Happened Last Night

It was pouring last night...I almost backed out of Halloween Horror Nights.  But I am sooooo glad I didn't.  It turned out to be a very special night. 

First of all, we went through what is now my very favorite house ever - The Fallen.

The video does not accurately depict the number of things going on around you or what an amazing set it was.  

The theme is somewhat of  a good vs. evil battle in an ornate cathedral complete with scareactors flying overhead, which was just plain cool.  

Then, after last night's Bill and Ted show, C.J. and I were able to get in the line to get our pictures taken with them.  They only have enough time between shows to accommodate 10 people so we were more than fortunate to be 2 of the 10.  

                          Bill on my right...Ted on my left.

It was an awesome experience...even if we were "up close and personal" with arms around each other and they were both a sweaty mess (ha ha).  

What About "IT"?

I am a pretty big Steven King fan.  Not of his books but of his movies.  Storm of the Century and The Shining are two of my favorite Steven King movies, but I also enjoy Pet Semetery,  Carrie, and Christine.  So you can imagine my excitement when I found out that there was a remake of IT being released. 

If there was one fact that tempered my excitement, it was that the original film, which was shown as one movie with flashbacks, was being divided into two separate movies.  Foolish, needless, worrying because the movie has such a definitive end that I didn't even give it a second thought.  

I even found that I liked it more than the original movie because, let's face it, flashbacks can be confusing.  I generally like Tim Curry but Bill Skarsgard was phenomenal in the role of Pennywise.  The make-up played a role in upping his creepiness level too. 

Tim Curry as the original Pennywise

Bill Skarsgard in the current IT movie

  

Kids in the cast

If I had one complaint it would be that I was not of fan of the opening scene.  Unlike the previous made for TV movie, this film has an R rating...and for a good reason. It is violent and brutal and the number of killings in this version (and not all of it by Pennywise) increased exponentially.  The suspense is ratcheted up as well with several "jump scares" and a load of psychological torture going on.  

Still, nothing would have prepared me for the unsettling scene of the vicious attack on a child depicted in the opening scene.  I object vehemently to that scene and strongly feel that the movie would have maintained the same effect even if they would have made Georgie's killing a little (OK A LOT) less harsh.  

I would love to see the movie again but have no desire to see that scene again - ever.  

Halloween Horror Nights - First Impressions

Friday evening, I met C.J. at Halloween Horror Nights and we went through Saw and then watched Bill and Ted.  

Tonight, we met again and this time I was able to get through 4 houses...Dead Waters, Hive, Scarecrow Dust Bowl, and Blumhouse.  

Dead Waters had an amazing facade *no pictures yet) but my favorite house so far is probably Scarecrow.  Bill and Ted is as great as it always is.  

Still can't believe it's that time of the year again.  

Final Evac Day - Finally Home

After this year's evacuation we all agreed that we now understand why people defy evacuation orders.  The hype created about these hurricanes is insane and almost always turn out to be useless and unnecessary. 

The drive Wednesday was better than I anticipated.  There were moments of bumper to bumper traffic but then also plenty of moments of up to speed traffic.  

The most stressful parts of the day were another bathroom "situation" similar to Friday at a gas station, and, while eating lunch at a McDonald's in Gainesville, one of the workers told us I75 was closed in Ocala.  

After a short internal freak out, I called the 511 traffic info about a dozen times and there was no mention of an I75 closing so we decided to just go for it...and, of course, no closure!  

Traffic really cleared out once we hit the turnpike except for a crazy stop at an oasis for a bathroom break. They had cops directing traffic because the lines to get gas were insanely long.   The closer we got to Orlando, the more damage we saw.  Every single billboard sign was missing or damaged.  

We got home about 4:30, unpacked the car, and mom and dad left for home.  Home sweet home.  

It's Here

I still have to do a post on our final evac day - the journey home. Also, a post on seeing the movie IT...it was long awaited and lived up to my expectations.  

But today is all about

I am especially looking forward to The Shining - hopefully it won't disappoint.

And I'm gonna try hard to NOT think about this being the final year for Bill and Ted.  

Halloween Horror Nights Commence

Evac Days Four and Five

Monday, Irma found its way to us in Alabama. It brought a little bit of rain, some very light winds, and some VERY cold temperatures.  
We braved the weather and went to Cracker Barrel for lunch and bought a few essentials at Wal-Mart.  The rest of the day we stayed inside.  It was cold and nasty and we did not have the proper clothing.  Although, there was a little boy swimming in the pool!!!  It was 57*!!! I did more stuff for school, we had dinner at the motel (a church had dropped off food for evacuees), and Monday Night Football finished the day.  

Today, we started heading home.  We decided to break the drive into 2 days anticipating similar traffic to Friday - and we were so right!  We stopped at about 3:00 in Marianna, Florida and got a room at a Quality Inn.  Throughout the evening, we kept an eye on the I10 traffic which alternated between a slow roll and a dead stop and watched the motel fill up as more and more people decided they had enough of driving for the day.  We walked to a nearby restaurant for dinner and watched 1408 at night.  I have seen the movie a few times but this was the first time I had seen an ending other than the one at the cemetery.  Apparently, there were different endings that included him surviving because the cemetery one was too much of a downer.  

I anticipate tomorrows drive to be tough but, hopefully, better than it would have been today.  

Evac Days Two and Three

As mentioned in the previous post, day two started at 7:00 am with a dog barking at every little noise he heard!  

We all stayed in bed on our phones until about 8:00 which was a little more respectable hour to get up.  

Bonus of getting up so early is being able to go to the free breakfast at the motel. I mostly took advantage of the free coffee...needed to make it through the day somehow.  Mom, dad, and I made a trip to the Dollar Store to stock up on food and other items.  Then mom and dad went to Wal-mart while Zack and I took showers.  

The rest of the day consisted of Hardee's for lunch, a few walks for Ollie, lots and lots of college football, and Domino's pizza for dinner.  Aaanndd, and early bedtime...thank you Ollie.  

This morning, Ollie started up at 7:00 again but I turned on the air conditioning so he could not hear anything going on outside and he managed to stayed quiet until 9:00. Mom and dad went to do the laundry and then to a Catholic Mass.  Once they got back, we went to lunch.  We had planned to go to Cracker Barrel but, apparently, so did everyone else in Cullman, Alabama, so we ended up across the street at a Denny's.   

More football (and a Packers win), cutting out bulletin board stuff for school, walks for Ollie, and leftovers for dinner rounded out the day.  

On the way back from lunch, I got word that Zack's father had died back in May.  Zack did not have a relationship with him and I had not had any communication with him in about 12 years, but it is still sad.  I am so pleased that his family included Zack in his obituary. He loved his sons very much...this I will always believe.  He just fought with the inner demon of alcoholism which made it impossible for him to be a proper father.  

Link to his obituary

Colin-Benn-Byers obituary

Our Evacuation Journey

This was not my idea.  I was set to "hunker down" and ride this one out from my apartment in Orlando.  BUT, my parents and son wore me down with all their begging and pleading and everything short of demanding that I evacuate with them. As it turns out, it was the best decision because my dad would never have been able to survive the horrendous drive yesterday.  

According to google, under normal circumstances, the drive time from Orlando to Cullman, Alabama is almost 9 hours.  Unfortunately, we did not have normal circumstances.  Unfortunately, this was our reality...

...throughout most of the day. And I drove ALL of it.

We began a little before 7 in the morning and, while according to google, we should have crossed into Alabama about noon...in our reality, it was actually about 7:30!!  

Around dinner time we started estimating our destination time of arrival at about midnight and began looking for alternative lodging for the night - but there was not a thing to be had south of Birmingham!  Even the little mom and pop motels we passed on hwy 231 were full.  So we soldiered on.  

Gas was a precious commodity and lines were long where there was gas available.  

And don't even get me started on the great bathroom debacle!   
Suffice it to say it involved a one bathroom stall, a line of 6 women in front of me (which then became 7 and then became 8 when two witches cut in line because that is where their family was), and a dash out to the back of the gas station when holding it was no longer an option.  You know what they say about desperate times! 

In the end, we arrived at out motel a little after midnight, unpacked, got ready for bed, watched a bit of the news, and turned lights out about 1:30!  Ahhhh....sweet sleep...

...and then the dog woke us up at 7:00 am.  ARG!

The Memories Come Flooding Back with These 10 Toys From My Childhood

I did not own all these toys...some of them, my babysitter owned and I would play with them while I was at her house.  

1.

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3.

4.

5. 

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Cannot believe that these simplistic toys provided hours of entertainment for me.