My Weblog

The Rabies

If you will recall a couple posts ago, I relayed the story of my ninja cat brining a live bat into my house for a play date.  Well, we survived that incident.  All 3 of us (cat, bat, and I).  My cat had recently gotten a rabies shot.  We thought all was well.

About 2 weeks later, Mike and I were upstairs in our office (now completed nursery!).  The cat came strolling upstairs to join the group.  I noticed that he kept licking his lips.  (Yeah, yeah, cats don't have lips.)  Then I noticed that it was like he had something stuck in his mouth that he was trying to work out with his tongue.  I asked Mike to get up and check on him.  I was concerned that he might be choking on a grasshopper or something.  His brain, you see, is small enough to fit into a cat skull, and therefore, may not have enough power to make him NOT choke on a grasshopper. 

Mike picked him up, put him down, and advised, "He's foaming at the mouth."

My thoughts: 

• Oh my gosh!  Does rabies have this much of a delayed reaction??
• He did get his rabies shot...we payed for it, anyway.
• Mouth foam is not the first sign of rabies, is it?
• It's 9:00 at night, and my cat is dying!  Where can we take him?

Luckily, I had an answer for that last thought.  Due to my training and experience as a police officer, I was aware of a 24-hour vet's office across town.  We called them to let them know we were coming.  We searched for the cat carrier.  We fought with the foaming cat to place him into the carrier.  We drove across town to the vet.  We waited in the lobby for 40 minutes due to some type of porcupine vs dog emergency.

And of course, by the time we got into the exam room, the foam was gone, and the cat, though disgruntled, seemed fine. 

So, the vet, who I'm sure was a 12-year-old boy, did a quick visual exam.  Of a cat that, by then, had no symptoms.  Mike did notice, however, that where some foam had streaked across the cat's nose, a green residue remained.  He commented on it, and there in lay our answer:

The boy-vet said that, far from rabies, the (small-brained) cat had probably eaten some folliage.  He added that most garden folliage is poisonous to cats, though not fatal in the small quantities they chew.  Make note, however, that lillies ARE highly poisonous to cats.  If you are a lilly-grower, hope that your cats are large-brained enough to stay away.  Me, I'm not confident in my cat's self-preservation skills, so I will not be planting any lillies.

No action was needed for the cat.  So 11:00 at night and $100 dollars later (seriously! For nothing more than a 10 minute visit with a middle-school student in a lab coat), we stuffed the cat back into his carrier and went home.  Happily ever after.

Update

Eek, Typepad changed their format.  I received a warning about this in my e-mail, I think, but I was not prepared.  I don't like the change.  I am a Same-ist.

Well, as for the update:

1)  Still pregnant.  Just about 3 1/2 more weeks to go.  My doctor frightened me two weeks ago.  We had a very normal check-up.  Nothing strange.  Then, just as Mike and I were walking out, and the doctor was turning to walk down a different hallway, he looked over his shoulder and said, "Maybe we can get this baby to come a couple weeks early."

Wait now...what?  But he was gone.  I spent the next week concerned.  Is my baby giant and I won't survive to 40 weeks?  Did he hear something in the heartbeat that sounded like distress?  Wouldn't he have said something??

At the next appointment, we determined that he just meant by 40 weeks I may be uncomfortable, and perhaps a 38-week baby would make it easier on me.  Whew!  I don't care...I would rather go 40 weeks, if for nothing else, reasons related to time off from work afterwards.  I hear that anywhere from 37-42 weeks is considered full-term, so starting next week, any time should be fine.  To get more graphic, we checked my dilation last Monday.  I am "finger-tip dilated," which means not even 1 cm.  Still a ways to go, it seems.  And the fact that I cannot breath and am still getting my ribs kicked, like he's a prisoner trying to escape, it would also seem that he has not "dropped" yet either.  Oh well, I've got nothing better to do than wait.

2)  My dad came to my house last weekend and helped Mike build the outer wall of our back porch.  That is one step closer to having an office and a nursery. 

I have the walls mostly painted in the nursery, which is still crowded with office furniture.  It is striped.  I have one last color to put on.  Then we still need to cut out another door to the closet, frame that doorway, and put up a chair rail.  Then comes putting together the actual nursery furnishings.

Really I think we could do it in one day, if Mike would get up before noon.  ...Ok, he works nights.  But still, time is running out!  It is unfortunate that we have neighbors, and, therefore, cannot do construction work after 8-9 pm.  I have told my co-workers that this baby may end up sleeping in our laundry basket in our bedroom.  I'm only half-joking!

3)  I've had another post all ready for a few weeks now about the cat and rabies and the 10pm vet visit.  But then I put off posting and put off posting, so I decided just to do an update instead.  You will have to wait.

Hmm...Typepad, how now do I post this??

The Day the Cat with the Bat Came Back

So there I was, minding my own business in my living room.  It was night time--a hot summer night.  Mike had already gone to work.  I had the front door open, but the screen door locked.  The animals had access to their own door, which the cat was taking advantage of--coming and going every few minutes.

Then it happened.

The cat came marching in with something in his mouth.  He has been known to capture large sphynx moths, but this particular item of prey caught my eye.  It didn't quite look like a moth.  The cat dropped it, and it moved.  Then it hopped/fluttered a few inches in the air.  It was black.  And much bigger than a moth. 

"A mouse?  Great,"  I thought.  But no, mice don't move like that.

I stood to get a better look just as the cat began "playing" with the creature again.  Then I screamed, "Cat, noooo!!  Cat!"

I had a brief flashback to the spider incident two Octobers ago:  me, helpless, as one of my pets plays with a "friend" who DOES NOT belong in the house.

Don't worry.  The cat had not brought inside a spider the size of a mouse.  No, he found himself a bat!  You will have to forgive me for not taking photographs, but it was similar to this:

Ok, just kidding.  It was like this, just a tiny bit bigger:

It hopped and fluttered its way into my bedroom with the cat close behind it.  I was brave enough to nab the cat by his rear legs and pitch him outside.  The last thing I wanted was for him to drive the bat further into the house.  Then I closed the door, locking the bat in the bedroom.

I thought about keeping it that way until Mike came home to take care of the problem.  Then I reconsidered:  what if Mike came home and couldn't find the bat?  What if it could still escape under the door? 

I called Mike and shouted, "The cat just brought a bat inside!"  Mike's response:  "Huh.  That was pretty ninja of him.  How did he catch it?"

Who cares??  How do I get rid of it without getting rabies was all I cared about.

Mike was no help.  I had to rescue myself.  I worked up some bravery and entered the room armed with a large tupperware bowl and a paper plate.  I was able to capture the bat under the bowl, then slide the plate under everything, trapping him.

Ever heard a trapped bat making distress noises?  They squeak and click, smaller than a mouse, but louder than I imagined a bat voice would be. 

I picked up the make-shift trap and raced out the back door, the entire time thinking, "Bats can bite through paper plates!"  I placed the bowl, still covered, on the ground, retrieved a broom, and knocked the entire thing over on its side from several feet away.  Then I ran inside.  Who knew if it could still fly, or if it would be vengeful about being dragged in a house by a cat, then out of a house by tupperware.

When I left for work the next morning, the bowl was empty.  We had both survived.  Looking back on it now, it was pretty ninja of the cat to snatch a bat out of the air.

67 Days, Give or Take

    I cannot believe that someone who is supposed to be the size of a head of cabbage can simultaniously kick the ribs on my right side, press on my left side, and somehow stomp on my bladder.  And, seriously, can they do summer-saults in there?  Feels like it.

    The doctor confirmed that this baby is riding around mostly on my right side ("You're right, there is a lot more baby over here!").  It is a strange, lop-sided feeling.  It is also strange, according to the doctor, because your liver is on your right side, so babies usually move to the left as they get bigger.  My baby has been hanging out on my right side for at least a month now.  I've even tried sleeping only on my left side to see if I can get him to drift over there.  He's having none of it.

    Mike got kicked in the face the other day while trying to whisper something to the baby.  Ha!

    The doctor also said that this will not be a 35lbs baby.  He is a liar--the scales clearly say he will weigh at least 35 lbs! 

(Hang on...I've got to shovel some more moose tracks ice cream into my mouth...)

    My To-Do list is forever long!  I won't even go into all the specific details required here:

• build back porch into office (yeah, you read right)
• move office into back porch
• take out wall in now-empty office room to create a usable closet opening
• paint room
• assemble baby furniture and closet fixtures
• purchase still-needed furniture
• retrieve baby clothing from storage, wash, sort into age/size categories
• possibly buy more baby clothes, depending on sorting results
• convince dog that he does not own all the stuffed animals in the house anymore
• clean house
• advise Mike that he will be on his own for meals...and he better come up with a meal plan for me while he's in there.

    I have had days where I am uncomfortable in general.  I have become well-acquainted with Braxton-Hicks.  I am still sleeping well, though.  Once I hit the pillow, I'm out in about 15 minutes, only waking up to go to the bathroom about 20 times each night!

    I conducted my own photo shoot last week.  The pictures will be better when I can photo-shop them a little, but here's a preview:

 

 

 

 

If you don't like the curtains, just say something.

Let me begin with an unrelated note:  If everything in our house wasn't falling apart and costing us money, I swear I would have chucked this computer out the window!  As soon as I got free time to blog again, and an air conditioner in the office to survive in the room for more than 5 minutes, our computer was attacked by about 500 viruses...viri...virae?  It seems to be fixed now, after the purchase of one virus protection program and one wire to fix our "wireless" internet connection.

So Mike's boys were here for 8 weeks this summer.  They are  good kids.  This summer, however, they had some sort of problem.  Allow me to illustrate:

This is the window in our living room.

 

These are the curtains that used to hang over the window.

 

We received conflicting stories about how this may have occurred.  In the end, it came out that one or both boys may have been jumping on the couch trying to "pull on the curtains," and the curtains came down.  Obviously.  But trying to pull on the curtiains?  Why?

This is the window in the boys' room.

 

Here are the curtains that used to hang over the window.

 

I don't recall ever getting an explanation for this, other than being assured that it was an accident.

Here is the window in the boys' room.  Again.

 

Note the screen.  I was advised late one night that Alec "accidentally popped the screen out with his head."  Have you ever tried push a screen out of its frame?  It actually requires quite a bit of pressure.   What freaked me out (and still gives me the willies) is that if the screen had come out farther or faster, Alec may have ended up out in our yard on his head.  Their room is on the second floor.

These are the curtains that do still hang over the bathroom window.

 

They did not win points for NOT tearing these curtains down, because I will have to take them down to wash them anyway.  It is difficult to see, but there are blue-ish, white-ish spots on the curtain.  Dried toothpaste.  Of course.  I discovered it after returning from a trip out of town for a wedding.  Mike and the boys had remained at home.  I asked Mike to investigate as to the origin of the toothpaste spots:

Alec is the only one who uses the blue kid's toothpaste (Dominic uses the grown-up red cinamon paste), so  Mike had his suspect immediately.  Now, I would have bet money that Alec probably dressed his toothbrush with the paste, then went to look out the window and probably never noticed that he had wiped toothpaste against the curtain and was brushing with an empty toothbrush.  Alec, however, swore for about 5 minutes that it was not he who had gotten the toothpaste on the curtains. 

After he was unable to outwit the keen investigator who is his father, he finally admitted his guilt.  His explanation went something like this:  "I got toothpaste on the back of my hand and had to wipe it off." 

WHAT???

Several questions should arise in your mind at this point.  First, how do you get toothpaste on the back of your hand?  And trust me, there was quite a bit of toothpaste on those curtains.  Second, why, why, why would you choose to wipe your hand on the curtains??  That bathroom is very small--the sink, which is where the toothpaste is kept, is literally 3 feet away from the window.  He actually had to expend extra energy walking to the window rather than rinsing his hand off at the sink.  Also, there are towels about 4 feet away from the window.  Toilet paper about the same distance from there.  There is even a hamper full (always full!) of dirty clothes for Heaven's sake!  Why my curtains??

Anyway, Mike advised Alec that, not only was he in trouble for wiping toothpaste on the curtains and not telling anyone about it, but he was also in trouble for lying about it.  Alec then swore that he had not lied at all!  He had simply forgotten that it had happened, and Mike asking him about it had not jogged his memory.  Mike warned him that he was about to get himself into more trouble for lying about lying.  The situation at that point was in danger of getting too complex even for my mind, so Alec was sent to time-out before being given the chance to lie about lying about lying.

And now, to end on an unrelated note because some of you may be curious:

Baby belly at 7 months.

Creek or Crick?

Do you pronounce it "creek" or "crick"?  For me, it's based on the word that preceeds it.  For example, a couple weeks ago, we went hiking at Swan "Crick".  To get there, however, we passed by Greek "Creek." 

Either way, during the summer months especially, I absolutely crave the outdoors of the Rocky Mountains.  I enjoy living in Billings, but it does not hold a candle to the wilderness offerings of the Bozeman area.  In fact, it's fairly flat and desert-y by comparrison.  (Recall photos on Kelly's page taken from her parents' house on the Gallatin River.  That is what I miss.)

My solution?  Take a weekend, drive to Bozeman, and force my mom to take me hiking at Swan Creek.  (Though there is no arm-twisting needed to get my mom to go hiking.)  I loaded up Dominic, Alec, and Bo, and we headed out.  Mike remained behind with Cat the cat.  He had to work.  Mike, not Cat.

Here we are at the beginning of the trail.  Bo is getting braver when it comes to cameras, and he inserted himself into the picture.

 

The next two pictures make me irritated toward my camera.  This first one is a view from the trail.  The camera failed to pick up the deep blue of the sky, which was a beautiful contrast to the still-snow-capped mountains.

 

This is Swan Creek (Crick).  The camera does not properly show how deep the creek still is from the melting snow.

 

This is a morel mushroom.  Mike had never seen one before, so I took its picture.

 

Dominic climbing in the foreground.

 

Alec climbing near Grandma Debbie.

 

I think we only had one fall, resulting in a scraped knee or palm.  I don't remember.

 

Again, my camera doesn't show details here.  We crossed a small stream, and Bo stopped to get a drink.  His buns must have been over-heated, because he then just sat down in the middle of the stream for several minutes.  The stream (invisible in this photo) runs under Bo's tail and out from his front feet.

 

Bo is also getting braver when it comes to getting wet.  Newfoundland dogs are bred to be water dogs.  Labs are also water dogs.  So it only makes sense that Bo, a Newfoundland/Lab mix, would be terrified of water. In this photo, he had waded in nearly up to his undercarriage, and remained there for quite a while.  I fully expected him to start swimming, but apparently he is not that brave yet.  I believe his brain suddenly had the epiphany that standing in water is cooler than standing in the hot hot sun while wearing a black coat.

It was a great hike.  We went farther than I had ever been at Swan Creek.  We dined on Lunchables.  The boys peed outside almost more than Bo did.  They already have walnut-sized bladders, but I think they also discovered that it is exciting to pee in the wilderness.  I do not share that view, but who am I to judge.

I wish there was a creek in my area that could compare.  Even a crick would do.

It's the Little Things

Sometimes I feel burned out at work.  Sometimes I have days where I get up thinking, "I really hate people today," and I hope that I can go the whole day without having to deal with anyone (nice public servant, huh?).  Some days I just can't bring myself to care about other people's problems, like how their neighbor always glares at them, and so they need to see the Chief of Police (Give me a break!).

But some days I just get fired up and don't want to go home.  Today was one of those days.

The morning began with a conversation about stalking laws and cases between myself and the City Attorney.  Fascinating.  It ended with me taking a report from a girl who had her "services" (you should blush a little bit here) advertised on Craig's List without her knowledge...until she started getting phone calls with responses to the add. 

In taking that report, I put myself in the unique position to write at least one Investigative Subpoena to Craig's List and will get to, hopefully, charge the suspect with Criminal Defamation.

"What?" you ask.

Writing an Investigative Subpoena is a task usually reserved for detectives.  They are the ones who know how to do it.  But the City Attorney offered to sit down with me and teach me how to write one.  That is exciting because it gives me an advanced skill that the rest of the Patrol division does not have.

Charging someone with Criminal Defamation became a personal goal as soon as the City Attorney said, "I don't know of anyone ever charging that...but it fits."  Plus there is kind of an unwritten, and usually unspoken competition between officers to see who has charged the most rare and obscure charge.  I will win this round.  If my subpoena is written correctly.

Like I said, it's the little things.  But any day leaving me thinking, "I can't wait to go to work tomorrow," is a great day.

Thoughts on babies and kids

• I had my 20 week check-up last Wednesday (for some reason my mind went blank on how to spell Wednesday...does that look right?).  Anyway, all is well.  They told me I was 19 1/2 weeks.  Then they measured the baby's femur and head, and said that he was measuring 18 1/2 weeks.  They didn't change my due date, however.  I believe my baby over their charts any day.  So just over 19 weeks now?  I'm sure just yesterday I was at 9 weeks.  Already growing up too fast.  Not a good sign!

• They took more measurements and advised:  any risk of Downs Syndrom is as low as they can predict, there are two umbilicle arteries, no sign of clefts or extra limbs or anything, no placenta previa, heart chambers and other vessels are in their correct places, and we are VERY active.

• We are also a boy.  For sure.

• Baby gear is expensive!  We have a bath seat-type thing, a baby sling (I'm not sure what it's really called, but the sling-type thing rather than a baby carrying backpack thing), and have our eyes on a stroller/car seat set, along with a giraffe bedding set.  I desperately wanted a round crib.  Have you ever seen such a thing?  JC Penneys.com  I have settled, however, in order to save some money.  (Stupid rectangle cribs.) 

• Ooh, and a diaper bag!  For some reason, I'm the most excited for my diaper bag.  I'm getting Mike a Jeep diaper bag as part of his Father's Day present.  It just says "Jeep" on the front, nothing special, but I know he will carry it.

• I felt the baby kicking or punching or whatever violent thing he was doing to me this morning.  With my hand!  I had been feeling movements for some time, but this was the first time I have actually been able to feel it on the outside.  I'm so excited for Mike to come home so he can feel!

• Dominic and Alec are back for the summer.  I think we have 6 more weeks with them.  I was just not mentally prepared for them to be here this year.  I had it in my mind that we would do activities, and I would let them pick a meal to help me cook each week, and other interactive things.  None of that has happened. 

• I feel like a horrible person, but I am just not having fun with the boys this year.  Sorry.  In general, kids between about 7-13 drive me nuts!  They are just weird, crave enormous amounts of attention, and do weird things to achieve it.  Both of Mike's boys are in that category now (6 and 9).  It is just frustrating to me.

• They are very into Star Wars, and discuss it non-stop.  Dinner time:  "Do you think Darth Vader likes chicken?"  Mike sneezes:  "Dad, I know how Yoda would say 'bless you.'"  Mike asked me last night how we can get them to talk about other things.  Well, it may help if you put away all your Star Wars movies and cartoons and stop letting them watch Star Wars every day!

• I am feeling very selfish, too, with the whole pregnancy thing.  There was an incident where Mike's mom was talking about nicknames for the baby.  Dominic started rattling off names from Star Wars.  I started to lose it.  "That's enough!  We are not calling this baby any Star Wars names!"  For some reason I just don't want to discuss baby things with the boys.  I do feel bad for that, since this will be their brother, but right now I just feel like this is my and Mike's baby, and no one else's.

• It is also frustrating to try to rid the boys of what we feel are bad habbits since we only have them 8 weeks of the year.  They wear their day clothes to bed!  What?  (If you allow your children to do this, I don't mean to offend, but I can't stand it!)  They are filthy little boys who roll in the dirt and play on the neighbors trampoline.  They need to NOT sleep in their daytime clothes after all that!  It has been a nightly battle this week.  They insist that their mom in Great Falls allows it.  When we say, "Yes, but why don't we allow it here?"  They respond with, "Because they're dirty and we need to sleep in clean pajamas."  They get it, but the very next night, it's the same thing: "You're not wearing that to bed after we just told you to get into your pajamas."  "Yes, our mom in Great Falls lets us."  And they do it to Mike too, lest you think they are just trying to pit me against their mother.

 So those are my random thoughts.  Like I said, I feel bad about many of them, but then again, if I'm not allowed to be a little selfish during my first pregnancy, then when?  I am trying to find the balance between the Boys' needs and my  own.  The good thing is that they are pretty self-sufficient, and don't need minute by minute monitoring or entertaining.  That still allows for some desperately-needed alone time for me.

California, Part Deux

Where was I...got to CA on Friday the 15th, Disney Land on the 16th (free birthday admission!)...Sea World!

On Sunday, my cousin Kathleen met me at my Hotel and we began our treck to Sea World.  We were supposed to also visit my cousin Colleen (Kathleen's oldest sister), but she informed us that we had not specified which day I would be there.  Kathleen insists she is mistaken, but either way, she was unavailable.  Oh, well.  Next time.

Not only did Kathleen drive an hour to get to me then another hour to Sea World, but she bought my ticket, and took me out to lunch there!  She claimed it was a late birthday present.  I'm trying to think of some sort of awsome adventure to take her on next time she visits me here.

Anyway...

Starfish.  I had no idea they came in any other color but the peach-y ones.  I touched one (we were allowed to).  I also didn't know the live ones would feel so hard and rough.

 

Sea turtles.  So cute!

 

Stingrays.  We also got to touch them.  Ever felt a stingray?  Think wet mushroom.  Kathleen desperately wanted to touch one, but got freaked out every time they approached.  As you can see from the picture, they come up out of the water a little bit.  That was what got her, "You're supposed to stay under there!"  She did eventually feel one.

 

Disgusting eels.  They need to not live in holes.  Gross.

 

We took in a dolphin show.  We did not sit in the splash zone.  They had a strange man named Terrin in a straw hat with a guitar singing songs with all the rules.  Like, "If you like that camera and you like that dress..." something, something, something about don't sit in the splash zone.  We took heed because I do like my camera.

 

 

Seals and sea lions who made it quite clear that they were starving for fish.

 

 

Penguins and puffins

 

 

Balugas

 

 

Polar bear.  I did not find this bear's rear particularly photogenic or anything.  He was hiding in a corner, and the other one was no where to be seen.  This was the only angle I could get.

 

We also went through the shark exhibit, including the underwater tunnel where the sharks cruise above and beside you.  And the emperor penguin exhibit.  Those were too dark to photograph, though.

I found it very odd that Sea World also hosts a horse show, and has a Pet Arena to see cats and dogs performing tricks.  What in the world do horses, cats, and dogs have to do with sea life?  And can you honestly get a cat to perform tricks?  I know they are smart, but cats, as a general rule, do what they want to do, and humans are just conveniently placed to feed and pet them at their will.  We skipped those shows.

After Sea World, Kathleen drove me back to the hotel where we hung out in my room watching TV for a while.  We were both too tired of walking and too tired of sitting to go anywhere else.  While watching Forensic Files, or something like that, we were rocked by an earthquake!  At its origin, it was a 4.something quake.  It wasn't nearly that strong by the time it got to us.  Two days later, I felt another quake.  The news claimed it was a 3.7 aftershock, and I wondered how they distinguish between an aftershock and another, smaller earthquake, especially that much later.  I've been through several minor earthquakes like that.  My co-workers however, who had not felt a quake ever before, and who were up on the 18th floor, were quite sure the building was going to collapse.  I took it as part of the whole California experience.

The Land, The World, and The Trees

I have been back from my California trip for almost a week now.  It is high time I do a post about it.  This will be mostly a picture post, I think.  Let me say first that the actual training I went to left something to be desired.  I just wasn't as good as I had hoped for, and not as good as the one in Texas last year.

But, the vacation part was great!

Here is me in my hotel room.  My own balcony behind me.

 

Views from the balcony

 

I was fascinated by these purple trees!  Anyone know what they are??

 

Speaking of trees, as a Montana girl, I grew up around pine trees.  Palm trees are a novelty (unless you count the tacky neon ones outside of some of the local casinos).  I took many many pictures of them.  I will spare you, since many of my readers live in palm-tree country.

 

But before I spare you, I must note that the trunks on these palm trees remind me of elephant toes.

 

Here's a good segway:  me under a palm tree at Disney Land!

 

Ok, technically California Adventure Park, but it's on the Disney campus, and for the first 2 hours I was there, I had no clue that I wasn't actually in Disney Land propper.

I rode the big mouse wheel.

 

I couldn't ride this bear ride because my baby does not meet the minimum height requirement. 

 

I finally found my way to Disney Land itself.

 

Finding Nemo submarine ride.  The duck hanging out on the rock in front cracked me up.

 

View from inside the sub

 

Tarzan's Tree House

 

I went on several more rides, like Pirates of the Carribean (too dark for photos) and the Jungle Cruise.  During the Jungle Cruise, while clicking away with my camera, it dawned on me that I was getting upset that people's heads were blocking my camera's view of fake tigers.  I decided to put the camera away and enjoy the rest of the day with my own real eyes.

Between the Land and the Adventure Park, I spent about 6 hours there.  I had finally had enough.  I retired to my hotel room, but returned to watch the fireworks later that night.  (I had one of the few hotel rooms that did not face in a Disney direction, therefore, I could not see the fireworks from my hotel room.)

***

My computer has started giving me threatening messages that if I keep up my picture-sharing ways, my Internet could run slowly or my computer may become unresponsive.  It wants to shut itself off, so I will close here, and save my pictu-mentary of The World for another day.