That makes me feel two ways - happy
and stressed out
.
Hi Everyone. I am here at POP Century now. Quick conference trip until Sat. Just wanted to share what the CM checking me in said. This next week they are doing away with keyto the world cards. That this will be my very last one makes me a little sad. I asked what about guests who stay off property and he said the fast pass machines are being removed with this next step and from now on only disney property guests will have fastpasses through the fastpass plus system. He said this just was announced to the CMs. Maybe in the future they will sell fastpasses like universal does but that has not been announced yet. That's all my gossip. Now off to Fantasmic.
I thought those of us who did not want bands could still have cards. I guess I will be hooking my band on my backpack, because I don't like things on my wrist.
I hope they do not sell the Fastpass option, but as a perk for staying on property, I think I am okay with that. I have also heard they may alter the FP options with the level of resort at which one stays - deluxe getting more passes than mod and value. That really doesn't bother me, either.
Nice that you got to end your day with Fantasmic!
Just wanted to pop in and say hi. I can't believe we leave in less than 24 hours and I haven't even packed yet. Talk about procrastination. Haha! I better go get started. I'll be posting updates on facebook. Stop by! I'll be thinking of you all while we're at POP.
I'll be happy for any pictures you can give us to get us through until whenever I get there next. The closer December gets, the more I think I may have to opt out of it, too. The kids will still go, and they would have a blast on a brother/sister family trip.
I love that Brandi and Trent are having a girl for Brooklynn! "Princess Hadley" sounds perfect. 
Hoping that you are managing okay during this crazy busy time. Not long now until it's over. Just a blink until it's November, and, as a wise woman once said, that's practically December!
We are very happy about another sweet girl. Trent was definitely ready for a boy, but he will be a fabulous dad to a little girl, of course. Brandi had another ultrasound done yesterday, and you can really see Hadley very well. Call me crazy, but I think she looks a bit like Sophie.
My whole focus in life right now is getting through next Tuesday. I have to finish printing off all the paperwork today. I'll be at school until late. I have to work tomorrow night, so I won't be able to do anything productive other than work all day and night - but not on the evaluation. The weekend will be spent on getting all the supplies and activities together. That's not hard - just time consuming. The paperwork gets turned in Monday with the pre-conference, and then Tuesday is the actual observation. By 10:30 Tuesday morning, I will be able to breathe easier again.
December used to be far away, and I looked forward to it. The closer it gets, the scarier it gets, because I am NOT money-ready for this trip. Hefty home and car repairs threw me for a loop, and my sick cat has needed vet help, which of course equals vet bills. I have two months to figure out what to do. If I make it, it'll be another PBJ trip, I'm sad to say. I may just stay back this time and let Jill and Trent go and have a grand sibling trip. That would put me in better shape financially, and I'd be more prepared and happier about going in July for a longer trip. Plan B might be that I will cut the trip a couple of days short and ride back with Trent and Brandi. I don't know. It depends on how much I can make on my extra job between now and December. At the very least, I am going to have to give up the big meals I had planned. I can't in good conciousness spend $30+ on a meal when that can last me a week in groceries right now.
Then, when I start thinking like that, I start thinking how wasteful a lot of the things I do Disney-wise are, and I think maybe I should be re-purposing that money toward people and programs that are in much more need than I am. I have given minimal amounts to my chosen programs this year - our church Mexico missions, a Down's Syndrome walk, Walk for Water, and a few other odds and ends throughout the year. Also, I see my kids at school and the family situations they are in, and I used to be in those same places. I know what it is like to have $6.00 for a field trip be a huge thing. HUGE thing.
I know what it is like to feed your kids mac and cheese three times a week because it is cheap. I know what it is like not to be able to give your child money to do things with her friends after a school banquet. I have a letter that Jill wrote me - laminated and taped up in my room - that humbles me to my core every time I see it. In it, she is thanking me for what I did for her to be able to go to the banquet and then telling me she understands why she couldn't go play mini-golf with her friends afterward. It cuts like a knife every time I see it, but it makes me bust with pride at how caring and sensitive my daughter was and is. I am so happy that her own children do not have to be raised by a poor, single mother, that their needs are more than met, and that their wants are not burdens.
I don't know. I've just been doing a lot of soul-searching lately. I shouldn't be in this poor financial shape at this age, for one thing. I see so many needs all around me, for another. And as much as I ache to be in Disney World sometimes when I see pictures and recall good times, I am strangely at peace with the fact that December just may not happen for me. On the flip side of the coin, because there is always a flip side, I want to make these special memories with my family. I know too many people who are going through serious health battles right now. Some will have good outcomes and live many more years, but some cases are severe, and they know their days to get in those memories are limited. One friend wanted me to help her plan a Disney trip for her and her grandkids, but it would be happening after her husband had passed on in the future. He is dealing with leukemia and has been off and on for years now. He hates theme parks and crowds, and she didn't want to leave him home alone. Anyway, as things have played out, she was diagnosed with cancer, and it is she who will pass first. She has already outlived doctors' predictions by several months, but things are definitely getting noticeably worse. She tells me she so regrets not going ahead and taking them to WDW.
I know I have had many wonderful Disney moments with my kids, and I will have many more, God willing. I also can have many wonderful non-Disney moments doing smaller, cheaper things here at home. At some point, common sense must rule over the heart. I am getting there, ever so slowly. Cancelling the March trip and not giving in to going in October was a start. I lived through October, and I suspect I might live through March, too.
Okay, there it is. A few of you mention December, and I go like this
, but then I go like this
and then I start rambling on about a million different things that no one is interested in. But it was good for me to write it out, so thanks for listening.
Although I hope your ear didn't really swell up like that from my talking.
In happier news:
Brandi got a great picture of Hadley on yesterday's ultrasound. She is cute as can be, of course. She will come out and join the insanity soon enough. It's nice that she'll stay safe and warm all winter. Smart kid not coming out until the spring.
Brooklynn got a fantastic report card recently. A lot of our DIS kids have been making Distown proud with their performances - grades, sports, musical and artistic pursuits, etc. We all have some pretty awesome kids, don't you agree?
I will get more trip pictures up this weekend. I will stop school things and jump back into Disney World for a few minutes. Hope you'll join us! Have a great day, everyone!
I really appreciate the help, so I'll wait a couple more weeks to take the girls back to Disney.
for you my friend!
She is going to be an adored little girl from our side, and since it's Brandi's parents' first grandchild, you can imagine how they are going to be about her. 
They would eat that with a can of corn, and I would eat a bowl of rice. Handing over any amount of money for anything was a painful thing, for the most part. Lights were turned off, water was conserved, and nothing was wasted. I can relate to what my school kids go through, except that most of them do have to use food cards, and I didn't have to do that. I probably should have, but I didn't.
Things always seem to work out on paper when I make a budget, but then they don't play out like the numbers on paper, for some reason. Part of that is because of school, I spend too much money on school stuff. Part of that is from spoiling my sweet girls, too. 
The teachers on our trip gave me a whole new appreciation! Very special, loving people. I know you are one of those that everyone wishes they had for a teacher and those who do, know how lucky they are. 
I was happy not to have to get up and go anywhere until I decided to this morning. Very nice.
- sorry!) I have always enjoyed your TR's and hope to enjoy many many more!
