No ticker and no planning make me GO CRAZY.. Feb. 2013 PTR

[TinksThree]

I just saw you had a PTR! So subbing and I will go back and catch up tonight! I think I am about to start mine for July but I am nervous tryign to juggle a PTR and a TR!!

 

[pinkxray]

I think I have finally figured out that I like exercising at night. One night last week, I went out after Reid went to bed & walked a 5K. Tonight, I started up the C25K program. I really hope I can do this!



This year he's going on Tuesdays & Thursdays. School is from 9-12 but I signed him up for extra time, so he stays until 2:30 & has lunch there. Next year, he'll go 5 days a week (9-12). I may let him do the extended stay either 1 or 2 days a week. He loves school so much!

I just read your update today. I can't believe you are doing the 5k on your next trip. DH doesn't think that running a 5k is enough of a reason for me to fly from CT to FL I wish we lived a little closer, it would make it a bit easier to convince him.

That's great that Reid loves school. Caitlin always preferred to be home with me or stay over Grandma's instead of going to any type of school. She doesn't mind it much now, but I think she only likes to go so she can spend the day socializing.

Yeah, one more time. And this time, I'm sticking to it, LOL. Kassidy turns 9 in June, so this will be her last year as a Disney "kid". I'm not paying adult ticket and DDP prices for a 10 year old, I think thats ludicrous. Plus, Kass is an adrenaline junky. She wants roller coasters that go super fast and rides that flip you upside down. I can't get her on rides like Peter Pan and Dumbo. She has no interest. At the MK she only ever wants to do Splash Mountain, BTMRR, and Space Mountain. She could skip the rest. As much as I love Disney World, they have a rather sad lack of "thrills". It's more about the overall experience, but that's lost on my kiddo. It's time to hang it up for a while and re-visit when she's older.

I have my sights set on going to Hawaii next year instead. I checked Aulani prices, as the resort looks beautiful, but unless they offer a HUGE military discount, (which right now, they don't), we can stay for much, much, much cheaper closer to Honolulu. They want like $35 a day to park in the lot there, it's insanity.

I also kind of have my heart set on doing England/Scotland, and going to the castle that they filmed Harry Potter at. They do tours there, I have a friend going over the summer to do it. Speaking of Harry Potter, our next Orlando trip after August will likely be when they complete the 2nd half of the WWoHP and make it a 2 park experience there at US. For that trip we'll stay on site at US and do those parks, Seaworld, and Discovery Cove, skipping Disney all together.

As for the race, there are a ton of youtube videos from the Atlanta race last month you can watch to get a feel for what it's like. The Atlanta race was a mud-pit because of their weather, I'm hoping that ours here in August will be a little drier. Many people couldn't actually run because of all the muck, people were slipping and sliding all over the place. You guys are going to have a great time, no matter what!

Your travel plans sound great. I never knew that you could see the castle they filmed at. How cool. When I was in high school, I took a class trip to Ireland, Scotland and England. I am so glad I was able to do that before I met DH, I have a hard time getting him to travel in the US, I can't imagine getting him to agree to going out of the country. Although he did say he might like to go to Ireland one day


I was actually thinking of trying to squeeze in a long weekend this summer to go to US/IOA and Discovery Cove but I dont think I'll be able to keep the price low enough with the crazy airfare cost right now


I did see a few youtube videos. I think those are what convinced me NOT to do it. Caitlin has been saying that she would like to come and watch now. Now I get to use that as an excuse for not doing it, it as nothing to do with be a baby and chickening out

Hey Diane!
It was fun going down memory lane with you! Some of your pictures were quite useful to me actually.
I was thinking about your scheduling issues and realized that my household seems to be running about a year behind yours right now. we will have a trip this year, but not one next year; hopefully a baby the next; hopefully the mother/ daughter turning ten trip 2015.
the rope climbing would turn me off too!

It's nice to see you back on the boards again.

I wish I could get our plans figured out. The whole not knowing when/if we are going to have another baby makes it impossible to think ahead too far.

I just saw you had a PTR! So subbing and I will go back and catch up tonight! I think I am about to start mine for July but I am nervous tryign to juggle a PTR and a TR!!

Don't worry, you didn't miss much. The week I started this PTR, I was hardly working. The next week I took the part time position but somehow ended up picking up extra hours and have been pretty much full time and have had no good DIS time


Is the whole family going back in July? It's not a adults only trip right? I have no idea why I thought you were going on an adults only trip, lack of sleep is making TR's blur together.....

 

[pinkxray]

I apologize for lack of updates around here... When I started this PTR in the beginning of March, I was working per diem and Feb was extremely slow. I worked about 6 days that month Winter is usually slow but I worked 5 days in a row and then had about 3 weeks off... so bored.

Anyway, in the beginning of March I accepted a part time position at the hospital that will have me working 3 days a week, with every third weekend. However that same week the radiography dept. in my hospital fell apart. My boss had to have emergency surgery and was out for over a month, a full timer who has worked for 30 years got fired, a few people moved to different depts, two people are out on maternity, a couple people out on medical leave which has me suddenly working full time. I have been working 5-6 days a week rotating between first shift and third shift. I am totally exhausted and haven't had much Dis time. I have been following along most TR on my kindle but haven't commented on much since I hate posting on that.


This weekend is my first weekend off in 5 weeks. I have done the overnight shifts on the weekends for the last 5 weeks and I am so excited that it is 11:42 on a Friday night and I'm not about to punch in to work I haven't posted much b/c I would most likely complain but I hate complaining about working too much. I am sure many people would love to have that problem. I just have to make it though the next two weeks and by May it should calm down a bit.


I have been trying to make sure that I get in at least 3 runs a week. This was the first week that I wasn't able to make that goal but my knees were a bit sore so I was okay with a little break this week. My long run was 5.5 miles last week and it went fairly well. I really need to start bumping up the training a bit. I just feel way too slow. I have heard that training on hills helps so I might start jogging hills once a week.


Caitlin is on vacation next week. Unfortunately, I only have Wed. off during the week but that should be a good day. We are going to make the trip to the mall about an hour away to visit the Disney Store and have lunch at Rainforest Cafe. Caitlin also need some new clothes so I get to spend the day trying to convince her to try on clothes.








In vacation news- DH asked me a few days to start pricing out a cruise in August. That's right, my DH wants to go on a cruise. Bermuda or Eastern Caribbean. Of course, I get excited. I know DCL is out but I don't care. I'll try any cruise line, I just care about the pretty blue water. I start pricing them out.

I ask DH what he is looking to spend and how long. What does he want?






He wants a 5 night cruise for 1500. Um, yeah. There are no Eastern Caribbean cruise that are that short. I did find a 6 night on Carnival but it was over 3000 and that was without airfare or excursions. Bermuda is cheaper to do 7 nights over 5 and that is about 3800 but we don't need airfare.

I tell DH that he is acting like those people on First time home buyers who want a huge house, in a prime location, with double sinks, granite counter tops, etc. for like 200,000 where they really cost 400,000.

I price out 100 options, Different lines, dates, but it all comes out to be at least 3500 for the 3 of us. (we could swing a 4 day Bahama cruise but DH doesn't want an older ship and 4 nights is too short) DH knows that I have been working a lot and assumes that I will get make up the difference Um, no.I wouldn't have minded if it was half but it would end more more that I was paying 2/3 of his trip. I really, really considered booking the 6 night cruise on Carnival that went to Half Moon, Grand Turk and somewhere else pretty but it would cost me about $2500 plus excursions and if I was to spend that there is no way I could make it to Disney this Feb. if I decide to do the Half Marathon this year.

I had to turn down an expense paid cruise by me I told DH that we agreed 2012 is his year, we can go/do whatever he wants but he needs to cover ALL of it. I was fully prepared to only do a few weekend trips this year so I'm not too disappointed.

I did learn that when we take a cruise on RCL or NCL, I really need to let DH do all the planning. I am not sure if he really has no idea how much a vacation like a 7 night cruise on a new RCL ship costs, plus airfare or if he just hopes that since I am obsessed with being on vacation that I will bump up my working hours whenever possible to pay for the difference.


This whole ordeal lead us to have a long talk the other night about future vacation/ Disney plans. DH almost never pays attention when I talk about vacation but this time I know he paid attention. Afterwards he had to get up to take some Excedrin, and nothing gives DH a headache like listening to vacation talk


I'll save that for a future update though. I need to catch up on everyone else's TRs[/COLOR][/SIZE]

 

[dizneeat]

Jumping between "just a little work" and working "full time" can be so tiring, but you are doing pretty well with it, the way you make it sound.

And don't worry, most men won't listen to vacation talk. I think I have given Tom the dates for our vacations several times, all he has to do is put in his vacation request ........ guess what he always forgets.

When you first mentioned 5 nights for 1500$ I was like ..... wow, if they can get away on that price, it would be awesome. I hope you find something closer to that price or that your DH will top up the spending amount a bit.

I admire you on your running! I am so tired after work that even going for a walk is hard work.

 

[pinkxray]

Jumping between "just a little work" and working "full time" can be so tiring, but you are doing pretty well with it, the way you make it sound.

And don't worry, most men won't listen to vacation talk. I think I have given Tom the dates for our vacations several times, all he has to do is put in his vacation request ........ guess what he always forgets.

When you first mentioned 5 nights for 1500$ I was like ..... wow, if they can get away on that price, it would be awesome. I hope you find something closer to that price or that your DH will top up the spending amount a bit.

I admire you on your running! I am so tired after work that even going for a walk is hard work.

I am doing a horrible job keeping up with anything while working full time. My house is a huge mess. I told myself that running would be priority and that housework can wait until a day off. Not looking foward to today, since I have to catch up on cleaning the whole house.

DH had to ask me about 100 times last year to write down the dates of our vacations to put in for vacation time. It must be nice to just show up.


I really have no idea where DH finds these numbers I was thinking of trying a 4 night Bahama cruise on NCL, but then I realized that we would really like to try the Freedom or the Oasis of the Seas for our next cruise besides DCL. If it means waiting until next summer to do what we really want, then I would rather wait. Although I am having some serious vacation withdrawl.

 

[teekathepony]

It never rains but it pours, huh? Sounds like the work situation is tough but manageable. I do hope things get less hectic for you though.
Wow, a 5.5 mile run sounds so out of my reach. I'm still aiming to get to 2 miles when I run. Good for you for keeping up with it while working so much!
Wow again, cruises are a lot more expensive than I would have thought. I've never looked at prices before. I hope you guys work out something fun for this year!

 

[amandaw]

Hope work calms down soon for you. It does indeed sound quite tiring.

Your comparison of your DH to new home buyers cracked me up! But, it's so true! Honestly, I had priced out RCL for next year on an Eastern Caribbean to compare to DCL. If we wanted to go on one of the bigger, nicer boats......it wasn't that different from Disney prices for the Fantasy. But, I'm glad you told him he needs to cover the vacation cost this year since that was the deal! Who knows, maybe he'll want a cruise enough to go ahead & book it.

 

[crostorfer]

WOW! You have been working some crazy hours! When it rains, it pours. Working per diem is always feast or famine.

 

[tinacaplan]

I'm here...FINALLY! I didn't even see this in your signature the other day. Sorry. You really have been working crazy hours, don't feel bad about complaining a bit. Its hard. And its harder still when you have a kid to take care of, too.

I love how you've tied running to your Disney trips. That might even get me motivated, although I doubt it. I don't like running and I'm really bad at it.

I know what you mean about your DH not getting what things cost. My husband has only a vague notion of what our Disney trips cost. His fault for not paying more attention to these things.

My thoughts are with you on the pregnancy thing, too.

 

[jenseib]

Work sounds hectic, but at least you are making some moolah! If you need any help planning a cruise (I love cruising) send me a PM. 1500 for 3 is unrealistic for what he wants. Though I have found some ocean view rooms for that price or less, but not the ports he would want most likely. He sounds like my DH. He wants to sail Alaska....in the winter. I told him they don't cruise then, but he says thats when he can go, so lets do it then....Um did you hear me? They don't sail in the winter....it's frozen, Ever hear of the show Ice Road Truckers.

He cracks me up.

 

[PirateKate]

We're planning a cruise for 2013 and I found them all to be more expensive than I would have liked, too. We ended up on the Disney Dream for four nights. Jeremy keeps saying that we could save lots of money on it if we leave the boys behind.

Hope work slows down soon!

 

[pinkxray]

It never rains but it pours, huh? Sounds like the work situation is tough but manageable. I do hope things get less hectic for you though.
Wow, a 5.5 mile run sounds so out of my reach. I'm still aiming to get to 2 miles when I run. Good for you for keeping up with it while working so much!
Wow again, cruises are a lot more expensive than I would have thought. I've never looked at prices before. I hope you guys work out something fun for this year!

The 5.5 miles actually felt pretty good. I really should say jog super slow/take walk breaks but run just sounds so much better.

Cruises can be cheaper, it all depends on the ship and when you travel. The newer ships from Royal Caribbean and NCL during peak travel times are just as expensive as the Disney Dream/Fantasy. I don't know why people always complain about DCL being so much.

I think I am just going to give up trying to get away this summer. I need to just concentrate on saving for my year of Disney trips. Plus I would really like to get on the Fantasy in 2014 and it will most likely have to be Feb or April vacation which means I need lots of $$$$.

Hope work calms down soon for you. It does indeed sound quite tiring.

Your comparison of your DH to new home buyers cracked me up! But, it's so true! Honestly, I had priced out RCL for next year on an Eastern Caribbean to compare to DCL. If we wanted to go on one of the bigger, nicer boats......it wasn't that different from Disney prices for the Fantasy. But, I'm glad you told him he needs to cover the vacation cost this year since that was the deal! Who knows, maybe he'll want a cruise enough to go ahead & book it.

RCL and NCL are just as bad as DCL. They might look a little cheaper but there always seem to be things that they don't include like Disney. If DH wants RCL he can save for it, I'm saving my $ for the Fantasy

WOW! You have been working some crazy hours! When it rains, it pours. Working per diem is always feast or famine.

I only have 1 more week with a jam packed schedule. Once May comes I should be slowing down. Should be, be we'll see.

I'm here...FINALLY! I didn't even see this in your signature the other day. Sorry. You really have been working crazy hours, don't feel bad about complaining a bit. Its hard. And its harder still when you have a kid to take care of, too.

I love how you've tied running to your Disney trips. That might even get me motivated, although I doubt it. I don't like running and I'm really bad at it.

I know what you mean about your DH not getting what things cost. My husband has only a vague notion of what our Disney trips cost. His fault for not paying more attention to these things.

My thoughts are with you on the pregnancy thing, too.

The whole reason I started running was b/c I happened to read a TR a few years ago on the Princess Half. It was right after our May 2010 trip and it gave me an excuse to get back to Disney. It took me until Oct of this year to actually do the C25K but I am determined to make it to a Half Marathon in Disney. I find Disney to be a great motivator. If I have to run 13.1 to get DH to agree to go to Disney during Feb. break then I guess I have to run 13.1 miles.

DH never really pays attention to how much our vacations cost either and I don't feel the need to volunteer the info. I usually pick up extra overnight shifts that I wouldn't normally pick up to pay for vacations. He can't complain since I wouldn't pick up the shifts otherwise.

I think he will be in shock if he ever actually tries to book a trip or cruise on his own.


I hope you are enjoying your time at Disney right now!

Work sounds hectic, but at least you are making some moolah! If you need any help planning a cruise (I love cruising) send me a PM. 1500 for 3 is unrealistic for what he wants. Though I have found some ocean view rooms for that price or less, but not the ports he would want most likely. He sounds like my DH. He wants to sail Alaska....in the winter. I told him they don't cruise then, but he says thats when he can go, so lets do it then....Um did you hear me? They don't sail in the winter....it's frozen, Ever hear of the show Ice Road Truckers.

He cracks me up.

Too funny that Skip wants to go to Alaska in the winter That sounds exactly like DH. Only DH refuses to go on an Alaskan cruise. Too cold.

I give up trying to convince DH to squeeze in a vacation this summer. He always brings something up and I get excited. Then, he changes his mind and I am disappointed. I am just going to continue on with my vacation plans and anything extra will be a bonus

We're planning a cruise for 2013 and I found them all to be more expensive than I would have liked, too. We ended up on the Disney Dream for four nights. Jeremy keeps saying that we could save lots of money on it if we leave the boys behind.

Hope work slows down soon!

I told DH we could manage all of his wish list if we left Caitlin behind too She didn't like that too much.

The Disney Dream will be sooooo fun with the boys

 

[pinkxray]

Another busy week, but a bit more manageable since I have the weekends off until the end of the month. Caitlin is on April vacation this week.


Saturday was a beautiful day and DH was stuck working all day.

I felt as though I could use a little bit of Disney so we headed up to the Disney store. We no longer have one close to us, the closest one is an hour drive. However, they do have a Disney store and a Rainforest Café so it is nice to visit once in awhile.


There wasn’t too much that caught my interest at the Disney store.

I ended up only buying a Mickey Mouse cup to use at work.

Caitlin ended up with a stuffed Lady and Lucky. Because the other 1000 stuffed animals she has aren’t enough.


We had lunch here

We have been to RFC once and T-rex once. This time Caitlin was terrified during the storm. TERRIFIED. We were seated right next to the huge elephant which Caitlin thought was an angry elephant. She was pretty close to tears. I would have asked to move but we already had our stuff all over the table. I have some nice nail marks from where she dug into my skin. She wants to go back again, but now we have make sure we aren’t seated right next to the angry elephant or crazy gorilla.


These are purchases from a few weeks ago from Disney store .com that I forgot to post.

I ordered my first Vinylmation. The 25th anniversary one from DS.

I actually ordered an extra one for my sister, but of course Caitlin started to cry when I told her it was for Jenny and not her. “But Jenny already has a bunch of them and I don’t have any!” Well, now she has one. I believe she is going to trade it with her aunt though.

I also got this bag. Is it just me or are these bags horrible quality. It seems a bit better than previous ones, but they don’t last long in this house. I have stopped buying them but this one was too cute to pass up.

Just in case I need a reminder. I am really hoping to get there for 2014, but if I am able to go for 2013 I’ll take it.


I also ran a 4 mile run on Sunday at a local event. It was soooo freakin hot. Since I started running in the fall, I haven't really dealt with heat yet. It was about 80something degrees and it felt like the sun was beating directly on me. Right after the starting line, we made it to the turn and there was a huge hill to run up. Heat and hills are something I need to work on this summer. I made it through the first 2 miles without walking but had to take a break after that. I ended up taking about 4 different 1 minute breaks. I finished at right over 51 minutes.

Since Caitlin is on vacation and DH has to work into the night this week my runs aren't working out. I tried going yesterday at 5:30am before work but after about 10 minutes my run turned into a walk I was hoping to do a run today but DH is working late again. I might try to take Caitlin along on her bike for at least some type of activity.

Sunday will be another local 5k. This time Caitlin wants to do it too. I told her to try the kids run for this one and maybe she can do another later. I just don't want to have to pay for her to do it and have it be a disaster.

There is also a 5k right near my house on Mother's Day and I think that might be my last one for the summer. I'm getting tired of dropping $30 each time and I don't think I'll do good with running in the heat. I think I will have to start running before work at 5-5:30 in the summer before it gets too hot.

 

[amandaw]

Love your treasures from the Disney store! Especially the cup - very cute!

You're doing such a great job with your running! Keep up the hard work! I do think you could run the Princess Half in February.

So far, I'm still sticking to C25K. I'm doing ok with it but I still find it a tad unbelievable that I'll be able to run 3 miles by the end. But, I'm going to try! I like running at night since it's not as hot. I know that once it gets closer to our trip, I'll have to do some morning training since the ToT 5K is in the morning. I don't blame you for not doing anymore races after Mother's Day. It is just too hot!

RCL and NCL are just as bad as DCL. They might look a little cheaper but there always seem to be things that they don't include like Disney. If DH wants RCL he can save for it, I'm saving my $ for the Fantasy

I haven't looked into NCL but I have looked at several cruises with RCL. And they really are just as expensive as DCL. I found that not only does RCL not include a lot of the things that Disney does, but I found it very hard if not impossible to find out what certain things cost on RCL. Like the restaurants where you have to pay extra. I couldn't easily find this info on the website. I ended up finding a TR on here about an RCL cruise. From that TR, I learned what the extra restaurants could cost. Some are very reasonable. But, what I didn't like is that at some you pay your little bit extra for the food but you also have to pay a little fee to get into the restaurant, too. Again, it was hardly anything but it just perturbed me for some reason. I don't know, when I go on a cruise, I want it to be pretty much all-inclusive. I know I have to pay for tips, alcohol, excursions, spa & adults-only places. But, really everything else should be included. And the prices should all be easy to find for these extras. Which, DCL makes it very easy to find out how much all of their stuff cost so it makes it easier to budget for them.

 

[lbuzz52]

swinging your shifts has got to make it extra exhausting!

i've picked up a couple vinylmation lately too (THANKS KATE...) I also asked for a couple for Mother's Day. Figure its a great gift- when else are you allowed to trade something you don't like without hurting feelings

i got the 25th anniversary bag too. it is a completely different material then they have been in the past. I'm not sure how it will hold up compared to the others. i figure if nothing else it may repel water a little better.

 

[PirateKate]

My Disney reusable bags fall apart quickly, too. They're so cute that I still want to buy them, if only they'd last longer. It's almost like they're disposable reusable bags.

I like the new Vinylmation. Did you see Disney Store was having a special offer online where you could buy one Vinyl and get a mystery vinyl for only $1.99? I couldn't resist that.

Lauren- you're very welcome.

 

[pinkxray]

I will get to responses over the weekend. I ended up picking up the overnights this weekend, but I have a very good motivation. Caitlin and I are going to walk to the beach in a few minutes, but I had to share with someone.


There is about a 80% chance I might be needing a new ticker soon Unfortunately, it will only involve 2 days at Disney but I'll take what I can get. All I need to do is get my dates approved for vacation time and we're good to go. I won't get to see my boss until Monday though.

If it all works out, you'll be the first to know.

Amanda and Casey, I might be heading down at the same time you guys will be there

 

[amandaw]

I will get to responses over the weekend. I ended up picking up the overnights this weekend, but I have a very good motivation. Caitlin and I are going to walk to the beach in a few minutes, but I had to share with someone.


There is about a 80% chance I might be needing a new ticker soon Unfortunately, it will only involve 2 days at Disney but I'll take what I can get. All I need to do is get my dates approved for vacation time and we're good to go. I won't get to see my boss until Monday though.

If it all works out, you'll be the first to know.

Amanda and Casey, I might be heading down at the same time you guys will be there

OMG! How exciting!!!

Okay, I'm sending pixie dust your way that it happens. I would be so thrilled if you were there at the same time as us!

 

[dizneeat]

I will get to responses over the weekend. I ended up picking up the overnights this weekend, but I have a very good motivation. Caitlin and I are going to walk to the beach in a few minutes, but I had to share with someone.


There is about a 80% chance I might be needing a new ticker soon Unfortunately, it will only involve 2 days at Disney but I'll take what I can get. All I need to do is get my dates approved for vacation time and we're good to go. I won't get to see my boss until Monday though.

If it all works out, you'll be the first to know.

Amanda and Casey, I might be heading down at the same time you guys will be there

That's wonderful news!
I'll keep my fingers crossed for it to work out in your favour!

 

[crostorfer]

I will get to responses over the weekend. I ended up picking up the overnights this weekend, but I have a very good motivation. Caitlin and I are going to walk to the beach in a few minutes, but I had to share with someone.


There is about a 80% chance I might be needing a new ticker soon Unfortunately, it will only involve 2 days at Disney but I'll take what I can get. All I need to do is get my dates approved for vacation time and we're good to go. I won't get to see my boss until Monday though.

If it all works out, you'll be the first to know.

Amanda and Casey, I might be heading down at the same time you guys will be there

YAY!!!!



Are you on Pottermore Diane?