Wandering Aimlessly

Warning: Long. (don't want to forget anything <.g>)

Well, it came and went, and now I'm sad. Now, almost everything is over. Let me start with Thursday, which was I-4 night. S tried his darndest to get me out of work early. J was the closer, and they arranged it so that I could bank out at 7:30 and leave when I was done (about 8, instead of 9 when I was scheduled until), which was a totally nice thing of them to do. By the time I got home, showered, grabbed a quick bite to eat and drove the 45 minutes to Longwood... they were on their last song. Sadness!! I missed my last I-4 concert. =( We chatted with Jared and Scott a bit, and they both felt bad that we'd driven 45 minutes to miss them, but oh well. What are ya gonna do, right?

On Friday, Carolyn and I went out towards the airport to meet Georgia Tonya at her hotel. We went to Chick-Fil-A (which I am SO going to miss in Illinois) for lunch, and then went to the outlet mall for some shopping for that night. I got two shirts at Papaya. <.g> When we got home, I went to MGM with Jessica to get Gina a birthday present and chat with people at work, and then came home to get ready. Carolyn and I met Tonya and her friends and Jen and Danielle at Margaritaville for drinks beforehand, and then headed over to the Groove with T got there.

The Groove

I honestly didn't think NSYNC would be there. On the radio, they kept saying there was no guarantee, no guarantee. So I'm dancing on this mid-level stairs area with the TVs behind it, and they had the red carpet shown on the TVs. Some people were arriving who I didn't recognize, and people were cheering for them. All of a sudden I saw this curly head bobbing behind them, and I had my teenie moment and started jumping up and down going "JC's here! JC's here!" Luckily, no one but my party could hear me above the music. <.giggle> JC, Joey, Chris (yes, the mohawk rumor is true) and Justin showed up, along with a TON of other people I'm not going to try to remember now. They were all up on the second level, as expected, but it was just a balcony, basically, so if they came forward, we could see them. I felt like I was at a zoo, or something, straining to see the animals, but whatever. All in good fun. Joey stayed over on the other side most of the night, dancing with folks. JC kept coming towards the railing to dance, and he was grinding on some girl at one point, but mostly more by himself. I only saw Chris once, but I was keeping an eye out for JC the whole night. Near the end, Justin came out and danced through three rounds of "Hot in Here," which was the song of the weekend. It got played five times at the Groove, and then at each of the other events as well. At the Groove, people (Taye Diggs... YUM) started stripping. Heehee. That was fun.

Skills Challenge

We got like no sleep before the Skills Challenge. We arrived, found our seats (5th row behind the basket... not bad at all <.g>), where Alicia found us. Hi, Alicia!! *waves* It's exciting to meet people I've read about/talked to. I'm sad they only let us have disposable cameras, because of course the people in my pictures are teeny-tiny, even though they were *right there*. Ah well.

woops, gotta go to work. I'll finish this later.

(8/7/02, 8:36 pm) Okay, now is later. Way later. I hope I can remember stuff.

So. JC looked good. Real good. He was a poop, though, and spent most of the event on the bench. Justin spent most of the event off on our end by himself shooting baskets rather than participating. I think Chris left early. Ah well. The Joey Clone from the Roxy really is "someone," as he was there with NSYNC. <.shrug> Someone (one of the guys? A fan?) had brought a blow-up astronaut with Lance's face. That provided many a cute moment, as Justin had frequent conversations with "Lance," providing commentary and whatnot (not for our ears, but he just sat on the bench with his arm around "Lance" and you could tell he was talking, nodding his head, etc). Very cute. What else? JC participated in Human Bowling, which was funny. He was all nervous-like, and gave us a few dazzling smiles. The poor Daze were soooo behind. The final event ended in Joey and JC going head-to-head in the obstacle course, and JC just didn't cut it. Joey yelled something about beating JC's skinny ass, and something else about how he (Joey) actually eats. Funny stuff.

After the Challenge, Carolyn, Amy and I headed over to Gina's for Gina's 22nd and Jeremy's... dunno what year... birthdays. It was just C, Amy, Joaquin, Gina, Jeremy and I. And we had a good time. A good time. Lol. That's all I have to say 'bout that. <.g>

The Basketball Game
Poor JC. That's all I have to say. Poor, poor JC. The boy could not make a basket. He tried and tried and tried, but no luck. Chris was doing commentary and giving him a bit of a hard time, but it was cute. Justin was MVP, of course, and even though the Daze lost, it was a good, solid effort. And if JC had made just one of those baskets, they'd have won. Lol. But no hard feelings. <.g> Nelly performed during halftime, and of course, it was "Hot in Here." Chris had to go over to the Daze side where JC and Justin were sitting on the floor and squeeze himself in between them so they could all sit side-by-side and watch. Too adorable. What else? Oh, someone from the Knights was razzing Justin, and Chris was all "I know you're on my team, but you picked the wrong guy to mess with." Actually, Chris was being Mr. Defensive of everyone. When someone joked that Joey never sings, Chris came to Joey's defense, too. It was sweet. In the end, the Knights (Joey and Chris's team) won 157-156 over the Daze (JC and Justin's team). But in reality, it was an excellent game, since after the Skills Challenge, the Daze were down 45-10. So technically the Daze won the game, but lost the overall weekend. Whatever. They (or at least Justin) scored more points overall in the game than the Knights did. <.g>

After the game, we heard that NSYNC might be at Planet Hollywood. Well, our idea of that was that the top floor or two would be VIP, and the main floor would be regularly open. Ha. We didn't know it was a whole private CFTC party. Tonya, Heather and I arrived to find hundreds of people lined up waiting for celebrities to show up. We'd really just hoped to eat, but whatever. So of course, we joined the crowd. It was a looooong wait (two and a half hours by the time Justin arrived), but I got some fairly decent pictures of Joey, Trevor from O-Town, JC (although he wasn't looking at me), Chris, Carlton (Alfonzo, whatever), what're-their-names from Boyz II Men, Pat O'Brien, Brian McKnight... it was exciting, and Heather was HYSTERICAL. She is a total teenie, but somehow in an un-annoying way. She called to Trevor that she loves him and he's on her wall, and since he was no more than two feet from us, he obviously heard her. Lol.

So that was our CFTC excitement. If I can make our scanner work, I'll put up some pictures.

Posted by kate at 09:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Kate: S, I thought you had today off.
S: No, this week I get Tuesday and Saturday off. I have a three-day weekend.
K: I have a three-day weekend, too! I get Friday, Saturday, Sunday off.
S: I get Saturday, Sunday, Monday off. What do you have a three-day weekend for?
K: NSYNC's Challenge for the Children. What do you have a three-day weekend for?
S: NSYNC's Challenge for he Children.
K: (ha ha... stop making fun of me... ha ha) No, really, what do you have a three-day weekend for?
S: Really! NSYNC's Challenge for the Children!

So, yes. <.giggle> Now that he tells me he's a fan, I remember back in the very beginning that I had been telling a story about something, and I had just mentioned NSYNC briefly, like nothing at all, and he stopped me and asked if I was a big NSYNC fan. I said yes, and carried on with my story. I remember thinking it was funny that that was what he'd picked out of the story, out of everything, but whatever. Now I know that he's a fan, and that happens when you're a fan of something. <.g> I knew I got along with him!

Now I have like no time at all to write about my last couple days. Sunday night Karen, Molly, Carolyn, Amy, Michelle, Joaquin, Jen and I went to House of Blues. I don't think I like it there much. It's too techno. I just don't know how to dance to techno. I would rather be goofy and sing along to whatever I'm dancing to. We got home at 2-ish, I was up until 3-ish. Smart. I had to get up at 6 to be at work at 7:30.

I was on three hours of sleep for work, which wasn't great. I was supposed to work until 2, but after my break (on which I hadn't eaten, because I was getting off at 2 and I figured I'd eat then), S asked if I was really leaving them at 2. Ha ha ha. Whatever. I ended up extending until 4 so that they could get some breaks out. Needless to say, I was starving by then. I always end up extending, leaving my break early, etc. Then I met Amy and we played in the park for a few hours. We did the Backlot Tour, which I hadn't done yet, rode Tower of Terror, and I think that was pretty much it. Did a little shopping, ate at Catalina Eddie's... yeah. So then I got home at 7:00, fell asleep on my bed at 7:30, and didn't get up until 8:00 the next morning. I was sleepy.

Tuesday night, Carolyn, Heather, Alex, Carolyn's friend Jessica, Andrea and I went to Jellyrolls. I love Jellyrolls. It's so fun! That was my last Tuesday at Jellyrolls, so I'm gonna miss it. Wednesday (last night) was supposed to be Work Bowling again. Doris had organized it. Doris didn't even come! It ended up being just Jessica, Steffanie, Diana and I, but we had a great time anyway. I bowled a 127 and a 132, so I'm getting better. <.g> We were bowling next to professional bowlers, and they kept giving us tips. They were really nice.

Tonight is I-4 again, so wheeee!! I can't wait to see them. Heehee.

And... off to work!

Posted by kate at 09:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I'm trying to stuff too many things into too few days here. Thursday was Blue Stone Circle at Margaritaville again. After the show we stayed and talked to AJ, which was cool. He's so adorable. Friday was our last bowling. Sadness!! Let's see if I can remember everyone who went. Luis went! I just love Luis. Joaquin and Marcus and Heather and Carolyn and Carolyn's friend Amanda and Amy and Andre and Amy's friend (didn't catch his name), and then Jeremy and Gina met us at karaoke after Gina got off work. I bowled a 142, which I think is my best game (woohoo!). I *almost* beat Marcus. I was for a while, and then he went and got two strikes in his tenth frame. Ah well. Heehee.

Carolyn and I karaokeed "I Drive Myself Crazy," and then I did "Everything I Own" with Heather. Ha ha ha. I even did Lance's little speaking part. That's the whole reason I agreed to do that song in the first place. I played video games with Luis, which was a good time. Lol. I am not much of a videogame person, so it was probably amusing to him to watch me fight with the controls.

Yesterday was the most fun day at work ever. Our restaurant was completely dead. Like, they *always* keep two registers out until at least 7:30 (we close at 8), and sometimes three until 6:30 or so. Well, I was out on register until my break at 4, and when I went on break, Stephen pretty much had Jessica bank out, and he never put me back out there. So we had one register from 4:00 or 4:30 on. I had brought my resume in so that Stephen can give it to his friend for an advanced internship, and I was sitting out at my register before break and he walks up to me while I'm with a guest and just stands there leaning on my register. When the guest left, he handed me a piece of paper. I was like "what's this?" and he said "There are two openings in guest relations right now. When can you move down?" and I was like "Not until January." AHHHH!!! That is so one of my dream jobs. I have to finish school. There is no option. But I really am thinking that come January, I'm coming back here, at least for a couple years.

So. During my break, I went to the managers office to work on the computer fixing up my resume. I had brought the one from the end of school, but it didn't include this college program or OSC. It took me about an hour after my break to finish it. We were trying to come up with a way to make working in a pizza place sound impressive. <.giggle> After that, I went and made pizzas for like 10 minutes, but there were so few guests that we were completely stocked on pizzas, so the manager sent me, Jessica, Devan, Harold and Dallas out to another quick service restaurant to rate one of their cashiers and one of their bussers. So we got a half hour to wander around the park and stuff. We came back and discussed our findings, S gave us ice cream, and then we cleaned up around the kitchen a bit and left. In between all of that, we were totally goofing off, singing Christmas songs (in preparation for Christmas in July, of course!), dancing, and having a great time. I'm so going to miss those people.

And then last night. The thing I really wanted to blog about. Carolyn, Amy, Jen, Lisa, Diana, Brandi, Jessica, Karen, Molly (Karen's roommate... I think that was her name), and I went to see I-4 play at Dante's. I love them. I love them! They're so great. Their sound guy kinda sucked, and they had no monitors halfway through the first song. So they stopped, and in testing things out, Jared started playing classical music on the violin. I melted. Seriously. Then he started playing Cannon in D, and everyone joined in. They improved for like five minutes, making Pachelbel's Cannon all rock, and it was just awesome. I think that was my favorite part. When they got the sound figured out, they continued on with their set, which I loved also.

We, of course, blinded them with our flashes again, and once the show was over, we hung out to talk to them. Caleb is leaving, which is so sad. He wants to go to college. Good for him, but we'll miss him. So they're auditioning a new bassist. We chatted with Jared for a while, and he was trying to talk us into going to Longwood on Thursday to see them play there. Eeek. Longwood's a little farther than downtown Orlando, but we'll see. I do really want to see them again. Then we got a picture with most of them, which I hope turns out. After that we chatted with Ben, and he's really awesome, too. When we first got there, Diana, Brandi, Jessica and I were waiting outside for the other girls to arrive, and Ben came up and asked if we were there to see one of the bands. I said "Yes, you guys" and he got this surprised look on his face and then a huge grin and was all "You know I'm in a band?" <.g> They're so great. I love them. They're so friendly and personable and talented, and they need to come out with an album that actually has all of them on it, darn it! Everyone loved them (Carolyn, Karen and I were the only ones who had seen them before), which I was happy about. I'm so jealous that I'm leaving and I don't get to be a real groupie. Ha ha.

Posted by kate at 08:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Can you believe I'm almost DONE here? Ahhhh!!! I have three more days off of work: next Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (for CFTC). That's it. I don't even think I'm going to get to go back to Animal Kingdom, which is SO my favorite park. I've only been to Epcot once. I haven't eaten at Hard Rock yet or at any of the sit-down restaurants in the parks. I talked to Stephen last week about him talking to a woman he knows at Guest Relations about an internship, and I HOPE I have enough time to go talk to her at some point. I've tried to go over to Magic Kingdom three times now to talk about an internship, and every time I plan to go, something happens and I don't get over there. Grrrrr. I'm running out of time here. I'm not ready to go home!

What have I done since I last blogged? Oo, Sunday after not going to HoB, Carolyn and I "decorated" the house for Amy (put out her presents, displayed her two cakes, decorated the table with her feather boa and picture frames, put on her favorite music) and waited up for her to get home so we could sing Happy Birthday. It was fun. She was really surprised. On Monday. . . I worked 9-5, which wasn't a bad shift at all. Stephen ERed Jessica and me at 4:30. I was supposed to go to MK with Carolyn, but she got off work late. I forget what I did after that. Oh, Heather, Andrea and I went swimming! Heehee. We had a little pool party at the Vista pool, did hand stand contests, raced, splashed around, and were total goofballs. That was a good time. <.g>

On Tuesday I had my last day at the Science Center. I feel like I wasn't there nearly at all, which I wasn't, but I did get a lot of experience and some things to put in a portfolio once they come back from Graphics. Malia promised she'd send me copies of all the pamphlets I made. I was supposed to go to MK with Heather when I got home, but she'd gotten off work extra early and went to play in the parks with her friends. Diana has been really sick, so I took the Reel NSYNC over to her apartment and we sat on her bed and laughed at the guys. That was fun. Afterwards, Karen, Jessica and I went to the Roxy. It was a bit of an adventure, since I-4 was closed down and I really don't know other ways to get into Orlando. Or didn't. Now I do. Heehee. We made it there right in time to meet Karen. We're 95% sure Joey was there, too. That was exciting. I haven't seen a current picture of him since probably before I left Illinois, so there was that shadow of a doubt, but the guy we think was him was all shaking everyones hands and all the girls were trying to get into the VIP area to talk to him, so... unless there's another famous Joey-look-alike... (that was a really long "sentence.") We needed Carolyn there to tell us for sure. =oޠ

Jessica and I decided to go to Daytona on Wednesday so that we could relax and get some sun. Got home around 2:30 from the Roxy, finally fell asleep at 3:30 after watching the last half of Austin Powers. 4:30, phone rings. Someone has been calling in the middle of the night lately and it's pissing me off. I didn't answer it. 7:00, got up to take Amy to the car dealership (her car died on I-4 the other day... poor thing!!!). Got home at 8, went back to bed. 10:30, phone rings. I didn't even hear it until Minhee came into my room to wake me up. My manager. Why is my manager calling me on my day off? Oh yeah, he needs me to work. No beach for Kate. Turns out, there had been a little fire in the transformer at Epcot which resulted in half the park having no power. Which means no lights, no AC, and yeah, no rides. They shut down all of Epcot, which displaced 30,000 guests into the other parks. Five people had called in sick, so Pizza Planet had some outdoor foods cast members helping out, some catering people, and a couple people from Epcot. Jessica and I both went in. We gave Stephen a hard time about having us in on our day off, and we got free pizza for lunch and a free ice cream at the end of the night. heehee. Plus he was all "I owe you the world... anything you need, let me know." <.giggle> That's a dangerous thing to tell a person.

Then last night after work, Stephanie came back to Vista with me, and then she, Jessica and I went bowling. Wednesdays are cast member night, so it was cheap. Heehee. Cheap is good. I bowled probably the best game of my life! I got a 131, which, when I only break 100 about 1/3 of the time, and when I do it's only by a few points, is amazing to me. After bowling, we tried to go to Margaritaville to meet up with Carolyn, Amy, Gina and whoever else was there, but they were carding at City Walk! They NEVER card at City Walk. I mean, there are tons of restaurants there (one of which is Margaritaville, which you don't need to be 21 to get into). Well, Jessica's 20 and Stephanie's 18, so it was a no-go for us. I wasted gas driving all the way there and back for nothing. Grrrrr. I have NO idea why they were carding last night. The guard said something about it being a Teen Night, which makes like negative since to me... if it's Teen Night, why won't you let teens in? Whatever. So that was a bummer.

And that was that. I'm heading in for Day 2 of 9 straight days of working before my next day off. Which I guess isn't a whole lot, but it's going to seem like forever by the time Thursday comes.

Posted by kate at 08:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Friday night bowling was lots of fun. Everyone was broker than broke, so those of us who bowled only bowled one game. Amy brought Andre, which was cool, and he started drawing me a Tarzan. For karaoke, Scott asked me to sing *NSYNC with him, so we did "Tearin Up My Heart." I don't like to repeat songs, but I made an exception for him. <.g> It wasn't my best effort, though, and it got videotaped by both Andrea and Amy. Eeep! Then Andre and I sang "Summer Nights," which was lots of fun. Heehee. We just had a good time with it.

Yesterday at work was so incredibly dead. Manager gave eight ERs (early releases), which is almost unheard of. Jessica had her break at the same time I did, so I asked if she wanted to go over to Take Five (our cafeteria, which is all the way across the park). Then I remembered that it was raining, and groaned about having to eat our breakroom sandwiches again. Stephen was like "Do you have a valid driver's license? I have the Pargo today... if you promise to drive safely and park it legally, I'll give you the keys." WHAT FUN!!! It's like a little electric golf cart thingy, which I SO did not know how to drive. Lol. Let me tell you. Jessica and I were shrieking and giggling the entire way over there. It was funny. It was an adventure for sure. And it makes me smile that the managers trust me enough to give me the keys to a company vehicle. <.g> Today he was all "we're not going to let you leave... it sucks when we have good people working with us and they have to go." Awww.

Backing up. Today is Amy's birthday, so last night we went to Margaritaville to celebrate. Blue Stone Circle is HER band, and they were playing. Let's see if I can remember everyone who went. Amy, Andre, Andrea, Scott, Joaquin, Jen, Lisa, Michelle, Tonya, Carolyn, Heather, Alex, Chris, Chris's friend (never got introduced)... anyone I'm forgetting? Anyway, it was a nice group and we danced the night away and had a GREAT time. Then we came home around 2, had a cell phone adventure (we accidentally "stole" a phone left on our table thinking Jen had left it... woops... and the people came to pick it up... at about 3 in the morning), and then since we were up anyway, I decorated Amy's cake (Barbie-themed) and Carolyn and I wrapped the door in Scooby Doo paper and made a big sign and everything. It was fun. Needless to say, I didn't get to sleep until about 4, and had to get up at 8:30. Ack. Kate=TIRED.

Today was uneventful for the most part. I worked 10 hours. I got in at 10:30, got my break at 12:15, and worked until 8:30. That was seven hours of working without a break. Grrrr. Stupid Cast Deployment System computer. Manager told me he'd give me a 15 minute break later in the afternoon, but then there was a crisis at Mama Melrose (the other restaurant our managers manage), and I never did get it. We (C, T, Joaquin, Marcus and I) were going to go to House of Blues tonight, but Carolyn and I are totally pooped. I know Tonya's disappointed, but it's been a long day and a long week.

Tomorrow's my Friday. Thank goodness for that.

Posted by kate at 08:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Okay, everyone go to www.i-4band.com right now. These guys are awesome. Carolyn, Tonya, Karen and I went to see them last night in downtown Orlando, and I think everyone loved them. Karen and I had seen them at Red Hot and Boom, but C and T were first-timers. We're going to see them again July 20th. They're just so talented, though, and they're just starting out, which is so cool. They won a contest with the radio station XL106.7 and Wright Entertainment (yep, they're Johnny's new little group), which is how we found out about them.

They were so nice and so personable, and I think they were a little excited to have some fans. We were really the only ones that weren't already friends with them. Ha ha. It was this tiny little bar, the Social, and three bands played: Fifth Year Crush, Red, and then I-4. I-4 was the last one, so a lot of people had left by then. That turned out to be a good thing, because we got to actually chat with them a bit. They have a violinist, which is the coolest thing ever. Brought back memories of my own violin-playing years. There are six of them, so they have a drummer, vocals/acoustic guitarist, electric guitarist, bassist, violinist, and backup vocals/percussionist. If there's anything online to listen to, DO. They said their song "TBA" is getting a video, directed by Joey (as in, Fatone), so we'll all have to vote for it on TRL. You all with me? <.g>

Posted by kate at 09:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Oh my gosh. Last night was probably one of the most fun nights I've had. It was Pizza Planet Bowling night, and we had a blast! Here's who ended up coming: Diana, Doris, Joan, Roxana (Joan's roommate), my managers Jill and Stephen, Renzo, Fernando (Renzo's roommate), Jessica, Rachel (Jessica's sister), Keisha, Stephanie, and Brandi. I think that's everyone. And Amy, Andre and Carolyn stopped by to meet everyone and hang out for a bit before they headed over to Margaritaville.

First, we got yelled at by the bowling lady because we had reserved three lanes, since 15 people had signed up (only 12 actually bowled, so we fit on two lanes). She was all "there's no way you'll get through the two games by midnight," yadda yadda yadda. She said the reason we had three lanes was so we could put 4 people on each lane rather than 6. No, the reason we got three lanes is because we thought we might have more than would fit on two! Grrr. We finished our second game at 11:50, so there.

But boy did people get punchy by the end of the night! Wow. We were jumping up and down, cheering people on, kind of going a bit crazy. <.giggle> It was funny. And when "Sometimes" came on, one of the managers sang and danced with Diana, Jessica and I. Lol. Joan videotaped the whole bowling experience, along with the singing and dancing, so I *really* want a copy of that tape. It was cool to hang with our managers without them being our managers. I almost wish I was working today. I'm sure people are going to be talking about it.

After bowling, Doris, Diana, Jessica, Rachel and I met Carolyn, Tonya, Gina, Jeremy, Amy, Andre, and Joaquin at Margaritaville for our weekly dose of Blue Stone Circle. What fun that was. Our waiter was goofy and fun and there weren't a whole lot of people there, so we just sat back and enjoyed the band. Needless to say, we didn't get home until after 2. At 2:36, I was pulling back my covers to get into bed when something scurried across my wall right next to my bed. It was a LIZARD. Eeeek! He was just a little guy, but he was right there next to my bed. I can take lizards outside, I can even handle them in our living room (we had one living in there for a while), but not in my bedroom. By my bed. I went and got Carolyn and we tried to catch it, but he hid behind the TV. Hmph. Wonder if he's gone now.

Anyway, Gina and I were going to go to Magic Kingdom today, but she called and said she was too tired, so I think Andrea's going to come with me. That should be fun. I haven't really hung out with her in a long time. I hope it doesn't rain. And then I-4 tonight! WOOHOO!!

Posted by kate at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

That song is in my head. Again. If I make an Orlando CD, that'll be on it, because they play it on the radio every other song.

Yesterday I went to the Science Center. They lost my computer. They're moving offices, and the computer I was using seems to have disappeared. Which is a bit of a problem, being that everything I've done in the last month and a half is on that computer. They need to find it. So I ended up going out to UCF with Karen to put up recruitment postings for interns for the fall. We actually had a lot of fun, even though I wasn't at all dressed for hiking across a college campus in the spitting rain. An adventure, to say the least. ;) Last night, Carolyn, Jen, Jen's friends Allison, Lisa and Linda (I think those were their names) and I went to Jellyrolls. Oh how I love Jellyrolls. It's such a cool atmosphere, dueling pianists playing any and every song you could think of, the whole place singing along... I just love it. I really wish I could take my sister there when they come to visit, but she's only 19. Sadness.

Today was supposed to be my Character Day. I wanted to get up early and go to MGM to get my picture with all the characters, and then see Playhouse Disney. Well, it was raining all morning, so I waited a bit to go. I still ended up getting rained on, and my nice, straight hair frizzified. I couldn't get my camera fixed at the Darkroom. I went back to Pizza Planet to see how many people are signed up for bowling tonight, and I ran into my manager Jill. I asked if the schedule change with Harold went through for tomorrow, and she said "I'm mad at you about that." Woops. Apparently she wanted to send me to a meeting with Mahmud, the head of, like, all of MGM foods, tomorrow. She's sending Jessica instead, but she was like "I really wanted to send you." Sorry. =( I feel bad. I didn't know about it! They were going to just tell me on Thursday. Ah well. I offered to come in for the meeting, but she said not to worry about it. Sorry, Jill! It's flattering that they kind of pinned me as the capable, intelligent, etc. one at work, but I'd really like to know what I did to deserve that "title." Lol.

I met Gina and we did get our pictures taken with Buzz and Woody and Jessie. Then we went to Backlot and got carrot cake, which was quite delicious. After that, we headed over to see Lilo and Stitch, but the Playhouse Disney show was at 2 and the line for Lilo and Stitch was forever long. Turns out that the 2:00 Playhouse Disney was canceled, so we could have stayed in line, but we didn't know that. So we ended up going over to the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectatular, which I hadn't seen since '96. It was down for renovations the entire 4 months I was here in 2000, so it had been a while. It was fun.

And that was my day. I think I'm heading over to the Old Navy Outlet with Heather and maybe Amy to get something to wear to bowling tonight. Lol.

Posted by kate at 02:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wednesday is our work bowling night. I'm disappointed because on Saturday, they told us ("they" being someone unknown to me, "us" being our entire work location, managers included) that there is a banquet on Wednesday that they need people to work. Ack. That makes me sad, because a lot of people who would be going bowling are likely going to be working instead. =( Ah well. Maybe I'll try to plan another one for before I leave. But ack again, because I only have three more weeks after this one!

I trained Harold again on register last night. Heehee. He needed a refresher course. He and I are also trying to switch shifts for Thursday, which would be exciting. He's complaining that they're not giving him enough hours, I feel like between the Science Center and Disney, I never get a day off, so he's going to work for me on Thursday and give me a day off. Hopefully that goes through scheduling today, because I have the next two days off. I already have my entire day planned out, and it sounds wonderful (full of relaxing and laying out and going to try to talk my way into a future job).

Speaking of, an Overtime Hotline guy worked with us yesterday, and he usually works in Guest Relations. He was giving me tips on how to get an advanced internship in Guest Relations for this spring. That would be a wonderful, wonderful thing. So. I need to figure out my life. Ha. Do I want to go to grad school? If so, where and in what? Do I want to get a job in January? If so, do I want to move someplace like here, New York, LA, etc, or do I want to stay in Chicago? Do I want to try for an advanced internship down here, and then look for a job or go to grad school when that's over? Do I just want to try for a fulltime job here? So many questions!

Last night I went to Rainforest with Jessica, her mom, her sister Rachel, and Rachel's son Brendan. What a cutie pie Brendan is. Such a little peanut. I love babies. He's almost two, completely adorable, and he knows it. I miss being around babies, so that was nice. =) Saturday night I went with Carolyn to the Ale House for a goodbye party for her manager Francisco. That was fun as well. I liked meeting the people she works with, and Carolyn herself was a little... um... tipsy as she likes to call it. Heehee. She was quite amusing. Here's a picture for you: there's a small crowd of people forming sort of a wall between Carolyn and me. "Tearin Up My Heart" is on. All I see is Carolyn's head popping up above the people and then disappearing behind them as she jumps, jumps, jumps. <.giggle>

And with that, off to work....!

Posted by kate at 09:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last night was so much fun! It was our weekly bowling night, and Marcus and Jeremy were back. It wasn't the same without them the week before. Chris finally came, like he's been promising to do for weeks, and he brought his roommate Steve, who turned out to be really nice. Amy brought Michelle, which was cool, and Tonya and Carolyn and I were there. Am I missing anyone? Gina came late, because she got a job. CONGRATS, GINA! I bowled the best game (for me) I have so far, beating everyone but Jeremy, with a 112. Lol.

Then we karaoked again. Carolyn and I sang "Tearin' Up My Heart," which was probably the best we've done to date. We split up the verses so that we could hear ourselves, and I think that did the trick <.giggle>. Carolyn ended up doing the dance while I sang for the last half, which everyone loved. We had the whole place into it. Even the Eminem look-alike (and sound-alike, sort of, as he sang the new Eminem song). Speaking of him, ugh. Right before we karaoked, Steve was buying me a drink at the bar. Now, the bar is two-sided, one half being in the karaoke part, the other half in the bowling alley. I was in the bowling half, he (Mr. Eminem) was singing *something* in the karaoke half. He was looking at me and singing, and everyone was kind of laughing, but I couldn't hear his song over the cosmic bowling music, so I smiled back and went on with my business. He came out of the bar, still singing, and by that time Tonya had joined me at the bar. It turned out that he was singing some song about "tits," and since T and I are a little bit well-endowed in that area, he ended up singing to them. Ack! How embarrassing. Jeremy was all "I'll kick his ass." Heehee. Thanks, Jeremy.

I'm really not going to want to leave. I know I've said that before, but I have less than a month here. I do want to see all my friends at home (I miss you guys!!), but it makes me sad to know that August is coming so quickly. And the really stinky thing is that I'll be going home for three weeks before school starts, with really nothing to do. So I'll be depressed and bored. Not a good combination. I'm really thinking of coming back down here in January after I graduate. I know my mom would be sad, but it is such a tempting thing. I might try for an advanced internship with Disney, or maybe just see if I can get a regular job. If I don't have a job or an internship, I'll probably have to stay in Chicago, since I can live there for free, but if I *can* get some sort of paying gig down here, that's something I might do. At least something to think about. I can't believe I only have one more semester of school. Gosh. Then I'll be an honest-to-goodness grown-up! Ahhhh!!

Posted by kate at 08:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I have so much to say and so little time! Red Hot and Boom was awesome. I had a ton of fun. Karen from the Science Center and Diana, Brandi and Jessica from Pizza Planet went. I found a new band I just love. I-4 is their name, and they're so adorable. They have a violinist! How cool is that? I need to find their CD. We're going to their concert on Thursday.

We saw LMNT, the dance off between Joe Fatone, Sr. and Doc (Joe SO won), Avril Lavigne (however you spell that), Alana, Soluna, Bayje, Aaron Carter, and O-Town. I don't think I forgot anyone... anyway, it was a lot of fun. O-Town was great. Heehee. And the fireworks were awesome! Really cool fireworks. So I'm glad I went.

Yesterday was less fun. We had a potluck at work, which was cool. They catered out the main course and everyone brought salads and stuff. So that was good. Of course, the food got pulled before my break, so Jessica made up a plate and put it in the office, which was nice. Then JEN came to visit!! She and Carolyn were off to the side and Jen had her video camera and it was SO good to see her. I was so excited. Lol. And I was trying to take people's orders. But that's where the good part of the day ended. So we were busy during lunch, but then we got dead until about 7:10. Then the RUSH came. Oh my gosh. I don't know what was wrong with the fillers, but I had the line backed up to my register. People were so fed up with waiting that some of them asked for their money back and left. Oops. Stephen pulled the other two registers at 7:50 to have them help fill, and there was no one out there to put the rope up at 8, so I did it. Of the people who were inside at 8:00, it took until 8:20 to get them through the register. THEN they had to get their food.

I was also closing buser, so after I banked out, I ran upstairs and did all the tables. When I was finishing tables, Domingo came up and did trash and swept. So I went downstairs, which was absolutely trashed. Whoever had been busing down there had done an awful job. They hadn't emptied trash in forever, and when they had emptied it, they weren't replacing bags. There are usually about 10 bags in each can.... they were all down to their last bag, which meant when bags were leaking, they were leaking into the cans. ARGH. Fireworks were at 9 and I was supposed to meat Diana out front of the Chinese Theater. I got done with tables (didn't sweep or empty trash) at a little after 9 as the fireworks were starting, and I went in and told Stephen I was sorry but it wasn't done and I had to go, so I clocked out. Well, fireworks were only 10 minutes (stinkers), and I saw the end as I was out front of the restaurant, so then Jessica, Joan and I went back in and told Stephen we'd already clocked out, but if he wanted, we'd finish busing. So we were there until 10. Grrr.

Then Jessica, Joan and I went to meet Carolyn and Jen at Margaritaville to see Blue Stone Circle again. They're so cute. That was a good time. =) Well, I think I got everything said. And Stephen said today's going to be worse than yesterday.... good thing I'm not closing!! Woohoo! Off to battle the crowds...

Posted by kate at 08:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I'm sick. This is the first time I have been really sick without my mom there. I'm such a kid. I've gotten the occasional cold or whatnot, but this time I've been a death-warmed-over walking disaster. My head, my stomach, my whole body just felt like a train ran over it. I even fell asleep at work on my break yesterday. Got a bunch of crap about looking like a homeless person asleep on the bench. I would never fall asleep at work if I could help it. My manager was a real sweetheart and let me go on register so I could sit, and was going to let me go early, but I decided it wasn't worth it. I feel fifty times better today than I did yesterday, but I still have about 70% left to go. =/

Tomorrow's Red Hot and Boom. Gosh I hope I feel well. I don't know how it's gonna go, because I was told today that you have to get there around 10 (it starts at 3) to get a parking spot, and I really think that's not worth it. I need some sleep. So we're going about 2:30, and if we can't park, then we'll come home. No big deal. I would like to attend, though, so cross your fingers. <.g> Maybe it will even not rain (fat chance) so I can get some sun. I don't think we've had a truly dry day in three weeks.

So when did I last blog? Friday? Hmmm. Bowling Friday was good. I was kind of irritated with the amount of time it took to get a lane, and saddened by the missing-ness of some of our regulars, but Jessica, Diana and I karaokeed to "God Must Have Spent" and "Sometimes." I think the Britney went over better than *NSYNC, but it was fun for all.

On Saturday, I think, Beth and Rachel came to visit Carolyn and Tonya. I like Beth and Rachel. Such fun gals. =) Oh! Friday and Saturday I helped out with that study at work. It was fun. Since I had to time like six people at a time, I had to write down descriptions. Well, everyone has on a blue shirt or a red hat, so I started writing down more, um, colorful descriptions. The ones my manger liked best were "extraordinarily fluffy ponytail," "totally mismatched outfit," and "really hairy back." <.giggle> I'm glad they enjoyed reading them, because I had fun coming up with them.

Sunday was the day I really started getting sick, and yesterday was just awful, so the last couple days have been wholly uneventful. And today, on top of still not feeling well, I encountered the ultimate traffic disaster. It took me 22 minutes to get to the Orlando Science Center, 79 (yes, folks, an hour and 19 minutes) to get to Gina's house, for which I take I-4 back towards home about 1/3 of the way, and then get on the 408 for about the same amount of time I was on I-4, and then 19 minutes to get from Gina's (back on the 408 to I-4, and then the rest of the way back to the Disney area) home. I would have banged my head on the steering wheel if it hadn't already been pounding from the persistent headache. Anyway, Gina and I played Disney trivia, which was exciting all around.

Now I've been rambling like nobody's business, and I suppose it's time to stop and say goodnight. Goodnight.

Posted by kate at 08:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)