Episode 31: November 2007
Highlights of the month include:
· Weekend in Houston
· Thanksgiving at DisneyWorld (Orlando, Florida) with Neal’s parents
As soon as Halloween ended, the Christmas decorations hit the stores and the streets. Neal thinks this is getting out of hand! He remembers the days when he did not see a Christmas decoration until well into November or even December. Now, he cannot believe the sight of Santas in late-October! Nonetheless, I found it funny to see the transformation – from ghosts and ghouls to fairly lights and Santas – take place seemingly overnight.
In the first week of November, I happened to be in Texas on a graduate recruiting trip and so, in typical Shorg style, we decided to make a long weekend of it. Neal flew down to Houston on Dow’s Michigan-Texas shuttle on Friday afternoon, and we spent that afternoon enjoying all that Houston has to offer. For the most part, we were just grateful to be in warmer weather, so we hung out in our favorite park – Hermann Park – and read our books. Over the next two days, we did some shopping in Rice Village, enjoyed some great dinners (there’s no shortage of food in Houston), and explored the beautifully-groomed grounds of Rice University. We even managed to catch up with some colleagues and friends of Neal’s who had a get together on Saturday night, mainly to watch the big college football game between Louisiana State University and the University of Alabama. The host of the party was an Alabama grad and, not surprisingly, was quite disappointed when they lost in a very close match. Neal flew back to Michigan on Monday, while I stayed on for the rest of the week to finish up the graduate recruiting efforts.
The following weekend, a few of the people that work for me were hosting a Texas Hold ‘Em tournament and invited us to play. Unfortunately, the cards just were not in our favor and we both got kicked out of the tournament very quickly. Still, it was loads of fun. There were about 24 players, split up among three tables. As players were eliminated, the tables consolidated. Fortunately for me, Neal is very familiar with the rules – he is quick to mention a tournament he won while in business school – so he gave me a quick debrief on how the game is played so that I at least appeared to know what I was doing. For the rest of the weekend, we caught up with our friends, Patty and Michel, for dinner, met another couple of friends, Rob and Sue, for lunch and a movie (“American Gangster” – highly recommended), and relaxed.
Aside from weekend activities, we had a number of mid-week events this month. One was a visit to the Dow Event Center in Saginaw to see the Blue Man Group. After all the hype the show has received – as well as rave reviews from people we know who have seen the show, in some cases multiple times – we were quite disappointed. We likened the show to going to a rock concert where you do not know the artist or any of their songs. There were some mildly entertaining bits but, on the whole, it was well overpriced in our opinion. The opening act, however, was worth seeing. He was a DJ named Mike Realm who mixed music to film in a very artistic and funky way – very cool to watch. Mike Realm aside, our review of the Blue Man Group is best summed up in three words: save your money.
In another mid-week adventure, we caught up with friends, Darrell and Kathy, for drinks followed by dinner in Saginaw’s old town. This was a part of Saginaw that we had never ventured into. We had a nice time there and have added this area onto our list of places worth visiting again.
We hosted a dinner party this month that featured a twist – a barbeque rib cook off. Everyone who attended the dinner had to bring their own prepared and cooked ribs to enter the competition (and, of course, be eaten as the main course). Personally, I think Neal’s ribs took the prize. One could argue that the competition – our friends – did not want to upstage the host, but I think they were just outwitted this time!
The biggest event of the month was our Thanksgiving week trip to Orlando, Florida. We flew south and met up with Neal’s parents for the four-day getaway. This was my first visit to any of the Disney theme parks, and I was truly blown away by the magical atmosphere. We spent our first day at Epcot, a theme park that lets visitors explore the world in a day. While neither Australia nor India are represented, it was a great showcase of different countries and their cultures, with architecture that replicated each location very well. The rides at Epcot were not that spectacular, though we did go on one pretty good ride that simulates a shuttle launch to Mars. What was more spectacular was the park’s nightly fireworks and laser show.
Day two was spent at Magic Kingdom – the true Disney experience where storybook fantasies come to life. I do not know what was more entertaining: soaking in all the sights and sounds ourselves or watching the faces of the children who were so filled with awe and excitement at any glimpse of Mickey that we thought they would explode from the thrill of it all. In addition to walking all over the park and watching the infamous Disney parade, we tried out most of the rides there. Our favorites were Big Mountain, an outdoor roller coaster, and Splash Mountain, a water toboggan ride that ends with a huge plunge and soaking wet riders. After 10 hours of exploring the park, we watched the spectacular 20-minute firework display over the castle. The park does a great job of keeping young and old entertained. It was such a great experience and, indeed, the happiest place on earth.
On our last full day, we visited Universal Studios. This park was more geared toward movie-related themes and rides. Our favorite ride there was Return of the Mummy, an indoor roller coaster – Neal and I rode it four times in a row! We ended that night with a great dinner at a Latin-inspired restaurant located along the Universal City Walk, a string of shops and restaurants located next to the park.
On our final day in Orlando, we spent some time shopping at a nearby mall and soaking up some more sun before Neal and I had to get back to the airport for our flight to Michigan. After being blessed with temperatures in the high-70s Fahrenheit (mid-20s Celsius), we landed in Flint, Michigan to the sight of snow on the ground and frigid temperatures. And with that, we were swept from a magical paradise back to reality rather quickly as we scraped the ice from the windscreen of our car. In fact, the following Thursday was the official beginning of the winter snow season, with temperatures falling below zero Celsius and us getting our first big dump of snow!
Besides our own adventures, it has been a big news month for the greater Shorg family. Momma Borg moved out of the house we kids grew up in and into a brand new house this month, and our little sister, Candace, got certified as a naturopath after a long and difficult five years of university. Congratulations Momma Borg and Candy – we are so proud of you both!
