Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust; searching for the magic

[mousehouselover]

Hey Jamal~ Sorry I overlooked the link to your TR, even after Dh ponted it out last night.......... I just started reading and have to read some of it to DH. I love what you said about your family and that they're at their best while there. (Ok I have all the homophones used correctly...... )

Hey Peeps, I'm missing y'all over here!!! Did the trail of breadcrumbs get gobbled up while I was otherwise occupied and not posting? I would've left something tastier but I figured our hips and backsides would be better off with out coconut bonbons or fudge pebbles leading us onward.

There comes a time in every story when things have to start looking better for the heroine otherwise, it would seem the efforts were futile and the adventure was doomed. Here's mine:

*It's Christmas all month long*

December looked like a promising month, work was going ok, the new car was wonderful and I was able to mostly relax. DIS was giving me all kinds of info on our resort, our dining options and itinerary ideas. The day after Thanksgiving, I got up early and went shopping so I had presents for the young'ins stashed away. We made Christmas candy that weekend. DH and I decided mid-Nov we weren't going to let our new financial situation go to our heads and have an outrageous Christmas. We got a new tree and chose our theme for the year; Carolina Panthers and everything was black, blue and silver. With everything that had happened in the previous six weeks, DH was almost as emotionally exhausted as I was and he adopted the mantra "I need a vacation." Every time something remotly stressful or unsettling would come up, he'd say this mantra.

DH called me at work one day and we chatted about a few things going on at home and about an appointment he had. Just before he hung up, he said he had something to tell me. He said he wanted to keep it a secret but he's so bad at keeping things from me, he had to tell. He got all four of us admission to the Backstage Magic tour. We were going on the seven hour long behind the scenes look at WDW, where things happen, how and where it happens. We were going to see and learn some of the tricks they use to make Disney the magical plate it is!!!! I was so excited. I read about the tour and thought it would be a lot of fun. I'm also a behind the secnes theatre person so I love to see how things go together to make a finished product.

I'm totally excited about our newest trip feature and getting antsy about getting to go. Since I had CP scheduled for breakfast that morning and we weren't doing The Keys to the Kingdom tour in MK, I had to re-schedule our breakfast. Adrea and I talked about what sounded good, consulted our guys and we decided to change a few things around. We canceled Maya Grill and put CP on Wed right at opening, Olivia'a was scheduled for Thurs am since it was at their resort and we could all meet up, eat and go to the meeting spot for the tour.

We were about a month out from our trip and I had read that we should have gotten our travel documents and ME info by that point so I was getting very nervous. DH wasn't too happy when I started pestering him with questions about when it was going to arrive and asking if he had been in contact with our TA. He was even saying some rather unkind things about DIS and the info I was reading. This is the type A part of me, but I wanted to make sure we had all our ducks in a row so there wouldn't be any surprises in the days before our trip and certianly when we got there. I wanted everything to be planned and to go as smoothly as possible.

 

[AnnNan]

Enjoying your report! Thanks for the low-cal breadcrumbs!

 

[pigget74]

WOW!! You really did need a trip. Can't wait to hear about the rest

 

[mousehouselover]

It was about this time that the Travel Channel started airing the Christmas specials about various places and wouldn't you know it, they had at least 2 on WDW. We had to watch them, I heard that Christmas with the Mouse was a really special time but I had no idea how much work went into making everything as festive and over the top as it is. I told DH that I'd love to go sometime in Dec so we could see the decorations in person and try to take in MVMCP. He said to look into it so I started looking at dates and tried estimating costs for a trip on 2008. I was surprised to find a DIS thread for people who were trying to plan a 12/08 trip. We hadn't even left for our trip and here I was, looking at a trip in 2 yrs.

A week before Christmas, new packages started appearing under the tree. They were being wrapped and tagged while I was at work. There were things for me and for the kids so I knew DH had been busy shopping. There were new things almost every day! Our calm quiet Christmas was getting bigger by the day. There was a big (2 ft square) box in the back that was quite heavy and had my name on it. There were other boxes of varying sizes and weights that were tagged 'To: Mom.'

I came home from work on Dec 22nd and DH wasn't home. I was a bit surprised but he'd been acting funny since all the presents startted going under the tree so I figured he was up to something. I was in my room when he came home and he called me into the kitchen. On the table sat a big Mickey red and black suitcase! I opened it up and there was another one in it and a shoulder bag inside that one. He told me to check the pockets and I found our travel documents! It was going to be a very merry holiday!

Christmas morning was busy, we had dogs to walk and kitties who needed clean litterboxes. Breakfast was some really yummy baked ham sandwiches. Then came present time. The youngin's started handing out presents and every other present landed in my lap. I got as many as all the kids combined! I let teh kids open their gifts first. They got CDs, movies, DS got a few Bionicles, the girls got handbags. DH bought them CD players, a diskman, and a DS Lite with a few games. They were so excited. They'd been hoping for some electronic goodies this year and DH came through.

I was rather apprehensive about having so many presents. I'm not used to getting so many things showered on me. There were numbers on some of the gifts and I had to open them in order. I got Pampered Chef goodies; measuring cups, a garlic press, the cheese grater, a pizza cutter, and DH replaced my rectangular baker and 15" round stone that had been broken yearlier in the year!!!! There were still presents to open. The next batch held a brand new knife block from JA Henckels and knives to fill it. The final box was the big one! I started to open it and there sat one of the things I've been wanting for about 3 yrs; a MIckey Mouse TV!!!!!

I love to spend time in the kitchen and a lot of the kitchen ware we had was old or used and needed to be replaced. DH wanted me to be able to enjoy the time I have available so he made sure I had the equipment I needed to have a good time. I've been planning on turning our loft into a Mickey themed entertainment area for the kids and the TV was one of the things I've been wanting to put in there. Wh have all balck bookcases and a fish tank with an iron stand as well as the Mickey DVD player and black TV stand. I still have to paint but the Mickey goodies have gone a long way toward making my dream become reality.


Hi Heather! Welcome aboard. I was about ready to throw in the towel at times, I just had to remember how much I love going to WDW and all the fun I was going to have.

Since it's official, we're going in Sept, I guess I'd better get a move on and post the rest of this TR. I'm already working on the pre-report for the next one. Maybe that one'll get done in a decent amount of time. I just wish I could be more like some of the other writers out there that seem to hold people captive and keep them waiting in breathless anticpation. But them's some pretty big shoe to fill.......

 

[pigget74]

Another great installment. I just love reading others excitement for my all time fave. place. Only 20 days until I go.

 

[TKDisneylover]

Mousehouselover, you've got a new fan in me! I found your report this morning shortly after you posted and I'm hooked!

Just an FYI for a possible short family trip, we have a renaissance faire at the Illinois/Wisconsin border that is staged every weekend throughout the summer months. It's fantastic! PM me if you would like the link.

I'm definitely there with you in regards to stresses at work and hoping to relocate to the south! And working for Disney would be an exciting change of pace!

This last installment had me teary eyed, I just knew there would be lots of special gifts for you! Your DH sounds like mine, as long as I'm happy, he's happy.

I'm looking forward to your next installment! Thanks so much for sharing your TR with us!

 

[AnnNan]

Sounds like you had a really fun Christmas. I'm enjoying the story! Glad I checked in today!

 

[tiggirl]

About a week before Christmas my MIL made ressie's for OKW but was told that they were w'listed for part of the week. This really made planning akward not knowing where we would be staying part of the week. Christmas came and went for us not as exciting as Noni's but still happy. A few days after Christmas we found out that we were approved for a 2BR for the entire week. Now we could really start burning up the airwaves planning. I'm not ashamed to say that we drove our DH's nuts with the constant phone calls and planning as much as we could get away with.