Disney...by Land and Sea...Morris Style!

[cogero]

OMG Mr. D is too cute.

In some ways I am happy J doesn't talk because the stories I hear about Echolalia make me cringe because my luck it would be all inappropriate things.

 

[NiniMorris]

OMG Mr. D is too cute.

In some ways I am happy J doesn't talk because the stories I hear about Echolalia make me cringe because my luck it would be all inappropriate things.

Our problem isn't inappropriate things... it is he says innocent things at inappropriate TIMES! LOL! His echolalia is pretty mild. And if we catch it the first time he hears something and explain why he shouldn't say it, we are pretty safe. We have a rule that if he doesn't know what it means he can't say it...so when he starts, he has to tell us what it means. If he can't then he is not allowed to say it.

I understand COMPLETELY that MOST people don't get that luxury, which is why I say he has a mild case of it. We have been working on this since the beginning, so he has come to expect it. Mr D has become very vocal as of late and has an ever increasing vocabulary! It seems to be one of his strong points! Sometimes we call him a walking thesaurus.


Nini

 

[DMGeurts]

Hahaha... I just love hearing little Miss Mia stories - she is so adorable! Gosh I miss that age!

Happy belated Anniversary! I hope it was wonderful!

Such a bummer about your Feb trip - but it sounds like it's working out.

LOL about getting to the movies - that sounds like something Josh would do.

Mr. D is so cute! I love that... It must make for some very interesting dialog at times though. I am sure that most people understand. I know I would.

I hope you have a wonderful Sunday!

D~

 

[NiniMorris]

Hahaha... I just love hearing little Miss Mia stories - she is so adorable! Gosh I miss that age!

Happy belated Anniversary! I hope it was wonderful!

Such a bummer about your Feb trip - but it sounds like it's working out.

LOL about getting to the movies - that sounds like something Josh would do.

Mr. D is so cute! I love that... It must make for some very interesting dialog at times though. I am sure that most people understand. I know I would.

I hope you have a wonderful Sunday!

D~

I have a million stories about all my babies! Just wish I had more pictures...mmmmm

We never have a dull moment with Mr D around! That is for sure! Unfortunately, since his disability is mostly an invisible one, he gets thought of as an unruly brat a lot. Add to that the fact that he is actually pretty smart. He seems to be able to grasp tons of trivia...just can not put the things together that he needs to to be able to read. SO we do a lot of reading to him. His sister is reading The Giver to him now. He is really enjoying it!



This morning was ADR day for our new and improved February trip! Oddly enough I was able to get everything I wanted and then some!

I do have a delimna though. I could have gotten BOG for our last night (which has sort of become a tradition), but I went with the Wishes dessert party instead. So we will end up with a CS for dinner that night.

This is the way it is currently looking...although we all know I will be changing it up a million times in the next 6 months!

Saturday 1900 Park Fare
Sunday Sci Fi Drive In
Monday Tutto Italia
Tuesday Yak N Yeti
Wednesday Wishes Dessert Party
Thursday Chef Mickey's breakfast

The kids HATE 1900 Park Fare so I am pretty sure that one will end up going away; We have made several ADRs for Sci Fi...but have never actually made it. Probably won't this time either. Will most likely be looking for a Fantasmic package, but none were available this morning.

Over all I am ok with the choices...would be more OK with them if I didn't feel the need to change them so much! It is a sickness I tell you!


Nini

 

[DMGeurts]

No wonder you were up so early this morning... LOL Glad you were able to get everything you wanted. I am anxious to see what changes you decide to make... I feel like I am constantly changing our stuff too.

I hope you have a great day today!

D~

 

[NiniMorris]

No wonder you were up so early this morning... LOL Glad you were able to get everything you wanted. I am anxious to see what changes you decide to make... I feel like I am constantly changing our stuff too.

I hope you have a great day today!

D~

LOL... I get up between 4 and 4:30. Miss B has to catch the bus by 5:30. I had to WAIT on Disney! By the time I get back from taking Mr D to school (a little after 8)I am ready for a nap!

Nini

 

[NiniMorris]

I think it is time to completely put away the planning on the February trip! I got an email this morning basically letting me know everything was fine. I turned off the computer and worked on a different project. I turned the computer back on to discover that my February trip was cancelled!!

It took 3 phone calls to get it straightened out. Someone put in a wrong number!!!!!

I swear I am going to have a heart attack before February gets here!

Nini

 

[NiniMorris]

Wow...very busy day yesterday! We had a couple extra therapies and appointment thrown in to the mix. I finally got to eat something at 4 ...after being up since the other 4 on the clock!

I have GOT to start planning my Tuesday's better so I can get a meal in somewhere! Mr D actually ate lunch in the car waiting to go in to see his doctor! Something I just can't seem to do in my older age!

The good news is, we decided to keep his medication pretty much where it is, but will keep an eye on it. The only thing that changed is we doubled his melatonin at night. He's gone back to not sleeping but a couple hours each night and has finally cut out most of his naps. Which is good, except he REALLY needs to sleep some time!

We did get some good news about his recovery. It looks like he is on the way to make a 'full' recovery. It will probably take until he is in his 30's, but by then (if he continues on his current path) he will be close to a 19 year old! That is wonderful news! It really takes a lot off my mind. I have always worried about who would take care of him when he is an adult.

Another bit of good news is that his left side weakness is getting much better! (especially when you remember that he was paralyzed on his left side) His left upper arm strength is almost equal to his right upper arm strength. While it is a small step it is a major step!

One bad bit of news...Mr D now weighs more than me!

I am moving! Or at least my OFFICE is moving! We are going to do some rearranging of rooms. Miss B will be getting the upstairs bonus room as her bedroom (maybe) and I will be taking over her bedroom as my office! Right now I have a tiny corner in the living room. I have a huge oak roll top desk. I really need a bit more room to spread out!

I have plans to put down a hardwood floor and to paint...not 100% sure of the color, but it is going to be very Mickey-esq. I am actually thinking of a deep golden beige or a honey colored paint. This looks like it would be a great back drop to all my Disney posters and travel posters.

All of this is dependent on a certain teenager getting her room clean and keeping it clean for a bit. The worst thing I could do right now is to let her go upstairs without being sure she will keep it clean!

Somehow these 2 hours I have to my self in the mornings sure does seem to get shorter and shorter...It seems like it was just a few minutes ago that I turned the computer on and got my first cup of coffee... and now it is time to get the last one up! Guess it is time for me to learn to type faster!


Nini

 

[NiniMorris]

Now.... on the trip planning front...(yes, I forgot to add this!)

I have been stressing about having to go to the nearest bast=e to get our Military Salute tickets next Monday. SO I called and actually GOT a live person. Found out- 1-she doesn't expect to ACTUALLY have the tickets in hand for 3 or 4 weeks (and said there was really no need to have them early because I can't use them until the end of September anyway....uh...what about FP+???) 2- she charges an extra $50 for the privilege of using plastic (even though regulations say they can only charge if it is credit...not debit!) and 3- she could put me on a call list when they come in and I would have 15 minutes to get there to get them...hmm...my base is two and a half hours AWAY!

So, I broke down and called Camp Pendelton. Guess what...no additional charge for using plastic, only a $10 fee for Fed Ex...They send them next day ... AND the price is $4 less than face value (because they charge for mailing) Over all I saved almost $60!

Of course, these tickets will not be here in time for my FP+ date, but that is fine...they should be here later in the week. Since the main FP+ that people are having problems getting is A&E...and I am not interested in that one...I should be fine!

OK....NOW I will go get Mr D up!


Nini

 

[cogero]

C is actually doing better keeping her room clean since we moved her. It helps that we told her there would be random spot checks. LOL and I clean the bathroom

 

[NiniMorris]

C is actually doing better keeping her room clean since we moved her. It helps that we told her there would be random spot checks. LOL and I clean the bathroom

Well, this is my second try to post a useless drone of nonsense! LOL...all I was trying to do was to delete a word and spell it correctly, but my computer decided it should delete the post. This is my main argument with my new computer. The keyboard is a bit touchy...sometimes the back space key goes back a screen as opposed to back a space. ARGH!

Anyway, since it was a ton of nonsense I won't bother to retype it all! You are all spared from having to listen to the rants.

Yesterday I had to wait around the house all day for the air conditioning guy to show up. He was supposed to come in the morning...he must use the same broken watch that my daughter uses. Morning translated to 2 pm. Unfortunately I have to leave at 2 to start my taxi service for the kids. I told him he would have to get it done from the outside because I had already wasted the day waiting on him and had to go now. When I got back at 3:30 it was fixed. No bill yet.

So my ton of items on my to do list are now even longer!

I thought I would share the way my day went yesterday...

A customer contact wanted a quote on Disney...for 6 people...no ages given...wants to stay during Christmas for 8 nights...under $1500 total...inside Magic Kingdom!

Yup... I sent a well crafted email with options and suggestions and questions so that I could start a quote...I got a response... along the lines of...well, if you can't do that can you get us a room inside the Magic Kingdom for Thanksgiving? YUP...let me get out my magic wand and I will get right on that!


I need another cup of coffee.....

Nini


Chiara...just realized I didn't respond to you! Well actually I did but the computer ate it!

 

[cogero]

You mean I can't stay inside the Magic Kingdom. I thought that was an option.



Sorry honey.

 

[NiniMorris]

You mean I can't stay inside the Magic Kingdom. I thought that was an option.



Sorry honey.

No, I am not connected with Disney enough to get you the Cinderella Suite...and if I was I would NOT waste it on a client! I would snag it MYSELF! LOL!

But I am working on a way to get to stay in the parks over night for free...it involves lots of moving in the shadows and hiding....

C is actually doing better keeping her room clean since we moved her. It helps that we told her there would be random spot checks. LOL and I clean the bathroom

I can only hope! So far she has not picked up ONE item towards cleaning the room...this weekend is the deadline!




OK...Disney...

I got a phone call from my son Wednesday afternoon. He just wanted to let me know that he had gotten another round of PIN codes from Disney. He has 2 email accounts...one gmail and one yahoo. He got both a Free Dining for late fall...and a 30% off room rate for Late Fall in BOTH accounts!

My daughter in law gets them in all three of her personal email accounts as well as the business account!

I have not gotten a personal PIN since 2003! Yes over ten years, and right after our first trip. As in the day or two after we got back!

They also get them in their snail mail as well.

They are loved by Disney! They get stopped as we enter the resort by someone with a clipboard asking questions about if they want to join a survey for a $50 gift card; they get asked to participate in a this or that, for a gift card...with the amount to be chosen randomly between 10 and 500...they of course get the $500! They do those silly surveys at DHS and get told to watch their email for a surprise...and get Gift cards! They get phone call follow ups to see how they are going to use their gift cards...


Me....nothing! LOL!

They are surprising the Grand Princess with a trip in November. They have already paid zero for the trip...it has all been in gift cards they have gotten from Disney. Now with this new promotional PIN, they will be getting money back! They could actually upgrade and still not have to pay anything!

While I know I have never paid Rack Rate... and I do get some pretty good deals...I generally plan and wait for good promotions to come along. Perhaps I should wait and see if Disney will send me a PIN !!!

Who am I kidding? If I don't plan ahead I would be so stressed!


Nini

 

[NiniMorris]

Online check in DONE!​

Now to wait until the tickets get here from the military salute to get the FP+. Oh well, I can wait!


Nini

 

[NiniMorris]

Today was a not so good day.

First, 'someone' decided to test the boundaries of just how far she could go with her clothing selections for church. For the life of me I can not see how she thought something that was inappropriate for school would be ok for church!

Anyway, I drove her home to change. Just as I was pulling back into the parking lot at church, I started smelling smoke. My first instinct is to look at the temp thingy on the car to see if it is overheated, and it wasn't. About the time I started to ask if she smelled anything she started screaming...smoke was coming from the a/c vent!

I quickly turned off the a/c...and parked. As we were getting out of the van I saw smoke coming from under the hood. Black thick smoke. I grabbed my purse and tried to find the hood release... finally found it and pulled it...I made her get out of the way from the van and opened the hood! Smoke was still black and thick, but since the motor was off, I knew that unless the car was actually on fire it would go away soon...and the smoke started to clear within a second or two.

I sent her inside to services and noticed a pink liquid all over the engine. My first thought was anti-freeze, but it smelled more like transmission fluid burning. (is it strange that I know this? Husband is a car enthusiast who used to race dirt track when I met him! We used to work on cars together for fun)

After making sure there was no fire, I called my som (the Grand Princess' dad)...he came right over...the first thing he said was it smelled like transmission fluid (which would be a BAD thing)...but then he looked at it a little closer and said it was the high priced anti freeze we have to use in our new van...

Even though it never ran hot, the water was very low, so we filled it up with a gallon pitcher from the kitchen and decided to start it up with him watching...it took a half second to see where the water was spewing from.

So he pulls out his phone to check for the part...a hose...could not find it so he calls every auto parts store in two towns...only to find out it has to be ordered from the dealer, which is closed today!

Hopefully the dealer will have it in stock and not have to wait for it to be ordered!

So, my van is sitting in the parking lot at church, and husband and I have to share his work truck until it is fixed! I hate driving his smelly truck! It is big and hard to get in ... and I am completely whining now!


I am not at ALL happy about today! On top of it I have had a sinus headache all day...probably brought on by the horrible smell of the van smoke!

I want to go back to Disney planning and forget all about my van....



Nini

 

[NiniMorris]

I have been thinking about this post all week. Seven years ago today is the day I became a grand mother for the first time. For me it was a bittersweet day because it was my late step mother's birthday. I always hoped that she would make it to see my first grand child, but unfortunately she did not make it to see any of her great grand children.

I turned this princess into a blankie baby almost as soon as she was born. I made her so many quilts I lost count. You rarely see this child without a quilt. She has one that stays in the car, one in the jeep, one in her favorite spot in the living room, several in her bedroom...I even made her one to take to school.

She started staying with me when she was just a few weeks old. Her mom went back to work part time after 3 weeks...and within a week it became full time. She stayed with me every day until last year when she went back to school.

She was my snuggle bunny. When nap time came she would not sleep unless we were snuggling. When she spent the night or weekend at my house she was not comfortable unless she was snuggling with me.

She went on every single vacation we ever took (until this February): Disney, beach, mountains... did not matter. If we were going she was going.

I went to the hospital with almost every surgery she had. I learned how to clean the pumps, change the pumps, trouble shoot the pumps... During this last surgical bout she stayed with me for all but the first few weeks when she was drugged on morphine to keep the pain away.

From the time she could first talk she called me Memaw. I had started out as Grandma, but she quickly changed it. The odd thing is that I gave my mom that name when I was a teenager. It was the sound of mommy back wards...because I always told her she did everything backwards!

After I started calling her that, everyone started calling her Memaw. After she died it was very hard for me to hear that name...so no one spoke it around me...which made it strange that the Grand Princess started!

During all the surgeries and medical issues the Grand Princess has had, I know that she has had two very special guardian angels watching out for her. Grammie Frances and Memaw.

The Grand Princess has been my constant Disney buddie. She is broken hearted that she cannot go with us in October. But as a sign she is growing up, she will be taking a trip to Disney in November without me! It will be her first without me. She has been a couple of times without her parents, but never without me. (in fact, last February is the first trip I ever took to Disney without her since she was 2)


So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRAND PRINCESS ALYSSA MARIE MORRIS!!! I love you!


Nini

 

[NiniMorris]

I have been slacking!

Mainly because we have been dealing with a sick teenager... She did manage to give us quite a scare earlier this week. We ended up at the emergency room on Thursday. It was the third day of a bad migraine. By the time we got to the ER, her heart rate was over 190 and her BP was through the roof. She was dehydrated and blew a vein trying to get a blood draw and IV... they gave her Lortab, which has a side effect of lowering both BP and heart rate and got a CT scan.

After they got the BP down a bit they were able to get a good draw and inserted the IV.

After all that...other than the insurance company paying out a ton of money, we really have no idea other than it was a migraine. Once they got her stabilized they sent us home.

Now, two days after and she still has the migraine. but REFUSES to go back to the hospital...she said that medicine made her feel 'stupid'! Hearing her say that made me feel good in an odd way, both her bio parents and grand parents are all druggies... She could not imagine ANYONE would WANT to feel the way the medicine made her feel. (yes, she is like me...a control freak who will suffer in pain rather than loose control!)


Of course, Miss Mia is being a ham! She is doing Tot School at home...She is rather smart... and is catching on really fast...she knows A and B pretty well...in fact as she is in the car she will call out things she sees that start with either A or B and make sure you know...and she has figured out some of them they have not gone over...so at least those two letters are sticking with her.

As for colors...A few weeks ago all she wanted to say was purple...but she didn't really know what color was purple...we she is now in her 'Yellow" period! She will show you every item in the color yellow and scream yellow until you acknowledge it! Right now there are two colors to her...Yellow and....not yellow!

Her Momma tells her "I love you" every night before they go to bed...so Thursday night, after her momma says it...Miss Mia says "I loooooooooove ...................... Dada!" grinned and rolled over and went to sleep!


I swear she thinks she is a comedienne!




And on the Disney planning front... I managed to get a few more shirts from the Disney store before the sale went away...(still need to work on the birthday shirt that is in my mind) And the biggest thing of all.....Wal Mart has put their summer clothes on clearance! I ran in yesterday and bought one pair in every color and style they had in Miss B's size...all 12 of them. She came home from school and passed judgement on them and after trying on the ones she deemed acceptable, she now has 6 new pair of shorts for the trip! (and it only cost me $30!) With the 3 pair she already had she is now safely within my 7 to 10 pair I wanted her to have for the trip.... I was also able to get enough for me to put me in my goal range and Dad went the night before and got him a few more pair. The also have a new huge stop of camis with built in bras...a must for the hot weather...in a ton of sizes and colors all for only $5.88 So I will take back the shorts that did not pass muster and grab a few of those for Miss B.

Now I just need to find a few more shorts for Mr D...and we are getting almost set!



See... nothing much new around here....



Nini

 

[cogero]

Sorry about Miss B's migraine those suck.

Happy Birthday to the Grandprincess.

Love Miss Mia too cute.

We just noticed Sami has picked up on jimmy's signs so we will be working on give me please for words. But the other night at the yachtsman after she stuffed her face she pushed her plate away and said all done now LMAO.

I am always in awe of her speech.

We are home and it is now onto November planning.

 

[NiniMorris]

Sorry about Miss B's migraine those suck.

Happy Birthday to the Grandprincess.

Love Miss Mia too cute.

We just noticed Sami has picked up on jimmy's signs so we will be working on give me please for words. But the other night at the yachtsman after she stuffed her face she pushed her plate away and said all done now LMAO.

I am always in awe of her speech.

We are home and it is now onto November planning.

Thanks! We had a nice relaxing time at her favorite restaurant...where she was more interested in her presents than the food...as usual! (I was a little upset with their gluten free version of chicken Parmesan... even if I did spell it wrong! Having that little red line under it is driving me crazy so I will let it think I am talking about the cheese and not the dish! )

Saturday we went over to the Grand Princess' house for steaks...very yummy! My son has turned into quite the grill master...of course husband refuses to even acknowledge that we have/had a grill. We actually need a new one...and I showed him the one I want..it is a Kitchenaide. I don't do gas...only charcoal And I need it to be big enough to feed all of us!

I get to play with Miss Mia most of the day today. My daughter's inlaws are coming in town tomorrow so she wants to clean house without the wonderful help from Miss Mia. Miss Mia is very particular. She has certain toys that have to 'live' in certain places...and when Momma tries to put them up, she of course has to take them back out and put them where they are SUPPOSED to go! Then, her favorite household chore is doing laundry. She loves to grab the clothes and fold them...clean, dirty, wet, dry...she is not so particular on that. Then, after she folds them she puts them away. Sometimes you might not find where she put them for a few days....

Her other favorite way to help is by loading/unloading the dishwasher...she doesn't care which...and cares even less if you care that she is trying to put the dirty in with the clean or taking out the dirty to put in the cabinets...

I can't imagine why she would not want to have that kind of help!

Anyway, she is coming over to play with us for a while today.


Miss B gave us another scare yesterday and we ended up back at the ER, This time the doctor was an old family friend. Dr Mike gave her a quick exam and said it was definitely a migraine (and agreed it was probably brought on my hormones) and that she was dehydrated again. So he started an IV with a non narcotic 'cocktail' that was know to help migraines... and mumbled something that he couldn't believe they gave her Lortab on Thursday. She was asleep before the nurse left the room and they let us leave after the IV ran its course. He gave us a script for something to use as a rescue if she still had problems, and told me to make an appointment with Dr Judy later this week. He would like to see her follow up with a neurologist as a precaution.



This past week I have been doing ao much research for business that I have had little time to plan my own Disney trip! (Horrible I know!) But in all honesty, I am at a loss until our tickets get in so I can add them to MDE and get our FP+ done. We leave in 45 days! So I guess I really need to start doing 'something'....just haven't a clue what! LOL

Normally by now I have already started packing...right now I have piles and stacks of stuff on the dining room table....and the luggage is underneath the table. I have made three different packing plans and lists and threw them all out! (the lists, not the clothes!) Even though the cruise is only 4 days, we will be gone for 12 days...so I have to pack extra STUFF. I want to take only 2 bags onto the cruise, and leave the rest in the van...but once we get off the ship, we will have to hoof it over to Epcot...(after checking in of course) for our only day at Epcot. It will be a late night at Epcot with an early Magic Kingdom the next morning...not a lot of time for an obsessive planner/packer like me to get everything sorted out!

Oh well...I'm sure it will all work out...and at least I can take comfort in the fact that we aren't flying!

Nini

 

[cogero]

Glad to see that you were able to see a doctor who was able to help you.