Day two at Walt Disney World was so much fun! We got up early, and went to breakfast in the Kona Cafe. Daddy and I shared a Kona Coffee French Press. Oh.My.GAWD! it was soooo yummy. It’s definitely a must have when you have breakfast at the Polynesian! We ate and met our group downstairs in the lobby. We were going to be going out to the Magic Kingdom with our VIP Tour Guides, and the girls were very excited! They did nothing but talk about meeting the Princesses, and today was their day!
While waiting in the lobby, I had a little bit of fun with my Lensbaby lenses, taking photos of the beautiful flowers and the waterfall there. I think my favorite photo is this one with the Composer Lens. It was totally unplanned, mostly because I knew nothing about the settings I was trying out, but it looks really cool… totally artistic… well, at least I think so, and that’s what matters right? Yeah.. thought so.
Anyway, we soon got on the bus to the Magic Kingdom with our guides leading the way. We walked in a door, that honestly, if it was just me walking around the park, I never would’ve guessed it was a door. So, when we walked in, there just happened to be some performers singing and dancing in the street, with a little trolley car just waiting for them. One of the ladies must’ve thought the girls were cute, because she came on over and talked to them and let me take a photo of all 3 of them… Of course the girls weren’t all that into it. They were on a mission, and nothing was going to interfere. Sorry girlies… Rides come first! Well, at least anything outdoorsy came first. We were watching the skies just get darker and darker as the morning went on. We were expecting rain, and lots of it.
So, our awesome guide, Zane, took us to Tomorrowland first. We had a real mission at hand! Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin! That was just too fun. I wasn’t as excited about this one as Toy Story the day before… but it was a lot of fun. We got to kick some serious robot minion ass… can I say “ass” when referring to a ride at Disney??? Oh well, too late. We also kicked a little Evil Emperor Zurg ass too! LOL.. Yup, we were Junior Space Rangers, and we took that title very seriously!
Waiting to meet the Princesses!
Our next destination was going to be the girls’ most favorite! Hands down. We went into Mickey’s ToonTown Fair and to the Hall of Fame, and the girls were just jumping with excitement. To be totally honest, I was too… Well, not exactly jumping, but I was excited! We got a private audience with Cinderella, Belle, and Aurora! My girls were just little chatterboxes! They pretty much talked the princesses’ ears off… and the princesses were amazing with them. They talked to them, and gave them hugs… I mean, I’m sure they’re used to kids hanging all over them, but they were very nice with the girls… We were lucky enough to also have the chance to meet with the Fairies, Tinkerbell, Rosetta and Silvermist! Oh the girls were in heaven!
After meeting the Princesses and the Fairies, we headed off to It’s A Small World… Yes, that ride is a MUST DO, anytime you’re in Disney… BUT… just heed my warning. You WILL have that darn song stuck in your head the rest of the day. It’s amazing how no matter how many years it’s been since you’ve been on that ride, you still remember all of the words. Yeah.. Kinda mysterious. We also made it on to the Haunted Mansion.. always a favorite! Our last stop was the Philhar-Magic show, which was an awesome 3-D show complete with splashed water, and smell-o-vision.
Goofy posin' for me!
Lunch was next, in yet another hidden building in the park. It was awesome. We even had a special visitor! Ok, maybe two. When we first got in there, a guy was making balloon animals for all of the kids. One of my girls got Ariel, and the other… she wanted a sword… go figure. Our other special visitor was Goofy!!! He posed for photos with everyone and even let me have a little bit of fun with my fisheye lens from LensBaby.com! What an awesome sport!
The rest of the day was pretty much a photo free day. It was raining so badly, I didn’t want to take the camera out of the bag! It was a warm rain, so staying out wasn’t too bad. Zane was really cool, and took us around to a few more rides despite the pelting drops! The rest of our group had bowed out and went back to the hotel to dry off, warm up, etc. We were just fine with staying out as long as he was willing to! We went on the Jungle Safari Boat, the Magic Carpet ride, and Big Thunder Mountain… That was the girls’ first big roller coaster.. and they got to do it twice! What was funny was that when we first got there, the girls were very definite on who wanted to go on roller coasters, and who didn’t. Well, after we got them both on that first one… They totally switched. I laughed. What else could I do? besides take them on more roller coasters??? Which we did… but not till the next day.
We finally had to call it a day since dinner time was fast approaching, and considering that despite our best efforts to stay dry (by sporting the ever so sexy WDW clear plastic ponchos) we had to get back to our room to freshen up for our super spectacular dinner at the Contemporary Resort, it was probably a good idea. Rather than hoofing it in the rain, our guide, Zane, offered us a train ride! Yeah.. it was pretty cool. We took the train around the Magic Kingdom to the Main Entrance, where we caught the monorail (say it again, monorail) to the Polynesian. It was sad to say goodbye to him, especially since we knew we wouldn’t be able to get in the back way to any more rides… Plus.. he was pretty full of cool Disney Knowledge! Ahhh what a day in the Magic Kingdom!
Cinderella's Castle
Dinner came too fast. We got up to our room, dried off, changed and headed down to the lobby. We went over to the Contemporary and were just amazed by our dinner location. We were high above everything, and could see the park from the windows. I was able to take some amazing photos of the Castle from the walkway outside. I only wished that I had thought to lug around a tripod. I could’ve gotten some amazing photos of the castle all lit up at night. It’s ok though. I did get to enjoy the awesome fireworks show with my family… which the girls definitely loved. Dinner itself was amazing. It started off with an appetizer, goat cheese ravioli… Some flat bread pizzas that were deee lish.. Then a salad, and later the main courses… yes.. plural. They started off with some Salmon and cous cous, then brought out some grilled chicken and a beef tenderloin. Oh.My.Gawd. They were all so good. I know I’m not supposed to eat absolutely everything that is put in front of me… but I couldn’t help it. I had to taste a little bit of all of them. I did good though. I just took a taste 
After dinner and dessert, we went outside for the fireworks. It had started to rain, but we waited it out just a little bit and it moved on. It was perfect.
When that was finished, we gathered up our things and hopped on the monorail back to the Polynesian. The girls were so tired that they almost fell asleep on the way over… and it wasn’t a very long ride! All in all, it was a wonderful day.. despite the rain. I think I said it best when I said “We’re not gonna let a little rain ruin the Magic”… and we didn’t!
To see the full photo gallery for Day 2 in Walt Disney World, check out my gallery.
** Thank you to Hanes who paid for our trip to Walt Disney World (my airfare, my family’s hotel, park tickets and most meals). I covered Airfare for my husband and girls and some incidentals (souvenirs) while on our trip. I was sent to WDW as part of the Hanes Comfort Crew**
Tags: Aurora, Belle, big thunder mountain, Cinderella, contemporary, Fairies, goofy, haunted mansion, jungle safari, magic carpet, magic kingdom, philharmagic, polynesian, Princesses, rides, Rosetta, Silvermist, Tinkerbell, walt disney world
Yeah.. you heard me right… You see that photo right there on the left? That thing that is now standing in my Living Room right in between my bookshelf and my TV, yeah… That’s my bitch… I am going to conquer this machine. There are no more excuses… NO MORE.. it’s too cold outside, or it’s too hot outside… No more wishing I had a way to walk when it’s pouring down rain outside… I have a whole new motivation now.
I finally convinced my hubby of my need for a treadmill. After we walked 30-ish miles at Walt Disney World, and explained how I loved how I felt after all that exercise… He finally caved in…
Of course, there are a few provisions:
- I have to use it daily. How long is up to me, but it has to be used without fail, every day.
- I promised to let him take me on a shopping spree WHEN I get skinny.
- It is NOT to be used as a blanket rack, clothing hanger or anything other than what it is made for.
Yeah… I’m pretty sure there’s more, but I kinda don’t remember them right now. All I know is that am going to do this.. I’m going to walk at least 3 miles every day. It may not be all at one time, but I’m going to do it each day. I’m also going to work myself up to running those 3 miles. I know it’s going to take time. Nothing happens instantly, but between all of the tools that I have now… I’m going to lose this weight, and I’m going to look exactly how I want to look.
So yeah.. that’s about it.. That was my surprise… But I bet my title got ya! LOL.. Now.. if only I could figure out the workouts that are built in to this thing…
Tags: #Mamavation, iLife, nordictrack, t7 si, workout
I learned in Walt Disney World…
Ok.. not really, but I did walk over 25 miles while I was there (really!! I wore a pedometer!)… and boy did my legs feel it! Not only did I walk that far, but I did it in my Earth Shoes! Man, those shoes are no joke! I felt like I was walking at a slight incline all the time, even after I took them off for the evening. It was weird!!!! I actually think this was the first time I had EVER packed for a trip, and literally packed one pair of shoes… besides the pair that I wore while I was flying. Nothing super cute, nothing with high heels, nothing of different colors, one pair of white Earth Shoes… and they rocked. I didn’t even care that I was semi dressed up for something, and wearing sneakers. I was doing it for my health.
Oh, and that’s another thing. I wear a pedometer now. I never knew how cool those things were. I used to roll my eyes at them, but now, I wear one. I’m shocked to see how little walking I do, and strive to try to make it as close to 10,000 steps per day. It doesn’t happen often, but I’m getting better.
So even though I haven’t been writing all about my exercise (or lack thereof) lately, I’ve been doing little things here and there to make some changes. Next week, I’m going to have even more news… but I can’t let the cat out of the bag just yet! See you next #mamavation Monday!
Tags: #Mamavation, exercise, monday, omron, pedometer, walking
So I’ve debated which blog I’m going to write all about our first trip to Walt Disney World on, and I think I have it all figured out… I’m going to do it on both… but in two very different ways. This blog is all fun and jabber, where the other one is all about business… so here goes..
When I got the email from Hanes, asking if I’d like to be a part of the Hanes Comfort Crew, and join them in Walt Disney World, (most) expenses paid… for a week.. with my family… I couldn’t say no. We figured out a way to buy airfare for Hubby and the girls, and went from there. We didn’t tell the girls anything… except that we were going on vacation, and we got to take airplanes to get there. I wanted to tell them so badly… but didn’t want our night before to be anything like this one:
I mean really.. it was bad enough that Daddy and I were up till 2 am the night before… barely tired, packing, and really “too excited to sleep”. We did get everything packed and together before we finally went to sleep that night… Thank goodness because the next morning was a crazy blur!
Monday morning, Daddy and I woke up, got ready, packed up the last of our toiletries, got the girls up and dressed, packed up the van, and were off to the airport. I couldn’t help but think I had forgotten some things, but it was too late… There was no turning back now! We turned in our luggage, made it through security and waited to board our first flight out of Jacksonville, NC… The girls were beyond excited, and so were we.
Our first flight was quick and smooth… We landed in Charlotte without any crazy deals with the girls. They watched a movie on our iPhones, and that was good… They used their new MyPhones, and loved them! We grabbed some Jamba Juice in the airport… a small treat since we don’t have one of those anywhere near us in Jacksonville… and went on to our next gate. Ahhh Jamba…
The flight from Charlotte to Orlando was a nice one too. The girls had some fun coloring and working on their workbooks. The flight went by so fast… not including the anticipation of our Magical ride to our Magical resort! When we landed, we didn’t have to worry about our luggage. We had a trip aboard Disney’s Magical Express, thanks to Hanes… We made our way to the shuttle, and let them take care of everything! One of my fellow Walmart Moms, and author of ChicShopperChick.com, Erika Lehmann arrived at about the same time as us, and joined us on our shuttle ride over to the Polynesian!
This greeted us in our room
We got checked in, walked the beach out our back door… (yes, I said beach!) relaxed for a little bit, and grabbed a quick bite to eat before meeting our group in the lobby for our first trip out to the park! We met our awesomely cool VIP Tour Guide, Zane… More on him later… and our girls made instant friends with another girl in our group. Her parents are lots of fun…and from North Carolina too!!! LOL.. too cool! We all got on the bus, and rode into Disney’s Hollywood Studios through the back lot. It was really cool walking into the park through “secret” doorways, and just appearing in front of the coolest ride evah! Oh yes… Aerosmith’s Rockin’ Rollercoaster.
Hanes Kids' Spot
Daddy and I took turns sitting with the girls as Zane took groups in to ride the Rockin’ Rollercoaster.. Ok, Space Mountain used to be my favorite coaster… but this one totally took the cake! I only wish it had an encore! Oh, and the kids… they were too small for this ride, so instead, they got to hang out at the craft area out front… which happened to be sponsored by Hanes!
From there, we headed on to Toy Story, and a couple of other very cool things… The Little Mermaid, and more that I just can’t remember right now.. We did get to be part of the audience at the American Idol Experience. I almost felt like I was at the real show. We were at the last show of the day, so we were able to listen to all of the finalists from the whole day’s performances, and vote for who we thought should get the “Golden Ticket”. The “Golden Ticket” was basically a Fast Pass to the front of the line at the real American Idol auditions. We heard 5 very talented singers, but at the end of the night, we had to vote for the only male singer in the group.
The winner for 2/8/2010
He was AMAZING! He sang one of my favorite Tim McGraw songs “I Like It, I Love It”, and he got the audience cheering. Everyone was pretty amazed at how close he sounded to the actual song… We all voted with our little dial pads on our chair arm rests, and he won! It was so exciting!
At the end of the day, we were taken back to the Animation Studios where an amazing dinner awaited us. They turned the studio into a little restaurant and it was delicious! We walked in and were handed our very own set of Mickey Mouse ears… with our names embroidered on the back! I thought it was so cool that even the grown ups got a pair!! I never had any Mickey Mouse ears with my name on them, so this was super special! While we ate Mr & Mrs Incredible came by to visit, and a little later on, Mickey came to visit! The girls even got autographed Mickey Mouse gloves!!! They were in heaven! After dinner, we went back to our rooms and were surprised by a special gift bag from Hanes full of goodies for us! Our first Pins for our lanyards with a Rockin Rollercoaster Guitar Pick, some sunglasses, lip balm, a Comfort Crew Tee for me, and some other goodies. It was awesome. Needless to say, we pretty much crashed after this day of travel, rides and tons of excitement. We couldn’t believe we still had 4 more days to go! Phew..
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- Mr & Mrs Incredible & the girls!
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- We met Mickey!
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- Mickey’s Autograph!
For more photos from Day 1 of our trip to Walt Disney World with the Hanes Comfort Crew, check out my Gallery!
** Thank you to Hanes who paid for our trip to Walt Disney World (my airfare, my family’s hotel, park tickets and most meals). I covered Airfare for my husband and girls and some incidentals (souvenirs) while on our trip. I was sent to WDW as part of the Hanes Comfort Crew**
Tags: comfort crew, Disney, hanes, walt disney world
This just reeks of phish to me… and yes, I do mean PHISHING… Late last night/early this morning, I couldn’t get onto my Twitter account from my iPhone. I usually check my tweets before I go to bed, no idea why.. but I do.. Anyway… I couldn’t figure out why TweetDeck kept telling me I couldn’t tweet. I went and tried logging on via the website, and couldn’t. I knew I was typing in my password correctly, so that couldn’t be it… I reset my password anyway, and got in. Well, this morning, I get downstairs and find this email in my inbox (click on it to make it larger):
I find it very strange that Twitter would send out emails telling me to change my password due to a possible phishing attempt…. WITH A LINK ON IT!!! Sure, it looks official, and the from, etc look legit.. but are they really??? And me?? a phishing attempt?? I don’t click on links in emails. I don’t enter my passwords into weird websites… I’m extremely cautious when it comes to online security.. so even being sent this is weird to me…
If you got one of these, and used it to change your password, I’d highly suggest going back to TWITTER and changing your password directly on that site. Just my 2 cents
UPDATE: Thanks to @RealLifeSheri for showing me this Mashable article… http://mashable.com/2010/02/02/twitter-under-phishing-attack/ Apparently it is a legit email, but the part that scares me is that if this email looks legit, what is stopping the real phishers from making an email that looks exactly like this. If you get emails with links in them, don’t follow them to change your password. Even the most legitimate looking email could be a phishing attempt… That’s the point.. They try to trick you. If you feel your account may have been compromised, go directly to the site that you know, and change your password through them rather than a link in email…
As much as I love blogging about my workouts on my main blog, I’m thinking it’s time to move them over to my personal blog for now. I am going to do a lot more blogging, and since I’m not actually “reviewing” anything but my own fat ass, I would love to make as many comments in whatever language I want… and I can only do that here. Should I happen to come upon any cool fitness products to actually review, I’ll post them on Mommy Brain Reports.. but until then… Let’s commence the fitness stuff.
So, last week was a hard week for me. I had so many things hit me over the past few weeks, that I think I kinda had a melt down on Thursday evening. I won’t go into detail about the previous things, because, well, they have to do with some people that I’ve worked with, and I can’t divulge that information publicly.. Just say that I found out some shit that didn’t sit well with me… It’s over now… The culmination of my disappointment came when I found out that I didn’t get chosen as one of the #mamavation moms. Yes, I’ll admit it… I don’t take defeat very well sometimes.. but only when it comes to things I really truly feel that I need. So, I lost. Do I sound like a whiney pain in the ass? lol. Well, the winners are two very amazing and deserving people, and I know they’ll do so well over the next 7 weeks. As Leah said… Their asses are hers.. LOL. She’ll whip them into shape…
So anyway, as I was wallowing in my own self pity… I set myself to cleaning house. I actually got so much done that I had neglected over the last few weeks while lobbying for votes.. I was pretty proud of myself. I pretty much stayed off of Twitter, and the interwebs in general. Hubby thought I was sick. No, I wasn’t.. Just finally focusing on something else besides my hypnotizing 24″ Apple iMac. *teehee* Anywho… I finally jump on my Tweetdeck, and see a tweet @’ing me… It was from a fellow blogger, and she actually wrote about me in her post. She mentioned how she had heard me and @DaddyClaxton on the Wii Mommies Blog Talk Radio Show, talking about our hike up Runyon Canyon, and how we really pushed each other to get up that hill. It was then that I realized that I wasn’t the only one in this situation.. meaning needing to lose weight… and that people are actually watching me, following me, and looking up to me. I’ve never felt like…. so… not important… but I’m having a hard time thinking up a more fitting word.. I snapped out of my funk and get my ass in gear.
I remembered a package of office products I had received from a party at BlogHer. Office Max I think gave them out. It had file folders and other random office-y things. It happened to have a journal in it. I immediately made it my fitness journal. Sure, I have this blog, or my iPhone, but you know, there’s something about having a paper and pen that makes it more interesting to me. Like I have to write in it.. No paper can be left blank! LOL. Plus, it’s something I can carry with me, in my purse… Yes, my purse is big. I decided to write down anything that I ate or drank, and every bit of exercise I did. Guess what? It worked. I did excellent… and it made me actually think about how much I was going to eat.
I was on a conference call with Pete Cohen on Sunday night. He’s giving us Mamavation moms 30 days of free fitness consulting… and I’m loving it. Anyway, one of our goals was to think more about what we want vs. what we need. Writing down everything I ate and drank really kept me thinking more about what I needed. Sure, I still had a couple of gummy bears, because I wanted them… but I only had a couple to kick that sweet tooth rather than the whole damn bag. See!?!?! Progress. (yeah)
So anyway… about the changing channels thing. We have Time Warner Cable… I hate them.. really I do.. but I have no choice but have them for cable and my internet. Well, I may have found my little light as to why I should keep them. On Demand. Yes.. I said it.. On Demand.. You know.. that little thing you can do with your digital cable box that lets you sit and watch just about any show you missed over the last few weeks? Well, I found a channel that I can’t just sit and watch. Exercise On Demand… It has so many various workouts, categorized under the type of what body part it would be best for working out. There’s even the strip tease aerobics.. Yes, I tried it, and I liked it.. LOL Damn thing had my legs burning by the time I finished my 24 minute workout. Sure it all culminates to a 60 second dance.. but you do it so many times you feel those muscles burning. There was also a walking show where I walked a mile in only 15 minutes. Granted, I’m walking in my own living room, but add in some hand weights and a few extra movements with the steps and DAMN! I was feeling it. All in all, I did about an hour of these little workouts… I felt good at the end. These workouts were so short, and easy to spread out over the day that I totally loved them… and for anyone who’s wondering, I did wait until my girls were upstairs before I even attempted those strip tease aerobics classes…. I don’t need them even seeing those… not that it was really stripping, but not that I’d really be taking my clothes off during a workout… unless it was Summer time and it was really really hot… Oh nevermind…
Tags: #Mamavation, #petecohen, exercise, fitness, lose, loss, weight
**Note: I started this post on Friday Jan 15th…
So, this morning was a shitty morning. I’m not going to lie. Hubby got up and went to work as usual, waking me up just before he went downstairs to warn me that the girls were already awake.
I didn’t think this morning would be so much trouble, but it was… and here’s how I handled it.. Tell me if you could do better.. really.
So as I got out of bed, out of my warm electric blanketed bed, my girls asked if they could have my iPhone. Typically it’s not an issue. But this morning, it changed everything.
I let Monkey Do play with it for a bit as long as she promised to share it with Monkey See. I told them to sit tight, and let me take a very quick shower… Usually my showers are very quick… I’m all about water conservation ya know! Anyhow, I get into the shower, start washing my hair, and the I hear fighting. I told Monkey Do to put my iPhone on the bathroom counter. Little did I know that that request was going to change the course of my morning. Monkey Do didn’t have my phone, so in order to get it from her sister, instead of asking for it, like any normal person, I hear this wailing cry. I jump out of the shower, soap still in my hair, and Monkey See is walking towards me crying.
“Sister bit me” she tells me..
I flip.
“Where did she bite you?”
Monkey See lifts up her shirt to reveal a nasty bite mark just below her chest.
wow.
I yelled for Monkey Do, who conveniently took off for her bedroom… I showed her Monkey See’s chest, and just couldn’t really hold back. I got angry, I yelled, and I sent her to her room. Oh she knew I was mad. She knew I was very mad. I let her sit in her room for a while and think about it. I finished my shower, dried off, and got dressed. Monkey See was laying in my bed, still sniffling, so I checked on her. Yup, her chest was definitely going to bruise. I asked her why her sister bit her..> She told me it was because she wouldn’t give back the iPhone… Oh great.. so I indirectly caused this?? UGH! I called Monkey Do back to my room… more like yelling at her, but that’s beside the point… I showed her what she did to her sister and asked her if she would like it if her sister did that back to her. Of course the answer was no… I sent her back to her room, told her to sit on her bed and plan on staying there most of the day…. Oh the flood gates opened. Sure I didn’t mean that she’d really stay there all day, but she didn’t know that.
I sat with Monkey See for a while, talking to her about all the great things having a sister means, and having a TWIN sister to boot! I explained how I didn’t like seeing them fight, and how biting is always a no-no, etc etc etc… After few minutes of talking I took her into her bedroom to sit with Monkey Do and gave her the same speech. As I talked to her, I mentioned the time when she was bit in the arm by another girl at the gym, and told her to remember how badly that hurt. I showed her Monkey See’s chest, and told her to think about it happening to her all over again… That’s what her sister felt… Finally, I had her look her sister in the eye, and apologize. They gave each other the biggest hug.. Ah to be young and sisters…
And they never fought again… yeah right…
Christmas was so much fun here. Even though we were completely across the country from our entire family, we tried to make Christmas as much like it would’ve been as if we were home. It started off on Christmas Eve. Usually, well, for the past 3 years, Santa Claus has come to visit our house on Christmas Eve. It was our opportunity to take their photos with Santa, and let them get used to the idea that Santa was cool. Well, this year, Santa didn’t fit our new schedule, so we got a direct link ichat to the North Pole.. I’m not kidding. We got on iChat with Santa! It was perfect considering the circumstances… My girls, being of digital minds, loved the idea. Of course, nothing is as good as seeing Santa in person on Christmas Eve, but this was a close second!
Even Santa thought it was cool! He was able to show the girls his lists, and talk about what they wanted for Christmas. The girls were having so much fun that they didn’t even realize it was almost bed time. They didn’t even know that we had done some super secret shopping and had been able to find just about everything on their Christmas Lists. Including the infamous “Green robot, with a controller, that’s a girl” as my little Monkey See would put it. Actually, her sister bought that one for her. It was so sweet.
So, yeah, every special gift day, well, birthday and Christmas I guess, we take the girls shopping. Mommy takes one and Daddy takes the other. Anyway, we go to TRU, and we let them shop for gifts for each other. Any gifts they want, within a certain, pre-set budget… and it’s really funny. Daddy and I have our phones, we peek around the corners, and make sure sister isn’t in the aisle we’re about to walk into. It’s kinda a big dance… but it’s so worth it when we see them open the presents they bought each other.
So anyway.. Christmas morning came, and the girls were sooooo excited to go downstairs and open up presents. We hooked up the webcam again, and my family joined in on opening presents with us. I tell ya, whoever came up with this technology is amazing. Well, they got to see the girls opening presents live and (almost) in person. They opened their presents as well, and it was just… a fun Christmas morning. Don’t get me wrong. it would’ve been so much better if everyone was together live and in person.. but this was just fine for a first Christmas away.
The girls screamed and giggled and went crazy as they opened their presents from everyone. I loved watching and listening to every moment of that. The joy and dare I say it… Glee.. that was experienced that morning was enough to bottle up and save up to use over the next year of tough mornings. Thank goodness… because what was left after those bright smiling moments was just sheer devastation of the living room… or as what I call.. the Christmas Aftermath..
By the way… we went from this…
To this…
oh, and this…
Yeah… I love Christmas..
Dear North Carolina,
I can not even express how grateful I am to you for implementing the new law that makes all restauants (& bars) in NC smoke free! I am so glad that as of January 2, 2010, I won’t have to worry about which restaurants I take my girls to. They will all be safe!
Moving to NC from CA, a state that has had that law since I was a kid, has been an amazing experience so far. I have to admit that I was a little shocked the first time we went out to eat in NC. I did a double take when we were asked “Smoking or Non-Smoking?” Of course the smell that hit my nose when we walked in should’ve been a dead giveaway as to what we were just asked. My husband and I asked the girls if we could try a different restaurant, but they wanted to stay put. It was one of their favorite places to eat back home, so it was hard to pry them away.
We remember the commercials back home from when we were growing up, saying that smoke doesn’t know how to stay in the smoking section and we were a little uneasy the whole time we were in there, wondering if we did the right thing eating in.
Over the next few months, we made it a point to eat at places that didn’t have smoking sections, or just pick up dinner and eat at home. Kinda took some of the fun out of going out to eat, but I’d rather have my lungs and healthy children than enjoy a meal that could harm us. Trust me… it was worth the extra effort.
We know that second hand smoke contains at least 250 chemicals known to be toxic, including more than 50 that can cause cancer. We also know that secondhand smoke causes heart disease and lung cancer in nonsmoking adults, and asthma and other respiratory illnesses in children. We also know that according to the California EPA, secondhand smoke is estimated to have caused approximately 3,400 lung cancer deaths and 22,700-69,600 heart disease deaths annually among nonsmokers in the US. *
So many scary facts that have made it a huge deal for us to protect our girls from exposure to secondhand smoke, this new law is going to make things just a little bit easier. Now, starting with the new year, we won’t have to be as selective of where we go out to eat, and I’m sure my girls are going to have more fun choosing where we go! I’m pretty sure that there are more folks that feel just as excited as we do!! So thank you!! We thank you, and our lungs thank you!
Sincerely,
The Mommy Brain Family
* Facts from the CDC.gov
More info: SmokeFreeNC.gov
Tags: cancer, lungs, non-smoking, Restaurant, section, smoke, smoking
