Well folks, I've had a little time on my hands today
and have been catching up with early pages in the thread. One thing I realised was that some of you had done a bit more backgrounder to introduce yourselves and that we've not really done that yet. So here goes:
We three (Allan, DW Pam (pampat) and DD Joy (DisneysRockChick (16 by the time of the cruise)) have lived on the Isle of Man for around two and a half years. It's a small island (37 miles by 11 miles - 77,000 people) halfway between England (Liverpool) and Ireland. We've also got two cats - Mack and Mabel - now that may tell you something about us!
I've been in IT all my life - and am now IT Director for the IoM Government. Pam and I met in Kellogg's in Manchester where we both worked back in 1986/7 timescale - started going out in Feb, and were married in July
- Joy was born 12 months later.
Pam's self employed - works from home providing a range of office services, plus working mornings doing secretarial work in a lwayer's office. The work at home has been enormously varied over the years - a lot of work on theses for University students - everything from in-vitro fertilisation to the wet-strength properties of mud blocks for house building in Africa. At the moment she's just finished doing all the layout work on the second of an English friend's books on The Round Tower Churches of Norfolk and Suffolk. (I did the route maps that went in). She's spent most of today bashing away at the PC doing audio typing for health and safety audits of a private school in England.
Joy is a typical mid teens girl - pop music mad and a kid of the MTV age with her own iBook and iPod. There are long periods of time when we only see her when I take her to school and when Pam picks her up in the afternoon, and over tea. Apart from that she's in her room - and yes, she has to be nagged about being tidy - but I guess that's not unusual. Joy does her GCSE exams this year and then could leave school or go on to college. She's not sure yet what she wants to do - likes IT things, but also has always liked health and beauty - has a saturday job in a nail salon.
Like y'all, we're Disney mad
- have oodles and oodles of Disney Classic Collections china and some very large Pete Ellenshaw Disney prints - he was a major part of the art work in Mary Poppins. We've been in DVC for over 10 years - and lord knows how many times we've been to Orlando and Annaheim, as well as Paris - the trouble with
Disneyland Paris is that it's full of French people and I swear that they don't understand what queues are for. Been on the Magic twice and the Wonder once and absolutely emotionally exhausted when we get off - of course that could have something to do with the fact that aliens like us have to be in immigration around 6am on disembarkation day
Looking forward to meeting and greeting with you all - it feels like this is a very big family coming home to the Magic.
Happy Birthday to Pam, Renee', & Sandra!!! 
)
, again, I am green with envy!!! Enjoy, you deserve it!
Just watched the Magic sail past the Two Palms webcam. It sure is strange to think that we won't be sailing that route this time. But I was thinking of what a wild sail-away party WE'RE going to have!
