ABCs of a Nursing School Grad Trip + FL Keys Mini Report;D is for: Dang! Last Chapter of this TR...

[MEK]

It appears that I DO still have an account here and I am going to TRY to read your report because I am sure it is fabulous. I really do admire the work you've done over the past two years to reach your goal. I know it was't always easy, but you made it and now I hope that Disney trips will be a regular part of your life!!!!!

 

[amazingact21]

It appears that I DO still have an account here and I am going to TRY to read your report because I am sure it is fabulous. I really do admire the work you've done over the past two years to reach your goal. I know it was't always easy, but you made it and now I hope that Disney trips will be a regular part of your life!!!!!

Mary Ellen, I can't tell you how excited I got when I signed on and saw your username on the last replied notification! And I agree with you, this trip was well earned and deserved!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Who ended up with Ponz and who bought the most wine?

Yay! You finally saw Ms. DeVine! She is. Devine.

 

[DISNEYMOON10121991]

Happy Thanksgiving!!
Hope you have a wonderful family day.
Been working on PhotoPass pictures before they expire and have fallen behind. Can't wait to see the next updates!
Daughter is home so hopefully Sunday after she leaves I will have my tradition DIS time morning. Weather is getting chilly 37 out right now. Need to face it that winter is on it's way. Only good days of winter is to not have to travel, something in the slow cooker or oven, cozy blanket, and Disney!

 

[pkondz]

OH!

And I forgot!!!!! I've missed DeVine WAY too many times, but not on THIS adventure!

Behold.... the outrageously beautiful, but elusive DeVine:






She's just too cool for school.

You know which character is better and cooler than DeVine?


No one. Awesome that you got to see her! She's great!

Who ended up with Ponz and who bought the most wine?

Interesting how you put these two things together.....

Alas, I am working all day and then all night today.
Maybe next year.


Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[DISNEYMOON10121991]

By the way.....did you notice?
Looking Looking at my new signature(?)
Having the ticker that wasn't true anymore made me sad. So this one makes me happy that we finally got there and hope to do it again

 

[Steppesister]

We have a friend that tells his server, knock the horns off, wipe its....behind, and throw it on the plate. That's a little more rare than I even like!

That's about as rare as you could possibly do it. Pretty sure it's called tartare? Which reminds me of a HILARIOUS Mr. Bean sketch on him eating tartare in a French restaurant.

That's so beautiful, I'll have to show her. She would like to travel, but hasn't had any opportunity to outside of the states.

Has she considered doing an exchange program? Volunteering somehow? or ???

Lol, no Disney doesn't do anything bad, BUT there are rides that I don't really like. I'm a weenie, I'll admit it, HM, ToT, and Dinosaur. I can do HM and ToT during the day, but can't ride and then go into the dark. Dinosaur, I think, just hurts my ears, so maybe if I had ear plugs it wouldn't be so bad.

Yes, Dinosaur is pretty hard on the ears, I'll admit. Too jerky for me too. I adore HM, especially at night. One of my most cherished memories as a kid was a late night in Disneyland, it was raining and the park was pretty much empty. I rode it over and over, and over with a friend, and was creeped out at the whole scene. Not just the ride, but the rain, empty park... Loved it!

I HATE shopping, when I grocery shop I get everything that I need for two weeks except bread, milk, and fresh fruits and veggies.
Edison sounds so cool. On our last universal day we went to The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium for lunch, it's 19th century steampunk and awesome chocolate!

I used to do that. Heck, during school, I shopped at the beginning of the Term, and then spent 2 days making freezer meals for THE WHOLE TERM. Of course, I still had to get bread, milk and veggies/fruit, but it sure made life easier.

From what I see, it's going to be really fun! Someday, I"ll get over to US and see what's up there. Not a HUGE choco fan, unless it's dark and with nuts.

Nope, we sure don't! I never know exactly how many we're going to end up with, this year I'm thinking between 13 and 18, but 4 of them are under 5. We'll be cooking 2 turkeys, a whole ham, 2 kinds of stuffing, sweet potatoes, squash, mp w/gravy, veggies....and desserts, lol. Luckily DH makes awesome pies so it's his job to make the pies, at last count it was going to be apple, cherry, 1 dairy free pumpkin, 2 pecan, he said he's making 10 pumpkin, but I think he'll probably only make 6 regular pumpkin and possible a cinnamon free pumpkin. DD is making cheesecake and I'm making apple crisp and a cake that has the frosting baked in it. Yeah, we like dessert, lol probably a little too much. And the BEST thing is I don't have to cook for the next week. What's for breakfast? Pie. Lunch? Turkey sandwich. Dinner? Ham and sweet potatoes.

WHOA! I see massive amounts of leftovers in your future. Oopsie. Time to go get that turkey ready for the oven! Happy T-DAY!

 

[Steppesister]

I guess in Florida you can walk around with a glass of booze, I cant imagine doing it at DTD in CA, in fact there are laws against it!

Yeah, I wondered. I see a lot of people walking around the Parks and DTD with drinks and no one thinks anything of it. And imagine that... laws and regulations in CA.

It's Casa Nueva, and that's not the place that needs to get cleaned out, that's the place we moved into, Casa Nueva="House New" get it? DeSoto is the place to get cleaned out. It's a 4 unit apartment building and the only one left is the three bedroom "owner's unit" in the front on the bottom floor. Still working on it. This trip in February is actually THE LAST and it's a cruise where I was able to tack on two nights at WDW, so I really don't consider it a WDW trip, more of a consolation prize for getting off the ship and not being totally depressed.

I was calling your OLD place Casa Viejo >> "Old House". I know that's the one that needs cleaning out. The old one! You didn't catch my naming the other one. But if it already has a name (De Soto) I can go with that. LOL!

Ah I get it, an in-transit stay. But any time there is awesome, no?

I guess the pills effectiveness also depends on your proximity of your home to Disney. My Disney adrenaline only goes so far before I come crashing to a halt.

That could definitely be true. When you only get there every few years gotta make the most of it!

 

[Steppesister]

I am easily swayed.

Good to know....

I am woefully uneducated about the new DTD/Springs.

I think you'd like it there a lot! Next time you go, since you have a chip to replace (I think?- I mean you may have gone back on your trip and replaced it, but haven't gotten there in your TR yet?) you should wander a bit.

I think you know we have a pool. A year or three ago, Ruby bought these floating orbs that had lights inside. I knew I couldn't say anything so I just shook my head and told her to go ahead and try them.
"But they'll look so nice at night!" She said. So she put them in the pool. Probably less than an hour later.... "Where are all my globes?" She asked. "In the skimmer, just like it's supposed to do."
But then again, I'm sure that if it was late at night, the skimmer would have a nice glow to mark its position. So there's that.

Too funny! Sometimes, women just have to do their ideas and find out for themselves. We're wired that way.

It took a bit of trial and error.
The fun part was loading the first 20 or so (at.... a.... very..... slow........ pace) and then they just.... disappeared.

Ok, so I found a back door. I don't know if you do albums or are trying to upload to a specific album, but I am. It was NOT working when I was doing that, so switched to just uploading to my general library. It worked, and then I just "moved" them to the album I wanted them in.

Yeah. The sad part is it was there when I was there.... but I didn't know about it then.

Your go-to now for that type of shenanigans is Trader Sam's. I was there alone, but it would have been WAYYYYYYY funner with friends. Still, a super eclectic and kitchy hangout place with lots of doo-dads and stuff.

You and commando just seems like a funny combo. Really made me laugh! Thanks for that!

It was either that or not go. So basically no options there.

The dance party looked like so much fun

I hadn't actually ever watched my daughter dance, or really dance with her. It was a blast!

Such amazing pictures you got from the DME bus!

Thanks!

Coral Reef is such a pretty place. I think we sat at the exact same spot as you in Dec 2014. We were not impressed with the food though and probably won't be going back
I tried to warn you about not budgeting enough for your meals in your PTR....I tried!

The food was in general pretty good (the steak was my own bad). We've done it once and probably won't either, I'd rather do a re-do of Cali Grill or try someplace new.

Love the Henna work! I had it done when I went to the Grammy's 9 years ago. Just beautiful!

I get it done once in a while for vacation or special events. But now with work, I'll have to have at least 2 or 2 1/2 weeks off to do it again.

Did you get my PM for my mystery pic guesses?

I did! Super behind on that, but after the holiday, will be putting some time into the Contest again! But yes, all noted!!

 

[Steppesister]

Is that after the 10 bottles of wine?

No Scavenger Hunt this year. We're having a terrific storm right now.

Funny, actually not so funny story: The wind picked up last night just as we hit the sack, and pretty much blew all night long. I have a couple of old cottonwoods that we're about to lose, but they seem to be ok. But around 4:30, we heard a door fly open! It was our own bedroom door, which is about 4 feet from my head! Scared the living crap out of me. I guess someone had gone out it earlier in the day and didn't push it all the way shut. We're supposed to get 3-6 feet of snow in the passes over the weekend, and several inches of rain here. No worries, we have a very large fireplace and plenty of food and I ain't goin' nowhere. In fact, I hope to get some good DISTime in and catch up around her.

 

[Steppesister]

Well, I did make a little bit of headway on replies, but the rest will have to wait. Time to get the turkey(s) out of the bags and into the oven. Enjoy the day, Folks.

 

[Mac Brew]

Great that you got to see divine.Magic photos of her that you took.
Have a happy Thanksgiving enjoy your family time .

 

[franandaj]

I was calling your OLD place Casa Viejo >> "Old House". I know that's the one that needs cleaning out. The old one! You didn't catch my naming the other one. But if it already has a name (De Soto) I can go with that. LOL!

Well that goes to show how much Spanish I know! Totally went over my head! Cass Nueva has a tile roof even though it isn't very Spanish looking, but DeSoto is more a a Tudor look so I never would have thought to give it a Spanish name!

Well, I did make a little bit of headway on replies, but the rest will have to wait. Time to get the turkey(s) out of the bags and into the oven. Enjoy the day, Folks.

Wow! So early? I'm just about to get mine started period. It did have a nice sit in the unheated oven while we were at the movies though.

 

[pkondz]

I think you'd like it there a lot! Next time you go, since you have a chip to replace (I think?- I mean you may have gone back on your trip and replaced it, but haven't gotten there in your TR yet?) you should wander a bit.

I plan to (hope to maybe?) if I'm ever there for more than 3 days!
As for the chip... well, you'll find out by the time I board the plane on the way home one way or another!

Too funny! Sometimes, women just have to do their ideas and find out for themselves. We're wired that way.

There have been times when I've put my foot down and said "No." Those times are rare, and carefully thought out. "It won't work because a.b.c.d and e."
And she knows I'm right.



And then I pay for it.

Ok, so I found a back door. I don't know if you do albums or are trying to upload to a specific album, but I am. It was NOT working when I was doing that, so switched to just uploading to my general library. It worked, and then I just "moved" them to the album I wanted them in.

I don't remember now how I did it! I was downloading until late in the night and I was too bleary eyed and fuzzy minded to note what I'd done!

Your go-to now for that type of shenanigans is Trader Sam's. I was there alone, but it would have been WAYYYYYYY funner with friends. Still, a super eclectic and kitchy hangout place with lots of doo-dads and stuff.

Okay. Next time you're there and I'm there if there is ever a there, there (there, there, it'll be okay) it's a date.

But around 4:30, we heard a door fly open! It was our own bedroom door, which is about 4 feet from my head! Scared the living crap out of me.

Sorry. I suppose I shouldn't laugh, but...

Hey! Look at it this way. When the door flew open, there wasn't a masked man with an axe standing there.

We're supposed to get 3-6 feet of snow in the passes over the weekend

3-6 feet of snow. You mean inches! 3-6 inches! .... Hello? Is this thing on?..... No?


Good Lord.

 

[irene_dsc]

Happy Thanksgiving! All of our 20 are gone now, except for the ones who live here. Hope you had a good one, and aren't snowed in too badly!

Devine is pretty cool. Saw her on our first trip and were totally surprised!

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Happy Thanksgiving for yesterday!

 

[Steppesister]

Really enjoyed this last update. I couldn't agree with you more on Animal Kingdom. I love going to the Magic Kingdom and entering a "fantasy world" but nothing beats going into AK and realizing how many amazing things are right outside your front door.

Thanks! It's always fun to relive the memories and share them! I honestly think AK edged up a bit to maaaaaybe favorite park. Sure, I like each one for specific things, but this one I think for overall appeal to me.

Love your bracelet!

Thanks! I found it, of all places, the college bookstore and bought specifically for this trip and specifically for this park day.

3 times on EE is very impressive first thing in the morning. I definitely think you earned that Bloody Mary afterwards. Even if it did cost you 15 dollars in fudge...

The whole day was heavenly. I didn't quite manage it the next day we went, but it was fun to accomplish it today.

Silly kids. LOL!

Man you have no idea how tempting that is...if only it didn't require a 5 hour plane ride at least lol. I'm sure it will be fantastic though!! Also though? It seems strange to have Thanksgiving big dinner on a Thursday...I know...normal for Americans lol. Our Thanksgiving is on a Monday, but most people actually do their big meal on the Sunday because everyone has to go back to reality on Tuesday....so. Weird. But I guess if you guys have your dinner on Thursday...everyone gets the day off and the next one too? So that's cool.

Yes, most everyone takes a 4 day weekend. So, lots of time to graze on leftovers and enjoy the company who does sleep over. We STILL have 9 in the house sleeping and 6 more showing up for dinner. NO idea when I'll get to decorate for Christmas. Our house is party central, so I usually get to do that one too.

That looks delicious. Sorry it was a bit lacking in the booze. What can you do. Looked refreshing at least.

It was kinda tasty and I enjoyed it as we ambled out of the park through Discovery Island and the Oasis.

Only ten bottles of wine? I take it eight of the attendees are minors?

Well, actually the number of minors is decreasing. But those who do enjoy the wine, really enjoy the wine. I think we actually are recycling 10 bottles AND 2 bottle of prosecco. OH, and by the way, the Cranberry mimosas were amazing! And so easy! Half and half cranberry juice and champagne (I went with Prosecco since it's a bit sweeter), rimmed with lime and fine sugar, and garnished with rosemary and cranberry.

I am envious. There only will be five of us this year. Mom, Rob, Sarah, Sarah's beau, and me. Rob has to drive to Detroit tonight to pick up kids from the Greyhound bus station. Not our first choice of a ride for her but her "planned" ride fell though yesterday morning so we were scrambling trying to figure out how to get them here from a little podunk school in the middle of nowhere (Wooster, OH) to our little podunk town in the middle of nowhere. The bus ride will be an adventure. I Facebook messaged Sarah the Simon and Garfunkel song "America" to listen to once they are on the bus.

Ugh, the case of the disappearing ride. Those happened all the time going home from Northern Arizona to SoCal when I was in school there. LOL! Perfect song for the journey!

 

[Steppesister]

Would you believe I have yet to see this? Heck, my Mother has seen it... and she doesn't even like Disney! (Although she liked the movie.)
I keep waiting for it to come out on Netflix or DVD, but...

The first time I saw it was.... poignant and emotional. I was actually back in Kentucky for my own Grandmother's death and it really opened the floodgates as it spoke (quite nicely) to aging and loss, and the eventual moving on for those left behind. I went with my sister and her husband, and I'm not sure we knew what the movie hit on before going. Let's just say it was... good... for us to see it.

And we know some of the places you've been and places you wish to go.... impressive.

It's been quite a wild ride so far. I hope there are many more TRs in my future!

They don't come to the door?
Crap. So you're saying that adventure I bought off of ebay is not coming via FedEx?


Poop.

Nope, they don't. But I can tell I'm about to get one of sorts with my new laptop arriving sometime next week. Should be quite an "adventure" as I struggle to set it up. I HATE that process with a passion.

I need a loooong vacation at Disney.
If only they would consider free room and board.

Yes, you do! Your trips are just WAY too short.

Where did you get that? I like it! (Well, wouldn't look good on me, but it looks good on you!)

I got it, believe it or not, at the college bookstore. I saw it and immediately knew I'd be wearing it for this day specifically. I wear it quite often though now.

Let the poop fall from the skies!!

All part of the Adventure!

I would like to see Nepal

I'm more of a tropical vacation girl.

Really? Looks fine to me.

Is Canada a safe place to live. I'm starting to wonder.

Isn't that the best part of Disney with kids?
No worries about letting the rugrats roam free.

I still feel okay about doing that. Everyone has their own lines of comfort, but I'd say I felt totally fine with my 14 year old having short times of independence.

I really wish I could talk with all those people before they go.
"Remember why you're there. For the kids, right? Things will not go as planned. They will get tired. They may be scared of rides, characters, experiences, whatever. Be prepared to back off on, well, everything. Do that and you will have a good time."

There were at least 2 that really broke my heart. They bordered on outright abuse, and I came pretty close to intervening. It makes me wonder what kind of living Hell is going on at home.

Oh, good. Because you have so much free time on your hands right now.
But I guess, it's the day after Thanksgiving and ... I suppose you actually will have some free time.

Nice of you to do this, BTW.

In a weird way, it'll be a break from washing dishes, setting out food, cleaning up, finding lost coats, putting stuff away...

They've asked for help in my own specialty- pain management, so yeah, I'm happy to give a little back.

 

[Steppesister]

Nice bracelet and I especially like the "hidden Mickey" in the henna.

Thanks! The HM was my own idea!

Sadly, I have never had the pleasure of sitting in Dawa bar with a cocktail while people watching. It sounds wonderful though.

It was thoroughly relaxing and I didn't feel like I was "wasting" time at all.

Kid win. Awesome!

It's happening FAAAAR too often these days.

I like these sun pictures. I don't recall ever trying it. Something else to put on my list.

Hey, wait! Do you enjoy photography as well? There's quite a few of us who are hobbyists; always fun to swap pix and tips.

Have a wonderful holiday. Interesting you have Malaysian students coming. I was in Miri, Malaysia last week. I'm in oil & gas and have a job where I actually commute overseas a month at a time (it probably sounds crazy to anyone not in this industry, but it's fairly common). Make sure to say selamat datang (welcome) when they arrive and terima kasih (thank you) for coming.

WOW! That's so great! Well, except the travel for a month at a time regularly. Unless, of course, you enjoy it. And yes, I understand very well the nature of that industry. My own hubby is a geologist and tried very hard to get hired onto Chevron and BP early in his career in the mid-90s to no avail. I'm sure it would have been a very different dynamic had he gotten a job with either.

And, I DID IT! I greeted them with that, and it blew them away. That was so fun! So thanks for that!

They are at the table playing board games right now and will leave sometime after lunch. I will say that (and looked up how to pronounce it). They've invited us to their Malay Night at school and we'll probably go. They've been a complete joy to have here. Just delightful young "kids".

 

[Steppesister]

Awww, I do love AK for the relaxed vibe. Glad you got up and danced - I'm sure the performers so appreciated the enthusiasm! And those pictures are amazing - I can almost feel the heat of the sunshine just looking at them!

I think there ended up being about 10 us of getting up to have "a lesson". It was WAY harder than I thought it'd be. I can waltz, I can do English Country and Contra, and can certainly hold my own at a wedding

Well, that sounds like some really poor planning on your part.

Uhhhh, yeah, pretty much. Fail.

It appears that I DO still have an account here and I am going to TRY to read your report because I am sure it is fabulous. I really do admire the work you've done over the past two years to reach your goal. I know it was't always easy, but you made it and now I hope that Disney trips will be a regular part of your life!!!!!

OH, I'm so thrilled you came over, Mary Ellen! It's just great you found me and are reading along. There are plenty of great stories to come.

You were actually very encouraging to me at several points. I remember chatting with you and getting some good tips and advice. Thanks for that! I hope so too! I'm won't be an AP girl, but a trip a year would sure be nice.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Who ended up with Ponz and who bought the most wine?

Yay! You finally saw Ms. DeVine! She is. Devine.

Thanks, Tammie! You too! Work, I suppose, had Ponzi, and I haven't officially counted ours in the recycling box. My SIL sort of is my wing man for that dept.

Happy Thanksgiving!!
Hope you have a wonderful family day.
Been working on PhotoPass pictures before they expire and have fallen behind. Can't wait to see the next updates!
Daughter is home so hopefully Sunday after she leaves I will have my tradition DIS time morning. Weather is getting chilly 37 out right now. Need to face it that winter is on it's way. Only good days of winter is to not have to travel, something in the slow cooker or oven, cozy blanket, and Disney!

Thanks! Still going on. Currently, I"m sitting in my living room listening to stories of stories compound fractures of friends and other stories of peoples' to the hospital this year. Fun stuff. I'm not going to bother with ours. They weren't fabulous... And except for the ride photos, I have everything on my own camera.

I only get on here and there as I can in little spurts. Right now, I'm just massively behind on EVERYONE's threads!

We just had a terrific storm! Our river is WAY up- I'm not sure I've ever seen it rise SO Fast. There's ALL kinds of garbage and trees and stuff going by the house right now.

I love your version of a nice winter day.