Can't We Just Travel by Map? Oct 2013 PTR

[disny_luvr]

My week will be off to a slow start, but will pick up speed quickly by Wednesday night. I have to make dinner for the family that night in addition to a pot of Taco Soup I need to make for a work function.

Thursday morning our University is hosting a holiday "brunch" from 7:30-9:30 am for all faculty and staff. Is it just me or should it be called "breakfast" instead of "brunch" so dang early in the morning? Anywho, the faculty in our department voted to also have our department holiday party for lunch that day. So, for that we will be having a soup and chili lunch....after eating a big "brunch" that morning.

Friday...Oy, Friday!!! I have taken the day off work...will it be a leisurely day of relaxing and pampering? Nope! This day will be INSANE...

I need to go and visit my best friend who had her baby three weeks ago. I visited them while she was still in the hospital, but haven't been able to see them since then. I will be picking up take-out from her favorite Japanese grill to have for lunch with her.

THEN, I am picking Jillian up early from school. Brian is meeting she and I at Gabe and Charity's school for their annual Christmas musical.

THEN, we will all run home long enough to shower and get dressed and all dolled up, because we will all be headed to dinner and them Brian and are taking the kids to their very first "real" concert. For any of you familiar with Contemporary Christian music, we are headed into Nashville to a Toby Mac concert. For those of you not familiar with him, he is a hip-hop style singer. We his music! We got the tickets for this MONTHS ago, and we cannot wait for the concert!

Ah, but the night is still not over, folks....

After the concert, Jillian and I will be dropping Brian and the little ones off at home, then she and I are headed to the church for an all night youth lock-in. Yes, we had already decided to let Jillian go to it after the concert. This lock-in is something the youth group at church does every Christmas. The highlight of it is a midnight shopping spree at Walmart to buy Christmas gifts for Angel Tree children. Well, I somehow got roped into helping with it this year So, this old lady has to figure out how to stay awake all night without getting grumpy!

Saturday morning, I will still have to get groceries. Then I can finally get some much needed zzzzzz's....

But THEN, we have yet another busy day Sunday. We have church that morning, then that evening our church choir will be performing their Christmas contata. I am not performing in it (mind you I was invited, but politely delcined), but we will still attend, and then there will be the church Christmas fellowship after it is over. Yep, gonna be a busy week and weekend...

Anyone have some Zanax or Valium I could borrow???

You will love the Toby Mac concert! He just played in my town (Hershey, PA) last night and the youth group from my chuch went as well as many other people I know. I keep on seeing people's pictures on FB and am so jealous that I couldn't go.

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Good morning, Disfriends. I am asking for you to pray for my BFF and her family. For those of you who followed my last TR she is the BFF whose family joins us for movie nights occasionally and will also be going to Disney in October.

Yesterday her husband's brother died of a sudden heart attack. He was just 41 years old with a wife and two sons, ages 7 and 12. He works for the same company that Brian does in Nashville. It happened at work, so Brian knew before BFF or her husband. My heart is breaking for that family today. BFF's husband has had so much tragedy in his family. Four years ago on Dec third another brother committed suicide, and on Christmas Day that same year his mom passed away. His dad has parkinsons and is in very bad condition. BFF is afraid he will not be able to handle yet another death and that he too will die very soon.

We have all been worried about BFF's husband already in the last few weeks, because he seems to be depressed and has lost an extremely unhealthy amount of weight. Please pray for this family as they face yet another tragedy.

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

I am so sorry to hear about your BFF's loss! I will be praying for her and her family.

 

[DMGeurts]

Oh Oopsi, I am so sorry. I am sending prayers out to your BFF, her Dh and family.

D~

 

[solana131]

Oh gosh, this is so horrible! It is never a good time, but right at the holidays is just so sad. My thoughts are with them!

 

[LadyBeBop]

How sad. Sending prayers to the family.

 

[disny_luvr]

I'm sending prayers to your BFF, her DH and his family. How tragic for that family.

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Thank you to you all for your show of concern and your prayers. They are much needed. Brian and I went to the visitation last night. I have never seen such a great outpouring of support. We had to stand in line for an hour and a half to greet the family. My BFF texted me this morning to say they were not able to leave until 10pm last night. The visitation went non-stop for SIX HOURS! I just cannot imagine the physical, mental and emotional exhaustion the family must be feeling. Today is the funeral, and then the family can take some time to grieve in their own way. It will no doubt be a devastating Christmas for his wife and two boys.

 

[DMGeurts]

I am so sorry I didn't get a chance to respond yesterday. Please know that the family has been in our prayers. No doubt, it will be a hard Christmas for them. (((Hugs)))

D~

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Whew! What a crazy week last week! I feel like life is somewhat normal this week....but of course normal can't stick around for too long with Christmas on its way, right?

I feel like I need to do some sort of update that actually has something to do with the trip....so what shall I do?

Brian is really thinking about the trip more now. I think all the events from last week (our friend's sudden death and the events in Connecticut) have us all thinking of how fleeting life is. We need to cherish every person and every moment as though it could be our last.

He mentioned to me that he has been thinking of suspending his 401K investments for a while to use that money towards our Disney fund each month. Either choice seems to be a good choice: invest in our children NOW while they are little and still with us or invest in our own future retirement...

I mean, the "wiser" choice would be to stick with the 401K investments, but as we learned from our friend's death last week, we just don't know if that day will ever come. I left the decision for him to make as I feel that either choice is a winner. He must make the decision by December 27th.

If he does choose to use the money for our Disney fund that will be an added $120 a month towards our trip. I would LOVE to be able to go ahead and book the trip and start making payments on it. I am just ready for it to be REAL, you know? I have a hard time making any concrete plans until it is booked.

I guess, that is all I have that is trip related for now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


We are just getting into the throes of Christmas season and I am looking forward to seeing everyone's pictures and hearing about how everyone's holidays turn out.

Today I am working on my grocery list for next week...what a pain that is with all the different dinners and gatherings that I need to bring dishes to....but I love to cook and I love to party. It's getting all my thoughts together in the planning that sends me into a tailspin. Here are my functions and what I will be cooking for them...

Celebrate Recovery Christmas Party this Friday:
Little Smokies
Cheeseball and Crackers

Christmas Eve at the In-Law's:
Shrimp Ring
Cheeseball and Crackers
Fudge
Sparkling Juice

Christmas Breakfast at my house:
Breakfast Casserole
Sourdough Toast with Homemade Jellies
Fruit Salad

Christmas Dinner at my House:
Ham
Crockpot Creamed Corn
Honey Dill Carrots

My mom is making:
Smoked Turkey
Cornbread Dressing and Gravy
Southern Style Green Beans

My brother is bringing:
Mashed Potatoes
A variety of Desserts (his youngest DD is an aspiring Baker)
Rolls

Yep, I am going to have to be ROLLED back to work after all this! But it sure will be good!!!!

What sort of goodies are you preparing for Christmas?

 

[DMGeurts]

Whew! What a crazy week last week! I feel like life is somewhat normal this week....but of course normal can't stick around for too long with Christmas on its way, right?

I feel like I need to do some sort of update that actually has something to do with the trip....so what shall I do?

Brian is really thinking about the trip more now. I think all the events from last week (our friend's sudden death and the events in Connecticut) have us all thinking of how fleeting life is. We need to cherish every person and every moment as though it could be our last.

He mentioned to me that he has been thinking of suspending his 401K investments for a while to use that money towards our Disney fund each month. Either choice seems to be a good choice: invest in our children NOW while they are little and still with us or invest in our own future retirement...

I mean, the "wiser" choice would be to stick with the 401K investments, but as we learned from our friend's death last week, we just don't know if that day will ever come. I left the decision for him to make as I feel that either choice is a winner. He must make the decision by December 27th.

If he does choose to use the money for our Disney fund that will be an added $120 a month towards our trip. I would LOVE to be able to go ahead and book the trip and start making payments on it. I am just ready for it to be REAL, you know? I have a hard time making any concrete plans until it is booked.

I guess, that is all I have that is trip related for now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I totally understand your reasoning. I harbor a lot of guilt for all the times and memories I have missed making with my girls. That being said... Can Brian only contribute half of what he is now? That, I think, would be a good compromise? Then you are still contributing to today's memories, while insuring that you can still make future memories, as well.

We are just getting into the throes of Christmas season and I am looking forward to seeing everyone's pictures and hearing about how everyone's holidays turn out.

Today I am working on my grocery list for next week...what a pain that is with all the different dinners and gatherings that I need to bring dishes to....but I love to cook and I love to party. It's getting all my thoughts together in the planning that sends me into a tailspin. Here are my functions and what I will be cooking for them...

Celebrate Recovery Christmas Party this Friday:
Little Smokies
Cheeseball and Crackers

Christmas Eve at the In-Law's:
Shrimp Ring
Cheeseball and Crackers
Fudge
Sparkling Juice

Christmas Breakfast at my house:
Breakfast Casserole
Sourdough Toast with Homemade Jellies
Fruit Salad

Christmas Dinner at my House:
Ham
Crockpot Creamed Corn
Honey Dill Carrots

My mom is making:
Smoked Turkey
Cornbread Dressing and Gravy
Southern Style Green Beans

My brother is bringing:
Mashed Potatoes
A variety of Desserts (his youngest DD is an aspiring Baker)
Rolls

I have started my grocery planning too... Though, I am not as thorough as you are...

I plan to make a Trifle for Christmas day dessert.

We are also planning to make a ham meal for Christmas day... We have the ham, we have the potatoes... I wil just need to get a few things for side dishes.

I am also planning on doing an Egg Bake brunch for Christmas Eve morning.

And an appetizer of some sort for Josh's family function.

That's about all I have planned. TG was definately a bigger grocery bill for us.

Yep, I am going to have to be ROLLED back to work after all this!

At least you won't have to worry about a gas budget that week.

D~

 

[oopsiDAISY]

So, we haven't actually booked yet, but Brian and I sat down and looked at the 2013 calendar last night to agree on dates. He needs to put in for the vacation time now, so it was pretty important that we nail down our trip dates. And our official dates are... (drum roll please)

October 5-12, 2013

Yes, we are staying for a full 8 days!!! We plan to take about two non-park days, maybe three if we decide to do a water park one day.

So there you have it folks, that is as close to official as we will be until we actually book the trip after the new year! Our countdown is at 286 days til Disney! Anyone else going to Disney on any of those days?

 

[DMGeurts]

Yay for official dates! Whoot!

Provided everything goes as planned - we will arrive on the 11th.

D~

 

[solana131]

I'm still not sure when we will be going. I was looking at the 12th-19th. But honestly...after looking at all the awesome Christmas TRs on here...I am leaning towards pushing it into Nov to see all the decorations! I'll decide for sure after the new year and we get our tax refund.

 

[ravensterling3]

We are planning on June 1 -6. Right now we don't where we are staying at, its between por:riverside or bwi cl. It all depends on the discount coming out January 3.

 

[Pluto0809]

So, we haven't actually booked yet, but Brian and I sat down and looked at the 2013 calendar last night to agree on dates. He needs to put in for the vacation time now, so it was pretty important that we nail down our trip dates. And our official dates are... (drum roll please)

October 5-12, 2013

Yes, we are staying for a full 8 days!!! We plan to take about two non-park days, maybe three if we decide to do a water park one day.

So there you have it folks, that is as close to official as we will be until we actually book the trip after the new year! Our countdown is at 286 days til Disney! Anyone else going to Disney on any of those days?

Oh bummer, my dates are October 13th - 19th.

 

[DMGeurts]

Seriously Ariana!!! You are going again, and when I plan to be there???? AWESOME! We need to meet too!

D~

 

[Pluto0809]

Seriously Ariana!!! You are going again, and when I plan to be there???? AWESOME! We need to meet too!

D~

Yep! We will definitely have to meet. It's just going to be DH and I. Our 15th anniversary will be October 17th so that's why we are going. As of right now, we are planning on staying at POR. I sent links of the 4 moderates to DH and he picked POR. It may be because that is were we stayed when we went for our Honeymoon. Of course POR was Dixie Landing back then but DH probably recognized it. He tends to like familiar places.

 

[DMGeurts]

Sorry for the hijack Oopsi...

Yep! We will definitely have to meet. It's just going to be DH and I. Our 15th anniversary will be October 17th so that's why we are going. As of right now, we are planning on staying at POR. I sent links of the 4 moderates to DH and he picked POR. It may be because that is were we stayed when we went for our Honeymoon. Of course POR was Dixie Landing back then but DH probably recognized it. He tends to like familiar places.

That would be awesome! Keep me posted!

D~

 

[DMGeurts]

Just stopping by to wish you and your clan a very...

D~