Another Movie Night with Leigh and Jonie

We've decided to do Movie Night at least 1 Sunday per month. Last time as you may recall we did Kevin Spacey movies. Tonight, the only common theme we could find was that each movie we watched had a Baldwin in it as a supporting character, so tonight was "Hey, there's a Baldwin in that" night. I threw down my usual spread from Trader Joe's (hummus, pita chips, a salami and cheese tray, crackers, tortilla chips, salsa, some kind of cookie, sparkling berry lemonade, sparkling blueberry juice and sparkling apple juice) and Jonie brought over the 2 movies: "The Usual Suspects" and "The Departed". Jonie and Leigh had never seen "The Departed" so we watched that first, then we watched "The Usual Suspects" which I had never seen, but I knew how it ended. Both have great plot twists and surprises at the end. Afterward, I took both of them out for a quick catfood run in my new car. It was fun and I can't wait for the next movie night. We now have a list of movies that we have lined up for subsequent movie nights, including groups of movies for "Hannibal Lector" night, "Romantic Comedy" night, "Val Kilmer" night and, of course, "Edward Norton" night.

Princess Day at Disneyland

I've been wanting to take Raven and Amber to Disneyland for the longest time. Problem is, Disneyland is expensive if you don't have an annual pass. The price of admission just went up again. So you can understand that when Daniel offered to pay to take the girls with us to Disneyland, how could I say no? Plus the look on their faces when I told them he was taking us there was priceless. They were sooo excited.
Because the older one is almost 13 and the younger one just turned 6, I was worried that they would not want to do anything together, but Amber was a big brave girl and went on big girl rides like Big Thunder Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean and Splash Mountain. Raven also consented to going on little girl rides like Peter Pan, Mr. Toad, Winnie the Pooh, the Teacups and King Arthur's Carousel. Amber sat next to Daniel every ride we went on (I can't explain it - she was his shadow all day! I felt dissed! LOL) and sat behind him and in front of me on Splash Mountain. Then, as our log is pulling away from the loading area on Splash Mountain, Amber says to me "Holly, I'm scared." Oh crap.
Oh crap!! What have I done? She said she wanted to go on this ride!! Don't panic. Gotta calm the kid down. "Its OK sweetie. Just hold onto my arms. Nothing is going to happen. I'm right here and Daniel is right in front of you. You'll be OK." With my arms wrapped around her, I can feel her tiny heart palpitating faster. I think to myself what an awful person I am. I should have known better. She did great on the other rides, she had fun, she said she liked the water slides on Pirates, but this is different. The whole ride I was holding her and telling her it was going to be OK, trying to pretend that a 52.5 foot drop wasn't in our near future. Every little drop we went down made her heart speed up. Then, as we hit the ascent of the last drop, and the scary music plays, she starts to cry. "Just hold onto me and shut your eyes and it will be OK. I've got you." Daniel turns around and sees her little face. There is nothing we can do at this point, about her, about the 52.5 foot drop, about anything. I squeeze her extra tight and tell her to shut her eyes and we make it down the hill (at 10 feet per second) without her puking or peeing herself. As we get off the ride, I hand her over to Daniel and she buries her soggy face into his shoulder as we head back over to ride Winnie the Pooh for a second time to cheer her up. This time, and only this time, she sits with me. As we walk back past Splash Mountain, she won't even look at it. She is sooo done with that ride. But at least she stopped crying.
Daniel was Mr. Awesome for a day. He took care of everything. While the girls and I were taking a bathroom break, he got drinks and my mango slices. While we were in line for Peter Pan he ran and got Princess Mouse Ears for Amber. On the way out he got Raven a Tinkerbell picture holder (not a frame, a picture holder, its like a stand with a stick on it for the photo). He bought lunch and oh yeah, did I mention the girls' tickets? He was also our photographer for the day, which is hard when a certain teenager won't pose for pictures unless I make her. They got into a photo war in the car on the way home (Raven's Nintendo DS takes pictures). And what was his reward for his efforts? Being subjected to random tickle attacks from the Princesses and I while waiting in line. We ganged up on him all at once. Dude didn't have a chance. Raven accidentally clawed up his neck during one of these attacks. Then the 3 of them were joking around and all tried stepping on each other and he got kicked by both of them. I can't remember why but Raven inadvertantly smacked him at one point while joking around with him. LOL poor guy.
There was a moment on the drive home when all 3 of them fell asleep. I was so bummed I couldn't take pictures because I was driving. They were all so cute. Daniel ended up waking up first and getting pictures of the other 2 for me. Then he got a shot of Raven waking up and declared himself the winner of the photo war. Raven protested. I smell a rematch.

Happy Birthday Trina!!

Today (well, yesterday, at this point, technically) was Trina's 31st birthday. We celebrated with Vince's Spaghetti and renting Watchmen. The spaghetti was awesome as always, the movie, not so much. Heather was right, it was nerd porn. But I still enjoyed getting to spend her birthday with her. She is one of my closest friends and for some reason she puts up with me LOL Happy Birthday T!!

What do you suppose this means?

The Dorkanese Word of the Day: Woggie (wah-gee): Noun: 1. Cute little dog. Example: My friend and I saw the cutest little woggie in the pet store today that looked just like his woggie, only this one was a girl and his is a boy. 2. Any dog that likes me or that I like. Example: Hershey may be stinky, but he is my big stinky woggie.

Lately I've been having weird dreams in which my stuff (not just any stuff, but my favorite stuff) gets lost of damaged. A few nights ago I had a dream that I was at Disney World in Florida. I've never been so I have no clue what it looks like. Anyway, in the dream they had opened up a new Disney Dream Suite (supposedly Alice in Wonderland themed so I had to see it) and it was on a island in the middle of some kind of lake. The only way to get to the island was to float over on a pool floatie (you know, like the kind you can rent at hotel pools, the kind you lay on that might have a cup holder, but other than that, not much else) and I am pessimistic but I get on anyway. I take out my phone to text someone and I drop my phone into the black, murky water. Anyone who knows me well knows how attached I am to my phone. Just imagine the freak out I would have in real life. All my phone numbers, all my appointments, my class schedule, my workout schedule, everyone's birthdays, my photos, my videos, my ringtones...sinking into the abyss.

Then yesterday during a nap at my Dad's I dreamed that someone had a tall ladder leaning against the townhome balcony across from where Pepper, my brand new car, is parked. Some hood rat (in the dream its a hood rat, even though no hood rats live anywhere near my Dad, or at least that I've seen) knocks the ladder over and scratches up Pepper's trunk. Then the hood rat tries to flee and I have to chase her down and threaten her to get her to call her insurance company. I woke up wondering if auto insurance covers "Acts of Ladder" or if I have "Hood Rat Coverage" on my policy. And no, Leigh and Jonie, before you ask, it wasn't THAT hood rat, it was someone I didn't know.

There are obvious similarities in both dreams, but what the heck does it mean? What's next? I'm gonna dream that something bad happens to my laptop. *shudders* I don't even want to think about that.

Happy Birthday Gregg!!

Today Trina, Gregg, Raven, Amber and I celebrated Gregg's birthday with sushi and homemade ice cream. He is 35 today. He is one of the coolest guys I know. He is a good husband to one of my best friends, a great stepdad to my stepdaughter Raven and her sister Amber, and he is an awesome friend to me. Happy Birthday Gregg!!

Introducing Pepper, my NEW CAR :-)

The Dorkanese Phrase of the Day: Feline Water Boarding: As a last resort when Lucky is being a brat (like scratching on the door and not letting me sleep or attacking me so no reason) I will hold him down in a standing position by the scruff on his neck and dump water down his body from his ears to his tail.

It's not that I didn't love my old car, a 2002 Kia Sportage (named Pretty Girl) its that, well, she was old, she got 16 MPG city (on a good day) and in the last few months she has needed 4 new tires, a new timing chain, a new battery and a new alternator. Still, I would have kept her a bit longer, but then when they started doing the Cash for Clunkers thing, Dad started talking about "maybe you should get a new car." We looked online at 2 models : the Kia Soul and the Nissan Versa, both of which my Dad had seen either on person or on TV and liked.
Then yesterday morning, while I was at the gym, my Dad just happened to go by the Hyundai lot and took a look at a 2009 Elantra SE (not the base model, the GLS, and not the super-nice hatchback, the Touring, but the middle "trim" package) and when he came home he told me we may be going to look at it later, if the dealer calls him back with "the right answer." Of course the car is a metallic "chili-pepper" red. Dad always points out red cars when we are car shopping. As if the car being my favorite color is some kind of deal breaker (in his mind, since I'm a girl, that must be all that matters, right? LOL)
After much haggling with the dealer and battling with the DMV (FYI if you plan on doing the Cash for Clunkers thing, bring 2 things: 1. The policy letter from your auto insurance company that gives a summary of what kind of coverage you have on the car and how many years you've had the coverage and 2. enough proof of registration certificates to prove you have owned the car for the last 12 consequetive months, because if you don't have them, you get to be on the phone with the DMV and your insurance company at the car lot like we were) Dad gave me the OK to start taking my stuff out of Pretty Girl and putting it into Pepper (so named because of her paint color.) While in the process, I found 13 cents in Pretty Girl. When I test drove Pepper, I brought her back with 12 miles on the odometer, so I thought the 13 cents I found was a lucky sign (12 miles and 1 to grow on) so I put the change from Pretty Girl in Pepper's ashtray. Once I finished putting all the random stuff I had in Pretty Girl (my fondue pot, my beach bag, some CD's, some books, etc) into Pepper's trunk, I said "Goodbye and thank you" to Pretty Girl, then pulled Pepper up to the front of the dealership and got Dad and drove away. I felt happy and sad at the same time. Pretty Girl has seen me through getting my AS degree, the end of my marriage, two jobs, driven around who knows how many friends and been there after dates and witnessed many a good night kiss over the almost 5 years I had her. That car was there for what has been a big transitional part of my life, and now her engine is going to be filled up with sand (that's what the dealer said they do to make sure the "Clunkers" aren't resold) and she will never drive again. She got me this far. But now, as I start at a new school and another new chapter in my life, I am fortunate enough to have this new car, with shiny paint, updated features (it has a hookup for my iPod and XM satellite radio free for 3 months) and best of all, it gets between 26 and 33 MPG, so I will be making less trips to the gas station.
Today Gregg got to be the first passenger and I played with the XM Radio a little bit. I found a 90's station right away that was playing "What Is Love" on it, and we drove down the street bobbing our heads like dorks while on our way to pick up Raven from a friend's house. Raven got to be the first in the back seat and she liked how much more room she had. Trina and I went on a couple runs to the store in it later and basked in the tornado-like AC. I can't wait to take it on a nice long drive on the freeway and really spend some time in it. I'm really starting to like my car. I especially like the fact that Dad paid cash, so no car payment. She's 100% mine and I am so grateful.

Happy Birthday Brian!!

Happy Birthday to my Big Brother Brian Harvey Chandler! Your annoying Little Sister loves you very much!

Exploring the Gold Coast and Croc Hunting with the Princesses

The Dorkanese Phrase of the Day: "Why don't I...place this on your table?": 1. Adapted from the Terminex commercial (in which a giant bug brings pizza to the door trying to gain entry into a house), meaning "I'm ordering us a pizza."

Yesterday I had Trina, Gregg, Raven and Amber over to my Dad's for a pool party. Amber is 6 now, so Trina lets her dress herself. I remember being that age and thinking of getting dressed as more of "What do I want to be today?" rather than covering my nudity in fabric. You'll note from the picture that on this particular day, Amber was wearing a prom/figure skater dress, so I asked her if she knew we were going swimming and not ice skating and she looked up at me and said "I brought my swimsuit."
We went swimming and I introduced the kids to a make-believe game that my friend Vivan and I used to play in the pool when we were kids. It was called "The Guided Tour" and it involves one person getting in the inner tube while the other one drags them around the pool and pretends to give them a tour of some famous body of water, complete with "rapids" and "water animals". Vivan and I used to use the inflattable croc and inflattable Shamu my parents bought us, but in this instance, whoever wasn't in the inner tube (only Amber would fit in it) and whoever wasn't being the tour guide (I do the voices, I pick the body of water, hence I am always the tour guide) played the part of the "animals" attacking our "boat." While exploring the Gold Coast off the shores of Southern Austrailia (I was doing my very best Steve Irvin impression as Tour Guide) I got attacked by killer jellyfish (3, to be precise) and Amber had to save herself. When I did a tour of the sea floor off the coast of France (doing my very best Jacque Cousteau, you know "Here zee ocean iz teaming wiss life", that sort of thing) Raven recognized the accent from when I used to do this same bit with her bath toys when she was small. She's 12 now. They get big too fast!
After the pool we enjoyed Petrillo's Pizza and watched Shrek the 3rd. Then, as is the custom when the girls come over to my Dad's (whether he is home or not) the "Princesses" got to enjoy ice cream out of the "Special Princess Glasses" (which are really just hand-blown colored wine glasses from Romania.) My Dad started this when Raven was little and carried it over to Amber the first time she came over. He really adores them both. Kinda gives you a window into how good I had it as a kid, huh? Yep. And I'm still a Princess, at least to him anyway.
After a fun afternoon of sweets and swimming, we went croc hunting. Literally. We went hunting for Crocs. There is supposed to be a store in Fontana off of Sierra, but its not there anymore, so we ventured into a store none of us had been to yet: Bass Pro Shop "Outdoor World". Dude. Seriously. And I'm not a hunter or a fisherman or much of a camper anymore, but DUDE! That place is awesome. Lots of fun stuff to play with and look at. Kinda makes you want to go camping just so you can go in there and shop. They did have the Crocs I wanted (yes, they make Crocs now that I will wear, that look like regular shoes) but they were $40. Maybe in a week when I get my next check I will go back for them.

Grrr!! (OWWWW!!!!)

The Dorkanese Word of the Day: Nerdsicle (nerd-sik-ul): Noun: A combination of the words "nerd" and "Popsicle" meaning a nerd who is cold even when those around him are comfortable or even warm. Example: The Nerdsicle wore a long-sleeved shirt and jeans to Disneyland while everyone else wore shorts.

Today was my first day of weight training since the end of January. I must say I did better than I expected. I stretched. I did a high impact warm-up. I was ready to rock. I was able to do all of the stuff I could do before, even some stuff I didn't think I could do (you should have seen my face when I actually did 10 knee-ups), I remembered how to breathe (oh yes, there is a specific way to breathe while lifting weights), I remembered proper form (so very important or you can hurt yourself) and most importantly I didn't run out of steam. I did upper AND lower body today, as well as abs. I even finished my cardio after I did weights, which I was worried I may have been too tired to do. In truth, with about 13 minutes left I thought about getting off the treadmill, but I sucked it up and finished. I also ate good things today: lean meat, complex carbs, veggies, fruit, which is good given the fact that I'm in full blown food craving mode right now AND there is cake and ice cream at my Dad's house. So that's the Grrr!! of my day.
But there is a drawback. Just like with any other deeply physical activity, if you haven't done it in a while, your body will let you know the next day. And that's where the OWWWW!!!! comes in. I feel fine right now, but tomorrow morning, I'm gonna be limping around like an old person, and there is nothing I can do about that. Thankfully my plans tomorrow involve some good friends and a jacuzzi, after my morning cardio (I'm at it 30 minutes a day this time, instead of an hour 3 times a week) of course. But Thursday morning, its back to the gym for more work.

Movie Day with the Girls

Whew! Its a 3 post day LOL we did Friday, Saturday and now Sunday. Today Leigh, Jonie and I had planned to do Movie Day at my house. I went to Trader Joe's and bought, eh, a few things. Some hummus, some pita chips, some salsa, some tortilla chips, some cookies, some crackers, some cheese and salami, some sparkling juice...OK more than a few things. I'm a bit out of practice with the whole hostess thing. Our plans were to watch at least one movie, either "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" or "Primal Fear" or "Swimming with Sharks", but we wouldn't know for sure which ones til we all got together. I put my spread of goodies out and Jonie arrived shortly after 4pm. Leigh, who is normally punctual, was not here and not answering her phone. All we could do was call and text the crap out of her and then hope that everything was OK, then we put in "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" at around 5pm. Then we watched "Swimming with Sharks" so it was like a mini-Kevin Spacey-marathon. Since I was returning "Primal Fear" to Jonie I wasn't too sad about not watching it. All three are very good movies and I highly recommend them. Maybe next time Leigh can join us (we're both hoping everything is alright) and we can watch "Primal Fear" and "American History X" and have a mini-Edward Norton-marathon. :-)

Birthday with the Family

On Saturday my Dad took my brother Brian and I to Red Lobster for lunch to celebrate both of our birthdays. Mine was Friday, July 31st and Brian's is next Saturday, August 8th. My poor Dad. We would have gone to North Woods Inn (that's the Chandler family "special occasion restaurant) but I wanted crab legs. Brian wanted a steak. Yes, I know they serve crab legs at North Woods Inn. They also serve steak at Red Lobster. It wasn't my decision, it was Dad's. ("He who pays the check picks the restaurant.")
I got my crab legs and they were GOOD! For the last few years, since I started watching Deadliest Catch, I always wonder what boat my crab legs came off of. Maybe at some point in my life I have eaten crab that was caught by the Hillstrands on the Time Bandit, or by the Hansen brothers on the Northwestern, or by the Harris clan on the Cornelia Marie, or by the Colburns on the Wizard. Dad reminds me of how many crab boats there are in the Bering Sea, but I counter that with a reminder of how much crab I have consumed in my life (between crab legs and the sushi rolls I eat with crab in them, its A LOT) so I think my chances are pretty good.

"I've got a Golden Ticket..."

The Dorkanese Word of the Day: Gaffle (gaf-ul): Verb 1. To take something that is free, but not meant for you to take. Example: Jeff put out Skittles for his guests at the BBQ and I gaffled a bag. 2. Taking an unfairly large portion of something that is meant to be shared by others Example: My Brother gaffled most of the cheese bread from North Woods Inn. 3. To pick all of the most desirable items out of a collection of something, leaving only the items that no one wants. Example: Who gaffled all the grape Gatorades from the variety pack?

After registering my birthday at Disneyland's website, I got an email to print out and bring to the front gate. When I clicked on the link to print the coupon, it looked like a golden ticket with my name on it. So for a few days leading up to my birthday, I had the song "I've got a Golden Ticket" (from the first Willy Wonka movie) stuck in my head. I almost didn't want to give it to the lady at the ticket booth when we got there Friday. Fortunately she gave it back when she was done with it. Since I am already an annual passholder, a free ticket to Disneyland (that only I can use) does me little good. So for people like me, Disneyland gives you the option of either a giftcard equal to the amount of a 1-day Single Park Admission ($69) or a thingie that lets you have a free Fast Pass on like 5 or 6 rides. Guess which one I took. They also gave me a button to wear with my name on it that said "Happy Birthday" on it. Feeling I may be able to exploit the button at some point during the day, I consented to wear it. They also give buttons to everyone in your party that say "I'm Celebrating" on them, so Daniel got a button as well. He was a good sport and wore it.
So we head into California Adventure, which only just opened for the day, to start the day with our mandatory Toy Story Mania ride. We got to the back of the park where the ride was and the line was longer than I have ever seen it. Apparently word has gotten out about how awesome it is. I blame a certain blogger who shall remain nameless for prattling on about it on his page. Thanks dude. So we decide to ride California Screamin' instead. When we exit the coaster, the line for Toy Story Mania is STILL long. I wanted to cry. I decide to test the magic of the birthday button. I walk up to the single rider entrance of Toy Story Mania, silently point to my birthday button, make the praying hands gesture (the universal sign language of begging) and give the ride worker the pouty face. He says to me "You can't expect us to do that" and I say "But I can ask" and he rolls his eyes, but lets us onto the ride anyway. Score one for the birthday button.
For the rest of the day, random strangers and park employees address me by name and say "Happy Birthday," which is kinda cool. The ride operators on the Winnie the Pooh ride make a fuss about it and give us our own private car to ride in. I also try to say "Happy Birthday" to other people wearing the badge throughout the day. You wouldn't believe how many other people "allegedly" share my birthday. In fact, I didn't believe it. Some parties had more than one person wearing the birthday button in them. I suspect people of being "birthday fakers." Daniel didn't agree. Oh well. None of my business.
It was really hot that day. According to The Weather Channel, the high was supposed to be 81 degrees. Yeah no. Not so much. Not even close. We looked in every single shop (and STILL couldn't find this one particular Grumpy item in a particular size, but they had every side above and below it) and went on almost every indoor attraction you could (that didn't have an unshaded outdoor line) just to get out of the Sun. I have now officially done everything there is to do in Tomorrow Land. Some of it I never want to do again.
For dinner we ate at my favorite restaurant at Disneyland, The Blue Bayou. For those who don't recognize the name, Blue Bayou is that restaurant attached to one of my favorite rides "Pirates of the Caribbean" and it is yummy. Our reservations were for 6:50pm, but we showed up at 6:10pm to check in and ask for a waterside table (that's really the only way to really get the full "eating a meal inside of a ride" experience) and by 6:20pm we were being seated. We had a nice view from our table. Our waiter made a fuss over my birthday as well. He took a candle and stuck it in the lemon floating in my Sprite and lit it, then borrowed Daniel's camera and took a picture of us with my flaming drink. Again, Daniel was a good sport. I had Filet Minion and a Lobster tail for dinner (everything there is expensive anyway, so you might as well just get what you like the best) and for my complimentary birthday dessert, I got a chocolate mousse, with another candle in it.
After dinner around 7:30pm, we rushed over to the statue of Walt and Mickey in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle to get seats for the 9:25pm fireworks show. Since good seats equal good pictures (and maybe even sitting instead of standing through the 30 minute show) we were more than willing to procure and defend a good spot, but doing that means getting there AT LEAST 2 hours early, so we were in quite the hurry. One of the park employees pointed us to some empty space around the statue (the front half of the circle around the statue is used as a walkway during the show, so you can't be there, but the back half is fine) and we were able to sit on the circular cement bench surrounding it. If the circle were a clock, we'd be in the space between the 5 and the 6. The added bonus for this is that you could take pictures that not only had the Castle and the fireworks in them, but the Walt and Mickey statue in them too. A nice layered effect. Plus from this vantage point while waiting for the fireworks to start, you can get great shots of Main Street, the Rockets in Tomorrow Land and of course the Castle, the statue and the flower bed surrounding it. However, there is the added stress of defending your primo fireworks seats. A kid next to me who was saving bench space for his mom and sister had to endure a cranky lady who tried to say he couldn't save seats and who was trying to intimidate him into moving. Are you serious? I was proud of the kid for holding his ground, and I told his mom all about it when she showed up. On the other side was a lady who's kids were darn near sitting on Daniel, but he didn't give them an inch. When he left for a second, we put the camera and my Coach bag in his spot and one of the kids almost sat on the camera. I had to reitterate to their mom that it was an expensive camera and to move her kid. I wasn't being mean about it, but hey, we were here first. If you want good seats, show up 2 hours early like we did and then claim them. It was worth it though, the photos came out great.
Well, 2 of my birthday wishes were to have a nice dinner at the Blue Bayou and to get a good spot for the fireworks, so all in all, besides the heat it was a good birthday. I want to thank everyone who called or texted me throughout the day, and to everyone who sent birthday emails and left birthday love for me via Facebook and Myspace. I love you guys! I also want to thank Daniel for spending my birthday with me at Disneyland and for taking pics. Thanks dude!