No, not a Mac.

Things on the internet/media/wireless communication front are going crazy around here. Cell phone plans are changing, internet services are changing, we changed our land line service, it’s kind of a mess around here. But the biggest news is that two of our three computers are slowly dying and this morning, the one that we’ve had for four years finally would not boot up anymore. So we went out and bought a new laptop today and for the first time EVER, we bought a computer with an Intel chip, Jeremy’s old employer’s main competition. We did not get a Mac! I’m a PC!

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Disney World.

After we disembarked from the cruise, we split up into two groups. Because we thought that Edda could only manage one day at Disney World and because we had only one car (my parents drove in from MD) which seated only four; Edda, Jeremy, Mom and Dad headed towards our hotel in the car (with a stop at Cape Canaveral) and Donald, Vince and I headed to the Magic Kingdom via shuttle bus for an extra day at the park.

But by the time we got to the Magic Kingdom, it was pouring rain and Vince had had one of the worst meltdowns I had seen in a long, long time. So we ditched the idea of going to the Magic Kingdom and hung out eating chicken tenders at a hotel restaurant, rode the monorail and ended up taking naps in the hotel room.

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The next day, all seven of us headed out together to the Magic Kingdom for our one day at the park. I know lots of people spend 5-7 days at the park, but really, we were already operating on Disney overload – so only one day it was. We stayed in a Disney hotel, but it wasn’t one of the closest ones – so we made this elaborate plan in which some of us would go back to the hotel because we were sure Edda would tire out after a few hours. But Edda lasted in the park from 10 am to 7 pm. She went on almost all the rides with us. We had a great, relaxing (!) day at the park.

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The highlight of the day was the trio of turkey legs that everyone feasted on. This was how we celebrated Thanksgiving!

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Disney cruise!

We are back from Florida! We had a great time on our Disney vacation. Never in our lives have we ever considered doing anything Disney, but somehow in the last 3 months or so, a set of circumstances coalesced into a perfect storm and we found ourselves in a fantasy world for about 5 days this Thanksgiving week! For the first 3 days, we were on the Disney Wonder which set sail for island owned by the Disney corporation in the Bahamas called the Castaway Cay.

Edda was a touch feverish on the day the cruise was suppose to leave. We were not optimistic about traveling with a sick child in a confined space. But she recovered rapidly, and after a good night’s sleep on the boat, she was fine.

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Vince partying at the launch.

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Edda meeting Mickey.

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My parents – encouraging both gambling (BINGO) and drinking! Wow!

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Edda at sunrise:

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Special needs beach wheelchair. Disney did live up to its incredible reputation for taking care of special needs kids. We saw lots of wheelchairs and lots of accommodations!

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Jeremy avoiding the sun with a polo shirt and a black rain umbrella. Yeah. He’s not a beach guy – but he’s a good sport.

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The weather was beautiful.

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Feeding the stingrays.

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Part 2 tomorrow!

Disco.

Vince’s school held a disco tonight. It was awesome, sooo much better than last year mainly because the DJ was really good. Since we’ve switched the radios over from NPR to Hot 99.5, even I knew most of the songs.

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I took the both the kids over as Jeremy’s been out of town for the past few days and wasn’t due back home until 8 or 9ish, but he managed to show up in a jacket and tie pretty much straight from the airport and dance the YMCA with me in my baggy pants and over sized sweatshirt.

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Edda was a good sport, she wasn’t super excited to be there – too loud and too late (she likes bed time to begin at 7:15ish), but we managed to stay until the last song at 8:20pm.

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Working from home.

Tomorrow is my first official working from home day. I almost can’t believe that I actually made it this far. I’ve never kept a paid job for longer than 18 months and so this is a triumph of sorts for me – I’ve lasted 2 years on the job with no intention of quitting anytime soon. The office could use a little help with neatness – or at least with cable management.

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On Monday, I had a “practice” work-at-home day. I had a very sweet officemate who was there in the morning and then had to run off to some meeting downtown.

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IKEA.

Since I have about 6 or 7 linear feet of paper files associated with my job, I had to go to IKEA this weekend to buy some filing cabinets. Edda came with me because we both love IKEA. She was so patient – I think this has been her biggest milestone this year – a huge improvement in patience and just calmness about approaching new things and new situations. This wasn’t true 18 months ago.

I think I spent about 2 hours in the store – walking first to the showroom floor, then down to the warehouse, then back up to the showroom because I forgot what I really wanted, then back to the warehouse and then after I bought the filing cabinets, I had to go once more through the store because I forgot to pick up drawer pulls for the fronts. We were quite a sight, wheelchair in front and massive flat cart in back, or if that wasn’t working out too well, flat cart in front and wheelchair in back. Edda is way too big for her current stroller/wheelchair, I’ll get to a new wheelchair next year, along with the eye exams and finding a new neurologist.

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Of course, after seeing the store 17 times, Edda fell asleep. Which is really what I wanted to do, but it’s not good mixing driving and napping.

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I also discovered that IKEA sells uncrustables! Uncrustables have an interesting patent history – check out the link if you are interested.

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Raingutter regatta.

Tonight was Raingutter Regatta. Vince needed to put together a little balsa wood boat from a kit. The kids then power the boats via lung power. We made two critical mistakes. 1. We used washable paint. Which did wash off somewhat in the water. 2. We glued some critical pieces (like the rudder) on at the last minute and they did not stick on very well.

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Vince did not win. He didn’t even beat another boat. He was sad and sulked. He learned about losing.

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The peanut gallery has come back. My dad immediately went to work thinking about how to build a better boat.

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Working from home.

I’ve been in training this past week to learn how to work from home. I told a friend about my “working at home” training and she asked – so what are they going to do? Teach you how to use the internet? Ha ha. Well kind of. There are things like figuring out how to answer my work phone through the computer rather than a real phone – how to web cam with colleagues and how to maintain good work habits.

Then on Friday – you had a choice of picking up the computer from the warehouse at noonish or having them FedEx it to arrive at home on Saturday. I chose the delivery because I’m still trying to move my office without actually driving to the office and spent Friday afternoon working in a hotel-ling office about 3 doors down from my old office. My office mate had already obliterated any sign of me occupying any space in my old office. Someone had already snagged my old office chair.

So the dual screens and the printer arrived yesterday. The office paid for FedEx overnight Saturday delivery and the screens were both so poorly packed that even though they both work – they were damaged in the process – cracked frames, damaged screens and warped stands. Pretty amazing.

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Edda was impressed. She was like – wow! two screens for me? You shouldn’t have!

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