An APRIL Adventure in Autism: 2008 (8/8) Time to Say Good-Bye....

[maroo]

tsk tsk...Bossy Betty needs to get a new job.

So...did you fall out of the boat?!? Are you hinting at something?

I don't like boats.

 

[KathyRN137]

Wow, Bossy Betty certainly sounds like a very un-Disneylike CM.

Maybe Bossy Betty works part-time at Universal!

Just kidding....(sorta)

tsk tsk...Bossy Betty needs to get a new job.

Hey, look everybody! I finally figured out how to multi-quote!!

Yay me!!

Fortunately for us there are a ton more "Likeable Lifeguards" than there are "Bossy Bettys" at WDW!!! If there weren't, we wouldn't be so ga-ga about the place!


Kathy

 

[Hedy]

Score one for you.

 

[tinkermamaof2]

Wow Kathy,
You sure have a lot of patience, I'm at the point where I nicely ask people like"Bossy Betty" what the problem is. Glad you kept your cool as sometimes those situations can ruin your day. I am so glad you got your boat and I hope you didn't tip. I would love to rent the "sea mice" one day. It seems like a really fun family activity and a great way to spend a day off. Have a great night!

Patti

 

[KathyRN137]

Score one for you.

Glad you kept your cool as sometimes those situations can ruin your day.

Thanks, guys!

I was truly feeling more bewildered than upset... It takes a lot more than one cranky CM to ruin my Disney Day!!


Kathy

*Still so proud of myself that I can multi-quote now!!

 

[Hedy]

Thanks, guys!

I was truly feeling more bewildered than upset... It takes a lot more than one cranky CM to ruin my Disney Day!!


Kathy

*Still so proud of myself that I can multi-quote now!!

Only took three years. I kid, I kid.

 

[IluvXU]

I want to rent one of those this trip and let the girls give it a ride. I think they would both enjoy.... is there an age they have to be.


And BOO to miss grouchy, that CM needs to go work somewhere else!

 

[KathyRN137]

I want to rent one of those this trip and let the girls give it a ride. I think they would both enjoy.... is there an age they have to be.

No age requirement for passengers as long as the driver is old enough to have a driver's license! (You're old enough, right??)

Only took three years. I kid, I kid.

Kathy

 

[DearDaisyinDurham]

glad you got the second boat Kathy! it gave me agita reading about you having to pace back & forth. honestly. can we just give a little cooperation Bossy Betty! what climbed up her bloomers.

I love the boats. can't wait for the next update!!

 

[moparop]

Boo hoo on Bossy Betty! I'm glad to hear likeable lifeguard was there to save the day! And how fun for Tricia to get to be a big kid!

 

[Dreamer & Wisher]

Goodness Gracious that boat rental was a lot more stressful than it really should have been.
Thank God for Likable Lifeguard.

I share your fear of falling out of small boats. I hope you didn't fall in

 

[KathyRN137]

what climbed up her bloomers.

I'm glad to hear likeable lifeguard was there to save the day!

That's what they're trained to do!!


Kathy

 

[KathyRN137]

I share your fear of falling out of small boats. I hope you didn't fall in

Kathy

 

[mousescrapper]

Glad you got the 2 water mice after all...looking forward to hearing all about the fun!

DH and I when we were just DFiances rented 1 of those back in '94 at CBR....I don't remember much about it, but I look forward to trying them again someday!

and I hope you didn't require this:

 

[KathyRN137]

Awww, you guys are ruining my next cliffhanger!


Kathy

 

[KathyRN137]

Chapter 13: Hats Off to Mom!



Wednesday 4/23/08

Old Key West Resort Marina


It was with no small amount of apprehension that I cautiously stepped down into the little Sea Raycer, clutching the lifeguard’s muscular arm for dear life. Slowly... carefully... I lowered my plump self into the seat. Whew! Made it! The lifeguard smiled and gave me some last few instructions as he cast us off. I’m sure he was a bit amused by my sudden trepidation, not to mention how ridiculous I looked wearing that just-a-tad-too-small yellow life vest that had shifted in transition and was now poking me under the chin.



What am I doing? I’ve never driven a boat before? Whose idea was this anyway??


Oh yeah. It was mine!



We backed away from the dock an inch at a time. It took me a few minutes to coordinate the steering wheel with the... what’s it called? The throttle? In retrospect, it was probably easier for Tricia to drive her boat... I was at a disadvantage being so accustomed to using my feet when driving a car.



As he sat next to me, Billy was full-on stimming and making a lot of Billy-sounds, but at least he was sitting still. My biggest concern (well, other than the boat tipping) was that he would suddenly decide he didn’t like it and would try to stand up and get out of the boat while we were somewhere in the middle of Buena Vista Lagoon! Fortunately for me, he seemed content to sit and stim along with the chugging of the little motorboat as we followed Ed and Tricia, who had disappeared around past the red and white lighthouse:


Duck-a-duck-a-duck-a-duck-a?
Duck-a-duck-a-duck-a-duck-a?
Duck-a-duck-a-duck-a-duck-a?


Every so often he would stop, rattle off a bit of “script” from one of his favorite TV shows or sing part of a favorite song. Then it was right back to the “duck-a-duck-a.” He pointed toward Ed and Tricia as we hummed around the bend and caught sight of them up ahead. “Over there!” he declared. They must’ve slowed so we could catch up with them, because in no time, we had done just that. I pulled alongside and we both continued at the speed of barely-moving-but-not-completely-stopped.


Wait a minute! How did Tricia get into the passenger seat?


I got my answer right away. “Mom, I don’t want to drive anymore!” Tricia called out. “She got nervous, so we switched,” Ed added. “Come on, let’s go!” He took off, leaving me to wonder how they were able to pull that maneuver in that tiny seat wearing those bulky life jackets.



Before I could wrap my mind around that, the resort water taxi came chugging up the waterway from Saratoga Springs. The skipper blew the horn, Toot! Toot! Perhaps I was overcompensating just a teeny little bit when I pulled over hard to my right. I moved the boat just as close as I could get to the “shoreline,” afraid that the little wake caused by the water taxi might rock the boat. Ed had turned around to look back at me and I could see him shaking his head. Once more he slowed to let me catch up.



“What are you doing?” he asked, head still shaking in mock disgust. “You had plenty of room to let that boat pass; you didn’t have to pull over that far!” He didn’t say it out loud, but I just knew he was snorting, “women drivers!” to himself on the inside. Then he proceeded to give me more driving instructions, warning me that if I didn’t do this or that, I might stall the engine. Great! And I thought all I had to worry about was tipping over as I got in and out!



Start dream sequence….


Suddenly, I was a teenager again, getting driving lessons from my dad. I remember how every time I did something he would get all anxious and uptight, tell me a dozen times how to do it, then correct me a dozen times afterwards. If I had been mildly anxious at the start of the lesson, I was a mess by the time we got home! After two or three of these sessions, I begged my parents to let me get lessons from a driving school... driving with Dad was just too nerve-wracking! My mother whole-heartedly supported me. Having lived in the city most of her life, she had not learned to drive herself until after our family moved to the suburbs of Jersey when I was nine. My dad had tried to teach her. ‘Nuff said. The next week, I was enrolled in driving school and passed my driving test on the first try!


End dream sequence….



Ed had sped off ahead of me, so I “gave it some gas” and took off behind him. After a while, I started to feel more comfortable and began to relax and enjoy the scenery. It was such a beautiful day... sunny and warm, but not too hot. We drew nearer to Saratoga Springs and I was feeling so much better that I pulled out the camera and began to take a few pictures.

Suddenly, there was a bit of a commotion up ahead. Ed and Tricia were circling back around and they were shouting to me and pointing in the water! There was some sort of white object floating ahead of me. Tricia’s baseball cap from NC State... the one her big brother, Eddie, had given to her when he went away to college...had blown off and was sitting in the water several yards ahead of Billy and me! Oh no! Tricia just loved that hat!



They must’ve been going pretty fast, because at that point, I was physically closer to the hat than they were. I sped up a little and carefully steered over toward the hat. It was right side up and gently floating there on top of the water Tricia was calling out, “Mom! Grab my hat! Mom!" I slowed down and carefully let go of the throttle. Unlike a car, however, which I’m used to, a boat had no brakes! I began to overshoot my target!


“You’re going to miss it!” Ed shouted. “Reach out, you can get it!” He raced toward me.


I reached out my arm as far as I could, but the boat just wasn’t close enough. Suddenly, to my horror, the hat turned upside down and began filling up with water!


“Mom!!” Tricia was screaming now, “MOM! GET MY HAT, PLEASE!!”


They were not going to make it to the hat in time. It was all up to me. I half-stood, held onto the side of the boat with one hand, and reached way, way out... as far as I possibly could, trying to grab the hat before it sunk to the bottom. My fingertips were barely touching it when,




“AAAAGGHHHH!!!”





To be continued....



Kathy

 

[DearDaisyinDurham]

“AAAAGGHHHH!!!” is right!!!!!

Hurry back! Update the update!

 

[All7OfUs]

Ohhhh, you wascally wat! I tawt I saw a cwiffhanger- I did, I did!!!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Oh, heavens, Kathy! Don't tell me you fell into the water trying to retrieve the hat!!!

 

[Heluvsme]

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have to go to work in a few minutes.....now I'm not gonna know...do you make it? Do you tip? Wait...you're writing a TR, of course you make it. OK, but do you tip?? NO, surely you don't. Does Tricia get her hat back??

Oh the agony....

Fine, while I'm making Memorial Day floral arrangements all day long, I'll be thinking about you....

Thanks for the update!