Mousercize!

Our little one asked Mommy to put him on Disney's Mickey Mouse Clubhouse site online. Mommy did. Mommy is beginning to regret it. He's got the same songs looping over. And over. And over. My personal favorite is:

Mousercize, Mousercize,
Let's get started bouncing guys!
We do it every day!
Everybody work out Mickey's way!

Mousercize, Mousercize,
Soon you won't believe your eyes!
Says Mickey when you rise,
C'mon everybody, MOUSERCIZE!

Picture trying to write love scenes to that. I dare you. Admittedly, it's... rhythmic. I'll give it that. But for some reason I feel both dirty and lazy trying to write love scenes to this. Especially when the little one starts to sing along.

And then there's listening to Mickey singing "Blow the Man Down", and I just lose it.

Oh, the Irony...

There are days when the muse doesn't speak to me, frustrating days where I sit at the keyboard and think, Oh noes. NOT AGAIN! Wherefore art thou, inspiration? (I know, I can be a little melodramatic.) And then there are days like today, where I have three (count them, three) muses speaking in my ear at the same time: one for Bella Luna, Book 4 of the Halle Pumas; one for The Very End, Book 5; and one for my current WIP, Very Much Alive.

My only problem? I hadn't planned on writing today. You see, my little one is sick, and is demanding a lot (and I mean a lot) of my attention. Since he gets top priority today, not much is getting done on the work front, unless you count my overactive imagination.

However, I have no desire to tell my muses to "sod off". (Did I get that right?) So I have to figure out how to keep my kids from killing each other and my muses from getting huffy over being ignored and leaving me again. Especially after I spent last week begging them to return. (cough)

Maybe I'll try and put a movie on for the kids, see if I can distract them that way. If not, looks like I'll be putting off work for one more day.

However, the new releases are out over at Samhain, so if you haven't already checked them out, what are you waiting for? (Maybe I'll spend today reading!)

Let MSNBC Know We Love Romance!

Lookey what Monica Burns found? It's a poll, over at MSNBC, that asks if you read romance.

I do, you do, we all do, right? Maybe not exclusively, but we do read it. Right?

Nope. So far, the majority of people are saying No way, we don't touch that stuff. So go on over and vote, and let them know that we do love our romances (even if the the way they phrased it sucks).

Oh, and congrats to Monica on her 4 1/2 Stars from Romantic Times BOOKReviews for Dangerous! (Throws cyber-confetti.)

Vacation, Part Two

Dusty and the boys, outside Haunted Mansion

Day Five (Well, Night, Really): Medieval Times

What can I say? I'm a sucker for a guy with a really big lance.

Thanks to my knee (and my MIL's knee), Dusty agreed to get us primo seats for Medieval Times. We had front row, red and yellow knight seats, which put us basically front row center...

... to watch our knight get his ass handed to him by the eeeevil Green Knight.

Bah. My knight never wins. Especially when he's really cute.

Day Six: Mom's Stuck Home And The Boys Will PLAY...

Epcot! I missed Epcot and dinner at the Rainforest Cafe, the one restaurant I was really looking forward to!

Stupid knee. It was swollen, as were both ankles. When I complained to my MIL, she said, and I qoute: "Welcome to Florida. Go put your feet up, you'll be fine."

So they went to Epcot, and I went back to bed, a sadder but wiser northerner.

To make up for it, Dusty bought me a kimono/robe from Japan, and a turkey wrap from Rainforest Cafe.

I love that man.

Day Seven: Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure

Did you know Universal allows you to take their rented ECV's from park to park, as long as it's before two hours before closing time?

I like them.

We decided to do two days in Universal as well as WDW. And let me tell you, my youngest is something of a daredevil. Every ride we took him on he loved, unless it was "boring". Spiderman? "Let's go again!" Cat in the Hat? If the teacup didn't rotate and push us all over the place, he would have fallen asleep. Poseiden's Fury was loud, but fun, and the Dr. Seuss train? It broke. In fact, it was the first of two rides we did that broke.

We didn't get to do any roller coasters this time out, much to my older boy's disappointment, but otherwise we had a grand old time. We made it to Universal in time to do the Shrek ride, and called it a day.

Day Eight: Universal Studios

Yup, we devoted one whole day to Universal Studios. It was fabulous. The only disappointment? The Mummy. We couldn't ride it. Our oldest flatly refused, and our youngest was too short. Ah, well. Next time.

The Jimmy Neutron ride was a lot of fun, as was the ET Ride (although it broke halfway through; yup, it was the second ride to break.) The Simpsons ride ROCKED, even though I had to transfer from the ECV to a real wheelchair for it. We did Jaws (which gave our oldest some bad moments, but the little one liked it), Twister (which gave me bad moments, since I have this thing about tornadoes), and Disaster (which was hysterical, and starred Christopher Walken).

Day Nine: Hollywood Studios (formerly Disney-MGM)

Toy Story Mania wasn't working while we were there, and Star Wars wasn't available until the weekend after we left; otherwise, we had a grand old time there. The little one loved Playhouse Disney Live. We watched MuppetVision 3-D (my personal favorite, since I love the Muppets), and the Great Movie Ride (not as interesting as I remembered... ah, well). The highlight, however, is something Dusty talked us into: Tower of Terror.

I wish I'd bought this picture. See, I didn't know when they were going to take the shot (they always take a picture of you screaming, right?). So here we are, bouncing in the elevator of doom, when I looked over our screaming children, stared Dusty in the eye, and said, "I hate you" just before we dropped.

Of course, that's when they snapped the picture.

I shoulda bought it... damn.

Day Ten to Fourteen: Off To West Palm Beach!

Yay. Thunderstorms the whole time we were there. Which means these tootsies did not get to play in any sand. However, Dusty and my father in law found an arcade to take the kids to, so they had a grand old time. I wound up getting some work done, after all, and just relaxing a bit in our hotel room. We got to see Dusty's grandparents, who live not far from WPB and were thrilled to see their great-grandkids. We flew home (so taking Southwest in April for the RT convention... their customer service was great.), got in really late, and did our best to relax on Sunday and recover a bit. Or at least the adults did. The kids were too busy running around, checking their old stuff and adding in their new stuff.




So we had a good time, arthritis notwithstanding. And even though I didn't get to play "Let's dump sand down Daddy's bathing suit, boys!", I did get to see the cover for Sweet Dreams, which I've added to my website and the blog.

I'll post the excerpt for Sweet, and a couple of other tidbits, a little later. Right now, I'm off to bed.

Damn. I need a vacation...

Vacation, Part One

Me and my boys, Day Two

Day One: The Airport

Flying Southwest was nice, and one of the better flying experiences I've had. I'll definitely use them for going to RT next year. The security people were pleasant, and the ability to pick your own seat meant that the kids pretty much got to sit where they liked (for the most part). The little one got the window seat, with the big one right next to him, which left Mommy in the aisle. Daddy got to sit alone.

I'm pretty sure we're going to reverse that on the way home. ;)

The house we rented is very nice, with two master bedrooms, in a nice, quiet neighborhood that's only ten minutes from Disney. There's a supermarket and a Walgreens right around the corner, with a Seven Eleven with a gas station right near I-4. We got in, unpacked, ate at Friendly's and collapsed.

Day Two: Magic Kingdom and Epcot

Did you know that there is such a thing as torture in Disney? It's called walking Magic Kingdom (or any of the parks, really) with an arthritic knee.

I've only had the knee problem for about a year now, so I'm still getting used to the fact that things I did two years ago easily are not quite as easy as they used to be. We only spent about six hours roaming Magic Kingdom, but it was enough to let me know that I would be paying for an ECV (Electronic Convenience Vehicle) rental the next day.

The kids got to see Mickey Mouse, which was the highlight of their day. Both kids loved Pirates of the Carribean (Cap'n Jack was the highlight for me) and Haunted Mansion, which is also newly renovated and had Dusty grinning like a loon. Pizza Hut for dinner and a nice, long rest for Mommy and Daddy, and we were ready for the next day.

Day Three: Magic Kingdom and Epcot

ECV's are a thing of beauty, even if you can't take them park to park. However, we got there early enough to get me one.

Randy was upset because we didn't get to see the fireworks, but we promised him we would the next time we went. Dinner at the San Angel Inn was lovely, and the one thing Dusty requested for the trip. We returned, tired and footsore, to find Dusty's father, stepmother, and aunt had arrived on schedule. Everyone liked the house, and we sat and chatted for a bit before turning in.

Day Four: Magic Kingdom and Epcot

Never ever ever arrive after noon if you want an ECV. Just sayin'.

So another five hours wandering Magic Kingdom without an ECV. Needless to say, we'll be leaving ealier from now on. We got me one for Epcot, however, so I got to drive to the fireworks, which were spectacular.

Dusty's Aunt was with us for this outing. We made it to The Land, and we got to see the hydroponics they're using to grow vegetables. They had this form they grew a pumpkin in that was making it grow Mickey ears, which wow'd the kids, especially the older one. Aunt J then introduced us to the Garden Grill for dinner. The southern fried catfish was excellent, but Dusty preferred the steak. Our older boy got four autographs while there, so he was a happy camper, while the little one was upset because he'd managed to pop his ten dollar (TEN DOLLAR!) balloon.

He wasn't as upset as Daddy, however.

Day Five: Animal Kingdom

ECV's rock.

We spent the entire day in Animal Kingdom. We got to see the live musical show of Nemo and rode the Killamanjero Falls rapids ride. The good news is we suckered... I mean, we GOT Dusty to ride a water ride. The bad news is, he complained about getting wet off and on for the rest of the day.

Dusty and our older boy rode Everest twice (thank you, Fast Pass), and we all rode the Dinosaur ride. The little one wasn't as afraid as I thought he would be, but Dusty says it's because he had his hand over his eyes half the time. So no guilt gifts this time out, thank God. And everyone loved the Safari.

So far, everyone is having a good time. There's a little bit of sunburn going around, but nothing major (SPF 70 is a good thing to have around here). We're taking it easy today since our older boy developed blisters (note to self: almost as important as SPF 70: comfy shoes). We're probably doing Medieval Times tonight, then tomorrow... who knows? We'll decide tonight. Dusty's Mom will be staying with us for the next few days, so we'll see what she'd like to do.

Oh, and the reading I'd thought I'd have time to relax and do? HAH! So far the only thing I've read is a map and my GPS signal.

Oh, well. As soon as I get home I'm hitting MBaM for some of the new releases. ;)

P.S.: Next post, I'll put up a pic of Dusty and the boys together. I think I took one of the three of them outside Haunted Mansion, near the wall of names when you first get off the ride.