Today was insane.

I managed to wake up at 6:00 like planned. I went out to get in my car and go over to McDonald’s for breakfast. The plan was I’d get some food, drive to the convention center, and eat in the car in the parking garage. When I got in my car, I tried to start it and nothing happened. Nothing at all. I try again a couple of more times, but nothing. I started to semi-freak out a little bit, so I called my dad. My dad said I probably left a light on (I did :P) and that I would need to get someone to jump my car. Groan. I hate asking people for help with things like that. I was parked in a corner facing a fence too, so I wasn’t in an easy place for someone to get to.

I went back into the hotel, and three men and a woman were coming out. I could tell by their black and blue KTLC bags that they were conference folk. I asked the men if they had jumper cables and if they could help me. One guy had some cables, so he brought his car around to mine. Two of the guys had to roll my car backwards to get it out so they could get to the hood. They hooked up the cables and I tried to start my car. Nothing happened. They messed around with the cables and had me try again. Nothing. One guy thought maybe the starter was bad, but the other one said that if it was the radio should still come on and it wasn’t. I started getting paranoid again. I told the guys that a light was left on. They decided to try again, and the car finally started. They had to really twist things around and hold the cables just so to get it to work. The one guy said that he thought I had a bad cable somewhere.

I called my dad and told him what the guys said, and my dad said to go through the drive-thru at McD’s and not to turn my car off until I got where I was going. I got some food and headed to the convention center. When I got to the parking garage, there was a big sign saying the lot was full. So then I had to go to another parking lot behind that one. I finally got parked, and turned my car off. I tried turning it back on, and it started with no problem. I let me dad know. I didn’t really want him to end up having to drive two and a half hours to check it out. I got out of my car and got in the line to pay for a parking ticket. Then, I realized I needed to know what number spot I was parked in so I had to walk all the way back to my carl. I finally got my parking ticket and headed to the convention center. Once inside, I tried to follow the signs to get where I needed to go. I actually asked a security guard where to go. I went where she told me, and it was the wrong place! So then I had to take an elevator down to the right place. I got to my first workshop minutes before it was going to start.

After the first workshop, I was finally able to eat my breakfast. I had a second workshop, and then it was lunch time. I went to the parking lot to check my car. It started. I decided I’d head back to the McDonald’s by my hotel to get some lunch. Big mistake. I got lost. I cannot stand driving in big cities, especially downtown areas. There are so many one way streets. Downtown Louisville is so ugly anyway. I had to call Colin at work to help me find my way. I also called him last night to help me too. Thank God he’s so helpful like that. I finally got to McDonald’s, got my lunch and headed back to the convention center. The big garage was still full, so I planned on parking where I did that morning, but it was full too. I had to call Colin again for help. He told me to try the parking garage at the Marriot but it was closed to the public today. Then, I went to another parking garage, and it was full too! Where do people park?! I finally got to a parking garage at the Hilton and was able to park on the roof there. Then I had to walk several blocks back to the convention center. I didn’t have time to eat my lunch. I made it to my workshop 1 minute before it was to start.

Colin helped me get to a Walgreens (so I could buy a comb since I forgot mine) and then back to the hotel. I was going to eat my food I bought for lunch, but the fries were cold and rubbery. I went to the McD’s and got some fresh fries and a sundae. I am so ready to just wash my hair and chill out for awhile.

The driving has seriously stressed me out. The conference itself has been fine. There’s just so much to fit in in two days. I wish I had gotten there way earlier on Wednesday. You live and learn I guess. I loved the podcasting workshop. The software is so simple. The kids could use it easily. It’s $99.95, but I think it will be so worth it. Hopefully I’ll be able to get it and use it with the kids. I think they’d love it. I have four workshops tomorrow, and the one I am looking forward to the most is the 3-D animation one. I had a workshop today that was about stop-motion animation (claymation). I want the software for that too.

I think I’ll have my sundae now.

Well, I am back from Florida and back to the same ol’, same ol’. I went back to work today. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be (even though I did have ESS today on the first day back). The kids were surprisingly well behaved. I was expecting them to be super hyper, but they weren’t. Maybe they wore themselves out over the break. Here’s hoping the calmness sticks around for awhile.

The trip to Florida was a ton of fun. We left on the 21st of December and got to Florida on the 22nd. We stayed on Disney property at the Pop Century Resort. It’s super cool staying at a Disney resort because you never have to worry about diving to the parks. They have busses you can ride around on for free! No parking worries! Plus, resort guests sometimes get to go to the parks earlier than the public or stay later. It’s neat. Colin and I stayed at a Disney resort on our Honeymoon. It is definitely the way to go if you’re going to Disney World.

Everyone (me, Colin, my parents and sister and Colin’s parents) all went to Animal Kingdom on Christmas Eve, and we all went to the Magic Kingdom on Christmas Day. Colin, his parents, and I also went to MGM and Epcot. Katee went to Epcot with us too. I got her a ticket as a Christmas present. Animal Kingdom was super busy on Christmas Eve. It was so fun though. I went on Expedition Everest 4 times! We all also got to go on the Kilimanjaro Safari too. Colin and I didn’t get to do that on our honeymoon. The safari was pretty neat. Some of the animals were pretty close to where we drove! Christmas Day was sort of chaotic at times. All four parks were actually shut down at 1:00 in the afternoon on Christmas Day. By shut down, I mean they wouldn’t let anyone else into the parking lot for a few hours. We got excellent seats for the Christmas parade though, which was the main reason this trip came about. I also got a great seat for SpectroMagic and got lots of neat pictures.

A big highlight of the trip for me was the fact that I got to meet Alice in person! So, as you may or may not know, I am a huge Alice in Wonderland fan! I got to meet Alice at Epcot. I got her autograph and had my picture taken with her. It was pretty cool. I also got an awesome Alice tea set for my Christmas/birthday and some other really neat Alice things too.

I got so many great Christmas and birthday presents this year including: DVD’s, Nintendo DS games, Alice stuff, and… Santa brought Colin and I a Nintendo Wii! We have My Sims, Cooking Mama, WiiSports, and Tamagotchi Party for the Wii. Unfortunately, we haven’t had much time yet to watch our DVDs or play our Wii very much. Funny how I made several snide comments about Wii’s when Katee got hers. *blush* I love bowling on the Wii! Colin loves beating people up (boxing).

It was weird not being at home with all the family on Christmas though. It almost didn’t even really seem like Christmas. It was like 80 degrees while we were in Florida. These past two days we have had snow flurries and it is colder than it has been in forever (16 degrees this morning, felt like 4!). We did have a Christmas get-together on the 30th. On New Year’s Eve my family and Colin’s got together to eat and play games. Colin and I won Pictionary (as usual).

So now it’s a new year. Colin and I are also possibly looking for a house. I have some “goals” (or resolutions) for this year. More about all of that later. Right now, I’m just really happy that while we were gone to Florida, Pouncy survived (even though she apparently climbed up the Christmas tree and took a nap on the branches…)!