Everyone Has A Crazy Aunt
You all know her. The crazy aunt. Or maybe you've got a crazy cousin. Or the most fun of all: the crazy grandma. The one who gets your mom a book on karma sutra. The one who turns on Gloria Estefan and sings along to the music in a Spanish accent while doing the limbo. The one who sometimes removes articles of clothing at inappropriate times.
Like I said, you know her.
My crazy aunt is one of a kind. And she's actually not crazy all the time, to be fair. The problem is that she suffers from a sleep disorder called sleep apnea. She has to sleep wearing a mask connected to a machine that regulates her breathing. It's obviously a very uncomfortable thing and causes people to not get as much rest when they sleep as others. A lot of the time she is extremely tired during the day due to the lack of rest. It's really nothing to laugh about. Except when, out of her fatigue, she does things that are really, really funny. Then everyone laughs. Including her. So that means it's okay to be in the fetal position cracking up so hard in total disbelief of what she has just done.
I could tell many, many stories on this. But it's a Disney board. So here we go.
About two weeks before we left for our 2006 Disney World trip, my aunt called and said she had to travel to Tampa for work at the same time we were going to be at Disney. She spent her time in Tampa and then joined us for three days at the Pop Century Resort. On one of these days, we had dinner at the fantastic California Grill.
If you eat at the California Grill, you have the privilege of viewing Wishes from a deck that sits atop the Contemporary Resort. Seeing the Magic Kingdom from up there is just breathtaking. So breathtaking, in fact, that some of us kept getting up before the food arrived to go out there and see it.
At one point, my aunt decided to get up and go. My mom, dad, and I stayed at the table. A lot of time passed. At first we just figured, oh she's probably enjoying the gorgeous Magic Kingdom view so much that she's taking her time. Then the food came. My mom decided to go out to the deck and get her. A few minutes later my mom returned saying she wasn't out there.
We weren't worried. I mean, the sleep apnea makes her a little loopy, but not loopy enough that she can't handle it. Not loopy enough that anything actually bad would happen. She usually just says funny things and can't watch 10 minutes of TV without falling asleep and snoring LOUD. Nothing serious. So we figured she had gone to the bathroom or something.
Finally about five minutes later she comes over and sits down. We all say things like "Where were you?" and "What took so long?"
She says, "You guys are not going to believe this."
We all exchange nervous looks.
She continues, "I went to go sit down in that seating area over there just to people watch for a minute. The next thing I know, a member of the staff is tapping me on the shoulder telling me to wake up. Apparently, I was snoring a little bit too."
Now, the California Grill is a nice place. A really nice place. It's fancy and expensive with top notch food. It's not the kind of restaurant you fall asleep in. Or snore in. EVER. If there are any restaurants you could do that in. Which there aren't. But if there were, trust me, the California Grill would not be one of them.
At this point I wonder just how long my aunt was sound asleep in the middle of this place. I wonder how many people walked by and stared. Pointed. Laughed. With confused looks on their faces. I felt bad for her. Then she starts to giggle. So I giggle too. Then we all do. We love her and her unpredictable sleeping habits. Even if they do occur in the middle of a two hundred dollar dinner.
Hey, there are worse disorders and diseases to be stuck with. If you have to have one, it's nice to have one that gives you a good laugh.
Then... the next day happened.
We decided to spend this day lounging around our resort. I was in our room taking a nap. My parents and aunt were outside by the pool for a few hours. I was happy for the uninterrupted, quiet relaxation.
Then I hear a knock on the door. I get up. Look out. It's my aunt.
I open the door. She says, "I did something... really bad I think."
The same nervous look from the night before flew onto my face at that point, I'm sure. We go to sit down on the bed.
"What happened?"
What she proceeded to tell me is now legend in our family. It is the kind of hilariously embarrassing story that gets told at every Christmas and Thanksgiving. My aunt finds it funny herself, so there are no hard feelings. In fact, she cracks up so hard at it in disbelief that it even happened... just like the rest of us.
Here is the story as I heard it. Apparently my aunt had fallen asleep beside the pool. After a little nap, she realized she was starving. She made her way to the Everything Pop food court. According to her, she was so tired that she was in a complete daze and didn't really know what she was doing. She was so hungry and saw a man coming towards her holding a tray of a burger and fries.
My wonderful yet delirious aunt stopped this man dead in his tracks. Stood in front of him. Took a french fry off of his tray and started eating it in front of him.
I would pay a thousand dollars to have a video tape of this encounter.
"Only when I finished the fry and looked up to see his befuddled expression did I wake up and realize what I had done," she told me. I am cracking up at this point. Imagining this man watching some nut take his food and eat it without any hint in her mind that this behavior is not normal. Priceless.
After his stunned silence, the man said, dumbfounded, "Do I... know you?"
"I finally snapped out of it and... what do you say when you do something like that?"
She told me she finally said to him, "I am SO sorry. I am SO SO SO SO SO SORRY. I am just SO tired."
"He seemed kind of scared and just said 'It's okay...' and walked away. Can you believe this?" she asked me.
Frankly I didn't believe it. I mean, like I said, usually she just says or does some silly things. Up until this point she had never stole someone's food and then openly ate it in front of them. Which is the funniest part to me. I mean, imagine you're at your resort walking with your food, minding your own business, and this happens. How do you even react? Thank God she got a calm, understanding individual and not some hot head who would have freaked out and made a scene. I really didn't feel like getting kicked out of Disney World that day.
Next up: A break from the stories, I'm thinking some more past trip pictures or an installment about DISNEY FOOD???
Just joining in. 
Thanks for reading & joining in!!
For that I could go on another Disney trip. So that isn't happening anytime soon. But I am excited to have any camera at all because I have been using the camera on my BlackBerry for like 8 months now and boy does that stink. When I get the new Cybershot, I will be so excited that I will be taking pictures of everything, probably each and every strand of my hair. Yeah, THAT excited! 
You'll have to post a pic of "your" Aladdin.
It is appreciated!! 
