Less than TEN days to go; I can do this! *Updated 12/2*

[squeegee]

Your daily spreadsheets make me so happy, I might have peed a little.

Did I overlook it, or do I not see the Festival of Fantasy parade on there anywhere? I'm not a big parade person, and I absolutely LOVED it. If that tells you just how amazeballs awesome it is. (**EDIT** I see it there now, on 12/13! Crisis averted!)

My people!

My only "worry" is that, with the parties going on, there are several things that we'll really only have one good shot at, including wishes/MSEP, and yee-ha bob. I was prepared to scrap Mr. Bob entirely if we didn't stay at POR, though, so it's still ok if we miss him, but I think I'd be in tears if we missed wishes and MSEP due to weather or something. Maybe I need to set up the sacrificial altar and start praying every day now? LOL.

 

[squeegee]

Well, I survived the administration of I-131 and three days of hospital isolation. Got home yesterday evening, and today marks my first full day of in-home isolation. It's good to be home.

Mom and dad showed up yesterday and have Little Monster well in-hand, so that's one less thing for DH and I to stress over. I'm eternally grateful for my parents.

To avoid contaminating my phone, or at least to minimize it, I'm typing through a plastic bag, so please forgive any typos, and know that I'm still reading a lot here, though I may respond infrequently. LOL.

My reading on the Geiger counter when I left the hospital yesterday was 1.2, which, if I understand correctly, means that someone within a meter of me would get a dose of 1.2 milirem an hour, when background is something like 0.7, so I'm eliminating excess from my system fairly quickly, and am low-risk for being dangerous, so that's good. I go for a whole body scan on Monday, to find out where/how much uptake there has been to any cancer cells. I'm hoping for good uptake where we would expect to find it. Fingers crossed. Depending on what the doctor says Monday, I might only have to do five days of home isolation instead of the seven? Maybe? I just wanna get back to normal.

The nurses at the hospital were generally great, but the food service was one of the worst I've ever experienced. No matter how many times they were told, they kept treating "low iodine" as "low sodium" and they are SO NOT THE SAME. This meant they kept sending me bland crap with inappropriate substitutions and omissions, despite numerous phone calls and messages telling them otherwise. And, everything that was supposed to be hot arrived cold, while the stuff that should have been cold arrived lukewarm. Warm cottage cheese, anybody?

Ugh.

As expected, though, as soon as I got home and could have "real" food, I found I can't taste salt and everything has a "metallic" tang to it. *sigh*

This, too, shall pass.

And then all will be well and all will be well and all manner of things will be well.

 

[Elevationist]

he nurses at the hospital were generally great, but the food service was one of the worst I've ever experienced. No matter how many times they were told, they kept treating "low iodine" as "low sodium" and they are SO NOT THE SAME. This meant they kept sending me bland crap with inappropriate substitutions and omissions, despite numerous phone calls and messages telling them otherwise. And, everything that was supposed to be hot arrived cold, while the stuff that should have been cold arrived lukewarm. Warm cottage cheese, anybody?

That would drive me crazy! During my extended hospital stays, I found that I looked forward to meal times more than anything else, just to break up the monotony. For it to get messed up that badly every time would make me seriously angryface!

I'm VERY happy to hear you're home, though! Praying for you!

So you're actually radioactive right now? That's kinda neat. You're like a ninja turtle, dude! Have you try kicking a trash can to see what happens?

 

[squeegee]

That would drive me crazy! During my extended hospital stays, I found that I looked forward to meal times more than anything else, just to break up the monotony. For it to get messed up that badly every time would make me seriously angryface!

I'm VERY happy to hear you're home, though! Praying for you!

So you're actually radioactive right now? That's kinda neat. You're like a ninja turtle, dude! Have you try kicking a trash can to see what happens?

It's not as fun as it sounds. Lol. The worst part is the inability to taste salt in anything. Everything tastes like some variation on paste, with a hint or play-doh. Blech.

I don't even glow.

And mealtimes were seriously messed up. I'm a picky eater to begin with. One morning was supposed to be French toast, which I won't eat, so I requested scrambled eggs n bacon. They sent unsalted eggs (and no salt packs), no bacon, and a cup of pineapple tidbits. I hate pineapple. Oh, and they sent plain white toast with a "no-salt buttery spread" that was reminiscent of yellow crisco. And coffee no cream no sugar.

I ate the toast and had two sips of coffee. This, despite being ravenous. Ugh. I think that, if I ever have another recurrence, I might just keep the cancer. This was that bad.

But, like I said, almost through with this mess, and can slowly get back to "normal." And there's Disney in 193 days!!!!

 

[squeegee]

Just had the whole- body scan, and for once, It's all good news. Uptake where expected, in amounts expected. Bloodwork good. And the Dr. says I am "absolutely" clear to rejoin general population, with Little monster. In an excess of caution, I will still sleep alone for a while, and will keep a bathroom to myself for a few more days, but no other restrictions. Am so relieved! I don't have to go back for six more months!

 

[NJlauren]

So happy to hear a positive report!

Feel good

 

[squeegee]

In an attempt to rebuild my strength, I had my parents keep me out and about town most of the day, walking around some of my favorite shops. I started with Hancock fabrics, and found the pattern that will serve as the base for Little Monster's Snow White inspired dress:



I plan on using view "a," and adding the collar you can see on the bottom right version, instead of the roses at the neckline. I am thinking of rounding the collar off into a more traditional "Peter Pan" collar, but will probably make that decision on the fly. The collar will be white satin, maybe a white lace, depending on what I find.

I've already got the royal blue velvet to use for the bodice, and plan on going traditional with the colors otherwise. I don't think I'm going to put the lace or sash detail at the waist, but I do plan on making the gold piping and inserting that down the center of the bodice, which will require a slight modification to the pattern, but nothing too difficult.

First I've got to finish off the Cinderella dress - just need the zipper and bow. If all goes well, I can do that within the next couple of days and post the results.

 

[squeegee]

8 days till ADR's!!!

My TA has my list, I'll be working that day, but I'm sure I'll find time to text her often enough to drive her crazy. Lol.

 

[Elevationist]

Just had the whole- body scan, and for once, It's all good news. Uptake where expected, in amounts expected. Bloodwork good. And the Dr. says I am "absolutely" clear to rejoin general population, with Little monster. In an excess of caution, I will still sleep alone for a while, and will keep a bathroom to myself for a few more days, but no other restrictions. Am so relieved! I don't have to go back for six more months!

HOORAY! I'm so glad to hear that things are looking up! Now it's all about getting ready for DISNEY!

I plan on using view "a," and adding the collar you can see on the bottom right version, instead of the roses at the neckline. I am thinking of rounding the collar off into a more traditional "Peter Pan" collar, but will probably make that decision on the fly. The collar will be white satin, maybe a white lace, depending on what I find.

That will make a super cute Snow White dress! I love it!

8 days till ADR's!!!

My TA has my list, I'll be working that day, but I'm sure I'll find time to text her often enough to drive her crazy. Lol.

Can you believe it's so close? I'll be making mine in 7 hours! AHHHHHH!!!!!

 

[squeegee]

FOUR days till ADR day!!!

When I started all the "for real" planning, ADR day seemed so. far. away.

And now it's almost here. I'm glad I've got my TA buddy to do the stalking for me, if it comes to that, as I'm getting back to work tomorrow. It will be good to be back, I feel like I'm running at about 80% of "normal," so it's time to get moving!

I've spent the last few days doing my best to get up and around, out of the house. The weeks leading up to radiation, I was such a slug, that I feel like my leg muscles have atrophied, and I know that the lack of thyroid hormone, combined with inactivity, put another 10+ lbs on me that I want to drop. Getting back to work will make a big dent in my daily calories. I gotta lose some so that I can really indulge at disney. not that anything's going to stop me from doing that, anyway. Creme brûlée, here I come!

 

[Elevationist]

THREE DAYS NOW!!!!

As you know I had mad pixie dust for my ADRs yesterday, so today I'm sending ALLLLL my love and luck your way!!!!

 

[squeegee]

TWO DAYS!!!

I'm not even making the ADR's myself, and the anticipation is killing me.

 

[squeegee]

ADR day tomorrow! Tomorrow! Paging Mr. Tom Morrow!

Lol. Where's the crazy hair-pulling smiley when you need it?

 

[Elevationist]

ADR day tomorrow! Tomorrow! Paging Mr. Tom Morrow!

Lol. Where's the crazy hair-pulling smiley when you need it?

Is this close enough??

 

[Opicana]

I know it will be too small to read well, but just wanted to give folks a glimpse of the insanity (this is only one part of the Excel file):
View attachment 2299

Goodnight!

I LOVE spreadsheets. Planning Disney trips (with spreadsheets) is half the fun! I am 224 days out and I've already got plenty of fun spreadsheets- including crowd calculations, dining ideas, etc...and then I've made several touring plans but I plan to redo them all because FUN.

Also, I totally dig your park spread! I'm planning 3 MK days, 2 Epcot, 2 AK and 1 DHS. If I could add another, it'd be Epcot...and a 4th? MK. I've no interest in DHS for more than a day. I read that AK was a 1 day park, and so I did 1 day last time...big mistake. Definitely need two!

 

[Opicana]

Day 10

I've wanted to eat at Sanaa ever since I realized it existed, and while it's not a signature, DH and I really enjoy Indian food.

Sanaa was my favorite dining experience on our last trip. I highly recommend it.

 

[squeegee]

Well, I managed to get most of my ADR's just how I wanted them, but there are a few left for me to keep "stalking," so I won't be too bored before the time comes to make FP+'s. LOL.

Here's the breakdown:

12/8 Raglan Road Dinner 6:15pm (I used OpenTable through TripAdvisor to get this one)

12/9 Harmony Barber Shop 10:30am

12/10 Tusker House Breakfast 8:10am
12/10 California Grill Dinner 7:15pm (I will be stalking to get this one closer to 8:15, but it's just backup for Morimoto's anyway)
12/10 Wilderness Lodge Kid's Club for little Monster 6:30-10:30pm

12/11 Hollywood & Vine Fantasmic Package Lunch 1:50pm (Will be stalking this one for closer to 12:00)
12/11 Sci-Fi Dinner 5:40pm

12/12 Akershus Breakfast 8:05am
12/12 Whispering Canyon Dinner 7:50pm

12/13 BOG Lunch 12:10pm

12/14 Trattoria al Forno Breakfast 8:30am
12/14 Biergarten Lunch 1:30pm

12/15 Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique 10:10am
12/15 Cinderella's Royal Table Dinner 5:15pm
12/15 POR Carriage Ride 8:00pm

12/16 Grand Floridian Cafe Breakfast 9:15am
12/16 Garden Grill 5:50pm (Will be stalking this one for closer to 6:30)

12/17 Rainforest Cafe Breakfast 9:00am
12/17 Boma Dinner 6:25 (Will be stalking this one for closer to 6:45, but it's not *that* far off)

12/18 Kona Cafe Breakfast 9:30am

And that's all there is. LOL. Out of all that, I think I've done well to only have four that I need to stalk for better times. Of course, I can't take all the credit. My insomniac brain had me up at 4:30 this morning, so right at 5:00 central, I started with CRT, and the site was its usual buggy self. Several attempts and 45 minutes later, I'd managed to get CRT, Akershus, and BOG. At that point I was frustrated enough to stop. My TA BFF texted me at 6:30 and said she was up and about to get on the phone for me, so I let her know what I was able to snag, and she did the rest.

I had originally wanted to do BOG on the 9th, but there was no availability at all, and moving it to the 13th doesn't interfere with any other plans, so the 9th will just be all QS meals. It's our first park day, our only *long* day at MK, and our only chance to see Wishes and MSEP, so I think that maybe not having any ADR's that day will give us a little flexibility? Especially if Little Monster crashes out in her stroller mid-day or something, y'know?

 

[squeegee]

Sanaa was my favorite dining experience on our last trip. I highly recommend it.

Sanaa ended up not making the cut this time around; I let DH be the decision-maker between Sanaa and Boma, and he chose Boma. We have TONS of Indian food places here, but not much in the way of African-inspired food, so that was the clincher for him.

There are always future trips!

 

[squeegee]

Another quick update - Sanaa did make the cut. LOL. DH is even more anxious than I am, apparently, about getting the times locked down - since the Boma was sooo close to the time AK closes for the day, and he wants to maximize park time, he wasn't too happy about a 6:20 Boma (and the others available we're too late in the day for us to wait), so when we saw a 6:40 Sanaa, we jumped on it.

I'm gonna keep my eyes open for a 6:40-ish Boma, still, but at least this time slot works better for us.

Now if only I could get my hands on an earlier fantasmic package at H&V. Three hours between a lunch and a dinner aren't quite enough. LOL.

 

[squeegee]

And the Cinderella dress is DONE.



This was the first time I've used hotfix crystals. It was going to be a simple line around the collar, but a scorch mark got made.... and covered with more crystals. Lol. I'm happy with the end result, though.

On to the Snow White!