day 12

Today was our last day in Disney. We went to Epcot and then spent the rest of the day at the magic kingdom. We redid some of my favorite rides, like Pirates and the Haunted Mansion. And we did a few we hadn't ever done before, like It's a Small World (we will never do that one again). It was kinda sad leaving Disney last night knowing I won't be going back for a while.
Tomorrow we are starting our drive back. Yuck... back in the car again.

day 12

We drove back to Orlando. On the bike.

Another 7 hour ride.

My butt hurts.

I'm going to bed.

day 11

Emily's Toybox rocked!

With that said, last night was great. They didn't do their regular playlist and they didn't really do any of their songs. But it was still awesome. The bar was pretty cool too. No cover charge which is always nice.

Today was way better than yesterday. We once again slept in and didn't really leave the house until about noon. We took the bike into Key West, parked it on the main drag and walked through some shops that I had seen yesterday and wanted to buy things at. After we were done shopping we went to find whatever else we could find. We went through a pirate museum, which was cool. They had lots of real pirate stuff, like an actual flag from the Jolly Roger and some items recovered from Blackbeard's ship. There was also a gift shop where I got a book about Anne Bonnie one of the few female pirates. We also went to a Wreckers Museum. This museum was another part of the Key's history. After the war of 1812 the islands were used as a port for the US. And because of the weather and coral reefs there were a lot of ship wrecks. The people who went out to save the ships and cargo were called wreckers. The museum we walked through had a lot of artifacts recovered from on of the most famous wrecks (of which I can't remember the name of the ship). It was quite funny to see G's name listed as one of the wreckers who worked that particular wreck. There was also a look out from the top of the museum which you could climb. At the top you could look out over the entire area and see the whole island. It was very cool. And of course I forgot my camera. G took some pics with his phone, so we shall see how those turn out.
After the museum we met Wade the drummer for ETB for dinner. He took us to an unbelievably good restaurant where he had eaten many times before. He made a few recommendations to me, one of which was grouper stuffed with crab. YUM! We all sat and talked for a while.
After dinner we came back to the room to rest up before going out to see ETB again. Once again the boy's were great. It was a little more crowded tonight, crowded with drunks and crazy people. It was definitely fun to watch.
Now I'm off to sleep, we have an 8 hour drive tomorrow to get back to Orlando.

day 10

We finally did that sleeping in thing I've been wanting to do... kind of... we slept till 10.

We got up, walked around some of the shops of Key West and then took a glass bottom boat out to a coral bed to see some fish. It was pretty cool.

We then walked around a bit, and then went down to the shore to go into the ocean and walk along the beach.

This wasn't like any beach I have been on. There were no waves. At least not like the kind I love. The water was like standing in a lake. It was weird. That and I went out pretty far and it still only came up to my waste. Down (actually up from here) in Ocean City, if I had walked out that far the water would have been over my head. And of course after I was in the water G's Uncle noticed a sign recommending people stay out of the water because of the red tide (bacteria in the water). Luckily I never put my head under the water, but I was still the first one in the shower when we got back to the room.

Now we are just counting down the hours to Emily's Toybox.

day 9

Drive, drive drive drive drive.

Another full day of driving. At least this time we were on the motorcycle. We got up this morning, packed up the bikes (and the minivan) and headed down to the keys. We left around 9am and got here around 6pm.
Once again, I'm glad I live in PA. Florida's roads are so boring. They don't even have any curves. I swear if you stand at G's Aunt and Uncle's place and look south, you could see the Keys. That's how straight and flat route 1 is. But we are here now. We're staying in a mobile home just outside of Key West. There are two bedrooms, and a living room and three nights here were cheaper than one bedroom for one night in Key West. A 20 minute drive is worth saving hundreds of dollars.
We went out to get something to eat and took a short drive through Key West. Lots of bars, lots of people and lots of stores. Unfortunately it was dark, so I couldn't see the beach. But I did see lots of the ocean on the drive over so I can wait to see the beach until tomorrow.
So tomorrow G and I will do more walking. I'm sure he can't wait. And I want to walk on the beach tomorrow too. Then tomorrow night we will be at Sloppy Joe's seeing ETB. Can't wait.

day 8

Today was supposed to be a sleep in - take it easy day. We weren't going to do anything. We both woke up at 7:30 without an alarm. My vacation and I don't think I've slept past 8:30 the whole time. Sheesh.
Since we were up so early and since the sun was shining, we decided to go Disney. We had two days left and instead of cramming them all in at the last moment we used a day today. We went to the Magic Kingdom and spend the day roaming. This was the first time we were at any of the parks on a weekend and boy was it really crowded compared to during the week. We finally saw some of those hour wait lines you always hear about. So instead of waiting we wandered around looking at things and hopping into any line that was around 20 minutes. We went on a few things that we hadn't done before, but we did do Pirates of the Caribbean again, along with the Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain. We also visited our favorite from last time, the Tiki room.
I bought a few more gifts and another t-shirt for G. So far I have most of my x-mas shopping done.
Tomorrow we are getting up early to go to the Keys. 8 hours on the motorcycle here we come.
I'm off for a shower and to pack for tomorrow.

day 7

Today was shopping day. The boys went to the car show and the girls went shopping. I didn't get much, a few things for people for x-mas. I got a shirt for myself and one for G and a couple of pins.
Then we drove out to the middle of nowhere for karaoke that didn't last long. Then I rode the bike home with G. I am really glad I bought chaps. Don't know how I rode in the cold without them.
Don't know what we are doing tomorrow.
Going to bed now.

day 6

Happy Thanksgiving!
My turkey day was spent at Universal Studios theme park. It was day number 2 there and I don't have much to say about it. I guess G said it best: It was worth doing once, but we don't have to do it again. I guess we have been spoiled by Disney. Everything at Disney is just better. The place is cleaner, the people are nicer, there is more detail in everything around you, and there is more stuff to look at. The food was cheaper at Universal though.
Let's see, we did the Jaws ride, the Mummy ride, the Shrek ride, the T2 ride.
I did however get some good pics of myself and of G... well one pic of G. I'm shocked he let me take it.
Anyway, it's another early night tonight. The boys will be going to the car show tomorrow and the ladies wil be doing some shopping. Hopefully with Grannie's discount at the Disney stores. Woo hoo.
Night.

day 5

Today we went to Universal Studios. Can't say I was very impressed. Even with the Jurassic Park ride. It was cool, but the whole park just didn't compare to Disney. It didn't seem to have as much detail. It was almost like Cedar Point in Ohio, but a little more dressed up. The Spiderman ride was pretty cool and we did a whole lot of rollercoasters. Actually the rollercoasters were pretty cool. Usually my head bounces off of the things that are supposed to protect you from moving too much and I usually get a headache. This time I didn't. My balance was messed up for most of the day though. We also did a water ride, because G wanted to. And of course out of 8 people on the same float as G and I, G was the only person who barely got wet. The rest of us were soaked. I was soaked. I was not happy. My pants never did completely dry out. No more water rides for me.
We are going back to the other Universal Park tomorrow. I'm not sure but I think I'm getting theme parked out. Tomorrow will be the last day this week for the parks. Next week we still have two more days of Disney. I think if we come back two years from now, I might not get so many days of Disney. Either that or we'll just skip Universal.
G'night all.

day 4

Got up early again. 7:40 The alarm went off at 7 but I turned it off. Oops. Oh well, we still made it to MGM right around the time it opened. We started off by doing the Rock n Roller coaster, getting my stomach and balance off to a good start. (I get dizzy getting off of an elevator). We then moved to tower of terror... I'm ok with that one. My butt left the seat but I was ok. I've done those before so I knew what was coming. We then did the Indiana Jones stunt spectacular and some other things we hadn't done two years ago. We saw fantasmic again and we walked around their Holiday Lights - millions of x-mas lights covering fake houses with x-mas music playing in the background and fake snow falling on our heads. It was neat though. They made the lights dance along with some songs, one of which was a Trans Siberian Orchestra song. Very cool.
We got home kinda early and are going to go to bed early so we can get up early again tomorrow. G has already told me this is not a vacation because we are doing too much. Ah well. It's not like we get to go to Florida every day.
We got home and G parked on a fire ant hill. Now I have lovely bumps on my toes from them biting me.
I've decided next time I want to bring some friends along. I love going places alone with G, we have a great time. But I keep thinking how much fun some of our friends would have if they could come along. It would be great if we could take two vacations each year, one for just G and I and one for us and our friends.
All right, going to go shower and go to bed.

day 3

Today we went to Walt Disney World. We started in the Animal Kingdom because G wanted to ride the Mount Everest ride that wasn't quite ready for the public the last time we were down here. It was fun, a good rollercoaster. After that we went around and did some of the rides we were on the last time we were here. We went on safari, saw lots of animals.
We also did a bit of shopping. I am now a Disney pin collector. In every park they have tons of pins with all the characters from their movies. You get the pins and a lariat for around your neck and you can trade pins with anyone. A lot of the employees walk around with pins all over themselves just so the visitors can trade with them. I haven't traded any yet. I just bought a whole bunch that I wanted and a few of the cheaper ones to trade.
Near the end of the afternoon we saw the parade at Animal Kingdom. After that we headed over to the Magic Kingdom. We went on Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion. We saw the parade and the fireworks and also did a few rides that were weren't on last time around.
Once again I'm off to bed.

vacation

First day of vacation:
Wake up at 2am and hop into the truck. After many naps, each motorcycle almost falling off the trailer, many bathroom breaks and 19 hours of driving, we arrived in Florida... and went immediately to bed.

Sunday:
Woke up at 7am, yes I woke up that early on the first day of my vacation. We didn't do much, unloaded the bikes and then G and I went for a ride to find food. On the way a bald eagle flew over us and I'm taking that as a good sign that the vacation will be good. After eating we went for a ride down rt 50. It reminded me of 7th street, except with palm trees. We then came back to the house to try to find something to do. After checking the net, we decided to go to a pirate mini golf place. But of course we couldn't take the route listed on yahoo maps... no we had to try to find it the back way. Well after two hours of driving around we decided to head back home without mini golfing. We then went to a fish fry at the neighbors. We had catfish and alligator. The alligator was chewy but good. After eating we headed over to a hole in the wall bar to sing Karaoke. We sang many songs. After getting home we then went looking for alligators in the back pond. As Steve Irwin would have said we "had to look for the eye shine" and we did. I saw quite a few and was able to get close enough to see one's entire head. Now I'm off for a shower and then off to bed.


good night

Kelly

school girls and pipe burns

Friday night was karaoke at the local bar. This has come a somewhat bi-weekly tradition for myself and some friends. Well three of us girls decided to "dress up". We wore little plaid skirts and white tops and yes we were going for the school girl look. So sue us. LOL But we had a great time. Dressing up just made it easier to act like a goofball and boy did we ever. (I feel the need to remind people that I do not drink). There are some incriminating pictures that came out of the night. I doubt anyone will ever see them.
Saturday and Sunday were spent in Ocean City MD. We had a great time. The water was freezing but I loved it. The boy and I walked the boardwalk and did some tourist shops, and I got my shot glasses. On Sunday we rented scooters and that is how I ended up with a 3rd degree burn on my leg. From the pipes on a scooter. 3 years of riding motorcycles and I get a burn from a scooter. Sheesh.
Anyway, this was a really great weekend condensed into 2 paragraphs... but it was awesome.

Son of a Beach

We went for a really long drive on Saturday. We woke up at noon and decided to drive to Delaware. Why Delaware you ask? Why not? I have never been there and I since it wasn't that far away... about 2 hours we decided to go. So the boy and I piled into the jeep and went for a ride. The bike is in the shop getting a new front fork seal :( in case you were wondering. It was a nice ride down, but the rain was chasing us. We got to Delaware and decided there wasn't much there. Just a whole lot of water. So I decided we needed to go to the beach. So we went looking for the beach. We didn't find much, but we ended up so far south, the boy suggested taking the ferry up to New Jersey and going home that way. But while looking at the map I saw that Rihoboth Beach wasn't that far away from where you got the ferry.
When we found the beach we were hungry so we ate at Gus & Gus Place and then walked the boardwalk. I was finally able to walk along the beach as well... one of my favorite things to do. I just love watching the water. If it had been just a little warmer I might have jumped in... but it was freezing.
And of course I had to buy a box of salt water taffy. I believe it is actually required.
After a little while we left the beach and decided to try getting the ferry. We were too late. We missed it. But we decided to go to Jersey anyway because our guys from Emily's Toybox were playing there. Needless to say the guys were surprised to see us.
The next day we went to Easton Yoga to see some bellydancers shake their stuff. It was awesome, and I got to see Hipnosis dance. Watching them almost makes we willing to drive to Philly once a week to take classes. Almost.
All in all it was a good weekend.

Thank you

You are born into a family, and if your lucky, it's a half decent one. And most of the time you know they love you, but in your head you think "well yea, they love me but they're supposed to, they're my family".
But as you grow up you meet hundred's of people. Some of those people become friends, lovers, people you think you can trust.
I never really had many of those kind of people in my life. I never fit in. I wasn't interested in clothing, makeup or girly enough to fit in with the girls. I was too small and too sick to fit in with the boys. No one cared enough to see me for what I was. I always tried and tried to trust people, bring them into my life, but some how it would always backfire and I would end up hurt.
But then one day I got really lucky, and I met this girl who was just like me. Someone who "got me" and loved me for who I was.
As time went along, I had the same problem with boys... they just didn't get me. I wasn't girly enought for them and I was too strong for them.
But then one day I got lucky, and I met this boy who got me. He liked me because I was strong, he liked that I wasn't girly. And amazingly enough he loved my body the way it was.
I don't know if I believe in happy endings. To quote Smendric "there are no happy endings, because nothing ever ends". I still get hurt by people. But everytime someone hurts me or betrays my trust, I can at least be thankful that I have two such wonderful people in my life. People who don't judge me, who aren't ashamed of me. People who love me for me. And I love them too.

land of confusion

Ugh!
I have rearranged my schedule to take another bellydance class and now I'm kinda wondering... why.
I don't know. I joined a "troop" who are actually four other women that I have become friends with over the past months. All of which have about 2 years worth of dancing over me. I agreed to join because I was having fun in my class and since I liked these women I thought it would be cool and fun, especially after watching them work on their group performance. The song they had picked was a modern pop song and was fun. So they had decided to do another pop song which was fine by me. But now one member is questioning how if she will appear professional if she continues to do more modern music. She stated that she wants to perform alone at the "serious" shows and she'll do the group performance for local shows. She didn't say it exactly like that but I know that it's what she is thinking because she and I had a conversation about how her latest teacher felt about bellydancing to "modern" music. This teacher told her that she doesn't even bother watching people who don't perform to traditional music. Now I'm not sure why this irks me so much, except maybe that I watched how hard these other woman worked on a group performance and I thought everyone was excited about doing a group thing. I'm not sure how far I want to take this if it is just going to be me. I mean, I've spent a lot of money on this already and I'm wondering if it will work out in the end or just be another hobby that falls to the wayside. I suppose there are other troops I could join if this doesn't work out, but still it irks me. Mostly because I almost feel like she's saying she's too good to be with the rest of us at something so serious. I guess it also bothers me that she would let someone else's opinion, or fear of someones opinion, change what it seems like she had thought. People who let other peoples opinion influence or change what their opinion once was really bother me. I guess I should just go to bed.

dancing machine

Quote: Why should I sail with any of you? Four of you have tried to kill me in the past. One of you succeeded. - Jack Sparrow
Bonus Quote: Did no one come to save me just because they missed me? - Jack Sparrow


My weekend actually started on Friday. I took the day off to take a bellydance class at Rakkasah's Spring Caravan . The class I took was Urban Tribal Slinky and Smooth with Heather Stants from Urban Tribal in California. It was a very cool class, although a little advanced for me. I was told by the friends I went with that I did really well, but I felt overwhelmed. Although from what I hear that is the way almost everyone feels who takes a class at Rakkasah. The class was in New Jersey so I actually had to get up earlier for this class than I normally do for work. Then an hour and a half ride to NJ to get there 45 minutes early. The class was about 3 hours long with a good half hour of yoga in the beginning to stretch everyone out. It didn't seem to hurt while doing it, but the next day my stomach and arms were sore. I got home around 5 and almost immediately went to a goodbye party for the interns that worked with us this year. Right after that the boy and I went to the bar to hang out with some friends.
The next morning I was up early again to drive about an hour to go to a mall outside of Philly with they boy and my brother. Had a lot of fun, but I can only take so much shopping so I was glad to get home Saturday night was spent watching a kind of lame movie called Mercy. The only reason I got the movie was because it had Peta Wilson in it. Like I said, it wasn't that great.
Sunday: The boy and I took the long way to NJ (3 hours) to go see my teacher and my friend perform at Rakkasah. They were both great. There were also a lot of vendors at Rakkasah and I spent a little too much money but I got harem pants a black top and a very cool necklace.
Last night the boy and I went to see the movie "Next" with Nick Cage. It was pretty decent. I like most Nick Cage movies, at least the ones that aren't serious. Like Con Air or Gone in 60 Seconds.
All right that's it for another post.

working for a living

Quote: "Check for evil step mothers. This much sleep usually indicates poison apples." - House Season 1


I'm wondering if an extra $200 a month is worth it. I work two jobs. I have an amazing 40hr/week job and I work at the library for 9 extra hours a week. When I got my good job I decided to stay at the library because I loved it. Now I'm wondering if it's time to move on. By the end of the second 13hr day I'm really tired. There is also no flexability in changing the hours. The library is so short staffed that I can't just change my hours (like I'm used to with a part time job). I am also really tired of customer service. Granted people at the library are MUCH happier to be there, and for the most part a lot less rude.
However $200 is $200. And I'm trying to save up for a house. And once I buy said house, I would be wishing for an extra $200 a month I'm sure.
But if I could have all that spare time I could work on my art and possibly make more money doing something I like. But if I had that extra time would I use it to work on stuff, even if it was fun stuff.
like Pooh said... Think, think, think

The last 5 minutes

Movie: Deja Vu
Movie: Deja Vu
Quote: In the beginning there was nothing. God said, 'Let there be light!' And there was light. There was still nothing, but you could see it a whole lot better. - Ellen DeGeneres


Thoughts I have had in the last five minutes:

Why does fashion have to hurt so much?
I have an open wound on my left foot from a new pair of "cute" sandles.

For someone who used to just wear black t-shirts and black pants all the time, I certainly have a lot of clothing now. (Most of it not black, or at least not completely black.)

Kozy Shack rice pudding is good for breakfast and supper.

I can't walk past art pencils or pens without buying at least one.
Even though I have about a million drawing pencils.

I have a lot of pens... with names of drugs on them I hope I will never have to take.
I work at a hospital, drug reps give tons of pens away. Pens and post it notes.

Why is the delete button on my home computer in a completely different spot than any other computer I work on?

Dandelions

I don't understand why people don't like dandelions. To most people they are a weed. To me they are one of the pretties flowers there are. I love to see a long patch of grass dotted with bright yellow splotches. Ah well, just my opinion.

Oh the other movie was "the Good Shepherd". This movie couldn't even hold my attention. The boy is still watching it downstairs. I had to give up. Almost two hours into the movie and I still couldn't determine the plot. Maybe plot is not the word. I could not see where the resolution for the story would come from since it seemed to not have a direction or a problem that needed a resolution. It's just a bunch of people walking around talking in hushed voices.

Rock-a-belly

Alright. Tonight was my last bellydance class at the college. It was a little sad. This class became my relaxation, believe it or not. But Thursday is the day after I work two 13 hour days and to go home and then go do something really fun was really great. I am going to follow Amala and take her next class at a Yoga Studio. I did however have to completely re arrange my schedule to do so. So starting the week of May 14th I will be working my two 13 hour days on Monday and Tuesday and I will have my class on Wednesday. Another boo on this is that it feels like I will be seeing the boy less. In reality I will only be losing a couple of hours but still...

Funny moment: At the end of class we were all sitting on the studio floor waiting for Amala to dance for us (she promised she would the very first class). So as a joke a few of us started pounding on the floor like we couldn't wait for her. And then it happened, and yes it was my fault... We started doing "We will rock you" by Queen. I couldn't resist. I started the beat and everyone followed, so I just had to start singing too. It didn't last long because the dance music started, but to me, it was still funny.

Plans for the weekend: Movies and time with the boy. I was hoping for some time on the bike but it would appear that we will have a very rainy weekend. The movies started tonight with "the Pursuit of Happiness". This was a really good movie. Some moments where I almost broke down and cried, but it was worth it in the end. We also have DejaVu, Stranger than Fiction, a movie called Mercy (staring Peta Wilson, whom I love) and some other movie that the boy wanted to see of which I can't remember the name. Oh yeah, he and I watched the new Bond movie on Monday, Casino Royal. I can't say I was ever really interested in Bond movies but this one was free since I borrowed it from the library and I'm glad I did. A blond Bond, with beautiful blue eyes. I was hooked. Of course it didn't hurt that it was a poker movie. I know it sounds cheesy but I was a huge fan of the Kenny Rogers' Gambler movies when I was a kid and yes I am one of those people who sometimes watches people play poker on TV, so this was right up my alley.

All right that is enough for now. I'm going to bed.

Double O Double good

Quote: "It's the sensible, logical thing to do, of course, which is why we don't do it." -Tanis, Dragons of Autumn Twilight
Song: Hell and High Water - Black Stone Cherry

My tribal belly dance class went really well. Considering that Jewls and I hadn't gone to the first 3 classes we were told we both caught on quick. Although what we'll remember I'm not entirely sure. Most of the dance moves were pretty basic but there were a lot of hand signals to remember. Jewls and I got together tonight to try to review what we learned just so we wouldn't forget and there are already a lot of signals we have forgotten. Hopefully some members of Hipnosis come back to this area and do another workshop.
I have to remember to call to register for another class with Amala Gameela. She's a lot of fun to learn with and she makes all of us feel comfortable learning.

After my class the boy and I went for a ride on the bikes and out to dinner with his parents. Afterwards we went home and watched Casino Royal. I'm not a big Bond fan but this movie was very good and I really enjoyed the fact that Bond was blond. The actor who played Bond isn't amazingly hot, but it was definitely enjoyable watching him walk around without his shirt on. The plot was good with a lot of suspense. The only complaint the boy had was that the beginning chase scene was "unrealistic". Um... duh. It's 007. Something is bound to be unrealistic.

Going Tribal

One of the things I have started in the last 9 months since I've posted is belly dancing. Today I'm going to a tribal belly dance workshop to learn how to dance tribally. However I do almost wish I didn't have to go today because it is one of the first really gorgeous days this spring and my motorcycle is calling my name. Ah well, hopefully it will be just as nice when the class is over and the boy and I can go for a short ride maybe.

I'm baaaaack!

I'm going to try again. This blog thing. I have a myspace now, but I haven't blogged on there because I felt a loyalty to this old place. I've updated the look. It might be changing soon, but I at least changed it a little from the cookie cutter look.