Expedition

One of the benefits of living with someone still employeed by Disney is being able to ride rides before they are available to the general public. So Saturday afternoon, the family journeyed all the way to the other side of the highway to Animal Kingdom - home of the new Expedition Everest attraction.

One word summary: Excellent.

Director's cut extra words summary: This ride alone should infuse Animal Kingdom with new life. Considering that Dinosaur was the biggest thrill available before this ride, the park was mostly focused on families with kids or old people. This ride goes right for the teen-to-young-adult jugular. While it doesn't actually invert (Rockin' Rollercoaster is still the only WDW ride that does that), there are a number high-gee corkscrews, backward motion, and a huge steep drop near the end.

The atmosphere is amazing. The queue area is full of things to look at and read. The ride itself is a steam train that feels more train-like than Big Thunder Mountain, and the mountain looks great. Inside the ride, the twists and turns actually feel right based on what you are experiencing. The switch to backward motion is done really well. The forwards switch is the only show-breaker, since you can see the machinery doing the work. But if you are distracted by the Yeti show, you won't notice. The Yeti is not all that scary, not even for the four and six year old boys in my family. The ride itself was a little rough on them, though. They aren't interested in riding it again anytime soon. (I thought for sure the four year old was going to be my coaster buddy, based on previous rides.)

In any case, we had a lot of fun Saturday. Most of the people in the park were Cast Members there for the new ride, so we had no waiting for any of the other rides. The kids went on Dinosaur for the first time, and absolutely loved it - oddly, I thought of the two, they would find this ride to be the scary one. But what do I know?

When it opens to the public, don't miss it on your next trip. It's just too bad Carrie and Ike won't have a chance to ride while they're down here this week.

Did you know Everest moves 10 centimeters a year to the NorthEast? Freaky.

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Link of the Moment: Thin-thread linking is the name of the game, and China Junk Food Review is the result. I didn't have anything for the Nepal side of the mountain.

Insufficient

I listen to the Country station every so often in the car. It's about the only radio music that gets me emotional, especially when discussing family issues. There's a new song out that goes like this:

Daddy hugs his little man
says son I’ve got to go
and he pulls out of the drive and disappears
as they walk back in the house
the young boy asks his mama
where does daddy go when he leaves here

mama tells her little man
your daddy’s got a job
and when he goes to work they pay him for his time
well the young boy gets to thinking
and he heads up to his bedroom
and comes running back with a quarter and four dimes

(chorus:)
and says mama how much time will this buy me
is it enough to take me fishing or throw a football in the street
if I’m a little short then how much more does daddy need
to spend some time with me

the young boy tells his mama
now I know daddy’s busy
cause most times when he gets home it’s dark outside
but tell him I’ve got me some pennies
saved up from the tooth fairy
and I keep ‘em in my piggy bank and I believe there’s thirty-five

(chorus:)
and mama how much time will that buy me
is it enough to take me camping in a tent down by the creek
if I’m a little short then how much more does daddy need
to spend some time with me

mama how much time will this buy me
is it enough for just an afternoon a day or a whole week
if I’m a little short then how much more does daddy need
to spend some time with me

mama takes her little man
sets him on her lap
and starts dialing up some numbers on the phone
she says daddy come home early
you don’t have to chase that dollar
cause your little man has got one here at home

-The Dollar by Jamey Johnson (Lyrics found at CowboyLyrics.com)

I see my kids every day, and usually spend at least three hours with them each day. So, I'm not as bad as that song. Still, I don't think I'm a very good father. I don't think my children hate or even dislike me. But I'm pretty sure I don't make their top five list of heroes (you've gotta leave some wiggle room to account for Superman or the Power Rangers).

My youngest son is on his way to being kicked out of a fourth day care for lashing out, and this is only his second week there. He is on his third attempt of finding a psychological medicine that will help him - until this week we thought the Risperdal was working where the Ritalin and Adderall failed. We're experimenting on our son with chemicals we don't really want him to have in the first place.

What are you supposed to do when you've tried all the options, then crossed the line you said you wouldn't cross, and still you fail?

There's more I typed here, deleted, then typed another way, then deleted again. I don't know how to write what I want to write, but I needed to type something now before I break down at my desk.

All I know is that I feel like I've been judged and found wanting.

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Link of the moment: This video makes me feel a little sad - not because it's a sad song, but it makes me wish my kids saw me that way.

But then I smile, because Optimus Prime makes everything better.

Resolutions

I don't do New Year Resolutions. I figure, if I need to commit to a change of some kind, why wait until some arbitrary date? Do I need to lose weight? Abso-freakin'-lutely. Should I update this thing more often? Duh. Do I need to get back into school and use all those credits to upgrade to a degree? Darn tootin'.

So why don't I do these things that I need to do? I'm generally a procrastinator, so that certainly plays a part. I know that, and I recognize when I'm doing it - you should see me when there is a phone call that I don't want to make. I'm not opposed to working hard - I regularly meet unreasonable deadlines at work.

I guess I just don't really feel invested in these goals. I should be. Other than the seven pounds I lost over the holidays, I'm weighing the most I ever have. Convenience food is just that - convenient. I don't snack very often, I just don't exercise or necessarily eat healthy meals. At thirty, I really cannot attribute my lower back aches to age, nor do I work in a warehouse lifting crates of imported sweatshop goods. Lugging this root beer belly around is taking its toll.

As far as this blog - I tend to think of things to write when I'm away from the computer. When I get to a place where I could type it up, I am nowhere near as interesting as I previously believed myself to be. Not to mention, as I find more and more evidence of people who write better than myself, my inner perfectionist suggests I should wait until my wit ratio has risen a few points. I mean, heck, I don't lack for links-of-the-moment. You could probably measure it with two bevies. I envy some of the folks over on my link list to the right - I just can't seem to update with nearly the frequency I want to.

And school? I usually hide behind the time excuse, because it's a good one. I get up by 0600, get everyone else ready and out the door by 0715, get back home at 1800 (if there are no activities for the kids), kids fed and in bed by 2000, and daily household chores done by 2100. But you know, she'd be pretty supportive of my getting a degree under my belt, and my father has clearly demonstrated his willingness to pick up and watch the kids (more on that in another entry), so things could be juggled. I'm not rich by any means, but I also don't need the newest game or what have you, and my debt is managable.

I dropped out of college the first time I tried it. After a brief hiatus, I started at the local community college. After my first son was born, money was tight, and I cut back on classes until I eventually just stopped going. Now I could probably swing it - but I'm significantly out of practice. I also know that I'd have to start over on a lot of things - I suspect a number of my credits are currently only relevant to the database they are stored in. So... yeah.

Anyway, this is going for longer than I planned.

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Link of the moment: Not sure how much time you have left to do the things you always meant to? Find out!