hi

I am still here. Just quiet.

I took my computer to Disney, but while there didn't use it much. And I kind of liked it. It has been a freeing experience to get away from not only writing my blog, but reading blogs as well. This isn't something I want to give up forever, but it has been a very nice little break. And I will probably re-think the way I blog.

Just for record's sake, I want to finish my Disney trip.

We spent day 3 changing hotels. We needed to move for the conference. Disney seems to have a bajillion outlets, so we stopped at one. And I realized that I am too cheap, even for an outlet. We bought Punter a few pair of Stride Rites- which he needed. There were on sale and in the outlet, so it was an okay price. But shoes are something I am pretty strict about for him- so I am happy to have even a small deal on those. The rest of the place was a huge bust! $10- $15 off a $300 Coach bag is not the kind of deal that will draw me in!!! The only store that we found that was even remotely worth our time was Hartstrings. I got Punter a pair of beautiful corduroy pants, a sweater and Benchwarmer a little football jersey looking onsie thing- I saved over $90!! And Hartstrings stuff is EXPENSIVE! So that $90 was huge. I got everything for around $20.

Day 4 (and most of the rest of the days) were spent at our hotel. There was so much to do there and HOF was in a conference the whole time, so we just hung out. Punter's favorite thing was the sandbox. And the pools there were amazing! This is the world's largest Marriott, so it was full of activities. And our room was bottom floor right off the pool! I loved it!

HOF (and his colleagues) get wined and dined a lot at this conference. Every year, this law firm puts on this big party-- it is always amazing. This year they rented out the entire top floor of Jimmy Buffet's restaurant and served us the most amazing seafood buffet. I ate a ton of crab claws--- they were so yummy! And since it was all free- it was the right price! After that, they escorted us to see the blue man group. This was a ton of fun! I worried that the noise was too loud for Punter, but he really liked it. It was a very amusing show.

We had one dinner at the hotel that was a disappointment. It was this Italian place that looked good. Punter didn't want to eat, so it was just HOF and I-- our bill was $100!! And the food wasn't even very good. And there was no alcohol! It was just that expensive. And the hostess was rude.

The rest of the trip was mostly spent at the hotel doing all the fun activities. We had a friend that lives in Florida drop by and visit twice.

Oh, and one night we went off site and found this great little Middle Eastern place to eat. We really enjoyed that.

It was a great trip!

I hope to get back in the bloggy rhythm soon. We shall see how it goes.

Disney Day 3- The Kingdom of Magic

Today we went to the Magic Kingdom. It seemed like it took forever to get there, even though our hotel was right next door. Once there, we found out there was a ferry ride directly from our hotel to the front gate-- that would have been much faster. But it wasn't too bad.

Once inside we looked around for a little while and enjoyed seeing the castle.

Then, we headed right for Tommorowland to see Buzz Lightyear. This is what we have been waiting weeks to do! Punter loves Buzz!!! We first stopped at the Monster's Inc show. It was cute and funny and very interactive with the audience. Next we rode the Buzz ride. When we were done, we went outside to where Buzz was supposed to be greeting people. He wasn't there. Stitch was. They told us to keep checking back. We rode a train thing that was high in the air. It went all around tomorrow land. We came back. Still no Buzz. So, we rode the Buzz ride again. Still no Buzz. We shopped and looked around and sat and waited. Still no Buzz. We waited for 40 minutes after he was supposed to be there and he never showed up. I was really disappointed.

So, we decided to move on. We went to toon town and looked around and then rode the train. It went all around the park for about 20 minutes. As we pulled back into the station all these characters had just come out to greet people. Since they had just got there, the lines were short. We got to meet a lot in just a short time. (Goofy being the "headliner") After that we had some lunch. And then rode the carousel again. Twice. Punter just loves him some carousel.

Next we went to Adventure land and walked the Swiss Family Robinson tree house. It was fun-- but a lot of stairs for a two year old.

I feel like I am leaving something out. We did a lot of walking and looking. It was a long day. We were there for 5 1/2 hours, I think. We came back to the hotel and just chilled for a little while. That night we went back to watch the fireworks show. This time we took the ferry, which was much easier. Punter got tired of the fireworks before the show was over and we headed back to the room.

Another full but fantastic day!

Disney Day 2- downtown

Today we went to Downtown Disney. I love this place. There are so many fun shops and things to see.

We went to the lego store... the serpent and the dinosaur are made from legos.

Isn't that just amazing?!?!?!?

We also went to a toy store and saw a big statue of Buzz Lightyear!

And Punter loved chasing this spitting fountain. He would chase all the water and then all the holes started spouting up at once... he got out just in time!And he loved the carousel-- we rode it twice. Well, I only rode once. I got sick as we sat in a spinning thing the first time.When we got back to the hotel, we went for a swim in the pool. We only went in the kiddie pool, and let me just say that I am amazed by the way some parents allow their children to behave.

We had a friend stop by that night to have dinner with us and hang out for a while. We haven't seen him in a long time, so it was nice to catch up! And he brought his new puppy which was thrilling to Punter and the puppy.

It was a long day-- but tons of fun! And we got a lot of our shopping done!

Disney Day 1- the drive down

All of us in the car driving down....

HOF doing the driving duty Punter enjoying the ride to where "Buzz lives"

Me

Bench Warmer

Punter and I on the beach.

I am really just getting online tonight. So, it will probably take me a few days to catch up on our activities.

We started out drive early- around 9 ish. We were mostly packed up the day before with just a few toiletries and such to add in the morning.

It was about 6 hours of drive time- with stops about hours total. Punter did amazing!!! I was so impressed, as was HOF. We just could not believe how well he did. Thank goodness for tv's in the car! We only stopped twice. Once for lunch and once for gas. Punter didn't love the car, but there was very minimal fussiness.

*funny note- we stopped at an Arby's in a fairly large southern Georgia town- Valdosta. (Where Vidallia onions are grown) It was 12:30, so there was a pretty decent crowd. HOF was the only non-white in the whole place and everyone in there stared at us like we had three heads each the whole time we were there. And we were there about 45 minutes. It was a little creepy. We don't know if they were staring because we are an interracial couple or just because the novelty of HOF being Asian.

We made it to our hotel around 4. We were told when we checked in something about our key and how it got us access to our floor and a complimentary breakfast or something. We didn't really know what she was talking about. Well, I have NO idea how this happened, but somehow we got upgraded to the top floor. You couldn't even push the elevator button without using the room key. And there was free food there almost all the time. From 6:30- 10, there was breakfast. From 11:00- 4:00 snacks and such. From 5:00- 7:00 dinner and from 8:00- 10:00 they served dessert and drinks. And this wasn't crappy hotel food. From Sunday until today we have only bought food twice. We were fully fed the rest of the time-- for free. I can't drink, but HOF has also had free beer and cordials! The food was just unreal!! And never ending!

After our arrival, we went for a little exploration walk. We hung out on the beach at the hotel for a while and explored the pools and fountains.

It was a really nice day! Even if half of it was spent in the car!

night out

I had a very busy day.... I had to work for my mom today, even though I didn't have time. Then I had to come home to get ready for my mom's night out. I haven't been to one in forever, so I was really looking forward to it.

I had an incident on the way there with this crazed guy in the road. It really unsettled me. really unsettled me.

My MIL's food was the hit of the party. The whole tray of won tons was devoured! People were asking if they could come to my house and eat.

The mom's night out was fun for the most part. It was nice to get away, but I sure missed my boys. But I think every mom needs to do stuff like this to recharge her batteries.

needing the sunny...

According to the forecast, it is supposed to be in the 70's and sunny every day we are in Disney. Which is pretty good considering it is in the low 50's there now and was in the 30's a couple of days ago.

I am keeping my fingers crossed.... I could use some warm weather. It is cold here. And I hate the cold. (Of course, cold to me is downright balmy to some of my readers.) My car said it was 23 outside today. The sun is shining, so it isn't too bad--- but it certainly isn't good.

Please, please, please let it be warm there next week!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!!!

that is all.

trying to get in the groove

MIL went home for the weekend and came back on Monday. She will be here until Friday and then will be here for good after our Disney trip.

It has been really nice, but there are some growing pains. As a woman, I can be a little territorial of my kitchen. I don't allow anyone to wash dishes or anything. (Since we do them by hand.) I have very particular ways of doing a lot of things around my house. So, I'm having to get used to someone doing them a different way. Which is okay-- it just takes some getting used to. And some letting go on my part.

But other than that, it has been really nice. Really nice. In fact, I tried to talk HOF into taking his mother with us on vacation. (it was a no go)

I am feeling rather spoiled at this point. I have my once a month mom's night this week. I rarely even go, but I wanted to go to this one. It is never a BIG deal, but we do have to coordinate HOF getting home on time. Which usually is right at the edge of the time when I need to leave, and I have a small panic attack because I freak out if I'm late. But this week, I will just leave. If HOF isn't home yet, MIL will be here. No big deal. I have to make an appetizer to take. So, MIL asked if she could make fried (homemade) won tons and a dessert for me to take--- uhm, YES!! AND I got to vacuum my whole upstairs today! This is huge! I never get to do it all at once. When I vacuum, it takes forever, because I always vacuum all the floorboards and use the attachment to get corners and the edges of the floor. (thanks dog hair!) So, it takes quite a while. I never am able to do the whole floor because of watching Punter. Well, now I have someone to entertain him. He is getting more attention, watching less tv, and just having a better time than with just me around.

My house is cleaner, I have someone cooking for me and a full-time babysitter. I think I can deal with the dishes being done the "wrong" way. *smile*

I'm still a little nervous... but for now it is going great!