Yup...I've been planning again
...
First, we got our school schedule this past week. The girls started school on the 29th. When I looked at the schedule, I was mortified to see that the CEA Teacher's convention that is normally held the THIRD weekend in October has been moved to the SECOND weekend of October. The girls have a half-day of school on Wednesday and then they are off on Thursday and Friday. Ugh!! I told them that they couldn't come with mommy on this trip because they have school
Now, it turns out that I could have taken them along and they would have only missed 2 days. Oh well...at least I will get to say goodbye to them properly, not before they get on the bus.
Speaking of that, I was able to take off the last 5 hours of my shift on Wednesday night which means I will get out at 11:30pm instead of 4:30am. If nobody comes in to cover for me, I might stay a few more hours. Since the kids won't have school, I won't have to be up by 7 to say goodbye to the girls. My mom is going to pick up my DSiL at her house and then come and get me around 10:15am. The airport is 15 minutes from my house and our flight is scheduled to leave at 12:36pm. I've been watching the non-stop flight (there's only 1 per day) and it has been consistently leaving 10-15 minutes early and arriving either early or on time so that is encouraging
. We're planning on upgrading our flight to business class (I love AirTran
...I'm going to miss them
) on the way to Orlando so we can each check two bags for no charge.
Here's my packing plan...
My DSiL is flabbergasted by how "light" I am packing. I have the Kalya bag from eBags (
http://ebags-o.scene7.com/s7viewers/dhtml/images/spacer.gif) which will serve as my "personal item". I checked the AirTran site and cross-referenced it with the eBags site and this bag fits within the acceptable dimensions
. Inside it, I will have a medium packing cube (also from eBags...gotta' love them!) which will contain three days worth of clothes. I have my convertible pants, 2 pairs of walking shorts, 2 t-shirts, 1 polo shirt, 1 set of jammies (tank and knit shorts), running shorts and tank, 3 pairs of underwear and a bra and my swimsuit. Yup...it all fits perfectly! Then, I will also have my netbook computer with cord, my iPod, Kindle and camera (Kodak Zi8) and my 3-1-1 bag. I also have a small cosmetics bag that will contain my toothbrush, hair brush and EarPlanes. I also have a small "fanny pack" that I will be wearing which I will probably use for my phone, wallet, iPod and camera, just so it's all handy. On the plane, I will wear my yoga pants, running tank and fleece jacket along with my Skechers ShapeUps. For my other "bag", I have a 19" rolling carry-on from Eddie Bauer. LOVE IT!! We got it for our wedding 9 years ago and it still looks brand new. It is also well-within the acceptable dimensions of a carry-on, but I will be checking it on the way down since I get 2 checked bags for free. In it, I will put the following: a few more articles of clothing including a heavier sweatshirt and a pair of jeans, sandals and socks; a small bottle of laundry detergent and fabric softener sheets; at least 2 bottles of liquor (probably Captain Morgan and Rasberi Stoli); various breakfast items (NutriGrain bars, instant oatmeal and a box of Vitalicious muffin mix) and my silicone muffin pan; and my cords for my Kindle and iPod; and any full-size toiletries that I won't be able to carry on. If there is any more room, I may also include a few bottles of cranberry juice and maybe a bottle or two of water. I also have a large pre-paid box (flattened) from the post office that is in the bottom of the rolling carry-on. I will use that to mail back anything that I won't be able to bring on the plane for our trip back. I won't use all of the laundry detergent and my bottle of facial cleanser is a 4.7oz foam that can't go in a carry-on. That's all I can think of right now. I'm sure I will want to bring more, but that's all that's coming to mind right now.
On the way home, we will not be doing the upgrade so I will use my rolling 19" suitcase as my carry-on and my Kalya bag as my "personal item". My fanny pack will be stuffed into my rolling bag on the return so that won't count against my luggage allowance.
My budget is coming along great
. Everything is paid for so far. I have 2 days of DxDDP, my DVC AP and my airfare all paid for. I still need to buy my TIW card and the airfare upgrade. After that is paid, I will still have over $400 in spending money
. That will need to cover the gratuities on the DxDDP, food/drinks for 3 days and any other activities we decide to do. We are doing the luau and ordering room service with some of our DxDDP credits so there's two meals that won't need a gratuity. If I have anything left over (which is highly probable), I may just do the BC upgrade on the way home too. DH is picking me up at the airport so I can enjoy the complimentary booze on the way back too
.
Now that I am within 42 days, I am eagerly awaiting my DME packet. I think that is the final step before leaving. Normally, there's the 10-day mark for online check-in, but since we are doing a split-stay, I don't think we will be eligible. Next week, I will be able to transfer my Disney Visa rewards over to my card. I have 2 cards, one closes on the 5th and one on the 8th so I want to squeeze every last reward out of them
.
Speaking of rewards, I did pretty good for this trip. If you aren't familiar with my previous trip, I took a "free" trip to HHI using nothing but rewards and freebies from various programs. That was in April of this year so I have not had a lot of time to build up my rewards, but I did a respectable job. Here's the breakdown...
1) AMEX BlueSky rewards: $200 which completely covered my airfare (which was $199!)
2) Ebates: $42 which is now in my PayPal account
3) Disney Visa Rewards: $175 (I already used $24 to cover 2 F&W seminars)
4) Sunshine Rewards: $405!!! (I used $125 to buy my DVC AP*)
*Since my dad is paying for everyone in June 2012, he gave me $300 to put towards an AP since that is what he paid for everyone's 6-day PH from UCT.*
So, I have over $800 in rewards to put towards this trip. I budgeted $1000 in expenses so I only had to take $200 or so out of my longevity bonus from work
.
So now I am just playing the waiting game...
. DH leaves on Friday for a week of bear hunting in the UP. I have three birthdays (Niece turning 10 on the 21st, daughter turns 6 on the 25th and other niece turns 7 on the 27th) and our anniversary (September 6...NINE years!) to plan for so that will keep me a little busy.
That's all for this installment. I'm hoping to do a full TR with daily updates and photos so stay tuned...