Lightning Game and Thanksgiving

        While I was at school last week, CJ text me to ask if I wanted to go to the Lightning game on Tuesday (November 23) night against the Philadelphia Flyers. Of course I do!  I already knew one of my students would be at that game (his very first hockey game) so when I told him I was going to the same game, he was SOOOO adorably excited!  I sent a message to his parents and we made plans to meet up at the game. 

        

         Later, when his mom asked him what his favorite part of the night was, he said, "seeing Ms. Koeck" (melt my heart). He is one of the most wonderful students I have ever had. The picture is horrible because my mouth is swollen from an abscess.

            The game itself was great. They scored once in the 1st period, twice in the 2nd, and once in the 3rd. They won 4-0. So it was a great evening.

       The plans for Thanksgiving were to meet my sister and parents at Denny's in Ormond Beach. As my sister, Zack, and I were sitting  at a table, we got a call from my parents that their (new) car wouldn't start. So we improvised, drove to Flagler Beach to pick them up, and went to the Denny's in Palm Coast. 

        This was at least an hour long setback so by the time we drove back to Orlando, we had to go right to Chris's house to meet up with CJ and Jon. We have a Thanksgiving evening tradition of going to a movie. This year it was Free Guy. 

Meanwhile, Ollie stayed with Chris (who never really liked dogs).

It's a shame he isn't more spoiled!

And that's a wrap on Thanksgiving 2021

Halloween Horror Nights 2021 Part Two

 Continuing with the houses

Case Files Unearthed: Legendary Truths

At first, I did not really understand this house. There were several doors with different dates on them and I could not understand the progression or time frame involved...until CJ explained it to me. I should do a better job of reading the backstories of these houses. 

Guests will step into the well-worn shoes of the infamous Boris Shuster, who is the elusive private eye investigating the supernatural as he endlessly searches for clues to a series of strange occurrences throughout New York City. Falling further into the shadowy, dark world of the paranormal, guests will face an overwhelming onslaught of ghouls, poltergeists and terrors, all while trying to solve the biggest mystery of them all.

https://www.clickorlando.com/theme-parks/2021/08/12/complete-guide-universal-reveals-final-halloween-horror-nights-houses-scare-zones-and-shows/#//

I went through this house two or three times. 

Puppet Theatre: Captive Audience

I thought this house was pretty good...but that may be because I was able to get through it about a half dozen times so it developed a bit familiarity for me.  Also, the theme of the house was pretty easy to understand. 

 Guests are transported to San Francisco’s abandoned Grandeur Theatre in the early 1900′s. They’ll find the Pasek’s Puppet Troupe trapped within its ruins in the midst of rehearsing for their next grisly performance. With a fanatical need to entertain any captive audience, the troupe has turned to transforming trespassers into living puppets who are dismantling and sewing them back together as life-sized marionettes for additions to their horrific encore.

https://www.clickorlando.com/theme-parks/2021/08/12/complete-guide-universal-reveals-final-halloween-horror-nights-houses-scare-zones-and-shows/#//

Welcome to SCarey: Horror in the Heartland

Some of the houses in past HHN's have taken place in the fictional mysterious city of Carey, Ohio. This house was a combination of those houses from HHN's past. 

Guests will be transported to the shady township of Carey and enter familiar settings that will leave fans shrieking from nostalgia and horror. Expect everything from the ghastly cave of vampires from The Hive, the decrepit attic of Dead End and the disturbing Meetz Meats human deli from Leave it to Cleaver, they’ll find no escape from the evil of Carey once and for all.

https://www.clickorlando.com/theme-parks/2021/08/12/complete-guide-universal-reveals-final-halloween-horror-nights-houses-scare-zones-and-shows/#//

Remaining houses (which contain my two favorite) coming in part three.

Halloween Horror Nights 2021 Part One

 Wow! I cannot believe this is my 6th year of HHN.  

This year, because I am no longer an employee of Universal Studios, I purchased a Frequent Fear Pass (with the help of CJ).  

Honestly, I was hoping to get there much more than I was actually able to. Having Co-vid right in the middle of the event was less than ideal. The weather this year was also less than ideal with much more rain than in years past. 

This post will contain a combination of pictures from Google images and my own photos as well as walkthrough videos from YouTube.

This year there were 10 houses and 5 scare zones. 

HOUSES

The Haunting of Hill House from Netflix

                                  Image: https://orlando.halloweenhorrornights.com/site/hhn/details/event-attractions#

Houses
I must confess that despite the hype surrounding this series, I have not watched it (I have started watching it twice...it's not that I did not like it, life just in the way). 

Because of the popularity of this house, I was only able to go through it one time. It was not a favorite overall, but the façade was incredible! I probably would have enjoyed it more if I had watched the series. 

                                      Image: Google

 To stay true to the TV series, the maze is a slow burn that builds, in the way the events unfold, with some moments being very subtle. They make use of theatrical scrims, especially for when it comes to seeing the ghosts appear and reappear throughout. This particular maze also has a heavy emotional component, but the focus is on scaring people.  (credit: https://collider.com/hhn-2021-haunting-of-hill-house-maze-bride-of-frankenstein-lives-maze-images-details/)

Beetlejuice

Image: https://wdwnt.com/2021/09/review-beetlejuice-haunted-house-brings-the-classic-film-to-life-at-universal-orlandos-halloween-horror-nights-30/

Another popular house I was only able to get through one time. It's too bad, because I think this could have been a favorite. It reminds me of Asylum in Wonderland as they brought back the spinning barrel that makes guests disoriented as they attempt to walk through it. Also, the overall atmosphere is lighthearted and whimsical like Asylum in Wonderland. 

Texas Chainsaw Massacre 

You've seen the 1974 horror classic. Now it's your turn to experience it for yourself. Enter the dilapidated Sawyer house and meet Leatherface and his demented family of merciless butchers.   (https://orlando.halloweenhorrornights.com/site/hhn/details/event-attractions/texas-chainsaw-massacre)

Yet another popular house with long lines that I got through only one time. It was just okay. 

Strike Three ---You're Out!

 Today I took my third Covid test --- the first two were negative. Unfortunately this one was NOT negative. 

Last week Wednesday, I noticed my throat was feeling a bit sore, but with no other symptoms I decided it was probably just allergies...or possibly a cold. 

Then this weekend, I started coughing and running a slight fever (99.6-100*). 

Still feeling like it was nothing, I contacted Jon (who I pick up for school every day) and asked if he could get to school on his own today. I knew I would not be allowed back without a Covid test so I planned to do that this morning and then go into school. 

Surprisingly, Jon said he also had a low-grade fever and headache, so I emailed our principal that neither of us would be in today and we would both be getting tested. 

I was shocked when both our tests were positive!  

I suppose it was inevitable. 

And the Lightning Strike Twice

 

It's hard to believe just two years ago the Lightning were coming off a sweep in the first round by the Columbus Blue Jackets that left us shaking our heads and with little faith that they'd ever win the Stanley Cup. 

Now...they are back-to-back champions.

Due to a loophole in NHL rules that teams voted not to close, the Lightning were able to keep Kucherov on the injury list during the regular season(he had surgery in December) and he could return for the playoffs without his salary going against the cap.  This meant they had a stacked team for the playoffs which earned them a "cheater" tag, but everything they did was well within the rules. 

They opened against the Florida Panthers who finished ahead of them in he regular season.

There were several brawls and dirty plays and I think it's safe to say, a rivalry was born.

The Lightning won in 6 picking up the first two wins on the road and then exchanging wins and loses from there. 

Game 1  5-4   Lightning

Game 2  3-1 Lightning

Game 3  6-5 Panthers (overtime)

Game 4  6-2 Lightning

Game 5   4-1 Panthers

Game 6   4-0 Lightning

Second Round was against the Carolina Hurricanes who also finished ahead of the Lightning in the regular season. 

The Lightning won in five games again taking the first two on the road.

Game 1    2-1 Lightning

Game 2    2-1 Lightning

Game 3    3-2 Hurricanes in Overtime

Game 4    6-4 Lightning

Game 5    2-0 Lightning

They once again met the Islanders in the Eastern Conference Final - though they didn't call it that this year. No love lost between these two teams. 

This time they needed 7 games to get the job done

Game 1   2-1 Islanders

Game 2   4-2 Lightning 

Game 3   2-1 Lightning

Game 4   3-2 Islanders

Game 5   8-0 Lightning

Game 6   3-2 Islanders in overtime

Game 7   1-0 Lightning

Staley Cup Finals was against Montreal. Montreal was not a strong team at all and the Lightning disposed of them in just 5 games. It could have been a sweep, but game 4 went into overtime and the Lightning came out on the wrong side of that one. It turned out to be for the best though as game 5 was in Tampa and they were able to win the cup in front of their fans.

Game 1     5-1  Lightning

Game 2     3-1  Lightning

Game 3     6-3  Lightning

Game 4     3-2 Montreal in overtime

Game 5     1-0 Lightning

There were a couple things worth noting

- this year, the Lightning did not win any overtime games (unlike last year when they won all but 1)

- Vasilevsky had a shutout in every clinching game this year. And because they won two clinching games by a score of 1-0, he was the MVP. Well deserved. 

A lot of hate being showered on the Lightning, but that's okay...

They only hate ya when you're good!

Newest Family Member

     A few weeks ago I received a text from my sister saying that she and a friend who runs a rescue organization for cats had rescued a mother cat and her three kittens. 

And she sent me this picture...

Well...I fell in love. At the time she said she planned to take the orange cat so, after checking with Zack, I told her we would take one of the gray ones. I wanted a female and fortunately enough, one of them was a female. 

After a couple weeks in foster care being monitored by a veterinarian, we picked her up Sunday the 18th. 

 She has adjusted beautifully. She was loving and affectionate from the very first day and didn't seem fazed by being ripped away from her foster home and siblings. I let Zack name her and I agreed on his second choice...Nia.  The following pictures are from her very first night with us.

It is so much fun to watch her play as anything is fair game, including any paper on the ground. She plays and explores hard and then suddenly, she'll curl up on your chest and crash. 

Needless to say her cuteness quotient is extremely high and we may be a little obsessed with her. 

Cartoon Me

 I had to....

CJ

Jon

Zack

Me

This and That

 Just some catching up....

On Tuesday May 25, we got to leave with our students at noon so I determined to do some car shopping. My 2017 Chevy Sonic was not a great car. I used to say I didn't care what kind of car I drove as long as it started and ran.  And that is exactly what I got in my Sonic...the air was not working, the driver's side window would not go down, and the radio did not work. I was torn between just getting the air fixed or trading it in for something else. After months of internal debating, I decided to look around and see what was out there. 

I first stopped at a Kia dealership and they had a brand new Rio, but I have not had luck with economy cars so decided to move on. After stopping at a couple other places, I found myself at a Nissan dealership where I was shown a car that checked all my boxes. 

A certified pre-owned 2017 Nissan Sentra with 37,000 miles. It still has 2.5 years left on the factory warranty. 

So I did it! 

The other highlight of the summer so far was my friend's wedding on June 5. I was the only attendant in the wedding. It was a small outside wedding, but very nice and the weather cooperated nicely. She hired some ladies to come and do our hair and make-up. 

Finally, CJ and I were at Amalie Arena for game one yesterday. We were there to be the thunder, but the Lightning never showed up. Luckily, I went into the game with very little expectations as they always lose their first home game in a playoff series. 

Four Days of Disney - Day Three

 Day two and three were actually back to back, but we had such a great time both days and excellent weather! Day three was EPCOT which used to be my favorite park. Back when the kids were young and we had annual passes, we were at this park at least 2-3 Saturdays a month.  So many memories are associated with EPCOT, but unfortunately, so much has changed since then.  Spaceship Earth has changed the soundtrack and the end of the ride, Canada has changed its movie, Norway isn't even there anymore, Mexico has changed, Test Track has changed, and Universe of Energy has closed. Also, France was not playing it movie, which was disappointing. 

We started the day with Spaceship Earth and had about a 15 minute wait. 

Then we had a very small wait (maybe 10 minutes) for the Nemo ride. 

We had our longest wait of the day at Soarin which was about 50 minutes. This is another ride that has changed and, while it was ok, I was not a fan of the obvious computer graphics that were used. 

. After Soarin we had about a five minute wait for Living with the Land 

And a ten minute wait for Journey Into Imagination.

Then we headed to World Showcase and saw one of my favorites- the American Adventure. 

After finding my favorite candy in Japan, we walked to China and saw the movie there. 

The wait for Mexico was ridiculous and we don't enjoy it all that much, so we skipped it and headed over to our second longest wait of the day...Test Track. 

Another ride on Spaceship Earth before we left and another fantastic day at Disney!