eBayers

eBay...I'm an occasional eBayer.  I've had mostly good experiences. Lots of sellers deal with wholesalers and I've gotten some very good deals on expensive brands.

Every few years, though, you get that one lunatic.  A few years ago, I ordered some Lightning McQueen items to give to my boys for Christmas.  The items never came and the seller said due to medical reasons, she was unable to send the items and unable to give a refund because she didn't have the money anymore.  Ummm..... Luckily, eBay has very competent customer service and once I filed a dispute with eBay and PayPal, a refund was issued with a few days.  Didn't stop the crazy lady from sending me hate messages for a month, I guess for not just letting her keep my money.

Earlier this month, I ordered a mixed lot of "new with tags" size 12 clothes.  They arrived and were all size 3 and 0 and obviously used.  I sent the seller a polite note stating the items received were not at all what I ordered.  I was not prepared for the tirade that ensued!  He called me stupid, ignorant, dared me to leave negative feedback because it wouldn't hurt his 99.9% approval rating and even included a veiled threat reminding me he had my address. I also viewed past negative ratings he had received - it appeared he pushed the buttons of the buyers and when they exploded in writing, he just responded, "this person is obviously disturbed, so disregard the negative rating."

I immediately filed a dispute with eBay and PayPal.  The eBay customer service rep laughed out loud at my responses to this bozo.  I didn't take his bait.  I responded, "Wow, having such a high rating on eBay must make you feel really validated and loved. xoxo!" Things like that.  He kept sending insults and I kept calling him Dreamboat, Prince Charming, as I kept asking him to stop contacting me.  (I couldn't block his email address until the dispute was resolved.)

I received a full refund through PayPal and left honest but negative feedback: "received full refund, negative for extremely hostile seller, abusive language."  This started another email tirade! I responded once, stating I was tired of the rants of an unemployed hillbilly but for good luck in his FABULOUS career pursuit of selling his wife's old crap online.  Then I blocked him.

This got me thinking about a phenomenon of the digital age.  You see this happen all the time on Facebook, particularly around the time of an election.  Not just politics and religion, people get into online arguments over the stupidest things.  People get really ugly in writing.  They say things they would never to say to someone's face.  Why does the fact that you can hide behind your typing bring out such nastiness in people? 

Anyway, in the future, if I need to buy someone's used things for some reason, I'm going to the thrift store!

Wave – Disney Contemporary

After having a late lunch, we weren’t in the mood for a full dinner, just appetizers.  We were staying at the Disney Contemporary and my dad and I went downstairs to Wave, which is located on the first floor. 

 

We sat at the bar.  It’s a beautiful room colored in different shades of blue and purple and blue lighting, very relaxing.  They had an extensive wine and martini menu and a lot of beers available by the bottle.  We ordered “The Wave Appetizer for Two.”  This consisted of  Lump-Crab Florida Rock Shrimp Cakes, Citrus-marinated North Florida Shrimp, and Calico Scallops for $15.99.  The crab and shrimp cakes had big pieces of lump crab meat, very sweet and fresh.  The cakes came with a tasty remoulade sauce.  The citrus-marinated shrimp and scallops was so good – the marinade had agave syrup in addition to the citrus flavors and the dish tasted like a sweet, citrusy ceviche.  It was so good, we scraped every bit from the plate.  I would have licked the plate if I wasn’t in public, it was that good!  Coming from the Midwest, really fresh seafood is a novelty.  The portions were just enough for a light dinner. 

 

This is an upscale restaurant that is actually family-friendly as well.  They have a children’s menu as well as breakfast and brunch buffets.  I would return here for the relaxing ambience, delicious food and the freshest seafood I’ve had in a while!

http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/26/1460324/restaurant/Orlando/Disney-Lake-Buena-Vista/The-Wave-of-American-Flavors-Lake-Buena-Vista"> alt="The Wave...of American Flavors on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/1460324/biglink.gif" style="border:none;padding:0px;width:200px;height:146px" />

Miss Montana overcame many challenges on her way to the crown

Miss Montana overcame many challenges on her way to the crown

Doubletree & Adventures in Single Motherhood

Doubletree Alsip

Doubletree is my favorite hotel chain.  It is high quality while still being affordable.  The rooms are always clean and comfortable.  The beds are especially comfortable and have nice thick duvets.  I always sleep so heavily when I’m staying at a Doubletree. The service is consistently friendly and competent.  There’s a relaxed vibe with this chain and I have stayed at Doubletrees all over the country.  The warm chocolate chip cookies upon check-in are nice, too.

The Doubletree in Alsip, Illinois is easy to miss.  It’s right next to a Days Inn and the hotels are just east of Public Storage.  It’s easy to miss the sign.  It seems out of place - a nice hotel in a primarily industrial area. I’ve been to the hotel’s restaurant, Allgauer’s, with my husband for after-work drinks and appetizers.  The food is good and so is the friendly service.  Basic menu items done well.  I have also gone to their Sunday brunch – typical brunch foods, fruit, omelettes, waffles, bacon and eggs, etc.  The food is fresh and well-prepared.

This past Friday, I attended a wedding in the hotel’s Grand Ballroom.  The room was nice.  The food was typical banquet food: cream of chicken soup, salad (that came with Mandarin oranges and candied pecans, tasty), main course of beef medallions in a mushroom gravy, chicken (which was actually very dry), mashed potatoes, and carrots with what tasted like a maple glaze (very yummy).  Dessert was wedding cake.  Dinner was served by the waiters wearing white gloves, nice touch.  The bathroom was very clean and had a feature I like, a lounge area for ladies to touch up their makeup.

Adventures in Single Motherhood

My husband went on a golf trip to Michigan this past week – was gone late Wednesday night through late Sunday night.  I have always admired single mothers – I have two special needs kids and a husband and it is still challenging on a daily basis.  My family was in Oregon for a cousin’s wedding, so I knew I would not be able to call any of them for help.  I was seriously panicking as far as what I would do if I needed help, regardless of the fact that I'm sure I could call any of my friends or regular babysitters in a pinch.

It was interesting that Sean never asked about his dad.  I asked him, “where’s Daddy?” and he said, “he’s at work.”  Still not much of a concept of time.  Content his dad was simply at work that entire time.

I confess I let them get away with some things that drive their dad nuts.  Todd likes to put small plastic toys in the kitchen sink, then run water over them.  Tim can’t stand this, but I don’t mind.  Todd entertains himself for hours doing this and it doesn’t involve him smashing more holes in the drywall or destroying major appliances or furniture, so I’m fine with it.

I find it’s good to get the kids out of the house on a non-school day.  They get as stir crazy as an adult would.  There was a lot of on and off rain this weekend, so I couldn’t take them to the park or even out in our courtyard.

I took both kids to the store with me for the first time.  I thought, “God, what am I thinking, I’m taking the kids to Wal Mart!”  They did okay.  Todd was in the main basket of the cart and Sean walked alongside of me.  We got a few funny looks when Todd would scream, but for the most part, people minded their own business.  I found that if I lingered in any aisle for too long, Todd would start to get upset and try to climb out of the cart.  As long as I kept moving, he was fine.  Sean enjoyed looking at the plants and flowers.  He managed to throw a lot of snack foods and sugary beverages into the cart. 

On Saturday, I took the kids to Trader Joe’s.  Trader Joe’s has cute little carts the kids can push themselves.  I put Todd in the main basket of my cart and Sean pushed his own little cart.  He was so cute and so proud of himself for helping with shopping.  He did good – filled his cart with mostly fruits plus a box of cereal.  I took the kids over to the sampling area, wondering if they would be more open to trying something new in a different environment.  The samples were the Trader Joe’s version of Cheerios topped with organic blueberries.  The beverage sample was almond milk.  Sean loved the fruit and cereal.  Todd picked off the blueberries, handed them to me and ate the Cheerios.  Sean gagged on the almond milk and Todd wouldn’t even touch it after seeing his brother’s reaction.

The check-out man was lovely.  Todd was screaming and trying to jump out of the cart.  It made it very difficult to unload the cart and put the filled bags back in.  Not one moment of judgment or annoyance.  He rang me up quickly, loaded the cart with the bags and helped me out of there.  I have dealt with my share of asses at this particular Trader Joe’s (Orland Park, Illinois) but it just goes to show you should never give up on human nature – I truly believe most people are kind at heart.

Saturday, we had a first:  I took Sean to a party at a friend's home (one of my sitters was able to watch Todd for an hour or two).  At some point, Sean developed a terror of dogs.  Our neighbor upstairs had a puppy the size of a teacup and he screamed like it was a monster.  Perhaps something happened when he was still  non-verbal that I never knew about because he was unable to tell me.  Anyway, my friend has three small dogs.  Sean screamed bloody murder as soon as he saw them.  I'm happy to say within a half hour he was playing with the dogs.  Tentatively, but this was a big step for him. 

On Sunday, I treated the kids to McDonald’s for what I considered to be a successful weekend! No major meltdowns or disasters.  Whew!

Dangerous & Safest Places to Drive

Interesting - would have never guessed Germany and Italy would rank as two of the safest places to drive - two of the scariest experiences I have had as a pedestrian! :)

http://www.budgettravel.com/feature/travel-advice-dangerous--and-safest-places-to-drive,8900/?page=2

Interesting article from Age of Autism

Interesting article on the autistic struggle to understand social skills and how autistic struggles differ in different countries and cultures.
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http://www.ageofautism.com/2012/08/possible-explanations-behind-the-autistic-struggle-to-understand-social-skills.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ageofautism+%28AGE+OF+AUTISM%29&utm_content=Yahoo%21+Mail

Orlando Part 5

On to our trip to the Magic Kingdom.  We decided to only make one major park visit this trip.  The tickets were roughly $85 per adult and $80 per child.  The multi-day and multi-park discounts were not that great a deal, in my opinion, unless you planned on hitting multiple parks per day over several days.  That scenario was not reasonable for us with two special needs kids and my dad in a wheelchair. 

We took the Monorail from our hotel to Magic Kingdom.  Great – down the elevator two floors from our room at the Contemporary to the Monorail boarding platform.  The ride was free of charge.  A train came quickly and there was plenty of room for everyone to sit.  The Monorail stopped at two other hotels, the Polynesian and the Grand Floridian, both lovely looking hotels.  The Monorail also stops at Epcot and a bus station where you can connect to a bus to take to Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM), Animal Kingdom and other Disney attractions.  If staying at the Contemporary, the Magic Kingdom is about a 7 or 8 block walk, but since my kids are obsessed with trains and just the sheer novelty of riding on the Disney Monorail, we took the Monorail. 

We had some trouble at check-in.  My kids aren’t very good at waiting in line, handing someone a ticket and then going through a turnstile.  The attendant kept feeding our tickets through multiple times, then saying they weren’t valid (they were coming up invalid because she kept feeding them through the machine). 

Once inside, we got a wheelchair for my dad and I decided to rent a stroller for Todd, even though I had his tethering device (leash) strapped on him.  This was a good idea and the stroller was only $15 for the entire day.  We got “after 2 p.m.” tickets, which were cheaper and I’m glad for that.  It was hot, but not as hot as it would have been earlier in the afternoon.  In the future, I would consider “after 4 p.m.” tickets so it would be even cooler.  Also, the later in the day you get there, the closer you are to the evening Main Street parade and the fireworks.

We went to the Guest Services area just inside and got a disability pass.  This applied to both kids and my dad, plus the rest of our party (myself and my brother).  This was a Godsend.  We barely had to wait for anything and the few times we did, the wait was indoors with air conditioning.

The Disney parks allow you to bring in your own bottles of water.  That and the big buffet lunch we had prior to going to the park really tided us over.  We ended up only having to buy a few large Diet Pepsis to share. 

The kids both really enjoyed the teacup ride, as well as the carousel.  Todd could stay on the carousel all day and be happy.  We went on the “It’s a Small World” boat ride, classic thing to do at Disney.  Sean loved it.  Todd kept trying to jump overboard the entire ride.  Thank God for that leash thing.  I was reminded of the Simpsons episode where Lisa drinks the water while on the “It’s a Small World” ride (whatever the Simpsons/Krusty version was called) and ended up having hallucinations because the water was so contaminated. 

Another Disney World classic we visited was the Hall of the Presidents.  There was about a 20-minute wait indoors, then a 20-minute sit-down show.  The kids didn’t do too well waiting in line, but once we were in there, they sat attentively and enjoyed the show.  At the end of the show, each American president is mentioned in order and some more popular ones got applause, such as Abraham Lincoln and JFK.  When Andrew Johnson’s name was mentioned, Sean started clapping, “Wooh!”  Never realized he was such a fan of Andrew Johnson and I would guess Andrew Johnson has never gotten such an enthusiastic reaction from an audience member at Disney prior.  After the show, Sean said, “I LOVE robot presidents!” 

We also waited in line for about 15 minutes to meet Mickey Mouse and have an official photo taken with him. 

When Sean saw Cinderella’s castle, he said, “that’s the castle!  It’s the Disney castle!  We’re really here!”  That brought a tear to my eye.  I remembered when I was a kid and how I was in awe seeing the Cinderella castle up close for the first time.

The kids really enjoyed the outdoor show in front of the castle.  It featured all the main characters:  Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Pluto, Goofy, Peter Pan, Wendy, Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and their respective princes and Malificent as the general baddie.  I think Captain Hook and Smee may have made an appearance as well.  There were also the token cheesy theme park dancers.  Cheesy to me, but the kids loved them and were dancing along. 

Finally, the kids were tired and overheated, so we decided to catch the fireworks from the terrace at our hotel.  We caught the Monorail back and the kids loved the ride.  So happy to re-experience a great childhood memory through my sons’ eyes!

*Addendum - the after 2 and after 4 options are only available through the Disney Convention-Ears website.

Robin Rescues Dinner

I loved Robin Miller on Food Network.  I am bummed she is no longer on that network nor the Cooking Channel.  I related to her concept: a very busy working mom with a busy family getting a home-cooked meal on the table at least three weeknights.  Reasonable, right?   She does prep work in advance- chopping vegetables, cooking double batches of chicken, etc. This works great for an insomniac like me!

I bought "Robin Rescues Dinner" on Amazon.  It contains 52 weeks of menus with instructions for each week’s prep work.  I love this part of the subtitle, “a realistic plan to get weeknight dinners on the table.” Any working mother can relate to that.

Cool feature: the 52-week menus are coordinated with the 52 weeks of the year, so when you pick a menu with its coordinating week of the year, it incorporates whatever vegetables and fruits are in season that time of year as well as taking into consideration what the weather may be at that time, i.e., comfort food in cold weather, lighter fare in the heat.

My husband is a picky customer and he has loved every recipe I have made from this book.  This is a book you can look at over the weekend, make your shopping list, do the prep work and know you will easily be able to make three home cooked meals during the week for the family.  The other two weekdays – I do frozen pizza or meal-in-a-bag one night and whatever day is payday that week, order delivery!

I recommend this book – good methodology and good recipes that make even picky eaters happy. J

Orlando Part 4

Our hotel room was on the 6^th floor.  Right outside our front door, we had a view of the monorail and directly below on the 4^th floor we could see into the gift shop called “Fantasia.”  It has an open ceiling.  My brother joked he was going to concoct some sort of zip line to swoop down there in the night and steal toys.  Very cute store – the prices were not bad for items I have never seen in Chicago.  That said – my brother bought Sean’s new girlfriend Minnie at Publix for $8.  The same Minnie was $12.95 at Fantasia and $16.95 at the airport.

Adjacent to Fantasia is the Fantasia Market.  This place is open nightly until 11 p.m.  Right outside the Market is the door to the terrace where you can view the Magic Kingdom nightly fireworks show.  The Market has lots of overpriced things (you pay for convenience) that you might need in your room:  Chips, popcorn, beer, wine, pop, frozen pizza, deli stuff, brats and hot dogs for the grill (Contemporary has a grill area for guests), tampons, first aid, you get the idea.  Perfect place to get a hard or soft drink  and snack and go right out the door to watch the lovely fireworks.

There was a Publix just a short drive from the hotel.  Always a good idea to go to a place like that for snacks and beverages for your room.  Also a good-priced place to get souvenirs.  I always do that on vacation – I always make a point to go to the local grocery store in whatever city or country I’m in.  It’s fascinating (at least to someone like me) and a good place to stock up.  Especially when in a place like Paris or Rome – wine, cheese, chocolate, all the gifty things you’ll want to bring home are so much cheaper at the local grocery store or that city’s version of Wal Mart.  Avoid the tourist traps and buying these things at the airport.  It’s the exact same thing for much cheaper! Anyway, I digress.

If you can’t afford to stay at a Disney resort, Kissimmee has a lot of affordable options.  This visit was my first time staying at a Disney resort.  I will say I loved the convenience to the parks.  My first visit to Disney World as a kid, we stayed in Kissimmee, and it was just fine.  My second time, we were staying at my Uncle Jack’s place on Longboat Key (off the coast of Sarasota) so it was an easy day trip – about a 2 ½ to 3 hour drive.  The restaurants in Kissimmee are also more affordable.  They have every chain restaurant you can find everywhere in the United States.  Granted, when I’m in a different city, I like to eat at local businesses and not eat at some chain I could eat at in Chicago, but sometimes it comes down to pleasing the kids.  Example:  Golden Corral.  The first Golden Corral I ever brought my kids to was in Joliet, Illinois when my brother was living out there.  My husband is a professional Ed Sullivan impersonator for Beatles tribute bands (you heard that right) and he was performing at Abbey Road on the River in Louisville, Kentucky.  We stayed at a Holiday Inn in Clarkesville, Indiana, just across the Ohio River from Louisville and there was a Golden  Corral – that was the only place the kids would eat.  As soon as I saw the sign in Kissimmee and the kids were fussing, I said, let’s stop here!  The buffet is $8 for adults and $6 for kids.  All you can eat, every kind of food you and/or the kids might be in the mood for – pizza, pasta, chicken, Chinese, salad bar, desserts, etc.  The one in Kissimmee had some Southern food – black-eyed peas, fried okra, fried cream corn, peach cobbler.  Yum!  Here’s a tip – we filled up ourselves and the kids at Golden Corral for next to nothing, then went to Magic Kingdom and barely spent any money on the outrageously expensive food there.  My brother went into one of the food courts there to get some pop and said the cheapest thing on the menu was a small chicken sandwich for $10.  J

A beloved website

A beloved website - makes me feel so much better about the things my kids destroy!
http://www.shitmykidsruined.com/

Orlando Part 3

It was evening once we were settled in our room.  We went downstairs to the Contempo Café on the 4^th floor for dinner.  You order from a touch screen computer that prints out your receipt.  You then pay the cashier and are given a beeper that lets you know when the food is ready to be picked up at the kitchen counter.  The prices weren’t crazy and there was plenty to satisfy everyone.  My brother and I had the mahi mahi sandwich, which was really good.  The kids had chicken nuggets, burgers and fries.  Disney puts the healthy options first – the automatic side dish is fruit or veggies.  You have to specify if you want fries.  Also, the automatic drink choices are milk, water or juice.  You have to specify pop if that’s what your child wants.

We went back up to the room, where Todd promptly fell asleep.  My dad and brother decided to drive to the local Publix to buy pop and snacks for the room.  Sean and I went out on the balcony where we had a lovely view of the nightly light show on Bay Lake.  I imagine this would be extra cool to view from one of the dinner cruise boats.  Disney songs are played loudly and there are big light-up creatures – a dinosaur, alligator, octopus, dolphins and King Neptune in a chariot pulled by sea horses.  The lights change into American flags for the finale of patriotic music.  Sean loved it.

Sean absolutely loved the water play area and especially the water slide.  That is putting it mildly.  Every day, I put aside some time for him to go to the water slide.  The first day we went, he just took off and ran up the stairs and went down the slide before I could get to the other end in the pool to catch him.  A lifeguard promptly jumped in and grabbed him.  I was only about two feet behind the lifeguard.  I got Sean out of the water and over to where the life vests are kept to put one on him.  He had also gone down the slide with his water shoes still on.  This isn’t recommended because the shoes stick to the sides of the slide.  The lifeguard supervisor came over to us to make sure Sean was okay.  A bit embarrassing, but I’m glad they are so thorough when it comes to water safety.  Sean was subsequently reprimanded for going down head first, backwards and not waiting for the green light at the top of the slide.  I’ve been told by his recreational therapist at school that he has no fear in the water and tends to make bold choices that aren’t safety-friendly.  The only way I was able to get him out of the pool and away from the water slide was a Minnie sighting – I thought I saw Minnie heading up to our room or to the lobby.  Minnie is his new girlfriend!  My brother bought him a small stuffed Minnie doll at Publix and Sean gave her kisses the entire trip.   

Orlando Part 2

I gave Todd some chewable melatonin about 15 minutes before boarding. This worked out perfectly. He dozed off just as the plane was taking off and woke up right before we landed in Orlando.




Sean did great on the plane. He read books, ate the pretzels provided by the flight attendant, as well as the Goldfish crackers, string cheese and granola bars I put in his backpack.



When we arrived in Orlando, I made the decision to take Todd on the Magic Express, which was a complimentary service through our hotel, Disney Contemporary Resort. Todd has a very hard time waiting, so I anticipated going to baggage claim, then taking a shuttle to the rental car place, then waiting for the rental car, would be too much for him. Ugh. There was nothing magical about the Magic Express. We had to wait in line for a check-in that took FOREVER then wait FOREVER for the bus to finally show up. I assume my use of italics and capital letters communicates what a bad experience that was. Todd was hungry, thirsty, crying, yelling, miserable. Even though they were speaking in Spanish, I could tell the people in front of us in line were talking about us. They shut up when I gave them a stare of death. At this point, I was in tears, too. The bus finally showed up. I think I made a comment, “I hate Disney already” or something. Once we were on the bus, Todd was fine. He loves riding in any vehicle. The ride took about 45 minutes, but I think I needed that time to calm myself down.



We arrived at Disney Contemporary. I was bracing myself for another long check-in wait. This time, I was pleasantly surprised. My brother called ahead to see if Todd and I could check-in ahead of the rest of our party. The woman who checked us in was so nice and accommodating – she noticed Todd was having a hard time, so she said she wouldn’t give me the usual lengthy check-in spiel and just gave us the key cards and a map to our room.



Since the Magic Express experience took so long, my brother, dad and older son arrived right behind us.



Our room was lovely. It was located on the sixth floor of the Contemporary Tower. We had a lovely view of Bay Lake and right outside our door, you could look down and see the monorail coming and going.



I was initially concerned about the room because there was a lot of marble and sharp edges. However, no injuries occurred. It was decorated in an appropriately contemporary style, very Asian-esque. Surprisingly, we were unable to get Disney Jr. on the TV. The doors were child-safety-friendly – a top lock high up on the front door as well as on the balcony door. There were two sinks in the bathroom – very wide and flat, but not very deep. Todd spent many an hour turning the water on and off and splashing in the sink. Because of the shape of the sinks, hardly any water splashed to the floor, so there was no slipping hazard there. There was a sliding door to the bathroom and then another sliding door to the toilet, which was in a separate little room, like a European WC. On one hand it was good, because the kids couldn’t lock themselves in the bathroom, but on the other hand, Todd kept sliding it back and forth to the point we were worried he would crack one of the doors, but he didn’t. The two closets in the entryway opened and closed with long vertical handles. Todd loved opening and closing these doors. He also loved pressing the buttons of the safe that was in one of the closets. We got a noise complaint over that. (Yay, just like home!) We figured out a way to twist and tie towels around the door handles so he couldn’t open the doors. Childproofing, just like home!