Christmas all year long!

[annmarieda]

Well, I know that it is the very pretty Zoe in my favorite color yet again with Princess Belle. I am going to guess that they are at the Magic Kingdom in the area where they used to have Storytime with Belle.


***And Ann in order to have something to do with my PTR, I'm stealing your "where and who are we" theme.

man you are good, Kathy!!!

1pt for Zoe
1pt for Belle
1pt for MK
1pt for Storytime with Belle area

4 points total

And.. by all means, steal away. I stole it from Joyce (although she didn't do but one time)

And... just a tid bit regarding the pic. Zoe was selected to participate in that show. It was super cool because she got one on one time with Belle after the show. I can't remember if that was just before the audience could...or if they completely didn't let the audience line up. I vaguely remember them shoeing everyone out of the "theater"

And... Kathy... not meaning to sound weird or stalkerish.... but you all have been on my mind lately because of how nice and supportive you have been over the last month. I had a dream about you last night... You and I were planning on having Tonga toast. I have NEVER had tonga toast.... and we are not planning a trip at the same time. Maybe someday though.

 

[Monknmom]

I'm glad that you finally got some sleep!
Is there a medicine that they can give her instead of the one that's altering her mood? And also I am not sure, but maybe with the potty training and also try the kegal exercises they have you do when pregnant it could help?
I'm so glad that both of you are feeling a bit better today and I hope that this is a change in a better direction for you both!
Lilo and stitch sounded fun!
Oh and the changes huh? How funny I am about to go to my PTR and post my changes! Your changes look like some good savings! I guess that you have a few days to think about it then because they say it won't be released around 8/3! I'm excited!

 

[shocky5]

Since there is the rumor of free dinning being released soon, it has prompted me to play on the website a bit. So I have been pricing out several things
and what our savings would be.

1. Current view at WL with fd = approx. -$7
2. Downgrade our view at WL with fd = approx -$250
3. Change to AKL with standard view and fd = approx -$650
4. Change to AKL with pool view and fd =approx. -$470
5. Change to POFQ with standard room adn fd = approx. -$2060

It is so funny to play with Disney math/numbers. Ultimately, I am not sure what I want to do. It is nice to know that I don't HAVE to do anything though and still be happy with what I have. I had thought fd would save us a couple hundred over what we currently have, but I guess that isn't the case. (maybe because rates went up since the time we first booked ) So I won't be someone who is getting up early (did that for cp) to be calling on Wednesday.

Curiosity.... you are such a math whiz with this 'stuff...' My question... if we are booked on a package with a room discount, can we add the fd or do we have to pick one over the other?? Teach me, please!

 

[KatMark]

Curiosity.... you are such a math whiz with this 'stuff...' My question... if we are booked on a package with a room discount, can we add the fd or do we have to pick one over the other?? Teach me, please!

You can only get one discount...either the "room discount" or the "free dining". If you do free dining, you pay rack rate for the room. You have to see which comes out cheaper for you (I would assume being the Poly that the room discount would be much better for you guys).

 

[Grace and Mickey]

Since there is the rumor of free dinning being released soon, it has prompted me to play on the website a bit. So I have been pricing out several things
and what our savings would be.

1. Current view at WL with fd = approx. -$7
2. Downgrade our view at WL with fd = approx -$250
3. Change to AKL with standard view and fd = approx -$650
4. Change to AKL with pool view and fd =approx. -$470
5. Change to POFQ with standard room adn fd = approx. -$2060

It is so funny to play with Disney math/numbers. Ultimately, I am not sure what I want to do. It is nice to know that I don't HAVE to do anything though and still be happy with what I have. I had thought fd would save us a couple hundred over what we currently have, but I guess that isn't the case. (maybe because rates went up since the time we first booked ) So I won't be someone who is getting up early (did that for cp) to be calling on Wednesday.

Hi

I was going to tell you I saw about the new free dining offer, but saw you way ahead of me.
Not sure what it will save us, but I hope it will be a better deal then our precent off deal on our room, we staying at CBR.

I will be Up early on Wed, Soo you can think of me.

Glad to hear Zoe is doing better a for you both

grace

 

[annmarieda]

Curiosity.... you are such a math whiz with this 'stuff...' My question... if we are booked on a package with a room discount, can we add the fd or do we have to pick one over the other?? Teach me, please!

As Kathy said... one or the other... and room discount should save you more assuming you had a 40% off and don't have a slew of adults on the dinning plan. Sometimes for us fd would save us more if we had more adults....

 

[annmarieda]

Hi

I was going to tell you I saw about the new free dining offer, but saw you way ahead of me.
Not sure what it will save us, but I hope it will be a better deal then our precent off deal on our room, we staying at CBR.

I will be Up early on Wed, Soo you can think of me.

Glad to hear Zoe is doing better a for you both

grace

I will think of you!

And... thanks... Zoe is doing better.

 

[annmarieda]

I'm glad that you finally got some sleep!
Is there a medicine that they can give her instead of the one that's altering her mood? And also I am not sure, but maybe with the potty training and also try the kegal exercises they have you do when pregnant it could help?
I'm so glad that both of you are feeling a bit better today and I hope that this is a change in a better direction for you both!
Lilo and stitch sounded fun!
Oh and the changes huh? How funny I am about to go to my PTR and post my changes! Your changes look like some good savings! I guess that you have a few days to think about it then because they say it won't be released around 8/3! I'm excited!

I need to try and find some sort of physical therapy for Zoe. You would think that the hospital would have been a good resource for it... but I am so tapped that I don't have it in me to search for it on my own right now.

As for changes... I really don't know what I want to do. I will post something in a minute... but I am even more confused.

 

[annmarieda]

So I just go back from the doctor with Zoe. Of course she has an infection... but yay for me for knowing that she does just based on odor.. She is doing better and better. When I cath'd her in the office it was almost easy peasy. (almost ) At least there was no holding down.. no screaming I am killing her. It is going much better. Better still is her mood. OMG! She is smiling and laughing. I love it!

On the down side though... I spent all morning dealing with insurance and medical supply companies... WHAT A PAIN! I finally have an order for what she needs and it should be good. The place the hospital set us up with was gong to be charging $5 a cath (she goes through about 7 a day ) Well, I found a place that will charge me $1. I also found that my pharmacy can order some syringes for me for only .50 each. They can be washed, but they don't hold up for ever and having new sterile in package ones will be good for outings. (like disney ) The insurance co was not happy to learn that they were being billed so much when I could buy them without the insurance for less. I was not happy to find that a recent policy change caused my cost for Zoe's hospital went from $0 to $1000. Oh well... at least I don't have a copay for the readmit since it was within a 10day period. Makes me wish I had pushed to get the surgery scheduled a bit closer to the original admit. Oh well...


And then there is Steve's dilemma. This trip would mean a large chunk of time scheduled off. He was going to need to not take any vacation between now and the end of the year to make it happen. Well, his boss let him work from home a ton over this last month. (In theory to be around for Zoe ) Well, hr came back and boss got into trouble and Steve got into trouble and now... he will have to use his vacay time for that. even though over the last month... he HAS been working. He just hasn't made it into the office much. So I am not sure where that leaves him with his vacation time and our trip... but I am thinking it won't look pretty when all is said and done. Who know now what I will do. I don't want to leave him behind. He needs a vacation too. (remember he has been working each day..and even put time in on the weekends...just remotely..not IN office) We have his airfare booked too... so As if we needed more stress. I suspect he will end up quitting. And then where will that leave his vacay time???

Oh well... I guess we will have to figure it out and cross that bridge. It is 9 days total.. .assuming he gets the 22nd off for Christmas. (since he gets 24th and 25 off and those are sat and sunday)

 

[swwake]

Well I'm glad to hear things are better with Zoe and she's no longer screaming with the caths. Also glad you got the money figured out for the supplies but too bad about the hospital cost on your end

I'm sad to hear about your hubby's vacation time. I can't believe that he gets in trouble because his boss made a "bad" decision. I hope something works out between now and then. There's lots of time in between and hopefully someone at his company will be reasonable and understand his need to spend time with his family.

 

[KatMark]

Lord, how I HATE insurance companies. You pay an arm and a leg to pay for insurance, and then they still want you to put more out. I'm glad the cath is going better for Zoe and that she is smiling and laughing...that is awesome news!

That really stinks about Steve and his job. Could he hold off until closer to the trip and then, if he is going to quit, quit then and start a new job AFTER vacation? I hope you don't have to leave him at home.

 

[annmarieda]

I'm sad to hear about your hubby's vacation time. I can't believe that he gets in trouble because his boss made a "bad" decision. I hope something works out between now and then. There's lots of time in between and hopefully someone at his company will be reasonable and understand his need to spend time with his family.

Well, I got more from him. Turns out he will have to 0 out his vacay time and sick time AND take 4 days unpaid. He will maybe accumulate 4 more days by the end of the year.. but not likely since he is in a full chrons flare right now and is likely to need 1 day off a month to try and recoup...and with no more sick time . HR told him their hands are tied. Other employees came in and threat of L&I.. not fair..bla bla bla.. Steve's boss not having authority to grant more benies that what are in his contract (ie. working from home) Thing that gets to me... is if he shows up for an hour.. its all good...put in 10 hours at home and that is bad. I think he will just be working some short days. He is after all salaried and if what they need for L&I and other busy bodies is to see him show up.. fine... he can show up.

Lord, how I HATE insurance companies. You pay an arm and a leg to pay for insurance, and then they still want you to put more out. I'm glad the cath is going better for Zoe and that she is smiling and laughing...that is awesome news!

Ya know.. I actually don't use my insurance for my metformin prescription since paying cash is cheaper than my copay. Makes you wonder why you even pay for insurance.

That really stinks about Steve and his job. Could he hold off until closer to the trip and then, if he is going to quit, quit then and start a new job AFTER vacation? I hope you don't have to leave him at home.

I think that may be the plan.. maybe. Then again...he has 3 wks of disability left.(the company he works for has an AWESOME disability plan that allows for 12 wks in a 12 month period of paid time off..given you have doctor approval and with his Chrons.. he always gets approval.. usually it is a week or so... but last year he took 8) I think he should just attempt to use those in December. Course... I think it was last December that he used it... so he should have the full amount come November. HMMMMM

For right now though..it stinks cause I still will have work. It has been a blessing (and a fairly well thought out plan on my part) that this is the end of the fiscal year for advertising and so my hours have been REALLY short. Like half. Nice when I can go and get all my 15 hours for the week done in one day so I can take the remaining week off to be with Zoe... not nice on the pay check. Now given what I just had delivered to my door step today, I am thinking next month will be ramping back up in hours. If I have to be around to cath Zoe every few.. and Steve can not be home to work... We may be down grading to POFQ just to make the trip more affordable... and get Kira to watch Zoe... and pay for large chunk of her trip. Who knows... I am back to liking Steve taking December off on disability again.. but.. oh.. he won't leave the house while on disability.. I think it will be hard to convince him to go across the country.

 

[veggiemama]

Goodness Ann, what a lot of stuff going on for you right now. I haven't been around for a few days..... long weekend in Canada this past weekend.

I'm so very glad to hear that Zoe is getting better and that you both are getting some sleep! Amazing what sleep will do for attitudes and comfort and just being able to cope with the day.

Insurance and Dr's are very different in Canada apparently! That is awful that you have to beg for information from Dr's and I have no words for insurance .... bleh!!

So from where we both started, going to Pop, then I changed, than you changed and now if you change again we could both end up POFQ.... so we may still end up running into eachother!!

 

[shocky5]

You can only get one discount...either the "room discount" or the "free dining". If you do free dining, you pay rack rate for the room. You have to see which comes out cheaper for you (I would assume being the Poly that the room discount would be much better for you guys).

Yep, that is correct. Definitely get the better savings with the room discount but wouldn't it be awesome if we could apply both??? WDW would probably be very crowded year round (more so than already) and not have much of a surplus. Oh well... was just disney dreaming.

 

[shocky5]

Okay - how incredibly selfish is the person who pitched the fit somewhere in Steve's company about him working from home... people like that drive me crazy and I would be willing to bet had someone not made 'noise' it would have been just fine.

And that's all I have to say about that...

 

[KatMark]

Okay - how incredibly selfish is the person who pitched the fit somewhere in Steve's company about him working from home... people like that drive me crazy and I would be willing to bet had someone not made 'noise' it would have been just fine.

And that's all I have to say about that...

You tell them!

 

[annmarieda]

So from where we both started, going to Pop, then I changed, than you changed and now if you change again we could both end up POFQ.... so we may still end up running into eachother!!

Very true!! I am actually thinking of switching to POR since we can get 5 of us in a room. My thought would be this... I would switch Kira to take Steve's place. Then if Steve could come we could still fit him in. I am not sure how that would work for park ticket and dp.. since I think everyone has to check in at the same time. This also wouldn't account for Zach or Josh should they also be going. It also assumes Kira could go for the full time.

I don't know.. it is just making me nuts. Just when I think I have it all but squared away.. this happens. I have spent so much time planning and dreaming. I really am kinda bummed that I don't know if we will even go. Well 3 of us will for sure go. I think it would be kinda dumb to cancel all of it. Especially since airfare has been purchased. Steve doesn't want me to do anything to change anything until the dust settles from this. It may be worse or better than it seems. He may have 5 days and 2 holidays he can use for this trip. If he is able to shift a weekend (which he could have done before so.. if the dust settles right he will again) Then it would mean that he will just need to miss one day of work unpaid. Hmmm when I look at it like that it does seem like he will be able to go regardless. Course.. this assumes he starts to feel better and doesn't use vacay as sick time.

OMG.. I think I need a "running around the room screaming" smilie

 

[annmarieda]

 

[swwake]

Can I get a point for Kira? (wow, she looks young here)
I am guessing Magic Kingdom inside the Castle.

 

[annmarieda]

I forgot to mention that I got Mickey Mail a couple days ago.

With everything that is going on.. I am am having a hard time getting excited about it. However, MVMCP tickets came!!! I was really expecting something more festive. They are kinda generic and.. just to fit with the current mood blue.

ACK!!!! I can't make a spread sheet that will work this problem out. I can move us.. and save money.. but.. if Steve doesn't go it is moot... it doesn't help anyway. I want to fix this now.. but can't.

I can't look into air fare to see what dates would work better for him to go... as we wont' know until last minute.

OMG!!! what good did booking a year in advance do if I have to wait until the last minute to know for sure what we will be doing????

again.. really? NO running around the room screaming smilie???

Maybe this will work.