Move Your Louis Vuitton Luggage for my Piggly Wiggly Bags Please - Leave in 1 day!

[Millie12591]

I know! He wanted to go as Scubba Steve from Big Daddy but with oatmeal cannisters for a dive tank - but maybe next year! He would have made a perfect Scubba Steve!

Anderson is in SC - the northern part. He will be less than 10 from Disney and about 5 from Hilton Head. He is already scheming to use my DVC points!
Wow! That's a private Christian College isn't it?
Being that he's moving into a school in the second part of the year he may feel like the people there will be a bit on the snotty side (they've made new friends from the start of the year, they some times make outsiders feel....well just that) which doesn't bode well for a bunch of Christian kids, does it?
Knowing a little of his personality, and his good looks thrown in...it will be no time before he's making friends. My neighbor's daughter transfered mid year to a private Christian college and had a hard time feeling like anyone wanted her to "join in," for those same reasons I mentioned. It's not right, but it can happen, so tell Treyner to just be aware that it can feel off at first, and that it will take some time to feel like he's apart of things.

Now we just have to pray it goes well there and he can stay put!

He will. The transition, as with any transition is never fun, just rest in knowing that he has so much going for him that he's bound to make it work. The fact that he has his team right away will help get him started, his great personality, charm and handsome face will get him in the door quicker than most.

 

[Millie12591]

I am so excited for him and so proud of what he can do when he wants something. This was all on him and he is making some very adult decessions.

26 hours accross the US and leaving a college he scouted for over a year to go somewhere he has never seen before is pretty ballsy.

K - things are falling together finally!

He get's that from you, you know. I've never been one to describe a woman as "ballsy" .....but he's been able to make these huge changes and do it with great determination and great confidence, because he's watched an incredible woman do it.
He's watched a woman who had what she didn't want in her life and because it wasn't working she changed it.....good, bad, right, wrong or indifferent, you went after what you wanted and made your situation into what you wanted and needed.
Without Treyner seeing you do this, he may not have had the courage to make the huge changes he's made, your a good mom Dawn, and your an amazing woman....through adversity you still make things happen, you still go for your dream and NEVER have you let it beat you or take you down, your a fighter!
By heaven or high water you'll make it grabbing that brass ring baby, you'll finish the race! Your babies have seen that!
THAT, my dear sweet, funny, friend is why your boy can make these decisions, and changes without batting an eye....he's had you as the example.
I love you lady , keep up the amazing work.

 

[Millie12591]

Thanks for those words. I am glad we are driving now - I will feel a bit better seeing the school first hand. Have a mental pic of where he is and look the coach in the eye to let him know if my son is not in good hands I will send Shannn there to kick the cr@p out of him.

Shann, I'll make a special trip for that to join you. I'll sit on him while you do the damage. Between the two of us holding him off until Dawn can get there, he'll know to never mess with a kid of Dawn's again!

 

[Pollito916]

Start your day with laughter! Treyner as Ace Ventura for Halloween at college!

Hysterical! My DH works at a local restaurant/bar and this year's winner of the halloween costume contest was a guy dressed as Ace Ventura in the scene where he went to the home for the mentally ill. With the tutu and the even crazier hair.

 

[Dizneydawn]

Hysterical! My DH works at a local restaurant/bar and this year's winner of the halloween costume contest was a guy dressed as Ace Ventura in the scene where he went to the home for the mentally ill. With the tutu and the even crazier hair.

I just told him that and he said he looked for a tutu but could not find one in his size!

Millie - Thank you for the great words and the encouragement and belief in me and my parenting. I value your friendship and love ya right back!


Update - Treyner hit huge pothole that had a rock in it - end result - he needs $350 in work to his car. I think Carribean Beach Resort is calling!

 

[Pollito916]

I just told him that and he said he looked for a tutu but could not find one in his size!

Millie - Thank you for the great words and the encouragement and belief in my and my parenting. I value your friendship and love ya right back!


Update - Treyner hit hige pothole that had a rock in it - end result - he needs $350 in work to his car. I think Carribean Beach Resort is calling!

Too funny on the tutu! And too bad about the pothole, but CBR is still nice - they have new pirate rooms

 

[Millie12591]

Update - Treyner hit hige pothole that had a rock in it - end result - he needs $350 in work to his car. I think Carribean Beach Resort is calling!

Ooooh! I'm sorry Mama. It's still WDW! So it still has all that your there for, you just won't be sleeping at the Poly. Who knows maybe something will come through for you, there's still time.

 

[GusT]

I just told him that and he said he looked for a tutu but could not find one in his size!

Millie - Thank you for the great words and the encouragement and belief in me and my parenting. I value your friendship and love ya right back!


Update - Treyner hit huge pothole that had a rock in it - end result - he needs $350 in work to his car. I think Carribean Beach Resort is calling!

We have been trying to buy a house and I'm beginning to feel super guilty about Wilderness Lodge......

Erica

 

[Dizneydawn]

Too funny on the tutu! And too bad about the pothole, but CBR is still nice - they have new pirate rooms

They would be great to stay in!

Ooooh! I'm sorry Mama. It's still WDW! So it still has all that your there for, you just won't be sleeping at the Poly. Who knows maybe something will come through for you, there's still time.

I am thinking it's a no go...

We have been trying to buy a house and I'm beginning to feel super guilty about Wilderness Lodge......

Erica

I get it - cause really - I am blessed to be there - greedy is what I feel right now.


So a few pieces of food for thought this day.

#1 Carsyn passed her drivers exam! Can we all say..."FREEEDOM!" In our best Braveheart cry! I am having a great day!

#2 To celebrate we went to lunch - a rarity for this house and esp just her and I...and it was chinese (and my @ss will be bloated for 3 weeks form the sodium....and guess what - I did not enjoy it that much and now have gut rot so I will not be eating that again! So it is a good sign my taste buds are changing along with my attitude towards excersize and nutrition! k - that was the longest side not in the history of man kind...) and guess what my fortune said? I kept it so I could share with you all.

"You shouldn't overspend at the moment. Frugality is important."

Can you see where this is heading?

Then we went to a thrift store we have frequented in the past and got really good deals from and is associated with a church we enjoy attending.

Carsyn and I decided since our families are a bunch of butt munchers right now - and that means no Holiday gatherings for extended family and less gifts to give to people who don't need anything anyway - so instead of giving to Toys for Tots like ususal - we are adopting a whole family of 5.

It is a family that both parents lost their jobs in the past 2 months, they have a 19 year old son and just had a sister of the Mom - drop off 2 kids on their doorstep. So now, no job and 2 more mouths to feed.

How can I justify spending $500 plus more on the Poly? We are going, we will have a great time and right now that $500 could go to another family who is in need of things beyond the desire to stay at my dream hotel. It will happen. Truthfully though, I will feel better about my life using that money to help another family than us staying Deluxe.

That is where I am at today - my luck is that the Carribean will be full, Off to make some calls.

Hope my blabbing makes sense to you all!

 

[Dizneydawn]

UGH....they are saying all mods are full and now I am seeing about value...and...they say that the code was for the QS plan -not the Basic plan.

He is saying nobody understands that. I am not happy - I am hoping the will honor what has been told to me by 4 different CM's - I wrote down their names so hopefully that will help.

UGH

 

[Dizneydawn]

Okay - now we have the whole scoop and some details.

#1 Got Carribean in a reg view room with QS dining -

I am happy with the hotel choice and I am going to work on complaining to a manager there about the dining issue. Worst case scenario is we are stuck and will have to pay OOP for Ohanna's and Tutto Italia's. Those are 2 I am not losing if I can help it.

The CM I spoke with this time suggested QS meals at various resorts for better food options than burgers all the time like at Coronado and POFQ/PORS.

I will need to investigate.

Total savings though was $790 switching from Poly to Carribean for the 5 nights. (including comparing apples to apples of 4 people on the QS dining plan.)

I am really glad we made this choice also since we might not get the basic dining plan. There is no way we could have stayed Poly and payed cash OOP for a few TS meals. Maybe the QS will be good as well because it means for the 4 days we are there - we wil not be rushing all the time to TS. More free range. It might not be a bad plan at all!

I have to clean my house for a vendor sale happening here tom. NOT ready at all but will be!

 

[Millie12591]

So a few pieces of food for thought this day.

#1 Carsyn passed her drivers exam! Can we all say..."FREEEDOM!" In our best Braveheart cry! I am having a great day!

Way To Go Carsyn!!! Your doing better than I did, I was 21 and just had a baby a few weeks before when I got my drivers license. Pathetic.

#2 To celebrate we went to lunch - a rarity for this house and esp just her and I...and it was chinese (and my @ss will be bloated for 3 weeks form the sodium....and guess what - I did not enjoy it that much and now have gut rot so I will not be eating that again! So it is a good sign my taste buds are changing along with my attitude towards excersize and nutrition! k - that was the longest side not in the history of man kind...) and guess what my fortune said? I kept it so I could share with you all.
SO THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED TO MY @SS! All this time I look this way because of chinese food!?!.... That's my story and I'm sticking to it.


- so instead of giving to Toys for Tots like ususal - we are adopting a whole family of 5.

How can I justify spending $500 plus more on the Poly? We are going, we will have a great time and right now that $500 could go to another family who is in need of things beyond the desire to stay at my dream hotel. It will happen. Truthfully though, I will feel better about my life using that money to help another family than us staying Deluxe.
This, this right here my sweet, funny, friend is why I admire and have loved you from the first moment I started reading your TR's, you have a heart of gold lady and I hope that God blesses you with an even bigger heart to come out of this. Your children are growing up learning that life will throw you a curve ball sometimes. But! Through it all God will see you through, and if you're lucky enough...you will have someone in your life who has a wonderful sense of humor. (That would be you)
I'm so blessed for knowing you.

Hope my blabbing makes sense to you all!

You speak my language woman, of course you make sense!

Okay - now we have the whole scoop and some details.

#1 Got Carribean in a reg view room with QS dining -

I am happy with the hotel choice and I am going to work on complaining to a manager there about the dining issue. Worst case scenario is we are stuck and will have to pay OOP for Ohanna's and Tutto Italia's. Those are 2 I am not losing if I can help it.

The CM I spoke with this time suggested QS meals at various resorts for better food options than burgers all the time like at Coronado and POFQ/PORS.

I am really glad we made this choice also since we might not get the basic dining plan. There is no way we could have stayed Poly and payed cash OOP for a few TS meals. Maybe the QS will be good as well because it means for the 4 days we are there - we wil not be rushing all the time to TS. More free range. It might not be a bad plan at all!
This is a great way of looking at it, it's another adventure to learn while your there, you'll of course have to let us all know in your TR <hint, hint> how it really works out. I'm excited to hear about it.

Dawn, this trip is going to be so much fun, and knowing that you made a families holiday happen...well that beats out the Poly, and stinky PITA family any day of the year!

 

[njprincess601]

Congrats to Carsyn!!

And that's so sweet about adopting a family! Your generosity and kindness is going to make their holiday so magical and there is no price you can put on that, not even staying at the Poly

I've never stayed there, but I'm sure Caribbean Beach is going to be great! And I know the QSDP is great. We used it last year, and loved it. We paid OOP for a few nice dinners, but the rest of the time it was nice to just eat on the fly and not have dinner reservations dictating our plans for us.

 

[Dizneydawn]

Dawn, this trip is going to be so much fun, and knowing that you made a families holiday happen...well that beats out the Poly, and stinky PITA family any day of the year!

I agree and I am looking forward to it now more than ever!

Congrats to Carsyn!!
I will tell her!
And that's so sweet about adopting a family! Your generosity and kindness is going to make their holiday so magical and there is no price you can put on that, not even staying at the Poly
I am not stressed at al over the choice. I am excited to give to some people who will appreciate what we can do and not look at what we can't.
I've never stayed there, but I'm sure Caribbean Beach is going to be great! And I know the QSDP is great. We used it last year, and loved it. We paid OOP for a few nice dinners, but the rest of the time it was nice to just eat on the fly and not have dinner reservations dictating our plans for us.

I am actually kind of excited now about this plan. It should be fun!

 

[Dizneydawn]

This pic of Treyner was in the city paper where he goes to school last week. So very glad I found it. I was shocked he made the paper since he is a red shirt but very glad cause it is a great shot!

That boy will drive me nuts though! He called and asked if we still had AAA because he locked the keys in his Jeep with it running last night - I said nope and then went back to bed! This after a $300 car bill on Friday after he hit the pothole and his first overdrafts having a checking account since Aug. It has been a week that's for sure!

There is some perks in knowing you are 30 hours away and not able to do everything! Making him grow up and for goodness sakes - I was 7 months pregnant at his age. If I can figure things out - so can he!

 

[Dizneydawn]

Sioux Falls SD Trip Part II

We spent the first night camping at the park wondering if we were going to be skewered by the random lone kid camping next door to us. Most people do not camp by themselves and he was freaking the girls out. Truthfully not as much as they were freaking Baylor out because they were telling him that he had the hots for Baylor.

He would randomly play the guitar and sing loudly or play country music very loud. Grunted and that was about it. As nosey people we decided to come up with a few stories that would fit the reason he was here by himself.

#1 Parents could not stand his weird behavior so they make him live here for weekends.

#2 He is a patriotic zealot (had a stars and stripes chair) or religious nut bag that had a few too many lights burnt out on his tree that was kicked out of the military his first year and is now living on his own, roaming campground to campground looking for people to convert to his new philosophy. (Insert Manson/David Koresh face here please.)

#3 He found out he could not sing on American Idol, in the cruel way we all sit back an laugh at, while he broke into "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" in crocs and a unitard and is making his way to LA via hitchhiking to get even with Simon Cowell.

#4 He attempted to kill his family and now is trying to escape extradition to Poland (is Poland still a county BTW? Not sure if it is one of those places that got re-named since I left HS geography or not? ) because he fed them arsenic and instead of dying, they just lost their eyebrows and now look like eggs with eyes. The patriotic chair he had is just to throw people off.

#5 He is trying to earn a badge for some scouting thing and his parents know he is a nerd so they do not trust him to come out alive with camping in the woods for 2 days so they made him camp at a state park and now he will be teased for being a loser by his eagle scout buddies who actually did the deed and wiped their hinnies with poison ivy and ate grubs to earn their badge legit and will beat the heck out of him after the awards ceremony because he is a momma's boy.

I am going with #5 BTW.

We all slept well that night minus Carsyn who picked the air mattress first and got one that must have a slow leak because she woke up with it deflated!

Treyner played 2 game this day and it was going to be a high of about 100!

We headed to the fields, bought a pass and watched the games! Treyner played in goal for one game - he let 0 goals in and then, played out the second game. He can do a front handspring throw in from the sideline and clear half the field so it was fun to see him do that as a field player when he doesn't get a chance while in goal.

Chad (kids dad) and his parents came in for the second game (Chad from MN and his parents from Iowa) and it was nice that they got to see the kids and Treyner. His parents were late of course - made it for the second half - because they had to stop and take pics of Amish quilts painted on barns on the way up. Why would you not do that creating a late arrival when you only see your grandson a few times a year? I mean why think through the process and do it on your way home?

The best was that his mom is a big lady. Tall and big boned and just scary. She does not try and ease her way into a crowd and assess the situation. She likes to make a spectacle of herself.

And she sweats. A lot. Profusely. Bad.

So instead of parking like normal people in the lot and scanning the crowd for us. Lynnerd (my nick name for Chad's Dad) drops off the beast (kids nickname for grandma when she is out of control) literally on the highway in front of the fields so she can get to the game 5 minutes faster (it was her idea to take pics) than him.

Now if you can all please picture a soccer field that is surrounded by a built up hill that encircels the field. This is done to stop the ball from rolling onto the highway or other fields if it is kicked out of bounds. This hill formation encircles the entire field.

They had called - said they were here so we were scanning for them.

Only to hear a soft moan from Baylor followed by an "oh..noooo..."

Over the ridge right behind the net we are currently shooting on comes grandma. Huffing and puffing and pulling herself over the peak like she just crawled up Mt. Everest.

She looked like a yetti.

A sweaty yetti.

And then she bellered - like a dinosaur looking for it's lost egg.

I tried to kill myself at that point but it is hard to with a flip flop. No matter how many times you hit yourself in the face with one of those things it is about impossible to do any damage or lose an eye. Just incase you were wondering.

While the kids tried to fit in with the Valasquez family and pretend they were albino Hispanics, I remembered all the times she drove me nuts and now, that she is no longer my problem.

They won that game as well and then we went out to eat as a big happy unit (actually it was a nice peace offering from them - they paid! ) The girls and I sat in one booth and Carsyn fell in love with a boy at the next table who came in with a senior citizen tour group (okay - probably grandparents) and seemed to have great manners and a nice personality.

The girls giggled over him and I giggled at the girls trying to figure out how to get his number. Leah is brazen but Carsyn is so shy. Kids will remind you in an instant of your youth. I could picture myself and some girlfriends at a Perkins doing the same thing 20 years before.

Left dinner and went back to the campground to find McCreeper still there and actually fell asleep playing Stump the Monkey. (Game where you decide on a topic like pop varieties, tv shows, cars etc. - and you go around the group until people drop out because they either repeat something already said or cannot come up with another name for the topic. It is great in the car and can be played with 2 or more people.)

Next day was another game and still freaking 2 million degrees. I do not tan like I used to so the benefit of boiling is not as fun as the good ole days of Wesson oil for your skin and Sun In for your hair.

Boys won again - Treyner played well - and then Carsyn and Leah left with Chad to go to MN. Leah had band practice and summer school (she is the freak who actually requests to go to summer school because she love school so much) and Carsyn had made a commitment to baby-sit. She had wanted to drop out of it and stay with me but I would not let her (teaching honor and integrity and not screwing over people and all) and then - the lady ended up cancelling on Carsyn!

Baylor and I got to spend 24 hours together and it was awesome. We went to Pizza Ranch and played Basketball. I won at horse 2 times! Who knew I could be so athletic? Slept well and toured the sites in the morning.

Okay there is only one site - Devils Gulch.

Now this my friends was the equivalent to the Goofy movie when Goofy takes Max to the possum compound. The road was muddy from tons of rain 2 days before and rutted like no other. We actually could not walk into the museum because we were afraid we would loose our shoes.

The story is that Jesse James jumped the gulch on horseback to avoid the law after robbing the banks in Northfield, MN. I am not believing that and I thought we were going to die crossing the grate that lead to the gulch.

This was ghetto at it's finest and I think they had the local 4H club weld the bridge together for a county fair project.

Do you see the great construction here? I thought we were going to fall in.

The gulch - the only way Jesse James jumped it at it's narrowest split was on Dumbo, after he had the feather and could fly.

This last pic was before Baylor crawled around the bumper trying to avoid the mud to get back into the car. Quality sign for a quality place.

We then took a drive around another campground and this place was barren. City owned and it had 2 campers total. Spooky and scary because there was all this red paint running on the outside or the garbage cans as you drove around the place. (Hand to heaven the truth.)

Baylor was convinced it was blood from the rest of the campers once here and killed by the on site manager with 3 teeth we saw earlier but I told him his imagination was too big and he shouldn't make up stories about people.

Saw the falls at Sioux Falls - actually a beautiful place.

Talked with a couple married forever and just out driving the country ( made Baylor and I think of the couple we met on the beach that first day with just us in Dec. at Vero.) Then headed to the game.

It was a scorcher and it was miserable. Actually used an umbrella to shade ourselves from the sun.

A kid got hurt in Treyner's goal box - clean collision - but he broke his shoulder and it extended the wait for 45 minutes. Now here is where there is a stupid rule. The boys - on both teams - could not leave the field for water or shade. The reason is it would be easy to trade out jerseys and a red carded player could sneak into a lesser players jersey to re-gain access to the field. Too much to watch and monitor the sidelines. I get that but why not have a red marker or something and draw on the kids arms so they know who to let back on the field. There has got to be something better than letting them bake.

Baylor took a lot of pics that day of the game.

Treyner ended up getting scored on once - it was a good goal - and that was it. The opposing team won the bracket with one goal and Treyner's team lost their bracket by getting scored on once in 4 games. So frustrating but these teams all have guys going D1 schools so the competition was great and the games were well matched.

This was the last pic of the weekend.

Treyner actually came back with us and we stayed in the campsite one last night - just my boys and me. The boys swam in the river and we got up early, packed the things and headed home.

To get ready for Florida and a 24 hour car ride - 2 days later! :sad2

 

[Millie12591]

This pic of Treyner was in the city paper where he goes to school last week. So very glad I found it. I was shocked he made the paper since he is a red shirt but very glad cause it is a great shot!

Great pic, I'm sure your beyond proud.

That boy will drive me nuts though! He called and asked if we still had AAA because he locked the keys in his Jeep with it running last night - I said nope and then went back to bed! This after a $300 car bill on Friday after he hit the pothole and his first overdrafts having a checking account since Aug. It has been a week that's for sure!

There must be something in the air, I get a call the other day from the bank that my son banks with and I'm told he has over draft fees as well. I'm ready to hurt that child, I guess better at 17 than at 37 with a family....this is what I'm sticking with to make myself feel better about him doing it now.

There is some perks in knowing you are 30 hours away and not able to do everything! Making him grow up and for goodness sakes - I was 7 months pregnant at his age. If I can figure things out - so can he!

I'm kinda wishing that my son was 30 hours away so I didn't have to deal with the stunts he's been pulling lately. (much of which I would like to talk with you about soon, I'm in need of some stablizing so I won't hurt the poor child) And yes your right, they have to figure it out or they will always come to us looking for us to bail them out.

 

[GusT]

Hi Dawn! That is a great pic in the paper of Treyner!! I always loved the good pics of my step daughter. She played short stop and there was a great one of her getting a tag out at 2nd. That pic stayed on my locker at work for a long time!!

Our trips are getting soooo close!! I'm almost doing the single digit dance!!

 

[GusT]

oh wait it's after midnight now..... I am doing the single digit dance!!!!

 

[Dizneydawn]

Hope you all are enjoying the weekend!

I have been having some medical issues lately and thought it was kidney related. I ended up in the ER last night for 4 hours. They are not sure what is going on but the symptoms are painfull and it is definately not a kidney infection.

Distended stomach and very painfull. I look like I am 9 months pregnant. Hard as a rock. They tested me for Celiacs disease a year ago and it came back negative but I guess you can have a glueten allergy/wheat allergy without it comming back positive.

Anyone have advice of websites? I have been looking and there seems to be a lot of mixed info.

I will write more later.

Thought of you all yesterday and hope you had a blessed Thanksgiving.