A List of Things that Need Attention.

My hair. It has been badly neglected. (But I'm kind of fascinated by how my roots are a bright silver instead of their former dull gray. Maybe someday I'll go for it and grow it in.) Cut it again? Let it grow? I don't know, but I do know it really needs a $9 box of hair color.

My car. It hasn't been cleaned since the trip to Asheville, and there are cracker crumbs on the carpet. The brakes are squeaking, and the windshield wipers are smeary. Baby definitely has that broken in, comfortable look.

My bathroom could do with a solid deep cleaning. The kind where you crawl around getting lightheaded on cleaning product fumes.

I can't remember when I last changed the AC filter. It's overdue.

Then there's the dentist. I'll get there, I swear, right before my teeth actually fall outta my head. The time/money/insurance equation hasn't balanced yet.

Knitting. I haven't been knitting. I need to find my mojo.

On the positive side:

Sophie is doing better. Her appetite has returned, and tonight she taught me a lesson in how to distribute the goldfish crackers. I offered her one while she was standing near me while I was sitting on the couch. This was Murphy's treat acceptance spot. Sophie took the cracker, paused thoughtfully, and dropped it on the floor. That is not how SHE eats treats. She hopped onto the couch next to me and happily ate them while sitting beside me. She is making her own rules. (Then she went back and got the one she'd dropped on the floor, because a fishie is a fishie. She'd made her point.)

Work: good. Still hard and a steep learning curve, but I do love my boss, she is awesome. Everyone is awesome.

Hard lesson learned: Saturday's visit to Epcot Food and Wine was fairly awful. The crowds were beyond description! We went last year, yes, of course there were lines for food, etc., but this was...WTF.

My first clue that this was an abnormally crowded day was when we were directed to park in the grass. At. Disney. W.T.F. Disney theme parks are designed with acres of parking and can accommodate many thousands on any given day. We were directed off the pavement and parked under an oak tree on the grass. There are days when the parks hit capacity, and we apparently were tipping past that point. I've been there on very crowded days going back to the very early 80s. I was not aware that they ever parked anyone off the pavement. We were parked under a tree, on the grass, past the resort buses. Holy shit warning bells.

Second clue: long lines at ticket windows. Disney really isn't a "walk up and buy a ticket" kind of place. The tickets cost too much to make it an impulse trip. Few people just wake up and go, "Hey honey, we have no other plans, so let's go to Disney!" Disney is an investment. Most people plan in advance online, have their cards/wristbands when they arrive, and walk past the ticket windows. On Saturday the ticket windows were almost all open, and all had long lines. Ruh-roh Holy Shit Danger, Will Robinson!.

It was easily more than TWICE as packed as the day we visited last year. The lines were horrendous at every booth, the crowds were scary. Delaney hated it. I mean, she really hated it, and threw the mother of all fits. We debated just leaving, and headed out with a wailing child. As we passed from the World Showcase, where the crowds were packed shoulder to shoulder (that's where nearly all the food and beer is served) her parents gave Delaney another chance, and told her to either pull herself together or we were leaving for sure. Delaney sobbed, snuffled, and pulled herself together.

The rest of the afternoon was fine. We spent it in Future World, which was relatively deserted. We visited with Figment in the Imagination Pavilion, where Delaney showed her daddy the jumping fountains! And this is where hanging out with Daddy, vs. hanging out with Mommy and Grandma, showed itself so clearly. Mommy and Grandma watched her watch the water and jump and try to catch it. Daddy CAUGHT it for her.

And she got soaked and shrieked with joy and was SOO excited, and the rest of the day was just fine. We found Nemo, visited Figment, and ate a really nice dinner at the Sunshine Seasons food court in the Land pavilion. Where we also rode a new ride for all of us!
Soarin' was quite fun. It's so wildly popular that it is about to be closed down for refurbishment, so they can redesign it to accommodate more guests. Delaney was tall enough to ride. I was slightly worried that we did it right after we ate, and she has had some issues with motion sickness, but she LOVED it! She sat forward in her seat, shouting out excitedly at everything we saw. The day that had started off so wrong, parked under a tree, ended pretty well. We found the car again and were home before 9.

And next year I am taking a day off work for Food and Wine. I'd rather go on a weekday than take a chance of hitting that wall of humanity again.