Quarantine and chill and kindness chatty clubhouse: Jump in and join the conversation! All is welcome!

[flyingdumbo127]

LOL, I think that's awesome your DS and his coworkers did that, Carol

Printer is 3 1/2. From everything we've read definitely sounds like it's on the way out Prices (probably due to the plague) are very high right now. we paid $42 including a 2 year protection plan at Walmart back in August of 2017. We have one brand new Canon color ink 246. Hoping to find a replacement that uses the same cartridges. Ink is definitely how printer manufacturers earn even more money!

Wishing all of you sweet dreams

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I think part of a Disney trip is the anticipation. (That’s one of the reasons I'm generally not on the “surprise” side of the “should we surprise the kids?” threads.) Not that I’d turn down a free spur-of-the-moment trip or anything! But I do understand what you mean.

I was thinking the same thing. We had just one trip where we surprised the kids, and we decided it was fun to do once, but we wouldn’t do it again, because the trip seemed so darned short because they didn’t help in the planning, and that’s really half the fun! It was their 8th birthday, and we picked them up from school. We’d told them we’d be taking them to McDonald’s Playland for their birthday but instead, we had everything packed and in the back of the car. We wrote a big poem about the ruse, and they had to read it (while still parked outside school) before they figured out what was going on. We watched the video of it recently (so grateful DH was so handy with the video camera back then!) and DS, while DD was reading the letter, kept saying, “We’re going to Disney, aren’t we!”. It was cute. So finally as we pulled away, you hear DD sort of quizzically say, “So does this mean we‘re not going to McDonald’s Playland?” (She loved it there, too!)

I have been thinking all day about which trip of ours was a “bad trip”. Really none of our trips were bad, except one was hard. About a week before our first Disney cruise, on which our kids would be turning six, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. (Have learned never to schedule tests like that before a major vacation now if I can help it.) We were going with friends who offered to postpone, but I didn’t want to disappoint the kids, or any of us, really, as we were so looking forward to it. And I got my doctors’ blessing as they said I’d have a long year ahead of me when we got back. So we went, but it was bittersweet, because so many amazing moments were tainted by that awful feeling of dread you get when something bad is happening in your life. The friend who came with us, a nurse friend, was good about letting me vent or cry if I needed to, but I tried not to. One day as we were eating breakfast I noticed a family beside us with a Make A Wish kid, and that turned it around for me as I realized I was glad it was me and not one of our kids. That gave me a new perspective, and I went from worrying about it, to gearing up for the fight. As we were leaving the ship, DH told me I’d just have to book another cruise for when my treatment was over, so I did, right away, and that planning is what helped me get through the next year. (And was how I wound up here!) The following year when we crossed the threshold to enter the ship, after being battered and bald much of the year, DH and I looked at eachother crying tears of joy and gratitude.

A couple of moments I can think of that were not so nice. One, on the first trip DS was tall enough to go on Space Mountain. He enjoyed it one day with DH, then on the second day, while he was in line, they measured him and one CM said he was too small to ride. We tried to talk to the CM saying he‘d gone on the day before, so the CM bent down to DS and asked, ”How did you like the loops?”. DS, a little confused to what was going on, said ”good”. The CM, in front of everyone in line, said, “There are no loops on Space Mountain, so you couldn’t have gone on yesterday”. And with that, we had to leave the line sort of shamed, as if we were liars. It felt like he needlessly humiliated a little boy. DS is shy, so that was pretty devastating to him! Karma, is all I can say.

Another disappointment was on a trip for the kids’ 21st birthday, I’d booked a couple of nights in a Club Level room that I’d found on Priceline. Great deal. On the morning of their birthday, they went to order a Mimosa at the club lounge and lo and behold, they wouldn’t serve them because their licenses expired at midnight - on the night of their birthday (seventeen hours later)! And the rest of the trip was hot and cold as to whether they’d get served. World Showcase was pretty good, but the resorts were strict about it, saying they could get in trouble. They did make it up to us, but what a bummer that was for a trip we’d planned for many years! (If they had gotten new licenses before we went they would’ve had to get junior licenses, apparently, and they wanted the adult version. I had no idea about any of that prior to leaving. Oh well, live and learn.)

Another time there were 30 of us who’d gone on a land-sea vacation and booked a private bus for the three way transfers. Well the bus never showed up to pick us up at the cruise terminal so it involved a lot of frantic phone calls, standing around waiting for hours, and some of us almost missing flights home, etc. The company acted like it was no big deal, either. We like having our own car. Although we once had a rental that wouldn’t start when leaving for the airport to go home and we had to leave it there with the keys locked in the resort safe by the manager, as we were on the last flight out of the night. Total headache with rental company for days afterward, but finally that got resolved, too. I’m careful who I book with now. That same trip my boss had also texted me about a work issue that could’ve waited and put a bit of a damper on the trip for me (the same trip as the license and car issues) so of all our trips, that one was probably the one with the most frustrations.

@apirateslifeforme, Omg, what an awful experience on Jungle Cruise! That guy sounded unstable!

And to those of you who’ve experienced sickness while on trips, injuries, or other problems, ugh! We‘ve somehow managed to avoid illness there, thankfully, however it seemed that almost every year when we were up in NH we wound up in the ER with DS from either an asthma attack or an injury or fever or something.

@Bianca and Bernard We’ve had our dog at the kennel at Disney, too, and I agree, it was not a great experience! I was surprised to see your post because most posts I’ve seen here are generally favorable. They tried to force me to allow them to give my dog a flea bath when he was negative for fleas on check in (via flea comb) AND he was on a flea and tick pill monthly! I refused to sign the paper for a flea bath and they were so pissed at me!! He could’ve become toxic from the chemicals and they didn’t seem care, only wanted the $$. And while there he developed a really nasty eye infection that he didn’t have before! Tons of green guck coming out of both of his eyes! Thankfully I had some ointment with me that cleared it up but that grossed me out a bit. He has picked up mild cases of conjunctivitis at both his home kennel and a groomer’s before (just twice), but this was a whopping infection that came on very fast. And now that I think of it I believe he also got kennel cough that trip (college visit where we drove) even though he’d had the vaccine. Oh, and that same trip (the only one where we’ve had the dog with us) we were in line for Mine Train close to midnight, and almost to the front, having stood in the line for close to an hour already. We’d never been on it before and I was so looking forward to it. When I happened to glance down at my phone and saw that the hotel had texted me to say could we please return because our dog was barking and people were complaining. Omg! We debated for about a minute what to do, since we were so close to the front, but decided to leave to go back right away since it was so late. So there we were walking out the side gait to leave. Dog had been fine in hotels before, in his crate, with the TV and soft lighting on, etc., but what happened that night was that DS had forgotten his hat in the room, so went back in and switched the lights on, and I think the dog must’ve somehow thought his barking would get us back again, so that was a bit of a bummer, too. Had to wait until the next trip to ride the Mine Train! (And it’s now one of my favorite rides at WDW!)

 

[lynxstch]

Good morning QUACK family. Going to rain most of the day, probably explains my headache, again. That and my hair needs to be cut. When I have to keep tying it back to keep it out of my way, sooner or later it starts giving me headaches. Finally got a solid 6 hours of sleep last nite, guess hubby heeded my warning to stay on his side of the bed, lol! Was going to wash the floors today, but since it's going to rain, that can wait for another day. Guess it will be laundry and bathroom cleaning, what a fun day, anyone want to join in? LOL!
Have a great day everyone

 

[sparkle78]

Guess it will be laundry and bathroom cleaning, what a fun day, anyone want to join in? LOL!

umm yep, thats what is on my scHedule for the day too , but I’ll treat myself to Panera or Mexican for lunch when i run out to the store.

I LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. All the Disney trip stories. I’ll share a few of my own later today.

 

[apirateslifeforme]

Wow, I'm actually on in the morning! I'm sitting next to Josh's school iPad, waiting to see if he gets any assignments, or if his music teacher cancels the meeting (it's still active at this moment). I wish they would just cancel everything, even the assignments. I don't feel like doing them today, when I'm not getting any guidance. I haven't had any feedback at all on anything that we've sent in all week.

I’m sorry to hear this about your aunt. Not sure if this is the one you were thinking about, but there is Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, too. They will try very hard to get someone in asap. Her doctor would need to call the Admission line (I think during the daytime) in order to do a transfer of care. I imagine they might be trying to get her on some type of clinical trial, not sure. You always want to know you did everything you could. It sounds like a very tough situation. And being out of town in a hospital in another city can be difficult, but they do have some options for lodging and such, if her husband wants to stay, though it can be pricey. (Which I imagine it is by Mayo, too.) That’s about all I know. Good luck.

Thank you, that's EXACTLY the one I was thinking of! I mentioned it to my mom and she said she was also thinking of the Cancer Centers. Unfortunately, my aunt probably should have called as soon as she was diagnosed. Right off the bat, the doctor's report said that the cancer she has has one of the lowest survivability rates. And that was before it spread to her liver, so now...well, I hate to say it's too late, but we think it's too late. I think my mom might still mention some of these other places to her, though.

I've also remembered one other bad experience from our 2018 trip. (Sad that we remember the bad more than the good, isn't it?) We'd spent the entire day at the Magic Kingdom, and when we got on the bus to go back to the hotel, we realized that Josh was stinky. He fell asleep in my lap before the bus even pulled out. We were staying at the Art of Animation - my in-laws were originally supposed to join us, so we'd gotten a Cars suite, but they bowed out at the last minute. If you've stayed there, you probably know that the Cars area is the farthest away from the reception hall as possible. So when we got off the bus, we decided to get some dinner in the food court and take it back to our room. We put Josh in his stroller, still sleeping, and it took us about 30 minutes to get our food (because of course, DH and I wanted different things, so we had to go through 2 different lines ). So finally we got back to our room around 7 p.m., laden with a sleeping, stinky child in a stroller, a bag of supplies, another bag of souvenirs, and 2 containers of food. When we got to our room, we saw that the door was open - that little safety lock that you turn to bolt the door from the inside was turned out and the door was open against it. That scared me and I loudly said that I hoped whoever was there was gone and told DH to check and make sure nothing had been stolen. We opened the door and a housekeeper ran out from the bedroom area. She had nothing in her hand except a rag - and there was no cleaning cart in the hall or in the room, no other supplies, it was just her and the rag. She got all upset with us and started yelling "You can't come in here! You need to leave!" That shook me up a little but my child needed my attention, so I pretty much ignored her and went into the bedroom for the diapers (and to check where I'd hidden my laptop). She followed us around, demanding that we leave, but she did get a little quieter. DH finally humored her and went to the door to scan his Magic Band and prove that it was our room (which I think she realized that we were legit when I went right for the diaper supplies). She waited until we'd changed Josh and took the dirty diaper with her, grabbed the tip we'd left near the door, and disappeared. DH peeked out the door and said she didn't go to any other rooms, she went to the elevator. While I was eating my dinner, I posted about it in a group on FB and everyone said that was NOT normal and that we should probably contact the front desk. But of course we didn't, since we were checking out the next morning. To this day, I think maybe we should have said something, though. It was kind of unnerving.

But here's one of my favorite photos of us at the Haunted Mansion...

 

[easyas123]

I'm at peace

I've not been in your situation, but I imagine that must be a blessing at this time.

Does this ring a bell for any of you?

Sorry -I'm no help when it comes to printers! Sounds like you've looked it up and it's about done? All of our printers are huge and the printer guys have to come in & deal with them. And we don't use one at home. Good luck though! Hope you can find a in-budget replacement.


Good morning all. Cloudy & gray out there this morning, although I think it's supposed to be on the warmer side for January, 50's. I think we are due rain later today/overnight. I've scheduled a grocery pick up for tomorrow morning, last couple of times it has not worked out, so I'm trying this one last time since I have to go up to that area anyway. Besides the super exciting grocery pick up, I don't really have much on my agenda this weekend at all.

I did order up some chicken wings, from what I gather there are some big football games on this weekend, so I thought maybe if the boys were around they'd want some football food.

 

[Breezy_Carol]

Good morning.

@Pea-n-Me. what a touching story about your Disney cruise after your cancer diagnosis. Glad it had a happy ending.

“So does this mean we‘re not going to McDonald’s Playland?”

And this story reminded me about our first trip to WDW. DD was in first grade and DS was 4. We didn't tell them ahead because they would have been too excited and constant "are we going yet?" I had spoken with her teacher (we went in October) and principal about her absence and to get any make up work, so I had to tell her before her last day of school as she would be bringing things home. When we told her, she got very serious and said, "I don't think Mr. Catron (her principal) will let me go." We explained he was ok with it and they we had a wonderful time.

DD called last night and said both kids had snot noses so she was keeping them home from daycare today. But, she has to do some work from home and make phone calls so wondered if we could take DGD to a park outside for an hour while DGS napped. We are picking her up at 12:30 and going to a DE State Park (Lums Pond).

Yesterday our Governor spoke again. They are moving into phase 1B on Monday 1/18, and phase 1C on 1/15. I am 1C due to age. They Cecil County Health Department had put out a preregistration form for people to show level of interest so I filled that out too. Hopefully things are moving forward.

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Good Morning Dis Family,

Thank you for sharing a beautiful story, Pea. Hugs.

Thank you all for listening about the printer. We are hoping the Sunday ads will bring some sort of sale. Right now it seems the cheapest is $90 on Amazon!

I am so sorry many of you have had such hard and scary (Apirateslifeforme) Disney experiences. I am also grateful you have had some fun times, too

Today is the first morning in forever that I am not freezing and wearing my humungous robe. Dad said his phone indicated it was 70 already. Supposed to be 86 today! We are hoping that warms up our apartment for when it drops to the low 60's next week.

Have a good Friday, friends!

 

[lynxstch]

Good Morning Dis Family,

Thank you for sharing a beautiful story, Pea. Hugs.

Thank you all for listening about the printer. We are hoping the Sunday ads will bring some sort of sale. Right now it seems the cheapest is $90 on Amazon!

I am so sorry many of you have had such hard and scary (Apirateslifeforme) Disney experiences. I am also grateful you have had some fun times, too

Today is the first morning in forever that I am not freezing and wearing my humungous robe. Dad said his phone indicated it was 70 already. Supposed to be 86 today! We are hoping that warms up our apartment for when it drops to the low 60's next week.

Have a good Friday, friends!

Good morning Mona, Did you try searching on Walmart? They have an HP one for either $79 or $89. HP is the only brand we trust these days. Our current one was bought for $29 at Walmart (lol try and find that price now) ,on Black Friday or Cyber Monday 2 years ago, and it works great. It's a wireless, and the ink is still decently priced.
Pkg arrived in LA this morning, so it should get there by tomorrow..we can't get our local mail to move that fast, lol
Send some of your heat please..we are at 42 and that will be our high, and it looks like rain is going to start anytime now. I don't want it to be 86 either, but a nice 57 or so would be appreciated!

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Hugs, Lynn, I'm sorry it's so cold there. Thank you for the printer recommendation! I was thinking earlier that years ago I did get a printer for under $30 I believe at Target that may have even come with a free paper shredder! Not anymore! I think we are hoping to find a Canon just because as I said we do have the brand new color ink cartridge. To be able to save that going on $30 upfront would be fantastic. I do know most printers these days come with 2 trial size cartridges. I'll have to Google with Canon models use 245 and 246.

I watched Hearts of Winter last night. I ended up enjoying it. I didn't think I would because at first the interior designer (who the Dad and daughter of the film won a home makeover from) came across as trying to change them or suggest their current home was not good enough. It ended up being touching. I tried to watch some of Love in Flight this morning which I had recorded last night and did not get caught up in that story much at all. I still miss the Christmas movies and having two choices of channels (HM&M and Hallmark) for them!

 

[easyas123]

Well, good afternoon all.
I'm not making dinner tonight. Just not feeling like it - I suppose that's allowed once in a while, no?!?! Problem is now, do I order dinner from the one place that delivers OR go and pick something else up?
You're right - make it easy on myself. Delivery!

I'll buckle down and make a decent meal Saturday & Sunday, for sure some turkey soup and maybe we will get to that ham. I do have some potatoes, perhaps I'll make a ham & scalloped potato casserole or something along those lines.

Not very much of anything on my plate this weekend. My goal will be to get outside either Saturday or Sunday for some fresh air and sunshine. I feel like that dose of natural vitamin D was helpful to my state of mind last weekend and it made me realize I need some more sunshine on my face during these colder, darker months. Maybe even take another long walk....which I'll need if I eat a lot of ham & scalloped potatoes.

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Good afternoon, everyone, I can't believe it's 88 here! Truly such a Blessing to not be cold in the apartment!

Definitely do delivery, Easyas123. Enjoy your treat

I recorded Easter Under Wraps this morning. I'm enjoying it although I absolutely do not agree with intentional deception! This movie is similar to the TV show Undercover Boss only in the movie it's the boss' daughter whose undercover. Real pretty scenery and tasty looking chocolate (it's about a family chocolate family). It reminds me a little of some of the Christmas movies I so enjoyed because of all the family/community history and connections. ETA: I finished the movie. I was disappointed that the story was not at all about Easter. Zero church. I'll leave it at that. It was a cute Spring movie though.

Wishing each of you a good rest of the day

 

[lynxstch]

Good morning everyone. This thread was on page 2 this morning? Not allowed, lol! We had rain yesterday afternoon, and the temp now is 27, so there is a light coating of ice on the ground , street, cars, etc. I went out to feed the outdoor cats, and almost got stuck out there, when the handle of the screen door was stuck with ice. Luckily it opened when I banged on it. We have a few errands to do this morning, other than that it will be 'football playoff ' weekend again. I am so glad the season is almost over! Hubby's Packers are playing today (I think) so that game will be a must watch.
Have a nice morning everyone!

 

[Breezy_Carol]

Good morning.

Really rained overnight but looks like it’s done now. 41 so no ice.

We’ll be watching the Ravens play at 8:15 tonight. No other plans yet except carry out for dinner.

 

[easyas123]

Ditto on the MD weather on my end

 

[lynxstch]

Good morning.

Really rained overnight but looks like it’s done now. 41 so no ice.

We’ll be watching the Ravens play at 8:15 tonight. No other plans yet except carry out for dinner.

Our rain stopped around 7 last night. Temp is still 28, but it's foggy, so it must be starting to warm up. I managed to get the car doors open after really yanking on them..just that little bit of water that stayed in the seams froze up. You and easyas123 are lucky it's so much warmer there! Hubby will be watching both games today, but I won't watch the Ravens game. They are not my favorite team!

 

[bobbiwoz]

Rained overnight in Cape May, in 40’s now..sun was out for a brief while.

 

[Breezy_Carol]

They are not my favorite team!

Blasphemy!

 

[PollyannaMom]

Pouring rain here today too. We had tentative plans to see if a "new" breakfast place in town offers take-out, but I think we're going to wait for better weather.

 

[dazedx3]

Good Morning everyone,
We got some much needed good news yesterday. DH pathology results were all negative!! It appears they removed all the cancer
He will get scans every three months to monitor, but, for now I'm taking this as a win. He still has a lot of challenges ahead with his "new Normal" but at least the threat is gone. So blessed,