Everybody Loves A Little Surprise! An Oct PTR!

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Thanks! I'm kind of still in limbo and trying hard not to panic about it. I hate how long it takes them to tell us anything and I'm just hoping everything turns out okay.

And of course there's a completely unrelated-to-work issue that has also reared its head - ugh, is it Disney time yet???

Yes! I definitely want to see you, even if it's for a fleeting minute during this trip! I need to head back over to your PTR to see if it's feasible - all my super stressful beginning-of-summer plans are done now so I SHOULD be able to carve five minutes to spend on the DiS now to plan!!

I hope you've had some info about next year and that it's good news!!

My plans for October are...I don't even know, LOL! We arrive on the 14th at 8:30, staying at POP, taking a Minnie Van (hopefully!) to the Poly to drop off our bags for the week, then heading to MK for the day on the 15th before going to Epcot for dinner. Is that your party night? Hmm...I'll bet we could figure out a way to cross paths that day.

So, they just released the 2017 Food and Wine booth menus and I'm already ready to go through them all and am salivating just thinking about them all. I really should have dinner before I go through these but whatever.

My list is so longggg...

* Sweet Avocado Crema with strawberries, yellow cake, and tortilla streussel (Active Eats)
* Spinach and paneer cheese pocket with mint raita (Africa)
* Belgian waffle with berry compote and whipped cream (Belgium)
* beer-braised beef served with smoked gouda mashed potatoes (Belgium)
* Escondidinho de Carne (Brasil)
* Pao de Queijo (Brasil)**
* Schofferhofer Pomegranate (Brewer's Collection)
* Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup (Canada)
* Neige Premier iced apple wine (Canada)
* Baijoe punch with baijoe spirit, lychee, coconut, and pineapple juice (China)
* Zesty cheeseburger and cheddar cheese macaroni handwich (Craft Beers)
* JDub's Passion Wheat (Craft Beers)
* Florida Beer Company Passport 35 Triple Chocolate Milk Stout (Craft Beers)
* Ricotta and Zucchini ravioli with rustic tomato sauce (Earth Eats)
* Redstone Meadery black raspberry mead (Earth Eats)
* Crispy Chicken with griddled cornbread and redeye gravy (Farm Fresh)
* Two Henry's Elderberry Cream Hard Cider (Farm Fresh)
* Florida Orange Mango Mama Wine (Farm Fresh)

"I'll have what she's having".

I had such a weird reaction to the menu release. I was like, "Oh, this is kind of disappointing, there's not much I want..." and then my list was seven miles long. So, I guess I was wrong, and I want everything

 

[Luna_Belle]

Following along! You're such an awesome daughter for surprising your mom like that, shes definitely a lucky lady! I've also always wanted to go during F&W so I'll be vicariously through your TR. I can't wait to see what else you have planned, and best of luck with what you have going on with work!

 

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I hope you've had some info about next year and that it's good news!!

My plans for October are...I don't even know, LOL! We arrive on the 14th at 8:30, staying at POP, taking a Minnie Van (hopefully!) to the Poly to drop off our bags for the week, then heading to MK for the day on the 15th before going to Epcot for dinner. Is that your party night? Hmm...I'll bet we could figure out a way to cross paths that day.



My list is so longggg...



"I'll have what she's having".

I had such a weird reaction to the menu release. I was like, "Oh, this is kind of disappointing, there's not much I want..." and then my list was seven miles long. So, I guess I was wrong, and I want everything

Thanks for the positivity! I need it, I've been super not positive about it this past couple of weeks, especially because one of my closest friends found out some good news and while I'm happy for her I feel a bit lost now.

I'm shocked I have October as planned as I do! Honestly, though, it's been a distraction lol. The 15th I'll probably bound all day since I doubt we'll go back to the hotel (all the Disney time!) so if we cross paths you'll definitely get to see it at least!

I kind of felt that way too when I was looking at the menus, then I made my list and thought "Oh. Oh that is a lot."

Following along! You're such an awesome daughter for surprising your mom like that, shes definitely a lucky lady! I've also always wanted to go during F&W so I'll be vicariously through your TR. I can't wait to see what else you have planned, and best of luck with what you have going on with work!

Welcome! F&W is one of our bucket list items so I'm glad my mother and I get to go together!

 

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One Down!

This trip has sadly been on the back burner for me this summer - between my trip to California, my friend's wedding, my summer job, and the problems I was having with my full-time job, three days in Disney were not the things I was focused on.

And now suddenly it's crunch time!

1. I've mentioned this in passing in my other PTR for July and (possibly?) in my TR that I just finished from April, but my job issues are officially sorted out! What had happened (now that I feel comfortable enough to talk about it because it's not going on anymore) was that we were in a budget crisis, and all non-professional status staff were given a pink slip. Including me, who gets professional status next week. Because of course. My boss was keeping me out of the loop with information and kind of stringing me along. At the end of July I got called by the principal at the other middle school and was offered my same job over there so I took it. So less stress! Except I don't have a classroom yet so that's slightly stressful lol.

2. We were supposed to stay at French Quarter, but because of work and how stressful that who situation was we missed out on it. Which is sad because it's my mother's favorite hotel. But we made a reservation at Caribbean Beach, which I really liked last time I stayed there. I think the idea that it's gigantic is not appealing to my mother, but, in her words, as long as I'm okay with staying there she trusts me. Her only issue is that with OPR being closed she's not sure that there will be a food truck option for breakfast. As a person who doesn't generally eat breakfast it's not an issue for me, but I told her we'd figure it out and if all else we can have breakfast in the parks.

3. My mother's friends who are joining us for Food & Wine and the Halloween party emailed me last night and offered to pay for the Hallowishes Dessert Party so we know we'll get to see the fireworks. I am super okay with this (though I'm giving them money for it, it's expensive) since I did enjoy the dessert party I did for regular Wishes years ago and it'll be something special that my mother's never done before that I think she'll like.

 

[xlsm]

my job issues are officially sorted out!

Hooray!!! I'm so happy to hear this!!

I loooved seeing your Disneyland pictures on instagram!!

Hallowishes dessert party will be fun! I keep wanting to book garden viewing for Happily Ever After, but I think I've officially talked myself out of it. We're doing California Grill for dinner beforehand now. Or at least that's the current plan, I have started doubting everything and making changes. Pre-HEA California Grill only came into being two days ago, so who knows where we'll end up

 

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Hooray!!! I'm so happy to hear this!!

I loooved seeing your Disneyland pictures on instagram!!

Hallowishes dessert party will be fun! I keep wanting to book garden viewing for Happily Ever After, but I think I've officially talked myself out of it. We're doing California Grill for dinner beforehand now. Or at least that's the current plan, I have started doubting everything and making changes. Pre-HEA California Grill only came into being two days ago, so who knows where we'll end up

Thanks! I'm so, SO happy that everything worked out! It didn't for a close colleague and I'm really upset about that but I'm glad I'm safe at least!

I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures I'm currently in the midst of trying to finish editing at least our first full day - which was a super full day because we crashed after the flight lol - so I can maybe start my TR. I've successfully rewatched most of season 3 of Brooklyn Nine-Nine instead so you can probably tell how that's going lol.

I'm excited for the dessert party! I usually talk myself out of them when it's just me and my friends, so it's a nice special treat. I'm shocked we haven't changed our plans much (read: I'm shocked I haven't changed our plans much lol)

 

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Problems

I've been quiet the past few days because we're in the midst of a problem that we cannot figure out.

My mother and I put in to take the 16th off. I got approved, but she was denied. So now I can go but she cannot.

We have three choices:

A - move the trip to November
B - I go with someone else
C - I go alone.

The issue is that I have the Halloween party tickets and I don't want those to go to waste. But I also don't want my mother to miss food and wine. We also already have EVERYTHING booked, including plane, so I'm just at a loss. And I feel terribly. She keeps reminding me it's not my fault, but that doesn't mean I don't feel like ****.

My ideal decision, here, is that we can go over Veteran's Day weekend for Food & Wine, but I can perhaps do a solo trip for that weekend. The issue is that my dad and I split the cost of things per his request so I don't want him to waste his money or double it. Though I could pay for it if we moved it easily.

 

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Small Silver Lining?

So, last night my dad told me that he emailed my mother's boss himself and explained the entire situation. My mother's the type of person that, once she's told no, she won't do anything about it but say she tried all her options (to be fair, i'm that same person, I get it.) So, currently, here is where we stand:

Plan A: Everything works out today, no need to panic, just a blip. I'm really, really, really hoping this is the outcome.

Plan B: my mother told me to see if someone else could take her place so we don't lose money since it wasn't feasible to move all our plans like she initially suggested. So, yesterday in panic I had asked Liz to be my plan b, knowing full well she probably couldn't. She was at work at the time and looked at her schedule and has two of the three days off. After explaining the situation to her boss, her boss and coworkers said that if my mother can't go they would take Liz's shift on Sunday the 15th. As much fun as a food and wine weekend with my oldest and one of my closest friends would be, neither of us really want this because we both want my mother to go, but if she can't at least I have a back up plan now, instead of the panic I had yesterday.

 

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Quick update for anyone playing along at home: the email helped. Her boss didn't understand why she needed the day off so she offered this solutions: if my mother could find another training day at a cooperating location she could go to that training instead. As of this week she has found another training day (this coming Tuesday) and as of yesterday she was approved for her day off! So we are officially back on track!

In other, Disney-related news, I have everything but my dress for my Daisybound for the Halloween party. The dress should be in by tomorrow, though.

 

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I've Hit the "Oh Crap, Disney" Week

Honestly, between my work issues and Mum's ridiculous work issue this week I haven't put much thought into going to Disney. Except now that we have clear skies I realize that I need clothes to wear on this trip. Oops. I have some "ideas" in place. I put ideas in quotation marks because, quite frankly, I will probably just go with whatever I throw into my suitcase at this point.

However, this is my plan right now:

Friday:
- I bought a purple Lularoe dress that's super comfy so I'm thinking of wearing that since it'll be good for work and the plane. Since we won't get to the hotel until 8-ish if I go to a park (my mother and I talked about it and she was completely fine with me ditching her at night because she was going to ditch me for the pool anyway) or Disney Springs I'll just keep that on.

Saturday:
- There is no good time for me to go back to the hotel to change on Saturday I figured out. So, here's the thing. I want to go to Magic Kingdom for the sole purpose of getting a picture of myself in my Haunted Mansion Cakeworthy flannel outside of the Haunted Mansion and just enjoy all the Halloween things at night when it's not a party because the party is kind of packed for us. I can't do this party night, clearly, so I was trying to find a way to do it during the rest of the week. I came up with a solution last night that I would go to Magic Kingdom Saturday night. So I'll be wearing Haunted Mansion gear for our morning/afternoon in Epcot and my evening in Animal Kingdom, but it's fine.

Sunday:
- I don't know if we're going to get a later start Sunday or not, but since we plan on being in Magic Kingdom BY 3 I'll probably just be bounding all day. I bought this dress:

along with a pair of pink converse, a white petticoat, yellow tights, and a bow from Magical Ribbons. So I'll be doing a sock-hop style Daisy!

Monday:
- We're going back to Epcot before we have to go back home so I'll be doing shorts and my Wishes shirt with some ears.

This seems like I have my life figured out, but I threw all this together at work on a sticky note yesterday so this'll probably change when i actually start packing this weekend.

Ah! I can start packing this weekend!

I may or may not have yet to fully unpack from Disneyland so....this'll be fun.

 

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Less Than A Week To Go!

I go to Disney in 5 days. I still need to make sure someone can watch my homeroom in the afternoon so I can leave with enough time to juuuuuuust make it to the airport (thank GOD we are leaving out of an airport with one flight per day). This is my mental note to email my boss Tuesday morning.

I SHOULD be using today to pack, since I will probably be going out tomorrow. Should being the operative word. I'm currently sitting here watching the newest Pirates movie.

I really have no idea how I'm going to be able to teach for the next week! I'm too excited. My students know I won't be in on the 16th (I run drama club too so there's an announcement on my board since drama club meets on Mondays) but they don't know WHY I won't be there.

My mother and I are trying to figure out HOW to pack. For a weekend packing with just carry ons seems like the smartest option but as we were talking this morning she said that she is worried about being able to bring any souvenirs that may be larger home with her. I think what is going to end up happening is that we will check one bag that we'll put souvenirs and extra things in.

 

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3 Days

Ah, what is with my strange luggage problems days away from going away? This is the second time it's happened to me!

I've decided I'm just taking a carry on and purse (admittedly a large purse) on my trip. So I went to get my rolling carry on from my parents' house yesterday and it wasn't there. It must still be in storage. Which is awesome because I have 0 time to go run to the storage unit and deal with this.

My next plan? This morning I remembered that I have a soft-top carry on bag - one of the Vera Bradley weekender bags - that I got for Christmas a few years ago. I usually use it for longer trips when I have to drive somewhere as it takes up less space in my car. So this morning (in the dark, because Nate knocked down a tree limb and it didn't get fixed until after I left for work because of course it did) I packed everything I have ready so far in there (primarily clothes and shoes - my makeup won't be in there until Friday and I'm going to pack all my other toiletries tonight) and everything fits!

Except I don't have a strap for the bag?

I know I used to. But I have no idea where it went.

So now I'm going to have to go on a run after work: Dick's Sporting Goods, Target (both literally 2 minutes from work for me so no big deal), Sephora (for a travel-sized face wash), and possibly TJ Maxx.

I'm half tempted to just buy a new bag. It's wasting money but at this point I'm annoyed enough that I don't care!

Except let's be honest. I'm not really annoyed. Three days until I'm in my happy place!

I started making my lesson plans for next Monday. It feels real! It's so weird! I'm so excited! Who will I see there? If you're there say hi! @xlsm we need to find a way to actually meet up this time!

 

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After All of That....

I'm trying real hard to squish all the crap I need into a carry on bag, but I'm starting to think I need to bring a suitcase. Womp. I'm less than thrilled, especially because I just put my toiletries into a 3-1-1 bag and I just have too many things that I need to do I think.

So much for packing light! More room for souvenirs?

 

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Tomorrow

I LEAVE TOMORROW???!!!!!!!!

Am I ready?

No.

Actually, while I was driving to work today, I was thinking that I didn't have time to finish everything I need to accomplish at work today. Then remembered I have work before I leave tomorrow too. I've never had work actually be a stress RELIEVER before!

I have to sit at my desk all day at work today (testing, it's the best - ugh) so I have a notepad next to me and am writing down everything I can think of that I still need to pack.

My bag to bring issue was finally resolved. I had so many options that I went through though. I finally just took the strap off my canvas DLP duffel bag (which is too heavy for me to use as a carry-on because it's too hard to, well, carry around. It's made for ground transportation) and put it onto my Weekender and between that and my Vera Bradley tote bag I'll be fine. I even thought to throw in my super thin backpack so I can throw my outfit for MNSSHP into a locker on Sunday.

I know I want to get at least one, if not two bags while I'm down there (#treatyoself) so that will be something for Sunday Night Elle to deal with at a later date. But my mother IS taking a regular suitcase so that we can get souvenirs, etc., which will help that.

Also I may or may not have snuck two quart-sized bags into her suitcase already. Oops? It's just the small things that could not fit into my carry on due to liquid restrictions. I'm not super worried she'll care. I'm more concerned about how I'm going to get my makeup into her suitcase when she leaves for work before me and I'll be meeting her at the gate tomorrow. I'll figure it out. I'm thinking I'll make a bag of makeup for the weekend tonight, throw it in her bag, and tomorrow for work I'll use my back ups since I switch between two different foundations depending on the weather/my rosacea acting up.

But I'm going to Disney tomorrow! Only two meetings, ten hours of teaching, three hours of rehearsal, left stands between me and my favorite holiday in my favorite place!

I may actually end up taking a half day tomorrow at work. I don't want to because I took Monday off already but I honestly may need to in order to make everything work right.

 

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Crud, It's Today!

I am having a panic attack to end all panic attacks. Which, from me is saying something because my panic attacks are pretty gigantic no matter what.

I leave today and there are so many things that can go wrong!

The biggest one I'm focused on right now is coverage for my last two classes of the day. It's honestly 2 periods (it should be 3 but the first one is my prep so nobody has to cover for me then) and I'm hoping against hope that someone is pulled. My panic is twofold:

1. I put in for the half-day at 10 am yesterday when I realized I would need it and I have not gotten the automated approval email. I've never done a half day off before so I don't really know what to expect, if you get that email or whatever, but like, I'm terrified.

2. We got an email from our AP saying a ton of people needed coverage as a heads' up that people should be ready to be pulled. I'm hoping I'm on that list but he didn't say who would be out so I don't know.

What I really need inserted here is a gif of Rapunzel panicking.

I was going to just not go in completely but I have too much anxiety to do that.

Guys, I can almost see the light - please send happy thoughts and pixie dust for me!