If you put it in writing, you have to deliver right? A Dec. 2011 PTR

[kwitcherkicken99]

I have wrestled with the idea of making my second attempt at a PTR. My first attempt (last year) went down like a blaze of glory. [heart] Jon Bon Jovi…

Anyway… I have had the pleasure of meeting a very special group of ladies on this board . We all give into our ever-changing trip plans, fuzzy Disney math (FDM), and our desires for certain members of the opposite sex… through all of that, we have managed, for the most part, that many of us are planning trips at the same, but different times. Reading through all of their PTRs so far got me inspired to make another go at it.

So as I sit here, listening to live365 (currently streaming Captain EO), I think I’m finally ready to say it.

Hi, my name is Jenn, I’m a Disney addict, and I am overweight.

I will be visiting Walt Disney World in December with my best girlfriend from college and her mom. I will also be leaving my husband and 2 children behind on this trip.

In September 2009, my parents took my son and my nephew to WDW for a week. They came home raving about the crowd levels and attending MNSSHP on a whim. My mother, who has NO idea how to download her digital photos entrusted me with the project. Looking over the pictures, DH mentioned that he wanted to go to the Halloween party. The idea stewed and he told me to book the trip.

In talking to my BFF, “E,” about the trip, she and I threw around the idea of her and her boyfriend flying down too. She would get to meet my family and I would finally get to meet the guy I’d been hearing so much about. It was all set. We would meet up in Orlando, September 25-30, 2010.

The next 11 months D.R.A.G.G.E.D. It seemed like the day would never arrive! And then it did. Our trip flew by so incredibly quickly that E and I had very little time to spend together because my family was slow moving with a 2 and 4 year old in tow.

After we got back, E and I talked about how great it would be to go together. Just me and her. No kids. No distractions! She and I had toured Disneyland and California Adventure successfully and we knew from previous trips to Vegas that we travel well together, at least from what we remember .

There was just one problem with this plan… DH wouldn’t allow me to go by myself! He would pawn it off on DS, asking if I was allowed to go to Disney without the family. At first he said no. DH asked DS a few more times, and one day, he said yes – I could go someday with Aunt E. THAT’S MY BOY!!!!

E and I talked about getting our hands on the film, The Boys: the Sherman Brothers Story. She Netflixed it and got it WAY before I did. She gave up on me getting my hands on it, so she let her mother borrow it before she had to return it.

Mom watched the movie and decided that she and E should take a mother/daughter trip back to WDW.

E called me with such great excitement and I was truly happy for her. My own trip was not too far in the future. I only had to wait 5.more.years…

She asked me to help her plan, to which I told her yes! There was no way I wouldn’t help! I even joked with her, asking if her mom would adopt me! [the answer was no BTW…]

I have been helping E peer edit her papers for grad school. I’m a little better in English than she is, but she kicks my butt in photography (our shared major)! As a thank you for helping with her papers, she was going to fly me out to her hometown in South Dakota for a long weekend. She started to hatch a plan to fly me to Florida instead of squeezing my trip to SD in between the end of summer and the start of her graduation from grad school trip. I didn’t put a lot of stock in going to Florida. DH would never let me go, especially that close to my birthday and our anniversary. Not before he and I could go – without kids. No way. No how. No sir!

E and I started planning out the trip. Figuring out where to stay, what to do, places to eat, squeezing in time for WWOHP and Sea World. The decision was made to stay at BWI – somewhere new, but in a comfortable area that was close to Epcot, mom’s favorite park. She lined up the dates, we both did FDM, threw around ideas about when/if Free Dining would be announced…

A few papers and a couple weeks later, she called me on a Saturday afternoon. Mom said I could go along.

Rambling #2 AKA All by my-selll-i-elf!
Rambling #3 AKA Get to the point already!
Rambling #4 AKA Oh the humanity!
Rambling #5 AKA Eye Spy
Rambling #6 AKA Keep your eyes on the prize
Rambling #7 AKA To die(cut) or not
Rambling #8 AKA (Wo)man vs. Food
Rambling #9 AKA Not-so-patiently waiting
Rambling #10 AKA OH! What a night...
Rambling #11 AKA I'll sleep when I'm dead...
Rambling #12 AKA Truly, sadly, gut-wrenching weekend
Rambling #13 AKA Day 2 and feeling fine!
Rambling #14 AKA Starting over... AGAIN
Rambling #15 AKA Are we there yet?
Rambling #16 AKA Quick update...
Rambling #17 AKA Leavin' on a Jet Plane
BWAHAHAHAHA! AKA Best Stress Relief EVER!
Rambling #18 AKA A new day!
Rambling #19 AKA MNSSHP v. MVMCP
Rambling #20 AKA I'll stay until the wind changes
Rambling #21 AKA Our current schedule
Some of my favorite links
Rambling # 22 AKA Look what E found
Slightly OT...
Rambling #23 AKA A poem for you
Rambling #24 AKA When you wish upon an ADR...

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

Sitting down to further talk to myself, I had hoped I left any potential audience with a cliff hanger. What I have ended up with was just the cliff.

I was in the place between sleep and awake when E told me that mom said I could come along. Now I had to pitch the idea to DH and get him on board. If E was going to contribute to my trip, he’d have to okay it. I could pay for it out of my “additional” income. (I have a J.O.B. but I do some freelance photography for a local newspaper on the side – it’s not much, but it sure is nice to have a little extra) AND he was planning a boy’s weekend trip with one of his best friends… and he’ll probably spend more than me!

I had him cornered. ​

After another round or three of FDM to see exactly what my costs would be, he conceded and said that I could go. I kind of felt like Anne Shirley did in Anne of Avonlea when Captain Harris told Anne the Emmeline could participate in the school play.

“Emmeline may go.”

“Emmeline may go??”

“Emmeline may go!”

Then Anne crashed into his very expensive chess set. We don’t play chess, or have a great deal of nice things, but I sure did cook an extra special dinner for him and the kids that night.

I couldn’t convince DH to let me be gone for the entire trip, I had to “settle” for skipping WWOHP and Sea World, but I can live with that. If it’s a choice between 7 days at Disney or not at all… whaddoyou think I’d pick?

 

[kimmar067]

I couldn’t convince DH to let me be gone for the entire trip, I had to “settle” for skipping WWOHP and Sea World, but I can live with that. If it’s a choice between 7 days at Disney or not at all… whaddoyou think I’d pick?

....sorta like MY dilemma: cook dinner at Mystic Dunes in Fla. or cook dinner in NJ?? Give me a nano-second on that response...

 

[SadieDog]

I'm here.

 

[creativeamanda]

Here I is! Sounds like a fun trip!

 

[DISNEYaddict4evr]

Hey all... this is E. I have just been let in on the secret to my friend new post, sorta like last year hmmm... I hope I don't screw this one up for her either . Anywho.... This girl her gives herself to all she comes in contact with and deserves the world. I want all who join in for her journey to not give up on her and shout to her that we all believe in her. The more you give the more she will give back, that is who she is. Plus I might join in occasionally for comic relief

I thought I would share my favorite pic of us to get the ball started...

 

[SadieDog]

Nice to meet you, E.

Thanks for sharing the pic.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

Rereading everything that I wrote late last week/early this week… wait, what day is it again??? We are in the midst of disgusting winter weather (it was -10* this morning… ) and I’ve completely lost track of time.

Getting back the story, I realized that I completely forgot to mention 2 things…

1) The whole point of this PTR (Hi, I’m Jenn and I’m overweight)
2) And our trip dates!

I’ll start with the latter because it’s the easiest answer. We will be in Disney December 11-17, 2011 and it cannot come early enough… yes, you read that right, I would like to fast-forward to next winter.

Point #1 – the whole point of my endless ramblings is that I’m overweight. I have always been “stocky” but after DS4 was born, I knew we were going to have more minions, I mean children… I honestly didn’t try very hard to lose any of the 50lbs I gained with him.

Now, you’re probably thinking, 50 lbs! Holy carp! In my defense, I was on strict horizontal bedrest for weeks 7-22 of that pregnancy due to a blood clot in my uterus. I’m quite proud of myself for not gaining more… I was stagnant, sedentary, whatever you want to call it, I did not move.

When DS was close to 2, DH and I decided that if another baby came around, we were okay with the age gap at this point. Shortly after, we were pregnant again, but I had a miscarriage at 5 weeks. I had low progesterone levels.

Just before the New Year, we found out that I was pregnant again. To quote my OB-GYN, “the second you even THINK you’re pregnant, get your butt in my office!”

If any of you have gone through that process, it sucks. I had to take medicine that had a TON of rules. Take it before bed, you can’t eat for 3 hours before you take it… AND it will make you sick to your stomach. . I had to endure weekly blood tests to make sure my levels were gaining or a least maintaining. Well, mine didn’t.

You can only take the progesterone pills for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. By week 12, the body fully takes over to sustain the growing baby, so if we didn’t get baby stuck, we could lose another kiddo. Being that my numbers were WAY below market value, I had the extreme pleasure of adding a second dose of the medication as one last push. Adding to the rules listed above, I was still taking the pill over night, but now I got to take one first thing in the morning… and I wasn’t allowed to eat anything for 2 hours after my morning dose.

Let’s do some math here…

Can’t eat for 3 hours before taking the pill at bedtime + sleep (we’ll say 7 hours for kicks…) + not eating for 2 hours after taking the morning pill… that’s 12 hours of my day I’m not allowed to eat… can we say grumpy pregnant lady?? The nurses “sternly discussed” the fact that I was losing weight early on (I dropped 25 lbs in 3 months)… I reminded them that a) the medicine made me sick but I ate anyway b) I had recently returned to school and the salad bar was my safest choice of food and c) one can only consume so many calories in 12 hours… safely. No wonder I was shrinking. Baby was doing fine, she had reserves to sustain her and I was shoveling as many fruits and veggies I could stand into my belly.

By the time DD was born, I gained back 40 lbs. More math time! -25 + 40 = more than I wanted to be, but it was what was necessary to keep DD healthy, so I couldn’t be too mad at myself.

I once heard a comedian say that, if you don’t lose weight after a kid and you have another, it’s okay… but if you fail to lose the “baby weight” after 3 years, well, you’re just fat. It’s not baby fat anymore… it’s yours and STOP MAKING EXCUSES!!!

I’ve got a little less than 7 months before I can’t blame anything on DD anymore so it’s time to (wo)man up. It’s time to get serious about making my favorite pair of pants fit again!

During the past year or so, I’ve been struggling with throat swelling – unexplained other than I have acid reflux. Medicine is not working, and any and all foods trigger the discomfort. The only thing that saved me was rabbit food, err… salad.

Maintaining my salad diet and never being home, I lost 30 lbs. since May. Christmas/New Year’s wasn’t so kind, so I’m up 10 lbs. That darn 10 lbs. is the last of baby #2 weight.

I am leaving shortly to seeing my physician about new alternatives to my problem as it has intensified into throat swelling, wicked heartburn (daily, all day, even with meds), and in the last 4 days, stomach discomfort.

If I can dial in a diet of food that won’t kill me (the throat thing + removal of black pepper and salmon [which I’m allergic to]) I will be able to set a reasonable caloric intake and get my rear to gym.

I’d love to go on… but I have to get ready to drive south and visit my doctor.

More soon.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

I am hoping to get an update in soon... Changes are a'comin'...

 

[SadieDog]

I'll be waiting.

 

[DISNEYaddict4evr]

ME TOO!!! I waiting too!






still waiting.....









did you not say it would be here soon? was I somehow misinformed on the speed of this update?










okay Jenn... where is my update? You know I'm home trying to avoid doing my homework how can I do that without an update? if I don't have an update to read I will actually have to do my homework and you know what that does to me



I've already done enough today... I demand an update

whats that??? did I hear you say the update is not ready
well I am going to have to search through my pictures and find another embarrassing photo to post.... ::rummaging through iPhoto::


AAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!

How about...........























.......THIS!!! Jenn having a great day at Universal Studios, that is of course until 1 second after the shot her and boy get soaked by giant wall of water ::evil kitty cat laugh from Emperor's New Groove::

Not enough you say.... hmmmm..... how about this??












Jenn without hr morning cup o' Joe

still not strong enough huh






what if I expose to the world your drinking habits, look at the size of that glass

Both of you are going to be sick... wait a minute is that me??? I don't remember these photos What did you do to me and to think I was a quite girl who attended church. Look at me now.....

whats with that evil look you are giving me Jenn ... its all true!!
ok ok... so maybe I was the one who corrupted you this way made it a much better story if you ask me.

Anywho can't wait for another post I thought I woudl pipe in some comic releaf before thinsg stared to get serious over here. I shall leave you with one of my favorite pics of Jenn

And from all of us listening hurry it up with the next installment... I mean geez you haven't even really gotten to the point yet

 

[creativeamanda]

(Not so) patiently waiting, lol.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

HEY! I got distracted with all of the… oh look! Shiny!

My sincerest apologies for the delay. I went to the ENT doctor I had been seeing for “acid reflux” – a reflux that was resistant to ALL of the medication I was taking, THREE TIMES A DAY... What was different was that I now had localized stomach pain, just below my breastbone. He informed me that my symptoms were getting worse, not better and he thought I needed to see a GI specialist.

Well lovely, I get to start the WHOLE PROCESS OVER with another new specialist (this would make doctor #3 ) I do have to give him props though, at least he was honest about not being able to help find the source of my problem.

The next day I was off for my regular check-up with my regular doctor. Once I told her about the stomach discomfort, she sent me for a gallbladder ultrasound. TA DA! I am the proud owner of a set of twin gallstones. There was no blockage, thankfully, but it was decided to go for a surgical consult to take out my gallbladder before it had a chance to become evil.

Tuesday night, I got cold. Colder than I have ever felt before. Laying under a down comforter and my Erica blanket (a blanket she gave me in college because I didn’t have enough blankets to keep warm [who knew Southern California got cold in the winter months???]) Hours went by before I started to thaw out. I also spent some quality time in another room in my house… I managed to track down my doctor’s partner at the hospital and he called in a script to help alleviate some of the problems. It did not work!

Let’s just say the “fun” continued through the next day and I ended up in the ER for dehydration and needed a refill of fluids.

Let’s just say, for the sake of argument, that I’ve lost about 8 lbs in the last 48 hours. The ER double checked my pancreas and liver functions, which both had a good return, but I still had a massive gallbladder attack. I’m now on day 3 of being home from work and it’s driving me nuts. I hate to feel like an invalid.

Oh… what’s that I hear??? A reminder that I STILL haven’t reached the point of my PTR you say???

And from all of us listening hurry it up with the next installment... I mean geez you haven't even really gotten to the point yet

With those words resonating on my screen, AND the fact that I have put it off long enough… I need to lose weight. I want to lose weight, and my upcoming trip to Disney seems to be the perfect excuse to get my butt in gear. Although, I’d like to be well on my way by the time DD turns 3, I’d like to drop around 30 lbs by my trip.

My biggest battle will be being kept flat after my gallbladder removal.

I have a few people in my corner to help keep me motivated to do so, especially during the summer when I’m off from school (that is, if I have a job to return to). I can do it, and I will do it. I miss being able to buy cute clothes. Just because my top is a little heavy, doesn’t mean I want to wear a shirt that is the length of a dress.

My plan is to get active. I’m managed to refine my diet per se. With all the reflux symptoms, unexplained throat swelling, and now the belly pain, I’m eating pretty clean. I also want to be more active this summer. More trips to the park and definitely using my gym membership. I’d like to get back into Zumba, too.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

How about...........


.......THIS!!! Jenn having a great day at Universal Studios, that is of course until 1 second after the shot her and boy get soaked by giant wall of water ::evil kitty cat laugh from Emperor's New Groove::

I will pay you back for that shower someday...

Jenn without hr morning cup o' Joe

still not strong enough huh

If I do recall, that picture is from Operation Uplift... remember drving around IV taking pictures with a Polaroid camera???

what if I expose to the world your drinking habits, look at the size of that glass

Just my habits, eh??? You helped!

Boy I look squinty and fat in that picture! Ah the beginnings of my double chin...

Ahhhh... California Screamin'!!!

whats with that evil look you are giving me Jenn ... its all true!!
ok ok... so maybe I was the one who corrupted you this way made it a much better story if you ask me.

Hey, if the "corruption" hadn't have commenced, we wouldn't be going to Disney... AGAIN!

I shall leave you with one of my favorite pics of Jenn

And you talk about not remembering things... I have NO IDEA where we ran into Donald... It has to be from California Adventure based on his Hi-wiaan Flowerdy t-shirt (or a go-to-hell shirt as my grandfather called them...) And I can honestly say I remember a GOOD part of that day...

 

[DISNEYaddict4evr]

I will pay you back for that shower someday...
no.. no.. I really don't think that is possible, though I do find it funny that I totaly forgot about it until you brought it up the other day, then low and behold I even found a picture Am I the greatest friend or what?


If I do recall, that picture is from Operation Uplift... remember drving around IV taking pictures with a Polaroid camera???
Great excuse to get a gusy picture with a phone number

Just my habits, eh??? You helped!
I did nothing of the sort, iIdid not inhale(duck) liquid from that straw

Boy I look squinty and fat in that picture! Ah the beginnings of my double chin...
OH SHUSH! Did you see my hair, what was I thinking


Ahhhh... California Screamin'!!!
I sorta remember doing that man I did way to many drugs in college



Hey, if the "corruption" hadn't have commenced, we wouldn't be going to Disney... AGAIN!

yes... yes... I wonder how many random trips to Disney we will de before we are old bitties?


And you talk about not remembering things... I have NO IDEA where we ran into Donald... It has to be from California Adventure based on his Hi-wiaan Flowerdy t-shirt (or a go-to-hell shirt as my grandfather called them...) And I can honestly say I remember a GOOD part of that day...

Well I can honestly say I do not remember taking that pic, the only reason I rememeber is because well I found it on a CD of picture and was like wow I took photos that day huh

good times.. gooooood times

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

Okay... it's officially bad if NEITHER of us remember the when or where that photo was taken...

 

[DISNEYaddict4evr]

well I assume, California Adventure, but only because I did not/sorta/vaguely remember going to Disneyland that day I sorta remember riding the Matterhorn, but who knows

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

To shed even more light on this journey that I’m about to embark upon… this was me in November 2009:

This was me in September 2010:

See the difference? I sure FELT the difference. I wasn’t where I wanted to be, but dangit, I was sure pleased with how far I had come.

My ultimate goal is to shrink about 30 more lbs. to get closer to what I looked like B.C. (before children).

If I do make my goal, I have a couple of people chirping in my ears to buy myself something nice.

I’m a VERY frugal person – I rarely buy something for myself. I’ve taken to pouring my money into scrapbooking instead of material things. It’s an investment for the future and it keeps my butt out of trouble! BUT… have you SEEN the 40th anniversary Disney Dooney’s????

OH.MY.WORD!

Both of my birds are enabling me to buy one. I have a hard time parting with that kind of money for a “thing” that I’m not even sure I could bring myself to carry – I might hurt it. My kids might goo on it… do I really need to buy one??

The answer: YES!

Plus I won’t have to pay for the whole thing personally… We will be in the World five days after my birthday. My family doesn’t shop, they send a bit of cash, so I guess I know what I’m spending it on this year!

The good luck continues to come. Did I mention we received a PIN code for our dates?? Heck to the yeah!

I also invested in touringplans.com the other day, thanks to a discount code from Allears’ recent newsletter. I’m really liking the Lines app so far – it’s way better than the freebie UT one I’ve been playing around with. We’ve already set up our trip dates and crowd predictions are weird. I’m just going to say it… they’re weird. Our days go between a “1” and a “7” then back to “1”… and that’s just Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Hopefully once park hours are released, those numbers will level out… ON THE LOW END!!!

I will preface by saying that my posts may continue to be spotty in a couple of weeks… I am set for gallbladder removal surgery just after the beginning of March.

 

[SadieDog]

My eyes went right to the witch in the 2nd picture. Then you ask if I see a difference.