Alaska on July 19th, 2011 "Where a good tan is hard to find"

[Meskamooska]

Hi All,

Well, it is official... I have started my FE gift planning and supply acquiring. I saw so many good ideas over on the Handmade FE thread that I really got inspired!

Oh, and I had to call the cruise line today and they told me that the carryon bag is limited to 9"X14"x22" for the Vancouver sailing. I don't know if this is different from the usual but I thought I would share the info just in case it is.

That is pretty much the size of my camera bag so I am strongly considering shipping my FE items to the ship ahead of time to save luggage space.

I like the idea of packing a bag inside a bag to give room for goodies acquired on the trip. Of course I could just cut the hubby down to a couple pairs of skivvies and a suit for Palo and then I would have PLENTY of room for stuff

Take care, help lots of people and have a great weekend!

 

["Got Disney"]

Hi All,

Well, it is official... I have started my FE gift planning and supply acquiring. I saw so many good ideas over on the Handmade FE thread that I really got inspired!

Oh, and I had to call the cruise line today and they told me that the carry on bag is limited to 9"X14"x22" for the Vancouver sailing. I don't know if this is different from the usual but I thought I would share the info just in case it is.

That is pretty much the size of my camera bag so I am strongly considering shipping my FE items to the ship ahead of time to save luggage space.

I like the idea of packing a bag inside a bag to give room for goodies acquired on the trip. Of course I could just cut the hubby down to a couple pairs of skivvies and a suit for Palo and then I would have PLENTY of room for stuff

Take care, help lots of people and have a great weekend!

Welcome aboard and I will add you this weekend. To tired tonight I see were neighbors...I live in La Mesa. Wow that is small for a carry on. Ours have always been bigger than that.Matter of fact we have always had a small rolling suitcase. Will have to double check with another CM when the time comes. Sometimes one says one thing ans others say something else. I will ask for a supervisor

 

[Schachteles]

Hi All,

Well, it is official... I have started my FE gift planning and supply acquiring. I saw so many good ideas over on the Handmade FE thread that I really got inspired!

Oh, and I had to call the cruise line today and they told me that the carryon bag is limited to 9"X14"x22" for the Vancouver sailing. I don't know if this is different from the usual but I thought I would share the info just in case it is.

That is pretty much the size of my camera bag so I am strongly considering shipping my FE items to the ship ahead of time to save luggage space.

I like the idea of packing a bag inside a bag to give room for goodies acquired on the trip. Of course I could just cut the hubby down to a couple pairs of skivvies and a suit for Palo and then I would have PLENTY of room for stuff

Take care, help lots of people and have a great weekend!

I have been thinking about my FEs too, but it is tough to start since we don't know the numbers yet...guess I need to start thinking so at least I have a plan in place when the time comes.

That is interesting about the carryons. I thought about shipping my FE stuff too, but do you worry about it since it is going into Canada??

 

[mrtobias]

I have not been onboard with this thread for a while. Work has been crazy! So I figured out how to fix that - I am retiring on June 30! Now I can spend more time playing and planning Disney trips.

In fact DD and I are heading to Disneyland on June 11 for the opening of Summer Night Fantastic - really looking forward to seeing the new show in Grand Adventure...

Soon I will have time for FE. I also requested - finally to join the Facebook thread. Now to figure out how to put the logo at the bottom using Firefox (help)

 

[ImTooExcitedToSleep]

In fact DD and I are heading to Disneyland on June 11 for the opening of Summer Night Fantastic - really looking forward to seeing the new show in Grand Adventure...

You're gonna be there on opening day?? That's crazy....I'm gonna wait til the next day.

After all the sneak peaks, I'm SOOOO excited about World of Color.

 

[mrtobias]

Well I will be there all weekend using up some expiring DVC points and staying at Grand California Villas for the first time.

 

[Meskamooska]

I have been thinking about my FEs too, but it is tough to start since we don't know the numbers yet...guess I need to start thinking so at least I have a plan in place when the time comes.

That is interesting about the carryons. I thought about shipping my FE stuff too, but do you worry about it since it is going into Canada??

Hi!

I am less worried about it going to Canada than I am about the fact that we are a guarantee cabin so I won't know how to appropriately address it until pretty late in the game.

Of course if we don't include any food item than I might be able to scrunch the hubby's things into one case and still have room for the FE items and my shoes

I am actually more concerned about the fact that I was told the size limit on the carry on and, if that proves to be accurate, that is just about the size of my camera bag without leaving any room for anything else so... there goes my plan to carry on a couple bottles of wine for the hubby or any prepackaged snacks for the shows.

I hear you on the not being able to plan for amounts re: FE items, but I am not really too concerned about that. Actually, I am so excited about getting started that my problem may be over-production. Then again, what might be the wiser course of action would be to pull together the ingredients but wait until just before they have to be either packed or shipped to do the assembly. A lot will depend upon how ambitious I remain as things draw closer.

Boy am I glad they don't charge extra for the anticipation, planning or dreaming stage otherwise I would NEVER be able to afford this

Take care, help lots of people and have a "Wonder"ful day!

 

[ImTooExcitedToSleep]

I have been thinking about my FEs too, but it is tough to start since we don't know the numbers yet...guess I need to start thinking so at least I have a plan in place when the time comes.

That is interesting about the carryons. I thought about shipping my FE stuff too, but do you worry about it since it is going into Canada??

Hope you had a great birthday today!!!

 

[Meskamooska]

Hi All,

I just spent the better part of 3.5 hours reading every single post on this thread and it has been a revelation! I learned about new babies, grandmas, birthdays, DL, WDW and DCL trips aplenty and now feel a lot less like a stranger 'round these here parts.

I am still in the dark about what a "House Party", but that will come with time... It has also been very interesting to find that a lot of the questions that I have regarding planning for this trip have already been answered. Amazing!

My DH and I are, at this point, planning to drive up to Vancouver from Claremont, CA, USA. My DH's oldest son and my DGD live in Washington so we are planning to squeeze in a visit with them on the way back.

Any suggestions for short side trips would be appreciated.

Hmm, I just looked at the clock on my monitor and realized that it is wickedly late (which explains why my eyes feel like they weigh a ton) so I better type off before I begin to ramble.

Take care all, help lots of people and have a great rest of your weekend!

 

[Meskamooska]

I have not been onboard with this thread for a while. Work has been crazy! So I figured out how to fix that - I am retiring on June 30! Now I can spend more time playing and planning Disney trips.

In fact DD and I are heading to Disneyland on June 11 for the opening of Summer Night Fantastic - really looking forward to seeing the new show in Grand Adventure...

Soon I will have time for FE. I also requested - finally to join the Facebook thread. Now to figure out how to put the logo at the bottom using Firefox (help)

Hi!

First of all, Congrats on your retirement! Of course, if you are anything like the other folks I know who have retired of late, you might want to start stockpiling sleep now as they all seem to be even busier now that they don't officially punch a clock than they were when the did !

As for your question regarding how to put the cruise logo into your signature. I just fought with this last night and here's how I did it.

Go to the "Quick links" tab on the red navigation bar at the top of this page and click on that.

Then scroll down to "Edit Signature" and click there.

At the top of the message box (which looks pretty much the same as the message box used to type a reply to a thread) you will see a little icon, third from the right that looks like mountains with a sun in the background, click on that.

A small box will open up asking for the Image URL, it will have "http://" already in there, delete that. Copy and paste this code in the box:

"http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y107/emmaandamber/image001.png" (without the quotation marks), you will also need to type

at the very end after the .png, you will get this logo

Then click the preview signature button at the bottom of the section to make sure things look good to you. If they do, click the save button...

And there you are! One nifty cruise logo added to your signature and available wherever fine signatures are viewed!

Please let us know how the new show is and have a wonderful time when you go.

Take care, help lots of people and have a wonderful day!

 

[mrtobias]

Thank you - I got my signature all fixed up. Feels like one more step closer to the cruise

I hope all of the experienced FE'ers will share general ideas for what to include. I am a novice and want to play!

I had not considered driving up. That might be fun to do if DD can get away for the extra time. I have family to visit in Seattle and old friends in Oregon that it would be great to see. Hmmm - have to think about that.

Here's to a wonderful week!

 

[Meskamooska]

Hi and You Are Welcome!

I am glad to see that the instructions made sense and that you were able to add the graphic with (hopefully) minimum difficulty.

Regarding FE items, there is a very inspiring (or intimidating depending upon your point of view thread on hand made FE gifts. I am by no means an expert as they didn't do those that I knew of on my last cruise in '05 but I have read literally every post on the hand made thread so I feel that I might be up to speed.

Things displayed there ranged from pre-wrapped candy and suckers including custom labeled items to magnets, mugs, koozies (the foam things that surround soda cans) earrings, keychains, bookmarks, zip ties, hand sanitizer, games for the kids, picture frames and even beautifully done oil paintings (those alone are worth wading through the entire 55+ page thread).

It appears that the sky is pretty much the limit as far as creativity goes, but you don't have to be Martha Stewart's more talented cousin participate, you just need to have a sense of fun, a desire to share and a place for others to put your goodies!

I would also recommend, although it wouldn't be mandatory but might make things easier, a visit to the Cruise Magnets thread to order some door magnets if you are not graphically inclined. This will make it much easier for you to find your cabin in a sea of similar doors and also will aid other DISer's in finding your stateroom when it comes time to drop off goodies.

As for the place to put the goodies, some folks have said that there are people who sell them on ebay. I haven't checked that out but really don't think I will as I would rather make something custom for my Peeps (I tend to be the crafty sort so...). Of course if you don't fall into that camp you can get those plastic shoe bags that hang and decorate the pockets with whatever you like.

If I get inspired (and get a good deal on fabric) I will probably be able to make a few for other folks who are not endowed with either the time or the inclination. After all, I will be making them for my friends and family who are traveling on this cruise with us anyway so what are one or two more in the grand scheme of things.

Let me know if you need help in this area and I will try to oblige.

I have family in WA as well. My oldest step son and my beautiful DGD live there so my hubby and I will be stopping for a visit on the way back from the cruise. Seeing Catherine (my DGD who will be 3 then) is even more exciting than the cruise and that is saying something. There really should be a law that when your kids have kids they should be required to live within a stone's throw of their doting grandparents.

I am doing additional research on places to park my car while we are on the cruise and have heard on the Cruise Addicts board that there are some local hotels near the port that offer stay and park combos so as I find out more I will gladly share it with all those here.

Take care, help lots of people and have a wonderful day!

 

[Meskamooska]

Hi All,

Today is a happy day, a very happy day, I have finally achieved one of my life's ambitions born in childhood, nurtured in youth and achieved in adulthood. Today I am finally, officially a Mouseketeer and I couldn't be much happier!

When I was a little girl and they were doing the auditions for the New Mickey Mouse Club, I begged my mom to take me to try out and I still remember vividly her telling me no because I didn't sing or dance and couldn't do anything like what they would be looking for. I spent the day in tears and then when they debuted the show I also remember vividly seeing the Mousketeer Roll Call (and sitting by the TV shouting my name right after Julie Piekarski said her's) and seeing Mindy, the youngest member of the troupe who they found at that open call and who was around my age and couldn't do anything either.

But today, after five years of membership here at the DISboards (albeit with a pretty long dry spell in between my initial joining and my current activity) I achieved sweet vindication!

In fact, I think I will sing a couple of choruses of "Surprise Day" in celebration and with a sense of entitlement that I have never had before!

Take care all, help lots of people and have a "Wonder"ful upcoming week!

 

[mrtobias]

M-I-C-K-E-Y
Why? Because we like you!
M-O-U-S-E

Congratulations!

 

[Schachteles]

Hope you had a great birthday today!!!

Thanks It was a nice day!

 

[Meskamooska]

Thanks It was a nice day!

Hi!

I was going to send you belated Birthday greetings but think that sending an UnBirthday Wish is far more appropriate!

I hope you and yours have a prosperous, joy-filled, "Magic"al, "Wonder"ful year, the type of year "Dream"s are made of!

Take care, help lots of people and have a great day!

 

[Schachteles]

Hi!

I was going to send you belated Birthday greetings but think that sending an UnBirthday Wish is far more appropriate!

I hope you and yours have a prosperous, joy-filled, "Magic"al, "Wonder"ful year, the type of year "Dream"s are made of!

Take care, help lots of people and have a great day!

Thanks so much...UnBirthday's are great!!

 

[Meskamooska]

I think they are too, especially because you get more of them to celebrate every year than you do regular ol' birthdays but you still only have to add a year one time annually!

Take care, help lots of people and have a great day!

 

[Meskamooska]

Hi All,

So I was talking to the hubby (My Mel earlier this evening after I had spent some time perusing the FE thread and looking at the ones that others had made. I asked him if he wanted any specific logo or character on his FE pocket.

Now I didn't really expect any answer in particular and I really wouldn't have been surprised by a totally noncommittal "its up to you", but what I really wasn't prepared for was an emphatic, excited and almost instantaneous answer... Pirates!

He wants Pirate Mickey's on his pocket, who knew? So I am now off to find Pirate Mickey graphics so that I can get a bit of a jump on this. I know we have a bit of time but it is always amazing to me how quickly the time passes and I have also found that every time I have decided to put something off for "a bit" I wind up having to finish up twenty projects with barely one day to do them all.

If anyone has any great suggestions for where I can find a variety of Pirate Mickey's I would be grateful.

Now if only I was as definite about my choice that would be a very good thing.

Take care all, help lots of people and have a great day!

 

[ImTooExcitedToSleep]

I posted this over on the DIS Unplugged boards yesterday, but though I should share we you all too because not all of you are Facebook friends (yet).

We lost my Dad today.

It was unexpected, but expected.

Dad was diagnosed with melanoma in his lungs 2 years ago. The treatment (which didn't end up curing the cancer) left him on oxygen.

We knew the cancer would eventually take him, but that's not what happened.

This morning the power company was working in the area and turned off the power. Notices were sent, and my Mom had everything ready for him to switch over from the concentrator to regular oxygen tanks. We'll never know what really happenend, but they found him on the ground near the oxygen tanks. He was already gone.

Thanks to everyone on Facebook for their prayers and PD today. It's amazing what a family we are here on the DIS.