Christmas all year long!

[annmarieda]

I love the picture! I hope that everything that's going on with the government doesn't take too much of a toll on him, I know that both of my brothers will hurt as they are the support in the families! As far as not sending food.... We have my son's class ship cards they make over every few months and Christmas we shipped oreos and chips ahoy (I was worried about shipping baked goods)! I know that there is a weight limit that you have to follow and only through the post office can you ship! But maybe he just feels a little shy to? Not sure!
That's AWESOME about the points that you got from the hotel and tying it into the wedding so you win both ways! Will DH take it easy during the late summer and fall so that he doesn't get sick in the winter? I am sure things will fall into place!

Yeah.. Zach is not shy... but he said that he will get razzed for getting goodie packages. Maybe it is just where he is...

I hope to make the hotel points work.. but Kira wants to go through a local florist (which is who the only place would send the order through anyway) If we go with her... then there will be a free throw away bouquet. So... we will see. I did sit down and actually work schedule and numbers. What I have to work with right now for sure... 1 companion fare and 1 free fare or 2 companion fares. If I change our dates to the lowest fare possible for our time frame (12th to the 22nd) both sets will come out to be about $650 rt... so for the four of us approx $1300. So, since the free fare doesn't really save us more than using the companion I will probably end up not using it. (unless we get enough for the second free flight). It will be good to get all of us on a single flight. Plus to that also is it is a non stop flight.

And as for Steve.. he has not taken a day off in probably a good month... Alex has come down with a nasty cold. I feel as though I may be on the verge as well. If Steve gets it, I am sure he will start on a downhill spiral.

You are right though... things will fall into place!

 

[All7OfUs]

Nice picture Ann!! It's too bad they won't allow a bit more contact with their families!

 

[tinacaplan]

Great picture! And good news about the flight.

 

[veggiemama]

Great Picture!

I keep checking flights too. Right now they are really high!!

 

[lfwhipp]

Great Picture!!! I am very proud of those boys and your son, I too hope the goverment situation improves and doesnt affect him too much.

On the airfare and points, i hope that works out too. I know we have a ton of points but my dates in May didnt have a regular flight available, only a high point flight, of course leading to spending double points to fly. We chose to save them for another time and booked SW. Since SW have gone down on rates and i now have a credit

I too think everything will fall into place, things always seem to work themselves out the way they were meant to be.

 

[shocky5]

Love the picture and I'm glad our government made it through their budget dealings last night!

Awesome news on the potential airfare! It's hard to make those concrete decisions when we are still 8 months out...

I hope your family has a restful weekend! I'm sure you will be busy but try to fit in some calmness and serenity for YOU!

 

[annmarieda]

Nice picture Ann!! It's too bad they won't allow a bit more contact with their families!

Thanks, it was sent from a phone... so I am amazed it is as clear as it is. And the lack of contact... it just makes it all the more special when he does call.

Great picture! And good news about the flight.

Thanks... I think my boy is handsome. I was a bit shocked at how bald he has become. He has been spending a lot on hair cuts... all I want to say is "why""

As for the flight... well, not booked yet. I am getting closer though to understanding what I want to do.

Great Picture!

I keep checking flights too. Right now they are really high!!

I know... especially for the dates we have booked. I am all but certain I am going to have to change our dates. With all my hesitation over staying on Christmas...the cost just pushes me that much closer to shifting our dates.

Great Picture!!! I am very proud of those boys and your son, I too hope the government situation improves and doesn't
affect him too much.

Thank you... so far as much as I know... nothing has affected him.

On the airfare and points, i hope that works out too. I know we have a ton of points but my dates in May didnt have a regular flight available, only a high point flight, of course leading to spending double points to fly. We chose to save them for another time and booked SW. Since SW have gone down on rates and i now have a credit

I think ultimately, I want to wait and see what happens in a couple months. I suspect that SW will release their fares for december by then, right? Maybe Jet Blue too? I have not flown either. (well, sw once a very long time ago) I am intrigued by no baggage fees.

Love the picture and I'm glad our government made it through their budget dealings last night!

Awesome news on the potential airfare! It's hard to make those concrete decisions when we are still 8 months out...

Why yes, yes it is. I am not saying I wouldn't book this far out again... but man it is taking its tole on me. If I didn't have all of you to chat with about my hopes and dreams regarding this trip I would surely go mad

I hope your family has a restful weekend! I'm sure you will be busy but try to fit in some calmness and serenity for YOU!

Thank you so much. I do hope to get a bunch accomplished. Steve is taking the day off as am I. Laundry and chores for me... and hopefully some grocery shopping. Steve has his sights set on working on his newest tinkering project. He is turning our home into a smart home. He is such a big ole geek. He has been installing sensors throughout the house and will be installing new electrical outlets. Basically, our home will know if someone is not in the room and shut off things that have been left on. I am glad he has a project (not that all the maintenance stuff wouldn't count) however, don't most dads just yell and say "turn off the lights when you leave a room" rather than buy equipment that will do it? Oh well...

 

[lfwhipp]

Why yes, yes it is.

I love the P&F reference, this is all you hear at my house!

 

[momabaarjo]

The amount of planning that goes into your flights!!!! WOW...I signed up for Kayak to monitor Continental and American Flights (I have those options, but not as convient as SW) and flights are down at $25 since I started tracking...but I know I can get a better deal with SW when it comes down to having to pay baggage fees too!

Only 45 more days til SW announces flights to January 6, 2012!!!​

 

[annmarieda]

I love the P&F reference, this is all you hear at my house!

Obviously, we hear it a lot here too!

The amount of planning that goes into your flights!!!! WOW...I signed up for Kayak to monitor Continental and American Flights (I have those options, but not as convient as SW) and flights are down at $25 since I started tracking...but I know I can get a better deal with SW when it comes down to having to pay baggage fees too!

Only 45 more days til SW announces flights to January 6, 2012!!!​

I have signed up for alerts too with bing and tripadvisor. Problem I have is that I am playing around with dates... If I had concrete ones then I could sit back a bit more. Since I keep thinking about changing... I can't just sit back I have to watch pretty much the entire month of December. 45 more days? Maybe I can hold out in changing my dates until then... maybe not

 

[shocky5]

Thank you so much. I do hope to get a bunch accomplished. Steve is taking the day off as am I. Laundry and chores for me... and hopefully some grocery shopping. Steve has his sights set on working on his newest tinkering project. He is turning our home into a smart home. He is such a big ole geek. He has been installing sensors throughout the house and will be installing new electrical outlets. Basically, our home will know if someone is not in the room and shut off things that have been left on. I am glad he has a project (not that all the maintenance stuff wouldn't count) however, don't most dads just yell and say "turn off the lights when you leave a room" rather than buy equipment that will do it? Oh well...

Okay - I have to totally admit I'm intrigued by this smart house project!! I am the one that constantly follows everyone around the house shutting off lights, tv's, radios... I also have to admit I am pretty darn certain I would not be able to do a project like that... my smarts sorta brake at anything electrical for my safety and those around me!!

I have to second your comment earlier about having everyone to chat with about "The trip." Keeps it real!

 

[lfwhipp]

Obviously, we hear it a lot here too!

we even do "The Ferb" I look at DH or he looks at me, points and makes the "chk chk" sound. that episode where they dont know who marries "aunt Isabella"

 

[annmarieda]

Recent days have been spend wondering if it makes sense to be gone on Christmas. I really wondered if I would miss being at home. I worried that I would be abandoning Kira and Zach should they be here. I also was looking at airfare and saw that I could fly out for much less if I changed dates.

So, I made the call to look at changing the dates. I asked about either the 12th to the 22nd or the 13th to the 24th. Either of which you would think would save me a substantial amount given that we would be cutting out the stay on the 24th and 25th. Well, first the cm was not all that helpful. He gave me a cost comparison of the three time frames

Current - 15th to the 26th = x
13th to the 24th = x + $13.44
12th to the 22nd = x - $480.76

I thought this looked odd since we would cut out those two more expensive nights. He couldn't tell me why they cost was even higher when checking out on the 24th. Then it dawned on me the likely reason I was not seeing the savings I thought I would. Standard view rooms are all booked. So my planning ahead has done one thing.. it has secured me a standard view room. Can you believe they are all booked? So I kept the current reservation. No need to make myself crazy over this for a while. Shoot, I just thought of one more thing... I could just check out earlier an save AND be home for Christmas. I think my original dates had us checking out on the 22nd. Hmmm.. that made it a bit tight with the ADR's though... Great... Now I am gonna make myself nuts again.

 

[annmarieda]

Okay - I have to totally admit I'm intrigued by this smart house project!! I am the one that constantly follows everyone around the house shutting off lights, tv's, radios... I also have to admit I am pretty darn certain I would not be able to do a project like that... my smarts sorta brake at anything electrical for my safety and those around me!!

I am lucky I guess that Steve is sharp with these things... course... I was gone when he was dealing with the electrical stuff... and came home to find he had been stressed out cause one false move and
I can't believe he did that while no one was here in case something went wrong.

I have to second your comment earlier about having everyone to chat with about "The trip." Keeps it real!

I totally appreciate all of you being my sounding board. I make myself (and Steve) crazy trying to plan.

we even do "The Ferb" I look at DH or he looks at me, points and makes the "chk chk" sound. that episode where they dont know who marries "aunt Isabella"

"chk chk"

 

[dizneeat]

Recent days have been spend wondering if it makes sense to be gone on Christmas. I really wondered if I would miss being at home. I worried that I would be abandoning Kira and Zach should they be here. I also was looking at airfare and saw that I could fly out for much less if I changed dates.

So, I made the call to look at changing the dates. I asked about either the 12th to the 22nd or the 13th to the 24th. Either of which you would think would save me a substantial amount given that we would be cutting out the stay on the 24th and 25th. Well, first the cm was not all that helpful. He gave me a cost comparison of the three time frames

Current - 15th to the 26th = x
13th to the 24th = x + $13.44
12th to the 22nd = x - $480.76

I thought this looked odd since we would cut out those two more expensive nights. He couldn't tell me why they cost was even higher when checking out on the 24th. Then it dawned on me the likely reason I was not seeing the savings I thought I would. Standard view rooms are all booked. So my planning ahead has done one thing.. it has secured me a standard view room. Can you believe they are all booked? So I kept the current reservation. No need to make myself crazy over this for a while. Shoot, I just thought of one more thing... I could just check out earlier an save AND be home for Christmas. I think my original dates had us checking out on the 22nd. Hmmm.. that made it a bit tight with the ADR's though... Great... Now I am gonna make myself nuts again.

Ann, we might be living on two totally different continents, but you sound A LOT like me!

It's best to cover ALL different options, and there is still a lot of time - if I were you, I would just price it all out online. CMs sometimes are not all that much help! Even if I book over the phone I have an open laptop with the price of the room right in front of me!

There is a lot to consider with your dates and I guess I won't be much help.
Maybe once you know about where your kids will be for Christmas you can make a real decision!

Oh, and BTW, it looks like I never commented on your policeman issue! That was just plain scary!
I hope you get everything resolved in your favour!

 

[annmarieda]

Ann, we might be living on two totally different continents, but you sound A LOT like me!

It's best to cover ALL different options, and there is still a lot of time - if I were you, I would just price it all out online. CMs sometimes are not all that much help! Even if I book over the phone I have an open laptop with the price of the room right in front of me!

There is a lot to consider with your dates and I guess I won't be much help.
Maybe once you know about where your kids will be for Christmas you can make a real decision!

Oh, and BTW, it looks like I never commented on your policeman issue! That was just plain scary!
I hope you get everything resolved in your favour!

I actually had priced it out online. I just had it priced with a standard room. I neglected to think that they rooms would be all taken. I did feel the cm wasn't the most helpful since I was the one who had to figure out the reason that the one period was actually a bit higher. oh well... you are right though... once I know where my kids will be... I will make a definite decision. Worse case, I just cut out those last 4 nights and end up with my original reservation.

As for the officer... I did write a letter and I did hear back. I got a "we will address this issue" "thank you for your feedback" response. It is what I would expect. Honestly, do I think it will change anything? No, because I really doubt that anything will be done. See, in my very nice letter to the police chief I purposely left out the officer's name. (although I am sure they can figure it out based on the date and my name) In the letter I got, they did not ask for a name nor did they say anything regarding the officer. Oh well... I did my part.

 

[dizneeat]

I actually had priced it out online. I just had it priced with a standard room. I neglected to think that they rooms would be all taken. I did feel the cm wasn't the most helpful since I was the one who had to figure out the reason that the one period was actually a bit higher. oh well... you are right though... once I know where my kids will be... I will make a definite decision. Worse case, I just cut out those last 4 nights and end up with my original reservation.

As for the officer... I did write a letter and I did hear back. I got a "we will address this issue" "thank you for your feedback" response. It is what I would expect. Honestly, do I think it will change anything? No, because I really doubt that anything will be done. See, in my very nice letter to the police chief I purposely left out the officer's name. (although I am sure they can figure it out based on the date and my name) In the letter I got, they did not ask for a name nor did they say anything regarding the officer. Oh well... I did my part.

Well, I always thought that if I can price it out online, it should be available when calling in.

And from the response you got, it doesn't look like there is going to be a lot of change. You would think they would at least try to sound like they were going to do something! Sad!

 

[onescgirl]

I hope you can get it all figured out!

 

[momabaarjo]

When will the maddness of planning and second guessing our decisions end!!!!

 

[lfwhipp]

Well, I always thought that if I can price it out online, it should be available when calling in.
!

you would think so huh? I had a recent change to my reservation in may where i found a deal on the disney web site that saved me $189 (yes i am anal and wanted the savings) I called and they did not want to give me the reservation change because they said it wasnt available. When i told them i saw it on the site and directed them to the exact place, she actually told me to cancel my ressie and book again on line, i asked for a management CM and got it fixed right there, i think sometimes the CM's at the call center are clueless.

When will the maddness of planning and second guessing our decisions end

we need a support group