Photographic Memory

I Got Nothing

It's been a busy time.  Just about every weekend has had something going on.  I wish I was able to write some profound post about this last "official" month of summer, but alas, I cannot. 

I have been having a lot of internal struggles lately.  No sadness, no major illness, no injuries.  Just thinking a lot about where I am, where I've been and where I'm going as a person.  I am generally happy, just feel the need to tweak everything a little.  Felling a little restless.

I haven't made any great progress with my weight issues and I seem to be at a standstill with any real efforts at getting more exercise.  I am eating much less than I used to and am trying hard to make better choices.  Without delving too much into extremely personal information, I stopped taking the pill back in April and I assumed - incorrectly - that would result in at least a little weight loss.  Going off the pill makes most people lose a few pounds, right?  Right?  Wrong.  Not me.  I puffed up about 10 pounds.  I didn't stop taking it simply for the possibility of weight loss and I also am not trying for another baby.  That ship has sailed.  (Besides, we have a beautiful daughter and a fat pug.  What more do we need!)  I hoping that it just takes time for things to regulate.  We saw Julie & Julia last night and it was wonderful.  I really feel inspired to cook better meals.  Of course, this does nothing to assist me in the weight loss department.  But I think that I could still lose weight and eat better even if it's not necessarily low-cal food if I control my portions.  Also, having fresher, better quality food that tastes good and that's not overly processed is better than gorging myself on crappy, convenient junk food. 

The desire to travel has also been on my mind a lot.  I want very badly to go to Europe.  I have never traveled all that much in my life.  I've been to Colorado a bunch of times, Florida many, many times and I adore New York City, but I've got a hankering to go to Europe.  I spend a lot of time during the work day gazing at pictures of places like Brussels, Prague and Vienna.  Italy is tops on my list too.  As a result, I spend a lot of times escaping this town in my imagination.  Daydreaming of strolling through foreign towns and cities and just being a part of someplace different. 

It's been roasting here in Virginia lately.  I feel a tad guilty for wishing for fall.  I know I'll regret it come January/February, but the 95+ degree sauna is wearing me down.  I feel like a limp, wet noodle that's been over cooked.  My kingdom for an in-ground pool in my backyard.  Then I wouldn't care how hot it got outside!

On a completely unrelated note, I have to confess that there's something else I've been daydreaming about much to my husband's chagrin.  My new eye-candy, Alexander Skarsgard from Trueblood.  Hey, I've got to have something extra pretty to take my mind off life, right?

Three Weeks Later...

...and here I am.  Alive.  Kicking.  And so ready for the warm weather.  Florida spoiled me.  I got a tan, had a blast and wept the day we had to return home.  Coming home?  Not so much fun.  Carter got very sick the morning we had to leave.  Fever and vomiting.  Joy to the world.  We almost made it through the whole trip with no disease.  Almost.  Since we returned, we've had three trips to the doctor,a major cold, full blown influenza type A, an ear infection and just general exhaustion.  Now, on to the happy stuff!!!

On this trip to WDW, we flew and Carter had never flown before.  She was an absolute trooper.  In fact, she had a blast.  No part of takeoff or landing scared her in anyway.  She thought it was the Best. Thing. Ever.  She's such a fearless child.  At age eight, I would have been shaking in my shoes.  (Coming home she was very sick, but managed to fall asleep while speeding down the runway for takeoff.)  She was completely unfazed regardless of having the flu.

So we're back.  We are finally well.  I'm back at work rocking a tan.  I'm loving that.  (It makes makeup in the morning a breeze.)  It's starting to fade so I may have to get a little more sun this summer.  I'm all for anything that makes mornings quicker.  So until we pack up and head for Florida permanently, I will have to make do with hoping for the warmth to continue.  It's about 70 here today, so at least we're headed in the right direction!!!

   

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

   

Strange Times

My God, it's been three weeks since my last post.  Not such a good way to keep what few readersI have, huh?  It's been a strange three weeks. 

A co-worker I've become close to recently lost her 26 year old brother to cancer.  He'd been battling it for years.  Over the last year, he'd discovered it was cropping up all over his body and was given 6 weeks to live about 4 weeks ago.  It has been a sad, strange time at work as a result.  

Two days after that, a good friend from high school lost his wife to cancer.  She was 40 and they had two small children.  He was understandably very angry.  People in the community convinced him to have a small gathering at church because he didn't want to do anything.  He didn't want a service, nothing.  Hoardes of people showed up and cooked, cleaned, took care of him and the kids.  It's times like this you realize how your problems aren't as big as you think.

A week ago I had to leave work early twice due to migraines.  I finally had to hit the ER.  Damn generic Imitrex.  It just doesn't work for me.  I can stand a lot of pain, but pain in my head?  Not so much.  God bless morphine.  

We had a good deal of snow on March the 2nd.  Less than a week later it was 80 degrees.  We are just riding the weather roller coaster here in Virginia, folks.  It got so bad a few nights ago that I had to turn the air conditioner on just to get get my sinuses to calm down.  The next night I froze my ass off.  Is some climate stability too much to ask?

We fly to Orlando Sunday morning (my birthday!) and will be there for a week.  I am so ready to be waited on hand and foot for a change.  The things I look forward to the most while we're in Florida are the small things: no laundry, no dishes, no driving, no work, no worries.  The most responsibility I face is what to wear.  While we are there, we will see the International Flower and Garden Show at Epcot.  We have heard it's fabulous and are so excited to see it finally.

If I don't get back before Sunday, have a great week!!!            

Heading Out

Well, $200 later and Prissy is okay.  Well, she has no major debilitating issues.  We are going to keep track of the seizures and wait and see if it's going to be a trend.  She's having a great day today and seems no worse for the wear.

I'm heading out to Virginia Beach now for the orchid convention and I hope to meet some nice people as nerdy as me and find out all sorts of good information and tips on my hobby.

Have a great weekend.....

Phew...

I almost didn't make this post in time - and it's only day two. 

We went for a drive to Charlottesville today to see the fall color in the mountains.  About halfway into our journey, I became so car sick.  I NEVER get car sick.  For almost two hours, I writhed like a worm on a hook and could not seem to "get anything up" if you catch my meaning.  One of the most miserable car trips in my life.  When we finally returned home after the ride from hell, I lost my lunch and passed out.  That was at 5 o'clock.  I just woke up and after I make this post, I will be heading back to bed.   

Man I have crappy luck.......................

Randomly, One Month Later

Since I'm lazy, I never got around to posting many of my Disney pictures.  So, without further ado, here is a little sampling from our trip - one month after the fact!  COME ON!  You KNOW you want to see them!!!

Could this possibly be Devil Bird?  One never knows when he may be lurking around.

Balloons!  Everywhere balloons!!

DUDE!  CRUSH!

Hyancinth macaws at Animal Kingdom.  They're huge!  Those beaks could take off a finger!

Me loves da hippos!  Hungry, hungry hippos!

Believe me folks, your vacation isn't truly a vacation without a sighting of the Weinermobile!

Spectromagic Parade at Magic Kingdom.

My girl Carter and her hero, Buzz Lightyear.

The fountain in the lobby of our resort.  We came down here every night to buy homemade Rice Kripsy Treats and drinks from the market. 

Disney's Hollywood Studios at night.  (It's no longer affiliated with MGM.)

Poolside at night.  Please, please teleport me NOW!

MICKEY!

Well, there you have it.  A little sampling of some of my favorite parts of our trip.  I can't believe it's been a month already since we were there.  I'd go back tomorrow if I could.  Minus Devil Bird of course.      

      

 

A Lame Post - Bullet Style

Feeling puny today folks, so I'm gonna reduce the post to bullets.  Lame, yes, but easy on the brain.

• I am really feeling the tiredness and letdown of being home from vacation.  I was glad to get home at first, but laundry and work have zapped that.
• I need some chocolate milk in a bad way.
• Why, dear GOD why, do they give kids so damn much homework?  (Is it just here in America?  Aly?  Any comments?)  The makeup work from last week is KILLING me us. (We took our daughter Carter out of school for the trip.  Yes, yes, I know, it sounds terrible, but she's only in 2nd grade and I am SO not going to Florida in the dead of summer.)
• I think I need a pain pill too.  With a Valium.  Yeah, that's the ticket.
• And Christ on a crutch - why am I waking up in the morning 35 minutes before the alarm goes off?  It is absolutely pointless to go back to sleep for 35 minutes but I feel cheated out of sleep if I get up earlier than planned.
• Is it spring YET?
• So damn hungry.  Don't need to eat but want to very desperately. 
• The orchids went wild while I was gone.  I have flowers everywhere.  This is a good thing.  I also went to an orchid greenhouse on our rainy day in Orlando - shock! - and bought a true purple vanda.  (Imagine a wild looking plant in a  hanging pot with no dirt - just fat, green roots hanging out everywhere with purple flowers the size of salad plates.)
• The weather is beautiful here today.  Yet it's due to get super cold just in time for the weekend!  OF course!
• I am so heartbroken watching Applesauce our store cat deteriorate.  He is still not responding to insulin and now he is developing neuropathy in his back legs and fell yesterday tying to get in the litter box for the zillionth time.  I am a sort of "get 'r' done" kind of gal when it comes to serious, incurable pet illnesses.  I can not stand to see an animal suffer and sadly my friend Emily is "just not ready to let him go".  I told her yesterday that her guilt and pain over not being able to save him needs to take a back burner to what is best for HIM.
• My sister-in-law (the bad one) is still a bitch.  Just sayin'.
• Why do dumb-ass customers keep asking if I sell postage stamps?  Do I have an invisible "United States Postal Employee" tattoo on my forehead that only idiots can see?
• Head hurting.  Either it's because I'm tired and worn out or it's because all I've done today other than help customers is surf the net and read Forever Amber archives.  Either way, the Devil Bird post will have to wait.

As promised, here is the photo of me and Khyber the Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin.  I look shiteous but Khyber looks SO DAMN CUTE! 

      

It's BAAAACK!

I'm back people.  We decided to stay an extra day and so we didn't get back until late Sunday night.   

We had mild illness issues with our daughter the first night in Savannah which had us scared shit-less that we had a case of the flu on our hands.  We all took our Tamiflu like good boys and girls in an attempt to divert disaster, then realized that it was just a 24-hour bug thing and so we were all in good health the rest of the week.  YES!

The dolphins were amazing and I had to struggle to hold back tears.  They are amazing beyond words.  I even got a smooch from a lovely little fellow named Khyber.  Ha!  Five hundred pounds worth of little!  (226.8 kilos)  No one else was allowed to come into the tank area with me so there is only one picture of me and Khyber taken by one of the Disney employees.  I'll scan and post it tomorrow.

Our resort was simply fabulous and the weather was dreamy except for a day and a half where the wind blew, the temp dropped and we put our "we-just-got-here-from-Virginia" clothes back on.  It was 38 degrees Tuesday night!  (That's 3.3 degrees Celsius for those of you across the pond!)    

There's a story about a devil bird at our resort that I will bore you with later and I haven't gone through all the photos yet, but here's a few for now...

This was the view from our balcony.

A nighttime shot of our pool area.

A bird's eye view of some of the local flora.

A stripped-down Epcot ball.  This was a bone of contention for me.  I missed the Mickey hand and wand that used to be on the left side with the word "Epcot" in sparkly red.  It just seemed so plain. 

I was a woman obsessed with nighttime photos.   

And of course, Cinderella's Castle!

I can't wait to read up on what you've all been up to over the past week!         

So Long!

Well people, I'm off to get my pedicure and then I will be away from the blogosphere (what a yucky word!) until March 3rd!  I'm still well as of right now....knock on wood!

Take care and hope you have a great 10 days!

Oh. My. God.

Just guess what I get to do next Tuesday.  Go ahead, guess.  You can't can you?  Okay, I'll tell you.  My husband - God bless his little soul - signed me up for a dolphin swim in the big aquarium at Epcot!!!  I am soooooooooo excited!  I'm gonna get me some cetacean lovin!

We leave town (thank GOD) in exactly 41 hours.

It's too early to tell, but I may or may not be feeling a little tightness in my chest.  The hypochondriac in me says I will be dead by morning.  I hope she's wrong.  We got our doctors to give us some Tamiflu to take with us in case we need it.  I hope I don't need it.........................................