The DDA Trouble Free Zone Part 9

[UP Disney]

Fly by posting:

I have multi cultural hands(every color we had) after an afternoon of tie dyeing. We did shirts for the Pal Mickeys, the girls and I did shorts and shirts and Abi made a floor green. It shall be interesting at tomorrows roast to see how my hands and green nose go over!!

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!!

Amy- hope the open house brings lots of people through your house....plus at least a couple of buyers.

Anyone have a suggestion for an inexpensive digital camera? I have started looking and am so confused...all I know is I want something with a zoom lens.

Ok, now I'd love to see that! Multi-cultural hands!

 

[PNO4TE]

We went October 15th - 23rd last year and loved it. It was hot enough for water parks, but not hot like it is in July. The crowds were not bad and we got to do MNSSHP. I would definately go that time of year again.

Deb

Deb -- we were there at the same time! The girls and I were there from October 18-23. And the weather was terrific, except for the downpour on Saturday night.

 

[UP Disney]

Kate is right, our weather is crappy, but we finally had a decent open house!

Our realtor said that three couples came through. One couple seemed very interested and they actually came back with their own agent! Of course, I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but that sounds promising!

Meanwhile, I've just been feeling very weird. I keep telling Kevin that we need to be prepared for Matthew to arrive any day. I can't even pinpoint specific reasons for this...it's just a gut feeling. Part of me wants to be wrong (we are so not ready for him yet ) but the rest of me wants all the uncomfortable aspects of pregnancy behind me!

Amy

Babies have a way of coming when they want. Katrina was 5 weeks early and Becky was 10 days early. I wasn't ready at all with Katrina. We had some baby showers the two week-ends before she was born and we hadn't washed anything. I had planned on setting up her room & getting the clothes ready the next week-end. The stuff has a way of getting done somehow anyway!

 

[UP Disney]

I just paid off my August/September Free Dining Trip! Ain't no stopping us now!!!

Awesome!!!! Happy day!!!!! Celebrate, Celebrate, Dance to the Music.

 

[tinknme]

Thanks Jo! We will be going in March, not sure of the exact date yet. We will be staying in Paris & take the train to Disneyland. We were thinking 2 days for DLP, is this to much time, could we do it in a day? Our plans are to stay in Paris for 4 days, 2 of those going to DLP. Our trip will start in Switzerland, we are planning on 2 weeks of traveling. I would love to go in warmer weather, but that is dh's busy time for work.

Ramiro & I went 2002.
If you are going in Febuary?
Dress warm Paris is very very cold in the Winter.
DLP is very small.
What they say about the French & Americans is true.
So don't expect to get WDW service.
If you are staying @ a DLP Resort.
Stay in the the most expense 1 you can afford.
They are not run by Disney.
The values are dumps less than Motel 6.
They pack the buses to the point of being unsafe.
If you can plan to go in Spring or Summer I would.
All the beautiful fountains are covered in plastic.
Paris still is beautiful in the winter.
It's just so much more in Spring & Summer.
Good luck & have a great time.

 

[tinknme]

Hi Denise Cars is going to be showing at our drive in soon, I have got to see this

Janet, good to see you!


We went to see Cars this afternoon. Very cute, but too long. The best part is the credits at the end! Now that was funny! Putting the kids to bed and then spending some time with DH tonight. I'll be around tomorrow.

 

[UP Disney]

Amy, the pictures of Alyssa are adorable as always. What a little cutie. I love her swimsuit.

 

[tinknme]

There's that DDA brainsharing again!!!

 

[tinknme]

Sounds like you had a wonderful time!

Chuck was able to handle the drive to Houghton so that we could attend the 25th anniversary cruise for our closest "couple" friends. They were our first neighbors when we got married. We all lived in married student housing at Michigan Tech. The cruise was fabulous. The weather was beautiful with the sun shining but a little bit of a breeze so that we weren't miserably hot. It was a dinner cruise and the meal was fantastic. They had friends from Atlanta fly in for the week-end. Bob's family came from Michigan City, Indiana.

 

[babytrees]

Well, everyone, I may not be posting as much as usual, although I will keep up with the thread, as it's an escape from realty. John has told me he wants a divorce, and as you can imagine, I am devastated. I am scared to death of what this is going to do to our kids. He has taken them out for the day and he wants to "talk" to them tonight. They have absolutely no idea. No, our marriage has not been blissfully happy lately, but I had no idea that it reached this point. I have not told my parents, which is a phone call I am dreading. If any of you who have been through this, especially with little kids, can offer me some advice, I would really appreciate it.

Oh my!! No advice...at least none that I can offer in the group....let's just say I was the one asking when the girls were younger. I am sorry and I will keep you all in my prayers.

Hope all goes well(or as well as possible)

 

[tinknme]

Vicki I hope the meds kick in soon & that Chuck starts feeling better.

I'm really getting worried about Chuck. He is getting worse. I sure hope the Celebrex starts doing what it is supposed to soon. We got two beds last night because he is having so much trouble sleeping and he wanted to try sleeping in his own bed. He has said that there are times in the night when I put my hand on his shoulder and he wants to scream because of the pain. I'm praying that this is viral. He is such an active person. We've been talking about our plans for after Becky graduates and it all involves camping, biking, kayaking & hiking trips. I'm worried if this can't be resolved, that the next issue we'll be dealing with is his depression. I'm already starting to see that it might become an issue. June 21st can't come fast enough for me. Thanks for all your thoughts & prayers. It helps!!!

 

[tinknme]

So sweet

Recent pictures of Alyssa!

 

[Steffy]

The autograph pages are just too cute! I love them. You done good....

 

[Steffy]

First bikes! I cannot believe how big they are.

L-R: Davis, Brantley-Kate, Rees

Love the new bikes Denise. I can't believe Rees just had surgery!!!

 

[Steffy]

Hi June,
Hay I looked @ mobile homes Saturday.
OMG how they have changed over the years.
Fell in love with a 24x40 3 bed, 2 bath.
Only $48, .
No more ugly paneled walls.
Can't call that trailer trash.
As soon as I get relocated I'll find us 1.

One of the ladies I work with bought a double wide. It is in a very upscale development. Nothing like the "trailer parks" of old. It's really a rancher. Believe me, it ain't goin' nowhere..... Very, very nice home....

 

[babytrees]

Ok, now I'd love to see that! Multi-cultural hands!

Now they are just blue....it's a good thing Pal Mickey is a boy as we have lots of blue, green and black shirts. Dylan, who was helping us, did most of the shirts and we were trying a new set of dyes and there are a LOT of darker colors. So I have blue hands but no blue melons!!

 

[marcij]

Kate is right, our weather is crappy, but we finally had a decent open house!

Our realtor said that three couples came through. One couple seemed very interested and they actually came back with their own agent! Of course, I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but that sounds promising!

Meanwhile, I've just been feeling very weird. I keep telling Kevin that we need to be prepared for Matthew to arrive any day. I can't even pinpoint specific reasons for this...it's just a gut feeling. Part of me wants to be wrong (we are so not ready for him yet ) but the rest of me wants all the uncomfortable aspects of pregnancy behind me!

Amy

to you and Matthew. I hope everything is okay.

That sounds very promising about the house. Toes and fingers crossed and prayers your way.

 

[marcij]

Hey everyone!

Just wanted to pop in and say hello in case anyone was worried

We got home from our (amazing) cruise on Thursday at about midnight..... slept for 6 hours, showered, and closed on the house! Things were SO smooth. In and out in 45 minutes, with keys in hand -- thanks for the pixie dust before we left. In true Disney fashion, the cruise made me forget about EVERYTHING at home except maybe once or twice, for about 10 minutes at a time when I got online to check up on things.

I think Amy posted that I passed my test, so thanks for the confidence in that as well! I'm glad you all thought I could do it, becasue I didn't!

This weekend has been hectic, as I assumed. We left our closing meeting a noon, then went to my parents to finish packing there. We took a few car loads to the new house and unpacked all night Friday. Saturday morning we picked up the UHaul (never again -- they have LOST our business, but I'd rather not rehash that ) and moved every last thing from the storage unit to the house. My SIL (who, keep in mind, is normally entirely selfish) and her boyfriend were a tremendous help, as my parents were out of town all weekend in meetings for the church. So everything was unloaded as of yesterday, and we unpacked as much as we could but were BEAT. So we went and bought some necessity groceries and went to bed fairly early (well, 10:30 -- but early for the last few days!). Today we went to church, sams, and are back to unpacking -- hoping to be done tomorrow before Kyle starts on Tuesday.

I promise I took good notes for a trip report, and lots of pictures. I have most of them up on my desktop, but we won't have internet until this Friday ( ) I'm going through withdrawal (and also had to check for an important email ) so I came to Panera for a bit and thought I'd pop in. You'd think we moved to the boonies, as all of our utilities, etc are taking almost a week to set up -- even though we called before we left! It's a new neighborhood, so I guess everything just takes longer. My poor mother keeps getting phone calls to look things up for us, as we don't even have a phone or phone book (besides our cells).

I really intend to catch up on every page (you know me) but I can't afford to sit here and start back on p2432, while Kyle is home working. So I'll be back when I can, and I'll catch up and share about our trip, etc.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Jennifer -- glad you and Kyle had a great time, and that you are making progress on the move. Thanks for popping in -- we can't wait for more news on the house and trip!

 

[Steffy]

Well, everyone, I may not be posting as much as usual, although I will keep up with the thread, as it's an escape from realty. John has told me he wants a divorce, and as you can imagine, I am devastated. I am scared to death of what this is going to do to our kids. He has taken them out for the day and he wants to "talk" to them tonight. They have absolutely no idea. No, our marriage has not been blissfully happy lately, but I had no idea that it reached this point. I have not told my parents, which is a phone call I am dreading. If any of you who have been through this, especially with little kids, can offer me some advice, I would really appreciate it.

Oh Tammi. I'm so sorry....

The one thing I want you to do tomorrow is to find the "sharky" lawyer, the divorce lawyer whose name creates fear in the marrow of all who hear it, and get him/her on retainer. Tommorrow. There is no way you want to kisk the chance of this lawyer being the one John retains.

There are a few things you don't go bargain shopping for. One is a nanny. Another is your divorce lawyer. You don't have to file... all you need is for this lawyer to be YOUR lawyer. Give him/her a retainer.. tomorrow. You need to take no action. Just give them a retainer.

And as hard as it may be for the kids sake, please don't say anything bad about him in front of the kids. And I hope he does the same. This includes talking on the phone to your girlfriends/parents. Nothing traumatizes a child more than to hear that their parents are really bad people. Reassure them that you both love them very much. And that they in NO WAY caused the breakup.

Hang in there. The road will be rough, but we're here for you...

 

[Steffy]

Tammi, I'm so sorry. I haven't been through a divorce myself, but my daughter was divorced when her kids were 11, 10 and 7. Her ex is a compulsive gambler, and he left her and the kids to go to Arkansas to live with a woman whom he met online! He was back in New York in a very short time. He never paid child support, visited very little, and may as well have not had kids. Now he thinks they should still have respect for him.

From that experience, and watching the difference in the way my boss handled her divorce, and the way her ex handled it, my advice would be to try to remain cordial with your ex and try to still be united as far as the kids are concerned. The bitterness and lack of attention from their father was the thing that hurt my grandchildren the most. Make sure your kids realize this is no one's fault (even if you think it's his - try not to talk bad about their father no matter how you feel). I know this will be hard, but try to do it for your kids' sake. Also, get counseling for yourself, too - AND GET A GOOD LAWYER!!! - preferably a woman! Call your local bar association for recommendations for a matrimonial/family law attorney (don't use a general lawyer for this), unless you have recommendations from friends. I would just go for a consultation first and get a feel for the person. You must like and trust her to do what is best for you and your kids. If you feel like she (or he is in any way not on your side, get a different attorney). Don't pay a retainer until you are satisfied you've got the one that will do the best job for you.

Remember to keep on being the best you that you can possibly be (this is NOT your fault). We are "all amazing women" here on the DDA. Keep coming here and venting and letting us know how things are going.

Ditto!