Calling all Chicago DISers #3

[KimRaye]

ps! How long have you been in Seattle?

 

[postage stamp]

This time? About 7 months.

We've moved 6 times in the last 4 years. It's been a little crazy.

You know it's bad when you dream of renting a house in Waukegan rather then moving one more time!

 

[KimRaye]

Post here with us ps and, it'll feel like being here. Hope you get Great Lakes soon!

 

[postage stamp]

Well he gets to look at orders in December so keep your fingers crossed for me!

(It would also cut the cost of travel to the World in half!)

On that front I wouldn't HATE it if he got stationed in Jacksonville!

 

[KimRaye]

That's Positive thinking!

 

[slo]

Hi all!!!!

This is a quickie this morning, because I'm running out of posting time.

I hope you all had a good weekend - I did

Saturday was cold cold cold cold!!!!!
Stephanie's 9am soccer game was freezing, but at the least the sun was out
The FD open house, wasn't to cold, because I was inside the fire house, and was out of the wind. I was raffling off a print I framed for them, and made them $85. I was hoping to do better than that - oh well!!!!
The Steak Fry immediately after was FREEZING!!!!!!! We had a terrible turnout, and we decided to end it at 9pm. By the time we got everything cleaned up, it was 10pm. I could hardly wait to get out of that cold night air. Kevin and I came home and went to our neighbors (our other neighbors were there already), and stayed there until almost 3am We were playing Scattergories, and time just flew by.
I then went home, and put my electric blanket on almost high, and went immediately to sleep - I was exhausted!!!!!

Yesterday, Kevin and I went to IHOP for breakfast, and ran some errands all day. Finally, last night, I could sit down and relax, and I went to bed early - 9pm


postage stamp -
You can absolutly join us!!!! Please come by often - we would love to get to know you!!!!

Everyone else - I read your posts, but have no time to reply today. I'll catch up later (hopefully).


Have a great day today everyone!!!

 

[dgr1973]

You can borrow mine. Yes, but roasting in WDW is better than freezing in Chgo!

You got that right!! This weather stinks, but hooray I will be leaving it soon But sadly when I come home there will probably be snow on the ground

 

[disneygal922]

You can borrow mine. Yes, but roasting in WDW is better than freezing in Chgo!

I agree 110%.

Good Morning Everyone! Quick post today as we are very busy at work from our Operathon event on Saturday. I have a lot of receipts to send out today! However, I did want to update briefly b/c I'm so excited. We booked our flights for the wedding! Mike had enough AAmiles to get his flight free so we only needed to pay for mine, which saved a load of $$$. I was excited and thought I'd share. I'll try and post again later if I have time but for now.... have a wonderful day!

 

[irish dancer]

Hi guys! Well, I survived the weekend!

The Brownie campout was fun but COLD! The girls had a great time.

The wedding was interesting to say the least. Ceremony was lovely and once dinner was done the reception was great. The dinner portion was like nothing I have ever experienced. The service was so horrible I hope they get some $$ back. Our table for 8 was only set with 6 waters and the only utensils were a single fork at each place. We had to ask for spoons for the soup and knives to cut the chicken. The other thing was the food was COLD! When we commented to our server his response was, "well, these were preped to be served 1.5hrs ago" and walked away. Now, I've been to banquets that were late/behind schedule and have never been served cold food. Also if we were behind schedule why wasn't the service faster, literally the servers were coming from the kitchen carrying two plates at a time?! There was a lot more that occured but these were the "highlights".

Since we are fair weather bikers DH and I didn't participated in the Ride Now for Autism yesterday. Instead I went with my sisters and kids out to Edwards Orchard again. It was amazingly crowded but we had a blast.

Thankfully today has been a relaxing do nothing kind of day....

disneygal - congrats on booking your airfare!

dgr1973 - don't say the "S" word!

postagestamp - Welcome! Come back often and visit, if you can't live around here at least you can be here virtually!

Kim - love the pic! Glad you had a great time, too bad you couldn't hook up with mac.

MJ - so glad you had a great weekend at the concerts - sounds like a blast!

erika - I wish you luck with the drive! We've never done it but I anticipate we'll have to eventually.

Well, I started this much earlier today but got pulled away by the growing pile of laundry. Man it can accumulate at an amazing rate! Have to run and go to the store for my mom now and then figure out something for dinner. Have a great night everyone!

 

[KimRaye]

You got that right!! This weather stinks, but hooray I will be leaving it soon But sadly when I come home there will probably be snow on the ground

You got THAT right, too! Enjoy when you're there! I know you will!!

 

[slo]

This is my early day, and my long day.
I have my Leads Group at 7:20am, and then I work until 7:30pm
I don't like Tuesday's very much


Kim - I love that picture of you and geffric
It really looks like you were having a great time!!!!

dgr - When are you leaving??

dg - That's awesome about the free plane ticket Every savings helps

ID - How sad about the service at that weddingIn this economy, you would think that every business would do everything in their power to keep people happy.
*I"m glad the rest of your weekend was good



Well, it's time for me to get ready to go - have a good day!!!

 

[dgr1973]

Kim - I love that picture of you and geffric
It really looks like you were having a great time!!!!

dgr - When are you leaving??

Hello, we leave on Halloween morning I am so excited but now after seeing all of Kim and her son's photos I am sooo ready to go! Have a great day.

 

[HERSEY]

Good chilly morning everyone!

This morning I taking my car in to get brakes. Sounds like fun doesn't it?

Slo Boy you have a long Tuesday! I bet you just drop when you get home. Are you back to normal at the store?

dgr I hope you have a great trip. I hope you are wrong about the snow when you return unless you are planning on coming back in late December.

Well I better get myself going so I can be first in line at the repair shop.

 

[disneygal922]

Good Morning Everyone! So Mike and I have a wedding to attend this weekend in Ohio. We are leaving Thursday night after work (mike's a groomsman so we need to be there friday for the rehearsal). I'm debating on what to wear bc of this cold weather. According to the internet it's supposed to be 38 and rainy on the wedding day. I guess I just need to figure out what jacket would look best with a dress. Other than that, not much new around here. oh, did i mention we ordered the outer parts of our invites? i'm designing the insides so we just order the outer part and the envelopes. Mike got an email yesterday saying their estimated time of arrival to be the 14th. Soooo, I may have pics to post sometime next week! I'm very excited!

ID ~ I can't believe the reception hall didn't even try to keep the food warm. I hear ya on the laundry. I just did 4 loads on saturday and already have another small pile to do! Hope you were able to get it all done!

Slo ~ hopefully your Tuesday will fly by! I was really excited about the flights. It's all starting to come together so quickly. One of my coworkers mentioned that i'm so organized and she couldn't believe how smoothly i'm getting everything done. I told her I don't feel organized at all and feel like the time is just slipping by so fast!

dgr ~ have a wonderful trip. hopefully, there will not be any snow when you return.

Hersey ~ hope your car gets fixed quickly!

Kim ~ I forgot to mention I loved that hat you have. I almost bought one when we were there! it's so cute!

everyone else ~ have a wonderful day!

 

[Tiggerrn2]

Just popping in to say howdy. Taking the kids to TS 1&2 today. Helping put me in the mood for the big trip. Leaving in 6 days!! Packed but I need to iron the stuff I put in the suitcase a bit before going. I know I can iron there, but I can't bring my spray starch and some of those wrinkles really need some help.
KimRaye and geffric, glad you had a nice trip. KimRaye sorry to read you were not overly excited by the party. I am going to try it again this year. The first time we went in 2004, it was a sold out party, but still didn't seem too crazy and we had a great time with the kids. Went in 2006 and dressed as the Peter Pan crew. Had fun, but something was missing. This time, going with no kids and want to be sure to see the Villians show and Snow White and the dwarves. Missed them in the past. Halloween is my favorite holiday time. I hope I'm not sorry. Where are your pix?
DG, hope you have a good time at the wedding. Stay warm!!
Slo, have a good day today.
ID, that is so wrong that the banquet hall was trying to blame their poor service on the wedding party. It doesn't take much to warm up the food, and it is part of their job to observe the flow of things and gauge times accordingly. I hope the bride and groom were compensated some way.
dgr, I will bet you are getting excited. I couldn't wait til the time came and now that it is just around the corner, I want the time to move slower. It will have come and gone before I blink.
Well, have a great day everyone.

 

[momto1]

Hi gang! Getting ready to head home from work soon. Hope the traffic cooperates. DH has a pot of chili bubbling away so no cooking for me tonight. That is one nice thing about him owning his own business and working from home. I can leave him little jobs to do now and then.

Jonathan's Conference Cross Country meet is tomorrow. Should be nice and chilly for the runners and spectators. He has placed 11th in both 6th and 7th grade. Hopefully, he will place higher this year.

Went on to Southwest to look at airfare for spring break. I don't think so yet. Hopefully, the rates will drop.

KimRaye - You and Geffric looking like you were having a blast!

DG - I am sure booking the airfare makes the big day even more real! Can't wait to see the invites soon.

Slo - I hope you survive today!

Tiggern - How was the movie? Jonathan want's to go but doesn't do well with 3D movies. He gets terrified.

Postage stamp - Welcome! Come by often!

Time to fly!
lori

 

[Bunchkin]

Hi everyone!!


This weekend was great! The weather was just perfect at DL!
I forgot my camera at home though!!! UGH! This is the second trip in a row I've done that! I'm really starting to be mad at myself!!! I did get pics on my phone at least.
The park was very crowded but we still were able to get a lot of rides in.

The Happiest Haunts Tour we took was AWESOME!!!!! THE BEST TIME!!! Ok, so here's how the tour went. It's gonna be a long read, as I want to give the most details I can. If you don't want to know because maybe you might take this tour in the future, than you better stop reading NOW!






We arrived at the guest relations outside DCA on Sunday about 15 minutes early, 4:15pm, and wait for a tour guide to greet us. A small size crowd starts to gather for the tour as well. All adults except for our kids. After a brief intro by the tour guide, we are lead inside of the guest relations building. We go to a cozy room filled with couches, chairs and tables, and a tv playing Ichabod Crane. Love that movie!!
The tour guide gives a short run down of what will occur on the tour. Start at DCA, then to DL and then vouchers for the Halloween fireworks later that night. He then says he's going to look for the tour guide who will be taking us on the actual tour. Just a couple minutes later, in pops a rather enthusiastic tour guide named Amy. Amy is outfitted in ghost hunting gear ala Ghostbusters!! She looks great! And really plays the part. She gives us all head phones for listening, but yet she has no microphone headset so we're not sure yet when these will come into play. After getting us all hyped for the tour, off we go to Tower of Terror. I had never been on this before and both kids who have been on it decided days before not to go on it during our tour. But then earlier that afternoon, we all changed our mind. Along the walk Amy tells us little tid-bits about the ride and plays her ghost hunting part by scanning people along the way! Yeah, we got a lot of looks and laughs and questions from people. We get to go through the Fastpass entry and beat the lines. All along she's still telling us stories about the Tower and what happened there. So we get in the elevator, but she doesn't come along. Hhmmm?? I'm really nervous about the ride, bad heart and all, but find it wasn't as scary as I thought. I was taken aback at how high off my chair I was lifted though!!! So the ride ends, and when the door opens a young woman is in the entry. She's dressed in a black, long skirt. White shirt. Black shawl. And a knitted type little black hat. It was startling at first. Like, where did Amy go?? So now we are introduced to Rachel, who tells us to follow her. Outside the ride she indicates to us to put on the headphones, she has a mic headset. While she is talking, and when she isn't, there is really cool sound effects and music in the background. Spooky stuff! But not too spooky! Haunted Mansion music too! She gives us all green glowing, and blinking, lanyards that have a BIG 'Ghost Relations' key on the them. On the other side it says Happiest Haunts Tour! TOTALLY WICKED!!!! These get a lot of attention from people and they're used to help her identify us. She tells us stories of Halloween traditions and how it came to be. And she leads us out of the park. Now we are really getting looks from people with her leading us around!!! Her mannerism is totally different from Amy's and it's intentional. She's more of a smart alleck and kind of snippy, but not mean. It's actually funny!! She says that the little kids that our dressed up in Halloween costumes are actually ghouls and if you let them attach themselves to you they will bleed you dry for 18 to 25 years!!
We get to enter Disneyland through an exit to avoid the really long lines of people trying to get it. Some people try to blend in with our group of 21, but they get rejected at the gate. LOL! No lanyards for you! She points out a few things on Main Street and gives us some more Halloween info.Then we stop at a display outside Big Thunder, more story. Then we enter Big Thunder through the exit! YAY!! We get on board, letting a few other commoners in, and take a wild ride. Rachel leads us over to the side of the exit and in the distance we can see Amy again! Rachel says she doesn't want Amy to see her and tells us to go over to Amy and then she takes off! Hhmmm?? So off we all go over to Amy, who's scanning for ghosts with her equipment. She freaks when she sees us and asks where we disappeared to. She thought we got lost and wondered where we got our lanyards from. Rachel told us to tell her Star Tours gift shop, so we did. Amy is telling us the story of Ichabod, when from behind her appears Rachel! She's holding a jack-o lantern from inside the Big Thunder Ranch BBQ, and she's making it float around behind Amy. Too funny. She sneaks up behind Amy and scares her. Amy runs off and is screaming sporadically as she goes. She in turn scares this huge tall man who takes off running in the other direction!!!! She didn't have a clue that this happened.
So back with Rachel, she leads us over to Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy. We all ride and hear more stories. Including ones that say how Disney villains are misunderstood. She talks about this a few times. Then we hop the train, where we got to sit with Rachel,and ride to New Orleans Square to ride on.....HAUNTED MANSION!!! -----Break in the story to say that this is the best thing ever!! No wonder so many people cram Disneyland every Halloween!!! Any Nightmare Before Christmas fan MUST see this!----
So we get near the entry to HM and Rachel says that Amy is there and she needs to go check on things in the Mansion. Hhmmmm??? So Amy freaks again and wonders where we have been for the past couple hours. We head inside through the Fastpass entry and soon are on the ride. Just as our Doom Buggy starts to round the first corner into the Mansion, there is Rachel standing in green glowing lights with an umbrella in her hand eerily waving to us!!!! FREAKY!!! We get off the ride and find out that Rachel was one of the 999 ghosts!!!! Too cool!!!!!!!! So Amy leads us over to the AP pavillion which is right off of Main Street for those who don't know. In terms of WDW, it would be where CP is. We are met by the first tour guide we met 3 1/2 hours earlier in the day along with another tour guide. We get to sit in the VIP section to view the fireworks. Amy gives us a note from Rachel (it's really neat!!) and we get a apple shaped rice krispy treat too. The treat is topped with red colored white chocolate and green for the stem and leaf of the apple. The note is a brown parchment paper with jagged edges and sealed with a sticker that says 'Ghost Relations'. The note is a spooky font and there is a bat and Jack Skellington on it too. The note reads:
To my mortal friends,
Our time together was a fright, and with all the tricks you've helped me play, you've surely earned a treat tonight! These are for you, but a word of warning...I had my good friend, the Evil Queen, make them. Lastly, dear Jack Skellington would like for you to stay and enjoy his fireworks SPOOKtacular-
"Halloween Screams : A Villianous Surprise in the Sky!"

Happy Halloween!
Sincerely,
Rachel


The seating is first come first served in the benches provided and there was another tour 15 minutes behind us. So DD snagged the front bench by laying across it!!! Good kid!! DH went out to the locker to get our coats we left behind earlier in the morning, not thinking it would be dark and REALLY cold when the tour would be over. And we got dinner too and ate on the bench waiting for the Spooktacular fireworks. They were awesome!! They have a HUGE glowing ball near the castle that projects Jack Skellington and the Oogie Boogie Man and other images off of it during the show. Jack's dog Zero zips through the sky on the wires for Tink and Dumbo. It was great!! BTW, all through the fireworks people tried getting into the VIP area to see the fireworks and cut through the tons of people walking, but every time one of the tour guides would pop out and shoo them away!!! Ha ha, no VIP section for you!!

It was a wonderful time and so worth the money. I'm so glad we did it. In our opinion, sometimes we need to do things a little different while at the parks to kind of shake things up and keep it interesting. This was it!!

 

[KimRaye]

Hello, we leave on Halloween morning I am so excited but now after seeing all of Kim and her son's photos I am sooo ready to go!

Dorene, I am excited for you to go!!!

Kim ~ I forgot to mention I loved that hat you have. I almost bought one when we were there! it's so cute!

Thanks! It's gonna be the only 'costume' I wear at home too, since I couldn't and can't find the MNSSHP 2009 t-shirt I wanted.

KimRaye and geffric, glad you had a nice trip. KimRaye sorry to read you were not overly excited by the party. I am going to try it again this year. The first time we went in 2004, it was a sold out party, but still didn't seem too crazy and we had a great time with the kids. Went in 2006 and dressed as the Peter Pan crew. Had fun, but something was missing. This time, going with no kids and want to be sure to see the Villians show and Snow White and the dwarves. Missed them in the past. Halloween is my favorite holiday time. I hope I'm not sorry. Where are your pix?
dgr, I will bet you are getting excited. I couldn't wait til the time came and now that it is just around the corner, I want the time to move slower. It will have come and gone before I blink.
Well, have a great day everyone.

It's not that I didn't have fun, it was just different for me....trick or treating, riding a couple rides, finding time for the shows and parades and fireworks. I just don't think 5 hours is enough time. I don't think you'll be sorry, if you skip the trick or treating part. My pics are on FB, and my son's also. And it WILL be here and gone before you know it - time wise! It ALWAYS IS!

KimRaye - You and Geffric looking like you were having a blast!

It was very nice to meet her there!!

The Happiest Haunts Tour we took was AWESOME!!!!! THE BEST TIME!!! Ok, so here's how the tour went. It's gonna be a long read, as I want to give the most details I can. If you don't want to know because maybe you might take this tour in the future, than you better stop reading NOW!

I'm so glad we did it. In our opinion, sometimes we need to do things a little different while at the parks to kind of shake things up and keep it interesting. This was it!!

I totally agree and I stopped reading the good parts, in case I ever get to go! Glad you enjoyed!

 

[slo]

I feel like I just left work, and I'm already going back.
The joys of owning your own business

Do any of you watch Channel 7 news in the morning?
Judy Su had her baby on the side of the Eisenhower Expressway yesterday This is her 4th baby, and he/she can super fast. This would so happen to me. My obgyn told me that if I ever got pregnant again, that she would admit me day(s) before hand, because Katie came with lightning speed, and every baby is suppossed to come faster. If we didn't live a stones throw away from the hospital, and we got stopped by a train, Katie would have been born in the car too


dgr - How fun that you are leaving soon Can I sneak in your suitcase - I promise I won't make any noise, but I may excede the weight limit, so I"ll pay the extra $$$$$$

HERSEY - I am always tired when I come home on Tuesday night.
I don't know why I try to watch tv, because all I do is fall asleep
**I am back to normal at the store, but I don't think the customers know that, because I've been dead slow - I hate that!!!!!

DG - Have fun at the wedding this weekend Aren't you glad that you don't have to worry about your wedding day being cold and rainy You may have rain, but warm/hot and rainy is so much better than cold/damp and rainy.

TTTiiiiggernnn - I would love to go to MNSSHP w/o kids. It's not that I don't enjoy my kids, but I would like to see more of the party than the the trick-or-treat lines. Have a great time when you go!!!

momto1 - I hope your chili was yummy I love it when Kevin makes chili

Bunchkin - I"m so glad you had a good time, and I'm glad you enjoyed the tour I'm sorry you forgot your camera That's totally something I would do too

Kim - I agree that 5 hours isn't enough time - especially with older kids. Last year it was so cold when we went (see your breath cold) that we had to leave early, because the kids were freezing!!!!




I'm off and running to wake up princess Katie - have a good day today everyone!!!

 

[dgr1973]

I feel like I just left work, and I'm already going back.
The joys of owning your own business

Do any of you watch Channel 7 news in the morning?
Judy Su had her baby on the side of the Eisenhower Expressway yesterday This is her 4th baby, and he/she can super fast. This would so happen to me. My obgyn told me that if I ever got pregnant again, that she would admit me day(s) before hand, because Katie came with lightning speed, and every baby is suppossed to come faster. If we didn't live a stones throw away from the hospital, and we got stopped by a train, Katie would have been born in the car too


dgr - How fun that you are leaving soon Can I sneak in your suitcase - I promise I won't make any noise, but I may excede the weight limit, so I"ll pay the extra $$$$$$

My husband was stuck in traffic because of that!

It's funny how many people ask me if they can sneak in my suitcase, don't know if they just love Disney or they hate the weather we've been having