Florida 2009 Pt. 1

Okay, so the night before our flight on the 14th, I was so good, I made sure I took my Ambien so that I would SLEEP before having to be out the door by 7 am...but of course my body wouldn't cooperate. I managed to get 2 hours which is better than last year when I got zero. Kate drove us to the airport since she had to stay because of those horrible teachers!! I DID learn accidentally since I was supposed to be surprised too, basically because I can't keep a secret, that Kate would be getting there Wednesday night instead of Thursday night. What can I say, I thought I could print out her boarding pass too and be all organized for her and my Mom was all NO, and I was like NO, I am going to, so she had to tell me, LOL. And I don't have all my pics yet, most are on my Dad's laptop so I may have to post some later than they should be posted.

Anyway, we got there with plenty of time, only our first plane was a baby plane. Not a propeller but there was only like 12 aisles and it freaked me out! The landing scared the crap out of me, too rickety!! The second plane was normal sized but we HAD to have drama. The plane was completely booked except for one seat. So we should be taking off right? Wrong. This woman a few aisles up from us, her seat was broken. So they had to get a crew man to try and fix it. It wasn't happening. And she wanted to sit THERE. But the seat was broken so they were discussing (not near her!) that she'd have to switch to the empty seat and this requires the flight manifest to be changed which has to go through al this crap, but she REFUSED, she wanted her window seat fixed!! So the crew man was back again and her seat mates had to stand in the aisle again. Still broken, hellooooo lady! It was 30 minutes past our departure time, we had been aboard for 45 minutes, when most of us learned she didn't want that other seat (a nice aisle I might say) because it was too close to the bathrooms!!! Agghh!! A man behind her in the aisle was like " I'LL TAKE IT!!!" and some of us cheered him, and I said thanks as he walked by. She never apologized to anyone!! What a shrew!

Budget Cars was a nightmare, they kept disappearing these workers so it would be like 2 or 3 people actually working and their computers were on the fritz so it took us an hour to get our car and we were lucky, as we went straight there, as Dad drove our luggage down with Max! We dumped our stuff at the house (which I call "it", as it is not very clean, I cleaned and washed my entire room before unpacking. Vacuming, dusting, everything!) and grabbed Dad who arrived first, and we hit the 2 stores we grocery shop at. We get as much as we can at the Super Walmart but the things we have to have at Publix. We were all so tired. Mom decided since Max was being antsy to put him inmy room with me!! Okay, I fall asleep on the couch every night at home with him sleeping behind my legs but sleeping in a bed with Max is different!! As I learned. He has to be touching you at all times or he gets restless, which woke me up all night long, and he likes to sleep between your legs which I cannot do, I have to be able to move!! So I got about 5 hours, my Dad could not believe Mom sicked Max on me because he was restless when she loves to sleep with him!! 7 hours in 48 hours had me ragged.

We went swimming for the first time when we woke up, it was chilly! And as I swam I kept feeling my bathing suit, it felt weird and looked odd. I realized I felt like I was wearing a dress, the top ended where the bottoms had originally and the botoms ended almost at my calfs!! And I could see through parts!! My one bathing suit had somehow deteriorated!! We had to return our car to Budget but in Kissimmee thanks to my bright idea, but the guy tried to charge us 12 bucks! Apparently for a rental under 48 hours you have to fill up the tank within 10 miles of the return area, and though it was full we had to drive to a gas station, my Dad pushing the car up and down until $3 finally went in, just so we didn't have to pay this fee we were never told about! We went to Walmart for bathing suits, Sam needed one too. No luck, Sam hated them all and me...well Walmart is not okay when you have big chest's and need a bathing suit. And we struck out at Lane Bryant, they don't sell them, but a girl there was all go to 535 they have a swim suit store there that has plus sizes....so we drove and drove....finally 411 told us no such store exists. So Dad drove us to the Florida Mall, but we didn't have to go IN the mall, Sam and I both found a suit at JC Penny's! Yay! We had Olive Garden for lunch, it was so good! Mmmm! They all wanted an evening in, but when in Florida, sitting around drives me crazy so I went to a different Walmart and went shopping. I got back, ate cheese and crackers, watched Fridays ABC soaps that I brought down with me, and fell asleep...for 10 hours!! It was so good!!

That morning, Monday the 16th, we sat by the pool and ate breakfast. The lady who manages "it" showed up and freaked Max for almost an hour. See "it" had a broken front door lock, the pool was really cold though we were paying for heat, etc, etc, so Glenda (hate her...you will see why) showed up. After they left we went to Epcot. We couldn't go on Soarin', we don't do 105 minute waits, and even fast passes were ALL gone! We ate at the Land though, it has so many choices now, from sushi to sammies to pastries, etc. I got cheeses (even a pink one, but it was good!) and grapes and a croissant! We went on Imagination and watched Honey I Shrunk the Audience. Then MORE calls from Kate. oh sorry, she had been calling at really late times the night before. She could not find her mouthpiece and was freaking out. She called at 11pm, 12 am and 1 am the night before! She made me wake Mom up, oy! She was just reallu upset and inconsolable, etc. So all through Epcot were calls from Kate, and TO Kate, did you look here or here or here? We went to Mexico where I ate a churro and their delicious black refired beans, the only place I like black ones! SO good!Shopped at China and saw a cool show (this is some pics I need right here...I WILL post, Dad bought me a cute Chinese hat) then went shopping at Japan and we ate there and I was so happy, like I said my fave meal there! But I do not need to go again next time. Yeah there tempura is as good as ever, but they no longer serve that fish broth soup I crave all year long, it is not even on the menu! And they changed their dipping sauce which is what I loved, so it was fine, but not like all these years before. Sad. And my Fam did it for me. They wanted to eat at a faster food but I knew I wouldn't return to Epcot again, I don't like that much there, so they set it up, they rock! Stayed for the fireworks, but Mom and I left my Dad and Sam to watch them, we were in agony, feet, backs, etc. We did see some from the car while we waited!LOL! Got home, swam in a still cold pool and showered and then I was out.

Tuesday was St. Patty's Day, and of course I brought green down! We went and saw the Race to Witch Mountain movie at my beloved AMC 24 Pleasure Islands theater (stadium seating, rocker chairs, which have arms that go up so you can stretch to 2 or 3 seats if you want and in 2 theaters there are 3 floors of seating!! Plus a bathroom every 20 feet!!). The movie rocked!! Haha...the Rock rocked! but it was a great movie and I am a fan of the originals too, so it was GOOD! Like a different movie completely but you saw similarities. We shopped at Virgin Records. I bought a totally LAME game for Sam's DS, Cooking Mama. I thought it would be fun like Hot Dish this PC game, but it is LAMEEEEE! 20 bucks I can never get back. I also bought a cool one but I bought it FOR Sam....crap!! LOL! It is fun though, it is the one Lisa Kudrow and her sister are playing in the commercials. We had IHOP for dinner and prepared the house for the invasion the next day. 3 more people in "It". Oh the horrors of "it" all. 7 people and a dog in this PIT of a house...oy vey!

Wednesday (18th) we went mini golfing. It was so gorgeous out, so balmy and gorgeous, just the most nicest day weather wise! I lost by 2 points! Dang it!! We ate at Stake 'n Shake (where Sam and I shared their 2 in 1 milkshake, You get two different flavors in one glass!) and went to the flea market. Sam got 2 new watches and I got one with different colored stones. And check out these killer shades we found there! Why are they bringing the 80's back?!!
The pool was perfection, it was all of a sudden the perfect temperature and swimming in it was pure heaven! We tried to get Max to jump in, which he has never done, but he wouldn't but he DID love being splashed at so much that he cried until we dragged him into the pool, and then he'd swim to the stairs, get out, shake, and we would begin all over, him crying to be splashed and brought in, SO much fun! We went to eat at Red Lobster, man I hate that place. But I got all hopeful, they now have a baked potato soup. I was like I love the salad, the biscuits, if they now have a soup I love I can eat here now!! But...the soup sucked. I didn't touch it. Even my Dad, who is very easy to please with soup wouldn't touch it after one sip. It was a nice meal though and I swear to you all, I have NEVER had such amazing service. The waiter was there like every two minutes asking if we needed anything, suggesting things we didn't even have to ask for, etc. My Dad did 20% tipping, he was as wowed as we all were!!

Everyone else was pretty tired. It was just me and Dad who went to pick up Katie at 11:45 pm. We told Dad that first full day about the surprise, it took him like 5 minutes to comprehend that we were not saying it wrong that Katie WAS arriving on Wednesday instead, classes be....danged!! She did the tests, etc. They pulled her aside to talk to her too THAT day, the day she was going to Florida which made her a wreck, even though it turns out it was like a "here's how you are doing", etc chat. Why couldn't they say that in the first place, so that she didn't sit there waiting for them WORRYING?!! Anyway, Dad and I had a really good church discussion on the way up to the airport, it just happened. We talked about the whole "Edith" thing too, Dad says I should ask the Bishop what the churches stand is on THAT ONE. LOL. When Katie was there we ran and hugged, she said she finally felt the excitement the minute she felt the rumble of the planes engine start the takeoff!Yay! My Dad thought she'd be too wired to sleep when we got back but I was right, she was exhausted and went to bed without even eating. And then I watched soaps and went to bed.

To Be Continued....