Clearing Out the Cobwebs - Part 1

Wow - it's dusty in here *cough, cough* and loaded with cobwebs! I had to clean out a family of mice and two raccoons since my neighbor bloggers were starting to complain.  Yes, I've been a bad blogger :(  The last three months have flown by and while I've kept up with my Facebook and Goodreads pages, I'm WAY behind on my email replies and have neglected my poor blog.  And I owe my newsletter subscribers a newsletter, too.

So what have I've been doing?  Get comfortable, grab a drink, this is going to take a while and I'll probably dole it out in parts ;)

Me and Jenna


The Castle in Magic Kingdom
Right after the x-mas holidays, I went to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida for 6 days.  It was a ton of fun, despite the 20 hour bus ride both ways! and going with 186 teenagers, including my daughter (sleep wasn't on the schedule :).  I made new chaperone friends and learned a lot about high school dating and drama, stood proudly while the Marching Band marched down Main Street in the Magic Kingdom, the Orchestra played a concert in Downtown Disney and the Chorus sang like angels in the Candlelight Processional Performance in Epcot.  My favorite attraction was Soarin - it was fantastic, amazing, so cool!  And I loved the World Showcase in Epcot - sipping mint tea in Morocco and eating fish and chips in England - yum!

Streets of America
Another gasp-inducing moment was at the Streets of America in Disney's Hollywood Studios during the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights.  When we first arrived, the street was dark and boring, but then they turned on the lights and the entire crowd gasped, including me.  They covered every inch of every building with multiple colored lights and the lights flashed and danced to the music - amazing and worth the 20 hours on a charter bus!

One thing I would have happily skipped - the 16 hours at Magic Kingdom on New Year's Eve.  While the ring of fireworks were okay - they weren't worth standing shoulder to shoulder with 100,000 other people nor hanging around the park for THAT long. The lines for the attractions were 2 to 3 hours long and fast pass only gets you so far on their busiest day of the year. It was too hard to see anyway and once you witness the fireworks at Penn State University on July 4th any other display is just...meh.  Although the light show/fireworks at Epcot the night before was amazing.

Let's see what else... Oh yes, after that trip - I had a book signing at the Books A Million in Exton, PA and then off to Seton Hill University to teach, mentor and watch two of my students graduate!!  Proud mentor moment!  And then another book signing at the Books A Million in Harrisburg, PA.

Stock Internet photo
 
Also as a family, we've been doing Volleyball 24/7.  My son was on a club team this winter, with day-long tournaments on the weekends - one tournament was over the entire weekend, now he's done with the club team and playing varsity for the high school team throughout the spring.  Oh and my daughter is playing with a volleyball club team now, with 3X week practices, tournaments, etc...  I did get asked to fill in as coach for her team - Woo Hoo!  I've been bleacher coaching for YEARS! So fun to actually coach. And YES it's harder than it looks.  I also play volleyball Monday and Thursday nights so yeah....24/7 was not an exaggeration.

Okay - well that's Part 1 - I don't want to bore you :)  Stay tuned for Part 2, coming soon!

Comments

  1. I'm still so jealous about Disneyworld. I would do Anything to get there! My best friend is going with her whole family this summer and they invited me along, but with it going to cost a couple of thousand pounds I cannot afford it. :( She said she'll bring me back a t-shirt, but its not really the same. Oh well, one day maybe...
    Glad you had a good time though, even with long bus rides and being surrounded by teenagers.

    I only played volleyball once at school but I really enjoyed it. Cool that you get to coach. :D

    Looking forward to part 2.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is worth a visit and it will be there for a long time - you can save up and go later :)

      The teens were great - no real problems - just the usual drama with friends and boyfriends :)

      Delete
  2. Welcome back! Can't wait to hear what all else you have been up to!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mint tea, sounds delicious! ;) I'm glad to hear you had a wonderful time. I agree with you about the Magic Kingdom New Years fireworks. Epcots is so much better.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow you have been busy! Glad to have you back, can't wait to hear more!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Glad to see you back, though I'm just catching this because of your facebook and the newsletter. Oh well. Sounds like you had a great break, anyway. Good luck with all the volleyball!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks everyone - I'm glad to be blogging again and I hope I can at least blog once a week if not more - we'll see :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. We are a first time club volleyball family. The weekend tournaments are fun, but they are long!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I am so happy I came across here. Thanks for this blog. urgent electrician

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Absinthe Earl Author Interview & Giveaway!

House Cleaning

Celebrating!