Mom, my hands smell-A first timer's TR-Completed 4/12

As promised, here's today's update. I'm just warning you, I cried while writing it. You may not. But this is why it's taken me so long to get up the nerve to write it. Ok. Here goes...

Thursday, July 16, 2008

EPCOT, day 2

The phone rang at 2 AM. From what Sleepy and Grumpy told me, I was the one who picked up and talked to my brother back home for a few minutes before handing it off to them. I have absolutely no recollection of this at all.

My brother, who’d been staying with us while waiting to move into his new house and was taking care of our dogs, told Sleepy and Grumpy of the troubles happening at home.

One of our dogs, the oldest, the one I’ve had since I was just a year old, had been in serious pain for the last few years. Arthritis, cancer spots, etc… One spot on her underbelly had been filling with liquid, looking as if it was going to burst for quite a while. And, apparently, on this night, it decided to do just that.

When I woke up later that morning, I had no idea what was going on. I got ready to enjoy another day, as usual. But my parents sat me down just before we left to talk about what they’d heard on the phone earlier.

“Missy,” (our dog) “isn’t doing so well,” they said. “Her spot burst and they had to take her to the emergency vet last night. Your brother called us on his way there. She was unresponsive. We don’t know what’s going on right now.”

It hit me like a ton of bricks. My dog, my baby puppy whom I grew up with, could be gone. And I was 2,000 miles away. I played it off like it wasn’t really a big thing, but I cried on the car ride to EPCOT. We parked relatively close today and made it in with minimal challenge.

Another normal day at Walt Disney World.

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Sleepy and I grabbed a picture as we entered the park.

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Then we headed down to MouseGear to try and exchange a shirt I’d bought at Magic Kingdom the previous night. It didn’t fit right so I wanted to get a new one. We’d been told that MouseGear sold the same shirt by another shop worker. We went in and questioned three different employees. Their responses really set me over the edge. Time and time again, they simply said, “Go to Downtown Disney”. May sound easy for people with more than 2 days left and who stayed on property, but, unfortunately, neither was us.

I was getting overly worked up, between their grudging replies and the ordeal going on at home that I simply had returned it for cash back and got rid of my favorite souvenir. Gah! It was still relatively early at EPCOT and very few people were really in there, so we decided to head over to Test Track because we figured there would hardly be a line.

We were right and we were whizzing off within minutes. Once we got off, we tried calling my brother, but he didn’t pick up, so Sleepy headed off to the restroom. While she was gone, my brother called Grumpy and we found out that my dog had indeed left forever.

I lost it crying and ran into the back entrance of MouseGear, leaving Grumpy and a newly arrived Sleepy behind outside. I called one of my best friends and cried over the phone to her. I was probably in there for about 15 or 20 minutes, talking, crying, laughing, crying, and looking at the various ways to impulse buy.

I walked back outside at last. Sleepy was there, but now Grumpy had gone to the restroom. We waited for him and cried some more, and more when he came back. But…life goes on and we were bound and determined to not let this entirely ruin our vacation at the Happiest Place on Earth.

Here’s a picture of her taken a couple years ago.

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We headed into Spaceship Earth and had some fun on that ride. I love that ride. One of my favorites, I’d say. Sleepy and Grumpy ride together and I rode by myself.

Some pictures…

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I got a video of the ending of the ride, but I can’t seem to get it to upload online so I guess I’ll just have to add that in later.

When we finished watching our future on the great spaceship called Earth, we went over to the Land pavilion. We grabbed some FASTPASSES for Soarin’ (they weren’t that far off) then rode Living with the Land. Good ride, good ride. We had to drag Grumpy away from The Circle of Life then headed out of the pavilion and to Journey Into Imagination with Figment.

I’m sure Sleepy and Grumpy would not have ridden it if I hadn’t begged them with my still tear filled eyes. We made some jokes while in line. When they were separating us into lines to enter the little red cars, Sleepy told one of the CM’s that she was allergic to the color red. The poor guy just stared at her, unsure for a minute. But when we couldn’t hold in our laughter anymore, he joined in and we were on our way.

I fought the urge to buy a Figment souvenir at the end and we headed back to the Land pavilion. We used our Soarin’ FASTPASSES then headed to grab some passes for Test Track. We were all getting down again at this point so we decided to head to the World Showcase to finish touring the second half of the world.


Up Next: A boring excursion
 
While I enjoy reading trip reports, I never respond to them but I had to this time.

I know the hurt you feel losing your baby dog. I lost three growing up, one at 9 when I was 9, one at 16 when I was 21, and one at 15 when I was 24. Every time I hear of someone losing their beloved dog, it brings the memories of my three babies back. They will live forever in my heart, as yours will in your heart.

:hug:
 
While I enjoy reading trip reports, I never respond to them but I had to this time.

I know the hurt you feel losing your baby dog. I lost three growing up, one at 9 when I was 9, one at 16 when I was 21, and one at 15 when I was 24. Every time I hear of someone losing their beloved dog, it brings the memories of my three babies back. They will live forever in my heart, as yours will in your heart.

:hug:

Thank you very much for commenting and sharing your story. I'd only every lost one dog before this last summer, back when I was very young. Losing her was especially hard because there are pictures of the two of us when I was only 2. She was like a sister, even though she was a dog. We knew it was coming, but we just hoped that it hadn't happened the first time we were gone for over 2 years. Once again, thanks for your comment.
:hug:
 

Sorry about your doggy. My sister lost her Miniature Schnauzer in september when she was at college. Rio was twelve in People years.
:( Lisa
 
Just found your update.

Sorry about your loosing "Missy". I think it was "Captain Kirk" who said "no one ever dies as long as you remember them". We have lost three dogs over the years and have the worlds largest Shih Tzu, 18 pounds, at present. He will probably outlive me.

I enjoyed your Epcot adventures and look forward to the next update.
 
Sorry about your doggy. My sister lost her Miniature Schnauzer in september when she was at college. Rio was twelve in People years.
:( Lisa

Just found your update.

Sorry about your loosing "Missy". I think it was "Captain Kirk" who said "no one ever dies as long as you remember them". We have lost three dogs over the years and have the worlds largest Shih Tzu, 18 pounds, at present. He will probably outlive me.

I enjoyed your Epcot adventures and look forward to the next update.

Thank you for your stories and kind words. Dogs are your best friends and you think they're invincible. And then something like this happens. It just hurts. But I know that she will still always be my sister in my heart.

I'll have another update this weekend. On Friday (and possibly Saturday) I have a State Theatre Festival that we won entrance to a few weeks ago so I'll be busy with that. But I should (I'm saying this with crossed fingers) have a relatively free weekend.
 
Almost gloomily, we made our way to the World Showcase. This time, Canada.

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Sleepy felt the need to take a picture of every flower in the pavilion.

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Avoiding the smells of the opening Le Cellier, we decided to head into O Canada!

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They were asking Canada trivia and Grumpy got some of them right. Then it was in to see the movie, which was actually quite cool. And oh so pretty. :)

Then it was off to the gift shop!

We, of course, found the coonskin hats and Sleepy and I had to sample them (sorry for the crappyness of this picture, the store is dark)

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Then, Grumpy saw the moose antler hat and someone offered to take our picture. He kept stepping back and I tensed, in case I would have to run after him if he stole the camera. Here’s the result.

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We decided then, that it was time to visit jolly ol’ England.

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I had to make a call.

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Then I played a quick game…

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…while Sleepy used the restroom.

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Then, Sleepy saw the Fish and Chips place and just stopped in her tracks. Fish and Chips, to her, are better than pie. And even though we had perfectly lovely Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches that I had crafted myself that very morning, she decided to eat her first Disney meal now. She tried to get her picture in front of the place, but I can’t seem to find it anywhere. Hmmm… So, she got her food and we went by the lake to enjoy our lovely
meals.

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It was quite peaceful.

When we finished, we decided to take the back exit out of EPCOT and go to the Boardwalk, just to check it out.

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The Beach Club. In Sleepy's words, “That looks like a nice place to stay.”

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And then the Boardwalk.

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(It really wasn’t cloudy out at this point, but Sleepy’s camera was acting up)

Now, these are the only pictures we have of the Boardwalk. Why? Because the moment we stepped off of the boat, Grumpy immediately deemed it “boring”. Sleepy and I had to agree. No one else was on the boardwalk and they were playing kinda creepy music. Sleepy put away her camera (I hadn’t taken any pictures today) and we walked around for a minute.

What did my eyes happen to set upon? The Disney Vacation Club model! Sleepy and Grumpy had been avoiding the booths all week long, but they couldn’t avoid this now that it was the only thing to do. So, we went inside and talked to a very friendly CM who explained how the DVC tour and signing process worked.

“It’ll only take a couple of hours and you get a free gift card for spending your time with us,” she said, obviously reciting the well-rehearsed script.

I looked at Sleepy and Grumpy with big puppy dog eyes. “Please?” I asked.

They rolled their eyes.

“Please?”

“No.”

“Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease?”

Let’s just say, we were on the boat back to EPCOT within five minutes.

“What a boring waste of time,” Sleepy said.

Up Next: Another phone call.
 
Hi again.

Love the flower pictures. I can't resist taking flower closeups whenever the opportunity presents so I have to side with Sleepy on this one.

We enjoyed our last "Dinning Plan" meal at Le Cellier last year and it was by far the best of the entire trip.

You guys do have a thing for hats. You really should buy some though because Mickey needs the money. Cheese is getting more expensive every day!!!!!

Having lived in a British Colony years ago, I always spend a fair amount of time at England's showcase. It gives me a chance to try out my English accent on some natives. Does anyone use Phone booths anymore?

I must say I has not really impressed with The Boardwalk either. The boat ride from Epcot to Disney Studios and back was nice though.

I passed on The DVC tour last year also. If the Stock Market ever turns around, doesn't look likely, I might consider it.

See you down the road.
 
Not a real update, but I thought I should share this amazingness. This'll be short, and then there might possibly, I'm not sure, could be an update tomorrow.

ANYWAY...

My birthday was earlier this week and I thought I should share the beautiful cake that Sleepy and Grumpy got for me.

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Cinderella's Castle. :lovestruc :lovestruc :lovestruc (only purple)

It was amazing (and very tasty, too, I might add).

Ok. I told you this would be short.
 
We landed back at the dock and strolled back into EPCOT through the *secret* entrance. We had a short debate on whether or not the Boardwalk was more exciting at night or not on our way to France. I’m not sure what Grumpy did, maybe a phone call or the little boys room, but Sleepy and I looked around the gardens in France for a few minutes while he was gone.

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Then we saw a Photopass guy and ran over to him, planning on getting some mommy-daughter photos. On one hand, we made a mistake. On the other we didn’t.

Mistake: The guy really, really liked to talk.

“Well, right now, I’m waiting for Princess Aurora to arrive. But she isn’t scheduled to do so for a few more minutes. I can’t take any other pictures while she’s out here. But, like I said, she isn’t scheduled to get out here for a few more minutes. Now if you two would like me, I can take a few pictures of you in the garden while we wait for her. Do you two have a Photopass card…?” [insert our yes] “Do you know how it works?” [insert our yes, again] “Have you taken picture of the back of the card? And, did you know you can enter the code online when you get back to your resort. That is, if you’re receiving an internet connection. Which means you brought a laptop. My name is Steve, what’s yours? OH LOOK! PRINCESS AURORA!!!!!”

We’d never gotten our picture taken in front of the garden two steps away.

But, on the bright side, we were first in line to meet Princess Aurora (or, if you will, Sleeping Beauty). You should have seen the people come running…

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She said she liked my [pink] necklace.

And apparently, Grumpy had come back at this point.

Oh, it had been getting increasingly cloudy and by the time the picture was taken, thunder had begun rolling.

I know it seems like we’ve been in France for quite a long time, but it was actually only a couple minutes. As soon as our picture was over, Grumpy almost literally pushed Sleepy and I down to the next country.

Morocco.

I think this is when both Sleepy and Grumpy went off to the restroom. I found myself a nice bench and sat down, listening to the sounds of thunder rolling all around. No rain yet though.

Sleepy found me like this.

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As soon as we all reunited, we decided to walk around the bazaar.

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But this is when Sleepy got a phone call from one of her friends from up north. So, it was basically me and Grumpy looking around while Sleepy did this.

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Hey Grumpy! Where’s Sleepy?

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Let’s check this out.

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Wait, where did Sleepy go?

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You’ve been looking for a bag forever, Sleepy. How about one of these?

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When she finally got tired of me taking so many pictures of her talking, she hung up the phone and started off out of Morocco.

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And to the next country.

Japan.

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We went inside the superstore they have (anyone else think that it’s the size of a Wal-Mart? Anyone? Anyone?) and had a look around.

That was fun.

We found a little path that led up to a waterfall and followed it up.

Fishies!

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Sleepy and Grumpy had their picture taken by moi (the only picture this whole trip of Grumpy without his hat)

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We’d actually spent a while here so we headed over to the next country. Sleepy and Grumpy saw this…

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While I shopped for a new pin. Whoo-hoo!

After the little performance, Grumpy looked at his watch.

“Ok, we have about an hour until our ADR. What do you guys want to do?”

I smiled and said, “Maelstrom.”

At the same time, Sleepy smiled and said, “Chocolate.”

Up Next: Chocolate, Trolls...FIESTA!
 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY :yay: :goodvibes :flower3: :cheer2:


Great pictures again. It's funny that I never noticed that building laying on it's side in Japan!

You look like "Little Girl Lost" sitting on that bench. I'm glad they found you.

Looking forward to your critique of San Angel Inn. We have never tried that one.
 
A mommy/daughter photo in France would have been great, but the picture with Aurora is super cute!!!

I love that you kept taking pictures of Sleepy while she was on the phone! :rotfl:
 
A mommy/daughter photo in France would have been great, but the picture with Aurora is super cute!!!

I love that you kept taking pictures of Sleepy while she was on the phone! :rotfl:

She just read the update and claimed, "I wasn't on the phone THAT long." But, then she mumbled, "Of course I did miss most of Morocco."
:rotfl:


Great pictures again. It's funny that I never noticed that building laying on it's side in Japan!

That would be compliments of Sleepy.

Looking forward to your critique of San Angel Inn. We have never tried that one.

That's coming up next. I'm searching for more info on that night in the black abyss that is my computer.
 












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