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Favorite Quotes---Of all the things you can lose, your temper is one that can't be replaced.
---Work like you don't need the money, love like you've never been hurt, and dance like you do when no one is watching.
---Any nation that does not honor its heros will not long endure. (Abraham Lincoln) -
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Grab My Button!
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The Search for Good Children’s Chapter Books
My DD7, Cameron, has finally started to enjoy reading “chapter books.” When she was smaller she loved to read, but we had a drab spell while her reading level was just a little too high for the “easy books,” but the chapter books seemed to be maybe a little too high as she didn’t enjoy them.
I’m proud to say I think we are moving past this. :) I am trying to get her started on series as that encourages future reading (I think). Her favorite right now is a great series by Vivian French called the Tiara Club. Together she and I are reading Hank the Cowdog. While she can read these just fine, the length of the books seem to be daunting for her and she loses interest in reading before she finishes.
If anyone else has any suggestions in this range, I’d love to know. As an avid reader, that is something I want to be sure to pass down to my children.
The Fun of Booking Airfare
Well with our summer vacation to Disney World booked, park days planned, ADRs made for all but that one day, what else was there to do? Start watching airfare so I could book it as cheap as possible.
I began this search before even booking the trip. I looked over several carriers, and decided that Southwest looked like the way to go. When I first went to Southwest last week, I actually planned my days around their airfare so I knew I would at least be able to go for $99 each way. I would love to pay less, but after paying Christmas/New Year’s rates for our last trip, this seemed great! However, I had not gotten around to booking it yet today, and I got nervous when I got home from work after thinking about how prices had continued to rise during the time leading up to our last trip. So I came home and got online. I had an email from Airtran, and I almost didn’t click it as I had already checked their prices two or three times in the last week, but boy, am I glad I did.
They had our flights for $89 (a $10 savings from Southwest - Hey! Everyone little bit adds up, right?). I was so proud because Airtran is also one of the airlines with Resort Check In at Disney so we’d be able to check in and give them our luggage at the hotel instead of taking it to the airport ourselves and checking it. I immediately double checked Southwest, prices had not dropped, and booked our return flights home for $89 a seat! And I am even happier to learn that they have a policy similar to Southwest, and if the price drops between now and then, I can call them for a credit for future flights with them.
I already had one of these credits with Southwest, in fact, from our Christmas trip so I decided to go ahead and book our flights to Orlando also. I had enough of a credit that one of our tickets with them were free!! So even if prices don’t go down any between now and then (and you can guarantee I’ll be watching close), I paid $500 for rountrip airfare for all three of us, and I am happy. Now the vacation feels even more real!
Returning to Walt Disney World
I’m so excited. I’ve been deciding and undeciding and deciding again for the last few weeks, and finally this week, I decided we are definitly returning to Disney World. I planned a surprise trip for my girls in December, and we stayed almost the entire Christmas break. It was amazing! Before we were even gone, the girls were talking about the next time, and I’m totally excited that next time is scheduled!!
We will be staying at Pop Century (this is where we stayed in December and we’re now avid POP fans!) August 7 - 13. These are the days around Cameron’s birthday so this will be called her birthday trip. She’s on cloud nine, and the last 2 days I’ve been in panic mode because we’re already past our 180 day window! I immediately started planning what parks we’d be in on what days, and when I didn’t have time to be reading and analyzing that, the girls and I sat down and discussed which restaurants we wanted to return to and which ones we wanted to try.
I think I have it pretty much planned (well except for one day) and so now I’m ready to make our ADRs. I’ve emailed them to my travel agent Theresa at Dreams Unlimited Travel to make the first set of ADRs. Curious? I think this is the plan…Tell me what you think? And if you have any recommendations, please let me know! 
Thursday, August 7 - Arrival Day. Spend a leisurly afternoon either at the hotel or at Hollywood Studios. Late lunch/early dinner at Hollywood & Vine (Fantasmic Package). We are HUGE Fantasmic fans. We caught in 3 times in December. So I wanted us to start our trip with it. And I know we like Hollywood & Vine so that’s a plus, too.
Friday, August 8 - Open Animal Kingdom. Dinner at Coral Reef (one of my favorites). During one visit to Epcot, we’re thinking of doing the Behind the Seeds Tour. We wanted to in December, but never made it back.
Saturday, August 9 - Open Magic Kingdom. I’ve read some rumors that there MIGHT end up being a Pirate and Princess Party night. If so, we will for sure attend. I’ll buy the tickets with my Sunshine Rewards Disney Gift Cards. I’ve also seen some really cute girl “dos” done by the barber shop at Magic Kingdom so I’ve got this on the list to check out. have no idea about food this day or where we’ll spend the evening.
Sunday, August 10 - CAMERON’S BIRTHDAY; She’ll have an appointment to be treated royally at the Bibbidi Bobbodi Boutique; We’ll do this at Magic Kingdom and spend the morning there as it’s her favorite park. Chef Mickey’s is the Dinner choice (her favorite restaurant), and I thought we might just try to catch Fantasmic again tonight if she wants to since she loves it so much!
Monday, August 11 - This is our all Epcot day. We’ll do Future World first thing in the morning (opening) and then do World Showcase that evening/night and conclude with dinner at San Angel Inn. Hopefully we’ll catch the Behind the Seeds Tour here if we miss it on the 8th.
Tuesday, August 12 - Open Hollywood Studios. Night at Magic Kingdom for their fireworks. Late dinner at Tony’s Town Square (another new one for us).
Wednesday, August 13 - last day, but a late flight. Late breakfast at Ohana’s (another of Cameron’s pick - she actually wanted to do both this and Chef Mickey’s on her birthday), and then I am thinking of also using Sunshine earnings to pay for either the Magical Milestone Tour or the Family Magic Tour (both at Magic Kingdom)!
So what do you think? Anyone have any advice? I’ve never done either of the tours so I’d love to hear about experiences with them.
Federal Office Hours?!?!?!?!
Ok. I needed a place to vent so here I am!! I have decided that the federal government does not want me to do business with them so I need to get on my soapbox for just a few!!! (or at least any of the places I’ve needed to!)
What set me off? Yesterday was the first day of Early Voting here in Texas so I decided to be a good citizen and jump right on in there and do my voting. I proudly walked into the court house at 4:05 yesterday (after rushing there from work mind you) to only be told that early voting ends at 4:00 every day!! How are working people going to take advantage of this if it ends at 4:00?? Needless to say I’m still very frustrated!
This only backs up my aggravation though as our local post office has horrible hours also!! They open at 8:00 (after I have to be at work), close for lunch from 11:30 - 1:00 (that pretty much covers my lunch and conference period), and close at 4:00 (so if I’m not ready to leave as soon as possible, I miss that too!)!!
Am I the only one that sees this as a problem? I’m sure not, but it has got me on my soap box today so I’m complaining to everyone I talk to! Thanks for listening.
To step down off of that box for a moment, I stuck to my resolution and read the first 4 hours of The Scarlet Letter last night so it won’t be long until I can tell you about that.
Increasing Traffic To Your Site
Now that I’ve started this blog, and I’m trying to be regular with my posts, I’m looking for ways to increase the traffic to my site. Currently the easiest way I’ve found is through registering with ClickThru (see link on right side). This site has paid advertising, but the best part is that they also have a way to promote your site for free.
If you visit sites through their “remote,” you are awarded at least 1 cent for each view. You can then trade in each cent for views to your website. I’ve had over 100 views already to my website!
I’ll be continually searching for other methods. If any look good, I’ll be sure to share!
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