Survivor 50

Tonight, Survivor 50 began and to prepare I watched all of the highlight episodes that CBS aired to get ready for it.  I also binge watched Heroes vs. Villains which was probably my favorite season of all time even though Boston Rob was voted out early in the show.  Although he wasn't going to be on this anniversary season, I was still excited that some of my new favorites like Charlie and Kamilla were among the contestants as well.

Meg and Doug were looking forward to Survivor 50 as well, so we decided to watch it at Meg's tonight. The show started off with an introduction to all of the players.  Meg claimed that Coach was one of her all-time favorites.  Once the competitions began, however, she soon realized that she remembered incorrectly and found him just as unlikeable as I did.  This episode was three hours long, but it flew by with several challenges, a lot of annoying players and a few long-time fan favorites making it through the first night.  Unfortunately, it ended on a down note as a recent winner had to be medically evacuated due to a torn Achilles in the reward challenge.  Even with that, we all really enjoyed the show and already can't wait for next week's episode.  

The Jokes Never Stop

Although getting up and out the door early in the morning is not one of my favorite things to do, I never use it as an excuse to skip Bible study.  I absolutely love going to the Tuesday morning meeting and enjoy everything that is discussed even if it is not on topic.  There is also always someone with a funny story or a joke to tell that revolve around faith, religion or the church.  

This week's story was not a joke, but instead a true-life story about the Catholic Church that I had never heard.  It involved the castrati and made everyone feel a little uncomfortable. A castrato is a male singer who underwent castration before puberty in order to retain a singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano or contralto.  The practice was started during St. Augustine's time as he had forbidden females from participating in the mass including the choir.  The practice was banned in the late 1700s to 1800s, but secretly still continued until the early 1900s. These men became very famous as opera singers since they could sing the female lead roles in a time when only males were allowed to be on stage.  The person who shared this information at class even had a recording on his phone from the last know castrato who died in 1923.  Even though the singer had a beautiful voice, I was glad that it finally ended in the early 20th century.

Although no one in our group made any jokes about such a serious topic, one of them did send a meme to the group later that I found funny.  I didn't have an answer to it but felt that it was thought provoking.  I decided that I would share it with my family instead of our class discussion.  I think they appreicated that.

The Grand Floridian

Doug and I completed our Disney resort bucket list this weekend by staying at the Grand Floridian.  At first, we weren't sure that it would happen due to a mishap this morning, but we were able to work through that and had a wonderful day.  We checked in at 11 a.m. and then met Meg and Nick at Epcot for lunch at the Festival of the Arts.  It was nice to try the food booths that we missed several weeks ago, and the cold weather kept the crowds lower than normal.

After Epcot, the four of us went back to the Grand Floridian to enjoy the resort's amenities.  Meg and I loved the decor and the Mary Poppins theme in our room.  Doug suggested that we try the bar at the hotel.  The Enchanted Rose at the Grand Floridian was nice, but the theming lacked the Beauty and the Beast feel that it advertised.  The drinks and appetizers were good, but a little pricey for us, so we decided to walk to the Polynesian for dinner.  They had an outside bar on the water that we loved when we tried it in November with the Doyles.  It was once again a hit with the four of us.  We each ordered a small meal and enjoyed the atmosphere very much.  The rest of the night was spent at the Grand Floridian where we could see the fireworks from our balcony.  

Overall, Doug and I really enjoyed our stay at the famed deluxe resort and were very happy to check "Staying at all of the Disney World resorts" off of our bucket list.  In saying that, however, The Boardwalk Inn will always be our favorite.  The proximity to Epcot, the theme, and the activity on the Boardwalk make it a true resort vacation.  Thankfully, today, we got a bounce back offer from Disney that allowed us to book a room there for Mother's Day weekend at the club level.  That will be a wonderful way to celebrate the holiday.

A Quick Visit

When I talked to my dad on Thursday, I realized that he was sicker than I originally thought.  He was diagnosed with pneumonia, but it wasn't responding to treatment like they hoped it would.  His oxygen levels were extremely low and his need for oxygen was very high.  After finding that out and knowing that my mom would be alone all weekend, I called Brett to see if he and Karen would be able to visit Syracuse on Saturday and Sunday.  Thankfully, they were able to rearrange their plans and travel north for a few days.  

While in Syracuse, Brett and Karen were not only able to keep my mom company by playing cards and watching Super Market Sweep, but also run to the store for her, take her to see my dad, bring him a change of clothes, take out the garbage and clean the upstairs bathroom.  I appreciated it more than they will ever know.  Hopefully, the visit raised my parents' spirits too.  

Our Poor Trees

This was one of the coldest winters on record in Northern Florida and our trees show it.  We brought in the lemon, lime and banana tree into the garage for multiple days during the heavy frost, but not all of them made it.  The banana tree was completely brown from the stress by the time we could take them out this weekend and the citrus trees had a lot of damage.  We are hoping that those two are salvageable now that it is starting to warm up.  The leaves are coming back at the base and the branches in some spots are turning green again which we take as a good sign.

Unfortunately, our pygmy date palm took a really hard hit when the temperatures were below thirty degrees for several nights recently.  We had never seen it look that severely damaged in the four years that we have owned the home.  We did some research on what to do to try and save it, and there was some good news.  The inside of the palm is still green which means that it could survive the cold stress.  Doug trimmed it as suggested and we will now just have to wait and see.  It is by far my favorite part of our landscaping, and I am hoping to see it return to main focus of our front yard soon.

Mrs. March

The last time that I talked to Jim, he recommended a book to me called, "Mrs. March."  At first, I thought it was a historical fiction piece about the matriarch of Little Women.  I was surprised when I found out that it was a thriller about a woman who believes that her husband murdered someone.  As I love reading mystery and suspense, I decided to give it a try.

The good news was that it was an easy read and definitely had mystery and suspense.  The bad news was that the main character was absolutely paranoid and most of the book was reading about her theories on her husband killing a young woman or how everyone was out to get her.  Neither of which were true.  There was a big twist at the end which made reading it worthwhile, but overall, I found Agatha March so unsettling that the book actually gave me nightmares.  I ended up giving it to a friend of mine to read to see what she thought and then started on the biography "Hemingway's Boat."  Cal had given it to me a while ago and I knew that it would be the perfect way to get the disturbing Mrs. March out of my head.  

Paula and Gabrielle

Another day, another trip to Orlando, but this time it was to visit Gabrielle and Paula.  They were in Florida for Alex's wedding and honeymoon and had a few hours to meet with Meg and I this afternoon before flying back to Indiana.  It was incredibly nice to see them.  We met at Meg's so that she could show them her apartment and then went for a late lunch at Gastro Pub.

The weather was wonderful, so we sat outside and talked the entire time.  Paula had a lot of photos and videos to share from their trip.  The wedding was beautiful and looked like so much fun.  I was very happy for Alex.  The honeymoon was a family trip with everyone going to Disney World for a few days.  From looking at all of pictures, I could see why Paula and Gabrielle were exhausted.  While we were together, the girls caught up on everything going on in their own lives while Paula and I talked about my dad's sudden illness and everything she knew about some interesting news from Syracuse.  

The afternoon was so much fun, and the two hours flew by.  After they left, I was sad for a little while.  Hanging out with Paula was the one thing that I missed most from living in Indiana.  Every time I see her, I get a little pang of homesickness for her back patio.  Thankfully, we have still been able to see each other frequently since I moved and talk often.  It has made the transition a lot easier.