I have always kept a tight reign on media in my house. As a former schoolteacher, I had witnessed all to often the rude and disrespectful behavior and thought patterns in kids who had a steady diet of certain television shows. Now that my kids are 16 and 18 I am proud to say that we were able to ignore pop culture and got along just fine without The Simpsons, Rugrats, Spongebob Squarepants or any of their other obnoxious cohorts. I can honestly say that my kids were too old when Dora, Handy Manny and Caillou came out because I have seen some of those little kids cartoons and they were really annoying too.

Is there a cartoon character you don’t like or don’t allow your kids to watch? Leave me a comment and let’s discuss it!

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To me, Dr Pepper is the one of the nastiest things I’ve ever tasted. When I was a teen we said it was carbonated prune juice, ick! The mixture of 23 flavors is not at all pleasing to me but, my kids like so who am I to judge?

Is there something you can’t believe your kids like? Let me know in the comments.

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This one is easy! I asked each person in the family what the creepiest toy we ever had was and we all had the same answer…Furby!

Back in 2008 a friend’s son got a Furby, a cute not-so-cuddly electronic robot toy. Aaron wanted one sooo bad, so for Christmas he got the Santa Furby.

Santa Furby

Furby talked a weird alien-like language called Furbish but it is programmed to “learn” English. It often sounded like he said “Furby E-bay” and “E-bay dance” before it started dancing. Furby’s eyes blinked and he was activated by light and “slept” in the dark.

A few years after receiving our original Furby, who was buried in the toy box, Jordan received another Furby as a birthday present. This one was possessed. The batteries were dead and occasionally the eyes would blink or he would randomly dance. Once while cleaning the boy’s bedroom, Furby was moved and he came to life and freaked us all out. Furby finally headed to the garbage because of his bizarre and scary behavior.

What is the creepiest toy your child ever had? I’d love to read your stories so let me know in the comments.

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In all honesty in high school I was a goody-two-shoes kind of girl and rather naive. The only alcohol I drank before I was legal was given to me by a senior boy on our 10th grade chorus exchange trip to NYC. I didn’t realize what had happened until after I had missed the 2nd act of the Broadway Musical we were seeing, barely made it back on the bus to the home I was staying in and then slept until it was time for our concert that evening.

We moved from Massachusetts to Florida for my 11th grade year and I had to work hard to be accepted into the tight-knit band and chorus programs at Venice High School. One of the things I did to be accepted was skip Algebra 2 to hang out with a senior trumpet player. We skipped together 3 times and once we even went to his house where his mother prepared lunch for us! It worked though, once we were friends I was accepted into the band family.

So, now at age 47 my mom knows I cut class 3 times and since she reads my blog I know she’ll leave a comment too

What did you do that if your parents had found out at the time it would have meant big trouble? Leave me a comment and let me know.

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I admit it, I am a hugger I crave the physical contact of a hug. I need that connection with other people. I can tell when I haven’t gotten enough hugs because I drive m family crazy in the evening hugging them every time they walk by!

Is there something you need daily? Coffee? Chocolate? Leave me a comment and let me know!

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My special place isn’t a quiet place-I don’t like quiet, I can’t relax when it is quiet, I know, I’m weird. My special place is Walt Disney World. Yes, that noisy, colorful, magical hub of excitement is where I go to unwind. I know it sounds strange, but it is true. We have been passholders on and off for the last 12 years. We schedule 3-4 mini vacations throughout the year but some of my favorite trips are our one day escapes. When life gets overwhelming and stress is building up, I just look at hubby and say, “You know what I need?” and he checks his schedule to see if he can join me. Some days I go alone-though I don’t enjoy my solo trips as much as when I have a companion. Sometimes it is just hubby and I or just the kids and I. We just need a Disney day to escape the stress and get a new perspective.

We have rules too. No talking about work/finances/whatever is stressing us out, from the time we get in the van to drive the 90 minutes to the most magical place on earth til the time we pull back into our driveway. After an escape to Walt Disney World I am usually tired but energized at the same time. My problems look different after a day riding It’s a Small World or Soarin’.

Yes, my special place is unconventional, but it is mine all the same. Do you have a special place? Leave me a comment and tell me where it is.

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We left church right after the worship set, Aaron’s friend came to run sound for the remainder of the service. We swung by the house to drop Ron’s truck off. I went in the house and put my church keys on the hook since I wouldn’t be needing them on our cruise. We settled in the van and drove to the Port of Tampa. Ron was driving using his keys so I put my van/house keys in the cup holder and asked Aaron to bring them in the house when he got home.

One week later we got home from our cruise and as I prepared for work on Monday, I went to the key rack and my car keys weren’t there. I asked Aaron where they were and he said he hasn’t seen them. I asked if they were still in the cup holder and he doesn’t know what I’m talking about! Luckily hubby was home with his keys and we looked in the van but my keys were nowhere to be found. We’ve torn the van and the house apart but here is is January 10th 3 months to the day since I realized my keys were missing…and they are still gone!

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My brother-in-law, Mike is a huge Auburn Tigers fan, his brother played for the Tigers in the 80s. Mike is also a Guy Harvey fan, fisherman and he owns a bait shop as a side job. When my husband and I were in Grand Cayman on our cruise, we stopped in the Guy Harvey store and gallery hoping to find a Christmas gift for Mike and my son Jordan. When I laid eyes on the shirt I knew it was perfect for Mike so I picked it up in 2x. Guy Harvey was in the gallery that day so he autographed both shirts we purchased. I was tickled with my purchases and was sure I had bought the best gift I could for Mike.

Little did I know, while we were gorging ourselves on delicious cruise food, Mike was starting a doctor supervised weight loss plan. By Christmas morning he had lost 45 pounds and was much too small for a 2x shirt! I spoke with my sister and she decided that after Christmas she would get the shirt framed and it could hang in the bait shop for all the customers to see.

We are all so proud of Mike and how well he is doing on his weight loss program, even if his Christmas present doesn’t fit.

What did you buy this holiday season that you shouldn’t have? Let me know in a comment.

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1. Ride in a hot air balloon
2. Lose 80 pounds
3. Visit Disneyland
4. Take an Alaskan cruise
5. Get out of debt

There you have it, my 5×50 list. What’s on your list? If you’ve blogged your list link to it in the comments.

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I enjoyed looking through the posts I wrote in 2011 and I quickly realized that my favorite posts centered around experiences and as you may have guessed most of them took place at Walt Disney World. If you are a newer reader I invite you to check out some of my favorite posts from 2011. If you are a regular reader you might enjoy this trip down memory lane.

Last January, Walt Disney World unveiled a new tour at Animal Kingdom called Wild Africa Trek and I was in a select group of bloggers invited to preview this amazing tour. I wrote two posts about this adventure. Wild Africa Trek Part 1 and Wild Africa Trek Part 2.

March brought one of my favorite events of the year Disney Social Media Moms Celebration! Four unforgettable days at Walt Disney World surrounded with my family and my bloggy friends. I wrote Top 10 Tuesday-Disney Social Media Moms edition, Disney Social Media Moms-Day 1, Disney Social Media Moms-Day 2, and We Want Rene Syler on Dancing with the Stars.

May was filled with excitement all in preparation for The Great Disney Scavenger Hunt. The highlight of June was my 2nd trip to Type-A Parent Conference. The rest of the summer was rather quiet. October brought the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 5k. November and December were jam packed with product reviews and giveaways for my Holiday Guide 2011.

Looking forward I see more reviews and giveaways. I am closing down my travel blog and bringing those posts back here where the belong so you can look forward to family travel posts here now. Happy New Year!

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