Winding down from Disney

We returned from our Disney World trip a week ago and what a whirlwind it has been! The trip flew by much too fast, of course, but we were eager to get back to our real lives and the slower pace that entails. As I mentioned before, we stayed with my husband's parents in a time-share condo on the Disney World grounds in Orlando, Florida. The condo was a very nice two bedroom unit with two bathrooms. Our room had one queen size bed, and a double sleeper sofa. The sofa was a newer kind of sleeper that we had never seen before. Rather than pulling off the cushions and finding the mattress folded under the seat, you pull a strap from the back of the top and the whole seating area, including the back, comes folding forward. It was really neat the way it worked, and we were shocked to find a memory foam mattress unfolding from back there. It was very comfortable too, much better than the old "bar in your back" variety.

Anyway, we spent a day in each park and got to see most everything we wanted. I was a bit disappointed that the Disney characters are so hard to see now. When we went three years ago with our oldest daughter, the characters were just milling around the parks and there was that element of surprise when the kids saw one and could just run up and give them a hug. Now, there are always lines to see them and at Epcot, there is actually a "Character Meet and Greet" building where all the big characters like Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and Donald Duck are, but we would've had to wait over an hour in line before seeing them. I was afraid that after standing in the line so long, the kids might either be bored with the whole thing or panic after having it built up for so long. So we opted not to stand in that line. We did see some of the lesser known characters around the park, like Chip and Dale, the Brother Bears, and Rafiki from the Lion King.

The kids had a lot of fun and my three year old son keeps asking when we are going back to Disney World so we can return the cards to Mickey Mouse. We let him keep the park entry cards, which look like credit cards with Disney characters on the front. He thinks they work like credit cards too, because when I told him I would bring quarters to play in the machine at the grocery store yesterday, he informed me that he didn't need money since he had the card. Then he proceeded to flash the card in my direction and slipped it into his coat pocket.

I'll share more vacation stories in the coming weeks, and will post some pictures too.

Down with microwave popcorn!

We have made popcorn the old-fashioned way (on the stove) for quite some time now, just because we like the taste and smell better than the microwave variety which usually ends up slightly charred. This reminds me of a funny story from my very first job working at a movie theater when I was sixteen years old.

My manager didn't have a problem with customers bringing in their own candy and snacks, so long as it wasn't microwave popcorn. See, he believed that the smell of microwave popcorn would turn customers off from buying popcorn from our popcorn machines, so if he smelled microwave corn, he would go around checking customers until he found the culprit and would make them remove the offending popcorn from the theater. Of course, me and all the other employees thought this was ridiculous, but it was fun to watch.

Hide your TV

For those of you who aren't quite ready to "cut the cord" with your television set, at least you can keep it out of sight when it's not in use. We keep ours in an armoire with the doors closed unless we are watching a movie. We stopped watching television two years ago with many benefits and only watch videos occasionally .

Believe it or not, there is even a way to hide plasma TVs. Most people just hang them on the wall, but there are pieces of furniture specifically made with a pop up tv inside. They are called Plasma TV lifts and when they are closed, they look like a wood dresser or buffet. Then with the push of a button, the TV slides up out of a panel in the top of the unit. What will they think of next?

Buy direct to save big

I found an online store that takes the idea of warehouse shopping to the internet. The site is called directbuy charges a membership fee to join, which lets members purchase merchandise at factory-direct prices that normally only retailers enjoy. This could save the average shopper up to 43% in the home furnishing department alone. Direct Buy is an online home design center and carries products for all aspects of home finishing, redecorating and remodeling.

Direct Buy offers a free trial visitor's pass for a peek into the members-only showroom and for more information. Give them a try if you want to save money decorating your home by cutting out the middle man.

Save money on glasses

Eureka Springs is about an hour from any substantially large cities. As such, many of our residents are either self-employed, proprietors of local business, or telecommute and work from home. This makes for a close-knit community who are always willing and ready to share money-saving tips and help each other when the need arises. So I feel compelled to share my Great Discovery: www.ZenniOptical.com. When you purchase prescription glasses directly from the frame manufacturer, there is no middleman, and therefore the prices are lower.

Check out these unbelievable prices:
Complete single vision glasses start at $8
Complete bi-focal glasses start at $25
Complete progressive glasses start at $37

Plus, the extra anti-scratch and UV protection coatings that usually add more cost are free from Zenni Optical. Check out their site and see for yourself.

Goodall's Grocery

Today was the grand opening of Goodall's Grocery, a new food market downtown at 55 Center Street. This was the former location of Tatoo's Eureka Style.

I just had to check it out because I thought that place would be too small for a grocery store. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. They had a little of everything, from dairy products, to canned goods, to school supplies, to baby diapers! They had a nice spread of goodies for the grand opening and the atmosphere was very pleasant. The prices were higher than a traditional grocery store, but the convenience may be worth it for residents who live downtown and can walk to the store.

Christmas Eve skate party

This year was the first ever Christmas Eve Skate Party here in Eureka Springs. They are hoping to make it an annual tradition, and based on this year's turnout, I'd say there is a good chance it will continue (depending on weather, of course). I was amazed at the skill of all the young skaters in town. Some boys were only seven or eight years old, skating in the park, doing tricks in the bowl and half-pipe just like the adults.

Our daughter was interested in the skating, but our younger son understandably only wanted to play on the playground. So we spent time in both areas, enjoying the beautiful day (60 degrees on Christmas Eve!). One thing that was very interesting was a customized mini-van in the parking lot. It was painted to look like a space shuttle, complete with rocket boosters on the back. I've seen plenty of customized car spoilers and bras, but this van was truly a spectacle. We drive a mini-van too, and never thought much could be done to customize it. I guess we were wrong.

Potty progress report

Well, it's been about a month since my son (3 years and 3 months old) decided to be potty trained. I'm happy to report he is still going strong and we've only had a couple of mishaps along the way. First of all, to my amazement, he has only wet the bed twice in a whole month. Every other morning, he wakes up dry and sometimes even waits to go potty until after he eats breakfast! As you can imagine, this makes me quite nervous, but he won't go if you tell him to, so I have to keep my mouth shut.

There have also been a few times when he waits too long and has a little wetness in his underwear before making it to the potty. I don't make a big deal about it and he just picks out a new pair of undies and changes them himself. He's all about doing things by himself right now, so I'm going with the flow. This will be very important for starting pre-school in August since they expect the kids to do most things themselves.

Overall, I'm still very proud of my "big boy" and I'm so glad he is out of diapers before our Florida trip in two weeks! Mickey Mouse will be so impressed, I'm sure.