All My Bags Are Packed I'm Ready To Go - Rounding off the last week before the trip!

[BeckWhy]

So, everyone else is doing it... so I decided I would too. Actually, I started my pre-trip on MySpace, I think, around November/December of last year before I even knew everyone started their pre-trips years in advance. I guess I'm late to the boat.

Anyways, I plan WDW vacations every 2 years. Since my last trip was in 2006, 2008 was the lucky year. I had the vacation pretty much planned out except for what days we were going to which park (and eat at which restaurants).

So basically it all started out with me and my boyfriend, Eric, were going to go. Let's talk about Eric's last trip with me:
Oh goodness, he did not want to go. He wanted to go to Myrtle Beach or someplace like that. The always famous question "why go to Disney again?!" always came up. Eric didn't want to go because he thought it would be boring, childish, etc. I'm sure many of you know the story. So I would make him watch all the travel shows on WDW. He started to spark an interest. Finally Modern Marvels did him in. He's kinda mechanical so seeing how things worked really got him excited.

Anyways, we booked free dining (it was really the best deal for us). You can read my trip report for it, its in my siggy (there are lots of pics). For a basic recap though, this is kinda how it went:
Day 1: Eric lived in his own apartment and wouldn't wake up to leave for the airport which is 2 hours away (I don't know how the hizzy he slept, I was up all night). Finally on our way, I drove the first hour, then had to wake my mom up to drive the rest of the way (her steering wheel is too small and it hurt my arms). (My mom was going to drive another 2 hours to my aunt's house to bring her some furnature and stuff from when we sold my Gramma's house, so she was dropping us off at the airport.)
So we are waiting for the plane:

We board, wait and wait. The pilot comes online and states they are having problems they are going to try something... it didn't work... they were going to restart the plane and it was going to get very hot in there... restart... "Ok we think we solved the problem." Now I didn't ask for window seats because I thought I knew how big the plane was... I was right, it was 2 x 3... but our seats were the very last on the plane... no window and "we think we solved the problem"... Panic Attack! I was just glad it was a direct flight.

HOLY HOT in ORLANDO! Anyways, no wait for ME, we boarded and were on our way. Got to POP and called home told everyone we got there ok. I loved the room, it was king bed with a handicap bathroom and fridge (which Eric used to keep his beer cold). The bathroom was just the toilet and a shower... I hate tubs, so having that big shower was really nice (shh also made showering a lot faster 2 fit better than one & there was no hanky panky, get your mind outta the gutter!).

Basically got to POP and went to the bus to MK for our dinner at Chef Mickey's... We were the last on and stood right next to the driver. Eric befriended him and the driver told us all sorts of stuff (that I already knew) but Eric was so impressed. I think it was a great opening to the trip.
Here's Eric and Goofy:

Me & Goofy:

We were there and no Mickey, but the other characters kept coming around and around... finally Mickey and we left.

Day 2:
Magic Kingdom... We got there like 3 minutes after rope drop ERIC WHY COULDN'T YOU JUST GET UP 5 MINUTES EARLIER! LOL! We stopped at Main St Bakery cuz Eric had to eat... he got a bagel. :rollseyes: Blah blah blah (see trip report for details)... We ate lunch at Pecos Bill's... and right after Eric was feeling sick, so we went back to the room for a nap. Got some drinks there... then came back to MK a couple hours later. Blah blah blah... He bought one of those bouncy balls near Mickey's Toontown Fair... it's like 3 feet in diameter. It downpoured and Eric didn't wanna wear the ponchos my mom bought us for $.50. So we ran in the rain to Space Mountain. Eric loved it. We rode it 2 or 3 times and we were dry. Dinner at Ohana... Rode at the front of the Monorail for it:

This is a whole story in its own. Loved the food, read the trip report... Watched Wishes and back to POP.

Day 3:
Disney Studios... Rode RnR first... Eric loved it! I met MATER!

Watched Lights Motors Action and both of us were really excited about it... we love cars. Eric really liked it because of the mechanics behind it. Some point we did Indiana Jones... through out the past couple of days I tried to get Eric to "test" some things out (secrets)... no luck so far, but at Indy you pull that rope at the well... Eric was so excited after that... he told like every person we say for the next 10 minutes. Lunch at Toy Story Pizza Planet and dinner at Sci-Fi. The atmosphere is great here! Food.. not so good. Eric left this place sick. Went to watch Fantasmic and only standing room was left... Eric didn't want to stand. Went on RnR again got the ride photo... And Eric wanted to buy this hat at the Villian's store:

I didn't want to ride ToT, but wanted to walk through it to get pics because the theming is amazing! (ToT makes me sick.) Anyways, the wait was 45 min so we passed.Eric was complaining about being sick and I told him to just take the bus back to the hotel and I'll meet him there... he wouldn't leave me :rollseyes:

Day 4:
Day Off... Went to DTD and bought all the Mr Potatohead parts... (My bag weighed in at like 60 pounds... shh don't tell the airline, they didn't check.) Had lunch at Planet Hollywood... Eric loved the Lego Store, loved the cigar store. Spent time around hotel until it was time for WCC. We were 15 minutes late, and they told us it would be another 15 for a table... so we headed off to the bar. Nope, didn't even sit down. LOVED this place. LOVED the pulled pork.. yummmmmmmmmm

Day 5:
Epcot... Epcot is my favorite! I live for Epcot. Now in the past most of my trips have pretty much spent all the time in Future World.
We rode M:S, the extreme side... and TT and then went to Club Cool. I got Eric to drink Beverly... and I tried it again (which I will do every trip, you know just to remember). A family was there also, and the dad was heckling me because he didn't see me drink the Beverly but had Eric do it. Anyways, Eric had to call his dad to tell him about the free soda/pop/whatever you want to call it and the Beverly. Blah blah blah lunch at Sunshine Seasons, did the Segway thing in Innoventions (Eric was so excited), then did the Disney Visa meet and greet... blah blah blah..
Let the drinking begin.. UK, (skipped Canada since we were eating dinner at Le Cellier), France (no slush sorry), skipped Morocco (I don't know why), Japan, and Italy... stopped at Italy to watch Sergio... never seen him before... LOVED him. I started to kick myself for not bringing my video camera.
Got a beer in Germany (actually I only got drinks in UK and Mexico... Eric got beer everywhere else)... the dark German beer made Eric sick... I got a Fiesta Margarita in Mexico (I hate mango so next time, no mango). Walked to the front of Epcot to get our pic and chugging away at my margi... I was buzzed when I got there. Eric went to use the rest room...
Back to LeCellier... For some reason... I think it was raining, we skipped IllumiNations (I will never skip any fireworks again ).
This is what our room looked like when we got back:

The mousekeeper gave Mr. Ewok a home!

Day 6:
Animal Kingdom... We had extra QS credits left over so I got us breakfast... not much of a wait, FYI. Though I would not get fruit topping on our waffles again if I'm walking back to the room, they were soggy.
Rode Kali like 2 times in a row because there was no line, then moved to EE. We kept riding it over and over to get a good pic (free pic) and both of us ended up sick. Tried to find someplace with a/c where we could sit and all the restaurants were closed to change from breakfast to lunch. Did have lunch at Tusker House (wanted to eat at Flame Tree but we needed the a/c). I had another panic attack during FOTLK. Went back to the room after doing AK and napped til our ADRs at Boma. Eric didn't like Boma, I did.

Day 7:
Time to go home.. we hung out at the hotel til ME picked us up. We were dressed in sweaters and stuff because we knew it was going to be cold in NY. It was HOT.
WDW from the plane:

Eric's family picked us up at the airport and we went home.


So anyways, after that trip Eric couldn't wait to go back. So I was excited for our next trip! Let the planning begin...

 

[BeckWhy]

Ok, where was I? (It was lunch time...)

In all honosty, I didn't start planning the next trip right after the 2006 one. But with the introduction of the Year of a Million Dreams celebration it really made me wanna go ASAP. So I considered going December 2007.

Just a little info: I've had a terrible time finding a job after I graduated college. I have my degree in Psych and even though many of the jobs around here don't require a masters, they were telling me they wouldn't accept my resume because I didn't have a masters. I have no further interest in psychology anyways. But I just needed a job to pay for my cell phone and car insurance for a little while anyways. Around the fall of 2006 I applied at every store at the mall and had several interviews but was told since I have a bachelor's degree, they wouldn't give me a job because the turnover is so high. Well, that helps a lot. So many other positions I applied for I either got overqualified because I had a degree or underqualified because I had no experience. I just got outta COLLEGE! WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?
Anyways, in January of 2007 a local car dealership monopoly was looking for salesmen (FYI this dealership is hated here, even though they are a monopoly, people only buy cuz there is no where else to go). I applied and got the job. I love cars, I live for cars. I was hired for my knowledge of cars, or so I was told. Anyways, I asked to be placed in the Chrysler group dealership (Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep). So they did. That was a big mistake. I won't go into details but I quit a month later... ok yes I will... the used car manager threatened to hit me and I quote "Becky I will $&#*ing hit you! I #*$@ing hit women!" Ok let's not talk about that anymore!

No more job for a long time.. went to Adecco and Kelly Services, they did nothing for me.

Finally my little sister asked me to help with inventory with her store (she is sales supervisor at Spencers). I said I would. Well the DM was there and he loved me. He offered me a temporary position at the Halloween store they were going to open. Originally I was supposed to get assistant manager, but the girl they were looking at for manager wouldn't work on Halloween, so she got assistant and I got sales sup. No big deal, it got me into the mall for "experience." Anyways, worked that... it was ok, LOTS OF WORK! That ended and my manager from there asked me if I'd do the same thing at her Christmas store. So I did (was promoted to assistant manager there). Well after Christmas I was back to the drawing bored for a job.


So let's go back to my planning. While being bored and working at the Christmas store, I worked up a plan to lose weight and my reward would be a trip to WDW. Perfect! No trip with no weightloss. So I started my "diet" on January 1st.

I originally wanted to go in early December of 2008. But I thought about what if I didn't get a job. I would get the jobs at the Halloween store and Christmas store again... and if I was working the Christmas store, it would be out of the question to go during December. I looked at the calender and decided to go November 12th-ish through the 19th-ish. This was within the two weeks in which neither store would be open. Perfect!

Sometime I got a call from a clothing store in a town nearby (actually its like 30 miles away) to come in for an interview for a sales associate (I applied for an assistant manager position back in November, didn't get it because they had already found someone). I spoke to the manager and told her I didn't think that it would be economically feezable (spelling?) for me to drive 30 miles to work maybe 12 hours a week. Then she said that the local branch was hiring an assistant manager and asked if I was interested in that. I told her I was and she stated she would contact that manager and talk to her about me. But she still wanted to set up an interview with me. So I did.

Well, my birthday rolled around in January, and I went with my mom to visit my aunt in Rochester. While out to lunch for my birthday (first time at the Cheesecake Factory) my cell rings and its the manager from the local store (Maurices). She said she wanted me to come in and fill out an application and take a survey. She also wanted to set up the second interview already. I told her I was out of town and would do so when I returned. So I did.

I returned home (at this point I had been staying with Eric for a couple months now) and Eric wanted to break up. I know Eric very well, probably better than he knows himself... and I wasn't surprised. He had been "depressed" the past few weeks and when he gets like that he wants to cut everyone off and have no one in his life. We had been in this cituation before.. a year before, and I didn't feel like arguing with him to find out in a couple of days or weeks he'd want me back. So I said ok. I did try to talk him out of it a little bit. He talked all this stuff and finally came down and said he met another girl. Inside I laughed... but was like "whatever." (Ok, so we dated 5.5 years and I said whatever... I also said I know Eric better than he knows himself... so I wasn't worried.) Well, I thought this girl was a figment of his imagination... and she was, sorta... she was real, his family and friends (who I guess don't like me and I never knew that) were pushing him towards her... but she had no interest in him (well only when she wanted something, like someone to pay for her drinks or buy her stuff). So of course that ended. Anyways, Eric actually ended up going psycho on me and practically kicked me outta his apartment without letting me pack. That really upset me. I wasn't upset about the break up... I kinda felt a drift between us for a while, but also started to feel like living together was bringing us closer (he built me an office from scratch!). Anyways... I stopped talking to him for a while... Eventually I opened communications with him again. I wasn't upset at losing a boyfriend but more of losing the friend. So many people told me keep him out of my life, but I just went from having no friends except him to literally no friends at all. To be continued later...

I had my interview with manager 1... and had not even got home and my cell was ringing... "I would like to move your second interview up to tomorrow. Can you do that? Lacey (manager 1) was so impressed with you! I can't wait to meet you!" I said it was no a problem. I went in and interviewed with her. It was Thursday. I got a call the following Tuesday that I got the job. I was so excited. Anyways, this company is really good. They are huge on upward mobility. And its really busy. I know a lot of people think certain things about retail, but there is never a minute where I am not doing anything! (I'm the type of person who needs to be kept busy.) So recently I decided I would shoot for my own store.

So since working there, my manager (Dawn) told me November was blacked out, but perhaps we could work something out. I told her the plans weren't set in stone until August or so when I book the trip with a discount code. I also had to lose weight.

 

[BeckWhy]

So, for the weight loss... Here's kinda what the numbers look like:

January: - 5.8 pounds...
February: - 6 pounds...
March: -1.6 pounds...
April: - 1.2 pounds...
May: - .4 pounds...

I started out good... went downhill fast. I think mostly with Jan and Feb was because of the breakup... I wasn't starving myself! But I was eating very little. The rest... well...

I have started to spend more time with my ex. I'm not trying to date him again or anything like that. He has some issues that I'm not willing to deal with, but am attempting to help him with. But these issues have caused problems with me... but since I realized I developed these problems, I have got them under control. My biggest problem with spending time with Eric is I eat junk. I either need to learn to control the urge or no be there around meal times. I'm leaning towards the second part, since I know I can control the urge, its just when I'm at his place, he doesn't have anything 1/2 way decent to eat (speaking of which he has told me how much better he ate and felt when I was living with him and how much happier he was).

I'm being semi-successful since we broke up and am not going to risk it for him as a boyfriend (which I'm sure many of you will tell me its not worth it with him anyways ). For the first time in 2 years I'm at the lowest weight ever (even though I don't feel it). I'm not going to give up!

 

[BeckWhy]

So after the breakup, my mom told me she would go to Disney World with me. There are some problems with this, but we have been talking about it since then as if she is going. She went last year in December with my older sister (Vicki). She was excited to go back with me. Which is kinda funny because she would always pick on me for going over and over.

But since I started hanging out with Eric and still talking about going he wants to go also.

So who will I go with? I'll laugh if I end up going by myself. Not that there is anything wrong with that. It'll just be funny.

When it comes to Eric, I'm worried that we'd get into a fight and then he'd back out. Of course his plane ticket will be solid, he'll lose his money with that. But Eric would be a different exprience than my mom. He will ride all the rides (my will not do EE or M:S the extreme side). But my mom likes to shop, so looking around the stores and stuff will be better.

I can see myself going with both of them and can imagine what the trips will be like with each.

Only time will tell!

 

[bettyann29]

sounds like your life has been a roller coaster to say the least.. it sounds like you sooo need this trip to Disney..

Have you thought about a solo trip? Im sure no matter who you go to WDW with, you will have a great time!!

Congrats on the weightloss!! It will come off.. just be determined .. I have finally hit the 40 pound weightloss mark and cant believe how much better I feel..

Im looking forward to hearing about your plans for your trip.. keep it coming!

 

[BeckWhy]

Other than my trip partner I have a lot of details already figured out.

We will be staying at either Pop Century or All Star Movies. I prefer Pop because its a bit more centralize. But I like the decorations at ASMo. We will be arriving either November 11, 12, or 13 and staying 7 nights. In regards to ASMo I won't be making any room location requests, but for Pop I'll be asking for 50's or 70's.

I have also decided I'm going to go to Disney World as long as I lose 25 pounds. So I only have about 10 more pounds to go. For my complete weight loss I'm going to buy myself a new car. I'll need a new car for my new life anyways.

I'm starting this pre-trip in hopes that it will help me stay motivated to lose weight. I know I said I'd go as long as I lost 25 pounds, but the more I lose the better! I would like too look really good when I go. Maybe be a size 10. So I'm going to use my pre-trip as a way to speak out about my planning and my weightloss.

 

[BeckWhy]

sounds like your life has been a roller coaster to say the least.. it sounds like you sooo need this trip to Disney..

Have you thought about a solo trip? Im sure no matter who you go to WDW with, you will have a great time!!

Congrats on the weightloss!! It will come off.. just be determined .. I have finally hit the 40 pound weightloss mark and cant believe how much better I feel..

Im looking forward to hearing about your plans for your trip.. keep it coming!

I definately need this trip! I wouldn't really say my life has been a roller coaster... not being able to get a job sucked... and Eric breaking up with me sucked... but in all honosty I was over it in no time. I went into a new job in which I didn't start talking about it, so it really kept my mind occupied. Plus the girls I work with are amazing. The compliment me all the time on the transformation that has taken place over the past few months.

I am considering going solo, though it's hard to take pics and video tape at the same time!

 

[BeckWhy]

For dining arrangements my plans look something like this (though these are not in order in which we'll be going to the parks):

Arrival Day:
Breakfast at McDonald's
Lunch at the MCO
Dinner at Planet Hollywood (I know, make fun of me)

Magic Kingdom:
Breakfast at Main St Bakery
Lunch at Pecos Bill's
Dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe
Snack at Aloha Isle for Dole Whip for me and Mrs. Potts' because my mom wants the brownie sundae

Epcot 1 (and the meals between the two days at Epcot could be switched):
Breakfast bought at Pop and brought with to Epcot (to eat after M:S)
Lunch at Sunshine Seasons
Dinner at Tangerine Cafe
Snack: souvie popcorn bucket

Epcot 2:
Breakfast at Pop
Lunch at Cantina del San Angel
Dinner at Yorkshire Fish Shop
Snack: French Bakery

Day off:
Breakfast at Boma
Lunch at Earl of Sandwich
Dinner at Everything Pop

Disney Studios:
Breakfast at Everything Pop
Lunch at Everything Pop/Backlot Express
Dinner at Everything Pop/Backlot Express
Snack at Min & Bill's for a Spicy pretzel

Animal Kingdom:
Breakfast at Everything Pop
Lunch at Flame Tree BBQ
Dinner at 'Ohana
Snack will be Mickey Ice Cream bars

Leave:
Breakfast at Everything Pop
Lunch at Everything Pop/MCO
Dinner at ATL or in Buffalo

 

[BeckWhy]

So, a little less than 5 months to go. What to do?

I mean I got my watching what I eat and exercising... but what else to take up the rest of the time and make it go faster. You know time does travel faster now, but waiting for a trip really slows it down.

I got a membership to this video place in my town. First 30 days are 1/2 price, and older movies you can rent 2 for $1. I'll watch all those movies before the end of the 30 days.

There is so much to do, but not much I can do until I actually book the trip. That will happen in August or September. Then I'll go request the time off from work. See if my manager will give it to me.

A little aside, Joy Ride is on cable... Paul Walker is so hot!

So, I'll either get the time off or not. If she won't give me November...I guess I'll go end of October. I'm nervous about the Food & Wine Festival, though. I'm not really sure if I'm worried about the crowds so much or the temptation of all that yummy food and the drinks! HAHA!

Ok, so I get the time off and I'll book my plane tickets... For the first time plane tickets are actually kinda expensive. I want to book JetBlue, AirTran, or SouthWest because they offer direct flights. JetBlue isn't too bad if you book your tickets a couple weeks before you go. I'm a bit worried about that.

Of course I'm also worried about checking a bag now too. I don't usually worry about much. Just losing weight... but having to pay to check a bag... when you almost HAVE to check a bag now-a-days... I have to see if I can get everything I need in less than 3 ounce containers and all fit into a 1 quart bag for my carryon. What do I need to get: shampoo, conditioner, face wash, face lotion, body lotion, lip plumper, mascara, contact solution, straightening serum, hair gel... oh boy... I don't think I can do it. It'll probably be cheaper for me to USPS flat rate box it to Disney World. HAHAH!

I should start my packing list. I don't like checking bags. I've only done it once and that was my last trip to Disney World for all the liquids. Do NiQuil gel tablets count as liquid?

 

[BeckWhy]

Starting this pre-trip has gotten me really excited. I'm mean not that I wasn't excited before, but it just got me more, you know?

So I think I'm going to try to book SouthWest for plane tickets. They don't charge for checking backs but more importantly you can change your ticket without any charge also.

My kitty is gonna miss me.

My sister (Ashley) got a a couple years ago. My parents told her she couldn't have one because she wouldn't take care of it. Well she got one anyways. And my parents take care of it. Anyways, at first the dog was mean to Will (my kitty). So Will pretty much just stayed in my room with me. Well when I moved to Eric's, Will came with me and he loved it there. Anyways, when I came back home, Duke (the dog) got over being mean to Will (he was jealous cuz Will got wet food and I stopped feeding Will wet food at Eric's), so they get along decently now. But I'm the only person who gives Will attention. So when I go away for a week, he's gonna be lonely.

 

[BeckWhy]

I suppose I should introduce you to everyone, since there are a lot of people.

There's ME! I'm Becky, 25, trying to lose weight... blah blah blah...

Anyways, there is also Eric, which you already kinda met him. He's my ex and pretty much best friend.

My mommy. I've been through a lot, but she definately needs another vacation too!

My dad, he's generally working and I don't see him. But he pays for my mommy to go on vacation, so you will hear about him from time to time.

My older sister, Vicki. She's 28. She lives in NYC and works for the Sci-Fi channel. She loves Disney World also, but we don't get a long the best when we are together.

My little sister, Ashley. She's 21 but acts like a 5 year old. My dad asked if I should bring her to Disney World.. and we both agreed it was probably not the best idea. All she does is sleep and drink. I don't do much of either. Plus if she went, I'd have to listen to her ex yell at her all day on the phone about who knows.

My little brother, Ryan... I don't see him much and I leave it at that. He works the night shift so... he's 20.

Will, my kitty... Duke, Ashley's dog.

There's also my manager, Dawn.

 

[BeckWhy]

Eric made it very clear to me yesterday that he wanted to go. He was just concerned that he won't have the money for it. He knows that if he asks his parents they will pay for him to go. At least pay for a large portion of his trip. (His parents are one of the wealthiest couples in our town.)

I was talking to him and explaining my concerns about going with my mom and going with him. I said to Eric that I wanted to wake up and be at the parks before opening. Eric said for him it shouldn't be an issue for him since he is in the habit of it now. I also said I wanted to spend more time in the shops and he said he didn't care about that and what not.

I realized if I were to go with my mom, we'd have to park our cars. I would park mine at Eric's parents' house and we'd leave her car at the airport. This is something I've never done before. Whenever we've gone to the airport someone has always dropped us off and picked us up.

If I go with Eric, this isn't a problem, my mom will do one and Eric's parents will do the other.

 

[BeckWhy]

So, this is probably what our itinerary will look like:

11/11 Arrive
11/12 Magic Kingdom
11/13 Epcot
11/14 Day Off
11/15 Animal Kingdom
11/16 Epcot
11/17 Disney Studios
11/18 Leave

None of those parks have EMH going on those days or any major special event. I just booked WCC for 5:00 pm on 11/12. I'm a bit nervous about eating that early, since I don't know if we'll be hungry or not by then. But I had to make the ADR early enough so we have time to get back to MK for Wishes at 8:00 pm. It'll give us 2 hours to eat, and I'm sure that's plenty of time (since whenever we really go to restaurants we never take that long anyways. But I figure if we don't take that long to eat we can head back to MK and ride rides we missed or want to ride again or explore WL, which I'm sure my mom would love to do.

I still have to book Boma and Ohana. But those can wait.

 

[BeckWhy]

It's official! I got November 11th - 18th off for the trip! YAY!

Now I just have to book the trip, plan tickets, rest of the ADRs and find a travel buddy.

It'll be a great vacation... because I'll be coming off working 60 - 70 hour weeks. I'll be doing assistant manager at my current job (Maurices) and I'm going to shoot for assistant manager at Spirit (the Halloween store). Since I'm top sales at my store, I'll be getting anywhere from 25 + hours a week (I'll be in the 30's if my manager is out of the store, which she is quite often to train new managers of other stores). And assistant manager at Spirit requires 30 + hours a week. It will only be for 8 weeks, so I can do it. The district manager from Spirit loves me, but he may feel its too much for me. I'm not sure yet. I already spoke with the woman who is supposed to be manager for Spirit and she said we could work it out. If I don't get assistant manager, assuming because they don't want me working 60 + hours a week, they will give me sales supervisor, which is almost the same thing as assistant manager in that store (I was sales sup last year and I was actually managing the store). Sales sup is 17 - 25 hours a week.

Of course after Halloween, a couple weeks will pass by and the Christmas store will open and I'll be doing it all over again. Unfortunately, I don't get paid enough to work just one job, and right now no one else will give me a second job because Maurices is my priority and my manager will not put out a schedule more than 10 days in advance (that's the company's policy). So no one will give me a job since they all put schedules out earlier than that. I also need the second job because, for air travel, I need Klonopins to help with the panic attacks I have on planes. (And just to clarify, my panic attacks started long before 9/11, and I do love flying.) I made a joke with my mom that I should get Xanax that way if the plane crashes I won't remember. Well, I need the second job to pay for the doctor's appointment for the script (no healthy insurance here, part timer).

Neither flying with my mom nor Eric makes me feel any better. Perhaps on a nonstop flight my mom might be ok. She's a smoker (a pretty heavy one too), so she tends to sleep through flights to keep her mind off not smoking. Eric will be passed out just because he doesn't know what sleep is. I remember my first panic attack. We flew from Monroe, LA to Houston to LGA to Buffalo. It was 12 hours for my mom without smoking. I had the panic attack from Houston to LGA. I didn't know what was going on. I was really sick. I was hot and then too cold, my mouth was dry. The flight attendants were really great though! I had never gotten sick before flying. I don't really know what caused the panic attack. But it started over GA and lasted through the flight to Buffalo. When we got to LGA we sat down at a bar and I got an OJ, it seemed to help. My first thought was I was turned diabetic. But blood tests later, nope. No one ever told me they were panic attacks (I had 2 or 3 of them ever week for about 3 years) until I started taking psych classes and got close with some of the psychologists who taught. When describing to them what would happen to me they told me they were panic attacks and I had a panic disorder (I had to leave class several times because I couldn't take it). Anyways, they went away eventually, and I have them every now and then. My assumption is that the thought of moving to Louisiana to go to college trigger them. But there is no way to know for sure. I plan on moving to FL eventually here, perhaps they will start up again. Anyways, the last trip to WDW, I thought we had a window seat, but it wasn't (it would have been if the engine wasn't there), and I ended up having a panic attack on the plane, and another on FOTLK.

My mom has been trying to quit smoking for about a year now (she did for a while, but stress got to her). She says she wants to quit before Disney World.

I talked to her today. Eric stated that he really wanted to go but was worried he wouldn't have the money. I told him to just ask his parents. I don't know who I'd rather go with more. Well my mom asked me to figure out who'd I want to go with. My mom can only go if my dad lets her. But I know she'll go either way. She could use a vacation.

 

[BeckWhy]

I am so ready for my trip. I wish it was tomorrow. At least I know that the days have been going by decently fast lately. Of course I haven't booked my trip yet. They will probably drag once I book.

 

[BeckWhy]

My weight loss hasn't been going so well. I haven't been working out either. And with 4th of July it didn't help. I had a really, really, really bad day at work today. Oh man... I feel the wrath already. The thing is... the wrath doesn't need to come, I'll be beating myself over the head for the next few days... weeks... months... yeah it was that bad. I can't figure out what went wrong. I just run the day in my head over and over again and repeat the events. And you know what... I don't know what we could have done differently than to be car sales man (really pushy). I want to think the computer was wrong, but I can't say for sure until tomorrow and I can check the computer. Man it really sucks right now. But you know... I'm number 1 in sales... and have gotten there after just 4 months.

Anyways... There are a few things I want to make note of that I want to do this trip.
1) Make sure to use my flash (lots of my pics came out bad cuz I didn't use a flash).
2) Make videos! Sorry, they won't make it to the net for y'all to see cuz I don't have firewire.
3) Spend 2 days at Epcot and spend more time in World Showcase.
4) Try both slushes in France.

Ok, that's all I got for right now. It's late and I should go to be since I work tomorrow.

 

[BeckWhy]

Well, I'm feeling better about what happened yesterday. I'm almost thinking I just made a mistake reading the paperwork. I hope I did.

Is it worth spending the extra money to fly with SouthWest and have 2 direct flights? For a while, Airtran has been the cheapest with plane tickets. The flight down, which is direct, is a decent time.. leaving Buffalo at like 1 or so and arriving at like 4 or something. Their direct flight back to Buffalo though is at 9 am. I don't want to be up that early! The only reason I really care for a direct flight is because I think there is a less of a chance of them losing our luggage. Having a layover doesn't bother me, just as long as I have time to get to my gate! (30 min in ATL is not enough time!) Well, I'm not booking my tickets any time soon, so I suppose the flights can change either way.

What's the weather like in November? Is it hot? Would I be fine in shorts or capris all day? Or should I bring jeans? I know I'll pack a few sweaters because my upper body can't stand the cold. I wanna do a mock packing cuz I'm so excited!

Speaking of airfare... Southwest just popped up a Ding. It comes to about $100 with all the fees and its a late arrival. $100 back too. Airtran is still cheaper.

 

[BeckWhy]

Did I tell you that I'll be working Spirit before going to Disney? Well if I did... I'm telling you again...

So we have a Halloween store that opens call Spirit. I plan on getting Assistant Manager. This is 30 + hours a week. Now, Maurices I'll be working 24 + hours a week. If Dawn is training, I'll be working around 33. Spirit will start around Sept 10th and go through November 5th or so. So I'll have a week of not crazy work and then a complete week off for Disney World. I suppose I can just do Sales Sup at Spirit and only work 20 hours.

 

[BeckWhy]

Ok, so here are things I need to do in the next 4 months to lose weight for WDW.

1) No soda/pop/whatever you want to call it
2) 3 days of cardio at 45 min
3) 3 days of strength training
4) No potato chips (my weakness)
5) Get my 5 a day
6) Drink 64 oz of H2O a day
7) No alcohol (which isn't really a problem for me)
8) Most importantly: if I eat with Eric, plan meal a head of time so it isn't a calorie fest.

I think if I can do that, I will lose the most weight for my trip. The fact of the matter is I don't have a problem with any of this unless I'm with Eric. I eat junk with him, he never wants to do anything (he's so lethargic), but at least I still drink my water.

Is there anything else I need to do? Any other suggestions?

Well, tomorrow its supposed to rain, but I don't work until 4, so I'm hoping the rain holds off and I'll hit up a hiking trail in the woods. If it rains, I guess I'm going to do bhangra. I haven't done it in a long time, so maybe it'll be fun again. Kickboxing killed my back, so I have to do something to keep that from happening if I do kickboxing.

Alright, off to work.

 

[BeckWhy]

It's looking more and more like Eric will be going with me. I still have mixed feelings and I think will continue to have them until I actually come back from the trip. I know my mom would really like to go. I know Eric would really like to go. I feel bad if one ends up not going cuz the other.

Anyways, Eric and I just returned from a mini-vacation. We left Friday and stayed in the Hampton Inn in Chambersburg, PA. We left here around 5:15 and arrived in Chambersburg at 10 pm. We drove his mom's Volvo S80 which is pretty fast. It's really comfortable for a long drive too. We packed 2 coolers full of water, Powerade, subs, Red Bull, etc. We also brought Swedish Fish, Sour Patch Kids, Ritz Bits, Chips Ahoy, Cheez-Its... I also packed a pillow and blanket because I haven't been getting enough sleep.

We stopped at a Sheetz somewhere. Eric got an ice tea and potato skins. I got a Voss water, which is my all-time favorite water. It's so expensive but so good.

We used the Garmin for driving directions. We got to Chambersburg and tried to follow the Garmin's directions to the hotel. OMG! So hard! The road it was on was more like a driveway. We drove right past it. We turned around in what looked like an oil refinery. It had some trucks in the parking lot and they said "MARTIN'S" on them. For you who don't know, Martin's are potato chips we have here. They are so good. They are my weakness for sure! Anyways I was so excited and about to call my mom and tell her when I noticed they said "Potato Bread" on them. Anyways, got to the hotel and called my mom to ask her how to get to Target because, of course, Eric forgot stuff. Well, we checked in our hotel, brought stuff to our room. The hotel was nice. It was packed! OMG! Our room was fairly small, I think around the size of a room at Pop or smaller. The bathroom was also small but it was really nice. It had a fridge and a lil tray to eat in bed!

We went to Target and it was closed. Of course. So we stopped at Bilo and decided to look for Martin's Potato Chips (since we were supposed to bring them but forgot). OMG! They had so many types of Martin's. We only have a couple flavors, but they had dips and popcorn and cheese puff... the list goes on and on. We checked out and I said something to the cashier. He said that it was the home of Martin's Potato Chips and that they make all sorts of products.

We stopped at Sheetz for food. If you haven't been to a Sheetz before, its pretty cool. Its a gas station and it has all sorts of things. They have Krispy Kremes, all sorts of drinks in a cooler (they have like 10 different types of water), they have both Pepsi and Coca-Cola fountains, make your own Milkshakes, and a MTO (made to order) food. MTO works by going up to a computer and picking out what you want to eat. They have subs, sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, salads, fries, the list goes on and on. We always get cheese fries there. Anyways, we decided to try a Smokehouse Angus burger and Smokehouse frieds. They had cheddar, onions, bbq sauce on them. The fries were really good. Eric hates onions, so there were onions left over. The burger was not so good. It was like a pre-fab burger and tasted like it. It was so not Sheetz. Don't get a burger there. Sheetz also have really clean bathrooms, FYI.

So we went back to the room ate and went to bed. I woke up at 6 am and went to check out breakfast at the hotel. They were serving sausage and egg biscuits. They also had donuts, bagels, muffins, fruit, yogurt and cereal. They had 3 types of coffee (regular, robust, and decaf), and 6 types of tea, OJ, apple juice and cranberry juice. I just got us 2 OJs and went back to the room. Slept until 8 and woke up again because it was too hot in the room. So we got up and went and go breakfast. This time I got a filled donut, a glazed donut, and 2 biscuits (they didn't have any eggs or sausage ready)...

I'm gonna put this on hold, I don't feel too good.