Struggling

I haven't blogged in over two weeks. I've been struggling with a health issue for about that long and it has kept me from wanting to blog. I've been tight-lipped about it on FB. I just wanted to deal with it quietly on my own.

I feel like it's just one thing after another for me lately. When I get over something (health wise), something else weird and strange pops up. This time, I believe I had a rib shift out of place - probably because I lifted something too heavy that I shouldn't have.

I started feeling a dull pain/ache in a muscle in my chest on a Wednesday evening almost two weeks ago (it hurt when I pushed on it). Of course, that made me a little nervous. Whenever you feel pain in your chest, you are going to be nervous. I tried to shrug it off for a few days and keep going, hoping it would go away, but it progressively got worse. And so did my anxiety about the situation.

Doug had to go out of town last week for 4 days on business. Last Friday was also the 1st anniversary of my dear friend Carole passing away from a sudden heart attack. So, the thought of something going wrong with me while he was gone sent me into a bit of a panic.

And the day before Doug had to go out of town, his 95 year old grandfather passed away. We learned about it the morning he left for his trip. Several weeks ago, Doug, Bri and I made an impromptu trip up to Michigan (a little over a week after Universal) to spend time his grandfather because we found out he was very ill. So grateful we made the trip ~ Doug's grandpa wanted to see Briana so badly...

I went to my chiropractor last Monday and told her about my discomfort. After examination, she said it felt like one of my ribs had slipped out of place and she worked on putting it back. Once that was done, my body revolted. I was feeling residual aching and pain all through my chest and shoulder after that (for days). I was so nervous about the discomfort that I had been experiencing and was still experiencing that I started to believe that maybe something else was wrong - maybe it was my heart.

I actually called my mom come over to help me last Monday afternoon and all of Tuesday because I was hurting so badly, Doug was out of town and I was so anxiety ridden.

I made an appointment with my primary care office for the day after I visited my chiropractor and saw an associate of my doctor (because he had called is sick himself of course). After listening to my symptoms, the doctor believed that I had an inflamed breast bone (I'm assuming from my rib slipping) and was put on an anti-inflammatory.  I also had an EKG and a chest xray to rule out other possibilities. The good news was my blood pressure and pulse were great that day despite having been so nervous for days. And the tests came back fine.

So here I am a week later. I've been resting a lot in bed. I am still experiencing aching and discomfort in back and shoulder, but I do feel like it is my muscles. I am slowly feeling a bit better each day. I don't believe it is my heart anymore - but when you get in your 40's, you do tend to jump to that conclusion a bit faster. 

I'm so ready to feel better. Physically and emotionally. So many people keep passing away in my life and it's getting really difficult to deal with. I know at my age, this happens more often, but the hits seem to keep coming steadily one after the other.

 I have so much to blog about. I want to share about the trip to Michigan because it was very special (even though we went in the middle of a snow storm). I also want to talk about the trip we took to the zoo, Bri's spring soccer season, a visit with family, Easter and Bri's school book fair week.

So give me a couple of days and I'll try to get back to blogging soon.

Universal Resort 2016 - Day 5, Heading Home and Final Thoughts

Man, we were so tired when we headed home on Friday morning. We had a very long drive ahead of us. After a visit with family plus three very full days at a theme park - we were pooped.

Luckily, we had the weekend to recuperate (though we did manage to attend a CNY event that Saturday evening that we had signed up for).

Anyway, you know I always have some final thoughts when I come back from a trip like this...

* I did really, really enjoy Universal. I honestly wasn't prepared for the intensity of the parks, but it didn't really deter me. I'm cool like that - heh. There were just a couple of rides we didn't check out (because we were scared - lol), but overall, I feel we did almost everything. I was worried about my neck and back, but I surprisingly came away from the trip unscathed. Be prepared for every ride to jerk, spin and speed you around - it's just the way it is.

* I think I liked the Universal Studios Florida park a bit better than the Islands of Adventure park, but that is because I am not a super adventurous person. ;) If you are visiting Universal anytime soon, I'll be interested in which park you prefer.

* Make sure you check which side of Harry Potter is open early when visiting. It will save you from having to hike to the other park in the morning!

* I highly recommend the Cabana Bay hotel. Loved it.

* Even though you live in Georgia (or another state), you will bump into someone you know at Universal during a school break vacation. We ran into one of Bri's friends/soccer teammates at our hotel. And we ran into a different soccer teammate from Bri's former academy team in the Kidzone at Universal Studios Florida. Such a small world.

* The parks do get crazy crowded - especially during a busy time of year. Winter break is pretty busy, but probably not as busy as spring break or Christmas. The week we were there, the unlimited express pass was an absolute necessity because of all the people.

* Harry Potter World (either park) gets stupid crazy crowded around 10AM. We tried to bolt at least by 11 if we could. The early hour was totally worth it for us. The only thing I disliked was the mob walk to Diagon Alley on park day 3.

* The Harry Potter Wizarding World was truly amazing. The attention to detail was incredible. Try to watch the movies if you can beforehand because you will see so many similar things to the movies.

*Buy a poncho for Toon Lagoon. You will get drenched. Really, really drenched.

* I liked the fact that there wasn't pressure to do themed breakfasts, lunches and dinners (because there really weren't any - just one on a weekend I think). At Disney, I liked to schedule those kinds of meals to make sure Bri could meet characters. And that required us to be at a certain restaurants at a certain times. The characters were more easily accessible at Universal than at Disney. We ate when and where we wanted to without any real fuss. Meal times were pretty much a breeze (except at Starbucks - go figure).

* If you can avoid bringing any kind of bag or purse, I recommend trying it. Lockers are available and some rides let you bring bags on, but going to a locker takes up a bit of time. And definitely buy a ticket/pass holder for around your neck!

* The unlimited express pass is awesome. Totally worth every penny. You can use it on almost every ride in the park at any time you want to. You don't have the worry of a 3 fast pass limit like at Disney - and then trying to get to a kiosk to book another fast pass after you've used your three. It's your pass for the whole time and you can use it at anytime you want. (Universal does offer a less expensive limited express pass - one express entrance to each ride per day. Again, almost every ride accepts it.)

* I don't recommend this park for younger kids (though I saw a ton of them there). There are kid sections in each theme park, but that is where you'll be staying most of the time because most of the rides are just too intense - and kids have to be tall enough to get on them. I think Bri being 9 was a perfect age. You can probably get away with kids age 7 or 8 if they are adventurous. Personally, I wouldn't bring a kid under 5 years of age. Just my opinion.

* I noticed test seats around the park for a few of the rides so you can see ahead of time if you feel comfortable in a seat and/or if you can fit in a seat. Some of the seats can be a bit constricting/uncomfortable depending on the ride.

* Skip Terminator 2. It's not worth it. I promise.

*We didn't enjoy any nightlife - fireworks, CityWalk dining, etc. So, I can't comment on that unfortunately.

As much as I enjoyed the vacation, I am not a huge lover of crowds and long lines. I can tackle theme parks for a few days and then I am done with them for a long, long time. I need recuperation time. My next theme park vacation will be a few years away. And it will probably be Disney. I still really enjoy Disney. There is a lot of new stuff coming to Disney in the next few years - The World of Avatar, the new Soarin' ride, the new Frozen ride, and the Toy Story and Star Wars expansions. I think we will wait until a few of those things are open and ready for visitors.

As we drove home, we did find a little gem in Tifton, Georgia - Pit Stop BBQ. We needed some lunch on the way home and it fit the bill. Honestly, it was delish and right off I-75. I highly recommend...

 

So that is the recap of my trip. Hope you enjoyed my thoughts. I love doing these kinds of posts because I feel like I am reliving my vacation all over again.

Thank you Universal for giving us a great time. See you again in a few years.

(All these posts are in my sidebar if you need them for future reference!)

Universal Resort 2016 - Day 4, Revisiting Our Favorite Attractions

We went back to the theme parks for the last time on our 4th day in Orlando. There was a deal that if you buy two days at the theme parks, you get the third day for free. Since this was our first visit, we took our time checking everything out and we still hadn't see all of the attractions, so having a third park day worked great for us. And, it allowed us to revisit a number of the rides again that we really enjoyed the first time around. If you have done Universal before, you might not need the third day. I think Universal is probably a good two day visit.

3rd day at the parks baby...

Same drill in the morning. Heading to Universal Studios Florida and Diagon Alley...

Walking back to Diagon Alley through main section of Universal Studios Florida...

 Unfortunately, I got pretty perturbed that morning. It's the only time I remember getting quite angry during the trip.

 The two mornings before, we were let into Universal Studios Florida, showed our room key as proof of staying in a Universal Resort (in order to utilize the early access hour) and visitors could walk to the back of the park at their own leisure. Some people hustled and some took their time, and it all worked out just fine.

That third morning, some genius changed things up and decided that everyone needed to follow the "first family" to Diagon Alley (each morning they chose a family to welcome everyone to the park as it opened). We were all walking together in a big mob group. Doug, Bri and I were toward the front of the group. Well, those that were quite anxious to get to Diagon Alley started to try to get up to the front of the group and were walking at a very brisk pace. I almost felt that if I slowed down my pace even a little that I might get trampled by someone behind me. It felt very chaotic, pushy and a little scary. Being so short, Briana looked up at me because the group was really beginning to bunch together and she was expressing that she was getting a bit nervous...

I started telling Doug (loudly) how insane all of these people were. The way we had been let in the two days before worked out just fine. If you wanted to get to the back of the park quickly, you could quite easily.

As soon as we got to the entrance of Diagon, people from behind us started running around the group to get to the Gringotts ride. 

Briana just kept telling me how much she liked her "personal space."

The whole thing reminded me of when we were trying to get to Test Track when we were at Epcot a few years ago.

Look, I like cool rides as much as the next person. But, I am not going to knock over someone to get on something first. People are seriously crazy. It's not like we were fighting to get food because we were starving. It's just a dang theme park ride. We were all there so early, everyone was going to get on the ride pretty quickly anyway. That is why we took advantage of the early hour. The whole thing was ridiculous.

 I have to say that morning, I was extremely disappointed with how Universal handled things. If we go back and that happens again, I will figure out a way to move to the side and let everyone in the group just freaking pass me. It's so not worth getting hurt over. (rant over)

We finally got into Diagon Alley and I took a few breaths to calm down.

The witches of the Leaky Cauldron were greeting everyone...

We got on the Gringotts ride one last time (and we got on pretty quickly without sprinting - shocker {not})...

Gringotts one more time...

The rest of the park didn't open until 9. We weren't planning on going over to Islands of Adventure until the afternoon, so we had plenty of time to visit some of the shops. 

We hit Olivanders in Diagon Alley this time. It is much bigger than the one on the Hogsmeade side...

Again, poor Bri wasn't chosen for the demonstration where the wand chooses the wizard.

A little girl with a very big bow was chosen...

I have to admit, she was the right person to be chosen. There was no doubt that she was a huge Harry Potter fan. Bri likes the movies, but she isn't obsessed with them by any means. B is a bigger Star Wars fan.

The little girl repeated "Wingardium Leviosa" with a perfect accent and flick of her wand. She was definitely a mega fan.

All the wands...

When it was over, I asked Bri if she was disappointed or relieved about not being picked. She said she was both - LOL! She knew she wouldn't have repeated those words as good as that other little girl did.

And not having the wand choose you allows you to choose your own wand...

Bri took her time looking through all the wands. This shop was huge...

In the end, Bri chose "Cho Chang's" wand and she couldn't have been happier...

We walked around a few more of the shops...

This mirror was really cool - it talked to you and told you how you looked...

The clock struck 9AM and it was time to leave Diagon Alley to hit the two rides that we missed the day before.

Time for the Simpsons...

I loved the ride ~ though for me it was a bit intense. If you ask Briana, her take on it was that is wasn't intense at all and she wasn't interested on going on it again. And Briana is not familiar with the Simpsons at all, so it was going over her head a bit.

It's all perspective I guess.

Next was "Men In Black" ~ another lock your stuff up ride...

Google image...

This ride is fun because you have lasers and you rack up points for hitting aliens. If I compare it to another ride, I would say it is kind of like the "Toy Story Mania" ride at Disney - but a bit more intense. We rode it twice using our express pass.

We got a little frustrated that day with the locker situation. We had to use lockers for the first time - twice (they are free for the first hour - after that you have to pay) because we bought Briana a wand. Both lockers we used, by Men In Black and The Mummy, didn't open when we returned for B's wand. Not our fault - just weird glitches. We had to get help both times. They just don't work all that well. So if you can avoid a locker somehow, I recommend it. You can have purchased items sent to your hotel room if you stay on property - which is a cool benefit. But, you can't do it unless you are staying at the hotel the next day (because they deliver the items to your room the next day). So if you are checking out the next day, you'll need to carry your items with you.

We were actually pretty hungry that morning, so we stopped at a Starbucks in the San Francisco area for breakfast. It was the only place around open for a quick breakfast, so it was packed. Not surprised. Starbucks is packed no matter where you go.

We headed back to the Mummy ride after that for more thrills (did it twice)...

We went back to Transformers and then back to Despicable Me.

The wait for the Despicable Me ride was pretty long again. It seems super popular and due to the nature of it (not that many seats available for an 8 minute movie/ride), it backs up. We waited about 35-40 minutes in the express line. Doug wasn't too keen on that, but Bri and I wanted to get on it again.

Selfies while you wait...

After the ride ends, you walk out into a post-show area with disco music playing...

And we realized they were doing a meet and greet with the Minions. Score!!!!!!

As we headed into Hollywood to find something for lunch, it happened. The thing I had hoped would happen - Lucy was standing right there!!! Yeehaw!!!!

I just had to get a picture for my mom...

My mission was complete!

We grabbed some sandwiches at this little bistro for lunch ~ they were pretty mediocre. The desserts were quite yummy though...

I kind of wish we ate here instead...

 We went to ride on E.T again and grabbed a snack in the Kidzone.

We headed toward Springfield USA, and we passed some carnival type games and Bri really wanted to try one.

She hit two balloons with little bean bags and won this Maggie. She was excited...

After circling around Universal Studios Florida, we ended back at Diagon Alley (where we started). Bri had only one thing she really wanted to do again at Islands of Adventure - and that was the Fear Fall. So, we jumped on the Hogwarts Express and went over to Islands.

We walked directly to the Marvel section so Doug and Bri could do the Fear Fall again...

Why does she keep torturing me like this???

After two drops, they were done. It was actually early afternoon, but we were all very tired. It had been a long three days.

We exited out of the Port Of Entry...

Through CityWalk...

With a quick stop on the cowfish...

We got on the bus ~ you can see how tired Bri looks...

She almost fell asleep on me on the bus. 

It brought me back to our very first bus ride together (my little motion sleeper)...

Aaaaand ~ this is how she exited the bus...

She was barely awake when Doug tossed placed her on the bed (she's not as light as she used to be)...

My kid is a mover and a shaker, but Universal finally broke her - lol! It took three days to tire her out. Snort.

We chilled the rest of the afternoon, grabbed dinner at the hotel that evening and went to the video game room one more time.

We were going to get up early the next morning (but not as early as the park mornings) and drive on home.