In Search of My Body - Not the One I Ate, VOL 7! Princesses? Nope, just us Goddesses!

[DisneyWorld Delight]

Lisa - loved loved loved your tribute to Paula! You know how to make someone feel loved.

DawnC - Good job on keeping up here. You don't know how many people post one time to get overwhelmed and never post again.

Dawn - AWESOME that you got yourself into that pool. That is the greater of the two. Doing it when you DON'T have it in you.

I posted a portion of this elsewhere, so forgive me if you lurk there.

I will give a quick run-down of the trip...

First of all, this was a non-DVC cash trip planned back around May when we made our outside reservations for the Sept trip. We have always wanted to do a F&W trip, and D has always wanted to go on his b-day. So, we made room-only reservations with the 40% pin code at CSR, and figured if my company folded or whatever that we could just cancel.

On Thursday before I left work, I decided to call WDW and see what it would cost to upgrade to the Wilderness Lodge (since D LOVES it). Well, I got an AP rate of $170 on a std view, so I booked it and surprised D when I got home. He was very happy.

We left NC at about 4:30AM on Friday and got into the WL at a little after 1. We checked in, and our room was ready and we were upgraded (at no cost) to woods view. Settled into the room, took about an hour nap, then headed over to Epcot.

We renewed our APs at this point, and for some reason got three months free? Bonus!

In Epcot, hmm, what I can remember (it gets a little hazy as the beers pile up)... for sure we had moosehead soup in Canada, the lamb sliders and sea scallop in New Zealand, a pretzel sausage in Germany, and the taste of spain and crema catalana in Spain. Plus beers in Canada, USA, Germany, and the Beer Hop station.

Went back to the resort at around 8PM or so, and drank a bit more by the pool/hot tub, and went to bed.

Saturday I was feeling the effects of a bit too much the night before, so we got a late start and didn't leave the room until after 11. Had lunch at Roaring Forks, and then took the boat over to the MK. WHAT a mistake!!! Crazy crowded for our tastes. We waited 30 min for Haunted Mansion, took one look at the 80 min wait for Big Thunder, and decided that maybe we would try a different park. So, we tried to catch a bus to DHS, which you can't do from MK??. Luckily, the WL bus was there waiting, so we went back to WL, had a drink, and then took the bus to DHS.

Definitely worth it... we got there at about 4PM, and did TSMania (~30 min wait), ToT, and single-ridered RnR, then headed back to WL to get ready for our Fulton's reservation. Oh, and randomly ran into 3 people I know from the Raleigh-Durham area, which was pretty bizarre.

Funny. Good thing you decided to wear a bra that day.

Fulton's was definitely a good choice for D's b-day dinner. The service there was incredible! D just mentioned at one point to me that he needed butter and the busboy AND the waiter both brought little pitchers of it within 2-3 min.

We had the seafood tower appetizer, and the crab and lobster experience for two. The waiter offered us an option for $1 more to get a lobster each and 3 king crab legs (instead of the snow/dungeness), though, so we took that instead. Great choice!! D got a complimentary piece of dark chocolate raspberry cake for dessert, with Happy Birthday written in syrup on the plate. Yumm!! Plus, we get a 20% DVC dinner discount there, so it really wasn't even that bad of a bill for a signature restaurant.

Sounds yummy!

Oh, and since we have APs, D took the gift card for his "free birthday admission", which was about $80. He has been wanting a monorail set for a while (yes, we are WDW geeks) so he was able to get it.

Ummm, what's that say about me? We have statues of Mickey in our house. Liz and Emily pray to Sweet Baby Jesus, we have Mickey Mouse.

Sunday, we got up relatively early (10ish) and took the boat to MK, getting there around 11AM. We were able to do Big Thunder, Splash, PoC, and the TTA, and still make it over to Epcot on the monorail for our 2PM Biergarten reservation.

Love Biergarten. (If you are a meat, potato & bread kinda person!)

Oh, did I eat too much!! That meal basically put us down for the count for the day. We went back to the resort, and hung by the pool until about 7PM. I even napped briefly on a lounge chair.

We had planned to go back to Epcot, but decided to take the boat to MK, and then the boat to the GF, and watch Hallowishes (it was a MNSSHP that night so we couldn't go into the park) from the dock next to Narcoosee's. That is a great place to watch Wishes as they pipe in the music, and it is relaxed and uncrowded. Boated back to MK and to the WL, relaxed a bit and then bedtime.

Monday, got up again around 10ish, packed up the car, and headed over to DTD to have lunch at Fulton's (yes, dinner was just THAT good!!). GREAT lunch choice... I had the half blue lump crab club and crab and lobster bisque combo, and D had the fried seafood platter. We get a 20% lunch discount there, so even with a generous 25-30% tip (we had a great waiter) the bill was only about $34. It was so quiet and nice, and the food was fantastic.

We left WDW a little before 1, and got home (with a dinner stop) at about 10PM.

Woohoo. Thanks for the TR. Loved reading it. I have to get over and read Cathies. I keep forgetting about it.

Working again today. Trick or Treating tonight. Will have pictures later.

 

[HockeyKat]

Lyz, there are women who don't wear a bra? Out?? I even wear a bra under a ratty sweatshirt to hit Walmart at 10PM. Granted, that D cup problem...

 

[cathie1327]

Today.........is a great big pile of yucky yuckiness.

It is snowing. Like crazy. It started last night and is supposed to continue all day today and really start hitting hard tonight and through tomorrow.

This morning's drive was a disaster. I drive an hour to work from my parent's house in the boonies (and I do mean middle of nowhere lol Durn' country people!) and it took me 2 hours this morning! The roads were nasty.

Carlos and I are supposed to go to a concert tonight but I'm honestly hoping they cancel it, because I don't like driving Denver in the snow.

Also hoping they close the office building before this nastiness gets any nastier.

Oy. Some days I'd give anything to live in Florida!

Hope everyone has a fantastic day!

 

[Dizneydawn]

Cathie - Treyner has snow in his area too. He said coach is still having practice outside! It made me quit complaining about being tired today at the Y!

Hope if they cancel the concert they will re-schedule or refund. What concert anyway?

 

[goofyfan-12]

I survived and it went well. I know I was sugglish but something is better than nothin for an hour right?!

Weigh in...

Down 3.4

Next week I will do 2 classes on Monday and 2 on Thursday if I can survive it.

Dawn - great job on the loss and the new found love of the pool. Just remember to pace yourself. Many new exercisers fall into the trap of doing too much too soo and then either get hurt or burnt out and can't sustain it. This is a race where slow and steady wins the prize every time my friend.

Lisa - loved loved loved your tribute to Paula! You know how to make someone feel loved.

So true!!! LOVED IT!!!!

DawnC - Good job on keeping up here. You don't know how many people post one time to get overwhelmed and never post again.

Dawn - AWESOME that you got yourself into that pool. That is the greater of the two. Doing it when you DON'T have it in you.

Listen to the wise women here.... She speaks the truth...


Woohoo. Thanks for the TR. Loved reading it. I have to get over and read Cathies. I keep forgetting about it.

Working again today. Trick or Treating tonight. Will have pictures later.

Can't wait for the pics Lyz.

Not much going on here but meetings, followed by meetings and yet more meetings. When do these people think I am supposed to get my actual work done let alone my DIS'ing?

Lisa - loved what you did. That was so sweet!!!! Thanks friend.

Off to the next meeting...

 

[lisaviolet]

Morning everyone!!!!

]

Dawn. Your hair colour is beautiful on you. Really. You know of course I always knew your hair was curly. But the darker colour - it just shows off th curls much better.

I'm a little biased. I know it's really hard for blondes to get used to not being all lit up but I really like it.

Nancy~your posting about apple crisp has pretty much made up my mind that I need to make some!

DawnC~WELCOME!!

I forgot to mention that I am doing a half marathon in 4 weeks. It fits into my training and at a minimum I will be able to get a long run done in a relatively fun way. It is at a state park, so some of it will be trail running, which will be new to me. Flat though of course since this is FL!!

I miss you Amy. So much. I'm always like one day - when I grow up - I want to be as calm as Amy.

Way to train Amy. Picking up your bling along the way!

I'm busy because: It's Halloween week.

Monday - Maddi starts gymnastics
Tuesday - Decorate Halloween Parade Float with 4H group
Wednesday - breakfast at school cause Maddi is October's C.H.A.M.P.I.O.N., work with the Merry Maids all day cleaning jobsite, Trick or Treating & Partying all evening
Thursday - again, cleaning at jobsite and community service project in the evening
Friday - no extras, whew
Saturday - run children around, Annual Halloween Parade in the evening

This is all in addition to my normal job of office manager/personal assistant to the *star* and housewife & mother of the year. Just sayin'.

I can't wait to hear about it all Lyz!

Okay - this is huge Halloween for me. HUGE. Remember I spent ten years in two downtown condos and the years before in apartments - and some time a Jean's moms when we were looking after her and needed a place to stay waiting for our condo to be built.

What does that mean? NO KIDS in the condos. There are kids downtown but they tend to be in certain areas and never in my condos. It got so difficult for me not to have kids coming - that I've spent the last seven or eight years giving out at my parents. My mom is so sad not have me there but I'm very excited to have my own kids. SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Everyone!

Just got back from the gym, DH is a workout slave driver!

!

Ummm a very cute workout slave driver. I refuse to hear one complaint from your mouth missy.

Let's see. I think the Globetrotters were GENIUS to ask if they could borrow a calculator....and I feel really badly for Mikka (sp?). As she was freaking out at the top of the slide I had flashbacks to Mexico last year. I knew if I climbed that pyramid I'd regret it, but only until I got back down...but if I *didn't* climb it, I'd regret it for the rest of my life. Not going down that slide is something that she now has to live with. I was so wishing for her sake that she would just do it.

[/B][/COLOR]

Mika almost killed me. I had to keep telling myself it's a phobia.

Jean and I laugh and laugh about the AR. We laugh if we ever got on we would NEVER get out of the first airport. We'd be yelling at each other like no tomorrrow.

Hey everybody! Home early from class because the session ended tonight. Unless I screwed up the paper, I have another A. I haven't read a thing, but I will be back.

That's fantastic Amiee.

Poor Marvin!

Yes. Sorry Lyz.

LOVE IT. Seriously, I have nothing bad to say about it. Perfect. It was love right out of the box. No learning curve on how to use it. Just easy and perfect from the first second. If you are a big reader, it is a must have. If you have any specific questions, just ask.

So books cost less on this?

I think you're thinking of the core plan. And unfortunately, with their new "keep hunger at bay dealy" they pretty much did away with that! So I have no choice but to count points. It's something I'm still struggling to do lol I'm sitting down to do a meal plan today on my lunch break and will hopefully get to go shopping tonight to get some stuff. When I can plan and stick to it, I am so on. When I don't...well...then things like yesterday's lunch of chicken fingers happen

Cathie - nothing is written in stone remember. You could follow the core plan and don't say a thing and just go weigh in. Something that I've really learned this year - this weight loss is about me and me only - and I will do things that work for me.

For example we wegh in for BL on Friday. I do it on Thursday and start my next week. Why? Because I don't do well with suprises with the scale. So mentally it really works for me. If there was a gain on Thursday then I would have the day to do a hard workout and go on to Friday. It just gives me a sense of control. Do I discuss this on the BL? Nope. It works for me. Enough said. Mouth quiet.

I actually did WW for awhile - some time during my weight loss and never followed the plan at all. Did what I'm doing now - trying to eat consciously and just went there to weigh in. I wanted to be weighed in by someone else but didn't want to follow the plan.

What I'm trying to say - is remember that you make the rules in this journey. It's YOUR journey. It has been a big lesson for me. Huge.

 

[Ronda93]

Welcome DawnC. We watched the first half hour of BL and let the rest go to tape. It was a lazy night at our house.

DGF ran at the Y. She’s been really frustrated with her pace. She’s slowing down. She makes it through, but it seems as if every session requires an enormous effort. I know exercise should be strenous, but there’s no joy in it for her right now. She’s had more allergies this fall than usual and has been taking Claritin-D. Thinking it might have a dehydrating effect she dropped the D. I suggested drinking a LOT more water. It really helped me on my morning runs. I suggested getting outside for variety, but the weather has been lousy. I’m proud of her for sticking with it, but I want her to like it a little bit ; )

My runs have been speeding up. Yesterday was a pre-dawn three mile run. Tuesdays are 3 minutes run, 1 minute walk. I’ve been treating this as “speed work” which I interpret as run fast and hard and rest for a bit. It does seem to be working as all three miles were sub 12:00 – last one was 11:38. My fear of being swept is dropping. I’m sure it will be replaced by another fear soon.

I feel as through my training plan started this week. Until now the MfM plan is what I’d been doing all along.. run, run, four miles. This week the weekend run goes to five. I’ve figured out where the extra mile takes me on the map. Now I just wait for Saturday.

As for my weight. I’ve been weighing in on the BL thread. Not much progress. Down 3, up 2. Biology is a cruel master ; ) I have been tracking carefully because of the challenge of the week. That makes a huge difference.

Kat – welcome back! Great TR. Good tip for WISHES from the GF dock. Noting…

Paula – you simply ROCK!

Ronda

 

[3DisneyKids]

Just a quick fly-by! Busy, busy. Getting ready for J to leave for Asia tonight (very late) and getting ready for Halloween. Finally got the kids' costumes sorted out. Well, mostly. They are either going as a punk rock band (ripped up jeans/hose for the girls, spiked hair in fun colors), or they are going as hipsters from the 60s. Have great dresses for the girls, complete with white go-go boots. Riley can wear tie-dye and ripped jeans and a bandana around his head. SUPER easy. We'll decide one way or the other later tonight.

Good job on the losses, losers!

Kat--love the mini TR. Yes, they are running a promo on annual pass renewals right now and everyone is getting an extra 3 months as long as your renew before you expire. Which for me is tomorrow, so I better to it today!

And I had the exact same lunch as you! Half and half with blue lump crab club and the bisque! We loved the atmosphere and food, too. Glad to hear that you had great service--it was the only thing missing from making that a perfect meal for us!

Ronda--sorry Sue is down about her running. I definitely think it is the claritin-D. But remind her that ALL runners of ALL levels have ups and downs, slumps and times when it is easy, etc. It's all part of it.

Lisa--HI!

Cathie--like Lyz said, we are glad you are sticking around! We tend to overwhelm newbs.

 

[HockeyKat]

Welcome DawnC. We watched the first half hour of BL and let the rest go to tape. It was a lazy night at our house.

DGF ran at the Y. She’s been really frustrated with her pace. She’s slowing down. She makes it through, but it seems as if every session requires an enormous effort. I know exercise should be strenous, but there’s no joy in it for her right now. She’s had more allergies this fall than usual and has been taking Claritin-D. Thinking it might have a dehydrating effect she dropped the D. I suggested drinking a LOT more water. It really helped me on my morning runs. I suggested getting outside for variety, but the weather has been lousy. I’m proud of her for sticking with it, but I want her to like it a little bit ; )


Kat – welcome back! Great TR. Good tip for WISHES from the GF dock. Noting…

...

Ronda

Thanks!! GF is my fav WISHES spot, esp if you can combine with dinner at Narcoosee's. They dim the lights, play the music, and hold your food order so that you can go out on the deck and watch from there. We were just piggy-backing onto that, by sitting on the grass below their deck.

I feel your DGF's pain... I just *hate* running. I like exercising okay, hockey, kickboxing, even the elliptical, but there is something about running that every. painful. step. is just awful. Hope that it gets better for her!!

Kat--love the mini TR. Yes, they are running a promo on annual pass renewals right now and everyone is getting an extra 3 months as long as your renew before you expire. Which for me is tomorrow, so I better to it today!

And I had the exact same lunch as you! Half and half with blue lump crab club and the bisque! We loved the atmosphere and food, too. Glad to hear that you had great service--it was the only thing missing from making that a perfect meal for us!

Weird... we renewed ours 3 days after they expired and still got the deal?? The CM didn't even mention it to us, we just noticed the new expiration when we looked at them later.

Hopefully you just got a bad one on the service. I think that is a must-do lunch for us now! That combo was the perfect amount of food to feel full but not stuffed.

 

[lisaviolet]

DWD/Lyz

This made me mush it was so lovely.

And thanks for your compliment as well. I can't think of a nicer compliment honestly. So sweet of you.

How is Bob?

I survived and it went well. I know I was sugglish but something is better than nothin for an hour right?!

Weigh in...

Down 3.4

Happy about that but going to work harder on getting my water in this week and tracking better because I have not.

Next week I will do 2 classes on Monday and 2 on Thursday if I can survive it.



Busy running day today. Hope you all are well.

Way to go Dawn.

I posted a portion of this elsewhere, so forgive me if you lurk there.

I will give a quick run-down of the trip...

First of all, this was a non-DVC cash trip planned back around May when we made our outside reservations for the Sept trip. We have always wanted to do a F&W trip, Oh boy I am jealous!!and D has always wanted to go on his b-day. Very smart man! So, we made room-only reservations with the 40% pin code at CSR, and figured if my company folded or whatever that we could just cancel.

On Thursday before I left work, I decided to call WDW and see what it would cost to upgrade to the Wilderness Lodge (since D LOVES it). Well, I got an AP rate of $170 on a std view, so I booked it and surprised D when I got home. He was very happy. Bonus. How I adore WL. Love the location. But you know what pisses me off Kat? That you can see BLT from the beach. They had that resort situated so that CR was out of sight line and it made it seem so isolated. Okay, enough of my ramblin'

We left NC at about 4:30AM on Friday and got into the WL at a little after 1. We checked in, and our room was ready and we were upgraded (at no cost) to woods view. Settled into the room, took about an hour nap I love you - NAP!!!!!!, then headed over to Epcot.

We renewed our APs at this point, and for some reason got three months free? Bonus! First, I hate you and Erika. Hate. The jealousy is overwhelming with the APs. And secondly what a fantastic suprise.

In Epcot, hmm, what I can remember (it gets a little hazy as the beers pile up How do they do that? Where do Canadians buy beer? Ready? The Beer Store. No joke folks. That's where we buy beer. I'll take a picture. Of course there is one in town. )... for sure we had moosehead soup in Canada How proud you make me. East Coast beer. , the lamb sliders and sea scallop in New Zealand, a pretzel sausage in Germany, and the taste of spain and crema catalana in Spain. Plus beers in Canada, USA, Germany, and the Beer Hop station. Oh my envy. My envy Kat.

Went back to the resort at around 8PM or so, and drank a bit more by the pool/hot tub, and went to bed.No tipsy?

Saturday I was feeling the effects of a bit too much the night before, so we got a late start Okay there we go. and didn't leave the room until after 11 Once again I love you - 11!!!!!. Had lunch at Roaring Forks, and then took the boat over to the MK. WHAT a mistake!!! Crazy crowded for our tastes. We waited 30 min for Haunted Mansion, took one look at the 80 min wait for Big Thunder, and decided that maybe we would try a different park. So, we tried to catch a bus to DHS, which you can't do from MK??. Luckily, the WL bus was there waiting, so we went back to WL, had a drink, and then took the bus to DHS.

Definitely worth it... we got there at about 4PM, and did TSMania (~30 min wait), ToT, and single-ridered RnR, then headed back to WL to get ready for our Fulton's reservation. Oh, and randomly ran into 3 people I know from the Raleigh-Durham area, which was pretty bizarre. Wow.

Fulton's was definitely a good choice for D's b-day dinner. The service there was incredible! D just mentioned at one point to me that he needed butter and the busboy AND the waiter both brought little pitchers of it within 2-3 min.

I've done Fulton's at lunch a couple of times with the DVC discount. Yum.

We had the seafood tower appetizer, and the crab and lobster experience for two.Nice. I'm loving your TR. Food. The waiter offered us an option for $1 more to get a lobster each and 3 king crab legs (instead of the snow/dungeness), though, so we took that instead. Great choice!! D got a complimentary piece of dark chocolate raspberry cake for dessert, with Happy Birthday written in syrup on the plate. Yumm!! Plus, we get a 20% DVC dinner discount there, so it really wasn't even that bad of a bill for a signature restaurant.

Oh, and since we have APs, D took the gift card for his "free birthday admission", which was about $80. He has been wanting a monorail set for a while (yes, we are WDW geeks) so he was able to get it. Nice. Of crap. Could I have gottn the GC on my bday? Or do you have to show your AP. I forgot.

Sunday, we got up relatively early (10ish) Love the early. Why yes it is. and took the boat to MK, getting there around 11AM. We were able to do Big Thunder, Splash, PoC, and the TTA, and still make it over to Epcot on the monorail for our 2PM Biergarten reservation.

Oh, did I eat too much!! That meal basically put us down for the count for the day. We went back to the resort, and hung by the pool until about 7PM. I even napped briefly on a lounge chair. Um. You know the score - love you.

We had planned to go back to Epcot, but decided to take the boat to MK, and then the boat to the GF, and watch Hallowishes (it was a MNSSHP that night so we couldn't go into the park) from the dock next to Narcoosee's. That is a great place to watch Wishes as they pipe in the music, and it is relaxed and uncrowded. Boated back to MK and to the WL, relaxed a bit and then bedtime.Nice. I love Hallowishes. More than Wishes. Thanks for the tip. I usually do the Poly beach. So great Kat.

Monday, got up again around 10ish, packed up the car, and headed over to DTD to have lunch at Fulton's (yes, dinner was just THAT good!!). GREAT lunch choice... I had the half blue lump crab club and crab and lobster bisque combo, and D had the fried seafood platter. We get a 20% lunch discount there, so even with a generous 25-30% tip (we had a great waiter) the bill was only about $34. It was so quiet and nice, and the food was fantastic.

We left WDW a little before 1, and got home (with a dinner stop) at about 10PM.

Great trip Kat. Thanks.

Dawn - AWESOME that you got yourself into that pool. That is the greater of the two. Doing it when you DON'T have it in you.[/B]




Woohoo. Thanks for the TR. Loved reading it. I have to get over and read Cathies. I keep forgetting about it.

Working again today. Trick or Treating tonight. Will have pictures later.

Can't wait for the pics Cutie. And so bang on with Dawn.

Today.........is a great big pile of yucky yuckiness.

It is snowing. Like crazy. It started last night and is supposed to continue all day today and really start hitting hard tonight and through tomorrow.

This morning's drive was a disaster. I drive an hour to work from my parent's house in the boonies (and I do mean middle of nowhere lol Durn' country people!) and it took me 2 hours this morning! The roads were nasty.

Carlos and I are supposed to go to a concert tonight but I'm honestly hoping they cancel it, because I don't like driving Denver in the snow.

Also hoping they close the office building before this nastiness gets any nastier.

Oy. Some days I'd give anything to live in Florida!

Hope everyone has a fantastic day!

I'm pasting you so that I remember to go back to your TR. I read at first and then forgot.

You have gorgeous eyes Cathie.

Just a quick fly-by! Busy, busy. Getting ready for J to leave for Asia tonight (very late) and getting ready for Halloween. Finally got the kids' costumes sorted out. Well, mostly. They are either going as a punk rock band (ripped up jeans/hose for the girls, spiked hair in fun colors), or they are going as hipsters from the 60s. Have great dresses for the girls, complete with white go-go boots. Riley can wear tie-dye and ripped jeans and a bandana around his head. SUPER easy. We'll decide one way or the other later tonight.

Good job on the losses, losers!

:

Yeah on the costumes.

 

[lisaviolet]

Paula - you're welcome.

I was thinking today about all your success. And the effect on others.

One - how much you've inspired me and single handedly kept this thread inspired when so many of us were tired/off a bit. And two - Jesse. I know you are doing the work but regardless it must be so incredibly fulfilling for him as a trainer. I used to watch a lot of trainers in my condo and so many of their clients seem to want to talk excessively and seemed to give about 50%. I would want to hit them at the time - I can't imagine the trainer. Anyways must be something for him - which is lovely.

 

[lisaviolet]

Thursday – DTD/Resort Day

We usually have a couple of resort days built in. However, due to the really cool temps, we decided just one this trip…better park days than pool days this trip. Today was supposed to hit a high of 86* and no humidity, so that is a perfect pool day.

Slept in! Jeff and I alternated going for a run and getting some computer work done and then we headed for Downtown Disney at about 10:30. My perfect wakeup time. What a coincidence.

Shopped all around the Marketplace and didn’t really find any must haves. Got a few stocking stuffers along the way, new earrings for Kelly’s newly pierced ears, but overall I was somewhat disappointed in the lack of new merchandise. However, I will say that there were LOTS of really cute Ts for women. But they all seemed to be fitted. I decided not buy any now, in favor of buying them in March when there for the Princess Half.

I hope I have the right pic. Buy Riley looks so grown up in this pic, eh? Don't you think?

We had ADRs for T-Rex. I know, I know…loud and only mediocre food. But I booked it because last time we were here, it was actually one of our best meals. However, Jeff just didn’t want to deal with the noise level, and since things seemed to be so empty, we figured we would try our luck elsewhere even though we didn’t have a reservation. We have always wanted to eat at Fulton’s. It is PRICEY. But lunch is really reasonable PLUS DVCers get 30% off at lunch! So we checked on the wait…the place was EMPTY. Seriously, there were only 2 other tables and it was 12:30. Same with the two or three times I've been there for lunch. Jeff and I had a lot to choose from, which was nice. Food was good with HUGE portions. And we liked the décor as well. But our service was AWFUL. Truly the worst service we had all week. She was certainly polite and friendly, but she was just nonexistent. And she brought our salad at the same time as our entrees. And once she delivered the food, we didn’t see her again. We needed water refills, bread refills, etc. and she was just nowhere to be found. When we were finally ready for our check , we flagged her down and told her we were ready to pay. Waited another 20 minutes. Seriously, if we didn’t have the kids with us, we would have walked out without paying. It was that ridiculous.

After lunch, we strolled (yes!) back to SSR for cocktails and pool time. No need to tell you how heavenly this was. No. No need. Absolutely no need. Fruity umbrella and rum and drinks, soaking up the sun, watching the kids play—perfect. yes perfect.

They have a pool party every afternoon where the CMs have all sorts of games they play with the kids. We love this…our kids have a blast and we don’t have to worry about them for the hour. They all got prizes after each game (little water toys, etc.). Nice.

After the games, they held a dance party for the kids. And this is when Kathryn, the recreation CM, had Kelly help her lead all of the dances. Up in front of everyone. It was a riot. Kel was SO into it. So laughing and shaking my head.

Later when I talked to Kathryn she was like, “Thank God Kelly was here! I always hate it when I don’t get a kid who is really good about leading things like that. She made my job so much easier and more fun!” We just laughed and said our standard line…that’s Kelly, making friends wherever she goes.
We must have stayed at the pool till about 7. Nice afternoon Erika.

We weren’t hungry since lunch was so filling, so we just had some snacks in the villa before heading back over to the pool for the movie—outside on the big blow-up screen. Where do they have this? It's been so long since I've stayed at SSR. We were all so relaxed. Back in the villa, it was time to start packing up! Yes sad. SAD!

Ah. I don't want to leave your trip. Don't make me.

 

[cathie1327]

Cathie - Treyner has snow in his area too. He said coach is still having practice outside! It made me quit complaining about being tired today at the Y!

I can't believe they are having practice OUTSIDE! It's flippin cold out! lol Wow. Brave brave brave boy haha.
Hope if they cancel the concert they will re-schedule or refund. What concert anyway?

Man. I just inadvertently reveal all kinds of crap about myself don't I lol.......it's a concert for a heavy metal band called Five Finger Death Punch. Their lead singer is from Colorado and a friend of a friend so that's how I got into them.....not that I'm not into heavy metal in general lol.....people are always so shocked when they hear this....especially when you look on my itunes and the shuffle order is "Britney Spears, Disney, No Doubt, Disney, Metallica, Disney, etc...... They didn't cancel the concert but Carlos and I decided not to go. It's in Denver which is an hour away from my parents' and the drive is just horrendous during bad weather. I'd rather not go and stay alive. Such a bummer. I have seen them twice and really enjoyed it...

Cathie - nothing is written in stone remember. You could follow the core plan and don't say a thing and just go weigh in. Something that I've really learned this year - this weight loss is about me and me only - and I will do things that work for me.

For example we wegh in for BL on Friday. I do it on Thursday and start my next week. Why? Because I don't do well with suprises with the scale. So mentally it really works for me. If there was a gain on Thursday then I would have the day to do a hard workout and go on to Friday. It just gives me a sense of control. Do I discuss this on the BL? Nope. It works for me. Enough said. Mouth quiet.

I actually did WW for awhile - some time during my weight loss and never followed the plan at all. Did what I'm doing now - trying to eat consciously and just went there to weigh in. I wanted to be weighed in by someone else but didn't want to follow the plan.

What I'm trying to say - is remember that you make the rules in this journey. It's YOUR journey. It has been a big lesson for me. Huge.

This is a really good point. Maybe I should pull out all my old materials for the core plan from when I did WW before. I know I still have them. The hardest part for me is figuring out what the points are. I know it's an excuse, and something I've got to overcome, but I don't like the mental time that takes. The core plan worked well for me because it was just a list you could eat as much as you wanted off of. Easy. Maybe I feel like it gives me more structure. With points, I feel like I CAN eat anything. With core, I feel like I have a set of rules saying 'yes eat this no don't eat that'.

Cathie--like Lyz said, we are glad you are sticking around! We tend to overwhelm newbs.

You know....at one point I thought about not coming around. Really. Because I get really down on myself and it's hard to hear other people give you a kick to get you back up instead of pick you up themselves. But it has been an amazing lesson for me. I'm learing that I have to pick myself back up, not someone else. I can expect nudges from others, but nothing more.

You all are really really the most awesome group I've found on the dis. I've bounced around from place to place on these boards, not really making any friends because I didn't feel like I belonged anywhere...but now, I do. This is one thread I haven't killed (seriously, I always felt like the thread killer everywhere, though I'm sure that's a lot of paranoia on my part) The support here is amazing, and it's been exactly what I need to be able to reassess myself and the way I look at things in life, not just weight loss.

So, in short, I'm glad I've stuck around too. And I was a bit overwhelmed for a while, but it was for a reason, because there is something special going on here.

I'm pasting you so that I remember to go back to your TR. I read at first and then forgot.

You have gorgeous eyes Cathie.

Haha, hope you enjoy the trip report! Hopefully if they cancel work tomorrow cuz of the snow, I can work on it during the day!

And...AW! Thanks for the compliment. You are too sweet!

 

[lisaviolet]

Yeah. It's not done yet!!!

Friday—time to leave

Again we slept and Jeff and I each went for a run. I finished packing up the last little odds and ends by 10am and we didn’t need to leave for the airport till 2. I love this. I've been doing the latest flight the last couple of trips and have been really enjoying the last day. So we had choices; (1) back to the pool for a few hours; (2) back to DTD for any last minute shopping; or (3) I had ADRs for the character breakfast over at the Poly. We chose the pool!Nice.

It was the hottest day we had all week, so it felt wonderful! It was about 90* but still not humid! Not humid. Wow. Kids had fun…and were also sad that it was time to leave.

Happy to be in the pool....

And sad that it was our last day...

Great pictures.

Got everyone changed and into the car. I swear, this trip was harder leaving than any other.

Sad Kel—

Oh look at that pic. It's okay. Mom owns DVC. Oh DVC how I love thee!!!
The kids were just like, “Turn around! Go back! I’m not ready to leave!” Heartwarming and bittersweet all at once. We all booed when we drove out through the gates.You booed? So funny and great.

Since we were taking different flights, I dropped the boys off at their terminal, then zipped around and did curbside check-in for me and the girls, then went and returned the rental car. We zipped through security and were early, so we decided to have lunch in the airport. You know, they have a TON of good restaurants there. So true. Orlando is fine. Our airport - huge and sucks all at once. If you ever have to be stranded at an airport, this would be a good one.For sure. I LOVE AIRPORTS!!! Love them. Such a sense of freedom and fun. Everyone is going somewhere. Such joy for me. [/B]

I had told MIL the night before that we would meet her at the gate. Oh I totally forgot MIL She wasn’t too happy about this,Oh well. but since we were returning a car and going from one terminal to the next, there really wasn’t any other way. She wanted us to meet her at security, but there was just no way to make that happen, so I told her she would have to get herself to the gate and if she absolutely couldn’t manage, call me on my cell and I would come to where she was.Good that she didn't. How was her trip Erika? Fun?

But as I said, security was a breeze, so by the time we finished lunch and got to the gate, she was there waiting for us—and absolutely fine. She seemed pretty relaxed and said it was easier coming back than it was going out.Good.

Once again she sat across the aisle from me and the girls, which was fine.
Back in NH it was 45* when we landed! Ouch! Yes ouch. What a rude awakening. I got all of the luggage and then had MIL wait with the girls while I ran to get the car and would then pick them up curbside. It’s a small airport, so this was supposed to only take a couple of minutes. Got to the car…DEAD. Totally dead. On no. I checked and my lights weren’t left on. The alarm wasn’t left on. It could only be that the kids left the interior lights on (which they are forever doing). Ugh. Of course, MIL doesn’t ever leave her cell on. She only uses it when SHE needs to call OUT. So I couldn’t call her to tell her what was going on, which meant schlepping back to the terminal to let her know that I had called AAADon't you love that? CAA/AAA. Great service. and they were on the way. They were there in about 20 minutes, jumped the car, and we were on our way. Sucky way to come home after vacation.

In the car, I told MIL that I would stop and get her something to eat before she left our house for her house since we didn’t have any food in the fridge. This is when she informed me that she wasn’t driving home tonight but staying over. WT F?!?!? OMG and don't think I didn't laugh about how smart you are to get WT F to stay. WT F. WT F. WT F. So smart Erika. Mom would be proud. Now? You are telling me this NOW? Does she have any idea of how much we have to do tonight? (We had 12 hours at home…TWELVE…and then had to be back out the door the next morning to get up to the lake house.) Nightmare. Yes this would be a nightmare to me too!!! I didn’t say anything at this point, deciding that it was up to Jeff to deal with her. When we finally got home, there was no food (of course) and the house was freezing since the heat had been off all week and it had been cold. So she decided that she would stay with BIL. Phew. Phew. That was a help—and I didn’t even have to be the one to say, Hell no you aren’t staying here.

Just in case you missed it - did she have fun?

We all crashed hard. Kelly was so bummed that she needed to be surrounded by all of her Hundred Acre Wood friends…

Sweet pic.

It was a GREAT vacation.

It was. Oh yeah I wasn't there!!! How I love your live TRs. Thanks.

 

[lisaviolet]

NBA is here. Why yes it is.

 

[amykab]

Hey Girlies!

Paula-Awesome new bling! Congrats!

Kat-Great trip report!! We've always loved fultons as have my mom and dad.

Erika- Fantastic TR as usual! After seeing the pics, i guess I shouldn't be concerned that Delena needs a couple dozen stuffed animals in bed with her every night? we converted delenas crib to a toddler bed a few nights ago and before she got in she had to pick out tons of stuffed animals to go with.

Work has been annoying, but nothing over and above normal annoyances that one would exect at work. It has been noticed on more than one occasion that I'm super motivated and a fast learner so I will be cross trained again soon. On first shift. Early, but first shift.

Someone mentioned Twilight. Lyz, Cathie??

Twilight--I did read the books well before the casting was done for the movie. I LOVE LOVE LOVE RPatz. LOVE HIM. I didnt have any strong preconceived ideas of edward, so when he was cast I was happy. I will take RPatz anyway I can get him. I could not care less how often he washes his hair. I will say I think I enjoyed the books when i reread them after he was cast because I had his picture in my mind. Did I say I LOVE RPatz?

Twilight movie--I LOVED certain scenes. Cafeteria, parking lot after edward and bella get together,prom, carlisle"s grand entrance. I felt they represented the book well. Other parts were not so good. But I expect that from books made into a movie so I wasnt incredibly disappointed. CAN NOT WAIT until New Moon!!

I got in 18 miles running and biking on Monday! The gym is still a little foreign to me. The guy next to me on the TM started cold at a sub 8 min/mile pace!! I felt so slow! I feel so lame only doing my runs at 11-12 min/mile pace!!

 

[AKASnowWhite]

Down 3.4

Nice job, Dawn!

In Epcot, hmm, what I can remember (it gets a little hazy as the beers pile up)...

Sounds like a great quick trip! Room upgrades, free months on your AP's, monorail...nice.

Trick or Treating tonight. Will have pictures later.

Here on the East Coast we have this little tradition - we wait until it's actually Halloween before we go trick or treating

It is snowing. Like crazy. It started last night and is supposed to continue all day today and really start hitting hard tonight and through tomorrow.

Saw that on the news here tonight. But the Denver area gets such variable weather - I'm betting all that snow will be gone in a day or so!

NO KIDS in the condos. There are kids downtown but they tend to be in certain areas and never in my condos. It got so difficult for me not to have kids coming - that I've spent the last seven or eight years giving out at my parents. My mom is so sad not have me there but I'm very excited to have my own kids. SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What kind of candy are you giving out?

My fear of being swept is dropping. I’m sure it will be replaced by another fear soon.

I'm sure you'll do just fine!

 

[AKASnowWhite]

This is a really good point. Maybe I should pull out all my old materials for the core plan from when I did WW before. I know I still have them. The hardest part for me is figuring out what the points are. I know it's an excuse, and something I've got to overcome, but I don't like the mental time that takes. The core plan worked well for me because it was just a list you could eat as much as you wanted off of. Easy. Maybe I feel like it gives me more structure. With points, I feel like I CAN eat anything. With core, I feel like I have a set of rules saying 'yes eat this no don't eat that'.

The hardest part is figuring out what PLAN works for you! Seriously! There is no "one size fits all" for eating plans (I *hate* the word diet, so I'm trying to avoid it here ) Much like exercise, whatever you choose has to be something that you can stick with for the long haul.

Sorry you had to miss the concert tonight - but I do agree that being safe is a much better choice!

I got in 18 miles running and biking on Monday! The gym is still a little foreign to me. The guy next to me on the TM started cold at a sub 8 min/mile pace!! I felt so slow! I feel so lame only doing my runs at 11-12 min/mile pace!!

That sounds like me running next to Stephen! Here I feel like I'm running like the wind...and the big jerk ran 5miles in under 40 minutes on the TM next to me. Although I must say, it did make me try a tad harder....I totally killed my run today. Of course, I could barely breathe


Watching It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown...classic

 

[cathie1327]

Saw that on the news here tonight. But the Denver area gets such variable weather - I'm betting all that snow will be gone in a day or so!

Usually when we get snow though, it is just a small amount and then yeah, in a day or so it's gone. Usually the big storms stay in the mountains, don't come into the city much. This one is hitting hard lol. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they'll cancel work and school tomorrow. They didn't cancel work today but did school and it is still snowing.......... (they need a smilie here going oh please oh please oh please lol)

 

[amykab]

So, this is what Cinderella does when you tell her she can't jump on and off the curb with her fancy dress and shoes on!