I'm a big dork

Like anyone had any doubt. But still. Here's more proof.

So I've been resisting reading the Twilight series. I did the same thing with Harry Potter. They're not adult books, I'll be bored by them, not worth my time, things like that. With Harry Potter, I even saw one of the movies before I read any of the books. I fell asleep in the movie, which only made me less inclined to read the series. But I did. And loved them all. Totally want to own them so I can read them again. I read them before the last book had come out, and was too embarrassed to get it out of the library. Luckily I was able to borrow it, I think from Robyn, and probably read it in like 2 days. Cause I just got so involved in the story.

Mercedes owns all 4 of the Twilight books. And we've been cat/house sitting for them while they're in Spain. And so, the other night while Alfred was busy on his laptop and I was bored, I started reading the first book. And have been sucked into the story ever since. I finished the third book a couple of hours ago (oh yeah, and I took today off of work since I had to work Sunday). I told Alfred it was a good thing I hadn't brought the fourth book home with me, because I'd totally still be curled up on the couch reading it. Luckily I'm going back up there tomorrow and can start on it.

So why the big dork revelation? Well, I'm getting to it. See, I've been reading a bit about the author and how she got the idea for the books. Apparently it all started from a dream she had. And that is something I would totally do, have a dream and get all obsessed by it and come up with some elaborate back story and imagine all sorts of ridiculous things based on that one dream. I was thinking that I should do that, come up with a crazy popular book and get rich off of my dreams. And then I realized that I sort of already do that (the overactive imagination part, not the rich author part). I do it with my characters from the Sims. (This is the very embarrassing, dorky part). I totally come up with back stories for each character, imagine how they respond in situations, imagine conversations between different characters... anyway, you get the point. See? Told you I was a dork. I just need to write a book (or books) and become rich and famous, then it won't seem so pathetic.

water sports

Luckily we're busy making granola and on the phone trying to get our satellite service working again, so I got to finish this post! Finally! I've been intending to post these for years. Days, anyway.

So we got this really cool waterproof case for our camera, and Tony and Mike took it with them diving to test it out.



This is the same place Katie got certified last summer. This picture is so cool. It's looking up towards the surface from probably 30-40 feet down. I'm guessing, I wasn't there, but I've done this dive.

Ok, enough of that. What we really want to see is cute kid pictures! Here's Ella getting ready to go.

The kids playing under a fountain at the first hotel we stayed at.

We spent a few days at the beach, too. They loved the water (Ella especially, she was boogie boarding like a pro), but we spent some time playing in the sand too. Here's some evidence.

They just look like they're having a blast here.

And Mason, chill-axin' after a rough day of fun.

this is screwed up

I expect to be busy at work all during the spring, but during the summer I'm supposed to be able to take it easy, leave early now and then, come in late, take long lunch breaks. But this week has been sucking ass! I'm already at 39 1/2 hours for the week, and I still have a 10 or so hour day tomorrow. We're gearing up to start new programs for the public next week, so between extra stuff to do and extra training we've been running, I've been working a lot. Sucks. So, that's my excuse for the lack of posts. I missed Mike and Ellery's birthday, which was yesterday, so happy birthday to them. And hopefully I'll be able to post for real this weekend.

#300!

This is my 300th post. Neato. It's also Father's Day, so happy Father's Day. I also missed Robyn's birthday last week, so happy belated birthday to Robyn. I think that's it for important dates. So, as promised, the cupcake pictures. First, Mason. He did not want his picture taken, so I told him I'd just take one of his cupcake. That's why he's not smiling.

And Ella. She was perfectly happy to pose for me. She had been hitting the frosting pretty hard, in case you can't tell by her face.

Then Tracy spent 30 minutes cleaning up sprinkles. But the cupcakes were delicious!

Another weekend at work, another weirdo

I just say here and watched a woman change her kid's diaper on the seat of the trolley they park out front to attract customers. Um, we do have bathrooms. Just sayin. I'd love to be nosy about this family, they have 2 one-year-old girls, one looks white, the other black. I mean, they could be cousins or something, but I'm curious. But alas, I will not ask. Oh, the grandmother just came in to use the restroom. Hope that trolley seat wasn't too hot for the little girl. It's supposed to be in the 100s today. It was 90 when I got to work at 10:00. Nuts!

So Tony and Cathy and the kids left yesterday. Ella, Mason and I made cupcakes on Thursday night. They helped me measure and pour and everything, then picked colors to dye the cupcakes and helped me decorate them. With sprinkles. Which, in hindsight, was not the best idea. Well, the idea was fine, it was the execution that was the problem. Sprinkles everywhere. Mason went through almost an entire container on 1 cupcake. I got a couple of pictures, I'll have to post them later.

This weekend kicks off our month (or so) of house sitting for Ilya and Mercedes. They're in Spain for a few weeks, so we get to hang out with the kitties. It's a good distraction so we don't have to notice how quiet the house is without guests. Ok, time for my leftover mac and cheese lunch and some more "work."

cathy's pictures

I just downloaded Cathy's pictures and wanted to add hers to Mom's from yesterday. First up, a couple of shots of Mike and Cathy grabbing hold of some double D's. And in Disney World, no less!













I just think this one's cute.

And now, back to the drinking. Luckily Cathy had her camera with her when we were out in search of dessert Saturday night. We made a stop at a gas station at one point to buy more beer (which we then carried up and down the road before hiding it in the bushes in front of the hotel) and for some reason Alfred bought a can of cat food. And then took not one, but two bites.













Ugh. Moving on. They gave us crayons to keep us entertained and out of trouble while we waited for our food. Mike apparently got bored by coloring on the paper table covering and went for Cathy's face instead.

And then I got my water, tried to take a sip, somehow stuck the straw up my nose, and then dumped it into my lap.













And one last group shot. Good times.

my bad

As Katherine pointed out to me today, I haven't posted in 5 days. I've just been so busy having fun and whatnot. Today was my first day back at work since last Thursday, and so along with the end of my 24 hour a day, non-stop fun comes the return of the blog. First up: Orlando!

Everyone flew into Orlando on Thursday, and we headed down there to meet them after we both finally got home from work. Clearly, we did some drinking. Friday we went to Disney!

The kids had a good time, although they got a little tired of walking at times.

That night, more drinking took place. Obviously. I think that was the first night we did a power hour. That hotel had a little balcony that we all crammed onto and got drunk on. We did a whole lot of swimming before that. Ella is a crazy woman in the pool. She swam non-stop for like 2 hours. It's no wonder she's so tiny, she should be eating all day to keep up with the calories she burns.

Saturday Mike and Tony went diving (they took our new waterproof camera case with them, so at some point I can post pictures that they took underwater) and the rest of us hung out at the waterpark at the hotel.

We had to switch hotels that day, then off to a pirate dinner adventure. It was fun, with an extra pitcher of beer. Mason was laughing his head off watching one of the pirates get whipped. How adorable.

And another power hour that night.

Ella helped us keep things tidy. She also earned some good money in tips by pouring us our shots.


We were using our new power hour program on the computer, so we knew that none of us were sober enough to drive by the end. So instead we walked around, up and down the road that our hotel was on, looking for some place to get pie for an early birthday celebration for Mike. Eventually we settled on Denny's, a mere 100 or so feet from our hotel, after walking back and forth for an hour or so. Mike went wading in the retention pool in front of the hotel. Alfred ate cat food. I think there are pictures somewhere.

And then we left. Tune in tomorrow for episode 2: the beach!

Hi mike!

He's on his laptop across the hotel balcony from me. I'm going to see how long until he sees this. We're in Orlando, peeps!

Oy

Alfred asked me last night why I hadn't blogged in so long. I told him I blogged from my phone on Sunday. He said he hadn't even checked it in a few days and didn't realize I had posted. In other words, I've been too busy to post at night, and he's been too busy to check it at all. And since I'll likely be busy tonight too, I guess I'll just blog by phone again. I prefer to do it on the laptop because then I can add my tags, and I never remember to go back and do them when I blog from my phone. This is all fascinating, no?

So, we've been busy in the evenings cleaning and getting ready for the familial invasion that begins tomorrow (yay!) Since we weren't home this weekend, I've had to fit all the laundry and cleaning into my few hours between work and bed, along with the usual dinner work. We've had a bunch of other work on the computer to take care of too. And a tiny but of TV (wipe out is back for the summer! And so you think you can dance, of course, which I'm super pumped about. I've been reading spoilers online this morning.) Tonight I also get to make a cake for a co-worker's birthday, her birthday is actually Friday but they're celebrating it a day early so I can come. And make the cake.

Work's been good. I'm trying to balance the actual work with goofing off, so far so good. I catnapped mama kitty yesterday morning and brought her to the new museum, but she bolted as I was opening her cage a bit to give her some water. Damn cat. We're also in the midst of starting up some new tours for the summer so we can make some money for a change. Of course it's happening when I'm planning to take a few days off. Oh well, they don't need me.

This has been a nice way to spend some time. It gets boring all by myself. I like to time how long I go without speaking to another human being. My record was about 2 hours on Sunday. It was broken by a tourist calling me. Damn tourists.

it's like I never left

Yup, I'm at work on a Sunday. This is my view from my office into the store. This is what I do all day now. I sit in my office, do some work sometimes, and watch the store so when someone comes in I can go sell them stuff. No one has come in for the past 2 1/2 hours or so. So it's pretty exciting. Anyway, I'm working today because I'm taking off Friday to go to Disney with my family. We've got a crowd coming in Thursday, we'll be in Orlando until Sunday, then at our house until Friday. At which point we will be lonely again. We're pretty excited to see everyone though. Should be good times.

We had a short weekend, what with both of us working (more or less) today. We wrung as much excitement as possible out of the approximately 39 hours we were off, though. Friday night we hung out with Ilya and Mercedes (and I got rip roaring, sickeningly drunk), Saturday we went blueberry picking, made the most delicious blueberry pie and ice cream in the world (we're nice and full of antioxidants at least), and went out to dinner at the most hoity-toity "casual" restaurant I've ever seen (I guess the fact that it was in the TPC golf course should have been a clue). The food was good, at least. Some of the staff was in a tizzy over Ilya wearing a t shirt, which added some drama.

So, that's what I'm up to at the moment. Could be worse.

a pair of Guys

So, you all know my dad, Guy.

And you may know the Food Network personality, Guy Fieri.


I don't know if anyone else has ever noticed this, but.... don't they kind of look alike? I mean, take away the Guy Fieri's hair, and













Or you could give my dad a little hair













It's uncanny! And has anyone ever seen the 2 of them in the same room? I know I haven't! The mystery deepens...

I'm rich!

As I was opening the register this morning, I found an Indian head nickel from 1935 (worth 35 cents!), and a dime (I think) from Panama! Today must be my lucky day. I should go buy a lottery ticket or something.

word

So, we've been busy. And I've been sick. I was fine all weekend, felt just a tiny bit sniffly Sunday as we were getting ready for bed, but totally healthy. Then bam, woke up with a miserable cold Monday morning. Going through tissues like it was my job. Today it seems to have moved more into my throat and chest, so at least my nose gets a break. Which reminds me, I should go refill my orange juice glass. ..... Ok, I'm back. I really did go get oj, too. You can ask Alfred. He's sitting here on the phone with Ilya. They're talking about blueberry picking this weekend. We need to stock up again, our supply from last year is out.

So, the business. Monday evening we had a couple of friends stop by for dinner. We see them about once every 2 years, they live out near Tampa. Alfred knows JJ (the guy) from like middle school or something, I think they were in boy scouts together, and he was in the their wedding.

They ended up spending the night in the guest cottage and then leaving in the morning. They brought some sort of good beer which I didn't drink because I was miserable and dripping snot everywhere. Being stuffed up is the worst. But a fun evening, anyway. Christy works at Busch Gardens as a zoo keeper, so she had plenty of interesting anecdotes to share.

Yesterday we met up with Ilya, Mercedes, Max, and Ellery for a big wing dinner. We polished off 100 wings without much effort. They were ok. Not Anchor Bar quality, certainly, but not bad. Then we went to Ilya and Mercedes' house to work on a website and spent the night up there. We were woken up at 6:30 by a dog barking down the street, but someone finally let the dog in (or someone shot it or something) because we eventually fell back asleep and didn't wake up until 8:30! It was craziness! I have big plans to go to bed early tonight too, so tomorrow I'll be completely healthy again. I've been saying that since Monday, and eventually it has to come true.

Alfred's about to make banana chutney. We have 2 bananas that are far beyond ripe. I'll report back with the results later. Oh, and as he was about to move the load of laundry from the washer into the drier he discovered another load already in the drier. As he just said, "we need a better maid."