My Birthday Trip to Orlando! :)

This past weekend, Ricky and I went to Orlando to celebrate my 30th birthday. I had a free one-day pass for both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, plus Ricky got the same one-day pass for $49.99 thanks to his being a "friend or family" of mine. (These offers are just one of the many perks they give us FL teachers. You know, instead of a raise. But hey, at least it's something.) So Friday, my birthday, we spent at both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure.

We rode all the roller coasters we wanted to ride (I decided the red coaster of the Dueling Dragons is my definite favorite), saw some shows we wanted to see, and were done with both parks by fiveish. We thought briefly about doing Halloween Horror Nights, but we were so tired from having barely slept the night before, plus having drove the four hours there earlier the same day, that we decided to make it an early night. It was just as well we decided to leave early - not long after leaving, the beautiful, sunshiney day became a rainy, wet mess. The weather cooperated the rest of our time in Orlando, really only drizzling for a bit the next day, but overall it was really, really hot. I think I would've preferred it cold, although I was grateful that the rest of the weekend wasn't a wash-out like it was Friday night.

Ricky did something quite sweet that first night for my birthday. Since I was spending my birthday away from home, I would miss out on the traditional cake that my mom always bakes for me. Well, after eating a quick dinner at Boston Market, we went back to our hotel, the Clarion Universal (best pillows EVER!), where Ricky lit a birthday candle for me on a cheesecake we'd bought earlier that evening at Publix (very yummy!). I thought that was just the sweetest thing. :D We were nervous about lighting the candle in the hotel because apparently if you set off the fire detector, it instantaneously begins spraying water into the room -- thereby incurring major water damage, not to mention a $2,000.00 fine (!). But thankfully, we were able to light the candle and I was able to make my wish and blow it out without any mishaps. No, I'm not telling my wish. ;)

It was a good thing that we called it an early night the first day, because the second day was even more tiring. We spent almost 12 hours at Epcot enjoying the Food and Wine festival and experiencing all of the different "countries." Epcot will always be my favorite park, but visiting it during this festival (a first for both of us) was an unforgettable experience.

This was a most awesome birthday, and the best part is that the fun continues this weekend -- I'm planning a night out with some friends beginning at Taverna Opa and finishing at Ricky's family's apartment on the beach. Hey, you only turn 30 once, right? The funny thing is, I don't feel 30. Not really.

Here are some pictures from our trip:

"Marilyn" and Me. :)

No, I don't know why my head is cocked in this picture...

People would not stop commenting on Ricky's shirt! LOL

Chinese acrobat show in Epcot -
this girl could hula like nobody's business. And I thought I was good!

Ricky taking the Segway tour in Epcot.

Saying good-bye to Epcot and our lovely trip.

Back on (at least for now...)

Yes, kids, the trip is back on. And despite my cynical title for this blog, I don't think there's anyway we can get out of it now, unless we want to incur a steep financial punishment.

Personally, I am beyond thrilled that we're going. I was heartbroken on Friday when Ricky said he wasn't sure if we should go. He brought up some reasons why we maybe should have waited, the biggest and most important reason being the financial dent this trip is going to make on us. But my argument is, sure we can wait until later, but that doesn't guarantee that later will be a good time, either. And if not now, then when?

That has become my mantra of late. I am beginning to live by it.

So yes, while I am a little nervous about the trip, especially when I think about how much time I'll be spending on a plane, I know that the pros definitely outweigh the cons here. I just know that we will be thanking our lucky stars that we were able to go on this trip once we're actually there.

This has been a nice weekend thus far. On Friday, after both of us talked out the reasons why we should/shouldn't go to Japan, we rented the third movie in The Pirates of the Caribbean series and watched it all. All the way until 3 AM (!). It was good, but the bittersweet ending left me depressed. How could they end it that way?! I didn't see that coming. I won't spoil it by describing it here in case someone is reading this who hasn't seen that film. Not like anyone actually reads my blog, but still.

On Saturday, I wrote a new series on ficlets that is a reinvention of one of my favorite Greek myths, that of Persephone. Go here to read it. Then we went out with some friends of ours, Douglas and Joanna, to a bar on the beach called "The Room Bar." It had only beer and wine, unfortunately, no amaretto pour moi, but some very good indie rock music, like Interpol, etc. Back at their house before leaving to the club, some very strong shots were made, including one that looked like Windex and another, even stronger concoction with Tabasco sauce in it. I guess that plus the fact that I'm on medication to regulate my blood pressure left me all messed up, because I almost fainted in the bar. It was a very scary experience -- all of a sudden, there was an intense ringing in my ears and I was starting to feel tingly and numb all over. Plus I started seeing spots. So I grabbed Ricky and insisted he take me outside, where I sat down on the nearby stoop of a boutique and got my breath back. When Doug and Joanna came outside to see what happened to me, Joanna immediately whisked me away to a nearby Pizza joint that was literally a stone's throw away and made me eat pizza. That helped soak up the alcohol in my system and return me to normal.

Despite that scary experience, I really did have fun last night. Douglas and Joanna are good people.

Today I have a lot of grading to do for my two AP English classes. Which I'm not looking forward to doing, but I must do it because grades need to be in by this week before report cards. And oh yeah, right, I leave to Japan on Thursday morning. EEK! It's only now starting to really sink in.

My destination...Tokyo, the City of Lights!

You have to watch this...

20 x 2 : What's The Difference? from photojunkie on Vimeo.

Kevin Lawver posted this video on his blog at http://www.ficlets.com. There are no words, no real "action" in this video. And yet it's captivating. The message in it is beautiful, too.

I'm trying my best to be upbeat, but the truth is that I'm quite sad. We're having doubts about the Japan trip. Buyer's remorse, you might say. The tickets are bought, the hotel booked. So I don't even know if we can get our money back. I'm pretty sure we can cancel the hotel, because most hotels allow you to as long as with enough time in anticipation, not less than 24 hours or something. But the plane tickets....

Personally, I feel that yes, this trip might incur a substantial debt for both of us, but this chance to go to Japan, to visit such a different part of the world, might never come again. And that chance makes whatever debt I'll have to pay off in the future seem more worthwhile.

At the same time, I recognize that we need to be more fiscally responsible. OK, when did the adult enter my body and the child exit? Seriously, though, maybe we need to save this trip for a time when we're in better financial shape and able to plan it better than we did.

But what if the chance never comes again....?

Decisions.

Point of No Return

AIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

OK. Sorry. Ahem! Just had to get that out of my system. Now, then, where was I? Oh yes....We're going to Japan!!

The tickets have been bought, the hotel reserved. We leave at 7:05 AM next Thursday from Miami to Atlanta, from Atlanta to Tokyo, our final destination, where we'll be arriving at around 1 in the afternoon. The next day. Japan is something like 14 hours ahead, which is cra-zy.

I am so excited I can't think straight. OK, more on this tomorrow. I need to get some sleep for tomorrow, when I'm doing a marathon of grading to get my gradebook up to date in time before I leave - the quarter ends next week. Insane to think I have only a quarter left with my kids. I've grown so attached to my students this year....