Sarah's Moving 2 AFRICA! The trip planned in 4 days! * THREE parks in ONE day! 5/10

[maroo]

We interrupt this TR for some bittersweet news...

Sarah has officially left for South Africa today.

I really thought I was "ready" for her leave. Afterall, she is going to be a missionary and do awesome things to help people.

But I have officially decided that I am NOT ready for her to leave.


Little background on Sarah. We have been friends for seven years. We went to the same church and got to know each other (there are only a few single folks and we tend to all hang out together!)

I had a horrible asthma attack after some July 4th fireworks. She barely knew me, but still took me to the hospital and actually stayed with me until they finally let me go at 3 AM. On her way home, after dropping me off, someone attempted to rob her at gunpoint. (She was a poor college student and living in a not so nice area of town.) She was fine and basically drove off before they had the chance to harm her.

I had just moved back to Jackson and was saving up to get a house...I was renting a room (in a huge house) from a family from my church. We (the family and I) decided that Sarah and her roommate should not live in that crazy part of town anymore and immediately helped them move out and they moved in to a couple of rooms in the same house. So we were housemates for a little while.

I moved out, got my own condo. And she eventually moved out of town to work at a boarding school. But we have stayed in touch over the past 7 years. It is hard to stay connected to people that you don't really see that often...but we have managed to do just that!

We often joke...but we are so comfortable as friends that she will call me to watch a TV show (24, CSI, etc) and just hang out on the phone and watch it. We don't even talk to each other for minutes at a time...but we are comfortable with the silence. Which says a lot, I think.


It was so fun to take her to my "happy place" - Disney World, of course!

And I can't wait to tell you all about how much we were able to see in a day and a half.

But right now...I am just sad that she is gone...

 

[All7OfUs]

I know exactly how you feel! When we left 8 years ago to be missionaries, we literally sobbed at the gate with my parents, a ton of friends and family and our pastor! It was soooooo hard! That first term was difficult, and we were homesick a lot, but as technology got better, we could be in contact with them more. Now we have Skype, and if you don't have that you should really consider downloading it and getting a headset. Then you could call her or she could call you, and you can talk for pennies a minute! It's great!

Each time we left (we go back to the States every 3 years) it got a little easier. Although, we still have to endure the comments like, " you took our grandkids away", blah, blah, blah!

Remember, Sarah is grieving just like you are! And it is totally normal for her to maybe even act like she is putting distance between you. It's a self-protection thing.

 

[KathyRN137]

Aww, Maroo....

I'm looking forward to reading about the special time you two friends shared at WDW!

Kathy

 

[court4short]

Hi Maroo!

I'm just now getting back into the swing of things after my trip last week, and I wanted to find your report! I'll be reading it once I'm away from work!

It was nice meeting you while in line for the Laugh Floor!

 

[TarzansKat]

for Maroo.

I love the type of friend you can have comfortable silence with. Without being to punny , it speaks volumes.

 

[maroo]

I know exactly how you feel! When we left 8 years ago to be missionaries, we literally sobbed at the gate with my parents, a ton of friends and family and our pastor! It was soooooo hard! That first term was difficult, and we were homesick a lot, but as technology got better, we could be in contact with them more. Now we have Skype, and if you don't have that you should really consider downloading it and getting a headset. Then you could call her or she could call you, and you can talk for pennies a minute! It's great!

Each time we left (we go back to the States every 3 years) it got a little easier. Although, we still have to endure the comments like, " you took our grandkids away", blah, blah, blah!

Remember, Sarah is grieving just like you are! And it is totally normal for her to maybe even act like she is putting distance between you. It's a self-protection thing.

Yes...Sarah is definitely grieving...much more than me, I am sure. As she is leaving all of her friends, etc behind. She didn't even get to take family with her...so she is alone in the move.

I have already installed Skype and we have already practiced!! Sarah keeps insisting that we will talk more when she is halfway across the world.

aw..."you took our grandkids away..." how awful! What a horrible thing to say!! Yikes!

So does Skype cost? I thought it was free?

Aww, Maroo....

I'm looking forward to reading about the special time you two friends shared at WDW!

Kathy

Thank you! Another update coming tonight...hopefully.

Hi Maroo!

I'm just now getting back into the swing of things after my trip last week, and I wanted to find your report! I'll be reading it once I'm away from work!

It was nice meeting you while in line for the Laugh Floor!

Hi court4short!!!! It was great to meet you!!! My friends were amazed that someone from this website would actually talk to me. Hilarious!

for Maroo.

I love the type of friend you can have comfortable silence with. Without being to punny , it speaks volumes.

It speaks volumes... So true. And so funny!

 

[tinytreasures]

thinking of you today
hopefully she can "talk" to you often

 

[maroo]

Animal Kingdom - Solo Style (cont.)

After my AWESOME ride on EE...I headed over to the Nemo show. I only had about 7 minutes to get there! So I was hoofing it. Good thing I am SOLO...because I can weave in and out of crowds so easily!

I made it! As you astute TR readers have already figured out! Yea!

In fact...SOLO TIP: I got there while they were seating the back end of the theater. I asked a CM very sweetly if there was any available space more toward the front for a solo traveler. Sure! She pointed me over to the middle section, right behind the sound/lighting booth. Great seat!

Here was my view before the show:

Not a fantastic picture (the lighting does not do that great for pictures!)...but you get the idea.

A family walked up...3 small children and their mother...and asked the whole area if there was room for their family. Uh...no. But she was pretty insistent. In fact, she put her son right in front of me...by himself!

Again altered to protect the innocent! But this child is sitting beside this nice lady in front of me...and that lady is not his Mom. This child's mother was no where near him?! In fact. I don't know where she went? It is not like this was an older child. She just left him. At least he appeared to enjoy the show! And I didn't leave when it was over until his Mom reappeared.


This show was wonderful. It was so peaceful. Everything about it was so well done. I love the costumes. Love the lighting. I just loved me some Nemo!

My seats were AWESOME. Perfect, really. If you get too close to this show, then you can't really "see" it...you end up missing what is going on behind you - as there are times that performers will appear on the walkway right behind the sound/lighting booth.

So performers were walking right in front of me.

So close, in fact, that one touched me during the performance! (But not in a "Tough to be a Bug" way, ya know!)

Here are some pics. These were hard to get because of the lighting - and no flash was used! (Per Disney policy!)

Are these fish making a political statement?

I love this part!

And this one, too!

And my FAVORITE! Crush! And this was actually a pretty good pic of him! Caught him right in character!

Up next...more EE or Safari?! Decisions, Decisions!

 

[maroo]

thinking of you today
hopefully she can "talk" to you often

thank you!!

I saw that people are already pulling out the popcorn in hopes for another update on your TR...and you just got back. I am holding on to my popcorn for now...Figure we should at least let you get some laundry done.

 

[kimmylaj]

i love that nemo show, and good thing about getting a good seat, those backless benches in the last 3 rows. ugh. those songs just get ya dont they, i love nemo

 

[KathyRN137]

Gee, your Nemo pix came out much better than mine!

That CM gave you good advice; you got to have your Yeti and your Nemo, too!


Kathy

 

[All7OfUs]

Love your pic of Crush! It's so clear!

That is one of the top things on my to-do list before I go back in 18 months- learn how to use my camera MUCH better! I really want to be able to get some photos on the dark rides, and if I were to leave today, I'd fail miserably! Last time, NONE of my Pirates pics turned out at all; I was so sad!

Did you get your laundry done?? My power has been out for 3 days, but only during the days. They are trimming trees in our neighborhood, so they turn it back on about dinnertime. But, I have put off laundry thinking each day would be the last. Ugh!

Can't wait to see what is next after Nemo! Did you get to take that African Sarfari you've been waiting so long for?

 

[tinytreasures]

thank you!!

I saw that people are already pulling out the popcorn in hopes for another update on your TR...and you just got back. I am holding on to my popcorn for now...Figure we should at least let you get some laundry done.

I didn't have any laundry
I learned a long time ago to keep up so I did it on the trip (2 loads a day) and I only came home with Jammies to wash

but they are going to have to wait till I can get grandma's shots downloaded

we missed Nemo
we will have to do it next time

 

[eyor44]

Okay, I am now caught up over here also. Wow Mary you have been busy. So glad you decided to do solo. That is my dream. Disney solo.

PS - Lauren looked beautiful and like she was having a wonderful time.

 

[jenb1023]

Hi Maroo!

I am so behind in all of my TR reading! Loved the photos of Lauren and your description of GKTW. Great start to your solo trip and I am glad you finally got to experience AK. Looking forward to reading more.

 

[TarzansKat]

Wow! The Nemo show looks amazing! I still haven't seen it, it's totally on my must do list.

 

[maroo]

i love that nemo show, and good thing about getting a good seat, those backless benches in the last 3 rows. ugh. those songs just get ya dont they, i love nemo

Urgh. I am glad I didn't get the backless benches!

I loved it, too!!

Gee, your Nemo pix came out much better than mine!

That CM gave you good advice; you got to have your Yeti and your Nemo, too!


Kathy

\

Yes, he did! It was nice of him, too...because there was a line...and he had to be sneaky!

I think my bright eyes helped me out on that day...my genuine "I AM SO GLAD TO BE IN DISNEY" smile helped me get some bonus help from the CM's! I think they like happy people!

Love your pic of Crush! It's so clear!

That is one of the top things on my to-do list before I go back in 18 months- learn how to use my camera MUCH better! I really want to be able to get some photos on the dark rides, and if I were to leave today, I'd fail miserably! Last time, NONE of my Pirates pics turned out at all; I was so sad!

Did you get your laundry done?? My power has been out for 3 days, but only during the days. They are trimming trees in our neighborhood, so they turn it back on about dinnertime. But, I have put off laundry thinking each day would be the last. Ugh!

Can't wait to see what is next after Nemo! Did you get to take that African Sarfari you've been waiting so long for?

Yeah...I loved that camera!

My only hint is to not use the flash. I turned my Canon Powershot on "Auto" for most of my pics and turned off the flash and it took pretty good pics. The other thing that helps is only using the "digital" zoom and not the optical. The digital zoom is the first few zooms (for my camera it is digital zoom up to 4X) and takes much better pics than when I go past that 4X mark.

And I took a TON of pictures! Most of my pictures did not come out. I probably had 20+ of the Nemo show and only a few were taken at the right time to have Nemo be still long enough to not get him all grainy because he was moving so fast! It is easier to capture stuff when the show is still, too.

I had a hard time in Pirates. I have not looked at those yet. There is just no light in there and most of the time it is too far for the flash and you can't use a flash anyway.

I did get my first round of laundry done and another round this weekend, of course!

I didn't have any laundry
I learned a long time ago to keep up so I did it on the trip (2 loads a day) and I only came home with Jammies to wash

but they are going to have to wait till I can get grandma's shots downloaded

we missed Nemo
we will have to do it next time

Wow...you are so organized! I guess you have to be with that many kids!



I can't wait for your TR to get cranked back up again! I know everyone wants to hear your story...

Okay, I am now caught up over here also. Wow Mary you have been busy. So glad you decided to do solo. That is my dream. Disney solo.

PS - Lauren looked beautiful and like she was having a wonderful time.

It was fun. More fun than I thought it would be, honestly!!

Lauren did have a blast!!!!

Hi Maroo!

I am so behind in all of my TR reading! Loved the photos of Lauren and your description of GKTW. Great start to your solo trip and I am glad you finally got to experience AK. Looking forward to reading more.

I hope you are caught up now!

More will be coming soon, hopefully...more on that in a sec...

Wow! The Nemo show looks amazing! I still haven't seen it, it's totally on my must do list.

Oh my goodness!!!

It must, must be on the list for this next trip. Next to Soarin, it was my favorite thing! And your little Peanut would LOVE, LOVE it!



Update on my TR:

First of all, Sarah made it to South Africa and is enjoying herself!!

Second...my computer is dead. I have the next part ready, but no way to post it at this point. I think I can get it fixed this weekend, hopefully!! Hope to have some more to post by Sunday!

 

[KathyRN137]

Second...my computer is dead. I have the next part ready, but no way to post it at this point. I think I can get it fixed this weekend, hopefully!! Hope to have some more to post by Sunday!

Sending some for your computer!! Have a great weekend!


Kathy

 

[eyor44]

I was wondering where you were. and was wondering if you had heard from Sarah. I'm glad she got there okay.
more for the computer.

 

[WishMom09]

OH NO! Get that computer fixed cause I'm having withdrawls from your TR!!!