Wally World Tips and Tricks--part one

I drafted this blog last summer as soon as we returned from Florida, but I never got around to posting it . . .  probably because I never wrote part two! I'll work on part two this weekend and post it next week some time. Hope this helps!

So you are planning to go to Walt Disney World (WDW)? Or Universal Florida (UF)?

Then you better be prepared with more than a wallet stuffed full of money!

I have so much information to share that this might take more than one blog to do it in. In the past, I've shared a few 'must do' secrets, but if you have to go to these parks smack dab in the busy season, then you really need to follow my tips and tricks.

If you have never been to these parks, the first thing you need to do is go out and buy the UNOFFICIAL GUIDE TO WALT DISNEY WORLD. No, I am not associated with this book, nor I do not get any financial recompense for recommending this book. It's just a good book that CRAMS loads of information on every page. And I highly recommend you start reading this book 6-8 months PRIOR to your vacation. Yes, there is that much information to be had. The last version that I bought--2007--is about 2-inches thick with tiny font, plus it had added information about Universal Studios. I don't know if the newer books provide that information.

I'll tell you up front--the book is overwhelming--true, there's tons of information, but you have to sift through the words to find what's important for you and your family.

AND this will change as your family becomes older and your preferences change. For example: going to these parks with little kids is totally different than going to them with pre-teens.

Before you even contemplate going to either one of these parks, see if you can pull your kid from school to hit the parks during 'shoulder season'. Shoulder season is off season, usually when the kiddos are in school, but the windows of time are narrowing. The key thing to remember is that the crowds are lighter, the lines aren't as long, the temperature cooler, and it might be just a little bit cheaper.

Getting there--this last year, we drove. It was it's own adventure reminiscent of the road trip I took in my youth. Kids have it so easy now with electronic gadgets and gizmos, while I had to play I SPY or read while I was that age.

Driving was fun, but time-consuming and boring. I don't know if hubby crunched the numbers, but with the added gasoline/hotel/meals I don't know if we saved any money driving vs. flying, or not. Part of the reason we drove was so the kidlet could go to the beach. We went to two different beaches, so that part was worth it.

In the past when we flew, we would board a plane at 5-6 AM, arrive in Atlanta at 2.5 hours, board another flight to Orlando, rent a car and be eating Wendy's no later than 1 PM. Many times we would be in our hotel and on a ride three hours later. The added expense of a rental car is slightly offset by the convenience of having a car and not having to rely on the park transportation to get you to the individual parks.

Hotels--I'm spoiled here. We have always stayed at an on-site hotel. We stay at the Portofino when at Universal, and this last time at WDW we stayed at the Beach Club, which is walking distance from Epcot, instead of the Wilderness Lodge (still my favorite hotel!). I don't care where you stay because during the crowded season, you can expect most of your hotel costs to DOUBLE! BUT there are a few advantages to staying on-site.

• If you're simply comparing room sizes to outside hotels then you are doing yourself a disfavor because you need to factor in the experience and convenience of being onsite. For example: if you stay at the Wilderness Lodge, you will feel like you are visiting Yellowstone National Park. And when you travel to the Magic Kingdom, you go by boat, which is a fun experience! When at the Beach Club, you can walk to the back entrance of Epcot. Staying at the Polynesian, Grand Floridian, or Contemporary, then you can ride the Monorail to the Magic Kingdom. And WDW has a fleet of buses that travel from all hotels to the various parks.
• If stay on site and you do drive your car to the parks, you don't have to pay a parking fee at those parks, which can save you $16/day/park (2014).

Staying onsite at the Universal hotels will provide you with an Express Pass voucher for the days you are in the park. Of course, for those people who don't stay at one of their hotels, UF offers a variety of options for the Express pass--the cost depends on the estimated crowd levels and time of year. The more crowded it is, the more an Express pass will cost. Click on their site to find out what a daily pass is for X amount of people in your family--and then decide if it's more beneficial to stay at an on-site hotel or not!

• Again, trust me, the extra cost of an onsite hotel is totally worth the advantage of Express Passing the long lines, plus getting into the park an hour early to the Harry Potter experience and Transformers.
• You can walk to the parks (NOT recommended if you're at the Portofino as you will get plenty of walking at the parks!), or take a bike taxi, or wait for the boat.

That's it for today. I'll have a few more suggestions in a few more days!
. . . and will probably remember a few that I forgot about when I wrote this blog!

Later, Peeps!

Weighty Wednesday--Autumn is in the Air!

I weighed at my Weight Watcher's meeting on Monday. Since I started Weight Watchers and walking on June 19th, I've lost 26.8 pounds. THAT DESERVES A 'WOOHOO'! I still have a lot to lose, but I'm on the downhill slide now, which makes me very happy.

Anyway this time of the year makes me think of many things, both good and bad in relation to weight loss. Here's my list:

Brisk mornings--LOVE THEM! Seriously, what's not to love? The mornings are cool and the temperature is in the 60's. I found that when I'm walking, I tend to enjoy it more and slow down, which in turn forces me to kick it up a notch, since I'm walking for exercise and not just enjoyment. Enjoyment is a side effect of the walk. As long as I get sweaty by the end of the walk, then I've done enough.

We had quite a bit of rain over the weekend, so the ragweed pollen count was down a little, which helps. I also ran across some raccoon tracks as the little dude stepped in some mud before he tracked his way up a cement embankment. Too cute!

Horseback riding--I've always said that I love riding when it's cold, but sunny. Which makes sunny anytime in the autumn totally awesome! This old body is seriously out of riding shape, so one ride involving 20+ minutes of posting took me out of commission for 5 days--yes, FIVE. My poor little pudgy thighs are so out of shape! But I'll try to ride 1 or 2 times a week as my schedule allows. It will get easier the quicker I get into riding shape. I love the smell of horses. Either you love it or you hate it, there is no inbetween!

Comfort food--As the season starts to get cooler around here, we stop grilling outside. This scares me, since I tend to put on weight in winter--like so many others. I'm starting to think about all the comfort foods that I like to eat: virtually any pasta dish, chilies, stews, meatloaf, etc. So I need to rethink how those goodies are cooked and lean them up.
If I can't lean them up, then it's all about portion control and the veg on the side. I love the variety of veg in the summer months and I'm not that familiar with winter veg. But a leaner me will mean that I need to rework my normal recipes into something else. And if y'all really know me, you know that I love a challenge!

Halloween candy--This is the beginning of CANDY SEASON. 6-7 months of candy and desserts. Halloween candy leads into Thanksgiving dessert making, that evolves into Christmas candy making season into Christmas stocking candy, to Valentine's day candy to the Easter eggstravaganza! Whew! I am a sugar fiend! And I need to find some way to take control of my uncontrollable nibbling.
I think I found a solution . . . for now. I bought a bag of Halloween candy (Autumn mixture) and weighed one serving size (41 grams), placed it in a small baggie, calculated the WW points value (4) and FROZE the baggies. If I have a craving, I can dig into the freezer bag of nummies and slowly nibble on it. I'll take the sugar hit along with the points hit. No, there is no redeeming quality about candy, but sometimes you just have to have something sugarlicious.

On a side note: My WW leader had me show my candy baggie to the group. And most of them were appalled. I don't know whether it was from the fact that I bought a bag of candy and weighed out 41 grams 14 times, or if it was because they were 4 points per baggy.
One older lady even wagged her finger at me and told me not to each sugar. Yes, I'm 50 and this older lady 60-70ish still tried to treat me like a kid. *sigh* I calmly pointed out that WW was all about eating healthy while managing real life issues/cravings. Having the baggy of candy is one way I would manage it. I'll take a 4 point hit over trolling for food, which can lead to serious overeating (which I did one afternoon last week to the tune of 19 points!) Cutting out candy isn't the way to fix the problem. Admitting you need a sugar hit periodically and being ready with an alternative is.

I've lost almost 27 lbs so far--I think my way is working for ME.

REMEMBER: THE KEY IS MODERATION NOT DEPRIVATION.

Again, weight loss comes down to knowing what your triggers are, and learning to adapt and readjust your way of thinking. What works for me might not work for you, but I'll share what works, because I might be able to help someone out there.

Later, Peeps!

Yearly Wrap-Up (Part 6) Daily goals

True confessions: I suck at daily goals.

There it's out there and now you all know it! Recently, I've started writing daily sticky notes to make certain I finished what I need to finish--okay, I just started it yesterday. After I write this blog, my three line items will be down to only one. Whew!

The one thing I can't stress enough is for you to use your calendar and write down what you DID do on a given day. Why? Because in a month you'll be looking at your blank calendar and wonder what happened. BUT if you jotted notes down every day, you can find out what you did do with your time. I even put notes on the days when my kidlet is out of school, I'm running errands, have doctor's appointments, or when my kidlet comes home sick. I do this just so I know WHAT I did and how that derailed my writing goals.

If you spent two weeks researching, either on the Internet or the library--write it down.

If you were refilling your well by reading, watching all eight episodes of a sitcom, cleaning your house or working in your yard--write it down.

If you spent too much time visiting sites on the Internet, then this list of time-wasters probably needs to be documented especially if you spend more time in this mindless activity than actually writing--write it down.

Blog hopping--though very educational and a great way of networking and getting free books, it really doesn't help your writing goals
Facebook--again, good networking device--doesn't count
Games on Facebook or other venues--yeah, I'm addicted to Farmville, Cafe World, etc, but I've started limiting my time on these sites.

Setting daily goals are similar to setting weekly goals. Take a look at your day. If you are going to be working 10-hour days at the other day job, then go gentle with your goals. If you want to write 5000-words for the week, then break it down into doable increments. 5-1000-word days. Or even 5 days with 500-words in the AM and 500-words in the PM. Do what works for you and your lifestyle.

If you are having problems getting started, here are a few ideas.

One of my favorite tricks to jump start your goals is to set a 100-word goal. 100 words. That's it. One paragraph or one very long sentence. 1/3 of TNR typed page or 1/2 page of Courier.

Another trick is to set a timer. Start off easy, say 15 minutes. Surely you can spare 15 minutes before you go to bed? Or when you are drinking your morning cup of coffee?

Or simply walk--ALONE--to formulate your ideas, work out problems, or simply think out the next scene you plan on writing.

Here are a few examples from my calendar last year:
2/2/09
Ran errands/drs appts.
Submitted LC to ABNA
Subbed 2 agents online &
6 packets ready to mail
2/26/09
Read book
Wrote Fri blog
Wii’ed--worked out on the Wii Fit
3/12/09
Felt yucky
Crocheted and watched movies (this afghan went to Brenda Novak's auction)
4/28/09
Wii’d and walked
Laundry/ironing
568 words on Faerie—Finished it!!
5/28/09
MOGG—wrote 3960
Started reading Smoke in Mirrors- JAKrentz
Walked

During the last two weeks in May 2009, I wrote close to 4000 words a day. I had a deadline of the Delacorte Yearling contest that I wanted to meet. I needed to finish the rough draft of MOGG by the end of May to let the story rest before I started my edits mid-June. I submitted the entry on the last possible day of the contest--June 30, 2009.

You can do it. You just need a reason to finish that story. And the satisfaction of knowing you created something is wonderful.

And if any of my commenters have any additional ideas, please leave a note.

But for now--
Write On!