Sorry Gaston, They are MUCH More Interesting Than You!*6/8* NEW Trip Report Link p154

[MEK]

Exactly

You're laughing cause you know its the truth!

That's almost as good as being told to wait after the ride by a random Joel in the park. And then waiting and spending the afternoon with him walking around...

Yeah, its pretty similar although I think spending the afternoon with random Joel is a lot more adventurous that taking a sip out of a strangers (untouched) beer.

 

[MEK]

Hey Guys - After Your Read this Update please see Cynthia's latest update on p 100 - that's the next page!


A Tale of Two Kitties

This is actually a life update, then I will get on to the trip update. If you don't like cats, or animals in general, skip this update and scroll on down.

You see - I have three cats. Max, my favorite cat, Kismet, my annoyingly weird cat, and Jewel, my house crasher. All of these animals are around 12 - 13 years old and all were adopted. Max came first from the SPCA. I knew the second I saw him that I had to adopt him. He was 1 year old, beautiful, and so affectionate. It was love at first site.

Max

I adopted Kismet about three weeks later because I thought it would be better to have two cats. She was sort of an impulse adoption. I was near the SPCA and I thought they were getting ready to put her down, so I made a deal with them - spay her the next day and I would take her.

About 6 months later Jewel showed up in our back yard. A stray without a home. Being that it was near Christmas we took her in and we made an appointment to take her to the humane society. That humane society would not give us an immediate appointment, so by the time the date of the appointment rolled around (3 weeks later) we just decided to keep her.

About a month ago I took Kismet to the vet. This was at Nick's urging. Kismet had developed a skin rash with a lot of itching. She is allergic to fleas. Since I treated her all summer it was hard for me to believe that she still had fleas, but she was biting her fur out and leaving it around the house. Cat fur with scabs attached. Yuck. Worse than that, I don't think she was sleeping properly because she was always scratching.

Things came to a head when she started going out on the beams that extend from our second floor to above the living room. Five days in a row she went out there, passed out from exhaustion and fell off. Yup - she either fell onto the coffee table or another smaller table near the wall. She broke a couple pictures and small knick knacks. But the piece de resistance was when, right in front of me, she stood on my love seat and peed. Yup. She did. She was also drinking a lot of water at the time (probably because she was always dry from licking constantly.

Well, that was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back and I carted her off to the vet the next day.

And can you believe the vet found fleas on her - In March????? Clearly ones that had never been killed by the winter cold.

They gave her a shot of steroids, put a dose of Vectra (industrial strength flea repellent/killer) on her, and sent her home with Prozac. I plan to treat her with Vectra for an entire year.

Here it is one month later and I have a new cat on my hands. Her skin scabs are gone, she is sleeping normally, and best of all, she is peeing only in her litter box.

With all the Kismet drama I was a little delayed in noticing an even more serious problem with my baby Max. You see - Max is my favorite cat. I love him. He is awesome. He is like a dog in a cat's body. Well, he used to be.

Several months ago her stopped sleeping with me. He used to sleep beside me every night and then just stopped.

In addition, around the time my mom's cat was sick I noticed that he seemed pretty lethargic. After a few days he seemed to come out of it and, since he had a ravenous appetite, I didn't think about it again.

What I was noticing is that the water bowls always needed to be filled and that he was drinking more than usual. Ok. So I went into denial.

Then he did something very odd - he would walk into our powder room and jump up in the sink and pee.

I went deeper into denial.

I also noticed that his eyes looked sort of hazy and he seemed to be getting thinner.

Finally, on Tuesday, Nick said to me "Mom, you have to take Max to the vet. He is too skinny and I can feel all his bones".

So I did. On Wednesday. And if you are my FB friend then you may already know that Max has diabetes. His blood glucose was 621. He has since been started on insulin.

Denial is a powerful thing. Classic, classic, classic textbook signs of diabetes and I managed to deny every one of them. If anyone came to me (human or animal) with the same scenario I would have told them weeks ago to get blood work. But in my own baby I denied it.

Why?

I don't know. Possibly because Denny freaks out every time I spend any money on the cats. Possibly because I have been preoccupied with Kismet. Possibly because I have been super preoccupied with Nick's college quest. And, not to be mysterious, but there is another reason that I have been pre-occupied, but I am just not in a place where I want to talk about it. It's not anything earth shattering, just a life event that is taking some extra time to deal with.

So now we are going away this week and Max has diabetes. I was planning to board him, but Nick told me that he wants to take care of him. I don't know what to do.

Any way - I'm still excited about HHI and I wanted to get one more update in before I leave, so I bring you

Here - Take a Sip!

In our last updates we spent the morning in AK. We rode EE a few times and Cynthia orchestrated a successful shopping expedition. But we had another seminar to attend, so back to the Boardwalk we went to drop off some stuff in the room.

Now it was time to head to Epcot.

Near the IG we saw this scooter and asked if we could take a picture of it. Check it out - it's awesome

After taking a bunch of pictures earlier in the morning I guess I decided to give it a rest until we got here.

How fun is that? Instead of their usual percussion instruments they were using a whole cooking theme, complete with full sized appliances.

And they were dressed like chefs!

Gotta love it!

Just goes to show that you can make music with any old kitchen gadget!

Time to move on.

Once inside I think Cynthia had to pick up our seminar tickets and I took more pictures

Today's host already hitting the bottle.

And today's guest chef, Judith McLaughlin, from the Shamrock and Peach in Atlanta, Georgia

She got right to work

Ah - the Rosa Regale

The finished product - Cashel Blue and Dubliner Kerrygold Irish Cheese Souffle with Organic Mixed Greens and Warm Bacon Vinaigrette

So, so good!

After the seminar it was possible to buy Judith McLaughlin' s book and have her sign it. And that's exactly what Cynthia did.

In the meantime I started checking all the art work.

Continued In Next Post.........

 

[MEK]

Continued From Previous Post

These painted bottles were neat, but I think they were around $600 a piece. Sheesh!

By the time we left the festival center our host had moved on to this wine seminar. I think I would like to try a wine seminar next October. I'm a little leary about taking wine home when I fly, but next October I can send it home with my friends who are driving.

Time to say goodbye to the Festival Center

It was still gorgeous outside

Our first stop after the seminar was a drink stop. Well, at least for me. I wanted to try a berry beer. Ok, so that wasn't exactly the name of the beer, but it did have a berry flavor. As I was walking over to get in line I said out loud to Cynthia "I wonder if the berry&..beer is good". Just then a guy got out of line with that exact beer and said "It's really good. Here. Take a Sip". I declined but he was insistent so I took the first sip. Yum!

My beer. I decided I needed the plastic collector beer stein.

I found the" DIS" mug, so I decided I had to take a picture of it. If you have this mug chime out now! I know quite a few of us have it.

I love giraffes

Pausing for a different view

These were cool. Any guesses what they are made out of?

I won't leave you in suspense, they are made out of&&

I was tempted, not gonna lie. I thought the whole recycled park maps into beads was so cool but if you knew how much jewelry I already have you would understand why I passed.

Scenery

Cynthia and I paused along this area and shared a table with a nice couple. I think that's when I stopped to eat this

They made a couple of recommendations - grapefruit beer and the hand roll. That's one of the things I really enjoyed about F&W. It was fun meeting and talking to random people about their favorite F&W treats. Everyone we spoke with was very mellow and all the recommendations I received were spot on. F&W Veterans - gotta love them!

Someone took our picture

Continued In Next Post.......

 

[MEK]

Continued From Previous Post.....

Another cool view of the lagoon

Next stop was a grapefruit beer. No picture. It was yellow. And oh so good! I loved it. In fact, I can't wait to go back next year to head straight for the grapefruit beer. It actually has a name. It starts with an S and sounds german. I'm too lazy to google it.

After my two beers the alcohol went straight to my head. I felt a little buzzed at this point. Yikes - I didm't expect that. My next stop was a hand roll and I did not take a picture of that either. But I found a great place to sit and eat it.

Cynthia joined me for a bit, but I stayed longer…. for a couple reasons - I thought this little spot was perfect, I really had no other place I wanted to be, I was buzzed, and I was intently watching this couple in the foreground.

I'm not sure how well you can see them - but they are to the right beyond the tree

Zoomed in

They both had black shirts on and white pants, they both were probably my age, and they both were thin. Thin as in not an ounce of fat on them and they both looked to be in good physical shape. Plus - they were literally posing for these pictures. LIke laying and sitting on the rocks. I don't know. It was odd. But despite that I couldn't stop watching.

Ok - she looked my age. He looks older.

Checking their photos. I noticed we had the same camera.

I loved my little alcove near Tamu Tamu, but I think I was equally fond of this great little area.

Clearly I was fascinated with the umbrellas

I sat there for what seemed like an eternity before I found the motivation to move on. Maybe I needed a bio break after all that beer. Who knows?

Wait Alice Come Back!

I don't recall whether I met up with Cynthia in the park or back at the resort. Not that it matters. Pool time was on the afternoon agenda!

I guess that was a PP photographer who took our picture earlier because look what I found

A few more pictures in the next post.......

 

[MEK]

Continued From Previous Post

Personally, I think this is a great backdrop for a picture

Oh Yeah!

Couldn't even put that beer down for a picture.

Actually I think the photographer told me to do that

Up Next.... A New Pool and Dinner at the Studio!

 

[dizneeat]

TR comments:
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE all the Epcot pics! I am SOOOOO homesick right now, thank you very much!

The seminar looks like a lot of fun ...... the Rosa Regale not so much ..... this is something that actually makes me sick. Sooooooooo sweet! Just not the European taste I think (oh, and btw - we looked for it in Italy and we have NOT found it anywhere. )

Real life comments:
So sorry about all your cat "drama". WE both love cats, but only have 1, so I can relate to the heartbreak when something is wrong with them.
I would have been terrified with the condition of your second cat (whose name escapes me now). Poor, poor thing. Thank god she is better now.
And poor Max. But glad you caught it finally and he is getting treatment now. Plus, I am sure, you can trust your DS to take care of him, while you you are gone. It will be good for the kitty not to be taken out of the home he loves, now that he is sick.

 

[skylizard]

So sorry to hear about Max, but glad the vet was able to diagnose him!

 

[afwdwfan]

So now we are going away this week and Max has diabetes. I was planning to board him, but Nick told me that he wants to take care of him. I don't know what to do.

Sounds pretty simple to me. Let Nick do it. Unless you don't trust him...

Near the IG we saw this scooter and asked if we could take a picture of it. Check it out - it's awesome

Awesome... I guess that's one word for it.

How fun is that? Instead of their usual percussion instruments they were using a whole cooking theme, complete with full sized appliances.

I love those guys. Now that is something that is definitely awesome.

In the meantime I started checking all the art walk.

Excellent collection.

Our first stop after the seminar was a drink stop. Well, at least for me. I wanted to try a berry beer. Ok, so that wasn't exactly the name of the beer, but it did have a berry flavor. As I was walking over to get in line I said out loud to Cynthia "I wonder if the berry&..beer is good". Just then a guy got out of line with that exact beer and said "It's really good. Here. Take a Sip". I declined but he was insistent so I took the first sip. Yum!

Kind of odd, yet nice of him I guess...

My beer. I decided I needed the plastic collector beer stein.

The perfect F&W souvenir.

I found the" DIS" mug, so I decided I had to take a picture of it. If you have this mug chime out now! I know quite a few of us have it.

I never knew there was a "DIS" mug. I guess you learn something new everyday. I think I'd still rather have the beer stein though.

I was tempted, not gonna lie. I thought the whole recycled park maps into beads was so cool but if you knew how much jewelry I already have you would understand why I passed.

I thought you were going to say you changed your mind when it hit you that they were really just charging that much money for an old park map somebody left laying around.

Actually I think the photographer told me to do that

I'm sure they had to twist your arm...

 

[eandesmom]

Me me! I have the DIS mug! One of my favorites. I had totally forgotten about the guy with the beer. He was really sweet and so cute about it. "No really, I haven't had a sip yet, it's SO good, you have to try it" Not in a creepy odd way, just super nice and sweet.

I agree, we had several fun little interactions with other diners (and drinkers) who would recommend things. It really added to the overall experience. I didn't know that little garden existed behind Katsura, it was just lovely, very very Zen. I remember the couple doing the pictures, I'd forgotten about that. I'll have to look at my pictures to confirm what I was actually doing myself. LOL!

I admit when I was reading your FB post and then the additional detail here it surprised me it was diabetes and not his thyroid. I am SO glad he is doing better. We've had issues again with Hank (my radioactive hyperthryoid kitty) and I really was worried it had come back. He developed an intolerance, again, to his food and was chewing his fur off again. Which is a stress reaction and was BAD when the hyperthyroidism was at it's peak. I am really hoping it was just the stress of the food. I've completely changed his diet, which has been a nightmare but his fur looks SO much better and I think it's growing back in. That part is hard to tell as it wakes a while to fill back in. Ultimately it will be good for the other cat as he will lose weight but ugh, it's expensive.

I know what you mean, Hank is my favorite cat too. He is MY kitty.

I may get this update done on the plane tonight. My next update on my Verandah TR is going to be a beast to get started , I actually am considering re-uploading that entire days worth of pictures after I edit on my laptop instead of within PB so that they are actually in the right order. It's a monster of a day (over 500 pics) and I am not sure how to manage the update if I don't just redo that upload. UGH! Total pita.

 

[MomToPrincePhillip]

Oh Mary Ellen, what a great update (not the poor kitty part, but I'm glad all heath issues are under control. It would help if they could just talk and tell us what's up!). Anyways, I'm sitting here in snowy, blustery Alberta,, enjoying your photos, as I always do. But today I'm really enjoying the blue sky and your and Cynthia's beautiful smiles, and dreaming of the day when my DS's are a little older and I can leave them at home while I go to F&W! Right now I'd feel too guilty but give me a few years . Thanks for the break from the snow. I know it will be sunny skies for us soon, not here at home, but in WDW, our countdown says 22 more days!!!

 

[dawnbu40]

So sorry to hear the health troubles your furbabies are going through. I know how hard that can be. And this is for whatever is troubling you

We watched the Jammitors too. Aren't they awesome?!

And I love that scooter. It looked perfect for Food and Wine.

Thanks for the update

 

[MEK]

TR comments:
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE all the Epcot pics! I am SOOOOO homesick right now, thank you very much!

I know! Those pictures make me a little homesick, too. How great would it be to be there for F&W? I would love that.

The seminar looks like a lot of fun ...... the Rosa Regale not so much ..... this is something that actually makes me sick. Sooooooooo sweet! Just not the European taste I think (oh, and btw - we looked for it in Italy and we have NOT found it anywhere. )

Cynthia doesn't like super sweet either. But I do. I like sweet buttercream icing and sweet, fruity wines. Sometimes they just down easier.

Too funny that you can't find it in Italy. Actually, that's pretty interesting. Perhaps made there but shipped to us Americans who like sweet.

Real life comments:
So sorry about all your cat "drama". WE both love cats, but only have 1, so I can relate to the heartbreak when something is wrong with them.
I would have been terrified with the condition of your second cat (whose name escapes me now). Poor, poor thing. Thank god she is better now.

I am very relieved she is better and I regret that I ignored her. I took he in once before for the skin rash and itch. She got a little better, but never 100%, so it took some really strange behavior before I realized she really needed help. She is so, so, much better. It's really beyond my expectations.

And poor Max. But glad you caught it finally and he is getting treatment now. Plus, I am sure, you can trust your DS to take care of him, while you you are gone. It will be good for the kitty not to be taken out of the home he loves, now that he is sick.

Nick is very responsible and I know he will do a good job. I am just worried about him having an unexpected hypoglycemic episode, but that could happen at night at the vets too. I know he would be a lot less stressed at home.

So sorry to hear about Max, but glad the vet was able to diagnose him!

sky lizard! And thanks! The Vet already had the lab results while she was asking me to describe his symptoms. I could have save my breath. He glucose was over 600.

Sounds pretty simple to me. Let Nick do it. Unless you don't trust him...

I totally trust Nick. I think my concern is that he hasn't even been on insulin a week so if his blood sugar gets too low Nick would not be here to help him. Of course, neither would I. But I wouldn't want to put that on Nick. It's been nice this week because Nick is on spring break. I know he has to be left alone eventually. I just have to stop worrying so much.

Awesome... I guess that's one word for it.

That scooter was awesome enough that I actually, for a few seconds, really wished I had my own. And then it passed.

I love those guys. Now that is something that is definitely awesome.

They are pretty darn awesome. They always put on such an entertaining show. They look like they are having a blast and I'm sure they are.

Excellent collection.

They had some really nice prints there. Everything was just so darn pricy.

Kind of odd, yet nice of him I guess...

It was odd, but as Cynthia said, he was so nice. It was like we were acquaintances. And the fact that he was so nice (and didn't have time to slip anything into the beer) I just went with it.

The perfect F&W souvenir.

I wanted a second one, but I thought that might be pushing it from a packing/potential breakage standpoint. Spoiler alert - mu suitcase ended up being 49.5 lbs. It was really straining at the seams.

I never knew there was a "DIS" mug. I guess you learn something new everyday. I think I'd still rather have the beer stein though.

Well, it's not an official mug or anything, but its one of those mugs that everyone seems to like when they see a picture of it. And many of us now own it. That being said - I think it should be the official mug of the DIS boards.

I thought you were going to say you changed your mind when it hit you that they were really just charging that much money for an old park map somebody left laying around.

Well, that too!

I'm sure they had to twist your arm...

NOT!

 

[MEK]

Me me! I have the DIS mug! One of my favorites. I had totally forgotten about the guy with the beer. He was really sweet and so cute about it. "No really, I haven't had a sip yet, it's SO good, you have to try it" Not in a creepy odd way, just super nice and sweet.

I love that mug.

That guy was really nice. It was just impossible to say no. He was like someone you would automatically want to hang out with. Definitely not creepy.

I agree, we had several fun little interactions with other diners (and drinkers) who would recommend things. It really added to the overall experience. I didn't know that little garden existed behind Katsura, it was just lovely, very very Zen. I remember the couple doing the pictures, I'd forgotten about that. I'll have to look at my pictures to confirm what I was actually doing myself. LOL!

I really did enjoy meeting and talking with different guests. I found all the veterans very helpful.

Totally Zen. So Zen that I had to sit there for a half hour before I could break free from my trance and head on home.

I admit when I was reading your FB post and then the additional detail here it surprised me it was diabetes and not his thyroid. I am SO glad he is doing better.

I was betting on thyroid too. But I remember when my old cat Mindy had hyperthyroidism she was overly happy and perky. Max had the same symptoms but he was definitely not perky.

We've had issues again with Hank (my radioactive hyperthryoid kitty) and I really was worried it had come back. He developed an intolerance, again, to his food and was chewing his fur off again. Which is a stress reaction and was BAD when the hyperthyroidism was at it's peak. I am really hoping it was just the stress of the food. I've completely changed his diet, which has been a nightmare but his fur looks SO much better and I think it's growing back in. That part is hard to tell as it wakes a while to fill back in. Ultimately it will be good for the other cat as he will lose weight but ugh, it's expensive.

Poor Hank. What is it with these animals and the skin disorders? I know what you mean about expensive food. For awhile Max was on a really expensive food for his FUS. It's ridiculous, especially when you have more than one cat and they all are trying to eat out of the same bowls. Feeding Frenzy!

I know what you mean, Hank is my favorite cat too. He is MY kitty.

There's just a bond and it sticks. I know!

I may get this update done on the plane tonight. My next update on my Verandah TR is going to be a beast to get started , I actually am considering re-uploading that entire days worth of pictures after I edit on my laptop instead of within PB so that they are actually in the right order. It's a monster of a day (over 500 pics) and I am not sure how to manage the update if I don't just redo that upload. UGH! Total pita.

I have found that when I have over 300 pictures I break them into 2 different uploads into 2 different albums or managing them is insane. I hope you are able to find a solution.

You have plenty of time to update here because it will likely be 10 days before I update again. Unless it rains all week at HHI. Please feel free to update ahead of me, too. Then I'll catch up when I get home.

Oh Mary Ellen, what a great update (not the poor kitty part, but I'm glad all heath issues are under control. It would help if they could just talk and tell us what's up!).

Thanks!

And yes - it would really help if they could talk to you because cats can suffer in silence for awhile before its obvious they are sick. They are very stoic animals.

Anyways, I'm sitting here in snowy, blustery Alberta,, enjoying your photos, as I always do. But today I'm really enjoying the blue sky and your and Cynthia's beautiful smiles, and dreaming of the day when my DS's are a little older and I can leave them at home while I go to F&W! Right now I'd feel too guilty but give me a few years . Thanks for the break from the snow.

BRRRRR - snowy? blustery? Oh my. I am so glad that our pictures are helping to take you to a better place.

When my boys were little I never thought I would get a chance to travel alone, but it eventually comes and its nice when it does.

I know it will be sunny skies for us soon, not here at home, but in WDW, our countdown says 22 more days!!!

Woo Hoo for 22 days!!!!!!!! I bet you can't wait. It will be here before you know it. Happy Packing!

So sorry to hear the health troubles your furbabies are going through. I know how hard that can be. And this is for whatever is troubling you

Thanks Dawn! I just wish I wasn't going away so soon after starting Max on insulin. I would feel better if he had already been on it a couple weeks, but what can you do? And thanks for the virtual hug. It's mug appreciated.

We watched the Jammitors too. Aren't they awesome?!

They really are so fun. I swear percussionists have the most fun. Their acts are also so freakin cool.

And I love that scooter. It looked perfect for Food and Wine.

That scooter was so cute I actually wanted one.

Thanks for the update

You're welcome!

 

[englishrose47]

What an update Mary Ellen!!I loved the old time pix of Walt . So sorry about your cats, wehave 3 cats and 2 dogs, 1 of the dogs is max Our oldeest cat is 14 at least and is showing aging signs but nothing like your cats. I don't think I knew cats could be diabetic !Hope they are both doing well now !!

 

[eandesmom]

Forgot to say, I'd definitely leave Maxie with Nick. So much less stressful and he clearly is paying attention and could handle an emergency if he had to.

The only reason I figured it was stress and not his thyroid for HaNK is he was SO ridiculously thirsty and peeing on everything when that was going on and the only thinG happening this time was the fur chewing. Interestingly enough his mood in both cases was just fine, nothing noticeable at all. Thank heavens, the peeing was the worst. The diet thing is hard. Vet had both of them on an RX(OM) diet and then all of a sudden (after 3 years maybe?) Hank couldn't tolerate it, throwing up several times a week Which was interesting as that was the first thing that happened when we had the thyroid issues before. I'd thought it was a grain/gluten issue as his brand had changed the recipe but then the Rx food seemed to work really well. Until it didn't. It too has a fair amount of grain in it. Kind of pathetic that I just bought what the vet said and didn't even look at the ingredients. I've migrated them to 100% high protein wet foods which is hard to manage. Trying to go grain free but they prefer the foods with some in it so am just being much more selective about it (again). One cat NEEDS the calories, the other doesn't. One is a grazer, one is a vulture. Hank clearly misses the crunch of the dry food, Melvin will eat anything and then some. Hank doesn't like it cold, Mevin doesn't care. Seriously, I can't hardly DIS anymore as some of my previous down time is now spent managing the cats eating. I've spent hours researching foods, it's ridiculous. Crazy. But I really wanted to see if this was it before spending money at the vet to just be told he is old.

But..the difference in Hank's coat in just a couple of weeks is phenomenal. Glossy, soft, no more dandruff which had kind of popped up out of nowhere and I want to believe it's filling in where he's been chewing. What's weird is we have never ever seen him doing it.

10 days. Oh that sounds like HEAVEN right now!

 

[Poolrat]

.

You see - I have three cats. Max, my favorite cat, Kismet, my annoyingly weird cat, and Jewel, my house crasher. All of these animals are around 12 - 13 years old and all were adopted. Max came first from the SPCA. I knew the second I saw him that I had to adopt him. He was 1 year old, beautiful, and so affectionate. It was love at first site.

Max

I adopted Kismet about three weeks later because I thought it would be better to have two cats. She was sort of an impulse adoption. I was near the SPCA and I thought they were getting ready to put her down, so I made a deal with them - spay her the next day and I would take her.

About 6 months later Jewel showed up in our back yard. A stray without a home. Being that it was near Christmas we took her in and we made an appointment to take her to the humane society. That humane society would not give us an immediate appointment, so by the time the date of the appointment rolled around (3 weeks later) we just decided to keep her.

Beautiful cats...
I too had 3 - 2 to keep each other company and 1 that the cat mom dumped in my garage as a kitten.

.
. Five days in a row she went out there, passed out from exhaustion and fell off. Yup - she either fell onto the coffee table or another smaller table near the wall. She broke a couple pictures and small knick knacks. But the piece de resistance was when, right in front of me, she stood on my love seat and peed. Yup. She did. She was also drinking a lot of water at the time (probably because she was always dry from licking constantly.

Well, that was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back and I carted her off to the vet the next day.

My Shiny would do something like that- he used to sleep on top of the garage door in the up position and once the van was pulled out the door was going down and he had nowhere to jump. He got his leg caught in the top of the door.

Worst was when the neighbor and I were talking and they mentioned that once he was in her garage and got his head caught in their garage door.

. - Max is my favorite cat. I love him. He is awesome. He is like a dog in a cat's body. Well, he used to be.

That's my Shiny. Follows you around sits right behind you to guard you, used to walk Jennifer to the busstop and stay with her until he bus came.
He is 16 1/2 and well his age is showing. Can be very slow and now meows a lot, don't think he hears well.

.
So I did. On Wednesday. And if you are my FB friend then you may already know that Max has diabetes. His blood glucose was 621. He has since been started on insulin.

Glad it was diagnosed. Shiny got really skinny but a change in food from dry to moist and really pushing him to eat ( I think he forgets what he is doing ) has put weight back on.

.but there is another reason that I have been pre-occupied, but I am just not in a place where I want to talk about it. It's not anything earth shattering, just a life event that is taking some extra time to deal with.

. As I was walking over to get in line I said out loud to Cynthia "I wonder if the berry&..beer is good". Just then a guy got out of line with that exact beer and said "It's really good. Here. Take a Sip". I declined but he was insistent so I took the first sip. Yum!

I actually did that to a lady by the Slushie booth in France. She was wanting a sample and the french CM would not do it. So she was asking what the orange flavor was like - Oranges or Tang like? After trying to describe it somewhat when I was handed the drink I just asked if she wanted a taste and used a straw to scoop some up so she could sample it. Perfect stranger. Yup I did that!!!

I found the" DIS" mug, so I decided I had to take a picture of it. If you have this mug chime out now! I know quite a few of us have it.

I have it I have it. I may have used it this morning.



Sounds like a great afternoon/early evening.
A few of the reason I have grown to love Food and Wine. I seem to see many "adults" ( in age only ) really kicking back and enjoying the time, the scenery and being slightly tipsy and laughing probably like they have not done in a while. It's like a giant block party.

 

[Pesky]

Okay, I am so glad I'm planning on F&W in a few years. I'm going to need my own barge to get out of there! FYI, yes, you can take wine home in these bags (http://www.amazon.com/Vinnibag-Infl...d=1365209964&sr=8-3&keywords=travel+wine+bags). My ILs introduced us to them and while pricey, boy do they work! We've taken 2 with us wherever we go and wine is just dandy through the trips. (and sidenote: oddly enough, I had a cat named Max who adopted me, a very sweet love and very doglike too. Went into denial for a bit and then had to get persistent - thyroid problem and kidney issues. Funny how you never want to believe your babies are sick. He lived a few years more with those issues precariously balanced. So glad you caught Max's illness when you did!)

 

[emmysmommy]

Oh your poor kitties! I hope all the treatments work for both.

That was so very kind of the complete stranger to offer you the first sip of his berry beer... not sure what I would do but you handled it well - yep, took a swig!! That's so funny how you described sitting and zoning out... sometimes people watching is so obsessive. We saw a couple walking from the bus stop at AK into the park and I told Em, that lady has absolutely perfect legs and had four kids in tow and was probably a little younger than me but still... ack! Ok, so all that to say, I completely understand the moments that suck you in!

Yay for lovely weather at HHI. And so sweet that your DS will be watching the cats.

 

[eandesmom]

Ok so I was going to wait on this but will just do another update or 2 next week while Mary Ellen is out. I am on a plane as I type this and well, it's a 5.5 hour flight and the guy next to me is out cold. I'm stuck. In my seat. And don't want to do work. It actually requires more space than I have to work with. LOL! So you get an update (while I pray he wakes at some point so I can use the facilities). I cannot even think about starting my update on my other TR, that’s going to be a bit of a photobucket do over I think. But I digress. Good news is the child behind me has gone to sleep as well so no more feet in the back. Bad news is I’d love another cup of coffee but don't dare. Evan has 2 play performances tomorrow, one on Sunday, Jeff heads on his own work trip Sunday and I'll need to do the work I'm not doing now then so...best to do my update now and leave Sunday to "real" work, and a photobucket do over.

In totally random exciting news (well for the music geeks in my house anyway) some anonymous donor just gave Evan's school a huge donation of new horns. 2 trumpets, a trombone and a tuba. VERY nice horns. Evan has a perfectly fine student trombone, with a very nice expensive mouthpiece, better than some and by no means the worst of the lot. He will need a new "good" one but I'm hoping to stretch it out another year and then this one can become the get abused in marching band version. It sounds as if the donated horns were specifically given not necessarily to supply kids in need of basic instruments but to supply passionate kids with vastly better ones. Evan has been "given" this $3,000 instrument to use for the rest of the year. It's got an "f" attachment, something the kid has been jonesing for (I've been told he wants $$ for his birthday to start saving for such a trombone or to contribute to one and I'm not allowed to let him spend it even if he begs) and he is just over the moon excited about it.

A fun story about my recent work trip. I was at a "networking" lunch yesterday, with a loose theme around biomechanics. Fascinating don’t you think? As many of these things go, not a lot of biomechanical chat was happening. Instead the guy next to me and I started chatting about human factors (are your eyes glazing yet?) and got into a bit of a tangent on them which introduced Disney (specifically park ride restraints lol) into the mix. He starts mentioning how his family is into it and how often they go, almost sheepishly. I in turn confess that I can relate and we own DVC. So does he and the conversation goes from there. Loved the fact he had his Disney Files magazine back in the room. And hey, my company may pick up some work out of that conversation, you never know. It made for a very fun lunch no matter what. Nice to find a complete stranger who "gets" it.

Once changed I was considerably more comfortable and we headed off to Epcot for our seminar. As Mary Ellen shared already, we were both enchanted by this gentleman’s festive chair and asked if we might take a picture.

Now that’s a celebration of food and wine!

So was this

I was into these guys (in case you hadn’t figured that out already)

I have a bad video but honestly don’t know how bad/good or long it is (ok they, I made 2) as I daren’t play it on the plane. LOL!

Alright, better get moving and into the festival center or we will be late

For some reason I really liked these

Picking up our tickets we were ready to go in!

This time, we weren't late and waited in the line for a bit until they opened the room and we were able to seat. We did choose to sit basically about where we’d been for the previous seminar, having been quite happy with the location the first time around.

Soon we were poured a glass of the Rosa Regale

While the host introduced our chef and her assistant (who, according to Judith, is the "Peach" in Shamrock and Peach. I have to tell you, the chef was an absolute riot, so funny, and clearly enjoyed her glass of Rosa Regale! And unlike the previous assistant who just got to turn on the cooktop, Judith's got a glass of her own. She's a happy gal in general. Her Disney connection is her DH who apparently designs custom rugs for the resorts or something wild like that.

It’s an interesting concept…Irish and Southern Food combined. She definitely gave a big plug for Kerrygold. Kerrygold makes butter and cheese (and perhaps milk and icecream in Ireland itself, not sure). According to her, the butter and the cheese are so much better because...

The cows are happier in Ireland.

That is a direct quote

Yep. It's so green the grass is yummier and well, the cows are happier.

That's her story and she's sticking to it.

Welcome to…the Pot Cam!

Reiterating the importance of the good butter (which is in the ramekin she is holding)

Work in process

Continued in next post

 

[eandesmom]

Better not stop whisking, it could be bad

More goodies going in (cheese here I think)

Yeah, a bit more complicated than the mole

Whip it, Whip it good! Or was it Beat it...beat it, just beat it.

Wow, my arm is tired looking at these pictures

Finally starting to look soufflé like

Now I have to say, it looks rather complicated when I just sit here and look at the pics (and don’t have the recipe and my notes in front of me) but what I vividly recall at the time is do a degree, she debunked soufflés for me and definitely made it seem less intimidating and like something at some point when I get a wild hare, that I might actually attempt.

The final masterpiece

I admit. I was enchanted by the whole thing. And I can't blame it on the Rosa Regale (which, while sweet, wasn't so bad with the more savory items we were eating to balance it out), I'd eaten plenty and it was my first drink of the day. After we were done I headed over to peruse the cookbook and see if it was of interest. I’m funny with my cookbooks. Some can have absolutely wonderful recipes but if they don’t "read" right to me, I've no interest. There also has to be a hook of some sort, usually 1-2 key recipes that I really want that seal the deal on buying the book. Especially if there isn't an index at the back, that makes me crabby when there isn't. It was a lovely book full of some fabulous sounding things and some I knew I'd likely never make. It did however have that hook. A recipe for Shepard’s Pie. Now I know that’s not a fancy item and maybe many of you have been making it forever but I had never made it and knew I didn't have it an any of the multitude of books I already owned. Sure I could find one online or through any of my favorite food apps but it’s not the same as a REAL Irish recipe from a REAL Irish chef that was so enchanting, that I’d gotten to meet live and taste her food.

Yep. I bought the book. And being the master manipulator that I am, convinced myself (and Jeff) that I bought it for him. He LOVES shepherds pie. Adores it. I knew he would be thrilled with "his" present.
Please, she had me at the name of the book. "The Shamrock and Peach"

While Mary Ellen perused the art, I think I headed over to the kitchen goodies to see if anything enticed

I really liked this for Evan

But didn't like the price

Same thing with this

Considered this for Jeff

With that, we were off to the WS. First stop was for Mary Ellen's Berry Beer.

I think we may have gone to Terra next, for me as that’s the only time it makes sense since it's also at the Port of entry

I tried to take a picture of the brand of "chicken" that was in the Tricken Chicken Curry (veggie “chicken”) as it was SO good so that I could find it at home

Trick’n Chick’n Curry with Basmati Rice featuring Gardein Chick’n Breast

So good!

I have a feeling I got a glass of white here? I have receipts at home I think lol.

Continued in next post