I Adopted!

So I did it, took the plunge... I adopted!

It's been 4 months since I moved into the new apartment, and I've been toying with the idea of getting a cat. I've had a cat in the house since I was 6 years old, and my little apartment felt like there was something missing so on Saturday Feb 14th I ventured into the place that can make dreams and break hearts, Orange County Animal Services Adoption Center.

I knew I wanted an adult male cat. Everyone wants the kittens and honestly, as much as I want a cute baby running around, I really don't have time to properly tend to a little one. I also wanted a cat whose personality had already formed. My mom has Jack, an 18 pound brute who is the biggest cuddler I've ever met. I love Jack's personality so much, I love the affection and the interaction he has with people. My mom also has Jasmine, the psycho bitch from hell. You grow to love her, but it's not easy... she's beautiful, but does not play well with others.

So I knew I wanted a cat whose personality was formed, who was a lover, not a psycho... and for some reason I like male cats as I think they're more affectionate. I also know the difficulty of rehoming older cats, and I know I'll be saving a life. First I spotted a chocolate and cream Siamese with beautiful liquid blue eyes, he seemed friendly enough and I thought I'd found my match. The volunteer opened the cage and kitty turned skitzo. Moving on... I was looking at the other Siamese who was on the quiet side and female, very beautiful... that's when another cat in the cage below stuck his paw out and grabbed J's hand, pulling him down.

That was that, J fell in love. "That's the one..." he told me.

They were closing, so we were unable to fill out the application that day. All weekend we talked about the cat, worried that he would somehow disappear overnight, fretted that he should be home with us and shopped for things he would need.

The cat didn't have a name, I'm sure at some point he must of had a name, but it was unknown to the Animal Shelter. The card with all his info on it says he was confiscated/evicted, I have no idea what that means. He also wasn't neutered until last week. He was someone's pet once, but was taken from them, and no one could tell me why. On Saturday night I decided while at home, alone, without my cat... that he needed a name. I picked Reggie as it seemed to fit his personality. I also don't like fanciful names for animals... I wouldn't call my child 'Fluffy' or 'Lucky' or 'Mr Doodlepants' so I won't name my cat those things either.

Reggie was picked up by J on Monday morning. He has a slight cold and is on medication... Reggie does not appreciate his medication and has to be tricked into eating it stuffed inside a treat. He truly has an amazing personality, he's my new buddy and follows me around talking to me. He's a little nervous when I first enter the house but soon warms up. He hates the sound of the front door openeing no matter who it is, it scares him.

He's my Reggie, He's a lover and I'm happy he's home

Toy Story Mania

Wow... it's certainly mania!

Normally the wait is a constant 90-120 minutes, who has time for that?

The only saving grace is FastPass. Even with FastPass we still waited 15 minutes, but I'm not complaining... The scenery is amazing inside. The staging area (or line) is very brightly colored, lots to look at and keep you amused. It wouldn't keep me happy for over an hour but staring in wonder at all the favorites from my childhood was a very nice way to wait.

:rant on: We recently bought the game "Guess Who?" for my son. I know a lot of old toys have been revived in the past few years and the concept is GREAT! but... the Guess Who? game I had when I was a kid was a lot more sturdy, so was my hungry hippos game and my Mr potato head (although my Mr potato head didn't have all the cool accessories they have now) and why oh why do I remember sticking stuff into REAL potato's? Maybe I was just that kid who lost the body and my mother improvised... will have to ask her. The point is, modern day Guess Who? is shoddily made. AND! a lot more ethnically diverse than it used to be, kudos for that Hasbro Games :rant off:

Anyway, back to Toy Story Mania... We (3 generations) loaded into our car and began our journey. Well it was fun... it was amazing and longer than I expected. The games are cute, very simple in design and easy for all ages to play. I think I had more fun than my son, as my adult trained eyes sought out the highest score objects to hit and worked tirelessly to beat my 5 year old. Hey, all's fair in love and war (and video games). I don't remember how many "boards" or "screens" we played, but it was definitely enough to make my arm feel like it was going to fall off. I think I had a 'lean' going on for the rest of the day. I had the highest score of course, followed by my son, and in last place was Grandma (wah wah wah). My son declaired it his favorite game/ride/thing to do at Disney. Unfortunately the fast passes go so quick for this ride you can only really get one of them. We'll be back soon to have another go :)

Wekiva Springs

After a bit of a drive up the I-4, past downtown and somewhere around Apopka I think we finally found Wekiva Springs. Oh my goodness this place is beautiful. You forget what real nature looks like when you live in Tourist Town.

I live on the South side of Orlando, there are no hills, valleys, not even a ramp. We have trees... they're all palm, and planted within the last 5 years. Reaching Wekiva Springs was a bit of a shock to my system. How could I live so close to this place and not know about it? Never been here, in 10 years of living in Central Florida, I was missing out. Before I even paid my parking fee I vowed to not neglect the natural beauty of Florida anymore. I was going to get in touch with nature. My mind was made up.

I paid my parking fee, and unloaded myself and my party. I'd brought my brown leather Dooney & Burke (brown... leather... nature... give me a break! I was trying) but sadly it didn't quite fit in with the rugged backpacks I saw everyone else wearing so I popped my Dr Pepper lip balm and debit card into my jeans pocket and we set off.

First thing I noticed... a hill. Wow. It's been a while. The little wooden walkways lead to a bowl shaped green grassy area. At the bottom is a pool... a natural pool. The closest I've ever gotten to fresh water is the beach, and somehow it's not even close to the same thing. There were people swimming, splashing and just having a fun time in the water. On the grassy bowl a group were tossing a baseball around. It was awesome.

As we got closer to the water I could see right down to the bottom. It was crystal clear. There is no way in hell I'm brave enough to go in but it looked so beautiful. There are a few sets of metal steps leading down into the water, I was brave enough to walk down a step or two and feel the temperature of the water with my fingertips. It was warm... in December... I love Florida.

Next up, my party wanted to Canoe... I didn't think so. 15 minutes later I was sitting in the front of a canoe with J in the back and my son in the middle. How. Did. This. Happen? I was terrified.

Canoe's wobble. Was I the only one who wasn't comfortable with this? Everyone else seemed to think it was perfectly normal. I don't find it normal to be in a long bowl, in the water, wobbling. Not to mention this is FLORIDA and there are GATORS out there.

We were pushed out by the attendants and my freak out began. I am perfectly happy on solid ground, on man made footpaths. It's another thing altogether to be in the middle of a river in their environment. "They" are the gators, and they were looking at me. I spotted one eyeing me up like a prime rib dinner within 5 minutes. I demanded we turn back, I was not down for this type of excursion.

Back at the little beach area we docked the canoe. I demanded statistics from the attendant about boat rollovers and gator dinners. They said none. I took solace in the fact that I wasn't made to sign a waiver for my life before renting the canoe, sucked it up and we went back out. For the next hour and a half I shrieked, pouted, freaked out, made threats of violence and hyperventilated.

Canoe people are friendly, everyone we passed greeted us, and giggled at my lack of composure. I really gave this my best shot, we got quite far. Our journey was in a back and forth pattern. We went down the river, I freaked out so we turned back, I decided I didn't want to give up so we turned around again. I saw another gator so we turned back, I relaxed a bit and we turned around again. We got stuck on a log, I flipped out, we turned back again, then back around when I became more comfortable. There was a fallen tree in the middle of the river, I was scared so we sat there for about 10 minutes until I my breathing returned to normal and we had to do the limbo to get under it. I haven't done a limbo since I was 8.

During this time J was a saint, reassuring me and coaxing me into trying to have a good time. My 5 year old became the parent and I, the child. It should of been a reality check when your kindergartner whispers soothing words of encouragement to you, "Don't be afraid Mommy, don't be scared, look at the turtles" and I appreciate his efforts so much. My sweet little boy was trying to take care of his big sissy mother.

My one rule was "DO NOT PUT ME NEAR THE BANK" I know this is where the gators sit. After about an hour we accidentally hit a bank, I screamed. There was nothing on the bank, but I screamed anyway. That was it, I was done. J had had enough of my shenanigans anyway so with his temper frayed he snapped on me. "I give up" he said. To be fair, I'd been snapping on him for an hour but my anger boiled when he snapped back.

The ride back was swift. I lost my fear. I channeled all my anger into paddling and I was surprisingly good at it after my fear was gone. I was fast, I was nimble, I maneuvered us around trees, rocks, undergrowth. I was super woman... in a canoe.

Once back J's dark mood continued for a while but he came around eventually. We were exhausted, both mentally and physically. The rest of our party had left us after we turned back the first time, about 10 minutes into the trip. We waited for them to return, and they'd found a little beach with a cafe and had a beer. Grrr. That actually sounded like it would be nice.

I feel better about the whole thing now. After my anger driven canoe ride back I became more comfortable in the boat, with the oars and with avoiding obstacles. We saw 3 gators, 2 in the water, one big bertha on a bank. We saw lots of turtles of all different sizes, in the water and sunning themselves on fallen trees. Lots of different types of fish, one almost as long as our canoe (I had a panic about that one).

Even though I'm a sissy, and J will need therapy from dealing with me soon...

I want to do it again



details: Canoe at Wekiva Springs parking was $5, canoe rental was about $16

Universal Citywalk - Rising Star

Just when you start to think this town can’t get much more tacky, one of the power players kicks it up a notch. As a tourist, this would just be another part of the magic. The variety that keeps Orlando entertaining for as long as you’re here. As a local, this one was a big risk. I’m talking about Universal Orlando’s new entertainment venue ‘Citywalk’s Rising Star’. Let’s review exactly what this place is all about. Karaoke. Yes, I said it… Karaoke… do you see why I think it’s risky now?

When you say Karaoke, I think smoky bar, depressed drunken people belting out squeaky renditions of ‘I will survive’ and ‘my endless love’. Your emcee (which is a generous term) is usually struggling to get the crowd involved and for-mentioned crowd is tolerating the evening with little cheer. This is why, when I heard Universal Orlando added a Karaoke bar to their complex, I was shocked. I thought it was a terrible idea, just another tourist trap to avoid.

Now that all my pre-judgements are firmly out of the way, I can continue openly and honestly. I really had to get across how unbelievably lame I thought this was.

It was Saturday night, and a small group of friends decided we needed to get out. Shamefully I’ll admit, it was my idea to go to Rising Star. I was curious, and not very dressed up, so my choices were limited. The good point about touristy bars is there’s rarely an enforced dress code, and my flip flops were welcomed with open arms.

Rising Star is set up like a concert hall. Full floor of tables on the 1st floor, and a U-shaped balcony on the 2nd. We found a table up top facing the stage and settled in. This certainly isn’t your run of the mill karaoke bar. There’s a full live band plus back-up singers so the person singing is truly the star of the show. The ‘host’ was a lively young man with a rock n roll attitude and frosted tips, he kept the crowd engaged and made the singers relax. If they needed a back up, he was on it, if they needed a dancing partner, he was there. He kept it short and sweet, when calling up the next person to sing. If they didn’t respond he quickly gave them a count to 3 and was onto the next one. He did an excellent job of keeping the energy high and the songs flowing, there was very little downtime between songs and for some reason, you just liked the guy.

The selection of songs was up to date and love ballads were kept to a minimum and I didn’t hear any country songs, which I certainly appreciated. The tunes were all good sing-a-long modern hits. The karaoke singers were all better than average, so if you’re tone-deaf like I am, I would suggest staying off stage or getting very drunk before performing. A few girls performed ‘baby got back’ which is normally a tragic hot mess but they pulled it off well and danced appropriately for the song, very well done.

My opinions changed as the night went on which is rare (I’m so darn stubborn) and I came to realize that I was dead wrong about this place. I had a great night, and will definitely go back again soon. The atmosphere was friendly and lively, and it was a comfortable mature environment to be in. Citywalk’s Rising Star managed to take an activity such as karaoke which has a negative stigma of middle aged lameness and completely turn it around. No more hairbrush in the mirror sing-a-longs. Karaoke is cool again!

Facts: $7 cover charge, 21+ (except on Thursday), open until 2am, drinks are overpriced