Why Do Mechanical Things HATE Me???

Is it possible to give off some sort of vibe or aura in such a way that you have an effect on how mechanical things work? Seriously now. It is very very late as I was up working on some important things but I had to vent quick before I slip off to slumber as I am still disturbed about some things that occurred this evening.

About a year ago we had a new garage door opener installed. It has worked beautifully until a few days ago when it didn't want to close the door. The door would start to go down and then something seemed to trip it and it would reverse and go back up. I tried everything I could think of to fix it but it seemed intermittent so I sort of brushed it off. Tonight when I am in a hurry and running late for dance class at 6:30 (of course we have to stop at CVS for treats to share at class too!!!) the dumb garage door won't close - for anything! Finally in desperation I pulled the release cord and closed it manually (not knowing how heavy it was going to be for me to lift it open when we returned - imagine a woman in stiletto heeled boots trying to squat down and balance as she opens a two-ton door - that's o.k. go ahead and laugh I can take it).

Then as we are driving I hear my brakes (can't tell if front or back) making this awful grating noise. Now I know, I know, brakes and the replacement of them is a part of a life if you own a car. But you must understand that precisely ONE month ago I had just under $600 worth of work done to ALL my brakes. I don't even want to think about what this new noise will cost me.

Then finally I went downstairs to our PC to print something and I couldn't get the PC to bring up my files on my flash drive and then couldn't get the printer to work. I did finally succeed in printing what I set out to print but it wasn't without some choice, unrepeatable four-letter words.

So I ask, why do mechanical things hate me?

From The Minds of Little Boys

As I was on my cleaning spree this past weekend I happened upon Ryan's backpack for school. You might have noticed a red and black backpack in some of our Disney photos. We had the kids each use their school backpacks as carry on bags for the trip and Bill decided it would be a good idea to use Ryan's for our daily outings. I can't let this go by without saying this was Bill's idea but I will give you one guess who ended up carrying it the majority of the time.

Anyway when I picked up his backpack I was rather upset because I noticed that it had been written on the outside with what appeared to be permanent marker. My first thought was, "These darn kids just don't take care of anything, what do they think money grows on trees and they can just scribble on their backpacks and I will buy another???" However upon closer inspection what I read brought a chuckle from me and a tear to my eye. I think only a child would think this. Here is what Ryan had written on his backpack:

"Ryan Lambert. This has been to Minnesota, Florida, and some city called Atlanta."

Funny how we spent all this money on our trip but it is something so seemingly inconsequential that is important to Ryan. Here is a picture of his backpack.

Brrrrrrrrr

Yep you read it correctly. That was the temp my car was reading as I drove to work this morning. No doubt Winter is nipping at our heels in Minnesota. The weatherman is calling for a warm up later this week with highs around 60 on Thursday. However I am sure it will just be Mother Nature's way of teasing us. The cool/cold temps are going to move in soon and this time they won't just be visiting . . . they will be staying for the long haul. Gotta love life in Minnesota! :-)

Vacation Recap Day 4 - Epcot

On our 4th day at Disney World we headed to Epcot. We arrived at Epcot in the early afternoon due to our late night at the Magic Kingdom the previous night. We also planned to have a later night at Epcot since our dinner reservations were not until 8:20 at the Askerhus Royal Banquet Hall.

Upon arrival things were not looking good. Anna was in an incredibly foul mood and it seemed nothing could alter it. Finally I tried to pry her with ice cream and that mellowed her mood a bit but not a lot. Bill and Ryan ran over to Mission: Space to get Fast Passes. While waiting for their pass time we went through Spaceship Earth. This is the very cool ride that takes you through the famous Epcot Sphere. It takes you through the history of communication from cave paintings to the space age. We liked it so much that we did it again before we left at the end of the night.

Bill and Ryan left Anna and I to go ride Mission: Space and to try to snag us Fast Passes for Test Track and also Soarin'. They really enjoyed Mission: Space although they opted for the milder "green" version versus the high-intensity orange one where the simulator spins very rapidly. They both agreed that the green version seemed to suit then well.

While the boys were doing their thing I searched for something to cheer up Anna. We happened by the Character Connection and Bingo we had our place. For a rather long (about 45 minutes) wait we got to greet and meet Mickey Mouse, Pluto, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy. Ryan and Bill caught up with us when we were nearly to the front of the line so both kids got to experience this. It was just what the doctor ordered as it completely cheered up Anna.

We went on to see The Seas With Nemo & Friends. This was a very cute ride that was part animated Finding Nemo superimposed onto a real aquarium. When we were done there Bill's sisters and our niece joined us. We tried and tried to get into Soarin' and Test Track but the waits were continually 80 and 90 minutes and we finally discovered all the Fast Passes had been distributed for the day. :-( Sadly both are rides that we have had to put on the list for our next Disney trip.

We headed over to Honey I Shrunk the Audience. This was a 3D movie where we experienced what it would be like if we had been shrunk. I was doing fine until the mice were let out. I knew that they would make it feel like the mice were running by my feet but that still didn't stop my surprise nor my scream when it happened. Not to mention Bill's sister Mary and I grabbed each other's hand. Oh we laughed and laughed and laughed. Anna was smart and had been sitting with her legs crossed and up on her seat the entire time so she never felt it. Thank goodness or I think she would have been really freaked out. Ryan on the other hand was quite amused by my reaction. Did I tell you I hate mice?

Evening was setting upon us so we decided to take the walk around the World Showcase and end up at Askerhus for our Disney Princess dinner. Epot was in the middle of its annual food and wine festival. Because of this there were many additional vendors and food stands scattered throughout the World Showcase. I think this would have been very cool as a couple but it was not the ideal experience for the kids. Dinner was very good as Askerhus but the highlight for the kids (even Ryan) was getting to meet FIVE princesses. First the kids were greeted by Belle (Beauty and the Beast) before we were seated. Then prior to dinner during appetizers we were visited by Jasmine (Aladdin), Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), Alice (Alice in Wonderland) and finally the Princess of all Princesses, Cinderella. Anna in particular did not stop smiling. Princess Aurora is Anna's favorite and it was so cute to sit back and watch as she told Princess Aurora this. Ryan ate up all the compliments and being called a "most handsome prince." Unfortunately our dinner was so late that we saw only a small piece of Epcot's night time laser and fireworks display, "Illumination."

After leaving dinner we took two more rides, the first was the Maelstrom a boat ride that took us through Norway. The second was the El Rio del Tiempo which was a tour of Mexico past and present.

Tired out from the long, fun day but disappointed that we didn't get to ride Soarin' or Test Track we headed home ready for a good night's sleep.

A Fall Weekend in Minnesota

After some busy past weekends I was looking forward to a weekend with no agenda other than the normal Target trip, laundry and house cleaning. For the most part I got my wish. As usual I didn't get everything done I wanted to do. I think I tend to set myself up for failure either by overestimating what I can feasibly do in one weekend around the house or underestimating how long it will take me to do things. Needless to say I still got a lot done — the upstairs is de-clutttered, vacuumed and dusted, all the beds have clean sheets and all the summer clothes are packed in their rubber maid bins and moved to the basement and my closet is clean and organized once again. Most of the laundry is done as well. I cleaned both the kid's rooms today and boy are they pack rats. I can't believe the things I find. Lucky for me they were busy playing today so they were oblivious to the things that went in the trash. :-)

But you know the saying, "All work and no play makes Carol a dull girl." So I did make sure to get in some play too. On Friday night we headed to Apple Jacks near Buffalo for Ryan's monthly Boy Scout pack family event. After a dinner of hot dogs, chips, applesauce and cinnamon apple doughnuts we hopped on a wagon ride over to a bon fire and corn maze. I have never been in a corn maze and boy was that fun in the dark with flashlights. We immensely enjoyed warming up by the bonfire. It was a great evening for it. Anna also tried her hand at the apple cannon (an air powered cannon type device that you shot apples out of and into a field) and deemed it her favorite part of the night. Before we headed home we bought some apples, apple pie and pumpkins for Halloween. Here are some photos from Friday night.


Today the weather took a drastic change to the cold, windy and yes . . . snow. The wind blew most of the remaining leaves off the trees, rattled the windows and screens and drove the temp down to the 30's. A good day to hunker down and stay in. The snow never amounted to anything but it wasn't for lack of trying as it fell for quite a few hours. Just in case you don't believe me, here are the pictures to prove it.

Lucky for us it sounds like warmer weather is on its way. I hope so because it sure is a bummer to have to bundle the kids up so much on Halloween that you have no chance of telling what they are dressed up as.

Vacation Recap Day 3 - Magic Kingdom

Day three of our trip took us to the Magic Kingdom. When you are a Disney Resort guest they offer special "magic hours" where you can enter a park an hour early or enjoy staying later at a park. These hours are only for resort guests so parks tend to be less crowded and can give you a jump start on getting a fast pass for a ride or show. On Thursday the Magic Kingdom offered the extra hour in the morning. The park would be closing at 7:00 pm that day unless you purchased tickets to "Mickey's Haunted Halloween" (we did) and then you could be in the park until midnight enjoying trick or treating, characters in Halloween costumes, a special fire works show as well as other fun activities. The park was far less crowded as well so rides were easier to get on.

We started out quite early and got into the park around 8:30 after taking a boat from our resort. The first thing the kids spotted when they got in were characters Pinocchio and Mary Poppins. Ryan hoped in Pinocchio's line and Anna into Mary Poppins. Right after we got in her line they closed it meaning we were the last ones for that time to get her autograph. As we waited in line I learned from the Disney employee that it is very rare to get Mary Poppins' autograph much less a photo with her as she likes to move about the park rather briskly (very in character don't you think??). Unfortunately the timing was such that Bill had the camera and Ryan and Anna got to the front of their lines at the same time. I had to snap a photo with my camera and forgot to include it in my video so here it is.



Then we headed to Fantasyland and rode "it's a small world," Peter Pan's flight, the Many Adventures of Winne the Pooh, Mickey's PhilharMagic, and the all time classics Dumbo the Flying Elephant and Cinderella's Golden Carousel. The kids also got to visit with Cinderella's Fairy Godmother. In Liberty Square we experienced the Haunted Mansion and after an Italian lunch at Tony's Town Square Restaurant (think Lady and the Tramp) the braver ones in our group (read NOT ME) rode the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster in Frontierland.

At that point the kids were ready for a break so we headed back to the hotel (such a great perk of staying right on Disney property - my parent tip #2) so Bill and the kids could swim and I could try to sort out some of our dinner reservations.

Around 7:00 we headed back to the Magic Kingdom where we stayed until nearly midnight. The trick or treating was fun, the kids met lots of characters including Buzz Lightyear, Tigger and Piglet, and Cinderella's wicked step-sisters and step-mother (they were so funny and so in character). We tried to get in line to meet Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs but they had just closed the line. Bill and Ryan rode Space Mountain twice and on the second time the ride came to an abrupt halt and all the lights came on. Luckily they were near the end so were able to exit but the ride was closed down after that. The kids attended one of Stich's dance parties and had a great time dancing to silly music (o.k. I had fun dancing to it too - those of you who know me well know that this girl LOVES to dance so it is hard to keep me off the dance floor). Bill says his favorite part of the whole day was watching the dancing (not me mind you but Anna!).

We watched the fabulous fire works display and for the last ride poor Bill had to endure the infamous "Mad Tea Party" (think tilt-a-whirl). He doesn't do that type of spinning well but the kids were determined to ride.

This was a super long day but I think my favorite one at what I would say is my favorite park.

Vacation Recap Day 2 - Animal Kingdom

For our first official day in Disney World we decided to head to the Animal Kingdom park. This is by far the largest park of the four Disney parks in Orlando and for us was the furthest away from our resort. In my reading about it I learned that it is also the "hottest" park in terms of temps given the small amount of air conditioned areas. In addition I learned that the Asia Area of this park (all the parks are broken up into different themed and named areas for those of you who have never traveled to Disney) is larger than the ENTIRE Magic Kingdom park.

Despite this we were still really unprepared for the shear size of the place and for me it was very difficult to get my bearings and navigate. We spent so much time walking that we didn't actually get to do a lot. I have to say that of the four this was my least favorite park and would be the one I would skip if I had to skip one. It also seems very geared towards boys. However that said, the things that we did do were very fun. I think had we been able to do and see more that I would have a more favorable impression.

Here is how our day went:
We slept in a bit and while Bill and I got ready for the day the kids had cereal (mini boxes brought from home with milk bought at the hotel store and kept in our room fridge - there is my "parent's tip" #1). Once we were ready to go we picked up the shuttle bus from our hotel to the park. Upon arrival we headed in and the kids were very excited to meet their first Disney characters. I think one of the highlights of the whole trip for the kids was the purchase of autograph books and the daily pursuit of character autographs to fill them with. We headed to DinoLand so Bill and Ryan could ride the "Dinosaur" a dark, loud and scary Roller Coaster.

One of the neat focal points of Animal Kingdom is the "Tree of Life" which is located in the center of the park and for the most part is visible from any of the areas. It is not a real tree but is a symbolic man-made work of amazing art with 325 animals carved in its trunk and roots.

Next stop was the Kilimanjaro Safaris. We boarded large safari trucks for a 20 minute "safari" through the 100 acres of African Habitat. We saw amazing animals and even more amazing was the close proximity we were able to get to them from elephants to rhinos to hippos. It was so neat to see. Well worth the 40 minute or so wait and my favorite part of the park. Next up was the "Expedition Everest" roller coaster. Anna and I sat this one out but Ryan and Bill rode it twice. Not to spoil it for anyone, but at one point the coaster comes to a dead stop and then takes off in reverse. It got a thumbs up from the guys. Being the chicken that I am I will take their word for it! Our last stop was a bit more my speed, the "TriceraTop Spin." Think the Dumbo ride gone Dino. :-)

When we finally arrived back to our hotel the kids were thrilled to see that our housekeeper had left some fun things for them. A towel dressed up like a monster complete with the kid's toothbrushes as feelers and their stuffed animals placed strategically on their beds, etc. After an evening swim the kids were tired out as were Bill and I. I think that last picture says it all.

Vacation Recap Day 1 - Departure Day

We departed Minneapolis last Tuesday (10.14) under sunny fall skies. We flew out of the Humphrey Terminal which is our smaller terminal. This was really nice since it was our first time flying with the kids and this airport is much easier to navigate. The kids were a bit nervous about having to go through security but we had adequately prepared them so there were no surprises. They were troopers the whole time. Once on the plane they were excited to acquaint themselves with everything.

Following our non-eventful flight we arrived at the airport in Orlando. The kids easily spotted our red luggage coming off the plane and in one of the photos below you might spot one piece of luggage (it just so happened to be Anna's) that fell off the luggage cart and sat unnoticed for some time until a ground crew member noticed and rescued it. It was a bit funny to watch Ryan and Anna's concern. Next you will see Ryan and Anna on the shuttle to our resort. Since it was already evening you couldn't see a lot but the kids did notice the palm trees and boy was that exciting to them!

Finally I am sharing some photos from the Wilderness Resort where we stayed. Upon arrival we noticed the Mickey Mouse on our bed made from towels. Wait until you see in later posts the other surprises that appeared throughout the week. After visiting our room we headed down to one of the restaurants in the lobby for a great family style dinner complete with salad, corn bread, malts, BBQ pork, ribs, chicken and brisket, mashed potatoes and baked beans. It was a great ending to an exciting first day!

Back To The Real World

What a whirlwind trip we had! While it is always nice to go home I know I speak for all four of us when I say we were very sad to depart Orlando at the early hour of 6:35 a.m. yesterday morning. After a brief touchdown in Atlanta from about 7:57 to 8:40 (where we didn't even have to depart the plane) we arrived back in Minneapolis at 10:16 and home to Maple Grove about 11:40. Now at that point I had already been up for 10 hours having got up at 2:40 a.m. to catch our 3:35 (2:35 MN time) shuttle to the airport (we missed this by the way and ended up on the 4:05 one - no doubt our hotel room neighbors must have thought Anna was being beaten or tortured given the protesting she put up - and NO we were doing neither to her!)

But what a fun fun time we had. Disney is such an amazing place to be. There is nothing else that compares. Like my boss said (she was there last week too), "it's the happiest place on earth." I would have to concur. Bill and I visited the Magic Kingdom back in 1997 before we had kids but that visit pales in comparison to being there with Ryan and Anna. To see everything through their eyes was truly priceless.

Sorry I didn't blog while there. The hotel wanted $10/day to have Internet so we decided it was an unnecessary expense. Yesterday I was so tired I couldn't have put together a legible sentence. Today isn't much better however! I hope to post some trip highlights and of course some great photos this week.

D Day Has Arrived!!

Today is officially "departure" day, "Disney" day and anything else that you can think of. The suitcases are all nearly packed, the bills are paid, the house/pet sitter (our nephew actually) has been briefed and the anticipation has long set in. We pick up Ryan from school at noon and Anna will come home on the bus at 12:20 and then we head to the airport. Amazingly enough the kids slept like babies last night. I am excited but I think more so I am excited for them and their wide eyed wonder at flying, etc. Anna's biggest concern is how she will use the bathroom on the plane. Ryan - he is worried about getting bored on the three-hour flight. :-)

Will greet you all from Orlando tonight!

Officially Panicking!!!!

Quick post. Bill just called me at work. Was checking our flights, making sure our Disney ground transportation was set, etc. However there appeared to be a problem . . . a BIG problem. He logged onto Air Tran Airways and there was NO record of our flights. NOTHING. I emailed him the credit card statement charge and he called. They looked and looked and looked - NO RECORD. But we had been charged. Finally after much searching and poor Bill aging more than just one year today (being his birthday and all) - I think he took on about 10 years - the nice man on the phone found our reservations. Now that would have been BAD!!

1 Day To Disney Departure

It is hard to believe but in about only 36 hours we will depart on our trip to Disney World in sunny Orlando, Florida. I am getting really excited but also stressed as I think of everything I have left to accomplish before we head to the airport on Tuesday. I have to work Monday (today actually!) and then have a church meeting to go to for Ryan. I ran my Target errand tonight and have all but one load of laundry left. I also ran around and cleaned the house today when the kids and I got back from Mankato around 2:00. And most important I went to Best Buy today and bought a new Sony video camera.

Bill's birthday is today (13th) and since we knew we wouldn't be able to celebrate we went out with the kids for a Sunday night dinner. I had planned to pack after dinner but decided to wait until Monday night.

I just checked the Weather Channel web site and I don't know the the weather forecast for the week could be much better. Thank you Mr. Weatherman!!!!! :-)

I will have my computer with me in Florida and the plan right now is to post every day complete with photos of that day's events. Let's hope I am not being too ambitious!

Round and Round

We arrived in Mankato to my parent's house around 8:00 last night. It drizzled on and off on the drive down. I hate driving in rain. Not sure what it is that makes it so much harder to see when driving in rain than when driving in snow (don't say maybe it's because I'm 40!). There is road construction just North of Mankato to the south of a town called Le Sueur where the highway is down to one lane each way with the only divider between lanes being temporary cement dividers. In the Twin Cities when road work is done and temporary dividers are needed they typically put these green foam things on top of the dividers that prevent you from being blinded by the oncoming traffic's head lights. Unfortunately they did not have these on the dividers last night so between it being dark and the wet road the oncoming headlights were particularly blinding. I think I left finger impressions in my steering wheel driving through that stretch of highway. :-)

So anyway today was a lazy kind of day. We headed to the mall for lunch a little shopping. My mom and I tried to bribe the kids by letting them take a ride on the carousel located in the food court. Here are the kids having fun.

I'm Going Home . . .

It's been another long week but lucky for me tomorrow is my "Friday." I stockpiled my vacation days this year and have only used three so far. The kids don't have school on Friday and I haven't seen my parents in awhile so the kids and I are heading to Mankato tomorrow after work. A long weekend will be nice. Bill is headed in the opposite direction - north for grouse hunting.

The kids are looking forward to 4-wheeling with grandpa. Ryan wants to also go geocaching with him. It wouldn't surprise me if Anna takes grandma shopping with her. Me . . . I intend to RELAX, maybe read a little and just in general hang out.

We depart for Disney World on Tuesday so we will have to head home early on Sunday so I can get a head start on our packing. Now that will be fun . . . packing three suitcases! Good thing I have a relaxing weekend to get me ready for that task.

Strange Calls in the Night

This past Sunday was a really dreary day here in Maple Grove. Cool temps, a steady rain and gray skies made for a lazy day. Bill forgot his cell phone at home when he went to work that morning so the kids and I made a quick trip to Saint Paul and back to give him his phone. Then we headed back towards home to go see the movie "Beverly Hills Chihuahua." What better to do on a rainy day. The movie was actually really good but we came out of the movie to find the weather still dreary thus no motivation. So we headed home and hung out, had dinner and the kids went to bed.

Given the lazy day I had no reason to be tired but was so headed to bed at about 10:30. After reading for awhile I turned out the light and drifted off to sleep. Suddenly I was startled awake by the phone ringing. I knew Bill had long gone to bed at work so knew he shouldn't be calling and you know how a phone ringing in the middle of the night conjures up the worst thoughts? I reached over the get the phone from Bill's side of the bed and tried to make my eyes work to read the caller id. The clock read 11:22pm. It was an area code 205 number and some weird name. I answered and it was a recorded call stating our "debit card had been frozen." By this point I was wide awake wondering if what I heard was right. Luckily the recording was repeated and the bank name I thought I heard was one of the banks we have a relationship with but by this point my brain was on high alert and thinking of these hoax calls that come and you are asked to press a number which then gives access to your phone line or something like that. I opted to do nothing and instead hung up. But I didn't sleep real well that night because I kept wondering what that call was. Nothing strange seems to have happened with our accounts so I think all is well but I still am wondering if this was one of those hoax calls? Needless to say I am not a fan of strange calls in the middle of the night.

We are into the final countdown to our Florida trip. We embark a week from today! Hip hip hooray!

Franke is Found!

Oh my gosh I am still giggling to myself about my morning discovery. I arrived at work and fired up my computer. As I was getting settled for the day I opened up the Internet and clicked on the music Myspace page I had found for Franke & The Knockouts so while I worked I could listen to the two songs I have become obsessed with.

I don't know if by some fate I missed it or if something magically happened overnight but next to each song was now a little button in the download column that said "FREE." This is dumb but I am positively giddy! I got my songs!!

Now if I could just find some more "FREE" buttons for "pay off my mortgage," "pay off my credit cards" or "pay off my car" I would be really giddy!

Happy Friday everyone!

Desperately Seeking Franke

I have developed a mild to severe obsession this week with a "one hit wonder" band from my beloved '80's. While listening to a retro 80's station earlier this week on iTunes I heard the song "Without You (Not Another Lonely Night)" by Franke & the Knockouts. Whoa, talk about taking me back to my teen years. Amazing how music does that for me. Then I remembered their hit song "Sweetheart" and thought to myself how I totally forgot about these songs. But now that I had heard one I was hungry for more.

No problem I thought, I will go to my beloved iTunes and for a mere .99 cents each I will be the proud owner of these two songs. Not so fast. Franke wasn't on iTunes. Napster - nope. Amazon music - nope. I did find the CDs with these songs but spending about $90 each on two CDs didn't seem like a wise financial decision given the state of the economy.

Not to be deterred I fired up my trusty MacBook last night and perused the Internet for (this is embarrassing) nearly three hours trying to find some place, any place where I could legally buy and/or download these two songs. Finally I happened on a website and it offered the songs for download and purchase. I was already to hit the buy key when I noticed the currency didn't have $ symbols. Seems this site wanted my Euros to purchase songs. Now my story gets even more embarrassing as I seriously googled a currency converter web site so I could see just what the US dollar equivalency was to these Euros. But then I read something about taxes and duties and decided I wasn't ready to make this purchase. The dollar to Euro conversion made the songs mere pennies if my calculations were correct but I wasn't willing to gamble it and buy.

I did locate a myspace site for the group and can listen to the songs over and over but unfortunately I can't figure any way to get them off that site and into my iTunes. :-(

Needless to say tonight I remain desperately seeking Franke. So if any of you 80's music fans out there have any suggestions send em my way.

$3.199!!!!!!

As I headed to work this morning and was approaching the gas station near my house and right before the freeway entrance I caught sight of the sign with pricing and saw a number that made me NOT believe my eyes. Regular unleaded gasoline for $3.199 a gallon!

Needless to say I quickly glanced at my gas gauge, saw I was down to 1/4 so took a little detour to the pump before proceeding to work today. At 1/4 full I was able to fill up for the basement bargain price of ONLY $61.00! Given the fact that when we bought my van back in 2002 I could fill up for about $35.00 I find it rather amusing that today $61 is now a "bargain."