Thin line tween Love and Hate WDW/Halloween TR Western Oct 24-Nov 6 updated 9/27
- Thread starter Fastpaks
- Start date
Mommy Poppins
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2000
Loving your PTR! Can't wait to read the next installment......
Fastpaks
Living the Dream, One Image at a time!
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2009
Love your pre-trip report!!! Hope you have a FANTASTIC time!!!! (I know you will--be prepared to rebook on the ship).
Well welcome
both of you! I just wrote up a killer post and when I went to publish it was gone! grrrrrrrrrr
Hopefully, I can remember what wrote......
Fastpaks
Living the Dream, One Image at a time!
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2009
Things are going well at this point. Life couldn't be better in so many ways. I'm working a little bit of overtime. Every week, I siphon a little bit of money to the safe for our trip. Things are looking really good in the beginning of May. My wife got an unexpected check and contributed it to the trip. My son's football team is running away from their competition. Our close friends are about to have a baby and have just purchased their home. MnSsHp tickets have been announced and with a little luck, if Disney doesn't hike up the ticket gate prices too bad in August everything will be fine.
Now, you know those times! Life is good! REALLY GOOD! They are the type of times that you let your common sense guard down. They are those times when it is extremely calm in your life. Everything is just damn perfect. For those of us that have been in hurricanes.. there is a eerie calmness that can take place and then IT HAPPENS!
My son's team was in the championships for their league. The night before the game, my buddy calls me and ask me to check out their new home. My wife were always down to hang out with them. So, we headed up to their place and had a great time. The problem was we didn't leave till almost 12 am and they live 30 mins away from our house. My son had the worst game he played all season. Hated being there. Didn't want to play. The worse part of it, he was their best offensive player. Lesson Learned. I will remember this in the future for when we are at the parks.
When you are a driver in my field, you make your fun money from your overtime. There is always a bit to get. If you plan right, there is a lot you can do with it! Over the coarse of a few weeks, I was getting some here and there. Our overtime comes in a day cycle. So if I work 12 hours, after 8 I'm payed OT. This has been my bread and butter for rather large trip. We can't afford too many errors, but we can manage. (I can tell you by the end of summer I will have learned a valuable lesson.)
At this point, I have managed to lose about 27lbs and 6 inches off my waist. Everyday that I have OT, I had developed a routine. It was a simple one. Wake up take kid to school, try to sleep, go to work, stop and get breakfast from a gas station, work 13 hours, go home. The only thing is I did this on about 3, 4 , 5 hours of sleep. I go to bed at 2-3 am, wake up and take the kid to school, then try to get a little sleep between shifts. My wife goes to work before the daycare opens but once a week she takes him for me. The other thing about my OT is, I never know when its coming. SO if one night I stay up till 3am, then go through my normal routine, I could get a phone call for overtime. If you pass them up too much, they find other people to do the work. So its sorta grab when you can. This is when it was a Calm.
Late May, one of the drivers went down with a major injury. He would be out for about 3-4 weeks. I was given the opportunity to work 4-5 days a week... but never really knew this. Some days you were needed, some days not so much. I got that call.. a lot. It was killer money. Like previous weeks, I stocked away the overtime portions. When you are putting away at $300 a clip, you are thinking I'm going to be done pretty soon with everything. At the end of the 2nd week, I did just that. Stocked away about $600. Two days later, my debit care was denied. Odd. So I went to check out the online banking,
to find out a hurricane just slammed into me! $-200+. 
To add insult to injury, it was several Overdrafts for Taco bell and some other restaurants I would frequent on long days. As if the big man above hadn't gotten my attention just yet, I checked the scale. I gained all my weight back. The Storm.
Needless to say, I worked for free week of overtime b/c of my stupidity. But after all, we all make mistakes. Now, I have to deal with the havoc of what has been left over. We had so much rain in April/May, that it looks like its going to be like the previous summer, cool and mild. This was a rough month, at least, it probably won't be a hot summer. RIGHT?
Now, you know those times! Life is good! REALLY GOOD! They are the type of times that you let your common sense guard down. They are those times when it is extremely calm in your life. Everything is just damn perfect. For those of us that have been in hurricanes.. there is a eerie calmness that can take place and then IT HAPPENS!
My son's team was in the championships for their league. The night before the game, my buddy calls me and ask me to check out their new home. My wife were always down to hang out with them. So, we headed up to their place and had a great time. The problem was we didn't leave till almost 12 am and they live 30 mins away from our house. My son had the worst game he played all season. Hated being there. Didn't want to play. The worse part of it, he was their best offensive player. Lesson Learned. I will remember this in the future for when we are at the parks.
When you are a driver in my field, you make your fun money from your overtime. There is always a bit to get. If you plan right, there is a lot you can do with it! Over the coarse of a few weeks, I was getting some here and there. Our overtime comes in a day cycle. So if I work 12 hours, after 8 I'm payed OT. This has been my bread and butter for rather large trip. We can't afford too many errors, but we can manage. (I can tell you by the end of summer I will have learned a valuable lesson.)
At this point, I have managed to lose about 27lbs and 6 inches off my waist. Everyday that I have OT, I had developed a routine. It was a simple one. Wake up take kid to school, try to sleep, go to work, stop and get breakfast from a gas station, work 13 hours, go home. The only thing is I did this on about 3, 4 , 5 hours of sleep. I go to bed at 2-3 am, wake up and take the kid to school, then try to get a little sleep between shifts. My wife goes to work before the daycare opens but once a week she takes him for me. The other thing about my OT is, I never know when its coming. SO if one night I stay up till 3am, then go through my normal routine, I could get a phone call for overtime. If you pass them up too much, they find other people to do the work. So its sorta grab when you can. This is when it was a Calm.
Late May, one of the drivers went down with a major injury. He would be out for about 3-4 weeks. I was given the opportunity to work 4-5 days a week... but never really knew this. Some days you were needed, some days not so much. I got that call.. a lot. It was killer money. Like previous weeks, I stocked away the overtime portions. When you are putting away at $300 a clip, you are thinking I'm going to be done pretty soon with everything. At the end of the 2nd week, I did just that. Stocked away about $600. Two days later, my debit care was denied. Odd. So I went to check out the online banking,
to find out a hurricane just slammed into me! $-200+. To add insult to injury, it was several Overdrafts for Taco bell and some other restaurants I would frequent on long days. As if the big man above hadn't gotten my attention just yet, I checked the scale. I gained all my weight back. The Storm.Needless to say, I worked for free week of overtime b/c of my stupidity. But after all, we all make mistakes. Now, I have to deal with the havoc of what has been left over. We had so much rain in April/May, that it looks like its going to be like the previous summer, cool and mild. This was a rough month, at least, it probably won't be a hot summer. RIGHT?
podsnel
<font color=blue>just skippin' around, amusing mys
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2007
nenner1
<font color=darkorchid>I must've been distracted b
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2007
tinkerbelltwins
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2010
I say that if Senor Taco really does appear on the Magic, all of us should toast him with a round of very large margaritas!
Fastpaks
Living the Dream, One Image at a time!
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2009
Yeah that's totally gonna stick.
I say that if Senor Taco really does appear on the Magic, all of us should toast him with a round of very large margaritas!
It is with great sadness that even with my best efforts, I could not find one that is adult size. NOT to mention something needed my attention a little more.
Fastpaks
Living the Dream, One Image at a time!
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2009
What do you do when you make a huge mistake in your budget? You go on a mini-vacation! That's exactly what we did. 
Lake of the Ozarks here we come!
So as custom on any travels out of town, (much to my wife's displeasure), my son break into song:
Moving through the country
gonna eat me a lot of peaches.
Moving through the country
gonna eat me a lot of peaches........
When he was a little kid, he would always ask, "where we are going?" If it was out of town, I just told him something about going into the country. Hence, the Peaches song. My wife simply loves the drive. She swears that it has something to do with not feeling car sick. So for the cruise, I'm a little concerned. After a two hour drive we arrive at the condo ready for a chill weekend.
The weekend was nice getaway. Here are some pics of it:
From the condo porch:
But not long after a storm was brewing in:
The yacht club that you could see, you can probably barely make it out. Not to mention there was a few boats out there.
After the storm, we decided to head out to the Lake. There are these long "arms" in the Lake where it was perfect for tubing. We decided, after a little debate, that it was time for my son to have his first tube ride. He doesn't swim, but he wanted to try it out. He ended up just fine at a slow "cruising speed as you can tell from the look on my nephew's face. I think he got a little freaked at the initial take off though
That said, there are reasons why we go to the lake. This is a shot from the boat my wife took:
And another from the boat at the same yacht club across from our pier.
All in all, it was a great weekend. There was just one thing. I started questioning my Disney Hating status. Because the entire time I was down there, all I could do was think about the cruise and WdW trip. My sister and her boyfriend were down there with us. I grilled them about everything DCL. I felt bad about asking them so much, but I just couldn't wait! Arggg!! and 5 months to go!
Now it happens a couple times this month(JUNE). Start the car, and it just dies. 10 minitues later, starts and never stops running.
Next: ER, One HOT summer, and the Magic begins.
Lake of the Ozarks here we come!So as custom on any travels out of town, (much to my wife's displeasure), my son break into song:
Moving through the country
gonna eat me a lot of peaches.
Moving through the country
gonna eat me a lot of peaches........
When he was a little kid, he would always ask, "where we are going?" If it was out of town, I just told him something about going into the country. Hence, the Peaches song. My wife simply loves the drive. She swears that it has something to do with not feeling car sick. So for the cruise, I'm a little concerned. After a two hour drive we arrive at the condo ready for a chill weekend.
The weekend was nice getaway. Here are some pics of it:
From the condo porch:
But not long after a storm was brewing in:
The yacht club that you could see, you can probably barely make it out. Not to mention there was a few boats out there.
After the storm, we decided to head out to the Lake. There are these long "arms" in the Lake where it was perfect for tubing. We decided, after a little debate, that it was time for my son to have his first tube ride. He doesn't swim, but he wanted to try it out. He ended up just fine at a slow "cruising speed as you can tell from the look on my nephew's face. I think he got a little freaked at the initial take off though
That said, there are reasons why we go to the lake. This is a shot from the boat my wife took:
And another from the boat at the same yacht club across from our pier.
All in all, it was a great weekend. There was just one thing. I started questioning my Disney Hating status. Because the entire time I was down there, all I could do was think about the cruise and WdW trip. My sister and her boyfriend were down there with us. I grilled them about everything DCL. I felt bad about asking them so much, but I just couldn't wait! Arggg!! and 5 months to go!
***************
Now it happens a couple times this month(JUNE). Start the car, and it just dies. 10 minitues later, starts and never stops running.
Next: ER, One HOT summer, and the Magic begins.
Fastpaks
Living the Dream, One Image at a time!
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2009
A delivery/pick-up driver has all sorts of dangers. Oncoming traffic, the kid that doesn't signal, getting into the gas only to realize you have to stop fast, your own mistakes as well as a myriad of other things. There are moments where you feel like you are in a tank. Then there are moments like this summer. ONE HUGE OVEN.
This summer was that type. HOT. So hot that if you filled a 5 gallon Igloo with ice a water, in 6 hours it would all be warm. Summer had brought Midwest heat that I haven't seen since I started working for Fedex 10 years ago. In a way, I thought it a little funny to be upset about mid 90's heat growing up in FL. When I was a kid I was out in it all that time. Playing baseball, riding bikes, going to the beach, you get the picture, being a kid. But its a lot different being in an oven.
You know the shot that every news station does. The one with an egg and man hole and how they can fry an egg. (It always amazes me that they do that everywhere in the country) Well, one day we were curious about how hot is it actually in a truck. So we got a thermometer, and at 3:00 PM on a 99 heat day with 90-100 % hum... it came in around 129 degrees. No many of us don't have air condition. To make matters worse, sometimes you get a truck that ONLY blows heat and you can't turn it off. Not to mention, you always get the person that as you are at their front door asks you, hot enough today? (really?
)
That said, management and everyone try and work together to keep cool. Its not uncommon for me to drink a gallon or two a day and then sweat most of it out. Do to the heat, at the end of the day.. you are just wiped out. There would be no working out ever while the heat was in full effect.
We were nearing our 120 day or 105 days to go mark, when two events made me sit back and take a whole new perspective of life and the family vacation. I was just getting back into the station, going through paper-work when one of the driver's asked me if I had heard about Daryl. Daryl was in charge of taking care of our paper work and a good co-worker friend of mine. He was walking into the station, (he takes a public transportation), when he said he didn't feel good. To just cut to the chase, he had a stroke about 2 mins later. More than likely heat related. I happy to say that he is well, but I doubt he will ever come back to work. A few days later, we had a couple more people in the workplace lose loved ones and a few more other things that at the moment I can't recall.
Then a couple days later:
I had never seen her like this. A woman who gave birth to my son, who is tougher than nails, doubled over in pain. She has a HIGH pain threshold and I knew this wasn't good. For a brief moment, I had NO IDEA what to do. NONE. I asked her if she was alright, she wouldn't respond. All I could hear was tears. I was worried and for once the vacation took a back seat. We were on our way to the ER.
Waking up your kid at 10:30 pm and then trying to explain why mom is crying as we are in the ER is not easy. They took her away when we arrived which left my son and me to "hang out in the waiting rooms." She was given Morphine and despite the Dr best efforts, she was still in a lot of pain. After a few hours, and some drives to and from home so the kid could sleep, she came home still in pain. She got a Cat scan, but at the time they couldn't quite figure it out.
My wife had a doctor appointment to see a specialist for a stomach issue. She took her scans to the appointment only to find out that the issue was not a stomach one but a reputured cyst on one of her ovaries. To make a long story short, the various doctors are going to give worst case scenarios and with all the bad news I was getting it just compounded problems.
Meanwhile, the car that we are supposed to take down to Florida is now not starting several times a week. Again, once you get the thing started, it was like there was never an issue. My wife and I attended a party that some friends were hosting. Through some introductions and some conversations, a guy I met there was a mechanic. We talked about things I had tried to fix with my dad's help. But nothing, nadda, it still kept failing. So he said to leave it with him and he would see what he could do. To make a long story short, he found the problem after a week of trouble shooting. Dirty Fuel injectors. He cleaned them, gave me a new battery, and the bill.
I told him that he must love cars to work on them on his free time. He told me he hated it. Yikes! This bill is going to be high. This vacation is totally done for, at least the WdW part. We talked a bit and I never told him our situation at home or anything from work. He told me," your a good man. You love your kid and your wife. And its pretty obvious you all need a vacation. Don't worry about paying me a thing."
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
I told him I wouldn't forget this. (and we didn't, he got a very nice upscale dinner from us). When I went to go pickup the car, I forgot to check my phone. It turned out that my new battery was bad. He tried texting me to let me know not to come get it yet. oops. He replaced the parts. I payed him back and I have a running vehicle to FL.
I had been listening to the Dis podcast for sometime. I have thought that may be this vacation isn't worth it. I don't know how many times I have looked at the savings we have and thought I can wipe out almost all my debt. Then I heard Kevin talk about when he was a kid, there were those times where the house was beyond stressed. He further explained that was when he father put a premium on family vacation and quality time without having everything for the finer things on the trip. I don't get to see my son or my wife due to our work schedules except on the weekends. This vacation is the first time that I can hang with my wife and son for two full weeks.
This summer, I have been given the opportunity to see the other side of life. The one we all don't think about, but know its there. This has given me a deeper appreciation for those that are truly important in my life. I have gotten used to friends calling me a telling me about how they are having babies and getting married, not getting sick or worse. This has personally begun to change me. When I asked my kid, "would you want to rush down (driving to Florida), eat McDonalds, Subway, or something else. Or would you rather have a picnic at a rest stop in the middle of no where?" He simply said that he would like a "picnic, because it means dinner as a family" He has soooo much wisdom beyond his years.
Then a friend called someone without me knowing and we have some pixie dust (I can't believe I just wrote that!)... I ll explain this in a future post.. IF it happens!
This summer was that type. HOT. So hot that if you filled a 5 gallon Igloo with ice a water, in 6 hours it would all be warm. Summer had brought Midwest heat that I haven't seen since I started working for Fedex 10 years ago. In a way, I thought it a little funny to be upset about mid 90's heat growing up in FL. When I was a kid I was out in it all that time. Playing baseball, riding bikes, going to the beach, you get the picture, being a kid. But its a lot different being in an oven.
You know the shot that every news station does. The one with an egg and man hole and how they can fry an egg. (It always amazes me that they do that everywhere in the country) Well, one day we were curious about how hot is it actually in a truck. So we got a thermometer, and at 3:00 PM on a 99 heat day with 90-100 % hum... it came in around 129 degrees. No many of us don't have air condition. To make matters worse, sometimes you get a truck that ONLY blows heat and you can't turn it off. Not to mention, you always get the person that as you are at their front door asks you, hot enough today? (really?
) That said, management and everyone try and work together to keep cool. Its not uncommon for me to drink a gallon or two a day and then sweat most of it out. Do to the heat, at the end of the day.. you are just wiped out. There would be no working out ever while the heat was in full effect.
We were nearing our 120 day or 105 days to go mark, when two events made me sit back and take a whole new perspective of life and the family vacation. I was just getting back into the station, going through paper-work when one of the driver's asked me if I had heard about Daryl. Daryl was in charge of taking care of our paper work and a good co-worker friend of mine. He was walking into the station, (he takes a public transportation), when he said he didn't feel good. To just cut to the chase, he had a stroke about 2 mins later. More than likely heat related. I happy to say that he is well, but I doubt he will ever come back to work. A few days later, we had a couple more people in the workplace lose loved ones and a few more other things that at the moment I can't recall.
Then a couple days later:
I had never seen her like this. A woman who gave birth to my son, who is tougher than nails, doubled over in pain. She has a HIGH pain threshold and I knew this wasn't good. For a brief moment, I had NO IDEA what to do. NONE. I asked her if she was alright, she wouldn't respond. All I could hear was tears. I was worried and for once the vacation took a back seat. We were on our way to the ER.
Waking up your kid at 10:30 pm and then trying to explain why mom is crying as we are in the ER is not easy. They took her away when we arrived which left my son and me to "hang out in the waiting rooms." She was given Morphine and despite the Dr best efforts, she was still in a lot of pain. After a few hours, and some drives to and from home so the kid could sleep, she came home still in pain. She got a Cat scan, but at the time they couldn't quite figure it out.
My wife had a doctor appointment to see a specialist for a stomach issue. She took her scans to the appointment only to find out that the issue was not a stomach one but a reputured cyst on one of her ovaries. To make a long story short, the various doctors are going to give worst case scenarios and with all the bad news I was getting it just compounded problems.
Meanwhile, the car that we are supposed to take down to Florida is now not starting several times a week. Again, once you get the thing started, it was like there was never an issue. My wife and I attended a party that some friends were hosting. Through some introductions and some conversations, a guy I met there was a mechanic. We talked about things I had tried to fix with my dad's help. But nothing, nadda, it still kept failing. So he said to leave it with him and he would see what he could do. To make a long story short, he found the problem after a week of trouble shooting. Dirty Fuel injectors. He cleaned them, gave me a new battery, and the bill.
I told him that he must love cars to work on them on his free time. He told me he hated it. Yikes! This bill is going to be high. This vacation is totally done for, at least the WdW part. We talked a bit and I never told him our situation at home or anything from work. He told me," your a good man. You love your kid and your wife. And its pretty obvious you all need a vacation. Don't worry about paying me a thing."
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
I told him I wouldn't forget this. (and we didn't, he got a very nice upscale dinner from us). When I went to go pickup the car, I forgot to check my phone. It turned out that my new battery was bad. He tried texting me to let me know not to come get it yet. oops. He replaced the parts. I payed him back and I have a running vehicle to FL. I had been listening to the Dis podcast for sometime. I have thought that may be this vacation isn't worth it. I don't know how many times I have looked at the savings we have and thought I can wipe out almost all my debt. Then I heard Kevin talk about when he was a kid, there were those times where the house was beyond stressed. He further explained that was when he father put a premium on family vacation and quality time without having everything for the finer things on the trip. I don't get to see my son or my wife due to our work schedules except on the weekends. This vacation is the first time that I can hang with my wife and son for two full weeks.
This summer, I have been given the opportunity to see the other side of life. The one we all don't think about, but know its there. This has given me a deeper appreciation for those that are truly important in my life. I have gotten used to friends calling me a telling me about how they are having babies and getting married, not getting sick or worse. This has personally begun to change me. When I asked my kid, "would you want to rush down (driving to Florida), eat McDonalds, Subway, or something else. Or would you rather have a picnic at a rest stop in the middle of no where?" He simply said that he would like a "picnic, because it means dinner as a family" He has soooo much wisdom beyond his years.
********
Then a friend called someone without me knowing and we have some pixie dust (I can't believe I just wrote that!)... I ll explain this in a future post.. IF it happens!
Maybe you will tell us about the pixie dust BEFORE you go so we aren't hanging in suspense! Have fun!!! Family Time
Absence is one of the most useful ingredients of family life, and to dose it rightly is an art like any other. (quote by Freya Stark)
As I read your post, I remember many years ago, when I was a kid and my dad who always seemed to miss things working. Well he missed my grammar school graduation because of work and I finally had enough and said something to him.
Well he took me out just me and him and went for a milkshake, he apologized for missing out on so much, but then told me he sometimes he appears to sacrifice missing parts of our families time in order to be there to enjoy time off as a family. I was only what 12 or 13 and really did not understand it but enjoyed the time we spent that afternoon. My dad was a cop, and when I graduated the Police Academy as he left with my mom after a celebration dinner, he handed me a picture. It was a picture of him standing in the far back of my grammar school gym of him and my principle. You can see some of my class walking up into the gym. 20 years have passed and I never knew he was there, he never made an excuse because he knew I was hurt.
There was a note on it that had the quote above, and him reminding me to make the most of my life and job, it will be hard and sacrifices great, but always make the best of your time when you have your family because it is for them that you will sacrifice for.
He passed away before I had my family, but never forgot all he did for me and my mom and brothers. Your son is very wise and you should be proud of him because he is learning a great lesson...FAMILY Defines us...
Can't wait to meet only 12 days left!!!!!!
Absence is one of the most useful ingredients of family life, and to dose it rightly is an art like any other. (quote by Freya Stark)
As I read your post, I remember many years ago, when I was a kid and my dad who always seemed to miss things working. Well he missed my grammar school graduation because of work and I finally had enough and said something to him.
Well he took me out just me and him and went for a milkshake, he apologized for missing out on so much, but then told me he sometimes he appears to sacrifice missing parts of our families time in order to be there to enjoy time off as a family. I was only what 12 or 13 and really did not understand it but enjoyed the time we spent that afternoon. My dad was a cop, and when I graduated the Police Academy as he left with my mom after a celebration dinner, he handed me a picture. It was a picture of him standing in the far back of my grammar school gym of him and my principle. You can see some of my class walking up into the gym. 20 years have passed and I never knew he was there, he never made an excuse because he knew I was hurt.
There was a note on it that had the quote above, and him reminding me to make the most of my life and job, it will be hard and sacrifices great, but always make the best of your time when you have your family because it is for them that you will sacrifice for.
He passed away before I had my family, but never forgot all he did for me and my mom and brothers. Your son is very wise and you should be proud of him because he is learning a great lesson...FAMILY Defines us...
Can't wait to meet only 12 days left!!!!!!
nenner1
<font color=darkorchid>I must've been distracted b
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2007
Fastpaks
Living the Dream, One Image at a time!
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2009
Hee hee hee!I hope someone gets pics!!!
LOL I would totally wear it too! I have to go to my parents house to see if they have my old Taco Bell Cha Wa Wa's, b/c I need a mini-me pet. (I love that movie.)
nenner1
<font color=darkorchid>I must've been distracted b
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2007
LMAO I swear we still have one of those. It's a Christmas one that says "Feliz Navidad amigos!" when you squeeze its' butt!
Fastpaks
Living the Dream, One Image at a time!
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2009
July
Back when I told you that we normally get a little bit of over time. On a normal year, work would allow us to get a couple hours here and there. I got a call about half way through the month of July. It was a my boss saying he may need me for a few days. This would turn into about 2 straight months of 55+ hours a week. To make this a little more interesting, it would be in 98 or higher with the full brunt of humidity behind it. This would be the longest I have ever worked for OT in my entire career without a break. It wouldn't be so bad if I got a full 8 or 7 or 6 hours of sleep but the routine of going to work, coming home then trying to get some zzzzz, just didn't happen all that well, especially since I had to take my kid to school in a few short hours after I did fall asleep.
I would try my best to sleep, but you know how you can get exhausted, SO exhausted that you just can't anymore. Many times, I would toss and turn and be thinking about ... no its not .. *sigh*.... it is Disney World/cruise. I would start to think about the kid.. how in the world could I let him know what we are doing and where we are going.
He knew about the cruise, but he still didn't really know about the Disney World part. After talking over with it with my better half, we decided that it would be best to tell him that we are going to Disney World too. Why not keep it a surprise? That was actually the easier part of the decision. Since DS had never been to WdW or DCL, he had no reference from what was what. This could potentially be a HUGE problem in the future. Besides, I can ALWAYS make it a surprise later...
So the day came to tell him about it. We called him into our bedroom and said, "So, you know that we are going on vacation."
To which he responded, "yes, the cruise."
Then we laughed and said, "what if we told you there was more?" He was very curious to what we had to say but not exactly enthused. We proceeded to tell about how when we met Buzz and Woody that he too could have that experience that we did at Disney World! Excitement is building right?... waaaaaait for it.... waaaaaaaait fooooor it!
Crickets!!!
"So you mean on the cruise?" was his response.
I would have to devise a plan to help him out. For the time being, we would watch the D* travel planner for the world. To which, he quickly got bored and was ready to watch the DCL one instead.
If you can't beat them, then join them.
And then another offer at some pixie dust.
Back when I told you that we normally get a little bit of over time. On a normal year, work would allow us to get a couple hours here and there. I got a call about half way through the month of July. It was a my boss saying he may need me for a few days. This would turn into about 2 straight months of 55+ hours a week. To make this a little more interesting, it would be in 98 or higher with the full brunt of humidity behind it. This would be the longest I have ever worked for OT in my entire career without a break. It wouldn't be so bad if I got a full 8 or 7 or 6 hours of sleep but the routine of going to work, coming home then trying to get some zzzzz, just didn't happen all that well, especially since I had to take my kid to school in a few short hours after I did fall asleep.
I would try my best to sleep, but you know how you can get exhausted, SO exhausted that you just can't anymore. Many times, I would toss and turn and be thinking about ... no its not .. *sigh*.... it is Disney World/cruise. I would start to think about the kid.. how in the world could I let him know what we are doing and where we are going.
He knew about the cruise, but he still didn't really know about the Disney World part. After talking over with it with my better half, we decided that it would be best to tell him that we are going to Disney World too. Why not keep it a surprise? That was actually the easier part of the decision. Since DS had never been to WdW or DCL, he had no reference from what was what. This could potentially be a HUGE problem in the future. Besides, I can ALWAYS make it a surprise later...
So the day came to tell him about it. We called him into our bedroom and said, "So, you know that we are going on vacation."
To which he responded, "yes, the cruise."
Then we laughed and said, "what if we told you there was more?" He was very curious to what we had to say but not exactly enthused. We proceeded to tell about how when we met Buzz and Woody that he too could have that experience that we did at Disney World! Excitement is building right?... waaaaaait for it.... waaaaaaaait fooooor it!
Crickets!!!
"So you mean on the cruise?" was his response.
I would have to devise a plan to help him out. For the time being, we would watch the D* travel planner for the world. To which, he quickly got bored and was ready to watch the DCL one instead.
If you can't beat them, then join them.*********
And then another offer at some pixie dust.
Fastpaks
Living the Dream, One Image at a time!
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2009
Aug
It was my son's birthday this month. He was turning the lucky 7s! I was still working tons of overtime. His birthday was a little laid back. We needed every available dollar to go to the cruise. We made the usual mistakes with money that has been happing. Spend too much here, a little there. Next thing we know the house is due and we are being very careful about how we spend our cash. The hour finally caught up to me and on my nephews birthday (4 days after my son), I basically collapsed.
I slept for about 20 hours on a Saturday then repeated the process Sunday. It was horrible! My family had a killer spread of food and all I could think about is sleep and this trip better be worth it. (My body was invaded by Scrooge himself. I swear!)
I had been toying with and idea of HOW to get my kid to understand that there are 2 different trips on this vacation. I asked a friend from Florida for a favor. He was a college kid, but I assumed he would eventually come through. I simply asked if he could send me a postcard with Mickey or the Castle on it and it simply says ,"your invited to my house before the cruise." He told me he would but never got back to me about it. We sent a few text messages about it, but it just never worked itself out.
So I knew I would have to do something about it, but I just didn't know what. Now, as silly as this may seem, I really didn't want to bring my situation to the DIS. Why? I figured if this magic, I could make it on my own with out any help. I wasn't expecting anything so why should someone help out?
My Dis group had been a pretty cool bunch. After getting involved here and there, not to mention always being a lurker in the boards, I decided to ask one of them for a little bit of help. For some reason, I felt I was being a little bit obtrusive. Mostly because this person was already having a pretty heavy "workload" with our board. I sent nenner1 Pm and fairly quickly got a response. She was totally down and ready to help out. However, she couldn't locate a postcard that I was looking for.. after a few more PMs, she figured something out with Mickey and Minnie.
I then told him that he is also going to WdW which is totally different than the cruise. When he asked where it was, I simply told him it was at Mickey's house. In order for him to go he would need the invite.
A few weeks would go by and then Nenner told me it was on its way. I knew about what day it would get there and told my wife to "look out" for it. She called me and asked if we should give it to him (a couple days before his birthday iirc). I told to put him on the phone and then I explain that mom found something in the mail addressed to him.
"What is it?" he asked. Then all I heard was screaming.
She then then read him the note : (sorry about blurry photo)
He was in disbelief! I could tell the excitement was finally there. I told him that we could do a new calendar countdown for the trip. Which he excitely agreed too.
Now one more thing about this note. My son had just started 1st grade. He was learning penmanship. To which he said, mom and dad... I would like to write Mickey back!! We were a little shocked but were curious about his little mindful thoughts. I would like to write:
Dear Mickey,
I will come to your house, but first we need to work on your writing. This is NOT how we do it at school.
Sincerely,
(his name)
I live for these moments!
A friend from California wanted me to know about another offer for pixie dust.
It was my son's birthday this month. He was turning the lucky 7s! I was still working tons of overtime. His birthday was a little laid back. We needed every available dollar to go to the cruise. We made the usual mistakes with money that has been happing. Spend too much here, a little there. Next thing we know the house is due and we are being very careful about how we spend our cash. The hour finally caught up to me and on my nephews birthday (4 days after my son), I basically collapsed.
I slept for about 20 hours on a Saturday then repeated the process Sunday. It was horrible! My family had a killer spread of food and all I could think about is sleep and this trip better be worth it. (My body was invaded by Scrooge himself. I swear!)I had been toying with and idea of HOW to get my kid to understand that there are 2 different trips on this vacation. I asked a friend from Florida for a favor. He was a college kid, but I assumed he would eventually come through. I simply asked if he could send me a postcard with Mickey or the Castle on it and it simply says ,"your invited to my house before the cruise." He told me he would but never got back to me about it. We sent a few text messages about it, but it just never worked itself out.
So I knew I would have to do something about it, but I just didn't know what. Now, as silly as this may seem, I really didn't want to bring my situation to the DIS. Why? I figured if this magic, I could make it on my own with out any help. I wasn't expecting anything so why should someone help out?
My Dis group had been a pretty cool bunch. After getting involved here and there, not to mention always being a lurker in the boards, I decided to ask one of them for a little bit of help. For some reason, I felt I was being a little bit obtrusive. Mostly because this person was already having a pretty heavy "workload" with our board. I sent nenner1 Pm and fairly quickly got a response. She was totally down and ready to help out. However, she couldn't locate a postcard that I was looking for.. after a few more PMs, she figured something out with Mickey and Minnie.
I then told him that he is also going to WdW which is totally different than the cruise. When he asked where it was, I simply told him it was at Mickey's house. In order for him to go he would need the invite.
A few weeks would go by and then Nenner told me it was on its way. I knew about what day it would get there and told my wife to "look out" for it. She called me and asked if we should give it to him (a couple days before his birthday iirc). I told to put him on the phone and then I explain that mom found something in the mail addressed to him.
"What is it?" he asked. Then all I heard was screaming.
She then then read him the note : (sorry about blurry photo)
He was in disbelief! I could tell the excitement was finally there. I told him that we could do a new calendar countdown for the trip. Which he excitely agreed too.
Now one more thing about this note. My son had just started 1st grade. He was learning penmanship. To which he said, mom and dad... I would like to write Mickey back!! We were a little shocked but were curious about his little mindful thoughts. I would like to write:
Dear Mickey,
I will come to your house, but first we need to work on your writing. This is NOT how we do it at school.
Sincerely,
(his name)
I live for these moments!
************
A friend from California wanted me to know about another offer for pixie dust.
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