There was an old song something along the lines of “I married a gal, just like the gal, who married dear old dad.”  Weirdness and/or truth aside, I always said I married a guy, just like the gal who married dear old dad,  meaning my husband shares a lot of my mother’s – ahem – qualities.

When we were first married, it became clear that Al, like Mom, thought it was a good idea to put things in such a safe place in the house that it could never be found again.   In our married life I have solved that problem by setting up a file called the CRS – Can’t Remember Shit – File.  We ended up having to name it the RCRS – Really Can’t Remember Shit – File because at first I succumbed to the “safe place method” of safekeeping and filed it somewhere we couldn’t find it.  It is in my safe hands now.

When the boys were little we packed up and went to Mundelein for a visit and when it was time to prepare for our departure the night before, Al had put the airplane tickets in such a safe place – in my Mom’s home, no less – that we were unable to find them and had to re-purchase our lost tickets and go through the hassle of getting a refund later.  My Mom eventually found the tickets months later – tucked into the very front of her small file cabinet that was in her little spare bedroom “office” that doubled as a guest bedroom.  It wasn’t that we hadn’t looked in there – but it was very very safely tucked, so that no burglars would ever find it in the two weeks that we were there, I guess.

My Mom is well known for her  “I hope everything is going to be all right” comment after plans have been made for just about anything.  My Dad used to joke that when Mom dies, she’s be standing at the Pearly Gates.  St. Peter will be standing there, the gates will be wide open, choirs of angels will be heralding her arrival.  He will say “Helen, we have been waiting for you!  You have lived an exemplary life!  There is no need for us to even think twice – your spot in Heaven awaits you.  C’mon in!”  At which point Mom will wring her hands and look nervously around and say “I hope everything’s going to be allright.”

Al has a touch of this.  OK, more than a touch.  It just goes to show that opposite attract.  Case in point.  Earlier this week we realized Al had to take some use it or lose it vacation time.  Because my job duties have changed and I have to set up one week a month that is written in stone, I demanded we sit down and decide.  By 11:30 p.m. Monday night we were set and ecstatic:  We found a bargain cruise to Alaska, at the perfect time of year, leaving and returning out of San Francisco.  We booked it and had until 7 p.m. Friday night to change our minds.

I started planning the only “shore” excursion I wanted to do – a separate whale watching boat tour  out of Juneau and went on with my life.   Al pulled a Fodor’s out of the library.  Friday morning he shocks me (after 29 years you would think I would be used to this) with a laundry list of what was wrong with the cruise we had chosen, not the least of which was that we really weren’t going to get up close and personal to glaciers.  Our cruise would take us to the Tracy Arm Fjord, which by all internet accounts was just fabulous.  Good enough for me, but not for Al.  I blessed him on his way as he went into the office to look at alternatives and took off for my own work and lunch with a girlfriend.

When I arrived home at 5 p.m. this dear man had prepared an Excel spreadsheet of the possible cruise alternatives that would take us to Glacier Bay as well as everywhere else we were already going.  Of course we realized that leaving from SF was no longer an option, but that was sheer luck anyway, and quite frankly I think I can live without two days at sea on the north Pacific, even if it is summer.  Two days at sea in Mexico, yes.  Off the coast of Oregon, maybe not.

We were getting to the bewitching hour of 7 p.m. and Al went one more time to the best cruise internet site in the world, Vacations to Go.  I hate to let out the secret.  It looks so cheesy when you go on there, but they are the clearinghouse for cruise reservations that have been cancelled at the cutoff point of 75 or 90 days.  People book cruises and there is a cutoff day usually 90 days before the cruise where you have to put your money down or pay a penalty if you cancel after that date.  This “sweet spot” is a good time to get deals.  You have to be ready to book and know exactly what you want before you go to the site, however, as you have to pay in full and no refunds.

And what a deal Mr. Think Twice got us.  A better boat, a better tour, a better price AND four extra days of land tour.  We will drop in at Fairbanks, tour Denali (Mt McKinley National Park), breakfasts and fun little excursions included (like a sternroller ride down the Chena River); then we embark in Anchorage and off to the cruise of a lifetime, ending in Vancouver.  One more thing about Vacations to Go –  the person on the other end of the phone is clearly a travel agent and is at your service from the moment of the phone call until the day of your cruise.  She even picked up that it was Al’s birthday while we’re there and arranged for that to be known on the ship, as well as putting us down for an automatic upgrade.  You can’t ask for more than that.  Even the Princess Line rep said they can’t beat Vacations to Go.  There, now you know.  Don’t abuse it.

Anyway, I just shake my head at this man.  It is difficult for me to shut my big yapper and let him go through this process that he is driven to navigate.  (I’ve been reading a lot of cruise stuff, can you tell?)  I know I can be a bit annoying – “Honey, have you figured it out yet?  What have you found?  What are we going to do?”  In other words, the grown woman’s version of “Are we there yet?”  I want the plans made, the deal struck and not have to think about it again until it’s time to pack.  He literally worked all day finding the almost perfect vacation for us and then, as if rewarded for his efforts, we were handed the best deal of the day.

When I told Mom about all this she was so pleased.  She was glad to know there was someone else in the family who thinks like she does and as she says “Sometimes it comes in handy.”  I thought that was a cute way of putting it – and also the understatement of the summer travel season 2011.

This is the trip of a lifetime for us.  I never really thought it would happen and because I’m such a thriftster I’m pleased it is priced well within trip-of-a-lifetime boundaries.   However, I have only one person to thank – the guy I married who’s just like the gal who married dear old Dad.

Thanks honey. 🙂