Making Lemonade out of Lemons! ~ April 27th!

[DexLabDeeDee]

Soooooo…Hello!

I’m starting a trip report for a trip that wasn’t even scheduled until about five days ago but starts Sat, April 27th.

Crazy!

It is so not me to do something like that - plan a last minute trip. I am a type A, plan to the max (cause it’s fun!), be-there-or-be-square, do-or-die type-person. Planning is half the fun for me. So is the anticipation.

What would possess me to do something completely out of character?

Oh, but first, introductions. Sorry. I am DexLabDeeDee ‘cause the show is cool and I work in a lab with only guys and some days I feel like DeeDee. I have often received the “DeeDee you are stoooopid” look. Not because I am stupid but because they somehow think that “XY-chromosome” = “more brain cells” and that if I stand up for myself I’m cranky. I’m telling you, you can’t win!

Anyway, I love Disney and my last trip was Sept 2011 with a whole bunch of people from my family which was fun but challenging. I don’t completely recommend it. As a result, I have been looking to do a Disney vacation re-do. However, my DH (not a Disneyphile, unfortunately) hasn’t been too keen on the idea of spending money on another Disney vacay. Boo.

How do I find myself only a few days away from a Disney vacation?

Stay tuned until after the break….

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

…And we’re back!

I was originally supposed to be in California with a friend April 19th - 24th. We were going to do Disneyland (go Indiana Jones!!), Sea World, zip lines and whatever else we could cram into four days.

I was really looking forward to it. Really really really looking forward to the break and the sun. I live in Minnesota and we are experiencing an endless winter. We’ve just had our third snowstorm in April alone. Everyone is really crabby up here!

I also had a huge event that I just finished up for work. I was the committee chair this year and it took months to plan and involved presenters, posters, 1200 attendees and many late, late nights. I’m just burnt out.

To throw even more lemons out there - and this one is a dump truck full! - my best friend lost her husband in November last year. He was 33 years old and just didn’t wake up one morning. They have a 4-year-old daughter and it has just been a nightmare. We found out that he had microscopic (!) defects in his heart that added up to his heart having an early expiration date. He was super fit and active. We played sand volleyball together for years. He was the last person you’d expect to die suddenly from heart issues. His widow and their daughter have finally reached an equilibrium where, hopefully, some healing can begin but it was a long haul, especially since he was the main breadwinner.

As you can imagine, it’s been a h*** of a winter.

Then, last week Monday, the friend that I was supposed to go to California with, her mom got really sick and was hospitalized. They were hoping that she was just dehydrated but the longer she stayed the more problems they found. By Wednesday, we pulled the plug on the trip and it was all over but the cryin’. And believe me, I did some cryin’.

I threw a major pity party. MAJOR! Fireworks, streamers, big brass band, the whole bit. It was epic. (Lest you think I’m callous, I was also very worried about my friend’s mom.) When it finally wound down, I thought of what I really wanted. Did I still want to go to California? Did I want to just save the money and vacation time? Did I want to do something else?

Of course I did.

I wanted to go to Disney and - darn it! - I was just going to go!

No more waiting, no more crying, no more snow - Disney! Start squeezing some lemons, DeeDee-girl, it’s time to make some kick-a** lemonade!

My DH, being the great guy that he is (and having front row seats to my pity party), told me he wasn’t interested but I should go for it. So I squeezed some lemons and booked myself for April 27th at POP.

I told the DRC CM that I was coming to Disney come h*** or high water.

I was committed, I was confident, I was going to have a good time. Solo.

Solo.

Soooollllooooo. Hmmm.

I can totally do a week solo, right? I love my own company. (I do throw amazing parties! ) I love Disney. Other people have gone solo and loved it. I can love it too.

Right?

Riiiiight????

Up Next: People POP in and POP out… (see what I did there? )

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Solo, Han Solo…

Well, not quite. I’m not as ruggedly handsome as Harrison Ford but perhaps you could say I’m ruggedly beautiful?? That sounds like a horrible compliment.

After I told my parents about my plans for my trip, my mom expressed concern over me spending a whole week by myself in Florida. It was for two reasons - that was a long time to be alone and what if I got snatched??

Of course. Who wouldn’t want a ruggedly beautiful lab rat like myself?

Gotta love my mom. 32-years-old and I’m still her baby.

She said that maybe she should go with me. Or maybe Dad should go with me. At least for part of the trip. I said that would be fine, since my parents love Disney and are fun people. I told them that I’m fine with whoever wants to come and stay with me.

So my parents were on board. And then they looked at their vacation time with work and they weren’t on board. But they love Disney….so maybe they should go.

Meanwhile, my mom suggested that it would be really awesome if my sisters could go with me. And it would be really awesome if they could. I’m the oldest and I have two younger sisters. The middle sister works for a zoo and is going to grad school and is supposed to graduate in a few weeks. My youngest sister is still searching for a job and meanwhile works at a coffee house. Neither of my sisters have a lot of money.

I asked my middle sister if she could go and she wanted to but she checked with work and she had programs that week so she was out. Boo. I was starting to get excited about a sisters trip to Disney.

I asked my younger sister and she said that she wanted to go but she couldn’t afford it. I said that I could help her a little and Mom said that she was willing to help a little too. So she checked with her work. She could go but only if she could switch four of her shifts and only from Sat to Thurs. She called and called and called and called people but no one was willing to take the shifts. Of course, people complain about not having any money and not enough hours but when it comes to picking up a shift, they say “no”. I do know what it is like, though. I worked retail as well. You live for your days off and the last thing that you want to do is work days upon days in a row.

Flight prices were starting to go up and we were starting to despair. I was now not so cool with going Solo, Han Solo and I wanted my sister along! Then Dad came up with the brilliant idea of throwing in a little extra money as incentive for people to take her shifts. And voila! Worked!

Now we sound like a family who throws money around. Trust me, we aren’t. My mom is Queen Scrooge. I still cringe when I buy something extra. I can hear my mom asking me if I really need that. My parents have been saving money since the beginning of time.

So that tells you how much Disney means to our family. It gets us to open our welded shut wallets. We still don’t go full hog (though I would LOVE to!) when we go, we definitely shell out the money and don’t look back. Well…I’m sure my mom glances back a time or two but the rest of us don’t!

To recap, my parents are out and my sister is in.

Next time: “Lord help the mister, who comes between me and my sister…”

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Let me introduce to you my sister: Bubbles!

I thought that since my name is from the Nickelodeon universe, I would pick something equally as appropriate for my sister.

She is Bubbles from the Powerpuff girls because she’s sweet and nice but a rage monster if you get her angry.

Like this:

Nice Bubbles

​

Mean Bubbles

She probably won’t be a rage monster for this trip but you never know!

To be fair, I get HANGRY (hungry angry) when too much time has passed between feedings. And at Disney, I have to eat more often or I get HANGRY! The fun part is that I can’t always tell when I get HANGRY and even if you tell me, I go into denial and say that I can make it until the next meal. Do not believe me! I lie!!

The best way to handle it is to say, “I’m hungry, let’s get a snack.” Then you need to walk to a snack place. This is where a lot of newbies would trip up but luckily, Bubbles grew up with me so she knows. I am a very picky (selective!) eater. It doesn’t make sense. I wish it did. I’m not making it up. It isn’t because my parents coddled me or didn’t introduce me to new foods - believe me, they did! Food just tastes different to me than to other people. It must. Because if you tasted what I tasted, there is NO WAY you would eat that disgusting <insert almost any kind of food here> either.

For instance, I will eat tomato sauce but not raw tomatoes. No raw onions but I will do caramelized. No BBQ sauce. No mayo. No butter on bread unless the bread is toasted. Nothing spicy. No nuts in anything (not allergic, just don’t like them) but I will eat peanut butter and Nutella. No seafood or anything that lives in the water cause it just tastes funky. Etc……

However, I love steak and chicken (no skin!) and potatoes and pizza and love love love french fries. I also like feta cheese and eggplant. I like pesto. I like hamburgers sometimes - if there is blue cheese on it but I don’t like to eat blue cheese plain. I know, I’m crazy!

Luckily, Bubbles accepts me for who I am and will be able to handle my selective eating habits.

We’re actually really great traveling companions. I’m good at the details, she’s good at going with the flow and we both are all about having fun!!

Here we are in a phonebooth in Epcot - England:

Bubbles is on the left and I’m on the right:




Next time: I’m totally embracing the spontaneity and going with no plan…well, maybe not.

 

[benji2012]

It was for two reasons - that was a long time to be alone and what if I got snatched??

Next time: “Lord help the mister, who comes between me and my sister…”

I'm inching up to 39 and my mom still thinks I'm going to be snatched!



Love the White Christmas song quote!

To be fair, I get HANGRY (hungry angry) when too much time has passed between feedings. And at Disney, I have to eat more often or I get HANGRY! The fun part is that I can’t always tell when I get HANGRY and even if you tell me, I go into denial and say that I can make it until the next meal. Do not believe me! I lie!!


For instance, I will eat tomato sauce but not raw tomatoes. No raw onions but I will do caramelized. No BBQ sauce. No mayo. No butter on bread unless the bread is toasted. Nothing spicy. No nuts in anything (not allergic, just don’t like them) but I will eat peanut butter and Nutella. No seafood or anything that lives in the water cause it just tastes funky. Etc……

I totally get the hangry thing...and it can just sneak up on me totally!

I'm not picky but my BF is, and I can understand how you say things taste different; I think that's what it is for him sometimes too. Though if he is going to try something new; he's more likely to do it at Disney...because if he doesn't like it he knows there is something he will like around the corner.

 

[wiigirl]

In for your PTR.

 

[happybelle]

Joining in!

 

[archdandy]

Joining in! I'm glad you still get to take a trip. It sounds like you needed it!