10 Days in October: Argle-Bargle or Foofarah? UPDATED: POSTS #984 & 995!!!

[oybolshoi]

Just thought I'd show myself and let you know that even if you don't know anyone from Scotland, you do actually have at least one Scottish reader of your extremely entertaining trip/food reports! I've been reading along since your "I'll never be hungry again" food report and am really enjoying this report and your pre-trippie for your May visit to the World!

I am impatiently waiting for the next installment!

Woo hoo!! A Scottish fan!! The trippie's gone international!!

Thanks so much for posting - I'm glad to know you've found eveything entertaining so far. If you guys are having fun re-living the fun while I have fun writing about re-living the fun...well, it's a win-win situation, isn't it?

Thanks for reading!

Brenda,
We're getting everything squared away, just a little more shopping to go, , I think spring-time clothes were in the stores for about a week and now they have moved on to summer.
Have you ever seen this website, http://www.ssn773.com/flash/simpsons.htm ,it is a soundboard of all the characters with their quotes...OMG, so funny, hours of entertainment.

Oh yeah - we know that site well. Jason has downloaded some of those quotes and we're using them as ringtones on our cell phones. Do you all finally understand just how dorky the two of us can be?

We buy the cookbook every year and I think I have made maybe 5 dishes out of the 7 or so that I have. My DH tells me I have an addiction when it come to cookbooks. I guess I need to go to meetings- Or maybe cooking classes! What can I say, I love food and it loves me (sometimes not...Oh fickle finger of food fortune!)

We always buy cookbooks, too, and then only make a handful of recipes. One of our kitchen cabinets is about ready to explode and spew random cookbbok pages all over the center island. I only hope that when it happens I'm not trying to actually cook something.

I'm right here Brenda

Another great installment my great author friend - love the Grimace smiling photo

I agree - the topiary in 2004 was great - we have exactly the same photos

Thanks for the kind words, Karen. I love that picture of my mom smiling...it just doesn't happen very often. Now that I know how to keep Grimace happy at WDW I need to take my parents back one more time.

I hope EPCOT rolls out some fabu topiaries this year - last year really was kind of a let down in that regard.

Thanks again for reading everyone - Jay and I love it when you post on the thread to let us know what you think, or just to say hello.

 

[Kay7979]

Wow, you're a saint for going to so much trouble to entertain people who have a facility for being bored! I wonder what amusing things your mom and step-father find to do at home. Store-hop for lottery cards? Hunt for change in the couch cushions? Online blackjack? There is so much to do at WDW it rather boggles the mind that anyone could be bored! You came up with a funny idea with the rewards, but you missed a perfectly good opportunity to prolong your mom's enjoyment. You should have created clues for a scavenger hunt and hidden the lottery cards throughout WDW. You could have her scouring the parks from MK to AK! She'd have the time of her life and you'd have nearly a full day to yourselves!

 

[Guy Incognito]

At the risk of sounding snobby, it's so nice to read a report by somebody who knows how to spell, utilize grammar, and doesn't use text messaging abbreviations. I guess I'm getting to be an old fuddy-duddy. I don't like those new-fangled abbreviations.

I made the mistake of venturing out and reading some other reports like the ones you mentioned. The poor spelling, incorrect grammar usage, the!! excessive!! use!! of!! exclamation!! points!!, and the over abundance of "txt spk 2 sAv tYm" or whatever the reason for it makes me cringe. I feel like I'm in the "Leg Up" program with Gordy, Dot and Warren listening to one of them read a "What I did last summer" essay ("I fell off the jungle gym, and when I woke up, I was in here").

I've resisted the temptation to comment on those threads, since I'd end up channelling someone like Comic Book Guy: "Worst. Report. Ever.", or Samir Na... Nay... Not-gonna-work-here-anymore (Office Space): "This is horrible, this report!"... but reading gushing comments telling them what a great writer they are makes me fear for the future.


So it's refreshing to find reports like this one to serve as a beacon of hope to us old-fashioned types.

 

[KimAshton]

Ok with the food pics I wanna lick my screen. LOL

 

[Kay7979]

I made the mistake of venturing out and reading some other reports like the ones you mentioned. The poor spelling, incorrect grammar usage . . . makes me cringe. ... but reading gushing comments telling them what a great writer they are makes me fear for the future.

Amen, brother. Add to that, odd type faces, colored text, no paragraphs, a hundred one line paragraphs, etc. All that drives me crazy, even if the piece is otherwise well written.

 

[oybolshoi]

Wow, you're a saint for going to so much trouble to entertain people who have a facility for being bored! I wonder what amusing things your mom and step-father find to do at home. Store-hop for lottery cards? Hunt for change in the couch cushions? Online blackjack? There is so much to do at WDW it rather boggles the mind that anyone could be bored! You came up with a funny idea with the rewards, but you missed a perfectly good opportunity to prolong your mom's enjoyment. You should have created clues for a scavenger hunt and hidden the lottery cards throughout WDW. You could have her scouring the parks from MK to AK! She'd have the time of her life and you'd have nearly a full day to yourselves!

Actually the Grimace store-hops on weekends to find the best bargains on peanut butter and toilet bowl cleaner...I wonder if the two products are somehow related? Anyway, by "bargain hunting" she is able to "lottery hop." She also casino hops on weekends - thank goodness there are only a handful of them in this area. Could you imagine what would happen if we lived in Vegas?

Jon just lives in his own little world...is it possible for a 68-year old man to become autistic? I wonder sometimes...

Your idea on the scavenger hunt is great, but she would have hated having to solve a puzzle or riddle to find lottery tickets. The woman would have killed me - really. She can be scary sometimes.

But believe me, I'm no saint. I'm one of the meanest people I know - just ask anyone I work with. They'll tell ya what a crochety old chron I am.

I made the mistake of venturing out and reading some other reports like the ones you mentioned. The poor spelling, incorrect grammar usage, the!! excessive!! use!! of!! exclamation!! points!!, and the over abundance of "txt spk 2 sAv tYm" or whatever the reason for it makes me cringe. I feel like I'm in the "Leg Up" program with Gordy, Dot and Warren listening to one of them read a "What I did last summer" essay ("I fell off the jungle gym, and when I woke up, I was in here").

I've resisted the temptation to comment on those threads, since I'd end up channelling someone like Comic Book Guy: "Worst. Report. Ever.", or Samir Na... Nay... Not-gonna-work-here-anymore (Office Space): "This is horrible, this report!"... but reading gushing comments telling them what a great writer they are makes me fear for the future.


So it's refreshing to find reports like this one to serve as a beacon of hope to us old-fashioned types.

Wow...that was really well written and very funny.

"Pull out a circle of paper and a safety pencil. Today we're going to continue our work on the letter 'A'."

Anyway, Guy, thanks for the compliment and thanks for the laugh. I hope to see / read more from you. And if you're looking for really well written trippies I can suggest Kay7979, Zweihund, and Nebo just to name a few. They write waaaaay better than me (and I'm kinda jealous, to tell the truth).

Ok with the food pics I wanna lick my screen. LOL

Those pictures make me hungry, too! I saw that you've started your own report - I'm looking forward to the next update.

Amen, brother. Add to that, odd type faces, colored text, no paragraphs, a hundred one line paragraphs, etc. All that drives me crazy, even if the piece is otherwise well written.

You've got a witness from the congregation over here - I'll second that amen! To add to your list Kay, I also hate it when someone has a trip report that's a solid paragraph of something like five hundred thousand words. My brain sees that and screams, "Where is the paragraph break????"

And my hand moves of its own volition to nudge the mouse over the "back" button and we step away from the trippie.

I loved your edit comment, btw. Totally true - the best sellers are definitely not always the best written. But then again, some of the best written need to be translated before I can figure out what the author is trying to say. I thought I was smart and then I tried to read Faulkner...that was almost 20 years ago and I still don't know what the heck that story was about.

Thanks again for reading everyone - hope to have an update some time tomorrow evening.

 

[DisneyMom5]

You've got a witness from the congregation over here - I'll second that amen! To add to your list Kay, I also hate it when someone has a trip report that's a solid paragraph of something like five hundred thousand words. My brain sees that and screams, "Where is the paragraph break????"

"MY EYES, MY EYES...AAAHHHHHH!!!"

And my hand moves of its own volition to nudge the mouse over the "back" button and we step away from the trippie.

It's the only sane thing to do.

I loved your edit comment, btw. Totally true - the best sellers are definitely not always the best written. But then again, some of the best written need to be translated before I can figure out what the author is trying to say. I thought I was smart and then I tried to read Faulkner...that was almost 20 years ago and I still don't know what the heck that story was about.

Oh, thank goodness. I thought I was the only English Major who failed to appreciate the genius that is Faulkner.

Thanks again for reading everyone - hope to have an update some time tomorrow evening.

You know, you are not encouraging me that my fall "Forced Family FUN" trip has any hope.

Just to refresh your memories, that would be dh and I and kids, and dh's parents, and dh's sis and family. For a total of 15. Which I am responsible for planning for. And making ressies and ADRs.
And they have NO opinions.
None.
"Whatever will be fine, just save us a lot of money."

My FIL is already saying "Just so everyone understands I am going to do what I want, and I don't want to be forced to do anything else, and if I want to leave WDW and go to the Don Garlitt's racing museum, I am going to go."

Then he says to my dh (the person who is integral to helping me control SEVEN children at WDW) "Want to come with me?"

Dh's voice said calmly "No, probably not,"
but his face said "Good heavens man, do you see the insane Disney planner sitting next to you? Do you know what she is capable off? Just follow the plan man, just follow the plan."

 

[DISNEYDUET]

You know, you are not encouraging me that my fall "Forced Family FUN" trip has any hope.

Just to refresh your memories, that would be dh and I and kids, and dh's parents, and dh's sis and family. For a total of 15. Which I am responsible for planning for. And making ressies and ADRs.
And they have NO opinions.
None.
"Whatever will be fine, just save us a lot of money."

My FIL is already saying "Just so everyone understands I am going to do what I want, and I don't want to be forced to do anything else, and if I want to leave WDW and go to the Don Garlitt's racing museum, I am going to go."

Then he says to my dh (the person who is integral to helping me control SEVEN children at WDW) "Want to come with me?"

Dh's voice said calmly "No, probably not,"
but his face said "Good heavens man, do you see the insane Disney planner sitting next to you? Do you know what she is capable off? Just follow the plan man, just follow the plan."

This is just what I needed this morning! We are going to have a family dinner on Friday for hubby's birthday and to discuss our big family trip October 2008. There will be 8 of us in the family unit. Plus some friends which will make about 14 people total. DisneyMom5, I may need to call on you for some help and sanity! And I know I will need Brenda for a good, stiff drink!

 

[jakenjess]

I can't believe I just found this report today!! I loved your food report, and this trip report is fantastic! It's perfectly timed for me, as I have just begun planning our own October trip, and we'll be bringing along my parents. They want to spend some Disney quality time with their grandchildren, so I figured Food and Wine would be the perfect time, so DH and I can enjoy the food and alcoholic offerings (emphasis on alcoholic, remember, we will be vacationing with my parents ).

Oh, and by the way, my best friend from high school is ... you guessed it ... Brenda!

 

[HPHammer]

Jon just lives in his own little world...is it possible for a 68-old year man to become autistic? I wonder sometimes...

That was a smart move on your part to have the 'rents meet you there...actually traveling with them (airport security, rental cars, etc.)...trust me -- to borrow from Guy Incognito's Simpsons quote -- Worst. Trip. Ever.

'Dad -- he's not a Sky Cap. He's a homeless guy. Let's go now.'

Thanks for another awesome update!!!

 

[oybolshoi]

You know, you are not encouraging me that my fall "Forced Family FUN" trip has any hope.

Just to refresh your memories, that would be dh and I and kids, and dh's parents, and dh's sis and family. For a total of 15. Which I am responsible for planning for. And making ressies and ADRs.
And they have NO opinions.
None.
"Whatever will be fine, just save us a lot of money."

My FIL is already saying "Just so everyone understands I am going to do what I want, and I don't want to be forced to do anything else, and if I want to leave WDW and go to the Don Garlitt's racing museum, I am going to go."

Then he says to my dh (the person who is integral to helping me control SEVEN children at WDW) "Want to come with me?"

Dh's voice said calmly "No, probably not,"
but his face said "Good heavens man, do you see the insane Disney planner sitting next to you? Do you know what she is capable off? Just follow the plan man, just follow the plan."

First of all - your comment about Faulkner just made me feel 10% smarter than I did before you posted! I only minored in English and let me tell you, I can dissect Shakespeare with the best but William Faulkner does not compute.

My graspeth of olde English be fyne; 'tis moderne tongue I doth wrestle withe.

Secondly - your entire post just cracked me up and I cannot thank you enough for sharing it. If you don't write a trip report when all is said and done I'm going to be quite disappointed.

This is just what I needed this morning! We are going to have a family dinner on Friday for hubby's birthday and to discuss our big family trip October 2008. There will be 8 of us in the family unit. Plus some friends which will make about 14 people total. DisneyMom5, I may need to call on you for some help and sanity! And I know I will need Brenda for a good, stiff drink!

The bar's always open on my thread - name your poison!!

How about a guavaberry colada?

 

[oybolshoi]

I can't believe I just found this report today!! I loved your food report, and this trip report is fantastic! It's perfectly timed for me, as I have just begun planning our own October trip, and we'll be bringing along my parents. They want to spend some Disney quality time with their grandchildren, so I figured Food and Wine would be the perfect time, so DH and I can enjoy the food and alcoholic offerings (emphasis on alcoholic, remember, we will be vacationing with my parents ).

Oh, and by the way, my best friend from high school is ... you guessed it ... Brenda!

Thanks so much for de-cloaking and thank you for reading! What is it about traveling with the parents that leads to drinking?

If I can help at all with any questions or suggestions about F&W please feel free to ask. We'll be there again this October...no Grimace this time, but that won't stop us from drinking.

Tell you what, I'll race you to that cart in France that sells the alcoholic slushies!!

And...the Brenda vortex widens!!!

That was a smart move on your part to have the 'rents meet you there...actually traveling with them (airport security, rental cars, etc.)...trust me -- to borrow from Guy Incognito's Simpsons quote -- Worst. Trip. Ever.

'Dad -- he's not a Sky Cap. He's a homeless guy. Let's go now.'

Thanks for another awesome update!!!

HPHammer - you just kill me! I wonder if our parents are related?

We did fly home together and Jay swears - never again! My mom is a travel jinx!!


Again, big warm thanks to everyone for reading and posting. I will update tonight - unless the power goes out, my broadband vanishes, the alcohol stream dries up, or I forget my way home from work.

 

[oybolshoi]

Happy Birthday Grimace!!!!!

 

[Guy Incognito]

The bar's always open on my thread - name your poison!!

I would like a single plum, floating in perfume, served in a man's hat

 

[BriarRosie]

Happy Birthday Grimace!!!!!

Happy Birthday, Grimace!

Go ahead. I dare you to tell her that a bunch of Internet wackos wished
her a happy birthday.

 

[oybolshoi]

There are so many words I could choose at this moment to describe how I'm feeling: simmering...fuming...seething...that last one is getting close but doesn't quite capture the semi self-righteous indigination component of my anger. Maybe I should just make up a word.

Wrathy...?

Hmmmm...let's say it out loud.

"Wrathy."

My mouth feels good saying it and my ears like the sound of it; my keyboard has also just offered its QWERTY of approval, always a good sign.

Wrathy it is.

You might like to know why I'm taking up valuable trip report time with this ridiculous dialogue...

As you have all no doubt noticed by now, I wear glasses. I'm one of those nearsighted people who can't see the end of her nose. Thanks to recent technological advances my lenses no longer resemble coke bottles or twin magnifying glasses. My prescription is so strong that once, when Jay and I were dating, he tried my glasses on for fun (yes, I said fun), stood up, and said, "The walls are bending and the floor is gone!"

If I had known in high school that wearing my glasses could produce a psuedo acid trip effect in people with 20/20 vision I could have made a fortune.

Anyway, the point is that when I have to order a new pair of spectacles, it's a long, expensive, arduous process. In this particular instance the journey started in January when I went to one of the few places here in town that has a decent selection of frames and can actually make my prescription correctly on their first attempt. Long story short...

Psych!!

As I was saying, I ordered a new pair on January 3rd and they weren't ready until February 22nd. I can live with that - I'd rather they be made correctly as opposed to quickly. Unfortunately they weren't right and they looked awful. I had to go back to my opthalmologist, have the prescription re-written, and then choose a new frame (again). Up to this point the store I was working with was very good and they didn't even give me any flack over my dissatisfaction with the appearance of the frames. I picked a new pair and we sent them off to the lab for a do-over.

They called this weekend to let me know the new pair had arrived. The only problem is that they called me at work on Saturday (I don't work on Saturday) and left me a voice mail. While this annoys me I can't get too upset because I did ask them to call me at work. I just made a really stupid assumption that they'd also call me at home; you know, to cover all the communication possibilities. Of course I realize now that that would have required independent cognitive reasoning which appears to be in general short supply these days.

The store is only open until 6PM during the week, so I had to leave work early today to get there ahead of the traffic and before closing time.

I arrived at 5:20PM CST. By my watch and cell phone and dashboard clock that was a whole 40 minutes before the store would close...plenty of time.


...


...


...



They were already closed.


...


...


...


"Open the door you dolts - you're holding my eyeballs hostage!!!"

"Perfect vision has been wasted on you people!!!"

"You can't see it but I'm giving your entire franchise the evil eye right now!!!

I sure told them!

And then I came home. Even hearing one of my all-time favorite goofy songs on the radio couldn't douse my fury. Although now, thinking about this particular song, I have a stupid grin on my face again.

Anyone here familiar with the song Sweet City Woman by The Stampeders?

Here are the lyrics - I'm sure some of you must recognize it.

"Well, I'm on my way, to the city life
To a pretty face that shines her light on the city nights
And I gotta catch a noon train
Gotta be there on time
Oh, it feels so good to know she waits at the end of the line

Swee-ee-eet, sweet city woman
I can see your face, I can hear your voice, I can almost touch you
Swee-ee-eet, sweet city woman
Oh, my banjo and me, we got a feel for singin', yeah, yeah,

Bon c'est bon, bon bon c'est bon, bon,
Bon c'est bon, bon, bon, bon, bon
Bon c'est, bon, bon bon ci'estbon, bon,
Bon c'est bon, bon, bon, bon, bon
So long ma, so long pa, so long
Neighbors and friends

Like a country mornin', all snuggled in dew
Ah she's got a way to make a man feel shiny and new
And she sing in the evenin', oh familiar tunes
And she feeds me love and tenderness and macaroons..."

I love the part about the macaroons; it cracks me up every time I hear it.

So, now that you all know more than you ever wanted to about your short-sighted author, maybe we can finally get back to the point of this post, which was something about a trip to WDW about six months ago...

 

[Kay7979]

My prescription is so strong that once, when Jay and I were dating, he tried my glasses on for fun (yes, I said fun), stood up, and said, "The walls are bending and the floor is gone!"

Great line. And I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing with you. Can you wear contacts? That was my solution. I've had glasses since second grade. I bet your eyes can't be much worse than mine.

BTW I remember that song well.

 

[oybolshoi]

Great line. And I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing with you. Can you wear contacts? That was my solution. I've had glasses since second grade. I bet your eyes can't be much worse than mine.

BTW I remember that song well.

Hi Kay! I do actually have gas permeable contacts, but I can't wear them at work any longer - too much computer time. So I save them for weekends and those occassions when I want to look really nice.

I got my first pair in the second grade, too, and it's been downhill ever since. I'm a minus 13 as of this year.

Jay considers my glasses part of our survival gear. He's convinced that if we ever get lost in the wild (or maybe the Wilderness Lodge) that all we have to do is shine a ray of sunlight through my lenses to start a smoke-signal fire.

Laugh all you want...I can take it!!

 

[cntkg1]

I'm with you girl! I had "perfect" vision up until about 10 years ago..or so I thought. Started out with glasses to see far, then contacts because I was too vain to wear glasses. Then needed reading glasses to read and contacts to see far away. I decided to have the lasik surgery about 5 years ago which corrected my distance but now I need trifocals for everything else. (always wanted to use that smilie).

Now I'm 10 years older and my vanity has been flushed away in the toilet. As my niece told me last week, "Aunt Nancy, you're too old to be cute anymore".

Ahh, out of the mouths of babes.

 

[Kay7979]

Mine are minus 6 and minus 7. I'm not sure which way the scale goes, so I don't know if that's better or worse than you. I used to have a really weird and stressful recurring dream I called my Giant Contact Dream. In the dream my contacts got dried out and they became really big. Like half dollar size! If I soaked them in solution they might become small enough to fit back into my eyes, otherwise I would be blind and helpless. In this dream I was always trying frantically to shrink them down to normal size. Is that freaky or what? I think this dream was my equivalent of the dream other people have of being naked in public!