2012? No Problem...but when?

[DMGeurts]

Yikes, this just sounds so very painful! I sure hope it all goes well, and he is able to handle the IV and procedure. (((Big hugs))) to Mr. D!

And yay for bringing MIss Mia along tomorrow... How fun!

D~

 

[NiniMorris]

Miss Mia and I got to spend a few hours of quality time together yesterday. It was fantastic!

Mommy is a bit stressed. Yesterday it hit her that this was the first time she had actually been out of the house BY HERSELF in almost 4 months. After her dentist appointment she called me to ask how Mia was doing and then asked me if I minded her taking a short trip to the pet store to get some cat food.

So...she FORCED me to spend even more time with her! The Horrors! LOL

She met us back at our house a few hours later. She felt so much better, simply because next to the pet store was a TJ Maxx...and she bought herself a swim suit on clearance. Now she said she will be able to swim at my house. I have never seen her so happy by a shopping trip! (She is NOT a shopper. She got her father's genes in that area.)

Now she has decided to bring Mia over once a week for a couple hours of just time for herself. (Funny, I do believe I told her I would do that from the very beginning...but she could not imagine needing time away from her baby! Once again...I knew what I was talking about!)

So, of course, Mia and I had a long discussion about how I didn't think I could get away with taking her with us on our December trip...but I promised her she could go next year!

I am still trying to get MDE to load all the info together. Meaning while I still have 2 complete sets of tickets for the 4 of us, when I load my son's info in they only show a ticket for two of the three of them. Hopefully the bugs will get worked out sometime soon. I would really like to know if the ticket info will show each day that another day has been used. Not sure why, but I think it will be fun to be able to track that as well as FP+,ADRs, rooms...yes, I am a geek like that!

I finally have all the trip info loaded into my Franklin Planner, so I feel like everything is real now. The joke around the family is if it isn't in my FP then it isn't real, and won't happen!



Time to go down and work on the super secret special project.

Oh...and no news yet on Mr D. I am still waiting on the state to approve the procedure. Last night was the first time he has complained about pain. I know he got water in them the other day so I have been watching for signs of infection. So far no fever, but he has always been so sensitive to sound that I think last night's VBS was a little too much for him.

Nini

 

[cogero]

I am glad your daughter had some ME time. That is so important. I have been sewing a couple mornings a week while Sam naps and it gives me a much better outlook on things.

Heck I had a great time at the grocery store a couple weeks ago because I had no kiddos with me.

I was finally able to get my DVC reservation to link to MDE for August and I was able to put a CC into online check in. Made me so happy.

I hope Mr. D's ears don't turn into an infection.

 

[babynala]

Miss Mia and I got to spend a few hours of quality time together yesterday. It was fantastic!

Mommy is a bit stressed. Yesterday it hit her that this was the first time she had actually been out of the house BY HERSELF in almost 4 months.

Now she has decided to bring Mia over once a week for a couple hours of just time for herself. (Funny, I do believe I told her I would do that from the very beginning...but she could not imagine needing time away from her baby! Once again...I knew what I was talking about!)

I am still trying to get MDE to load all the info together. Meaning while I still have 2 complete sets of tickets for the 4 of us, when I load my son's info in they only show a ticket for two of the three of them. Hopefully the bugs will get worked out sometime soon. I would really like to know if the ticket info will show each day that another day has been used. Not sure why, but I think it will be fun to be able to track that as well as FP+,ADRs, rooms...yes, I am a geek like that!

I finally have all the trip info loaded into my Franklin Planner, so I feel like everything is real now. The joke around the family is if it isn't in my FP then it isn't real, and won't happen!

Time to go down and work on the super secret special project.

Oh...and no news yet on Mr D. I am still waiting on the state to approve the procedure. Last night was the first time he has complained about pain. I know he got water in them the other day so I have been watching for signs of infection. So far no fever, but he has always been so sensitive to sound that I think last night's VBS was a little too much for him.

Nini

So happy you got to spend some time with Mia and I'm glad your daughter was able to spend some time by herself. She is fortunate to have her mom close by to babysit. I hope she continues to take you up on your offer to take the baby for some grandma time. Just don't tell the in-laws or they will be moving in with your DD.

I hope Mr. D is feeling better and that he isn't in too much pain. Bummer that he can't go in the pool, I know he enjoys swimming.

Glad you have everything in your planner. You are ready to go.

 

[NiniMorris]

Mr D has his procedure scheduled for tomorrow morning at 7:30 am. Would appreciate prayers and good wishes. He is really scared, but determined to be brave.


Nini

 

[DMGeurts]

Awww... Sending lots of prayers out to Mr. D, lots of hugs too!!! Sometimes it's very hard to be brave. (((Hugs)))

D~

 

[cogero]

I will be thinking and praying for you and Mr. D tomorrow.

 

[NiniMorris]

Just a quick update...Mr D feels back to normal. He spent an hour in the pool this afternoon and is a very happy little boy!


Nini

 

[DMGeurts]

Just a quick update...Mr D feels back to normal. He spent an hour in the pool this afternoon and is a very happy little boy!


Nini

What a relief - thanks for letting us know! Let Mr. D know that we are all very proud of him!

D~

 

[babynala]

So glad to hear that Mr. D is feeling better. It must have been great for him to get back in the pool.

 

[NiniMorris]

Disney?

Oh yeah... we have a trip in just 18 weeks!

With everything that has been going on I keep forgetting about it. I have a super secret project that I am nearing the end of...and then...I WILL get back to our shirts!

My original goal was to have them finished by the beginning of school, so I could work on Christmas gifts after school starts back up. With the possibility of Mr D going back to public school, I should have some free time...yeah...right!

Now it looks like I will be the middle of October at the earliest before I get the shirts finished for our trip. I think I still have 36 more to go...unless my son and his family decide they want shirts. Then I have to add another 30 shirts to the mix.

I have been looking at the packing cubes. I have read all the reviews posted every where I can ...and have seen so many you tube videos on them it is making my head hurt! But....I rarely like to go by what random strangers (that may or may not be being paid for their testimonial) have to say about a product. So far I have been unable to find anyone I 'know' that has actually used them.

(Probably one of the best videos was how to pack a back pack to use while traveling Europe for 21 days! First of all she was a size zero and no matter how many clothes she took it would not fill up a single gallon size ziplock bag!) But I digress!

I figured if they were good I could get a set each month so we could have a nice variety for the trip.... but I love my money too much to throw it away.

I seriously need a better organization of the packing. I am attempting to streamline how much stuff we take...like only ONE bottle of shampoo and ONE bottle of conditioner (not one bottle for each person). But if you have any ideas along that line I would appreciate it as well.

Currently I make a master list of what items we need for each person to pack. Like 7 tops; 7 underwear; 7 pants.....and then fill it in with the specifics (as well as what day they are worn) and check them off as they are packed. Then a few days before we leave I go back and double check. (Mr D has been known to take things out of the luggage and forget to put it back in) The master list is on the computer and I print one off for each trip...I also make notes on the list as to what we needed we forgot to take or what we took and didn't need. And update the master list when we get home.

I pull the luggage out 6 weeks before we leave, make sure they are clean and fresh smelling and put the master list in each one. Each person has their own piece of luggage. (marked with their own luggage tag) I always buy new underwear and socks for each trip (kinda weird I know!) so that is usually the first thing checked off.

So that is a brief idea of how obsessive I can be on the packing...and yes, I did leave off a couple of steps.... We used to travel at least twice a month...and I always had a bag packed . One was for the beach and one was for the mountains. All I had to do was grab a bag and put gas in the car and we were ready to go. So much easier when we had no little kids at home! As soon as we got home it was emptied, everything washed, and repacked for the next trip.


So, if I haven't scared you off....any suggestion s? Besides the looney bin....



Nini

 

[babynala]

Your list of shirts to make is making me dizzy. It seems so close when you break it down into weeks, 4 months just sound longer.

As for packing, you seem to have a great system. I have a master list on the computer too but just realized I should probably update it since I don't need to pack sippy cups anymore.

On our trips lately I have been doing the ziplock bag thing for the kids. And I've been packing the "outfits" together for the adults so I don't over pack (clothing wise). This has a made a huge difference for me since I always over pack. On our last few trips I have taken one small suitcase and filled it with all the toiletries that we all need for the trip. This helps me keep everything together and it is also one of the last bags to get packed in the car. I can find everything when I get to the hotel because I have a tendency to shove this kind of stuff in every suitcase at the last minute. I have also decided that I will pack stuff in the rolling suitcases instead of putting all the "extra" stuff in tote bags that I have to haul to the room. At least with a rolling bag I can make the kids help with the smaller ones and nothing falls out of the top.

And my children each always pack a small suitcase of stuffed animals and Disney related toys for housekeeping to "play" with while we are at the parks.

Luckily we can drive but when we have to fly it is a whole other story.

As much as I plan for our trips I always seem to start packing a few days before our trip. I still have stuff in our bedroom from my visit to my mom's at the beginning of the month, but no point in putting the suitcases away now.

 

[DMGeurts]

Disney?

Oh yeah... we have a trip in just 18 weeks!

With everything that has been going on I keep forgetting about it. I have a super secret project that I am nearing the end of...and then...I WILL get back to our shirts!

My original goal was to have them finished by the beginning of school, so I could work on Christmas gifts after school starts back up. With the possibility of Mr D going back to public school, I should have some free time...yeah...right!

Now it looks like I will be the middle of October at the earliest before I get the shirts finished for our trip. I think I still have 36 more to go...unless my son and his family decide they want shirts. Then I have to add another 30 shirts to the mix.

I have been looking at the packing cubes. I have read all the reviews posted every where I can ...and have seen so many you tube videos on them it is making my head hurt! But....I rarely like to go by what random strangers (that may or may not be being paid for their testimonial) have to say about a product. So far I have been unable to find anyone I 'know' that has actually used them.

(Probably one of the best videos was how to pack a back pack to use while traveling Europe for 21 days! First of all she was a size zero and no matter how many clothes she took it would not fill up a single gallon size ziplock bag!) But I digress!

I figured if they were good I could get a set each month so we could have a nice variety for the trip.... but I love my money too much to throw it away.

I seriously need a better organization of the packing. I am attempting to streamline how much stuff we take...like only ONE bottle of shampoo and ONE bottle of conditioner (not one bottle for each person). But if you have any ideas along that line I would appreciate it as well.

Currently I make a master list of what items we need for each person to pack. Like 7 tops; 7 underwear; 7 pants.....and then fill it in with the specifics (as well as what day they are worn) and check them off as they are packed. Then a few days before we leave I go back and double check. (Mr D has been known to take things out of the luggage and forget to put it back in) The master list is on the computer and I print one off for each trip...I also make notes on the list as to what we needed we forgot to take or what we took and didn't need. And update the master list when we get home.

I pull the luggage out 6 weeks before we leave, make sure they are clean and fresh smelling and put the master list in each one. Each person has their own piece of luggage. (marked with their own luggage tag) I always buy new underwear and socks for each trip (kinda weird I know!) so that is usually the first thing checked off.

So that is a brief idea of how obsessive I can be on the packing...and yes, I did leave off a couple of steps.... We used to travel at least twice a month...and I always had a bag packed . One was for the beach and one was for the mountains. All I had to do was grab a bag and put gas in the car and we were ready to go. So much easier when we had no little kids at home! As soon as we got home it was emptied, everything washed, and repacked for the next trip.


So, if I haven't scared you off....any suggestion s? Besides the looney bin....



Nini

I totally missed this post - thanks Liz for bumping it up.

Ok - first of all - the shirts... Holy Cow Girl!!!!! That is a LOT of shirts!!!! I dunno how you do it all????

I wish I had an easy packing idea for you... We fly - so we have to make everything fit - it's not easy.

I thought about dividing out our clothes per day, but first of all - I don't think that's something I can talk the girls into doing?

For me, I'd be OK with it, however - even though I am bringing a fresh tank top for each day - a few of the shorts I will be wearing twice (I am hoping to do a load of laundry in there somewhere?)... So, theoretically, that would work for most days - but not all days. I do want to take the time to lay out my clothes, or at least make a list of what I am wearing into each park - seeing as I am planning to wear certain bags into certain parks, and I don't want to clash. But I am not sure if I will get that specific or not?

But last time, I definately packed all of our socks/undies into one Zip Loc - and that was WONDERFUL - we didn't have to search through our luggage for hours every morning looking for a pair of socks.

However, one thing I did last time, that I will NOT repeat.... I will NOT divide our clothes up between all of the luggage "in case one gets lost" - that was a total disaster in our room all week, because we constantly had to search through all of the luggage to find anything. Sure, I could have taken the time to unpack or sort it after we got there - but I get a little eeked out putting our clothes in dressers that other's clothes have been in - so we really don't use them. Which leads to us living out of our suitcases for 10 days... It's a mess!

So, this time - each of us will get our own suitcase. And we will have enough in our carry-ons, where if a piece of luggage is lost, we will be able to survive for a few days. I hope.

See... Lots of help - right?

D~ <---- Who really needs to go upstairs and get to work... Lots to do - so little time.

 

[NiniMorris]

It is official....Free Dining has been released for late fall...and my dates are not included. Glad I was able to use the PIN code and not have to wait.

Really strange that the week we are there was not included, but yet has been included every year since the beginning of Free Dining. Even stranger that Christmas Day can be included in the current Free Dining offer...as long as you check in on Dec 22. I believe last year was the first time it was included.

Even more upsetting is that it first appeared (shortly after midnight) on the main Disney page and did not show up on the TA Disney site until this morning!

Oh well, I hope that everyone that wants FD during this time is able to get it.

Nini

 

[babynala]

It is official....Free Dining has been released for late fall...and my dates are not included. Glad I was able to use the PIN code and not have to wait.

Really strange that the week we are there was not included, but yet has been included every year since the beginning of Free Dining. Even stranger that Christmas Day can be included in the current Free Dining offer...as long as you check in on Dec 22. I believe last year was the first time it was included.

Even more upsetting is that it first appeared (shortly after midnight) on the main Disney page and did not show up on the TA Disney site until this morning!

Oh well, I hope that everyone that wants FD during this time is able to get it.

Nini

Hmmm, that is very strange that your week was not included. I am glad you were able to use the pin code from your son. Our week was not included for free dining either because it is Columbus Day week. but it was not part of the pin offers so I knew it wouldn't be available for us. I'm still kind of bummed My mom had the pin offer but by the time it showed up we already had our ADRs, etc. The kids have one day off that week and two half days so that was my reason for picking that week. Of course, now looking at the bill for this trip I am wishing we would have just gone a different week. I was able to apply a whopping 15% discount to our rooms. I switched from Movies to Pop because they had no discount on standard rooms left at the Movies resort. My trip actually ended up costing $14 more but my parent's trip is less for a total Net Savings of $18. We lost the savings on the room to the price increase on the tickets but I was thinking about moving to Pop and the discount allowed me to talk myself into it. I might do some fast math and figure out if the dining plan is really worth it for us on this trip. I might switch our reservation and put the kids in the room with my parents and get them all the dining (they use their snack credits and we always have extras at the end of the trip)

 

[NiniMorris]

The bad thing is...my kids are out of school for 10 days in October...and that time frame is on the free dining...and my birthday falls during that time. I 'almost' convinced myself to change it to their Fall vacation. But I am not a fan of Halloween, and LOVE Christmas...so I couldn't find a way to make myself do it.

I think next year we are going for the week they are out. Miss B will be in high school, so missing will be a bigger deal then...

For us the dining plan saves us tons. It is almost a $2000 savings with Free Dining...and my family are all BIG eaters....


Nini

 

[DMGeurts]

The bad thing is...my kids are out of school for 10 days in October...and that time frame is on the free dining...and my birthday falls during that time. I 'almost' convinced myself to change it to their Fall vacation. But I am not a fan of Halloween, and LOVE Christmas...so I couldn't find a way to make myself do it.

I think next year we are going for the week they are out. Miss B will be in high school, so missing will be a bigger deal then...

For us the dining plan saves us tons. It is almost a $2000 savings with Free Dining...and my family are all BIG eaters....


Nini

I know... We get the same amount of savings - DDP saves us a TON! So much so, that I am not sure we can do another trip with out it. I have a feeling my TA would murder me greusomly if I asked her to swtich our trip to FD at this point in time... LOL So, I won't.

But - I totally get it... I cannot wait to go back in the fall again, and I cannot wait to go during the holidays - some day, I will quit talking about it and actually do it.

D~

 

[NiniMorris]

I know... We get the same amount of savings - DDP saves us a TON! So much so, that I am not sure we can do another trip with out it. I have a feeling my TA would murder me greusomly if I asked her to swtich our trip to FD at this point in time... LOL So, I won't.

But - I totally get it... I cannot wait to go back in the fall again, and I cannot wait to go during the holidays - some day, I will quit talking about it and actually do it.

D~

Oh I am sure your TA would understand! (I thought we used to have a winky smiley...) Maybe there will be a good bounceback offer in your room with Free Dining!


======

My 36th anniversary is coming up in 11 days. We had planned on taking a short trip(just the two of us). Something we used to do all the time, but we haven't done in about 5 years. Everything was in place...except for deciding where we were going.

I spent all day...ok maybe NOT ALL day, but at least 4 hours yesterday afternoon... looking at different spots. Priced out about 15 or 20 different options...only to find out that my oldest daughter (the one with the new baby) has decided that watching my two little ones, Miss B and Mr D, would be too much on her.

I had a feeling it was going to be hard on her. She is a perfectionist and a clean freak. Her house has not been 'clean and tidy' since the baby came... I completely understand that this is something she is not as comfortable doing as she thought she would be. So now, the trip is off.

Not a big deal, I will save a ton of money that can now go for Disney. And truthfully, I am going to have a minor surgical procedure two days before, so I am not 100% sure I am going to feel like taking a trip so soon. Hubby is more upset about the cancelled trip than I am. So I guess we will do dinner and a movie like normal...and pick up the kids afterward.

I think we will start planning our 40th anniversary now... Our plans for the 30th and 35th were put on hold. Actually they were cancelled! Our 30th was to be a vow renewal...and our first grand princess decided that was when she was coming...and last year we were going to take a cruise...and the grand princess was having so much trouble with her foot...


Wow...that sounds like I am whining.... I'm not... at least I think I'm not! Maybe I am....time for an attitude check! LOL!


Nini

 

[cogero]

My parents are planning their 50th anniversary for next June.

I want to plan something for my 20th in 2017. I am debating Aulani or a vow renewal in Disney with the kids.

It is just something I want to do and I really don't care if anyone else comes

It is hard adjusting to the baby. I know this one has been tough for me.

 

[NiniMorris]

My parents are planning their 50th anniversary for next June.

I want to plan something for my 20th in 2017. I am debating Aulani or a vow renewal in Disney with the kids.

It is just something I want to do and I really don't care if anyone else comes

It is hard adjusting to the baby. I know this one has been tough for me.

I would vote for a vow renewal on a Disney Cruise....a vow renewal at Disney costs as much as a wedding at Disney. We looked into it for our 35th...but it was way too expensive. Disney cruises are more lenient and easy to do.

Nini