Back to Reality

Actually, I've been back for 2 days now. It's just that Monday was my first day of substituting for Annoying Coworker (how's that for irony?!?) and we were slammed. 6 patients for one on one counseling, plus my normal clinic duties made for a serious headache. Fortunately, Annoying Coworker called in sick yesterday, so I was able to get caught up and get things relatively back to normal in the office. Bad news is that he's back to work today, so I'm expecting some sort of conflict to start brewing soon. It's sad, really, that this thing is dominating so much of my time, energy, and capacity for stress. Hopefully things will get worked out soon.

But on to happier topics! Like my 3 year-old nephew stating emphatically that he wants to be a pirate! He even told Ariel, of The Little Mermaid, that he was a pirate and not a prince (for some reason, Disney World characters like to call all the children who visit either "Prince" or "Princess." Must be a marketing thing). My nephew corrected this particular Princess, although it must be noted that she recovered quickly and said, "Well, I hope you're a good pirate!" Like I said, it was a proud day for my clan!

I did get a chance to poke my head in the Pirate's League face painting / costume shop, which is located next to The Pirates of the Caribgean ride at the Magic Kingdom. While I seriously doubt it's worth the hefty price tag, it does look like fun. We saw four adult men dressed up, and I have to say, it looked like the make-up artists did a good job. I pointed them out to my nephew, who quickly wanted to know if they were "real pirates." Too cute.

My niece also had the time of her life, although at 8 she's now at the age where she's questioning the Disney magic. Several times she asked if one of the characters was "the real" one or "just someone in a suit." She's figured out that Mickey, et. al. are people in suits, but she was thrown off by the princesses. I was able to put off reality for a little while by saying things like, "Well, it's Cinderella's castle, isn't it? Why would they put a fake Cinderella in Cinderella's castle?" I imagine that by the next time I see her, though, she'll have everything figured out. They grow up so fast!

The kids really enjoyed collecting the character's autographs. We gave each a book and pen at the start of our trip, and each time we saw someone (which was almost constant!), we got out the books and sent them over. My niece's book is almost completely filled at this point, and since each page has a place for a photo of the character in question, she should be left with something that will hold her interest for years to come. Maybe. Hopefully. It's hard to tell with kids.

As for the adults - One Ring and me in particular - let me tell you that travelling with children is way different than going solo to Disney World. We got home Friday night, and by the time Saturday rolled around, my body felt as if I had aged sixty years. Fortunately, by Monday most of the stiffness and pain had subsided, though I'm still trying to recover the sleep I lost. How children can keep going at full tilt for so long is beyond me. Maybe it's because we pushed them around in a stroller. I'll have to try to get this level of treatment the next time I head down there. The weather was way too hot for a grown man to have to walk around on his own!

I forsee myself looking something like this:



Well, back to work. We have a clinic tomorrow and I need to get back up to speed.

Peace.