Ahira's Hangar

I'm all for a WDW Watcher 'fest...
I haven't been to Disney in a loooong time.
...but I think Atlanta might actually get a better turn out from the southeastern-based Watchers.

Active members of the Watch? I can think of three off hand...
But there's Ms. Mary is south Florida, some Watchers over near Daytona, me up in Gator Town...
...and I figure if we were to do Disney, more might come from out of state.

true 'nuff.
cost certainly has to do with why I haven't been in a long time, even with Florida Resident Passes...
I guess I was thinking more along the lines of inexpensive accommodations outside the main resort area, and lots of options of things to do other than WDW. dAN, TOM, and Cheval would have to sell me on Tampa, I think. I've never even heard about Tampa's beaches; I would assume we would want to drive to St. Pete Beach/Fort DeSoto Park if we wanted to do a beach day...

Well, there is always Busch Gardens. And in nearby Lakeland there is , so I would very happy there in March.

And you could go watch the rays play baseball.

I had a very nice Sunday. In the morning went to the park and got some good shots, though a lot of the flowerbeds are still bare as it's been an unusually cold June.

In the afternoon, headed over to the art gallery for a major exhibition on Marilyn Monroe. It was the last day for it so I didn't want to miss it. But apparently I did miss a lot of stuff that occurred around the exhibition; I especially regret missing out on a one-woman play that featured Sunny Thompson as Marilyn. But anyway, it was a great exhibit. I was genuinely moved by all the images that chronicled her life (and death). Also, being able to really see Marilyn in such a setting allowed me to be startled again by her luminescent quality. Her look is timeless.

Today: going to the dentist along with both of my sons.

Tonight: Watching my beloved Wings try to win the Stanley Cup in game seven. Hope they do it, but they are such a banged up injured bunch the odds are long against them. The rumors of Lidstrom's (our Captain's) injury (supposedly he got a ruptured testicle in the last round of the playoffs after being speared in the groin by a Blackhawk) are particularly gruesome. How can a guy play hockey with a freaking ruptured testicle???

Yesterday: managing not to curse out the lead technician at work not only once but twice! I was very proud of myself for the self control when that exhausted and that pushed to the limit.

Sorry you had such a crappy time at work, duchess...and too bad the Red Wings couldn't end the week on a high note for ya. Oh well, at least now all of 'em can relax for the summer, recuperate from their injuries, and work on their golf game.

I sort of collapsed today for a few hours in between the dentist and the game and slept like an exhausted rock. Hope it will help me feel a bit better and actually get some housework down tomorrow!

I don't follow hockey, but can say that my sister, who lives in Pittsburgh, is on a high today...

I've subscribed to HDTV service. The cable guy (who, strangely, did not resemble Jim Carrey at all) actually installed the hi-def converter box yesterday, but it was too gorgeous outside for me to be inside. Anyway, while the HD channels are very nice, I found that the coolest additions are the 24/7 digital music channels covering a wide range of genres. I've pegged the 70's, 80's, Baroque, Folk Roots and Masterworks (classical) as my favorite music channels. As I type this, I've got Masterworks on, and it's playing Bruckner's 8th Symphony with Gunter Wand conducting the Berlin Philharmonic. First time I've heard this version too.

With Winnipeg Folk Fest coming up next month, I'll be leaving the Folk Roots channel on a lot. Nice way to get myself into the right frame of mind.

The selection of available HD channels is still underwhelming, but I haven't opted for any of the premium movie channels. Yet. If and when I do, I'll have even less reason to go out among my fellow human beings. (Thank goodness for music festivals.)

Sunday tomorrow, climbing, hopefully with a bunch of friends.

--A

Today Beorn took the official ACT for the first time. Yeah, not only on a Sunday, and on Father's Day at that, but about four to six months early.

We set this up at the start of the school year, as we were getting his College Board accommodations for the PSAT, SAT and AP exams. For the ACT, you have to take the exam to get the accommodations in place, so we scheduled it for the last exam in the school year, to give him time to be taught what he may not have learned yet.

I am amazed and truly pleased with his school though. Because of his extra time accommodation, he is being given nearly six hours to take the test, so he is being tested one-on-one. Since he is taking drivers ed, there was no weekday available to him that had six hours free. And he had the one Saturday drivers ed class of his course yesterday, which was the only Saturday available within the testing period. So, his school is specifically opening today, Father's Day, for Beorn to take the ACT one-on-one.

We truly are blessed with the IEP team we have in place for him.

...and he has just returned.
He didn't need the full six hours, he finished in five.

As he put it, "All of the multiple choice questions were easy, except for one math question I couldn't figure out how to do." But, he totally did not relate to the essay prompt, which was "take a stance in the debate on teaching leadership skills" and they were given two approaches to doing so, or they could come up with their own method for teaching them. He said he didn't agree with either method, and could not come up with his own, so he said he wrote an essay explaining why he felt even attempting to teach leadership skills was doomed to failure.

*heavy sigh mixed with extreme emotion*

Well...
...maybe he'll get some points for at least trying to stay on topic.