Well, I see the numbers of "Irish Eyes" are increasing as well our UK delegation! You will find that Jim has quite a bit of charm and Lynn and Keith from the UK are simply delightful all the way around.
Franco:
God bless you and your family as you bring your Mother home! She is lucky to have family who treasure her. As Jim said, many of us have made similar journeys and empathize with your desire to provide her with the best care possible. I hope all goes well with your DW's trip home to Brazil - how exciting for her!!
I have been quite focused on our new little boy! As a Lab Rescue, he had wonderful foster parents but still had some medical issues to follow up on and some new ones show themselves. My "vet" knowledge base and skills are pretty dismal so I have had a steep learning curve. After the past two weeks, my relationship with our new vet is quite profound (and very expensive). LOL In fact, we will be heading there again today as Sampson started shaking his head and scratching at his ears yesterday. After my "research," I would say ear infection secondary to allergies. I wouldn't stake my veterinary reputation on it, of course!
Here are some thoughts on Christmas Gifts:
DH had a large gray carry-on bag and hand-carried all the unwrapped presents. We were not comfortable with the theft threat of small, electronic devices so we didn't put anything in our luggage. DD got a personal CD player and Disney Walkie Talkies..........plus some CD's and a CD Case. She also got two envelopes from Santa which were tickets for hair braiding and tandem para-sailing. She was thrilled with the hair braiding tickets especially as I had told her I didn't know if it would be possible as it was quite expensive.
DS (17) gifts included a personal DVD player, golf shirts from onboard the ship, golf items from WDW and a couple of DVD's. We picked mostly electronic because the gifts were boxed and easier to transport that way. Chuck went through security before we did in case they wanted him to empty the bag; I stalled until he was clear and he waited for us on the other side. I had pre-purchased flat gift bags and tissue paper and packed them in the Christmas luggage. You cannot wrap gifts as you may have to unwrap them for security................so, we used the gift bag concept. Anything you purchase on the ship, they did have special Christmas wrapping offered BUT only for Mickey's Mates or Treasure Ketch purchases.
Embarkation Gifts:
Shirley, from the Perfect Gift, does any gift baskets or surprises for us. She did our Holiday floral arrangements and our pre-lit Christmas tree.
We do order celebration platters, champagne etc from
DCL. I loved the gifts that DCL originally carried (especially the pillow case, cookie and Disney Storybook) but I'm not really taken with their current
offerings.
Well, it is time to really start my day (DH had an early flight so we were up at 3 AM)! I have no idea why but since I began my little "vacation" at home...............my to-do lists seem to grow exponentially. Happy Friday, All!