lyzziesmom said:
Hi April, good to see you back again! Sounds like you had a nice quiet holiday. 16 days till your next trip??!!? Lucky you! You are close enough to drive now, huh? Have fun watching your movie, see you again soon.
Hi
Well, we're about 9 hours away now but we have Allegiant air out of Greenville/Spartanburg airport which is about 30 minutes from us with flights for $29.00 each way soooo....... we'll be flying.
DonnaLeah said:
April:: Hi there!!! Sounds like you had a nice quiet Thanksgiving in your new home. Do you live near Steven's family? I couldn't remember.
We used to live 6 miles/10 minutes away from his mom and dad when we lived in Delaware. Now we're 12 hours away.
We just left on the 26th of October and we're still getting settled in and they wanted us to come back up there.
Steven was actually considering it.
So, here's the 411 on our December trip. . . I'll take any and all input and suggestions you want to throw my way. And I need your opinions/advice on a few things.
Here's the back story. . . . . back in May (you may remember but probably don't
) I had to have
emergency surgery in Atlanta, GA. I then had close to 3 months of recovery and at that time Steven and I started getting serious/talking about relocating. So, then we started getting the house ready to sell. My big motivation
silly as it sounds was a big long relaxing Disney trip. Well, then my little sis called and twisted my arm (which wasn't that hard to do) about taking a last minute trip to Disney so that we could go to
MNSSHP.
We agreed but that
was NOT going to be my Disney trip!!
Well, then the house sold while we were on vacation and then we had the whole packing up/ closing/moving ordeal.
I haven't gone into detail but my move was anything but smooth and easy. A little more about that. . . my dad insisted on driving down with us to "help" us move. My dad is a devoted alcoholic. In his drunken times he has even said "Alcohol above all else even family and friends" He may have thought it was "funny" but it was soo true!! And our messed up family is living proof of it's destruction. Anyway, in my dad's later years he has all of a sudden had this epiphany that he's missed so much in our lives
I'm 32 years old now and he
needs to make up for lost time. I'm trying to have a relationship with him but always being aware of what I'm dealing with. I've gone to Al-Anon meetings and I've read up on alcoholism and I must always be aware of what I'm dealing with but that's not always easy when you're living it in real life not just reading about it in a book. Anyyyhoooo, he decides he's going with us to help us move. Just to give you an idea of what that time was like. . . . when we left to move we drove until around 2am that morning. We had been up since 6 am the previous morning and we were all exhausted. Because we were only going to sleep for a few hours I just got one room. Well hindsight's 20/20 and if I had it to do all over again I would have got two rooms!! He COULDN'T go to sleep until he had put away 2 beers. To hell with us, he
had to do this and we just had to deal with it.
We were the unreasonable ones for expecting him to just go to sleep. Is it unreasonable for me to have a couple'a beers before turning in? ~Ah, at 2 o'clock in the morning after being up for hours? Yea, it is!!
The next day he has to stop and eat a sit down lunch so he can have a beer. Then, gets mad at me when I ask him how many is he going to have because he's not going to keep driving my car if he drinks. That was an ugly argument. Then we get down here and it was rainy and cold and the landlord didn't have the heat turned on (it's the south people and we're having 70+ degree days it was a freak cold spell) well that was just horrible. Nothing down here was good enough. . .I made a big mistake moving here. They wouldn't get away with "this"
whatever "this" is up North. . . Like I care!! That's why I chose to leave "Up North"!! Then, he insists that he's going to make my dog like him. My dog likes no one. He has aggressive tendancies towards strangers. He has "personal space" issues. We are responsible dog owners and we know what our dog will and won't do. For some reason Tucker's decided that he wants his "pack" to only have three in it. ---We have him in "Dog Whisper" type classes right now and the instructor herself says we can't break this in him. It's just who he is. He was "born" with this personality and we just have to be responsible dog owners and manage him. If we ever had children we would have to have him put down but until then he's our baby. And he is a complete baby with us. He's very obedient with his commands. He won't just bite and attack someone but if you "force" yourself on him you ARE going to get bit!!---- Anyway, my dad the alcoholic decides that my dog is GOING to like him!! Even if he has to force himself on my dog my dog was going to get used to him and like him. Well, he let the dog in the house with him (he insisted) and as long as you leave Tucker alone Tucker will leave you alone. Well, my dad started getting more and more tipsy and more brave and feeding him and "making friends" with him in our home. All went well through that night. And my dad had decided that Tucker and he were friends. The next day Tucker was pinned up in our truck. My dad takes it upon himself to go over, open the door and touch the dog. The dog bit my dad. He didn't snarl or growl or go crazy, he didn't rip and tear. He just made a bite and released. Well, my dad was MAD and dying
(said sarcastically) and HAD to go to the hospital (the hospital didn't do a thing but give him a shot and bandage him up and I'm not trying to be light about it) but my dad declared that my dog (whom I've had for 7 years) was a menace and is dangerous and Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah!!!! I'm crying and bawling my eyes out uncontrollably, Steven's upset! Granted, the dog shouldn't bite anyone but how come people (i.e. my dad) feel that they need to force themselves on my dog???!!! If anyone were to come to my home, I know how my dog is so I would either have him in his kennel or in our room away from you all. If you chose to go to my dog and he bites you
why is it his fault????? Well, my dad was with us for 6 days. I haven't been with my dad for that long since before he left us when I was in 5th grade! I thought I was going to have a nervous break down! Steven and I were getting into it and I know it was because of the EXTRA added stress of him. He is the sad stereotypical loud, opinionated Jersey Northerner!! I am so not like that and I just cringed when he opened his mouth. Then, I got sick and had to find a doctor and then our car died and we had the fun
job of buying a new one and it's been one thing after another down here and by this time Steven and I decided that maybe our Big Super-de-dooper Disney trip was going to have to wait for a more convenient time. But, in all of the comotion I forgot to call DVC Member Services and bank my remaining 76 points and I missed the deadline to bank 50% of my points. If you miss the deadline and you don't use your points, they expire and expired points=wasted money.
So, I was kind of forced to use my 76 points whether I wanted to or not and before they expired on January 31, 2007. We chose to go sooner rather than later because
well I like the Christmas holiday there and because of Steven's upcoming job prospects. So, now the only thing that was available for my point usage was a studio at Saratoga Springs from Tuesday, December 12th- Sunday, December 17th. That uses 75 points and because I'm at the 25% banking window I was able to bank my one point into next year giving me 151 points for 2007.
OK, if you've hung in here this long --sorry for the rant/vent--- I'm going to have 4 full days there. We'll get in around 4:00pm on Tuesday and we'll have to be at the airport at 12 noon on Sunday sooooo....... I'm trying to decide if I should go down a few days earlier or not. Of course, that will be more money all the way around. I'll pay cash for the room, more days on the car rental, longer stay for the dog and cat in the kennel and more days to buy food. That's what's stopping me. The money. But, we have the money but Steven or I haven't started our jobs yet but we don't have any debts other than our utilities and we do have the money.
Do I just splurge and go for it or do I just be satisfied with what I'm able to have. I would like to go to
MVMCP cause it is alot of fun but basically the day of the party you can't do anything because you need to rest for the long party that night. Then, the next day is spent sleeping in. I want to do the candlelight processional because I've never been able to do it because we're always there with my sisters who don't have any interest in it. But, I've always wanted to do it. I'm just stuck and I don't have much time. I've got to think quick.
So, there you have it. My preplanning of my Christmas Disney trip. And yes, I'm still thinking of joining you all in February. It will be a weekend pretty much and I've got points for my hotel stay and $29-$39 flights so party on Wayne!!
OK, I'm going to stop now becuase I could just go on and on.
Thanks for listening.
What was on your menu today?
Good luck with your shopping...are you taking the girls? 
Sorry your traditional Thanksgiving was off this year. 
Ours is a little wacky too with my family in three different states.
Now- do they mean the plastic that the tree is WRAPPED up in or the tree itself??!! Ofcourse I'll wash my hands after I touch the tree but I'm alittle concerned with Ruby chewing on the tree when we aren't looking and getting lead poisoning or something! Anybody have any insight on this? If thats the case (its the stuff that the tree is made of) I'll just return it.
We have a whole turkey and turkey breast and half the other turkey left. 
It was just us two mouseketeers here. I made a little turkey breast and improvised on some of the ingredients because somehow/where in the move some of my spices got thrown out or misplaced. 
I, too, am a sheet snob! I agree, nothing nicer than a nice comfy bed and high thread sheet count plays a HUGE part in it. Great job on snagging the deals. 
Hang in there, and know you're not alone.
(That's me, green with envy.) Are you still in for the Feb. Cliqueless meet??? I hope so!! 
