Disney: Day One

All is well in Mickey world. Athena has only peed herself once, and that was in her car seat on the way back from Animal Kingdom. Unlike yesterday, she had a very good day (with the noted exception) and enjoyed herself today.

We kicked things off with a character breakfast with Mickey and Friends. Then we rode Triceritops Spin (Dumbo, but with dinosaurs) twice. The grown ups then enjoyed the new Expedition Everest ride and then we trooped over to Kali River Rapids. Athena is tall enough to ride this one (in a modified seat) so she did. She was okay with it all until she got wet. Apparently, adding water to an Athena creates a similar effect to adding water to a Gremlin. The poor thing was shrieking and begging to get off the ride.

Of course, as Daddy was helping her potty once we DID get off the ride:

Athena: That was fun, Daddy.
Daddy: What? The water ride?
Athena: Yep

We then walked the Jungle trail to see the bats and the tigers and the dragon (oh my!) After that, it was time for Flights of Wonder, a bird show... which is fantastic every time I see it. Then it was off to lunch. We hoped to get FastPasses for Kilamanjaro Safaris, but the machine was malfuntioning. Since the kids were getting close to naptime, we decided to catch the next showing of Finding Nemo: The Musical (I liked it, Chris didn't) and head back for naps.

Athena just woke up, I'm about to change, and then we'll fix dinner for the kids and dump them on Seneca so we can go have a nice steak and some amount of wine at EPCOT. Athena has had a few moments, but overall, it's been a great day.

Mostly Packed

For those of you who laughed at my ridiculous packing lists... I say, NYAH!

I've already packed SEVERAL things that I am fairly sure I would have forgotten had I not had a list. AND, I was able to pack far more conveniently... like making sure the right supplies are in the diaper bag vs. the suitcase.

Of course, as I say that, keep in mind I have not put this system to the test... but I'm sure it will work.

All that's left for tomorrow is the last-minute toiletries, the food, and the stuff to keep us busy in the car (those of us not driving, that is).

Hilton Head is our first stop. It's about six hours from here. Stopping there does lengthen our overall drive, but we think it will be worth it to break the trip in smaller chunks. Plus, we are meeting 1/3 of our party there so we can caravan the rest of the way.

I'm exhausted, but excited. The weather forecast looks FABULOUS for next week at Disney. It may rain on us at Hilton Head, but that's only a layover anyway. Would have been icing on the cake to hit the pool or beach, but if we don't... well... no harm done. If it has to rain on our trip, I want it to rain tomorrow.

We're going to try to keep up with blogs while we are gone, and we are also promising ourselves to make a movie each night with the day's footage and photos. It's an ambitious goal though, and we aren't even sure we will have affordable access to the internet for postings. But we'll do our best!

Breaking the Silence

So we are in the last 26 hours before vacation, and it's especially dramatic because we're packing up an entire library just as I'm trying to pack up an entire truckload full of crap that we "need" at Disney.

Athena didn't nap today. Well, not until we were in the car on the way home. Her teacher described her as "cranky." But her teacher wasn't here for the grand awakening. If she had been, she may have chosen a more colorful adjective. Like "Freaked Out Pea-Soup Spouting Being From the Fourth Level of Hell."

It has become a tradition. If Athena falls asleep in the car on the way home from daycare, and then she wakes up only to be subjected to talk of sitting on the potty (something she objects to before, during, and AFTER she pees in my lap), she goes totally apeshit. It has happened thrice now. Methinks we shall just let her freaking sleep next time. She doesn't need dinner. We don't need a show.

This "spell" prevented me from cooking dinner (Chris did it) and doing laundry, which means I couldn't pack Marcus' stuff tonight (after dinner, he goes RIGHT to bed... do not pass go... do not collect cute little outfits from his room to put in a bag for grandma's house). Not that it mattered that I couldn't do laundry, since we only had enough laundry detergent for one load.

Athena was tired as well (who knew?) so she hit the sack early too. I'm about to switch over the one load of laundry I was able to do, and then I'm taking a long soak in the tub to ease the sore muscles from standing all day. One more day of it, and, in the words of the Genie, "I... am... OUTTA HERE!"

Zip a dee do da day indeed.

I'm at the End

The library closes next week for renovation, and I'm at the end of my rope. I've hurt people's feelings, made them angry, and even think I've ended a friendship because of the stress. For the first time in years, I don't want to go to work tomorrow.

But I will. And I will go in next week too. And then I will go to DisneyWorld and try to re-normalize myself so I can come back a productive, caring citizen of libraryland.

I doubt I will post again until we travel. Unless I witness or partake in a great "moving-the-library" story, which I will... of course... share.

Oh, and if Marcus doesn't start walking soon, I may rupture a disc. He's almost as heavy as Athena. I'm developing severe wrist pain from carrying him.

I know... "whine, whine, whine." But if you can't whine in your blog, who can you whine to?

I'm Still Here

Sorry for the infrequent posts. I have had plenty to say, but it's all work-related, and sometimes I just can't post that stuff. As much as I want to, I won't post about patrons (other than their parenting or clothing choices) and I certainly won't post about coworkers... although my coworkers are great and normally don't give me much fodder to work with.

Basically, we are closing the library in about 10 days for renovation. New carpet, paint, and moving furniture around. It's very stressful, and I just haven't been in a great place mentally to post without making an ass of myself. I did prepare a post about an email campaign that was launched against one of my staff because of an "inappropriate" book display, but then I reconsidered. We're all entitled to our opinion, and despite the fact that they chose to bully this one person, she handled it especially well and professionally and all the hub-bub seems to have ceased. Huzzah.

Basically, we are open for business a week from Tuesday (the 24th), close and start packing on the 25th, and I leave for Mouseland on the 27th. I am going to need a serious vacation by then, so it's just as well.

Oh, and we owed Uncle Sam just under $2K because of Chris' contract status the last quarter of the year. So much for having finances on track.

The kids went to the zoo today with Daddy and Grandma. We have this strange tradition in which Chris and I never seem to take the kids together. One of us always goes with other people. It's weird. But everyone had a good time.

So there is the skinny. I'll try to be better about posting, but with the upcoming stressful stuff, I'm not sure how well I'll do.

Technology Has a Sense of Humor

Someone posted this as a comment on my favorite podcast site. I'm not reproducing his post exactly, just follow these directions.

Go to google.co.uk
Choose the new Maps function
At the top, select "Get Directions"
For the origination point, type in Birmingham, England
For the destination, type in Orlando, Florida
You get directions and a map! The funny bit...
Look at step number 36.

That Google computer! I bet he's great to have a drink with...

Ah, Ethics... How You Torment Me

I paid my bills this morning. In doing so, I entered my paycheck into Quicken so I could see exactly how much money I don't have. Lo and behold, my check was REALLY high. Almost $400 more than I expected!

Now, I was expecting it to be higher than in the past, because my deadbeat husband finally got himself a real job with benefits (he has been contracting up until Feb. 1) and I was able to drop him from my plan. However, I was only expecting a couple of hundred dollars... and even then... with the adjustment in taxes, I wasn't sure how much it would come out to be. But I never dreamed of $400. (Before anyone starts leaping into librarianship under false pretenses, keep in mind I get paid monthly.)

Anyhoo... I started itemizing my deductions, and that's when I saw it... they actually managed to CREDIT me for my insurance premium rather than deduct it. I emailed them today to fix it. *sigh*

Sometimes it hurts to be good.

Elise's Turns One

Photo album includes before and after party shots. Sophie, let me know if you can't download the pictures from this album... I'll send them via email if necessary.

Elise's First Birthday

Mr. Man Turns One

Better late than never, eh?

Marcus' First Birthday