April 17, 2004 -- anyone going with us?

[ehtpnt]

Jan-- if you weren't sitting on the log you'd be a lot warmer. Just a thought. Maybe there is something wrong with the thermometer? Hey I know !!!! Reverse HOT FLASH!!!

Rae-- thoughts and prayers and pixie dust to you for the 4th. As a fellow only we know we are special. So there's a bit extra thoughts for you. My knees went fantastically so I know your surgery will be just as good. Think warm thoughts.

Jan-- Send Rae the belly dancer email... I LOL when I saw it.

Only 12 Saturdays and we'll be waving goodbye! Having trouble waiting.
OOPS day care people need the computer. Got to go. Talk to you all later. Estelle

 

[Disney1fan2002]

I'll make a sign! A big one warning everyone on the ship to hide their shrimp from Rae! LOL. No, really I will make a HUGE sign so you can't miss me!

 

[JLSE50]

DISNEYDMOM: Welcome to the thread. You will have fun meeting your cruise mates. (I am just a hanger on--a thread-groupie I guess.)

ESTELLE: I did send the Belly Dancer e-mail to Rae.

I was not sitting on the log, but now that you mention it, that might have been warmer. I have the fan on that blows the heat from the sides of the fireplace and still it is not warm enough for me.

I ask my friends "Where is a hot flash when you want one?" and they are about ready to beat me up. I can thank Great Grandma Webb for the good genes for hair color so some people think I am younger than I am, but I am nearly 5 years into this menopause stuff and still no hot flashes. More like the reverse as you said--I am always colder than everyone around me. If I am not wearing more layers than most ladies, I am cold but being polite about it.

10 degrees today with wind chill of -10. Ahhh---winter! Calgon take me away.....nope--should be MAGIC TAKE ME AWAY. Well, hopefully someday..........

Jan

 

[dianthus]

Welcome DisneyDmom! Welcome to our thread and to the DIS boards! If we can help you out with questions, please ask. A fair amount of us are repeats- Rae- 7 or 8 right? Estelle- 3rd? Me- 4th, so you can tell we just hate DCL..

So here's the question...
How much do you like shrimp? "cuz if you like, you're gonna have to be quick if you want any.... Rae the famous DCL shrimp scoundrel is on board and from the sounds of it Estelle is going to fighting really hard to get her fair share... Taylor & I are waiting for the lobster tails... be warned...

Let Rae know your name & stateroom # if assigned in a PM if you would like to come to Palo brunch with us- on a sea day, it's the best... She compiling a list.

My DD Taylor (13) & I are doing a mom/daughter trip too!

Hey Estelle~ Hailing from PA, doesn't Puxatawney Phil (sp?) the ground hog stick his little head out somewhere around you in a few days to determine if we have 6 weeks more of winter? Find out where he is & get down there to make sure he doesn't see his shadow. We'd appreciate it, as this winter has been too long already! Tell him he can go to CC with us if he cooperates!!!
So you fib!!

Disney1fan2002~ I just got an digital SLR with an awesome zoom, so if your sign is big enough, I'll be sure to get a photo of you & email to ya when we get home!


~ Linda

 

[rae519]

Welcome DisneyDMom - we aren't as crazy as we seem, but we do like to have fun. So thank you for joining us and we hope that you will come to know us before you cruise so you can join in the laughter!

If you'd like to come to brunch and/or high tea, let us know! Since this is your first cruise, how can we help you? Let us know - we have lots of DCL cruise veterans here and would love to share our experiences with you. And you have been forewarned, STAY AWAY FROM THE SHRIMP! Again, a big welcome to you both!

LOVED the "belly dancer" e-mail!!! Thanks!

And thank you for the warm wishes and prayers for my surgery on Monday. Supposed to have freezing rain/snow Sunday night into Monday.....I will crawl to get this surgery done on Monday if I have to! (So long as the surgeon gets in, I'm ready!)

The weather is just delightful here today - balmy breezes, blue skies, mild temperatures....hey, I can always dream, can't I?

Heard Oswego, NY was getting 8 inches an hour last night! 52 inches total in 31 hours! Unreal. Bet there will be an increase in IcyHot and tylenol sales today.

Rae

 

[dianthus]

Better to have surgery on a nasty day if you have to stay overnight... You can have visions of CC in your head as you are in recovery. That'll help- won't it! Better than sugarplums... What are sugarplums anyway? Good luck Rae, you'll do great!

Jan~ I pm'd you with some info... I guess the suitcase idea won't work, huh?...

Estelle~ How are negotiations going with Pux... Phil? No sun, No sun... Isn't that it? If Phil sees his shadow, 6 more weeks of this stuff? Or do I have it mixed up?

Hey where did all the posters go on this thread? Are we the only ones excited for this cruise? How's the planning going everyone?
2/17 is the 60 day mark & excursions can be prebooked at this date. Any plans?

I'm going low carb for the next 12 weeks to lose a few lbs before we sail. Haven't tried Atkins yet, but a few friends have met with great success on it. A dear friend lost 75 lbs in a year & has kept it off for a year now, so there must be something to this... As I previously posted~ I never met a carbohydrate I didn't like! LOL! Bread in general is my downfall...So, I think the first couple of weeks is going to be tough... but I'm going to give it a real shot. This way I won't feel guilty about being bad on the cruise... There's a piece of chocolate lava cake & for that matter, creme brulee cheesecake waiting for me on the Magic. I'm not a dessert person usually, but it seems they taste better when you're at sea!

TTFN

~ Linda

 

[ehtpnt]

Welcome DisneyMom-- the usual disclaimer for this thread... DO NOT touch the shrimp...or the lobster tails. Lava cake is okay and so is the cheesecake.

Pax/Punks... whatever, Phil will be making his annual appearance on Feb. 2nd. I figure he'll put out a nose and then disappear back into his hole. Of course with all the lights and news people and the rest of his entarage standing around the poor fellow will just look confused. Maybe by the 2nd the temp will climb above 30. We haven't seen a day above freezing in weeks. I did hear about some place in Minnesota where the temp. was -20 degrees and with the windchill -35. By that measure we are positively slightly warm.
This is only our 2nd cruise, I put that in because someone was telling DisneyMom how many cruises we had all been on. I wish it was more.
Rae--I will try and get the room numbers and names for you this afternoon. I don't always get to see Jen when she picks John up at day care. But if I can pin DH down I can figure out their room from ours.

I am off to put the unhappy Doberman out. She is getting really tired of snow.

Talk to you later. Have a warm day. Estelle

 

[JLSE50]

Have you seen that there is a new Beanie Baby that is Puxatawnee Phil?

LINDA: I PMed you back. THANKS.

It is 1 degree F here with windchill making it feel like -14. Where is CC when you need it?

Jan

 

[rae519]

Originally posted by JLSE50
Have you seen that there is a new Beanie Baby that is Puxatawnee Phil?
Jan

Okay, you forced me to tell a story about Puxatawnee Phil......I'm a big fan of Groundhog's Day (plus one of my best guy friends was born on 2/2) - so of course after years of talking about going there we finally decide to do it! So on our way to New York to see my parents, we decide to take the detour off the main road to Puxatawnee, PA. I drove and drove and drove, narrow winding roads (scenic) but whew....finally, around 5PM I get into this small town and first stop for gas (and get directions to see Phil).

I drive to Gobbler's Knob and yup, there's a sign and a stump. That's it. Where's Phil? I drive back through town and where is he? Ohhh, he is in the museum and inside now. Ahhh, so there's no way to actually see him. Okay, what about dinner? One fast food place and NO hotel in sight. It's cold and dark, but I still stop for postcards to PROVE WE WERE THERE!

I start back on the road, and drive - deer everywhere.....finally after an hour I get back to the main highway and another hour, I get to the hotel. In the morning there is an icy fog. So much for the big buildup and excitement.

Well, Jan, I told them the story!

Okay, people we need to remember, others will join us as the time gets closer - either that or we have the run of the ship! Sort of a win-win situation!

Rae

 

[JLSE50]

RAE: When did you make your trip to see Phil? A friend told me recently that they have a special display in the library (of all places) with glass walls so you can see the groundhogs. Yes, GROUNDHOGS. They all have names that can be shortened to PHIL. Like Phillip, Philamena, etc. What a hoot.

Jan

 

[ehtpnt]

Rae--Just sent you a pm with our rooms and names. Loved your story of your search for PP. They keep him in a temperature controlled invironment. Gee I'd like that right about now.

Off to walk my 10 minutes on the treadmill. Talk to you all later. Estelle

 

[rae519]

PM replied to and noted!

Jan, it was many years ago - Michael was about 2 or 3. Ohh, library - that's right - it was at the library not the museum. Thanks for clarifying that. I told you I'm losing it the closer I get to 50.

You should see what I do to my pal Mark because his birthday is Groundhog's Day - last year I got him a dancing groundhog. I always TRY to do something!!! He's got a good sense of humor and I love that connection!

Rae

 

[dianthus]

I saw a Kung Fu fighting Ground Hog at a Cracker Barrel on my way to SC this summer. That was hysterical! It was next to the dancing one. There's a gift idea... for the person who has everything...

When I was reading your story about Puxatawnee, when you got to the point of the icy fog, I thought for sure you were gonna say- All of a sudden the ol' boy jumped in front of my car and....

Your story ended much better !

My Dad's B day was G Hog's too! We'd always blame 6 weeks more winter on him!

~ Linda

 

[rae519]

Linda - I have been laughing so hard at YOUR ending, I wish I could incorporate it into my story!!!!!!! SPLAT!

Funny part is that the room we got at that hotel was the last one and the people that were coming in behind us were getting turned away. Just glad there was "room at the inn" for us.

Incredible amount of deer along the roads in PA -glad Bambi didn't end up on my bumper (I like him best in my freezer!!)

Looking at the St. John Trunk Bay snorkeling excursion AGAIN. Seems like that's the one we will do since Michael can play on the beach and I can hide in the shade while Tom does his thing!!!!!

Rae

 

[dianthus]

If you want to see deer, just come to the Western Connecticut Hills- we have herds of 'em! I could have about 50 freezer's full on my property on any given day, but we don't eat venison. I HATE THOSE LITTLE BUGGERS! They eat all the shrubs, my lilies & impatients in the spring/summer- GGGGRRRRR! They are not even afraid of us any more. I drive down my driveway & they don't even move! One day I was so mad, I rolled down the windows & yelled to one of them- Contrary to popular belief, I OWN THIS PROPERTY- NOT YOU! Taylor of course looked at me like I had gone mad... I used to like the movie Bambi... no more. We eBayed our copy...

Our local municipal airport has problems keeping them off the runways. An out of towner last year was landing on the runway & a 6 point buck comes along and plows into him. How do you explain that to your insurance company? A car yes, but an airplane...

Enough about those little buggers- I HATE DEER! GGGGRRRR!
Thanks for letting me go on a rant!! I'm better now

I think we are going to do the DCL Beach excursion- Orient Beach riviera thing at St. Maarten & skip St. John this time ( my fav place!!) Taylor has big plans for Power shopping in St. Thomas, so I think we're going to hit Maegan's Bay in the morning on our own if we are not too burned from St. Maarten. Last time we rented Jeeps & went to Orient Beach. We were heading for the family side of the beach, but made a wrong turn. We were following our friends, who we thought knew where they were going, as they honeymooned down there. We ended up in Club Orient's entrance. YIKES! There was this wrinkled old man walking by the guardhouse. Tay says- Wow! No buff Abercrombie guys here! That's just wrong, he looks like a human raisin!... We cracked up! She was just 11 at the time. We always laugh about Mr. Raisin butt now... Another, in our family's cast of characters...

~ Linda

 

[rae519]

Linda - that raisin man thing has me cracking up!!!!!!!!

No way Jose! Not for me or for DH - we just don't think that is OUR thing either!!!!!

I love venison - would take all I could plus if I were there!!!!!

Rae

 

[ehtpnt]

Linda-- Raisin butt was LoL material. We have our share of the antlered ones, mostly in the Pocanos. We used to have them right around here, and there are still a few, but the influx of people from New Jersey and New York took care of that. Now instead we have HOUSES!!! Lots of houses. And cars...maybe we could send a few of the cars your way. Antlers look real nice on car hoods.

Two years ago the family DH, and 2 DD and me went to New Hampshire for the annual family vacation in New England. While we were up there we took a Moose tour. Saw a mother Moose and her two yearlings. Here we are all standing along side the bus on the white line looking at them. That's when it dawned on me that if she decided she didn't like the looks of all these people gawking at her we could be in BIG trouble. You have no idea how fast I got back on the bus. And then on the way back to the starting point the guide starts talking about being careful driving home. Moose are very tall and the hood of your car is at about their knees. Moose do not like being hood ornaments nor do they like being in your front seat. Luckily we didn't see any on the way back to the motel.

Makes me a lot fonder of Phil (ground hog, not husband) than I thought I was. At least if you hit him he goes splat...

Talk to you all later. Estelle

 

[RobinMarie]

Some of these stories are hysterical! I'm not sure I'll be eating any raisin bran soon though!

What excursions, if any, would be good for first timers? I'm contemplating St. Martin shopping on my own and browsing, and recently became interested in St. John's. I'm pretty clueless though.



Victoria, my dd, was looking at a fish book yesterday and got all excited because the recognized a manatee. Now I'm thinking the Friday afternoon/evening before the cruise might be well spent in the Cocoa Beach area.

How about some book ideas? I loved reading The Da Vinci Code last vacation. I finally read John Grisham's "Skipping Christmas" last month and found it to be fun reading. I loved the "Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger that I received for Christmas. I need to find some good books for the cruise, preferrably in paperback.

Take Care!

 

[dianthus]

An aside to the Mr. Raisin Butt story... You should have seen my DH turn that Jeep around & high tail it out there- that was so funny, after getting one look at this guy! I think we left 1/2 the tires in the entrance to this place- he was burning rubber like I've never seen- LOL! Our friends had to drive like maniacs to catch up with us & apologize, as I think they did it on purpose to see the looks on our faces.... Funny thing was I think they traumatized their daughter in the process for life.... She was so upset that she saw this old naked wrinkly man.... Apparently she doesn't have the sense of humor my DD has! We made it to the family side of the beach & happily, saw no more naked butts, or other parts for the rest of our day there! Taylor said very seriously in the car on the way back it was probably a good thing she saw Mr. Raisin Butt's butt, as she could see at young age how damaging the sun is!!! Doug almost drove off the road laughing so hard... It dawned on me why she was slathering herself in sunscreen all day. I thought she was just being really responsible! I gave her the caribbean sun is damaging speech before we got off the ship.... It was Mr. Raisin Butt that provided the real incentive! It's a classic family tale now...

We talked to DD before we planned on going & explained we may see a few topless ladies on the beach- it's a euro thing on the French side... Is she OK with that? She said, no big deal, just walk into Abercrombie & you see 1/2 naked people in posters on the wall ( which was true... ).Well we got way more than we expected! Our friends still apologize to us for that"wrong" turn... We'll get them back someday when they least expect it...( evil laugh...)

Taylor said we should go back to the scene of the crime & do it right this time. No wrong turns into Club Orient to visit Mr. Raisin Butt. Just the nice comfy loungers & the beautiful beach... It is if he's not there! LOL!!! I'm still thinking about this... The DCL excursion looked like it was in a nice area way down the family beach in a private area far way from " The Club". We'll see...

RobinMarie~ I got the DaVinci Code for Christmas & I was going to save it for the cruise, as I hear it's really, really good. Am I better off reading it before hand & bring something else? If it's that good, I won't want to do anything else but read until I finish it... You guys won't see me at all!

St. John- Trunk Bay is one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. If you haven't been- go there on St. Thomas Day & shop in St. Maarten. You'll still have time to poke around Havensight near the pier. I just find Phillipsburg a bit dirty & creepy, although there seems to be better prices there if you want to buy some jewelry. I wish we were in St. Thomas for the longer day & not St. Martin...

~ Linda

 

[dianthus]

RobinMarie~ You should do a post about the manatees in Cocoa Beach, I've heard there is an area, but never been. Maybe someone on the boards, or our thread has done this. KSC is great, but it will be boring for your DD. Take her when she's 10 or 11. If you want to get really up close & personal with Manatees spend the day at Sea World. It's a beautiful park & the Manatee exhibit & the Shamu show are the best. We took Taylor right around Victoria's age & I think she liked it better than Disney. Now she is ride maniac & I can't pry her off the Rockin' Roller Coaster, Space & Splash Mountain. But guess who rides with her every time...

This trip we are going to conquer "Mission Space"! The lines were too long in Nov.- fast passes ran out by 11AM for the day!

~ Linda