The DDA Trouble Free Zone Part 18

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Good morning, DDA!

Tom - Good to hear from you! Hope you can find a nice gift for your DW!

Kristine -

Stephanie - Darn real life! If it makes you feel any better, I am still not unpacked, either. Your poor friend! What a horrible thing to happen! I hope you are able to go see her this weekend.

Jen - YAY!! Disney in May!

Deb - I hope you are feeling OK today!

Elin - Sorry your sore throat is now a cough! I think I know where your sore throat went. Of course my sore throat is more likely compliments of a small handsome Brother.

Glynis - DH will have to work Christmas Eve, but I *think* he is off Christmas day. As long as all 3 of his accounts are closed he will not have to go in. He was supposed to be off Tue, Wed, and Thur of this coming week but they have roped him into working Tue & Wed. He has a ton of product going into one acct. on Tue so he actually wanted to supervise that himself. Wed is sort of a blow off day for him - he is usually home by 11 AM. But he will get the pay differential for working so he said he would go in.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Not too much on the agenda this weekend. I HAVE to address the laundry situation, and I HAVE to unpack that last suitcase. None of the laundry we have done since we came home has been folded or put away - it has all been thrown on the table in a huge heap. So even though it is clean it is wrinkly. I need to put the valance back up in DS's window. I decided to wash it after the blinds fell down.

DH and I had a fight, I mean, a discussion, about the Christmas tree again last night. I have given him different ways to keep the cat out of the tree, but he says my ONLY suggestion has been putting some tubing around the wires. I said we could get the spray to keep her from chewing, we could put the train under the tree, we could leave the lights unplugged and tucked up high in the branches, we could look for one of those "talking" door mats that would make a noise every time she stepped on it (but that wouldn't scare her for long). DH had said we could get one of those plastic carpet protectors with the spikes on the under side and put it under the tree so it would poke her in the feet. She has WADS of fur on her feet though, so she might not care. I also said we can go buy a tree with NO lights on it. But Target has exactly one style without lights, and it is too short. So there we are. I am sure the debate will resume when DH gets home today. But I did think of one more thing. I might be able to cover the under side of the bottom branches with Saran wrap or foil so the cat can't reach up into the branches from under the tree. We could probably wrap the wires in foil, too. I don't think she will want to bite on foil. That might actually work. Hmm...

 

[ReAnSt]

So I was up till after 2am trying to get another part of my trip report up and I gave up on photobucket, I kept trying to load several pictures and only was was uploading. So I ended up uploading them overnight and finished that day of my report this morning.

Here is the link if you want to check it out. Better late than never is what they always say.

 

[UP Disney]

I know the frustration too! My dad is a firefighter and there have been many years he worked 6am-430 pm on christmas..when we were REALLY little, we did presents at 5am before he went..this year, my brother is working christmas day and dad is working christmas night

My dad worked for the Michigan Dept. of Transportation. When I was little, he drove one of the plows. I can remember at least one Christmas morning having to wait until he returned home from clearing the roads to make it safe for other people. Even being that little, I can remember not wanting to open presents until he got home.

 

[UP Disney]

I am off to town for recycling & Goodwill drop-offs. I want to decorate for Christmas this week-end. There is lots of organizing to do first. Hope everyone has a great week-end!

 

[yellowfish78]

Afternoon everyone! Sorry I haven't been around much, but Mom is in from NV so things have been hectic here. Tonight is a Christmas party with friends, Sunday is church and football, Monday we're off to Grandma's and Tuesday is my work holiday party; she leaves the 20th.
I hope everyone is doing well!!!!

 

[triplefigs]

Marci and family arrived safely at WDW late last night. They got the MK View room in the Main Bldg at the GF, red and green balloons with a signed card, the Gingerbread house, and the Cookie/Wine holiday basket were all waiting for her. She was overwhelmed and very touched by all of your generosity. She said yesterday was very tough for her leaving to go on a trip, and the goodies and thoughtfulness helped more than we know. She wanted me to post a thank you to you all. WTG, DDA!

 

[bear74]

That reminds me: I sent out the first batch of Christmas cards yesterday, and like an idiot, I forgot to include my first name. So, some of you will be getting cards that just say Neves on the envelope. That's from me! Sorry to be so dopey, but that's what you get when you are trying to do a couple of things at one time!

ETA: WooHoo!!!!! I can't believe I got this milestone! I haven't had one in a long time!!!! Thanks, everyone for helping me get this!!!!!

congrats Glynis

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I hope Marci & her family have a wonderful time!

 

[bethbuchall]

Janet - I did NOT think Disney in August was that bad. We went Aug. 3-12 this year, and we are going Aug. 15-24 next year. Last year free dining started Aug. 13, this year it starts Aug. 5 for people on the bounce back promo. I didn't think it was that crowded, but we are always at the parks when they open. People who went the first week of free dining said it was PACKED, but I don't know what frame of reference they had. I don't love humidity, but I can handle it. DH didn't care for it, but with DS's schedule and the lure of free dining that's what we are going with next year. I think I would rather be hot than cold.

We were there for the 1st two weeks of free dining, though we were off-site the first week. We thought the crowd levels were very reasonable, and I definitely wouldn't say packed at all. My reference is mid-May visits. I thought that August was about the same or even slightly less crowded. Maybe we were always in the right place at the right time, but we almost never had a long wait.

Beth

 

[MrsHeg]

Not too much on the agenda this weekend. I HAVE to address the laundry situation, and I HAVE to unpack that last suitcase. None of the laundry we have done since we came home has been folded or put away - it has all been thrown on the table in a huge heap. So even though it is clean it is wrinkly. I need to put the valance back up in DS's window. I decided to wash it after the blinds fell down.

DH and I had a fight, I mean, a discussion, about the Christmas tree again last night. I have given him different ways to keep the cat out of the tree, but he says my ONLY suggestion has been putting some tubing around the wires. I said we could get the spray to keep her from chewing, we could put the train under the tree, we could leave the lights unplugged and tucked up high in the branches, we could look for one of those "talking" door mats that would make a noise every time she stepped on it (but that wouldn't scare her for long). DH had said we could get one of those plastic carpet protectors with the spikes on the under side and put it under the tree so it would poke her in the feet. She has WADS of fur on her feet though, so she might not care. I also said we can go buy a tree with NO lights on it. But Target has exactly one style without lights, and it is too short. So there we are. I am sure the debate will resume when DH gets home today. But I did think of one more thing. I might be able to cover the under side of the bottom branches with Saran wrap or foil so the cat can't reach up into the branches from under the tree. We could probably wrap the wires in foil, too. I don't think she will want to bite on foil. That might actually work. Hmm...

I've also heard that you can mix hot sauce with vaseline and put that on the wires and it will stop them from chewing on them.

 

[PNO4TE]

He still sees them through Daddy eyes.

he certainly does.

I think I did well for his choices for the girls, though. We talked a long time this morning and I finally got him to understand that when we were Kathrin's age we already HAD Kathrin! And when we were Kristin's age we knew we were going to get married. So...

For Kristin:

For Kathrin:

 

[PNO4TE]

Elin - Sorry your sore throat is now a cough! I think I know where your sore throat went. Of course my sore throat is more likely compliments of a small handsome Brother.

Elizabeth - I hope you don't get the rest of what Brother had! Keep healthy!!

 

[MrsHeg]

Just wanted to say Thank you for the last batch of cards, Elizabeth, Bernadette, and Kristine, all the family photos are wonderful.

 

[UP Disney]

I'm loving all the Christmas cards this year! Mine all went out yesterday. I had a SSP that had to be completed before they could be mailed. I hope you all enjoy. I just got the two new addresses from Deb so those will go out Monday.

 

[ellenbenny]

Finally have a moment to sit for awhile. DS Scott drove home from Michigan State yesterday with his new girlfriend who is visiting for a couple of days before heading back home to Michigan. DS Mike is flying home right now, I'll have to leave for the airport in about 30 mins to pick him up.

I spent the afternoon making the marshmallow s'mores that Glynis posted about, and a batch of rice krispie treats.

This morning I made 2 pans of lasagna, one for us and one for our son and DIL with the new baby.

I still have a little wrapping to do, but not too much, and all the decorating was done before last weekend, as we had a holiday party here for our co-workers (DH and I both work for the same department at Kodak, so most of our co-workers all know each other.)

I got my Christmas cards in the mail this morning.

DH finished disassembling and cleaning the computer and desk we are giving to DS and DDIL for Christmas (it is used but much better than what they have) We don't need 3 computers in the house for 2 people, now that all the kids have their own.

My DSS (DH's middle son) graduated from SUNY Brockport this weekend, so we are having a family dinner for him here tomorrow night as he does not want anything more than that.

So everything seems to be under control for now, and I feel pretty ready for the holiday. I still need to shop for all my Christmas Eve and Christmas day groceries, so that will be my next project planning and preparing food for those 2 events.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We were there for the 1st two weeks of free dining, though we were off-site the first week. We thought the crowd levels were very reasonable, and I definitely wouldn't say packed at all. My reference is mid-May visits. I thought that August was about the same or even slightly less crowded. Maybe we were always in the right place at the right time, but we almost never had a long wait.

Beth

We have been 4 times now - January, October, August, and December. I really couldn't tell THAT much difference in crowds during any of them! Well, that first January trip we didn't have to wait for anything - everything was walk-on. But the other trips we just got to the parks at opening and used Fast Pass. The UG had our week in August estimated at "9" for crowds. It was the only week all summer that was like that! I did see waits of 80 minutes at things like Splash, but we didn't ride that! I imagine Spring Break and Christmas gets pretty crowded, and I guess probably 4th of July. I would've preferred to go at the end of May, but free food is good.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I've also heard that you can mix hot sauce with vaseline and put that on the wires and it will stop them from chewing on them.

I might be tempted to try that if I didn't think we would end up with Vaseline from one end of the house to the other! Even if she didn't chew the wires I know she would rub against them. Then she would take her sticky self and roll all over the carpet, the beds, the furniture, etc.

I told DH about the foil, so I think we may try that. But he said we will have to go buy more foil. Maybe we will go to Sam's and buy a giant food service roll of it!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Elin - I like the purse and the jewelry box! I think the girls will like them!
I don't feel that bad now. My throat definitely hurt worse when I first woke up.

I am going to attempt to make some cookies. The first hurdle was turning on the oven. We got all new appliances back in September, but I think I have only turned the oven on once since we got it. Complicated little booger! The kitchen at work is much more sophisticated than mine, but at least at work I can turn on the oven!

 

[mommy2emmersNmo]

Just a quick pop in to say Hi

Last night Eric and I dropped the girls off at my parents and finished almost all of our holiday shopping. Then we had dinner by ourselves out which was a nice end to the evening. And probably one of the last ones we will have by ourselves.

This morning I got up and finished decorating the house and wrapped all of the Hanukkah presents. They are now under the Christmas tree waiting for tonight.

Emma is at a birthday party and Molly is napping. Not much left to do other than vacuum and get dinner started. I hate making the latkes, they take forever but are so worth it.

Tomorrow morning we are headed to my Aunt's, on my mom's side of the family, for Christmas breakfast. Makes for a non stressed out Christmas morning.

Oh and my mom took the girls to see Santa this morning and Emma comes home and tells me that she asked Santa for a Nintendo DS and clothes for her Felicity doll, American Girl. Well for months she has said she is asking Santa for Jess, another AG doll, which of course I have had since September. And her Hanukkah present is clothes for Felicity. When I asked her about the doll she said I forgot Mom. Hopefully she isn't too disappointed.

Have a great weekend everyone. and