Allow me to share a thing...

Tanya is always concerned that I don’t have a set interest. It’s not idyllic when purchasing gifts for me I suppose, but I mean… I just love so much. I love everything I’ve ever gotten, regardless if I’m super into a fandom or not.** But I get on to secret kicks where I just sit and absorb. I am sponge… I am Spongebob Squarepants. I sit and I laugh uproariously to myself and just scroll through the internet.

Let me tell you what happens when I get deliriously excited about something: I research. Consistent and thorough research is how I deal with the tightness in my chest from anticipation. Is there a new show that someone recommended? Perfect. I will watch every episode, read director/producer/cast interviews and text people hilarious quotes. Is there a possibility I’ll have the funds to decorate a room in my house, or get staple furniture that I’ve been waiting years to buy? Break out the big girl pants, because this lady is about to do some major price comparison shopping with her good friend, Google. Paint colours, how to hang an asymmetrical grouping of art, the difference between hardware finishes, various historical themes (my bathroom is going to be Art Nouveau themed), common design patterns for that era, etc. These are all things I have seriously looked into. I could go on. Literally, I could. I would continue until your eyes bled from reading.

Fun fact : When the bombs went off last year at the Boston Marathon, I pretty much didn’t sleep for three days. I was partially terrified, but also very into learning everything I possibly could about the situation. I stayed up to 4am listening to police scanners with Redditors. I mentioned something that I had gleamed from a late night feed in comments and it was subsequently posted to some news sites that week. This made me supremely proud, if not a little worried for where the news gets its sources. My username is an Adam West Batman reference; not thinking they should take me at my word…

To put it bluntly: I get scary obsessed with something for a few weeks, put everyone off with my fascination and then realize that there are other things in life to be interested in. I still have a clandestine love affair with my old interests, but they are not as intense as before. It’s a good way to live.

What I am concerned about is the upcoming HPcation. I’ve been very bored lately. So bored, in fact, that I am trying to memorize the geographic location of all 196 recognized countries in the world (and some non recognized countries). That's not really the point of this story, but I feel like you will take pity on me and my crazies now.

If you are unaware, Tanya and I have kind of talked about going down to Florida for years, especially when Harry Potter World opened at Universal Studios. Each time it was mentioned, we discussed the best time to go, set a due date to save up our money and then promptly put thoughts of savings out of our mind; something always came up. We’re still both fairly young and at this stage of my life I have learned that there are a lot of things you want and a lot of things you need. Prioritizing is not always easy. Anyways, I had a crazed moment where I realized I haven’t left the country in nine years. I have gone down to Ogdensburg, which is extremely close to our border. It was only for an afternoon or so – just enough time to go to Walmart and stock up on US-only food– and then we’d head back to Canada. I wouldn’t call it a vacation.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="380"] For Reference[/caption]

I panicked and immediately started looking up train ticket costs, the average rent in Berlin, best backpacks to use for long term trips and the easiest ways to live in Europe for three months, as per my aforementioned panic-induced obsessions dictate I should. I then received a Universal Studios email to my personal email and had an epiphany of sorts. It was a manic sort of happiness. With three hours of extra exploring the web (along with the compiled research I had stored from three other planned Florida trips in my head) I booked a hotel in August for Tanya’s champagne birthday. I had very little patience for Tanya to actually tell me whether or not she would come with me. She would come, even if I had to pay for her.

That’s not even the scary part, my friends. I have spent the past four days compiling the following:

• A list of necessary rides to go on, including those for a part of the park THAT IS NOT EVEN REMOTELY FINISHED YET (see: Diagon Alley expansion)


• Menus for restaurants in our immediate vicinity, along with the best times to go to miss the lines


• Directions, walking times and water-taxi schedules for the best way around the park


• Ride times, average line times and best way to go around the parks without needing to take a 30 minute nausea break


• The best pools around our resort, cost of spa stuff, where all the Elvis memorabilia was in the Hard Rock (they have a jumpsuit!)


• What is necessary to go into 313 bags for air travel, what to pack in carryon bags, best dresses to pack on vacation, insoles for sandals so I don’t have to wear runners around


• The importance of Birthday buttons at Universal; what rides you can jump lines in; birthday related resort/park things that you could get


• Mystic fountain questions, hidden props around the park and fun things to say to cast members


• Around which area and what times Beetlejuice is around, because I'm ridiculous.


• Merchandise in the parks that I can accrue as gifts/souvenirs

This is just the beginning. Keep in mind that my mind hasn't actually accepted that this is going to happen and also that it is still seven months away. If I spent this much time on learning French for my job, I would be fluent. I’m convinced that I’ll pretty much have the entire park, resort and surrounding area memorized before we get to YOW on the 25^th. I’m just so excited this is happening and that I get to share it with my very best of friends. I hope you guys don’t think I’m delusional. I’m fairly normal, if not a smidge weird. If you can think of anything we should consider before we leave in August, please let me know so that I can research as soon as possible. Many thanks.

** Best gift ever still goes to this year’s Crystalopoly. Half because I’ve always wanted my own Monopoly game and half because I never think that people pay attention to me enough to know what I really like. Boy, was I proven wrong. Best. Gift. Ever. Ya’ll lose. Sorry, not sorry.