let the mayhem continue.

Happy Boxing Day!
(and if any of my Canadian, Irish or British friends can please tell me what the heck Boxing day really is, i would be indebted to you. truly.)

it may be the day after, but i am still wrapping presents and putting stockings together.

we had a lovely, quiet Christmas. watching movies Santa brought, as well as Bond flicks on SpikeTV.

my mom, not so much.

Monday, she and my step-pop went to Disneyland to be with the family. they ate breakfast out there, and my mom, for whatever reason, had scrambled eggs.

scrambled eggs & my mom? not a mix. she spent all of yesterday drinking Pepto instead of eggnog. not nice.

tonight we're supposed to meet @ Knott's for dinner and gift exchange. we'll see...it depends naturally on how she feels.

meanwhile - the Husband and i are debating when we should go and meet up with them. i do want to see Kyler, Maddie & Lucas - and their parents as well, but man. it really chaps my hide to think of spending anywhere from $65-85 for a one park/one day or two park/one day pass, much less going during Christmas break, with 20,000,000 people there.

chaps.my.hide.

reminds me a little too much of New Year's eve 1999. (remember that, Kristie? oy.)

my friend, his step-son and his wife, along with another couple, came down from the Bay Area for New Year's and invited us to come along.

Disneyland for New Year's? why not?

somehow, we got the bright idea that it would be totally cool to stand in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle as we passed millenniums.

hmm. 'passed millenniums.' sounds almost as enticing as passing kidney stones. and a LOT more painful.

my friend Kristie came down and brought her then 7 year old daughter. Husband & i hung out at our spot near the front of the castle; they had erected a countdown clock, so we knew how much longer we'd be standing. or sitting.

but as the day wore on, more and more people started squeezing in our spaces. we were roped off. eventually, people were literally walking over us to get across to other places. Kristie's girl was laying on the sidewalk, trying to nap, while we were attempting to keep her from being trampled.

dude. not a good scene.

believe me when i say that two minutes after midnight, we were in the crush to get out of the Park and head back to the hotel.

we found out later that officials for the park said they should've closed the park earlier and not let more people in. but that's what greed will do for a corporation.

turn an innocent mouse into a snarling, drooling, money-grubbing rabid rodent.

back in the day, from about 1989 until 1997, i had an annual pass for Disneyland. that, Gentle Reader, was sweet. it was cool to head out there for a few hours, grab a coffee and do some people watching.

makes me wish i had been a sociology major. the papers i could've written on human behaviour.

i still wish i had one.

back then, there was only one. 365 days of Disney magic for the low, low price of $199. now - they range from $129 for 170 days to $379 for 365 days.

people i know who work there call the $129 pass the 'pre-school pass,' because with the amount of days blacked out, it will work best for SAHM's who have pre schoolers and can go on a Tuesday morning for an hour or two.
the premium annual pass? no thanks. there's other things i'd rather spend $379 on.

i'm still not sure how i went from Boxing Day to Disneyland...but whatever.
it's what Random Thoughts are all about.