Saturday: Starlight Parade Day
Marilyn and I actually got home by 12:30 a.m. tonight! (woo hoo)
It's currently close to 2:00 a.m.
Today started at 9:00 at the office, heading to the park for Special Needs Day. We've been doing this for several years now. From 9:00 to 11:00 in the morning on one day, CityFair is only open to special needs children and their families. The park is QUIET -- no music is playing and there are no other loud noises. Nothing that might be upsetting to a special needs child.
They can visit Walk on the Wild Side and see the animals, go to the Kids Zone and do activities and play bingo -- and just stroll around and see the sights.
I really enjoyed interacting with the kids and their families. I had some children so engaged that they were following me around. Hahaha. And one little girl just adopted me! She kept having me pick her up and carry her. She was ADORABLE. And she would take me by the hand and lead me around to see things with her. Two other children (both boys) were also showing me things. So cute!
Then I went to the Kids Zone to the Reading Corner and read "Green Eggs and Ham" out loud for a group of children and parents. Very fun!
After that we went back to the office, then to get Starbucks. Then back to work again.
I was dealing with an IT issue (surprise) that I just couldn't resolve. I wanted to give Carol access to be able to send email as Info@ -- but it wouldn't work! I set this sort of thing up every so often, so I was quite surprised that it denied me access. I still don't know WHY.
Around 1:30-2:00 in the afternoon Marilyn and I took off.
We did end up home eventually, and had a half hour 'nap' before going back down to the office again.
Marilyn was working away on the Grand Floral Parade script much of the day and night!!! She did a TON of work on it.
We went down to the park and got shaved ice -- it was miserably HOT outside (in the high 90's). We checked things out and finally went back to the office.
We spend Starlight Parade in the office. We actually watch the parade on TV (and I follow along reading the script). Marilyn remains available in case of an incident that requires police action -- she's the one who would talk to them on behalf of the festival. She also helps communicate with TV if necessary (the formation area is quite a distance from television).
There was a special show on the festival that aired at 8:30 p.m. Then the parade came on at 9:00. The way it works is that the parade starts at 8:30 (right after the Starlight Run), but it takes half and hour for it to reach television -- and by that time it's dark so you can see the illumination elements!
Sheila and Tanya were in and out and came in Marilyn's office several times to see bits of the parade. Then at one point Jodi (who is a clown and used to work for the festival) was there, and joined us.
Other people were in and out all night long, too...
All the time Marilyn was working away on the script. She was able to send it off to the woman who does the television version of the script before we went to the After-Party tonight, amazingly enough! (It's only missing a few things...)
Eventually the parade ended (right at 11:00), then we headed over to the Starlight After-Party and were there for some time.
Finally we headed home.
Fitbit Update: Because of my swollen feet (ankles and legs), I've been avoiding walking whenever possible. So I haven't been getting many steps recently. But I got 12,500+ steps today! I was surprised to see that. Marilyn had some 9,000 steps (not sure of the exact amount). Not sure how I got more steps than her, another surprise to me.
Marilyn thinks my feet are another version of my joint flareups. Maybe so. If I had any Naproxen, I'd take it for sure to see if it helped. Aside from helping with pain, it's an anti-inflammatory as well... She's probably right. She usually is!!!
Time for bed. It was a long day!
And a very hot day! We are so blessed (and thankful, believe me) to have air conditioning in this terrible heat.
It's currently close to 2:00 a.m.
Today started at 9:00 at the office, heading to the park for Special Needs Day. We've been doing this for several years now. From 9:00 to 11:00 in the morning on one day, CityFair is only open to special needs children and their families. The park is QUIET -- no music is playing and there are no other loud noises. Nothing that might be upsetting to a special needs child.
They can visit Walk on the Wild Side and see the animals, go to the Kids Zone and do activities and play bingo -- and just stroll around and see the sights.
I really enjoyed interacting with the kids and their families. I had some children so engaged that they were following me around. Hahaha. And one little girl just adopted me! She kept having me pick her up and carry her. She was ADORABLE. And she would take me by the hand and lead me around to see things with her. Two other children (both boys) were also showing me things. So cute!
Then I went to the Kids Zone to the Reading Corner and read "Green Eggs and Ham" out loud for a group of children and parents. Very fun!
After that we went back to the office, then to get Starbucks. Then back to work again.
I was dealing with an IT issue (surprise) that I just couldn't resolve. I wanted to give Carol access to be able to send email as Info@ -- but it wouldn't work! I set this sort of thing up every so often, so I was quite surprised that it denied me access. I still don't know WHY.
Around 1:30-2:00 in the afternoon Marilyn and I took off.
We did end up home eventually, and had a half hour 'nap' before going back down to the office again.
Marilyn was working away on the Grand Floral Parade script much of the day and night!!! She did a TON of work on it.
We went down to the park and got shaved ice -- it was miserably HOT outside (in the high 90's). We checked things out and finally went back to the office.
We spend Starlight Parade in the office. We actually watch the parade on TV (and I follow along reading the script). Marilyn remains available in case of an incident that requires police action -- she's the one who would talk to them on behalf of the festival. She also helps communicate with TV if necessary (the formation area is quite a distance from television).
There was a special show on the festival that aired at 8:30 p.m. Then the parade came on at 9:00. The way it works is that the parade starts at 8:30 (right after the Starlight Run), but it takes half and hour for it to reach television -- and by that time it's dark so you can see the illumination elements!
Sheila and Tanya were in and out and came in Marilyn's office several times to see bits of the parade. Then at one point Jodi (who is a clown and used to work for the festival) was there, and joined us.
Other people were in and out all night long, too...
All the time Marilyn was working away on the script. She was able to send it off to the woman who does the television version of the script before we went to the After-Party tonight, amazingly enough! (It's only missing a few things...)
Eventually the parade ended (right at 11:00), then we headed over to the Starlight After-Party and were there for some time.
Finally we headed home.
Fitbit Update: Because of my swollen feet (ankles and legs), I've been avoiding walking whenever possible. So I haven't been getting many steps recently. But I got 12,500+ steps today! I was surprised to see that. Marilyn had some 9,000 steps (not sure of the exact amount). Not sure how I got more steps than her, another surprise to me.
Marilyn thinks my feet are another version of my joint flareups. Maybe so. If I had any Naproxen, I'd take it for sure to see if it helped. Aside from helping with pain, it's an anti-inflammatory as well... She's probably right. She usually is!!!
Time for bed. It was a long day!
And a very hot day! We are so blessed (and thankful, believe me) to have air conditioning in this terrible heat.