My Wonderful Husband Strikes Again

I'm standing in the kitchen looking out the window when the UPS truck drives up. Knowing I didn't order anything, I asked Jim if he did. He didn't say anything and met the UPS man at the door. He handed me a package and said "This must be for you". I told him I didn't order anything and looked at the label from Amazon and addressed to Jim. I tried to hand it back to him, but he refused and said he was sure it was mine. So, I opened the box and nearly fell over. My wonderful husband had secretly purchased a Kindle (electronic book reader) and surprised me with it. He really doesn't like the impression to get out that he's a sweet man (macho thing), so his excuse was that we don't have room for all the bookcases needed to hold the books I read. For any who don't know, I am a paranormal romance junkie!!!! Anyway, I have to say the Kindle is amazing. I'm still trying to learn to work it, being technologically challenged and all, but have downloaded my first book and halfway through it already. Good thing is I don't have to go to the bookstore or order online and wait for the next load of books to come in. I just pick what I want and it's there in less than 1 minute. Blows my mind how all this works, but I love it. I also have to say that I have the best husband on earth. He always knows how to make me happy and is always full of surprises.

What's Been Happening

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Busy, busy, busy. Kids started a new school year, Jim started building the new laundry room, have our sheet-rock guy starting in a week or two to complete the upstairs, have the a/c guys here today to put in new vent upstairs, and rain, rain and more rain. We are soon going to need a boat to get out of here. We also made the trip to Daytona to see our new nephew!!!!!! Sorry Kate, but I think I might be in line for the favorite aunt, then again maybe not if Kevin keeps teasing me with the movie line (private joke), I'll be scared to death of that kid!!!!!Had wonderful lunch with Mom and Papa Wednesday in Daytona. We don't get to do that often enough!!!! Anyway, life is moving along around here and keeping us on our toes. The good news is there aren't any bad problems to deal with, just normal life and remodeling. Can't complain when everyone is healthy and sassy.

Emily and the Prince

In case you didn't know, Emily is a huge Narnia fan (The Lion, Witch & Wardrobe, Etc.). Hollywood studios in Orlando, now has an attraction dedicated to the movies based on the books. We own the movies and Emily watches them repeatedly. During our visit to Orlando and Hollywood Studios, they had times for you to meet Prince Caspian (the love of Emily's life, next to the Jonas Brothers). They took each family separately into a room decorated as if you were in Narnia, and Prince Caspian would greet everyone and chit chat for a few minutes. The first time we went, Jennifer's knees almost gave way when she saw the actor playing the prince. During picture time, Jenny nudged Emily out and stood next to the Prince. Anyway, Emily was highly upset because this was supposed to be HER attraction and photo op. I promised her that we would go the next day and she could meet the Prince again without any of her sisters. To my amazement, Prince Caspian remembered Emily and said "At last, we meet again, Princess". I thought she was going to faint!!! Emily DOES NOT show her emotions much unless it is anger, but the smile on her face was from ear to ear. This was the highlight of her entire vacation and she enjoyed teasing Jenny about being the "Princess" and being remembered. I think she will remember this moment for a long time to come.

Update

OK, so I haven't blogged in a while. Last entry, I was waiting for stitches and staples to be removed from gallbladder surgery. Well, that was done. Doing great. And now I can tell you the rest of the story. A couple of months ago, Jim and I decided that we just wanted to drop off the face of the earth for a few days and take our "last family vacation" before Jennifer graduates high school. We secretly planned a Disney vacation with the works. We rented nice house with pool, ordered Disney tickets, planned out which parks, exact dates (so Jenny could ask for time off), reserved a spot in the kennel for Scooby, and told no one our plans except Jon (he had to feed the cat). Jim even agreed to turn off his email and not call into work except once a day while we were gone. Of course, anytime you plan something, what can go wrong, will go wrong. The week before we were to leave, I had my surgery. I was sure that our vacation was ruined. However, things went off without a hitch!!! I asked Dr. about it, and he said as long as I took a lot of breaks and didn't do any rides that everything should be fine. Our vacation was a BLAST!!! Kids had a ball and thought we had lost our minds. Whenever they asked if they could do something we said "Go for it". Lots of window shopping and walking for me. Kids got Jim on a few rides, including "Tower of Terror". After that one, he didn't trust the kids anymore and refused to get on anything they told him to. Lots of side stories to tell and will post some pics in future blogs, but needless to say it was a memorable time and I hope it will be a fond memory for the kids to look back on.