Over the river and through the woods to Mickey's house we go: The Remix

Lisa I love your stories...you should write a book of all your trips with hints for Newbies...it would be a best seller!
 
Good morning all! I am sorry I have been missing in action for a while. We have had a lot going on around our house lately.

Hunter made a trip to Branson, Missouri last week. He was one of the few middle school students who was chosen to play with the high school orchestra and go on the trip. They were the opening act for the Acrobats of China in the Shanghai Theater there in Branson. I thought that was pretty cool. They also went to Silver Dollar City, Fast Tracks Fun Park, Dixie Stampede and some other smaller things. They packed a lot into just three days there.

Hunter also had an orchestra concert last night and we were rushing to get him to the school by 6:00 p.m. Again, he was allowed to play with both the middle school orchestra and the high school orchestra. I was one proud Mama!

Lacey and Jesse's wedding plans are chugging along well. After dinner and Easter egg hunting, my sister who used to be the wedding/party planner for the City of West Monroe and the Convention Center, sat down and went over the details of how we need to lay out the reception.

We've decided to keep the reception in Georgia simple because we simply don't have the time to have an elaborate reception. Wait, let me correct that statement. We don't have the FUNDS or the TIME to have an elaborate reception.

Since the wedding is at 3:00 p.m., Lacey and Jesse want to have a dessert reception. We are having a station where guests assemble their own strawberry shortcake, a station where they make their own rocky road brownie and then, of course, fresh fruit and other desserts here and there. They are also going to have a candy bar. :laughing: It sounds so funny when I say "candy bar" because I think of a huge Hershey candy bar sitting there. We'll have several cannisters/jars of various candies such as Hershey kisses, Twizzlers, Reese's peanut butter cups and M&Ms. They thought that would be something different and unique which is definitely what those two are.

Since Lacey was the Children's Church Associate Pastor at the church, she is also going to have a station set up for the kids. We'll have color sheets and crayons there. We're talking about other possibilities such as necklaces or silly glasses or something for them. I'm definitely going to look at Oriental Trading since their prices are so good.

Oh, I almost forgot that a big hurdle that we jumped across since I last posted. We had a loan that we needed to get refinanced by May 9th and we were worried about it a bit since John is self employed. I don't know about where ya'll live but, here, it's really hard to get a loan approved if you are self employed, even if you can prove that you are paying your bills and have enough money to pay the loan payment. One of the reasons that John went back to work (but we kept our business open), was to aid us in getting the loan refinanced. Anyway, we got that done last week and that's a big load off our minds.

John had his EEG, MRI and bone density tests run last Friday. Lacey went with him so that I wouldn't have to take off work. It's hard for me to get off work too terribly much because it's a one attorney/one paralegal show here. John's had EEGs and MRIs done before and the bone density test was something simple so we chose for me to go to work and take the time off when we return to the doctor.

Our appointment to see the neurologist is May 10th. That is when we believe he will tell us what he is going to do with his medications. We are 99% positive that he will change them up and have resigned ourselves to the fact that it's something that has to be done. We've done it before and we'll do it again. Honestly, we are actually looking forward to a change because, here lately, John's vertigo has gotten much worse as have his hand tremors. The doctor also believes that John's ringing in the ears could be because he is so heavily medicated. If a change in medication will help that, then we are all for it.

Mama found out that she has a stomach ulcer and it's nothing that can be treated by medication or special diet. It's caused simply by nerves. I almost fell out of my chair when they said that. NOT! The woman worries about anything and everything. I often tell her that if she doesn't have something to worry about, she'll borrow something to worry about from her sister or cousin or fellow Prime Time church members. :laughing:

All kidding aside, she has been worried about my older sister a lot lately. My sister is the one who lost her husband last October and her brother-in-law to a heart attack last month. She's had quite a hard time dealing with it all and has been going to counseling. Now that she's gotten over a rough spot, she is doing better and I hope that Mama will have a little less to worry about. My aunt (my mother's sister in law) was diagnosed with breast cancer recently and underwent a double mastectomy last Thursday. She is at home and recovering well. Now that my sister and aunt are doing better, I hope that our trip will take Mama's mind off of things.

Speaking of our trip (which is what I am supposed to be talking about anyway), we'll be hitting the road in just 19 days! And, in 19 days, Hunter will turn the big 1-4. Yep, my baby will be 14 years old.

Okay, so I'll stop here. I have more plans that I need to post. Let me find a few pictures to add to those plans and I'll be back to post an installment.

 
My GOODNESS, you have been going through a lot lately!!! First, let me say Congratulations on the refinance!! My parents are self-employed & had a terrible time refinancing. I know how stressful that can be.
That is SO cool that Hunter opened for the Acrobats of China in the Shanghai Theater in Branson! He must have had a blast staying there for 3 days & doing all of that fun stuff.
That dessert reception is such an original idea! It sounds fantastic- and the station for the kids is such a fantastic idea, too. I love the "candy bar" comment you made. :rotfl:
Poor Mama! I think that it is awful that she has an ulcer. Did they say that calming her nerves might help the ulcer over time? I hope your sister & Aunt will be ok.
I hope that John's medications all get straightened out. The ringing in the ears side effect is awful, but I can't imagine how bad it would be to have vertigo!
For good luck:
pixiedust:pixiedust:pixiedust:pixiedust:pixiedust:pixiedust:
And Happy Birthday to Hunter in 19 days!
 
My GOODNESS, you have been going through a lot lately!!! First, let me say Congratulations on the refinance!! My parents are self-employed & had a terrible time refinancing. I know how stressful that can be.
That is SO cool that Hunter opened for the Acrobats of China in the Shanghai Theater in Branson! He must have had a blast staying there for 3 days & doing all of that fun stuff.
That dessert reception is such an original idea! It sounds fantastic- and the station for the kids is such a fantastic idea, too. I love the "candy bar" comment you made. :rotfl:
Poor Mama! I think that it is awful that she has an ulcer. Did they say that calming her nerves might help the ulcer over time? I hope your sister & Aunt will be ok.
I hope that John's medications all get straightened out. The ringing in the ears side effect is awful, but I can't imagine how bad it would be to have vertigo!
For good luck:
pixiedust:pixiedust:pixiedust:pixiedust:pixiedust:pixiedust:
And Happy Birthday to Hunter in 19 days!

There are a lot of great perks to being self employed and then there are some not so great things about it too. Getting financing of any sort is definitely on the no so great list.

I thought it was pretty darn cool that Hunter and his group were the opening act for the acrobats. They stayed for the performance of the acrobats and he said it was almost as good as Cirque du Soleil.

Lacey really liked the idea of a dessert reception and once we decided that was what she was going to do, we had ideas flying every which way. I'm going to ring my own bell and say that it was ME that came up with the idea of the candy bar. It's going to look like an old fashioned candy shop.

Even though the doctor told Mama that the ulcer wouldn't be cured by any special diet, she's still changing up some of her eating habits. She's cut back on the lemonade/citrus drinks, tomatoes and other acidy foods. I have to watch her though because she'll soon not be eating a darn thing between her ulcer diet and her fatty liver diet. I know that the diet will be thrown out the window once we get to Disney. The doctor does think that the ulcer will heal itself over time which is a good thing.

It's been a while since John has had any significant medication changes. I think it's a good thing that we have a new doctor looking at his "recipe of medicine" and see what needs to be adjusted. It'll be a stressful time, no doubt, but, if the end result is better than what he has now, we'll be happy.
 
Wow Lisa, you sure have been busy lately!!! Hopefully things will slow down for you a bit so you can get ready for your trip!!! I can't believe it's here already!!! Have I mentioned that I am so jealous!!! LOL! Well, can't wait to hear more about the planning!!!
 
Wow Lisa, you sure have been busy lately!!! Hopefully things will slow down for you a bit so you can get ready for your trip!!! I can't believe it's here already!!! Have I mentioned that I am so jealous!!! LOL! Well, can't wait to hear more about the planning!!!

We have been busy but, at least, it helps pass the time. :thumbsup2
 
As I was eating my lunch (warmed up hot tamales....yummy! No, seriously, they were yummy!), I remembered that I had forgotten three other things that we have been doing.

For those of you who have read my previous reports, you may remember that we have a garden every year. It's not too terribly big but it's not exactly little either. I love working in the garden and there's nothing better than a fresh veggies from the garden. Well, we got it all tilled up and were ready to make the rows and plant our plants and seeds the next day. Guess what? We got hit with the horrible tornadic (Is that how you spell it? You know weather where there's a bunch of tornados.:laughing: I wasn't putting the smiley in there because I love tornados but because I'm an idiot and can't spell.;)) Anyway....we had some really bad weather, the ground that was all tilled up now looks like one giant mud pile. I think it may be dry enough this weekend that we can retill it and start all over again. I want to have some fresh vegetables when we get home from Disney and if we don't get the plants in the ground, we won't have that.

Problem is....we are having a garage sale this Saturday. It's an annual garage sale and the kids are hoping to make some extra moolah to take on the trip. My niece is bringing over some stuff too. Neither one of us had enough to do an entire sale by ourselves but, combined, we should have a good little variety to choose from.

Another thing that's been on our "to do" list is putting up the swimming pool. We have had an above ground pool every year since Lacey was little. We take it down every Winter and it was time to put it back up. We did that Sunday afternoon. It took a loooooong time to fill it up. It will take a while for the water to warm up since our high was only in the low 60s yesterday. The forecast for the rest of the week looks great though so we may be swimming this weekend!

Last, but not least, is a doozie! Well, it's a doozie to us. About three weeks ago, the kids found a snake skin right beside our back porch. It was about 3 foot long and it was fresh. Weekend before this past one, we were outside and Hunter came running to the front yard saying a black snake was on the back porch. He had been on the porch and looked down to see if slithering beside him. We searched the yard and didn't find the snake. We've been on the lookout for the snake every since.

Sunday, just before sunset, I went outside to check on the water in the pool and John said he was right behind me (he was on his phone with Mama saying how happy he was that the "goth" couple was off the Amazing Race). I closed the door, went trapsing barefoot through the back yard and left him in the house. I heard the door open, John on the phone and then whack, whack, whack. We keep a stick beside the back door and John hits the dirt off the bottom of his boots before he comes in the house. (Yes, I know they make boot scrappers but he likes his stick. What can I say?)

As I was walking back to the house, I saw Mama walking across her yard (we share a yard). I wondered why she was coming over and when I got to the door, I could see John standing there with the stick in his hand. He had killed the snake with his boot stick! :yay: We live in a log house and the snake had climbed up about four feet and was laying on the criss-crossed section of the logs. I didn't see him when I walked out but John did.

I ran into the house and told Lacey and Hunter to come look. John had the snake on the ground and had smooshed his head in for good measure. The snake was over three foot long! Yuck! Both Lacey and Hunter took pictures of it and I need to post them for ya'll to see.

A little sparrow has made a nest on the very top log of our house and we figured the snake was making it's way up to eat the little birds in it. I am so glad we saved them. Somebody said the snake was probably a chicken snake but I don't give two hoots what kind it was. A dead snake is the best kind of snake in my opinion!

Okay, I'm going back to work. My boss is supposed to be leaving the office early today. He bought a new house and is meeting the glass people there at 4:00. Hopefully, I can get an installment posted then.

 
Oh my goodness Lisa! It's good to know that it's not just my life that is crazy busy all the time! :)

The candy and dessert reception for Lacey and Jesse sounds perfect. They are a unique couple and their reception should reflect that! I wish I could go...sounds like fun!

I'm praying that all the medication mess works out for John. It sounds like maybe a change is really what is necessary and he'll be better off on new meds. I'm sure the transition is tough, though.

Here's hoping Mama can de-stress a bit! Chill out Mama!! ;)
 
Hi! I've been away from Dis for awhile, but am back now and planning a trip too! Have always enjoyed your TR's and PTR's! Congrats to Lacey and the reception plans sound like fun - candy bars are a HUGE hit at weddings (I'm a wedding/event planner).
 
I was catching up on your old trip report and laughing about the snake from the JC and then i read about your real snake adventure....I too hate the things...good John was right there. Tell your Mama to chill and just think about your trip...Disney thinking always works for me.
 
My last house (I moved from there 3 years ago) was in the country and I had a black snake that was over 5 feet long that lived in my front yard. I have pictures of it somewhere, I will have to try to find them. I also have a couple of the skins it shed. It never bothered me so I left it alone, but I can understand not wanting it slithering up your house to get birds!

Edit: Here it is!

PIC00107.jpg


It almost looks fake in this picture, but I promise it was very real. I have the skins to prove it. Those are in storage though, so I don't have easy access to them for pics! :)
 
Wow you have been so busy!! I love the idea for a dessert reception!

I do not like snakes and feel the same way--a dead snake is the best snake! Two years ago we had a copperhead in our yard. It was in dead leaves and was perfectly camoflauged! We came extremely close to stepping on it!! :scared1:

The tornados have been terrbile! We have had three within miles of me or the kids school 3 times in 2 weeks! The damage from last week is so unbelievable and sad!! :sad1:
 
Holy Majolies, Lisa!!! There is some major craziness going on at your house! Geez! :lmao:

I love the dessert bar idea for the reception! Very creative!!!!


Congrats to Hunter on playing with the high school orchestra! That is fantastic! I'm sure he was very excited.

And the snake.....I think I would have been sick if I'd found out that I just walked past a big ol' snake. I'm so glad that John got it so you don't have to worry about it anymore.


I was so relieved that the tornadic activity (hahaha...sorry, I like that word, but hate what it is) missed us. We were watching it come through Georgia just hoping that we wouldn't get hit. It went both north and south of us. We just happened to be in a little space between the storms.
 
RE: Hunter's performances...Wow, that's awesome! Not only did he get to open for such a cool act, but he also got to play with the middle/high school orchestras! I can see why you're proud :thumbsup2

RE: Lacey and Jesse's wedding plans...That sounds like so much fun!!!:dance3: I'm thinking about having a morning wedding with a breakfast reception...a little off the wall, but I think it could work.

RE: "The big hurdle"...Congrats :goodvibes! I know how hard that can be!

RE: John...Hopefully his appointment goes well and they are able to find him a combination of medications that work out really well for him!

RE: Mama and your aunt...Both your Mama having a stomach ulcer and your aunt having breast cancer sucks a lot :guilty: but it's great that your aunt sounds like she's doing better, and here's more good vibes your way that Mama will recover quickly! :goodvibes

RE: Your lunch yesterday...I've never had a hot tamale...I always thought it was some kind of pepper :laughing: :confused3

Good luck with your garden, and the garage sale!!!!

RE: The swimming pool...I wish we were having those kinds of temperatures here...it's been pretty miserable around here the past 2 weeks or so. Just rainy and chilly, too chilly for this time of year...bring on Disney! :cool1:

RE: The snake...that's crazy! We rarely ever see snakes here...and if we do they're just small garter snakes that wouldn't be able to eat anything beyond a rat :crazy2:
 
Lisa, I'm exhausted just reading all that you have going on.:eek:

Glad the wedding plans are coming along. I hope momma feels better soon. And tell John he is a brave soul taking care of that snake. :thumbsup2

I can't believe your trip is 19 days away.
 
Oh my goodness Lisa! It's good to know that it's not just my life that is crazy busy all the time! :)

The candy and dessert reception for Lacey and Jesse sounds perfect. They are a unique couple and their reception should reflect that! I wish I could go...sounds like fun!

I'm praying that all the medication mess works out for John. It sounds like maybe a change is really what is necessary and he'll be better off on new meds. I'm sure the transition is tough, though.

Here's hoping Mama can de-stress a bit! Chill out Mama!! ;)

I have said it many times that our lives and family are almost the same.....busy with one thing or the other and our personalities are so much alike.

I thought the idea of a dessert reception was pretty neat. It's not like any other reception I've beent o.

Thank so much for the prayers. You and I know they work!

We posted at the same time!

I agree..there's no better snake than a dead one! Good for John...he's my new hero! :goodvibes

John was definitely my hero that night! He is just as afraid of snakes as I am. I asked him if his heart was racing and he said that it wasn't which was surprising to both he and I.

Hi! I've been away from Dis for awhile, but am back now and planning a trip too! Have always enjoyed your TR's and PTR's! Congrats to Lacey and the reception plans sound like fun - candy bars are a HUGE hit at weddings (I'm a wedding/event planner).

Welcome back to the Dis! I need to head over to your pre-trip report and check out your plans.

I would love love love to be a wedding/event planner. I used to do kids' parties where I went in with two or three activities for the kids to do and all the parents had to do was sit back and watch. I had a lot of fun doing it.

I was catching up on your old trip report and laughing about the snake from the JC and then i read about your real snake adventure....I too hate the things...good John was right there. Tell your Mama to chill and just think about your trip...Disney thinking always works for me.

I absolutely HATE snakes! My daddy was bit by a rattlesnake when he was a teenager. He was working in the cotton field when it bit him. You know what he did? He went to the house, washed his feet, combed his hair and then went to the doctor. Well, he did that after he put his belt around his leg. He was a fanatic about his hair. :sad2: Anyway, he was treated by the doctor and sent home. His leg swelled so much that his skin burst. :eek: You would think that he'd have been scared of snakes after that but he wasn't. I sure didn't take after my daddy.

I've been trying to get Mama to chill and think about the trip. The closer it gets, the more excited she is becoming.

My last house (I moved from there 3 years ago) was in the country and I had a black snake that was over 5 feet long that lived in my front yard. I have pictures of it somewhere, I will have to try to find them. I also have a couple of the skins it shed. It never bothered me so I left it alone, but I can understand not wanting it slithering up your house to get birds!

Edit: Here it is!

PIC00107.jpg


It almost looks fake in this picture, but I promise it was very real. I have the skins to prove it. Those are in storage though, so I don't have easy access to them for pics! :)

Oh my goodness gracious! I would have pooped and fell back in it when I fainted if I had seen that snake! :eek:
 
A dead sanke is the only kind of snake there should be! :thumbsup2

Amen sister!

Wow you have been so busy!! I love the idea for a dessert reception!

I do not like snakes and feel the same way--a dead snake is the best snake! Two years ago we had a copperhead in our yard. It was in dead leaves and was perfectly camoflauged! We came extremely close to stepping on it!! :scared1:

The tornados have been terrbile! We have had three within miles of me or the kids school 3 times in 2 weeks! The damage from last week is so unbelievable and sad!! :sad1:

Now that Lacey and Jesse have decided to do a dessert reception, we are all super excited about planning it. Thankfully, Lacey will be in Georgia a week ahead of us and one of the Mission mothers has told her they could bake the cakes and cookies ahead of time. That's really going to help us out a lot.

Oh my gosh! A copperhead? Those are super dangerous! I had a run-in with a copperhead once when we were camping in Arkansas. I kept chanting "I've got to run! I've got to run!"

Thank God that you weren't effected by the tornados. The destruction I've seen on television is just horrible.

Holy Majolies, Lisa!!! There is some major craziness going on at your house! Geez! :lmao:

I love the dessert bar idea for the reception! Very creative!!!!


Congrats to Hunter on playing with the high school orchestra! That is fantastic! I'm sure he was very excited.

And the snake.....I think I would have been sick if I'd found out that I just walked past a big ol' snake. I'm so glad that John got it so you don't have to worry about it anymore.


I was so relieved that the tornadic activity (hahaha...sorry, I like that word, but hate what it is) missed us. We were watching it come through Georgia just hoping that we wouldn't get hit. It went both north and south of us. We just happened to be in a little space between the storms.

It has been busy at our house but that's pretty much the norm for us. Every once in a while we have a dull moment but not too often.

Lacey and Jesse are still going to have their wedding cake and groom's cake as well as the desserts. By the time everybody leaves the reception, they are going to be on a sugar high.:lmao:

Hunter was very excited that he got to play with the middle school AND the high school. There was just one song that the middle school students didn't get to play. The orchestra leader said the song was super hard and even the high school students had a hard time learning it.

Thank goodness you were between the storms. I've seen so many places that had so much damage.
 
RE: Hunter's performances...Wow, that's awesome! Not only did he get to open for such a cool act, but he also got to play with the middle/high school orchestras! I can see why you're proud :thumbsup2

I was very proud of Hunter. It was a real privilege for him to play with the high school students who have earned top scores in festivals and competitions.


RE: Lacey and Jesse's wedding plans...That sounds like so much fun!!!:dance3: I'm thinking about having a morning wedding with a breakfast reception...a little off the wall, but I think it could work.

I think that a breakfast reception would be great. I like unusual/off the wall things so that's right up my alley.

RE: "The big hurdle"...Congrats :goodvibes! I know how hard that can be!

I'm so glad that we were able to get the refinance done without much hassle. It ws certainly a load off my mind.


RE: John...Hopefully his appointment goes well and they are able to find him a combination of medications that work out really well for him!

Thank you so much. I would love for the side effects of taking so much medicine to go away. If this new doctor can find a better "recipe" of medications, then we're all for it.

RE: Mama and your aunt...Both your Mama having a stomach ulcer and your aunt having breast cancer sucks a lot :guilty: but it's great that your aunt sounds like she's doing better, and here's more good vibes your way that Mama will recover quickly! :goodvibes

My mother called last night to give me an update on my aunt. She is recovering really well and goes to the doctor in the next day or so to get the results on whether or not they got all of the cancer.

RE: Your lunch yesterday...I've never had a hot tamale...I always thought it was some kind of pepper :laughing: :confused3

If you ever get the chance to try a hot tamale, do it! They are so good. We get them from a little hole in the wall diner. They are made from seasoned meat that is either chopped up or shredded. Then, they put the meat into a cornmeal mixture and it's rolled up into a corn husk. The tamales are then steamed. Super delicious!

Good luck with your garden, and the garage sale!!!!

I'm hoping that we get the garden planted this weekend and that we make a lot of money on the garage sale. I'm thinking we'll have better luck with the garden than the garage sale. We usually have a big garage sale but this one will be much smaller so we won't make as much money. Oh well, a little is better than none.

RE: The swimming pool...I wish we were having those kinds of temperatures here...it's been pretty miserable around here the past 2 weeks or so. Just rainy and chilly, too chilly for this time of year...bring on Disney! :cool1:

Today's high is supposed to be 86 and tomorrow is supposed to be 90. It'll be hotter than heck by this Summer. I wish I could bottle some of the heat and send it to you.

RE: The snake...that's crazy! We rarely ever see snakes here...and if we do they're just small garter snakes that wouldn't be able to eat anything beyond a rat :crazy2:

I need to move closer to you. In the Spring and Summer, we see snakes all the time. Thankfully, most of them are smooshed in the middle of the road.

Lisa, I'm exhausted just reading all that you have going on.:eek:

Glad the wedding plans are coming along. I hope momma feels better soon. And tell John he is a brave soul taking care of that snake. :thumbsup2

Tell me about it! I'm tired just typing about it. :rotfl:

I'll pass along the well wishes to Mama. She really needs this vacation and it can't come soon enough.

I am so glad that John finally got the snake. We've been watching for it for weeks.
 
















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