January in Orlando

First let me start by saying that someone found my blog by searching for "his undies".  I find that disturbing and wrong...and a little funny.  And Second - this post is a little long.

My most recent trip to Orlando was far more exciting than the last.  This one was a work trip that, which thanks to a free flight, I was able to bring my niece so she could get some sisterly bonding time in as well as allow us both to check out the Harry Potter theme park.  The picture above was taken in another part of the park after she'd been Ravenclawed.  The one below was on our first night outside of Planet Hollywood in Downtown Disney.  We ate dinner in what Alex decided was the roundest restaurant ever.

I was pretty impressive in my expert traveling ability.  We got to the airport in plenty of time, we checked our bags with the special Disney tickets on them, we shopped for magazines, grabbed snacks, casually boarded our plane first in line, made our connection in Phoenix and landed in Orlando a half hour early.  The Magical Express was...magical.  The Grand Floridian was beautiful, spacious and elegantly decorated.

The next day we had a blast geeking out and pointing out all the little things that made us happy at the park, not the least of which was the extendable ears hanging above a sign that advised you to talk quietly lest someone be listening.

To say that it was magical in no way does it justice.  It was a great park.  All the little details were there.  We tried the Butterbeer and decided that the cold version was better than the frozen, and the food at the Three Broomsticks was fabulous.  I had potato leek soup and Alex had cornish pasties (and more Butterbeer).

Then came work, while Alex went off to play with her sister and dad at other parks.  Tuesday it stormed.  This happened just as I was going to leave my hotel room to go to dinner.

One of those classic Florida storms that brings pounding rain and lightening that can knock plants and animals down flat.  And that should have been a sign for me.  One that read - Please stay indoors.  Do not go out.  If you do you will likely come down with a tropical disease and pay for it by spending tomorrow in bed.

The next day I tried to attend the first couple of meetings, but really just felt like lying in bed groaning and feeling pathetic.  It was the beginning of what I have now deemed the Florida Fever.  I slept from two o'clock that afternoon until six am the next day.  I went to the next day's meetings almost under protest.  And also because it was go home day and I was responsible for my lovely niece.  The responsibility was important.  I'd trained for this.  Time to execute.

Get to the airport via Magical Express - again magical, again fine.  Get to plane (via the Harry Potter store because I forgot to buy Chocolate Frogs) - done.  First flight fine.  I slept through most of it.  Landing in Houston surprisingly non bumpy and weirdly delayed because of air traffic.  We exited the plane starving (and a little dizzy because one of my ears was still plugged).  We checked the monitors and there was forty-five minutes till our next flight.  Thinking we had time to eat we casually ordered dinner, casually boxed it up, casually paid our check (I casually took some cold medicine which casually took effect almost instantaneously making me a casual idiot for the next three hours), and casually made our way to the gate.  Which was empty because they were all on the plane.

"Oh, you made it," the gate attendant said.

And here's where my love for Southwest begins anew.  After taking my middle seat I started hunting for my phone, always in my purse, always at the ready for my in-flight musical needs.  It wasn't there.  I looked again, nope.  The flight attendant said they were going to wait for a couple more people because this was the last flight to LA so I made the poor guy next to me get up so I could ask the powers that be if I could run back to the restaurant because I might have left my phone on the table.  They were great, guided me out right away, asked me to run, but they would hold it for me.  I ran (feeling the effects of the cold medicine kick into overdrive), but the restaurant said there was no phone.  I ran back.  The flight attendants continued to treat me like I wasn't an idiot, even though I felt like one.

Later after an hour of fretting about the fact that without a password on my phone a perpetrator could hack into my Facebook account...which after thinking about it probably was the least of my worries, I eventually found my phone tucked into a handy pocket of my backpack.  Probably because of the worry over the phone and the combination of adrenalin and medicine, I was more than a little gassy on the plane and was feeling so ill that by the end of the flight I was leaning forward my head against the chair in front.  I was pretty sure that I would just simply fall to the ground outside of the gate and ask my niece to call an ambulance.

But when the plane landed it was as if I was given a second chance to show Alex that I wasn't a complete failure, that I could be relied upon to take care of her and get her home safely.  Even though both ears were plugged now and I wasn't sure I was standing completely upright, my niece smiled at me and I felt a little better.  The only challenge now was to get our bags, make it to the car (couldn't remember where I'd parked and had to search a bit...I was sick, people) and drive home.

Which, if you are reading this, you may be able to figure out, did happen and we are now home safely and soon I shall be sleeping again.  Curse the Florida Fever.