Lost in Space

Last week was spent with the computer down and out in Beverly Hills. Therefore I could not blog, and all of you were miserable with out me, I just know it.

I have still not missed a workout since my bout with the stomach flu, but have still not lost one pound (except for the weight I lost when I HAD the stomach flu, go figure). I worry my bet with LP may not be fulfilled, I will keep trucking though. I know muscle weighs more than fat, and this is what keeps me going on the treadmill.

I'm so excited...and it is not because the weather has been especially awful lately. Within one hour last week I cemented my summer concert plans and spent mega bucks...on FOO FIGHTERS tickets AND Tom Petty & the Heartbreaker tickets w/ Steve Winwood!!! So LP and I have guaranteed us at the least two date nights for this summer. I love Steve Winwood. Tom Petty, he's OK, but it is at the outdoor venue in St. Louis and just about any concert there is fun. Plus I'll be with LP and his new car, if he lets me ride in it still after scratching it.

Next we have my big purchase. Yes, I've been saving my pennies, nickels and dimes to get it. I did an 'outside' job to make the money to afford myself an iPhone. It is so much fun, I love it and the main reason I got it was the iTunes capability. It is very fun to work out with. It was between that and the Tilt, which is the much less advertised equivilant to the iPhone. I got the latter because the Tilt is for nerdy techno geeks like my husband, and I'm just a soccer mom tryin' to get through the week without forgetting to make it to a practice.

No, this blog has not become a cell phone review site, but I have to tell you that everyone in America should have access to YouTube the way I do. Okay, maybe not. For posterity, the first video I watched was, naturally, the Foo Fighters "Pretender" video, and then, Men At Work's "Down Under". Because I am an incredibly diverse individual. And my instant access to You Tube has taught me watching walruses dance to Michael Jackson may just be more important than any presidential race going on.

OK, so last but certainly not least it was Rug's First Communion this weekend, and we had the family over. This is what I wanted to post last week, about how my in-laws are just the most fun-loving gang of people you'd ever want to be around. I kid, of course. They're direct from Satan's Helpers, and could use a little Tequila dancing to cheer them up (and if you know that vague Pee Wee Herman reference, you are forever endeared to me).

Anyway, my mother-in-law from Hell...(which could be shortened to MILFH but that looks far too close to MILF which, in case you didn't know, is an acronym for something far nicer than she ever will be) has in the last 12 years of my wedded bliss to LP, destroyed my esteem and beaten my self-assuredness to a pulp. I have chosen not to speak of these people often on this blog, with exception for the one sentence mention of their insanity, because I do not like to give them air time. Plus I never wanted to be the person who smack talks behind their backs.

Okay, I'm just rambling. The point is, my MILFH has made it quite clear that she believes I am a blundering idiot. Which I am not. (Contrary to what I may have told you) She has taken it upon herself to declare HER daughter (my sister-in-law, my husband's step-sister) the Official Cake Maker of Any and All Family Get Togethers. So when I told her I would be making the cake for Rug's Communion, she scoffed and said, "Well, I think SIL should do it. You need to ask her first before you do it." Uh, no, I don't. It's MY kid's Communion, I should be able to make the cake, right?

So, for 2 weeks I spent researching cake decorating, and planning and buying and more or less making the kitchen a den for cursing and pan throwing. LP steered clear. Finally, I achieved a final product, and while everyone raved about how good the cake was, all my MILFH said was, "I couldn't help but notice you don't have any ROSES on your cake."
Ogre.

Okay, getting that off of my chest, there were many, many other things said and done yesterday that makes me come to the conclusion I can no longer allow such negative behavior be viewed by my children. I'm terrible at confrontations, but something must be done. Any in law advice would be of great help. I really prefer positive attitudes and general respect of others to what I've been dished out here.
But, once again being a Tigger and not an Eeyore, the day was beautiful, Rug was gorgeous, and I am so blessed with an amazing family.

And Mo has finally learned how to say "Mommy"!!! She still says "Spongebob" a lot more, but I'll take anything I can get at this point!! So she confuses me with a square sponge, so what?

Here is a picture of MY cake, and of course it is not from Ace of Cakes but it was made with a helluva lot of love:

take the 80s quiz

I was Righteous!
I scored 90% on the

Take the 80s quizby SheGoddess: Quick Weight Loss

I believe the night LP fell in love with me was at a party and I was the only one who knew who sang "Love My Way". My 80s music knowledge seriously cuts into my brain's ability to remember where I left my purse.

It's back Baby...Stuff Portrait Friday!

So funny, but I was just thinking the other day how Stuff Portrait Fridays always made me motivated to post. It has returned, and Kristine has given us an easy (but is it?) assignment this week:

Your favorite Picture

So I am going to cheat, as I usually do, and give you my favorite pictures of each of my family members instead.



I've shown this one before, it's me in New York on my 30th birthday. That was such an awesome trip.



Mmmm. LP. 2005.



Al winning 1st place in a soccer tournament. That smile is genuine! I wish I could sell that!



I know, this also has Al in it, but if this picture does not represent all that is my Rug, I don't know what is. Her shirt says it all. She is a funny, funny girl.


here is a better one. Striking a pose, as usual.

of course, my little Mo.

So, did you play???

5 Things Making Me Laugh

1. My daughter telling me, "When my teacher was handing out the math tests, my stomach took a lurch!"

Uh...what?

2. My dad telling me that when they met with the lawyer for my aunt's estate, my mother left the room and the lawyer said to my dad, "Sir, do you drink?" My dad said, "No, why?" The lawyer gestured towards my mom and replied, "You probably should."

3. Mo has some new dance moves, including the "Right Leg Stomp", and the "Shoulder Shrug". I need to find how to get video on this blog, you would laugh too! **As a bonus, LP laughs when you ask her, "Where's Mommy?" And she she says, "Da-da?"

4. Lewis Black. Granted, he always makes me laugh, but recently on Comedy Central, he voted Oprah the Root of All Evil. I couldn't agree more. If my mother read that last sentence, HER stomach would take a lurch.

5. The weather. Rain all week, rain this weekend...but today, today the sun is shining. What more could anyone ask?

Last Day of Disney

I have to finish this before I go back to Disney next time. This is the last day, so we didn't do too much so it won't be a long post. Hopefully.

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On our last day we got up pretty early and checked out of our hotel. I was finally able to return a sweatshirt that I had purchased where the guy at the store had accidentally left the big ink thingee on it, and the women at the gift store were insisting I find the receipt first before they took it off. Luckily I found it, on the last day, as we were packing up to leave!

We took a vote and our last day was to be spent at MGM/Hollywood Studios. That Tower of Terror is just our very favorite ride. It was looking to be an incredibly nice day. We were all wearing shorts.

We got there at the rope drop, and headed straight for Tower of terror. I kept Mo and we went shopping for some souvenirs. I was hoping to find some stuff with Malevicent on it, she is my favorite villain. No such luck. It is amazing what you can buy at Disney...from $1.00 to $25,000.00 (which is how much this crystal castle will set you back)



Al had saved up all of her souvenir money to buy one thing...a Precious Moment. (Gag) She loves the things, and at one of the Art of Disney stores they had a Precious Moment made exclusively for the Parks. She got one of Cinderella's castle, and as Precious Moments go, it's a pretty neat one. She was thrilled.

While we were there, we waited around to see the Incredibles. My favorite picture from our Disney trip in 2005 of us with them, and we just love that movie. While I was asking the cast member how long it would be, this Brazilian woman bursts in, speaking frantically, "Where are the Incrrrrrediblllles? I must see them!" She was supposed to be meeting her kids in 15 minutes but the only characters she wanted to see in all of Disney World were the Incredibles.

She stood in front of me in line, and behind me was a newlywed couple from Iowa. This Brazilian women proceeded to talk about her trip and how different Americans are from Brazilians. She was telling us how she tried to give Ariel (the Little Mermaid) a hug and everyone freaked out. "No touching!" she said, "In my country, we are ahhh..." and she gave me a great big hug. I told her not all Americans are like that, but yeah, most of us like our personal space personal! She was so exuberant and bright and friendly, I just adored her. Finally Mr and Mrs. Incredible came out, and this woman went CRAZY. "Mrs. Incredible! I love you! I love you! I love you because you have CURVES! ooooh, you are so CURVY!!" I took her camera and got her picture and she was just in heaven. We stepped up to get our picture with them, and she was still telling Mrs. Incredible how much she loved her. I'm sure the person in the costume was ecstatic...I do not think Mrs. Incredible usually gets that much attention! I'm obviously still cracking up at that lady when they took this shot:


Next we rode "Star Tours" several times...and although my favorite movie is Star Wars, this ride is super cheezeball. I do love the At-At in the front though. We went to see "Muppets in 3-D" which was entertaining and I think the only 3-D Mo actually enjoyed. She didn't put the glasses on, but she liked getting squirted with water, etc.

Al and Rug were FINALLY getting into pin trading, of course, it was the last day. They saw Kim Possible (from Disney channel) and I made them get a picture.



LP took the girls to ride Rock N roller Coaster one more time, and I stood out by the guitar with Mo. Now, Mo, she likes to dance. And I mean SHAKE it kind of dancing.(learned from her father no doubt) There was Aerosmith music blasting out everywhere, she could not be contained. A very young PhotoPass photographer spotted her and just kept taking several pictures of her. I think it was love at first sight!





I think it made his day, honestly. Her dancing can cheer just about anyone up.

The last thing we did was took Mo to play at the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. She loved it.


I made reservations for the 50's Prime Time Cafe for lunch. The premise is, well, your grandmother's/mother's kitchen in the 50s. It was dead on. And let me tell you, the entertainment value of a 'mom' yelling at your husband for not having a napkin on his lap is PRICELESS to children. My kids still talk about it. I was behaved, because it was so eerily similar to my grandma's kitchen, (plus I had their meatloaf...) I thought for sure she was going to come around the corner and make sure I'd eaten everything on my plate.



As we left, the High School Musical parade was just finishing up, and as we headed towards the exit, Mo reallllllllly wanted to walk. On her own. No grown-up hands to hold. LP was not having it, and Mo was NOT very pleased. And I snapped the best shot of the trip:



Fabulous, no? We call this "Meltdown with Mickey". Pure bliss that is.

We stopped off at the greatest outlet mall EVER (Adidas! I can't get enough of ye!) and as we left Orlando, it began to rain. Hard. I was already planning our next trip.

I know February was harder because I had Disney Depression, which is a clinically recognized malady. I'm hoping I can get back there soon.

You know what is even more depressing? We are thinking about taking the girls somewhere in a few weeks on their spring break, and do you know where the closest place is from us? That's right....Branson, Missouri. Well it ain't Disney but I know I'll be able to get some real nice corn cob pipes to bring home as souvenirs.

I'm all over the place.

This weekend consisted of Mo throwing up, Al hurling and me being near comatose from it all. I haven't been able to eat since Thursday, and from what I remember, I don't think it was all that great of a meal. If I'm going to be sick for 4 days I'd like to at least have a fond memory of food. Not so much. Even a Cadbury egg right now would make me run to the bathroom.

But hey, I've lost 6 pounds! Look, I've been trying to lose FIVE pounds for a month, and in one weekend I've already lost more than that. I can guarantee that this is NOT the way anyone should ever lose weight. Bulimics, I shall NEVER understand.

My mother just called to tell me that when my dad went to donate all of my aunt's clothes to Goodwill, he 'accidentally' donated some of MY MOM'S clothes too!!! I fell off my chair laughing. That is so something they would do. Cracking me up.

I wish I could wax poetic about my weekend. I don't even have the energy to write a haiku about the new mattress we bought. Maybe someone else can inspire me.

"Try it out" he says
Salesman at the mattress store
LP winks at me!

Okay, that wasn't so good. I'll just go back to drinking my ginger ale and popping my Peptos.

Do I always have to have a title?

Got back Monday night from Dixon. Now there is a rocking town. Hardly. I was very happy to see it in my rearview mirror as we left. I did get a picture of Ronald reagan's boyhood home, which was apparently a block away from my aunt's apartment. Uh, that's not too hard as this was a pretty small town.

Everyone in the town showed up at her funeral. I was not surprised at all, my aunt was larger than life. She was a Ya-Ya for sure, driving all her friends around town. She didn't even own a toaster, because why bother when she had people to see at all the local restaurants!

We spent much of Sunday night going through old pictures she had in boxes, and I found this one of my mom with her family circa 1955. They were living in Hawaii at the time. I love my grandpa's pink bow! I'm sure my grandmother picked it out, pink was her favorite color. I never met my uncle, he died before I was born. It's just so funny to think of my mother as a teenager. She was a good one I'm sure, to this day angst is one of her best traits.

We got dumped with about 7 inches of snow yesterday and the girls had a blast playing in it. Atlanta is looking better and better all the time.....

Parenting Chapter 4

I believe someone took the chapter "How to Teach your Child About the Unfairness of Life" out of my handbook and burned it.

I'm at a loss. My daughter's heart broke yesterday and I can't fix it. I can only dilude her with bad aphorisms and terrible cliches. My biggest hope is she can pick herself up by those gorgeous ears and move forward. Oh, this parenting this is such a roller coaster.

I will be headed to Dixon, Illinois today for my great aunt's funeral. Dixon is the Birthplace or Home place or whatever of Ronald Reagan. My grandmother grew up there and was once rescued by Ronnie himself as she was a bad swimmer and he was a lifeguard.

And for the record, yes, it was me who put the first scratch on LP's new car. I'm like the anti-King Midas. I touch something and it turns to mold!

Crazy few days

What a rollercoaster of a few days! My great aunt died last night, and I'd love to do a post on her but I realized I have no pictures of her, and believe me, you'd have to see her. She was a pretty cool lady.

Also my Rug has been diagnosed with GERD, or gastroesphageal reflux disease. She constantly is having bouts of throwing up, out of nowhere, and then she'd be fine. So yesterday we were driving to school and she had me stop the car so she could puke. I took her to the doctor, and now she is on Zantac twice a day. Oh the fun.

Mo is testing the limits. We are in that zone of the child rearing process. Yesterday she got stuck in the cat's little tunnel/sleeping area. She loves to scream and pull hair when she does not get her way. It's a great time.

My other two were already talking a lot by this time, she is just lazy I guess. She signs easily and understands what we're saying, but the only things she will say are "Meow" (it's been 6 months now, she says it consistently to any and every animal we come across.), "Da-Da" (any human being) and "SpongeBob" (Bob-Bob) which, is in reality, the only thing she knows for sure and will point him out everywhere. Thank goodness for merchandising. It's helping my daughter's vocabulary.

I've not missed a workout in three weeks and I'm very proud of this fact. LP and I have made a HUGE bet, and if I can win, I will be the happiest girl on Earth at the Happiest PLACE on earth. Can you believe that? I made a bet that involves Disney. That is just ridiculous. Anyway, once I've lost a certain # of poundages, I will let you in on the bet. It's fantastic. To me, anyway.

Did anyone catch Rick Springfield on Oprah the other day? I do not watch Oprah, and i only heard about it right before it started (one of my friends called) but I was already knee deep in my workout and didn't want to stop. I know! You'd think Rick had more control over me than that. Don't worry, his songs are on my iPod so it's not like I have completely lost my mind, right? He's still my #1.

February, or as I like to call it, Depressyouary

Every February is the same, I get the serious blues. Nothing in particular, but just about anything can set me off in a downward spiral of mopiness. I've been on a regular workout schedule now though since New Year's and it is definitely helping, well, at least helping me not to stick my head in the microwave, but I am still contemplating say, the toaster.

LP is really pushing the Atlanta move. He is ready to get outta the Midwest. I can't say I disagree, I mean, we've both lived here all our lives and we neither one say to people, 'oh, it's great you should move here'. Because you shouldn't. It's dirty, boring, and I drive 3 hours in any direction and I'm on a farm. Plus the weather is atrocious and I am 100% sure attributes every year to my February blahs. It was 14 frickin' degrees out there this weekend people. That is not cheery weather. And did I mention we're near the once notorious "Murder capital of the U.S." East St. Louis? And St. Louis was recently rated #3 on the "Most Stressed City in the U.S." list!

But.

My mom and dad are here. And I adore my parents. They have made me into the neurotic mess that I am today, and there is something to be said to put that much into a crazy. It takes a lot of effort to make one as dysfunctional as myself. And I can't just up and leave them. Because they will not follow. No sir, those roots are stuck, planted and not coming up. So there lies the dilemma.

*Sigh*

So, I need to finish up this Disney trip. After that, I might close up shop. I don't know. If we move I might start an Atlanta blog. My creative juices right now are at an all time low. I do write this for posterity and to remember my kids being young, but it is getting harder and harder to do. I'll keep you 'posted', ha ha.

Oh and one more thing. Remember the picture of LP in the convertible? Yeah, he bought it. So now he has a brand new Saab convertible. He is going out of town soon so guess who will be driving the kids around in something OTHER than a minivan? That ought to shake my blues away!!!

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Okay well I will finish up Disney later. Mo is wanting to play computer.

Speaking of...

Since I truly am not able to do anything (example: I just made mac and cheese and put WAY too much milk in it.) I want SO badly to change my blog look, the background, fonts, ANYTHING, but when I start reading the tutorials I start getting rashes and hives and completely black out. Is anyone willing to help me or is capable of doing so? I'd really like a change.

Oh, and there is one thing I can do right. Produce BEAUTIFUL babies. :)

Jana Say Disney: Day 7...Magic Kingdom

Good heavens it's almost March and I'm still not done with this thing. LP suggested I write a book. Yeah I'm sure that would be a best seller.

Can I just tell you that I'm not good at ANYTHING? No, it's actually true. One day, Rug was telling her Daddy how great he was at math, and at fixing things, and yada yada yada, and I said, "Well, what am I good at?"

Her response?

"Oh mommy you are a good tracer."

A TRACER. That is how I will go down in my life. LP has promised me he will put that on my grave stone. "JanaSayQua, Loving Wife, Beloved Mom, Good Tracer."

Ah-yi-yi.

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Day 7, Wednesday at Magic Kingdom

Today I had two character meals reserved. Breakfast with Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland, Mad Hatter. For dinner it was the Winnie-The-Pooh gang. We did decide today that since we'd already spent so much time at MK on Monday, that since AK was having extra magic hours, that we would leave MK early to go there and ride Expedition Everest again.

Our reservations for breakfast were for 8:20 a.m. and LP drove to the Grand Floridian and dropped us off to park. He took a VERY long time to get back. Rug had the vibrating thingee, and I was trying to keep up with Mo who was running all over the place. The Grand Floridian is THE nicest hotel on Disney property, it costs about $500 a night to stay there. And Mo proceeded to crouch down in the middle of the lobby and poop.

That's when I realized the diaper bag was in the car.

I knew that if it was taking this long to park, LP must've had to park in Disney LAND so I knew there wasn't going to be another trip back to the car. I saw a woman who had a baby about Mo's age and asked to borrow a diaper. She was more than helpful, and said that it had happened to her before as well. Lovely. So I changed Mo in the super deluxe fancy schmancy bathroom and luckily our buzzer soon went off.

I immediately went up to the buffet to get some food for Mo so she would be occupied. Apparently Mary Poppins stopped by while I was gone. They'd already seen her at Epcot, but still got a picture.



Tigger was 'bouncing from table to table and Mo was giggling so much. I think she was finally used to the big characters and was having a ball watching him. She even hugged him when he came to our table.


After breakfast we drove over to the MK parking lot and took the monorail to MK. No drama today! The only thing LP wanted was to make sure Mo got to ride It's A Small World. I'm not sure why, but he just really wanted her to. First we went through Tomorrowland and stopped off at the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, which was hysterical. It was hosted by Mike Wazowski and was a stand-up comedy act full of monsters. The jokes were really great. We were all cracking up.

We rode Peter Pan's Ride first and then went to It's a Small World, and there was no line at all.


LP was so excited, and thought Mo would think this ride was the neatest thing ever.

Yep, you guessed it. She immediately fell asleep!!

So we went to Mickey's Philharmagic while she was sleeping, and also took the opportunity to ride Haunted Mansion. She slept through it all.


Haunted horse carriage, in front of the Haunted Mansion.

We sat near the Country Bear Jamboree and ate some treats, i had the best snickerdoodle cookie I've ever had, and the girls ate some fudge. My goal on this trip was to find a "Dole Whip" which I've read is the best snack IN DisneyWorld, but we still never got around to it. The girls came very close to winning a pin from one of the CM, but ended up trading for some neat pins instead.

Next we headed to ToonTown where we wanted Mo to play, but it was getting very hot and we were all pretty tired. Although I did not forget anything on this trip, I did fail miserably in choosing clothing. it was almost 80 degrees that day, and Mo was in a long-sleeved dress. I bought her a Tinkerbell onesie and we took the train back to Main Street.

The one thing I wanted to do while we were there is get Mo's first haircut. She has a LOT of hair, so it wasn't going to be difficult to do! She was so good and she got a pair of Mickey ears that say "My First Haircut" after she was done.




As she was getting her haircut, LP saw two characters signing autographs, and didn't know who they were. I recognized them from old Disney cartoons. Fortunately, in the hotel there was a 'classic' disney cartoon channel, and the girls were able to see them in a cartoon later that evening. Horace and Clarabelle. I think Clarabelle was actually Goofy's girlfriend at one time.


We went back to the hotel and LP and I did some packing, the girls went down to the pool to swim (we'd heard that all week--can we swim? can we swim? I didn't realize the need to swim was so embedded in a child's brain) and Mo took a bath. We got to AK around 4:30 and got our bracelets for the extra magic hours. We rode Expedition Everest again (still awesome) and went to eat dinner at a place called Yak and Yeti LP was convinced we could eat there but I thought we needed reservations. That wasn't the case though and it was the best food we had. We all LOVE Chinese food, and this was delicious.

The whole time we were there it looked like it was about to pour, the sky was black. LP's knees were not working at all. It never rained though! The only time it ever rained was the Saturday we had soccer games, and we were already sleeping!

Next we did Child Swap and rode Dinosaur. I rode with the girls first, and I mean to tell you this was the scariest ride I've ever been on! And I do not scare easily. Big ol' dinos jumping out from everywhere. I can't imagine a young kid riding this, it would scar them forever. While LP rode with the girls, I walked down a pathway to a gift shop to pick up a water, and talk about Disney detail...while walking through this small path of foliage, it sounded like dinosaurs were sifting their way through the leaves. ANd since it was completely dark, wow, it was really cool. Mo thought it was neat too, saying 'oooooooh' back at the elusive dinos.

There wasn't much more to do, so we headed for It's Tough to Be a Bug, which gave us a chance to get closer to the Tree of Life. It is so amazing. Mo did NOT like this show at all. It was one of those 'it's almost over, it's almost over' kinds of shows. Stink bugs, spiders, mean grasshoppers, can't say I blame her.

We were all tired so we went back to the hotel and crashed. And watched cartoons. Here is the last picture I got, not a good one, but at least Mo enjoyed one ride at Animal Kingdom:



Next up: Last day at Disney and it finally rains! :(

Jana say Disney: Day 6 Epcot Con't.

Holy moley I should go see a doctor. Can't seem to shake this thing. My lungs feel like someone is gripping them tightly and my nose runs like the Mississippi. Yet I have the strength and courage to continue to blog...ah, the sacrifices I make.

And I gave up cursing for Lent. I may not seem to curse a lot on this blog, but in my real life I'm a sailor. A dirty sailor, at that. It's been very difficult for me to stop calling people a$$hats. There's just so many of them!

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Day 6 continued...will I ever finish this thing?

We arrived back into Future World and Al got some more pressed pennies and I became the Official babysitter of the Monchichis. Did I mention how much I hate stuffed animals? Egads. Off to Soarin'. LP stayed back with Mo, amongst a very large and very vocal Brazilian tour group.

While we were in line for Soarin' a man in line behind me gave me his fast passes for Test Track. This would help, as our FPs weren't until later, and the ones he gave us were earlier in time. That meant less time in Future World, more time back at World Showcase! Woot! We were happy to see Putty from Seinfeld was our host for Soarin', and we were in the 3rd row of the ride. Note: Never, ever get on the 3rd row. I don't know if it was all the hype of this ride, but Al, Rug and I ALL conceded that this was our LEAST favorite ride of the whole trip. Not sure, it just reminded me of the old "Chevy Show" that used to play at Six Flags. It was cool when you flew over the pine trees you could smell pine, but I must've been directly under the thing that pumped out the smell, because it really stunk. Al was being all snarky, oh wow, we're flying woo hoo sort of thing. When we got off neither one of them wanted to ride again, so we gave our Child Swaps to someone else. LP was not disappointed as he was more excited about riding Test Track.

We headed to Test Track and as I sat and waited for them to go first, the fountains near the Spaceship Earth were dancing similar to the Bellagio. It was gorgeous. I swear every time they rode a ride, I found some 'secret' Disney thing to enjoy.

Test Track is sponsored by GM so of course there was a show room of GM cars. And guess what was there? The SAAB convertible LP has been lusting over for a year now. So I sprawled all over it as he was walking off the ride. I'm surprised he didn't jump on me like David Coverdale on Tawny Kitaen in that Whitesnake video.

Please note, this picture will come in handy in a future post. Remember, for Valentine's Day I got him a test drive in this car--theres a story there!

After he was done drooling I took the girls back on Test Track. The idea is that you are one of the 'test dummies' in the test car and you get to go over several of the tests they give the car, bad road conditions, cold and hot conditions, hairpin turns...getting hit by a TRUCK...it was a good time.

I told LP we'd meet him at Club Cool. I'd read about it on my website, basically it's just a big advertisement for Coca Cola. There are several samples of Coca Cola products made around the country. Apparently there is one called the "Beverly" that is so awful, it causes many to lose their lunch. Of course I didn't tell them this. But I had my camera ready.

Riley drinking the Beverly:



And Alex:

The faces say it all. It was disgusting!

We rode a Nemo ride for Mo and we headed back to World Showcase, starting with Mexico. We ate churros and I think that's it because someone needed to use the restroom and apparently there weren't any?




So while whoever was going to the bathroom at Norway, I went and grabbed a lefse and something to drink. I remember my ex-boyfriend, who was 100% Norwegian, talking about lefse and how good it was. Oh boy, was he wrong. Like I ever trusted him in the first place. Blech.
Norway: (this is NOT my ex-boyfriend, but if looks matched his personality it would be)

We traveled to China and everyone got egg rolls and pot stickers. The Chinese shop was really fun to visit, and the CM at the "Kidcot" table (for their masks) was very entertaining to the girls and wrote their names in Chinese on their masks. It was already getting dark so we weren't able to see much.
I was a bit worried about this PhotoPass photographer, he was making the family before us pose in all these ridiculous positions, hey I'm all for fun but just take the darn picture could ya? This is not Glamour Shots.

Next up was Germany which was very excited to visit, being 90% German and all. We weren't able to hear all the Oktoberfest music, but we did sit down and have bratwurst and LP had his weight in sauerkraut. Mo really wanted to walk around here. The whole pavillion reminded me of my Grandma's with the cuckoo clocks and the smell of German food. Being German we always have a pickle on our Christmas tree. I don not however, have a pickle TREE:

These Disney pickles were $11 apiece. I got mine at Kohl's for 90 cents last year.
After Germany was Italy and LP was feeling amorous, only because, you guessed it, more soccer jerseys. He never bought one though. We didn't eat in Italy, I think because the only restaurants were sit down. We also had a Monchichi incident where Rug left hers in one of the gift shops. Luckily he was still sitting there, looking all Monchichi'd out.
Next stop was America. The girls did some pin trading and I got yelled at for trying to take my beer into the Pavillion. Whoops! But isn't that what America is about? Being able to drink my beer wherever I so please, right? I didn't have a wifebeater on, so I guess that made my ineligible. The pavillion was really neat, they even had some Abraham Lincoln memorabilia. I didn't get good pics though, and Mo really enjoyed the shrub garden maze. The garden was beautiful, with roses named after presidents.

After grabbing some sushi in Japan (I had to have SOME, even if it was just counter service) we headed to Canada to plant our butts to get a seat for the fireworks. I waited in a very long line to get a really delicious bag of popcorn. The fireworks started and immediately Mo started screaming. So off we went, ending our day at Epcot. (The fireworks were spectacular though!!)


Next up: Magic Kingdom with Mo and Who Got Their First Haircut At Disney World?

Jana say Disney: Day 6 Epcot

Tuesday was a SLEEPING IN kind of day. With no Mo keeping us up all night like the nights before, we slept SO well. She just wasn't used to somewhere other than her own bed I guess.

Our plan today was eat somewhere off Disney after picking up Mo from his mom's, then Epcot, but the words "let's not make this an all day day" slipped out, as if we weren't going to go balls to the walls again. As if.

We made our way to his mom's and Mo was not really eager to see us. I guess she was getting used to living in luxury. Too bad, missy, we picked you to be in our family not the other way around! You've gotta live with us!

After we left, we decided to drive down the highway to find somewhere to eat, preferably a Bob Evans or such. We found a very, very sketchy Shoney's. I was ready to go and really didn't want to drive all over looking for a place to eat. It was STILL $45 for us to have breakfast. Wow. At least we were full. And of course Mo loaded up her pants as soon as I sat down to eat. Yes, she has impeccable timing.

We got to Epcot around 10 a.m. Our goal was to ride Mission Space first, then Test Track and Soarin'. These are the 3 big rides there, so we'd have to get FPs for one of them. I told LP I'd go get a FP for Soarin' while they all got ready to ride Mission: Space. (I was not interested in riding a ride that requires barf bags) Soarin' was ALL the way on the other side. I can honestly say I have a very good judge of character, and in this case, I knew instantly Epcot was not going to be my favorite park. But of course I was willing to give it another chance!


LP, Rug and Al went to ride Mission: Space and Mo and I walked over to "Innoventions" which to me just seemed like a lame science center. I did find a place to email postcards of our faces, but couldn't remember anybody's address! I tried to let her walk around, but there were just too many people. So we walked back to the entrance of Mission Space but noticed a small crowd gathering. It was yet another 'street acting' thing, but this different. They were three men, dressed as sanitation workers, with garbage cans, brooms, sweepers, but they stopped in the middle of the walkway and started playing music a la STOMP. I let Mo out of her stroller (FREEDOM!) and she just went nuts. She was jamming and shaking her tush all over the place. Afterwards, a woman came up to me and told me she was the cutest thing she'd ever seen! One of the men gave her a sticker for being a 'junior jammer'. She is going to be my jivin' mamma.



I took them into Innoventions and we attempted to email another postcard, not sure if it even worked. Nobody ever mentioned it, and there was a couple in front of us that sent 5 different pictures to about 1000 different people. Not worth it!

All morning LP kept talking about how it was going to just downpour. As though he was an old man and felt it in his knee joints. It never rained. Not a drop. Maybe his knees are just predicting good weather and he doesn't realize it.

Epcot is divided into two areas: Future World and World Showcase. Future World is where we were, and where all the rides are, as well as the big Epcot ball. World Showcase has pavillions for several countries.

Since LP was CONVINCED it was going to pour, he wanted to go to World Showcase before, as he put it, 'the skies unleashed all hell'. I was irritated with all the lines at Epcot anyway, and was just not feeling it. Future World did not make me feel promising about the Future. At least our IMMEDIATE future, at Epcot.

The first country we visited was Canada. Yeah, really exotic right? I think we were hitting a total lull and all of us were feeling it. The crankiness had set in and was rearing its ugly face.

I'd read on my favorite Disney website (wdwinfo.com) that at the beginning of your 'journey' at Epcot you can get a mask, and as you make your way around the countries, each will have a place to do a craft, get a stamp and a 'symbol' of that country to attach to the mask. This ended up being the coolest souvenirs my kids got, and it was F-R-E-E.

Ah but first we had to pick what color. And since there was crankiness there was 'mom she copied off of me' to be done. But I sat them down at the table, in the a/c (it was hot...no rain) and they made designs on their masks. Even Mo got one. We didn't stay long in Canada because, well, it was Canada. But after a few minutes relaxing, all of us were recharged, and realizing that the World Showcase was a LOT different than the Future World.

In each country I told the girls to pretend that they were natives of that country. I didn't get much effort.
Canada:


We were also hoping to see Brother Bear but he wasn't around. Next up was Britain. I could NOT get LP out of the stores there. I thought for sure he would get a pint but he didn't. He was fixated on the coats of arms. Of course he bought one. They also had a ton of soccer jerseys in there so he was in heaven. I did enjoy the Beatles store and trying to explain to my poor misguided children about how the Beatles impacted my life. They were too busy begging for pennies for the penny press. Mo got to hear a lot about the Beatles. She listened. Here the girls perfect their British waves on the streets of London:


And Mary Poppins was visiting, and told the girls they were much too giggly and would have to try to get them down from the ceiling if they didn't mind.



By this time Mary Poppins had made us all feel supercalifragilisticexpialadocious and we were truly enjoying World Showcase. It ended being one of the highlights of our trip. The Say Quas are not ones for lines and gotta go and do everything kind of mentality. We like to take it easy. Slower paced, that's our style. This was great. I could breathe again.

France was incredible. I could imagine that there were truly parts of France that had the feel of this pavillion. The French music in the background, it was gorgeous. We had wanted to sample foods from all the countries, but we figured Canada and Britain were pretty close to America, so we started with France. I took the girls to get their masks done and they were totally enamored with the French boy who spoke with them. (all CMs in the countries are usually if not always FROM that country) He was quite a cutie. We then went to the French perfume shop and I had to seriously hold myself back from buying some. Across from there was a small wine shop, and I had a sample of Riesling. It was just what a Mamma needed. I could have probably gotten pretty ripped if I wanted to. Oh the girls also saw Aurora, aka Sleeping Beauty:



We walked across the 'street' and LP got a table outside and I took the older girls into the Boulangerie Patisserie, a French bakery and we ordered four things for all of us to sample. The girls chose a strawberry tart, Raspberry Schuss, and I got a chocolate croissant and something called 'Pralineige'.

This is what I will remember for years and years to come. This was Magic.



Once we finished I took a few more pictures and the girls spotted Belle and the Beast signing autographs. They waited in line while we sat near the lake. A couple passed by with St. Louis Cardinals gear on and of course I had to chat them up. Turned out they were from the same grade school I went to as a kid!

The girls came back and we headed to Morocco. I have a feeling Morocco smells and looks similar to this as well. When I said, 'act like you're in Morocco!' Rug really did not know what to do.


We started heading towards Japan. I love the culture of Japan so we really took everything in. They had a very interesting display of antique Japanese tin toys. I also wanted to get some sushi, but I saved that for later. We went into the VERY big gift shop and immediately the girls fell in love...with Monchichis. Seriously? Are you kidding? I had one of those when I was in 3rd grade! So since they had their OWN souvenir money, they each got one. Wasn't my rule no more stuffed animals? Eh, nobody ever listens to me. LP and I both got a pair of hand painted chopsticks and the girls enjoyed having their names signed in japanese on their masks by the CMs. Those masks again, were such a valuable souvenir. The girls learned a little about each country and were able to meet and listen to people from each country. They were so thrilled.

Since we had FPs to Soarin still, we decided to take the boat across the lagoon, back to *YAWN* Future Showcase and ride Soarin' as well as Test Track. When we were done we'd head back to World Showcase and finish our travels around the world.

The boat ride was fun and we sat by some Germans, this time very NICE Germans and had nice conversations with them. Mo fell asleep and we went straight to Soarin'.



Next: Soarin', Test Track and Lp's Dream Car. Also, what is a BEVERLY????

Valentine's Hearts and all that junk

I'm really fighting this head cold, and Al has gotten it too, but looks to feel worse than all of us. Today I signed up for their Valentine's Day party so I will have take a shower today. Darnit! I was hoping for a day off of cleanliness.

I think we're going to go get sushi tonight. Around here, sushi places are the only place you can go on Valentine's Day without a reservation. Either that or McDonald's.

I didn't get LP anything for our anniversary this year except an appointment to test drive a car. He is in desperate need for a new car. But desperate to him means something else, i.e., he's driven a POS for 11 years so now it's time to splurge. I do not agree with this mentality, but in all fairness he rocks my world so I made an appointment for him to go test drive his dream car...a Saab convertible. When I called the woman said, "So you'd like to purchase a car for your husband for Valentine's day?" Oh, yes, that's right, let me just write you a check!

LP got me a watch for our anniversary. I love it. He bought it for me in Disney World so i could remember 'my time' at Disney. Har de har har. I guess they only sell them on Disney property because I cannot find a picture anywhere.

So here is a moral quandry for you.

Al has a very good friend H who goes to a different school. Last year she went to camp for a week, and when she returned begged Al to go with her this year. I agreed. So she and H have been planning this since June of last year to go together, and H and Al got about 5 other girls to go too. There are a few girls H asked that Al does not know very well, but who are very good friends with H. Now then, there are 8 girls to a cabin, and they got 8 altogether.

Last WEEK, a friend of mine who has a daughter in Al's class, called me to find out because all of sudden her daughter has decided she wants to go to camp. So I told her I THOUGHT there were already 8 but she might want to call one of the other moms. Well, the other mom felt obligated to allow her to send her stuff in with ours, even though this would break up all the girls who had previously signed up. So, this mom sends an email to the mom explaining her daughter would cause the other girls to split up and is there any way her daughter could find more girls to go with since our girls had already planned to go together?

Well, this sent my friend into a tizzy and is now not letting her daughter go at all.

So what would be the logical answer to this? Should we make the girls who had planned on going all along split up to accomodate the last girl? Or should the last girl be required to find more girls to go with in another cabin (but the same unit).

These are the problems I have to deal with on a regular basis as a Soccer Mom. It sucks.

Well, Miss M, who will now be referred to as Mo, is too quiet, so I must find out what she is doing.

Jana Say Disney: Day 5 STILL!

Miss M is taking a nap so there shouldn't be any further interruptions so I can finish off the day! Now where was i in my magnificent story telling? Ah yes. Smee.

After meeting Smee and Hook, we made it our job to go on as many rides as we could while we were there. We started on Aladdin's carpets, which is basically the Dumbo ride with flying carpets. Then we rode Haunted Mansion and listened to an all-pirate banjo band in Liberty Square. We went to the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which is a roller coaster loosely based on the Disney movie "Song of the South" which I remember from being a kid, but you can't find it anywhere because supposedly there is a character that appears a wee bit racist. I haven't seen it since I was like 6 so I don't know the whole politically correct aspect of it. All I know is they were in a brer patch, and well, whatever. The ride has Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox and Bear, and you go through this and they all sing and what not. The cool thing was the girls got to ride front row two times in a row with no wait! That is always great, plus the park at night is just gorgeous.

We lined up for the Pirate/Princess Party Parade and I'm glad we did. They had a 60 foot replica of the Black Pearl and it was incredible. LP wasn't able to get great pics but it was awesome.


All of the princesses had a float, and Jasmine and Aladdin were on horses. I think LP has a thing for Jasmine, it was the only clear picture he was able to achieve:


After the parade we went back to the Big Thunder Railroad, and then headed to Tomorrowland, which was a place we really didn't get to in 2005. The fireworks were just starting, and my family totally denied me. I only got to see the beginning of them, and the rest of my family sat and chowed on a funnel cake. I was able to pull them away from the sugary sludge to get a picture in Cinderella's throne:


We headed to Space Mountain and Rug was so excited, as she had been denied entry to it in 2005 due to a height deficiency. I myself find Space Mountain to be a little outdated, but fun nonetheless. We rode Buzz Lightyear's ride which we'd never done, and it was very similar to the Men in Black ride at Universal, the latter being far superior in my opinion. Next was Stitch's Escape, which is an interactive 'show' where he ruffles your hair and burps chili dog breath in your face. Well, right after he burped, our 'seatbelts' came off, the lights went up, and Stitch...well, he went, uh...limp. Clearly this was not part of the show! A very thick-accented CM came in to apologize but none of us could understand our instructions, so we just headed out the door! So much for that!

There were several 'dance parties' going on around the park and I'm not sure what the purpose was, but I got a quick picture of Sebastian from the Little Mermaid cutting a rug:


Ah, what else. Yes, LP and the girls rode the Tea Cups while I sat and rested...Momma doesn't do spinning-round things. Then we rode a few more rides in Fantasyland and decided it was time to go. As we stood in front of the beautifully lit castle, I felt the need for a group hug, so I said to the SayQua Family: "Let's all hug and remember this as a great memory in the SayQua lifetime." Well, as we were hugging, apparently Rug 'pinched' Al and she got upset. Me, being the ever caring Mom that I am, replied, "Al, we are in Disney World, come on, get over it." Which exploded into a Al tween-been-up-since-eight-and-walking-around-all-day complete meltdown. Right in front of the castle. Well, it had to happen once right?
As I am completely ignoring her, I found a Photo guy to take our picture in front of the castle. Pictures can be deceiving right? You can tell how red her face is that that smile is completely and utterly forced.


I'm evil, no?

Just wait!

As we are leaving, still admiring the details that Disney has put on Main Street, Al is all but mopity mope. I take one last picture of Rug to remember the day:


We hop on the monorail, to take us to the ticket center, to take us to the tram that will take us to our car, that will take us to our hotel. Al is still not speaking to me (when did this become about me? Oh that's right, I'm mom. The meanest one.) I told her I wanted to get one last picture for posterity, and this is what I got:


Mom don't you DARE TAKE MY PICTURE!!!

Okay, now she gave me a hug after we got off the monorail, and I told her I knew she was tired, I'm not a monster. It was funny though.

We got home and immediately went to sleep. And slept. Because Miss M was elsewhere!

Next up: EPCOT and NO MORE STUFFED ANIMALS, PLEASE.