Cruise 10/11/2003 Part 2

[RellingTwin]

I'm loving hearing more about everyone. Thanks for getting us started JenKat!

Who's next?

 

[papa]

JenKat my wife Kathy is a neonatal intensive care nurse(RN) for the city hospital where she has worked for 18 years. I used to work for CSX Transportation (railroad) in the track department. Driving those track spikes with the 10 lb spike maul like John Henry.

It is pouring down rain here in Nashville at the moment.

Mike

 

[JenKatt]

We're going to need to make a flow chart or something to keep everyone's jobs straight!!!! Keep it coming ya'll!!!!

It's finally sunny in Florida today, the last couple days have been all day rain which is odd for us, but welcomed... so what happens today? No afternoon shower to kill off the humidity... oh well

 

[RellingTwin]

JenKat...I am from a family of 5 girls and 3 boys. 4 of the 5 girls are nurses! 1 is head nurse on the psychiatric unit at NYU, another is a L&D and Lactation nurse in Portland Org. Then there is me and twin sis. All 3 boys are enginerers (like dad was). The fifth sister (who is not a nurse) works for the White House( she is trade negotionations)

Fiona, my former room mate is a lawyer who works by herself. She is always argravated with people who assume she is rolling in money! She works very hard, for not much money, but LOVES what she is doing.Things are not always what they seem.

 

[cdnmickeylover]

I realized that I didn't say what kind of law I do. I do real estate, mostly residential and some commercial. It's a lot different here in Canada than it is in the States though as the transaction is done by lawyers rather than agents. Our forms are a lot different as well as I've witnessed some documents for clients buying property in Florida.

I love what I do and I love the firm that I'm with. It's small and everyone who works there is great but the $ isn't. It's not bad, don't get me wrong but it certainly isn't six figures.

The part I think is the most funny about my job is when people assume that I'm the secretary and ask to speak to the lawyer -- this is usually just before they blow up because they don't like the answer they are getting. When I tell them that they are speaking to the lawyer there's usually quiet on the other end of the telephone line and they begin to talk reasonably. The worst is when another lawyer asked me how old I was and then complained to the senior partner that I wouldn't return his phone calls and did everything by fax. He was told that since he'd been so rude I'd been told not to talk to him again. Luckily in real estate everyone is usually really friendly.

Funny things do happen though -- I once had a call from the other client that the front door of the house was missing. We do work for a builder and someone had stolen the front door of the house on the day of closing!! The other lawyer was great about it and we joked that his client didn't need the keys then to get into the house.

This week we had trouble closing a deal because the bank branch where we were to pick up the mortgage money was robbed just before we were going to go get the money. Deal was delayed as we had to have the money re-routed to another branch but it was interesting. Never a dull moment. What was really funny is that the deal was for the pastor of the lawyer that does wills and estates in the office. He kept joking that nothing could go wrong because this was his connection with God. I told him we had a problem and that his pathway to heaven might have to take a little detour. He just laughed as did the client because it was just one of those things. Spoke to the bank workers later that day and they were all ok which was good as well.

Must go and get to bed since it's now after midnight and the dog will want to go out early in the morning.

Fiona

 

[Viking]

Originally posted by papa
JenKat my wife Kathy is a neonatal intensive care nurse(RN) for the city hospital where she has worked for 18 years. I used to work for CSX Transportation (railroad) in the track department. Driving those track spikes with the 10 lb spike maul like John Henry.

It is pouring down rain here in Nashville at the moment.

Mike

Mike,
did you defeat "Mr. Steamdrill", too?

Rain Rain
I heard about that phenomenom, but can't remember it clearly
We still are in the upper 80ies/lower 90ies and would love some precipitation. But for tomorrow we have a thunderstorm warning for the whole Republic.

 

[matty204]

JenKat

My wife Karol has worked as a RN for the last 18 years at St. Mary’s/ Mayo Clinic Currently she is a surgical nurse working in specialty and urology surgery after moving from ortho. She had been an ICU nurse but moved to surgery when our first child was born (no nights). Karol is active in many projects and groups, but the passion is scrap booking.

I have been working as a nationally registered paramedic for 20 plus years. A couple of years ago (after completing additional education) I became a manager of our service’s information technology department. For the past year I have been working on deploying our paperless field documentation project with help from the IS staff from the mother ship (our service is owned by the Mayo Clinic which it a great help) Our service is composed of 12 ground services in Minnesota and Wisconsin as well as 3 rotor wing and 1 fix wing services. After this project I very well may go to nursing school.

We have two daughters 13 and 11. They are busy planning events for the summer and working on the Grand Plan for the cruise! Both enjoy playing basketball as well as the assorted pre and early teen endeavors and of course scrap booking.

We also have two, yes two, Bassett Hounds. Their function is to keep the deer, rabbits, birds and UPS man out of the yard (invisible fence is great but the UPS person won’t get out of the truck because the dogs are loose in the yard, so they have effectively treed him, what great hunting dogs!), but some how the crab apple trees are eaten by deer away. This must occur during one of the numerous naps the dogs take.

Welcome to the group,

Matty

 

[matty204]

Does anyone know if there is a chat Saturday (today) and if so what time?

 

[padisneyfan]

I think I have now caught up on all the posting. So here goes some of my replys.


WELCOME To JenKatt and EEYORE

Eric--- Congratulations on the new job. I love the programmed washing machine.

Mike--- Congratulations on the new car. You got to love that 0% interest rate.

Rosemary--- I would think that we can see Finding Nemo on the Magic in Oct. I know last year I saw Lilo and Stitch and My Big Fat Greek Wedding on the cruise and they had been out awhile.

Fionne--- I now think that both of my sons are disneyed out. DS#2 wasn't until this last trip. We went to IOA and he loved that park because of all the roller coasters. But if you want roller coasters they can just drive 40 minutes to Hersheypark and ride even more than was at IOA.

DS#2 (Brian) and Bob Hope share the same birthday May 29th. It is also my brother's birthday and John Kennedy's.

For a PA/NY/MD meet August 2 looks good for me. It doesn't matter where we have it. If Baltimore is to far for some, do we want to look at either Lancaster, Hershey or Allentown area.

Matt--- I am also a scrapbooker. So your wife and I have both nursing and scrapbooking in common.

Tina--- Thanks for the excellent review on the Adventure of the Sea. The Voyager of the Sea will be doing cruises from NYC starting new year, so that would be an option for a family cruise next May. Also the Marine of the Sea will be coming to Port Canaveral in Nov. My son's really want to try one of those ships. It looks like they would have enough activites to keep them from becoming bored. Carnival Pride also had that you could book your excursions from the TV and check your bill. I found that very helpful. Did all my excursions through the TV. Sounds like you had a great trip.

Here is additional information on our family for all the new people. Norm works as an estimator for Sheridan Press which is a book/medical magazine manufacturer. He is also the manager for that department. I have 2 sons both in college. DS #1 will be a junior at Kutztown University and majors in Electronic Media (TV & Radio Production) and DS#1 will be a sophmore at California University of PA and majors in Sports Management. Hockey is the big sport in our house, both sons played for years and DS#2 still plays in college. He is the starting goalie for his team. Norm coaches and I have been a team manager, youth hockey board member, tournament coordinator, and now High School hockey board member.

Think I covered everything I wanted for now. I am still trying to catch up on laundry. Of course, with both sons home for the summer I probably will not ever be caught up again until they go back to school. Had to restock the kitchen. I'm not used to those large grocery bills anymore. Guess it will be that way until the fall.

Later,
Nancy

 

[Boardwalk4me]

JenKatt,

We are recently new to this group and probably have the most
boring of all professions. We are not in the health field, but our older DD 20 is thinking of going into one. She is in her second year of college. Jeff was a private investigator but after too many years of no family life and not knowing what city he would end up in. He decided to give it up. We had just bought a house and since his first love was contracting he started a handyman company. That grew to 10 employees several years ago, but too many unreliable people out there. So we cut back and bid on government contracts for HUD or repossessed property clean outs. We then bought trucks and equipment to perform those.
We did those for several years. Then we gave those up as dealing with the government was really an eye opener. We mostly do new home construction debris removal and dumpster services. We are fortunate as we have been able to ride the
economic downturn as the new homes in Minnesota continue to be built. We are servicing an average of about 450 units that are in production.
Nancy worked for the USDA for about 12 years and then gave that up to be a SAHM. Nancy is a SAHM and does all the administrative work for the business. We have a home office.

One of our hobbies is Disney. All 4 of us collect a character or theme of Disney. Our living/kitchen is decorated in Mickey and Minnie, our bedroom is DVC, office is Disney Cruise Line, 2 bathrooms are The Little Mermaid (Jeff's collection has spread into 2), 1 Bathroom is Toy Story (Nancy's), DD 20 has 101 Dalmations all over her room (she has been collecting since about 8 years old) and DD 11 finally decided to settle on Disney Dogs but mostly Pluto, so her bedroom is coming right along.

We have 2 dogs, Jake an American Eskimo and Willie and Sheltie/Eskimo mix. They love the UPS man as he always has snacks for them.

DD 20 Lia still lives at home and goes to college, She works part
time for Sam's Club and part time for us. She loves to fish. Her boyfriend Ross is a Pro Bass Fisherman in Minnesota. He also attends college and is probably going into teaching.

DD 11, Alisa is into music. She is in school band (clarinet) and loves the guitar. She plays soccer (Jeff is a assistant coach). She loves to snow ski, water ski, swim and fish. Oh and don't forget computers.

We just got done hosting a end of year 5th grade party (with our neighbors) for 60-5th graders last Saturday. We had two trampolines between our yards, beach ball volleyball, ping pong, temp tattos, prizes, pinattas, mini golf, games, a live band ( 2-8th grade boys and 1 10th grader could play Jimi hendrix and Eric Clapton, they weren't bad either) roasted wieners and smores, and end of night lit fireworks. We were exhausted.

We live very close to the Mall of America in Minnesota. Go to a cabin every weekend in the summer or as soon as the weather will allow. Way to cool up here not one hot streak yet. The lakes just haven't warmed up. We are hoping to put the dock in next weekend and start our short summer season.

We are really looking forward to this cruise as we cruised with family before. We were a little leary going alone this time. But finding this board changed that very quickly.

Boardwalk4me

 

[Sarah'sMomfrom PA]

Here's our family bio....I also work in healthcare at a hospital (www.mth.org in case someone wants to check it out!!) but low and behold, I am not a nurse but a secretary. I am employed there for the past 23 years. My husband works for a glass manufacturer (for the past 32 years) who makes face plates for the front of the picture tube. Business has been really bad at his plant due to the bad economy and several of the businesses that purchased their product moved to Mexico. He has alot of seniority so luckily, we are fortunate.

Our DD is 13 (going on 33!!) and is currently finishing up 7th grade at our public high school. She was just accepted into the honors program for 8th grade so that should prove to be challenging. Looks like this may be the last October that we are able to pull her out of school. She loves the computer, her music cd's, shopping, etc. Matty204...Kelsie told her she was at the Mall of America and Sarah is bummed because we can't go there some weekend..while I do love to travel..Minnesota is a little too far for a Saturday afternoon!!

We have an Austrailian Shepherd who is spoiled rotten..my baby.. and the highlight of her day is when the mailman delivers mail through our door mail slot..she could be sound asleep and immediately, runs to the door and most of our mail has teeth marks in it (if we're lucky) or she rips the edges off of it. Interesting when we pay our bills explaining the teeth marks.

Currently pouring rain here...when will it ever end and summer arrive??? Can anyone having sunny weather send just a little our way..we are not asking for 7 days of sun but just one would be nice!!! Have a great day!!

 

[taswira]

Lest I be dubbed a total outcast from this huge "health care worker" group, I must confess my LONG ago and very REMOTE connection to the health care field. I have a degree in Fire Science and that included certification and duties as an EMT (but no, I never used that degree for anything!). I also studied veterinary technology and worked in that area - - Think killer whales and dolphins, <I>not</I> dogs & cats. But all that was about 25 years ago, which is why I said "remote." I went from that to working with horses, and now concentrate on wildlife photography and travel.

 

[okwmiester]

Jen: It is fun to hear our about our unique worlds prior to meeting each other....

Matty and Karol, We share your interest in scrapbooking as well. Christy has digressed into the depths of gathering photos from all of our old photo books and cluttered photo boxes. As a family, we have created numerous books around various themes (her favorite store is Archivers). She has even went so far as to overhall and convert a spare bedroom into what is called "scrapbook central" at our house.

Nancy, Since my younger days I have cut back on my obsession of hockey, however, I still play once a week in a pickup league. I enjoyed many years of high school and college hockey as well as coaching high school teams. I am still slowly recovering from the Wild's shocking 4 game series loss to the Ducks.

Jeff and Nancy, we are also quite involved with interior design via Disney theme. Christy painted our theater/TV room with green walls and in the corner of the room is a giant mickey hand with a wand that sprinkles pixie dust throughout the entire room. The walls are also surrounded with mickey cell paintings!

Cori, dd14, is crazy about Eeyore! She loves to play volleyball and soccer. She is an avid reader and sings very loud in the shower, in the car, and in the basement while playing kareoke!

Connor ds9 is very active with disney pin trading. He is obsessed with major league baseball and baseball statistics. He plays baseball, soccer, gymnastics, and.......you guessed it ....PS2!

Christy and I have been DVC members since 1992. Christy works for 'Andersen Windows in Humam Resources. She supports the Quality, Technology, and Engineering side of the organization. I have been a teacher, school counselor, and now administrator/principal for 24 years. I currently am administrator for two Area Learning Centers (programs for high risk/drop out students-for lack of a better word) in St. Paul Minnesota. We both have traditions of hosting annual neighborhood/community events (usually childrens events such as christmas parties with santa, easter egg hunts, harry potter parties,etc..). We travel whenever possible (and then build scrapbooks)

Our past two disney cruises were also linked with fellow dis group folks with whom we still keep in touch. It really makes it an enjoyable way to travel!

School's out and we are heading for Disney Beach Club Villas next week!

 

[matty204]

okwmiester

It must be Minnesota, maybe it is the weather.

My oldest daughter, Kelsie (13), is Eeryore crazy as well.

When we built this house 5 yrs ago, one room was designed as a craft room (another was designed as a computer room but that another story). Now the craft room has a number for sewing machines (yes, even the Brother's Disney Embroidery one) and scrap book tools which are starting to over grow and move up to the dinning room. DW is on a pilgrimage to hit most the scrap book stores in the upper Midwest. Then there is the Midwest Scrap Booking Convention in St. Paul the first week of August. Days off have been schedules and times lines are marked!

Our UPS man has dog treats as well! We have a long driveway so I think it is an excuse. Basset Hounds are definitely dogs whos' barks are worst then their bites. On the other hand the dogs can be a sleep in the house, and hear the UPS truck a ¼ mile away and be outside in a shot, meeting him along side.

Sarah'smom, aren't all dogs spoiled rotten?!

Taswira dont you just love veterinary technology. I did it the hard way. My father it a veterinarian, primarily large animal (cows, horse, pigs and etc, not a lot of whales or dolphins here in Minnesota with the catch and release programs for Northerns. I have heard of some big ones that have got away, special at the bars near the resorts). I was a student early on, helping on calls, doing some lab work, etc and the "other duties as assigned". Special in the early summer when it was vaccination time, as there were many times when clients would have a large number of critters to be vaccinated, and the phone dialog would be on the order of .”Doc, why don’t you bring your boy along to help.” In retrospect it was interesting and a fun way to grow up.

Here links to our EMS service and to the mothership if anyone want to check them out
http://www.mayomedicaltransport.com
http://www.mayo.edu/
http://www.mayoclinic.com/index.cfm?

 

[Viking]

Hi Folks.
List number is in your mailboxes - Check it out.

 

[RellingTwin]

18 weeks to go!

LOVE the Bios...keep 'em coming!

 

[Viking]

Ave,
The Boss is doing a concert in the Munich Olympic Stadium on Monday. On Friday the Stones played there.

 

[bettemom]

Hi Everyone,

This is Kim , bettemom's favorite daughter. Since I am the better typist she is having me do our Bio's.

Mom raised 5 children 4 born in just 4 years and the last one 10 years later...and primarily worked from home( thats why she called herself chief cook & bottle washer) and that was a full time job with all of us plus hubby. Hubby was career military so that took on added duties for her also.

She works part time answering phones for a small business owner in our town and helps to keep the owners business in order. She also works full time keeping my life in order, since I am in and out constantly and refuse to answer the phone at home.

She and I are the Disney freaks in our family. Mom's hobbies are Counted Cross Stitch ( she does gorgeous work) , traveling, reading, DISNEY and now keeping up on the Disboard.

I am a laboratory director, I worked on a trauma team in a level 1 trauma hospital for 9 years and needed a change, so I now supervise a laboratory and all the other staff whose primary testing involves petroleum products, gasoline, oil, diesel fuel....

Fiona, I can understand completely when you have customers who do not think you are the Lawyer, you can get some nasty comments, I too have this constantly, since I am also responsible for telling my clients what is wrong with their engines, oils or fuels and most are initially in shock that a "girl" can tell them whats wrong. Some days you can have a pretty good laugh, once in a while I actually get flowers sent to me after a "new" client is a bit gruff on me.

My hobbies are DISNEY,DISNEY, DISNEY, I actually have over 45 file boxes full of Disney collections from the past 20 years. I also love my computerized sewing machine and doing my own custom designs and then sewing them into a project, and finally my other loves are travel & now CRUISING, I have been fortunate to travel many places around the world and my favorites would be Scotland with my mother celebrating her birthday and my visit to Japan 2 years ago.

So here is a bit of info on us....who is next ???

Bettemom & Kim

 

[taswira]

<B>matty204:</B> Yes, I did love veterinary technology. Some of what I learned in working with marine mammals came in handy later with the horses. I owned a stable, taught riding, and trained and showed horses for many years, but was able to take care of much of the equine health care without calling the vet. It was a far cry from the marine mammals, but at least I was comfortable with it. As I said, all that was half a lifetime ago for me!

<B>Viking:</B> On the next update, please delete Idaho from my location and make it Florida ONLY. Thanks!

I am SO glad to see other "adults" who are big Disney fans. My bedroom walls are adorned with Disney and DCL art and the room is full of other Disney items. I even have a Minnie Mouse telephone so Minnie speaks when the phone rings. Captain Mickey and Chip (of Chip & Dale) are on my bed. Throughout the house there are other bits of Disney. I've never had kids, but that doesn't stop me. I am never embarrassed to profess my love of all things Disney.

 

[Hopkins]

Hubby laid down the law and said that the Mickey stuff has to be contained into one room, which works out better since it makes a huge statement when you just see that room. It looks like... well, you all have such a room. But, we still have mickey dishes, glasses and flateware in the kitchen and mickey silloutte white towels in the master bathroom (very subtle you wouldn't know they were mickey's if you did look very close (hidden mickey's all over)). Our Christmas tree is a different story. It's Disney and ornaments from all our travels. So, the mouse is semi-contained in our house. But that's OK!

Tina