Jumpstarting Our Vacation
So, this is it, we're within the last stretch of our vacation planning!
Fair warning, this is gonna be a text heavy update.
We've got most of our things packed on Sunday, save a few last minute things (electronics, face cleansers, etc). Our suitcases are pretty much packed to the brim, as we did a bit of Walmart/Dollar Store haul last weekend to get donations for Give Kids the World, since we didn't really have anything to supply for the DIS 20th Auction.
Last night Kathy mentioned on the podcast that they would be happy to accept small items and such to bring over to them.
Well... they're all small items. There's just... a lot of small items.
Like, we split it between our two suitcases, but I'm pretty sure if we'd stuffed it all in one suitcase it would have filled it up. Well, maybe not to that extent. But anyway. We may have gone a bit overboard.
I also realized Sunday night, as I was laying in bed, that I packed about nine pairs of socks.
But no sneakers.
So, I'm gonna have to figure that one out.
Anyway, that's just about done!
Also, I have to ask here... is post packing depression a thing for anyone else? I swear we finished packing and suddenly I felt such a down. It may have been the combination of the stress of trying to find a spot for everything and not going over weight, and then the idea that our last big pre-trip thing is done with, and there's basically nothing else left to do.
In other news, tonight or tomorrow, my godfather will be coming by to pick up our little princess, as he and my godmom will be catsitting for us while we're gone.
Which means we had to apply her soft paws on last night.
Now, if you're not familiar, soft paws are little soft rubber/silicone/whatever nail covers for cats and dogs. It covers their claws in a safe manner, so that they can't ruin your furniture. I still have glue on my fingers this morning, but Kiara looks fab (even though she hates them).
For reference, they look like this.
When she's just at home, we don't really care. She doesn't really claw at things that much, and we're usually able to catch her at it fast enough. Besides, she mostly claws at the back of the couch, which is a couch we got for free from my Aunt's neighbor as she didn't felt comfortable selling it based on the few claw marks from her own cat.
When we send her to someone for cat sitting though, we do try to make sure she's not gonna mess up their own things. Although she is more prone to chewing on things than clawing at them. I swear she has a dog complex.
So tonight is gonna be a pretty chill evening, we're gonna go on a walk, watch Moana, probably get to bed early.
Tomorrow is my last day of work before vacation as I have Friday off, and I'll be getting off at 4 (although I'm not without hope that it'll be quiet enough that I can ask to leave early). But in all essence, I have 29 hours to go before I am free for a whole two weeks!
And speaking of having Friday off...
We're actually gonna be heading down a day early.
See, there's upsides and downsides to every job.
My job can get pretty monotonous. It's a call center job. Some people are nice to talk to, some people have no idea what they're doing (in case you didn't know, there is no such thing as a cruise to Alaska or Iceland in January. Which you'd think a travel agent would know), some people expect you to do their job, some people treat you like you're nothing but a voice on the other end of the line and not an actual person.
I mean, as far as call center jobs go, I do think mine is a good one. The pay kinda sucks, but it has allowed me to travel in ways I never would have even if I had gotten a slightly better paying job. (Like, if I were making 5K, or even 10K, more a year, would I really use that money to travel as much as I do? I don't think so). They're really flexible about vacation though. So long as there's enough people to cover the lines, I could go on vacation once a month if I wanted (and could afford it. Which, obviously, I cannot. Refer back to sucky pay). We have black outs of course, basically the whole month of January, the first half of February and typically some time in the Fall (tends to move from September to October. This year it's half and half).
I'm gonna be honest, I don't love my job. But then, I'm one of those unlucky people who can't really think of a job that they would wholeheartedly love, like my brother lucked out with for instance. It's a paycheck. I have great colleagues, so that's nice. I have a lot of flexibility, which I'm super lucky about. I have pretty solid travel benefits too. Flying standby is something that stresses me out, but sometimes it works in your favor.
And then, once in a while, a serendipitous moment happens that makes you feel that maybe you did pick the right line of work.
Basically, when I scheduled my Friday off, I had a specific plan in mind. We would try to standby on a flight that day and get down to Orlando a day early!
The flight was pretty wide open (still is, based on this morning). And the cost of flying standby in this instance is just a little over what we'd have to pay for our checked luggage. So why not?
We booked the Springhill Suites on Intl Drive for the night through my Marriott benefits, which came to a very reasonable price. Of course, then we'd have to add a cab ride from the airport, which is less reasonable, but still within budget. And with the Springhill being a Disney Good Neighbor hotel, I was hopeful we'd be able to catch a shuttle and head to Epcot. The plan of trying to see Flower and Garden festival was back on!
I've actually chatted about this plan a bit with my supervisor over the last week, because as it turns out, she's also heading down this weekend! See, Air Canada Rouge sends their flight attendants to Disney for their customer service training, and usually they send other people along with them. Human Resources people mostly, but sometimes it'll be extended to other people in slightly higher positions in the call center. Thus, my supervisor.
I actually helped her set up her MDE so she could customize her MagicBand. Aren't I a nice employee?
As it turns out, the company must have booked a room block in preparation for this training.
And I guess, they ended up with more rooms than they needed.
So yesterday, we received an email with a very special offer.
Nights available at Coronado Springs Resort, between May 26th and 31st, based on availability. Book for the whole duration or any nights within that time frame.
For 100.00$CAD for the night.
I'm gonna put that in perspective for my American readers.
That's 75$US. For the night. At Coronado Springs.
And don't hold me to this 100% yet, but I'm pretty sure it's a preferred room.
I don't usually share prices, but this is still crazy to me. And now don't start wanting to throw rocks at me, these are super rare occurences. In five and half years of working here, this is the first time I've seen anything like this happen.
So yeah, that's what's happening in my life.
Sometimes, there's just gonna be perks to working this kind of a job.
So all of that to say... in 48 hours, I will be either running through the airport like an excited child (or well, walking with a purpose, since you shouldn't run through an airport, unless I guess they're calling your name for final boarding and you're still twenty gates away) or dancing in my seat on the Magical Express.
Tomorrow could not go by fast enough even if it went by in a flash.
