Stupid Sore Throat

I knew I was getting a sore throat yesterday afternoon, but it was never too bad.  Overnight it decided to get vicious.  We had a freeze warning up for the night, and I think our heat even kicked on over night.  It was 68 on our thermostat, which is as low as we let it get.  Anyway, the cold, dry air was hard on the throat. I finally came out to the kitchen at 6:15 to make a cup of hot tea.  That has helped somewhat, but I am not happy that I might be getting a stupid cold. I have too much to do, including singing tomorrow at the Veteran's Day service at Freedom Park at 9 a.m. and rehearsing my duet with my partner at the Tuesday night Guys and Dolls rehearsal. 

On a happier note, Mark and I had a fantastic time at the new Fantasyland area.  At the end of this blog are some pictures from our visit.

Yesterday we did a lot of various chores.  One of the things that I had to do was go to the dentist for another small oral surgery.  I had those two molars pulled on October 2,  They have healed well, but there was a sharp piece of bone sticking up in the one and a weird skin flap forming on the other.  Apparently, neither of these things is rare.  The surgeon numbed me up real well and cleaned out the jaw bone and cut the flap.  I did have to keep wads of gauze on there for about two hours until all the bleeding stopped, but when the novocain wore off,  I only used Advil to be sure nothing hurt.  Soft food for the rest of the day was the only other restriction. It feels fine this morning. 

Last night, despite a sensitive mouth and a rapidly escalating sore throat, Mark and I went up to an event at The Palms.  Solivita has a group called the SOFEES.  They are the Solivita Friends of Eastside Elementary School, a school in Haines City, about nine miles from here.  Recently they have also adopted Laurel Elementary in Kissimmee, about the same distance away in the other direction.  Last night was their annual get-together to collect underwear, socks, and hoodies for the children.  Both of those schools have a student body popular that is very poor. I heard last night that Eastside has 80% of its students on Free and Reduced Lunch.  Anyway, Mark and I attended it last year because it was in December and Guys and Dolls members came to sing Christmas Carols around one of the small neighborhood pools. 

For whatever reason, the group decided to have it at The Palms by the outdoor fireplace in early November this year.  I heard it was because the schools needed the clothing NOW.  The group set up beautiful luminaries all around the big outdoor pool and around the fireplace.  Unfortunately, the night was cold and the fireplace wouldn't work.  So the event was indoors.  Sadly, only about 35 people came, compared to the hundreds that came last year.  It doesn't look like a lot was collected. 

Also two of my friends from Guys and Dolls had been asked to lead a sing-a-long of seasonal songs.  When they saw me come in, they asked me to join them.  I did.  We sang some Thanksgiving songs, If I Had a Hammer, a wintry songs like Silver Bells and Winter Wonderland.  It was pretty fun.  Everybody sang along!  Mark and I were glad we went.

Fortunately, there's not much on my agenda today. I can just rest and hope this stupid sore throat gets better instead of worse.

Enjoy the pictures of the new Fantasyland area, called The Enchanted Forest.

 It was a windy, brisk day.  The sun made it also a lovely fall day, and I was happy I could wear a long-sleeved t-shirt and my Mickey hoodie.

 All the Christmas decorations are already up in the Mark.

 In the Enchanted Forest area, there are gargoyles lining the bridge to the Beast's castle.

 There's the Beast's castle up on the hill.  It was also gorgeous when it was lit up after dark.

 The Be Our Guest restaurant is inside the castle.  Here I am in the Rose Gallery, one of the three dining rooms inside the restaurant.  A cast member took my picture in front of the beautiful statue of Belle and the Beast dancing.

 The little village that Belle lives in is also recreated.  Here is Gaston's Tavern.

 Mark with the statue of Gaston in front of the tavern.

 Our timing was perfect because the REAL Gaston came to the tavern while we were there.

 Prince Eric and Ariel's castle hold the new Under the Sea Adventure ride.

 Nice entrance way.  This ride is the same as the one that's been in Anaheim for awhile in the Disney California Adventure park, but the entrance here is WAY, WAY better than out there.

 We also did Hall of Presidents.  It was the day after election day, so that seemed appropriate.

 There's President Obama, front and center.

 We also had time to watch the afternoon parade.

We finished our day by having dinner in the Ballroom area of the Be Our Guest restaurant. It's really beautiful and the food was spectacular.