Saturday Interrupted

Saturdays have become quite routine for me and I have come to love them.  I usually work from 10-12 on Saturdays so getting up at 9:15 and rushing out of the house is not always appreciated but, once work is over, its home for a quick walk with the dog, a small something to eat, and then a dramatic flop into bed for a long afternoon nap.  When I wake up, I take Ollie for another walk, put a pizza in the oven, and watch a movie while working on stuff for school.  

Last week on Saturday, in the middle of my afternoon snooze, I got a call that the oldest was on his way to the emergency room with a kidney stone. I decided to forego the nap and went to the hospital to sit with him.  

He was at Orlando Regional Medical Center in downtown Orlando. On the positive, the doctors and nurses were very nice and the personal treatment he received was good.  On the neg. I was pretty clueless as to why, with a 67 room ER department, he was put on a stretcher in the hallway.  

After a CT scan revealed the stone was small and should cause no problems for him, we were able to leave.  The entire 4 hours was spent in the hallway.  

This was C.J.'s second stone and with each one he was fortunate enough to not suffer prolonged pain and was able to pass them without medical intervention.  Jon has also already had one and, judging from the fact that their dad is prone to get stones, it probably will not be their last.  

The Bane(s) of my Driving Existence

I never had road rage until I moved to Orlando but I swear, driving in this city (and really, the whole state) is enough to make even the mildest of mild mannered people looooooose it!  

Here are a few of my driving pet peeves...and, unfortunately, I experience these on an almost daily basis. 

1.  My number 1 pet peeve is without a single doubt, people who ride the right lane when they are not passing anyone.  And - HELLO people- it is against the law.  I have no problem honking at these people as I pass them on the right.  This, however, embarrasses my kids greatly.  

2. People who see a cop on the side of the road and decide that slowing down to 10+ miles under the speed limit is good idea.  I guess they think they will be issued a speeding ticket for going the speed limit.  

3. People who do/will NOT turn right on a red light.  And I'm not talking about the lights that have 'no turn on red' signs present. I wish I was kidding. UGH.

4. When a light turns green and a driver has like three car spaces between them and the car in front of them because, I am guessing, they don't know which pedal is the accelerator!  In this city where lights last fooorevvver, I say to myself, "three more cars could have gotten through this light."  

5. People who SLOW DOWN when they see a green light.  And OMG it happens all the time.  Again, lights last fooorevvver and I get behind these people that slow down to 30 MPH in a 45 MPH zone. Than, after they are through the light, they speed back up and I am usually left to sit through the a fore mentioned red light that takes fooorevvver.  

6. People who move over and ride a right turn exit only lane in a traffic jam to get a head of a grand total of 5 or 6 cars and then need to get back in the correct lane.  I call them 'the entitled ones'.  

7. Finally, people who weave in and out of traffic on the interstate.  That's how accidents happen people.  And Orlando has multi accidents every single day. 

Well...that about covers it.  Makes my blood boil.  

Our New Family Member

A few weeks ago, when we were visiting my sister in Daytona Beach, a cat walked up to Zack and me as we got out of our car.  We both bent down to pet it and, instead of running away, it could not get close enough to us.  Originally, I thought it was a stray and thought about taking it home but, after talking to my sister, we found out that the cat "belonged" to the man in the apartment upstairs.  

I say "belonged" because she actually was his roommate's cat but the roommate left and, for some reason, did not take her along.  

Yesterday, we went to Daytona again and the cat was again outside.  And, according to my sister, she had been outside for a whole week now not being taken care of.  My sister had taken over feeding her and making sure she had milk and water to drink.  She also had had something similar to scabies that went away after she started to be fed regularly.  

Anyway, long story short, we decided to take her home and love her and give her a good home.  She is a very nice cat.  She is not shy at all and loves to be held and pet.  She purrs constantly.  The only problem is..Ollie.  

Ollie LOVES all living creatures and thinks that they love him too.  He has no regard for personal space and will be overbearing in his offer of friendship so, for now, we are keeping the cat in Zack's room and will occasionally put Ollie in my room with the door shut so she feels safe to explore the rest of the apartment.  

So...meet Sadie

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.