and we're back. [Walt, Wizards, and....Woolungasaurus?]

[Sherry E]

How is it possible that it can only be a week until you guys are WDW-bound? That's just crazy talk! I refuse to believe so much time has passed!

I hope the pesky head cold/virus thingy hurries up and clears. It's going to be such a drag if you all have to travel when even one of your group is feeling lousy.

Oh,and I agree about the antenna toppers - the cuter they are, the more likely someone will decide they want it and walk off with it. But I bet you'll be able to find that nice, shiny, colorful Mickey wreath that I saw at DLR. Actually, you will have Epcot to explore - you'll probably find all sorts of cool stuff there.

 

[bumbershoot]

Yay, you're back! I can't even think about how close it is. And here we are in eastern oregon, no packing possible! Frightening. Also frightening? How much we packed for a 3 night trip.


There's an urgent care place nearby, and I'm half-tempted to run in and see if they'll do swabs and even bloodwork, just to see WHAT it is. Sneezing etc isn't mono, but most colds don't really last this long. My chest is feeling clearer today (after being out in the cold cold air today) so I'm not as concerned that it's pneumonia, and since I would have a hard time treating myself with the normal protocol for it anyway (they all seem to *suppress* the immune system which seems counter-intuitive when you have fluid in the lungs and should get it OUT) I'm not sure what I *would* do... I'd just like to know what it is, so I can get my brain to start working on what I should do. Homeopathy? Herbs? western medicine? etc etc etc.

I just hope I have a better night and that E has a good night and that we ALL wake up chipper and healthier!


Before we left, I printed out the ultimate packing list for WDW that I found somewhere, and I really ought to start going over that.

 

[bumbershoot]

At WDW they have "early check-in", where you can check in up to 10 days early. Not sure what benefits it offers, other than not having to wait for them to make up your packet and keys, etc, it's already done and waiting.

We did it for CBR, and I just realized that I can do it for the 2 bedroom portion of our stay at OKW! WOW.

 

[bumbershoot]

I am not sure I have ever been in weather this cold. It's something like 13 degrees out, with plans to go under 0. Tomorrow the *high* will be 18, and we're scheduled to leave tomorrow. If we leave, we have to leave early, so we won't even be leaving when it's 18! I really do not think I've ever been in weather this cold. We're in the hotel room, we have the heater on (not to an extreme though), and I'm under the fleece liner of a sleeping bag AND the knit woolen scarf that hubby bought me in Peru, and I'm still freezing. We brought so many other "just in case" things for the cold weather...why did I not bring my plush Snuggie!??!

 

[Sherry E]

Sounds like my kind of weather, Molly!! Nice and coooooooold!! That's the kind of weather where one is forced to put on multiple pairs of pants and multiple pairs of socks and all sorts of shirts. That's thermal underwear weather! I think that might even be a little too cold for me, and I am anti-heat!

Right now, the little weather icon on my toolbar says 56 degrees. It actually feels much colder than that in my apartment. For some reason, when it is extremely hot outside, the heat finds its way in here and just sits in my apartment, making it seem hotter than it is even when it has cooled down outside. And it works the same way for colder weather. It may only be 56 outside right now, but at some point some of the colder air must have seeped in here, and it feels like a meat locker. Of course, I would not trade it for the alternative. I don't want heat, so I will put on layers of clothing if I have to. It's supposed to start dropping down into the 30's in some places tonight and tomorrow. I had a feeling that after the crazy weather we had earlier this year - chilly summer days and then a record-breaking 113 degrees out of nowhere - it was going to be a cold Winter (cold for California). We haven't had a really good cold snap with, like, 40-degree days and 30-degree nights a in long time. I can't wait!!! Now if only it would get cold enough to just sprinkle a little snow on Los Angeles...maybe if we could get some 13 degree temps, we'd see some snow!

Anyway, I was going to say that the cold weather where you are, Molly, is most likely not helping to kick the virus or whatever it is out of your system. Something about cold weather - especially 13 degrees - seems like it wouldn't be conducive to getting well.

I'm glad the coughing is not too bad now, because that is definitely one red flag for pneumonia. If you were coughing non-stop, I would be worried it was pneumonia. One of the times when I was the sickest was when I had pneumonia years ago Not fun at all. The incessant, non-stop coughing made me so weak. I could barely move, and I had a 104-degree temperature. The horrible Tylenol with codeine cough syrup they gave me was the worst thing I'd ever tasted. And the ampicillin they gave me to fight the bacteria made me break out in hives so I had to stop taking it. It took a while to get my strength back - probably a good several weeks.

So let's hope that whatever it is that seems to be floating around and infecting you guys is on its way out and will be gone by next week!!

Stay warm!!

 

[bumbershoot]

I tell you, it's like we have allergies to something we can't get away from. It's WEIRD. E's face was all red yesterday, and I was looking up Fifth Disease, but then I looked at my OWN face and I was all red...oh yeah, we'd been out in the snow, and our cheeks were chapped LOL. This morning our cheeks were fine.

And there's no fever whatsoever! It's bizarroland.



It seems that my extended family likes the idea of Crystal Palace altogether, so it's good I got some ADRs just in case. And it means we'll have been at CP, so we won't need CP on our first *alone* day. So I started to look around for other places to get us into MK early, before opening, on that day. And got totally psyched out by Cinderella's Royal Table! The online system first shows availability, but then says "oh no, sorry". Blah!

Not that I really wanted to EAT there, but it might have been fun to BE in there (it's IN the castle). A wee bit expensive, however.

 

[QueenDoOver]

Hi Molly!
Sorry to read that you are sick! That sucks, and I hope that you will be well on your way to recovery by this time next week. There does seem to be a fair amount of crud out there right now. Well, I will keep you all in my prayers and send pixie dust too! Hopefully E won't be long in recovering. Seems like kids usually go a lot easier somehow.
So excited for your very soon to arrive trip! I know you will be feeling better and will have wonderful time!

Tracey
PS Not liking this cold icy snow stuff at all and wishing I was headed to Florida!

 

[bumbershoot]

Hi Tracey! So have the boys had school? Has hubby had to go to work?



I keep saying I need to keep a "sick journal", because a few days into one of us being sick it feels like years and I get all confused about it all. I've really got to be better about it.

 

[bumbershoot]

Finally got home. A day late. Just wasn't safe to keep driving yesterday, we were chasing the sunlight and it was just getting too shadowy, and we were not comfy continuing. Happily, we called it quits just as we got to a fave hotel.

Got a late start today, so got back in time to get hubby and son dressed nice so they could go to the MIL's (who is getting her full-blown wish of having them there at the exact time she wanted, because of the timing of the drive). So here I am, alone. No time to shop for our little meal today, no field roast, no potatoes...if I can get up off my bum maybe I can make a little pie. I mean, this is easy enough.

EASY PUMPKIN PIE

Read more about it at www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1737,149191-247200,00.html
Content Copyright © 2010 Cooks.com - All rights reserved.

1 (9 inch) unbaked pastry shell
1 (16 oz.) can pumpkin
1 (14 oz.) can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk
2 eggs
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine ingredients in large bowl, pour into shell, bake 15 minutes, reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking 35-40 minutes until knife inserted in center comes out clean.



Here's what's funny. It was SO cold in Eastern Oregon that when we got to western OR and then into WA, it didn't feel cold. We were all in short sleeve shirts for the car (well I had a scarf on too) and no one put coats on to unload. When we got inside the condo, I thought "ooh, toasty". Did a second trip from the car, checked out the thermostat on the heater (once again, INSIDE the house)...56 degrees. Relativity is funny!

 

[Sherry E]

That sounds like a pie recipe that even I could manage. I mean, it couldn't get much simpler. And yet, I bet I'd mess it up anyway!!

Glad to hear MIL will get her wish of having the menfolk there on time.

Does the weird allergy or virus seem to still be on its way out today, or is it still lingering?

Molly, I thought of you today because - in between episodes of the "Twilight Zone" marathon and watching various airings of "Vanilla Sky" - I have been catching bits and pieces of "Love Actually."

It's very funny about "Love Actually." It usually airs only twice a year. To me, it seems obvious that it should air around Christmas and then, perhaps, Valentine's Day because of the whole 'love' thing. And yet, every year, whomever is in charge of TV programming seems to move it around. I can't even recall the last time I actually saw it on TV around Christmas, strangely. It's been a while. It always seems to air on Thanksgiving - like, somehow, "Love Actually" has now become a Thanksgiving movie. Sort of like "Titanic" always airs somewhere on Thanksgiving - how did that happen?

And this year "Love Actually" also played close to Halloween, inexplicably. "Love Actually" is about as far from a Halloween movie as you can get, unless you count the kids in costumes for the school play (like the lobsters at the Nativity scene!). I don't think it was even on TV for Valentine's Day this year - that was last year. What's next? St. Patrick's Day - because Liam Neeson is Irish?

 

[kaoden39]

Molly,

Happy Thanksgiving. I hope your pie turns out well.

Are you guys feeling better?

Boy, your trip was something else wasn't it? Cold. When 56 feels warm that is bad. I was so hot after making our meal today I almost put shorts on. We have been having some unseasonably cold weather. 30 degrees this morning. Yuck.

Well, now I think I know why they make the Pendleton Wool there. They need it to keep warm.

 

[bumbershoot]

Oh heck yes they need the wool out there! I will tell you, we really liked Pendleton, and we got to see a bit of it, but since I was NOT comfy driving we had to wait for Robert's breaks, and so didn't get to see anywhere near as much as we'd have liked. And the wool outlet was on the outside of town...as we drove away yesterday, it started to SNOW again, which it was NOT supposed to do. If it hadn't been doing that I might have finagled a stop there, and it turns out it was just a freak, passing, huge cloud that we came out of around 10 miles later...but we didn't know that at the time, and just wanted to get away and not stop. Nor did we want to get off or on the highway more than needed, since we nearly ended up backwards with our FIRST on-ramp. Robert got a little bit full of himself and took the turn 1 mph too fast whoopsie.

Anyway, we did want to stop in. And today I saw an ad in Sunset magazine (a treat I buy every few years) for a picnic/camp type blanket with pendleton wool on one side, and waterproof backing on the other...LOVED it! Only $98.


There are two things that might prevent the pie from being as good as it normally is. 1. I only had the amount of cinnamon that the recipe called for. I've been upping the spices b/c it's so goooood, so it will be relatively bland. And 2., I used organic pumpkin. So...I like using organic products, it makes me happy. But there are a few things that just do not taste *right* when organic. I can only think of two right now, and they are artichokes and canned pumpkin. Canned pumpkin even LOOKS different when it's organic, and it smells even funkier. Sure, that's natural, but my palate isn't ready for natural pumpkin, I suppose.

Nothing looks more gross than sweetened condensed milk, by the way.


The cold virus bacteria allergy crud is starting to lift in me, I think! And in E. This morning at breakfast I had this potato thing that had roasted cloves of garlic, and I found myself just eating those cloves, b/c I want to boost myself. This trip is going to be hard enough, since we'll be all sharing a room together (we officially have a family bed, but the reality is that Robert's snoring is SO bad he sleeps in another room) and this little trip was a horrid look ahead at what that's going to be like. It will be extra hard if I'm also waking up coughing and blowing my nose.


Let's see if that pie is done yet! It's taking ages. And it smells too pumpkiny, not enough spicy...sigh. But the guys found an open store and got some tasty treats and will be home soon, so that's nice.

 

[kaoden39]

Too bad you missed it. That is one pricey blanket.

My mom used to use to make our pumpkin pies from actual pumpkins and not canned pumpkins. If I remember right it was amazing. I had an uncle that looked so forward to the pie so much he ticked my aunt off more than once over it.

Oh I agree about the sweetened condensed milk it is gross and not a whole lot of fun to work with.

I have a subscription to Sunset. I love the fact that it is so regional and I see things that to do that are close enough to us that it can be done pretty easily. And I have got some great recipes out of it.

It sounds like your yuck is running it's course. Scotty snores when he is really tired and I will wake him up and make him roll over and that usually helps.

I hope R and E had fun.

 

[bumbershoot]

Oh, forgot to talk about Love Actually. That's so odd that they played it near Halloween! I guess their "days leading up to xmas" schedule was full?

I was always mystified as to why they played Wizard of Oz on Thanksgiving. Not my fave movie, especially the horrifying flying monkeys. And yet it was ALWAYS on during our Thanksgiving days, whether we were at home hosting our family friends or in San Francisco at their house...always. Buncha all-but-TV-free kids, being forced to watch the Oz.

If you can get your hands on the DVD, the special features have deleted scenes, which gives a fuller view of the people in the movie. Every time we watch it, we find ourselves wondering more and more about the people...

It's also forcing us to plan a "just family" vow renewal in the London Eye.

 

[bumbershoot]

My mom used to splurge on Sunset, and unless I'm completely making it up (I don't think I am), they once did an article about one of the Ren Faires in the San Jose area, and we had been there, and they included a picture of my adorable little brother who had gotten a FULL face face-paint so he looked like Spiderman.


Someday I will make pie from scratch! But not yet.

 

[kaoden39]

I have never seen Love Actually. I love deleted scenes from movies, they are always a kick.

 

[kaoden39]

My mom used to splurge on Sunset, and unless I'm completely making it up (I don't think I am), they once did an article about one of the Ren Faires in the San Jose area, and we had been there, and they included a picture of my adorable little brother who had gotten a FULL face face-paint so he looked like Spiderman.


Someday I will make pie from scratch! But not yet.

I got a great deal from Sunset and then every year they offer a nice discount so I get it. It is much cheaper than the list price.

 

[bumbershoot]

As expected, the pie wasn't so good. But it will be better tomorrow. Pumpkin pie really shouldn't be eaten warm from the oven, IMO, but we all keep forgetting that, LOL.

Mentally overwhelmed by thoughts of packing. How long can I avoid it?

 

[kaoden39]

I hate packing for trips. I wait until the last possible moment to do it.

 

[Brady's Mom]

That is actually the pumpkin pie recipe that I grew up with. My mom tried a bunch of different ones and liked the texture and flavor of that one - so it wins. I don NOT like pumpkin pie at all, so I never eat it, but that recipe is so easy to make you really can't mess it up.

Just start the packing it will be easier than putting it off. I know it's a lot to pack, but you are on the short side of leaving. At least if you start packing you'll feel like you're accomplishing something.

My kid's love to pack because it means they get to go somewhere. Sometimes they are the ones who push me to start it!

Glad your boys had the chance to go see the MIL. We went to see my family for about 2 hours yesterday - DH stayed home and chilled out, my huge family overwhelms him so he opts out of extended family visits. That's okay, they overwhelm me sometimes too and I am genuinely related to them!