ABC's of Trip Planning (Oct 10-20), Vol. 2- Z is for: Zippidee Doo Dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[irene_dsc]

Cool! Because of course, you had to change *something* at the last minute. But, this should be a good one.

 

[pkondz]

Sooo, they finally have a solid diagnosis for my dad. They found a sizable kidney stone and is on around-the-clock morphine for pain. He keeps having bouts of nausea and vomiting, and has been a very rough few days. They are waiting for the nephrologist to show up and I'm really hoping he gets a Fast Pass to the litho machine. Wish I was there to be with family...

Ah, kidney stones. So much fun.
Are they going to zap it and break it up? Or just leave it?
(Yes I saw that you wrote they won't do anything. Wondering if any more developments.)

He had a pain free night so I guess the plan is to let him go sometime after the testing.

Pain free is better than the alternative.

Today's update on Dad: the stone is stationary, so they won't do anything for it at this point. But in his work up they also found some "moderately" leaky heart valves, so before they discharge him, they want a stress test done. He had a pain free night so I guess the plan is to let him go sometime after the testing.

Is he discharged now?

I had to get up today.

Again... better than the alternative...

No one else is going to make my bed.

Train some squirrels or something.

But don't you just wish that some days, the Housekeeping Fairy would sweep in unceremoniously and just do it. All of it.

<sigh> yes.

(who doesn't want a refrigerator next to their coffee table?),

You say this in jest, but.... yes! I want that!

and the laundry has reached epic proportions!

Oooh... epic laundry.


So cool.

So here's something for you: I come home after a late day from work, and find my family eating... food (can't remember what it was), on dishes. The paper plates I had gotten for this week were sitting on the table right next to them. THINK, PEOPLE!!

I THINK those PEOPLE can do the dishes, then.

Fed up, tired, and ready for a vacation, I'm going to a place where the housekeeping is renowned. It's so uber cool that it even has a special name for a special group of people. Of course bureaucratic stupidness has messed that up a bit, from what I hear

I can state that I certainly never saw a towel animal... kind of....
They folded up a small towel into a circle and stuck my toothbrush in it so it would stand up.
Thought that was a nice touch.

Can I gush a little more about how much I love these people?

It's your PTR. Gush away.

I love them so much I made up some fairly un-imaginitive, but good enough Mousekeeping Tip envelopes.

I got you beat!
I had so little time that.... I didn't make any envelopes at all this time!
Just left cash and a note on Disney notepad paper "Mousekeeping".
Money was gone, so it worked.

Anara decided on her Halloween Party costume, and we've been very busy ordering and gathering the items for it. Let me just say, I'm SUPER jealous and am sorta second guessing my Nursing Costume now. She's utterly adorable in her Steampunk Alice costume.

Oh, man. If you don't post a picture of her in her costume.... I'll.... I'll.... never speak to you again!

(I'll text, PM, reply to threads, email... but no speaking!)

I am using the clear, zippered bags I got with my bedskirt

Smart. Seriously.

I also made the executive decision on my park bag. I'm going with the VERY basic, cross-body style bag that I used for my last trip as it's the perfect size for the very few things we carry- not big and bulky and very light.

That sounds like a good choice.

It's big enough for my camera with 1 lens, so I'll actually have to choose A (as in ONE) lens for each day and concentrate on that type of photography.

I used three lenses on any given day. Fast prime. Wide. And standard zoom (24-105 I believe.)
But the wide was the one that was usually on the camera.

Not bad!

Let's take a peek into the world of Queen Steppe and Her Day, shall we??

We shall.

we toddled off to The Toilet Store.

Well, it's actually a hardware store that sells toilets and toilet parts.

Okay. I like the other name better.

We may be hillbillies, but we DO have a toilet.

It's just outside.

As if in slow motion, this poor guy starts to barf in Fountain-of-Nations-amounts.

Now that's an image!

Clearly, he has some serious practice with this, as he actually "broadcast" his sidewalk giftings in large arcs making sure to grace about 20 square feet of prime downtown real estate.

Thank you so much for sharing this with us.

My omelet was suddenly not as good as it once was.

Today was a day of scratching off a butt ton (you do know that's a REAL word, right? Look it up.)

No need. Of course it's a real word.

I'll assume you are either nutso, have nothing better to do, or actually care that I bought Q-tips today.

Bought some clip on sunglasses. Dweeby as it is, I deliberately chose to go that route as the thought of changing out glasses over and over all day long wigs me out.

Interesting. I bring glasses and prescription sunglasses.
But then, it fits in the camera bag.

Flip 'em up, flip 'em down. Just don't flip 'em off.

That might be a no-no in WDW.

(Why, no. No one has actually ever told me I'm paranoid.)

(why do DYI plumbing projects ALWAYS end up needing more flanges and bolts

No one knows. It's just a law that's always been there.

Apparently, they have at least 1 or 2 forms of "entertainment" every week.

lovely

Tomorrow will be the day, in which Queen Steppe finally actually packs and gets to take a nap. Be jealous. Very jealous.

Done and done. (jealous and very jealous, I mean.)

and I had adventures only a small handful have ever experienced

2) Rice Cream. There is simply NO better snack in all of WDW. Anywhere. An ode to Rice Cream…

I do recall you mentioning this.... several times.

3) A jalapeno cream cheese pretzel. Dear Santa, I’ve been a very good girl this year, mostly. I mean certainly good enough for a jalapeno cream cheese pretzel. So... pretty please. Some mean people are saying that you don’t have those in your big Santa-bag anymore, but if it’s possible, I’ll glue wooden nutcrackers together in your woodshop if you would let me have just one JCCP this trip.

I didn't look overly hard for one, so I can't say for sure.
I do know that in the one or two spots I did look.... no dice.

4) Dole Whips. There are many things I would still love to do with my life and going to Disney prison with the shame of not having had a Dole whip would seriously impede many of them. Besides that they are just very, very delicious. You can thank me now that I am now too tired to write an ode to the Dole Whip. Maybe for the TR.

A trip to WDW without a Dole Whip is not a true trip to WDW.

I do love me some of Casey’s nuggets. Wow, sorry about that; that sounded a little iffy.

I am ansty. My pants are crawling with antsiness, because my 2nd set of MBs has STILL not arrived. I do not like that they aren't here yet, and am starting to panic.

Chill. They'll either make it or not.
If not. Pick 'em up when you get there. No biggie.

Heck, that's what we have to do, up here.

Rope Drops will be a veritable eat-my-dust extravaganza- GET OUT OF MY WAY, PEOPLE, BEEP, BEEP! If you stop on the sidewalk, I WILL mow you down. Places to be; things to do!

You can be my wing man.

1 Homecoming Photo Shoot (my first paid photog gig!) this Saturday night

So..... nervous?

Remember WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY back when. In the Dark Ages when life was all about Nursing School and the birth of a Disney Trip?

That's a loooong time ago.
But, yes.

The winds of change began to blow yesterday when I casually mentioned that she should re-visit the possibility of her being able to go given that her classes were only on Mondays and Wednesdays this term. I threw out some what-if's and the wheels began to turn. What if she were to have me book a Red Eye out of PDX on the 12th and arrive fairly early on the 13th? What if, she were to only miss one day of classes and return on the 18th? What if she could get the time off of work?

No.

BOOKED HER FLIGHTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes!!!!! That's great!

Anyway, there ya have it. A bona fide Trip Planning Emergency. Can we build it? YES, WE CAN!!!

Yes you can!




On an aside,
did you get a PM from me?
I've sent out 3 or 4 to various people and have had zero replies.

 

[DonnaBeeGood]

.

 

[Steppesister]

Very quickly... PK, yes, I did. But this



Happened today. Plus I got a rare invite from the eldest female progeny to hang out. When I get one I try my best to make it. So we spent all morning together enjoying the beautiful day. Will answer after dinner.

Unless, you were referring to another different thread than the usual??

 

[pkondz]

But this

Happened today.

An open bottle of pop beside clean clothes?

You rebel you.

Plus I got a rare invite from the eldest female progeny to hang out. When I get one I try my best to make it. So we spent all morning together enjoying the beautiful day.

Nice.

Very quickly... PK, yes, I did.

Ah, good. At least I know it works.

 

[cinderkelly]

I am beyond thrilled, just absolutely ecstatic, that she can go on this trip and I can have some adult-y fun with her now that she's 21

That's such awesome news for you!

 

[franandaj]

So glad she can join you and you'll have a drinking buddy!

 

[Steppesister]

If you have one set of Magic bands for everybody you can use them at both resorts, but yeah, I would totally want both sets. I usually take an old one so I have color options. You should be able to check on your MDE to see if they are processing or have shipped yet.

They just arrived today. And it's a good thing too. I was moving out of antsy-pantsy and into Oh-Crap-I-Need-to-Panic mode. But it's extra good because now Mikki can use one of ours for a room key if she needs to.

If the tags are your magical Express tags then I would call. Mine came the 9th of Sept and I leave a couple days after you do. Last spring when I requested my husband's when I checked on them they had no record of it, and this summer they only got my son's trip down (so he did have the luggage tag) but not the info for the return flight.

She assures me that they will arrive in time, but probably not until next week. Cutting it a bit close, but I trust her to do the usual fabulous job for us! I"m glad she's taking care of it, and that she actually already has them.

My "bathroom bag" is packed....my husband STILL hasn't UNpacked from his trip, so the real packing hasn't begun yet

OH your ditty bag! LOL! I'd get on his case... no pun intended.

Pedi - definitely!

It's mandatory!

10.5

So, I got my schedule today, and I have 3 more days this week, and 4 next week. 7 more work days! That only leaves 4 totally free days to tie up loose ends completely, finish packing, and all of that!

Hmmm...with semi-useless weekends I guess I'd better get hubby emptying that suitcase ASAP

Probably a very great idea!

Mine is mostly online or auto-pay so it's kinda continuous

I'm still a little leery of paying online. Too many hacks and breaches lately. And sadly, too many 1 time, but multiple different, medical bills in the stack every month.

wish it was continuous, but 2 before and 1 the day after I leave

I get one on the 14th, which should be right when I'll need it after I do some damage at F&W.

On the Disney store site they are listed at $35 for the set. I think he got a passholder or cardholder discount when he bought them down there.

I"m sure the discount really helped a ton!

 

[Steppesister]

I have seen them online and they look cute. The ones that I linked to are of really thin, but robust material. I have seen others that are thicker and I would be wary of the weight and bulk those add to my suitcase. But there are a number of products out there and I would suggest to do some research as to what is the best fit.

Yeah I can see a lot of cheap knock-offs being out there in the mix. I don't want bulk and weight, but don't want them falling apart either.

OMG it is getting soooooo close!! Totally understand the antsiness though...I would be too. They will arrive any day though! You are lucky to be getting them at all in the mail lol since us Canadians don't even have that option and have to wait until we actually arrive at the hotel to get them...sigh. And all that packing and organizing will be fun...just makes the anticipation that much better!!!

The good news is that the 2nd set of MB's arrived today, so we're set there. But today's HUGE change, brought some actually very far-reaching consequences to the whole scheme and BFP (Big Fat Plat). So, I will now have to do an addendum update to fill everyone in on the marathon of THE TRIP CHANGER tomorrow after work.

Wonderful news!

I just couldn't be more tickled. I've (I've spelled that wrong, and can't figure out why, and am too lazy to figure it) long wanted to take my adult kids as it's a totally different dynamic and way of touring. More actual sightseeing and they're able to stay up later and get up earlier. I dunno, I just imagine it being .... different.

 

[Steppesister]

I made it through a few replies, but am gonna have to hit the rest tomorrow. Brain has decided to sputter and simply die tonight. Bad, bad Brain.

 

[KathyM2]

Wow, that's so exciting about your "emergency" change in plans!!! Good luck making all those revisions to everything...that is the one thing that is kind of a pain with all this Disney planning...but I'm sure with a little persistence you will get it all worked out!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Just catching up! I hate how far I seem to fall behind all the time.

To this day, I absolutely detest bananas if raw. Even cooked is pushing it big time; banana cream pudding or pie is an instant gag and possible barf. But for some reason, I can eat them, no, in fact like them, frozen.

I'm not a big banana fan, either. I'll eat one if I have to, but I don't go out of my way. Definitely don't want them in my breakfast food or dessert (sorry, Tonga Toast). I can't even see going for them frozen.

Dancing bananas are ok.

There is simply NO better snack in all of WDW.

I might have to disagree with you there.

You can thank me now that I am now too tired to write an ode to the Dole Whip. Maybe for the TR.

There it is. Don't worry, I've written plenty of odes to them myself.

I am ansty. My pants are crawling with antsiness, because my 2nd set of MBs has STILL not arrived.

They'll get there. In the words of Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers, "R-E-L-A-X."

The chances are so small in fact, that I took a gamble and we....


BOOKED HER FLIGHTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's so great! I'm glad she can get even a little piece of the magic with all of the rest of you!

 

[afwdwfan]

Well if you have to deal with a last minute change in plans I can't think of a much better reason. Glad she can go! It will be here soon!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

So cool that Micki will be joining you!!! She deserves some time off, too.

 

[franandaj]

So the link is not in your signature, nor have you posted it here? I didn't see it on FB!!!! How are we supposed to find such things and make it to the first page when you don't tell us where it is!

 

[Steppesister]

Cool! Because of course, you had to change *something* at the last minute. But, this should be a good one.

It's a fabulous one. I just got a text from her:

"Words cannot describe how excited I am to get to go to Disney!"

She alone has express this kind of joy about going.

Ah, kidney stones. So much fun.
Are they going to zap it and break it up? Or just leave it?
(Yes I saw that you wrote they won't do anything. Wondering if any more developments.)

They are calling it "stationary", so they will just leave it. For now he's out and back to eating crap- figuratively speaking.

Pain free is better than the alternative.

So, thank God for my aching butt and backbone?

Is he discharged now?

Yep. Huzzah!

Again... better than the alternative...

A very good point. It still hurts.

Train some squirrels or something.

They'd just pee all over the place.

You say this in jest, but.... yes! I want that!

For...? In case you've forgotten: why do you want a fridge by your coffee table? Sandwiches? Ice cream?

I THINK those PEOPLE can do the dishes, then.

Can and will are very, very different.

I can state that I certainly never saw a towel animal... kind of....
They folded up a small towel into a circle and stuck my toothbrush in it so it would stand up.
Thought that was a nice touch.

I was afraid this has turned into a thing of the magical past. That magic is fading....

I got you beat!
I had so little time that.... I didn't make any envelopes at all this time!
Just left cash and a note on Disney notepad paper "Mousekeeping".
Money was gone, so it worked.

Good enough!

Oh, man. If you don't post a picture of her in her costume.... I'll.... I'll.... never speak to you again!

(I'll text, PM, reply to threads, email... but no speaking!)

What kind of TReporter do you think I AM?!

I used three lenses on any given day. Fast prime. Wide. And standard zoom (24-105 I believe.)
But the wide was the one that was usually on the camera.

I'm guessing that'll be mine too. New toy and all.

Okay. I like the other name better.

Had to go back to the Toilet Store again today for the tank bolts that busted off when we moved it. No sideshows though today.

No need. Of course it's a real word.

My neighbor is one of the direct sales managers for Willamette Valley Vineyards, so I learn a lot of winespeak.

I do recall you mentioning this.... several times.

You will be treated to pictures. You are welcome.

Chill. They'll either make it or not.
If not. Pick 'em up when you get there. No biggie.

Heck, that's what we have to do, up here.

Bands made it. Tags still have not.

You can be my wing man.

Really?!

So..... nervous?

Very!

 

[Steppesister]

So the link is not in your signature, nor have you posted it here? I didn't see it on FB!!!! How are we supposed to find such things and make it to the first page when you don't tell us where it is!

Struggling with figuring out how to link in the siggie!!! GAH!!! Working on it....

 

[Steppesister]

I've started the TRIP REPORT for this on the REGULAR TR Forum and you can find it here. But PLEASE don't abandon this one quite yet. 3 more letters to go yet before I hit Z. I've actually planned that out carefully you know.

The ABCs of a Nursing School Graduation

Intros, the When, Where's, and Normal First Chapters stuff is going to be there.

 

[Steppesister]

Such good news! I'm sure Brook will locate some extra Pixie dust ASAP!

She was actually to find and add ALL but a couple of our FiPs! So yeah, but I'll be doing a more complete update on the latest on that front hopefully this weekend!

An open bottle of pop beside clean clothes?

You rebel you.

That, Silly, is my (free) traveling water bottle. Empty right now.

Ah, good. At least I know it works.

Still owe you an answer or two...

That's such awesome news for you!

RIGHT?! And right about now, you're having a wonderful time. How could you NOT; you're in DISNEY!

So glad she can join you and you'll have a drinking buddy!

I was hoping you'd be one at least one night!

 

[Steppesister]

Wow, that's so exciting about your "emergency" change in plans!!! Good luck making all those revisions to everything...that is the one thing that is kind of a pain with all this Disney planning...but I'm sure with a little persistence you will get it all worked out!

It's the very best kind of plan changing! WOOT!

Things are definitely coming together; more DEETS soon...

Just catching up! I hate how far I seem to fall behind all the time.

Sigh. Story of my life.

I'm not a big banana fan, either. I'll eat one if I have to, but I don't go out of my way. Definitely don't want them in my breakfast food or dessert (sorry, Tonga Toast). I can't even see going for them frozen.

Dancing bananas are ok.

Those are the BEST kind of banana!

I might have to disagree with you there.

And you know what. That's ok. Sadly, this is a concept lost today.

There it is. Don't worry, I've written plenty of odes to them myself.

We should co-author a book. The book about Dole Whips that never actually get written because the authors are too busy.

They'll get there. In the words of Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers, "R-E-L-A-X."

They did.

That's so great! I'm glad she can get even a little piece of the magic with all of the rest of you!

ME too. Of all my kids going, she alone is the only one truly as exuberantly excited as me.

Well if you have to deal with a last minute change in plans I can't think of a much better reason. Glad she can go! It will be here soon!

YES!!!! Lots of last minute planning, but we'll get there!

So cool that Micki will be joining you!!! She deserves some time off, too.

Absolutely! She worked her butt off this summer, and really needs a break too!

So the link is not in your signature, nor have you posted it here? I didn't see it on FB!!!! How are we supposed to find such things and make it to the first page when you don't tell us where it is!

Siggie link will have to wait a spell. But I did link here in comments. Why? does the DIS have to be so much work to figure out?!