Nothing to See Here...

[azdisneylover]

Sherry,
Sorry to read you weren't able to make it to Catalina for your birthday. I read through all the trip report, but I couldn't find if you got your computer situation taken care of. I hope you are able to work.
I know you will have a wonderful time when you go to DL in the next few months, and I cannot wait for the pictures you will be taking.
Still hating construction, hard to make solid plans. (I have started planning 'what if' trips-meaning, if construction and payment goes as planned, we can go xyz, if it get pushed back, then we can go abc, etc).
Have a good day.

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

I was once behind a teen girl at a U2 concert. She kept popping up and SCREAMING (something I was not not NOT allowed to do at concerts as a teen b/c my mom went with me and found it to be most obnoxious...she liked Elvis and the Beatles perfectly fine, but said that the screaming thing never happened until they appeared and was irked by that) and nearly fainting...we were in restricted view seats (which are generally FABULOUS seats at U2 shows, just so ya know) and he kept getting really close to us, and she was just hyperventilating.

Very funny!! The last time I went to a concert, everybody was screaming. Of course, it was the Glee cast I went to. The time before that, pretty much everybody was standing except for my family and most of the adults.

 

[bumbershoot]

Sherry, how's it going?

Any Decembertime plans? Hmm?

 

[Sherry E]

Sigh.

I almost hate posting any updates in this TR, or running any scenarios around for possible plans, because I feel as though I am somehow jinxing whatever I set in motion! Also, I hate to post anything when there isn't something fantastic and wonderful to report on. Otherwise, it seems like it's all doom and gloom and I hate that. But...this is all part of planning trips, I suppose...the ups and the downs.

Keep in mind that in the entirety of this Mega-Trip Report, there have only been 5.5 actual DLR trips (more more like 5.75 trips) on which I have reported in a 3-year time span. Other people have gone to DLR 5 or 6 times in the last year! Clearly, it is not easy for me to whip up a plan and go without 10 million things going wrong, so you can see why it is so meaningful and hard-won when I finally get there.

To refresh your memories, my birthday in July was a bust, as usual. I never do anything or go anywhere at all - and that is no exaggeration. The one time something came up for me to do - a day-trip to Catalina with a free round-trip ride on the Catalina Express - it sounded as if it was going to be too complicated to deal with...and in not enough time. So I opted to forego the free boat ride and wait until I can get to Avalon for at least a weekend. One day - not even a full day, if you want to get technical - was not going to be enough for me. That's just a tease. That's barely scratching the surface. So Catalina Island was off the table for the immediate future - but never out of my mind entirely!

So, you also may recall that one set of out of town friends - The G Family - wanted to go to Catalina with me. When that idea was scrapped, we were going to set up another plan. I had already suggested doing a few hours at Downtown Disney (this was actually my original Plan A, and Catalina became Plan B by default), but my friend's son would have been upset if we couldn't go into Disneyland...so that idea was scrapped too.

I was going to suggest a modest Plan C to The G Family - going to the Disney Studio Store and Soda Fountain. Yes, I live in L.A., probably 15 minutes from Hollywood, and I've never been to the Studio Store. Mainly, I was trying to think of something that I wanted to do, that my friend's kids would also want to do. I didn't want to suggest eating somewhere or doing something that the kids wouldn't enjoy.

My Plan D - if Plan D had reared its head - may have been to do the Studios tour in Burbank.


But, alas, I never even got to suggest Plans C or D, because....I NEVER SAW THE G FAMILY!!!!

That's right - I never saw them! The G Family was out here for two whole weeks - and I have seen my friend (the G Family matriarch) every single time she has come into town, which is usually every 3 years or so - and yet, somehow, this time, after the Catalina plan was scrapped, they were already so booked up with plans and people clamoring for their attention, that I never saw them.

This is the first time, ever, that I have not seen my friend from The G Family since she first moved out of L.A. and began coming for visits every few years. They are not a flaky family at all. When they say they are going to do something, they do it. It just so happens that they also have 50 million people wanting to see them, and they had filled up their dance card for the whole trip. There was no time for me after Catalina was shelved. We should have have Plan C and Plan D in place before they ever came out here. I needed to 'reserve' time, just like I would reserve a hotel room or restaurant. It's never been quite that formal before, but they have a baby that most of their friends and distant relatives had not seen, and everyone wanted to meet him.


So are you keeping score? No birthday fun of any kind, solo or with friends. No Catalina trip. No visit with The G Family.

Oh, and I decided to not use the nifty PIN code for a Halloween Time hotel stay because I have that big holiday trip coming up and I really need to pool as much money together as possible for that.

So...what's next?? Well, I have some things in the works (don't worry - Halloween Time is not entirely off the table!), but as I said earlier, at this point I am afraid to even toss around my ideas for Halloween because they will probably fall apart as soon as I mention them!

​

That leaves the big late November/early December holiday extravaganza....and The I Family.

Sigh.

My friend - and I Family matriarch - is in a grumpy mood right now, and not feeling well. Her immune system is weakened (she has been sick a lot this year and had pneumonia a few times, including a hospital stay) and, personally, I think they should not come out here. If they were to come out here, I think they should skip Disneyland and anywhere else strenuous they were thinking of going (Sea World, perhaps). I don't even think my friend really wants to go to Disneyland, to be honest. Rather than enjoying participating in planning, she seems to be miserable to even have to deal with it.

BUT, as I mentioned to you all once before, what was MY DLR trip that I invited my friends to come along on has now become their trip. In regards to who would be joining us on which dates (such as the ever-present Shawn and Jackie), my friend said (in an e-mail) last night that she is not going to worry about anyone's schedule and is just going to "set a time and date, and whoever wants to show up can show up and if they can't come then fine." She also said she may stay with me at the PPH for a night, but she's not sure.

(Um.....hello? Remember me? I'm the one who invited you guys, the I Family, along on my trip...and now you're setting the date and time for our friends to show up? And you're not sure on which night you'd be staying with me at my hotel? I need to know!)

What I am concerned with is that, say, the I Family friend picks a day for Shawn, etc. to come along...and it's not on a day that works for me. For example, what if Shawn were going to pick me up in the morning and drive me down to Anaheim on my check-in day? She has usually done this, for most trips. If my friend from the I Family invites Shawn to come to DLR on a different day, well, you guessed it...there goes my ride down to Anaheim on MY first day. Shawn won't go into the parks more than one day, I don't think, and she is not going to pick me up if that's not her Disneyland day.

And there are other things too - it's also the fact that my I Family friend has invited other friends of hers to come, and that means that whatever I wanted to show her or do with her in DLR has to be squished into a smaller time frame because she has other people coming.

I was trying to plan and coordinate in such a way that would work for ALL of us. I wanted us to AGREE on which date our friends come out to meet us. I didn't want my friend to just decide that she was going to set a date and time on her own.

She said, "I am not worrying about anyone else. I am trying to make ME happy."

I wrote back and said, "I'm also trying to make ME happy."

Do we all remember ME in this equation? Wasn't this MY trip at one point or another? If The I Family wanted to plan their own Disneyland trip, separate from mine, then I don't know why they are coming when I'm there. Just go another time. Go when Cars Land is open.

And which dates ARE the I Family even going to be there? I have no clue. All she told me is that they will be arriving in town on Saturday, November 26. So are they planning to be at DLR on 11/28 or 11/29 or 12/3 or when??

As it is, I wouldn't even choose to go in late November at all - I would have preferred an all-December trip - but I selected those dates because I was trying to coordinate it so the I Family would be available and in town then.

I told my friend that I feel like she is trying to have her own separate trip and no longer be part of mine, which is fine except for that some decisions affect me and my trip. I told her that we need to AGREE on which date our friends join us, and that it's not just her decision. And I told her that if I have someone else staying in my room (like a DIS'er friend, for example), I need to know which exact dates my friend and the I Family are going to be there so I make sure to be available!

I think my friend doesn't want any hassle or fuss - she wants this to be as simple as meeting someone for coffee or for lunch or whatever. I was trying to do as much of the coordination legwork as possible to spare them from having to bother with it, but it will require SOME coordination and planning and consideration of schedules. It will require some compromise and negotiation of plans, and not a total reworking of my own plan.

Sigh.


ETA: Linda - no. Nothing new on the computer or tooth front!

 

[kaoden39]

Sherry,

As odd as this is I am at a loss for words.

 

[Sherry E]

Sherry,

As odd as this is I am at a loss for words.

I don't know if that's good or bad, but I'll take it! I know what you mean - sometimes, what is there to say? All I can do is just shrug and sigh. Believe me, it took every ounce of energy I had to even post an update. I want to be able to just post good stuff and not all the trouble I have getting in a trip together (even though that IS reality, and reality is that plans don't always go smoothly and sometimes they hit snags). But then when a trip finally happens, if the folks don't know all that I went through to make it happen, then the TR just kind of starts out nowhere - like, "Oh, look - here I am at Disneyland all of a sudden!"!

Oh, there is ONE good thing I can tell you right now - I cashed in the last remaining Reward Dollars on my Disney/Chase Debit Card (I can't earn anymore) and instantly got a $25 Disney gift card to set aside (hoard) for future use. So, that's something! Woo hoo! A $25 Disney gift card is better than NO Disney gift cards at all!

 

[kaoden39]

I just am frustrated over the families no matter what the letter and I am not even the one affected by it. I am sad that your birthday was a bust, I am big on birthdays. I had a horrible one this year too. Therefor I vote that we get this years birthdays as a do over.

And a $25 Disney gift card is a good gift card!!

 

[Belle Ella]

It can be so frusrtating, can't it?!

 

[Sherry E]

I just am frustrated over the families no matter what the letter and I am not even the one affected by it. I am sad that your birthday was a bust, I am big on birthdays. I had a horrible one this year too. Therefor I vote that we get this years birthdays as a do over.

And a $25 Disney gift card is a good gift card!!

Thanks, Michele!You're just frustrated with whichever family - the G Family, the I Famly, the Q Family, the Z Family - whoever!

Well, my friend from the G Family is a really, really good friend - the kind of friend who would always help in a crisis. She is always in hot demand when she comes to town but she has always made time for me - even if she was only in town for 3 or 4 days, she would still see me.

So I will give the G Family a pass on this one, because she has a good track record. I seriously think she and the family were already booked up before they got out here, but when I started to kind of nix the Catalina idea and their baby got sick, it threw our plans off to get together on my birthday. She probably wanted to fit me in somewhere else in the schedule but it just wasn't possible. Also, I think they had an unexpected move from one vacation rental to another (there was a small kitchen fire in the first unit) and that interefered in their schedule too.

But I do think I jinxed it by talking about it in the TR, so I should have kept quiet!

My birthdays are usually kind of sad and uneventful. My SoCal friends (what few there are left, as most are out of state) never suggest doing anything with me nor seem to care if I want to do something, so I just give up. I didn't feel particularly up for Catalina all of a sudden, so that was shelved, but I could have easily done a few hours at DTD or at the Disney Soda Fountain. I think it really turned out to just be bad timing. I know my friend would have definitely seen me for even 2 hours if she's had 2 hours to spare.

Now, the I Family and that friend, on the other hand...sigh. I get that my friend doesn't want a big, complicated plan and wants to be stress-free. Who doesn't want that? I've got my own problems - I don't need extra stress, either! They are causing me extra stress! I can't even get a set date out of them for which day they will be at Disneyland!

But the fact of the matter is, you can't just sort of take the reins and decide, "I'm setting a date and time and if no one shows up...," and "I'm trying to make ME happy," when there is another person involved in the plan. If my friend and the I Family had been the ones to first make the Disneyland plan and I was the one being worked into their plan, that would be a different story. But that's not the way it went, and she knows that.

So I'm not sure why it's so hard for my friend to just say to me, "WE can set a date and time and if no one shows up..." or "As long as WE are happy..." It's like she has totally turned it around to being their trip which I am now a part of - at least, that's how I feel. I don't know if someone got to her - maybe her husband or another friend - and told her "Do what makes YOU happy," even if it's at the cost or inconvenience of the person (me) who invited her to go to DLR in the first place! So now she is on this kick about that, and I seem to not matter. I was trying to work something out WITH her that would be good for all involved, and yet, I don't feel like they are looking at it the same way from their end.

What's worse is that I can't get my friend to actually go back and forth and discuss anything with me until we reach a compromise. She will ignore my e-mails with various suggestions for a long time. Then out of the blue she will send an e-mail that says she is setting dates and times for people to show up. I reponded to her today, but chances are she will ignore my replies and then e-mail in another month to say, "This is what I'm doing." It's like there is no discussing it or compromising. I keep asking her things like, "Does this work for you?" or "How does that work for you?" or "What do you think?" and I feel like I am not getting the same consideration.

What I hate is that it takes all the fun out of planning for me. I was looking forward to showing my friend - who I have not seen in 10 years, even though they have been out to SoCal a few times since then - certain new things and revisiting our old DLR stomping grounds together, and planning what to do could be fun. We could have fun planning together. But when I feel like my opinion doesn't even matter and that this is now their plan, my incentive to plan just disappears. Plus, I get the impression that she doesn't even really want to go; she views it as a hassle that she doesn't want to deal with. She also can't say no to anyone else who is insisting on going with them to Disneyland and tell them that the trip is with me, so "their" plan becomes even more convoluted.

Sigh.

It can be so frusrtating, can't it?!

Yep! That's an understatement!

 

[mariezp]

Doggone it Sherry!

If I were in your place I think I would have just screamed by now.

Ahhhh......... for simpler times when making plans was not so complicated. Hopefully, when you finally get there you can get lost in the magic and forget about what a time you had actually GETTING there.

 

[Sherry E]

Doggone it Sherry!

If I were in your place I think I would have just screamed by now.

Ahhhh......... for simpler times when making plans was not so complicated. Hopefully, when you finally get there you can get lost in the magic and forget about what a time you had actually GETTING there.

Marie -



You're not kidding! I'm surprised I haven't screamed by now, too!

What's funny is that I suspect my friend from the I Family thinks she is making things uncomplicated (for herself) by kind of taking the reins, but in actuality, it's made things more complicated in general and she would have been better off just letting me get everything coordinated for all of us, and I still would have asked her opinion anyway.

I don't need a lot from the planning - I'm not trying to figure out exactly which land we will be hitting at which time, which ride we will be riding at which time, or where we will be eating at which times. I don't need to know exactly what time my friends will arrive at the parks and what time they will need to go back to their hotel.

I simply just need to know exactly which days/dates in that post-Thanksgiving week they are going to be at DLR, and which one of those days will work best for BOTH OF US to have Shawn, Jackie, etc. join us (and Jackie may not be able to make it anyway, on a weekday, but I will cross that bridge later). And if it's not going to work for them to join us in the parks, then we can figure out when & if they can meet us for dinner.

At this rate, when I finally get to DLR - if the whole plan doesn't fall apart by late November - I feel like grabbing a drink! I don't even really drink, but I may need it by then!

 

[tksbaskets]

Marie -



You're not kidding! I'm surprised I haven't screamed by now, too!

What's funny is that I suspect my friend from the I Family thinks she is making things uncomplicated (for herself) by kind of taking the reins, but in actuality, it's made things more complicated in general and she would have been better off just letting me get everything coordinated for all of us, and I still would have asked her opinion anyway.

I don't need a lot from the planning - I'm not trying to figure out exactly which land we will be hitting at which time, which ride we will be riding at which time, or where we will be eating at which times. I don't need to know exactly what time my friends will arrive at the parks and what time they will need to go back to their hotel.

I simply just need to know exactly which days/dates in that post-Thanksgiving week they are going to be at DLR, and which one of those days will work best for BOTH OF US to have Shawn, Jackie, etc. join us (and Jackie may not be able to make it anyway, on a weekday, but I will cross that bridge later). And if it's not going to work for them to join us in the parks, then we can figure out when & if they can meet us for dinner.

At this rate, when I finally get to DLR - if the whole plan doesn't fall apart by late November - I feel like grabbing a drink! I don't even really drink, but I may need it by then!

This is perhaps one reason we've never vacationed with another family at DL/WDW. I think planning is a LOT of the fun and usually leads to a much less stressful and more satisfying trip experience. We make dining reservations each day (one sit down meal) and plan out target parks depending on extra magic hours, etc. Pour over trip reports to see places we want to make sure we visit...

I could never go with the flow to the extent your friend seems to want to do. I think I'd have some kind of non-planning allergic reaction. An anti-DIS effect.....

I have gone to WDW with my sister when my son was marching in the parade at MK. We had a great time but she let me do almost all the planning AFTER we decided together what we wanted out of our trip - that compromise word again.

You can't have a trip that focuses on ME if you are going WITH someone

I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed for you that it all works out with your friends. It is fun to share the magic.

TK

 

[bumbershoot]

Oh, there is ONE good thing I can tell you right now - I cashed in the last remaining Reward Dollars on my Disney/Chase Debit Card (I can't earn anymore) and instantly got a $25 Disney gift card to set aside (hoard) for future use. So, that's something! Woo hoo! A $25 Disney gift card is better than NO Disney gift cards at all!

Woo!


Just did that myself as soon as the last bit showed up on the recent statement.

BUT, as I mentioned to you all once before, what was MY DLR trip that I invited my friends to come along on has now become their trip. In regards to who would be joining us on which dates (such as the ever-present Shawn and Jackie), my friend said (in an e-mail) last night that she is not going to worry about anyone's schedule and is just going to "set a time and date, and whoever wants to show up can show up and if they can't come then fine." She also said she may stay with me at the PPH for a night, but she's not sure.

Oh, pastrami! (a swear word for a vegetarian, LOL)

You could do it right back at her. Not just your hotel stay, but also the day(s) that you're inviting Dis'ers to tour the parks with you (and, um, go in on the hotel room with you not that I'm naming any names or anything like that). She shows up, you've got me, Marie, Michele, and all the rest of the dis posse (yeah, I said posse, whatever, I never said it when it was fashionable, so I might as well say it now!) with you....oh what fun it would be.

 

[deejdigsdis]

Well now that I've picked my jaw up off the floor... Wow. I was really hoping you'd get to have some birthday fun with the G Family. I'm sorry it didn't work out to see them at all.

So no Halloween Time pin usage? But maybe a day trip is in store during Halloween Time?

Don't even get me started on the I Family... Seriously. I hope some kind of compromise can be made.

I can't believe summer is winding down and we'll be looking at Halloween Time photos in just over a month.

And TK...how 'bout that cruise TR you promised???

 

[Sherry E]

Hellllllllloooooooooooooooo folks!


Well, before I give you a TR update - and I don't like to post anything in the TR unless it has something to do with an actual trip to DLR! - I wanted to pay a quick little tribute.

You all may or may not remember (if you have followed along from the beginning of this mega-TR) that in my younger years - the hair band heyday of Los Angeles in the 1980's - I was involved in the whole "Sunset Strip scene." This "scene" was the stuff of legend, as it gave birth to such notable bands as Motley Crue, RATT, Guns 'n' Roses and even Van Halen, to a degree. This is also where Riki Rachtman (of VH1 and MTV fame) got his start. The 1980's Sunset Strip scene was also the stomping grounds for Poison and Warrant. If you were a band who played at Gazzari's, the Roxy, the Whisky, the Country Club or the Troubador, you were definitely labeled a 'Sunset Strip scene band,' which is funny because the Troubador and the Country Club are not even located on the Sunset Strip!

What the "scene" involved was, basically, every Friday and Saturday night, about 200 different up and coming bands would stalk one end of the Strip to the other, pacing aimlessly back and forth, up and down the street, handing out colorful flyers which promoted their shows.

Meanwhile, if you happened to be a patron of one of the clubs' shows taking place on the Strip (and my friends and I were always going to Poison shows, Warrant shows or shows by other bands you have never heard of), you would empty out of the club after said show was over, onto the Strip, and you would get caught up in the mobs of big-haired people just standing around in the middle of heaps of crumpled-up flyers. You would then follow the smell of the Aqua Net and head to the other end of the block, where the Whisky was situated. Then you would turn right around and head back to Gazzari's at the opposite end, which is where you had started in the first place. Along the way, as you followed the people back and forth, up and down the block, you would see familiar faces...people you had become friends with in this whole scene.

And then you would stand there for hours on end, in your high heels, after walking back and forth on bumpy incline for hours, flirting shamelessly with whomever was around. Every now and then, there would be a random party held at a random house - the owner was always mysteriously absent - and you might head out to see what it was all about. But the Strip was really where all the action was on a weekend.

Finally, at the end of the night you would find yourself at "Rock & Roll Denny's,' scarfing down gallons of coffee and Grand Slams until 5 a.m., and table-hopping so you could visit with all of your acquaintances in other places in the restaurant.

It was during the week - in between visits to the Strip - that you could actually get to know some of the people you had passed by repeatedly in front of the Roxy, when there were not 1000 people in your way. It was when you took those little trips to 7-11, or a nearby park, or to Hollywood Boulevard, or out to run errands, or to the local video store, or to 2 for 1 Pizza, etc., that you got to know people. It was when you sat around at someone's house, watching a horribly gory slasher movie, that you got to know the 'real' person.

It was during those "in between times" that my friends and I got to know Poison and Bret Michaels, and ended up working for him/them. You've all seen some of my photos with Bret (including at Disneyland) - a few of which are right here in this TR and many more of them are on Facebook.

One person I, sadly, never got to know was Jani Lane, the singer of Warrant, who you may know because of their huge hits, "Cherry Pie" and "Heaven." Oddly, I went to every single Warrant show they played, at whichever club it was, because I actually really loved their songs (don't tell Poison this, but I liked Warrant's music better than Poison's!). Jani was a fantastic singer and songwriter - he didn't really want to be known as the "Cherry Pie guy" - but because they were part of the hair band/Sunset Strip scene, they got lumped into that and had to write some songs and make some videos to fit into that genre. Really, though, Warrant had some great, melodic rock songs, some of which made it onto albums and some didn't - "Uncle Tom's Cabin," "Mr. Rainmaker," "Sad Theresa," "I Saw Red," "Blind Faith," "Jimmy," "Big Talk," etc., etc. A lot of good stuff.

But I never got to know Jani during those coveted "in between times." Many of my friends knew him very well, but I only chatted and exchanged pleasantries with him on the Strip or at random parties a few times. For some reason, I was never in a place where he was for very long. He once bonked me on the head with his microphone. And I once bought him a drink at the Whisky, for which I received a hug and a kiss. But that was about the extent of it.

Anyway, Jani appeared on "Celebrity Fit Club" several years ago, and I sensed a deep sadness in him. He looked unhappy. I wondered what would become of him.

As you probably know by now, Jani passed away about 1-1/2 weeks ago. He was found dead at a Comfort Inn in the San Fernando Valley, surrounded by booze and pills...a cliche in the 'rock star death' world. He was only 47 years old. My friends who knew him very well are extremely upset, because they knew him during those "in between times." They rented the videos with him and sat in his house as he strummed out the rough versions of new songs he had written on the acoustic guitar. They knew him before he was in Warrant.

Me? I just remember a whirlwind of energy and talent onstage, beaming and bouncing along with a big, goofy grin on his face...he was full of sass - every bit the raunchy, risque rock performer that he was expected to be - and seemed to love life. Warrant was a huge part of my Sunset Strip Scene experience. I feel very sad that this person I once bought the drink for at the Whisky, who once clobbered my noggin with his microphone, is now gone...and that he was feeling bad enough inside to let himself get to that point.

Here are the only two photos I have of myself with Jani, circa 1986 - these were taken at a costume party. That's your truly over on the right-hand side. Clearly, the females didn't know it was a costume party but the guys did. Jani was supposed to be a "pimp" and the two dudes in drag on the left were his "ladies":

I was always taking photos at rock shows. I took these photos at Madame Wong's West, I believe:

​

R.I.P., Jani.....​

Thank you for indulging my little "In Memoriam" segment. Trip Reports really are supposed to just be in some way, shape or form, about DLR trips - either in the planning stages or in the stages of reporting about a past trip. I don't like to veer off-track too often, and I choose to do it very sparingly. But this was on my mind, and it brought me a lot of sadness over the past week, so I wanted to share it.


The next post will be what miniscule bit of an actual "trip update" I can scrounge together for my longtime followers. Nothing too exciting...just efforts to scrape up money (always a fun time)...efforts to get the I Family to communicate with me about plans for the big holiday DLR extravaganza (which is coming up in 99 days, believe it or not!)...

Oh, and...don't stray too far away from this TR for very long...because...you never know when I might just sneak in a covert Halloween Time visit to DLR. I will reveal nothing more than that. Just stay tuned and you may be in for a surprise! in the not too distant future

 

[deejdigsdis]

Thanks for sharing that Sherry.

"Heaven" and "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" were 2 of my very favorite songs in high school. And that little smile and wink at the end of the "Heaven" video...got me every time.

Can't wait to hear about the plans you have up your sleeve!

P.S. My sister D (who I spent my last 3 trips with) hits the DL scene today...without me. She is taking a co-worker who has never been. Can't wait to hear about her trip!

 

[Sherry E]

Thanks for sharing that Sherry.

"Heaven" and "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" were 2 of my very favorite songs in high school. And that little smile and wink at the end of the "Heaven" video...got me every time.

Can't wait to hear about the plans you have up your sleeve!

P.S. My sister D (who I spent my last 3 trips with) hits the DL scene today...without me. She is taking a co-worker who has never been. Can't wait to hear about her trip!

Ah yes, the wink at the end of the "Heaven" video! (Isn't "Heaven" featured in some advertising campaign now? I can't recall the product in the ad.)

You know, Jani used to date this very prolific singer named Bekka Bramlett (who later went on to date Richie Sambora) - she has sung back-up for a million noteworthy artists - and at that Madame Wong's show I posted my photos from, above, when the band launched into "Heaven," Jani would kneel down at the edge of the stage where Bekka was standing and watching him, and he'd prompt her to duet with him on the part of the song that says, "I don't need to be the king of the world...as long as I'm the hero of this little girl..." so they were sharing the microphone. It was very sweet.

Yes, I saw your sister pop up on the DIS and in your TR the other day! That didn't slip by me! And you were thinking that she wouldn't be able to use that screen name because someone had already taken it, not realizing that she was the one who had taken it! That was too funny! I had planned on asking you if she was the same sister with you at DLR who you had planned to "stalk" by sending her the photos in the mail. That was an alternately creepy and hilarious idea!

I know everyone will be happy if I pull a surprise Halloween trip out of my hat and no one sees it coming. I am at the point now where I am reluctant to discuss it because I feel like talking about it will jinx it! In any normal year, there is no reason the G Family and I shouldn't have gotten together when they were in town, but I feel like I jinxed it by talking about it.

So now I am trying this approach of staying quiet and not announcing my exact plans and seeing if that works any better! Of course, everyone already knows about the big holiday DLR trip, so there is no hiding that. I just have to pull that together and figure out who is coming when, but to be honest, at the moment I am thinking I don't feel like dealing with any of them. I know I can have fun by myself - I did it before! Just hand me a camera, a deadly scarf, a trash can, a peppermint ice cream cone and an evil chair and send me on my way...and I can shake up the town!

 

[kaoden39]

I was really sad when I heard about Jani. I had watched him on Celebrity Fit Club and I had felt bad for him then. He was a troubled soul. May he rest in peace.


I am like you I don't want to mention anything anymore unless I know one way or the other on my plans.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Hi Sherry!! I was sorry to hear about Jani's death & I of course, instantly thought of you, but then saw you post on FB that he wasn't one of the one's you knew well. But still, it's a piece of your history & to see yet another tragic death, is hard.

Sorry I've messed up your Halloween trip plans..... Ok, I know my having to cancel has nothing to do with whether you go or not...but it made me smile for a second!! Hope you go, hope you get a Christmas trip in as well......but of course, the most important trip planning needs to be for the end of February That's when I'll be back down....gonna drag the family along for our week of Disney fun!!

Hope you're having a fun summer!!

 

[Sherry E]

Arrrggghhhh. Is anyone else having trouble lately signing into the DIS, or posting anything? I know Jessica has mentioned having trouble here and there. I keep getting stupid messages about "Database errors." I don't know if this site is having trouble with its servers or what. But this is not the first time I have had this problem.

In fact, I had just typed out a whole message in response to Michele (hi, Michele!) a while ago (about not wanting to get into details of planning trips because of the fact that they might not happen)...and then just as it looked like it was posting, the DIS database error thing popped up.

I will leave this TR for a bit and then come back to it to finish up what I was trying to post, in hopes the technical issues are resolved!

Hi, Laurie! No, you had nothing to do with any plans of mine going awry. I am reluctant to reveal my plans here because of all the bad luck I've had with things falling through! I figure I have announced certain things that were going to happen many times and they have fallen through or gone way off course. So I thought that this time I would keep my Halloween plan silent in hopes that I won't jinx it! I think I've jinxed everything by mentioning it!