That's it, moved to FL to be closer to Mickey! Update 2/4 Kidnapped at WDW 10/03/09

[jmskinner]

Ok, I must really be sick, because I remember responding to everyone except Kathleen yesterday, but my post isn't there.

Hi Melissa,

Great news about the US tickets!! I'm sure you'll love the parks!

Enjoyed the update - you sound so professional when you talk about your photos (over exposed), I have no idea what that means!
It's great your 2 MILs get on so well! Not often you see that!
Glad you enjoyed Biergarten.

Di x

Biergarten is in the top 3 in this house. Well, except for Jacob since no chicken nuggets.

I am really looking forward to US since reading yours and Irky's TR's.

Sorry it took me so long to get here!

My mom and stepmother get along quite well so it's not that surprising for me to see your two MIL's sitting next to one another. I think it's great.

I love that picture of the inside of Biergarten! I had no idea it looked like that and was so big!!

It is good that JS's parents can all get along. I love the inside of Biergarten. I didn't get a good picture of the moon inside it. I did last time though.

I have never been to Biergarten so thanks for those pictures!

Your welcome. You need to try it sometime. It is really good.

I think you DMIL and I would get along well with our fear of birds!

I doubt I will ever go to Biergarten so I am glad I could live vicariously through your pictures. I have actually never seen pictures of inside.

How funny. I had never met anyone with a fear of birds before her. Before I knew about it, I sent a Christmas card to her and it had a duck on it. Great way to introduce myself to the future DMIL.

Biergarten Yay!!!!!!!!!

Ah looking at the pics makes me "homesick", am not thrilled that my next trip is June 2010, fingers crossed, but Biergarten will be amongst my first ADR's..... sorry your experience there had a couple of downers but its a fun place what with the massive beers and Oompah band.........Ticka, Tocka, Ticka, Tocka.....Hoy, Hoy, Hoy.

The mention of Biergarten brough out Grumpy. Oh, those weren't really downers, we still really enjoyed it. I wish to go sometime when the restaurant is full and the "Ticka, Tocka, Ticka, Tocka.....Hoy, Hoy, Hoy" is really rowdy.

I can’t believe how crowded the AK parking lot is!!!

You got some amazing pictures – Love the one entering GMR, and all the tree of life photos

The pictures of you mom on Kali are funny!
I love watching the people who’ve never been on before get soaked.
I’ve never been brave enough to take my camera out on any of the water rides.
Probably because I usually get soaked.

MK looks crowded! That HM line was long!!! I don’t think I could wait that long!!!!
I don’t think we will ever go the week after Christmas. I had been wondering about how crowded it really was.

Sounds like you had fun though. Glad you got to go to Disney with your Mom.

Two DMILs! They look like they get along well.
I usually try to avoid having my Mom & Dad in the same place at the same time.
Sounds a lot less crowded at Epcot!

I have never waited in line for a tram like that myself. See the long lines like that one at MK was interesting. Just kept saying "I have never seen it like this". I know my parents were tired of hearing that.

Yeah, I try not to let my folks get together either. They don't fight or anything, but I know my mother is always uncomfortable around my Dad and his wife.

Well, since my previous post didn't post, I will type this again also. My desktop crashed, so no update on Friday night. We have the laptop and I have all the photos already in photobucket, but I hate using the laptop. Geek Squad is coming Sunday evening, so hopefully I'll be up and running on Monday.

Just learned that JS is going back to DC next week. He is excited. He made some extra money last time, plus Marriott rewards.

I also learned last night that my dear stepdad, Dale is heading back to Iraq as a contractor. My Mom said he is really happy about it. He likes it over there.

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend.
Melissa

 

[Finkelstein's Hubby]

Finkelstein's Hubby......haha Ron Burgendy

Dont wanna hijack the thread but..............Cannonball!!!!!!!!!!!!, wee Anchorman joke there for you Tinkgurl

 

[jmskinner]

Hi everyone! Hope your first week in March is going better than mine. As previously posted my computer crashed. This all started last week when Jacob was playing a game and it froze on him. His way of correcting the problem was to turn the computer off. Then when we turned it back on, got an error that a Windows file was missing. I called Dell, and their technical support has always helped me without any problems. Well, I manage to get some woman who obviously didn't know what she was doing, didn't care, or both. After she couldn't get anything to work, told me to reinstall Windows, which wiped out my hard drive. Well, when that still didn't work she told me the hard drive crashed, so I should go buy a hard drive and take the old one to Best Buy to see if they can recover any info.

Called Geek Squad, the guy came out. Took one look and said, "Your hard drive is fine, there is nothing on it, but it is fine." So, all the lady at Dell did was cause me to erase my hard drive. I realize now, she never even asked me for the error I was receiving when I first called and she also should have had me go to the backup drive that they install on all computers. And she was trying to get me to install Windows on the wrong drive, which I kept questioning. Don't know who I will turn to for my next computer, but don't think it will be Dell, after 13 years of being a Dell customer. Oh, and the Geek Squad guy said it would be about $700 to try to recover any info from the hard drive.

Luckily I had moved a lot of pictures to my external drive, so I can finish the Christmas/New Years visits, but all trips after that are gone. Jacob and I had went once to get more Photopass pictures because I felt we didn't have enough for the $100 CD price. Then Jacob and I went again in February and hit all four parks in one day. That was a mini-TR I was really looking forward to posting. We even got to be co-pilots on the Monorail that day. Pics are all gone. Oh well, just memories. At least I don't run a home based business or anything off of this computer.

On the bright side we basically have a brand new computer now because there is nothing on it. I really have to keep to keep from . Things could be a lot worse around here. Sorry for the venting.

My next post will be completing the chapter on the trip with the two DMIL's. Also, we went this past Friday and gave the Kim Possible Adventures a try. Trying to figure out how to do a TR on it. I don't want to give away all the little things Disney has come up with, which makes this really neat and a must do!!! Thought about making a picture video (must find that software to put back on my computer) that way you would have to make the decision to see what occurred.

By the way, if anyone is on facebook PM me. I have several Dis friends on there now.

Hope everyone has a great week!
Melissa

 

[scottny]

sorry to hear of the computer problems. shame you lost all the pics.

I am on facebook.

 

[carissanboys]

So sorry about losing your pictures Melissa. That's happened to me more than once.

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure! We're really excited to try it out.

 

[irky416]

Glad your computer's fixed but sorry to hear you lost all your pictures.

That's part of the reason I decided to pay for online photo storage. I was always scared my computer would crash and I'd lose all my pictures!

 

[jmskinner]

Hey everyone , sorry I haven't posted in so long. Too tired to finish the Christmas trips right now, but hope to do so tomorrow. Oh, I also thought my TR looked a little boring and thought I would add some color. Just in case anyone is wondering, what is going on in my life.

Not much. JS is in DC. Kind of miss him. I can't sleep when he isn't here. When he is gone I turn on the alarm at night. I have always done so good to remember to turn it off, but due to sleep deprevation (that's what I'm blaming it on) I set the thing off this morning. Swing the door open and . So I run through the house trying to get to the keyboard. Then grab the phone and wait for the call. Sure enough they call and ask if I am ok. "Yes, just an idiot."

Got Jacob to school and went for a doctors appointment. She thinks I have allergies, which considering my eye has been twitching all day, I agree. See, once in both South Carolina and DC my left eye swelled shut and had some not so nice stuff coming out of it and I feel like that is what is going to happen here. So, got a prescription for that.

Had the refrigerator repair guy come yesterday and didn't check what he did. Well, before he came the ice maker door wouldn't shut all the way causing the ice to melt and make a big lump of ice in the container. Well, now we have nothing. No ice or water coming out of the thing.:headache

Jacob is having his state mandatory tests this week. I sure hope he passes. He couldn't sleep Monday night before the first one. They really should not do this to our kids.

I am going to start tomorrow on striping my living room table and refinishing it. This should be interesting. Not telling JS, I want to surprise him.

I plan on going to AK this Saturday. I had some fantastic pics from our trip in February, but they are all gone. So, I am hoping to get some more. Plus I want to look around the shops. We never have taken the time to explore the shops. Also, sorted out clean pennies so we might get a few more pressed pennies for the collection. Need to print the lists again and make sure what we have. WARNING: Don't ever print the lists for pressed pennies four to a page, the type is so small you need a magnifying glass, that is what I did last time thinking it would be good to carry around.

Hope all is well with everyone.
Melissa:

 

[irky416]

Glad to hear things are going well! I am scared I will do that with our alarm if we decide get one in our new house.

My eye used to twitch all the time. So annoying! It was related to stress and will occasionally do it if I get too stressed out.

I hope Jacob does well on his tests! Ours are next week. If our school doesn't pass again this year we're in big trouble, so it's very stressful to everyone. I agree that this is not the way to see if they're learning! And it's really boring for the teachers to proctor because we have to walk around the room but aren't allowed to do anything to help the kids or read or anything. And then when the kids finish they aren't allowed to do anything, so I have to fight with them to either sit quietly or go to sleep. Argh! Stupid NCLB! (Ok, sorry, I shouldn't have gotten started!!)

Good luck with the table! Post pictures of the before and after so we can see how you did!

 

[jmskinner]

Glad to hear things are going well! I am scared I will do that with our alarm if we decide get one in our new house.

My eye used to twitch all the time. So annoying! It was related to stress and will occasionally do it if I get too stressed out.

I hope Jacob does well on his tests! Ours are next week. If our school doesn't pass again this year we're in big trouble, so it's very stressful to everyone. I agree that this is not the way to see if they're learning! And it's really boring for the teachers to proctor because we have to walk around the room but aren't allowed to do anything to help the kids or read or anything. And then when the kids finish they aren't allowed to do anything, so I have to fight with them to either sit quietly or go to sleep. Argh! Stupid NCLB! (Ok, sorry, I shouldn't have gotten started!!)

Good luck with the table! Post pictures of the before and after so we can see how you did!

Sorry you have to go through the tests next week. I think they should be used as a tool to see where a child might need tutoring, not hold them back. Jacob's teachers are allowing them to chew gum during the test. I'm curious if that is helping. I know the OT said it helps Jacob's handwriting improve, but he doesn't have to write any of his answers. They are allowing him to dictate to another teacher.

Highly recommend the alarm. I don't use it except for when JS is away, or we are out of town. We had one in the last house also. And it doesn't save as much on your insurance as those commercials tell you. But your insurance agent can quote the difference. I really like the piece of mind it gives me when away. Hope all is going well on the house.

I was thinking that I might post my handy work. It might be really to watch me do this. But it would be cheaper than buying a new table.

 

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Hi Melissa,

Was so sure I'd posted before now

For the computer - such a shame all those photos have gone!!! But on the positive side, it is an excuse to go again and take more!

I leave all the computer stuff to Grumpy - I'm am quite literally clueless.

Hope Jacob did OK in his tests

We had an alarm in our last house and I was always doing that! Don't have one now, but then again, we've never been broken into in this house, unlike the last.

BTW about Facebook, you're more likely to get in touch with me through DIS - i only joined facebook to cyberstalk ex boyfriends etc, but quickly lost interest in it. Grumpy's done more with his facebook page in the 5 mins he's joined than I have in the past 18 months

di x

 

[carissanboys]

Sounds like you've had a crazy couple of weeks! Hope things calm down for you soon.

I agree about the testing. This is the first year that any of my boys have to do the state testing. I'm against standardized testing and the whole No Child Left Behind stuff anyway - don't get me started.

Have fun at AK!

 

[karajeboo]

Wasn't Kim Possible incredible??? We were there this past weekend and did FOUR missions! All three of us loved it! I'm trying to figure out how to describe that, too, for my TR. I want to tell all about it, but I don't want to ruin it for people, ya know?

 

[jmskinner]

Hi Melissa,

Was so sure I'd posted before now

For the computer - such a shame all those photos have gone!!! But on the positive side, it is an excuse to go again and take more!

I leave all the computer stuff to Grumpy - I'm am quite literally clueless.

Hope Jacob did OK in his tests

We had an alarm in our last house and I was always doing that! Don't have one now, but then again, we've never been broken into in this house, unlike the last.

BTW about Facebook, you're more likely to get in touch with me through DIS - i only joined facebook to cyberstalk ex boyfriends etc, but quickly lost interest in it. Grumpy's done more with his facebook page in the 5 mins he's joined than I have in the past 18 months

di x

You saw my previous post also that I know I responded to other posts, but then it wasn't there. You must have run into the same hiccup as me. You are exactly right about the excuse to go back and get more photos. Trying to look at the bright side, maybe I'll get better shots this time. I at least know now when I can't get the camera to focus on something, switch to manual focus. Can't believe I never thought about that before, so I already know a couple of shots I can get that I didn't get before.

Ooh, sorry to hear your previous house was broken into. We haven't had that happen (is there a knock on wood smilie). Growing up with my parents it happened but turned out is was my stepdad's nephew.

So Grumpy was right (I'll never be able to call him by any other name), you are psycho. It is unfortunate that you can't look in on what people are doing on Facebook without them accepting you first. I have about 10 other "friends" that I only know through the Dis so it is fun to know what they are up to. You get to "know" them in their normal life and not just the Dis life.

Sounds like you've had a crazy couple of weeks! Hope things calm down for you soon.

I agree about the testing. This is the first year that any of my boys have to do the state testing. I'm against standardized testing and the whole No Child Left Behind stuff anyway - don't get me started.

Have fun at AK!

It's not too bad around here. Hopefully all the illness is gone.

I understand the concept of "No Child Left Behind", especially when you hear of kids making it to college that can't read or write, but putting our kids through these tests is just ridiculous. High School, maybe Middle School, but when they are only in third grade it is crazy.

Your not too far away from you trip, we might bump into you!

Wasn't Kim Possible incredible??? We were there this past weekend and did FOUR missions! All three of us loved it! I'm trying to figure out how to describe that, too, for my TR. I want to tell all about it, but I don't want to ruin it for people, ya know?

Yes, it was fun, but trying to write a TR and include it is difficult. I kept trying to make sure we wouldn't see what others did, so we could still be surprised when it was our turn. I want to go to the Flower and Garden Festival and hope to do another couple of missions.

 

[karajeboo]

It's so fun! Spiderman is the best ride EVER! Try to sit in the front row the very first time you ride it - it makes the whole experience. The Mummy is a very very close second. We must have ridden them at least 15 times each when we were there last.

ITA!!! I hate to say this but I think that IOA is the prettiest themed park of any. MK is MK, Main St, the castle, but there is something about IOA that just blows me away. I think you'll love it!

I agree with you about the FCATs. Ally doesn't start until next year, but what ticks me off is that the whole school is like on lockdown during testing. No resourse activities for ANY grades, NO RECESS cause they might disturb those that are testing. It's awful! And Clay County where we live just announced they have to cut $43 million next year!!!! So they have already cut art and music, and PE and computer lab is next. It is soooo sad! All I heard was about how great FL schools were, and we bought in an "excellent" school district, based on all my research, but it doesn't hold a candle to our school in SC (of all places!!!).

Did I see you're on facebook, too? I'll PM you my info.

 

[tinkgurl]

Dont wanna hijack the thread but..............Cannonball!!!!!!!!!!!!, wee Anchorman joke there for you Tinkgurl

Haha, thanks! Sorry I'm a little slow catching up!

Hey everyone , sorry I haven't posted in so long. Too tired to finish the Christmas trips right now, but hope to do so tomorrow. Oh, I also thought my TR looked a little boring and thought I would add some color. Just in case anyone is wondering, what is going on in my life.

Not much. JS is in DC. Kind of miss him. I can't sleep when he isn't here. When he is gone I turn on the alarm at night. I have always done so good to remember to turn it off, but due to sleep deprevation (that's what I'm blaming it on) I set the thing off this morning. Swing the door open and . So I run through the house trying to get to the keyboard. Then grab the phone and wait for the call. Sure enough they call and ask if I am ok. "Yes, just an idiot."

Got Jacob to school and went for a doctors appointment. She thinks I have allergies, which considering my eye has been twitching all day, I agree. See, once in both South Carolina and DC my left eye swelled shut and had some not so nice stuff coming out of it and I feel like that is what is going to happen here. So, got a prescription for that.

Had the refrigerator repair guy come yesterday and didn't check what he did. Well, before he came the ice maker door wouldn't shut all the way causing the ice to melt and make a big lump of ice in the container. Well, now we have nothing. No ice or water coming out of the thing.:headache

Jacob is having his state mandatory tests this week. I sure hope he passes. He couldn't sleep Monday night before the first one. They really should not do this to our kids.

I am going to start tomorrow on striping my living room table and refinishing it. This should be interesting. Not telling JS, I want to surprise him.

I plan on going to AK this Saturday. I had some fantastic pics from our trip in February, but they are all gone. So, I am hoping to get some more. Plus I want to look around the shops. We never have taken the time to explore the shops. Also, sorted out clean pennies so we might get a few more pressed pennies for the collection. Need to print the lists again and make sure what we have. WARNING: Don't ever print the lists for pressed pennies four to a page, the type is so small you need a magnifying glass, that is what I did last time thinking it would be good to carry around.

Hope all is well with everyone.
Melissa:

Wow, sounds like you are having a crazy week! I'm finally going to the doctor tomorrow when I get back home. I've been sick for 2 weeks now and it's getting annoying!

 

[kathleen27]

I'm sorry to hear about your computer.
I used to have a lot of problems with mine when Jacob had Tycoon games on it. When my Dad & StepMom bought a new computer, they gave their old one to the kids, so the games are now on that one.

Losing your pictures sounds awful!!!

It sounds like you have gotten a few Disney visits in though!
Glad you enjoyed Kim Possible!

I often do projects when Joe is out of town.
He has come back several times to find I have painted a room.

Good luck with the table... and the fridge .

 

[jmskinner]

ITA!!! I hate to say this but I think that IOA is the prettiest themed park of any. MK is MK, Main St, the castle, but there is something about IOA that just blows me away. I think you'll love it!

I agree with you about the FCATs. Ally doesn't start until next year, but what ticks me off is that the whole school is like on lockdown during testing. No resourse activities for ANY grades, NO RECESS cause they might disturb those that are testing. It's awful! And Clay County where we live just announced they have to cut $43 million next year!!!! So they have already cut art and music, and PE and computer lab is next. It is soooo sad! All I heard was about how great FL schools were, and we bought in an "excellent" school district, based on all my research, but it doesn't hold a candle to our school in SC (of all places!!!).

Did I see you're on facebook, too? I'll PM you my info.

I hate to see all these cuts. Are they cutting administration? That's where I think cuts should come first. I thought FL schools were suppose to be great also, but I just haven't seen it yet.

Wow, sounds like you are having a crazy week! I'm finally going to the doctor tomorrow when I get back home. I've been sick for 2 weeks now and it's getting annoying!

Hey, I hope you get to feeling better soon.

 

[irky416]

ITA!!! I hate to say this but I think that IOA is the prettiest themed park of any. MK is MK, Main St, the castle, but there is something about IOA that just blows me away. I think you'll love it!

IOA does have amazing theming! I agree it might be better than any WDW park. The whole back of the park looks and feels so differently than the front of the park. Make sure you notice the ground in the Jurassic Park section!

 

[jmskinner]

Ok, so we left off with Biergarten, we were full but we needed to rush over to Soarin', because our FP's were due and I don't mean it was, that hour window was us. But first Karin has to go into the teddy bear shop. Then we lose Buddy, he was in the smoking area. Finally we are all together, look up and this is what we see:

We had never seen the ball come out before and didn't realize how big it really was. I mean we realized it had to be large, but being so close to land like that really showed how large it really was. Also, I had always wondered where they stored it and how it got out there. As many times as we have walked to and from Mexico over that bridge, I never realized it was a draw bridge.

All we can do is wait and wait and wait because it wasn't only the globe coming out, but also all of the firework docks. I see this photopass guy and think, what an interesting photo op:

Jacob didn't want his pic taken and the photopass CM thought this was funny so he got a closeup. Should I send this out as Christmas cards next year?

I know it is an awful shot of him.

Then I try to take Jonas' photo, and this is what I get:

And this would be how his Mom takes care of him:

She has this way of whacking him at the base of the neck and making it go up his neck until she hits him in the head. I haven't gotten it down yet. Oh, and I only use it on Jonas, no child abuse here.

So, we run to Soarin', the CM barely even looks at our FP and waves us on. We had a 5 minute wait and then walk up to the last CM:

CM: "How Many?"

Me: "6"

CM: "Row one!"

Me:

Everyone just loves this ride and the only time we rode we were in the middle row and we just didn't care for it. Thought it was different, but I think seeing the feet dangling in front of me spoiled it. Plus, what a special treat for all the family. Sure enough, that was the issue. We all really enjoyed it dangling feet free.

So now we needed to see the rest of the world, so went the way of the UK this time. Trying to avoid birds for Myra.

This is Jacob trying to jump out and scare people. He knows I hate being so scared, but he loves to do it.

And I finally got to see the candy maker:

There were so many people around her, we couldn't get close. Sure wish that picture was better. We will just have to keep trying.

Next up, America.

Here is a closeup of the tree:

JS has to have a funnel cake. The man loves funnel cake and he puts chocolate on it. Does anyone else do this? I like just powdered sugar and he always forget to ask for chocolate on half.

Karin was wanting a cup of coffee. We went into the CS place, but all they had was Nescafe and I told her you don't want that. So we found the booth that sales better coffee. I got me a cappucino. Jacob still didn't want anything. So we found a table and everyone decided they need to take a bathroom break. Well, at different times people decided to do this, so we ended up sitting there for a good 30 minutes. Jacob didn't have a problem he had his DS:

Finally we were on our way. Ok, I will complete this after ER and I eat my lunch. See ya in a bit!

 

[tinkgurl]

Then I try to take Jonas' photo, and this is what I get:

And this would be how his Mom takes care of him: