Soup du Jour, Hot Hors D'oeuvres, Why We Only Live to Serve

Hi kids! It's been a week of wining, dining and weird days off.

Even though this was one of the first weeks after our recent schedule bid (I'll now have Thursdays and Fridays off until the end of my program), another Canadian needed Thursday off so I had an odd Wednesday as my Saturday. This odd Wednesday happened to be Halloween and this Halloween I spent in Hell - aka various DMVs around Orange County. It turns out one cannot renew an Ontario license plate with American insurance (thanks for the heads-up, Ministry of Transportation of Ontario), so my car had to be re-licensed and re-registered for the United States of America ie there are now Florida plates on my car to go with the Florida license in my wallet and the American insurance in the glove box. Fortunately, I was able to do the whole process in my Halloween costume, so it wasn't nearly as bad as it could've been.
Thursday, I was oddly back to work for the day. At the daily morning meeting with the UK merchandise cast, we were informed that one of us had made the top three in Epcot in terms of re-loading Food & Wine Festival gift cards. That cast member was me. Yay me! I won a fantastically-timed Food & Wine gift card. That evening, Rhys and I went out for dinner to celebrate her becoming Le Cellier's newest server (Yay Rhys!), followed by another throw-in to welcome new Canadians and entice them to come to Games with tales of our nerdiness (more later).

"You did such a great job selling gift cards, here's a gift card!"
..but did you buy it from me?

 The next day, a day off, I used my winning gift card to its entirety with Rhys, Deanna, Ashley and Chelsea. We made off slowly around World Showcase, starting in Mexico, with Chelsea collecting stamps in her Food & Wine passport and the rest of us gradually sampling whatever struck our fancy. I am now recommending to guests the Mongolian beef in a steamed bun from China, the paneer cheese and spinach pocket in South Africa and the baklava in Morocco. I had every intention of finishing my free snacking in Canada but was much too full to even consider it. Instead, we found our way to the Festival Center in the former Wonders of Life Pavilion (and now mostly abandoned retro golden sphere) and I contributed the rest of my winnings to some Food & Wine "tangible memories" (ie merchandise). That evening, the five of us, along with four other Canadian friends, staked out an entire row to support our company and to catch Wreck-It Ralph on its opening day. You guys. SO GOOD. Seriously.

My tangible memories and I in front of the
monumental Wonders of Life pavilion.

Last night was a Games night extraordinaire chez Rhys, as it was our first Murder Mystery evening. I'd like to say I put my forensic science degree to good use and solved it before anyone, but there's a very solid chance that I, or someone who looked a lot like me, committed the murder...About that...

Tina and Courtney as Peggy Sue, a reporter, and Barby Q, a divorcee. 

TTFN,

Note: This weekend marked lots of special happenings...in the United Kingdom pavilion. Yesterday was Guy Fawkes Day, and the day before the pavilion premiered their gorgeous new costumes. We looked ultra shabby in comparison.

Emily and I being model cast members.
I'm smiling cuz my costume is 30 years old. 

Thanks to: The Florida DMV, who's going to give a manatee $30 because I picked the manatee license plate. Don't spend that all in one place, random manatee.