Fidget Activity Mat Ideas - Tutorial Tuesday

It’s tutorial Tuesday and today’s tutorial is a bit different. If you’ve been a long time reader you know sewing projects for charity has been a big part of how I’ve spent my days over the last several years. This past year I’ve veered away from my sewing-for-good projects. And I realized I missed it.

So when my husband mentioned our neighbor was looking for something for his wife who just recently went into a care center, I knew just what to do.

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Today we are going to make a fidget mat. These mats help soothe the anxiousness that comes from patients with dementia and Alzheimer’s. They also are helpful for kids with autism.

Usually when I do these tutorials I give you directions on how to complete every single step. Today I’ve got a couple of specific measurements for you, but otherwise I’m mostly going to walk you through my process.

Disclosure: Deb's Days is a participant in affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to affiliated sites. This means that, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. Your purchase helps support my work in bringing you new sewing and crafting content.

You can find the video directions for the homemade fidget activity mat right here:

Toulon, France Turned Sea Day

Hello from what would have been Toulon, France! Most excursions we were interested in had something in their description that deterred us from taking them. This tour involves extensive walking over uneven and cobblestoned surfaces. Not recommended for guests with limited mobility. So we were going to do what Pescado Amarillo did last week, which was to take the water taxi to Toulon and catch a trolley tour. (Read about her adventurous day in the middle of a flood here.) But as soon as we heard the announcement coming from the captain being broadcast into the cabins we knew what was going to be said. We wouldn’t be visiting France today. Even with the assistance of tugs, we weren’t able to dock in the 50 knot gale force winds. So we had a bonus sea day.

While many people may have been disappointed, we were actually okay with missing the port. While we’ve never been to Toulon before, we have been to LeHavre, France where I was able to head to Paris and see all a tourist would need to see and hubby was able to head to Normandy Beach and see all a history teacher would want to see. Plus he (well, we) needed a rest day. This past week has been physically hard for him a bit a stressful for me. While we hadn’t planned on staying in the cabin all day, that’s exactly what we did. We were so tired we didn’t even eat. Now that’s tired! There was a new Patter of activities distributed to keep these thousands of passengers busy today. And we didn’t even look at it.

We did drag ourselves out to the Promenade deck to get some fresh air before dinner. The seating on the Promenade deck on Crown Princess is mostly wooden chairs and benches with no cushions. There are a few cushioned seats but very few. While we don’t smoke, for those that use the Promenade smoking section, you’ll be happy to know there are actually a couple chairs there for seating.

Most chairs are like these.

A few are like these.

The seas look relatively calm tonight.

I’m pretty sure I heard the noontime navigational update mention we are expecting more 50 knot winds tomorrow in Barcelona. Now if we don’t dock there I might just be a bit disappointed.

See you tomorrow (hopefully) from Spain.

Looking for the entertainment for this cruise? It’s right here:

 

Livorno and Pisa, Italy

We purposely scheduled an afternoon tour for today so we could sleep in and sleep in we did. Boy, we slept last night. As soon as I hammered out yesterday's blog post on my phone I went back to the cabin and took some Tylenol PM and was sound asleep by 7 pm. Other than a couple nighttime bathroom trips, I didn't wake up until this morning when room service called to see if they could switch out our mini bar. (Hmmm...privacy sign on the door has room service calling to ask if they can come in, but on Caribbean Princess the privacy sign on a door meant the ladies on the balcony next to us could keep smoking on their balcony undisturbed. Seems there is a bit of inconsistency in policy there if you ask me.)

By the time hubby got dressed (he's a super slow dresser) we barely had enough time to grab his coffee at Coffee & Cones and make it to the buffet before breakfast was over. Something to know about Coffee & Cones - they don't have regular coffee there, only specialty coffees. And something to know about the buffet - they don't replenish food when it's getting close to the end.

Since we weren't sure how we'd be feeling after Rome we waited until we got onboard yesterday before booking this tour. We decided we needed easy so we chose the trolley tour of Pisa. Knowing we won't ever get back to Italy we needed to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa. And needed very little walking. This is the first time hubby has used a cane and he is having a hard time getting used to it.

Livorno is a working port and you can't just walk off and do your own thing right from the terminal.

Today we had a Looney Tunes ship nearby.

You must take a shuttle to get out of the port area. It costs 5 euros for the round trip ride. Since we had a purchased tour we didn't need the shuttle as it picked us up at the terminal. I use the word "terminal" but it's more like a warehouse from the outside.

We were picked up outside the terminal/warehouse and rode the coach for the half hour ride to Pisa. That is where we were transferred to the trolley for a ride to a restaurant for some snacks. Coffee ice cream and choice of beverage. Red or white wine, water or soda. (If you wanted to purchase an extra bottle of water it was one euro.) Restrooms were free for our group.

Look at the size of the lemons!

There were a few minutes to shop in their gift shop before heading on a walking tour. The walking tour was optional and some stayed behind. We joined the tour for a little while but then decided we weren't sheep and peeled off from the group, took some photos, and headed back to the meet-up spot to sit and wait.

From one side it almost looks straight.

Nope. It really is the Leaning Tower of Pisa!

We then all boarded a trolley for a little tour of Pisa. While the tour description from Princess didn't match our actual tour today, it was still a good day and we had spectacular weather. Our trolley wasn't open air so the pictures aren't perfect. But still a beautiful city.

Beautiful sunset on the way back to the ship.

The terminal had free wifi so once we got back to the ship I grabbed my computer and headed back out  to get to work. All aboard is at 6:30 and with the tour arriving back at 5ish I had to get busy fast Thanks for your patience as I work at adding pictures back in for yesterday's post today. I don't like not being able to add photos as I go but that's how it looks like it'll need to work this trip. Again, thanks for your patience.

Off to France tomorrow!

Found out the number of Platinum and Elite passengers on this ship: 1700! Whew.

Crown Princess Transatlantic Cruise, Embarkation Day

When we got out of the car at the port today I only had one thing to say to my hubby. 

I didn't know we were driving on the Autobahn. 

Our driver, the one the Princess rep at the hotel recommended, was a speed demon. At one point I glanced at the speedometer and saw he was driving 150 kilometers per hour. I do believe that equates to around 90 miles an hour. And he spent most of the time on his cell phone. And for a while it was raining hard. But we made it to the port with no injuries to us, any pedestrians or animals, and no vehicle damage. So I guess it was a good day. 

And now I can say hello from the Crown Princess!  We have two weeks ahead of us on the ship. 

Our Itinerary

Embarkation was super fast. Pull up to the port, hand off the luggage, walk into the new terminal, go through security, head to check in and board the ship.

Beautiful view from the ship.

We had a Superman ship nearby.

There are 800 in transit passengers so the lines were short, the buffet was relatively empty, and muster drill seating was plentiful.

Speaking of muster, they dismisssed the rows one by one. We've seen that on some but not all of the other Princess ships. But this one was a bit strange. Usually when ships dismiss row by row disabled passengers are allowed to leave first. Not here. Disabled passengers were the last to be dismisssd. Hubby and I were the very last ones allowed to leave the theater. I'm not sure how that will work in a real emergency. And yet again at this muster drill we had people on their phones and tablets during the entire drill. Guess some folks just won't take it seriously until someone gets hurt. Muster personnel try to stop them but finally give up. We've also already seen someone vaping on deck with no concern from the crew. Like so many things, rules aren't really rules but merely suggestions.

A couple other things of note...
There is no Elite line at the Passenger Services Desk. Probably too many this cruise. My card wouldn't work so I was in that wonderfully long line. Also, the evening Platinum/Elite/Suite lounge has been moved to Club Fusion to handle the extra Elite load.

There are more kids on this cruise than I thought there would be. Maybe I am noticing them more because they are loud. We had a screamer at Passenger Sevices and a crier in the buffet.

Guess who I ran into at the buffet? None other than Vickie from Vickie and Bernie Travel. Nice to see her right off the bat.

I won't be posting the Princess Patters this time around as we have several sea days and a limited number of Internet minutes. Need the officers? Here ya go:

Pictures will also be few and far between as well until we get some good on-land internet. I'll add pictures back in as I go along.

Right now we're sitting on Promenade deck waiting to push off. What do we have on tap tomorrow? How about the Leaning Tower of Pisa?! See you then!

Random Thoughts About Life

It's 2:30 am in Rome (7:30 pm at home) and since I can't sleep I guess it's as good a time as any to start my Rome wrap up post share some random thoughts about life.

This really has been a thought provoking few months. While yesterday (or was it the day before? I've lost track of my days!) I said never again would we fly overnight or fly such a long distance, I already started scheming (that happened at 1 am this morning) of ways to get us back here. Fly Boise to New York. Stay a few days. New York to Reykjavik and stay a few days. Reykjavik to Rome. Hubby wasn't going for it, though. Darn. I think Rome was a one and done for him. This was his trip, his must-see place, but the huge crowds and the walking and the fear of falling and the stamina issues have him quite a bit hesitant of heading out this far again. 

This is a new life for him. He was always confident in his actions, independent, walked fast (well, as fast as someone with cerebral palsy could), and never, ever, considered himself handicapped. But after his kidney failure he never regained all the strength and stamina he had beforehand. And since his kidneys are only at 60% capacity and will never get better, we are learning to live life differently. I've taken more of a caretaker role lately. I'm okay with that, but it's unfortunate that at 58 he sometimes seems like he's 78. I'm guessing if not for his camaraderie with crew members we probably wouldn't be cruising anymore. He loves the workers on the ship. Absolutely adores them. As a former high school teacher, I think being on the ship makes him feel young again with all the conversations and fun he has with the young crew members.

Each time we head out on a new trip we send a photo from our location to the group of crew we've come to know so well. We sent out our Rome picture a couple hours ago and so far we had Mariana from Mexico City tell us she just got a job at the JW Marriott and thanked us for our support and the letter of recommendation we wrote for her. We had Jelena from Serbia tell us how much she loves us and if she and her boyfriend decide to stay in China that we will have to come see her. Mou and Neville from India sent us a picture of themselves in Sydney and said they hope their next contract is in the US so we can come to see them on the ship. Clary has a picture of all the Kit Kats we sent to him on his ship in Japan and told us about his friend who works on the Crown. Niranjan said he can't wait until we (he calls us his mom and dad) get to the Grand next month to see him and told us about his best friend on the Crown. We heard from Sainor from Honduras who found out he might be getting a promotion and Sheila from Nicaragua who just finished her contract and got to go home to her little girl. Sandesh said he is now working night room service on the Crown so we've made plans to eat late a lot these next couple weeks. Sundar just joined the Sea Princess this week. Marcelino and Joffrey are still working together in the bar on the Grand. Sid is off in Saudi Arabia working at the hotel so he can make enough money to get married. Rushi is still recovering from his terrible bike accident. Renjith's baby is growing so big and he sent us his family's formal pictures - with his baby boy wearing the outfit we bought him. 

That's why we cruise. Not for the ports, not for the ship life, not to be treated to unlimited food. It's for the crew. And that's why hubby gets himself up out of bed everyday and makes the most of the day the best way he can. Some days are good days and some days aren't. Some days his frustration is at its peak and some days he is more able to just go with the flow. 

Like I've said before, each trip makes me wonder if this is the last. I think we're getting there. My role has evolved over the course of our lifetime. I've always been the planner, thinker, organizer. The one who makes sure we get where we need to go. But now I've added in making sure he is set and comfortable. Like with the hop-on, hop-off bus for example. I would have picked a different bus company with several routes, and probably made my way onto each route, but I knew how much energy he had in him. So we chose the one closest to the hotel with the fewest stops. I helped him climb the step onto the bus and found him a seat downstairs. I opened up the headphone packet, uncoiled the headphones for him, plugged it into the headphone jack, got it to the English channel, and made sure he had a safe spot for his cane before I headed upstairs. I don't mention all of that for any reason other than to document where we are at this point in our lives. We now walk slow, stay close, and keep things simple. I'm okay with that, but I'm not certain he is. I'm sure he's struggling with having to come to grips with the fact that he might actually be handicapped. 

But he puts one foot in front of the other (actually, one foot drags - it's called foot drop and that's what the doctor says is causing the falls) and gets up and dressed. We've seen things we never could have imagined we'd ever get to see. We've done things we never could have imagine we'd ever get to do.

It's been a great run. And if this is it, so be it. I'm so very grateful for this life we've been given. Life is flippin' amazing, isn't it?