"Do You Mind?" - Disney Adventures with Teens August Trip Report

[Grandma Bonnie]

OK, I've been gone so long that I screwed up and posted the above twice.
Sorry, forgive my senility.

 

[Grandma Bonnie]

OK, Susan, you caught me!
Hic! Bring on the second round!

 

[Grandma Bonnie]

So I'm sitting here re-reading posts from ten pages ago. I didn't realize how much Shelby's illness has really effected our lives. We have all been greatly touched by her strokes and the results. I honestly don't know how Susan's step-mother is staying sane.

Her step-mother's name is Sierra. Although she is married to my ex-husband, we remain friends. In fact we call each other "Wife-In-Law". And we share the same birthdate. Not birthday, because I arrived nine years earlier.

Anyway, Shelby is still recovering, but has been moved to a nursing home. Susan's dad and step-mom decided to place her in the same nursing home as the one where Sierra's mother is living. The idea was to make it easier for Sierra so she could visit each "mother" in the same place. Previously, she was driving back and forth between the two. But this week her mother had a relapse and is now in a hospital. So she's back to driving between the two mothers again. In the past few months she has lost her father and her sister and has been caring for these two ladies. I don't know how she does it! Some people are just naturally caretakers. Bless them. I don't think I could do it.

Now about the SBDiet.....I am at a plateau and HATE IT! Can't get past the minus 18 pound point. So I guess I have to go back to that dreaded Phase 1. But at least I made my doctor happy when I had my physical last week. I've lost four inches in my waist. Whoo Hooo! I actually can wear a belt with pants that don't have elastic waistbands.

I also went through that ridiculous root canal process, too. You would think that would help me lose weight, but the dentist told me to drink milk shakes......and.....I did!!!!

Well, that's enough for now. I'll ramble on later.

 

[Native NYer]

Good luck with your diet. I'm sure you'll get over the hump soon!

Hope you're feeling better after your root canal

 

[Beana9802]

OK, Susan, you caught me!
Hic! Bring on the second round!

Very funny!

 

[Grandma Bonnie]

Let's talk "pictures" for a few minutes........

As I reviewed some of the earlier posts in this thread, I thought of a few things.......

First, everyone if you look at my new avatar, you'll see my hair is really white. That is all natural. I know it may make me look older, but I also know people pay big bucks to get this color. I also know from many years of past experience, how much it costs in time and money to cover this hair. Personally, I'll keep the bucks for WDW. It occurred to me yesterday as I was considering coloring it again, that "white" reflects heat and we will be at WDW in August and I need to reflect that hot, humid, summer sunlight as inexpensively as possible. So the gray stays!!!!

And the pictures of the pink limo makes me thankful for the old days when "16" was celebrated with a day behind the wheels of a newly acquired formerly owned vehicle. It may have been a little more expensive to buy the car, but it didn't take as much planning and wasn't nearly as noisy nor fattening as your plans for Katie's Sweet Sixteen.

Books pix.....now I know what I'll be reading around the pool while I "making memories" with the grandkids while the rest of y'all are celebrating Jo's "Big 4-0" in Vegas this June.

And about those shoes......well, I've already said all I need to say on that topic. Besides, I'd hate for anyone to look in my closet. I bet I have the record for most pair of shoes owned by a non-celebrity senior citizen this side of the Pacific. I've always had a shoe fetish. I brought 48 pairs of shoes into my marriage and shocked my groom. (Don't know why. I wore them all during the six years of "courtship". Guess he wasn't interested in my feet!!!!!!)

That last comment must mean that it's time for a break. I'll be back later.

 

[Grandma Bonnie]

I need to make a couple of corrections to some earlier posts.
First, my report of Susan's degree from U of M was incorrect. It was a BBA. (I think. If I am still wrong, she needs to correct it this time.)
Second, my wife-in-law is older than I stated. I am only 8 years older than she.

 

[Grandma Bonnie]

MEMOM, so glad you joined us. Indeed this is a small world (pun intended, too.) Tennessee connection notwithstanding, we have other freaky similarities.


I never wanted to be a principal either. It just happened for me. My superiors thought they saw a 'principal' inside me and told me that was what I was going to do. Being the sweet obedient team player, I agreed and stayed at it for 25 years.

And you are correct, there was ALWAYS chaos in the Principal's Office. But I have to admit that sometimes, I caused the chaos.

Example #1: October was when I would turn my office into a pumpkin patch and serve cookies and "Witches' Brew" (orange punch) from a cauldron in my office.

Example #2: December was when I would turn my office into an Enchanted Forest with numerous moving and musical characters and lots of white lights and artificial snow spread around.

Example #3: When the custodial crew had to suffer through months of negotiations with the HR department w/o pay, I called a "meeting" in my office and served them a candlelight dinner with mood music. (Yes, I was fortunate to have a huge office.)

AND my first and last teaching jobs were in a Third Grade Classroom. I have taught a little bit of everything in grades 1-9, but 3rd remained my favorite curriculum.

I have visited and read the first page of your tag team site. LOVE IT!!! When I have more time I plan to return for the following pages.

 

[Charleston Princess]

And you are correct, there was ALWAYS chaos in the Principal's Office. But I have to admit that sometimes, I caused the chaos.

As a teacher, I think being a principal is one of the most difficult jobs!!!

Example #1: October was when I would turn my office into a pumpkin patch and serve cookies and "Witches' Brew" (orange punch) from a cauldron in my office.

Example #2: December was when I would turn my office into an Enchanted Forest with numerous moving and musical characters and lots of white lights and artificial snow spread around.

Example #3: When the custodial crew had to suffer through months of negotiations with the HR department w/o pay, I called a "meeting" in my office and served them a candlelight dinner with mood music. (Yes, I was fortunate to have a huge office.)

Wanna come be my principal? I bet you had a very loyal staff!

 

[Beana9802]

AND my first and last teaching jobs were in a Third Grade Classroom. I have taught a little bit of everything in grades 1-9, but 3rd remained my favorite curriculum.

ME TOO! I student taught in 3rd, and loved it. 2nd comes in, well, 2nd. However, now I am a staff developer for Instructional Technology, and don't really have a principal anymore....I have a coordinator. You rock...I would have loved to have worked for you!

 

[Grandma Bonnie]

My cousins live in Olive Branch , MS now but went to U of M for college and my female cousin is a HUGE Tigers fan! As a matter of fact her DD first word was "TIGERS" I know they are getting excited right along with you!


OK Susan, HOLY COW you are a book freak! You are on fire with your posts! I love the personalized m&m's they are soooo cute! Katie's room looks great too! Yes, it seems you definitely needed some new shoes!

I along with a million other Memphis area people thoroughly enjoyed the season. Happy to hear that you have mid-south relatives to "suffer" the defeat with me. Misery loves company.

 

[Grandma Bonnie]

AHEM!!!! It's Friday afternoon. Where's our resident Bartender?

I'm sitting here drinking my mint julep. Well, actually it's a glass of decaffeinated unsweetened tea with a dash of peppermint extract.

There is one and only one thing that I miss about my old principal days. On payday Fridays the teachers and I would leave school and go have a Happy Hour at one of many establishments. Remember that I live in the Bible Belt, so sometimes the establishment of choice was Steak 'N Shake. My favorite was Bahama Breeze!!!!

Well, I've been trying to catch up on this thread and now I have many many replies with too many quotes to copy. So y'all will just have to review on your own or try to remember what you have read.

My gosh, there are a LOT of teachers in this place. It seems that this is a site that just draws teachers, much like Disney!!!

Being the Educational Leader that I was, I know that standardized test season is near. So here are a couple of recommendations from past experience.

Peppermint, Water, Rosemary, Music, Fun

Give each kid a peppermint before the test begins. Peppermint keeps the brain alert. You can get sugar-free peppermint for the diabetics and ADHDs.

Hydrate the kids during break time. Brains need water.

Spread fresh Rosemary around your classroom. It also has a positive effect on the brain.

Soft music (Enya is my favorite) playing in the background relaxes everyone, especially the teacher.

Make test time a fun time. I gave each student a new #2 pencil and told them to relax because the pencil had all the right answers in it.

I could give more suggestions, but you'll have to buy my book when and if it gets published.

$AGA OF DENTAL PROBLEM$ CONTINUE$
After all the pain and misery of the cracked tooth, root canal, new crown, you'd think I'd be through with this mess. WRONG! I got a bill from the dentist for my part of the bill. Basically it was saying "insurance has paid its share. Where is yours?" Now I'm going to have to remind him Monday (He takes Friday's off!) that I paid my part with a credit card when he was treating me. (I'm beginning to wonder if HE was the one on drugs that day.)

PARTY IN THE CAR I'm still waiting to hear about this. Just 4 days till the end of Tax Season. Maybe we'll hear about this before, during, or after the big weekend of parties at Susan's home.

KATIE'S ROOM Susan, you need to send pictures of Katie's room now that it is furnished and decorated. For our Friends.....Katie has accented it with zebra stripes. It's really cute.

I'm going to stop at this point and go looking for our Bartender. See Ya!

 

[Grandma Bonnie]

Susan is very busy tonight..... remember it's tax season countdown. :
She's going to be busy today and tomorrow at work and Sunday filing her own and my taxes from home. Consequently, we won't find her serving cocktails tonight.
She asked me to send her regrets.

 

[Native NYer]

I love mint juleps

Poor Susan! I'm sure she'll be glad when tax season is done.

We'll have to postpone our Lapu Lapus

I hope your dentist fixes that bill.

 

[Grandma Bonnie]

So now you know that "We Are Family" and we like to PARTEEEEE!!

You've read about the upcoming Sweet Sixteen for Katie and the twins' recent Commando party. We have had several other memorable birthday celebrations in our family that I would like to share. I know that I'll forget some, so when Susan emerges from Taxmania, she'll probably add to this thought.

When Haley was younger (3 or 4) and in the Princess Mode, we held her BD Party (Cinderella's Ball) in my living room. It is quite large for a living room by current standards with a fan in the center of a vaulted ceiling. I hung chiffon streamers from the fan to the corners and sidewalls to resemble the ballroom in Cinderella. We told all the children to dress as a princess or prince. I wish you could see the cute little boys in uniforms and the little girls trying to walk up my front sidewalk in "high heels".

The last BD Party held at my house was a Mystery Party. The invitations set the stage for the mystery by giving each attendee a "role" to play and a brief history of preceding events. They were told that they were to dress as though it was Victorian Times and to plan to attend a British Tea Party. My dining room was decorated with posies and lace and tea and crumpets were served on silver and crystal. (I was the Maid!!!)

Scripts were distributed to the "characters". At one point during the Tea one of the "actresses" was directed to go to the guest bedroom. Once she arrived there, we heard a scream and all went to see what was wrong. There was a DEAD MAN in the bed !!! (It was actually a stuffed Uncle Sam that I had redressed for this event).

After the discovery, everyone had to decide who was the murderer. It was a fun party for pre-teens.

Haley's last party was a Seventies Party and everyone was a Hippie. They played Beatles Music throughout. They sat around the "coffeehouse" and wrote original poetry. They made flower headbands and love beads.

There have been more, but those will give you an idea of our partymania.

 

[Charleston Princess]

Grandma Bonnie,

Thanks for the recommendations for testing! Ours starts next Tuesday ! I am totally using the peppermints and pencils! I can't do the music because that would result in a testing irregularity!

You're the best!

 

[Planning fanatic mom]

6th grade teacher here. Just finished the testing this week. I did know about the peppermint and we did that. I did give them "special" pencils but didn't tell them that they had all the answers. I will save that for next year. There is always next year.

Bonnie, we just received the bill for DH's bonding and crown. Not pretty.

Did you see the Samantha Brown special on the travel channel last night about her favorite disney spots? I liked the show because she did some from WDW and some from DL. I've never been to DL. It was nice. She gave some tips, but of course, those of us who already live the disney life already knew them.

There are 3 more specials. One each Fri. for the next 3 weeks.

Anyway have a good weekend.

Susan, can't wait until tax season is over for you.

 

[swwake]

Where does the time go? I have SO much to do. I am in procrastination mode, so I thought I'd add to our PTR.

Katie shopped yesterday and found her dress for Saturday night. Being the last-minute-planner that she is, she informed me last night that she'd like to wear a crown next Saturday, she'd like to have her nails done, and she'd like for Franchiska (my hairdresser) to do her hair. Oh my! I can't call for a hair appointment until Tuesday, and then we have to cross our fingers. Maybe we'll go to Claire's or Icing today and get her a crown. She should wear her silver or black shoes, but she is saying she might want to buy some new ones. I will try to take a picture of the dress to post. It's really pretty. She decided to wear a pale pink, while the other girls will wear black. I find this interesting because the palest of pinks was the color my bridesmaids wore in my wedding to Katie's dad. Deja Vu?

I cannot believe how busy we will be between now and our vacation. I am going to need a vacation after our vacation. Check this out:
Today: Last-minute shopping and house prep for the April 15th party (which is Friday night)
Tomorrow: Work and possibly the west coast swing dance party - I'm really tempted, but I NEED to work.
Tuesday: Work and private dance lesson, continue prepping the house.
Wednesday: Katie's birthday, take her to get her drivers' license, work and private dance lesson, continue prepping the house.
Thursday: Work and take my team out for Melting Pot fondue dessert at 5pm. Finish prepping the house.
Friday: Recruiting event all day at UT. Head home at 4pm to prep for the party. Casino Knights arrive at 4:15pm. Party starts at 6:30. I am most worried about where everyone will park. I think we will put the pool lights on purple, our firm's color.
Saturday: Clean up the house (maybe I can get Ana to come back?), shop for Katie and Tate's party snacks and drinks, Katie's hair, mani/pedi, etc., Limo at 4:30 - must remember to take pics, party 8pm to Midnight.
Sunday: Rest?
Apr 21-25: DH in Houston on business
April 26: West Coast Swing workshop and dance at the studio.
April 29-May 2: I am in San Francisco for training/conference.
May 3: Illusion show
May 9: Another show at the theatre (we have season passes)
May 12-18: I have a conference in New Orleans, DH will join me, with some other friends, for the weekend to celebrate our 10th anniversary in the city where we married (anniversary is May 16).
May 23-26: Memorial day weekend - DH to Alabama to visit his grandfather
May 30: Big Head Todd concert
May 31: Hair appt and dance showcase dress rehearsal
June 8: Dance showcase
June 19-22: Las Vegas to celebrate DSis's 40th birthday
June 25-27: Business trip to Washington, DC, speak at conference
July 9-11: Conference in Chicago, speak
July 28-30: Conference in Austin (takes alot of our time, and I may have to speak)
July 30-August 3: Meeting in Napa
August 8: Leave for Memphis and Disney trip!!

Whew! I am watching as some of the PTRs I follow are entering their last week before their trips, and I am thinking that I won't even have that luxury. The week before we leave, I will be in Napa, and, unfortnately (or fortunately?), Disney will be the last thing on my mind.

So there ya go. I have no idea when I am going to finish planning this trip. I'm a little overwhelmed. And we are planning a beach trip with Mom and Jo's family sometime in June or July for a few days. Can it be done?

When will I find time for wine and Tivo?

I have to go get Katie and the girls (her two girlfriends) up and I have to shower. Meeting a girlfriend for lunch at 1pm, and I have lots of shopping and returns to do today. Oops, I guess I don't have to get Katie up. DH just called her upstairs and asked her to come help him with working on her car. It is on blocks (or something) in the garage and he's getting it all ready for her. I have to get it registered tomorrow. Another thing on my list...

 

[stagemomx3]

Wow that timeline makes me tired just reading it.

 

[Native NYer]

You are one busy lady! But traveling and keeping busy will help the time pass even faster. You'll be in Disney before you know it.

Congrats on your 10th anniversary. New Orleans is such a great city. Are you going to stop by Cafe du Monde?

You'll definitely need a lapu lapu when August rolls around. We should meet at Tambu lounge for one