Hmm...
who's late to this little party?
Oh yes, that'd be...ME!
Actually, hon, I did read these yesterday. And when I read them, I cried. But it was a good cry. An I'm so touched by your kind description of me and my crazy little family kind of cry.
As opposed to the yelling and screaming cry I had earlier in the day. :::sigh::: Work. Why? Why???
Anyway, here I am, ready to multi-quote.
Brace yourself.
Somewhere around the middle of the hallway I passed an excessively hairy balding guy in big boy shorts with massive guns napping in a chair in an alcove formed by the room doors.
I hushed Missy so she wouldn't wake ZZUB.
DED!!!
(NOTheShining) (NOREDRUM).
You know what they say about all work and no play, right?
We were giddy. I was actually trembling a little. My "dream" stay was just a key-card slide away.
*click*
*green light*
*whoosh*
Oh, talk about the anticipation.
"I'm so throwing up everytime we go somewhere."
DEDDER!
Really I just kept repeating the first one over and over. Out loud and in my head. I hid it from Missy, but there was a point where I was a little choked up. My thoughts were moving so fast but walking into that room was so many things at once to me: excitement, relief, magic, disbelief, homecoming and a little bit of sadness. I thanked God for the blessings of the day, I told my gramma I missed her and thanked her for any strings she might've pulled with the Big Guy in my favor for this room and I thanked Disney for issuing the VISA that made it all possible.
Oh, honey. You DESERVED that room. Concierge. The whole thing. I couldn't imagine a nicer person for that to happen to. Maybe gramma was pulling some strings.
I may or may not have jumped on the bed.
::ahem:: YOU decide.
I vote yes.
The GF spa is a separate building from the main cluster of GF buildings that houses both the spa itself and the fitness center. We browsed around in the outrageously priced spa gift shop for a bit (want to know what an $88 fleece looks like? A WHOLE LOT like a $15 fleece from Old Navy) and then were led "in the back".
Okay, but seriously? It's DISNEY fleece. That's the difference.
Instead, we were led into a very dim hallway. We were shown into the lounge area which was a little bit brighter and was full of cushy couches and chairs. We didn't explore it much, but there was also an area with a sauna and a locker room/shower/changing area. They had complimentary water and teas as well. The soothing music they were pumping in was at a volume that just begged, "Sit back, relax, let me rub your feet." We only waited a few short minutes and then were called in for our pedicures. I can't remember Missy's pedicurist's name, but I had Flor and Flor has wonderful, magic hands that soothed away the weeks worth of stress I didn't even realize I was keeping in my poor, battered tootsies. THANK YOU FLOR!
Okay, back in the day (read before little nugget) Mom and I used to partake in the spa at least once or twice a year, usually for manis and pedis, sometimes I just got a pedi. No joke, your description just takes me right back to the last time I was in one of those big comfy robes, drinking some fantastic green tea and listening to that soothing music. I feel very Elle Woods. It's like my mothership.
getting purdied up for our dinner with the TK clan at Citricos back at the GF.
I must say, you both purdy up very nicely!
I gave TK a call to let her know we were on our way just as the monorail was pulling up.
How kind of you not to mention exactly what I sounded like during that phone call.
Were you letting me save that for my tr?
As our monorail purred into the GF, I was giddy with anticipation of my first-ever DISmeet and even more to the point, that it was with my sweetest of sweet (and only) long lost sis, TarzansKat, or, as we shall call her ever onward, TK. I'd seen pics of her and her DH and her sweet little prince of a boy before leaving so I was on the lookout as we approached Citricos. I spotted her DH pushing the stroller around just outside the entrance to the restaurant and went over to introduce myself.
He didn't shake my hand.
HOW RUDE! (NOStephanieTanner)
Kidding.
He's actually a peach. The poor TK clan was well into the throes of a Disney cold at that point and as much as they wanted to share dinner with us, they didn't want to share their germs. So nice.
Just as I was introducing myself to her DS (who a.) was playing shy and b.) is possibly the cutest little man born to this planet), two things happened at once, TK rounded the corner, ready to tell us our table was available and BF called me. I excused myself for a second to quickly take his call and then FINALLY got to meet TK.
Oh, you flatter me so. Honestly, it's amazing for me to see myself and my family through your eyes. And that's not just because half the time I feel like a crazed lunatic who doesn't know up from down. Down is up. That's just maddeningly unheplful.
If you missed my PTR, all you need to know is this - TK and I share 98% of the same genes (including likes, dislikes and pirate obsessions) but none of the same parents. The number of things we have in common is scary. The number of things we don't have in common is perfect - enough alike to take over the world, enough different to not kill each other in the process.
One could almost say we are joined by something larger than ourselves.
A presence of good if you will...
THE FORCE!!!!! :
:
I knew this would be one of the biggest and best highlights of our trip.
OH the PO-TA-TOES.
If these potatoes were a dessert they'd be Butter Grilled Pound Cake. (R.I.P.)
If these potatoes were a resort stay, they'd be a complimentary upgrade to the Concierge level at the Poly.
If these potatoes were a presidential candidate, well, I know they would NOT be Sarah Palin. If you asked my mom they would be eight more years of Bill Clinton.
Unfortunately, since returning home, I have yet to find a recipe for these wonderous of wondered spuds. I'm getting desperate.
Honey, I had no idea you felt THAT way about the potatoes. I mean BGPC good. Listen, I'm going to make it my personal mission to get that recipe. And if I can't find it on the internet, I will get it.
And I probably should save this for my PTR, but I am eating at Citrico's in December and I have connections, my dear.
As in the manager and a few members of the waitstaff remember Mom and Nana by name. Oh yes. And I mean that in a very, very good way. As in, Mom and Nana are adored wherever they go in the World. What can I say, we're a fabby family.
The quatro formaggi potato recipe will be mine.
Oh yes...it will be mine.
but her DH is so much like my BF that if they ever got together and started teasing us as a combined spousal unit, I think the earth's rotation would stop. Then they'd spend about 70 hours playing MarioKart on the WII followed by watching a Naruto marathon. And yes, these are men. But aren't all men boys at heart?
I think when we finally do bring the two of them together it's going to be cataclysmic. Pigs may fly. The earth may stop revolving. I just can't believe how in sync we all are. NoBoyBands.
TK's lil' man is just. Well. He's the bees' knees. Missy and I immediately fell in love with him. He's just so sweet. I've never in my life heard a three and a half year old with a vocabulary like he has. He's equal parts shy, mischievous, brilliant and sweet. Oh. And he really likes grapes. And his cars. And C-A-N-D-Y. He and Tiffany were so sweet when they interacted. She'd talk right to him and ask him what he wanted and if he got shy, she'd talk to TK or her DH and then all of a sudden he'd come right out with what he wanted and took to shyly flirting with her. At one point towards the end of our meal, he started playing with a little girl at a table near us. The little girl called him a "pretty boy". And that he is folks. He's simply darlin'. Missy is currently drafting plans to kidnap him, never to return him.
I have a couple of things to say right here. One, I didn't know what to expect. Two, I was so pleased you all took to him and us so quickly. Three, I never expected him to flirt with the waitress, much less the girl at the table next to us.
That boy. Just like his daddy.
Pirate.
And TK. I could say so much. But really, I don't need to. She was everything I knew her to be. But in 3-D. And sitting across the table, talking about our first day and her whole trip, I knew I'd found a lifelong friend.
Shucks. Are we going to od on cheese if I tell you I felt the same way?
One would think dessert would be the end of the meal. Nay. We sat and chitted and chatted until someone looked at the time. Our ADR had been for 5:40 p.m. It was now 8:45 p.m. Three hours say you?!?!
Three FANTASTIC hours, say I.
I still can't believe the boy made it that long. I just can't. Suffice it to say the company was incredible.
We first partook of a mini-photo session out on the couches near the elevators and I have to say, one of my favorite photos from the trip is from that night. I just look so darned happy. So does TK.
Girlfriend, I was happy! And of course, as if you couldn't have guessed, that's one of my favorite pictures of myself from that trip. I do look so happy. I think about that photo, and a few others when I'm at work. And I remember how good a time we had.
Just know that in the pics we're grinning like women on Christmas morning who just woke up to find Jack Sparrow under their tree.
Is that a hint? Is DH giving me Jack Sparrow for Christmas?
Posting here has brought so many new and wonderful people into my life, including the TK family. And for that I am thankful.
And thats how we missed a once in a lifetime Disney thing. We listened to it though. It mustve gone on for over 30 minutes, some of the explosions so loud the room vibrated. I imagine it was pretty fantastic.
Alright.
I don't mean to rub it in. But it...was...AWESOME!!!!
Can't wait to read more, hon. It was a great pick me up after the day I had yesterday to come home, read your posts, and remember that I am part of a world larger than my job. That we both are not defined always by what we do, but by the company we keep. And if I keep company with you, I know I'll have a true friend for the rest of my life, and someone to pick me up when I worry. And I'm happy to do the same for you, and grateful that these boards we call the DIS gave me that opportunity.
Too rodent like for me!
AMEN!
messing with the computer again? I'll tell him to stop. That whole Death Star dark side has cookeis thing is getting really old. And the heavy breathing.
