2012? No Problem...but when?

[cogero]

I don't have flights yet.
saving that for a bit.

 

[DMGeurts]

Well...I think shelves have been put on the back burner for me until after Christmas. Husband announced that since all of Disney is paid for...or as he put it "all we have to do is load the car and go" I guess I am now paying for a few things that he had originally agreed to pay for!

Figures - that's happened to me too recently. Sigh.

Now with the April trip a real possibility, I have only 6 months to pay for it...wowsers!

Hahaha... Welcome to my world.

Yup...looks like we are missing each other by one day...unless you arrive really early!

This is exactly what happened to Chiara and I in Aug... Literally - she was arriving at her resort as we were leaving ours.

I am convinced this shut down will run into the next one in 2 weeks... as long as it is over before the end of the month we will be fine. I really worry for those people who rely on the government actually doing their job...I think it is time for a MOM to get in there and threaten to take away their toys until they clean up the mess and stop fighting. Seriously...I have made my kids hold hands until they stop fighting.

Yah - well, they need to all grow up - Josh told me they just signed a bill so everyone will get back pay. Then tell me, what is the POINT in all of this????? Not a friggin' thing - except to make all of these federal employees miss all their payments and potentially lose homes/cars... Incredibly stupid.

Well, Chiara and I are missing each other by one day...or maybe a half day. She arrives the day I leave. We might try to hang around later to leave if they get in early enough.
Or we could wait and leave Sunday, but that creates a logistical nightmare trying to include church into a leaving plan...might work on that...

Yup... I feel your pain... I hope you can work it out somehow.

Well...today I am going to bite the bullet and reserve our April trip. I will wait until after church services this morning to do it...simply because I have waited too long to be able to call before we leave...which what what I had planned on doing! I still have to decide if we are arriving on Friday night or Saturday morning...if Friday night our ADR day is today, if Saturday morning our ADR day is tomorrow.

I am really having trouble fitting in all the kids favorites right now. We usually go for 10 days, but in April it will be only 7... And with 5 people going it will be hard to fit in all their must do's.


Ok...I don't know if it is my laptop or the site, but spell check is driving me crazy this morning! It has taken me twice as long as normal to type this...simple things like their keeps changing to thier...seriously? I think it is time to stop rambling and turn this baby off...maybe it did not get a good rest last night....




Nini

As usual... Happy Planning!!!! It's what we live for - right?

D~

 

[NiniMorris]

Gasp, choke, choke, gasp...


My April trip will probably NOT happen...


$6030.....seriously? And yes, that is WITH the Disney Visa discount!

So I looked at Bonnet Creek....327 per night?

Shades of Green....only 984 for the room, but then you have to add 20 per day for parking.

Then I looked at DVC...minimum of 220 points which translates to around $3000 for the room.

In December we stay longer for half the money. Now I remember why we stick with December!

Now I guess I need to go down and work on some shirts for THIS trip and stop worrying about something that is not going to happen...I am way too cheap! LOL!


Nini

 

[NiniMorris]

First....Very Important note!!!!


I am down to 14 shirts left to go for this trip! (yes, I cheated, two of my husband's shirts from last year we will reuse this year...shhhh don't tell anyone!)

But I am excited that I will get them done in time to do some other stuff.

I don't have flights yet.
saving that for a bit.

I can not imagine dealing with the price of airfare in planning a Disney trip! I keep seeing people change their dates back and forth chasing a good deal on airfare. Good Luck!

Figures - that's happened to me too recently. Sigh.



Hahaha... Welcome to my world.





This is exactly what happened to Chiara and I in Aug... Literally - she was arriving at her resort as we were leaving ours.




Yah - well, they need to all grow up - Josh told me they just signed a bill so everyone will get back pay. Then tell me, what is the POINT in all of this????? Not a friggin' thing - except to make all of these federal employees miss all their payments and potentially lose homes/cars... Incredibly stupid.





Yup... I feel your pain... I hope you can work it out somehow.








As usual... Happy Planning!!!! It's what we live for - right?

D~

Well, the April trip is off. Unless I suddenly come into a ton of money in the next month or so there is no way it could happen. I would have to save $1000 each month. That is well beyond my means. Especially since my family has this thing about eating regularly. LOL. When you add in that all but 2 of my family members will be having a birthday during this time and that pesky thing called Christmas... Don't see it happening. Bummer.

I really need to break the cycle of going after Thanksgiving. Next year Miss B will be in high school, and it gets a tad bit harder to miss school. So, unless we get a Free Dining offer that includes the dates they are out of school for April we will not be doing it..but I will hold out hope for the week they are off in October... of course I won't know what week that is until after February...stupid school calendars!


D~ we have been retired for right at 20 years...I think we are close to the 21 year mark. I think the first time I worried about an October shutdown I was pregnant with my oldest daughter...she is 29. Lately it has become an annual rite of passage. We have now made sure we are shut down proof. well, not totally, but close enough so that I don't seriously worry. (I am not going to go on a political rant here...but I seriously feel no one party can claim innocence in this one. Unless both parties are showing up to the bargaining table with some sort of compromise they are both guilty!)

Anyway... On to try and figure out an actual daily plan with our FP+ selections for this trip coming up way too soon...or not soon enough...depends on how I am feeling today....


Nini

 

[NiniMorris]

I just HAD to do a quick update for this... For the past week, the ads on almost everything I have seen have been for Golden Oak...homes starting at 1.7 million...on Disney Property. This morning there are no less than FOUR different ads on my DisBoard page! Seriously!

I told husband he needed to work a little harder so I could buy one! Birthday is coming up later this month...think he will be willing to get me one for my birthday? It could be a combo present with Christmas....


LOL!


Nini
Here is some information that may make it easier for him to decide...

The Golden Oak Experience includes family resort-living amenities such as the custom designed Summerhouse facility (including private dining, family room with game area and complete fitness center), community events, proximity to Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World® Resort, and parks, gardens and recreation areas; concierge-style resident services; and Disney Connection (allows families a way to experience a special kind of Disney through Extra Magic Hours Benefit, merchandise delivery, golf package and park transportation).

For each closing on a homesite or completed home by December 31, 2013, the household will receive five complimentary Golden Oak Resident Passes each year for three years. Each Golden Oak Resident Pass includes One Premium Annual Pass and separately, five additional one-day Theme Park tickets.
Here is some informt

 

[DMGeurts]

Hmmm... I could ask for one too - and we could be... wait for it.... NEIGHBORS!!!!

Dismeet problem solved.

D~

 

[NiniMorris]

Sorry..


I was at the end of a long update when the computer decided to UPDATE! I lost all of it. Why does this only happen when I don't first do it in word?

Anyway, no time to re type this morning...I have 8 more shirts to do before tomorrow....


Nini

 

[DMGeurts]

Yikes!!! Good luck today!

D~

 

[NiniMorris]

LOL...

Today I can not remember what in the world I was updating about... so let's just pretend it never happened!



Last night we worked on some last minute preps for the trip. Son and DIL came over (along with the grand Princess) and we made some last minute FP+ revisions. It took 3 calls to Disney to come up with a way to fix MDE, but FINALLY! I can say that everyone is happy with what they can see on their computer/iPhone!

(somehow the fact that no one but ME can see everything has not dawned on anyone else... but as long as they are happy with what they CAN see I am ok with it.)

And...for the first time, MDE let me make some FP+ reservations for only two of our party instead of the whole party or nothing. This has been a sticking point for me. Up until now, whenever I had tried to make FP+ selections , while it gave me the option of including or not including each person, it would not let me make another selection for those who were not originally selected. So we all had to ride Tower of Terror, and we all had to ride Rock in Roller coaster...last night it finally let me make the separate selections

And .....THEN we measured the grand Princess and found out she is coming in at 47 and 3/4 inches...and WANTS to ride these thrill attractions!

On the shirt front...I am down to only 4. Two each for the short people affectionately known as my children... I should be getting down there to work on them today but I seriously doubt this headache is going to be a great fit for sewing...

Looking at the calendar today, I realized that in a little over 2 weeks, I will be entering the last year of my "not yet old" decade. I have always thought that at age 60 you are officially old... so the 50's have been thought of around here as the last un-old decade... and if all goes according to the current plan I will get 3 trips in during this birthday 'year'. Just after Thanksgiving, January, and in April. All ADRs are made, now to see if the budget will allow those trips.

If not...I am planning on a whopper of a trip next October to celebrate my official birthday of Being Old! Since the kids will be out of school it only makes sense!

Nini

 

[cogero]

You are not old. glad you have the MDE working

 

[NiniMorris]

You are not old. glad you have the MDE working

LOL...if you only knew! LOL!!!!

Anyway, thanks for saying that. Some days I 'feel' older than others. I always say my youngest two keep me from feeling my age... Although now that miss B is officially a teenager...I keep thinking that one of us will not make it out of her teenage years... the other three were not this bad!



And speaking of the other 3....
(this will tie in I promise)

Yesterday was an eventful day! I woke up with a headache (not a migraine this time, just a headache!) I decided not to try and sew, so I worked on final stuff on the daily plans...yes, I have been working on them, just not posting them.

Anyway, i was using a program called Evernote. I love the app for the phone and that I can work on it on the laptop and it automatically syncs up with the phone. It lets me add web pages, pictures, anything. It is sort of like a digital scrap book, but was designed for business. I have been using it to plan our trips for the past 3 years or so. I love it.


Until yesterday!


I got the bright idea to print it all out and give it a good look to see what I needed to change and reword. See after it is finished, I can send it to the other members...if gives them a detailed idea of what we are doing each day.

So instead of actually printing out each page, I copied each day's info and pasted it into a word doc. Simple right? Well when I got to day 7...I realized it said day 3... then I looked and realized I was pasting day three every where! from Day three to day 7 had day three's info...in Evernote! Also, I noticed that it was syncing at the same time I was in the process... since I do not have the paid version (didn't think I really needed the added features)there was no way to restore what I had copied over!

Yup I just lost ALL that work I had been doing over the past several months... The actual daily stuff was just the beginning...I had all the info from menus of the CS and TS restaurants; hidden Mickey's; favorite order of rides (which tends to be of extreme importance to at least one of our party!);different website's recommendations; details of Epcot...(how to be able to get all of the P&F adventures as well as all the Christmas stories in 2 days! ); as well as stuff I can't even think of right now!

So, luckily, MDE was working so I printed off all that info and started from scratch. I know it will not be as detailed as previous, but it will have most of the info in it that will help to organize us. At that point one of the important parts was the timing of the hand offs of the grand Princess. Most days we will travel together, but some days and nights we will travel separately. Our break day is going to be the most time sensitive one for the hand offs. She starts with us for breakfast, and then goes with her parents until after lunch and then goes back to us. The monorail plays an important part in this hand off....

So..... we had a meeting last night to go over the final details...after dinner we were semi working on it, when my DIL came up with a plan to get my daughter and SIL in Disney with us.... Pulled out my trusty TA hat and we think we have worked it out in a way that will work perfectly... SIL had given me a price that he needed to stay in...and would not stay at a value. If he would stay at a value it would have worked....

Anyway, I called them and at 11 last night we were still working on the revised plans of GETTING them to Disney. IF that happens, then all the plans that I had previously made will go completely out the window anyway!

So how does that tie into all my kids...well, it doesn't really except to say that all my kids except one (and he is really anti family these days...his fiance seems to prefer her family to ours and they have only showed up to ONE family event in the past year...he even missed his own birthday party because she was having her nails done) will be there for our Disney trip this year....even all the grand kids...ok, I only have two, but you know what I mean!


Now I have to add in a Minnie dress for Miss Mia!



Nini

 

[DMGeurts]

Oooh - that would be fantastic if you were able to get your whole family in WDW with you!!! I sure hope it works out.

Such a bummer that all of your plans are lost - but at least maybe you can add the rest of your family to them and not have to worry about restoring the old ones.

Oh and BTW - for the record, I don't think you are old either. <3

D~

 

[NiniMorris]

Yesterday Miss Mia and her little family drove the 3 hours down to South GA and went to the state fair. It was a beautiful day and they went with a group from church.

Unfortunately, Miss Mia is a creature of habit and did not like the change in her routine one little bit!

She did great on the three hour drive, but after being there for five minutes or so she started crying. The only time she stopped was when she fell asleep. Nothing Mommy or Daddy or even her favorite Aunt B could do anything to make her happy.

Then, on the way home she started screaming after about a half hour and did not stop until they got home.

Due to this experience, her mommy and daddy decided that they would not be joining us in Disney in December....BOO

So....


Tomorrow I have to get my driver's license renewed. It has been a process of epic proportions! In an effort to stop people who should not have a driver's license form having them...you have a million hoops to jump through. They send out a postcard almost 6 months ahead of time to give you a list of all the info you need.

I felt like it was a Chinese restaurant menu...One from column A; one from column B and two from column C.

That broke down to ...my birth certificate, my social security card, a bank statement, and a utility bill. Then, because my name has changed since I was born, I needed my marriage license.

The problem was...no utility bills are in my name. They are all in my husband's name. Cell phone bills did not count. We had to go to the utilities and change the name on some of them to get them to reprint! Luckily they changed their mind about charging me another deposit! (only because husband was in uniform!)

Oh, I could have used a statement from my employer that they had used the e-verify program to determine I was who I said I was...problem is I do not work outside the home.

Last time I renewed my license I did it online.

I could not find my marriage license. I really have not had a need for it in the 36 years I have been married. I mean after I changed my name with the social security people, I have not needed it. I was able to convince the Army that I was married back in 1977 when they issued me a military ID... of course that was within a week of getting married so I still had my marriage license.

I mean I don't even need my marriage license to get a passport!

I find it strange that two different offices of the federal government (Social Security and Department of Defense) accept that I am married, but the state of Georgia does not.

I had to write to the Clerk of Courts in Vernon Parrish Louisiana to get a certified copy. Oddly enough, my son is also about to get his driver's license renewed. He also had to write to Vernon Parrish to get a certified copy of his BIRTH certificate...seems the state of Georgia did not like the seal on his and wanted a new copy!

Last week we had two special delivery letters form Vernon Parrish Louisiana... now we can both get our driver's license.


Yes...that was a long rant... But Disney planning is driving me slap crazy!

I'll be fine. Once Upon A Time is coming on tonight...



Nini

 

[NiniMorris]

I love it when I re-look at the budget and find that here we are 7 weeks prior to the trip and I have more than enough money .... right NOW!

I usually have to scramble the last few days to make sure the money is there...and now I can breathe a bit easy. This is the second time I have looked at the budget in the last week or so and both times I am happy!

Of course, my budget did not include any souvenirs, but even adding them in I am still way over my minimum budget. In fact...if we decide to add a Christmas party in...I have the money for it! And STILL have enough for extra souvenirs!

You have no idea how this makes me feel. And best of all...the kids can expect something other than a Disney trip for Christmas presents! LOL!

This extra good news may make me decide to buy those last few shirts instead of making them....


Nini

 

[NiniMorris]

Let's face it...I am getting old. I don't 'bounce' the way I used to ...LOL.

Today I was attempting to take a picture and was trying to get low to the item, and I fell. Seriously a tiny fall. I was on my knees when I fell so how bad could it be right?

I did not get a bruise or a red spot, but I hit my elbow on the floor. It immediately started hurting, but not in a 'broken' way...more in a 'how was I so stupid ?' way.

Now i noticed my shoulder is hurting. It is a familiar sort of pain. The last time I felt this pain I had torn my rotator cuff. No matter how I replay it in my mind I can not find a way I could have possibly done this, so I am guessing it is just a hard bump that is causing the pain.

I suppose it is time to admit I am getting older and stop trying to do stupid stuff....

 

[NiniMorris]

A quick update on the stupid stuff....my elbow still hurts like crazy but my shoulder only hurts if I reach for something...so I just don't reach for things with my right hand! LOL!!



Now for trip stuff...

All my shirts are done! OK, so I bought two sets of shirts from the Disney store...(with some of that extra money!) but they are done.

I am really glad I do have that extra money...because if congress doesn't get their act together Husband will not get his disability check and Mr D's SSI check is up in the air... and Husband's retirement check is a big unknown. According to the news media (and when are THEY not accurate...right? LOL) he will not get it...however, since he joined during the VietNam War, there is a clause in his contract that states he will get paid his retirement no matter what. Husband was watching the Army channel on tv (who knew there was such a channel) It talked about how if you enlisted by a certain date (and he did) that not paying him his retirement was a breach of contract... the same way that congress will get paid he should get paid. There are several Army lawyers discussing this with the congress right now...we shall see.

As long as it is only ONE check we miss, like the one that comes the end of October we will be fine. If the checks do not come for TWO months we will have a problem. Not a major one, and we will be IN Disney at that time...so I am choosing not to worry about it!


Currently looks like Miss Mia and her mommy and daddy will NOT be coming to Disney with us, so we are back to the plans that I lost in my computer mistake during my headache haze! Trying to reproduce them when waiting at doctor's appointments is for the birds. I've done some more research on the GAC/DAS and while it looks like it will work, it is still the unknown portion of our trip.

Those who know me , know that there is very little in our life that I leave to the unknown...especially with Mr D! I like to have things planned as much as possible so he knows what to expect as well as what is expected from him.

Those that know my husband knows he is a pawn shop junkie! Anything he can buy from a pawn shop he will. So, he buys a $25 iPod form the Pawn shop...it last a few weeks then he goes back and buys another. A few weeks later another. I said forget that and bought Mr D a new iPod from the PX. I mean they only cost $49 new so why does he think he is 'saving' money when they don't work very long? There is a reason people get rid of them! LOL!

With so many unknowns, I can't afford Mr D's iPod to stop working half way through the trip! He doesn't know he is getting one and it will be delivered today. (Hopefully while he is at school so I can get it set up for him today.)

And... I forgot that Monday was a holiday, so I could not get my driver's license. Yesterday was therapy day so today I get to go get my license...yay me.

Well, off to wake up the kids.... today is our official PIF day...even though it has been PIF since July 2...


Nini

 

[DMGeurts]

I just wanted to say - I am sorry I fell way behind again... I plan to take some time in the morning to read all of your posts...

I did see the one about your elbow/shoulder though - I hope it starts to feel better today.

D~

 

[NiniMorris]

Great day to wake up!


The shutdown is over so we get paid....(and we will worry about the real ramifications of this decision at a later time) and my shoulder is not hurting this morning. Elbow is still sore, but not shoulder. so I can stop worrying about what I may or may not have done and get back to stressing about Disney.


However, there is nothing to stress about ...at least not at this moment in time!

Worked some more on refining our daily plans and realized our FP+ may be too close together on some days. As my oldest son commented, sometimes (especially on TSMM) it can take more than 30 minutes to go through the FP line... Of course, that made me wonder if the FP line will now be longer than the regular line...

Working on making arrangements for all three of my machines to go on a spa trip. Both embroidery machines need a tune up and my sewing machine still will not do buttonholes. As I am getting really close to the year mark, I need to get it in and get that taken care of!

The place I am taking then to is about a 2 hours drive... The good news is that my son in law has to travel to that city sometime this quarter...he gets to decide when...and offered to drop them off for me. I may have him pick them up instead... as I still have a bit of shopping I need to do at the PX before the trip.

So..was that enough randomness to make this a good update? LOL!

Nini

 

[DMGeurts]

Yay!!!! I did not read that the govt. shutdown is over!!!! Thanks for making my day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHOOT!!!!

Glad the shoulder pain is gone for you... I hope it continues to stay gone.

Glad you are getting some of your plans ironed out... That always makes me feel better. Your ticker is getting soooo close!!! I am very excited for you.

I think it's a good idea to bring your machines to the spa while you are gone... If you are anything like me - I coulnd't stand to be with out them for a moment.

D~

 

[cogero]

I am caught up.

I found that in order to get Sami to nap at Disney I had to drape a blanket over her.