A 15 and a 40.....Birthday that is! A 2/20 PTR

[starann]

Taking point from my DIS friend, Jenn (aka, inkedupmam), I decided to TRY a PTR again. My last TR was cut short by the surprise pregnancy that resulted in our trip I was TRing on and then life. Lots of life. Life gets busy, and messy, and all consuming. I wish I could say my time away has all been great, but then that wouldn't be real....and I'm real....about as real as they come!

Our trip is 294 days away. No, I am not a psycho who knows this off the top of my head, I had to stop and look at the countdown on my phone. Although in my mind, this trip has been 2 years in the making! Our last trip was Aug 2017, it was a spur of the moment (we planned and payed for it in 6 weeks) or as spur as the moment a family of 6 could do. It was a little less than magical, and While we were there I decided that for my 40th B-day, I wanted to be IN WDW. I told DH I didn't want a party, I didn't want a weekend away for the just the 2 of us, I wanted a family trip to WDW. Our older boys will be 16 and (turning) 15 and I know there will be plenty of time for 'alone' trips once the kids are all gone. I want to cherish this time with them.

So the who, what..yada yada so on and so forth

WHEN:
Feb 22 to March 7th........yes, 2 WEEKS!!!! That was another condition of my Big Birthday Bash, I wanted to be there for my birthday and for 2 weeks!!!

WHERE:
Wilderness Cabins. I had been hoping to stay all fancy and get a 2BR at a DVC, but since it would have been over $12,000 for the 2 weeks, we said, nah!

WHO:
Me, DH, DS 16, DS 15, DS 8 and DD 5

WHY:
My 40th birthday...and Shane's 15th Birthday is the 23, so he got lucky and we will celebrate his bday while we are there as well


More to come later.....my house is being loud so I need to go for now......

 

[ama123]

Looking forward to following along! Doing a Disney trip for my 40th as well next month. And my daughter's birthday is 5 days after mine so really a 2 in one bday trip. Although we wont be there on either of our actually birthdays because of school not being out yet for her, but 2 weeks later is better than nothing!

 

[starann]

So I didn't have time for the HOW....

Our last trip had many bumps in the road and I expressed this to Disney, in hopes my feedback would be taken and be the cause for change. Disney in turn gave us 2 nights free and 2 days of 3 extra fast passes!!!! This certainly is not the reason I brought my concerns to their attention, so I was super grateful. The 2 nights free were for the Cabins, where we had stayed last trip, so when I called to book our cabin the CM kept putting me on hold. I assumed it was to look up the case, so I didn't mind. When she came back she told me that she found a discount of 40% off the cabin for the rest of our days!!!!!

So now, I just need to pay for tickets! We are debating meal plan, but as time gets closer I will have to do some calculations to see if it will be worth it for my family. I'm leaning toward no. With the addition of the alcohol in the price, it doesn't seem worth it for my 15 and 16yo. So likely we will put an amount on a GC and use that for meals.

Either way, I need to pay for all of this! So it's time to start picking up extra shifts at work (I am a NICU RN). Each pay we get some GC from Target with our Red card, to save 5%. Bit by bit we will shave away at this. Oh we also need a new mini van in July. Mine is a 2009 and due for inspection at that time, and we don't want to sink any money into it, so we will get a new one and go back to paying a car payment! GAH!

OK, time to get ready for GOT tonight!

 

[starann]

Looking forward to following along! Doing a Disney trip for my 40th as well next month. And my daughter's birthday is 5 days after mine so really a 2 in one bday trip. Although we wont be there on either of our actually birthdays because of school not being out yet for her, but 2 weeks later is better than nothing!

Thanks for following along! Enjoy your trip! Are you doing any special things on your trip to celebrate?

 

[starann]

Exciting night for me...a trip to the ER! I ate dinner and started having pretty bad RUQ pain. I have had a suspicion that my gal bladder has been acting up as pain after eating has been happening a lot lately. Some pain meds, an u/s and a CT scan later very little answers. I have to follow up for another gallbladder scan called a HIDA scan. The pain meds made me feel like yuck, even today. I was supposed to go to a class for work, but when I woke up I still felt awful from the meds, so I msged my boss to let her know I would not be going. So today I have been trying to relax at home and drink plenty of fluids to get the meds out of my system. On the way home from the hospital DH was nagging me about when do I plan to start working more shifts to cover Disney. I told him I was doing my best to not puke in his truck, so he really needed to learn the art of knowing when is and isn't the right time to talk to me!!! LOL!

I guess I should get back to my domestic tasks. We are getting a new sliding door today, to replace our french door. Maybe I will take some before and after photos for you!

 

[rdkeim]

I'll be following! I like "real". Also went for my 40th but that was a few (well, many) years ago. We stayed in Ft. Wilderness cabins - still my favorite!

 

[ama123]

Thanks for following along! Enjoy your trip! Are you doing any special things on your trip to celebrate?

We are! We splurged and are doing the Ultimate Day of Thrills tour!

Hope you are feeling better soon!!

 

[starann]

Just got home from hours 40 to 48 this week at work, which means.............DISNEY MONEY!!!! I am to NICU nurse fulltime and sell Posh part time. I am also cross trained to work in Post Partum, which is where I was working today. It was fairly easy money and all OT! I'm waiting for my NICU schedule to come out so I can see what days in July I can pick up. Posh commissions get loaded onto a card. My intent was to each month pay whatever was on the card to Disney, but due to some other things that had come up, that hasn't happened yet, but it will!

In other news, on Memorial Day we decided to go 'look' at new vans. My Kia Sedona was 10 years old and had 140,000 miles on it. We have yearly emissions/inspections here in PA and I knew it needed at least brakes to pass. I was not about to sink money into a van that we were going to replace in July. I'm sure you can guess that we did more than look! I am now the owner of a new 2019 Chrysler Pacifica. My kids are over the moon happy as it has a blueray player in it. My husband and I were all excited that we get to drive a new car to WDW and have a bit more room and certainly more style on the 19 hour drive to FL! I can't wait to get some Disney stickers for my back window!

Update on my health.....I went for the Hida scan. I also was back in the ER for another bout of abdominal pain. My scans were again negative, as was the HIDA. So I saw GI this past week and they scheduled me for a colonoscopy and EGD. The GI dr doesn't think it is an ulcer as everything I have going on points to a gall bladder issue. He is doing these tests to rule out, so that he can refer me to a surgeon. So July 4th I will be prepping and July 5th I have my test. I was at my PCP on Tuesday and she upped my BP meds (I have had high blood pressure since I was 24) again and ordered a tet for some other issues I have been having. I feel like if I am not working, I am at medical appts.

I ordered a dress from Trish Scully for Josie for the trip. It came and is BEAUTIFUL!!! I also got us matching shirts from Kohls when I had a 40% off coupon! Yesterday in our bed, hubby dumped a laundry basket of clean clothes. In it was a Pinnochio shirt that my now 14 yo wore on one of our early trips.....It won't fit any of my kids now, but I may save it for saving sake. As soon as I saw it, I smiled and remembered him wearing it!

Now for my trip....I am thinking of booking a dessert party on my actual B-day and surprising my family. Who has done it? Did you enjoy it? Was it worth it? Would you recommend something else instead?

I'm sure there is a ton more I can babble about, but I don't want to bore anyone!

 

[starann]

I'll be following! I like "real". Also went for my 40th but that was a few (well, many) years ago. We stayed in Ft. Wilderness cabins - still my favorite!

We like the cabins as they work well for our family! Thanks for following along!

 

[starann]

We are! We splurged and are doing the Ultimate Day of Thrills tour!

Hope you are feeling better soon!!

I'll have to look at that tour as I have not heard about it! One of these years I want to do the Key to the Kingdom tour!

 

[starann]

Picking up another 4 hours of what will be OT tomorrow! Our unit works 3 weeks of 3 days of 12 hours shifts, and 1 week of 4, 12 hours shifts. This week is my 4 day week, so I was guaranteed 8 hours of OT, but we got a few more babies in the last few days and the unit needs help. They are lucky I have this trip to pay for!

This past week was a blur of events. Our 14yo, Shane had his 8th grade moving up ceremony and was presented a Presidential Education award. He has had such a rough year that we are so happy for him. I worked Wed and Thurs, having a different assignment each day. Then Friday I had to take my van to the dealer...... It seems as if someone poured ACID on the hood of my van! We have no idea who or why. The dealership is putting me in a loaner car Thursday and going to wet sand it out, free of charge. We had a less than stellar sales person and my survey results reflected that. I now have a new sales person who has been great (and was the person we originally went in and asked for but we were lied to by the person who was less than stellar, and told she wasn't available...she was).

In all these medical appts I have been having lately I get put on the scale and each time am disgusted at the amount of weight I have gained. I am heavier now than I was with any of my pregnancies, my clothes are tight and I see myself in pictures and think, "Is that really me?" I've never been a great eater....I worked nightshift until a few weeks ago and blamed my weight on that, however I have been steadily gaining since I went to days, so I really can't blame it on that. I thought of doing Weight Watchers, but that cost money and I am really trying to stop spending to save for the trip. I have a bad soda addiction (I don't drink coffee, and barely drink alcohol), but soda......oh, I love my Coke. I've been trying to drink more seltzer, but it is not the same. All this being said, I don't want to look back on the photo's of my Big, Epic Birthday trip and hate them because I feel like I look too fat. I was going to plug in my fitbit, but that seems to be missing (ugh, kids). I HATE it when things are missing, it drives me BSC! Anyway, I need to do something (and I won't do shakes and the fads, because I hate the way they taste) so I figure maybe posting here, I might hold myself accountable. My Doctor is concerned about my ever rising BP (yesterday it was 140/120 at my appt) and keeps upping my BP meds, so it's also not just for looks, my health is really suffering, so I HAVE to do something. I have a cute Minnie Water Thermos that I will bring to work tomorrow, and I will drink the entire thing before my 4 hours is up. Start small and work my way up!

So what does everyone have planned for the weekend?

 

[starann]

SO I stumbled upon a secret and I'm debating sharing it here..............

(and no, I'm not expecting again!)

 

[starann]

So It's been a week without soda!!!! I miss it so, but I am hoping for some healthy results, so it will be worth it...right? I went to the Dr Friday for a BP check and my BP was better, but not where she would like it, so I go back this Friday before I leave for my girls weekend. So it's another chance to see my weight on the scale (I only go by the scale in her office for my weight).

I ended up work Saturday in NICU and then I slept on and off sunday, because I picked up a 12 hour shift in Post Partum Sunday night!!!!! However Casey had dental work under sedation this morning, so I didn't get to bed until noon, but he kept coming into my room as he was still loopy and not feeling the best, so I go maybe an hour of sleep total. Tonight will be an early bedtime as I work tomorrow.

I'm waiting for a BIG reimburstment check from the hospital for my lactation class/hotel/meals and once that comes I plan on making a BIG payment on our trip! I need to look up the site to combime Dinsye Giftcards, cause I have a bunch...guess I should see just how many....

Current Tally at least $950!!!!!

Guess My goal for this week is to get them loaded on 1 card and make a payment!

I also have a Walmart GC for $35 for some groceries and about $124 in Cracker Barrel for the drive to/from

I also have to see how the month ends up with Posh as I will make a payment with my Posh pay as well! (currently at $209.29)

 

[starann]

Last week I picked up a few more hours at work....Sunday night was the 12 hours I posted about above. Then I worked 12 on Tuesday, had 24 hours of vacation and picked up 4.5 on Thursday. I will be a pretty nice paycheck, which is good as it is the 1st with my new van payment! YIKES!

This weekend I went to Dover DE and spent some quality time with 5 longtime friends. We laughed SO hard, it was a great way to spend the weekend! We saw Yesterday, which was a really cute movie, ate at a local seafood place, which was delish and stayed up way later than any of us should have, talking about nothing and everything. Work texted me yesterday to see if I could work last night, but after 2 nights of little sleep, I said no, I just couldn't do it. I have to work the next 3 nights and then on the 4th of July I prep for a colonoscopy, so big week planned here (sarcasm font!)

Today I was up fairly early to take care of some phone calls that needed to be taken care of, and now I'm going to walk down the PO to drop off a package and do some cleaning at home before a nap before work!

Last night we talked a little bit about the trip. Hubby was asking about the changes with the meals plans (the addition of the alcohol) and stupid questions about what if we don't want to pay for that feature. He doesn't get that we can't pick and choose the features we want. It is this way or we don't get the DDP. I did the calculators that are out there and right now it says we will save about $200 using the DDP, but again I'm not convinced, so I will keep playing with it as we continue to narrow down out dining places.

Ok, enough computer time for me, time to get cleaning!

 

[starann]

Anyone want to know how many lbs I have lost being off soda almost 3 weeks? Any guesses? ZERO....ZIPPO.........ZILCH! Everyone is telling me that I didn't gain it overnight, so I won't lose it over night, but I am that Meme of JLo dancing that says "How I think I look after 1 salad" I want results yesterday. I had a medical procedure yesterday so I'm awaiting results of the biopsies, with some more tests in the coming weeks. I'm sure all will come out fine, but some extra thoughts would be well appreciated!

I got my reimbursement check from my lactation class, so I ran around buying $100 Disney GC today to make a large payment on out trip. I logged them into the website and sat down to call...only to be redirected to Special Reservations, which had closed at 6pm! I guess I'll try tomorrow (I'll be at work) although I don't remember if it said Mon to Fri 8 to 6 or just 8-6, either way I'll have time on Monday as well.

We are getting some pretty bad storms here, so hubby keeps going out on fire calls. I really should get to bed, as 5:30am comes rather fast. I had hoped to clean out my purse, but I guess I'll save that for tomorrow as well!

 

[starann]

It's me and the Littles for the next 4 days. DH took the 2 big boys to Gettysburg to go tent camping Thurs to Sun. Much fun/luck to them, it's going to be 90 all weekend!!!! The Littles and I were supposed to have a playdate today, but that was postponed as my friend had some other stuff going on (I am thankful the kids forgot or they would be so sad). So I am taking them to see TS4 this afternoon. Which brings it full circle for me.

I'm not sure if I have shared this before but my journey into motherhood started before I became a mother, it started with the birth of my niece, Cheyenne. She is my oldest sister's child. She was born when I was 15 and was my baby. I babysat after school for my sister so she could work. My longtime high school boyfriend, Michael, and I took her everywhere when we were together. People thought she was ours. I remember her being about 18mo old and I was watching her and turned on the original TS, which was my younger brothers. She had not seen it, but was fixated on that movie and sat there for the whole hour and a half and watched the movie. When she was 6 and in 1st grade, my sister was unable to care for her, I had just graduated nursing school and accepted a fulltime job as a nurse and did not hesitate taking custody of her for a year as a single mom. Sometimes I regret giving her back, wondering how her life would be different if I had kept her and she had some normalcy growing up. Years later my husband and I would have custody again and would have to give her back (not our choice). It is one of the deep regrets of my life. She had so much potential...

Also on tap looking into the next consignment sale to see if they still do tagging (they make more which is fine, I just don't have the time to tag stuff) and then starting to gather stuff for that. I had bins in Josie and Casey's rooms, but they decided it would be fun to dump them out and play in them! So now they have to be rewashed and restored. You know what they say about quiet children!

I was able to call Special Reservations and make payment with our GC so our room is almost paid off. I also mentioned to DH that we may do better with buying AP and using my mom's timeshare (at Orange Lake) within a year and using the discount. He said he'd have to see the numbers, and quite honestly so would I. He is using all his vacation on this trip (he gets 2 weeks a calendar year) so we would have to wait till next jan/feb. The DDP is a LOT of money for our crew and I'm not sold on it, I'd rather get AP and a TIW Card and use the discounts that way, but again, I have a lot of math to do to see how it will come out. My mom's timeshare will cost us only $200 (for the week change) and if we have passes and use the TIW for dining it would be a fairly cheap trip next year, but I know I'd have to show DH all the numbers. So while we would save on DDP this trip (almost $6000) we would also have to do the math to see what we would need to save for meals and get Disney GC for that. So MUCH MATH!!!! Guess I can work on that this weekend as well! We have done DDP every trip in the past,it would be hard to give up that safety net!

 

[mdsouth]

Picking up another 4 hours of what will be OT tomorrow! Our unit works 3 weeks of 3 days of 12 hours shifts, and 1 week of 4, 12 hours shifts. This week is my 4 day week, so I was guaranteed 8 hours of OT, but we got a few more babies in the last few days and the unit needs help. They are lucky I have this trip to pay for!

This past week was a blur of events. Our 14yo, Shane had his 8th grade moving up ceremony and was presented a Presidential Education award. He has had such a rough year that we are so happy for him. I worked Wed and Thurs, having a different assignment each day. Then Friday I had to take my van to the dealer...... It seems as if someone poured ACID on the hood of my van! We have no idea who or why. The dealership is putting me in a loaner car Thursday and going to wet sand it out, free of charge. We had a less than stellar sales person and my survey results reflected that. I now have a new sales person who has been great (and was the person we originally went in and asked for but we were lied to by the person who was less than stellar, and told she wasn't available...she was).

In all these medical appts I have been having lately I get put on the scale and each time am disgusted at the amount of weight I have gained. I am heavier now than I was with any of my pregnancies, my clothes are tight and I see myself in pictures and think, "Is that really me?" I've never been a great eater....I worked nightshift until a few weeks ago and blamed my weight on that, however I have been steadily gaining since I went to days, so I really can't blame it on that. I thought of doing Weight Watchers, but that cost money and I am really trying to stop spending to save for the trip. I have a bad soda addiction (I don't drink coffee, and barely drink alcohol), but soda......oh, I love my Coke. I've been trying to drink more seltzer, but it is not the same. All this being said, I don't want to look back on the photo's of my Big, Epic Birthday trip and hate them because I feel like I look too fat. I was going to plug in my fitbit, but that seems to be missing (ugh, kids). I HATE it when things are missing, it drives me BSC! Anyway, I need to do something (and I won't do shakes and the fads, because I hate the way they taste) so I figure maybe posting here, I might hold myself accountable. My Doctor is concerned about my ever rising BP (yesterday it was 140/120 at my appt) and keeps upping my BP meds, so it's also not just for looks, my health is really suffering, so I HAVE to do something. I have a cute Minnie Water Thermos that I will bring to work tomorrow, and I will drink the entire thing before my 4 hours is up. Start small and work my way up!

So what does everyone have planned for the weekend?

Hi, I just found your trip report. I, too, am addicted to Coca-Cola! I do not drink coffee but I do drink Coke or more specifically Coke Zero lately. The good news is that my hubby says that one class of Coke has about one third the caffeine in it that one cup of coffee does. Unfortunately, I just use that to justify drinking about three cans of Coke Zero in the day. I am a middle school teacher, so at times I feel like I need a pick me up to get me through the day. I am a morning person and by afternoon I am lagging. I have 150 teenagers I see a day, and that means 150 personalities and teenage temperaments to deal with on a daily basis! If anyone has a teenager they live with they know that their moods and dispositions can change dramatically in just a few seconds, and so multiple the one by 150 and you get an idea of what my day might be like!

Anyone want to know how many lbs I have lost being off soda almost 3 weeks? Any guesses? ZERO....ZIPPO.........ZILCH! Everyone is telling me that I didn't gain it overnight, so I won't lose it over night, but I am that Meme of JLo dancing that says "How I think I look after 1 salad" I want results yesterday. I had a medical procedure yesterday so I'm awaiting results of the biopsies, with some more tests in the coming weeks. I'm sure all will come out fine, but some extra thoughts would be well appreciated!

I got my reimbursement check from my lactation class, so I ran around buying $100 Disney GC today to make a large payment on out trip. I logged them into the website and sat down to call...only to be redirected to Special Reservations, which had closed at 6pm! I guess I'll try tomorrow (I'll be at work) although I don't remember if it said Mon to Fri 8 to 6 or just 8-6, either way I'll have time on Monday as well.

We are getting some pretty bad storms here, so hubby keeps going out on fire calls. I really should get to bed, as 5:30am comes rather fast. I had hoped to clean out my purse, but I guess I'll save that for tomorrow as well!

Sorry to hear that you are not seeing a lose of weight yet. And that you are having some medical issues. Hang in there! It sounds like you are working lots of extra hours and really doing a great job of using that money to pay for your trip! I have always wanted to stay at the cabins, I think it would be great to combine a camping trip with WDW!
And for TWO SOLID WEEKS! I would be
Right now I am planning my own trip. I have not been back since 2014 so a lot has changed since I was there. I am super excited and started my own first pre-trip report! Check it out if you have time. I am only going to be there for four nights. But it will be around New Year's Eve. I have never been at WDW during the Christmas holiday season so I am both looking forward to seeing all the decorations and Cinderalla's castle but also very concerned about what the crowds will be like, especially since they announced the opeing of the big Star Wars ride for just a few weeks before we go. I would have picked a different time but I have tied the trip to my daughter's band trip to Florida at the same time.

Anyway, happy planning and keep us posted!

 

[starann]

Just a quick note to say I PASSED MY LACTATION CERTIFICATION!!!!!! I am now a CLC (Certified Lactation Counselor)!!!!! I passed with a 91% I am so proud of myself!!!!!!!!

 

[jhoannam]

SO I stumbled upon a secret and I'm debating sharing it here..............

(and no, I'm not expecting again!)

Did you share??!

 

[starann]

I did not.....not yet!