Happy Birthday, Dear Dude - A Sept 2010 PTR - 9/22 Trip Report Started p34

[2_Eagle_Mom]

Thanks for the idea. That may make sense. Do they have to be used in a certain amount of time? Do they expire? What about the whole membership - does it run out over time?

You get your number of points at the beginning of your use year. They expire at the end of the year unless you bank them. The membership expires in 2042 (I think that is the year).

One other suggestion - you could rent out your points and use the money to pay for the vacation of your choice if you want to go someplace other than Disney. We've used our points for a cruise. Not necessarily a "bargin" but since we had to use the points and since we didn't have to put out any actual cash it worked for us.

 

[swwake]

Hmmmm, I think I may need to skip the book, too.

DVC--I would love to have it, but DH is a different story. He will take much convincing..............

Yes, I'd say skip the book. We aren't sure about DVC at this point. We'd love to have it, but it's not really in this year's budget. Now, if we can keep ourselves away from a resort tour in Sept....

You get your number of points at the beginning of your use year. They expire at the end of the year unless you bank them. The membership expires in 2042 (I think that is the year).

One other suggestion - you could rent out your points and use the money to pay for the vacation of your choice if you want to go someplace other than Disney. We've used our points for a cruise. Not necessarily a "bargin" but since we had to use the points and since we didn't have to put out any actual cash it worked for us.

Oh this is great info and a great tip! We will have to keep that in mind as well.

 

[swwake]

Well, we have had an eventful couple of days. Last night, Katie was up late working on her Senior Project. At about 2:45am she woke me up telling me that the house across the street was burning. It took me a minute to realize this wasn't a dream, and look out our front windows to see the flames and the tall light structure from the fire truck. We walked down our driveway (it's about 200 feet) to the street, where we quickly met the neighbors and found everyone and all the pets ok. They were in a state of shock. For the next two hours, we just stood there watching these poor people's house and all of their belongings literally go up in flames, as the firefighters tamed the fire.

We found out this morning that the inspectors think the hot tub on the back deck had an electrical short that started the fire. It was so close to the house that it didn't take long to envelop the entire back wall. It was so sad.

On a happier note, today we got Disney Mail! We got our MNSSHP tickets. I was so excited!

I've also received a few things I had ordered in the past week:
- rash guards for Katie, Caitlin and myself to wear on the Flowrider on the cruise. Mine will also come in handy for the surfing at Typhoon Lagoon.
- luggage tags for the cruise! *Yay*
- Personalized M&M's I ordered for Katie's graduation party. They are in CU Boulder colors (black, gold and white) and alternate saying "Congrats Katie!", "Boulder Bound", and "GO BUFFS".

Our camera is toast, but we just ordered a new camera and Flipcam this week. It might be here tomorrow. If not, it will be here by Monday. I will try to take some pics of these items to show you.

Also, this weekend is Prom! So I will post some pics after Saturday.

I hope everyone is having a great week!

 

[Charleston Princess]

How tragic about your neighbors' house!!! I can't even imagine!

Hurray for Mickey Mail and prom coming up! Can't wait to see pictures from it!

 

[Dancegrl624]

Oh my goodness!!! I'm so glad to hear that your neighbors and their pets got out of their house. That is so sad.

I hope I get my MNSSHP tickets soon!!! I ordered them last Thursday and they told me 7-14 days. I was hoping for the 7 days because I'm very impatient. Maybe they will be in the mail today!

I love Prom pictures!!!

 

[2_Eagle_Mom]

How terrible for your neighbors! At least everyone is safe. Items can be replaced (mostly)...

We have a flipcam (I think that's what its called - its a video camera right?) if so then we LOVE it. I was amazed at the quality of the video for such a little thing. The only thing that was a downside for our vacation is that you have to download it to get the video off. So if you plan on taking it on vacation you'll have to bring a computer to save the video to.

 

[irishdancer86]

your list of plus-es and negatives for DVC was really infiormative, and I feel your pain, even though its a 'nice' decision to make, its still a toughie! but you have got so many lovely options!

Prom Photos...excited to see these!

 

[Native NYer]

Thanks for the idea. That may make sense. Do they have to be used in a certain amount of time? Do they expire? What about the whole membership - does it run out over time?

Happy Mother's Day!

You can bank one year's points, but they have to be used the next year. So, you can go to Disney every other year and have more points to use.
Each DVC resort has different dates when their contracts run out. BLT expires in 2060 (I think LOL). The other resorts expire sooner.

I hope your neighbors are doing well. How devastating for them

 

[MHTeacher]

How terrible about your neighbor's house. At least they are safe.

Hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day, Susan!

 

[swwake]

How tragic about your neighbors' house!!! I can't even imagine!

Hurray for Mickey Mail and prom coming up! Can't wait to see pictures from it!

It was so sad. Prom pics are coming up shortly.

Oh my goodness!!! I'm so glad to hear that your neighbors and their pets got out of their house. That is so sad.

I hope I get my MNSSHP tickets soon!!! I ordered them last Thursday and they told me 7-14 days. I was hoping for the 7 days because I'm very impatient. Maybe they will be in the mail today!

I love Prom pictures!!!

Oh we were so glad everyone was fine Meghan. I saw that you got your tickets! Woo hoo!

How terrible for your neighbors! At least everyone is safe. Items can be replaced (mostly)...

We have a flipcam (I think that's what its called - its a video camera right?) if so then we LOVE it. I was amazed at the quality of the video for such a little thing. The only thing that was a downside for our vacation is that you have to download it to get the video off. So if you plan on taking it on vacation you'll have to bring a computer to save the video to.

Our flipcam should be here tomorrow. I am excited to get it and play with it. I take my computer everywhere, so that shouldn't be a problem. Call me weird.

your list of plus-es and negatives for DVC was really infiormative, and I feel your pain, even though its a 'nice' decision to make, its still a toughie! but you have got so many lovely options!

Prom Photos...excited to see these!

I'm not even thinking about DVC right now, although it does sound great. Just too much else going on. Prom pics to come...

Happy Mother's Day!

You can bank one year's points, but they have to be used the next year. So, you can go to Disney every other year and have more points to use.
Each DVC resort has different dates when their contracts run out. BLT expires in 2060 (I think LOL). The other resorts expire sooner.

I hope your neighbors are doing well. How devastating for them

Thanks for the Mother's Day wishes! Thanks also for the DVC banking info. That might make it worth it for us. So, it seems like you're just basically pre-paying your future vacations, right? Not thinking I'll be visiting Disney in 2060 - but who knows?!

How terrible about your neighbor's house. At least they are safe.

Hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day, Susan!

Yes, we are so glad everyone is safe. Had a great weekend!

 

[swwake]

Hi everyone! We had a very nice Mother's Day. Katie was working as a hostess at one of our favorite casual restaurants on the lake, Iguana Grill. We took Mom, and my sister and her kids met us.

That's my niece Haley, twins Tyler and Hayden, sister Joann, Mom, me and Chris.

Here's a mom and daughter shot:

Our new camera should arrive tomorrow. I am so looking forward to improved picture quality. This one has just about had it.

Saturday night was Prom for Katie. Here are a couple of shots of her with her boyfriend and all her friends:

I am so busy trying to pull together Katie's graduation announcements, fill out all the required forms, and plan her party that I am having to take off work tomorrow to try to get it all done. I'll share more later on the party plans. Also, I'm leaving Wednesday morning for 3 days in New Orleans. Saturday night, we are celebrating our anniversary at a great steakhouse near our home, Monday is tax day for Texas, so I have to get my husband's business return filed, and I leave Monday for 3 days in Chicago. Whew!

ETA: We ran into our neighbors whose home burned at our Mother's Day brunch. They looked great and were in great spirits. I am so thankful that they are able to approach the situation with such courage and strength.

 

[Charleston Princess]

What a lovely Mother's Day brunch and the prom pictures are just gorgeous!!!

 

[irishdancer86]

wow to formal photos, katie, her bf and the whole party looks great, and love the backdrop! my mum made me get a few took on my own incase me and bf from formal didn't stay together...mum's are always right!!!

 

[swwake]

What a lovely Mother's Day brunch and the prom pictures are just gorgeous!!!

Yep. If you remember how we almost lost Mom in the past year, you know our Mother's Day was very special! I love the prom pics.

wow to formal photos, katie, her bf and the whole party looks great, and love the backdrop! my mum made me get a few took on my own incase me and bf from formal didn't stay together...mum's are always right!!!

That's always a good idea! The background is actually Lake Travis behind Iguana Grill, where Katie works (same place we had Mother's Day brunch). We are fortunate to live very close to the lake. It is beautiful!

 

[MHTeacher]

So glad you got to spend Mother's Day with your mom!

Love the prom pictures---Katie is beautiful!

 

[swwake]

So glad you got to spend Mother's Day with your mom!

Love the prom pictures---Katie is beautiful!

Thanks Michelle, it was quite a nice day. Thanks for the compliments on Katie.

You are leaving very soon, aren't you?

 

[swwake]

Hi everyone!

I just got back from a conference in New Orleans last night. Tonight, we will go to a nice steakhouse to celebrate our anniversary (tomorrow). Then a cozy night at home.

I leave Monday for another conference in Chicago and will be back Wednesday. It's hard to keep up with my DIS fix with all of this travel.

Still focusing a lot of energy on Katie's graduation. While I was gone, the package of CU Boulder goodies came in. There is a tablecloth, two pom poms, some streamers, some shirts and sweatshirts, and a keychain I bought Katie. We will use this stuff to decorate for Katie's party.

Before I left, we got the flipcam and camera that we ordered. We haven't even taken the camera out of the box, but I am so excited to have something new! The one we had was taking horrible pictures, as we found with the prom pictures. The ones I posted here were taken by someone else with a better camera and equipment. Our new camera is a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX5V. My hubby researched and picked it out. He said many of the reviews claim that after having this camera, they don't even need their DLR anymore. (Is that what's it's called - DLR?)

Anyway, and finally, last weekend, I ordered Katie's graduation party invitation. It's going to be a small cookout with close family and friends, the day after graduation. I ordered the invitations from a company I heard of from Trish's PTR (cdolta) - thanks Trish! Here's the proof:

This weekend, among my other tasks, I will be finding and scanning pictures of Katie through the years, and searching for video clips to use. Also, pulling together background music. All of this is for the DVD I am creating to show at her party. I will also give Katie and each family guest a copy of the DVD.

 

[MHTeacher]

You are leaving very soon, aren't you?

One week!

Hope you have a happy anniversary tomorrow! Congrats!

Love the party invitation!

 

[Native NYer]

Love Katie's invites. So cute!
And she looks so beautiful all decked out for the prom. Love the dress!

 

[Charleston Princess]

What beautiful invitations!!!