La Disneylandia

While my ambivalence to all things Feature Animation is legendary by now (at least to me) my love of Disneyland is hard to crush. I got to spend the weekend there with my sons and had the lovliest of times. We were there for two days in a row (a first for me) so we were able to take our time, relax, poke around...lovely. My DH was dear enough to let me go back solo at night to go on a fast ride.

I tried to get onto Space Mountain to see what they'd changed. It said there was a 75 minute wait, but all the waits had been much faster than posted that day so I didn't dispair.

Rennovations notwithstanding, Space Mountain lived up to my childhood recollection of it--after 15 minutes in line, it broke.

I left.

But not before proving that I was there:




So...no Space Mountain (I'm just not that devoted to the Red Hot Chilli Peppers) so instead I walked on to the Matterhorn (okay, five minutes)...enough of a line to get this:






Lordy.
Nice manicure though, don'tcha think? They're my Bismarck nails. It's important. Trust me. And the second pic is a little blurry b/c I had to do a night shot, while not blocking riders getting off, while not slowing the line down too much (I didn't really want to hear "crazy knitter" spat at me), yada yada yada. It all equals "blurry picture".

The other piece of the weekend that I found deeply amusing, Ted and Terry have outdone themselves...or given La Disney a reason to outdo its...self? Johnny Depp/Cap'n Jack Sparrow is ALL OVER Pirates of the Carribean. Did I say "all over"--what I really meant is that the film has more or less consumed the entire ride. Not that it's a bad thing...it's not like they inserted him into the jail cell bit, but the pirate on the boat that's bombarding the fort looks and sounds more like Barbosa AND IS ASKING FOR SPARROW. Johnny's likeness him...its...self shows up three times. Very clever (not a bad likeness if you want to know...) and very very good for Ted and Terry. May they make millions more. They deserve it. Great guys. Great writers. They don't need me to tell them that.

What I like about Bismarck

Even in the winter, you can tell how pretty it is.

The people in the Midwest--even when they're mad at you--are wonderful.

There's a firm belief in automatic/motion sensor...everything...soap dispensers, handtowel dispensers...the list grows.

Bismarck Teachers ROCK!

The guys at the Raddison in downtown Bismarck SO make up for the Raddison dopes in Denver that it's almost not worth mentioning...almost.

Key Concepts and Inside Jokes:
"He was a HOT pilot...maybe he's staying here!"

"...They had CANS of whipped CREAM! Seriously! What were they thinking?"

"...And there was a COW!"

Bismarck, ND

First impressions:

WOW! Everyone's really REALLY nice!

WOW! It's not as flat as I thought...um...yes it is...no it's not.

WOW! It's WAY smaller than I thought and WAY more industrial!

WOW! The steak is really really good!

So, I got in on the same flight as my NYC compatriots--though we didn't figure that out until baggage claim--and rode the little Radisson shuttle in (piloted by Mike).

Checking in was like checking into a ghost town. Dunno if it was a Sunday or if the Radisson is in danger of going under, but...

They have all the pilots stay here, so I GUESS they're okay.

The other thing that's amazing is...they have Sleep Number Beds. Go figure! I'm in HEAVEN.

We had a lovely dinner where we were able to go over our presentation for tomorrow over dinner and wine (God Bless the interpretation of their Blue Laws) and shared dessert. It was a great time...and it's been a long time since I've had a work experience like this. A nice visit to the old days. And very, very good to see Rebecca who is our Professional Development Guru. She's (to quote Vera) a Rock Star.

So, unless disaster strikes, tomorrow should be fine. (I won't let myself get more effusive than that.)

Ah! I can hear the train rumbling by...

ND is a different world. Literally, the tundra was outside our plane windows. I had no idea...

I'm nearly finished with my Six Sox KAL sock (Springtime in Paris sock) which is a very nice place to be. Almost done with the gusset! Whoo hooo!

6:30am breakfast with Rebecca so I'm very very in need of sleep.

Until the morrow...

Never too late for a resolution

So, here's my not-so-New Year's Resolution: I'm going to blog more.

Already in Arizona life is as hectic as it ever was in NY. I'm a homeschooling parent now (though luckily with my husband often working from home with me, we're able to share the burden), my kids are each struggling with their own issues, my parents are still overworked, my sister's off finishing the research for her PhD...and it's clear that's never going to end.

So fine.

I'll blog.

I'll carve out the time.

Like now...now I'm in the Minneapolis/St Paul Airport at the Northwest Airlines World Club ($45 for a day-pass...not exactly worth it, but I've been able to get a lot of work done!) and it's a day away from normal responsibilities. It's a nice break.

Last night Mom came over and we barbequed chicken and hot dogs and ate fruit salad and grilled veggies and sat on the back porch and watched the kids play. It was 88° yesterday last I looked.

It's about 30° in Minnesota right now...but it'll be warmer (go figure) in Bismarck, ND. Go figure.

I get to go and introduce curriculum to the English teachers there! Who hoo! And that's not sarcastic; I really am rather excited to do this. It's been a very interesting project. I hope the teachers like it as much as I do.

And soon I get to get on another plane. Head out for the not-so-frozen not-quite-tundra.

More when I get there.
H

Reign Over Me

I have no idea if this will be good or not, but I love these guys. I'd watch Don Cheadle read the phone book...maybe even a VCR manual.