Magic Game

So far this season it seems that the Magic are, once again, going to be anything but Pure Magic this year.  

Their defense looked terrible and they allowed entirely too many offensive rebounds that resulted in second chance points.  

But it was still a fun evening and we had pretty good seats in the front row of the upper deck.  

Before the game they had an emotional tribute to the Pulse Nightclub shooting victims... here is the entire video

It was pretty amazing.

Even though they played terrible, the Magic managed to remain competitive through the first two quarters.

Our view

We left towards the end of the third quarter as they started to really fall apart.  

Stuff got an award for being Mascot of the Year!

And again this year...there's this guy's hair!

Not sure how many games we will get to this year.  But I love living only 15 minutes from the Amway Center.  Makes driving home very easy!  

The End of HHN (Almost)

As soon as I realized that a Frequent Fear Pass would not be in my budget this year I knew that the HHN I was looking forward to was not going to happen.  

I'm not going to say that I didn't enjoy it but I got such a little sampling of everything there that I cannot make an informed judgment to rank houses/scare zones like I did last year.  In fact, the Walking Dead, American Horror Story, and Chance's Playhouse were the houses I went through only once and my final total house count was probably somewhere around 20.

I was not at all impressed with the "Chance" theme this year.  I'm assuming this was Universal's attempt to keep "Jack" involved (in an in-direct way) but, in my opinion, it was a big flop.  



Her house was at the bottom of my list and her scare zone was completely underwhelming.  I know it would be tough (probably impossible) to beat the icons from last year, but this was a complete strikeout.  

I thought the houses were good though -  even though I am completely ANTI-EXORCIST.  

And, once again, Bill and Ted did not disappoint.  I was a little hesitant going in since there was a new person playing Ted this year, but he nailed the "Keanu Reeves Goon" act.  And while I did not like the closing dance scene as much as last year (*but then how can you beat Shut Up and Dance With Me and Thriller?*), I liked the opening dance scene more this year and I enjoyed the overall story line better this year.  Unfortunately, I will not be able to see the final show this year because it is on Monday night and I don't think I'd do very well going to bed at 2:00 and then having to get up at 6:30 for work.  Maybe next year.  

HHN has been extended for another week so I can hopefully get there one more time before beginning my countdown for next year!


*Images from google*  

My Revolving Door Classroom and Other Stuff

There is just NO WAY that we will be in the month of November next week!  I am in complete denial that another year of HHN is just about over.  I know it's a cliche' but it seriously does feel just like yesterday I was walking through the first scare zone (Dead Man's Wharf) and going through the first house (Krampus) of HHN 2016.   It seems like just yesterday that C.J. and I were standing in the middle of Diagon Alley looking at the full moon and commenting on how perfect it was for the occasion.   And then, of course, there was the first Bill and Ted show of the season.  One of the things I love about that show is that, while you may see it so much that you have the dialogue memorized, they are continually adding new jokes and add new lines to keep up with information that surfaces during the time the show runs.  

I had the day off today so Zack and I (and Ollie) drove over to Flagler Beach to spend the weekend with my parents.  Finances are tight right now again so they are sending us back with a full tank of gas and lots and lots of food!   I don't know what I would do without them!!!

So yesterday I arrived at school anticipating an ordinary day...ha!   The 4th and 5th grade went on a field trip, one of the 3rd grade teachers had secured a sub that did not show up (her students were divided between the other 2 3rd grade teachers), and the other 2nd grade teacher had a sub.  All that to say, at 9:00, a 4th grade student showed up at my door saying he was "spending the day in my room" because he couldn't go on the field trip. Um...ok...a little warning would have been nice but whatever.  I welcome him and lead him to an empty desk.  An hour later, two 3rd grade students show up at my door saying they had to do their work in my room because they were "not behaving" in their room.  Right on...welcome them and find them two empty desks (though they had to go back and get their chairs).  A half hour later, I add a boy from the other 2nd grade to my room because he was being "too disruptive."  By now it was almost comical....and also quite disruptive to my own class and teaching.  I was eventually able to send the 2 third graders back but the other 2 kids were an addition to my class for the whole day!  

This is not unheard of though as years ago when I was teaching kindergarten, I had two boys join my class for pretty much the whole month of May when their teacher became very ill and the sub could not handle them. I still laugh when I look at pictures I took of my class that month and see those two boys playing, smiling, and hamming it up like they belonged there - meanwhile knowing the real reason they had to be there.  

Just Everyday Life

Life keeps chugging along at an unbelievably rapid pace and here we are in the last week of October already.

If you had told me that it would be November 1st and I would still be waiting for the Florida Department of Education to certify me as a classroom teacher I would have cried.  Yet, here we are, and somehow (mostly through the generous help of others and completely by God's grace) I am making it - barely.  

My class has become AWESOME!   I knew it would happen it was just a question of when.    They were the very first class in the whole school that got 5 reward points for lunchroom behavior and now get to choose a reward.  The art teacher told me she picked my class for her teaching evaluation because of how well behaved they are...and I am SO proud of them.,,especially when I think about how they were at the beginning of the year.  Some days I wondered whether I was in a classroom or a 3 ring circus.  Oh, they still have their moments but they are finally at the point where my disapproval of their behavior is worse than any consequence I give them.   

We are now a cable free house.  I logged on to pay my bill and discovered my bill went from $115.00 a month to $170.00 a month.  No thank you!  The kind man I talked to when I called to cancel told me about an introductory offer starting in December for 120 Mbps lightning internet for $49.99 a month.  Right now I am paying $80.00 a month for 50 Mbps. All I have to do is cancel my account and start a new one so you can be sure I will be doing that!  We have been watching a lot of Netflix.  

We were given free tickets to the opening game for the Magic Wednesday night so we are both really looking forward to that.  Then HHN on Thursday night and a long weekend (Fri off) where we will go visit my parents.  

Never Take Me Anywhere

Sadly, an event this past weekend now qualifies as the most embarrassing moment of my life.  

Previously, my most embarrassing moment was when I absent mindedly walked into the men's bathroom at Disney.  

Even though I acted like it was no big deal at the moment, I was absolutely mortified and still blush and feel a cold sweat starting just thinking about it.

So...here it is:

On Saturday, once we got to the Swamp, I noticed that my shirt was terribly dirty.  Since buying an overpriced t shirt at a sports venue was not in my budget, I came up with the "brilliant" idea to turn my shirt inside out.  

Since I always wear a camisole under my shirt I thought it was safe to do it at the intersection while we waited for the light to change so we could cross the street.

I'm sure you can see where this is going...

As I took off my shirt, the camisole came with it and there I was, at a very busy intersection and in front of hundreds of Gator fans waiting to cross the street too, IN MY BRA!  

I am getting flustered just thinking about it.

A Visit to the SWAMP

To be honest, a Gators game just wasn't in the budget this year. Early on, we had our eye on the Florida.Missouri game because I thought for sure by then I would have my Florida teaching license, would be under contract, and be making the money I need to pay my bills and have a little extra...but...no.  

Thanks to an early Christmas present from Chris, we were still able to go!   

The game started at 4:00.  The offense sputtered but the defense was great and Missouri only had 2 first downs in the 1st half.  Back to back possessions by Missouri resulted in 2 pick sixes - which also happened to be the only Gators touchdowns in the first half.  

The second half was a bit better for the offense and the gators ended up winning 40-14 giving up a couple meaningless touchdowns at the end of the game.  

Pictures

Giveaway...it was destroyed by the rain

Eddy after his 50 yard field goal

Video after the 1st pick six

Band at halftime

Aaaand We Are Home

As it turns out, Hurricane Matthew was kind to Orlando.  We have a couple trees down around the complex but that is about it.  The same cannot be said for Flagler Beach which is where my parents live.  

These pictures are from A1A which is just a few miles from their home. 

St Augustine, just to the north of them, also took a huge hit.  

My sister, who lives in Daytona Beach, ended up at a shelter Thursday night and we were all so glad she made the decision to go.  Daytona Beach took a pretty bad hit also. 

I am so grateful for parents who are willing to step up in an emergency situation.  In the end, my parents paid for all our gas and all our food during our evacuation.  We all shared a motel room so the whole 4 days cost me maybe $30.00 or so.  

Unfortunately, I am still stuck with trying to my bills while two days short on pay.  I called the bank that has my loan and they are willing to spread this month's payment out over the next two months.  And the biggest predicament is that Zack and I have tickets for the Gator's game this Saturday...if we go, it will cost about $50.00 in gas and food.  If we don't, I have wasted $75.00 on tickets we didn't use.  UGH. 

But I was blown away this morning by another $150.00 donation to our Go Fund Me account from a high school friend.  I had casually mentioned it in an email I sent her thinking the account had been closed.  I don't know how she found it since I did not send her the link.  But anyway, I got a notice via e-mail this morning that the funds were being sent to my account.  

Friday ended up being a crazy day.  The motel we stayed at on Thursday night did not have any vacancies for Friday night so I googled "pet friendly motels" and finally found one in Mobile, Alabama.  So we drove about 2.5 hours, arriving in Mobile about 2:00 only to discover at check in that the motel had a no pets policy.  What???  

We turned around and drove back to Pensacola and stopped at a McDonalds to regroup.  It was right next to a motel that just happened to have one more room available!   Thank God!  I was not looking forward to driving the 8 hours home on Friday night.  

Leaving Florida

Mobile, Alabama

Back in Florida again

Saturday we all drove back to Orlando and my parents stayed overnight since they still dis not have any power.  

What an adventure.  

Well....That Didn't Take Long

I realize, of course, that it is totally absurd to think that I have any effect on the weather...but holey moley...it sometimes seems that way to me.  

Here is why:

We moved to Florida in 1999 and according to locals it had been "years and years" since they had anything resembling a hurricane or tropical storm.

Then:

1999

 -September we had a mandatory evacuation for Hurricane Floyd 

-  Tropical Storm Harvey a couple weeks later

- Tropical Storm Irene in October

2000 was calm

2001 - Tropical Storm/Hurricane Gabrielle hit on September 13

2002 - Tropical Storm Edouard 

2003 - Tropical Storm Henri

2004 was a wonderful *sarcasm* year for hurricanes.  

- Charlie was in August...a category 4 that weakened to a 1 by the time it reached us.

-Frances was beginning of September...a category 4 hurricane and we took a direct hit.

-Jeanne was end of September...a category 1 hurricane

If you're keeping track that is 

-5 named hurricanes 

-4 Tropical storms

in 6 years.  

Then I moved to Wisconsin for 10 years (2005-2015) and over that period of time Florida experienced 2 tropical storms!  One in 2007 and one in 2013.  

That was copied and pasted from a post I wrote last year.

It only took one year of my living in Florida for a major hurricane to hit.  Hmmm...

My parent's live in the direct path and were under a mandatory evacuation.  They called me and invited us along for the adventure and even though Orlando was not expected to get the worst of it, we took the opportunity to get the heck out of Dodge.  

Last night we stayed at a Ramada Inn in Lake City but they did not have any rooms for this evening so we moved further west to Mariana, Florida.  

Following my dad

Motel in Mariana, Florida

Lunch

But they do not have vacancies for tomorrow night so we need to move again.  We have reservations for Friday and Saturday in Mobile, Alabama.  I'm not sure if Zack and I will go or will drive back to Orlando.  It will depend on where the severe weather is tomorrow. 

A common sight 

Evacuating is hard work

On a serious note though, we were involved in a very close call today on I10.  

Traffic came to an abrupt halt and, thankfully, whenever I have to slam on my breaks, I always look in my rear view mirror to make sure the person behind me is stopping.  He wasn't!  At all!  I screamed and in an instant I was able to determine there was no one in the right lane so I swerved over to the right lane and he had swerved off the road and onto the grass to avoid hitting me.  It was way too close for me.