birthday trip report...now finished!

[bumbershoot]

Yes yes yes, me again! (that was for those who have read my other reports).

Hello! (that was for those new to my reports)


I'll come back later and write more about my just-decided-to-go birthday trip, but I just wanted to get this started.



Trip starts on page 14. Trip-related posts are in bold after that point. Blather is not. Lots of blather. Lots of ranting about MDs and even NDs and healthcare, and discussion of all sorts of stuff that probably doesn't interest many. But the trip report parts are good.

[Hawleys]

Yea! Love to read about your adventures.

[bumbershoot]

Just for fun:


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Past trip reports!
Sept 20, '05, Oct 5, '06, & Sept 17-23, '07 at Paradise Pier Hotel and HoJo

Dec 5-9, '07 at Anabella

Jan 25-26, '08 solo at Carousel

May 26-30, '08 at HoJo

solo day Nov 5, '08 & family family Dec 5-8, '08 one night at the Hilton then "Big Kahunas" at PPH (upgraded to a suite!)

(I didn't do a trip report for the Ladies Trip, but I was there, early March, '09!)

DLH for HoJo fans

One day in DCA with newbies starts here.

Two days of mudder 'n son mainly at DL starts here!


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::

[kaoden39]

You know I am here.

[Hawleys]

Originally Posted by bumbershoot

Just for fun:


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Past trip reports!
Sept 20, '05, Oct 5, '06, & Sept 17-23, '07 at Paradise Pier Hotel and HoJo

Dec 5-9, '07 at Anabella

Jan 25-26, '08 solo at Carousel

May 26-30, '08 at HoJo

solo day Nov 5, '08 & family family Dec 5-8, '08 one night at the Hilton then "Big Kahunas" at PPH (upgraded to a suite!)

(I didn't do a trip report for the Ladies Trip, but I was there, early March, '08!)

DLH for HoJo fans

One day in DCA with newbies starts here.

Two days of mudder 'n son mainly at DL starts here!


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Work productivity just went out the window for the rest of the day.

[bumbershoot]

Hello, to you, and you (and you and youuuuu, once 2 more people show up).

Before running off to do more cleaning etc etc and so forth....

It's gonna be my birthday! Woo! I don't normally celebrate b'days, but this year is special. I'm just slightly younger than Haunted Mansion, and this year is a big b'day, so I figured "why not?" Plus, it will make son and husband very happy. They love birthdays.

Somehow, in the last few years, we've become extreme Disney fans. Not sure if anyone's noticed that.... So extreme that I actually feel a physical pang when I think about Disneyland or DCA. The other week we rented the live action Peter Pan, with Mr Malfoy as Mr Darling (poor actor), and realized that the music they use in Disneyland ads is actually music from that movie...through the whole movie, whenever they played the song, I was just yearning to be at the parks. I can barely watch a bug's life, b/c it makes me long to be in bug's land in DCA. It's a physical pang, or even pain sometimes, a yearning, a longing. If I know I can GO, it's OK. But thinking of not going for a long time...like what will likely happen after this trip...it's painful.

I know some will understand...I know some will not. Both are OK.

OK gotta go earn my keep a bit more (by cleaning)!

[bumbershoot]

Originally Posted by Hawleys

Work productivity just went out the window for the rest of the day.

You never saw the old reports? Oh you poor poor dear (that you're going to be subjected to me all at once).

Warning...I repeat myself a lot. And it's possible that history gets re-written every so often.

[bumbershoot]

I sometimes wonder, if there were a contest for the most dramatic difference between Replies and Views, if I would win...

Then again, I know that most of my posts are absolutely useless, so probably people just check out the latest bit in my reports, then go off and do something more fun...like clean the bathtub or something scintillating like that.

Oh happy day, Eamon has finally given in to my pleas to watch Wall-E! I mean, we looked at big maps of the world, I gave him a sneak-peek of the books we're going to use to help him learn to read this year (his request, I remain chill about the whole subject, since teaching myself to read at 2 (which is, I might add, is a fact...my brother has somehow managed to take MY reality and turn it into HIS, which just cracks me up...brother is much smarter than I am, but he learned to read at a more normal time, unlike his older sister the freak) has really done me no good), we've cleaned up a bit, he's made General Grievous out of Bendaroos (or was that yesterday? it was VERY cool, whenever it happened), we've had joy, we've had fun, we've had seasons in the sun (oh wait, that's a song about suicide or something like that, nevermind)....we've had a day filled with laughing and learning and silliness and some TV, and some of me sitting on my butt at the table that NEEDS to be cleared, and some robot games on the special features disc from the 3 disc edition of Wall-E...and he is FINALLY letting me put the movie on.

Whew.

[kaoden39]

I love Wall E. It is such a sweet love story. I was reading before 4, and I haven't stopped since. I think it's great that he wants to learn so much. Enjoy it while you can. Trust me.

[bumbershoot]

Oh yeah, I'm glad he wants to. I just don't want to push him. Robert's parents and teachers didn't realize that there's a big range of ages for people to learn to read, and made it miserable for him. On top of that, when he describes why reading takes him so long, it's clear he has some form of dyslexia, and no one ever picked up on that. No one ever offered a different form of test (oral instead of writing) for essays, etc. I'm not sure if it was offered while I was in high school, but by college I knew plenty of people who were able to take tests verbally! And since he's 3 school years younger than me, when I was in college he was just a soph in high school, so it really should have been something available to him.

Anyway, I just don't want to push him.


Watching wallE gives me this feeling that...I'm going to remember this period of my life with a pixar background. Actually wallE is pretty much the last one that I know I'll have this feeling about... The last 2 years have been filled with watching those movies, watching the special features (aka the "ads" according to E), really getting into them...but now...finally I know how my snooty HS friends felt when they had been buying the expensive Import album singles of European bands, and then a few years later America finally got the albums and the bands got all popular...I felt like Pixar was a little subset that not *that* many people got, but now with Up...sigh. I hate being snooty, but I understand the feeling now.

And before that was the period of time of watching Lord of the Rings (haven't shown that to E yet...pirates and davey jones are one thing....orcs are another!) an Harry Potter...I think back fondly but wish I had enjoyed it more...so I'm trying to really super-enjoy it all now.


Sorry about that! I keep trying to change the way I write reports, not get into all of that gunk, but I guess my brain's got a lot of gunk in it.


I told Robert about the reservations. He's excited about it.

I haven't cleaned up the stroller, but I have been working on the learning-work bookshelf! So that's something.


So earlier, I called Member Services of DVC, and while there were no villas available, he told me what hotel rooms they had, and their point cost. Although we are very happy with PPH and DLH was good too, I just couldn't help it. It doesn't hurt that the lobby of GCH now has good feelings for me! Before, I had only walked through at Yuletime, when the natural light is sucked up by the gigantor tree. But now that I've seen it without the tree, I realize it's not just a dark, shadowy place. Then on our last trip, it was in that lobby that hubby got the true offer of the contract work with Microsoft, in the last week of his amazon department's existence (for the newbies, YES we took a pre-planned pre-paid vacation to Disneyland after layoffs had been announced, in the last week the dept would be open! yes we were crazy! yes it was fine.), which allowed us to take deep breaths after almost two months of worrying....so now the lobby feels GOOD to me.

If my b'day were in December and that's when we were taking the trip, I wouldn't have done it to myself, not with my stupid Lasik vision that makes seeing in dark/light situations very difficult. I would have gone with DLH. But it's Halloweentime and the tree should not be there, so why the heck not? I mean, there wasn't a hojo entertainment rate for that weekend, so again, why not.

The only issue is that it's going to be a DTD view. I'm not the biggest fan of DTD, as it's just a big mall and I don't like malls. Oh well! I will pretend that we're on one of the HUGE RCCL ships with the promenade-view rooms, and just be happy with it.

[kaoden39]

I know what you mean about it being one big mall, but I loved having a DTD view. The trees have the lights and the Mariachi bands playing down there and being able to watch the fireworks from the balcony make it so worth it. And in the morning as the world comes alive watching them clean it and the employees and other guest scurrying around then make it a fun view.

[bumbershoot]

Oh man oh man, SOLD.

[Hawleys]

Originally Posted by bumbershoot

Sorry about that! I keep trying to change the way I write reports, not get into all of that gunk, but I guess my brain's got a lot of gunk in it.

The "gunk" is what makes your reports so interesting. You share more than some other folks but personally, I like it.

[bumbershoot]

True, I do share a lot. I think I need to continue to live in a totally secure building as long as I'm talking online!

I've said it before, I need another journal. I started my internet life with a journal around what I felt to be trusted people, and then it all went to heck. And now I'm left without that outlet.

And I've always had a brain to mouth (or in this case, fingers) filter problem, LOL.

OK, gotta put kiddo to bed (yes he has a late bedtime)!

[bumbershoot]

Got the reservation email and confirmation number already! That's amazing.

Started writing up the things we "need". Earplanes, earplugs for E to wear when he wants, cheapie glow sticks...

Figure out food, figure out what I'll want with my birthday funcard.

Sigh, this whole hubby in another country thing is a bummer. I always knew I'd be a bad military wife, and he chose to NOT go into the shipping industry (despite LOVING being on ships and tankers in his 20s) so he could be at home, and it turns out we're both kinda bad at him being gone. Gotta develop a routine for me and E that doesn't involve Robert coming home at a certain hour!

So we're going to the Y in a little while, for me to work out and to sign him up for Fall classes. And do errands. And pick up the free 8x10 collage at Walgreens that's offered today (code: FUNDAY)...I did one of E's summer (even though summer is not done with) b/c it's been a particularly fun one!

I just got an email from disneystore....seems they are selling Vinylmation online now! If only I were into collecting things that end up being dusty....


E has agreed to go on Skellington's Haunted Mansion! This will be his first time on the ride. I hope he goes through with it. The earplugs should be helpful for the line, especially the people-screaming-randomly room (stretching room). Glowsticks, too, I think.