This Kid is a Hoot

So I walked outside this evening to find Zack in the hot tub surrounded by a bunch of girls wearing bikinis.  

Universal and Game 7

Today was the only day that would work for us to go to Universal (we try to go once a week) but we had to go early (3:00ish) because of game 7 tonight.  Game 7 is definitely more important...at least it is to my boys.  

They are not wired like me.  I would do the opposite and go during the game because it would take my mind off what was happening...and I really think what will happen is the Lightning will not win.  But, as David Putty says, "gotta support the team."

And, even if they lose, it's been a fun post-season.  Never did I think I'd be able to get to two play-off games and they really exceeded expectations taking Pittsburgh to 7 games with their starting goalie and their team captain injured and not playing.  

They are young and resilient and I see great things in their future.  

Anyway, we did not do much at Universal, mainly because it was so busy.  We must have seen at least twenty different field trip groups (you can tell because they all wear matching shirts).  So C.J. and Zack went on Jurassic Park while I went to get our Annual Passholder cup they just came out with.  Then we went on Cat in the Hat before leaving.  

My view as I walk to work

It was a nice day too. Probably one of the last with a dew point lower than 70 for a while.  

That Which Will Generate An Overreaction

Oh My Goodness...

Attention Everyone...

THE TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING ARE LOSING

SO

THE WORLD IS ENDING!!!! 

This is extreme, I know, but the reaction my son has to these situations warrants an extreme comment like this.

I don't know what to do about it except to ban him from watching sports.  

Believe me, we are getting close to that point.  

An Unexpected Lightning Storm

Chris, C.J., and Zack had plans to attend game 4 of the Lightning/Penguins series last night.  Unfortunately, for Chris anyway, he had strep throat and was unable to go...enter me!  

I was so unbelievably excited about the game because game 1 of the Lightning/Detroit series was the only playoff game I have ever been to and this one was so much deeper into the playoffs than that one was.  The energy and excitement level in Amalie Arena was bound to be rowdy. 

I was very upset and disappointed when I discovered that I left the memory card for my camera in my computer...C.J. took these pictures and sent them to me.

Florida is a melting pot of transplants from around the country so it is almost guaranteed the opposing team will be well represented at sport's venues and that was certainly true last night.  One thing I noticed, though, is that almost every Penguins jersey had either Crosby or Lemieux on the back - is there no one else on the team? Lemieux doesn't even play anymore.   

Anyway, the atmosphere was electrifying and Lightning fans did not have to wait long to have a reason to intensify the electricity as Callahan scored on the very first shift just 27 seconds into the game.  

The Lightning would dominate the 1st and 2nd period en route to  building a 4-0 lead. It was a pretty relaxing (as in non stressful) and fun game at this point. They were aggressive on both offense and defense. 

Then came the 3rd period and........................yeah.  Tampa Bay was outshot 16-7 this period. The puck found its way into the net on 3 of those 16 shots.  And the game became much more stressful and nerve wracking than it should have been.  

But, in the end, the Lightning held on for the win to tie the series at 2-2.  

I may be wrong but my feeling is that this is the end of the road for the Lightning.  Prior to last night's game, they were being outshot 89-49.  And, after the horrible 3rd period, the Penguins outshot the Lightning last night too.  Unless they find a miraculous remedy for their struggling defense, this is it.  

 I am so glad I got to have this experience. 

Video Highlights

And Then We Were Soaked

Last night we headed into Universal for our weekly "night in the park".  But first, we went to Dairy Queen for dinner where I found $20.00 on the floor.  No one around me claimed it - so finders keepers!  

Islands of Adventure still closes early (7:00) so, once again, we spent the entire evening at Universal.  

We went on The Mummy first...best indoor roller coaster in the world!  I know I have already said that.  

Image from Google

It was raining then so we headed over to the Horror Make-up Show, stopping on the way at a new prop store. They had a lot of past HHN props there.  

After the show, we were able to walk right on Gringotts. 

Image from Google

Image from Google

At this point, it started to RAIN and just got worse as the night went on.  We ran over to the Simpson's ride and then to ET before deciding to leave.  

Image from Google

Image from Google


And then we got soaked running back to the car.  My shoes were still wet this morning!  

Menu Plan Monday

I have fallen off the menu plan wagon and it has shown in our meals around here - or rather our lack of meals around here. Since I am blessed with a 4 day work week this week...I desperately need to make a plan. And since I will do my grocery shopping tomorrow, this is the perfect time to make that plan.

So...here it is:

Monday:
We had homemade garlic knots and spaghetti.  We just came from a weekend at my parents and my mom, being an awesome grandma, makes spaghetti sauce and meatballs for Zack so all I needed to do was warm it up and boil some pasta.  I don't care for spaghetti, so I had Raamen Noodles.  

Tuesday:
This will be our weekly universal night so we will most likely have fast food.

Wednesday:
I am working until 4:30 so I will throw some pork chops in the oven when I get home and then make either cheesy potatoes or wild rice to go with it. Easy meal to make.  

Thursday:
I work until 4:30 again so another easy meal is sloppy joes.  I can even have it made ahead of time if I want and will just have to warm it up.  We will also have corn on the cob and either french fries or mashed potatoes. 

Friday: 
I am working until 4:30 and Zack will be going to the hockey game so I will most likely have a lean cuisine for dinner - or soup. 

Saturday:
I work until 5:30 and then have compliance training from 6-7 so I will make up some taco meat ahead of time and Zack can warm it up whenever he is hungry for dinner.  

Sunday:
BBQ ribs, corn, peas, and either cheesy potatoes or wild rice (whatever we don't have on Wednesday night). The only vegetable Zack really wants is corn which I get sick of eventually.   So I will make single serving peas for myself.  

Just Ollie

I Hate the Word Combo

I officially surrender... the milkshakes have won!  

Most of our food items at work (burgers, chicken, fish, hot dogs, etc) come two ways...as a platter or as a combo.  The platter just means fries come with the food item which is no big deal.  But if it is a combo, that means they get the fires AND a milkshake, and therein lies the problem!

For the first 8 months I worked there, the milkshakes were made in a separate area of the restaurant and there was a person specifically dedicated to making them.  If a customer ordered a combo, all we had to do was point out where they had to go to pick up the shake and move on to the next order...easy peasy.  

But for some reason, 2 months ago, someone decided to get a shake machine and put it behind the line and they no longer designate anyone in particular to make the milkshakes.  This means, whenever a combo is ordered, there is a 95% chance that we will have to make the shake(s) ourselves.  

This involves getting a blender, filling it with the shake mix, putting it on the shake machine and letting the machine do it's thing.   Not hard work - but VERY time consuming!  Meanwhile. tickets pile up from people waiting for food and, once in a while, you have an angry customer making comments about the amount of time it takes to get their food (which I can completely understand).

So you can imagine whenever I see the word "combo" I have to try not to roll my eyes and just take a deep breath.  Today, we had 3 lines open and 4 people working.  Usually in that scenario, I am left working alone on a line because they consider me 'capable'.  

By the end of the day, the milkshake breakdown was this:

Line 2 served 43 milkshakes

Line 3 served 20 milkshakes (the line with 2 people sharing the work)

Line 4 served 8 milkshakes

I'm sure you can figure out which line I was on!  


Yep, I had some unhappy customers today....and I wasn't exactly jumping for joy myself!  

Gorgeous Weekend

There was not a single cloud in the sky all weekend and with temps hovering around the 80* mark, it made for one gorgeous weekend.  

I would have loved to spend my day out by the pool today...reading away (I'm in the middle of another one of Ann Rule's great books).  Unfortunately, I misplaced my sunscreen so such was not to be.  I ended up staying out for about an hour or so and that was more than enough.  

With weather like that, the pools at our complex were rocking all weekend.  Zack enjoys swimming when other people are in the pool.

Although it's Mother's Day today, C.J., and Zack had tickets to go to game 5 of the Islanders/Lightning series with Chris so we have postponed celebrating till next week.  

This was a series clinching game which the Lightning won 4-0 and are now headed to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second year in a row...with two of their best players out with injuries.  

My boys gave me a beautiful card and an Amazon gift card and I might have been so touched that I shed a couple tears. 

Universal Evenings Commence

Last Summer, C.J., Zack, and I would usually get together once a week, have a cheap and quick meal out, and then go to Universal for the evening. Oftentimes, C.J. would come over for the day and we would watch either the Walking Dead or American Horror Story.   We are hoping to be able to do this again this summer but with Zack's annual pass set to expire on July 2, it will all depend on if I can afford to re-new it right away.  C.J. and I have comp passes but I guess summers are blacked out.  Also, I would love for Jon to come along, but theme parks are definitely not his thing.

Technically it's not summer yet, but C.J. is through with school so  we're calling it summer.  Yesterday C.J. came over around midday and we watched Rocky Horror Picture Show and, while it was very creative, it was also pretty outrageous and downright bizarre.  Then we went to Chick-fil-A and to Universal. It was a beautiful evening and even slightly cool.  After the sun went down, I was glad I had my sweatshirt with me.   

We decided the best thing to do was to each pick a ride that we wanted to go on.  I picked the Seuss Trolley but it supposedly had a 30 minute wait so I changed it to Cat in the Hat. 

Zack picked The Mummy, and C.J. picked E.T.  E.T.'s days are numbered so we need to get on it as much as we can this summer.  

We also went on the Twirl and Hurl

and went to Shrek on the way out. 

We stayed until about 9:00 and got some Menchies on the way out.  Cake Batter with chocolate sprinkles for me...vanilla with everything in the world on it for Zack.  

Looking forward to many more Universal evenings.