Crafting Update… April 17, 2009

Well, today I did the regular craft chore (at least it’s a regular chore for me) — I cleaned / organized my craft closet. I don’t tackle the entire thing at a go — but about every nine months or so (sometimes more frequently) I either organize the yarn crafts or the needlework crafts (cross-stitch, sewing, quilting & since I haven’t really sewn or quilted anything in years, it’s really just cross-stitch).

Oh yeah, this was all part of the day spent with my new toy — a swiffer wet jet!!

The over-riding discovery — I have a huge stash and a larger pile of WIPs than I thought! I’m embarrassed! I even considered just throwing some of the WIPs in the garbage. I started them SO long ago and my tastes / style has changed! But some of them are so doggoned close to being finished that I can’t stand the thought of tossing them in the garbage. I’ve noticed that no one has started reading this bog yet (oh well)… But if anyone is interested in some nearly completed cross-stitch… give me a buzz

Discovered today – no longer to my taste – the ones I can remember right off the top of my very tired head (remember that I’ve wetjetted every floor in the house and moved a lot of furniture!).

• Lady of the Thread by Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum
• a little sweetheart hardanger embroidery kit, lovely pinks/creams/greens
• a small Thanksgiving doodad with overdyed thread

That’s all for now

Old TR – 1.0 April 16, 2009

Together out on the open road!!!

We arrived at DA’s house on Thanksgiving afternoon. We’d been teasing 
her for months that she’d be waiting on the driveway with her suitcase. 
She wanted to leave immediately – but we convinced her that we’d leave 
on Friday morning & head straight to Pensacola.

Friday.November.25.2005

Long day in the car, everything went fine. Stayed at the Fairfield Inn 
in Pensacola, not great but okay. Had dinner at a nearby restaurant: Los Rancheros — very good food. DA = Chicken Alfredo, Wall-E = Spicy 
Hot Burrito, Dznyknitter = Chiles Rellenos.

BTW: The trip along the panhandle added lots of miles to the trip. We live in N Indiana. DA lives in central Virginia. We went to the extreme 
western tip of the Florida Panhandle. Would have been closer to head 
straight to WDW, but I didn’t argue with the 2 intrepid travelers — 
they were having fun planning that part of the trip & I really enjoy 
seeing them so danged happy.

Saturday.November.26.2005

Dznyknitter & Wall-E

 

 

 

Wall-E had one request for this first weekend of our trip — he wants to eat on the water as much as possible & he wants seafood as much as possible. We get up, grab at snack at the “free breakfast” & hit the road; headed to Destin Florida. We found a place on the water with seafood for breakfast, Harbor Seafood & Grill (actually, DA took a photo there that became our Christmas card for 2005). It was on the water, the sun was shining, and we were in Florida!! Breakfast: DA = eggs, nice crispy bacon, home fries, rye toast, coffee. Wall-E & Dznyknitter both = shrimp omelet w/ tomatoes, wheat toast, coffee. Breakfast was YUM x5. 

 

 

DA & Dznyknitter, Destin FL

Drove along the panhandle all day. Stopping here and there, taking photographs, our goal is Perry Florida & the Hampton Inn (this hotel has won lots of Hilton awards & Wall-E picked it out). Stopped for a cocktail at the Miracle Bar in St. Joe Beach. Nice little place, probably not to everyone’s taste, but we liked it. Made it to our Hampton Inn, all tired & getting a bit cranky, need to eat. We walked over to Mama’s Italian Restaurant — in a single word, YUCK. Wall-E sent his food back (very rare) & just didn’t eat. Luckily, the Hampton Inn is spectacular. Walked back over, here are my notes 
made late that night with input from my two intrepid travelers:

• must stay here, if coming anywhere near, stay! 

• Chivas in a real glass (complimentary) 

• fresh strawberries dipped in chocolate (complimentary) 

• great cookies 

• BEST Hampton Inn we’ve ever stayed at 

• lobby food area great layout 

• food was out all evening (meat & cheese platter, crackers, fruit 
platter, veg platter, the aforementioned strawberries & cookies) 

• this really is the #1 Hampton Inn in the world

Sunday.November.27.2005

Breakfast at the Hampton Inn, hit the road. Today’s goal = Siesta Key & Venice. We had a late-ish lunch at Phillipi Creek Oyster Bar (between Sarasota & Siesta Key), Wall-E & I had eaten there many times when fishing in Siesta Key. DA loved it too. DA & Dznyknitter had 1/2 lb shrimp dinners w/ slaw. Wall-E had the shrimp salad. A few house beers, bud lights, & white zinfandels all around. 


   

Next we took DA to the beach! She hadn’t seen a beach or the Gulf of Mexico in YEARS. Had a great time just walking around taking pictures, digging our feet into that sugar dust sand, & she went out into the water holding her pants legs up high (great photo of that!). Drove around Siesta Key & Long Boat Key, just having a grand time. 


Stopped at the Crescent Club (when we’ve been to Siesta Key before, we 
stayed at the House of the Sun, across the street from the Crescent Club), had to stop in here for old times sake. 


Stayed at the Hampton Inn Venice. Not too great. Stinky, smelly, sewer gas (we had to move a time or two). We were all upgraded to suites (I’m a diamond level Hilton HHonors member) — but there was still some weird plumbing thing going on. Spent the evening hanging out around the 
pool, playing cards, doing laundry, watched a movie in DA’s room — hit 
the hay, went to sleep. 


Notes: DA’s favorite things about today 


• driving & looking 

• BIG bridge 

• walking in sugar sand & sticking my feet in the Gulf of Mexico 

• wine & lunch @ that seafood bar 

Monday.Nov.28.2005

We get to Disney World!! 
They had been teasing me for weeks. Wall-E said he was going to 
get us all up at 3:30 in the morning so that I wouldn’t miss a single 
second at Disney World — well, that didn’t happen, but I have to 
confess that I was a bit out of sorts @ breakfast & anxious to get to 
Mickey’s House!!! 
We made it to POR by about 9:30 or so in the morning… 
 

Old Trip Report — 0.0 Planning & Anticipation = large part of the fun! April 15, 2009

Late November / Early December 2005

Pre-stroke for DA

 

Participants:

Dznyknitter – me, 40 yrs old, self-proclaimed Disney World nut

Wall-E – DH, also 40 yrs old, not as much of a WDW nut, but he’s nutty about me

DA – Dear Aunt, 73 yrs old, only been to WDW & gone into parks once in 1971

 

Original Plan: 
Take DA to WDW with us in November 2004. We started making plans and 
talking about different ideas with DA, we wanted to tailor the experience to 
her interests and her abilities. I bought a 6 day Park Hopper & got 2 rooms at POFQ well in advance. As autumn got into gear, DA decided not to go this year, 2004 (I can’t remember exactly why). Turns out it was 
just as well, about 10 days before our original planned departure, DA ended up in the ER and then intensive care with intestinal bleeding of 
unknown origin. She lost > 70% of her blood — we came very near to 
losing her. In the long-run (long for her, everyone else thought it was 
pretty quick given her age & other health conditions) she was fine. 
NOTE: DA’s health issues — she’s 73 & she gets tired but she doesn’t 
have enough sense to realize it <grin>, she has congestive heart 
failure & has had a couple of spinal repair surgeries in the last few 
years, all in all she’s in good health & does quite well; also, she 
made a promise to God years ago that she’d never ride another roller 
coaster

 

New Plan: 
Aim for November 2005! And add some driving along the Florida panhandle 
(DA and Wall-E LOVE to drive and ride). DA says “plan it all, I’m 
along for the ride (literally & figuratively)”

 

List

We made of things we
either REALLY wanted to do and/or things that 
we thought DA would REALLY want
to do…

 

Magic Kingdom

eating = Cosmic
Ray’s, Tomorrowland Noodle Terrace 


attractions =
Space Mountain (for us), Pirates of Caribbean, Tiki Room, Hall of Presidents,
Haunted Mansion, It’s A Small World, Mickey’s Philharmagic, Wishes!,
Tomorrowland Transit Authority, Carousel of Progress, Timekeeper

photo = Railroad
Station 

MGM-Studios (update: It’s now called “Disney Hollywood Studios”)

eating = Brown
Derby

attractions =
Tower of Terror (for us), Rock’n'RollerCoaster (for us), Great Movie Ride, Car
Stunt show, Muppets 3D, One Man’s Dream, Osborne 
Lights

photos = Donald
Duck and Mickey Mouse in the backlot area

 Epcot: Future World

eating = Sunshine
Food Fair, Fountain View

attractions = Test
Track (later removed from list as possibility), Universe of Energy (also later
removed), Spaceship Earth, Soarin’, Living with the Land, Mission Space (for
us)

photos = Odyssey
area w/ Spaceship Earth & Monorail in background

Epcot: World Showcase

eating = Germany
(DA lived in Germany for many years), Japan, Morocco 


attractions =
China movie, American Adventure, Holiday Storytellers, Illuminations, Chinese
Acrobats, Off Kilter

photos =
Characters on Holiday

Other 


Downtown Disney =
Fulton’s, Earl of Sandwich, World of Disney

Port Orleans Riverside
= butterfly garden

Boardwalk = scotch
@ Belle Vue Room, ice cream @ Dolphin

California Grill =
sunset, Wishes!

Christmas Decorations
= Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom Lodge, Boardwalk Inn (our top deluxe for
Christmas decorations), Coronado Springs (our top 
moderate for Christmas
decorations)

Monorail = ride it
from MK to Epcot

General: 
I wasn’t able to get us rooms w/ AP discount at
Port Orleans French Quarter (blah!), but got 
rooms with discount at Port
Orleans Riverside (okay). Already have DA’s pass & we’ve had the talks over
and over about getting tired & open communications & all the other
stuff that you need 
for good groundwork when you haven’t taken a trip with
someone…