I don’t need a big fine car.

I got everything that a man could want,

I got more than I could ask for.

I don’t have to run around,

I don’t have to stay out all night.

‘Cause I got me a sweet … a sweet, lovin’ woman,

And she knows just how to treat me right.

Well my baby, she’s alright, Well my baby, she’s clean out-of-sight. Don’t you know that she’s … she’s some kind of wonderful. She’s some kind of wonderful … yes she is, she’s, She’s some kind of wonderful, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeahhh …

When I hold her in my arms, You know she sets my soul on fire. Oooh, when my baby kisses me, My heart becomes filled with desire. When she wraps her lovin’ arms around me, About drives me out of my mind. Yeah, when my baby kisses me, Chills run up and down my spine.

My baby, she’s alright, My baby, she’s clean out-of-sight. Don’t you know that she is … she’s some kind of wonderful. She’s some kind of wonderful … yes she is, She’s some kind of wonderful, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeahhh …

Now is there anybody, got a sweet little woman like mine? There got to be somebody, got a, got a sweet little woman like mine? Yeah! Can I get a witness? Can I get a witness? Can I get a witness? Yeah … Can I get a witness? Ohhh … Can I get a witness? Yeah … Can I get a witness? Yes.

I’m talkin’, talkin’ ’bout my baby. Yeah. She’s some kind of wonderful. Talkin’ ’bout my baby. She’s some kind of wonderful. Talkin’ ’bout my baby. She’s some kind of wonderful. I’m talkin’ ’bout my baby, my baby, my baby. She’s some kind of wonderful. I’m talkin’ about my baby, my baby, my baby. She’s some kind of wonderful. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, … my baby, my baby. She’s some kind of wonderful. Talkin’ ’bout my baby, my baby, my baby. She’s some kind of wonderful. I’m talkin’ ’bout my baby, my baby, my baby. She’s some kind of wonderful. (repeat to fade)