PotD: Birds on a Wire

This photo was taken on Flamingo Crossings Blvd., where I have yet to see a flamingo!

PotD: "Sweet" Sunrise

Scott and I carpooled home last night, and therefore back in this morning. Since I'm not usually on that side of town at that time of day, I took the opportunity to snap the sunrise. Sadly, I think I missed the best colors by about 2 minutes. Stupid power lines!

On my way home this afternoon, on a road where the speed limit is a painful 20 MPH, I observed that Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion" isn't nearly as cool going 20 in a Hyundai as it is going upside down in a roller coaster.

Crazy People

Scene: Waiting room of doctor's office
Time: 7:04 am

Man: I'm here for bloodwork...and whoever I'm with, make sure they know I'm really bad with needles.
Receptionist: (smiling) Just let them know when they come and get you. They'll take care of you.
Man: OK, because I can't handle needles at all.


Time: 7:08 am

Woman: Does he even know I'm here?
Receptionist: Excuse me?
Woman: Does he know I'm here? My appointment was at 7. I have to be at work at 7:30 and I can't wait much longer.

Time: 7:12 am

Nurse: Number 2061? (we are handed pagers when we check in, but rather than actually use the pagers, they use them like those take-a-number strips at the deli)
Woman from above: Do you know where Dr. M is?
Nurse: Do I... know where he is?
Woman: I had a 7:00 appointment and (rising from chair) forget it. I have to go. I'm going to be late for work. (slams pager down at reception desk and storms out)

Time: 7:25 am

Man from above: I'm really bad with needles.
Phlebotomist: Okay, no problem.
Man: No, I'm really bad with needles. So make sure I don't see one at all or I'll freak out.
Vampire: Okay...
Man: I once had one (pause for dramatic effect) break off inside me!
Vampire: Oh...wow...
Man: umm...
Vampire: did you have any water this morning?
Man: umm...no...
Vampire: ok, I'm going to go and get you some water and give you a chance to calm down.
Man: okay...
(Vampire grabs an empty styrofoam cup and literally bolts from the room.  Jamie, in the next chair over, realizes that this man is between her and the exit and wills her blood to pump out faster so that she can escape before he pukes)

These are verbatim conversations from this morning.  I'm not sure how the crazy woman EVER thought she'd be in and out of the doctor's office in 25 minutes or less (I'm giving her a minimum of 5 minutes travel time to work).  And really, if she starts at 7:30, she's done at 4. The doctor is open until 7 pm - why not schedule an after-work appointment?  You KNOW she went to her work location raving about the terrible service there.  And to think - she didn't even have a chance to sit in an empty exam room for a minimum of 10 minutes! 

As for the man, pardon the expression, but MAN UP!  Put on your big girl panties and suffer quietly. No one - not even the person doing the blood draw - gives a damn about how afraid you are of needles.  It's not going to make her do her job any more gently. If anything, it could make her nervous and end up hurting you even more.  Especially since the girl taking his blood is the one who blew out both of my elbow veins last time.

I wonder if they both survived?

PotD: Best Laid Plans

I tucked my gate remote into my car visor, thinking it would be a convenient place to store it. Great plan, up until the sun was in my eyes, I flipped down the visor, and my remote flew out and dangled there in front of my face. And then I almost crashed because I was laughing so hard.

I should probably move that...

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PotD: Weather

It's been like this all day. Blah...
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PotD: stage parents

I know this is a terrible photo, and it's blurry and impossible to read, but trust me to paraphrase: "I have so many talents and so many extracurriculars that my mom obviously puts certain members of Jamie's family to shame!" It's the bio of one of the 4 boys who play Billy in this show.

And also: scrape together your pennies and go see Billy Elliot. OMG, I can't remember the last time I went into a musical knowing next to nothing about it and fell so completely in love with it.

Let's hope Act II is just as good!
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A Little Change

Today's Photo of the Day... isn't really.  It's actually a PhotoShop of the Day.  And truth be told, it's not even that.  It's a clumsily doctored photo done on Paint.  With a back story.  So let's start there, and attempt to use full sentences with subjects and verbs.

(but before I start, in defense of my poor writing, I'd like to say that I'm sleep-wacky right now.  I worked midnight to 8:30 this morning, having had a 2-hour nap from 8-10pm, and then came home and slept from 10-4. that makes me not sleep-deprived, but definitely off-kilter a bit)

A few days ago, I got an e-mail from Scott with this photo attached (seriously, click the link) and a note that says "don't you want to see the picture where Ozzy bites his head off?"  And I thought yes...yes I do.

And before the "big reveal," I thought I'd mention that Scott met young Master Bieber a few years ago when he was supposed to be doing a fan meet and greet type of thing.  Scott was, to put it kindly, unimpressed with the kid's attitude towards his fans and his handlers.  To this day, it's fun to say "Bieber" and see what sort of face Scott makes.  To put this in perspective, he had a more positive impression of Charlie Crist!  So anyway, here's the loving gift I made for Scott:

PotD: Birds (not) on a Wire

I set out to take a picture of the birds on the light poles that I see every morning. The fog and the location of the sun pulled the focus, but I still think it's a pretty neat shot.
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PotD: Shopping

I ordered the pair on the left. They're on clearance and only go up to a size 9. I bought them anyway. Fingers crossed that I can squeeze my fat calves into them...
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PotD: Impuse

World Market impulse buys are always cool. We got these for AP and self-rising flour. Keeping it on the counter is more ergonomic, since I'm a master baker now. They have smaller ones, too. Maybe for cornmeal?
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PotD: Summoned!

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No PotD Today

There is no photo today because I left my Purpleberry at work.  Even with the laptop on my lap, I feel disconnected. 

How disconnected? Scott got home an hour ago tentatively holding a jury summons in my direction and this is the first time I've shared that with the outside world.

Jury duty.  In a new county.  In a month.  I'm #100, and am hoping they only call 1-99.  On the bright side, I know it won't be the Casey Anthony case!

PotD: Might Rain...

Glad I'm already home!

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Honest Review of a Preview Cruise

As I believe I mentioned before, Scott and I bought each other a 2-night preview cruise of the Disney Dream for Christmas.  The cruise was this past weekend, and we had SO much fun and ate SO much food and had SO many new experiences that nothing I could possibly type could possibly encompass it all.

The whole trip wasn't "OMG BEST VACATION EVERRRRR" by a long shot.  Our dining room servers were by far the worst I'd ever had. The assistant server was actually not bad, and would probably thrive if paired with a different partner, but the server barely spoke English, didn't introduce himself, didn't check on whether we liked everything, served me the wrong food enough times that it became comical (him: "your tuna" me: "those are beets." true story!), and literally dropped the food on the table and walked away without explaining the dish. The food was very hit and miss.  My entree on the first night was inedible, and Scott's was maybe the best thing he ate the entire weekend.  Our stateroom was missing a phone and an alarm clock.  There's a hair dryer in the bathroom, but the only outlet sized for the hair dryer was on the desk. We even had a bad service experience on Castaway Cay*.

That said, once the staff gets into the swing of things, I have no doubt that the cruising experience is going to be top-notch. 

The ship itself is exquisite, with chandeliers everywhere that sparkle like diamonds.  The art in the stairwells is beautiful, and varies from 20-foot paintings to production art from Pixar movies.  The ship also has "enchanted art," which are basically framed flat-panel screens that sense your presence and animate for a few seconds.  Walt Disney sketches Mickey Mouse, pirate ships fire cannons, and scenes from cartoons come to life.  I was absolutely enthralled, and kept pausing in front of them to watch them again and again.

The furniture in the public areas is modern and rich and beautiful. And comfortable, too. There were at least a half-dozen places I wished I had more time to sit with a good book. Alas, I had neither time nor book.  The theater and the movie theater are both beautiful, and the shows are spectacular.  There are even nightclubs where loud music and bright flashing lights have been replaced with softer tunes and puffy chairs.  And our stateroom, though a bit smaller than on the other Disney ships, was beautiful and bright with comfy furniture and plenty of storage space.

I would recommend a vacation on the Disney Dream to anyone. But not just yet. Give them six months to settle in before sailing off into the sunset.

*On Castaway, the seat literally broke off of Scott's rented bike on the farthest point on the trail from civilization, bruising his calf and scraping/bruising his stomach where he was nearly impaled by the handlebar. The only good news is that he fell forward onto the handles instead of down onto his testes. Once we walked back to the closest tram spot and rode the tram across the island, we went back to the bike rental shack where I told the worker that the bikes had been ditched. Scott asked about the location of first aid, and I asked for a refund.  He offered me another bike (no thank you) or a float rental (in January? bwahahaha), but said he couldn't give me my money back. I guess now I understand why they make you sign a release before renting!

POTD: lazy

I think the Scrubbing Bubbles are getting lazy. Power tools? I thought they were supposed to do the work for me...
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PotD: Rainy Day

The weather is gray and rainy. All you want to do is nap, but you can't find your favorite teddy bear. What do you do? Just follow Milo's lead and cuddle with yourself!

PotD: Chocolate Chip Snowmen

When cookies attack: these cookies joined together in the oven to form mutant four-tier snowmen of deliciousness. We dispatched them with a spatula and two hearty appetites.

PotD: Taken for a Walk

Who needs a collar and leash? Certainly not Elph - she'll take herself for a walk. No human required!

PotD: Let the Eagle Soar

This is actually a picture of the eagle landing.  With wings spread and one foot in the air, the only thing keeping this from being a really great picture is the fact that you can't see its head!  Here are some bonus photos:



PotD x 2

Below are two photos I missed posting earlier in the week:

Scott displays his "big catch" (which is actually a 6" baby hammerhead shark and a little trick photography)

A completely NOT trick shot of a Florida red-shouldered hawk

PotD: Stripes

Not pictured: striped scarf or one of my two striped knit ski caps (one of which Scott was wearing around the house earlier while the windows were open due to an unfortunately scented carpet cleaner). 

What can I say? Scott has his argyle and I have my stripes!

Also, please don't judge me by these hideous shoes. I only wear them when it's too cold to go out without socks.  I need boots!

PotD: Dinner

It's a breakfast-for-dinner sort of day.  Mmm...scrapple!

PotD: cuddles in sunbeams

I was in the office and Milo was crying and crying and crying. Ever since I sat down, he's been on my lap purring and purring and purring. It's nice to feel loved!
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PotD: Knobs

Disclosure: this photo is part of my "CarMax Owner's Page." I didn't take it, but I sure enjoy looking at it. 

I went out into the garage and just sat in the car pushing buttons today. (before anyone suggests it, no danger of CO poisoning - garage door was open and the car wasn't on)  Then I let Scott sit in the driver's seat and I tried out the legroom in the back.  Verdict: a few inches more space than in the other car, but I still wouldn't want to be a grown-up stuck back there on a long trip!

PotD: (non) Identical Cousins

Behold! This is the scene in my garage right this very second.  Scott and I went out this afternoon to test drive a car I was pretty sure I was going to buy.  AND I BOUGHT IT! The new car doesn't yet have a name, but I can assure you it's not going to be anything suggested thus far on Facebook.

And so, I'd like to introduce you to my car.  She's practically new - 2 years old with only 10,000 miles. Upgrades from my current car include power windows and doors, cruise control (which, at some point, I'll have to learn to use), side airbags and functioning knobs and buttons.  Oh, and integrated satellite radio (3 months free). 

And the color?  In 2011, Hyundai calls it 'dark sapphire blue.'  It probably had a different name two years ago, but I think that's an apt description.

The only upgrade Frances has that this car doesn't is tinted windows.  And frankly, I was shocked at the clarity of the world through these windows on the drive home.  We'll see if I end up tinting them. At least then people were less likely to see me rocking out to Phantom at traffic lights...

So that's all for now.  I'm sure you'll see more over the next few days.

PotD: Big Ouch!

I was in a conference room today, and it had a giant calendar held on the wall by giant push pins. I couldn't resist the photo op!

(also Scott? I think I found what you need in your office to hang up that beautiful calendar I made for you!)

(also also: I'm getting old lady hands. I should really consider regular moisturizing!)

Cousin Awards

On Facebook today, my cousin Alicia implied that she’s my favorite cousin. I countered by joking that Steve is my favorite. (Steve, for those of you who didn’t grow up with us, is older and tortured us and forced us to call him “Uncle Steve.” We were literally terrified of him.) And then Laura proclaimed herself “Most Conveniently Located” cousin, which she is. This got me thinking about my extended family, and I tried to think up ridiculous superlatives for each one of my cousins. (there are many more – these are just the children of my mother's siblings with whom I’m friends on Facebook)

Alex – Most Recently Facebook Friended Cousin
Alicia – Cousin with Citizenship in the Most Countries
Aubrey – Most Collegiate Cousin
Beth – Best Roller Coaster Buddy Cousin
Dawn – Closest in Age Cousin
Jeff – Curliest Haired Cousin
Jenn – Cousin With the Best Holiday Newsletters/Worst Cousin to Play Circus Acrobats With

Joanne – Cousin Most Likely to Give Good Financial Advice

Laura – Most Conveniently Located Cousin/Cousin Who Had the Best Wedding Food
Naomi – Most Pregnant Cousin
Steve – Most “Uncle” Cousin
Suzanne – Westernmost Cousin

I could never pick a favorite, a prettiest, or a smartest. I loved growing up with the ones aged from Jenn to Dawn. I’m grateful to be close with many of those younger and older. And I’m sorry to have lost touch with the ones who aren’t on this list. These folks were the closest thing I had to siblings until I got married and inherited an honest-to-goodness sister (in-law). Anything I learned (or didn’t learn) about sharing or cooperation probably had something to do with them.

And of course, I heart them all!!

PotD: on sale

New favorite food! These Green Giant single-serving veggie blends are delicious, and currently on sale at Publix for $1 each. We stocked up!
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PotD: Dreamy

Fireworks! Giant kites with LED lights in them! Oh, and the biggest, newest ship in the Disney fleet!

The Disney Dream came "home" this morning amid tremendous fanfare. I'm so glad I woke up at 2:30 to go see it! Disney sure knows how to throw a party... if only it hadn't been pre-dawn.

(and if I do say so myself, I like this picture better than the official Disney pictures)

PotD: that's not nice!

No, fu** YOU, persimmon!
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PotD: Who Am I Anyway?

Cat isn't really sure whether to go into the bathroom for people with boobs, hips, and one leg or the bathroom for two-legged square people.

This is at the AMC, where we saw Black Swan. It's a movie about a ballerina who goes mad, and reminded me of The Sixth Sense or American Psycho, only with more fingernail clipping and cuticle tearing than ANY movie should have.

It was good (not that you'd think that from my review) but I'm not sure I want to see it again.

Of course, I saw some things that I'll be seeing again and again in my mind...

PotD: wash me!

Milo took the opportunity to nap in the laundry room, which is generally off-limits, while I was packing up Christmas.

He knows once he curls up in the "cute sleep" I won't kick him out. When he does it, he looks so tiny. I can hardly believe he's going to be 10 this year!
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PotD: Midnight, Shmidnight

It doesn't look like Milo is going to make it another 2 1/2 hours.  You know what? Neither will I.  Oh well.  Happy New Year to everyone!

2010 in Non-Sequitor

It's my favorite post of the year!

Take the first sentence of the first post of every month this year on your blog and put them all together.

If you love the Muppets as much as I do, I bet you'll enjoy spending time on the website for Disney's new volunteer-and-we'll-give-you-a-park-ticket campaign.  I'm pretty bad at peer pressure. I was going for a clever play on 'Pride and Prejudice' but I think I failed.

Once again, I find myself the victim(?) of peer pressure in the form of NaBloPoMo.  I made sticky buns for breakfast.  Rationally, I understand that boycotting BP doesn't hurt BP as much as it hurts local station owners and workers and that's it's a pretty ineffective emotional response. 

After dinner Thursday, Scott and I stopped in to Bath & Body Works because I needed some pretty-smelling hand sanitizer for my work desk. The problem with blog posts that write themselves is that they don't publish themselves. I woke up this morning an hour early to bake a loaf of banana bread to take to work. 

I read today on Twitter that October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to present you with my new computer desktop image.  Scott pulled out the Christmas tree this afternoon and put it up. 

Happy New Year everyone.  Best wishes for health and wisdom in 2011!

PotD: Love from Greenpop

I had some other contenders for Photo of the Day, but none as sweet as this!

Thanks, Greenpop :)
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PotD: What's a Motto With You?

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Nesting

Alternate misleading post title:

What to Expect When You're Expecting (Baby Eagles)

Do you see it in the picture up above? It's pretty well camouflaged. How about in the picture below?


I could barely see the birds in the nest with my naked eye. And not at all in the camera viewfinder. I lucked out with my timing - one bird had just flown back to the nest with a new stick, and they (I assume) were tucking it in where it needed to go.


So while I don't have any clue if or when we'll actually have a whole big eagle family, I know that for the immediate future I'll have plenty of photo opportunities.

Cotton Balls Dipped in Pea Soup

I took this picture at about 7:20 this morning at the entrance to my development. Even if you can't tell from the photo, let me assure you that the visibility was crap. And believe it or not, aside from a few clear patches, the visibility was this bad or worse for my entire drive in to work.

It was panic-inducing bad. Like driving through cotton candy... or cotton balls... or pea soup... or cotton balls dipped in pea soup.

It reminded me of a news story my mom once told me about a bridge that was destroyed by a boat in heavy fog (a Google search leads me to believe it might have been the Sunshine Skyway?) and cars kept driving right off the road into the water because they couldn't see that the road in front of them had disappeared. All my life, I wondered how a person could be so stupid as to not know the road was gone.

At one point this morning, when the fog was at its thickest, I was convinced the road in front of me was going to disappear. Now I understand.

On the bright side, driving slowly and concentrating on the white line painted on the side of the road made me notice all of the frost on the grass. I wish I could've stopped to take a picture of some feathery marsh grass that was thick white and sparkly. It was pretty awesome.

And speaking of taking pictures, I'm going to try to take and post a photo a day in 2011. Whether terrible camera phone pictures (dear Blackberry, yours is the worst camera phone I've ever had. love, Jamie) or planned outings with the camera, I think it'll be a fun and easy way to document the year.

Paranoia Justified

Preface: This story starts with a simple Christmas gift: a thermal cup for work that's got a built-in straw. The cup is important because it's established Jamie Fact that when I have a cup with a straw I drink more. Lots more.

At 11:30 this morning, I was on my third work pee of the day. I had washed my hands and was reaching for the paper towel dispenser when I noticed a small roach-ish (oval-shaped brown crunchy body, about 1" long) bug on the top edge of the trash can below. So I went to the far end of the bathroom and used the other towel dispenser and left the bathroom.

I called Scott and whined that I wasn't going to be able to pee for the rest of the day because of the bug. Of course, with all that free-flowing water, there was no way I'd make it another 5 hours without a pit stop or six.

On my fourth pee of the day, I was sitting on the toilet when I realized I hadn't done a full inspection of the stall first. Instantly, I started imagining the tickle of bug feet on my butt and thighs.

On pee #5, I abandoned my regular stall (too close to the last known location of the intruder), but still lifted up the seat and peeked around a little to make sure I was alone before closing the door. I felt silly, but I figured better safe than sorry.

On pee #6 (yes six!), I returned to my regular stall. I grabbed a wad of toilet paper, wiped the seat, and used the same wad to lift up the seat. And there it was. The roach. Under the very seat where I imagined it hiding all along. I tossed the TP into the toilet and went 3 stalls away. And then I went back to my office chanting, "heebie jeebie, heebie jeebie, HEEBIE JEEBIE!!!"

I hope it's gone completely by tomorrow. I love my new cup, and would hate to have to abandon it just because I have to go to another building just to use the bathroom!

Appreciation

Allow me to preface this blog post by stating unequivocally that I do not feel taken for granted at home. If anything, I don't do enough to tell Scott how much I appreciate him. But this post is all about work.

As you know if you're caught up on my Twitter or Facebook accounts, I made sticky buns for the 3rd shift safety meeting. This was a three-day process that caused me to bail on a friend's holiday party Wednesday (though as it turns out, Scott's day got all haywire and we wouldn't have been able to make it anyway) and not sing in a previously scheduled show of Candlelight on Thursday. But I promised them a month ago.

It turns out one of my 3rd shift managers had a family emergency and had to go out of town (which, by the way, sucks any time but double-sucks right before Christmas), and one of our attractions had some big issue that took another manager away. So this morning was a small crew. I begged them to eat, begged them to take some back for people not in the area, and still had 1/3 of their batch left.

(their batch - an entire 9x13 Pyrex dish - spent 45 minutes in a warm oven and was transported in a thermal carrier so that they would be warm and gooey. you're right mom, I do spoil them!)

I also had packed a separate container for my core group that I work with every day. So I spent much of this morning trying to give away sticky buns to everyone who walked in (or past) my office*. Everyone who took one pretty much gave me some version of "wow, that's really tasty," but my crowning achievement came just a little while before I left.

One of our electricians took a sticky bun to be polite. Really, when I offered it the first time he said "I'll come back after I eat my sandwich," and I didn't think he's come back. He did come back, took a small bun, and left. About 45 seconds later he came back, plate clean, mouth full, and exclaimed, "oh my God Jamie that was the best thing I ever ate. I need another one!" He grabbed a second one out of the container and left. And I almost melted in a big puddle of happy-to-be-appreciated goo!

To be fair, I'd never brought anything more culinarily complex than an apple pie to The Restaurant. But it's tough to "wow" people who generally eat scraps of 5-diamond food for dinner every night. There, I often felt invisible or, in the case of pot-luck dinners, out-matched. Now, every day I'm thanked for something. And the only thing I've brought in that didn't end up completely eaten was the cranberry sauce I brought in for Thanksgiving.

I know that a time will probably come when I no longer LOVE my job and LOVE my co-workers and LOVE the people I support and LOVE my office-mate. But right now, I really do love them, at least in part because they love me.

*I was SHOCKED by how many people had never heard the term "sticky bun" before. I weep for those people and their hollow, empty lives!

Cruise Food

Well, I promised "something" about the cruise, this weekend, so here are some food pictures. Who doesn't love food pictures?

These first two pictures are of dessert from our first night. Really, I only took them because we were amused by the tiny strawberry pieces. Scott's dessert is the one on the left - some sort of chocolate cake thing - and mine was cranberry-orange cheesecake.

And now for some pictures from Palo. I had monkfish with mascarpone risotto and red pepper sauce, and Scott had lamb chops. We also got to try the lobster ravioli.

Palo has a "famous" chocolate soufflé that they recommend, but to me a soufflé isn't really any more special than a warm piece of cake. We had it once, just because everyone says "did you have the soufflé?" Now I can say yes, "but next time you should try the pineapple ravioli...it's amazing." And Scott loves their panna cotta so much he'll probably never order something else.

And thus concludes the gratuitous food pics from the cruise. I'm sorry I didn't get pictures of the amazing eggs benedict or Scott eating caviar at the Palo brunch. I did, however, get a picture of Scott's traditional start-of-cruise shrimp feast. Enjoy!

Nothing Under the Tree

Scott pulled out the Christmas tree this afternoon and put it up. We'll be decorating it tomorrow, adding ornaments picked up during our stay-cation in Tampa (Dali Museum melting clock, of course) and our way-far-away-cation in the Caribbean. I love Christmas, and I love our tree, even though it's too small for the angel we got last year. But this year, there won't be any gifts under the tree.

Like we did in 2008, we have decided to forgo gifts for friends, family, and co-workers and instead donate to charity. This year, we'll be giving to Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. In '08, we had a lot of fun shopping for Toys for Tots, and it's something I'd love to do with my future hypothetical children. But this year I felt really strongly that our money should go to a more practical fund. Second Harvest actually provides food to other nonprofits - everything from homeless shelters to breakfast programs for school kids - and I would rather make sure that there's no one hungry on Christmas morning (and for the rest of the year) than give away toys.

But before anyone accuses me of Scrooge-ing underprivileged kids, please read on...

In 2008, we had plenty of gifts under the tree for ourselves, and this year we're buying nothing but stocking stuffers. That's because we decided to make an unexpected donation to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Florida. "Unexpected? How can that be?" Well you see...

As Disney Cruise Line prepares to bring its newest ship – Disney Dream – online, a special two-night and invitation only preview cruise will take place [...] in support of Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida. As part of this one-of-a-kind sailing, 100 percent of the cruise fare will be donated directly to the organization, while select Boys & Girls Clubs children and their families from Brevard, Osceola, Orange and Seminole counties will have a unique opportunity to sail onboard.

(from the Disney Parks Blog)

Merry Christmas to us!

The money we spent on the cruise really wasn't that much more than we would have spent on actual gifts, and we justified the extra expenditure by telling eachother that the money was going to charity. I'm not even pretending that we booked the cruise strictly as a charitable donation. Scott and I have been gobbling up every story about this ship since they started hinting about the awesomeness aboard, and dreaming about the day - more than likely over a year from now - when we'd be able to get a booking cheap enough for us to afford. This also gives my inner journalist the chance to "scoop" ALL of our friends. And did I mention that the inaugural cruise is after our cruise? We're going on before all those Disney nuts who booked 2 years ago!

Plus, we'll be able to give all of you the "gift" of another vicarious vacation. Sure, I've been remiss in blogging at all about our last cruise, but aside from the ports of call (and Cozumel doesn't even count because we never even got off the ship. don't judge - it was raining AND Mexico!), it really was quite similar to the Disney Magic cruise we took in 2007. I'll put something up this weekend, I promise. But this will be a NEW ship with NEW restaurants and NEW shows!

You're welcome!

...and I hope you have some money in your budget to donate to your favorite charity. All kidding (and cruising) aside, I'm grateful that we're in a position to do so. And I know that our gift to the food bank will go to better use than a gift card or knick knack would, and that the memories we make on our mini vacation - and the ones the kids make at the local B&GC's - will last longer than a video game or jewelery would have.