Team Goddess - Volume 11. Rocking 2012 Goddess Style!

Lisa - read it all. Took it in. Lots to say but nothing that works on a message board. Kwim? So, girl, I am BEARING WITNESS for you. Because I am too far away to do something else I am bearing witness to the pain and joy and struggle and ease. Your life. I see and acknowledge what you say. The smiley for this one...well, what is the smiley for this one? We need that smiley.

Bawled.

Thank you so much Liz. So beautiful. And yes we do need that smiley.

I'm off to a funeral. It's no one that I'm close to - but people are of course. And that's it - I'm feeling like I don't want to go at all but it's not about me so on my way.

I'm just simply worn down.

Love to all.

Liz, I haven't read part deux yet. And Megan - can't wait!
 
I meant college. What kind of new job?

She'll be working at a local deli/cafe. They're open for breakfast & lunch only, so not a lot of weekday hours, but weekends and they also do catering. She starts tomorrow, so we'll see how it goes!

How are you doing without your position? How is it Nancy?

Good mostly. There are days of course where I miss it (well, not the b.s. part, but I really did like most of it!) but I'm working on taking care of ME for a little while, and Becca. I won't have here here much longer <gasp> so I'm enjoying every bit of it. Plus I'm making my soap & helping my SIL with her goat cheese business. My niece is pregnant :cool1: so my SIL will need me again next spring/summer as much as she did this year. So, all in all, I think things will work out ok for now.:thumbsup2

Her teacher. :hug: That's so sad. I'm so sorry to hear. Becca must be feeling so much. I'm so sorry for both of you. And her - what a shock for her teacher. Sighing. (Love to you Liz)

Hard. Sighing.

yeah. It's not a pleasant time in life. But. Here's the thing. Her teacher is one of the most amazing, kind, giving, faithful women you could ever have the opportunity to meet. She has been preparing everyone for the inevitable since day 1. She's not afraid to die. Well, let's qualify that a little perhaps. She's not afraid of DEATH. The actual "dying" part? Well, really - who looks forward to that?

It's sad to think of life without her. Losing her will leave a giant hole in so many peoples hearts. And the fact that Becca is so upset is a testament to the wonderful relationship they have.:love: We truly have been blessed to have her in our lives.

There is a song from Wicked - For Good. That's one of the songs that Becca sings with the Tapestry Singers (her voice teachers special peformance group) If you read the lyrics to that song - so profound. Of course it's a slightly different context with Elphaba & Glinda - but wow. Just, wow. "You'll be with me, like a handprint on my heart" <crying now> That's how it is. Just like that.



____________________

Oklahoma! It's just one after another, eh? Nice. I have a question. Is there a school that she wanted at any point where she would be away from home and her voice teacher? Or was it always a done deal on needing to be with her for her career. Simple curiosity.

No, she never had a desire to go far away. No Berkley, no Oklahoma State, not even NYU.


Oh Nancy! Jean just got another part. The play is called The Dude in the Nude. :confused3 She plays three different parts. Hopefully not body parts! She's so excited. Community theatre again - different group from last time.

:rotfl: I'm not familiar with that one. Could be interesting. Very interesting. Easy costumes I suppose :lmao:

Also Nancy - how is that little rascal cat doing? I guess he's a cat now, eh? What kind of business has he been in?

ugh. Stupid cat :cat: He's sweet enough. But truly stupid. And annoying. And smelly :faint::laughing:

But I'm a fan of those classic storytelling rides so I honestly probably liked ET the best.

I love the ET ride!!! :hyper:

We scampered to IOA.

Scampered. I love that:thumbsup2 And I can just picture that too


I'm just simply worn down.

Yep. :hug: Unfortunately I understand that all too well right now.
 
So I got back Sunday night, got home around 12:30, worked 8:30-6 yesterday and today it's 8-3. I feel like I got off the plane and just jumped right back into things here. I will catch up with everyone when I'm home on my computer.

I do want to share quick feelings on Universal. I enjoyed it. Overall I liked the whole part but as a nerdy Harry Potter fan I LOVED WWoHP. I could have literally just hung out there. Like sat there drinking butter beer and watching the world go by, enjoying being in the book. I enjoyed the rest of the park and they do have some crazy roller coasters. I had been told to expect it to be different then WDW but I didn't really know how. It just seems to be lacking on whole theming thing Disney does so well. WWoHP is amazing but outside of that I felt like the theming wasn't great. I think Universal is more relatable to a six flags then a wdw. Even if they continue to expand and expand WWoHP I won't feel the need to go back year after year. Oh but I will say with my AAA I got 10% off everything which was nice. Oh and I got picked to get a wand at Ollivanders but that's a story for a possible trip report.
 
I'll catch up later with everyone and everything.

Have to run.

Just :hug: Nancy. In some ways what you wrote about her music teacher - where's she's at - well in some ways it's truly beautiful. To have that acceptance.

There was a time that I used to play the Wicked soundtrack all the time. For Good is a song that is just emotionally overwhelming and so beautiful all at once. Kat, years back, linked me a rehearsal video with Kristin and Idina - wonderful. I can see what you're saying of how it really speaks here. Not only in words of course but music itself. How tough for you all.
 


Hi Everyone :flower3:

So, some of you may have noticed that I haven't been posting much lately (or not!! :rotfl2:), and now I'm here to tell you why, in what might be one of the hardest things I've had to write:

Yesterday, my beautiful and fabulously funny mum was diagnosed with breast cancer. She has DCIS (Ductal Carcinoma in Situ). This will mean a mastectomy (possibly a double), and if any of it has found to have spread, then possibly chemotherapy or radiotherapy. The mastectomy will happen in the first week of January.

I'm angry, sad, hurt, rageful, pissed, but most of all, I'm heartbroken. She is my best friend.

However, she (and all of us) have a 'let's get ON THIS, and kick its a$$ attitude. We WILL beat this.

That is all, I'm sorry to unload but you goddesses are fabulous - you listen, let me rant, give great advice and don't blow smoke up my a$$. You are all amazing :grouphug:

I hope you are all well :flower3:
 
I'm angry, sad, hurt, rageful, pissed, but most of all, I'm heartbroken.

I bet Kelly. I EFFIN' BET. :hug:

I'm mad FOR YOU. In tandem.

I wish I had some loving, positive words but I'm just too dam@ pissed off for you and for her right now.

Sighing. Feeling like pounding the keys right off my computer.

LOVE to you and to her. :hug:
 


Thank you both. It's just so hard at the minute. I feel so angry all of the time and that isn't me.

Lisa - I saw your post before the edit. :grouphug:

I hope you are all having a fabulous weekend :flower3:
 
Lisa - I saw your post before the edit. :grouphug:

Oh Kelly - It is true - rage - it not even sad or frustrated or mad - it's straight rage. :hug: I am so angry for you both.

Just angry about a lot.

I just saw that Elf is on and I've never seen it. Space out and try not to whip things at the tv.
 
You know what would be nice right now? A date. I like them entertaining and cocky. And since Kelly's not giving her husband up.... :rotfl2::rotfl::rotfl2:

;) Kelly! :lovestruc

So be on the look out everyone. Entertaining and cocky. :thumbsup2 Which is probably trouble. :goodvibes But if not entertained - forget about it.

Rambling not to think of all the other.
 
Lisa - Elf is awesome! You should definitely watch it!

Oh, and I'm sure I can spare the husband for a few hours :rotfl:
 
Kelly- I won't say sorry because its not what you want to hear. Feel emotions, never try to push them away. Please know that we're here if you want to talk or want a distraction.
 
I am not dealing well with the tragedy. As a person I can't handle it but as a teacher, with a class of my own, there are just other emotions that have surprised me.

I think I'll leave it as that.
 
Oh, and I'm sure I can spare the husband for a few hours :rotfl:

:rotfl2:

I am not dealing well with the tragedy. As a person I can't handle it but as a teacher, with a class of my own, there are just other emotions that have surprised me.

I think I'll leave it as that.

Love to you Megan.

Listen, none of us know what is right for each other. However, I have a suggestion. I feel like I can't even go there - in the sense that I have no emotional space left inside me right now. And I feel that quite frankly - to watch the news, to read it, to even hear or think some obscure word like cubby (in the classroom and I start to picture and then I feel like throwing up)- well I know that it's sending me to my emotional limits. The media is starting a rage in me on its own accord.

I know this is about way more than the families' pain and my compassion and sadness for them. It's knowing where you're at and your limits.

So my suggestion is that you have to look after yourself Megan. No, you're not involved. No, you're not a their mother. But you feel. You're a teacher. You can imagine it all. You can imagine the fear, the utmost responsibility. Just like the mothers feel the mothers' terror and pain. DON'T MEGAN. Just do anything you can to distract yourself. It's too much.

It's giving me great peace to joke with Kelly right now. I have too much rage. I can feel it. And quite frankly laughter is lessening that experience somewhat. So if I'm on here joking or babbling it's to limit my thoughts to the other. Not in disrespect. But to look after my head.

So my suggestion is distract yourself and tell us about your trip. Tell us about your sister. Yes you probably don't feel like it. But use it as a distraction. Or something else. (And I do know there is time to just stay silent too Megan).

Sometimes distraction is not a bad thing. And honestly in this situation I think it's smart. It's a skill I've had to learn in my life - especially in the last year.

But that's where I'm at and I'm not so insensitive to think I know what is best for you - simply a suggestion to respect how much is coming up for you.

Love to you.
 
TR Day 2


We slept in until 8. That's a lot of sleep considering we went to bed early! It's become very apparent why I can never go to the half. :rotfl2::lmao::rotfl2: Lord.

We did not want to do the early park thing. We wanted to sit by the pool and go to the parks later. So we headed to get some breakfast and pool time.

We got an excellent egg bacon cheese croissant from the takeaway Curious? Is this aJersey term or the States in general? What do you think? I know it but am curious nonetheless. place. Like perfect. Ate it outside by the pool. Snagged chairs in the sun. Jodi made friends with a couple from NYC.

Overall hard rock impressions take 2. The rooms are nothing special. Very standard. Sure there are rock music pictures on the wall but in our opinion the Radisson in center city Philly is nicer. Look at Liz! We'll call her Posh Spice! Winking. At you. The bathrooms are just very very plain. Another big not like Disney moment. No turndown service, no plush towels, no truly special touches. You do not stay here for the rooms.Interesting.

Let me say that Amiee totally prepared me for all this. I'm just giving my impressions. We wouldn't want a change at all. We would stay here again. Just observations.

The pool area is fantastic. Nice soft sand. Plenty of chairs. Great music. You really stay here for the pool and express pass. Nice!

Relaxing poolside and being able to skip all the lines is awesome.

We had drinks and snacks and the beachclub food was excellent. We stayed at the pool until 2:30. Liking the doing nothing.Then we showered and went back to Studios. We probably got there about 3:30. We grabbed a beer and found the Blues Brothers show. Amiee recommended this and we loved it. We are fans of the blues brothers. This was one of the highlights for me. After the show we hit MIB and the ET ride. I like those storytelling rides the best. And universal isn't into them as much as they are special effects and technology. But I'm a fan of those classic storytelling rides so I honestly probably liked ET the best.

Around this time I developed a massively painful sciatic nerve. Ouch Liz. Just out of the blue? Oy baby it hurt. Standing killed. So I was scampering around people because walking sucked but walking fast was my friend. We scampered to IOA. By this time we were hungry.

The first three places we saw to eat in IOA were closed at 4pm. But the park was open until 8pm. I could not get my head around this. Why??? SO strange. Feed. Me!!!

We went to superhero island to eat pizza. Dominos quality but we didn't care. I limped my way to the bathroom and then dragged Jodi to go on Spider-Man. I liked this ride. Didn't love it. Liked it. I'm just not into screens. Give me a good moving ride any day

Then we went to Seuss landing and rode the two moving rides there. Even the kiddie rides are intense! Wow. Cat in the hat, basically pooh but it spins around multiple times. Jodi, remember motion sickness? Yeah. She did not love this. The train trolley one was delightful and offered a nice view of the park.

Hogwarts was next. Jodi stayed with me through the line and veered off at the end to what she called "where the old people and children wait and Jodi!! (Lisa added!)". I did really like this. I smiled through the whole thing. It was fun and interesting. I think she could have done it but those screens, man. They are what messes you up!

We got a frozen butterbeer So I hear this - but what? Just smooth sweet beer??????and we found we prefer the draft. We drank it as we walked out. A survey guy grabbed us and I went in and gave him my very honest impressions of universal. He was trying not to laugh hysterically. We told him it was okay he could laugh. You must have made his day.

After that we headed to city walk. I will recap that next! Good

Very interesting Liz. As I said only done Universal Los Angeles so I try to picture it all.

Lisa - i love the IEP initials and I want Jean stories. Tell me what she is up to.

Jean is head first into acting. She got her first role awhile back. Play was in October. In the last year she has been taking a couple of drama classes and loved them. She just got another role - well three roles in one play. Her first was called Bedtime Stories by a famous Canadian playwright. I don't know if you would know any of his work. Norm Foster. He's recent. The Melville Boys is probably his most famous work.

Let's see. Hmmm. I'm sure there are other things. Oh she was fired recently. :rotfl2: See (or SHE! see what my brain does right now? All the time. Typos everywhere.) was trouble for a scandalous business - working with mentally ill children/young adults. The company was bonkers. She just pushed their buttons and called them on some of their sh!t. It was just a PT job on top of her FT. But impacts a lot for her and for us in tandem - as we share some expenses and such.

We have tons of union stress/unrest here in the schools - day long strikes etc.

She's obsessed -as usual - by the NFL. Sits in a chair for hours on end and sings loudly with Faith. She can no longer sing with Hank because he's gone - he didn't like her skin colour. :rotfl::rotfl2: ;)

Also, she thinks it's okay to wear green pajama pants with her red shirt and wreath earrings and red/green/white socks in public! Cause Christmas warrants such lovelies. ;)
 
Lisa, I just love you. Yep, I really do. No matter what, you make me smile when I read you. I can't help it. That is all. :flower3:

Ok, it's not ALL...but at this point I'm doing the Ostrich about other things. Head in the sand, plugging along with a lot of work and holiday stuff. I won't turn on the news. I started to type more, but I cannot express myself well and so I just keep avoiding the whole thing. :sad1:
 
CT. I'm on a news fast. I read what I think is critical and not the rest. No more images. As a mother, it's heartbreaking. As a social worker, i want to effect change. but I can't if I OD on it.


Kelly. I feel what you are going through. If you want a companion, I am here. My only advice is don't jump ahead. Just deal with what you know when you know it. I have lots more to say but it mostly involves rants on how we, as a society, see and deal with breast cancer. So I will shut up and if you want my two cents, I will throw it in. xoxo.

Lisa - Jean the actress! I wish I could see her. Good for her for telling the truth - bad that they let her go over it. I approve of her Christmas outfit. Please give her my love, okay?

Takeaway - that is NOT a NJ term at all. That used to be what they called counter service places in the UK, back when I was there. It's one of my affections to use it.

Sciatic nerve out of the blue! I was in such pain. Only scampering helped. Slow made it worse.

Butter beer is like a frothy cream soda. It's quite yummy and very sweet.


My last classes of the term are Friday! I am done with all assignments, which is pretty wonderful, I have to say!
 
So we last left us leaving IOA and being very honest with the survey guy.

We headed to city walk. My sciatica was starting to dissipate. We stopped at Pat O'Briens because I knew Amiee and Kat had eaten there. And they had a piano bar!

At first it looked like we were going to have to wait for a table and not get food service at the bar or piano room. But a nice host helped us out, asking guys to move over at the bar, getting us seated and some hints about the piano room. We had a good meal here and one drink. Then we headed to the piano room.

We found a nice German couple with two extra chairs Well, I think they were German. He knew every song, the cheesier the better, and they spoke German. They smiled and did Cheers with us over drinks, and he sang bad songs loudly. It was funny. We settled in and stayed there until late. The patrons here were much much friendlier than at Jellyrolls. Like omg so friendly! I found the universal staff very friendly in general. But the patrons here were remarkably nicer than at Jellyrolls.

I drank a lot of corona and got giggly.

There were two women about our age, all dressed up, who were totally divorcees looking for older guys. They would go from guy group to guy group. The younger, 20's age, liked them. So did the late 40's. They were such players these women! They never stopped. A lot of lap sitting and picture taking. I was shaking my head at them but they were super nice to us. Like we were all in this crazy life together. I think at the end, the one ended up talking to a seemingly nice late 40's guy.

It was a good night but overall we just preferred the staff at Jellyrolls. Nicer waitresses and a nicer bathroom and we like the Jellyrolls style piano bar better. Jodi has been to a lot of piano bars in various cities including this chain and she just likes the Jellyrolls style better.

We looked for quick (drunk girl) food in vain on our way home and ended up ordering room service. Fast and efficient and friendly. Seriously we were like reviewers on this trip! We ate beach club, Kitchen and room service!

Had a good long sleep and then woke up, showered and packed. Checked our bags with bell services and went to the pool. We spent a nice two hours there and had poolside lunch. We liked the beach club food best of all. Great wait staff too. I made Jodi drink poolside cocktails!

Our van to the airport was even nicer than the first one and it was a lovely quiet ride to the airport. There might have been napping involved. We were super happy with these transfers. Easy peasy

We checked luggage and then shopped at the Disney store before going through security. Got some last minute souvenirs for our kids!

We had a nice flight home and watched Brave for free!

All in all it was a very relaxing trip. Highlights were Harry potter land, and the resort. It was just what we needed. We loved not feeling the "must be in the park" pressure. Not having all this history with the place was awesome. It allowed us to relax more.

We talked about what kind of girls trip we would do in the future and what we would do with our girls. It was fun! I'm always sad we can't live in vacation land!!!
 

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