July and October reports...and in December, the end of this era

[kaoden39]

I have no desire to do the CP either. Queen of enablers says go for it!!

 

[nancy drew]

I doubt there is at this point, as well. And even if there were, with the mortgage only in HIS name, I know he would just take whatever possible settlement there might be and run.

We're trying not to anticipate *anything* but simple knowledge with the military records request. A conversation with neighbors about the VA is what finally prompted me to look through his stuff again and then make an online request for info, so the VA stuff is in my head. But really it's just the info we are after. I mean, we haven't even mentioned it to MIL. He served during WW2 and Korea, and re-upped 5 separate times, getting an Honorable Discharge certificate for 4 of those. Then there's just paperwork discussing mysterious stuff that happened at some point, which ultimately led to paperwork about him being fit for separation based on his resignation. Now it's possible that resigning (even when you've had 4 other tours of duty, at least two of which were during wartime) IS a Dishonorable discharge, but we'd like to know. And since the story he told is nearly impossible to believe to anyone outside their family (who had no choice but to believe the man of the house), knowing the "rest of the story", as told by the Navy, would be good if we can get it.



***************

We're dealing with the mentally painful situation of having scads of Alaska miles, an AP that expires Dec 6 (well, mine does...theirs expire in Feb, the stinkers), and a yearning for a cooler-weather re-do.

But we have NO desire for Candlelight Processional.

And WORSE, today I was sitting on the couch and got the strongest urge to just be in Epcot, just right now. OH if only the transporter beam existed and I could trust it...

I've been in Epcot while CP was happening, and aside from stopping to listen in for about 5 minutes because there was amazing singing happening when we happened to be walking by, CP did not play any part whatsoever in our holiday visit last year and is a non-issue in our upcoming holiday visit (as in we will not be seeing it and I have no interest in making it important, though that may be because we are Jewish and CP seems very... non-Jewish?).

Anyway, I say go for it

 

[bumbershoot]

I've been in Epcot while CP was happening, and aside from stopping to listen in for about 5 minutes because there was amazing singing happening when we happened to be walking by, CP did not play any part whatsoever in our holiday visit last year and is a non-issue in our upcoming holiday visit (as in we will not be seeing it and I have no interest in making it important, though that may be because we are Jewish and CP seems very... non-Jewish?).

Anyway, I say go for it

It is definitely not Jewish in nature, that's for sure!

At Epcot it's kind of off to the side in that amphitheater, yes? At Disneyland it's right there, smack dab in the city hall area. And this year they are doing it for many more days than they used to.

I have no desire to do the CP either. Queen of enablers says go for it!!

You are definitely good at enabling!



Wanted to mention that I truly thought they would be having the CP this year back in the former princess amphitheater, but it really seems that I was wrong. I thought it would be a perfect place where they could really make it nice AND keep it from clogging things up.

 

[bumbershoot]

Just realized I had some ride photos ready to be uploaded, so I did one. Eamon had his hands up and was all geared for a great photo, then just as we started to go down the hill he got scared and put his hands down. I was actually saying something to him, and I just figured the photo would not be good.

I was wrong.

 

[Sherry E]

That is a fantastic Splash photo! I love it.

Did I read correctly that your AP (I assume the DLR AP and not the WDW AP, right?) expires on 12/6? And I'm going to be at DLR from 12/2 - 12/5, staying at the PPH under circumstances which could only be described as a "miracle" (which I explained to you privately), and have plenty of room for a roommate.

Hmm... The CP is not the only thing happening at DLR, Molly! I will be attempting to claw my way into one of the Kurt Russell CP nights, but you can be roaming Route 66 and Buena Vista Street, taking in all of the fun new decorations! Even though you don't celebrate Christmas, I know you think it's a lovely time of year at DLR (you've said so!).

I'm just sayin'...seems like an opportunity too good to pass up. The huevos rancheros are calling your name!

 

[bumbershoot]

Sherry, you're cracking me up.

And it's no coincidence that my AP expires just as you're doing a do-over, since I bought my AP for your do-over PPH stay after the miserable PPH stay!


I am fairly certain that the train doesn't run while the CP is going on, but the monorail does, right? There's no issue with noise from it running through the esplanade, right? One can bypass the crowds at CP and just get to the back of the park in that way?

 

[kaoden39]

I love the Splash photo!!

 

[bumbershoot]

Because of group sizes, with Splash you're not always going to be seated with the people you've waited in line with. But our boat was filled with 3 groups of 2, and we'd all waited in line together the whole way. The order that we're in is the exact order we waited in! The girl behind me was almost hugging me at points during the ride, and she was bumping up against me in line, too.

Side note: the other woman in the photo and I were both wearing skirts that day. OK I had a dress on, but still, it was neat to find another person who doesn't *have to* wear pants/shorts at a theme park.

 

[kaoden39]

Splash has a strange way of seating.

 

[Sherry E]

Sherry, you're cracking me up.

And it's no coincidence that my AP expires just as you're doing a do-over, since I bought my AP for your do-over PPH stay after the miserable PPH stay!


I am fairly certain that the train doesn't run while the CP is going on, but the monorail does, right? There's no issue with noise from it running through the esplanade, right? One can bypass the crowds at CP and just get to the back of the park in that way?

I would have to assume that the Monorail would be running during CP time. I can't see how it would cause a problem. I keep thinking that the crowds will be crazy in those early nights of the CP (like when I am scheduled to go) just because of the novelty and newness of it being more available to people this year. The people at Disney are probably thinking that the crowds and traffic around Town Square on 12/3 and 12/4 won't be any worse than they are in any other year when the CP has been invitation only. They probably assume that the lure of Cars Land and the new BVS holiday happenings will be enough to attract people into DCA and out of DL.

I think the CP crowds will be worse than Disney expects and I may be regretting trying to squish in there to see the CP...but I could be wrong. Maybe I am not giving Disney enough credit and they have fine-tuned the process of how they are going to let people enter and exit Disneyland during the CP.

So I can totally understand if you are reluctant to deal with crowds again after the crowded, extra-hot October experience.

Last year, I remember walking around DCA on Monday, December 5th and it was delightful. Not crowded at all. In fact, it was quite un-crowded. Disneyland was pretty wonderful too. Main Street was probably the least crowded I'd seen it in years. Somehow, I don't get the feeling that Mon., December 3rd this year will be quite as delightful, but I am hoping it won't be sheer bedlam!

My 2010 PPH stay was totally fine...up until I found out that they had blocked almost $300 on my card anyway, even though I had paid them in full. But I didn't find that out (and then panic about ensuing fees and chaos) until I got home from DLR, because they never bothered to tell me that they were still blocking a large chunk of money despite having received full payment from me. They simply didn't stop their computer from going ahead and charging me when they could have/should have.

So yes, that was what prompted them to give me the nifty rate and reservation for 2011! But, as you know, they tried to charge me for the "free" night last year on the final bill - until I caught it and stopped the charge from going through!

But 2011 was a mess on many levels, so now it's time to do over the do-over! And now I have paid the whole thing in advance, so the PPH cannot possibly pull any shenanigans with blocking large chunks of money at check-in, or incorrectly charging me for something on the final bill. It's all paid. All they should be putting a hold on is the stupid "phone deposit," which is so silly since I have not made an outbound call from a hotel room phone since probably the early 1990's.

 

[nancy drew]

It is definitely not Jewish in nature, that's for sure!

At Epcot it's kind of off to the side in that amphitheater, yes? At Disneyland it's right there, smack dab in the city hall area. And this year they are doing it for many more days than they used to.

Ah, somehow I jumbled everything into one idea and thought you were saying you wanted to take a quick trip to WDW. My bad. I shouldn't be allowed to type anything after 11pm because my brain pretty much stops functioning at 9pm.

 

[bumbershoot]

Sherry, oh yes it was just the money stuff that got the '11 trip. Not misery.

Nancy, I didn't get that you thought that; I just thought you hadn't seen the CP setup at DLR! But yes, I have wanted a transporter beam twice in the last week or so, to be plunked down in the middle of epcot. I just can't convince myself to try to convince the family, because it would require new tickets, and we still have the DLR APs.

Today is the first day that E&I have both woken up feeling well enough, with no scary phone calls from grandma or calls from doctors about grandma, to do learning work in forever. But in that time his reading and math skills have taken off! It's amazing what he can learn while not officially learning.

Got him a new pencil/pen case, a neat stand-up thing from Mead, and he said "that can hold pencils and my scissors...everything a man needs."

 

[kaoden39]

I am glad to hear that you and E are feeling better. I am also glad to hear that there is no drama from the mama in law area. You need a break.

 

[bumbershoot]

Can't get rid of this cough. It's kept me up most of the night for two nights now, despite using various things to quiet a cough. I didn't know the bags under my eyes could get any bigger yesterday, until I got up today.


I haven't had the concentration to compare prices for hotels and flights-using-miles and all that, but there's still a trip floating around in my head! Sherry if we end up there during the same time period as you, I'll be sure to see if you want to be bugged for a few minutes or so.

 

[Sherry E]

Can't get rid of this cough. It's kept me up most of the night for two nights now, despite using various things to quiet a cough. I didn't know the bags under my eyes could get any bigger yesterday, until I got up today.


I haven't had the concentration to compare prices for hotels and flights-using-miles and all that, but there's still a trip floating around in my head! Sherry if we end up there during the same time period as you, I'll be sure to see if you want to be bugged for a few minutes or so.

Gee, last year you were sick off and on with a whopper illness too, weren't you? When I saw you and Laurie I remember thinking that it was amazing that both of you had recovered from illness long enough to show up!

If I don't have anyone sharing my PPH room with me this year, then I may try to move my dates to one week later (arriving on 12/9 instead of 12/2). I would prefer to see Kurt Russell narrate the CP instead of Lou Diamond Phillips (or whoever the narrator is during that week), but the way the CP is currently being set up I may not see it at all unless I just stand around and wait, trying to find the best viewing location - which I could have done any year in the past and didn't. I don't mind standing for the actual show itself, but I don't like having to camp out and waste time way in advance to see something (especially if my leg/hip are giving me pain).

So, if I decide to abandon the CP idea and if I don't have a PPH roommate, I might switch to a 12/9 arrival date because that day is slightly better for my friend Shawn to meet up with me than 12/2 is (though 12/2 is not impossible).

So I may not see you!

 

[bumbershoot]

I just want you to have a GREAT trip, Sherry! That is my wish for you.

*************


This whole "going to the YMCA to work out and let the kid have classes" thing really messes with the immune system! I wish I could just not go all fall and winter long, but then I'd have other problems, LOL. Sometimes I think I can *see* the germs floating in the air...

Oh and of course the hospital time for MIL has not helped. I think we were exposed to freaky hospital-air germs. (this is going to turn me into a germaphobe)

Got a little extra sleep last night, but not much. While talking with the pharmacist at MIL's coumadin clinic she mentioned she has a cough that won't quit too. I asked her, out of desperation, if she uses something to stop the coughing, and she said "well, there are suppressants out there...but frankly none of them really seem to work". Man, if a pharmacist can't find anything that really works, what are my chances of finding one?

I've "cold plus"sed myself a couple times during this nasty cold, but once the coughing started that become no fun. Because I would still cough, but be REALLY out of it while doing so. And that feels worse than being up all night.

 

[kaoden39]

I am sorry you are so sick! I got the flu from Scotty, who got it from his best friend. Nobody ever shares anything like germs.

 

[nancy drew]

Have you ever tried taking Sambucol? It won't help once you are already deep in the sickness (although now that I think about it, there is a version of it that is meant to be taken while you are already sick), but if you take it before you get sick and/or when you first feel that niggling "I'm going to get sick" feeling, it can be really effective at fighting things off. I've tried the lozenges and the liquid and have had success with both.

 

[bumbershoot]

Sorry you have the flu Michele! That's what this has felt like, but I'm just calling it a cold. Except for when I call it the bubonic mumps. Or was that the last "cold"?


Sambucol, eh? Robert stayed home today for me, in case I had another bad night. I only had two wakeups, which is awesome compared to this last week, but now HE is sick! So he stayed home for himself. And for his mom, because he ran up there to help her take her stick-on heart monitor off and send it back to the lab (checking for atrial fibrillation). I'll go to the store and have a look at it tomorrow.


I officially canceled MIL's cruise, and we're working on canceling her flight, too. I feel sad and happy, and really really BAD for how NOT bad I'm feeling about it. Talked it through with Robert, he understands and helped me feel a ton better (it's so so so so good that I'm allowed to be honest about the negativity I have about his mom...we would never have survived if he didn't agree with me so much! he reminds me all the time that I've only known her 12 years...he's dealt with her for 40).

If things have been totally stable and if she's around next year (I personally think she'll live forever, but most people, including her, disagree with me), we'll do an Alaska cruise with her. That'll be good.



Robert and I have pretty much taken another Disneyland trip OFF the table. So that means this report can be wrapped up! Any last questions?

 

[bumbershoot]

Just looked up Sambucol; so it's elderberry! I was just reading about elderberry and how AMAZING it is for flu, etc. Thanks for the suggestion! Because I am sick of getting sick.