Recapping the month of June...
6 - beautiful, fun-filled days spent with my best friend in the world
48 - walks with Ollie. Spoiled dog gets two a day but when I have to work, Zack takes him on one of those two. The other one, he insists on taking the moment I walk in the door.
12 - days worked this month
4 - number of times we went to Universal this month
2 - tragedies in Orlando...within days of each other
0 - birth certificates received. No big surprise! Actually, I would have been more surprised had I opened the envelope and saw my birth certificate. But, instead, in the envelope was a letter stating they need more information on my mother! I think this has to do the fact that her maiden name is spelled different on my birth certificate than it is on hers. The name on her birth certificate is Ciarlo but my grandpa later changed the family name to Charles and that is what is on my birth certificate.
Thursday, June 30, 2016
Saturday, June 25, 2016
Happily Exhausted
Working four days in a row at a fast food theme park restaurant in the middle of summer is no joke!!!! It's been rough...
BUT
Trust me when I say that there is barely an hour that goes by that I don't thank God for the ability to be able to do this. Every once in a while, I will feel (what I call) a burst of pain when I am at work, usually in my upper back or upper arms. It lasts only a second and then goes away, but it is enough to remind me of what everyday life was like just a few years ago. The reality is, if I did not find success with the Tramadol, I would not even be able to do this.
In fact, I have no doubt that I would be on disability right now. I'm ashamed to admit that I used to almost envy people who were on disability. The sound of getting money for doing nothing - yeah...who wouldn't want that? But, once it became my reality, it was very depressing and, frankly, scared me to death. I discovered that it was NOT something that I wanted.
Everyone at work finds it funny that I walk to my venue from wardrobe and then walk back to wardrobe after working all day when we have a shuttle bus that I could take. But, for me, having known what it was like to be in so much pain that I did not even want to walk across a room, walking is something I don't ever take for granted. It brings me joy because it is something that I CAN do.
Anyway, as rough as some days can be looking after the food needs of demanding tourists, there is always some little thing that brings a smile to my face (like Sharlet). Today that came in the form of a t-shirt worn by a man who was clearly at least in his 60's. The back of his shirt read...Grow your own Weed complete with a picture of a marijuana plant.
BUT
Trust me when I say that there is barely an hour that goes by that I don't thank God for the ability to be able to do this. Every once in a while, I will feel (what I call) a burst of pain when I am at work, usually in my upper back or upper arms. It lasts only a second and then goes away, but it is enough to remind me of what everyday life was like just a few years ago. The reality is, if I did not find success with the Tramadol, I would not even be able to do this.
In fact, I have no doubt that I would be on disability right now. I'm ashamed to admit that I used to almost envy people who were on disability. The sound of getting money for doing nothing - yeah...who wouldn't want that? But, once it became my reality, it was very depressing and, frankly, scared me to death. I discovered that it was NOT something that I wanted.
Everyone at work finds it funny that I walk to my venue from wardrobe and then walk back to wardrobe after working all day when we have a shuttle bus that I could take. But, for me, having known what it was like to be in so much pain that I did not even want to walk across a room, walking is something I don't ever take for granted. It brings me joy because it is something that I CAN do.
Anyway, as rough as some days can be looking after the food needs of demanding tourists, there is always some little thing that brings a smile to my face (like Sharlet). Today that came in the form of a t-shirt worn by a man who was clearly at least in his 60's. The back of his shirt read...Grow your own Weed complete with a picture of a marijuana plant.
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Back to the Grind
After a wonderful week off to spend time with my best friend, it was back to work today. I will be working the next four days in a row and then have switched my schedule to a fixed Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday availability. This is so that I give priority to finding a teaching job and being available for interviews.
And, in fact, I have an interview scheduled for July 6 for a school in Kissimmee. It would be a great opportunity because I will be able to stay here Orlando and even stay here in this apartment.
Even though I was not all that excited about heading back to work today, it was a nice, quiet, uneventful day. We are running low on park attendance and, as a result, are overstaffed. I ended up leaving about 1/2 hour early.
And my day was made when I filled a customer's order and then looked at her receipt to call out her name...........
Charlotte
which the cashier had spelled
Sharlet
And, in fact, I have an interview scheduled for July 6 for a school in Kissimmee. It would be a great opportunity because I will be able to stay here Orlando and even stay here in this apartment.
Even though I was not all that excited about heading back to work today, it was a nice, quiet, uneventful day. We are running low on park attendance and, as a result, are overstaffed. I ended up leaving about 1/2 hour early.
And my day was made when I filled a customer's order and then looked at her receipt to call out her name...........
Charlotte
which the cashier had spelled
Sharlet
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Best Friend Visit - Last Day
Our goal for this morning was to get all the packing and working out of the way so that we could watch an episode of Downton Abbey (which we were able to do).
After that, it was time to leave for the airport. The Orlando airport is only about 10 miles from my place and, when we arrived, I tried parking the car so that I could walk her in and spend a little more time together.
Unfortunately, the parking garage (both of them) was supposedly full. The thing is, as pulled into the parking garage, a man approached me to tell me the garage was "closed" but he never said why. As I drove to the exit, I saw several empty spots but did not feel comfortable taking them because I was unsure of the reason we were not allowed to park in the garage.
So, in the end, I doubled back and just dropped her off at the ticketing gate, a quick hug, and we went our separate ways. Tears and sadness!
I stopped at Walgreens on the way home and had a very quiet evening alone.
Tomorrow it is back to work for the next four days before beginning my Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday schedule.
After that, it was time to leave for the airport. The Orlando airport is only about 10 miles from my place and, when we arrived, I tried parking the car so that I could walk her in and spend a little more time together.
Unfortunately, the parking garage (both of them) was supposedly full. The thing is, as pulled into the parking garage, a man approached me to tell me the garage was "closed" but he never said why. As I drove to the exit, I saw several empty spots but did not feel comfortable taking them because I was unsure of the reason we were not allowed to park in the garage.
So, in the end, I doubled back and just dropped her off at the ticketing gate, a quick hug, and we went our separate ways. Tears and sadness!
I stopped at Walgreens on the way home and had a very quiet evening alone.
Tomorrow it is back to work for the next four days before beginning my Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday schedule.
Monday, June 20, 2016
Best Friend Visit - Day Five
Today we picked up Jon and had lunch at Red Robin. He has been working a ton and hasn't been able to see Carey and this was the only time he had.
After lunch, we had to drop him off at Universal for work and then we went to check out The Container Store. It was a lot of fun looking at all the possible container possibilities. I was especially obsessed with the $70 stainless steel trash can and with all the food storage options.
We then went across the street to Target for some water and stopped at Petco for Ollie's flea meds and got home about 4:00 or so.
We had sloppy joes, corn, and applesauce for dinner and then, for the final time (sob sob) watched some Downton Abbey.
* Side Note*
I saw my first snake today since moving to Florida...thank goodness it was dead, dead, dead!!!!!!!!! I HATE SNAKES!
This is so much cuter
After lunch, we had to drop him off at Universal for work and then we went to check out The Container Store. It was a lot of fun looking at all the possible container possibilities. I was especially obsessed with the $70 stainless steel trash can and with all the food storage options.
We then went across the street to Target for some water and stopped at Petco for Ollie's flea meds and got home about 4:00 or so.
We had sloppy joes, corn, and applesauce for dinner and then, for the final time (sob sob) watched some Downton Abbey.
* Side Note*
I saw my first snake today since moving to Florida...thank goodness it was dead, dead, dead!!!!!!!!! I HATE SNAKES!
This is so much cuter
Sunday, June 19, 2016
Best Friend Visit - Day Four
Father's Day
We drove over to Daytona Beach to have pizza with my sister and my parents.
We were fortunate to miss a huge, long, traffic tie-up at the I 4/I 95 interchange. Thank goodness by the time we got there the accident had been cleared and all lanes were open again.
After we ate, we went 20 miles out of our way (one way) so that Carey could see my mom and dad's house...my mom's idea, of course.
At night, Carey and I watched a couple episodes of Downton Abbey in my bedroom so Zack could watch game 7 in the living room. The outcome was not what he wanted so there was a bit of a "meltdown" before bed. I'm not sure how to help him handle these disappointments better. Truthfully, he reacted better to the Lightning's loss in game 7 than to this one! And it's not that he likes the Warrior's...he just hates Lebron James.
He did eventually get over it.
We drove over to Daytona Beach to have pizza with my sister and my parents.
We were fortunate to miss a huge, long, traffic tie-up at the I 4/I 95 interchange. Thank goodness by the time we got there the accident had been cleared and all lanes were open again.
After we ate, we went 20 miles out of our way (one way) so that Carey could see my mom and dad's house...my mom's idea, of course.
At night, Carey and I watched a couple episodes of Downton Abbey in my bedroom so Zack could watch game 7 in the living room. The outcome was not what he wanted so there was a bit of a "meltdown" before bed. I'm not sure how to help him handle these disappointments better. Truthfully, he reacted better to the Lightning's loss in game 7 than to this one! And it's not that he likes the Warrior's...he just hates Lebron James.
He did eventually get over it.
Saturday, June 18, 2016
Best Friend Visit - Day Three
I was able to get a comp ticket with no blackout dates so we could go to Universal today.The last time Carey had been at Universal was over 15 years ago (and in California) so she was excited to see what there was to do there.
I wish we could have had a better start to our day but, in the end, we had a great time so all turned out well.
We decided to go around 2:30 or so and we started in Islands of Adventure. I had heard great things about the raptor encounter and it just so happened that it was beginning as we were walking by it, so we decided to get in line. After about a 20 minute wait (and it was hot, hot, hot!!!), we were second in line aaaand....they shut it down due to expected inclement weather...grr.
Here is a video of someone else getting their picture taken with the raptor.
They did give us a password to come back at a later time and skip the line but we never went back.
After the raptor disaster, we went to the Jurassic Center to wait out the expected "storm" which, of course, never came. So after another 20 minutes of waiting for this storm so severe they shut down the raptor encounter, we walked through sprinkles to Hogsmeade and got in line for The Forbidden Journey, which turned out to be Carey's favorite ride.
By this time, it was raining a bit harder but we had no time to stay still...C.J. was waiting for us at Spiderman. So Zack wore the rain poncho and Carey and I walked arm in arm and shared the umbrella. We joked about how many people would think we were gay (not that there's anything wrong with that...ala Seinfeld).
The wait for the ride was about 30 minutes BUT it pays to have connections and, after running into a friend of C.J.'s, we were taken to the front of the line. No wait...no fuss...no muss...done.
This is where things turned "bad" again. We decided to head over to Universal BUT on the walk over, it started to pour! Needless to say, our shoes and socks were soaked. They eventually dried out sothat they weren't making a squishing sound as we walked but they never dried completely. In hindsight, I wish we would have walked to the Comic Strip Cafe (which was nearby) and had dinner while the rain passed but no one knew it would start raining that hard.
We did a little shopping at the store at the front of the park and then went to see the Horror Make-up Show and, after that, walked across the street to Mel's Diner for dinner.
The rest of the evening went so much better. We went on Mummy, Transformers, Gringotts, Men in Black, Simpsons, the Twirl and Hurl, and E.T. The lines were not that long as most of the people seemed to have left along with the rain. The only ride Carey did not like was the Simpsons.
Gringotts - Fire Breathing Dragon
We did some more shopping before we left and then made a disappointing stop at Menchies. They were out of a lot of the ice cream choices and did not seem at all concerned about replacing them...I'm guessing because it was the end of the night. Pretty lame.
I wish we could have had a better start to our day but, in the end, we had a great time so all turned out well.
We decided to go around 2:30 or so and we started in Islands of Adventure. I had heard great things about the raptor encounter and it just so happened that it was beginning as we were walking by it, so we decided to get in line. After about a 20 minute wait (and it was hot, hot, hot!!!), we were second in line aaaand....they shut it down due to expected inclement weather...grr.
Here is a video of someone else getting their picture taken with the raptor.
After the raptor disaster, we went to the Jurassic Center to wait out the expected "storm" which, of course, never came. So after another 20 minutes of waiting for this storm so severe they shut down the raptor encounter, we walked through sprinkles to Hogsmeade and got in line for The Forbidden Journey, which turned out to be Carey's favorite ride.
By this time, it was raining a bit harder but we had no time to stay still...C.J. was waiting for us at Spiderman. So Zack wore the rain poncho and Carey and I walked arm in arm and shared the umbrella. We joked about how many people would think we were gay (not that there's anything wrong with that...ala Seinfeld).
The wait for the ride was about 30 minutes BUT it pays to have connections and, after running into a friend of C.J.'s, we were taken to the front of the line. No wait...no fuss...no muss...done.
This is where things turned "bad" again. We decided to head over to Universal BUT on the walk over, it started to pour! Needless to say, our shoes and socks were soaked. They eventually dried out sothat they weren't making a squishing sound as we walked but they never dried completely. In hindsight, I wish we would have walked to the Comic Strip Cafe (which was nearby) and had dinner while the rain passed but no one knew it would start raining that hard.
We did a little shopping at the store at the front of the park and then went to see the Horror Make-up Show and, after that, walked across the street to Mel's Diner for dinner.
The rest of the evening went so much better. We went on Mummy, Transformers, Gringotts, Men in Black, Simpsons, the Twirl and Hurl, and E.T. The lines were not that long as most of the people seemed to have left along with the rain. The only ride Carey did not like was the Simpsons.
Gringotts - Fire Breathing Dragon
We did some more shopping before we left and then made a disappointing stop at Menchies. They were out of a lot of the ice cream choices and did not seem at all concerned about replacing them...I'm guessing because it was the end of the night. Pretty lame.
Friday, June 17, 2016
Best Friend Visit - Day Two
Nothing picture worthy really happened today.
After an unusual morning rain shower, we picked up C.J. and went to IKEA. My objective was to look at dining room tables. I need something really small because of space issues here...and really, it's just Zack and me so we don't need anything big. I think I found one (the table and chair set would cost $160 together) but I do not impulse buy so I am going to think on it for a little while.
That was the only time we left the apartment today. I hate Friday night traffic in Orlando so we opted to stay in. We had bacon and pancakes for dinner, watched the second half of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, went to sit in the hot tub for a few minutes, and then came back and watched three more episodes of season one of Downton Abbey.
And day two is in the books.
After an unusual morning rain shower, we picked up C.J. and went to IKEA. My objective was to look at dining room tables. I need something really small because of space issues here...and really, it's just Zack and me so we don't need anything big. I think I found one (the table and chair set would cost $160 together) but I do not impulse buy so I am going to think on it for a little while.
That was the only time we left the apartment today. I hate Friday night traffic in Orlando so we opted to stay in. We had bacon and pancakes for dinner, watched the second half of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, went to sit in the hot tub for a few minutes, and then came back and watched three more episodes of season one of Downton Abbey.
And day two is in the books.
Thursday, June 16, 2016
Best Friend Visit Day One - Celebration
I am so excited...last night I picked up my best friend in the whole world at the airport! And as an added bonus, my boss was able to find someone to cover my shifts at work so I am off the whole time she is here!!!!!
So...on to day one:
Since moving to Orlando, I have really wanted to go to Celebration.
But despite being only 15 minutes away, I just never got there.
With my best friend visiting right now, it seemed the perfect opportunity to finally make the little jaunt.
Let's just say it lived up to every expectation! The word that continued to come to mind was quaint.
In fact, I really want to live there someday. Of course, not in one of the stately and colonial-style homes...but I would love to find a condo there.
On the way to the town square, we were sidetracked by the fascinating homes and charming neighborhoods.All the homes look as if they were built around the turn of the century but, at the same time, are exquisitely maintained. The only down side is that none of the homes had much of a yard to speak of.
They were extremely beautiful though. I'm sure we looked pretty odd driving down the streets at 5mph and snapping picture after picture.
We made our way to the Town Center, parked the car, and walked around. Zack went and sat by the river while Carey and I looked around in some of the quaint shops around town.
One of the stores was called Woof Gang Bakery
It sells gourmet dog treats, among other things. The dog treats were unlike anything I had ever seen before. The frosting was made with either yogurt or carob.
I will definitely be going back...soon.
Also on the agenda today was a shopping trip to Wal-Mart, dinner at the Golden Corral (crazy, crazy expensive!), and we wrapped up the evening by watching 3 episodes of Downton Abbey season one.
So...on to day one:
Since moving to Orlando, I have really wanted to go to Celebration.
But despite being only 15 minutes away, I just never got there.
With my best friend visiting right now, it seemed the perfect opportunity to finally make the little jaunt.
Let's just say it lived up to every expectation! The word that continued to come to mind was quaint.
In fact, I really want to live there someday. Of course, not in one of the stately and colonial-style homes...but I would love to find a condo there.
On the way to the town square, we were sidetracked by the fascinating homes and charming neighborhoods.All the homes look as if they were built around the turn of the century but, at the same time, are exquisitely maintained. The only down side is that none of the homes had much of a yard to speak of.
They were extremely beautiful though. I'm sure we looked pretty odd driving down the streets at 5mph and snapping picture after picture.
We made our way to the Town Center, parked the car, and walked around. Zack went and sat by the river while Carey and I looked around in some of the quaint shops around town.
 |
| Movie Theater |
One of the stores was called Woof Gang Bakery
It sells gourmet dog treats, among other things. The dog treats were unlike anything I had ever seen before. The frosting was made with either yogurt or carob.
 |
| Muttcakes - (lol) |
I will definitely be going back...soon.
Also on the agenda today was a shopping trip to Wal-Mart, dinner at the Golden Corral (crazy, crazy expensive!), and we wrapped up the evening by watching 3 episodes of Downton Abbey season one.
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