Disney Adventure Day 6, December 26, 2012 (Cozumel, Mexico)

Click "Read More" for the good stuff!

Disney Adventure Day 5, December 25, 2012 (Costa Maya, Mexico)

Pictures and blah, blah, blah after the jump. ;)

Disney Adventure Day 4, December 24, 2012 (Grand Cayman Island)

Same deal as yesterday, everything is behind the jump!

Disney Adventure Day 3, December 23, 2012 (Day at sea)

Today's post has the pictures mixed in with the text, and since there are lots of pictures, everything is after the jump.

Disney Adventure Day 2, December 22, 2012 (Cape Canaveral, Florida)

I woke up early, but sadly, did not remember to credit The Doctor with the continuing existence of the world—all I wanted was coffee.  Fortunately, it was available in the hotel’s gathering area well before the breakfast buffet was set up.  When I went to Mom and Dad’s room and knocked very quietly on the door, Mom let me in and after we’d talked for a bit, she told me that the Crossword-Mathgeek family was planning to have breakfast at 8:30, so I said I’d come back and join them.  However, when I went to get another cup of coffee, Jeeves and Superdoughnut were already having breakfast, so I joined them instead.

Breakfast was decent—the pineapple was good, the toaster was slooooow and the yogurt was Dannon, but I got plenty to eat and either the meds or the previous night’s salad solved one of my problems.  J  Jeeves made a Publix run and bought out the pharmacy aisle because Lady Margo woke up with a sore throat, and Mom had to get her bathing suit out of the car, but we all managed to get our stuff together and get on the bus for the Disney terminal on time.  Just as Dad was grumping that bus was supposed to leave at 11:15, it started up and we pulled out at 11:20.

Getting to the terminal was very quick, but since Mom and I did our online check-in late, we were not in the same boarding group as the rest of the family.  They all got to board at noon, while we had to hang around in the terminal until 1.  When they did call group 25, Mom and Dad and I managed to sneak on board behind another family and not be announced.   Dad kept saying he wanted to put his bag down and Mom and I kept telling him the rooms wouldn’t open until 1:30.  Rather than try to find the rest of the family, the three of us went to lunch at the Enchanted Garden, which is an extremely lovely restaurant.

After lunch, Dad and I both went to take naps.  We did get some family time, because all four rooms are in a line, and our verandas all line up.  There was a lot of talking back and forth, and that stayed true for the rest of the trip.

For some reason, I hadn’t turned off my cell, so what woke me was that ringing, followed by the message tone when I didn’t find the phone fast enough.  I looked at the caller ID, expecting that someone from the family was trying to wake me up, but instead it was the woman with whom I’d interviewed for a court job a week ago.  I GOT THE JOB!  I start on January 2^nd, which gives me the 1st for getting Mom’s office set up for her return.

I knocked on the connecting door between my room and my parents', and Dad was still napping, but Mom came to the door and I told her, then I went down to Jeeves and Lady Margo’s room and told them.  We all went out on the balcony and when I saw that Dad was on his balcony, I said, “Hey, Dad, who are you looking at?”  He said he didn’t know, and I said, “The newest probate court employee, that’s who!”

This time, we had the early dinner, so we all met in the hallway and headed for the Royal Court.  I’m not sure what happened, but I ate a really yummy bowl of French onion soup, had a Lemon Drop martini, took about four bites of my salad with goat cheese and knew I was going to be sick.  I excused myself from dinner, took the elevator up and made it back to my room before tossing my cookies.  I brushed my teeth, sat down and rested for a bit, then went back downstairs to see the tree lighting.  Mom was in her room reading when I got back upstairs, so we talked a little bit, then she fell asleep around 9.   I wasn’t going to buy internet service on this trip, but I had to go online and tell everyone about the job, so I bought 250 minutes. I managed to stay up until almost 10, and after a last smoke on the veranda, where I saw a lighted ship traveling away from us, I snuggled under my big poofy coverlet on my big poofy mattress and fell asleep.

Pictures of my room and the Towel Animal du Jour (a swan) after the jump!

Disney Adventure Day 1, December 21, 2012 (Akron and points south)

Like a good little traveler, I was up and moving early.  I had my two cups of coffee, brushed my hair & teeth, put my toothbrush and meds in my carryon, put the coffeepot in the dishwasher and started it, and headed out the door. 

Because it was so cold that morning, I wore black cargo pants, fuzzy socks, fuzzy black & white leg warmers from Sock Dreams, a black t-shirt, a white cotton shirt, a black jersey cardigan and my navy “spring” windbreaker.  It was very cold and very dark when I left at 6:15, and the roads were icy.  I was lucky in the first half of my trip, because I was right behind a salt truck, but once I got on 77 South, I was on my own.  Thankfully, traffic was light, so I did a steady 60 mph, and only had one scary moment.  Somebody thought I wasn’t going fast enough, so he or she passed me on the right and then zipped back into the middle lane, cutting me off.  My only thought as I tapped the brakes was “If I die, I hope my family goes on the cruise.”

Clearly, I didn’t die, and I made it to the airport in time to park and take a shuttle in and go through security and get to my gate just as they were boarding. J We took off a little late after de-icing, and arrived in Charlotte at 9:30 instead of 8:40, but the flight to Orlando wasn’t leaving until 11:25, so I had time to walk the entire length of the airport, buy a yogurt on the verge of sentience and what I thought was a bottle of water but which turned out to be Sprite. 

The woman Mom had hired to cover the phones had tried to call both of us,  but since I was the one who turned my phone back on first, I was the one who got to tell her that if she was sick, she should go home.  Eventually, Mom called me, and I told her that, then asked if the Jeeves-Margo family were in fact flying from Charlotte to Orlando with me.  She said yes, but their plane was landing around 11.  :o

Thus I spent the next 90 minutes both worrying and wondering why my carryon bag was so darned heavy.  I finished one book and started another, and was in the last group to board the plane.  I was chatting with my seatmate and worrying, and they were just about to close the door when I saw my family heading down the aisle.  Yaaaaay!  They were all flushed and a little breathless, because they had run from the same terminal at which my flight had arrived (reserved for “small airports” like Columbus) after being late owing to de-icing.

After that, the 90 minute flight to Orlando was a piece of cake, and we arrived only about 30 minutes late.  The Crossword-Mathgeek family was at baggage claim 5, and the shuttle was going to pick up their party and then come to baggage claim 20 and get us.  There was a joyful reunion and then a 1 hour trip to our hotel in Cape Canaveral.   During the trip, there were several different conversations going on.  At one of those natural pauses when everyone was quiet at once, the driver drifted over some rumble strips, and little Princess Minnie yelled “Road farts!”  This is one of the many lovely sayings passed on to the next generation from Grampa Scary Bear.

Mom met us in the lobby, we all got check in and dumped our bags in our rooms and then gathered in Mom & Dad’s room for snacks.  After some discussion, we decided on an early dinner, which we had at a decent tourist trap called Fishlips.  At dinner, Captain Crossword announced that Bookworm Mathgeek had gotten the highest possible grades in her two MBA courses for that semester, so we all raised our glasses to her. Then we went back to the hotel and celebrated Super Doughnut’s birthday in Mom and Dad’s room.  Mom had gotten vanilla ice cream and a personalized cake, and because we were in a residence hotel, there were plates and forks in the room.  Captain Crossword did a killer dance to “Ice Cream and Cake” and then was begged to repeat it 3 times until he was captured on video.  Even though it’s been 20 years since show choir, my little brother still has the moves.

After ice cream and cake, Mom took me on a drugstore run, as I was constipated and painfully bloated.  She came to my room to pick up some bills I'd brought for her, and that was when I discovered that my carry-on was so heavy because I'd brought the two pounds of mixed nuts that arrived at the house after Mom and Dad left!  I happily handed over the nuts and took some OTC meds and read in my room for a while, then just happened to visit the fire pit for a cigarette at the same time Annabel, Captain Crossword and all four kids were visiting.  It was a gas fire in a huge stone surround, and while pretty, it wasn’t really something that encouraged sitting around it.  Plus, we’d apparently brought some chilly Ohio weather with us, as it was 57º F when we landed and kept dropping.  I went to bed early, after taking a long hot shower and watching 2 episodes of Say Yes To The Bridesmaid’s Dress. *blush*  

I should be packing

The guest room is a mess, with various piles of clothing awaiting either packing or putting away, depending on what I decide to take.  My suitcase has to be at my folks' house on Saturday, so it can go overland to Orlando, while I work in the office next week and then fly to Orlando on Friday.

This week has been absolutely hellish at work, as Mom and I scramble to get everything done before she leaves.  Of course, there have been crises, most notably four Wards in three different hospitals in two counties.  I think Tuesday was the worst, because we expected Monday to be a Monday, and we both got a lot done yesterday, but the phone would NOT stop ringing on Tuesday.

I'm getting cautiously excited about the cruise.  I've just purchased and downloaded 7 e-books to take with me, along with the physical books I've been hoarding, and I do know which nail polishes, perfumes and bath and body products I want to take.  I do need to find my lavender sugar scrub, which appears to be in hiding,  and as I said, I should be packing.

Instead, I am faffing about on Goodreads and playing a silly little shareware game.

It's official!

For their 50th anniversary, Mom and Dad are taking the whole famdamily on a cruise at Christmas time 2012. We'll be going on the new Disney Fantasy and I'm going to have my own room! With a balcony! Time to start saving money for fun spending. :)

In the meantime, I am struggling with the fact that it's now been more than a year since I was laid off and I've had only two in-person interviews and with the fact that I'm having a MS flare-up which consists of hands (especially the left) feeling like they're swollen when they're not, very painful and tingling more than usual. Also, there is a pompous, pretentious, patronizing, preening jerk on Goodreads I'd like to slap into next week and I've been very bad about sticking to my workout schedule. I'm not sure what I need, but I need something.

Vacation Days 7 & 8: Jammies at Sea

Thursday was another lovely day at sea. There isn't much to say about it except that I felt so relaxed I was practically boneless, and I wound up reading about ten books on the cruise. Dad had paid $100 for 250 minutes of Interwebbinets time, and kept asking me if I wanted to check my e-mail or post to my blog, and I kept saying no thanks. As much as I love and esteem all of my forum & blog friends, the cruise was a complete vacation from my daily world, and I wanted to keep it that way.

Friday morning, we arrived at Disney's island, Castaway Cay. It's absolutely beautiful.





I don't know if Disney built or just re-created this island, but they don't allow you to take shells from the beach, and the lagoon has the ghost ship from "Pirates of the Caribbean" permanently installed in it. I'm pretty proud of how well these pictures turned out.





The day's plans were pretty simple--play in the water & on the beach, go for a glass-bottomed boat ride, eat lunch, go back to the beach. Phase one went well for everyone who made it. Unfortunately, Bookworm had some tummy trouble, so she wasn't able to join us, and Dad of course wasn't out of bed when we left and isn't really a beachy sort of guy anyway. The water was chilly but the whole experience was amazing. I got out there in my bathing suit and floated around on an innertube and played shark with my nephew (he was the shark, of course!).

Our glass-bottomed boat ride was cancelled owing to rough waters, but I didn't feel as if I'd missed anything. Lunch was an okay barbeque, but at least there was strawberry frozen yogurt and really amazing pineapple for dessert. After lunch, I was feeling the heat a bit, so I went back to the ship, showered and took a nap.

That evening, Mom & Dad took the kids so that the rest of us could have a grown-up dinner at the ship's fanciest restaurant, Palo. We had a great time with good drinks, phenomenal food, a cute and very good waiter and lots of conversation. As much as I enjoyed the amenities on the cruise, the best thing for me was the time spent with my family. I think I got alone time with everyone, and I do hope we do it again in four years.

The last pic here is one where I think I look pretty good, although I am eclipsed by Tinkerbell's cuteness. It was taken on the verandah of our room on Monday.

Vacation Day 6: Not Enough History

Wednesday morning was cloudy and warm, and the ship was docked at St. Thomas by the time we awoke. Mom & Annabel were scheduled for a catamaran ride & snorkeling excursion, I was going to be on a "historical walking tour" of St. Thomas, and the rest of the family had a tentative plan to walk around the shops and spend time at the pool.

St. Thomas was beautiful, and I had high hopes of learning about the island. The bus took us from the dock to several overlook points.





At the first stopping point, in addition to the gorgeous view, there were guinea hens walking around.





There were chickens and a truck labeled "Joe's Fresh Fried Chicken."



There were gorgeous flowers.





There was a bus with a tag from my home state on it for some reason!



I was brave and had someone take my picture despite the fact that I looked awful.



Then we got to Blackbeard's Castle, and the disappointment started. Granted, there's a statue of Blackbeard and a big tower.



There are also lots of pirate statues on the grounds of what is now the Blackbeard's Castle Hotel, with interesting tidbits on them.




But the "tour" consisted of setting us loose in restored houses (2 of them), giving out five or six factoids, and exiting through the gift shop. I did see a very early version of a recliner, which was cool.



The biggest disappointment was the "rum factory." Despite the lovely exterior, it was purely a gift shop designed to sell tax-free booze and tourist tchotkes, and it was over-air-conditioned to the point of pain.







The "tour" was decent exercise, because we descended all the way down the hill via various stone steps. Still, I was pretty disappointed that it was more shopping than history. Mom & Anabel, on the other hand, had a wonderful time on their excursion. At least if we do this again, I know what to sign up for!

The tour ended at 11:30, and the bus back to the ship was scheduled to pick us up at 1:00. Clearly, the point of ninety minutes in Charlotte-Amalie was to get us to shop for jewelry and electronics. I got rained on, picked up a couple of presents from the open marketplace, and then shared a taxi back to the boat with a family that had been on the tour with me.

When I got back to our stateroom, Dad was still asleep and Rosa hadn't had a chance to clean the room yet. I bullied him out of bed and upstairs for lunch, and then when he couldn't reach Jeeves at his stateroom, I offered to take him shopping to get the watch he'd wanted to buy. I'd planned on a shower and a nap for my afternoon, but when Dad asked about it, I said, "I can nap every day. How often do I get to go shopping with my dad?"

In addition to the downtown shops, there were quite a few near the ships. It was about a two minute walk, and we stopped at the first jewelry store. We looked at the men's watch selection, and the saleslady asked if she could help. Dad asked if they had Seiko watches, and the woman replied that they only carried Citizen. She then said, "See the ones with the green tags? They are ecologically good, they run on light."

Dad asked if they had quartz movement, and she said, "No battery--they run only on light, any kind of light. Maybe if you leave in a drawer for two, tree monts dey die and you have to hold dem up to a lahmp." Dad decided to keep looking. He had better luck a few stores down, and not only did he find himself a gorgeous Tissot watch, he had a lively discussion with the store manager about watchmaking, the history of watches and watch repair (Dad worked for a clockmaker/repairman in high school). I excused myself, went to the store full of touristy stuff next door, and bought postcards plus two light-up shark keychains for my nephews, since I'd gotten my niece a pin the day before.

Dad & I walked back to the ship, and I had my shower while he read, played on the computer and enjoyed his new watch. I was just about to take my nap when Mom came back from her excursion, all happy and damp and tired. She said the only thing wrong with the catamaran sail & snorkeling is that the exercise made her thirsty and the only thing offered right after snorkeling was free rum punch!

So she had 2 pina coladas instead. *giggle*

That evening, Jeeves treated Mom & Dad & I to drinks in the piano bar before dinner. I had a lovely Kir Royale, which was pretty much my drink of choice for the cruise. Dinner was lovely as always, and I slept like a rock.

Vacation Days 4 & 5: Bikinis and Butterflies

Monday morning, I woke up stiff from the pullout bed, so I threw on my swimsuit and went and had a lovely, peaceful soak in the hot tub. After that, I grabbed two cups of coffee & took them down to the stateroom. Mom & I had coffee on the verandah, then I took a shower and she went off to kidnap a grandchild or four for the day. Monday was pretty much the same pattern as Sunday--breakfast, pool, lunch, nap, reading, dinner, relaxing as could be. I remember thinking that I hadn't felt that relaxed since JammiesFest.

One totally snobby and judgmental comment from me: No one, and I mean NO ONE, not even, say, Sophia Loren, who is my size and my mother's age, should be swanning around a public pool wearing a bikini. I understand about being comfortable with yourself, loving the you that you are, all that, but BLECH!

Tuesday was our day at St. Maarten, and Mom, Dad, Bookworm Mathgeek, Princess Mathgeek, Tinkerbell and I went on a bus tour of the island with a stop at a butterfly farm. We passed the biggest Ace Hardware store I'd ever seen, and made a point to draw Dad's attention to it. The butterfly farm was neat, and I'm hoping my pics came out, because a huge butterfly landed right on Bookworm's cheek as I was walking next to her (yes, I'll get off my ass and get the pics up at some point). Princess Mathgeek was chosen to carry a leaf full of tiny butterfly eggs around and show the members of our tour group, and brave enough to touch a caterpillar in its cocoon, so I got her a little butterfly pin to remind her of the occasion. The rest of the tour was probably a little too much for the girls--lots of sitting and not much chance to burn off energy, but they were still pretty good.

And yes, the pics came out!








Speaking of kids and energy, Disney's cruise ships have various age-appropriate activities for kids, and they are well done enough that none of the kids in our family really wanted to leave the "Oceaneer Club" once they'd gotten there. They also did very well at mealtimes, which was doubly impressive because we were eating at 8 p.m. Our waiter took the kids' orders first, and brought their food while the adults were eating appetizers. On the one hand, this was good from the point of getting food into my nieces and nephews. On the other hand, it meant that they had to sit at the table and behave even after they'd had dessert. They were all very well-behaved every night they ate with us.

One night, when Emmanuel was taking dessert orders from the kids, Princess said "Nothing for me." When he brought out the desserts, he had a plate for her on which he'd used chocolate sauce to write the word "Nothing." He also did magic tricks for them, and made a talking banana at breakfast on our last morning there. He was absolutely one of the highlights of the cruise.

Vacation Day 3: Snobservations at Sea

The morning of our first full day on the ship there was a "character breakfast." Basically, it meant that we went to the same restaurant where we'd had dinner the night before, and ate while Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Chip & Dale, Pluto and Goofy all made brief appearances in the center of the restaurant.

As we were waiting to go in, I was people-watching, and I was a bit irritated by the guy I saw in front of me. I thought, "You know, here we all are on this nice ship, about to go in to a nice restaurant, and if you absolutely must wear your Camel T-shirt, your work boots, your jeans and your Busch hat, mister, the least you could do is wash the grease out of your mullet."

The theme of being conspicuously underdressed for meals on the ship was one that was carried out through the whole week. Every day, we got a little sheet in our stateroom telling us where our dinner would be and what the dress code was. Even on the two semi-formal nights, there were people in shorts and jeans strolling in. Mom wondered what the wait staff thought of these people.

I can't answer that, but I can say that I thought it was a damn shame to go to the effort and expense to come on a cruise and then treat the dining experience as if it was the local fast-food joint.

After breakfast, Dad went back to the room to read/nap/play on the computer, while the rest of us suited up and headed for the pool. Yes, I wore a swimsuit for the first time in twenty years, and although the straps were a bit too long, I still felt as if I looked pretty good for a fat chick.

The Disney Magic has three pools: the Mickey pool for small kids and families, the Goofy pool for older kids and families and Quiet Cove for adults only. The Mickey pool, where my nieces and nephews did all of their swimming, has a one-story curlicue slide and two black rubber mini-pools on top of the larger circular pool. There is a sign indicating that children who are not potty-trained are only allowed in Mickey's starboard ear. For some reason, that just gave me a chuckle every time I read it.

The kids swam, the adults mostly stood in the pool or sat at the edge, and I took fifteen minutes to visit one of the hot tubs at the adults-only pool. I had just gotten in and leaned back when I was joined by a gentleman who wanted to talk. Despite the fact that I had my head resting against the back of the pool and my eyes closed, he wanted to yak about his kids, his wife, his nieces, blah blah blah. Short of being actually rude, I couldn't think of a way to tell him to stfu. Enjoyable as the hot tub was, that time I was pleased to leave it when my time was up.

When I got back to the Mickey Pool, the kids were all munching on chicken tenders or hot dogs from the snack stand, and I got some lunch. After that, it was nap time, then reading time, then dinner time. After dinner, it was back to the room to see what towel origami our room steward had created, and then some more reading before bed. That pretty much set the tone for our days at sea, and it was a lovely way to spend the days.

Vacation Day 2: The Breakfast Fairy

After a quiet night at the Disney complex, everyone except Dad was up early and raring to go. My brothers took their families over to breakfast early, and Mom waited while I showered and dressed, then we went over. I guess the best description of the building was a giant food court with central cash registers. Mom bought two coffees and went off to get us a table, and I got in line for an omelet & some bacon.

While I was standing in line, a woman tapped me on the shoulder and said, "I'm going to pay for your breakfast."

She wasn't anyone I'd ever seen before, and my first thought was that she had mistaken me for someone else. She explained, however, that she and her family were on a package tour to DisneyWorld, and they had cards for a meal plan. She had twenty-four meals left on her card and they were leaving that afternoon, so she was wandering around the cash registers paying for people's breakfasts. There was a big line behind me, so when the cashier asked if I wanted to go get two beverages which were included, I just asked for two coffee cups. We each had coffee and took three cups back to the hotel so that Dad could have some right when he woke up.

By nine our luggage was on the bus, and by noon so were we. There was another Disney infomercial for the hour and fifteen minute ride to the port, and then we checked in, went through security and boarded the ship. The Pickypants and Crossword-Mathgeek families stopped to get ID bracelets for the kids, so Mom & Dad & I went on ahead.

Like my mother, I tend to react to stress when it's over, so it was Saturday that I developed a splitting headache. As we came on board, the atrium was filled with people and noise, and I noticed a crew member was announcing the people before us as they walked in, using a microphone and calling for cheers and applause. She tapped my arm, and asked my name. I replied, "I'm Pamela, and please don't announce me, my head hurts."

She let me pass without fanfare, and the three of us found the elevators and located our stateroom on Deck 8. It was quite nice, small but with a ton of storage space. I particularly liked the separate teeny little rooms for the toilet/sink combo and the shower/tub/sink combo--it meant that one person could be using one room while someone else used the other. Plus, I prefer not to leave my toothbrush in the same room as the toilet (Zayrina will understand that).

Once we had dropped off our carry-on bags, we headed to the buffet restaurant on Deck 9. We met up with the rest of the family and grabbed a very large table to have lunch. The buffet was open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. There were also three sort of snack stands on Deck 9 by the pools, one with fruit & deli-type sandwiches, one with hotdogs & hamburgers, and one with pizza. The buffet and snack stand foods were all adequate in quality, but far from gourmet. However, the self-serve beverage station was available 24/7, and unlike other cruises (or so I've heard), free.

After lunch, we dispersed to our cabins because there was an emergency drill at 3 o'clock. Let me tell you, faithful readers, someone with a 38G bra size looks scary in a life vest. I had a giant orange flotation device floating on my built-in flotation devices, and the damn thing nearly stuck straight out!

There was a big party on Deck 9 by the middle (family) pool to wave goodbye to land. I'd thought the atrium was loud when I boarded, but it seemed like a library compared to the music and crowd noise at the party. The younger of my two nephews (Alabaster Pickypants) is sensitive to loud noises. I think he's got really good hearing like his dad and like me, and he's just plain miserable in situations like that. I offered to take him to the back of the boat where it was a bit quieter, and he sat at a table and listened to his IPod until we started to move. There were people waving from shore, so we waved back and said goodbye to Florida.





Saturday night we had our first dinner. There are two seatings and three restaurants that serve dinner. Our group was table 47 in the second seating, and we rotated through all three restaurants. Our waiter, Emmanuel, was absolutely amazing. Our assistant waiter was good in the service-with-a-smile department, but not so great with speed. Right now, I don't remember what I had for that first meal, but I do remember that the dessert was an absolutely magnificent strawberry shortcake.

I can't speak for the rest of the group, but I know that Mom and I were in bed and asleep by 11. It was a pretty eventful day!

Vacation Day 1: Orlando

Day one began at 3 a.m., when my alarm shrilled and I got up and shoved the dogs out into the pre-dawn darkness. An ice storm had moved in and was making a mess of the roads. Mom and Dad were at my house promptly at 4, and we loaded my carry-on bag into the car and set off for the airport. It was a good thing we'd allowed extra time, because the normally twenty minute drive took just under an hour. Once at the airport, we got everything unloaded and ourselves checked in. The plane was supposed to leave at 6, but it took forty-five minutes to de-ice, so we left late.

Leaving late meant we missed our flight from Atlanta to Orlando, but Delta was very efficient in handling the situation. Only moments after we got off the plane, there was a Delta CSR asking for our boarding passes and getting us standby on a 9:25 flight or confirmed for a 10:20 flight. We elected to go with the confirmed flight, and made it to Orlando by noon.

We caught the Disney bus to the resort, and Dad immediately wished for his TV B Gone. There were monitors throughout the bus, showing a Disney infomercial for cruises and Disney World, which made it impossible to sleep. When we arrived at the Caribbean Beach Resort, I got very excited to see a cute lil blue car in the parking lot, and pointed and yelled to Mom & Dad that Sherri was here before us.

We checked in to the hotel, and I called Sherri, who came in from the parking lot. She looked absolutely gorgeous in pink and black (her hubs has been helping her expand her warddrobe). She had gotten a birthday cake for my niece and some pink and white frosted cookies as well.

NB: My niece has now outgrown the name "Baby Mathgeek" and will henceforth be known as "Tinkerbell."

The cake & cookies were handed off to Mom, Sherri was introduced to Dad, and they headed for the room while Sherri and I headed off to her house. I got to hear a bit about her growing-up years in Florida, and after a shortish drive, we were at her house.

All five of Sherri's cats have mad cuteness skills. I wanted to scoop them all up, hug the stuffing out of them and steal them.

Nobly, I refrained.

We spent the afternoon chatting about everything under the sun, catching up, petting and playing with kittehs, and eventually, it was time for me to head back to the hotel. At first, we couldn't find building 35 (yes, each Disney hotel is that large), but after a phone call to my brother, we managed. I had intended to show Sherri the royal blue dress I brought for formal wear on the cruise, but when I opened my suitcases, I discovered I'd forgotten to pack it! To be honest, I spent the rest of the evening alternately sulking and kicking myself just to get the disappointment out of my system.

Still, Sherri and I had a good time, and she chose to leave when the rest of the family came back to the room from dinner. She did get to meet at least some family members, and Bookworm Mathgeek asked me to pass on big thanks for the birthday cake. We had a small birthday party for Tinkerbell, and then everyone headed off to bed.