Or.
At least until we had a really snowy night and I could phone my General and advise her that I wasn't going to visit today due to the 1/2 inch of white on the ground.
So.
I'm here, today.
Instead.
And, at Disney, where it is DAY 2. Of the Tommy/Mommy trippie.
The day began bright and early with the ringing of my cell phone.
Ring.
Ring.
Actually... it's not a real ring. It's music. Instead. A little bit 'o circus music... Deedle deedle deedle dee, deedle dee deedle dee!
I open one eye. And find Tommy awake beside me and sitting up all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Staring at Me(l).
"Mommy! It's your phone!"
"Is THAT what that thing is?" I mutter in a very gravelly morning voice.
"Answer it, Mommy!" Tommy's morning voice is not as harsh as mine. It's high-pitched and squeaky. His usual voice.
Although... his breath was equally as bad as mine. I was betting.
He leaned over and put his little hands on the sides of my face, "ANSWER IT!".
His breath was shockingly stinky. Perhaps he SHOULD have been pressured to brush his teeth the night before. Or earlier this morning. Whatever.
TFI.
I stumble out of bed and search through my purse looking for my phone. Still ringing. I do not have voicemail. There was NO going to voicemail. It was just going to ring and ring.
Ring.
And ring.
Deedle deedle dee, deedle dee deedle dee.
FOUND IT!
"This better be important. It better be one of the two remaining Dionne Quintuplets. Is what I'm saying." I mutter.
Tommy looks at me. "What????".
"Nothing, Tommy, but it at LEAST better be someone I actually like." I say. Then... "Hello".
The General: Mel! Where are you? The phone has been ringing and ringing. Didn't you hear it?
Me: CURSES! Foiled again. It's not someone I actually like.
The General: Pardon? What's wrong with your voice? You're sick, aren't you? Then Tommy will get sick and...
Me: Simmer down Dr. Flox. We're fine. You just woke me up. Why are you calling this early?
The General: It's NINE O'CLOCK in the morning! You're STILL in BED? I'm glad you have so much money that you can just fritter your time on vacation away in bed.
Me: (Sigh)
The General: I just wanted to make sure you were all right and you arrived safely. That Tommy is okay. Is Tommy OK? Are you there?
Me: No. We're in a flea-bag hotel somewhere in Orlando and I'm on my 3rd bottle of scotch. And fifth pack of cigarettes. That's why my voice is a little rough.
The General: MEL!
Me: Oh. Sorry. I mean my third bottle of gin. Like Grandma. Remember???
The General: MEL!!!!!
Me: Relax. We're here. Got here in the middle of the night which was why I was trying to sleep in. Thanks for the wake-up call though. I'm good... but Tommy didn't really need more than six hours of sleep.
The General: You got in late.
Me: Very. But... I was just thinking: Remember when you were a little girl and your parents took you and your brother to Quintland? On vacation. To a glorified freak show where you stared through a window at five little girls in a glass cage playing with dolls? Remember that vacation choice, Mom? So... before you give me any grief about going to Disney again... think on THAT. K?
The General: ENOUGH... Mel. I was thinking about Tommy. Well... I'll bet he's hungry. Take him to breakfast. Make sure he doesn't eat seafood, though. Be careful what you eat, Mel.
Me: No worries. I was just gonna have eggs. But... Tommy... on the other hand was going to have shrimp. Raw. With the heads and tails attached and then move on to the sushi...
CLICK.
Heh heh.
Alrighty.
We were officially UP.
And had missed our ADR for Breakfast with Goofy (and Pluto and Minnie) and maybe some other rodents. At the Beach Club. Cape May Cafe.
Too late for the Cape May.
Ah well... we wing it. I guess.
Time for a shower.
"Okay, Tommy, it's time for you to have a 'European Shower'! It's gonna be FUN!" I start.
"Mommy? What's that?" He wonders.
"It's where you have a shower without the shower curtain drawn... so I can make sure you do it properly. With soap. And shampoo. While I stand there washing my face and getting slightly damp." I answer.
"Oh."
We get ready. Like Europeans.
I think.
And while I'm brushing MY TEETH, Tommy wonders about stuff.
"Mommy... you know the red and blue wires that go through your body?" He asks.
"Uhhhh. Yep. Your veins and arteries, you mean?" I'm pretty sure he's thinking about the charts that hang on the wall in our doctor's office. The ones that he and Calvin find so fascinating when we're there for a check-up.
"Yes... the wires. The red and blue wires hold your body together. And they make sure your stomach doesn't fall out your bum." He informs me.
Super.
The morning is off to it's normal start. Even though we're not in our kitchen at home and I've forgotten to put the coffee pot under the filter and the coffee is starting to run out. All over the counter.
Again.
As usual.
I realize that what I really, really, really, really... yes REALLY... NEED. Is coffee.
So we head out.
But not before I take a couple of pictures from our new, temporary, home at the BWVs.
Yeah. It's really tiny and dark and I don't know why.
We head down to the Boardwalk to see where we can get some breakfast.
Tommy checks out the sights.
He's really jazzed that we're finally here. At Disney.
I'm mostly sleep and caffeine deprived.
I'd have put my face in the picture... but... it wasn't a very pretty sight.
TFI.
You don't want to see me before my first cuppa. Especially when I've started the day with a phone conversation with The General.
ALTHOUGH... my shirt is looking pretty FINE.
Heh heh.
Now then... we wandered into Spoodles.
It was pretty quiet and we were seated at a booth next to another mom with a little girl. Probably a year younger than Tommy.
Our waiter was named "Said" and he was nice and friendly and brought me a pot of coffee immediately. Upon seeing THE FACE.
We ordered and I got out our Pickle Guys to amuse Tommy while I headed face first into the coffee.
I show you this picture not for you to see Pickle Guys but, more importantly, to see the wonderful SIZE of the coffee cups. At Spoodles.
Big cups.
Big bowls of coffee. To start the day.
I was full-on jazzed. About it.
A magical start to a magical trip.
Ok.
I like coffee.
And it was better than usual. Here at Spoodles.
Maybe because Spoodles tries to be European(ish)... and we had had a European shower that morning.
Who knows?
Oh.
Here are the Pickle Guys.
And... the Koala named "Mel". Too.
Tommy played, I drank coffee, we chatted and the food arrived.
I had the Egg Rotollo which was very large. Very good and came with a little bowl of marinated tomatoes with basil which tasted like bruschetta topping.
Yum. Very yum.
Tommy had the Mickey Waffles with fruit and was thrilled. He LOVES the Mickey Waffles.
Yes.
That IS a pound and a half of butter on his waffles. Just waiting for the cup and a half of syrup. To be poured over top.
We are the thrifty, competitive, stuck in Frontierland, gourmand... BUTTER LOVING... happyhaunts.
If it's full of fat, rich and not all that healthy... we're ordering it. ASAP.
We settled in and finished our breakfasts. Tommy helped me out by eating half of my rotollo as well as his waffles and fruit.
He was HUNGRY.
The General was right.
For a change.
Shhhh... don't tell my General.
As we finished up and I paid, the lady in the booth beside us stood up and complimented me on the behaviour of my youngest son. At a restaurant. And said she didn't hear a peep out of him during the whole meal. And wondered if we heard her daughter jumping up and down and crying and yelling.
Well... yes. And we also saw her face a bunch of times when she looked over the back of the booth at us.
Oh. She looked upset and sad. And said she was having a bit 'o trouble teaching her little girl how to act when they were out to a restaurant.
I said not to worry. They all learn at their own pace. To relax. And to pick up a little happyhaunt tip: Pickle Guys.
The Power of the Pickles.
Works everywhere.
I showed her our pickles and she smiled nervously and sat back down.
What is WITH PEOPLE????
And why doubt the power of the Pickle Beaver and the Pickle Turtle????
It MUST be a Canadian thing.
Cheers, Mel.
To be continued. Up next: The Boardwalk, repacking our carp and heading out... to the MK.
What an awesome way to start the day-a Happyhaunt post 
