**Fantasy Becomes Reality** Group--5/19/2012 (INDEX/ROLE CALL, PAGE 1--ENTRY 1)

[sues14]

Please welcome our newest additions:

Sammybeau's Mom

Names - Jerry (58) Sharon (50) Sam (16/M) and Jack (15/M)
From: Oklahoma
Stateroom(s): GTY
Celebration(s):
Dining (Main or Late):Late
Show Time:
Partipate in FE: Pass this time

Woo hoo!! How many days??????

Welcome

I forgot to answer the name question-- oops! Mine is kind of self explanatory though As for the little known fact... I was a soap box derby racer in Akron, Ohio (home of Derby Downs) when I was in high school. My oldest raced our local last year and won! For any of you who have seen the movie 25 Hill that Corbin Bernsen put out last year to help save the Derby, I was the mom running down the track, haha As our local champ, he got to go to champ week in Akron this past summer and raced in the 2012 All American Soap Box Derby on the same track I raced on ** years ago! This year, both boys plan to build cars and race... The tradition continues

This too is cool.

1. 5K-- how cool! I love that they give everyone a little something. I'm hoping there's no time limit, lol

I am almost pretty sure that I will do the 5K on CC - never did it there in the past, but I like that you can get a "medal" and a t-shirt (I think you buy the shirt). My 2nd 5K (Disney Princess Rapunzel race) was my best time ever, avg 16 min mile! And, anyhow, the race is in the morning, and we don't leave CC until around 5PM, so I am sure we who are slow will still finish

Man this is nothing I couldnt do! So this is something maybe I could do in the future.

Some names have been discussed before, like DonaldApplecore for example.
But I've been wondering what some of the others mean...please share! And Bryan...feel free to share again!

My screen name is the same name as my email addy - originally created by DD23 when she was young and we first got email. I would not allow her to have her own so we shared (we have the same initials). Her baby room was decorated in carousels, hence the name...when she got old enough to get her own ID, I made her create a new one, and I kept the established one, with "carousel" close to being a Disney reference.

Also, please share one thing that no one here on the boards yet knows about you...it could be that you ran a personal best marathon, or got a doctorate that we don't know about.

WOW! I did just do my personal best 5K at the Princess races in Feb 2012 averaged a 16-min mile walking!

And, although I dislike Halloween, I went to Mickey's Not So Scary HP dressed as the Fairy Godmother, and had the best time! Everyone acted as if I were the real one, asking me to grant wishes, etc!

Yea to your personal best! As far as the halloween thing I would love to go either christmas or halloween. It is just always a crazy time of year! But my dd loved cinderella and the fairy god mom. So Cool!

Friends:
DizDaddy may already know this, may have mentioned in PM to him. But for rest this can be a fun riddle.

I chose my Disname based on a character in a favorite book. (oh, I mean the DLF. The "246" is meaningless... just to get the name accepted).

The book was not a Disney book when I chose the name many years ago. But now the character has been in a Disney movie.

Ok,,, any Disney trivia fanatics out there???!!! Who or what character is DLF?

I knew your answer because I had some in with Dizdaddy but it was answered sooo fast.

Quick answer = boy (on list of boy's names)

Long answer = I've made a request for children's gender a number of times. I HOPE that those that haven't answered just haven't been to the boards lately and that it isn't something like they have cancelled and not informed us. Better that we have gifts for someone that is no longer cruising than no gift for someone that I missed I suppose.

It will all work out !

You guys will understand this...

So in 41 days we set sail and its so close yet to me seems so far. Well we got home last night after a day of errands and there was a note from Fedex stating we had a package at the main office of the apartment complex.

Well I thought maybe our documents were sent fedex either by DCL or my Travel Agent. So we run up to the office and imagine our disappointment when it was our Pampered Chef order LOL!

I can't wait to have those documents in hand!

I would be happy for Pampered Chef but I soo get your disapointment.

I joined today. It'll be nice to finally get some info about scheduled events.

I hope everyone had a good Easter and we'll be meeting soon, 40 days 18 hours per my Shipmate app.

Barb

Happy late easter!

Not a very interesting story for my username. I was really anxious to join the boards that my DH told me about. I tried some of my favorite characters but of course couldn't come up with anything without a bunch of numbers. One of my favorite rides is Pirates of the Carribean, I like the movies too. I exaggerated the r's to get away from numbers and to sound piratey
"Also, please share one thing that no one here on the boards yet knows about you...it could be that you ran a personal best marathon, or got a doctorate that we don't know about."

I studied studio photography, which means I learned a lot on the technical side, not as much on the artistic side. I took a break just short of my associates degree and never finished. I have used a lot of different cameras, including a twin lens reflex which is interesting since the image is upside down and you have to remember to move opposite the way you want to image to move. I also used a view camera which is the old fashioned camera with the bellows. And that is probably more than you want to know.

Cool

Oh a Disney wedding how awesome! Congrats to the happy couple.

Loved the photo! thanks for sharing

Thanks for sharing - only problem is finding the time to do all the activities I like the look of!

loved your photo

They were delivered by FEDEX. You're really close to Disney, where abouts are you? Elisa and Terry live in Davenport. They are both CMs, in fact they met when Elisa was on College Programme.

soo cool

For those of you not glued to the Fantasy trip reports, a couple of items:
no more character breakfast (I secretly relieved.... was so chaotic in our experience). And... uh oh... Palo brunch was next to impossible on maiden voyage. NOw, I am thinking that the MV prob has a higher proportion of veterans who are Palo fans... but I've decided to change my Pseudo "intrade" odds of getting the brunch: before this week, I thought 80% chance, now has dropped below 50%....
But we are all going to have fun!!

I hope this is not true because we loved this the character breakfast that is

We have had this booked since within an hour of it going on sale & our kids still don't know yet. They (9 yr boy & 11 yr girl) are about to figure it out. We have been giving them a clue every day or two when they do something to "earn" the clue. If they haven't figured it out at school today, I expect them to get it with the next clue. "Beware of Pirates - yo ho yo ho". So far they have figured out we are going to St. Thomas & St. Maarten, but they don't know any more than that.

I cant believe you still have not told them yet! Very strong people!

Ok....so lately this seems to be the Jaimie thread...or I am the only one who has aquired the unhealthy addiction to the Disboards....

I think I asked this question before....tried to find the answer and I can't.....

I was going to wear a formal and buy tuxes off ebay for the boys and DH...reading the lovely heated threads about MDR dress issues which are almost as fun as the tipping threads .....I am thinking I am going to be one of the only ones dressed to the nines...DH sees this, I'm in deep do-do sooooooooo does anyone else plan on this cruise going all out...or should I make the boys happy and do the dress slacks and shirt and tie for them and a nice semi formal or other would wear to a wedding type dress.....

We don't have to dress up....getting them all dressed would be like wrestling a honey badger X3 but I and I am sure in my family only I would think it's worth the effort...either way, their happiness doesn't matter it's clearly all about me....but I don't want to be all alone here in my awesomeness....any other takers?

If not, I'm ok with that too...and DH will gladly pay you once onboard the ship!!

Jaimie, dont feel bad Tony and I both felt like we took over the boards. To us it seemed like some keylimepie-rs stopped posting and we kind of took it personally like we just got too involved, even though we were assured by some that was not the case. We just were worried about nothing. For a while there we posted more than once a day. But since June of last year we havent had a moment of our own, so the post have dropped off, a lot. I keep getting caught up. Make a promise to myself to check daily, but... here I am trying to get caught up again! No formal night for us. Just would rather put the money into something else. But I love to see others dressed up.

I did want to wear a tux for formal night and suit for semi-formal, but to cut down on packing I'll just bring the suit, and wear it with the vest for formal night and without the vest for semi-formal. Last time I think I just wore a blazer with shirt and tie for semi-formal night. With the price of tuxes around $150 on the discount sites and the fact that I will wear it on several cruises, I'm thinking I may have to just buy one.

DW will be wearing the dress she wore to our son's wedding for formal night; floor length, beaded bust. Probably a little black dress for semi-formal night.

SO . . . still have to make FE gifts, door magnets . . . haven't gotten docs yet . . . need to get suit cleaned and pressed . . . shine shoes . . . DARN, forgot to make ressies with groomer to keep dog. I better get moving!

WOW just seeing your post I just had a little panic attack! I have so much to do!

OK, girl, I'm with you. But I will admit that my (3) boys are not.

I have a gold sequined Michael Kors wrap dress and two Halston Heritage cocktail dresses. I've lost 90 lbs since August and I am going to try to rock them. My husband, who wore a blue blazer and khakis on our last cruise, has conceded a black suit this time around. It kind of tickles me that he's bringing a suit and tie from Afghanistan to Orlando, something oddly out of sync there, but he's a good man and up for it. The little guys will have nice shorts and cute button-down cruise shirts I found at Old Navy last year. simple. I think we're like everyone, a mixed bag. Which is what's so cool about the Disney vibe, no one cares and everyone's happy.

And Jamie, don't feel like you're co-opting, keep posting, you keep it interesting!

Oh, and as for our screen name, it comes from the Toot and Puddle series of books and TV shows (I know, not Disney! horrors!). The show is about two pigs who travel all over the world, but always come back to home. The theme song is Boomerang (below). Mommy and Daddy travel as do we all together, and the boys need to know we always come to center. Oh, and we are a family of four.

Your friends may travel far away
But they won't be gone for long
A boomerang flies, but always returns
Home where it belongs!

Fly my friend, fly my friend
And while you're away
I'll be thinkin' about you
Each and every day
How we laugh and play
In the winds that blow
All my friends, are you ready?
Come, let's go!

I love your name and where it came from. Thank you for sharing!

 

[sues14]

Please welcome our newest additions:

Sammybeau's Mom

Names - Jerry (58) Sharon (50) Sam (16/M) and Jack (15/M)
From: Oklahoma
Stateroom(s): GTY
Celebration(s):
Dining (Main or Late):Late
Show Time:
Partipate in FE: Pass this time

Woo hoo!! How many days??????

Welcome

I forgot to answer the name question-- oops! Mine is kind of self explanatory though As for the little known fact... I was a soap box derby racer in Akron, Ohio (home of Derby Downs) when I was in high school. My oldest raced our local last year and won! For any of you who have seen the movie 25 Hill that Corbin Bernsen put out last year to help save the Derby, I was the mom running down the track, haha As our local champ, he got to go to champ week in Akron this past summer and raced in the 2012 All American Soap Box Derby on the same track I raced on ** years ago! This year, both boys plan to build cars and race... The tradition continues

This too is cool.

1. 5K-- how cool! I love that they give everyone a little something. I'm hoping there's no time limit, lol

I am almost pretty sure that I will do the 5K on CC - never did it there in the past, but I like that you can get a "medal" and a t-shirt (I think you buy the shirt). My 2nd 5K (Disney Princess Rapunzel race) was my best time ever, avg 16 min mile! And, anyhow, the race is in the morning, and we don't leave CC until around 5PM, so I am sure we who are slow will still finish

Man this is nothing I couldnt do! So this is something maybe I could do in the future.

Some names have been discussed before, like DonaldApplecore for example.
But I've been wondering what some of the others mean...please share! And Bryan...feel free to share again!

My screen name is the same name as my email addy - originally created by DD23 when she was young and we first got email. I would not allow her to have her own so we shared (we have the same initials). Her baby room was decorated in carousels, hence the name...when she got old enough to get her own ID, I made her create a new one, and I kept the established one, with "carousel" close to being a Disney reference.

Also, please share one thing that no one here on the boards yet knows about you...it could be that you ran a personal best marathon, or got a doctorate that we don't know about.

WOW! I did just do my personal best 5K at the Princess races in Feb 2012 averaged a 16-min mile walking!

And, although I dislike Halloween, I went to Mickey's Not So Scary HP dressed as the Fairy Godmother, and had the best time! Everyone acted as if I were the real one, asking me to grant wishes, etc!

Yea to your personal best! As far as the halloween thing I would love to go either christmas or halloween. It is just always a crazy time of year! But my dd loved cinderella and the fairy god mom. So Cool!

Friends:
DizDaddy may already know this, may have mentioned in PM to him. But for rest this can be a fun riddle.

I chose my Disname based on a character in a favorite book. (oh, I mean the DLF. The "246" is meaningless... just to get the name accepted).

The book was not a Disney book when I chose the name many years ago. But now the character has been in a Disney movie.

Ok,,, any Disney trivia fanatics out there???!!! Who or what character is DLF?

I knew your answer because I had some in with Dizdaddy but it was answered sooo fast.

Quick answer = boy (on list of boy's names)

Long answer = I've made a request for children's gender a number of times. I HOPE that those that haven't answered just haven't been to the boards lately and that it isn't something like they have cancelled and not informed us. Better that we have gifts for someone that is no longer cruising than no gift for someone that I missed I suppose.

It will all work out !

You guys will understand this...

So in 41 days we set sail and its so close yet to me seems so far. Well we got home last night after a day of errands and there was a note from Fedex stating we had a package at the main office of the apartment complex.

Well I thought maybe our documents were sent fedex either by DCL or my Travel Agent. So we run up to the office and imagine our disappointment when it was our Pampered Chef order LOL!

I can't wait to have those documents in hand!

I would be happy for Pampered Chef but I soo get your disapointment.

I joined today. It'll be nice to finally get some info about scheduled events.

I hope everyone had a good Easter and we'll be meeting soon, 40 days 18 hours per my Shipmate app.

Barb

Happy late easter!

Not a very interesting story for my username. I was really anxious to join the boards that my DH told me about. I tried some of my favorite characters but of course couldn't come up with anything without a bunch of numbers. One of my favorite rides is Pirates of the Carribean, I like the movies too. I exaggerated the r's to get away from numbers and to sound piratey
"Also, please share one thing that no one here on the boards yet knows about you...it could be that you ran a personal best marathon, or got a doctorate that we don't know about."

I studied studio photography, which means I learned a lot on the technical side, not as much on the artistic side. I took a break just short of my associates degree and never finished. I have used a lot of different cameras, including a twin lens reflex which is interesting since the image is upside down and you have to remember to move opposite the way you want to image to move. I also used a view camera which is the old fashioned camera with the bellows. And that is probably more than you want to know.

Cool

Oh a Disney wedding how awesome! Congrats to the happy couple.

Loved the photo! thanks for sharing

Thanks for sharing - only problem is finding the time to do all the activities I like the look of!

loved your photo

They were delivered by FEDEX. You're really close to Disney, where abouts are you? Elisa and Terry live in Davenport. They are both CMs, in fact they met when Elisa was on College Programme.

soo cool

For those of you not glued to the Fantasy trip reports, a couple of items:
no more character breakfast (I secretly relieved.... was so chaotic in our experience). And... uh oh... Palo brunch was next to impossible on maiden voyage. NOw, I am thinking that the MV prob has a higher proportion of veterans who are Palo fans... but I've decided to change my Pseudo "intrade" odds of getting the brunch: before this week, I thought 80% chance, now has dropped below 50%....
But we are all going to have fun!!

I hope this is not true because we loved this the character breakfast that is

We have had this booked since within an hour of it going on sale & our kids still don't know yet. They (9 yr boy & 11 yr girl) are about to figure it out. We have been giving them a clue every day or two when they do something to "earn" the clue. If they haven't figured it out at school today, I expect them to get it with the next clue. "Beware of Pirates - yo ho yo ho". So far they have figured out we are going to St. Thomas & St. Maarten, but they don't know any more than that.

I cant believe you still have not told them yet! Very strong people!

Ok....so lately this seems to be the Jaimie thread...or I am the only one who has aquired the unhealthy addiction to the Disboards....

I think I asked this question before....tried to find the answer and I can't.....

I was going to wear a formal and buy tuxes off ebay for the boys and DH...reading the lovely heated threads about MDR dress issues which are almost as fun as the tipping threads .....I am thinking I am going to be one of the only ones dressed to the nines...DH sees this, I'm in deep do-do sooooooooo does anyone else plan on this cruise going all out...or should I make the boys happy and do the dress slacks and shirt and tie for them and a nice semi formal or other would wear to a wedding type dress.....

We don't have to dress up....getting them all dressed would be like wrestling a honey badger X3 but I and I am sure in my family only I would think it's worth the effort...either way, their happiness doesn't matter it's clearly all about me....but I don't want to be all alone here in my awesomeness....any other takers?

If not, I'm ok with that too...and DH will gladly pay you once onboard the ship!!

Jaimie, dont feel bad Tony and I both felt like we took over the boards. To us it seemed like some keylimepie-rs stopped posting and we kind of took it personally like we just got too involved, even though we were assured by some that was not the case. We just were worried about nothing. For a while there we posted more than once a day. But since June of last year we havent had a moment of our own, so the post have dropped off, a lot. I keep getting caught up. Make a promise to myself to check daily, but... here I am trying to get caught up again! No formal night for us. Just would rather put the money into something else. But I love to see others dressed up.

 

[sues14]

I did want to wear a tux for formal night and suit for semi-formal, but to cut down on packing I'll just bring the suit, and wear it with the vest for formal night and without the vest for semi-formal. Last time I think I just wore a blazer with shirt and tie for semi-formal night. With the price of tuxes around $150 on the discount sites and the fact that I will wear it on several cruises, I'm thinking I may have to just buy one.

DW will be wearing the dress she wore to our son's wedding for formal night; floor length, beaded bust. Probably a little black dress for semi-formal night.

SO . . . still have to make FE gifts, door magnets . . . haven't gotten docs yet . . . need to get suit cleaned and pressed . . . shine shoes . . . DARN, forgot to make ressies with groomer to keep dog. I better get moving!

WOW just seeing your post I just had a little panic attack! I have so much to do!

OK, girl, I'm with you. But I will admit that my (3) boys are not.

I have a gold sequined Michael Kors wrap dress and two Halston Heritage cocktail dresses. I've lost 90 lbs since August and I am going to try to rock them. My husband, who wore a blue blazer and khakis on our last cruise, has conceded a black suit this time around. It kind of tickles me that he's bringing a suit and tie from Afghanistan to Orlando, something oddly out of sync there, but he's a good man and up for it. The little guys will have nice shorts and cute button-down cruise shirts I found at Old Navy last year. simple. I think we're like everyone, a mixed bag. Which is what's so cool about the Disney vibe, no one cares and everyone's happy.

And Jamie, don't feel like you're co-opting, keep posting, you keep it interesting!

Oh, and as for our screen name, it comes from the Toot and Puddle series of books and TV shows (I know, not Disney! horrors!). The show is about two pigs who travel all over the world, but always come back to home. The theme song is Boomerang (below). Mommy and Daddy travel as do we all together, and the boys need to know we always come to center. Oh, and we are a family of four.

Your friends may travel far away
But they won't be gone for long
A boomerang flies, but always returns
Home where it belongs!

Fly my friend, fly my friend
And while you're away
I'll be thinkin' about you
Each and every day
How we laugh and play
In the winds that blow
All my friends, are you ready?
Come, let's go!

I love your name and where it came from. Thank you for sharing!

We need a meet and greet!!! We are anxious to meet everyone that we have 'met' here on the boards!!!!

Soooooo....who has done the meet and greet before and what has worked well?

I also think we need to finalize the template for the lanyard inserts. I really like the Dumbo design----kudos to the creator (know that I'm at work and shouldn't be on here, so looking up a name ins't possible right now)......nice job!!!!

Livingthedream

Oh my goodness it has been way too long since I have been on here! Just getting caught up from around page 74!! We have been short at work and I have been working extra
We are definitely still doing the FE exchange (we are on the list and both my children are girls but you could probably figure it out from the names Alyssa and Ansley ).
My dis name comes from my career. I take care of sick babies as a nurse practitioner (the abbreviation is CRNP for certified registered nurse practitioner).
I have to go and try to finish up the FE gifts! I can't wait to meet everyone and enjoy our cruise. We got our luggage tags today too

Yes Tony is right. I miss working with moms and baby's. Welcome back!

Hi there,

Like you, we'll still be at WDW the night before the cruise, but would love to meet up with you and anybody else who's up for it at 3pm on embarkation day, or at any other time. Which resort are you staying in at WDW? We are at a treehouse in Saratoga Springs. If you would like to meet for a chat or whatever, just PM me and we can arrange it.

I was really interested in Gotcha Day, we don't have it over here, but I will be telling my sister and brother in law all about it, as they have twin adopted daughters, my beloved nieces Aimee and Rebecca.

Elaine

I so love the Gotcha Day! We too will not arrive at port until Sat am. We will be a mk on thurs and friday at TL. I think we would be fine with the 3pm thing.

We know Gotcha Day very well!!! Our DD is also adopted. We actually celebrate Adoption Day on the date the judge signed the adoption decree which was about 9 months after we took custody. We were actually with her since the moment she was born. Actually my wife was with her the day she was born, I was taking my last section of the CPA exam. Our DD was born in Iowa and we live in NJ. The day I took the exam I also flew back to Iowa to meet her for the very first time. Luckily I test best under the most stressful circumstances and passed that section!

cool story!

I keep finding time to poke in here and read what's been added, but haven't had two seconds to post myself! It's marathon cleaning day in this house, so I think it's time for a break!!!

So much to add to, but I'll do the most important first: We got our cruise docs too! I was in the "oh no! There's only one person on the Palo reservation!" group, but I also noticed that it lists that the reservation is for 2, so I moved over to the "not worried" list. Now, if I could just get on the "Yay! I'm going to Palo Brunch!" list, we'd be great

Formal nights: I secretly love formal nights I think it's fun to get dressed up every once in awhile. It's a packing nightmare, but hey-- where else do we get to do it? I think it's a whatever you want to do thing-- If you like it, go all out... If you don't, be comfy I have lost almost 30 pounds so I'm excited for looking at dresses for once (and I'm NOT a shopper!). I think I might even let myself get excited about bathing suits this trip

On the home front, I'm pretty pumped about a job prospect that came up yesterday. I love the job I do now (I am an early intervention specialist for our state's birth to three program and work with special needs babies, premies to age 3, in their homes doing physical, occupational, speech and developmental therapies), but it's crazy come tax time because I'm considered a private practitioner which Uncle Sam LOVES... I need something that's a more regular schedule and takes taxes out for me so I don't lose my mind (and my wallet). Our principal mentioned last night that they were looking for an aide for our new superintendents son who has down syndrome which is exactly what I used to do, so I'm crossing my fingers that it works out as, 1. I would love it! and 2. it would be a perfect schedule with the boys... I could keep a couple of my babies just to keep doing it, but it would be a welcome change. We'll see!

Looking forward to a beautiful week here! It's going to be 80 on Monday! Yay!!!!

Jen

Jen, first thing good luck on the job front. Second Congrats on the wt. loss! One would think after my wt. loss I would be going down oodles of sizes but its not true. When you are plus size you must loose a lot lot of wt. to drop one paint size. So I have a hard time getting new clothes because I want to loose more weight and I too dont like to shop. It just kills me to spend money for just one size down.

Susan (sues14) will probably click well with you.....she was a labor and delivery nurse, and hopes to return to it. I think she wants to do more post-partum though.

OPEN QUESTION TO EVERYONE:
Soooooo....this poses the question....what do you do? What is your job?

If you ask someone in my house, they will say....he works with computers, and that is all the detail you will get. I actually do work for a software development company that markets a business solution for healthcare companies of any size. I am in the QA department, which means that I have to hold developers accountable for their work. I've been with the company for 8 years, but have been in the healthcare field for 22 years now.


Your turn!

yea like he said .... what does your husband do? "He has this job in an office working on the computer! The rest of it is blaaa blaaa blaa! lol love ya Tony!

I'm curious as to what movies will be on board as well!

Never answered about my Disney name. Probably because it's pretty obivous. lol
I was never really happy with it but needed to get on quick and couldn't think of anything better. Of course, now I have come up with a million different ones I'd like to change to but don't want to start all over.

As for what we do....

I have worked for the local city government for the past 12 years as an Account Clerk 2 and we also own a small pizzera that Gus runs with his brother. I/we have also taken care of my 92 year old Gma for the past 11 years. She has dementia and lives with us so that is also like a full time job!!
Oh yeah, and Gus is a professional DJ. He mostly does weddings and corporate parties. And...he's an amateur magicain!! Let's just say we have a lot going on and these vacations are really what keeps us going!!!

Your home life sounds fun!

 

[sues14]

caught up again! We will see if it last!


34 Days

 

[spacecanada]

Oh, look at the time... only 24 days until we leave! It's been nice reading updates from everyone.

Meet and greet - I don't know what time we will get to the ship (via Magical Express from WDW), and then we need to check in, visit the dining changes place to confirm allergies and order dinner for that night, have lunch, which takes forever with allergies, and drop off stuff in our room. I am not sure if we could make it for 3 PM, but we'll certainly do our best to be there. We're both really shy in person, so if you see two people in the corner looking lost, that's probably us.

What we do - Kyle works in architecture, drawing blueprints and stuff. He did a lot of work on the local airport expansion. I used to be an engineering design and drafter but was officially laid off last week and am looking for something different: working with children or animals, becoming a travel agent, or going back to school to become an educational aide. I have applied for a bunch of random jobs that seemed interesting. We'll see how that goes. As for being laid off... the timing is definitely not ideal, but this trip is fully paid for and we could really use some time away! And, hey, I now have lots and lots of time to poke around the DIS and get things packed for our holiday!

Weather - It is cold and snowy up here again (still). I ran a ten mile road race this morning in the snow. Besides the cold wind and slippery sections, it went really well and I came in tenth in my age category. I am really looking forward to the Castaway Cay 5K now!

WOW, the photo with the Magic and Fantasy side-by-side is incredible! We thought the Magic was big; the Fantasy is HUGE!

Tickets - Our TA called on Friday to let us know our Universal Orlando and Disney Cruise documents have both arrived. We are still waiting on the WDW Stay and Play documents. It won't be long now!

 

[sues14]

Hi all, we have switched to a 2013 cruise. I hope you all have a wonderful cruise full of pixie dust and memories!

Hey John,
I was looking at our fish extender list and I could be wrong but I think EcbLovesMickey is no longer going on the cruise. I diligently researched and found where she stated the above... I didnt know that the search thread link was down. So really I got lucky. Maybe they change back but I dont recall that. So this is a JFI!!!!!! And my attempt at being funny!

 

[sues14]

Hi all, we have switched to a 2013 cruise. I hope you all have a wonderful cruise full of pixie dust and memories!

Oh, look at the time... only 24 days until we leave! It's been nice reading updates from everyone.

Meet and greet - I don't know what time we will get to the ship (via Magical Express from WDW), and then we need to check in, visit the dining changes place to confirm allergies and order dinner for that night, have lunch, which takes forever with allergies, and drop off stuff in our room. I am not sure if we could make it for 3 PM, but we'll certainly do our best to be there. We're both really shy in person, so if you see two people in the corner looking lost, that's probably us.

What we do - Kyle works in architecture, drawing blueprints and stuff. He did a lot of work on the local airport expansion. I used to be an engineering design and drafter but was officially laid off last week and am looking for something different: working with children or animals, becoming a travel agent, or going back to school to become an educational aide. I have applied for a bunch of random jobs that seemed interesting. We'll see how that goes. As for being laid off... the timing is definitely not ideal, but this trip is fully paid for and we could really use some time away! And, hey, I now have lots and lots of time to poke around the DIS and get things packed for our holiday!

Weather - It is cold and snowy up here again (still). I ran a ten mile road race this morning in the snow. Besides the cold wind and slippery sections, it went really well and I came in tenth in my age category. I am really looking forward to the Castaway Cay 5K now!

WOW, the photo with the Magic and Fantasy side-by-side is incredible! We thought the Magic was big; the Fantasy is HUGE!

Tickets - Our TA called on Friday to let us know our Universal Orlando and Disney Cruise documents have both arrived. We are still waiting on the WDW Stay and Play documents. It won't be long now!

We have only 30 days till we leave. Im jealous that you are leaving so soon! I am saddened to hear that you are without a job. I hope good things come your way after the cruise.

 

[Boomerang4]

For those who have PM'ed, my husband is safe. There was an RPG attack on the U.S. embassy, though it hasn't made the press yet, as well as Camp Eggers and the base in Jalalabad. Greg called in the attack on the embassy and was up all night standing post. But he is fine and all American personnel are safe. Long day yesterday. We are really looking forward to being together for this cruise, it's going to be a nice break from reality, as it will for us all.

 

[spacecanada]

For those who have PM'ed, my husband is safe. There was an RPG attack on the U.S. embassy, though it hasn't made the press yet, as well as Camp Eggers and the base in Jalalabad. Greg called in the attack on the embassy and was up all night standing post. But he is fine and all American personnel are safe. Long day yesterday. We are really looking forward to being together for this cruise, it's going to be a nice break from reality, as it will for us all.

Wow, what a scary day! I am happy to hear that he is okay. I hope he will wear his dress uniform on the cruse so we can all recognise him and thank him for his service. He must really be looking forward to a relaxing holiday!

 

[donaldsgal]

Sorry - haven't had a chance to read all the replies yet, but I'm requesting prayers from those of you who are pray-ers. My sister had to take Hannah to the hospital today because she was not breathing well. Her pulse rate is high and her O2 levels are low. She's got an oxygen tube under her nose right now, which did elevate her oxygen level, but the monitor is still alarming every now and then. She's thrown up a couple of times and has a fever. The doctor said he's concerned because there seems to be diminished breathing on her right side, so they're scheduling some tests to figure out what's going on. A few years ago, in a very similar situation, she had to be admitted to a children's hospital in the PICU for a few days, so this is feeling too similar for comfort. I'm two hours away right now in the town I live but will leave to be with them if things change. Anyway, if you could be praying for the Beck family, we'd sure appreciate it! We know the Lord cares about Hannah's health as much as we do, and we know our fellow DISers are great about offering support in hard times! Thanks, guys! I appreciate you all!

 

[donaldsgal]

Hi there,

Like you, we'll still be at WDW the night before the cruise, but would love to meet up with you and anybody else who's up for it at 3pm on embarkation day, or at any other time. Which resort are you staying in at WDW? We are at a treehouse in Saratoga Springs. If you would like to meet for a chat or whatever, just PM me and we can arrange it.

I was really interested in Gotcha Day, we don't have it over here, but I will be telling my sister and brother in law all about it, as they have twin adopted daughters, my beloved nieces Aimee and Rebecca.

Since I'm full of anxiety at the moment, thought I'd do some DISing. In case I was confusing, Gotcha Day is a day that is celebrated individually by families that adopt, so that means your sis and BIL can celebrate it the day their adoptions became official. Yay for adoption!!!

I'm at BWV May 13-16, then Melissa and Hannah join me and we move to VWL until the 19th! I will send you a PM!

Elaine

As i posted earlier, this is also the time we had our meet and greet on the Dream. I just don't think the location we had was the best. It was on embarkation day.

Sorry if I sounded annoyed at anyone's uncertainty about an embarkation day meet. I couldn't tell if you were annoyed or not or if you felt I singled you out. As much as I love the boards, they do nothing to help with tone of voice! I am fine with whatever we choose.

We know Gotcha Day very well!!! Our DD is also adopted. We actually celebrate Adoption Day on the date the judge signed the adoption decree which was about 9 months after we took custody. We were actually with her since the moment she was born. Actually my wife was with her the day she was born, I was taking my last section of the CPA exam. Our DD was born in Iowa and we live in NJ. The day I took the exam I also flew back to Iowa to meet her for the very first time. Luckily I test best under the most stressful circumstances and passed that section!

Yes, you must work well under pressure! I love Gotcha Day, and I love finding others in the adoption community!

I'm off to go thread-hunting. Don't know how much I'll be able to do with the search feature currently disabled, but I want to find out what movies we might see on-board, and if there are any prem-ears while on board. Our last cruise prem-ear'ed Alice in Wonderland in 3D, y'know...Johnny Depp version.

I now know from experience that you might want to think twice about sitting in a theater on Friday night at midnight with the ship going full throttle (from the Cay back to port) and watching 3D. Most of our group didn't survive it....

But with the price of going to the movies these days, I might be tempted to catch a few movies while others sleep or do their thing. I do anticipate 'The Avengers' being on board so that is one I will want to see.

Anyone else have any movie info?

You made me laugh! I'd like to know the movies, too. Seems like we've lucked out on them in the past - always had pleasant surprises in the movies we've seen.

For those who have PM'ed, my husband is safe. There was an RPG attack on the U.S. embassy, though it hasn't made the press yet, as well as Camp Eggers and the base in Jalalabad. Greg called in the attack on the embassy and was up all night standing post. But he is fine and all American personnel are safe. Long day yesterday. We are really looking forward to being together for this cruise, it's going to be a nice break from reality, as it will for us all.

I'm so glad he's safe!!!

 

[donaldsgal]

First let me say I love the reason for your name. Tony can also talk Donald Duck and he has a great Donald sneeze. My mom and dad had fourteen children. My dad was also not much for showing emotions to us kids. When we did get the nerve up to say "I love you" to him, his response would be "I Know" but what he lacked in words he made up for in our life. We went to Disney Land or World every other year and on the other cycle we camped and took a small vacation. So your name made me tear a little too! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks, Sues!!!

S
OPEN QUESTION TO EVERYONE:
Soooooo....this poses the question....what do you do? What is your job?

If you ask someone in my house, they will say....he works with computers, and that is all the detail you will get. I actually do work for a software development company that markets a business solution for healthcare companies of any size. I am in the QA department, which means that I have to hold developers accountable for their work. I've been with the company for 8 years, but have been in the healthcare field for 22 years now.

Your turn!

This full-of-anxiety-at-the-moment DISer is a counselor. I work at a Christian college, Cedarville University, and I'm one of the counselors for our students. I treat various issues - depression, anxiety, relationship problems, recovery from abuse, but the issue I treat the most is eating disorders. It just happened that way, and I'm in the beginning stages of working on a special certification to be an ED specialist. My sister is a developmental neurotoxicologist. (Say that 5 times fast). She works with companies that are pursuing FDA approval for their medications, pesticides, etc. They have to have third party testing done before getting FDA approval, so she designs the studies, and her area of specialty is for juvenile studies, so she makes sure those compounds are safe for the developing brains of fetuses or young. They use animal studies. She's brilliant, and she works hard to make sure drugs you and I take won't do more harm than good. She takes her job seriously and always thinks of the average Janes and Joes who are giving the medicines to their kids some day or may choose to use the pesticides she studies on our foods/grass/fields.

Great question! I like knowing what people do for a living!

Lastly,
Jaimie, please don't worry that you're hijacking. Post as much as you want - it gives us a chance to get to know each other more. Sues thoughts on that were right on. We all post more at some times than at others.

 

[DizDaddy]

For those who have PM'ed, my husband is safe. There was an RPG attack on the U.S. embassy, though it hasn't made the press yet, as well as Camp Eggers and the base in Jalalabad. Greg called in the attack on the embassy and was up all night standing post. But he is fine and all American personnel are safe. Long day yesterday. We are really looking forward to being together for this cruise, it's going to be a nice break from reality, as it will for us all.

I am sure that you are immediately comforted to know he is ok, but still concerned about the continued danger. Our house will pray for his safety and for ease of your concerns!!! We are very appreciative of his efforts (and the efforts of all service men and women and families), and the sacrifices your family makes to allow our family to feel protected.

Please, when you get the chance, extend our appreciation.

 

[nonni]

You are all in our prayers.

Sorry - haven't had a chance to read all the replies yet, but I'm requesting prayers from those of you who are pray-ers. My sister had to take Hannah to the hospital today because she was not breathing well. Her pulse rate is high and her O2 levels are low. She's got an oxygen tube under her nose right now, which did elevate her oxygen level, but the monitor is still alarming every now and then. She's thrown up a couple of times and has a fever. The doctor said he's concerned because there seems to be diminished breathing on her right side, so they're scheduling some tests to figure out what's going on. A few years ago, in a very similar situation, she had to be admitted to a children's hospital in the PICU for a few days, so this is feeling too similar for comfort. I'm two hours away right now in the town I live but will leave to be with them if things change. Anyway, if you could be praying for the Beck family, we'd sure appreciate it! We know the Lord cares about Hannah's health as much as we do, and we know our fellow DISers are great about offering support in hard times! Thanks, guys! I appreciate you all!

 

[4everluvDisney]

Hi everyone. My DH and I will be joining you on this cruise.
Just wondering without having to read the entire thread right now could someone let me know if the FE list is open or closed. I found it on the first page but it doesn't state either way.
May be interested if still open.
Thanks
Audrey

 

[Pirategirrrl]

I used to be an engineering design and drafter but was officially laid off last week and am looking for something different: working with children or animals, becoming a travel agent, or going back to school to become an educational aide. I have applied for a bunch of random jobs that seemed interesting. We'll see how that goes.

Sorry to hear that, I hope it works out for the best for you.

For those who have PM'ed, my husband is safe. There was an RPG attack on the U.S. embassy, though it hasn't made the press yet, as well as Camp Eggers and the base in Jalalabad. Greg called in the attack on the embassy and was up all night standing post. But he is fine and all American personnel are safe. Long day yesterday. We are really looking forward to being together for this cruise, it's going to be a nice break from reality, as it will for us all.

Glad to hear everyone is safe. How scary

Sorry - haven't had a chance to read all the replies yet, but I'm requesting prayers from those of you who are pray-ers. My sister had to take Hannah to the hospital today because she was not breathing well. Her pulse rate is high and her O2 levels are low. She's got an oxygen tube under her nose right now, which did elevate her oxygen level, but the monitor is still alarming every now and then. She's thrown up a couple of times and has a fever. The doctor said he's concerned because there seems to be diminished breathing on her right side, so they're scheduling some tests to figure out what's going on. A few years ago, in a very similar situation, she had to be admitted to a children's hospital in the PICU for a few days, so this is feeling too similar for comfort. I'm two hours away right now in the town I live but will leave to be with them if things change. Anyway, if you could be praying for the Beck family, we'd sure appreciate it! We know the Lord cares about Hannah's health as much as we do, and we know our fellow DISers are great about offering support in hard times! Thanks, guys! I appreciate you all!

So sorry to hear this. I hope she is better soon!!! My thoughts are with you.

 

[Jaymepops]

For those who have PM'ed, my husband is safe. There was an RPG attack on the U.S. embassy, though it hasn't made the press yet, as well as Camp Eggers and the base in Jalalabad. Greg called in the attack on the embassy and was up all night standing post. But he is fine and all American personnel are safe. Long day yesterday. We are really looking forward to being together for this cruise, it's going to be a nice break from reality, as it will for us all.

OMG! How AWFUL!! I am so happy that your husband is safe and ok! Thankfully, not too much longer to wait for you two to be safe and back together again. Sending prayers to him and all those around him, as well as to you and your family.

 

[Jaymepops]

Sorry - haven't had a chance to read all the replies yet, but I'm requesting prayers from those of you who are pray-ers. My sister had to take Hannah to the hospital today because she was not breathing well. Her pulse rate is high and her O2 levels are low. She's got an oxygen tube under her nose right now, which did elevate her oxygen level, but the monitor is still alarming every now and then. She's thrown up a couple of times and has a fever. The doctor said he's concerned because there seems to be diminished breathing on her right side, so they're scheduling some tests to figure out what's going on. A few years ago, in a very similar situation, she had to be admitted to a children's hospital in the PICU for a few days, so this is feeling too similar for comfort. I'm two hours away right now in the town I live but will leave to be with them if things change. Anyway, if you could be praying for the Beck family, we'd sure appreciate it! We know the Lord cares about Hannah's health as much as we do, and we know our fellow DISers are great about offering support in hard times! Thanks, guys! I appreciate you all!

Oh gosh! Poor baby! So sorry to hear this. Sending prayers for her and for your family. Wish there was more that I could do. Hang in there and tell your sister to hang in there too. I am sure this is much tougher on her than it is on little Hannah. Please keep us posted!

 

[Jaymepops]

Just wanted to share that we got our Cruise Docs on Friday!!!

 

[Pirategirrrl]

Reimero and I like the idea of a meet, I hope we can do that. We wont be there the night before, I know some others will not be there also. Hopefully we can work out some time on the ship.
We are in the process of a complete re-organization at work, I might be doing something different by the end of the year. But for now I do cataloging work and database maintenance. That doesn't sound very exciting, how about data detective