Scheduled! (Note: Really Long Post)

After finishing school, WGH and I went on a weekend trip to the Eastern Shore, which ended up being a nice getaway for us. Our big trip, however, was going to Orlando, where we went on our honeymoon and where my sister and I own a timeshare.
The day we left for the trip, I got notice that I was able to schedule my national certification exam, which I promptly did. I am scheduled to take it Monday, May 23rd, about one week from now.
In the meantime, we left for Orlando after I "worked" half a day at the J-O-B. I don't know that I actually got much done that morning, but at least I was there.
We drove through the night and were able to watch the sunrise in St Augustine, FL, from Ft Marion. Unfortunately, there was some cloud cover on the horizon, so basically, we just watched it get lighter. We drove to Daytona using Rt 1 instead of the typical interstate, which makes for more interesting sight-seeing.

Uh-oh

Once we got back onto I-95, I realized that we needed to make a pit-stop before getting onto I-4, so we exited off the ramp for Ocala. While we waiting at the stoplight at the bottom of the ramp, we heard this HUGE crash and looked next to us (out the passenger side), where a pick-up truck had slammed into the back of a SUV. All the airbags were deployed in both vehicles and the young woman in the SUV was able to walk away after the paramedics checked her over. The driver of the pick-up, an older man, seemed confused and it appears that he may have been experiencing a some sort of medical event (diabetic? stroke? Alzheimer's?) and did not even try to stop at the light. According to one man who had seen him from the previous exit, he had already gone into a ditch and taken out a sign while getting back on the road. The other witness was on the phone with state police reporting his erratic driving and told them that the accident had occurred.
Also freaky about this event, was that there was a motorcycle rider, whom I had noticed before, who was sitting at the stoplight behind the SUV - on the passenger side. As the rider explained to me, the proper positioning of a rider is behind the driver, not the passenger. However, if he had been on the drivers side, we would have not been talking to this rider. The crash happened about a foot from him, and had he been in the proper position, we would have been finding pieces of him all over the road.
We stayed and waited until the police didn't need us any longer as witnesses and then proceeded to our waiting adventures in Orlando, albeit very freaked out and finding it somewhat difficult to get this out of our minds. What if we had been in the middle lane? What if the rider had followed protocol and been behind the driver? Needless to say, this won't be easily forgotten.
About an hour later, we found ourselves in Celebration, FL, sitting down to a scrumptious breakfast at the Market Street Cafe, where I had the best grits I've ever had. After breakfast we walked around a bit and then went exploring the Orlando around, seeing as how we had about four hours to kill until we could check in at the timeshare.
We got checked in and then went back out again to get the necessary groceries for the week and then came back and chilled out for awhile. Since we had been up for way over 24 hours, we ended up going to sleep early.
The next day, Sunday, we went swimming and then greeted my sister and hubby for their arrival. We had dinner and discussed about what we were going to do the rest of the week. It was mostly a "down" day. Meaning that we didn't do much. I love those days.

Monday

WGH and I went to Hollywood Studios at Disney. A long, hot day, but quite enjoyable. Highlights: the Indiana Jones adventure, the backlot tour, Prime Time Cafe with our waiter/brother Mark, and the extreme stunt show.

Tuesday

Mark, WGH, and I went to Universal's Islands of Adventure, where we got to experience the new Harry Potter world. Highlights: Dr Doom's tower, Poseidon's Fury, the Mystical Fountain, and Spiderman.

Wednesday

I treated myself to a day at the spa: hour massage, hour facial, 20 minute foot massage, and a& paraffin hand treatment. After all that pampering, I was able to walk so much better. For dinner that night, the four of us went to Universal's City Walk - to Emeril's restaurant. I had the short-ribs special (boneless!) and WGH had the filet mignon. For dessert, I had the vanilla bread pudding with cinnamon& ice cream. We were all quite full when we left.

Thursday

WGH and I went to Universal Studios, where "The Mummy," my favorite roller coaster, is located. It's not big like some of the others, but it actually tells a story and has some unexpected elements to it - besides the fact that it's an inside roller coaster and a good portion of it is in the dark. At Universal Studios, one thing to do to avoid lines for a couple of their more popular rides: get in the "Single Rider" line. You will get pulled to fill spaces left by groups of uneven numbers. For instance, on The Mummy, I walked up to where I was supposed to wait, but the attendant saw me coming up the steps and said, "Single Rider, line 4." I literally walked right onto the ride! WGHBeetlejuice Rock-n-Roll Revue, Twister, Jaws, and Disaster (formerly Earthquake).

Friday

We did nothing but hang out by the pool and in the pool.
Saturday morning, as we were getting ready to leave and still packing up stuff, the cleaning crew came in and began cleaning the other unit. I'm thinking - uh...we haven't even checked out yet. Can you give us a few? We checked out at exactly 10:00, the check-out time. And we had checked-in the previous Saturday at 4:00, the check-in time. I believe in getting my full vacation!
We met a lot of rain on the way home, and about 25 miles from home at 1:00 am, my mom called to say that she was stuck and needed help. Her blood sugar was down and she didn't have the strength to get herself to some food to bring up her sugar. She'd had a couple oreos that she keeps next to her for such occasions, but it wasn't enough. So, I pushed myself and got to her house and got her situated and back to where she needed to be. I certainly didn't need coffee after that adrenaline rush of getting to Mom.
After a tiring 14 hour drive, we finally got home, were greeted by the kitties, and then got to sleep.
My task this week is to study as much as I possibly can for the national exam in a week!