So I’m staring at my Literati tiles for like 5 minutes, wishing that ‘B’ was really a ‘P’ so I would have the greatest word ever—triple word score, double word score, double letter scores, and bonus for using all my tiles. Then it hits me—’braising’ is in fact a real word.
I’m thinking I should play only mindless games at 2 a.m. Thanks, Mir, for giving me something to think about in the middle of the night!
A few months ago, I “met” Rachael from Rainbow Fish. She stopped by one day and commented about being from Small Town, Indiana just like me. It turned out to be the same small town! I contacted her last week to see if she’d like to get together for lunch before she goes back to school. I hesitated at first because I didn’t want her to think I was some psycho stalker, but she had apparently wanted to ask me the same thing. I just got home from our dinner.
I can now officially say “my friend Rachael” rather than using the term to mean “this girl whose blog I read.” We spent 2 1/2 hours at dinner and never lacked for things to talk about. I had a great time (of course, having an evening out with no kids was a huge bonus for me!) and got to know Rachael a lot better. I’m glad to call her a friend.
This was my first experience meeting someone from online. It was also the first time I have ever considered it. The blog world is so different from anything I’ve ever been a part of. I call many of you “my friend” because it’s easier, but also because I truly feel like I know you—and you know me—as well or better than people I know in real life.
2004 was one of my most difficult years, but it was made so much easier just by having other people to vent to and read about. It turns out I’m not all alone. I’m not strange. Okay. Maybe I am, but so are you! This blog has been like a diary with feedback, and I love it. Thanks for sticking by me, even when all I’m doing is whining. Thanks for giving me something else to think about besides my own chaotic life. Thanks for letting me into your lives.
Snow! Hooray! It’s that pretty, dusty, Christmasy (I know it’s not a word, dear, get over it!) snow, too! As opposed to the wet, sticky, turn-the-roads-into-mush snow. I was hoping to get some of the fun snow over Christmas break.
Hubby has taken 2 weeks off surrounding Christmas. Stacia has the same two weeks off from school. I was looking forward to some cuddle-on-the-couch time with my family. We’ll do that anyway I’m sure, but it’s so much better when the snow is fluttering outside the window.
Now, if only the snow would motivate me to put up my Christmas decorations instead of encouraging me to burrow under the covers on the couch. Hey, I took the boxes off the shelf in the garage. They haven’t quite made it into the house yet, but Desperate Housewives is on my DVR calling to me so it’s totally not my fault!
It was fun at my vacation. I liked it. It was really, really fun! I loved it! I loved it, loved it, loved it! It was so awesome. I got to meet Mickey and Jasmine, Aladdin. But I didn’t get to meet Genie last time. Or I didn’t get to see any of the people Aladdin’s story last time. It was very hard to figure out which ones I knew. Because I know every one of them, but one of them I didn’t get to see on my vacation—my second vacation.
I got to sleep in a hotel. It was fun. I got to sleep with my sister, Brenia! (picks Brenia up for hugs) And my mom and dad had fun too. I could tell. And I know my mom had really good fun. (hugs: I love you, mother.) And I also got to see Chip ‘n’ Dale. Last time I didn’t get to see them either. I don’t think I got to see Donald last time either. I can’t remember. The end.
Our final day at Disney World proved what wusses the men are. Both my little brother and my hubby stayed at the hotel to sleep in. My mom, dad (who I’m sure would have stayed to sleep if not for penalty of death), sister and I took the girls to breakfast at Animal Kingdom. The band was having yet another breakfast buffet—this time at Rainforest Cafe. I adore Rainforest Cafe—it’s a fun place what with all the waterfalls and pretend rainforest creatures. Too bad it was breakfast or I would have completely forced my family to partake in a Volcano dessert. It rocks!
The plan was to go home, get hubby, check out of the hotel and head back to Animal Kingdom. We were going to spend an hour or so there before meeting up with my family at Epcot. They weren’t going to Animal Kingdom by unanimous decision not to attend what they term “the worst them park on the face of the planet.” The first part worked out okay, but on our way to Animal Kingdom Stacia remembered that her scrapbook page for signature collection was in my parents’ car. Naturally, we had to go get it. Once at Epcot there was no point going to AK and then back again so we stayed thinking we’d hit there later in the day. Never happened. We’ll take the kids to the zoo next week. That’s why we have a membership!
So instead we took a little ferry across Epcot into another world. We hit Japan first because Spencer wanted to see some Robotech thing, but we apparantly missed it. I will say we had a great time visiting the countries and if I had a whole day to spend at Epcot we would just wander through them all! The girls got to see Japanese music, a funny acrobat performance in France, and hear the story of Christmas in France from Pere Noel.
We met up with my family for the Honey I Shrunk the Audience 3D show—which was great! The best part was seeing the kids in their “safety” glasses.
It was a long week and the girls crashed out in the middle of our last day. My family wanted to get on the road so I couldn’t make it over to MGM to see the Spectacle of Lights, but I did get to see the Epcot tree all lit up. Disney World is so beautiful at Christmas time—I think I’d like to go back next year in December! Hubby’s gonna get right on that whole vacation fund thing.
And now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for: a synopsis of our trip to the Magic Kingdom! I got my butt up at 5:30 in the morning to pick up a few of the items on my Christmas list first. Target had it all on sale for Black Friday, and I wasn’t about to miss it! I was back before 8 with a trunk-full of presents. I walked into the hotel room to find my entire family sound asleep! Never mind that I had called 20 minutes earlier, spoken to Spencer, and asked him to have the girls up and dressed. The plan was for me to breeze in, get myself ready, fix the girls’ hair, swing to the food court to fill my eleventy hundred dollar souvenir cup with coke, and make it to the bus stop by 8:30. He’s damn lucky my sister called a few minutes after I freaked out to say the bus wasn’t leaving until 8:45. Otherwise, I might have seriously freaked.
The band was having breakfast at Fantasia Gardens and—since it was free with our package—I wasn’t about to miss the buffet! We rode the band bus over to breakfast to give the girls some time with Hayley. This was her big trip so she wasn’t much a part of the whole family vacation thing.
The character hunt continued. Everyone had a fun time with that. Even Daddy since Jasmine is decidedly hot. Plus, her top kept coming undone. Since I was busy watching my girls, I didn’t notice. Spencer did. You’ll note Brenia’s not in the picture. She was hiding from the Genie who was also not in the picture as he was nice enough to hide from her so she would be. It didn’t work.
Next stop was Pirates of the Caribbean—my all-time favorite ride. The first time I went to Disney—when I was 5—I made my parents go on it 6 times. That was back in the day, when you actually could go on rides multiple times without wasting away in gargantuan lines. Stacia stopped on the way out to have her hair wrapped. Brenia was fascinated and wanted to be just like sis. I didn’t think much of it until the gal said she could do it. I would never have imagined that an almost 2-year-old could sit still for such a thing, but she was great! Now imagine my excitement over pink and blue hair wraps for birthday and holiday pictures. Did you know these suckers can stay for up to 2 months? Me neither, but I will admit they are too cute.
Brenia enjoyed the princesses a lot more than the big characters. The girls saw Aurora, Cinderella, and Snow White. My sister had a great time with that too. Lexie has decided she wants to move to Orlando and play Sleeping Beauty. Right—my sister the princess. She’s got the sleeping part down pat. It’s the soft-spoken thing she’ll need to work on.
Of course, we can’t forget the reason for our trip. My sister’s band marched ahead of the light parade. It was really cool to see her coming down Main Street USA. Unfortunately just when Spencer had the camera settings figured out for the dark, the batteries died. We got them replaced in time, but the settings reverted back and he didn’t get that fixed until the end of the band. Which worked out nice for my cousin as her daughter was in the last row so we have a decent picture of Jasmine trying not to smile as my whole family woo-hoos
I know I’m late, but I was out of town so I get a good excuse! We had Thanksgiving Dinner at the Coronado Hotel in Walt Disney World. It sucked ass. Well, the food did anyway. The two bands that were preforming in the parade the next day were joined together for a Thanksgiving “feast” and dance. Yes. That’s right. I spent Thanksgiving Day at a high school dance.
Mickey, Minnie and Goofy all stopped by to see us so it balances out. This one will probably be our Christmas card. That is, if I can actually manage to get them printed and mailed in time. On second thought, it probably won’t be our Christmas card. It’s just a cute picture of my kids with Mickey and Minnie in their gay apparel.
Here, you’ll note me freaking out as I yell for someone to take a picture of Brenia kissing Mickey Mouse. Good thing hubby was on it. Next to that is Brenia mimicking my sister in some funky lean back dance. The girl loves to dance!
And this is the part where I get all sentimental and list the stuff I’m thankful for:
I’m kidding. (sort of) Here’s my real list:
On our second day, we visited MGM. I was the most excited about this because Brenia’s favorite cartoon is on Disney’s Playhouse. There was no JoJo to be found in April when we were at Disney, but now JoJo and her pet lion, Goliath, visit MGM daily. It was, of course, our first stop. Brenia didn’t quite know what to think of the little pet lion who turned out to be 6 feet tall. She loved seeing JoJo though.
My brother’s best friend, Jeremy, recently moved to Orlando. He came out to MGM to spend the day with us. That was cool as he’s always just been like another brother to me. We’re a close family so I know all my sibs closest friends pretty well. You can see below how happy he was to be with us (Jeremy on the left, my little bro on the right).
We took Stacia on Tower of Terror. That was a trip! In row 1 were Robbie, Jeremy, and Lexie. Spencer, Stacia and I sat right behind them. Every time light entered the ride, they would turn around to see how much Stacia was freaking out. She was terrified. I guess that’s why they call it Tower of Terror. If I had a scanner, I’d show you the ride photo. It is so hysterical. Spencer and I laughing (we’re such good parents), Stacia paralyzed with fear, and the entire front row turned around watching her!
