Tupperware, Cheesecake and Fireworks

So, another day (day 7) dawned.  Today was the day I had been waiting for.  I got to visit Tupperware World, otherwise known as Tupperware headquarters.  I may be a Tupperware consultant but this actually wasn’t my idea.  I went along with it, of course, but I didn’t ask to go.  It was actually the Man who asked me a few months ago if I knew that the Tupperware headquarters is in Orlando.  Well, duh, of course I did and what’s more, anyone can go in and visit their gallery and shop.

I love the mottos they have on the wall on the way to the gallery.  The gallery isn’t very big but they do have examples of products from yesteryear as well as products from different countries around the world.  In the shop, I was very good and didn’t spend too much.  We had gone in with the intention of buying one specific product which we can’t get in the UK but also bought a couple of others.  It was a bonus when I got to the checkout to find that, as a Tupperware consultant, I got a discount too.

After Tupperware World, we took a drive over to Mall at Millenia so we could go to the Cheesecake Factory.  We went there on our last visit and enjoyed it. There is so much choice of food!  We all decided to have a burger and then came unstuck when our server asked how we wanted our burger cooking.  What?  We have no choice in the UK, it’s well done or well done.  We asked for medium but I think medium to well done would have been better.  I like my steak medium to medium rare but for burgers? Not so much.

Of course, we couldn’t go to the Cheesecake Factory without getting cheesecake.  Unfortunately, we were so full we didn’t want it then.  Fortunately, you can get your cheesecake to go.  I wish I’d taken a photo but I forgot.

This was the last day we had the car so after dropping our shopping off at the resort, we took the car back to the rental company and then made our way to the Magic Kingdom.  As we were on our way to our first ride (Big Thunder Mountain Railroad) the heavens opened and the rain came down, hard.  So, we got soaked.  The rain didn’t last long though, it had stopped by the time we had come off the ride.  We then went to get a return time for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train as the wait time was 70 minutes.  We then received a little bit of Disney magic when the cast member asked if we wanted to go on the ride then/now and also have our return time.  Well?  Yes!  So we go to ride the mine train twice.

While waiting for the return time, we went to see the re-imagined Hall of Presidents.

Finally, to end the day, we went over to Bay Lake Tower to watch the Happily Ever After fireworks.  It was interesting to see the firework show from a different angle.  Great show.  My photos really don’t do it justice.

 

If you have missed my previous posts in the 2018 Disney holiday series, you can find them here:

Travel/ arrival day Home Away From Home
Day 1 – Epcot, Studios and a Surprise
Day 2 – Day 2 – Animal Kingdom
Day 3 – Jungles, ghosts, mine trains and magic
Day 4 – Legoland, shopping and Denny’s
Days 5 and 6 –parkrun, Mini Golf, Shopping and Rivers of Light

It’s the little things

Proud Mummy moment coming up! It wasn’t until I was talking to my boss/friend this morning that I realised quite how much of an achievement this was. You see, I knew Adam could do it, otherwise I wouldn’t have let him go on his own.

Anyway, a few weeks ago I had a stall at a local summer fair and, as The Man was working, Adam had to come with me. The fair was open from 11am to 3pm which isn’t long but when you have to get there to drop stuff off then drive the car home and walk back at 9.30am it feels like a very long day.

On Saturday evening, we looked up the Man’s shift and saw that he was going to be driving the bus route which has a stop at the Tesco close to the fair so we also looked up the times of the buses he would be driving. The Man and I arranged that, if Adam wanted to, he could go for a round trip on the bus into the city centre and out again.

 

Adam enjoying a cup of tea, in a Tupperware Commuter Mug (of course)

 

After Adam had helped me to set up the gazebo and tables, put out the Tupperware and had a cup of tea, he decided he’d like to walk the, probably, half mile to the bus stop. Now, this isn’t a new route for him as it was part of the route which he walked to College (2014 to 2016) and we walk to Tesco regularly.  However, it was the first time he’d chosen to walk part of the route, starting from a different point and having to cross a road he hadn’t crossed on his own before.  He phoned me when he got to the bus stop and told me he’d seen the Man driving to the park and ride site and that the board on the bus stop, which tells you how long you have to wait until the next bus, said that the next bus was due in 6 minutes.  Adam then phoned me when he got off the bus to let me know he was on his way back to the fair.

When he got back to the fair, he needed the toilet.  Unfortunately, he hadn’t thought to use the toilet at Tesco after he got off the bus so he had an accident.  It was OK, these things happen sometimes, and I asked Adam if he wanted to walk home and get changed.  He said yes and off he went again, after asking me what time I thought he should be back by.  He was quicker than I said which was great!  Walking home and letting himself in, including turning off the alarm, isn’t new.  Again, he’s done it before.  The big deal about this is that he walked home, turned off the alarm, went in the house, got changed, came out of the house, locked the door, turned on the alarm and then walked back. 100% ON HIS OWN!  He didn’t even phone me to let me know he was home or on his way back.  We’d set a time limit and that was good enough for him and for me.

Adam wouldn’t have done either of these a year ago so this was amazing.  However, what he did do last Summer, and has done again this Summer, is cover my stall for me while I go to the toilet or go to get him a cup of tea.  He has also taken a note into the coffee shop to buy himself a cup of tea (after I’ve been in with him for the first cup) and ask for my water bottle to be refilled.

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I originally started writing this post on my phone a few weeks ago and then forgot about it!  I have a couple of other Proud Mummy moments to post about too but I’ll write a separate post for those.

Clean 9 is finished

Now I just have to remember what I’ve learned so that I don’t undo all the hard work.  I didn’t post a Day 8 post because everything just got away from me on Monday and yesterday was incredibly busy.

As the title says, I finished the Clean 9 and, surprisingly it wasn’t as hard a last time and I got much better results.  So, what have I learned and what were the results?  Firstly, I actually like water but I prefer it cold out of the fridge rather than out of the water filter jug which sits on the worktop.  I do still want my “nasty” diet coke and that is going to be one of my naughty treats.  I have been drinking between 9 and 12 cups of water per day thanks to my new favourite Tupperware product – the Eco Bottle.

I have also been eating a lot better as I have had to think more about what I am eating.  I’ve also been limited to 3 meals per day and, although I was allowed to snack on fruit, I found that I didn’t need to eat between meals.  The final thing I’ve noticed is that I’ve been sleeping better due to not eating so late at night, having a cup of water before bed and a generally much cleaner diet.  I’ve also found that I am actually ready to get up in the morning without having to hit the “snooze” button 2 or 3 times 🙂

The results:

I lost the following measurements in the last 9 days:

Arm – 0.25″; Chest – 0.25″; Waist – 1″; Belly (hip bones) – 1.5″; Hips (bottom) – 1.25″; Thigh – 0.75″
Weight – 8lbs
Body fat is now 27.3%, down 1.8%!
BMI is now 22.3 down from 23.4

So, what’s next?  Well it’s my birthday tomorrow so that will be a bust as far as healthy eating goes.  I will be going out for dinner.  I will have a pudding.  I will have birthday cake.  And I will have chocolate.  However, after my birthday is over, I am going to try to stick to the Weight Watchers plan a lot more closely than I have been doing.  I am going to try to continue to not have crisps with my sandwich.  I am going to continue to have breakfast.  I had got in the habit of not eating until I had a banana at around 11 am which is so not good for you.  I have also decided that, while I know BMI is not necessarily the best indicator of health etc, I am going to see if I can get my weight down to a BMI of 22 as I read that that is the healthiest for the average person and I only need to lose 1 Lb more to get there.  Obviously, I know that muscle is more dense than fat and it would follow that someone who is more muscular would have a heavier BMI so I will also continue to monitor my body fat too.

Tuesday was a very busy day with a meeting to discuss Adam’s Learning Support Assessment and decide what action needs to be taken if he gets a headache/migraine at College.  I also had a Tupperware party in the evening but before that I went to give blood.  I thought everything went really well and the donation was really quick.  As it turns out it may have been too quick.  While I was choosing my biscuit, a penguin, someone said my arm was bleeding.  Sure enough, blood had seeped through the dressing and I was bleeding on to the floor.  I felt fine and hadn’t even noticed.  One of the donor carers came over and helped me in to the chair which they had near the drinks table and cleaned me up.  I felt really bad because they had to call over the Sister and then give me a leaflet about bruising etc.  I said that I was fine but I guess that they must have actually got into the vein properly because the donation was so quick and obviously the blood didn’t want to stop flowing!  Usually, giving blood is a little uncomfortable because they can’t find the vein properly so it comes out quite slow.  I also usually get a bruise because of the vein not being easy to find.  Oh well, it was all good fun 🙂

I have also exercised every day for the past 10 days 😀