August 13, 2011 Med - Mickey's Marauding Mates

[Anal Annie]

Redskins won!!!!! But just BARELY! Again! OY! DH's TIVO time almost ran out with that OT!

My company arrives tonight. I've shopped at Trader Joes, Costco, and Harris Teeter and I think I have everything needed to get us through this week. Thankfully, I really only have to cook Thanksgiving. My mom is having us all to her house for dinner tomorrow night and Wednesday night we will go out or get take out to keep life easy. My brother and his family leave Friday 4pm so we'll have leftovers for lunch and that will be that.

Sounds good. I got a 21.54 Lb turkey yesterday + all the stuff to make a pot pie with the leftovers once we're tired of sandwiches. We will also have dressing, cranberries, deviled eggs, mashed potatoes, broccoli casserole & biscuits. My new SIL is bringing a sweet potato dish & a salad and my Mom will make pumpkin pies. I am feeling an extra 5 Lbs around the waist just thinking about it!!

After Thanksgiving, just 3 weeks til we leave for Orlando! And I am now planning a weekend Vegas getaway with a friend for January so lots to look forward to and help pass the time before August.

Wishing everybody a peaceful, festive Thanksgiving and to those outside the US have a great and peaceful week too! You too!!

Jeff - guess you're all packed by now?! Enjoy your dinner at Whispering Canyon. We ate there once...DS got put in jail 'cuz the kids at the next table put all their ketchup on our table & then told their server that he STOLE it!! They put thieves in jail there doncha know!!

 

[Kels Sem]

So are we nuts or what? After inviting my whole family to our house for Thanksgiving dinner, everyone punked out for a variety of reasons. So we found ourselves thinking, "Why are we staying here again and not heading to Florida a day earlier?" So we put the wheels in motion. By the way, I LOVE Southwest. Changes made, we actually got a $38 credit. Found a DVC discounted room at Bay Lake Tower. Have to change hotels (from Bay Lake to BCV) but we're at Disney! Got a LATE dinner reservation at Whispering Canyon. We may or may not still all be awake but so what?. Now we get a WHOLE day at WDW before the cruise instead of just a few hours that evening. So now we are leaving a day earlier, get a BLT night, a late Thanksgiving dinner at one of our favorites and then a whole day (albeit a busy one) in the parks before we cruise. We are all so excited!

You lucky duck!. I hope you and your family have a fabulous time.

 

[Kels Sem]

I just want to wish everyone stateside a very happy Thanksgiving.

LeeAnn - Thinking about your dinner just makes my mouth water. I can't wait until my christmas dinner.

 

[jd99]

Jeff - guess you're all packed by now?! Enjoy your dinner at Whispering Canyon. We ate there once...DS got put in jail 'cuz the kids at the next table put all their ketchup on our table & then told their server that he STOLE it!! They put thieves in jail there doncha know!!

Nope not even started packing yet! We live on the edge.

You lucky duck!. I hope you and your family have a fabulous time.

WE plan on it!

 

[Anal Annie]

Bon Voyage Jeff!!! Post us some pics so we can be even MORE jealous!!!

Our dinner went off without a hitch - I didn't even get stressed out! Not really anyway. The dressing was perhaps my best batch EVER!! I am actually a little upset that there's not even that much left of it!! That is something that just cannot be recreated!! I got plenty of everything else left but the DRESSING!! Getting ready to go heat up some leftovers now...my SIL brought the sweet potatoes & took them home with her so I think I am going to make some for DS - he says that is HIS favorite dish on T-giving!! (It's the marshmallows on top I am sure!)

Anybody go out for "Black Friday shopping"?! I did NOT!! I did that crap ONCE a few years ago!! HA!! Went to Best Buy at 5:00 am! NEVER again!! I ordered a lighted cover from Amazon for DH for his new Kindle & we decided to get DS a swim parka (that I will get embroidered with his team logo) and a cell phone for Xmas (plus I was due for a new one) so I went out on Wed. & got those & got it DONE & over with already. Best Buy had them for $30 ea. this week & the same phones were $99 ea. at the Verizon store!! We have Verizon Wireless & I wanted phones with keyboards but NOT that HAD to have the data plan (which meant only 3 choices) but that's just more $ than I want to spend right now - as it is I am doubling my bill by adding DS & going to a "family plan". I got the new LG Octanes...and added a small texting plan for each phone (250 per month each). I figured we could start small & see - no need to go with unlimited texting YET, right?! I hope DS is surprised - I think he must be the only 13 yo in his class that doesn't have a cell phone!! Christmas this year is definitely on a budget so I think I must be almost done!?

 

[west&east]

Well our Thanksgiving had a bit of a twist. DH played in the 3rd annual neighborhood Turkey Bowl- a football game on Thursday morning. He came home with a split lip around 12:30 and was off to the ER where he got 7 stitches! Now that Barack Obama got a similar injury, he is in good company. Poor DH couldn't enjoy our delicious dinner but finally was able to chew later in the evening so had a plate of leftovers. I also didn't do any Black Friday shopping EXCEPT I did get online and got DH his IPad which is his birthday present (late December). Apple did cut the price about $40 for today only. Anybody check the cruise prices lately? Are they still holding steady?

 

[Kels Sem]

Hey, Just giving this a bump! Hope everyone is well. I just got my new high speed broadband installed today so hopefully that along with our new laptop should sort out all the problems I have been having.
We are having unusally cold weather here at the moment. It's freezing outside but so far where I live we have escaped the snow much to the kids disappointment!

I had a quick look at the DCL site at the price of our cruise and prices have gone up for our category. The price now for a 5C is $6900 for the 4 of us. That's a difference of $1300 on what we paid I think the lower categories have gone up a bit but I can't remember what they started at.

Chat soon

PS - I wonder how Jeff & his family are getting on. I'm sure they are having a great time. It's probably a good job he booked his cruise when he did and not hold out until he was onboard judging by the price hike.

 

[Anal Annie]

Hey ya'll....just a bump back up off of page 3 (again)!! I am sure Jeff is having a BLAST by now!! Hope he posts some pics when he gets back!

I have begun the winter season in earnest now. Well, we haven't decorated yet...BUT I took DS to get new skis and ski boots on Sunday. OY!! I could bring another kid on the cruise for what that's setting us back! (Well, almost.) He'd outgrown his skis and their used boots were picked over & nothing was fitting him right...soooo we got new of both. He should be able to get 2 years out of the skis and I know we'll need to replace the boots again next year but the place we go will give us a 50% credit off of what these boots cost us towards another pair next year as a trade in. Dropped our stuff off to get adjusted too...they were busy - stuff won't be ready to pick up until Dec. 11 so it's a good thing I got in when I did.

Started Xmas shopping for DS...he's just about done. He wanted a few games for the Wii & DS so between Target & Wal-Mart & the internet I've been busy tracking down the best deals. His swim parka came today so I'll take that to the embroidery shop tomorrow & drop it off to get the team logo put on. He has another swim meet this weekend and it's SOOO big they've bumped up the start time for warm-ups for his age group from 7:00 am to 6:30 am and the events will start at 7:40 am!!! This means that we'll have to leave home both mornings BY 5:30!!! Good thing is that his session is due to be done between 10:30 and 11:00 so we should be home by Noon-ish (I hope). I am relieved for once that he never makes finals as those are scheduled from 4:30-9:00 pm!! I feel bad for those kids!! DH has to work this weekend so I don't know if we'll get any decorating done or not!! Guess we'll see come the weekend!!!

OK, I just made a homemade pot pie with the last of my turkey & I just pulled it out of the oven...gotta go!!

 

[Anal Annie]

Just another bump back up off of page 3!!! HELLLO Kelly - come use that new high speed internet & chat with me girlfriend!!!

DS has a band concert tonight...this is their "winter concert" which is secret code for LONG!! I should've kept count how many times I've had to listen to his band play the Nutcracker song over the years!!!

I have been futzing with trying to figure out what to do about renting out our DVC points for Paris... I MAY have found someone who wants a transfer. I think using 125 points like this would provide us with enough cash to cover our hotel & DLP park tickets...and use less points too. The DVC requirements for DLP have gone up to 38 points per night minimum...so at $10 per point average that would be $380 per night!! Too much for my blood!! This still doesn't solve our dilemma of what to do with the 37 points that we banked tho. They have to be used by Nov. 30 next year and cannot be transferred, only rented. I hope I can figure out something to do with them rather than see them just get LOST!!

OK, must run...talk to ya'll tomorrow!!

 

[Anal Annie]

Kelly?! Luke?! Are our UK peeps snowed in??? I saw where the UK has been getting a lot of snow - enough to close airports & such... Hope it's not tooooo bad over there!!!

 

[west&east]

Good Morning Annie and cruisemates. TGIF!!! We started our Hannukah celebration this week and gave the family a new iMac! Wow. What a gorgeous awesome computer. We are all fighting over it. I still have a lot to learn about using it. The kids use Macs at school so they are my tutors! We usually give them one big gift for Hannukah and several smaller gifts, so they think that they already received their "big" gift. We will surprie them on the last night of Hannukah with the news of our WDW trip on 12/18! Still not sure how to reveal the news. Any ideas? We did a scavenger hunt for the computer which they loved. The first year we went to Disney we also did the scavenger hunt for puzzle pieces which made a "Going To Disney" type picture. We also do Christmas with DH's family so this time of year gets crazy. DH is driving up to Virginia/ Maryland today to check in with one of his plants but mostly to visit his good friend in Maryland. He won't be back til Wednesday. I decided to take the kids to the Melting Pot tonight as a special treat. DS has never been but we have done some fondue at home so I think we will all enjoy it.
Hope everyone has a great Friday.

 

[Kels Sem]

Hi all, I've been out the last couple of nights so I haven't been on the computer. We haven't had much snow here in NI but it has been bad across the water in england, scotland. Luckily DH managed to fly home on Thursday night.
We're going to put our Christmas tree up today so the kids are really excited and I'm going out for lunch with my mum, aunt & cousin so that will be nice.
Hope everyone has a great weekend.

 

[Anal Annie]

Hey all....I guess Jeff will be home tomorrow to rub it in how wonderful of a time they had! Since he was just on the Magic this summer & again now (right after dry dock) he can fill us in on any changes he noticed...

Well so I was up at 4:45 this morning to start making eggs for DS...got him up at 5:00 to gobble down his breakfast & get his swim suit on & we were out the door by about 5:40. Got downtown around 6:20 & found a parking space easy peasy so we on time for 6:30 warm-ups. I was glad to have a Garmin navigation system this time as it was still dark out & I took a wrong turn! But we found it OK without having to do a bunch of turn-arounds thanks to the Garmin. I do not like driving in the city any time but especially in the dark!! Sooo he was NOT in the mood to be up at such an awful hour on the weekend eggs or no eggs...I think it affected his swim mentality. He gained a back a second on his 50 Free which is pretty common but he dropped about 13 seconds on his 500 Free. I was glad to see him drop time on that but I honestly expected more like a 20 second drop on that one. But oh well. It was something. He didn't have anybody holding a lap board so he had to keep track himself - I was nervous that he'd lose count & stop 1 short. He also swam the Free in the 400 Medley Relay. One thing about going so early is we were done by 11:00 & home around Noon. Gotta get up & do it all over again tomorrow.

We are not decorated yet...I have been hinting at DH that I'd like some HELP with that this afternoon...but it hasn't happened YET. We will get our tree next weekend...there's a boy scout troop that sells them next weekend - FRESH CUT that day and for a reasonable price too. BEAUTIFUL trees. The scout master has a tree farm & they cut them themselves! We usually get about 9'-10'. ONE YEAR, I think it was 2 or 3 years ago we got one that was too big for our stand. We usually take it down on New Years day & a couple days before that we noticed it looked like it was leaning a little to the right....WELL....YES INDEED - it FELL!!! We got up on New Years & the darned thing was laying all the way across the room reaching across the coffee table & the top on the sofa & ornaments broken ALL OVER the room. I was QUITE SAD as we lost several that were special & quite unique. Last year we tied it to the window sash!!

 

[Anal Annie]

Well, I wonder if it's snowing in Pittsburgh for Jeff & his family's homecoming?! It is FREEZING here today with lots of wind! BRRRR!!

Day # 2 of DS's swim meet went WONDERFUL...I was VERY proud of his swims yesterday! He dropped 29 seconds on his 200 IM (his time never should've been as slow as it was to start with but that was from the last meet where he swam so badly that Saturday). The IM was the first event of the day of the day yesterday and he looked good (his Fly looks pretty ugly when he's tired). He still needs to drop a lot more to be competitive but he'll get there eventually I guess. Then he dropped just 1 second on his 100 Free (better than nothing) and then finally he dropped 4 seconds on his 100 Back which was a much needed drop. So overall he dropped time on 4 of 5 events. No more meets now until the middle of January!

With the help of another DISer I have found another DIS DVC member who wants to get a points transfer!! Just working out the payment method details now - we decided we'd be willing to transfer 1/2 of our annual allotment (125 out of 250) in order to get the cash to help pay for our Paris portion of the trip. We still have 37 points that we need to rent out tho or else lose them. I guess I'll try posting a thread on the Rent / Trade board (unless any of you guys know anybody who'd want to rent them.) NOW to decide where to stay in Paris. I am starting to lean more toward finding a hotel in the city & just planning to take the train out to DLP a couple of days & buying a 2-day pass at the gate. I can do that, right? And just charge the admission on a credit card when we get there?? If we stay in the city I want a place that will sleep 3 to a room & that is within walking distance of both the metro & the RER. I'll have to get back to my Trip Advisor research one of these days...

 

[Anal Annie]

It is sooo freaking cold...are any peeps warm right now?! brrrrrr.... I need to run a couple of errands (like get gas in my truck & cat food etc) and I don't want to go outside!!

Jeff...you back yet?! Wanna hear all about it!!

NJ.Ohana...??

Luke??

Looking for missing peeps!!

 

[jd99]

It is sooo freaking cold...are any peeps warm right now?! brrrrrr.... I need to run a couple of errands (like get gas in my truck & cat food etc) and I don't want to go outside!!

Jeff...you back yet?! Wanna hear all about it!!

NJ.Ohana...??

Luke??

Looking for missing peeps!!

Sorry I've been MIA since coming back but I'm pouting about...well...being back!

We had a great cruise. The long and short of it:
--We upgraded at the port to a category 3 suite. This is actually the third time we have been able to do it and it gets better every time. We had AMAZING service this time (thank you Danny) and just one amazing experience after another.
--Palo dinner was fantastic!
--Key West day was nice - we met some friends and walked around a bit but got back on the ship early to enjoy.
--Days at sea were filled with activities. Spa, wine tasting, Palo brunch, martini tasting, Castaway Club reception.
--Shows were all great (adult and family). Lots of fun for sure.
--Grand Cayman was the BEST day. We have been there before - for a week about 7 years ago at the Westin. There is a great restaurant across the street from the Westin called Eats and we wanted to go there for their great pancakes. So we headed there for the day. Had originally planned to hit the Marriott for a day pass deal they do for 12 bucks but since we were at the amazing Westin, we wanted to check out their deal. We booked a day room there and spent the day swimming in the pool, in the ocean, playing in the sand. Just lotsa lotsa fun. And incredible weather 85 and sunny. THank goodness we stayed at the Westin as Danny (the concierge) told us later that the Marriott had discontinued their good deal on the day pass.
--Cozumel - went to Nachi Cocom where we had never been before. It was beautiful and the day started out great and then the rain came. And stayed. So we bailed after about 2 hours but we had a nice time nonetheless. Would go back there in a minute.
--Castaway Cay -- Amazing as always. Predictions were for 71 and cloudy. But it wound up being 80 and sunny. It was beautiful. We mostly played in the sand but we also tried out the new water slides and they are a GREAT addition to the island.
-- Kids both made GREAT keep-in-touch kind of friends this time which makes me very happy.
--We had fun with some old friends as well -- folks with whom we had cruised b4 and some new friends too.

All in all a GREAT trip and I can't believe we came back to snow and cold like this. It was a slap in the face. We have a Dream sailing booked in June along with this sailing. I don't plan a trip report buy will probably post some pics on the cruisemeet thread for the sailing and when I do I'll link it here!

 

[Anal Annie]

Jeff is back! Jeff is back! I knew you were probably busy getting back into the swing of things - I was just lonely so I was razzing a bit. Glad you had a great time - I've heard the upgrades at the port are like HALF of the normal price difference of booking ahead of time. The Cat 3 is the one bedroom suite right? Does that mess up your FE exchange tho to do that at the port?? Did you book the Dream sailing while you were onboard? Is that a 4 night or 5 night? Sorry you had to come home to crappy weather...let's just hope it doesn't bode for another crappy winter!!

 

[west&east]

Jeff, thanks for the updates and glad you had such a great trip! You are so fortunate to have another crusie to look forward to before next August. I am secretly hoping to squeeze something in for spring break.

Last night was the last night of Hannukah. DH was back home after 5 nights up in Virginia. The kids were thrilled with the little lego sets he gave them and were surprised when I had another small gift. They knew that the iMac was our "big" gift for this holiday (especially since Santa also comes to see them!). I gave them each a journal with different classic Mickey designs. They seemed to be happy with the journals and then I prompted them to read the message I wrote in each journal. It basically said, you can use this journal to record your thoughts and plans for our next family trip to Disney World. We leave on December 18th!. They were disbelieving at first then went wild. They were soooo happy and excited. There is still one surprise up our sleeve- that our friends will be joining us this trip. The kids are very close with each other. Our friends have never been. We were thinking of just running into each other at Beach Club but don't think we will be able to keep the surprise that long. My friends are surprising their kids Monday night which is their anniversary. We are hoping to keep them away from each other until Friday night when the kids will all hang out together while the parents go to a neighborhood pary. Before the party, we'll simply ask the kids- "What are you doing tomorrow?" and let them figure it out.

Once we get through Xmas seaon, it will be time to really focus on the Mediterranean cruise! Lots to plan and arrange. Not sure if we will surprise or just tell the kids. They already know we are going to BCN and that we are trying to plan what to do from there. We are going with a different family on that trip. We are thinking of telling the kids that we are meeting that family in BCN but not telling them that we are actually going on the cruise until we get there. Not sure if that will work....

 

[jd99]

Jeff is back! Jeff is back! I knew you were probably busy getting back into the swing of things - I was just lonely so I was razzing a bit. Glad you had a great time - I've heard the upgrades at the port are like HALF of the normal price difference of booking ahead of time. The Cat 3 is the one bedroom suite right? Does that mess up your FE exchange tho to do that at the port?? Did you book the Dream sailing while you were onboard? Is that a 4 night or 5 night? Sorry you had to come home to crappy weather...let's just hope it doesn't bode for another crappy winter!!

Upgrading at the port is the way to go. OUr category three (and yes it's the one bedroom) cost less than a verandah room (cat 6) for a summertime 7-night sailing in the caribbean!

It didn't mess up the FE because the organizer posted a list of rooms on her room door and those who upgraded (three of us did - all to the one bedroom suite) just changed it there.

Our Dream sailing in June is a five night double dip!

And yes, if this winter is ANYTHING like last winter, I"ll be ready to move south. WAY south...like Grand Cayman.

 

[Anal Annie]

Upgrading at the port is the way to go. OUr category three (and yes it's the one bedroom) cost less than a verandah room (cat 6) for a summertime 7-night sailing in the caribbean!

It didn't mess up the FE because the organizer posted a list of rooms on her room door and those who upgraded (three of us did - all to the one bedroom suite) just changed it there.

Our Dream sailing in June is a five night double dip!

And yes, if this winter is ANYTHING like last winter, I"ll be ready to move south. WAY south...like Grand Cayman.

Hummmm A Cat 3 for less than a Cat 6...and a lot of us are booked in Cat 5's for the Med... Wonder how the suites will be priced at the port in BCN?! Interesting thought to keep in mind - worth checking out I suppose. That was a good plan on your FE organizer....

We got our tree yesterday as it was the Boy Scout tree sale. What a BARGAIN! $40 for up to 8' / $50 for 8-10' and $60 for 10' and up. We got one that is right around 8' but it's very chubby at the bottom - takes up a lot of room in the corner...not sure what KIND it is - short needles & lots of scent - and very dense so the cats can't climb up inside of it. Last year our kitten, Cricket, kept climbing up inside & this year she's a little frustrated that she can't seem to get in!! Of course we went thru the annual ordeal of strands of lights not working and this year the star wouldn't work. Took forever to get it finished.

Dark, dreary, rainy day here... DH has a home Redskins game - he picked up some bright yellow rain suits for his crew to wear so if anybody watches the game & sees a shot on TV of the end zone crowd with 4 bright yellow rain suits, pants & all that would be him!! He is crazy IMHO! They suck (again) this year...but he's such a fan.