Month: August 2016

Tropical storm woes

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Gulf-side tropical storms are trying to put a damper on our vacation.  (Get it?  Damper?  Eh, who needs ya.)  We got a full-out downpour at Epcot yesterday, and plenty of rain in the Magic Kingdom today, including first thing when we walked out of the hotel.  Ponchos were useful, but our shoes got SOAKED.  John is taking the hair dryer to them now.  The rain didn’t stop the fireworks, though, and they were wonderful.  One more day in the Magic Kingdom, and then we head back to Oregon.

Sigh.  I love the Magic Kingdom.  Pictures to come later because I’m too lazy to transfer them.

Fun facts from the Hard Rock Hotel

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The mirror in our room at the Hard Rock Hotel marks how tall various rock stars are.  I’m happy to know that I am taller than Madonna (she’s 5’4″) and surprised that Beyonce and I are the same height.  Twins, right?  Adele is taller than me – had no idea she was 5’9″.  John was relieved to see he’s taller than Justin Timberlake and a bit annoyed to find out he’s the same height as James Taylor.

Incredible

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When we were in Orlando four years ago, we went to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal with Ryan, and it was amazing.  THEN, Universal added a whole new section, and it’s BETTER.  It’s bigger, and it’s perfect. The first part, the part we’d seen before, is Hogsmeade and Hogwarts.  The new part is Diagon Alley, and the reveal as you walk in is just like in the movies.  Takes your breath away (and maybe I got a little happy-teary).  I’m not going to tell you everything or show you pictures because you have to go and see it for yourself.

If you’re meh about Harry Potter, you’ll be meh about this, but for the rest of us…it was amazing.

Vacation reading plan

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Yes, I have a vacation reading plan.  I finished my last library book Sunday night, so Monday I picked my tablet up again (Kindle app) for the first time in months.  I’ve got my tablet with me for most of my reading needs (plane, nighttime, plane again), and I picked up a couple of used paperbacks before we left as backups for poolside reading and in case my tablet’s battery dies on the plane (which is entirely possible – I will be looking for an actual Kindle soon).

This is all assuming I’ll be doing a lot of reading, which is actually less likely than normal.  Yes on the plane and in the airports during our multiple layovers, but will we spend much time at the pool when we have Universal and Disney to explore (and wedding stuff to do)?  Probably not. Will we be exhausted when we get back to hotel room at night?  Probably.  BUT.  I like to be prepared.  I can think of few things worse than having downtime and no book to read.  Hence the plan.

Who’s rushing?

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We got to Orlando late last night (after midnight), found our way to a hotel near the airport, and crashed.  This morning (Thursday) we slept in a little and then transferred to the Hard Rock Hotel, which is WAY COOL.  Our room wasn’t ready (we were early), so we left our bags and walked over the City Walk just outside Universal Studios.  Got a drink, and now we’re sitting outside in the shade with a breeze, just sitting.  Reading a little.  People-watching a little.  We’re waiting for our room, waiting to hear back from Evans and other friends about when John can try on his tux, just waiting.  No pressure, no rush.  Sure, we want to get into the park, but Evans has the tickets and if that happens later or tomorrow, no big deal.

Like, really, no big deal.  It’s life-changing.

U2’s “Where the Streets Have No Name” just came on and you can see the tension leave both of us.  Happy vacation, us.

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Because vacation is magic

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(Written Tuesday night)

All of my stress is going to melt away as soon as we get on our plane.  I know it will.  Because it will.  Tuesday was for laundry and packing.  Wednesday morning is for running around the house trying to figure out what I haven’t packed.  Later Wednesday morning will be for getting in the car with enough time to get to Portland, park in long-term parking, and get to the airport.  Drop off our luggage, get through security, hopefully not have to sprint for the gate, and then?  Then peace.  Then reading.  THEN NO MORE STRESS.  No stress for a whole week and a half.

I need this.  You can’t take it away from me.

We’re going to Disney World!

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We are going on an honest-to-god vacation TOMORROW.  Our road trip across the country was kinda fun, but we were moving – it doesn’t count as a vacation.  This will be the first trip we’ve taken together in quite some time that didn’t have some other motive, and it is way overdue.  Okay, fine.  There’s another motive, but only for the first three days.  John’s friend Ryan is getting married, and he lives in Orlando, so we’re going for the wedding (which is going to be so fun) and THEN we’re going to Disney World.

I’m so excited.  I love Disney World.  We’re staying at a Disney resort (I KNOW!), so we get EXTRA SPECIAL STUFF like Extra Magic Hours and…other stuff, I’m sure, but it’s the Extra Magic Hours that I care about.  And because we’re staying in a resort, we get these fancy wristbands that work as our room keys and our park tickets and we can pay for stuff with them and EVERYTHING.  AND THEY HAVE OUR NAMES ON THEM.  AND I GOT TO CHOOSE THE COLORS.  LOOK!!!!!!

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Okay, I’m excited.  I will be singing Disney songs for days.

But the wedding, yeah.  The wedding will be fun.  (For real – stay tuned for maximum fun.)

(I need this vacation so bad.)

 

Why haven’t I learned this lesson?

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You know what I hate?  I hate when I think Oh, I’ll write about that.  I’ll just jot down a note so I don’t forget, and then I DON’T jot down that note and I can’t remember what it was.  Seriously, I hate that.  Like, SO much.

I also need to stop writing about how I can’t remember things without writing them down.  LAME.

It’s a beautiful day, and I’m going to go outside for a few minutes.  Right now.  Look at me go.  Really, if this were a video, you wouldn’t be able to see me anymore.  You’d hear footsteps walking away and my voice fading as I got to the door.  The door opens, the door closes.  Silence.

Yeah, I’m going outside.

Owning it

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The other night, John and I went to Will and Christina’s house (new house – they live in Eugene now YAY!) for a friendly game of DUN DUN DUN….Dungeons and Dragons.  Yes, we are great big grown-up nerds, and we had a really good time.  John DM’d it, and Christina did her best to save our butts.

I chipped in by buying themed wine.  We drank this one, and I will be buying it again.  Good stuff.

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We didn’t get to this one, but it looks promising.  I’ll let you know.

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You know, I just took a closer look at the actual bottle, and there’s a picture of a squid on it.  That makes it decidedly less appetizing.  I’ll take the hit, though.  I’ll do that for you.

Melting

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It’s 96 degrees right now, after three days in a row over 100, and you know?  96 doesn’t feel better.  Tomorrow should.  I hope.  In the meantime, this whole no central AC in Oregon thing is a PROBLEM.  John is in Salem for a gig tonight, outside, probably no shade, so he’s got it worse than I do, but that’s not going to stop me from complaining.  My problems are still real!  This constant sheen of sweat is pretty darn gross.

I’m going to beat it as best I can.  I’m inside with a big box fan pointed right at me (and NOT pulling hot outside air in).  My laptop is on the coffee table streaming tonight’s Olympic track and field events so I can see the 5000m final live (yes, I moved my massage appointment – priorities!), I’ll be ordering food soon, and I have chilled white wine waiting for me.  I’m not sure why I haven’t opened it yet, actually.  Let me fix that.

IMG_20160820_164252Better.  And I’m chilling my wine chiller so I can just leave the bottle out next to me.  Let’s face it – John won’t be home for HOURS, and I plan to read and watch the Olympics all evening.

Watching it “live”

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I turned on the TV so I could have the Olympics on in the background while I wrote, and the women’s 5K is just starting.  Good timing for me.  I mean, I’m sure it was hours ago, but the men’s 5K was the race that was so awesome at the trials, so I’m excited.

Ooh, this is like live-blogging.  And by “like live-blogging”, I mean it is live-blogging.  Except that this probably happened hours ago.  But it’s happening right now on my TV!

Okay, the Japanese woman in the lead (right at the beginning) is wearing sunglasses.  No one else is wearing sunglasses.  Maybe her eyes are super sensitive to light?  It looks a little weird.

They’re running in tankinis.  I noticed that for some of the races (running and swimming), the athletes have been more covered up than in the past, but apparently not this one.  I just can’t imagine running in underwear.

Aaaaannnnd I’m back to hating NBC TV coverage. They just cut away from the race for commercials.  It only takes 15 minutes!  I have a 15-minute attention span, NBC, and I WANT TO SEE THIS RACE.  We’re switching to the website.

Wait, they’re back.  Oh, and they cut away to an old race.  COME ON.

Back, and the leader (who is no longer the Japanese woman) is WAY out in front.  Let’s see if she keeps that kind of lead.

Oh, whoops, there goes her lead.  But MAN, she looks relaxed.  That’s my goal.  I don’t need to hit that kind of speed (sub 5-minute miles – like I’ll ever come close), but I need to look that comfortable.

DAMN they’re going fast.

Oh, they look so happy!  I’m avoiding say WHO looks so happy because SOME people like to watch their races without knowing who won.  I know I was complaining about the NBC TV coverage, but at least if you’re watching it on TV, they assume you’re watching it “live” and they don’t tell you who won.  Online, for any events that are over, you can’t avoid knowing the winner when you search for the videos.  Believe me, I tried.  Even the URLs for the videos have the winners in them.  And yeah, I’ll watch them anyway, but most of the excitement is NOT KNOWING HOW IT ENDS.

I’m seriously thinking about moving my massage appointment tomorrow so I can be home to watch the actual livestream of the men’s 5000m final and NOT know who won.  John will be away (gig), but then when he watches it later, I can safely search for the video and start it for him.  Yeah, I might do that.

Losing daylight

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It’s August, the sun is coming up later in the morning, and for inexplicable reasons (some misplaced dedication to work?), I’m getting up earlier during the week. And that means it’s dark.  I am up before the sun rises (it was still dark when I started this post), and I’m of two minds about it.  Maybe three.

First mind: I like being up (once I’m up), and being up this early means I have the entire day ahead of me.  When I get up after the sun is up, I feel like I’ve lost precious hours.  Not work hours – they’re not precious, although I do feel massively behind if I don’t start work early.  I mostly feel like I’ve lost hours when I sleep in on weekends.

Second mind: *whining* It’s daa-aark out there, and I should still be sleeeeeping.

Third mind…no, just two.  Two is enough.

I won’t be breaking any records soon

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This weekend flew by.  We went to Oak Ridge for a gig yesterday (pretty drive, but it was hot as hell out there), and then I dragged Christina shopping with me today.  I’ve had more successful shopping trips.  Christina was really good about putting up with me in store after store, thank goodness.  I owe her for that.

We’re traveling for a wedding soon, and I’m starting to feel stress about taking off work.  Combine that with making sure I have everything I’ll need for nearly two weeks away from home, and I’m not exactly relaxed.

The running events have started, though, and that helps.  I spent a couple hours this afternoon watching the coverage online (because NBC on TV SUCKS).  Saw some great races.  I should go running, even if it’s just the pseudo-running I can do right now.

Yup, still weird

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I biked in the park this afternoon for the first time in a couple of weeks, and once again, the park didn’t let me down.  Today, I saw the biker guy from The Village People walking down the sidewalk with a calico cat on his shoulder.  It’s just as well the guy was wearing a leather motorcycle jacket (although I don’t know how he can handle that in 95 degree heat) because that cat must have had her claws in deep to be as still as she was.

Some thoughts

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Simone Biles is wearing glitter eyeliner, and it’s making my eyes water.  How is glitter not getting in her eyes?  Maybe it’s magic glitter eyeliner.  She’s got connections.

I helped an old lady with the treadmill at the gym today.  She thought I was 30.  She’s my new best friend.

When I went outside to take the trash out to the curb, I found a scary looking spider in the middle of a web that was stretched between the trash bin and the recycling bin.  Both had to go to the street, so I had to destroy the web.  I’m afraid that spider will be looking for revenge.  Better put my spider traps out tonight.*

*Yeah, I don’t know.  I don’t have spider traps.