Cloudy, Chance of Meatballs

Someone just reminded me that it had been a while since I updated the information of my life, which is probably true. I had a nice rest and visit with Barb. We slept a lot, ate a lot, rested, swam, slept, ate - well you get the picture.

The rain here has been unbelievable. If people had not lost their homes, the rain would have been a blessing. Our aquifer in Northern Florida was critically low. Lake Okeechobee was down lower than it had ever been, which affects South Florida's water supply. Wiener has been quite distressed having to "go potty" in the rain. And, the grass has not been cut due to so much rain, so this makes it even more difficult for her. She's become quite spoiled, I'm afraid.

Life is back to it's hectic normal. WORKING; WORKING; WORKING. I have had an infection in my heel and been going to an orthopedic Dr, having therapy, but it's not working. In fact, I think it's made it worse. At times I can barely stand on it. This has made work even harder, not to mention all the rain. It doesn't help using our computer tablets when it is so wet outside.

Our department has switched Managers around. My manager, who I would clone if I could, is moving to another park. I don't know exactly what I will do yet, but we have shift bid coming up soon and I am #1 on the list so I can pretty much do whatever I want. I just don't know what it is.

I have applied for several other jobs and would like to change departments, I think. We'll see how it goes.

For my birthday, Bob gave me 4 tickets to Discovery Cove, (One of the parks at Sea World) which is a "hands on" water park where you can pet the manta rays, dolphins, ride down the "lazy river"; have a "MARVELOUS" breakfast, lunch and snacks all day long. I took a friend, her daughter and a friend of her daughter. We had a wonderful day. I can't wait to go again.

And speaking of Sea World, Anheuser Busch is being sold. It is being bought by a German company but they only want the breweries, not the theme parks. The next question is, What becomes of all the theme parks they own? I think Disney should buy the Florida ones. We are supposedly in the process of building a new "water" park that was to compete with Discovery Cove, with a lot of the same offerings. We'll see what happens there.

My item that has upset me most this week is information coming out about PETA, Org. I have always been an advocate of PETA. I have even supported their causes at times, but this time they are "OTL" Or Out to Lunch. They want to buy one of the water parks and release the whales and dolphins out into the wild. They think it is inhumane to have them in captivity.

I'm on the wall about them being in captivity, but even I know it's too late for them to be released at this time of their lives. Most of these mammals have been raised at Sea World, they have 24/7 food and health care, and any other thing they could possibly provide for them. They would not survive the wild.

Bob is having some levels of problems with his diabetes, but he is doing okay otherwise. He has gone seasonal with his part-time job, which has allowed him some days off at times. I'm glad he decided to do that. I think that has helped him, but he doesn't rest well. He likes to stay busy, so I have some things that need to be done to my car that he is involved in right now. He's a little cheaper than the FORD dealerships.

I am off today and Wiener is glad. I still have some laundry and petting to do. It's a rough job being a dog.

On and On

The Chapman Family was on Larry King Live the other night explaining the events of how their daughter Maria was killed. I taped it and watched it 2 days later. It brought back a lot of memories from when Tom died. So many emotions happen during a time like this and even still, even though it's been over 6 years since he died. It is not such a RAW open wound now, and it doesn't get better, it is just different. That is the only way I can describe it. Needless to say, the Family is leaning hard on God and that is the only way you get through.

On a happier note, I was able to get into Candlelight Processional again this year. This is my 4th year and I am so excited. It is one of the main reasons that I still work at Disney. It is such a holy time of the year and Candlelight totally tops off the season.

My friend Barb is back in KY. Our friends Heidi and David were here from Atlanta. They are more like family. It's always great to have them here. Of course, Heidi and Abby fell in love with Wiener so there was constant petting and "belly rubbing" for the dog. She probably slept only a few hours while they were here. Wiener really has a problem if she doesn't get her 23 hrs a day, so when everyone left Wiener turned around a couple times, flopped down, and slept all night and most of the next day.

It's must be hard being so cute.