Here’s the awesome rotating waffle iron that Tal got me:

ROTATING Waffle Iron

And thanks to Amazon.com I have 3 large containers of Golden Malted Waffle mix:

Golden Malted Waffle Flour

Now, I’ll tell you one of the reasons why I think this waffle mix creates the best waffles. One of the ingriedents is MELTED BUTTER! Melted butter is one of the best things on earth. Half the time when I order crab legs or lobster it is simply to eat something that I can dip in melted butter.

To conclude, this a picture of the waffle that I ate for dinner last night:

WAFFLE!

Scary Pumpkins made by Tal and Jon

I also used one of the fancy computerized art ordering kiosk deals at the Disney Gallery to order a print of the map of Disneyland in 1959, it should be arriving in the next week or so. I plan to get it framed and then hang it beautifully from my wall for all (at least Tal and I) to admire.

I have a US mailbox to receive Amazon and eBay and stuff, and when I get my mail from there I always go to the grocery store. American grocery stores are so much cooler than Canadian ones. They seem to stock products that you will never see in Canada. And there’s no french packaging! Here are some highlights of what I picked up yesterday:

Pillsbury Halloween Cookies

That’s right, Ready to Bake Ghost shape cookies. Of course they are really just cookie shaped with a ghost picture. And the Doughboy is wearing a clever costume. You would never know it was him. Except for maybe the logo on his hat.

 These were next to the cookies in the dairy case, at first I was only going to get one or the other, and then I noticed the giant sale sign. I had to have both. Cinnamon Rolls with orange-colored frosting. I just hope the frosting is not orange-flavored. The Doughboy is missing his mask for this product, but there is a generic 2D Frankenstein’s monster to remind you it is a halloween product. That’s in case you didn’t notice the word “Halloween” in the product name.

I was too lazy to combine the images into one file, so you get a very long phallic view of Amp Engergy Dale Jr. Edition. Now I am a fan of Nascar, but I don’t like Dale Jr. so I don’t know what compelled me to buy this. I don’t need the energy drink, I have half a case of Simpsons branded “Flaming Moes” in my kitchen. Maybe it was the Dale Jr. autograph replica on the side of the can. FYI, I’m a Jeff Gordon fan. 24 all the way!

Here is a product that will never see the light of Canadian shelves. The Jimmy Dean Sausage & Gravy Breakfast bowl. Potatoes, eggs, country gravy, sausage, and cheddar cheese all ready in a bowl of it’s own. All you need is 3 minutes in the microwave and some type of eating utensil. This probably tastes only half as good as it looks, but it’s looking good. Who doesn’t like country gravy with breakfast? Not me.

I’m working on a post about my last trip to Disneyland with Tal, but in the meantime:

I’m going back, back to the future! Not really, but I do have a DeLorean now.

Months and months ago I along with my usual comic books I also ordered this awesome sounding DeLorean replica toy made by Diamond Select.  I was originally thinking of giving it to my friend Dave for his birthday, but the price increased and the ship date was delayed, so instead he got a fullsize replica of the OUTTATIME license plate. Finally last week I received my miniature time machine. And it truly is amazing, as you can see in this video:

Chantal and I are going back to Disneyland! October 10 to 14! We are going to eat turkey legs for thanksgiving! I found a super cheap flight/hotel combo through expedia, and since we already have annual passes to Disneyland, all we have to pay for now is food. It’s going to be so much fun! It’s also what I think of when I start to feel stressed and worried about finding an accounting job…

I wish I could fast forward to October now and skip the anxiety of CA recruiting and just go straight to Disneyland!

We were almost late for our flight when we were leaving the morning of the first, we were flying out of Seattle and there was a big accident on the north bound I5 and the southbound lane was crawling because of people gawking.

We made it and got on the plane to Anaheim and a couple of hours later we were at our hotel, The Desert Palms Hotel and Suites. It is on the corner of Harbor and Katella, at the southeast corner of the Disneyland resort. Very much nicer than the motel we stayed at last night. We got a really cool suite with a giant jacuzzi tub and seperate sitting area. The hotel also had free breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs, pancakes, sausage, and potatoes. We ate it 3 of the 4 mornings we were there, it was good considering it was free.

We headed over to Disneyland and waited in our first line of the day, at the Main Street Bank. This time we got annual passports, since it wasn’t too much more than 5 day park hoppers, we would get discounts on food, and we plan to go back again within a year. With our shiny new annual passports in hand we got ourselves a giant pickle. We had really regreted not getting one last time, so it was first on our list of things to do this time. It was really really good, cold and juicy. So good, definitely get one if you go to Disneyland.

We rode some rides, ate some bread bowl gumbo, and for the last ride of the night (by which point we had been awake for 18 hours) went on Space Mountain. The picture of us riding it was so good I just had to buy it.

Tuesday we got up early and headed back to Disneyland and California Adventure, I got severely sun burned on my head. In the afternoon we headed back to the hotel to relax a bit (and Tal put some aloe on my head). We had priority seating for the Cafe Orleans that night, but I was not feeling good after my sun exposure. It was decided that we needed hats, so back to the park we went and we each found a hat at the hat store next to the Main Street bank and headed to Cafe Orleans.
Cafe Orleans is supposed to have amazing Pomme Frites. French fries in garlic, parmesan cheese, and parsley. We split some Pomme Frites and went straight to desert. I had some mickey mouse shaped beignets, and almost choked on the abundance of powdered sugar, but the vanilla bean dipping sauce was amazing! Tal had some bread pudding, but said it had too much banana in it.

Wednesday night was a sneak preview of the the new fireworks show “Magical”. We were worried it might be cancelled because of the wacky weather that had been happening. It had been randomly overcast and then light showers and then sunny again. We staked out a prime position in the hub by the partners statue of Walt and Mickey. The fireworks were very cool, and there was a anamatronic Dumbo that flew over the castle.

Earlier on wednesday we made priority seating reservations for the Carnation Cafe on Main Street for breakfast on thursday morning. We had planned to get Mickey Mouse shaped waffles, but when we looked at the menu we changed our minds and went with croissant eggs benedict. They were oh so good. Later in the day we got our souvenir shopping done and then went back to the hotel to rest before dinner. I had made reservations for Goofy’s Kitchen at the Disneyland Hotel months ago. We went to Disneyland and rode the train to Tomorrowland, then rode the Monorail to Downtown Disney. Goofy’s Kitchen is a buffet with characters that visit your table. We were hoping to see Mulan, but were disappointed. We did see Goofy, Pluto, Capt. Hook, Aurora, and Belle. Chantal was a little tipsy after a very strong coffee liquer and had a very animated conversation with Belle. We had a lot of fun.

Friday was our last day at Disneyland. We checked out of the hotel and stored our bags and made our last rounds of Disneyland and California Adventure. We were both pretty tired and Tal’s feet were very sore, so we took it pretty easy and checked out some of the attractions that are commonly overlooked. Like the animation academy and turtle talk with Crush. We did some last souvenir shopping (Tal got an awesome Mulan statue and box of Mickeyroni with Cheese) and then went back to the hotel to collect our bags and catch our shuttle to the airport.

We arrived in Seattle a little past 10:30 at night, and collected my car and I started a very uncomfortable drive home. I was so tired and exhausted but we made it home safe (after stopping for duty-free liquor) and finally got to sleep at close to 2am.

It was an awesome vacation and I had tons of fun. I can’t wait to go back again. I need a giant pickle and turkey leg!

Chantal and I are going to the happiest place on earth (aka Disneyland) June 1 to the 5! I can’t wait!

Hopefully it won’t be too crowded. When we went last October it was way too crowded, being a holiday weekend and all. This time we are going mid-week when hopefully most kids are in school. Unfortunately it looks like we will miss the chance to see any fireworks because they only have them on the weekend that time of year. But we are also getting annual passes, so we are definitely going to go back again within a year, and we’ll just have to make sure to go at a time when we know there will be fireworks.

I can’t wait to spend five days with my love in the happiest place on earth!

I have a CT scan tomorrow morning, so that’s what is probably bringing these thoughts up. It’s just another of the constant reminders that keeps me from dealing with this is the way I usually deal with traumatic memories, pretending it never happened. I can’t pretend I never had cancer, I’m reminded of it too frequently.

I just have to find a way to deal with it…

I'm waiting for my car to be "serviced" right now, so I thought I
would do a blog post.

Finally my return to Las Vegas is booked. I was supposed to go during
the summer, but couldn't because I was all chemo-upped. So almost 7
months later I'm going. I'll be there February 19 to 22 and staying at
the Bellagio! I better start practicing my blackjack strategy again.

Also, I'm totally taking Chantal with me back to Disneyland this year.
I found a really cheap flight/hotel combo for the week of June 1 to 5,
and then I'm going to get us annual passes to DL so we could possibly
go yet again within a year. I can't wait…