20 helpful tips for winter trips to Central Florida

1. Have plenty of change, some toll roads only accept exact change.

Here's what gets you if you don't pay the toll!

2. For the Harry Potter land in Universal Studios the lines were over 2 hours long.  We found the singles lines and all of us were on the rides either right away or in 5-10 minutes.
3.  The singles lines at Universal Studios are sometimes in odd locations, inside gift shops, instead of near the main entrance to the ride.
4.  Ask employees for directions to the singles line.
5.  Ask employees for wait times in the singles line.
6. Want to ride the ride again?  Look for the short cut stairs/path that cuts straight to the entrance.  Don't see it? Ask the employee at the exit.

Yeah, for singles lines!

7.  Want a butter beer or pumpkin juice but don't want to wait in the long, long, long lines in the courtyard?  Go to the bar instead.  We only had 4 people in front of us! Surprisingly, my favorite was the pumpkin juice.

Yum,  butter beer!

8. Meal plans are great for teenage boys and those with big appetites. Unfortunately, Rachel and I would have saved money paying individually for our meals.
9. If you go to the parks before 9:30 am ride lines are very short, 5-10 minute waits.  Around 10 am ride lines average 1.5 hours.  After 6 pm ride lines averaged 20-30 minutes.
10.  Epcot was boring for the children.

Hollywood Studios in Disney World was a blast!

11.  Want to save money on food while at Disney?  Instead of eating in restaurants get the same food for less at the food stands near the restaurant.
12. All amusement parks offer free cups of water.  They all also allowed us to bring in fanny packs with snacks and bottled water.
13.  Speaking of fanny packs, many rides now require riders to use lockers for their personal items.  Here's the exception, fanny packs.  Not once were we required to use a locker before riding the rides.
14.  Our favorite place to visit was Discovery Cove.  It was worth the price.  Save this destination for your last day because it was the highlight of our trip.
15.  If you go to Discovery Cove remember that you may keep your snorkel.  NOT the mask!  Just the snorkel.
16. Need a prescription mask for snorkeling? No problem, Discover Cove offers prescription masks free of charge at the service desk.
17. Discovery Cove included 14 days of free visits to Sea World...parking excluded.  Be sure to ask for details as this may be a limited offer.
18.  Make sure to plan ahead to get a good seat for Sea World shows.  We planned to be seated 30 minutes before the show and typically by the time we arrived the arena was 1/3 full.

19. Pick up your food before you go to the arena.  It keeps you full, hydrated, and gives you something to do while waiting for the show to begin.
20. Florida rental cars require a gas receipt within 5 miles of the airport.  The price of gas near the airport was $5.60 a gallon.  In town it was $3.18 a gallon.  On the brighter side we only had to buy 2 gallons.

JUST CHANGE YOUR PANTS!

Breakfast this morning started out like any other; that is until Trent spilled jalapeño jelly on his pants.
“I can’t believe it! No matter what I do I spill food on myself.”

“Honey, don’t worry. Just go change your pants.”

“I can’t JUST change my pants! I’ll be late for work. “

“Yes Trent, just go change your pants.”

“Michelle, I can’t just change my pants because if I change my pants I’ll have to change my shirt.”

“Just change your pants Trent.”

“I can’t just change my pants because if I change my pants I’ll have to change my shirt. And if I change my shirt I’ll have to change my tie. And if I change my tie I’ll have to change my belt. And if I change my belt I’ll have to change my shoes.”

“TRENT, just go change your pants.”

Trent walks away from the breakfast bar.

“Trent, where are you going?”

”I need to change my pants.”

Sweet Jalapeño Jelly Recipe
About 1 pound jalapeño peppers
2 cups water
1 cup apple cider vinegar
4 cups sugar
1 package pectin
Directions:
Cut peppers in half. Cut off stems and remove seeds. Place finely chopped peppers in a large pot. Add water and apple cider vinegar. Cover and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 more minutes; strain. Add pectin to 3 cups of juice, stirring constantly. Bring mixture to full boil on high heat. Stir in sugar. Return to full boil and boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Ladle into prepared jars with 1/8 inch.

For peace of mind, women older than 50 should be banned from driving

              

Today I had 15 minutes to drive to my next appointment and it is a good 25 minutes away. What did I do? I ran to the bathroom mirror glanced at my make-up and hair, turned sideways, patted my tummy and exclaim, “Not bad! You still have it!” After giving my appearance a quick check I grabbed my purse and keys and bolt for the door.

Once inside my car I buckled my seat belt, turned the key and began backing out of the garage. Just when I reached the driveway the morning sun in all of its radiance glinted off of the rearview mirror and on to my face. To my horror, I saw a GRANNY HAIR! Yes, I said it…A granny hair.

For you that are not familiar with the term granny hair, a granny hair is a coarse black or gray hair located on the chin or upper lip that will typically appears sometime in a woman’s fifth decade of life. Granny hairs send chills of terror up and down the spines of those unfortunate souls who experience them, resulting in frantic searches for tweezers and plucking action that would rival a ninja warrior.

As I am about to grab the granny hair with very determined fingers, I happen to glance at my jaw line. Is that the beginning of a jowl? I quickly adjust the angle of my rearview mirror. Much to my chagrin, the jowls are still there. Instantaneously, I place my pointer fingers at the back of my jaw near the base of my ears and give a gentle upward tug. The jowls disappear. I AM GETTING OLD AGE JOWLS!

I don’t know why I just didn’t leave well enough alone and drive to my appointment, but I didn’t. Instead I began to examine my face with an eagle eye. What is going on with my neck? It looks like crepe paper. Suddenly, I realize what skin care companies are referring to when they claim their product will reduce the appearance of crepey skin. AUGH! I have crepey skin on top of granny hairs!

I must be a glutton for punishment because I began to examine my cheeks, eyes and forehead. Age spots? Oh please, not age spots! Baggy eye lids! I’m cursed. And lastly, I move on to brow furrows or more accurately, brow trenches! How come I never saw these in the bathroom mirror? Was I not just 10 minutes ago standing in front of the bathroom mirror and smugly saying to myself how good looking I was? Why does the rearview mirror hate me!

Being a woman of action, I quickly began formulating ways to combat my newly discovered aging. I could use layers of concealer to putty up my brow trenches and cover my age spots. And if that didn’t work I could separate my brow trenches with my thumb and pointer finger pretending to always be deep in thought. Yes, that’s what I could do; be like Rodin’s Thinker Statue only instead of fist to chin have fingers to forehead.

Having solved my brow situation I moved on to my jowls. Hum, what to do. How about an industrial strength banana hair clip? It could pull my hair back and my jowls at the same time. No. I couldn’t do that, what if one of the springs broke? It might disfigure me further.

What about duct tape? It fixes everything for my husband. I could duct tape my jowls up and grow my hair out to cover the tape. And while on the subject of tape, why not use double sided tape to lift my bagging eye lids.

Even after developing my personal anti-aging strategies one question remains, What is it about rearview mirrors???!!!

Perhaps the simplest solution is for women over 50 to swear off driving for peace of mind!

Below are some inexpensive home beauty treatments that can be found in your pantry

Tightening mask for large pores:

Egg Whites- Beat the white of an egg lightly. Apply the beaten egg white to skin. Allow to dry. Remove with warm wash cloth. Follow with cold water, toner and skin cream of choice.

Skin moisturizers:

Coconut oil- Coconut oil makes a great facial, hand or general skin cream.

Avocado- Smash an avocado and pat on face. Allow to dry about 1/2 an hour. Remove with a warm wash cloth. Follow with cold water, toner and skin cream of choice.

Facial scrub:

Rolled Oatmeal Scrub- Wet face with warm water. Moisten a small amount of rolled oatmeal in the palm of your hand. Using circular motions gently rub your skin with the oatmeal. Remember to never apply facial scrub to the delicate skin surrounding your eyes.

Hair rinse:

Vinegar- Mix 1/2 cup of vinegar in a pitcher of water. After shampooing rinse hair and scalp with vinegar solution to remove any residue.

2 for 1 ski passes SNOWBASIN

I have 2 ticket vouchers that are buy 1 get 1 free.  They expire 12/18/2011 and I am not going to be able to use them.  If you would like one or both of them be the first to email me at m_snow61@hotmail.com and they are yours.  Please place in the subject line "Snowbasin Ticket Vouchers"

Soup

For dinner I was going to use the last of the Thanksgiving turkey meat I had in the freezer.  Adam, my 16 year old son, saw the turkey meat and said, "ENOUGH TURKEY! I'm making dinner."  And did he ever.  It was a simple yet delicous soup that he served with bacci rolls. 

Adam's Soup
6 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 medium onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 cup shredded carrots
1 yellow squash, sliced
1 zucchini squash, sliced
2/3 cup cubed butternut squash, pre cooked
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Garnish
3 slices red cabbage, chopped

Direction-
Adam just threw all of the ingredients in a pot and cooked until the celery and yellow squash were tender.  Just before serving he garnished with the red cabbage.

Cold Weather Scarf

I am putting on my scarf and a woman walks up to me and asks, "How'd you do that?"  I say, "Do what?"  "Put your scarf on that way."  "What?"  "I wrap mine around my neck and you made a knot thing.  How'd you do that?"  I was stunned that she had never put her scarf around her neck the way I do. So here is a post on placing a scarf around your neck, just in case anyone out there doesn't know how to do it my way either.

Step 1- Fold your scarf in half long ways.

Step 2- Drape the scarf around your neck.
Step 3- Take the end without the loop and put it through the looped end.

Step 4 - Tighten and arrange so it is to your liking.

Caption Winner, JANELLEN P.!

Mom! If you have to wear shoes when you dive then maybe you should wear something more practical like pumps instead of sandals…. That way you can look good and do some spearfishing too!!!

A big thank you to all who participated!  The Queen of Common Cents should be released the first of January.  Janellen, I'll send out your copy as soon as it arrives :)