Saturday Musings

"People will hate you, rate you, shake you, and break you.

 But how  strong you stand, is what makes you."

I've decided it's time to stop counting days. I started Nutrisystem on January 4, 2019 and I remain committed to the program. I reached my goal weight on July 23, 2021. After taking a break from exercise to focus on work I gained a bit of weight back. On December 28, 2021 I started working on getting back to my goal weight. The next milestone in this paragraph will be the day I get back to 150 or less pounds. I've also started a new blog since I feel like the journey I started back in 2019 is over and I'm transitioning to my new life.

For the next little bit my blog will focus on happy things ... namely my vacation to Disneyworld !! I'm only going to write about one day at a time, so you'll have to keep reading ! I should mention that I haven't been to Disney since 1996 so it was pretty much a brand new place for me.

After an amazing day at Magic Kingdom the next park was Hollywood Studios. This was completely new to me, so I don't think it was one I visited back in 1996. The hot new ride here was Star Wars: Rise of The Resistance. This was the 2 hour wait for the day and I have to say, it was well worth it. The line for the Slinky Dog Dash rollercoaster in Toy Story Land was a long one too and that ride left me with a degree of motion sickness for a short time, but I enjoyed the ride ! I am getting old .. lol ! With the long wait times and shortened park hours you really don't get the opportunity to take in all of the rides and attractions in one day and you can forget about doing any of the rides twice in one day ! You seriously need 2 full days at every park and even then I don't think you could see and do everything. I guess that is what keeps people coming back !! We also went on a shooting gallery ride in 4D and that was pretty fun ! I think it was called Toy Story Mania. Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway ride was pretty fun too. I pretty much ate on the go that day since we were staying for the light show after dark, which was a 50th anniversary Beacon of Light show projected onto the Hollywood Tower Hotel attraction and that was pretty amazing to see. I had something that resembled a taco that was made with (I think) Naan bread and chicken and a few veggies in a creamy sauce. That was in the Star Wars section and it was delicious. Another treat that day was custom caramel corn. You choose your popcorn (buttered popcorn or caramel corn), your drizzle (white, milk or dark chocolate) and then your add ins. You can add as many "things" as you want but of course the more stuff you add, the more it costs. I went with milk chocolate, pretzel pieces and snickers. It was delicious ! It seems like I enjoyed each day more and more. Epcot was wonderful, Magic Kingdom was outstanding and Hollywood Studios was fabulous ! I really enjoyed the entire day but by evening I was tired and dragging a bit. Regardless, I was determined to keep up the pace. Next up was Animal Kingdom !

So yet again a quick look through the Hollywood Studios park guide revealed many little things I'd have liked to check out. For instance, I had no idea each park had a special 50th anniversary food and beverage item. It would have been fun to try and find (and eat/drink) them all ! There is also an online guide to all the 50th anniversary festivities that I could have checked out before the trip. This is typical of me .. kicking myself after the fact for all the things I should have done !! Regardless of what I might have "missed" I still had a pretty awesome time and look forward to going back some day. My travel companion asked me on multiple occasions if there was anything in particular I wanted to see or do but since I didn't bother to do my own homework and see what was available, my answer was always no. That is again, on me !! One thing I can't complain much about is the availability of souvenirs and Disney apparel ! I brought home a fair amount of stuff but I had wanted to get something representative of each park and there really wasn't anything like the cheesy magnets or other souvenirs you might expect. I just wanted a little something with the name of each park and about the only option there was pins, which I guess are a big deal for some people. I couldn't even find postcards ! You'd think there would be things like coffee mugs or photo frames, magnets, pens etc. but there was really none of that. It's possible the pandemic and supply chain issues have something to do with that, since most of that trinket style merchandise is made overseas. Overpacking becomes an issue when you buy a bunch of stuff that has to be crammed into your already full suitcases. Half of the stuff I packed was not needed, so lesson learned !! I've never been a traveler so I look at myself as a rookie with a lot to learn ! One service I did take advantage of was all of the photo pass photographers in the parks. It was expensive to purchase all of the photos ($199) but these are memories I will treasure for years to come and it was well worth the cost. I'll post some of them eventually. 

You wouldn't think a vacation could be a journey of self-discovery, but it was for me. I've come to realize that a fair degree of my dissatisfaction in life is my own fault and not everything is outside my span of control. Had I done some homework I could have made my Disney experience more fulfilling .. which is shocking since I had such an amazing time ! I'm starting to see the Disney "magic" and understanding why people around the world are so obsessed. So the lesson for me is to be informed next time around and to have an idea of what I want to see and do AND to be ok if it doesn't line up with someone else's plan. I truly didn't want to just follow someone else around and I ended up doing that anyway, mostly because the parks are so massive and I was just so lost in everything there was to see and do. I'd recommend that anyone planning such a trip take the time to research the parks and have a clear idea of what you want to see and do in each one - BEFORE you go. I went with a "I'll just wing it" attitude and really, you cannot appreciate all they have to offer when you do that. There is just so much to see and do ! One thing I'm unlikely to do is stand in line more than 30 minutes for any ride I've been on once. I still feel like I wasted so much time doing that and the thrill rides are not a must for me. I'm ok with the low key slow rides that entertain without scrambling your brain ! The Disney app is crucial for navigating the parks so I've added a battery pack to my travel musts ! You not only need your phone to last all day at the parks, you also need it to last when you've traveling. I didn't see any charging stations in the parks and the park guides give no indication that they are available, so you're on your own. Charging stations are plentiful in the airports but I didn't even think to check my battery status on the way home. Big mistake as once we boarded I found my phone was dying and I could not find the charging ports on the airplane. I planned to charge during the layover at JFK but due to delays we had less than 10 minutes to spare. Due to turbulence the flight attendants had to spend the connecting flight seated, so they were not available to assist with finding the charging ports, which I understand are located under some, but not all, seats. I needed my phone during the flight because of delays and gate changes that are delivered via email so I had to turn if off and just check email shortly before we landed, which worked out. I wasn't seated with my travel companion so I had to keep myself informed. You also get an email to confirm your checked bag has been loaded on the plane and that was important to me. So next time around (if there is one) I'll definitely pay more attention to my phone charge status (and have a fully charged battery pack available), pack more efficiently and I'm going to buy a carry on that rolls on 4 wheels. The one I have is 2 wheels and after a while dragging that thing behind you is exhausting. In spite of the delays we encountered, I had no trouble with the airline travel. It was the first time I didn't need a seatbelt extender on a plane !!! That was exciting ! I also didn't have to worry about taking up more space than my own seat allowed. In the past I always "spilled over" into the seat next to me and that's humiliating when you're sitting with strangers. I was glad I had thought to bring my own headphones so I didn't have to pay $6 to buy them on the plane in order to enjoy the in seat entertainment options. I listened to music on the way down and took in some of the Winter Olympics on the way home. I felt very comfortable on the plane and that was a completely new feeling !

Back to the present, today was my casino day with my mom ! I missed her while I was gone so it was a fun day ! It helps that masks are no longer required !! We had dinner at Emerald's at Turning Stone casino and I opted to have the 3 course Valentine's Day special, which started with a hearts of romaine salad with beets, feta cheese and some seeds with a sweet garlic dressing. I didn't care for the beets (which had been cut into hearts .. very clever !) but the rest of the salad was delicious ! The entree was a 6 ounce filet mignon and shrimp scampi. The filet was cooked perfectly and absolutely melted in your mouth. The 3 jumbo shrimp on the plate were just ok - probably because I left them for last and they were lukewarm. The 3rd course was supposed to be a vanilla bundt cake with a raspberry topping but something happened there and it hadn't arrived at the restaurant. It kind of worked out because mom wanted an ice cream sundae and it was too large for 1 person, so we opted to share a sundae and I told the waitress she could pack the bundt cake to go, if it arrived. It never did so we ended up getting the sundae removed from the bill, since dessert was included in my meal. I had some luck at the slots and came home with a few extra dollars, which is always nice !!