After last Decembers fantastic trip and taking Auntie K with us Last year's Trip Report, it wasnt long before that twisted logic of returning to WDW as quickly as possible began to take over my thinking. If I didnt trust him so much Id swear Mickey brainwashes you just before you leave WDW, and implants subliminal messages that guarantee your return to sunny Florida in the not-too-distant-future
We loved Disney World at Christmas time! What with the decorations, the festive themeing, the almost non-existent crowds A perfect time to visit, but the weather can be somewhat unpredictable, so just as soon as we arrived home we began to plan our return visit for April 2005 (again with Auntie K of course.) It seemed like a good idea at the time
As winter finally gave way to spring, and my countdown broke 365 days, life took a nasty swing at my family.
DWs father has been plauged by growths in his throat for the last 15 years or so. It started out as a gradual thing and became more and more frequent, requiring surgery to remove the growths from his vocal cords and surrounding area. His specialist is based in Winnipeg, but they live about 4 hours away so its always a trip or two per year for check-ups and surgeries. Weve lost count of the number of times theyve been in to stay with us since this all began I think were past 20 operations. And somehow hes managed to avoid the dreaded C-word.
April saw him severely restricted in his ability to breathe, as the growths grew back so rapidly, they obstructed his airway somewhat. His memory has been slipping over the past 5 or 6 years as well perhaps related? We dont know. Again they came in and again he required emergency surgery to correct the problems. This time however, our luck ran out.
Tests showed his lungs had become affected now too, and the results came back positive for cancer the outlook was grim at best. Rapid deterioration over the course of weeks to months or something like that. A couple months was all he had left
Because of his decreased memory (Alzheimer-like) and his tendency to worry the decision was made not to tell him outright he had cancer. Immediate family and friends were told but no one else the risk of him being reminded by a well-meaning friend (and his giving up) were too great to chance. We didnt know if hed remember his condition from day-to-day
Needless to say our routine changed a little.
DW was fortunate to be able to spend most of the summer months at her mom and dads. DS6 was there as well, taking his swimming lessons there and visiting with cousins and many friends. I stayed in Winnipeg and worked while they were gone the combination of family upheaval and frustrating projects proved to be extremely stressful, and I found that planning the 2005 trip was a great release.
Summer came and went, and with it DWs dad was still going strong. Someone was looking out for us!
Late August saw us try to get our routines back, since weve got to get back into regular life again school for DS, work again for DW and me and try to keep the constant concern and unknown lurking just behind the scenes. I think we managed to fill our plates with activities just to keep ourselves otherwise occupied Beavers (Scouts), piano, and swimming for DS. I volunteer as a Scout Leader, DW volunteers at DSs school a couple of afternoons each month, and hockey (weekends) is just around the corner.
We were cleaning up in the basement and as I moved the couch to vacuum , I was met with a fuzzy, white footprint of where the furniture had been MOLD!!. We had water in the basement in the spring late snowfall and early rain helped send a lot of water into our basement window wells, and down the walls and across the floors. We thought we managed to get all of it vacuumed and dried out but I guess not!! The musty smell and ¾ thick mass of mold under all the tables and chairs told us we had a problem.
Wed always planned on eventually redoing the basement. Just not so soon. And definitely not this year! Carpets would need to come out, drywall would have to come down in short weve got an urgent renovation on our hands now too!
Is that the sound of a Disney World trip slipping away???
By mid-September we were toast - after weeks of packing things and decluttering our pack-rat ways and trying to get the basement into a pre-demolition stage - (it's amazing how much 'stuff' you can acquire if you're not paying attention to it!! ) and in need of a break one night, as DW and I sat in the office finishing work, I told her how burnt-out I was feeling, and that what I really needed was a vacation; somewhere to just get away from all this and relax- let my mind go. A nice white beach and blue Caribbean waters would do nicely
But there was my Mickey implant, silently eroding my keen sense of judgment and astute logic, and before you could say Philharmagic, I was on the phone with CRO and booking ASSp for Dec 11-19, and shortly thereafter had our airline tickets booked too!! I dont know what I was thinking
Oh Boy! Were the next 2 months going to be interesting
Link to my pictures from the trip!!
Link to Part 2
We loved Disney World at Christmas time! What with the decorations, the festive themeing, the almost non-existent crowds A perfect time to visit, but the weather can be somewhat unpredictable, so just as soon as we arrived home we began to plan our return visit for April 2005 (again with Auntie K of course.) It seemed like a good idea at the time
As winter finally gave way to spring, and my countdown broke 365 days, life took a nasty swing at my family.
DWs father has been plauged by growths in his throat for the last 15 years or so. It started out as a gradual thing and became more and more frequent, requiring surgery to remove the growths from his vocal cords and surrounding area. His specialist is based in Winnipeg, but they live about 4 hours away so its always a trip or two per year for check-ups and surgeries. Weve lost count of the number of times theyve been in to stay with us since this all began I think were past 20 operations. And somehow hes managed to avoid the dreaded C-word.
April saw him severely restricted in his ability to breathe, as the growths grew back so rapidly, they obstructed his airway somewhat. His memory has been slipping over the past 5 or 6 years as well perhaps related? We dont know. Again they came in and again he required emergency surgery to correct the problems. This time however, our luck ran out.
Tests showed his lungs had become affected now too, and the results came back positive for cancer the outlook was grim at best. Rapid deterioration over the course of weeks to months or something like that. A couple months was all he had left
Because of his decreased memory (Alzheimer-like) and his tendency to worry the decision was made not to tell him outright he had cancer. Immediate family and friends were told but no one else the risk of him being reminded by a well-meaning friend (and his giving up) were too great to chance. We didnt know if hed remember his condition from day-to-day
Needless to say our routine changed a little.
DW was fortunate to be able to spend most of the summer months at her mom and dads. DS6 was there as well, taking his swimming lessons there and visiting with cousins and many friends. I stayed in Winnipeg and worked while they were gone the combination of family upheaval and frustrating projects proved to be extremely stressful, and I found that planning the 2005 trip was a great release.
Summer came and went, and with it DWs dad was still going strong. Someone was looking out for us!
Late August saw us try to get our routines back, since weve got to get back into regular life again school for DS, work again for DW and me and try to keep the constant concern and unknown lurking just behind the scenes. I think we managed to fill our plates with activities just to keep ourselves otherwise occupied Beavers (Scouts), piano, and swimming for DS. I volunteer as a Scout Leader, DW volunteers at DSs school a couple of afternoons each month, and hockey (weekends) is just around the corner. We were cleaning up in the basement and as I moved the couch to vacuum , I was met with a fuzzy, white footprint of where the furniture had been MOLD!!. We had water in the basement in the spring late snowfall and early rain helped send a lot of water into our basement window wells, and down the walls and across the floors. We thought we managed to get all of it vacuumed and dried out but I guess not!! The musty smell and ¾ thick mass of mold under all the tables and chairs told us we had a problem.
Wed always planned on eventually redoing the basement. Just not so soon. And definitely not this year! Carpets would need to come out, drywall would have to come down in short weve got an urgent renovation on our hands now too!
Is that the sound of a Disney World trip slipping away???
By mid-September we were toast - after weeks of packing things and decluttering our pack-rat ways and trying to get the basement into a pre-demolition stage - (it's amazing how much 'stuff' you can acquire if you're not paying attention to it!! ) and in need of a break one night, as DW and I sat in the office finishing work, I told her how burnt-out I was feeling, and that what I really needed was a vacation; somewhere to just get away from all this and relax- let my mind go. A nice white beach and blue Caribbean waters would do nicely
But there was my Mickey implant, silently eroding my keen sense of judgment and astute logic, and before you could say Philharmagic, I was on the phone with CRO and booking ASSp for Dec 11-19, and shortly thereafter had our airline tickets booked too!! I dont know what I was thinking
Oh Boy! Were the next 2 months going to be interesting
Link to my pictures from the trip!!
Link to Part 2
