Year end

The end of the year has arrived.

There were two things that I hoped to be able to achieve in 2011 that I thought I'd share: one was to read 50 books this year (in the hope that the number of unread books on my shelves might start to decrease rather than increase), and the other was to try to blog something every day.

On the first of these, I have managed to read exactly 50 - a couple of long flights over the last couple of weeks certainly helped with getting through the last few. For the evidence, you can check out miff73's books on goodreads.com.

On the second, there were definitely a few days where I didn't blog for one reason or another, but I always tried to catch up, and as a result this is my 365th blog of the year, so I am going to award myself half a point for that one.

Obviously, I'm not going to share 2012's challenges now - that way you won't know whether I am being lenient on myself or not when it comes to the end of next year.

For 2011, I will finish off with one photo from each month of the year:

Cloud

UK time is re-establishing itself, although I can't claim to have been up particularly early this morning.

Owen came round to play with Jake today, and this afternoon we took them to see the latest Mission Impossible film. It didn't seem to matter that we hadn't seen any of the previous ones, and it was actually rather good. Would have made a good Bond film! Interestingly, it was directed by Brad Bird (his first live action film), and so sure enough, A113 got a mention.

This evening I've been learning about the Cloud, or rather the iCloud to be more precise. As we are now pretty much falling over Apple devices in this house, it seems worth learning more about, so that we can share music, photos, documents and so on more seamlessly with all of them. It looks like I will need to do some upgrading of operating systems (most importantly to get the Mac from Snow Leopard to Lion) which costs about £20, but hopefully will be worth it. Even without having the main Mac tuned in to iCloud yet we've managed to share photos between the phones using the Photo Stream, and I guess they should be on the Macbook as well, but I haven't tried that yet - use of the Macbook is a little restricted until my US to UK adaptor arrives from Amazon!

Back home

Back in cold and wet blighty. Tried and failed to stay awake all day. Will try harder tomorrow.

Gate post 2

And so, the end is near.
Blogging from gate 83 at MCO as we wait to board our flight home.
Our final day has been fairly uneventful - we were up, breakfasted and out of our lovely villa 6422 by around half past nine and made the short drive to Downtown so that we could check in for our flight and get rid of our big bags (which were a bit heavier than when we arrived). Then we went over to the marketplace end of Downtown for some last minute shopping - pins, choc squares, aerial toppers - before waving goodbye to Disney for a little while.
Next stop the Premium Outlets - main reason for visit so that Jake could get his NY hat JC initialled like the DG one, but Nicky also picked up a bargain bag from Tommy Hilfiger.
Final stop Dennys and then here we are at the airport.
Sent from my iPad

Day 11 - Studios

Just a short blog tonight, as everything is packed and I'm typing on the phone.

Up and out to the Studios this morning with Nicky and Jake, and straight to Toy Story Mania, where I came a resounding last.

Then, during the rest of the morning we did Star Tours, the Beauty and the Beast show, Animation Academy (Jiminy Cricket), the American Idol Experience, and One Man's Dream.

Back at OKW this afternoon we relaxed for a while, played some table tennis (obviously) and then this evening went out for a final Old Navy trip and dinner at IHOP.

Off to Downtown in the morning before making the most of our final day.

Day 10 - Extra Magic

Long day = short post today.

Jake and I were up at 6, and pretty much straight out the door so that we were at the Magic Kingdom in time for the 7am rope drop for EMH.

Perhaps there will be an opportunity to do a fuller version of today's events at another time, but by just after ten o'clock when the rest of the family arrived, Jake and I had done:

- Space Mountain
- Peter Pan
- Small World
- Splash Mountain
- Big Thunder Mountain
- Haunted Mansion
- Aladdin's carpets
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Big Thunder again
- Buzz Lightyear
- Carousel of Progress.

Once everyone else had arrived the park was getting pretty busy, but we still managed to go and see the Country Bears and the Jungle Cruise before having our pulled pork sandwiches for lunch and watching the Christmas parade.

Back to the hotel for a rest this afternoon (well I had a rest - Nicky played Jake at table tennis) and this evening we've been to Epcot for the Candlelight Processional and Illuminations.

Anyone would think we're coming towards the end of our holiday - we're packing it in now - off to the Studios in the morning.

Day 9 - Christmas

A short summary of our Christmas Day:

- up late, and cooked breakfast prepared and enjoyed in our villa - a pretty good "full English" with a few American twists
- a ride around our resort on a Surrey bike for four, with Nanny following along on her scooter
- games of table tennis, hover hockey, table football, pool and draughts
- a dip in the pool
- a lovely Christmas dinner at the Turf Club at Saratoga, and
- a Christmas drink with my lovely wife at the OKW bar.

Merry Christmas to all, and I'll leave you with a picture - the view from our balcony this morning.

Day 8 - shopping

Today started with a trip to the Premium Outlets (the usual Vineland ones rather than the I-Drive ones - now that we need to be specific), and everyone did pretty well in bagging some bargains. Jake came away with several new baseball caps - one even sporting his initials on the back.

Once we were all shopped out, we made our way to Downtown, where we had a lunch reservation at Captain Jacks. John and I agreed on the best approach to the menu - namely to skip the main courses, and go straight from starter to dessert - clam chowder followed by key lime pie.

Otherwise, we've been around the resort. Jake beat me at table tennis (and that was before I had a beer at the bar), and we've been to see Father Christmas.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Day 7 - Golf and Fantasmic

Well day 7's post really needs to start with day 6 as I failed to blog about it until now.

Day 6 got off to a slow, and unspeakably sad start, with the receipt of news from the UK that we had been fearing.

However, we dusted ourselves off, and decided that getting on with enjoying our holiday was the right thing to do, and so went over to the Boardwalk for some lunch, and for Jake and I to play some silly games in the arcade (several variations on the grabber machine theme, but despite being convinced that I was going to win a 3DS at one stage, we came away empty handed). After lunch we played a round of crazy golf at Fantasia Gardens, where Nanny got holes in one on two holes in a row - the drinks are on her for the rest of the holiday.

After golf we came back to the hotel, and in the evening went up the road to the River Roost bar at Port Orleans, where some mucking about with Bob the pianist, along with a few cocktails, was just what was needed. Nicky got to be a partridge in a pear tree.

After a fairly late night, Nicky and I then had an early morning, as I had an early tee time at the Lake Buena Vista Golf Course.

Nicky is very concerned that I will insist on giving a shot by shot analysis of my round, but I will avoid that, and limit myself to the following:

- I had a great time, and it was lovely that Nicky came along too to keep me company;
- I think that Nicky actually rather enjoyed driving the cart;
- this was the best golf course I have ever played on by a country mile;
- I got a par 3 on the 7th - the one with the island green that our balcony overlooks;
- all of the staff were really friendly, from the people in the pro shop, the guys who sorted me out with clubs and shoes, the starter, the people on the course, and the girl who drove the refreshments cart;
- I can see a round of golf becoming a regular fixture in future Florida holidays!

This afternoon was spent at the hotel, playing table tennis, having a dip in the pool, and generally soaking up the rays - the weather is amazing - getting close to record highs for this time of year (I think that a lot of the records were set during our honeymoon year).

Finally, this evening we went for a second visit (as predicted) to Red Lobster for dinner before heading in to Hollywood Studios to see the 8pm Fantasmic show.

Behind

Behind on blogging - sorry.

Yesterday crazy golf and Bob the pianist. This morning proper golf - lots of fun.

More later, hopefully with pictures too.

Day 5 - Anniversary

On account of being our 15th wedding anniversary, we decided to split into two groups, and Nicky and I left Nanny, Grandad and Jake at home, contemplating a day of exploring our resort, going in the pool, and playing table tennis, before a trip to Epcot in the evening to see Illuminations.

Our first stop was at the Polynesian Resort, where we decided to go and try out the Kona Cafe, which we'd heard good things about in various reviews. Before our coffee we had a little look around, and to be honest, we are not disappointed that we haven't stayed at the Polynesian. The white sandy beach was lovely, and the views across the Seven Seas Lagoon to the other resorts and the Magic Kingdom were beautiful in the morning sunshine.

Nicky made a beeline for a hammock on the beach, and near to it found a ten dollar bill in the sand. Hoping to reunite it with its rightful owner, she asked a child who looked like she was looking for something whether she'd lost any money but she said no. So, as we walked back inside to go and find the cafe, I was thinking that we were doing to be enjoying some free coffee, Nicky wanted to hand in the money at the front desk. So, we went up and waited for a cast member to be available. Nicky explained that we'd found the money, and could they take it for safe keeping, and we were met by a very puzzled expression from the cast member. Clearly this did not compute. "Oh - so you want to hand it in?" Reluctantly, she took the money and put it in an envelope, but I'm afraid this was a black mark against the customer service team!

Anyway, upstairs for coffee, and the cafe was nothing to write home about either - so I won't.

Leaving the Polynesian, next stop some outlet shopping. We went to LBVFS, and parked next to Old Navy so that it could be our first port of call. As always, we found lots that we liked, and ended up with five items which were about $50. However, when we were in the queue someone (not sure if it was a staff member or another customer) handed Nicky a 30% off voucher, so we ended up only paying $35 (and Nicky handed the voucher on to the next lady in the queue as well).

A stroll around the shops, and we bought a few things in the Nike store and in Tommy Hilfiger as well. When we were about half way around the stores, I decided that I needed a polo shirt as well (reason will become clear later) but we couldn't find anything we liked, so we ended up back in Old Navy again, where I picked one up for $9, although I blagged a couple of dollars off at the till by mentioning that we had a 30% off voucher earlier and that we'd forgotten to pick this item up then!

Lunch was calling by now, and so we went and found the bottom of I-Drive in search of somewhere nice to eat. Just above the Pointe, we found an Olive Garden, and decided to add it to the list of new restaurants tried this holiday. It was great, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Despite only having one starter, one main, and one dessert between the two of us, we still came out really full up.

After a quick stop off at Game Stop (safe to write this here, as there's no way that Jake will bother to read this much of the post!) we went for a look around Celebration, which we haven't visited for a few years. On the main street, they were busy spraying on some snow, ready for the snowball fight that was scheduled for that evening! Our only purchase in the town was a toy for Barley (a reindeer just like Barbara from Santa Barbara!) and we didn't stay very long.

Next stop was Saratoga Springs, where we went to talk to the people in the pro shop at the Lake Buena Vista golf course. As a result, I now have a tee time booked for 8.39 on Friday morning, and am thoroughly looking forward to it. Nicky is going to come with me to be golf cart driver! Expect lots of photos ...

We had a drink at the Artists Palette and then got the boat to Downtown, where we could very easily have spent a few thousand dollars in the art store.

By now we were pretty worn out from a full day, and so after a light snack for tea, we headed home, and watched the Santa Claus on TV until the late night revellers got home from the fireworks at Epcot.

All in all, one of the best anniversaries ever!

Day4 - MK and Mall

The observant amongst you may have noticed that overnight this post was showing as something of a holding message due to connectivity challenges. These have now been resolved, and I am very pleased to announce that this post is being composed on my new MacBook Air - more about that later!

Day 4 dawned bright and warm, and so we decided that we could wait no longer for our first trip to the Magic Kingdom. We got the bus from our resort - hardly any wait at all - and the bus driver was friendly and helpful once again when it came to getting the scooter up the ramp and into position.

Once we'd arrived at MK we wandered down Main Street, stopping to enjoy a little bit of singing from some performers who appeared on a horse-drawn carriage, and as seems to be tradition, our first stop was at the Buzz Lightyear ride. Again, as always, modesty forbids me from reporting here about who achieved the highest score.

Again, in keeping with tradition it was off to the Transit Authority followed by a showing of Philharmagic, before it was time to have a morning drink and snack (funnel cake, waffle, and then - only because they came in rather sweet holiday souvenir mugs - a couple of ice creams!)

By now the park was getting fairly busy and so we decided to make our way back down Main Street and onto the train for a tour around the park, before heading out and back onto the bus (no wait at all) back to our resort.

Here we had a bit of a rest, as well as playing some table tennis, having lunch, and having a dip in the pool, before deciding that a trip to Mall at Millennia was in order. We all got something from the shops, although I must admit that certain members of the party did rather better than others. John and I made a beeline for the Apple store, and despite them not being able to explain why John's iPhone was having some trouble with connecting to a US network (conclusion being that it is all O2's fault) John decided to buy himself an iPad 2 and I bought this rather lovely MacBook Air).

We should have taken a photo of me clutching the bag outside of the store - then I could have updated the photo in the banner at the top of my web page!

We decided against eating at the Mall (a bit of a shock seeing as there was a Jonny Rocket's there - but we'd had a burger at lunchtime), and so with the help of the iPhone (although Siri let us down) we found the nearest Denny's, where Nicky and John had a gallon of OJ each, and Jake "slammed it up".

Now that I have my MacBook, I can get some photos uploaded to Flickr, and so here are a few from our first few days of holiday. (Note that in keeping with an Apple-powered holiday, all photos were taken on my iPhone!)

Day 3 - Epcot

Today was our first trip into a theme park and we started with Epcot. We had a bit of a race between the car and the bus, and the car group won to the tune of a ride on Spaceship Earth. We met up at the pin store near to the fountain, and after stopping off for a drink, Jake went with Nanny and Grandad to the Universe of Energy, whilst Nicky and I went to have a look around Mouse Gear. By the time the Energy show was done we were able to take a leisurely stroll around the World Showcase to Japan for our Teppan Edo lunch. We completed the World Showcase circuit after lunch and made our way to the Land, where we killed a few minutes on the boat ride around the greenhouses before our allotted fast pass time for Soarin' came around. All parked out we packed the stroller into the car and came home to the hotel where this evening there's been table tennis, a dip in the pool for Jake and I, and bagels followed by key lime pie for tea. (by the way, if it happens again, sorry about the lack of paragraphs, seems to happen when blogging from iPad.)

Day 2 - settling in

Having wireless internet in our rooms is a real bonus. Means that I can sit here typing away on the iPad to blog. Jake is playing on his PSP, John has just gone down to guest services to get park tickets for him and Margaret, and Nicky and Margaret are out on the balcony watching the folders on the 7th green. Yesterday was a long day. A combination of the later flight plus a few waits at MCO meant that we didn't get to the hotel until after nine o'clock. We were allocated building 64, which is nice and close to the main facilities of the resort. Other than getting a few essential provisions from the hotel store, we weren't up to much yesterday evening, and so after unpacking (or even before in some cases) we were off to bed. Up early this morning, and after a little explore of our surroundings we headed out to stock up more fully at Publix, and then went to Red Lobster for an early lunch. This is already making a case for getting pretty high up in the charts of our favourite Orlando restaurants, and I have a feeling that we might be going there again before the holiday is out. About to go and get on a boat to Downtown.

Gate post

In keeping with holiday tradition this is the post from the gate waiting to board the plane.
They've started boarding already, so best to keep this brief.
More news later.
Sent from Nicky's iPhone

Packing

And so we've arrived at that moment when bags come down from the loft, and packing can begin in earnest. No more school, no more teaching, no more work, and the most important thing becomes making sure we take everything that we want on holiday.

Clothes are the easy bit - a few t-shirts, a fleece, jeans, shorts and swimming trunks are the most important. Token gesture of a marginally smarter pair of trousers, shirt and jumper, which may all come back home unworn.

The more difficult bit seems to be the electrical kit - cameras, pods, pads and phones (all "i"), games consoles, batteries, walkie talkies, and enough chargers that if we stretched out all of the leads they'd probably reach from here to Disney World.

Then, the most difficult bit - which books to take. Still mulling that one over - may end up making a final decision in the morning.

Oh yeah, and apparently we have some money, passports and tickets as well. Nicky's in charge of that.

Small numbers

0 - the number of days of term left for Jake.

1 - the number of days left of going to work this year.

2 - days until we're on that plane.

Coastal tour

A tour of the south coast for me today - morning in Brighton and afternoon meeting in Eastbourne.

I get to go to all the glamorous places with this job!

(Back to Crawley tomorrow!)

Little drummer boy

Today we took delivery of four boxes of drum-kit goodies - one of which was alarmingly large. Nicky did an excellent job of unpacking and building, so that by the time that Jake got home from school, his Christmas present was put together in the games room and ready to play. The only slight problem was that in order to play with headphones a large to small plug (to use the technical term) socket adaptor was required. We've definitely got (had?) one somewhere, but despite looking in all the likely places, Nicky wasn't able to track it down, and so she had the inspired idea of going over the road and seeing if we could borrow a small amplifier.

Hopefully we are still on speaking terms with the neighbours.

Whilst round for tea this evening, Grandad said that he's got an adaptor, so hopefully Jake will be able to plug in from now on.

In holiday news, I called up OKW, and after a moment of confusion when they tried to locate our booking, put in our room request preferences for when we check in on Saturday. I asked for one of buildings 23, 24 or 62, in that order. Will be interesting to see if they can do this for us - we'll know for sure pretty soon now.

Mahna Mahna

Early Christmas

Christmas came a little early today, and so lunch was roast turkey with all of the trimmings (including a particularly fine, smooth cranberry jelly).

Our job (and I use the term "our" in its loosest possible sense) was to bring desert, and so Nicky made some raspberry mousses and also a truly scrumptious chocolate cheesecake, and I have the photographic evidence to prove it.

I may even have just had a second slice with a bit of late tea.

Ho ho ho - Merry Christmas one and all!

Old Key West

Old Key West was the first of the Disney Vacation Club resorts to open, in 1991. Being the only one, when it was first opened it was simply known as the Disney Vacation Club Resort, but is was renamed in 1996 when the Club began to expand. There are now 11 DVC resorts, seven of which are at Walt Disney World, and this week at the DVC Condominium Association Meeting, an announcement was made confirming the much anticipated 12th resort which will be The Villas at the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, due to open in late 2013.

Old Key West is located in the Downtown Disney area, and is on the corner between Buena Vista Drive (to the South) and Bonnet Creek Parkway (to the West). The main entrance is on Community Drive (to the North) and on the Eastern side of the property is the Sassagoula River. We have travelled all of these routes many times, Buena Vista Drive being one of the main thoroughfares of the World, and one which can get particularly busy due to the large number of traffic light stops near to all of the parking entrances to Downtown Disney. As a result of this we have often taken Community Drive as a short cut in the past, and besides which, the main entrance to another DVC resort, Saratoga Springs, is also on this road. Bonnet Creek Parkway leads North past Old Key West and up to the Port Orleans resorts, but one of the preferred routes to get there is by taking the slow boat up the Sassagoula River, which links up Downtown Disney, Old Key West, Saratoga Springs, and the Port Orleans resorts.

The resort is built around the third through to eighth holes of the Lake Buena Vista Golf course, and so all of the villas in the resort come with either water or golf course views (or maybe even both for some). The guide books say that if possible, it is worth avoiding the buildings that are closest to the main roads, and so we will be putting in a room request soon. Apparently the best time to make a request is about four days before check in - soon enough that rooms have not been allocated up to that point, but not so soon that the front desk team will file it away and forget about it. I expect that we will also be keen to stay reasonably close to the Hospitality House, which is where the restaurants and store are - after all, I don’t want to have too long a walk to fetch hot chocolate in the evenings (even if I could pinch Nanny’s scooter!).

The main restaurant at Old Key West is Olivia’s (see these Allears links for recent lunch and dinner menus). The Unofficial Guide says that “for resort guests it’s a good place for a down-home meal”, and recommends the pork chop with chipotle barbecue sauce and cheese grits, as well as the key lime tart. Counter service is provided by Goods to Go, which has looks like it has the usual sandwiches, nuggets and burgers on offer.

Training

Early start today - up and away by half past six to get the seven o'clock train. I had a training course starting at 9, but some bright spark had suggested that a meeting at 8am before it started would be a good idea. I was there by 7.45, coffee and pastry in hand, and was the first there by quite a while.
When I picked up my coffee I tried to use the contactless technology on my new credit card and was disappointed when the guy in EAT told me it wasn't working. Will have to play another time!
Sent from my iPad

Single digits

We are on single digits.

In just nine days from now we will be arriving at our second "hone", albeit staying at Old Key West for the very first time.

Suffice it to say that excitement is building nicely ...!

4S

The 4S has arrived, and so Jake has been asking Siri questions this evening. I've managed to make and received calls, get onto email, and even send a few texts - progress, albeit slow!

Parents evening

Jake's first parents evening today. He stayed with Nanny and Grandad whilst Nicky and I went off to school. The news was all good, and the main thing is that Jake seems to have settled in really well at his new school.

Well done Jake - who knows - maybe I'll buy you a treat at Goofy's Candy Co. in a couple of weeks!

Carols

Home early today to make sure that I was back in time to go with Nicky and Jake to Jake's school carol service at Rochester Cathedral.

The service was great - the boys doing the readings were excellent, singing along with some carols is always a joy, and it was particularly nice to spot a former school music teacher from a quarter of a century or so ago shuttling between the organ loft and the piano.

They even managed to do a rather good Three Kings - sung by one of the teachers, accompanied by strings rather than by a chorale. A special carol bringing back memories of a cold winter's day nearly fifteen years ago.

Profile

I'm going to be famous - yes, even more than I am already. It is going to be my turn to have the profile feature in the church magazine done about me. To this end, I was supplied with 20 questions to consider. Here for your amusement are the answers I gave:


Could you please explain your role in the church?
I have been coming to St Albans for over twenty years, and for most of that time I have been playing the piano for services.

Age:

38

Married:

I am married to the lovely Nicky, and we got married (by Oz and Pam Maton) in St Albans in 1996.

Children:

Jake, who is now 11 and has just started at the Math School in Rochester.

Where are you from?

I was born and brought up in Chatham. Throughout my childhood, we lived on the Chatham Maidstone Road, opposite the football ground, and I went with my family to St Stephen’s Church, where I joined the choir when I was seven.

What did you want to be as a child?

I remember going through a stage of wanting to be a shopkeeper, and have my own sweet shop. I even set up a sweet shop in my bedroom, although I think that I ate all of the profits!

Could you share any precious childhood memories with us?

I especially enjoyed singing in choirs when I was younger, and for a time I sang in the Southern Cathedral Singers, which was lots of fun. However, I particularly remember one Christmas, doing Carols by Candlelight with the church choir, and the choirmaster (Roger Hill) asking me to sing the first verse solo in Once in Royal David’s City.

What is your favourite food?

Cooked breakfast (preferably on holiday!).

What do you watch on television?

Lots of American comedy shows - at the moment I am particularly enjoying The Middle and Modern Family.

What music do you listen to?

All sorts! The radio is currently tuned to Radio 2 so that I can listen to Chris Evans on the way to work.

What is your favourite film?

Like many, I think that The Shawshank Redemption is great, but I also have a soft spot for the Back to the Future trilogy.

What is your day job?

I am an audit director at Deloitte, one of the world’s largest professional services firms.

Can you describe yourself in three words?

Not very easily!

What is your church background?

I was both baptised and confirmed at St Stephen’s in Chatham.

Do you have a favourite hymn, why?

Tough question! I enjoy the vast majority of the hymns that I play in church, and I really don’t think I could pick just one. If I can have a top three, I’ll go for Dear Lord and Father of Mankind, Make me a Channel of your Peace, and My Song is Love Unknown.

Do you have a favourite bible reading?

Chapter 13 of Paul’s first letter to the Christians in Corinth. A truly wonderful and inspiring message.

What do you draw from spiritually?

I am always moved by the combination of beautiful words and music. A lot of the music of John Rutter does just that for me. 

Have you ever had a profound spiritual experience?

No, but I’m looking forward to it!

Where do you see yourself in ten years time?

Probably still playing the keyboard in St Albans. Who knows, I might be a bit better at it by then if I keep practicing!

Is there anything else that you would like to tell us that not many people know about you?

Playing the keyboard runs in the family - many years ago, my Grandfather was the organist at St Stephen’s.

Saturday

Saturday = lie in, walk dog, Tonbridge for lunch with Bec, H&O, Waitrose to pick up some grub, soup and bread for tea, Match of the Day, a few games of pool, and off to bed.

Thackerays

Friday morning with a 9:30 meeting with Charing meant that I could give Jake a lift to school before heading off. After my meeting I took the scenic route from Charing to Tunbridge Wells and had a very nice lunch at Thackerays, with some good company too.

Back home late this afternoon, and this evening we went over to Julie and Graham's for drinks, as they are finally moving house next week.

Looking forward to seeing Bec and the boys tomorrow ...

December

The final month of the year is upon us - only a couple more weeks at work and then a couple of weeks off and a trip to the Sunshine State. Marvellous!

Today was Brighton again, but hopefully this was my last stay over until the New Year. Next time I'm packing a bag it will be for a much more enjoyable reason.