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Last night was pretty hard. I went to the Iowa Club here in Orlando. I have never clapped so much. We* were so close. We* really looked amazing in the first half. I didn’t realize how much it took out of me as I was pretty tired today.

At 1:45 p.m., I went to Grinchmas at Islands of Adventure. I thought it started at 2 p.m., but it actually started at 1:30 p.m. and 3:45 p.m. I left to get something to eat. I started standing in line around 1:55 p.m. and I ordered a veggie pizza at 2:10 p.m. It became 2:30 p.m. and I still didn’t have my pizza. I didn’t have anywhere to be until 3:00 p.m., so I wasn’t too concerned. BUT the manager noticed I had been standing there a long time. He told me to pay and he would bring me the pizza. When I got up to the register, he said that the pizza was on them. I said that really wasn’t necessary but thanks. My original pizza had burned. I don’t think they allowed for the pizza I did receive to cook fully, but it was ok. It was nice to receive something without needing to complain.

Afterwards, I started standing in line for Grinchmas. It was extremely hot. I bet it got to be 85 or 90 degrees in the open. During this time, I was able to see that Iowa had been selected to the Rose Bowl. This is only fair as we* shouldn’t be punished for having to play another game.

I went to Grinchmas, saw the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade (well, a parade with some inflatable balloons), and heard Manneheim Steamroller play a few songs including Greensleeves.

Universal and I do not get along. I will not be renewing my pass when it expires in April. It was nice to see the Thanksgiving Parade and Grinchmas, but the quality isn’t there as it is with Disney.

*I realize I am not on the Iowa Hawkeyes Football team

I went home for Thanksgiving last week. Most of you were there, so here are the pictures:

Neil Patrick Harris is narrating the Candlelight Processional this week. I went to see him last night. I didn’t want to stand in line, so the pictures are from a distance. I also walked around and saw the Christmas decorations at the Yacht and Beach Club, the Dolphin, and the Boardwalk.

The pictures at the end are from my phone – same with the Thanksgiving pictures below.

Today, we had our Christmas party at the Citrus Restaurant. My gifts were a hit. People even loved the “Obligatory Gift” gift bag. The clown was one of the best White Elephant gifts. Jerry, my boss, stole it. He might use it as an “award” at work.

Disney has upped its prices, but the new passes include the Photopass option which is pretty fun.

Here are some pictures from when Andrea was here last week:

Last weekend, Andrea arrived in Sanford around 7:45 p.m. Pilgrim Elsa and I were there to greet her at the airport. From there, we stuffed Elsa in the backseat and went to the German restaurant in Sanford. It was packed but really fun.

The next day we went to Epcot. Andrea bought an annual pass with Photopass on it. We walked around and got pictures at various points. Andrea the Hide and Squeak at the Food and Wine Festival. I already told her where to find the most challenging Remy, but it was fun looking with her when I already knew where Remy was. I had reservations for her birthday at Tokyo Dining at 12:10 p.m., so I tried to mislead her a few times to stall.

Tokyo Dining was amazing! I don’t think I have ever had the best seat in the house, but we did that day. It overlooked Japan. The lunch deal was really good as it came with soup, an entree, and dessert. The Japanese workers are probably the most polite of all the countries. Afterwards, we went to the special Disney Chase Cardholder place and drew Oswald the Rabbit. Animation Academy is not coming back to Hollywood Studios, so it was fun to draw again. Afterwards, we rode Soarin’.

After Epcot, we went to Magic Kingdom. Magic Kingdom was a nightmare. We sacrificed going on Soarin’ for Fastpasses at Magic Kingdom. We couldn’t get any good Fastpasses at a decent time, so we went on PhilHarmagic and ate at Colombia Harbor House and left. We even missed the Ice Castle. I didn’t know Elsa turns it on and off now, so we missed it and didn’t want to wait for it to light up again. We went home to watch the Iowa versus Minnesota game. When we arrived home, a flower cake and a box of chocolates were on my doorstep. They were a surprise from Bob at work for Andrea’s birthday.

On Sunday, we went to Briarpatch in Winter Park for breakfast and we went on the Winter Park Boat Tour. The boat tour is the thing to do in Winter Park. We saw a lot of famous homes of people including Horace Grant, Penny Hardaway, and Fred Rodgers. The homes range from $2 to $12 million dollars. The best part was taking the boat through the canals.

We left and went to Disney Springs (Downtown Disney). We went back to Epcot and went around the Food and Wine Festival again. We walked over to Hollywood Studios and saw the Dancing Lights. We decided we would rather eat at Sweet Tomatoes than go back to IllumiNations, so we left. I do love Sweet Tomatoes. I only eat there. Good thing there is a Sweet Tomatoes two miles from my house.

I took Andrea to the airport on Monday morning- on her birthday.

On Friday, we held the annual work Thanksgiving potluck. I was on the decorating committee. I created the placemats, the game, and the banners. It was pretty fun.

On Friday night, I played tennis at the downtown center. Much like the Hawkeyes, I punch above my weight. One guy asked me if I have a one-hand or two-hand forehand. I said, “Whatever happens at the time.” I had some really good hits among many bad ones.

I look forward to the real Thanksgiving where I will see 95% of my blog readers. See you then.

I have been really busy lately.

On Friday, I held a “Doing Business with Indonesia” seminar on Friday with the Consul General of the Republic of Indonesia. On Saturday, I attended the Indonesian Festival as a VIP guest of the Consul. Then, I went to the Iowa Watch Party. I am making friends at the Iowa games. It is going to be sad to see the season come to an end.

Then, I went to volunteer at the Disney Wine & Dine Half-Marathon. It was neat to see the logistics behind the race. I parked at Blizzard Beach and took a shuttle to the finish line. I was in charge of setting up and handing out the snack packs. We felt a few rain drops and then, we were evacuated as we saw lightning. We were ushered over to the entrance of Epcot to wait out the storm. The winds did knock some items over, but it didn’t rain heavily.

It started 45 minutes late, so the Half-Marathon was reduced from 13.1 miles to 7.1 miles. We knew the runners were going to be disappointed, but 0/13,000 runners said anything negative to me as they finished the race.  We all clapped for the wheelchair winner, the first-male winner, and first-female winner to come through. I have never smiled so much saying, “Congratulations! Well done! Good job” etc. It was really fun. The runners were so grateful and each one said thank you. Many yelled, “Thank you volunteers!” We didn’t deserve much credit as I received a coat, a shirt (didn’t know I could pick up both, so I actually only received a coat), a 5-item snack pack complete with Oreos, and a one-day Disney park ticket! It was so much fun, I would have volunteered for free though. Andrea and I are volunteering for the marathon.

On Sunday night, I went to the opening of BritWeek Orlando at the art museum. The museum unveiled never before seen pictures of the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. We held an event for BritWeek today at our place.

Tonight, I went to see Hanson sing MmmBop at Epcot.

Andrea arrives on Friday night, so I wanted to update the blog to as current as possible.

I have had a few events this week. This afternoon, I met a good friend from Port Tampa Bay. We met half way in between Tampa and Orlando at The Back Porch. The place seemed like a brigadoon of the Amana Colonies, Bishop Hill, and Galena. It was pretty neat. Afterwards, I went to Epcot and Hollywood Studios.

The Dancing Lights, I believe, start tomorrow night, but they have been running a soft opening this whole week. It was bittersweet to hear the Christmas music as this is the last year of the lights. They are building a Star Wars land and enlarging the Toy Story area. As a non-Star Wars fan, it will be sad not to see the lights anymore.

Christmas at Universal starts December 5th. I better get there a lot this year as I am not renewing my pass after it expires. I always forget I have a pass there. I haven’t been there in so long.

It is about 85 to 90 degrees here still.

Sorry for the delay in posting. I have been pretty busy/ lazy in the last few weeks. Here is the video from when I was home about 2 weeks ago: