Kindle convert

I just realized that Kindle was pre-installed on my tablet-y phone.

This is both awesome and terrible.

It's awesome because I ALSO found out that the classics are FREE!! Hello Jane Austen and Mr. Dickens!

It's terrible because I'm already in the middle of 3 books... and now that I have Kindle I've started a fourth. I have every intention of finishing all, it's just taking me longer than I'd like. Fortunately, I have a system and tend to read certain books in certain situations. For instance, I'm reading the third Game of Thrones before bed (or whenever I'm home), and now I've started The Great Gatsby on Kindle and tend to read it while hanging out at the doctor's office or backstage during performances.

I'm not morally opposed to reading on my phone/tablet/electronic device. Like many print purists, I prefer to have the actual book in my hand. I like being able to flip back and forth through the pages. If GoT wasn't so darn heavy and bulky (it's over 900 pages) I'd probably carry it around everywhere so I can immerse myself in it wherever I go -- I want to know what happens next! BUT, like so many other Kindle-converts, I admit the idea of travel ease is very appealing, and, happily, it's not quite as obnoxious to read on a little screen as I feared.

However, I refuse to re-buy a book for Kindle that I already have in print. I also refuse to pay nearly the same price for an e-book as I would for a print copy. I checked on World War Z, and it was only $2 cheaper. What? Seriously? Even if I love it after I've read it, the chances of me getting back to it in the near future are slim, so why purchase? That one, and The Fault in Our Stars are on my library list :) Hopefully they're both small enough that carrying them around won't be too cumbersome.

Still getting the hang of this. I just noticed the Kindle app 2 days ago, after all. I'm sure there are many things I don't know. I'm going to have fun figuring it all out!

Yet another perk to having this new-fangled, fancy, expensive phone. I feel just a little bit more justified spending as much time and money on it as I do :)

Where do you stand on the Kindle/Nook v print debate? Am I a sellout? Would you get a tablet if you could? Or are you already on the Kindle bandwagon?

NO COMPS FOR YOU!!!

It's been awhile since I ranted on this blog, and this one is a doozy.

I'm in the middle of the run of my latest show, Arsenic and Old Lace. I'm pretty proud of this one, and consequently have invited a LOT of people to come. Many wonderful people have come already, and others have regretfully informed me they can't come for one reason or another.

And a few people have had the nerve to say this to me:


"I don't pay to see shows."


Wait, what?!


ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!!!!?!

Now, I am the first to admit that I am always grateful for free tickets, and I am much more likely to attend a show when offered comps. I also understand that there are many valid reasons a person may not want to/be able to come to one of my shows:

• Can't afford it
• Too busy
• No interest in seeing that particular play
• Trying to avoid someone in the show
• Not close enough friends with anyone in the show
• Hates theater/musicals

I have used most of these excuses (obviously the last one doesn't apply to me). After all, I meet an average of 5-20 new friends during every play I do, and I can't possibly see every show every person is in -- even if I want to -- especially if a play is double-cast and I know people in both casts. I'm also at the point where I no longer stress out about seeing the plays that certain "friends" are in, when those same friends don't make any effort to come to mine. I like these people and would love to support them, but it's depressing to spend my money on them when they don't bother to reciprocate. It's not like every show I do costs $21 (though my current show does).

However, to say that they never pay to see a play sounds like the height of arrogance to me. Good for them being able to get in for free, but, seriously, there isn't a scenario where they would actually pay to see a show? Really?!?!

To me, there is a big difference between "I can't afford it" and "I don't pay to see shows, ever."

The worst part? ALL of the people who have used this excuse are HEAVILY INVOLVED IN THEATER. So many theaters and theater companies are struggling as it is, and here is a group of people who love and are involved in theater who are taking advantage of the system and not helping the companies who could really use the income. And yet, they are the first to invite me to see their latest project. Ugh!

What I want to know is: what makes them so much better than the rest of us? I go to plays because I love them and I love supporting my friends. Obviously, these people don't feel the same way. They are too entitled to make a little effort and show a little love. They expect that if the friend wants them to come badly enough, the friend will find a way to get them in for free. Yeah, no. I don't play that way. My comps are reserved for people I think would actually appreciate them.

What's your take on this particular excuse? What would you say if someone said this to you?

12 reasons I am thankful during the latest storm

It's snowing yet again in Utah today. Last winter was so very mild that we're all a bit surprised that this one isn't. I'm particularly annoyed that it always seems to storm on the days when I have a million things to do and places to be.

Taken about 5pm today

However, when I saw the snow today, all I could think was "Hooray! I love the snow!" Here are 12 reasons why:

1. Yesterday I had an oil change and all the trimmings. At the very least, my car is safe to drive!
2. I wore boots to church instead of regular heels. Thank goodness my feet were protected during my walk in the snow.
3. It didn't start to snow until after I arrived at church. I might not have gone otherwise, and I needed to hear the talks and lessons that were shared today, not to mention catching up with Sylinda, Wendy, and Larissa.
4. I didn't care if my hair got wet... and it actually looked cuter after being soaked in the snow than it did before :P
5. I made use of the awesome, long-handled brush my dad gave me a few years ago. How in the world do people live in Utah without keeping a brush in their car to sweep away the snow?
6. Everyone else on the road was content to drive 15 miles an hour... or at least didn't mind that I did. 
7. Arrived home accident free!
8. My mom was very understanding about my missing dinner tonight, and I wasn't obligated to go anywhere else.
9. I stocked up on hot chocolate yesterday, so I'm enjoying my favorite white hot chocolate and cookies while I look out at the storm.
10. Downton Abbey is particularly angsty tonight. I wish I could have watched with my mom, but at least the antenna hasn't had any problems like the last time I tried to watch t.v. at home.
11. I brought my laptop home for the weekend, so if I need to work from home tomorrow I can.
12. We've been complaining for weeks about the hideous inversion that has clogged up the Salt Lake Valley. This storm is sure to clear up most, if not all of it! Hooray for clean air!

What are you thankful for on this glorious snow-filled evening?

Disneyland for New Year's, DAY 3!

On the morning of our last day at Disneyland, Liz posted the following status on Facebook:

18 hours in Disneyland after only 4 hours of sleep? Bring it Mouse!!

(For a recap of our first two days, click here and here.)

It was New Year's Eve, and a Monday, and we decided to go whole hog and use our "Magic Morning" option to start at 7:15 a.m. When 8 o'clock rolled around, we had just taken a spin on Space Mountain, and it seemed like every one else headed that way to "beat the crowd" as it were. Probably smart, since the Fast Passes disappeared quickly, and the line for that particular ride took over two hours later in the day (I should know, I stood in it, and it was absolutely worth it to sit in the front of the car! BEST RIDE EVER!!!!!!)!

We also decided to take the requisite Mickey face
and Cinderella Castle photos while there were
only a few groups of people to compete with.

As you can see, Liz and I decided to wear the tiaras we had purchased on our previous Disney trip together. I bought a Cinderella-themed tiara, despite the fact that my favorite princess at the time was Aurora (I liked the design for the Cinderella one better). Since then, I've played Cinderella in Into the Woods and fell in love with her story. 

Can you see Belle in the background to Liz's left?!!

Oddly, although I've been going to Disneyland since I was about a year old, I have only ever met one of the Disney princesses. So, you can imagine how excited Liz and I were halfway through the morning when we realized that not only were there several princesses nearby, but the line to get to them was crazy short (I guess everyone was still on line for Space Mountain). You'd think that since we are adults and have gotten to play princesses that we would have been more relaxed. Not so. I think even the princesses were taken aback by how thrilled we were to meet them. Cinderella liked my tiara and was very flattered when I told her she is my favorite. Meeting Aurora in front of her castle was pretty darn awesome, and Belle was adorable. I enjoyed finally living out that personal fantasy. I've been waiting my whole life!

I have to give Mike credit for being as understanding as he was. He took it all in stride, and stood in line and took photos for us with Belle, Aurora, Cinderella, Tinker Bell, and Tinker Bell's little sister Periwinkle without a hint of sneer or irony. I guess he pretty much expected it -- we were wearing tiaras after all. (And, yes, I did say, "I am a princess and this is my tiara!" a couple of times that morning.)

clockwise from top left:
Cinderella, Tinker Bell, Belle,
Periwinkle, and Aurora

Sadly, I was unable to wear the tiara for the entire day due to a goose egg from a collision with another park guest the day before (he poked his head out of a shop to see if it was still raining right as I walked by and smacked his head into mine). Fortunately, I had another hat to replace it with, and we'd rented a locker again to put our extra stuff in so I didn't have to carry it around all day.

Other highlights of the day included:

• Sharing one of the famous turkey legs for lunch. It was tasty, but I don't think I need another one. It tasted more like ham than turkey.
• Taking a billion photos of ourselves riding the Teacups
• A hilarious guide (yay!) on the Jungle Cruise making up for the lame one from the day before
• An African-American man in front of us at Space Mountain chatting us up online, purposely doing "Blue Steel" for our "make faces for the camera" gag, and then referring to himself as the "token black guy" in our photo. Not PC, but funny!
• Eating Dole whips in the Tiki Room during some down time
• A worker making the effort to find out where Mickey was for us (since the app was wrong!), and getting us into the line even though it was technically closed... then having primo spots next to some really sweet and excited teenage Asian girls for the holiday parade
• Riding all the rides in Fantasy Land (except Dumbo, sadly), smooshing into one row for Thunder Mountain Railroad, and riding Indiana Jones, the Matterhorn, Pirates, and the Haunted Mansion again
• Getting stuck in the crowd and being "forced" to watch the fireworks
• Deep-fried Monte Cristo sandwiches at The New Orleans Cafe
• A photo with a guy dressed like the 10th Doctor from Doctor Who:

Personality-wise, I think I'm a Donna,
but I look more like Rose here.
And now I want to dress up next time I go to Disneyland!

Out of the cold and craziness for a few minutes

We decided ahead of time not to bother trying to watch the countdown in front of the castle. We knew the crowd would be insane, and we knew from experience that if you wait in front of the Rivers of America, and then stay after, you have front row seats for an extra showing of Fantasmic! As a bonus, there was a "Dueling pianos/sing-along" going on. They put two pianos on one of the Tom Sawyer rafts and we all sang songs like "Sweet Caroline", "We Are Never, Ever Getting Back Together" and "Hey, Jude" at the top of our lungs. Every once in awhile, they'd put up the water spray and project Muppet clips like Ode to Joy, and Bohemian Rhapsody. Brilliant! It was fun to cheer and scream together and hug at the stroke of midnight. Then a bunch of people cleared away and we enjoyed Fantasmic (I felt badly for poor Ariel in her seashells -- it was not a particularly warm night). 

The park was open until 2 a.m. for the holiday, so after the show we ran to It's a Small World -- one of the last two attractions we'd wanted to do but hadn't yet. To our surprise and delight, the last dance party was still going on over there! Liz and I embarrassed Mike yet again by gleefully showing off our moves while we waited in line. I'm not going to pretend I'm a graceful dancer on the best of days, and we were so tired and giddy that night... I'm pretty sure everyone around us thought we were drunk, but we didn't care. By the looks on their faces, they were all thoroughly entertained, and so were we! "Baby, bye, bye, bye!"

Last of all we faced the still-monster-lengthed line for Peter Pan's Flight. When we left the park it was 2:15ish, and we were all beat. The adrenaline was gone, and we knew we had to get up early for the 12 hour drive home. We made it home all right the next day, but I was exhausted for the rest of the week -- thank goodness for a shortened work week!

Mike asked me what my favorite part was, and I told him it was watching how excited he was at the Mad "T" Party, and Liz and I flipping out over the princesses. It was awesome being with just two other people, people who happen to be pretty chill. We knew it was going to be crowded and planned on it being expensive (though the discounts and free parking Liz had with her annual pass sure helped). We all made sure everyone got to do pretty much everything they wanted to. When we needed to take a break to blow-dry our socks in the bathroom, or browse the shops, or buy an 11th churro, we did. No one complained or tried to create silly extra drama. We just had fun.

I wasn't kidding when I said it was one of my favorite vacations ever. I hope my next is as awesome! Guess I better start planning one, eh?

And if I get to go back to Disneyland in the next couple of months, I shan't complain!

Dear John

Something to think about on your Monday morning:

Proper punctuation makes a difference, doesn't it?

Happy Monday!

Disneyland for New Year's, part 2

The morning of the second day was much more sunny and warm than that first had been. Mike, Liz and I decided to rent a locker for our hoodies and other assorted extra layers, because we knew we'd need them later in the day. This proved to be smart.

My awkward arm cracks me up.

We headed to Disney California Adventure (DCA) first thing to pick up Fast Passes for the World of Color show that night, and then headed back to Disneyland for blueberry muffins for breakfast.

It started to rain again while we were inside the Haunted Mansion. You know how at the end of the Haunted Mansion ride you step out of the doombuggy onto a moving walkway that leads you up to the street level and then outside? Well, when I got to the top of the walkway, I slammed into a huge mass of people. I realized they were trying to stay out of the sudden downpour. I couldn't blame them -- it was MUCH worse than the rain the day before. The problem was, even more people were crashing into me from behind! So I yelled, "You have to keep moving!" They immediately disbursed into the weather, looking for more permanent shelter or get out of the park entirely for the duration of the storm. This is when we realized that Disneyland mostly consists of outdoor activities. Even the restaurants have outdoor seating. It must not rain like that very often in California! Mike volunteered to run to the locker and grab all of our hoodies and anything else we thought we might need. Liz and I found temporary shelter in a shop where we discovered they had sold out of adult-sized ponchos. It seemed we weren't the only fools who wanted to wait the weather out and take advantage of a marginally less-crowded park.

Rain-spattered food still tastes good!

Mike returned with the jackets and we grabbed some food. By that time, the rain had lessened some. I'd like to pretend I was miserable eating my french-dip sandwich in the rain under a leaky tarp, but it's actually an awesome memory. The food was warm for a little bit, I was wearing my fleece, and we knew all it could have been worse! We decided after lunch to ride the train to Fantasyland, and it was cold, and it was Liz's first time ever taking the train -- this is amazing; Liz goes to Disneyland ALL THE TIME!

We mixed up the buttons a little bit. Liz continued to wear the "Happy Birthday", but Mike and I traded so could wear the "1st Visit" button. Every time someone apologized for the weather that day or said "It's usually more fun than this!" I was momentarily confused and then laughed and reassurred them I had enjoyed the previous day and was still having a good time. It's Disneyland! I could not let a little rain get me down!

We did all of the awesome Disneyland attractions that afternoon. By "awesome" I mean the roller-coasters and thrill rides:

• Pirates of the Carribbean
• Thunder Mountain Railroad, where we repeated the phrase "The wildest ride in the wilderness" about 20 times in the cheesiest prospector accents we could muster
• Indiana Jones -- twice!
• The Matterhorn -- I'm telling you, Single Rider is the way to go on a busy day

It was dark by the time we decided to try The Jungle Cruise. This ride is usually only funny if you have a funny "guide." Unfortunately, ours was NOT funny. Her jokes and delivery were totally lame (the jokes are supposed to be lame, but she didn't even sound like she was having fun with them). Fortunately, the ride broke down about 3 minutes in, right after the hippos. Why is this fortunate? Well, they reversed the ride to take us back to the dock (where we saw that the lines had been cleared out -- it was really broken) and then gave us all a Fast Pass that was good for any ride we wanted to do that same day, so we immediately made a beeline for Space Mountain.

Can you believe I didn't go on Space Mountain until the evening of the second day? It's my favorite ride! What was wrong with me?!!

We headed back to DCA and revisited The Tower of Terror, Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, The Little Mermaid, and Toy Story Mania (personal best score for me!) before oohing and aahing over World of Color. You overlook the big lake in the middle of the Paradise Pier section of the park, and they project film clips and colored lights on a huge spray of water and play music and have puppets and dancing fountains. It's pretty amazing. I'm glad Liz wanted to see it so much!

We had a few minutes before a dinner reservation, so we did a little shopping. I splurged and bought a set of gorgeous Christmas tree ornaments of six of the princesses: Cinderella, Aurora, Belle, Snow White, Tiana, and Ariel. I am so excited to put them on my tree next year! Wish I could have afforded a few more. I wanted to buy a hoodie or t-shirt, and though there were lots of fun options, I couldn't find anything I loved. Sad. Maybe next time.

These seriously crack me up!

Mike requested dinner at the Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney. I had never been, but WOW was the food good. We bought a chocolate cake dessert and the waiters sang "Happy Birthday" to Liz. She was a little disappointed they didn't sing this song, though:

She and I did sing it together a couple of times... well, she did most of the singing. I only partially know the words but I did what I could!

Stay tuned for the thrilling conclusion -- day 3, New Year's Eve 2012 at Disneyland! -- coming soon!

Improvisation in Relief Society

I've been teaching Relief Society (RS) -- my church's women's organization -- in my ward once a month for the better part of the past year. My last teaching calling was a good 10 years ago; I taught a Sunday School class during college. Since then, I've been in charge of music for various classes, and a member of quite a few committees.

But last year, I was asked to teach Relief Society. Like many of my life's "you're going to grow and learn and you're going to like it" experiences, I knew it was coming. Months before, Heavenly Father had planted the seed in my brain, and I started getting comfortable about the idea and joking about it with my friends. I'm grateful that Heavenly Father gives me some time to warm up to these kinds of things. I don't especially care for big surprises, and I would have panicked otherwise.

President Lorenzo Snow, fifth President of the
Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-day Saints

I taught this last Sunday, and I didn't feel as prepared as I would have liked. I didn't have a copy of the new manual, Teaching of the Presidents of the Church: Lorenzo Snow, but I printed out the 1st chapter online. I had read through the lesson twice, picked out sections I thought might be useful, prepared a few questions and thoughts, and written it all down so I could refer to it as much as I needed (helpful to me especially when people make comments that divert from the topic).

Well, in the 10 minutes between my Sunday School class and Relief Society, I LOST MY LESSON NOTES!

I took them out of my purse to review one last time, and then they were gone. I realized this just as Relief Society was starting, and I ran out of the room, whispering to my supervisor: "I lost my lesson! I'm going to die!" Larissa said she had never seen me more panicked (and she has seen me on some pretty bad days).

Now, some people are born to improvise, or to work a crowd on a personal level like a stand-up comedian or public speaker.

I am NOT one of those people.

I love to perform, but I like to do it after I've memorized a script that someone else wrote for me and I've rehearsed everything for a month or two or three (depending on the complexity of the show). Teaching is tough for me, because I can -- and do -- read the materials and plan a lesson... but I know that as an RS teacher I should be more of a guide than a lecturer. I point out sections of the manual and ask questions, and the spirit takes over from there. It's so nebulous and scary!

I walked back to the Sunday School classroom and looked in all of the likely places for the lesson. I could not find it. Usually, when faced with this sort of situation, I cry until I don't feel freaked anymore, and then I work through the emotions and THEN determine a game plan. I didn't have time for any of that. Instead, I grabbed an extra manual, found and circled the paragraphs I'd wanted read (thank goodness I had reviewed that morning!) and went ahead, silently and informally praying that the sisters would contribute, that the lesson would be okay without the cheat sheet, and that I would have enough faith to keep from shutting down due to complete terror.

Some of my sisters!

Lucky for me, many sisters love to participate in RS classes. One of the other teachers and I joked last month that we only need 4 good questions, and the sisters will take over from there. I hear this is not true of the Priesthood/men's-only classes; it definitely wasn't true when I taught Sunday School. But the sisters' willingness to share their thoughts also pushes me to actively listen, try to say something encouraging after they finish (knowing that often what they say totally blows me away), and continue to guide the lesson as well as I can. Actually, it's kind of nice when the sisters take over and there are so many hands in the air that I don't know who to call on next! Those are the times I know the sisters are truly engaged and inspired. If they don't raise their hands, I hope that they're thinking of something else Heavenly Father needed them to know... or else they're just bored and there isn't much I can do about that.

Plus, someone once reminded me that people usually don't complain if the class ends a little early :-D

In the end, the lesson was just fine. We did end a smidgen early, but several sisters approached me afterwards and expressed gratitude for some of the things I and others said. If that's the standard I'm going by -- whether the lesson was meaningful to someone/anyone -- I have been successful in all of the lessons so far. My favorite lessons have been those when I have felt the spirit strongly while baring my testimony and sharing how much I know Heavenly Father loves each of us. The sisters in my RS class are amazing! I wish I knew more of their names.

I'm grateful for this calling. I may not always (ever) feel prepared enough to teach, and I still get nervous, but I know that in the end Heavenly Father is in charge, the sisters will learn as much as they need/wish to, and someone will always something that will be insightful and meaningful to me.

What would you have done in my place? Are you one of those people who enjoys improvising and being in front of a crowd? Or would you have panicked, too?

Arsenic and Old Lace opens today!

My latest show, Arsenic and Old Lace, opens today at CenterPoint Legacy Theatre!

I play Elaine, the love interest, in the Monday, Wednesday, Friday cast, and will also perform Tuesday the 22nd and Thursday the 24th of January, and a matinee on February 2nd at 2:30.

Each cast had a final dress rehearsal/preview performance last weekend and we got to invite a few friends to watch. Can I just say that I feel much, much more confident in this show now that I know how much my friends liked it?! Sometimes when you're doing a comedy, you rehearse the jokes so often that you aren't sure they're still funny. Thank goodness this show is! I am amazed by the talent in Arsenic, and thrilled that I get to work with both casts. It's going to be a lot of fun.

Here is a link to the Facebook event, in case you want to see updates such as as cast list and photos (I'm sure they'll post them soon).

If you are able to come, please let me know what date you're planning on so I can be sure to run out and say "Hi" to you after the show!

Hope to see you there :-D

Happy Monday!

The spare room bed

Have you seen my spare room bed?!!

I know, I know: I need a little girl to give this bed to someday!

Contrary to everyone's first thought, this was not the bed I slept in during childhood; I had an awesome canopy bed, like every princessy girl from the '80s should have. My mother whipped up this bedboard for me about 10 years ago, just for fun. My brother David drew the figures, and Mom painted them and added the finishing touches. I am in awe of their skill. Mom has made many of these types of art projects over the years. She puts a lot of thought into personalizing them for the recipient (or herself, as the case may be), and they are always gorgeous. I am seriously in awe of my mom most of the time.

I have lived in my condo for nearly four and-a-half years. During that time, for one reason or another, several of my girl friends have slept over. Every time, I have offered the use of the spare room bed, and every time, the girl friend has politely declined, preferring to sleep in my comfortable, over-stuffed couch.

Until last night!

Salt Lake City is in the midst of quite the snowstorm. It started about 3 o'clock yesterday, and is supposed to continue through tomorrow, at least. It's snowing right now, in fact. Someone even decided to name it Gandalf -- haha!

Hooray for an HOA that takes care of snow removal for me!

My cute friend Liz works in West Jordan and lives in Ogden, and instead of forcing her to fight the storm (resulting in an at LEAST 3 hour drive), I invited her to stay with me. I loved having her over, making sure she had everything she needed and talking until after 1 a.m. I don't host very often, but it was fun!

And the best part was her shutting the spare room door and tucking into that little bed (not that I watched her do it, creepy!). I suddenly missed having roommates and wished I had someone there all the time. It was nice getting to take care of someone, and feeling safe and comfortable together in the midst of the storm.

I love that little spare room, and the cute little bed. Something about it makes me happy and hopeful. I may sometimes feel lonely, but that bed seems to promise me that it won't always be that way, even if just for an evening. Such a lovely thought!

What little things in your house do you wish you got more use out of? What are the pieces that make your house feel like your house?

Disneyland for New Year's, day 1

This year, I got to ring in the New Year at Disneyland... again!

Happy New Year, from all of us at Disneyland!!

Note: I will try to avoid making this a travelogue, but it will likely be a long post anyway.

My friends Liz, Mike and I drove to California the Friday before, and spent three wonderful, crazy, hilarious days in the Disney parks, eating fattening food, meeting favorite characters, walking for MILES, and riding our favorite rides over and over.

It was one of my top 4 favorite vacations EVER.

If you choose to go for New Year's in the future, you should know that the week between Christmas and New Year's is one of Disneyland's busiest during the year. Kids are out of school and people have time off work and are looking for things to do. Plus, on New Year's, Californians with annual passes come to party.

It didn't help that the weekend we were there was, well, a weekend :P

Fortunately, since Liz and I had both done New Year's at Disneyland before, we knew what to expect, and we made plans accordingly.

The first day was a Saturday, and it started raining even before we arrived. It was only a slight drizzle, but it did make the temperatures cool... and cleared out a few of the other less-intrepid visitors, which meant the ride/attraction lines weren't too long. Yay!

We decided to spend most of the day at Disney California Adventure (DCA), because I hadn't been to Cars Land yet, and you have to get there early to avoid crazy-long lines for the new Racers ride.

But before running to Cars Land, we made a little stop at the DCA-equivalent of City Hall to pick up some buttons. Liz's birthday was the week before, so she chose a "Happy Birthday" button (they wrote her name on it). Mike chose a "1st Visit" button (even though it wasn't). I got an "I'm Celebrating!" button. My choice proved to be a lame one. For the rest of the day, everyone who noticed Liz's button said, "Happy birthday, Liz!" Then they'd see Mike's and say, "Welcome!" or "Happy first visit!" Then they'd see my button, cringe, and walk right on by. I guess I can't blame them. What do they say? "Congratulations?" I don't know. But I probably won't get the "I'm Celebrating!" button again.

We decided that instead of getting Fast Pass tickets for Radiator Springs' Racers, we'd just stand in the Single-Rider line. I highly recommend this. The regular line was 2 hours long, but we only waited for half an hour (we did this for the Matterhorn in Disneyland, too -- it was awesome). I liked the ride, but didn't think it was quite worth waiting 2 hours for. I'm excited to try it again on a subsequent trip when the hullabaloo dies down a little. Mater's Junkyard Jamboree was brilliant, though! The three of us crammed into one car and laughed our heads off, especially since it was still raining and we got SOAKED! Later in the day, we had to buy Liz new shoes because hers just wouldn't dry.

Some of the highlights of the day included:

• It's Tough to Be a Bug 3D show
• A short line for California Screamin' allowing us to ride twice in a row
• Besting my score on Toy Story Mania each time I rode (nice to improve!). Mike beat Liz once, and never let her forget it -- she is GOOD!
• No line for The Little Mermaid ride, the first time I got to ride on it (I've been coming to Disneyland since I was one year old and LOVE that they are continually building new attractions). They had to stop for some reason during the last scene, and I had a second to snap a few photos. I cried! It's so cool!
• A photo with Donald, and him being upset that we had hot chocolate and he didn't
• Being suddenly reminded --at first drop -- how scary/awesome The Tower of Terror is
• Light tech Mike's gleeful face and happy feet as we drank in the amazing the Mad "T" Dance Party lighting

We headed over to Disneyland late in the evening to ride the revamped Star Tours. I didn't love it the first time -- I was attached to the old ride and missed it terribly -- but we went a second time almost immediately, and I enjoyed it much more when I could appreciate the changes. Subsequent rides solidified the new Star Tours as one of my new favorites!

As a bonus, this photo features a decent
shot of Liz and Mike's celebratory buttons :)

Stay tuned for memories of day 2...

Welcome to 2013

Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?

-- L.M. Montgomery