Paint chips

From left to right ...
Southfield Green, Oklahoma Wheat, and Teacup Rose
All colors from Benjamin Moore

My thought is that I'd put the green in the dining room, the "wheat" in the living room and hallway, and the "rose" in the kitchen. Very colorful, yes? But is it too colorful. Hmmmmm. This evening I set out these paint chips for Tim and asked what he thought. He said to go for it. I suspect he may have just been humoring me. We shall see.

A bunny! And other randomness

Well, bother.
This week I set myself a little goal. I was going to try to make one post on my blog every single day. Afterall, a lot of my favorite bloggers make posts nearly every day, so why not give it a go? Sadly, I had to skip yesterday because I got busy. But I am not giving up! I shall continue to post for the rest of the week! Yes!

And, lucky you, I made another ultra-short video today. This evening Tim and I were doing a bit of work in the scullery/laundry room when Tim noticed a bunny rabbit outside the window. It was at the foot of our driveway, eating the stray bits of green grass that haven't burned up in the drought. So of course, I had to get out my camera & record the cuteness.

At some point I'll have to record a video in which I use my normal voice rather than my precious cutesy voice.

In other news, I spoke to my brother, Ray, and although his car is still a mess, life is doing quite well for him. Today the big corporation where he works named him the Employee of the Month! Hooray! And I think they'll be giving him some money as a reward. Excellent timing, yes?

I also spoke to george and picked on her because she hasn't updated her blog since she entered the Central time zone. She assures me that she has recently unearthed her laptop and will provide an up-date shortly. So yay to that, too.

As for me? I am mulling over paint colors for the downstairs rooms in the house. Ah, what a thrilling life I do lead, yes? God help me, but a strange part of me - a very strange part of me, no doubt - wants to paint the kitchen pink. I can offer no explanation for this urge. The problem is that every color I like seems to resemble that fake pink flesh color found on band-aids. Not terribly appetizing. Hopefully I'll find a warm yellow that is good enough to distract me from Benjamin Moore's "teacup rose".

Shit+fan= life for my brothers at the mo'

This afternoon I received a phone call from my brother, Ray. One of the first things he said was, "You don't know how lucky you are to be suffering from a drought right now." It has been raining buckets in Oklahoma this summer. Flash floods galore. Today the torential rains struck again while Ray was driving along the Broken Arrow Expressway. His back wheels lost their grip near the Sheridan exit and he ended up hitting the barrier wall along the middle of the roadway. The good news is that Ray appears to be fine physically. Shame about the car, though.

In other familial news, my other brother, Mike, has been having a terrible time. First he was informed that he was being laid off (his last day is in about 2 weeks). Then an old friend died. And last but not least, he got a note from his landlord saying that his rent was going up about 53% in, oh, just 35 days or so. I am convinced this is not legal. And I am SOOOOOOOO UPSET that sombody is trying to pull this crap on my brother. It's really bringing out the Momma Bear in me. Grrrrrrr.

Things are looking up for Mike, though. He has been offered a place to live and he had a job interview today. If things work out right, he'll have more money than before & he'll have more time to do his photography. Imagine ... he may actually end up better off than he was a month ago before the shit hit the fan.

Is there a lesson to be learned here? Perhaps that sometimes beautiful things can come from the nastiest stuff? It makes one think. Do you think Ray's car wreck could result in something wonderful for him? Hmmmmm .....

Since I mentioned the drought before, yes, it's terribly dry here. Much of our lawn looks like a hashbrown. One of our trees was trying to die, so I'm watering it regularly now. The lovely by-product of this is that our rose bush has bloomed for the first time in 2 months. Yay!

We have cats!

That is to say, we have panda cats ... As in panda catfish! This is my very favorite type of fish, which is why Tim bought some for me on Saturday. They are black & white and tiny (less than 2 inches long). And they swim in a cute wiggly way and they like to hang out in groups. They will even cuddle up together in pairs or groups when they sleep! Isn't that adorable?!

So that you can better appreciate their cuteness, I made a video.

"The panda cats are bein' cuuuuuuute!"

Experimental cooking

Other than fretting over the proper use of turn signals and illegal blood-alcohol levels (.08, thank you very much), I have also been cooking this week! I finally broke in my food processor and made a Bakewell tart for Tim. This was one of our favorite treats in England. The bed of the tart has a layer of rasberry jam topped with an almond cream filling & a nice thin layer of icing on the top. I tried making one a few weeks ago without the food processor, but it was gritty & wrong. This time it was sooooooo much better! Almost exactly like what we would have in Bakewell. And it's all thanks to my new food processor. It would seem that there is love in my heart for more than one household appliance, afterall.



I also made an attempt at dulce de leche. The ingredient list is very short & simple; it's little more than milk and sugar. Mostly it takes time & attention. And, as I have learned the hard way, practice. The directions said to simmer for an hour & a half. I stopped after an hour, but it still turned out harder than it should have. I was wanting a jam-like consistency, but it's hard as a rock unless you heat it up in the microwave. Oh well! Guess I'll just have to make more. Somehow I don't think Tim will mind.

Testing ...

This week I finally did something that I should have done a year ago: I got my North Carolina driver's license. My Oklahoma license was only good through the end of August, so I had no choice.

But why put it off? Well, because the state of NC makes you take a test if you want to have a license in this state. Luckily, it's only a written test, but I was still terrified of it (I'll spare you the details of my first failed attempt at getting my OK license). I was so scared that I would fail miserably. Driving is one of those things I just do ... without thinking. It's like walking and breathing. How good could I possibly do on a test about the finer details of walking?

I studied for the test for hours, but I still put it off to the last moment - August 31st at about 2pm. I was just so sure that I would get tripped up by some sneaky questions. And sure enough, when I walked into the DMV, the first thing I saw was a young man, politely disagreeing with the person at the front desk over his failed test.
"But I'm sure the question was wrong. I read the entire manual and it never covered that."
"I'm sorry," said the DMV guy. "I don't get to write the tests. I just give them."
My hands immediately started shaking. My palms were sweating. I considered just flying back to Oklahoma and renewing my license there.

But I stayed & it all turned out well. An hour later I walked out with my new NC driver's license. I got every single question right! Woo hoo! I even appear to be smirking in my photo. The license is good until 2015 - my 40th birthday. I'm afraid I may have to take the written test AGAIN at that time. What a fabulous birthday that's going to be. :P


And did you hear? George and Derek have moved back to Oklahoma! Took her long enough to mention it on her blog, though. I've been biting my tongue for weeks. :D

"Like a tree. Or a high-class prostitute."

Before you all start to worry about me, I feel that I should assure you that my washing machine is not the only thing in this world that is bringing me joy lately. Honestly, I chose to make a video of the washer because it was a Wednesday morning and ... well, what else am I supposed to film? My toes? Besides, I like the cute little music it plays when I turn it on. The drier does the same thing! Eee!

Here are some other things that have made me happy in the past week.

1. Liz may appreciate this one more than anybody.
There is a HILARIOUS personal ad on Match.com right now. Jeezie creezie, it's a masterpiece. I read about it on Jezebel (which is sort of feminist-y, silly gossip blog). The ad is for a man who calls himself "TheGoodDr" and in the ad, he basically imagines the internal monologue of a woman who is on a date with him. It's stellar. Click here to read it.

2. I am finally - FINALLY - teaching myself some more advanced knitting stitches. I was inspired to do this because last week I needed to find a washcloth pattern for Shawna. I found what she wanted, but it had a few steps in it that I had never tried before. The name of this pattern: "Idiot's Washcloth". I realized that I needed to move past the "idiot" stage of knitting. Hence, lace work. Here's a link to the pattern. It's complicated, but I am currently on row 59 and have managed not to screw it up.

3. This week's obsession: Flight of the Conchords. I LOVE this show. These guys are like The Smothers Brothers with a splash of Newhart, but ... well, younger. And from New Zealand. I've only been able to watch 3 episodes of Flight of the Conchords, and that's after scraping the bottom of that big barrel known as The Internets, but I've watched oodles of clips of their stand-up routine on YouTube. If you have HBO (which sadly, I do not), then you must watch this show. It's on Sunday nights after Entourage. Here's the first song from the first episode just to whet your appetite.

First film

I can be such an idiot sometimes. I have owned this new camera since last Christmas and only recently did I realize that I can record movies with it. Picture me smacking myself in the forehead.

So this morning, just as an experiment, I made a little video of one of my favorite things. :)

Tear jerker

I'm feeling emotional this week. Please forgive me. I have been crying off-and-on.

No, nothing bad has happened to me or Tim, so don't worry your little heads. Indeed, everything is great!
1. I made some new friends - Tina & Valerie. Both have great senses of humor & enjoy Amy & David Sedaris, so I'm feeling hopeful there.
2. My fancy KitchenAid food processor arrived in the mail. Did you know that the French term for "food processor" is "robot culinaire"? This means I have my very own robot! Kick ass!
3. I cooked lamb chops for dinner on Thursday. However, they were absurdly expensive ($20 bought enough for just me & Tim) so I won't be doing that very often, but it made Tim happy so it's all good.
4. After many months of ignoring my knitting needles, I picked them up again in order to decifer a knitting project for our friend, Shawna. And it was fun & Shawna really appreciated my help (she now knows how to purl & how to do a "yarn over" thanks to me). So yay!

So ya see? Good things! And yet, I have been a weepy mess.
1. I watched "Miss Potter" - the movie about Beatrix Potter staring Renee Zellwegger & Ewan McGreggor. Bawled my eyes out. Streams of tears. Partly I was crying because some sad things happen in her life, but mainly I was crying because the scenes from the Lake District were so unbelieveably beautiful. I miss Cumbria. Sigh.
2. A dog I never met has died. There's a blog I like to read called "Posie Gets Cozy" ( http://rosylittlethings.typepad.com/posie_gets_cozy/ ) and the woman who writes it owns - owned - a fabulous black and white corgi named Audrey. If you know me well, you know that I adore corgis and black & white animals. As you can imagine, this corgi was my ideal dog. So to read that poor little Audrey had cancer & had to be put to sleep ... well, I'm getting teary just thinking about it again.

Thank goodness my husband is sappy, too. Any other man in his right mind would see me weaping over things like this & would give me a rather wide berth for a few days. But dear Tim smiles as if to say, "You're wacky & sweet & adorable & I love you," & wraps his arm around my shoulder. Ain't he the best?
Sniff.

I'll leave you with a video of Audrey the dog playing at the beach. So cute! Oh lordy, now I want a dog again.

Social Life: The return

Last Friday: Went over to house of new friends, Lauran and John, for snacks and a card game called "Killer Bunnies"
Last Saturday: Hosted dinner party. Fed fabulous smothered pork chops to Kevin, Shawna, & Mark. Then tried out Tim's new card game called "Legacy of Madness"
Last Sunday: Went to Mark's to watch F1 race. Ate croissants & grumbled about Alonzo, the newly-knighted Sir Douchebag of Ass-a-lot.
Thursday: Went to Laura's house for Girly Card Night. Played Balderdash and Apples to Apples with the ladies while eating Doritos and lemon cookies.
Saturday (today): Going to Kevin & Shawna's place for spaghetti & card games. Jennifer, Kyle, and Mark may join us.
Sunday: Potential movie outing. Potentially.
Tuesday: Massive get-together at Laura's house for ladies we've met on-line who happen to live in Durham. Sandy, Tina, and Victoria should be in attendance. Should be fab!

So yes. I suppose I have a social life again. Hmmm. Whodathunkit? Of course, if I keep talking about my washing machine, these invitations may dwindle down to nothing again.

My Endless Love

I love my washing machine.
LOVE.
If you'll recall, shortly after moving into our lovely house, we chose to invest in the LG Tromm front-loading washer & dryer. They are widely known to be the best machines on the market. And oh my ... they are fabulous. The washing machine is especially amazing. Miracles take place in that drum, I'm sure of it.

My adoration for my washing machine is so intense that it's becoming a bit fanatical ... and perhaps a touch embarassing. I have rambled on about the glory of my washing machine to friends & have gushed about its cleaning power on internet message boards. Once I even held up my phone to the machine so that George could hear the cute little song they play when I turn them on ("Deedle-deedle-dee!"). I just can't help myself. Would you like to hear about the incident with the tika masala sauce? Or the grenadine? Or how about the old, set-in blood stains? All of these long, passionate, dramatic stories end the same way - with laundry that has miraculously come clean without the slightest bit of soaking or hand scrubbing on my part. Astounding.

So if any of you know anybody at the LG corporation & they're looking for testamonials, tell them to look me up. I'd be thrilled to wax poetic about my washing machine ... to someone who cares.

Chicken goes to Disney

Remember the 20-pound concrete chicken that we stole from my friend, Tes? We took it to Disney World. Unfortunately, we saw no way to take the chicken inside any of the parks because they've really stepped up security there (ll bags are searched before you enter the parks). Besides, who wants to carry around a 20-pound concrete chicken all day?! Luckily there are no security issues at the Disney Marketplace, so we took some pics around there.

Florida trip: final days

The last 2 days of June were also our last 2 days to play in Florida. Some people were a bit worse for wear at this point. Tiff was covered in dozens of mosquito bites (despite wearing jeans & bug repellant) and poor Ray was developing a very unhappy tummy. Tim was weary, as well, so in the end we did not get to do all the things I wanted to do on this trip. Guess that measn we'll have to go back someday. ;)

On Thursday, Ray, Tim and I decided we should check out the other water park, Blizzard Beach. The theme of Blizzard Beach is unusual: a freak snowstorm hit Florida and disney, always keen to take advantage of a marketing opportunity, opened a ski resort. Well, the snow began to melt, of course, so now the bobsled and skiing courses are water slides. Good fun - especially when the rains poured down on us!

One of the wonderful things about Ray is that he will pose for ANY picture I want to take.


Thursday was the Davis Clan's last day in Florida, so we chose to meet up with them that night at the Magic Kingdom to watch the parade & the fireworks.


Slideshow time! Click on the little "View Show" buttons if you're having trouble seeing the images.

The archway through Cinderella's Castle is very pretty. Lovely mosaics. Not enough people take the time to appreciate it.

Spectromagic!

Here's dear Helen & my sweet Ashes. I miss them so much! Sobebody kidnap them & drag them to North Carolina. ;)



And then it was Friday. Our last day. We chose to spend most of it at Animal Kingdom. I had never been there before, but I must say that I liked it a LOT more than I thought I would. We didn't get to see half of what it has to offer, so I look forward to going back.

The very best thing was the safari ride. The road the truck drives along is VERY very bumpy & I chose not to take pics because I was sure my camera would be thrown from my hands! But the views we saw of the elephants and giraffes and other animals ... wow. Breath taking. Definitely one of my favorite parts of the whole trip.

Since it was our last night together, those of us who were still in town got together for dinner. It was a nice way to close out the trip.

Tim & Tiff - aka "two peas in a pod" :)


Tim & his mother, Sylvia


That may have been our last full day in Florida, but I'm not quite done with photos yet! Next time ... Chicken Pics!

Signs from the road

We're back! Again! I bet it seems like I'm always going places, huh? Like I have some sort of fabulously exciting life & all. Yeah. You keep thinking that, will ya?

We went to Ocracoke Island - pronounced "Okra Coke". Sounds kinda gross, doesn't it? Perhaps a recipe for okra stewed in a big vat of Coca Cola. Eew. I prefer my okra fried, thankee. Anyway, we played in the surf & I ate local shrimp & took photos. Good times, of which you'll hear more later.

Favorite roadside signs from the trip (gotta love advertising):
"Try My Nuts"
"Have an ice cream or something"
"Nahunta Pork Center: America's Largest Pork Display!"
"Eat Here! Get Gas!"
And my favorite bit of graffiti - "START CARING!"

Randomness

Ya know, it is sad when I post more often than george. Really really sad. I think she needs to do something about that. Yup.

So remember that post I made about my parents' anniversary party? And remember those pics I posted of me and Tim on the back porch? One of my friends said that we look like we belong in a J. Crew ad in those photos. She meant is as a compliment (in fact, we've gotten tons of compliments on those photos which is sweet!) but it got me thinking. Maybe all of that worrying that the BMW would turn us into yuppies is all for naught because maybe we already are yuppies!!!!
Noooooo!!!!!
How did this happen?! I mean, I know we're not extraordinarily edgy or fierce or whatever, but we're at least kinda cool ... right? Tim makes video games for a living. And I've stood on stage and said & done things in front of hundreds of strangers that would make yo momma blush. So that's cool, right? Maybe? But maybe now we're not so cool. Because now we have a mortgage & spend a lot of time debating whether we should get a sporty two-seater or the luxury sedan with the moon roof.

The last nail in the coffin is Tim's footwear in that photo. Look carefully, children, and you will see that he is wearing (1) man sandals and (2) socks. At the same time. Tim is somewhat dismayed that this image is now displayed on the internet. I told him that he has a good excuse because he had been walking around Disney World for days and his swollen feet needed a little extra cushioning. Our friend Clair said, "At least he isn't wearing white socks." But sadly Tim feels that he has lost the last shreds of his punk, combat-boot wearing street cred. The days of him wearing head to toe black on the streets of Sheffield are long gone. At least he can still listen to his angry, ranting-man music in his swanky car.

And speaking of cars, he's starting to look at Saabs. Again. Heaven help me.

Hmmmm ... what else.

My internet connection has been crappy which is why I'm not posting photos again. It has crashed on me 3 times today - once while I was writing a blog entry. I took that as a sign. Bah.

I finished Harry Potter & was not as strongly moved as other people. I liked it, but I didn't loooooove it. And I didn't cry like everyone else on the planet. It makes me wonder if I'm a horrible, unfeeling, emotionally stunted person who should seek counseling. Tim insists that I'm lovely & that I was just too smart for the book. Corey tried to make me see that the parts of the book that annoyed me weren't really meant to be so annoying because of X, Y, & Z. I'm not totally convinced.

Janine is in the hospital! I'm not sure which one, but I suspect it's the Pink Palace. She should be giving birth any time now. Unfortunately, she had to go in because she developed a terrible bladder infection that she couldn't kill. That happened just before she gave birth last time, so she's trying to see this as a good sign.

Veronica was not hurt in the big explosions in Dallas. However, she has been suffering from a terrible cold and the explosions caused her ears to pop, so she can hear again for the first time in 4 days. So that's good! Also, she just realized that sometimes we talk about her in our blog entries, so it only seemed right to, ya know, mention her.

Lastly, Tim and I decided on a whim that we're going to leave town for a couple of days. We booked a room at a cute little B&B on the outer banks. Now we just have to throw some clothes in a bag & pack up Tim's fancy telescope. Hopefully we'll get in some good star gazing since we're staying far away from the cities.

So that's where we'll be! Toodles!

Happy National Harry-Potter-Reading Weekend!

Yesterday evening I got a text message from Corey.
"And now I can sleep," it said.
This meant that he had finished the final Harry Potter book. The man had apparently chosen to stay up all night and read the book in one fell swoop.

Oddly enough, he is not the only person I know who chose this path. I have a lot of on-line friends who stocked up on caffeine-infused foods and beverages on Friday in preparation for the book's release & the long night of reading that awaited them. Ever head of "disco naps" - the naps that people take on Friday or Saturday evenings before heading out for a long night of drinking and dancing? These people all chose to take brief naps but, of course, they chose a more sedentary way to wile away those late night hours.

But not me.

No, I have decided to savor this final installment. I am not cramming the words into my brain as fast as I can. Instead, I am lingering over paragraphs, taking breaks between chapters to bake or do some laundry. Or watch an F1 race.

(By the way, that race? Holy crapulence, peeps. I had to take some Tums halfway through the thing ... and I never have to take antacids.)

So anyway. Feel free to mock me for participating in Potter Mania, but I actually read the first book before it had garnered much attention and, so help me, I gotta see this through to the end. I'm thinking I'll be done with the book on Monday afternoon - 48 hours after everyone else on the planet. In the mean time, I'll be avoiding spoilers as best I can.

Ouchie wah-wah

We've all heard of fertility gods, but I am more and more convinced that there is some sort of infertility god as well ... or actually, a thank-goodness-I'm-not-pregnant god. The only problem with worshiping at the alter of the god of Thank-Goodness-I'm-Not-Pregnant is that s/he is very fond of blood sacrifices. And if I attempt to abandon one of the official sacred alters (which look mysteriously similar to the couch & the half-bath), the god of Thank-Goodness-I'm-Not-Pregnant feels that it is appropriate to give me an invisible kick to the gut. Just to remind me who's boss, ya know.

Suuuuu-huuuuucks.

But I'll get over it. And when I do, I'll post more pics from our vacay.

Other happenings this week:
1. Last Saturday was our first dinner party at the new house! The ladies loved the house & I distinctly heard Shawna hinting to Kevin that they should buy a house in our neighborhood. Hee.
2. We saw Ratatouille. It's basically an animated foodie movie ... which is another way to say that I liked it. Now I really want to try making ratatouille.
3. We also saw the new Harry Potter movie. Hot damn, that was good!!!! Tim was still a bit confused (while discussing the finer points after the movie, the man said, "Wait a minute ... who's Snape?") but that's to be expected since he has not read any of the books and has only seen the last 2 films. Must fix this.
4. Tim briefly considered abandoning the Audi TT for the Infinity G35. But only briefly.
5. Now Tim is considering abandoning the Audi TT for a BMW 3 Series SomethingOrOther. The car can seat 4 adults, which is good. But owning this car will officially ensconce us into the realm of Yuppiedom. Hmmmmm.
6. Tim started a new job at work. There's no raise involved, but he's back to programming in C++ which is very good for his career. Plus, the company is very very picky about who they put in this area of the company, so it's a great compliment to Tim that they basically handed him the job as soon as he hinted that he was interested in it. So yay!
7. As of tonight at 6pm, Tim has a whole week off from work! Woot!

Hmm. That all seems very Tim-centric.
What else.
Ummmm ...
I bought some cream cheese.
That about covers it.

Mom & Dad's 40th Anniversary Party

Thursday was the big day - Mom & Dad's party. Mom had been planning this thing for months, so it was nice to see her hard work come to fruition. It took place at Leu Gardens near downtown Orlando.
http://www.leugardens.org/

It was a lovely summer evening in the south, so Tim and I took a moment to enjoy the rocking chairs on the screened porch.



There were 18 people there:
Mom & Dad, of course
My two brothers, Mike & Ray
Tim & myself
Tim's mom, Sylvia
My Uncle Buster & Aunt Fay
Cousin Tiffani (who is actually the daughter of my cousin Damon, so I guess she is my first-cousin-once-removed or something?)
Mom's best friend, Helen
Helen's daughter, Tracy, her husband Greg, & daughter Sam
Helen's daughter (and my sissy!) Ashlie & her son G'Rae
And two of Mom's old friends who now live in Florida, Jackie & Mike


First we had a little pseudo-ceremony outside. Since Tracy is an ordained minister, she ran the show. My parents stood underneath what appeared to be one tree, but was actually two trees that had grown into one another - wrapping around eachother over the years and basically becoming "one". Isn't that romantic?


Tracy started out by talking about how sweet and loving and generous my parents are & how they are a living testiment to what love can be. That got us all crying right away!


Then Tracy asked Ray to step forward and he talked about all the sacrifices our parents have made for us over the years & how they've always shown us nothing but love and support. More tears!


Then Mom and Dad spoke about the fact that they married just 3 months after they met & how they wer practically strangers at the time, but they would do it all over again. Aaaaaaaaw!


Next: drinks! And fun stories! Mom and Dad recalled the more ridiculous aspects of their wedding day.

For instance, Mom hadn't met Dad's mother before the ceremony, so she ended up meeting her mother-in-law for the first time in the receiving line after the wedding ceremony. My grandmother's first words to her new daughter-in-law?
"You must be Beverly."
Ummm ... ya think? :D

After drinks (non-alcoholic, I should add), it was time for dinner ...

... and laughs ...

... and perhaps a touch of insanity.

Oh no! It's catching!!!


The flowers in the centerpieces are daisies (which my mother carried on their wedding day) and yellow roses (which my father gives to mom on special occasions). Oh, and there was cake, too!


After we ate, Helen had some of us play a Newlywed-&-Not-So-Newlywed Game.
The Newlyweds: Me & Tim (2 years) and Tracy & Greg (2 years)
The Not-So-Newlyweds: Mom & Dad (40 years) and Buster & Fay (50 years)
Tim and I tied for last place ... with my parents! But we were just one point behind the winners, so that's okay.


We finished out the evening on the patio, watching the sun set over the lake.




In my family, card games are an important part of almost every family gathering. Luckily, my darling husband LOVES card games and was sure to bring his poker kit with him. So a bunch of us got together and stayed up late playing Texas Hold 'Em. Good clean family fun!


The happy couple ... and their growing pile of chips!

Disney con't: Day 2 & 3

It has taken me over a week to download all of the photos from Disney into my photobucket account.
Okay. That's only partly true.
I also took a break to host a dinner party. And I went out & took some more pics from around our neighborhood, but then I had to download those, too, ya see? And that took, like 1,337 hours. Fer reelz, y'all.

So where were we? Oh, that's right.
Day 2.
On our second day we arrived at Magic Kingdom shortly before it opened. We rode Space Mountain first thing (yay!), but our energy flagged soon afterwards. Too bad it was blazing hot.




Apparently, disco dancing is not allowed at Disney. But Rebellious Raymond cannot hold back! Somebody find a themometer because I think he has ... Disco Fever!!!!!!


This, dear friends, is why I have so few pics of my brother, Mike. Ask him to pose & he'll just give you the "Duh" face ... or worse.

I dare you to ride the monorail and NOT sing the Monorail song from The Simpsons. It's nearly impossible. At least it is for me & Tim.

See? Oodles of fun. [insert eye-rolling smiley here] Shortly after noon it was determined that we (Ray, Tim, Tiff, & myself) should go to a water park. Typhoon Lagoon was fabulous! Too bad I can't offer proof with pics. Did I mention that Typhoon Lagoon was fabulous? Because it was. I swear, I normally hate water parks (being as pasty as I am), but this place kicks much ass. So much lush vegetation, so much shade, and so much fun. Whenever we come back to Florida I think we'll be spending a lot more time there.

After the water park, we went back to Magic Kingdom, snuck out during the electrical parade, & went to Uno's for a late dinner. Mmmmmm ... deep dish pizza ...


Day 3
Early in the morning on Day 3, I woke up feeling horrendously ill. Unfortunately, this means that Tim and I left the condo long after everyone else. We got to MGM Studios at lunch time, so we got to meet up with my parents, brothers, & Cousin Tiff for a while. Unfortunately, though, we didn't do very much. I was still sickly and grumpy and suffering from shin splints. About 2 hours after we arrived we sent Tiff a text message asking if she was bored yet. Turns out that she wanted to go swimming at the pool at our condo. Sounded good to us! So we met up with the fam again, participated in about an hour's worth of group shopping, and then Tim, Tiff and I took off.

It took us a while to get to the pool. First we went to the Downtown Disney Marketplace because Tiff wanted a Finding Nemo towel. We found one of those R2-D2 postal boxes, which was super cool!


Then we had to stop and get Tim his daily root beer float. He ate one of these almost every day of the trip.


Tiffani is texting her friends back home. Tiffani is CONSTANTLY texting. The girl is going to get carpal tunnel before she goes out on her first date. Mysteriously, she still manages to participate in conversations with us while texting. Oh, these kids today ... amazing!


Okay. We've bought a souvenir towel. We've eaten ice cream. We've even pretended to put mail in the R2-D2 post box. Is it time to swim yet? Of course not!!!! Because we need ... goggles. Apparently. So we went to Target. I think we finaly got into the pool at around 7pm - approximately 5 hours after we decided it would be a good idea. But in those hours inbetween we played a few fierce rounds of 20 questions & had a grand ol' time.

Coming up next time ... Party Pics!