Anna Skamarakas

We still have to be up early, as we have to be at the airport at 8 AM. We are in the car and out the door in plenty of time, and we stop to grab a coffee on the way. Yay.

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So Saturday rolls around.  I get up, as I usually do, around 6:30.  I go downstairs, check my email, load the dishwasher with the few things that were used the night before, and wake Jim.  He goes downstairs, sees the mountain of unfolded socks, towels, and underwear on the love seat and says we are not leaving until the mountain is folded and put away.  Does he offer to help with that endeavor?  No, he does not.  He settles down in front of his computer to play his game, and I know that if he did not have a game he was interested in, we would be in the car by 7 AM.  I tell him i have at least 3 hours worth of clothes folding - this is, after all, a MOUNTAIN of socks, and socks are so difficult for me.  Eilis, Brighid and I wear nearly the same size.  Eilis still has some socks that are similar to Granuaile’s.  I hate sorting socks.  He wakes Brighid to help me, and eventually, the other two girls come down and interfere with the process.  It takes me 2 hours, and I finish at about 9 AM.

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After deciding we were not going to be able to take the trip to Vero Beach that I had planned due to the uncertainty of his contract at work, Jim surprised the whole family, including his mother and Russell, by calling on the phone late one night from Minneapolis, telling us he wanted to go on a Thanksgiving week cruise.  He had seen an advertisement, and Carnival was running specials that started at $139 per person, and he thought it would be a great idea for us all to go.  Well, of course, by the time we chose a cruise we actually wanted, minimizing the time out of school for the kids, maximizing our time to just relax and not feel pressure to book excursions and visit exotic ports, we ended up actually paying on average about $350 per person, but that was reasonable enough to book, so we did!  We are off for 5 days to Key West and Cozumel, having our turkey onboard the Carnival Imagination!

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So you won’t find any sugary or carbonated sodas in today’s drink of the day.  Of course, you still shouldn’t indulge too much, because there is sugar syrup in this, sugar in alcohol, and this one packs a bit of a punch.

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The whole reason for us being here this week instead of a week that would have been way more convenient for school schedules and vacation schedules is because Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure does not start their holiday festivities until the second week of December.  Don’t ask me why.  It’s a tragedy that we have had annual passes to these parks forever and have never gotten to enjoy their Christmas offerings because they start them so close to Christmas.  I say get on the ball, Universal Studios.  The rest of the known world has their holiday decorations up at the crack of October.  What nerve you have waiting until CHRISTMAS to decorate for CHRISTMAS!!

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First, before this blog goes anywhere, I went to post a HUGE THANK YOU to my father-in-law’s friend Richard.  We can’t tell him how grateful we are to him for gaining our admission to EPCOT.  We all had a great time, got a big dose of the Christmas spirit, and truly appreciate you going out of your way for us.  Thank you so much!

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Tonight is Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, so we’re going to try to take the morning easy.  We get up when we’re ready - which for me means by 6:30, and the rest of the crew by about 8:30.  I offer the kids breakfast now, pool later or reverse, and of course, they are kids.  They want to go to the pool NOW.  The AKL pool is so nice.  It’s a zero entry pool, which means you don’t climb down steps, you go in like you do at the beach, and the water gradually gets deeper.  It’s also HEATED - YAY!!!  The air temperature is still a bit cool - low 70’s - but the water feels pretty good and the kids go right in.  The water slide is closed, since there are no life guards on duty yet, but I don’t think the kids would use the slide anyway.  We hang out at the pool about an hour and a half, and the girls have worked up an appetite for some breakfast.  We head on up to the room, and I throw breakfast together while Jim puts the kids in the shower, then while they eat, I hop in the shower.  We are going to head to Downtown Disney to get Granuaile’s silhouette done.  I have one of each of the other girls at age 2, so it’s her turn.

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As a person who has had a gastric bypass procedure, it can sometimes be challenging to find something on the menu at a mainstream restaurant that I can - or want to - eat.  As an overweight person, I didn’t realize how absolutely HUGE the portions can be at restaurants, so no matter where I go now, I end up taking most of my meal home with me - and even doing that, much of it ends up going to waste.  I try to steer clear of the things that are fried, things that have rice or pasta, anything with bread.  It really does wake you up to the fact that my options are limited wherever we go.

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You know when you plan the perfect vacation, and everything is falling into place, and you can’t wait to get started, watching the kids enjoy themselves and then you start to relax and enjoy yourself?  Yeah.  Ain’t happenin’.  This is a Skamarakas family trip - did you expect the Brady Bunch?

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I am up way too early.  My internal alarm clock seems permanently set on 6 something in the morning, and I don’t know how to break the habit!  I may have to find out during Christmas break!

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