Weekend Update!
It's been a while. For me, anyway, LOL. So here's what's been going on this weekend...
My shift as a Macy's parade balloon handler yesterday was awesome fun. It was so hot, though. I had to wear a big red jumpsuit, kind of like a prison uniform except mine was bright red, and thick white gloves. Very attractive. Ha. The guy who gave out the jumpsuits took his job a bit too seriously. We were assigned our float at this table (I got the elf) and then they said to go inside the soundstage next to them to get the suit. So I went in the first open door. Well, apparently you are supposed to go in the other door (there were no signs and lots of people were making the same mistake I did), so the guy told me to go back out and come in the correct door. Which would make sense if he had a line or a crowd or something, but no. There were only a couple of people there, and both had their suits already. So I walked in the wrong door, told him I needed a suit for the Elf float and then had to walk out, come back in the other door and tell him again. WTF? LOL. And then all he did was take it off the (labeled) rack and hand it to me. Oh yeah, tough job you've got there buddy. Very serious business.
So then they ended up sending us all out into the park to ask guests if they wanted to be in the parade, because we were short 60 balloon handlers. So yeah, if you're ever at Universal during the holidays and want to be in the parade, just hang around and look for the jumpsuited people. You just have to be over 18, at least 120 pounds (so you don't float away, hee) and be wearing closed toed shoes. I felt really awkard going up to strangers and asking them to be in the parade, especially since there were hundreds of us out there doing the same thing and I was worried I'd be asking someone for the 20th time and annoy them. The best I did was get this group of like 5 guys to think about it. They didn't know if they wanted to do it, so I told them to look for someone in a jumpsuit once they decided. I never saw them again, though. Oh well.
The actual parade was really cool. There were about 16 of us carrying the elf float, which is one of the smaller ones. It's basically like a huge kite, and we stand under it and hold it as we walk. There's a pilot for each balloon. Ours was a really cool guy named Peter (and I thought he was cool even before I saw that he was wearing a Family Guy t-shirt under his jumper!). Peter walked in front of us and shouted commands, like to go faster, slower, run in a circle to make the float spin, etc. He would also tell us to bring the balloon up higher by unspooling our ropes. He'd go "Let's go up 5!" and then he'd count to 5 and we'd shout the numbers back as we unspooled our things 5 times. That was fun... I felt like a marching soldier.
When we were finished with that he let us leave (1 1/2 hour before our shift was supposed to end) and I was so grateful for that because I was really gross and sweaty. I picked Casey up from my parents' house (where they'd spent most of the day bowling on the Wii) and immediately jumped in the shower when we got home.
This morning we went to church and then out to The Village Inn for breakfast/lunch. We had so many problems there. I ordered a fried chicken sandwich and they brought it grilled (although that would have been the healthier option, I know), my dad's toast was burned, they forgot Casey's salad and then when they brought it, it wasn't plain like she'd asked. My mom's blueberry french toast was so dry she sent it back (she never does that). My dad asked for water twice before he got it, and my request for another diet coke wasn't fulfilled until I was literally standing up to leave. However, they did give us a free pumpkin pie. Not because of the bad service, they were actually giving pies away. I guess they made too many for the holidays or something.
After that Casey and I stopped at Petco for some crickets, and while we were there I picked up a cute animals calendar and a bagel for Willow. Then we went to Target to get a few odds and ends, including a Christmas present for Bana, Melanie and Nisar's daughter. Casey also used the gift card she'd gotten from my cousin to buy a digital camera that comes with software to make digital scrapbooks, calenders, journals, etc. Cool.
When we got home, Casey decided she wanted to ride her bike. That's great... she spends way too much time sitting on her ass at the computer and I'd like her to get out more (although the fact that she does gymnastics for 3 hours a week is helpful). But since it had been so long since she'd ridden, she had all these issues. First she said the bike was stuck, but it was just that the peddle was in the way of the kickstand. Then it was all dirty, so she had to wipe it down. And then she didn't want to wear a helmet because she didn't want to take her ponytail down (I told her she either wore it or she wasn't going to ride), and then the tires were flat and I tried to pump them up, but my pump is broken. DOH. So that's when we gave up. We had forgotten to get a gift bag for Bana's present while we were at Target (I didn't have any at home that it would fit in), so we ended up stopping at Walgreens on the way to Mel and Nisar's house and getting one, and while we were there I got a new bike pump. So maybe she can ride tomorrow or Tuesday.
So yeah, then we went to Melanie and Nisar's get together. Melanie's sister is in town from NY (I met her for the first time on Friday and she's really cool) and Christine was also there, and so was a girl I'd never met before named Rhonda. I brought that pie I'd gotten from The Village Inn and some fudge my mom had made for Christmas and sent me home with. I didn't want that stuff sitting in the house tempting me, so I figured I'd let them eat it. The fudge was a huge hit and got eaten up pretty quickly. I'll have to let my mom know they liked it. Anyway, we had a great time playing this game called "Would You Rather?". There are these questions like "Would you rather lick a random dog's tongue for 30 seconds or try to steal a bone from a pit bull?". The person whose turn it is has to answer and then try to guess what everyone else would choose. It was really fun and most of the topics had us pretty grossed out. Even when the game was over, we kept reading questions to each other. It was actually a kid's version of the game, but Mel says there's an adult one. Ooh, it would be fun to get drunk and play that.
We also exchanged some gifts at the party. I got some leopard print slippers that Casey and I can share because we almost wear the same size shoe, and also the book Love in the time of Cholera. Cool, I love books! Mel saw the movie and really liked it, so she got me the book. I think I'll read it when I finish Secrets in the Attic, which will take me a while, but whatever. Bana gave Casey a Britney Spears "Curios" set of perfume, body wash and a loofa. I know, Britney Spears EW, but the stuff smells pretty good and Casey seemed pleased, so it's all good. Danielle wasn't at the party because she was with her dad, but she got Christine to bring Toys R Us gift cards for the girls. That was nice of her. Casey gave Bana some Happy Bunny stickers and a big, fluffy stuffed dog (that's all she wants to get anybody anymore... stuffed animals, LOL, but I guess all her friends like them). Well, their dog Trigger either loved or hated (hard to tell which) that thing. He attacked it. It was so cute... he was sniffing it and rolling around with it. Willow had gotten ahold of it earlier (I had to take it from her immediately. Unlike Trigger, she would have destroyed it in seconds), and we were thinking maybe he smelled her on it. Heh heh, he probably thinks that's his doll now. If he sees Bana with it he's going to freak.
When everyone was leaving, I kind of felt bad making Casey leave because she and Bana were having so much fun together, so I asked Melanie if it was okay if she stayed a bit. That turned into a sleepover, which works out well since I have to work tomorrow and I was just going to let her stay home. She'll have a lot more fun over there. I felt a little weird because I was the one who brought it up, like "Hey, you can keep my kid tonight!", but I don't think she minded, and really once they are that age, they are so easy... you barely know they are there. The whole time we were there, they were just playing quietly in her room. I'll have to invite Bana over sometime too. Once Casey gets her room cleaned, that is.
So hey - while we were at the house today, Melanie showed us the pictures from Friday night. There are some great ones. She had sent them to my work email though, so expect a picture post tomorrow!
My shift as a Macy's parade balloon handler yesterday was awesome fun. It was so hot, though. I had to wear a big red jumpsuit, kind of like a prison uniform except mine was bright red, and thick white gloves. Very attractive. Ha. The guy who gave out the jumpsuits took his job a bit too seriously. We were assigned our float at this table (I got the elf) and then they said to go inside the soundstage next to them to get the suit. So I went in the first open door. Well, apparently you are supposed to go in the other door (there were no signs and lots of people were making the same mistake I did), so the guy told me to go back out and come in the correct door. Which would make sense if he had a line or a crowd or something, but no. There were only a couple of people there, and both had their suits already. So I walked in the wrong door, told him I needed a suit for the Elf float and then had to walk out, come back in the other door and tell him again. WTF? LOL. And then all he did was take it off the (labeled) rack and hand it to me. Oh yeah, tough job you've got there buddy. Very serious business.
So then they ended up sending us all out into the park to ask guests if they wanted to be in the parade, because we were short 60 balloon handlers. So yeah, if you're ever at Universal during the holidays and want to be in the parade, just hang around and look for the jumpsuited people. You just have to be over 18, at least 120 pounds (so you don't float away, hee) and be wearing closed toed shoes. I felt really awkard going up to strangers and asking them to be in the parade, especially since there were hundreds of us out there doing the same thing and I was worried I'd be asking someone for the 20th time and annoy them. The best I did was get this group of like 5 guys to think about it. They didn't know if they wanted to do it, so I told them to look for someone in a jumpsuit once they decided. I never saw them again, though. Oh well.
The actual parade was really cool. There were about 16 of us carrying the elf float, which is one of the smaller ones. It's basically like a huge kite, and we stand under it and hold it as we walk. There's a pilot for each balloon. Ours was a really cool guy named Peter (and I thought he was cool even before I saw that he was wearing a Family Guy t-shirt under his jumper!). Peter walked in front of us and shouted commands, like to go faster, slower, run in a circle to make the float spin, etc. He would also tell us to bring the balloon up higher by unspooling our ropes. He'd go "Let's go up 5!" and then he'd count to 5 and we'd shout the numbers back as we unspooled our things 5 times. That was fun... I felt like a marching soldier.
When we were finished with that he let us leave (1 1/2 hour before our shift was supposed to end) and I was so grateful for that because I was really gross and sweaty. I picked Casey up from my parents' house (where they'd spent most of the day bowling on the Wii) and immediately jumped in the shower when we got home.
This morning we went to church and then out to The Village Inn for breakfast/lunch. We had so many problems there. I ordered a fried chicken sandwich and they brought it grilled (although that would have been the healthier option, I know), my dad's toast was burned, they forgot Casey's salad and then when they brought it, it wasn't plain like she'd asked. My mom's blueberry french toast was so dry she sent it back (she never does that). My dad asked for water twice before he got it, and my request for another diet coke wasn't fulfilled until I was literally standing up to leave. However, they did give us a free pumpkin pie. Not because of the bad service, they were actually giving pies away. I guess they made too many for the holidays or something.
After that Casey and I stopped at Petco for some crickets, and while we were there I picked up a cute animals calendar and a bagel for Willow. Then we went to Target to get a few odds and ends, including a Christmas present for Bana, Melanie and Nisar's daughter. Casey also used the gift card she'd gotten from my cousin to buy a digital camera that comes with software to make digital scrapbooks, calenders, journals, etc. Cool.
When we got home, Casey decided she wanted to ride her bike. That's great... she spends way too much time sitting on her ass at the computer and I'd like her to get out more (although the fact that she does gymnastics for 3 hours a week is helpful). But since it had been so long since she'd ridden, she had all these issues. First she said the bike was stuck, but it was just that the peddle was in the way of the kickstand. Then it was all dirty, so she had to wipe it down. And then she didn't want to wear a helmet because she didn't want to take her ponytail down (I told her she either wore it or she wasn't going to ride), and then the tires were flat and I tried to pump them up, but my pump is broken. DOH. So that's when we gave up. We had forgotten to get a gift bag for Bana's present while we were at Target (I didn't have any at home that it would fit in), so we ended up stopping at Walgreens on the way to Mel and Nisar's house and getting one, and while we were there I got a new bike pump. So maybe she can ride tomorrow or Tuesday.
So yeah, then we went to Melanie and Nisar's get together. Melanie's sister is in town from NY (I met her for the first time on Friday and she's really cool) and Christine was also there, and so was a girl I'd never met before named Rhonda. I brought that pie I'd gotten from The Village Inn and some fudge my mom had made for Christmas and sent me home with. I didn't want that stuff sitting in the house tempting me, so I figured I'd let them eat it. The fudge was a huge hit and got eaten up pretty quickly. I'll have to let my mom know they liked it. Anyway, we had a great time playing this game called "Would You Rather?". There are these questions like "Would you rather lick a random dog's tongue for 30 seconds or try to steal a bone from a pit bull?". The person whose turn it is has to answer and then try to guess what everyone else would choose. It was really fun and most of the topics had us pretty grossed out. Even when the game was over, we kept reading questions to each other. It was actually a kid's version of the game, but Mel says there's an adult one. Ooh, it would be fun to get drunk and play that.
We also exchanged some gifts at the party. I got some leopard print slippers that Casey and I can share because we almost wear the same size shoe, and also the book Love in the time of Cholera. Cool, I love books! Mel saw the movie and really liked it, so she got me the book. I think I'll read it when I finish Secrets in the Attic, which will take me a while, but whatever. Bana gave Casey a Britney Spears "Curios" set of perfume, body wash and a loofa. I know, Britney Spears EW, but the stuff smells pretty good and Casey seemed pleased, so it's all good. Danielle wasn't at the party because she was with her dad, but she got Christine to bring Toys R Us gift cards for the girls. That was nice of her. Casey gave Bana some Happy Bunny stickers and a big, fluffy stuffed dog (that's all she wants to get anybody anymore... stuffed animals, LOL, but I guess all her friends like them). Well, their dog Trigger either loved or hated (hard to tell which) that thing. He attacked it. It was so cute... he was sniffing it and rolling around with it. Willow had gotten ahold of it earlier (I had to take it from her immediately. Unlike Trigger, she would have destroyed it in seconds), and we were thinking maybe he smelled her on it. Heh heh, he probably thinks that's his doll now. If he sees Bana with it he's going to freak.
When everyone was leaving, I kind of felt bad making Casey leave because she and Bana were having so much fun together, so I asked Melanie if it was okay if she stayed a bit. That turned into a sleepover, which works out well since I have to work tomorrow and I was just going to let her stay home. She'll have a lot more fun over there. I felt a little weird because I was the one who brought it up, like "Hey, you can keep my kid tonight!", but I don't think she minded, and really once they are that age, they are so easy... you barely know they are there. The whole time we were there, they were just playing quietly in her room. I'll have to invite Bana over sometime too. Once Casey gets her room cleaned, that is.
So hey - while we were at the house today, Melanie showed us the pictures from Friday night. There are some great ones. She had sent them to my work email though, so expect a picture post tomorrow!