This Disney trip is going to be the bomb diggity! Dec 2010

So far the Michigan trip sounds great! Reese is such a lucky girl to have such a good Momma :goodvibes
 
Thank you disneydreamer1970, Praisehisname and Madilynnsmomma.

It was a great trip, tons of fun. I didn't want you all to think I was ignoring your posts.:flower3:

Continueing where I left off....

The next morning it was 10:00am before we woke up. Wow, we had planned to be out the door by 9, so obviously that didn’t happen.

We got dressed, ate bagels and cream cheese for breakfast, went to the bath house for a shower, did the best I could with my hair then decided to, just like every other summer day, pile it all up into a messy bun, it was already hot and sticky outside, curled hair wouldn’t have lasted long anyway.

I’m actually thinking about cutting my hair a lot shorter, I can’t do anything with it in the summer except wear it up, and when I do wear it down it takes so long to fix it up. Kent likes my hair long and I have kept it long for him, but now it’s just too unmanageable.

Sorry off topic there…..

We went back to the trailer and jumped into the car to head to the tourist shopping part of Tawas.

The day was HOT!!!! My leg was so swollen my flip flop barely fit my foot, I was able to squeeze my foot into it, but it was uncomfortable and cut into my foot, I complained a lot about my swolleness, it looked like I had cankles.

The first store we went into I found a shot glass for Reese for her collection, it was a little rasta man, dred locks and all. It’s for Christmas though.

Reese got a Tawas bay shot glass. She started collecting shot glasses a few years ago when she wanted a souvenir from each place she went but didn’t want a T-shirt that would wear out and mugs are to big and bulky, she has quite the collection now because when her friends go away on vacation they always bring her one. Jingles just got her one from Monterey, Ca.

The next store we went into had soaps and lotions, I got a lip gloss. Didn’t need it, but so what, I love lip gloss.
Bo picked up some cherry salsa in one of the stores, she said it was to go with our dinner that night, totally couldn’t wait for that.

We went into a Candy store. Reese made friends with the girl working there, they talked about clothes and Reese’s dress that she was wearing and their favorite stores.

Then we went into a dress shop. Bo got a dress that can be worn 15 different ways. Reese got a gorgeous pink and purple summer dress, she plans to wear it at her sweet 16 party that we are having for her and her friends this weekend.

We went to the chocolate shop and got chocolate covered pineapple, orange slices and apple slices.

I found a pair of sandals in one of the shops but didn’t get them, I was able to squeeze my foot into my size shoe but with my leg being so swollen I wasn’t able to tell if they would be comfy even after the swelling went down. So maybe next year.

We left the shopping village and stopped at Wal Mart to get some ice, I was feeling so bummed out that Bo and Reese found great things to buy in town and all I got was lip gloss, but then I found a Mickey Mouse T-shirt and bought it, that was all I needed to cheer me up.

We went back to the trailer and Bo made us lunch. It was turkey, cheese, avocado and mild peppers. It was so good. We also had a tossed salad.

After lunch we headed to the beach again.

BO and I set up the towels under a tree and then Reese and I headed out into the water for a swim, you have to walk way out in the water before it gets deep, I mean waaaaay out.

Here is the view from our towels, Lake huron.
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On our way out a teenage boy started talking to us, he had just tubed from the Tawas river, about an 8 mile journey, it took him and his friends 6 hours. He left us to go meet up with a few more of his friends who were just now finishing their journey from the tawas river, the one who was holding their phone had accidentally dropped it in the water. So they asked Reese if she had a phone they could borrow so they could call their ride to come pick them up.

Reese and I went back to our towels she got her phone and ran back down to give it to the boys, I stayed back with Bo and just watched. I thought once the boys used the phone she would come back, but no, she stayed and with in minutes they were all laughing and carrying on like they had known each other for years.
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I'm pretty sure me taking a picture didn't embarrass her at all;)

After a while Reese comes running up and tells us that she has been invited to a Barbque at one of their houses and can she go. I look at Bo, like what do I say? What would you do. Bo said. “If your mom says it’s ok, then it’s fine with me.”

I told her I needed to speak to a parent that is going to be there.

She ran back down the beach to the boys and then they all came up, the boy who had talked to us earlier said the barbque was at his house and I could talk to his mom.

Bo said, I need your names and ages.

I’m Trey and I’m 16
I’m Max, 15
Chase 17
Seth 16
Seth 17

Bo asked “Are there going to be other girls there? I don’t want 20 guys and then just my niece.”

Trey was like, I invited a few girls I don’t know if they are coming.

Then Max said “Tammy aint coming for sure cause you played her like an Xbox.”

Trey turned a few shades of red, “I can invite more girls if you like.”

Bo winks at him, “I think you should dear.”



So once their ride showed up, 2 of the boys rode with Bo, Reese and I back to their house. I was happy to see that their neighborhood was across the street from the trailer park we were at. I could walk to the end of our road and see their house if I wanted to.

Bo and I went in and met Treys mom, she was a petit little lady, very friendly and super reassuring that she would be there all evening to keep an eye on things.

So now it’s just Bo and I at the trailer. We decided not to go canoeing just incase Reese called us and needed us to come get her, we didn’t want to be floating in a river if the call came.

We made dinner, very simple, shrimp cocktail, Bo also had brie that she melted on crackers and then put the cherry salsa on, I was super excited for this but my taste buds must have been expecting something else, it was not so good, I like the brie and crackers but not the cherry salsa, so I just eliminated that part.

Reese texted us to say she was coming to pick up her guitar. She was having a great time, told us that none of the guys were hitting on her, they were all just really down to earth, and that they were friends with the girl from the candy store her name was Felicia.
We made plans to come get her at 10:30.

Bo and I talked about what a cool vacation for Reese, this is what being a teenager is all about, the memories she is making and all that. I think we were a bit jealous, ahh, to be young and carefree again.

We then decided to take the dogs for a walk and maybe get some pictures of us together. We walked down to the canal and snapped a few, it took me a while to find the timer setting on my camera.
See my nasty cankles? I’m holding my little dog Falula and you can see Reese’s dog Otto standing behind Bo.
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After taking a few we decided to go to the beach and get some of us in matching outfits, because we are dorks like that.

I tried to redo my make up but it was just so humid my bare minerals was going on in almost clumps.



let me tell you, it’s not easy setting the timer and then running in the sand to get into place before the camera goes off, I was all kinds of out of breath. I inhaled a few bugs too.

We spent over an hour there taking pictures. It was fun, every once in a while Bo and I will spend a day just changing outfits and locations, snapping pictures in different poses, then we pick out our favorites and frame them for our parents. We also buy each other a frame that has something to do with sisters.

Here’s a couple of my favorites.
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The bugs were getting bad, so we packed it up and headed back to the trailer, but first we went through the drive through at Mac D’s. sometimes I just crave a burger from there. I also tried their very berry fruit smoothie. It was dee-lish!



Continued in next post, as soon as I upload a couple more pics.
 
Back at the trailer I busted out the treat that I had bought at the candy store. Big ole red wax lips. These things brought us tons of entertainment when we were kids, and this night they didn’t disappoint. We had fun posing and taking pictures.
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The night before Bo had given Reese a little goodie bag, everything in it was red yellow and green. Nail polish, post it notes, pencils, candy etc…etc… just things to keep with her theme colors. I got out the nail polish she had given her and tried doing my nails in stripes, it turned out just ok.

We left at 10:30 to go get Reese, she and the boys were waiting in the driveway for us, it was hugs all around, lots of phone number exchanges and promises to keep in touch.

She gets in the car and is so excited, we tell her we want to hear all about it, but wait until we are back at the trailer all comfy with coffee.

We get into our jammies, get our coffee and settle in for some old fashion girl talk. Our girl talk kept getting interrupted by the boys she had just spent 5 hours hanging out with, they kept texting her. She finally told them goodnight and we got Reese to ourselves until bed time.

She was just giddy with excitement about making so many friends and going to this barbque. 2 of the boys played guitar too. They had ribs and chicken, pasta salad. Played washers, played video games. They all got a kick out of her accent ( I kept thinking what accent? Michiganders have the accent not us Pennsylvanians)

She was just glowing and still talking about it after we had all climbed into our beds.

The next morning we were up by 9, Reese didn’t want to go home yet, she was trying to figure out a way that she could stay longer, but alas, both her aunt Bo and her mother have jobs they need to get back to.

We worked quick to get the trailer all cleaned, swept, mopped, took out the trash, leaving it spicnspan.

We then sat down for a bagel breakfast before hitting the road. During breakfast Trey texted Reese and asked if she could stop by on the way out and say goodbye again, plus he wanted to see her dog Otto, (she just got Otto 2 weeks ago and this dog is nuts about her)

So Bo said that wouldn’t be a problem at all.

We got the car loaded again got all of us in it and then headed out, stopping at Treys for a few minutes for Reese to say goodbye, the boys told her that they were going o go to Cedar point in the next 2 weeks but decided to go to Hershey Park instead and maybe they could meet there, Reese said heck yeah, then they asked if they could set up a tent in our yard, she told them she would get back to them on that.

The drive home was uneventful, Bo and I talked more about our Disney Enchanted resort, we talked about the dumb things we did as kids, and then before you know it we were back at moms again.

We just hung out, we all felt super lazy. We decided we would leave early in the morning, 3 am. Reese was ready to sleep in her own bed again, and we have another sweet 16 to plan.

So that’s it, my min TR on Tawas, it was major fun, can’t wait to go again next year, maybe for a longer time, 2 days is not enough.

Thanks for reading.



(for some reason my pics aren't showing, are you all able to see my pics?)



 


I have heard alot of great things about the school bread, I will definitely be trying that. The frozen slushies at France sounds yummo, I know Lo will be up for that as well.

I can't wait to go to MNSSHP next October, I told Lo we all have to wear costumes, maybe we can come up with a theme for all of us.

I wan tto make us something for this trip for MVMCP, I'm not sure what I want to do yet, probably a T-shirt but I have to think about the design for a while.




I am so stoked for CRT, I love Salmon, Lo doesn't eat Salmon, she only eats frozen fish sticks, yuck!!!!! she doesn't eat veggies either can you believe it? But I told her I would gladly eat the Salmon off her plate and switch her for something on mine, she is a very picky eater. I'm really excited for the character interation too, Lo has never been to a character meal, she will be doing alot of firsts on this trip.

Thanks for the link to the disney food review, Lo and I are going to be checking that out soon. It's funny how eating at Disney takes just as much planning as touring the parks.




Maybe we'll see you at MK in the am, we plan to be at rope drop.

Earl of Sanwhich just made it to our list a few days ago, we both thinks it sounds delicious. Every time we hang out we always make a run to subway, we love sandwhiches!!!!

I just added Kaki gori to my list too, you said it's a shaved ice thing? what flavors? is it exotic flavors or oyur typical strawberry, grape, lime thing?

I love Goofys Candy Co, I always go in there but have yet to uy anything, I will this time. I heard you can get chocolate covered pretzel sticks with a snack credit.

The cream cheese pretzel also made it onto my snack list, it's inked in, not penciled in, that means no chaning my mind, it is in the solid plan book now.




That would be awesome to bump into eachother, I love meeting Disers, maybe as the time draws closer we could make a plan for a quick meet n greet, pose for a pic or what not.
yep it is thinly shaved ice, much better than what you find at the county fair etc. We used to have a place called Ice Delight near our house, it was just like kaki gori, really finely shaved, it was heaven and they had a ton of flavors. i was addicted, then it went out of business. boo hoo! i think the ones there have at least cherry and a few other flavors and rainbow. i think there is something exotic

Earle is delicious and a great value. I love their tomato soup- i don't like tom soup with chunks and this is smooth and creamy! the bread is awesome too for the sandwiches. we are never disappointed.
 
I can see your pics. :thumbsup2 Sounds like an awesome time!!! Such great memories for everyone! :goodvibes

It was an awesome time, I love the time I get to spend with my sister and hopefully Reese will start coming with us for more girls weekends.


Love this picture!!!
That's my favorite too.

Whoops on getting censored! :lmao:


I went and changed it, hopefull I didn't get points against me for my honest mistake, we all know I meant clean and didn't try to use a derogatory word.
I remember the spicnspan cleaner from when I was a kid, what has happened to this world:confused3:lmao: we can't have a cleaning reference any more because part of the word has been abused. Oh well, good thing we have censors, who knows what would be posted if we didn't.


yep it is thinly shaved ice, much better than what you find at the county fair etc. We used to have a place called Ice Delight near our house, it was just like kaki gori, really finely shaved, it was heaven and they had a ton of flavors. i was addicted, then it went out of business. boo hoo! i think the ones there have at least cherry and a few other flavors and rainbow. i think there is something exotic

Earle is delicious and a great value. I love their tomato soup- i don't like tom soup with chunks and this is smooth and creamy! the bread is awesome too for the sandwiches. we are never disappointed.


I'm really excited for the shaved ice, I'm excited for all of the food. Lo keeps telling me that she can't wait to eat like a queen.

I love tomato soup, just one more reason to visit Earl:banana:
 
we can't have a cleaning reference any more because part of the word has been abused.

:rotfl: On another thread, the poster was talking about her daughter falling down and scraping her knee. She made reference to her boo boo but didn't put a space between the two boos. That got censored, too! :rotfl2:
 
:rotfl: On another thread, the poster was talking about her daughter falling down and scraping her knee. She made reference to her boo boo but didn't put a space between the two boos. That got censored, too! :rotfl2:


That is funny. I once refered to the television as the boo b tube and got censored. My Dad always called it that, Cause back in the day a boo b was an idiot.:lmao: gosh I hope I haven't set myself up to be censored again.:eek:
 
oh and your michigan trip looks like a lot of fun- love the pics you did on the beach too! and wow on the cake and birthday stuff - that definitely is martha stuart worthy!
 
oh and your michigan trip looks like a lot of fun- love the pics you did on the beach too! and wow on the cake and birthday stuff - that definitely is martha stuart worthy!

Michigan was so much fun. I can't ait to go on a Disney trip with Bo, we keep having to put it off, but she would be so much fun at disney. She would Martha Stuart up the whole thing.
 
Now I want to read the Mini TR from Reese's prespective! :thumbsup2 Glad you girls had fun!
 
It's stinking hot here. My AC is crying pleeeeeeaaaaase can I rest for a while. IT sounds awful, I hope it doesn't give up and die.

I actually just came in from the pool, we played volleyball by the light of the moon, really that's not such a good idea, I got smacked in the face with the ball twice, man did that sting.

Laura and I keep setting dates to get together and plan our QS, but something always comes up so we made a date for next Sunday, we'll do a Big Brother marathon, I haven't been able to watch it, lucky for me she has them all on DVR. We are also going to plan our meals then, try and come up with some QS places that I haven't tried, it's easy for her, she's eaten at a few, there's still so much new stuff out there for her.

 
I am happy to say that I at one point paid my trip off, I now owe another $50 because of the extra day, but I don't see that as a negative, I get an extra day and I get to eat for free.


Below is my "every penny counts" jar.
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I am literally saving every penny I find to add to my Disney fund. This is fun money. I have a real savings for the big stuff, like airline tickets, and the Disney package itself. Money is super tight here and I am coming up with ways to add more $$$$ to the fund. I scan the ground for coins as I walk, I am not ashamed to admit that either. I offer to vaccum out Kents truck, and any coins I find in the seat are mine!!!!!

Hopefully the big bucks will come when Lo and I have a 3 day yard sale the end of August. EVERYTHING MUST GO!!! We aren't sure if we should have a "Big yard sale" sign hangin up, or a "Help us get to Disney World....Buy our crap." sign hanging up. Which do you think would work best?


Also, I have quit smoking....again.....This time it's for no other reason then I don't want to be a smoker, it makes me feel yucky, it's smelly and I couldn't get through one night without having a coughing fit.

The last time I quit was because I thought I would need surgery and I didn't want to have trouble with the anasthesia, but once I found out I wouldn't have to have surgury I went out and bought a pack.

I don't want to be over confidant and say, "This is it, I'm done forever." I am just taking it one hour at a time. Lo has been amazing, she quit smoking 2 years ago, just put the pack down and never picked it up again. I kept telling her, "I can't quit before my trip to Mi. that drive is too long." and she would come back and say, "Why are you setting yourself up for failure?!"

Then out in Mi. my sister was on me about quitting, and the next morning a neighbor at the camp ground brought over some robitussin and gave it to Bo and said, "Somebody has a nasty cough, this might help them sleep better."

Then my Dad called me a chain smoker, and when I told him I was quitting as soon as that pack is empty, he laughed at me.

So I smoked my last cig Tuesday morning. I actually have one left in the pack, I leave it where I can see it, for some reason it helps me. It is easier for me this time. I look forward to getting though another day smoke free.

And here is how this ties in to my "saving money" post. of course I am saving money, cigs are costly, but Kent used to buy me roughly 2 packs a week, so now instead of buying me 2 packs every week, he just gives me 12 dollars every week, and it goes straight into my fun money savings. I'd like to say that all the money I save myself by not buying any smokes is going into my Disney fund, but it's not, it's going into my household fund for whatever the house might need.

I have been saying all along, "I don't need spending money at Disney, I'm just happy to be going." But I know that thought even though it sounds well adjusted, it's just not realistic. I have to buy the obligatory souvenir, my problem is which souvenir do I buy? A shirt? Hoody? Mug? Picture frame? Keychain? Pen? Watch? Blanket?

yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes and yes! All of the above sounds good to me.:rolleyes1 plus a few extras.

Disney always has the buy buy buy incentive, "Spend X amount of dollars and get this great blanket, or tote bag, or watch, or all of them for just another X amount of dollars." They are genius, that caters to my spending mentality.

I would never buy that tote, but since I can get it for x amount by spending x amount... BARGAIN!!!!!!!

"Cute blanket, what? it's mine for x amount if I spend x amount?:woohoo: alright, let me find something to buy, just so I can buy some more."

I truly believe that if I go to Disney and am not able to shop it could ruin me psycholigically.

Now here is when it gets tricky, the more money I have to spend, the less I buy, I have a fear of watching my wallet shrink, but the less money I have the more I see that I have to have, so the key is to bring just the right amount of dough, cash, greens, you get my point. and it has got to be cash, no debit cards allowed, that's too easy, you can't see the falling dollar amount with every purchase when using a debit card, but boy, you watch the bundle of twenties get thinner and it's nauseating.

I need to calculate my spending cash to coincide with my souvenir wants, add a few extra $$$$ for the impulse buy to be regretted later, a few extra $$$$ for food, I know I have free dining, but really, all of us that have had free dining still put out a few bucks for food, or water, who wants to waste a snack credit on water? So ...now, according to my calculations:teacher:...I need to sell one of my children, ( I could even do a buy one get one half off thing too) or refinance my house. :sad1::sad2: I sure will miss those kids.


:lmao::lmao:just kidding...I won't miss them at all...;)just kidding again. I would never sell my kids for a trip to disney, cha!....now maybe for a DVC I would consider....just kidding again. (this is fun)

 

This trip is always at the back of my mind, well most of the time it's at the front, what I'm saying is, Disney is always in my head. I start to get crazy with excitement at times.

You'd think at work I could escape it, but just when things start to settle down in my mind, I get a customer who pays for their items using a Disney Visa. I get so excited for them:woohoo: woohoo "Saving up the points:banana: Do you have a trip planned?"

Usually they do have a trip coming up, some have just come back from a trip but either way, I get to talk Disney. I met lady who is going this December, our dates overlap. She said she is all about Disney.

I told her about the Disboards and wrote it down for her, and let her know that this is the place to come and be with other Disney fanatics. (she's misunderstood at home)

Coming across a Disney lover at work just helps the day go faster, it always leaves me smiling and dreaming about my upcoming trip.

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I am getting closer to the time when I get to book my flight. I have been holding off to see when Jim will be finishing up bootcamp, I want to be there for his graduation, and if I have to change my Disney dates for it I will, but as he left this morning with all his paper work in hand to go see the recruiter I told him to try and work his career around my Disney trip.:confused3 it doesn't hurt to ask right?

He has been flip flopping between Coast Guard and Marines, hopefully he will make his decision today.
I wanted to go with him so bad but he told me it's not cool to bring your mommy with you to the recruiters office.

I am hoping he goes Coast Guard. Really for what he said he wants from his life, Coast Guard is the best bet. But he saw the Marine recruiter last week and has new ideas.

He scored a 90% on his ASVABS so both recruiters he has talked to said that's excellent and it qualifys him for so many jobs in the military.

I pray he makes the right decision for him.

 
That's so cool that Jim scored so well on his tests! It will be nice for him to have options! :thumbsup2
 
praisehisname, thank you. It is great that he did so well, the kid has always been smart, in elementary school he tested for the gifted program, the teacher said he passed it all with flying colors but they couldn't accept him because he failed the common sense part miserabley.:lmao: yup, that's my boy.



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Well I have no readers hardly on this PTR, but then again this is hardly a PTR, I haven't posted many plans. Lo and I serioulsy want to get together and make plans, but our schedules are so different right now.

In all of my past trips, I was always in charge of planning and my travel mates would give me a few ideas to go on, but Lo wants to be a part of the planning this trip, so I can't just go off planning all on my own, well, I could, it would just be rude and I might be many things but rude isn't one of them.

I have been eyeing things to buy for the trip. I want to get a travel size bottle of rest easy, it's to kill bed bugs. I have never had a problem with bed bugs at Pop Century, but one can never be too careful.

My store carries, yankee candle scents in a conveniant spray, I don't like the smell of hotel rooms, and if you're going to be there over a week you want a homey smell, so I think I might get that.

I love to shop for travel size things. Christmas Tree Shops has great little travel size body washes and stuff, plus I get a discount there too because it's Bed Beth and Beyonds sister store, (so is Harmons and Buy Buy Baby) anyway I picked up a few things for Lo and I.

I want to decorate black flip flops in the Disney colors for Lo and I , so I need to get out to old Navy and get some flip flops, it's just a long way to drive though so I have been putting it off.

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Jim saw the recruiter, he goes for his MEPS on the 16th and he stays the night at the Radison (nice) and I will pick him up on the 17th. THe recruiter said that he is waiting to hear how many people he can take from his office for boot camp, he should know in the next week or two and then they would be the start of the new fiscal year this October, so the earliest Jim would go would be the middle to the end of October. It's safe for me to book my flight to Disney now, I won't have to change any plans at all.

The recruiter said including Jim he has 21 people signed up, and if he is told he can only take 15 then he will have to pick from those 21 who goes first. HE asked Jim if he had any American Indian in him. Jim said , yes, I'm a quarter Navajo and a quarter Mexican, and the recruiter said, this will make you a first pick, at first I thought that was a crappy thing to say, you'll pick him because of his race.! But then the recruiter added, Your high ASVAB score would make you first pick anyway, but having some Native American in you doesn't hurt either.

From what I gather from the recruiter, The Coast Guard has to be selective with their picks because they can't take everybody who signed on like they used to, the money allocated to them is all going to their fleet and not new recruits.

So anyway, Jim still wants to go for gunners mate. He'll have to wait longer for his school, but he is fine with that. Also he was told that if he signs up for 6 years right off the bat, then he would leave bootcamp an automatic E-3. Jim said he would be doing that, he's pretty sure he is going to make a career in the Coast Guard.

I think it's safe to say that the Marines is out of the running, Jim hasn't mentioned them since his meeting with the Coast Guard recruiter.

I'm thinkin gI might give up on this PTR, I'm basically talking to myself, which really isnt all that bad, I talk to myself alot, but pretty soon I will get bored with talkin gto myself on the computer.:lmao: we'll see, I could very well continue on with my senseless drivel here, and only an eye or two reading up until the very last day.:confused3
 
I subbed and I check in everyday. I just have so long till my next dis trip I get a little depressed and need to hear about everyone elses trips. This trip we are making is gonna be our first one as DVCers and we are doing Animal kingdom Lodge. I've never stayed there so I'm super excited and it just seems so far away. May 10-18 forever from now. Its too far away to even start planning dinners or emhs. Your trip sounds fun with Lo I absolutely love Disney at Christmas.
 
Ty, don't leave! Sometimes I get on, read, and get off - but I am along for the ride...

I am glad that everything is falling into place with Jim and you can now move forward with airfare! :banana:

Any word on when you and Lo can sit down and plan, plan, plan?
 















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