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  • Vacation Tweet Update III

    August 2nd, 2009 she Posted in Flan-dom, Where No Flan Has Gone Before No Comments »

    July 27

    • Still completely bagged after 4 days and 5 nights at #sdcc. Hoping recovery is complete before tomorrow. No yawning allowed
    • Looking forward to playing tourist in SD tomorrow. For now, we sleep
    • Afraid. I am horrible in pictures. @theonetruebix takes amazing pictures. Hopefullly he didn’t get my ditz expression on my face in his pic
    • And yes, Drew who looks amazing in every photo ever taken of him, makes me feel even sadder about the known deficiencies of photos I’m in

    July 28

    July 29

    • Boosting the US economy 1 beer and amusement park at a time.
    • Just finished watching night shows at SD Seaworld. Ooh ahhs were awesome!
    • Train is out of service. Boo! I think we’re stuck waiting 30 more mins for the blue line. Hope I’m mistaken.
    • Yay for whining on twitter! Replacement train has arrived!
    • Train goes forward. Train goes backward. We have returned to station we just left
    • Who needs a theme park when every trolley ride is an adventure?
    • Oh hai mr transit security occifer. Late for the train were you?
    • Really looking forward to the zoo (pandas!) tomorrow

    July 30

    • “Home” from the zoo. Sleepy. One last full day in SD before we fly back to #yeg

    July 31

    • WTF? Last day in town & I have a giant blister on my little toe
    • Important research underway. Which paper umbrella garnished fruity girly drink tastes best?
    • Sleepy. Have to be awake at 0 dark 30 for the flight home to the great white north tomorrow
    • 4 am wake up call at the hotel. Wonder if that’s early enough?

    August 1

    • After much early am panic we are at airport, through security & on way home.
    • Goodbye sunny SoCal. We barely knew you
    • Sitting in an airport & waiting for a flight takes an excrutiatingly long time when you are drinking crappy tasting beer.
    • Feeling old as a result of this trip. No one bothers to ID me anymore
    • Coming home with a suitcase filled with geek shirts. Hope @bingofuel is prepared for round two!
    • Fighting over who gets stuck drinking the beer. Not usually a conversation we’re used to having.
    • What a welcome home. Thunder storms, lightening, hail and tornado warnings

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    Vacation Twitter Updates – Part II

    July 26th, 2009 she Posted in Flan-dom, Where No Flan Has Gone Before No Comments »

    Turning off the option to receive tweets to my phone tonight as my txt messaging plan is nearly exhausted. Nothing to fear though, I will likely tweet a bit more about our experiences during the last week of our vacation.

    July 25

    • Standing in giant ballroom 20 hoping to get into Chuck panel. Then it’s time for the Jayne hat flash mob
    • Must have t: I am not a nerd, I just enjoy standing in line.
    • Comic-Con = diet & exercise program for nerds.8 flights of stairs & unknown miles walked before breakfast
    • We’re in! Time for Chuck panel
    • Adam’s inner grunt monolog: Joss Whedon
    • Finished last shift at california browncoats booth. Rest of the con is schedule free
    • Sitting in on the Ray Bradbury panel & 2 tv premiers so we have a spot at the Mythbusters panel
    • Sad we missed the V premier
    • Drew & I weren’t that impressed with Human Target or Vamp Diaries. On the bright side, we’ve all got seats for Mythbusters!
    • Waiting for @donttrythis to hit the stage. @badastronomer running the show 🙂
    • Consensus is that tv shows are “meh”. Mythbusters next & we know they’ll rock 🙂
    • Oh hai raspberry mojitos. Of course i with you this fine evening
    • Mythbusters panel rocked. @donttrythis & @badastronomer were a hoot. Tomorrow we wake at 0 dark 30 to brave the ballroom 20 line for Dr. Who
    • hmmm, seems I’m missing some incoming tweets. Didn’t see @britl‘s Cunning Hat search q until today… Boo twitter!

    July 26 (last day *sniff*)

    • Ack! Slept in. Must get to trolley & into ballroom 20’s hellish line-up
    • In line to go inside & get in another line. Here’s hoping we get into Dr Who
    • *w00t* we’re early enough that we’re guaranteed seats. Fabulous way to start the last day at #sdcc
    • We are in & pretty close to the front. Will see if timelord greatness rubs off & makes us cooler.
    • Trading freebie Dr Who comics with peeps in the row behind us. Panel about to start. Wish dad were here to see this.
    • Nathan Fillion & PJ Haarsma just crashed the fan club meeting *w00t*
    • Feeling sad that comic-con is nearly over. Will be a long time before we can afford to do something like this again
    • Lesson learned at comic-con: if you see something you want, buy it. Likely won’t be there later
    • Old and new school comics everywhere. Seemed like MILES of them
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    On Vacation

    July 24th, 2009 she Posted in Flan-dom, Where No Flan Has Gone Before No Comments »

    Last weekend Drew and I headed south for a few week’s vacation. After landing in San Diego shortly before midnight we crashed for the evening and drove down to Disneyland. We spent Drew’s birthday running around the park and topped off the evening with a great set of fireworks. Then, it was off to sleep before driving across LA (traffic sucks!) and visiting Universal Studios. Had a fabulous time resulting from the decision to bite the bullet and spend the extra money on a front of the line pass. Instead of needing two days to do everything in the park we got through it all in a single day. Our last day in LA was spent wandering Hollywood Blvd and through Santa Monica.

    On Wednesday we headed back to San Diego and have been neck deep in Comic Con madness. It’s been great so far but the stories of crowds and craziness all appear to be true!

    For those who follow me on Twitter, we’ve managed to get a basic pay-as-you-go cell phone with a text messaging option so I’ve been tweeting our vacation. For those who don’t follow me, a breakdown of our trip is as follows*:

    July 18:

    • neighbours throw party for hubs bday. Sweet but they feed him too much beer. left to his own devices he decided to re-pack luggage
    • Guess who’s stuck “fixing” his packing at nearly 2am on day we fly to SoCal?
    • SoCal here we come. Brekky bright & early with @eliste tomorrow am then off to Disney. Volunteer schedule all set. Costume in bag. Excited.
    • Hanging out at the #MSP Armed Forces Security Centre. Tea and sleep before flight to SD.
    • Landed and made it to hotel. Crashing for a few hours sleep before the fun really begins.

    July 19

    • Got cell phone for local calls & tweeting set up. Trying best NOT to take iPhone off of Airport mode to avoid crazy data & roaming costs.
    • Humid. Fun so far. Had great breakfast & fun catching up before spending time with Mickey.
    • Just finished watching the ooh ahhs at Disneyland
    • Sorry #yeg Capital Ex has nothing as good as this

    July 20

    • Just saw the mule from Serenity
    • So happy we saved 4 long time 4 vacay. Lack of $ worries makes a difference
    • Pondering trip to see walk of fame in the am

    July 21

    • Interesting. After days of joking that I got tired too easily at theme parks, Mr. “I’m not tired” has slept in & refuses to get out of bed.
    • Drew is kicking me as he drives route 66
    • Apparently we are now headed to santa monica for a few hours
    • Bless you SoCal. 100 spf sunblock FTW!
    • Too bad I’m already sporting a burn on my face
    • Stuck in first LA traffic jam. Send beer and pizza please.
    • Our GPS appears to be lost. What luck!

    July 22

    • The Canucks hbve landed #sdcc
    • In line to pick up #sdcc passes. Miss front of the line no wait option
    • Help! There must be something in the water. Too many happy waiting ppl #sdcc
    • I miss my iPhone. Old school messaging is so time consuming.
    • Also, no camera on cheapie pay as you go phone. On other hand, got phone & txt
    • CSTS t shirts, she-ra, wonder woman, charlie chaplin spotted
    • Adoring the fact that I am not even close to being the biggest geek in the room
    • #sdcc day 1 t shirt choice: @hijinksensue LOLFOX for me. @drhorrible “not my nemesis” for Drew
    • First day at #sdcc a success. Goodies obtained. Checked into hotel. Early day tomorrow.
    • Check-in clerk thinks Drew & our sponsor looked like brothers. I can’t see it.

    July 23

    • Off to comic con
    • Once again waiting in a long line up to get into exhibit hall. Not open yet? #sdcc
    • Cunning hat delivery delayed. Should have tonight. #sdcc
    • Who’d have expected military spouse mantra of hurry up & wait to apply in real world? #sdcc
    • First volunteer shift done & met adam baldwin FTW!
    • Breaktime is over. Noms in the belly. Braving the crowds again. SDCC. Must blog w/ pics soon since can’t twitpic with temp phone.
    • Doh! Wrong trolley. Time to get off & try again
    • In & getting ready to help out at the @drhorrible screening
    • @feliciaday is introducing @drhorrible. Let the singing & call backs begin
    • Commentary!
    • Watching people google ninja ropes during commentary! How cute! #sdcc @drhorrible
    • Lots of trollies during the day. Long wait at night #sdcc

    July 24

    • Day two. Sleepy & I now have bags under my eyes big enuf to bring purchases home in
    • Cool. @drhorrible @MoTancharoen @ZDubDub (Maurissa, Jed & Zack) signing during my shift
    • First mission accomplished. Got seats for Coraline & @neilhimself. Unfortunately this means missing @theguild 🙁
    • Today will be an adventure. Forgot epi-pens in hotel room.
    • Got into the dollhouse & joss whedon panel *w00t* #sdcc
    • Saw @britl earlier today *yay* no donation to browncoat charity *boo* public shaming r us
    • Heading to bed. Yes, I’m old. Much sleep needed tonight so we can get in line at 0 dark 30 for the Chuck panel tomorrow am.
    • Unofficial final grade on Stat class was a C+ Barely squeaked through the exam & tanked my GPA, but it’s a pass. I’ll take it.


    *As posted. Typos abound.
    Note: Pics to follow when I get the time to pull them off the camera. May not be until we get home.

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    slow few months

    June 24th, 2009 she Posted in Adventures with MOT, Flan-dom, Where No Flan Has Gone Before No Comments »

    For those following my blog these past two months haven’t provided much entertainment. So, I’m sorry to note that it’s not going to get much better for the next little bit.  Hopefully you’ll still find me in your RSS readers once my crazy final weeks of school/papers schedule is finished.

    I know I’m beginning to sound like a broken record but I’ve been busy with school of late. While I’m stuck in the basement writing and calculating, Drew’s been tearing apart the backyard. I’ll try to post some of the before/current state pictures soon. We’ve not reached the “after” state yet.

    This weekend we’re swooping into Vancouver for a few days and will be visiting with Drew’s aunt and cousins. Saturday will be spent at the Vancouver CSTS and those of you on the wet coast who are interested in what MOT’s been up to might catch a glimpse of him running around Vancouver before the weekend is out.

    He’s been pretty subdued since he came home from Afghanistan however it’s only a few more weeks before MOT heads to SoCal. Which reminds me, I’ve got a picture or two of MOT’s final days in the Sandbox that still needs posting.

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    Putting my “vacation” foot down…

    January 20th, 2009 she Posted in Flan-dom, Where No Flan Has Gone Before 4 Comments »

    Last year Drew and I – with much help from Drew’s best friend S’s wife K – went on vacation to Jasper Park Lodge in Jasper National Park.  It was the first non-camping/non-family/non-wedding related vacation we’d ever had. We’d never had a honeymoon.  We’d never gone anywhere together that didn’t involve a family visit or wedding in some way, shape, or form. It took us nearly 13 years to vacation together.  Alone. In complete control. Do the things we wanted to do. Or, more accurately, could afford to do.

    So why did it take so long to go on vacation together?  Some of it was related to our jobs. We spent a lot of time apart while one (or both) of us was working out of town or out of country.  But let’s be honest.  99% of the reason we never vacationed together was because we couldn’t afford to do both the family/wedding visits AND personal vacations. Guilt piled up. Family won out. We visited.

    Until last winter.  We took the 4 day trip to Jasper and had a fabulous time.

    This year we’re going to San Diego Comic Con.  4 day passes to the Convention have been purchased. I used my NWA airmiles to arrange for our flights.  Hotel reservations have been made and we’ve joined the SoCal Browncoats brigade of volunteers. We’ll be soaking up the sun in Southern California for 2 weeks. A visit to Disneyland is on the horizon. Now we have to save a boatload of $$ for the hotel. *squeee*

    We’ll likely miss a family wedding or gathering this year. And I don’t care. I suspect Drew doesn’t either. We can’t afford to do both and it’s about time we got to do something we really want to do.  It’s taken 13 years for us to start putting ourselves first.   Like my parents before me, it’s often us who does all the traipsing around to visit others. Not this year. Our firm message to the family will be – You know where we live. We have a spare room. Don’t ask or expect us to visit you. It’s your turn to jump through the hoops.

    Just don’t plan any visits until Drew returns.  Or in July.  Or at Christmas/New Years.  We’re not available ’cause (finally) we’ve got plans!

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