2014 - The best is Yet to Come - planning for the Anniversary Trip

[Luvchefmic]

I'm here to encourage you too ! In fact lets encourage each other ( after Thanksgiving because I have 3 days off and intend to eat & sleep and just be lazy )

I only have 3 months until that Princess 1/2 marathon so need to really get inspiration I have not reached the point yet of admitting it may be beyond what I can really physically do We can help each other OK ?

Happy Birthday to Cale ! How's his knee ?

Love the name for the little kitty very happy she & T are getting along

Miss you Glad to see you posting

 

[sewmess]

I'm here to encourage you too ! In fact lets encourage each other ( after Thanksgiving because I have 3 days off and intend to eat & sleep and just be lazy )

I only have 3 months until that Princess 1/2 marathon so need to really get inspiration I have not reached the point yet of admitting it may be beyond what I can really physically do We can help each other OK ?

Happy Birthday to Cale ! How's his knee ?

Love the name for the little kitty very happy she & T are getting along

Miss you Glad to see you posting

I am probably going to have to get really serious after the start of the year, but I'm still trying to do at least one thing each morning to get in the habit.

Cale's ok - he over did it a couple of days ago on the knee and now it's bothering him. The rainy cold weather isn't helping him either. Nor is his work, which has gone downhill as he deals with what he refers to as the "B" team.

Glad to be here when I can. Busy this time of year at work and while I sit at a desk, I'm a little swamped with work stuff.

T and Adora are funny when they play. T is so big that when he really tries to play, he scares her a little and she gets spitty. Most of the time he just looks at her while she bats at his nose.

Miss you too. Love following your adventures on your TR

 

[DMGeurts]

Good morning Ruth... Such a bummer about Cale over doing it. I hope he is able to rest a little over Thanksgiving and let his knee heal. LOL about T and Adora... They sound so cute!

I know I am a bit early - but I won't have time to do this tomorrow. So, I hope both of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

D~

 

[Luvchefmic]

Let me add to that too as its a heading to Disney day for us !

 

[DMGeurts]

Hi Ruth and Cale... I know I am a bit early - but I wanted to stop by to wish you...

D~

 

[sewmess]

Thanks for the holiday messages!!

I've been out of the DIS loop for a while due to strenuous work schedule, the holidays and general stuff.

Here's hoping 2014 is not so much the Year of the Suck, as 2013 was. However, my hopes are dropping, sad to say. Work Side: I have one employee out for most of this week, still have two positions open and am having a rough time getting the time to get the filled. Home Side: Cale was just (I mean today, 1/6/14) in a car accident and he's jumping through hoops just to have what is in our policy taken care of. And he's missing work. He does think the car is fixable, though, so that's a plus.

Not much Disney planning over the holidays: but there has been some little talk...as in Cale asking "Are we doing the anniversary at the beginning or the end of the stay?" The plan is to stay in a deluxe resort for at least the anniversary night, if not two.

 

[Luvchefmic]

Been Waaaaay tooo long get over here and tell us what is going on Disney/Anniversary plans life update etc been thinking about you guys especially with all the lousy weather Sorry to hear about Cale's accident thankful he didn't get hurt


Fred's been driving ( or trying too ) in a lot of storm hit areas and the paychecks have really taken a hit due to all the delays I've been working average 50 hours a week for some time now to make up for it Thank God the weather has steadied back to Florida weather here after the first 2 weeks of Jan had us in 30 and lower degrees ( yes that's a heat wave for most of the country) but the cold went right through me and knocked me out physically ended up losing about 8 days of work NOT good

I miss you

 

[sewmess]

So, January was not so good for a while. It was unusually cold here (and there, and hither and yon too) and while it didn't actually effect us seriously, there was the stress of making sure pipes didn't freeze, which is very serious around here as Alabama pipes are not used to extreme cold!
About one week in, Cale had an accident. No one was injured (thank heavens) but the Rondo was damaged. On the same day that his mom was admitted to the hospital with a bronchial infection (she has serious asthma)

And that's when we started getting worried that 2014 was following along in the footsteps of 2013 as a YotS; the insurance adjuster wasn't able to get into the lot where the Rondo was because someone (we never really found out who, but we suspect the tow company was the culprit) had listed our Maroon Kia Rondo as a Kia Sorento. That held up the damage estimate for a week while the collision center, the insurance company and we sorted that out.

Cale was hopeful that it would just be the radiator and we'd get back on the road soon. Some of that was the rental we got in the mean time. I understand that there are some people who are staunch Volkswagon people. My husband would be the exact opposite. He got a Passat and HATED IT!!! some was due to the "no smoking" car obviously had been used as an ashtray in the past, but nothing was to his liking: poor visibility, the steering wheel "checked off the degrees of a turn" and so on. Of course, worrying about his Mom in the hospital had not helped either, though she was fairing MUCH better and was starting to make annoyed comments about the food.

It was another week before collision center called us with the bad news. The baseline estimate for repairs would be $7500+ and the Rondo's value was only $8000. They passed on the estimate to the insurance and, right enough, they totaled the car. So we started car shopping.
We ended up at CarMax, which is where we had purchased our last two vehicles. And ended up driving away with a 2013 Kia Sorento. It wasn't a high pressure sale, Cale's one of those guys who once his mind is set to do a thing, he does it. And I'd done my research, so I was okay too. Or as much as I ever am when we do large purchases.

We breathed a sigh of relief and celebrated by ditching the Passat - back at the rental agency. The next day we celebrated more by upgrading my phone to a smart phone and actually adding a line on for Cale (this would be the first cellphone in his life, but the accident and his aging parents made him realize he needed a way to contact and be contacted in emergencies)

We were taking our annual end of winter mental break which, before the accident, we were planning on taking up in the Smokey Mountains. Accident, new car & phone upgrades later, we just took a day trip up to Little River Canyon in the new car, using the GPS on my new phone. All in all a pleasant experience.
Now comes in our life credo: Everything Happens For A Reason.
You may have heard that last week there was a swath of the South Eastern USA that was closed down due to 2! Inches! of! Snow!. That was us. We, after a few starts and stops and a minor layover at my sister's house which is much closer to our work places, made our way home safely in the new Sorento. We were able to keep in touch with loved ones near and far with our upgraded phones.

So, there's hope for 2014 after all.

All of this, however, did put a damper in the trip planning. Now we have a little cushion in the bank, a lovely new ride and our life has not been irreparably messed with by things out of our control, we're thinking about Disney again.

So, next update I'll probably regale you all with our Snowy Day Adventure - because it does dove-tail into Disney Planning (much more than this life update has.

 

[DMGeurts]

Wow - your 2014 has been nothing short of CRAZY!

I hope Cale's Mom is doing better now.

Glad you finally were able to get the car fiasco figured out, and a new car to boot... There are worse things.

Yay for a new smart phone - I would not survive with out mine... Sigh - I am way more addicted than I care to admit.

Very thankful you made it home safely from your adventure!

And excited to hear how your SDA dove-tailed into Disney trip planning...

Thanks for the update Ruth... I have to admit I was a bit worried about you there, and I went seeing out your FB page to insure that everything was OK. (((Hugs)))

D~

 

[sewmess]

LOL - my family has always lived by the "No News is Good News" policy, so when I'm silent for a while I forget that friends have other histories.

Cale's mom is doing much better, thanks

 

[Luvchefmic]

I have a few friends and family members that live by the " no news is good news" mantra too but I am more like when I don't hear from someone...thankfully my Aunt Mary is the same cookoo bird and we talk all the time Fred on the other hand can't get it through his head that all I need is a ten second call say " I;m alive" and hang up if that's all you have time for

What a January you have had, but all is well and I am so glad to hear that, from the new car, to no one hurt, to Cale realizing he needs a cell phone, and especially his Mom is doing well

Now on with the planning

 

[sewmess]

So I teased this story and here it is...Ruth and Cale's snowy adventure.

Winter 2014 has been a doozey all over the USA, and Alabama finally got her share the last week of January. If you haven't seen the pictures of the interstates and other major roads turned parking lots, you must have been in hibernation (which given the rest of the country's snow might just be a viable winter activity) While national coverage was focused on Atlanta, the biggest metro area affected, Birmingham had the same problems.

The story has been dissected in great detail around here. On Monday night, Tuesday's forecast was for a "light dusting" starting at about 11am and finishing up at about 2pm. Contrary to what people in the north think, southerners do know how to drive in snow flurries...well, as well as they know how to drive in rain. So, schools and business opened as usual Tuesday Morning, even though the meteorologists were beginning to warn that they may have been a tad off on the timing. And amount of snow.

At 9:30am the flurries started. At 10:00 schools were closing. By 10:30 it was flat out snowing and the roadways were turning white. And we were closing early. Make that immediately.

So I left work at about 11:45am. By 12:15pm I had gone about 4 blocks. By 1:00 I had made it out of the worst of downtown traffic, but had no idea how I was getting home. Cale called saying he was heading over to my sister's house, usually about a 10 minute drive from my work and about 5 from his. I adjusted my travel plans to head over there. He called back in about 10 minutes saying he'd made it to my sister's house, but she wasn't there yet. About 15 minutes after that he called saying she was home and where was I? I was about three blocks from her house, but the shortest way was blocked by someone who misjudged a hill. Another 15 minutes went by and he called to check on me again; I was trying to get across a major thorough fare and into my sister's neighborhood. Finally made it, parked at the bottom of her hill and walked the last two blocks up to her house.

To sum up, it took me about 2 hours to get somewhere it usually took 15 minutes. Cale and I stayed there for most of the afternoon, but we were concerned about T and the cat. The final push to get us to try home was that we were seeing all sorts of horrible roads to the south of town, but not to the north, which is where we were headed. Going under the assumption that the media will always show you the worst, we headed home.

Taking it slow and easy it took us about 2 times as long as it usually does and when we turned into our little neighborhood we had to park at the bottom of the big hill. This was because a waste disposal vehicle had gotten stuck at the top of the hill, partially blocking the way. But we made it home, hoofing it the last little way.

The first thing was to let everyone know we made it and check on their status. My BIL was stuck at work, as were our close friends B & J, the couple we're trying to get to Disney with us. B was stuck in the hospital where he works; it's built into the side of a small mountain, so that was not a surprise. J was stuck at the college she works at, so at least she had a bed. Cale's parents had had breakfast with his Aunt and Uncle, but made it home before the worst of it. His aunt and uncle did not have the same luck and spent some time in a Wendy's parking lot before making it home.

B & J have three dogs and they were very worried about them (and the state of their house.) Between FB and other communications, Cale and I made plans to walk over to their place the next day to check on the dogs for them.

Wednesday morning dawned bright and pretty and COLD! But we had made a promise, so Cale and I suited up in warm clothes and made our way over to B & J's house. It was actually rather nice. Everything was quiet, no traffic, no people at the time we started out. Our route started out across a ball park which we live next to. We made it across the park and out to the road on the other side with out incident. The roads were definitely icy and as we started walking, Cale slipped and fell just after warning me to watch my step. He landed on his wrist and broke his watch, but no bodily damage. Needless to say we were much more careful after that. We made it all the way to the house without any other incidents, although there was absolutely no way that B & J would have been able make it to their house. The road leading up to their neighborhood was a parking lot. No major damage in the cars, but they were all over the road.

The dogs, after barking like crazy, were very happy to see us. The house was in much better shape than you'd imagine with three dogs left alone. Their boy dog, the youngest, took some persuading to get out in the snow, but he finally went and had a big ol' time. There was back and forth with J & B looking for cleaning supplies and if we could grab some lunch while we were there before we headed out.

On the way back home, we were planning to take a different route home, which turned out fortunate. One of our local fellows was out in a 4 wheel cart thing and he offered to take us to where we were going ... to check on the car and make sure that the garbage truck hadn't slid down the hill crushing all the cars down there. It hadn't and we made it all the way home with out further incident.

J & B made it home that evening. And the next week Cale told me that B, at least, was wishing for Disney.

And with that, we move into Disney planning!

Basic plan is to go between 7 and 10 days at the end of October for our 10th Anniversary. J & B got married 3 weeks after we did and Cale was thinking that an overlap of a few days would get at least close to both Anniversaries. We are also going to try a split stay: A deluxe resort (Contemporary probably) for at least the Anniversary and Caribbean Beach because it's "home." One day at the other place because we are, as previously mentioned, geeky and Harry Potter is over there.

Alternative plan would be to go when(if) there's Free Dining. It works for us well and it helps us budget. The last thing we want to worry about on our anniversary trip is a food budget.

The snowy adventure did highlight something. I want to get serious about training for Disney. I need to loose weight, but I think stamina for walking the parks will be a good goal, with the incentive I need. And I want to look into D's Primal diet thing because the more carbs I eat the worse I feel. And I think it's a diet Cale would probably eat too.

So the next step, now that (God Willing) the winter is winding down (not to rub it in, but the temp was about 68 today) is to start walking. I'm going to look into getting a treadmill or something to work inside on the icky days.

Also I think some spreadsheets are called for for pricing and so on.

 

[DMGeurts]

I am so glad you took the time to write that out... I cannot imagine how worrysome it must have been for all of you. I am very happy that all of you are safe, furry friends included.

And way to seg-way into Disney planning. LOL SOunds like something I would do.

I wish we could go in October, it's still a possibility, since it's our second choice, and it sure would make next winter go a little faster... :whistle:

It sounds like you have a great trip planned, I would love to do a split stay someday!

I am excited to hear that you are going to look into doing Primal... I really do love it! But steak/butter/eggs are my favorite foods - so it really works well for me.

I also cannot wait to get outside and start walking... I KNOW that I am severely Vitamin D deficient right now, and I just cannot WAIT to feel the sun on my skin! Once spring arrives, I plan to do my heavy lifting 2-3x per week, then walk on the other days... maybe start exploring some trails (which I would have to drive to...) but I think I could talk the girls into joining me...

Please let me know how it goes and if there is anything I can do to help. And please know - whatever you decide to do to get healthy (whether it's Primal or not) - I support you completely! I know that you and I have a lot of the same priorities when it comes to caring for ourseves, and how to do it in a healthy way. (((Hugs)))

D~

 

[sewmess]

And way to seg-way into Disney planning. LOL SOunds like something I would do.

I wish we could go in October, it's still a possibility, since it's our second choice, and it sure would make next winter go a little faster... :whistle:

It sounds like you have a great trip planned, I would love to do a split stay someday!

I am excited to hear that you are going to look into doing Primal... I really do love it! But steak/butter/eggs are my favorite foods - so it really works well for me.

I also cannot wait to get outside and start walking... I KNOW that I am severely Vitamin D deficient right now, and I just cannot WAIT to feel the sun on my skin! Once spring arrives, I plan to do my heavy lifting 2-3x per week, then walk on the other days... maybe start exploring some trails (which I would have to drive to...) but I think I could talk the girls into joining me...

Please let me know how it goes and if there is anything I can do to help. And please know - whatever you decide to do to get healthy (whether it's Primal or not) - I support you completely! I know that you and I have a lot of the same priorities when it comes to caring for ourseves, and how to do it in a healthy way. (((Hugs)))

D~

October is the best time to go, if you can swing it. It's usually not too crowded and the weather is cool enough that you don't have to worry so much about anyone who's heat sensitive - like me and Alli.

We did stress a bit about everyone but once we checked J & B's dogs, we all (them, us, Mom & Dad, etc) relaxed a little.

We have a great little park, not too far away, that I'd love to start walking (when the weather gets a bit more predictable) I could take T for an adventure, as long as I went early enough or on school days so there's fewer people and No Kids!

The really annoying thing for me about getting in shape/eating right is that I know I can do it. I just need to DO IT. I feel better when I cut carbs out of my diet, I have more energy and when I cut sugar down or out I end up not craving it, really. And when I do have it, it tastes too sweet.

Cale's schedule is a bit better now and we may be able to go to more actual meals, rather than quick serve things. I know that's where our issues are coming from, but it's just tough to cook the good stuff (even though it doesn't usually take much longer) that we go for ease. Cale also tends to pick up on certain things and stick with them for months.

Thanks for your support and concern. Just knowing there are people like you and Ruthie (and a whole bunch of other DISers) thinking about and rooting for me makes the whole thing easier.

 

[sewmess]

I have a few friends and family members that live by the " no news is good news" mantra too but I am more like when I don't hear from someone...thankfully my Aunt Mary is the same cookoo bird and we talk all the time Fred on the other hand can't get it through his head that all I need is a ten second call say " I;m alive" and hang up if that's all you have time for

What a January you have had, but all is well and I am so glad to hear that, from the new car, to no one hurt, to Cale realizing he needs a cell phone, and especially his Mom is doing well

Now on with the planning

Cale always calls his parents when he gets home from work, to let them know he made it all right. Also, when he's not working and I am, I have to make sure to call him when I'm on my way home or he'll start to worry. There was one time when I was ridiculously late (we had a horrible IMAX related incident resulting in curses being hurled at staff) and our house phone went out so I couldn't reach him. I finally got home at about Midnight and he wasn't there. I was a complete wreck when he finally called from his parents house.

I'm looking forward to planning too ..

 

[Luvchefmic]

I have decided you and I have another thing in common, our PTRs We are horrible at doing them aren't we ? I think we have the best of intentions and then we get side tracked with life or is it the perfectionists in us that make us end up procrastinating ?

Regardless we are shameful we really need to get better at this BOTH of us

DISNEY: going here I'll start, tell me all about CBR recommendations ? Things I should request ? Just follow the link below and pour our your thoughts we're going in Sept BIG birthday Then get back over here and update ( sending you some sunshine )

 

[sewmess]

I have decided you and I have another thing in common, our PTRs We are horrible at doing them aren't we ? I think we have the best of intentions and then we get side tracked with life or is it the perfectionists in us that make us end up procrastinating ?

Regardless we are shameful we really need to get better at this BOTH of us

DISNEY: going here I'll start, tell me all about CBR recommendations ? Things I should request ? Just follow the link below and pour our your thoughts we're going in Sept BIG birthday Then get back over here and update ( sending you some sunshine )

Maybe it goes with the name

 

[Luvchefmic]

Maybe it goes with the name

could very well be that but hey we have a lot of positive traits

 

[sewmess]

Okay, a real planning Post!

Basic plan, way back in 2012, was a 10 day 10th Anniversary extravaganza with a split stay, CBR and a deluxe resort for at least the Anniversary night.

Then the siren song of Free Dining called us to take a hiatus from the YotS and 10 days were optional.

Our anniversary is on a Thursday, making a special stay at a Deluxe for the actual anniversary challenging. And since Cale is a very happy camper regarding CBR, split stay is optional as well.

We went to TL once and would like to go back. And visiting DQ used to be part of the Bachelor Herd’s MO, so Water Parks and more would be nice, but if finances dictate, we can drop this too.

What’s not optional: a trip to Disney , CBR, Park Hopper and the dining plan – even if we have to pay for it. Yes, we could probably save money by skipping the dining plan and sharing more counter service meals, which we enjoy anyway. But our Disney vacations are where we leave the real world behind; we watch a lot of ESPN (it’s football season, after all) but no ‘real’ news, I purposefully leave work behind, and Cale doesn’t even talk to family, which is usually an everyday occurrence. We reduce everything that stresses us as much as possible, including making sure we have budgeted enough for food. With the dining plan, we don’t have to worry as that part of the budget has already been paid for. And the last time we did the sharing of counter service, etc, was the 2008 Herding Cats trip which was our worst trip. Not that any trip to WDW is bad, but trying to get a cranky seasoned citizen with bad knees and the need to be in charge (even when he doesn’t know what’s happening,) a mom with GO Fever, a love sick teenaged boy and “he-doth-protest-to-much” that he hates Disney to align in plans was a headache.

Anyway, the deluxe resorts we were interested in were Boardwalk, Polynesian and Contemporary. Boardwalk worried me with no food court, per se and since our anniversary coincides with the Food and Wine Festival, Boardwalk turns out to be a little on the high side. Polynesian is supposed to be a semi-construction zone with the vacation club villa construction, and if this is special deluxe stay we’d rather not worry about getting a room with a backhoe view. Contemporary had a lot of things going for it: monorail, the Wave (Sweet Potato Pancakes…) and last year we had a look around and the “cheap” rooms (garden wing) suited us just fine as someone equates water with vacation (we’ll go look at some water after a long week because he needs a little taste of vacation. It’s a good thing we’re not terribly far from the huge multi-named lake that runs most of the way through AL or we’d be driving 4 hours to the coast once a month.) So we’re looking at CR.

With all this in mind I started the pricing search. I will say at this point is I’m hoping for some room discounts if FD is off the table, pun intended. Honestly, I’m always this way at this point in the process. Whatever we end up getting will be perfect because we’ll be at Disney!

That's where we are now. I should talk with J about their thoughts. Cale sees them more often than I do and says they are very excited about doing Disney this year.

 

[DMGeurts]

I just love your posts and your humor - they both crack me up...

Room with a back-hoe view... Hahaha - but it's true...

I sure hope you are able to pick a resort that goes well with your trip... Whether it's CBR or CR.

I agree completely about FD - or the dining plan in general. I love being able to go and not have to worry about what we are eating and not having to calculate our dwindling funds all the time. Our 2008 trip was much the same, it's the last time we paid OOP for dining, and it was so stressful to make sure we had enough $$ leftover for food for the remainder of the trip. I LOVE having everything paid for before we go, so we can just leave the world behind and enjoy our 7, 8, 9, 10 days of magical bliss.

Sending pixie dust for some great discounts for your time frame.

D~