Ah...The Humble Pork Pie Hat!

As you might remember from an earlier post, I am once again becoming a hat person. I picked up a little fedora a couple of weeks ago, but now have set my sights higher. I found the most adorable Pork Pie hat online and I want it so bad! It's pricey - more than I would ever normally spend on any article of clothing, much less a hat - but it's a Kangol and Joe says that's a really good brand. My only trouble now, besides putting aside some moolah, is picking the color. I'm torn between natural:

And brown:

Plus now Joe wants one too. He's such a copy cat! So...which one do you think will look better on me?

My Own Little Hatter

So, if you've been following this blog at all you know I have a certain...obsession...with the Hatter character from Syfy Channel's Alice movie. I need a twelve-stop program or something, I think! Anyway, Xander is well aware of my infatuation with Hatter, and he also likes to watch the movie. This week he started quoting me Hatter lines, with his version of a British accent to boot! Hilarious!

Now when he wants something from me, Xander promises me Hatter lines. Sometimes that works. Sometimes not. Still funny though! For your entertainment, I have a new video down at the bottom of the page with two of my favorites. Check out my funny kid!

We'll Miss You, Aunt Christine

Joe's Aunt Christine passed away last week, after a long battle with cancer. Joe went to the funeral on Saturday, and then we all went to his cousin Destiny's house afterwards. That part was nice, because Xander got to play with the other kids and Joe got a chance to reconnect with his extended family.

I'd only met Aunt Christine twice, but I know Joe has a lot of fond childhood memories of her. Here's a picture of them from Joe's cousin Jay's wedding in 2008:

Moving Day

It's been a busy work week for me. On Wednesday I started packing up my office, on Thursday I finished packing and cleaned all my furniture, and today I have unpacked and arranged my new office. The Administration, in their "wisdom" decided to move my department and our sister department to a whole other building. It's a little closer to home for me, but it's also an Occupational Center - this means there will be kids here all the time, and some of those kids are the extremely troubled variety.

But I did the packing and the sorting and watched the moving company (cute boys! woo!) carry all of my things away.

And I did the shoving around of furniture and unpacking and restoration to put a new office together. I took the spot my boss wanted, but I figure she's retiring in a couple of weeks so I'm not worried about it.

My new office-mate Joan likewise spent the day getting her area in order. Now our bosses need to come in and set up their office space - we're all sharing one big room.

It's a lot to get used to, but as long as I have my things in their usual spaces I guess I won't freak out...too much! Now I just need a phone line!

Me and Hats

So, after a long hatless spell, I've decided to try wearing them again. In the past I was a big fan of hats - baseball caps, painter hats, Army hats...whatever I could beg, borrow or steal. (Some of my best hats were stolen from random male acquaintences of mine!) When Xander and I went shopping this weekend, I popped into Claire's in the mall to see what kind of girl hats they had. And ended up buying one.

Yes, it's a fedora. And yes, I feel totally 80s when I wear it. But I really like it, too. It makes me feel...I don't know...just a bit edgy or something. Probably it's my mid-life crisis come early (I had to stop myself from buying the fingerless gloves).

Joe thinks I look good in hats. I've never been 100% positive of that myself, but I do like wearing this one. So for now I'll wear my new hat, and hope people are saying, "Wow, she looks cool!" and not "Geez, is she for real?" That's the power of positive thinking, my friends!

Obsessed Much??

It seems that this is my year for obsessions. First it was Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (Hatter!). Then the Syfy Channel's movie Alice (Hatter again!). The Syfy Hatter was played by a British actor named Andrew-Lee Potts and I like him so much I just went ahead and bought the first three seasons of his BBC show Primeval.

Now I'm loving Primeval! Lots of dinos and narrow escapes, and the Brits have no problem killing off major characters so you just never know who's going to be next. I love the Abby-Connor relationship (when will she finally just admit she loves him?) and the special effects aren't all that bad, considering. And I love that Connor wears hats too!

So now I'm combing the internet looking for info on Season 4, which is airing in January (pretty sure). I'm reading Primeval and Alice fanfic. And I just might start stalking Andrew-Lee Potts, haven't decided on that yet. LOL!

I think I maybe need a twelve step program or something.

Going Home

Like all good things, it was finally time for our Florida vacation to come to an end. Mom drove us to the Orlando Amtrak station, where we were able to check three of our bags (good for us, since we came home with three extra than we left with!). Xander cried when it was time to get on the train - he didn't want to leave. Awww!

Going back to NY, we had two of the smaller rooms instead of the one big room. This worked better, actually. Joe was able to have some quiet space for himself, and Xander and I fit quite well in the little room.

He watched movies, I read. And then I watched a movie while he played with his new toys. It was all good. The sleeping probably would have been better but I was worried I'd sleep too late in the morning and we were due to Penn Station by 10:30am.

I needn't have concerned myself. We were two hours late getting into Penn, and then had to wait an additional half hour to get our checked-in bags. Luckily, we still made our connecting train on time and had a peaceful ride back to Rhinecliff.

Would we travel by train again? Most certainly. But definitely with the two rooms next time!

Orlando Day 2: Universal Islands of Adventure

Our second and last day in Orlando was overcast and a little drizzly, which suited me just fine. Man, did we walk our feet off! Universal Islands of Adventure is big, and started off not so great. First of all, some very annoying lady cut us in line at the ticket booth, then cut some other line because ours wasn't going fast enough. And then they told Mom they weren't honoring Florida discounts for the month of July, so it cost us a lot extra than we'd planned. Grr.

But things went okay in side the park, if you don't count the crazy Harry Potter crowds and the interminable waiting in line. Our first stop was Seuss Landing, where Xander and Joe rode the carousel and Xander went on the One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish ride (say that ten times fast!).

And of course, Joe found someone he could relate to. :)

We made our way around to the Lost Continent, which was a combo of Atlantis/Sinbad. Lots of very dramatic landscaping. And while Joe waiting in the Olivander's line, Mom and Xander and I doubled back to watch the Eighth Voyage of Sinbad stunt show. Xander loved it!

Of course, the big stop was The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, where we were literally shoulder to shoulder with other Potter fans. More fun photo ops, and I have to say that Hogsmeade was nicely put together. Most of the store fronts were fakes, but there was things moving around in almost every window. Very cool.

And naturally we had to try Butterbeer. I wasn't a big fan at first, but it grew on me. Kind of butterscotchy, but good. And we had a late lunch/early dinner at the Three Broomsticks - fish and chips for me! Joe also tried the Pumpkin Juice, but I didn't like it so much.

The one big snafu came at Hogwarts castle. They had a tester seat to see if you could go on the big ride at the top of the castle. They couldn't close the bars over Joe's shoulders. So no fun ride for him. And since the rest of us didn't care to go on it either, we waited in the 90+ minute line for a tour of the castle.

Lots of coolness here, especially for the fans. There were talking portraits and everything! And mostly the line moved pretty quickly. Until we got to Dumbledore's office, and then everything just kind of stopped. We must've been in there about an hour, listening to Dumbledore give his spiel about a million times. Turns out there was a problem with the ride. Since we weren't going on it, we hopped out of line and finished up the tour.

Joe and Xander both got wands at Olivander's. I was looking around the gift shop, but the souvenirs there cost a fortune, and I was fresh out of galleons. :)

So we moved on to Jurassic Park, where there were plenty of dinos and a really cool discovery center where you could look inside dino eggs and stuff. Xander had fun with that. But the most fun he had there was hanging out in the splash zone at the end of the Jurassic Park water ride. Huge amounts of water to be had there!

We finished up in the Comics/Super Hero area, where Joe drooled over lots of comic book stuff and Xander got his dad to take him on the X-Men ride. (Too much spinning for Mommy.).

We didn't get back to our hotel until probably 7pm or so, at which time Xander dragged Mom and I to the pool for some in the dark swimming. I might also mention that it was raining and it wasn't all that warm anymore. Mom stayed in for about five mintues, but I hung out in there with Xander for about a half hour. Then we crashed in the hotel room, packing what we could and watching Family Guy (yes, I know this is completely inappropriate for Xander to watch - we were on vacation, darn it!) and King of the Hill. A full day of fun!

Orlando Day 1: Downtown Disney

Sorry for the delay in posting the Orlando pages. While every discount motel and hotel in Orlando seemed to have Wi-Fi, my All-Star Disney hotel DID NOT! Gaah! But that was the only bad thing I have to say about my hotel.

We stayed at the All-Star Movie hotel, in the Mighty Ducks building. Quack! We were on the first floor, directly across from the swimming pool. So, naturally, that's the first thing Xander wanted to do upon arrival. We also checked out the bigger Fantasia pool, which we all liked much better.

The building next to ours was the 101 Dalmations, and we never did get over to see Toy Story or Love Bug. Oh, well, next time!

We took a Disney shuttle to Downtown Disney, which has lots of shops, restaurants and nightclub areas.

Xander, of course, wanted to go right to the Lego store and spend his vacation money. Which he did! He bought two Prince of Persia lego sets, and put one together that night when we got back to the hotel. Joe was enjoying the wall of Lego parts, which you could purchase seperately.

There are plenty of photo ops in Downtown Disney. Statues mostly, and everyone wanted to take pictures around them. Joe wanted his picture by grumpy looking Donald, and I made Xander pose with Buzz (he was pretty negative about pictures this whole vacation, the little pill!).

We had dinner at Captain Jack's, which was right on the water. Seafood all around, except for Xander who had Mac and Cheese. Then we went to the Harley Davidson store, which was one of Joe's top stops. He only bought a do-rag thingie there, because the HD stores are always so expensive, but they also had two bikes you could sit on and take pictures of. Which we did!

It was late by the time we hopped the shuttle back to our hotel. Xander played with his Legos, I organized the day's photos, and we watched TV. A full day!

Green Cay, Cubans & Some Nightlife

Another full day here in sunny...oh, no, wait....we had rain today. Lots and lots of rain. But not until we finished up at Green Cay.

It was just Xander, Mom and I for a two mile hike through Green Cay, scoping out the wildlife and looking for gators. Plenty of wildlife, no gators. It was so hot and steamy that I was sweating (something I try never to do!) and Xander was quickly bored and whining. Two miles of whining.

Still, I got some good pictures of birds and turtles, and even a raccoon! Xander perked up once we got back to the main building and he was able to spend some money in the gift shop.

In the afternoon, Joe and I took the rental car to Festival Flea Market while Mom and Vikki took Xander to Target for birthday shopping. More walking for me, because the flea market was enormous. I bought a dress, Joe bought a shirt and yet another hat, and we both had potato knish for lunch. And then dinner time was here, time to finally try a Cuban sandwich. Roast pork, ham, cheese, pickles and mustard...it was delicious! See? I can try new stuff!



After dinner, Mom and Joe and I went to the Atlantis Grill to hear Mom's friend Michelle Lynn sing - she sings there every Saturday. She was awesome! A whole range of songs, from oldies to contemporary, and she has an awesome voice. And my hubby even danced with me!

Now it's almost 11:30 pm and I'm exhausted. Tomorrow we have to pack everything up and head to Orlando. Our vacation is almost over, but we're going to squeeze two more fun-filled days out of it!