It Was A Bear...but worth it

I have been in need of a way to carry my Lendrum spinning wheel for ages. I have dropped it off a cart while trying to take it into the hotel, a co-worker was helping me take things in a hotel one day and somehow broke off a piece of my Woolee Winder, and another time I dropped a bobbin out of my bag and broke it coming out of a hotel. ....I really needed a way to carry my wheel.

I bit the bullet and measured the wheel, pulled out some upholstery fabric from my stash that was purchased to make a purse, brought a yoga mat to use as padding, and made a general newspaper pattern for the front and back. My friend, Sue, and I went to G Street fabrics and I brought a 70 inch zipper as well as some fake leather. My daughter, TeAntae, suggested that I make the bag so I could carry it like a backpack. That turned out to be the best suggestion yet.

The front pocket is for me to put the head and bobbins in. Frankly, I do not have to take it off, there is enough room inside the bag but my Woolee Winder is precious so I will probably take it off when I am traveling. I will not when I am just going to be local like going to spinning. I think there is enough room inside for fiber, will just have to see.

I put the wheel inside the bag and put the bag on my back to see how it felt and it felt fantastic. I had decided to pad the straps that went over my shoulder and I think that really made the difference. Here is the wheel in it's traveling home.

I know you may think that I have gone back to my second childhood, but I just had to have this case for my Ipad. What fun it is to use and also have people take a second look because they can not believe what they are looking at.

You know how one thing leads to another. I then needed another case to carry the Ipad in, the one I had was too small. I saw a Mickey Mouse cover while we were at Walt Disney World but I was afraid it was too small. My daughter brought a Mickey Mouse case for her MAC and we decided that since the cost was the same as for the Ipad case, that I would just have to buy the computer case and cut it down to size. I did and it works perfectly.

But that was not the end of it. The stand that is built into the Etch-a-Sketch case is really not a stand, and I needed something for when I am in bed watching my Ipod videos, etc, while I was knitting.

I had to go to the kitchen store to exchange my c20 cartridge for my soda maker, I found the solution to my in the bed video problem which also works great on my lap when I am sitting on the sofa and when I am reading a recipe on my Ipad while cooking.

Who would have thought that I would find the solution in a kitchen store and for $12.00. This is a cookbook stand that adjust to several heights.

I am going to start dinner and rest for awhile. I think I work harder when I am home than I do when I out working. At least, I am just as exhausted at the end of the day.

OMG!!!! WOW!!!!

As everyone knows, my daughter and I are big fans of Disney. We go to the parks, take cruises on their ships, and have ownership in their Disney Vacation Club. Both my daughter and son were married at Disney World and took the Disney cruises for part of their honeymoons. So as you can see, we enjoy Disney.

My daughter told me about 6 months are so ago that Disney's new cruise ship, the Dream, second cruise would go over my birthday, Jan 31. I told her to book it. At that point, I started reading everything I could get my hands on about the new ship. Yes...I know there are bigger more luxurious ships out there but I also knew that Disney would put their touch on this ship that would make it their own unique experience.

When you walk into the atrium you know that Disney has really pulled out all the stops. The atrium is elegant but not stuffy. They took some of the fun things like the fireworks at sea and the pirate party and expanded them with new technology. The Aquaduck which is a water slide funnel thing goes out over the ocean (no I did not give it a try) but everyone I talked to that did it said it was fantastic. If you would like to read a very informative and delightful trip report, checkout Coach Rick on the Disney Cruise Line Forum. He says it all.

I was not disappointed as I came over the bridge and saw that baby. Okay, big baby. This ship is 40% larger than the first two, the Magic and the Wonder.

We decorated our door once we got settled and had explored the ship a little.

On my birthday, I did not get a towel animal but a towel birthday cake complete with pipe cleaners for candles.
Our room stewardess told us that she was not a good cook but she stayed up all night and baked and baked.

The itinerary was not important for this short cruise. We are not thrilled with the upper Bahamas especially Nassau so we had no intention of getting off the boat except for Disney's private island, Castaway Cay. It was our intention to use the ship as our all inclusive resort, the only thing we would have to pay extra for was the alcoholic drinks. We had on board credit to cover most the alcohol we consume, which was minimal.

The bed is so comfortable that we overslept and missed breakfast the morning of Castaway Cay. We could have ordered room service but went up to the coffee shop for a pastry and coffee/tea.

(This was the pillow on our bed)

We went for an early barbecue lunch on the island then went to the family cabanas since we wanted to know why anyone would pay so much for the use of the cabanas. They do have cabana's to rent on the adult beach as well but there is no privacy. When we got to the family cabana area, we were told that if we had not rented a cabana, we could not go into this private area with it's private beach. We stood and talked to the cast members in charge of the travel agent tour and they invited us to go in and look at the cabana that the travel agents would be coming by to look at. We fell in love with the cabanas and think that is well worth the money to rent, it even has snacks and includes all non-motorized activities for a group of up to 10. What I like was the little yellow button to push when you need service. Just think, cast members (what Disney employees are called) at my beck and call.

We left the cabana's and caught the tram to the adult beach. We had our Kindles', sunscreen and plans to just sit our chairs in the water and relax. Didn't happen....

This cruise was full of travel agents taking classes on how to sell the Disney cruise to their clients. We got to the beach and started talking to a travel agent that we have met on the tram. She asked us why we take Disney cruises and we have no children. This led to talking for about 2 hours. The bottom line is the service and staff. There are more retired couples on board than families with children.

We decided to go back to the ship instead of laying on the beach because now it was at the height of the sun. We also wanted to look in the shops and get a Castaway Cay speciality drink, the Konk Kooler. I truly think they dropped a bottle of rum in it but it was so delicious.

We had been running around the ship looking for great places to knit so when we got back, we just sit on the deck as well as on our veranda to watch the people on the beach.


We went to the adult pool area with the wade up bar but did not stay in the area except for the Cove Cafe coffee shop. Mainly because it was nosier than the family area, I think the main reason was the live band.

The shows were wonderful, Disney themed but Broadway quality. Even if you have never seen a Disney movie, you will love the costumes, special effects and music.

"BELIEVE" The genie from Aladdin and many of Disney's most beloved magic makers take a father on a magical journey to show him that anything is possible if you just believe.

"Villain's Tonight" begins when Hades and his faithful sidekicks, Pain and Panic (Hercules) welcomes new souls (the audience) to the underworld. However Hades has turned the underworld in to a happier and upbeat place. The fun begins when the Fates predict that Hades will lose his position in the underworld if he does not ramp up his evil factor.

Their is also the staple show "The Golden Mickeys" which is an award show for all the Disney great. This was has been updated for the new ship.

The last thing I want to tell you, for I could go on forever, is that I finally saw why you see so few children on board even through you know they are there. We got to go to the children's area,they have almost an entire deck. This place is amazing, no wonder parents can not get them to spend time with them.
There is a closet full of princesses dresses to try on, an animation lab that they can make their own animations, a hand washing station that is like putting your hands in a car wash, a submarine that is full of computers so play computer games, there is Andy's room from Toy Story that has all of Andy's toy's giant size for you to play in or with. There is even a dance floor that you can step on square in time with the music to make the floor light up. I think the best part for parents is that if you have late dinner, the counselors will come to the restaurants and take the children back to the play area and keep them up to 2AM so the parents can have some time to go to the lounges or dance clubs.

Okay, that was not the last. The clubs are themed like every thing on the ship. But they are not cheesy. The adult lounge area is called the District. I thought I would not like the dance club, Evolution, but the DJ was very good so we did spend an evening there. I like Pink, the champagne lounge because it is so ....pink and cozy. We even closed it down one evening. It is made to make you feel you are inside a champagne glass.

I also liked Skyline, this lounge is suppose to be that you are in a penthouse and outside the windows is a different city depending on when you are there. Lights go on and off, there are cars going by, etc. It really looks like you are looking out the window onto Hong Kong, Chicago, Rio, Paris or New York.

I have not told you anything about the the other lounges and family area, beautiful restaurants, the sport deck, spa or our room. That will have to be another time. This was a fabulous birthday and I look forward to many more trips on the Dream.