ABCs of Trip Reporting, Pt. 2-Life Can Be Crappy and Then You Move On (3/7)

[All7OfUs]

I'm here! All is well.... tsunamis rarely hop over mountains. But apparently California fared a bit worse!

I spent the day in my garden, and have a half a bed of strawberries all neatly planted in a tidy little row, after spending half the DAY going through the MUCH overgrown garden looking for fresh starts and digging out weeds. What a mess it all it right now.

Off to my neighbor's for happy hour. Love you all- and

PAT! Thanks for the phone call- you're the bestest!!

 

[Poolrat]

I'm here (although on page 4 ick!) but I was thinking about you today Liesa after hearing all about the west coast maybe getting hit with waves from the tsunami that happened in Japan. I'm assuming all is okay because I'm sure you would've mentioned it by now!

Sorry to hear you won't be around much. BOO to limited internet. What century are we in again???? Sheesh

I'm here! All is well.... tsunamis rarely hop over mountains. But apparently California fared a bit worse!

I spent the day in my garden, and have a half a bed of strawberries all neatly planted in a tidy little row, after spending half the DAY going through the MUCH overgrown garden looking for fresh starts and digging out weeds. What a mess it all it right now.

Off to my neighbor's for happy hour. Love you all- and

PAT! Thanks for the phone call- you're the bestest!!

You sneak i was finally getting around to posting here. This time i worked my way from the bottom of my bookmarked threads to the top. Sorted by highest number of pages to least. Since this is new it too a wee bit to get to.


Millie put the bug in my ear to call you, she was worried. I had a feeling you were not that close to ocean but I knew about the river.

Enjoy that happy hour!

 

[Millie12591]

Thanks also to everybody who had such nice things to say after my barely literate announcement of my transplant. For those not on my thread....a brief update is that last Thursday I had to have some "repair work" done. A tube connecting the kidney to the bladder had "sprung a leak" and they had to go back in and fix it. The good news is that my labs Tuesday were all good. Some are even in the normal ranges in a normal person, the rest are all heading in the right direction. So thank you for all of the prayers and well wishes and if you could spare one more, could you please think of the family of the man whose kidney I am now using. What I know is he was from the Chicago area and younger than me. And I know when he was lost his family put aside their grief long enough to pass along this great gift to me and however other many people.

Still Catching up on other threads but hope to be back on track soon!

I'm so glad your doing better!! I had no idea you sprung a leak! Praise God your all fixed up and rarin to go again!!

I have some bad news, and some FANTASTARONI news....

The bad news is that we have reached the "danger zone" of going over our internet time. But, the most amazing thing happened to me today. I hear a knock at the door, and one of our neighbors hands me a package. Huh???? I wasn't expecting anything!! I open it up, and OMGosh!!! It's a NEW CAMERA!!!!!

PNW DISMEET!!!!

I scoped out a few wineries today as recon for our ladies' time!

Ladies~ they are BEAUTIFUL!! Rolling, green hills with neatly trimmed vines, amazing tasting rooms, it's just going to be so lovely!!! I can't wait!!!!

My camera (I hope!) is ready! Is yours??!!!

I'm sooooo glad your doing well. I had a call from Maroo today to see if I had heard from you since she was worried about you, which in turn got me to thinking I had tried to call you two days in a row and no answer. Out of your large brood, there always seems to be someone who answers the phone, and since no answer I too started to worry. Since I don't watch the news (long story for those who don't know that about me) and know literally nothing about where you live, I had no idea what was happening in your neck of the woods.

On a much brighter note, YEAAAAH for the new POS camera!! I'm sure the POS doesn't mean the same thing as the last one!

And yeah for the wineries!! Sounds beautiful and right up my alley, I'm always wanting to learn about and try more wines. It's hard for me to reason out buying and trying a new bottle of wine when I'm usually the only one drinking it, dh isn't big on wines that aren't drier than a popcorn fart, and since I don't drink all that much, I usually end up wasting most of the bottle.
This will be fun!! Do we have a designated driver?

Your new camera sounds awesome! You'll have to go back to Disney to break it in.

That's a brilliant idea!!!

I'm here! All is well.... tsunamis rarely hop over mountains. But apparently California fared a bit worse!

I spent the day in my garden, and have a half a bed of strawberries all neatly planted in a tidy little row, after spending half the DAY going through the MUCH overgrown garden looking for fresh starts and digging out weeds. What a mess it all it right now.

Off to my neighbor's for happy hour. Love you all- and

PAT! Thanks for the phone call- you're the bestest!!

Can't wait to see all your hard work in the garden! I'm so looking forward to our Dis meet!! This trip is going to be a good one!! I'm still thinking on what from Texas I can bring you. I promise it won't be the t-shirt I was talking about. Promise!

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

Subbing to thread #2!

 

[maroo]

Liesa - at 8:00 AM your time yesterday, I actually did try to call - but thought better of it and hung up. I was concerned that you guys are on that river and I assume if the water is pressed into a shore that it also comes up the rivers?? That is how it works here in MS - when Katrina happened there we places way inland that were completely flooded because they were on a river bank that spills into the ocean. So I was a bit worried for you guys yesterday.


I have a prayer request - PLEASE...
Please pray for Lauren. We are half-way driving to Disney and she is nauseated. We have a patch for her that she will start using today which will hopefully help - as we think it is from the motion of the car (she can't sit comfortably unless she is laying back in her chair and I am sure laying back and going in the car is not a pleasant feeling.

We want her to be WELL this trip and want her to be able experience Disney with as much normalcy as possible.

Thanks for your prayers!

 

[pinkxray]

I'm joining in. Don't want to be a lurker.

 

[All7OfUs]

You sneak i was finally getting around to posting here. This time i worked my way from the bottom of my bookmarked threads to the top. Sorted by highest number of pages to least. Since this is new it too a wee bit to get to.


Millie put the bug in my ear to call you, she was worried. I had a feeling you were not that close to ocean but I knew about the river.

Enjoy that happy hour!

ha! I was able to get on for just a few minutes today, just long enough to give a quickie update. We never saw any surges or "activity" on our river, except that it's quite high after DAYS of more rain. The one exception being yesterday when I was able to crank out some serious yard work.

Happy hour was ummm.... happy. She wants a tree cut down in her yard, and offered to give us the wood if Mike did the work!! We are almost out of firewood this year, so that's a very good thing!!

I'm sooooo glad your doing well. I had a call from Maroo today to see if I had heard from you since she was worried about you, which in turn got me to thinking I had tried to call you two days in a row and no answer. Out of your large brood, there always seems to be someone who answers the phone, and since no answer I too started to worry. Since I don't watch the news (long story for those who don't know that about me) and know literally nothing about where you live, I had no idea what was happening in your neck of the woods.

On a much brighter note, YEAAAAH for the new POS camera!! I'm sure the POS doesn't mean the same thing as the last one!

And yeah for the wineries!! Sounds beautiful and right up my alley, I'm always wanting to learn about and try more wines. It's hard for me to reason out buying and trying a new bottle of wine when I'm usually the only one drinking it, dh isn't big on wines that aren't drier than a popcorn fart, and since I don't drink all that much, I usually end up wasting most of the bottle.
This will be fun!! Do we have a designated driver?

Can't wait to see all your hard work in the garden! I'm so looking forward to our Dis meet!! This trip is going to be a good one!! I'm still thinking on what from Texas I can bring you. I promise it won't be the t-shirt I was talking about. Promise!

Yep, doing great and boy, it's amazing how clean a house can be without the distraciton of the DIS.

You will LOVE our winery tour!! It's so pretty in the hills around here! Talked to Terri last night and am trying to finagle him to be our designated driver. At each winery the tasting fee is $5 per person to taste 5-6 of their wines. Not bad. So a variety of them; I'm sure you'll find something you will like!!

I am hoping that you will get to see our yard in all its spring time glory! It truly is lovely with all the flowering trees and bulbs.

Subbing to thread #2!

GREAT to have you here, Sophia!! I have a ways to go until our Meet, but we'll get there....

Liesa - at 8:00 AM your time yesterday, I actually did try to call - but thought better of it and hung up. I was concerned that you guys are on that river and I assume if the water is pressed into a shore that it also comes up the rivers?? That is how it works here in MS - when Katrina happened there we places way inland that were completely flooded because they were on a river bank that spills into the ocean. So I was a bit worried for you guys yesterday.


I have a prayer request - PLEASE...
Please pray for Lauren. We are half-way driving to Disney and she is nauseated. We have a patch for her that she will start using today which will hopefully help - as we think it is from the motion of the car (she can't sit comfortably unless she is laying back in her chair and I am sure laying back and going in the car is not a pleasant feeling.

We want her to be WELL this trip and want her to be able experience Disney with as much normalcy as possible.

Thanks for your prayers!

Sounds like most of the West Coast damage was in CAlifornia. (OMG! I just saw someone get taken down for shoplifting in teh grocery store- that was exciting!) Apparently, Crescent City's harbor was completely destroyed- odd it was the same city that was wrecked by the 1964 Alaska earthquake Tsunami.

I will definitely pray for Lauren!! That is an ominous start to the trip, Mary!!

I'm joining in. Don't want to be a lurker.

NO WAY! Lurkers don't have nearly as much fun!! Seriously, I'm so glad you decided to jump on board and hang with us! A very hearty to you!! You caught us during a few day's dry spell, so time to go back and catch up if you want. If not, hang in there, I should have an update soon!

 

[pooh'smate]

I am all caught up. I have been under the weather and not been on much but I am all caught up on the other thread and now this new one. Yay for the new camera.

 

[All7OfUs]

Ahhhh, the glories of shopping. There’s the shopping one must do to simply eat. Mundane, routine, and let’s face it, rather boring. Crank it up a paltry notch and we get shopping for socks and underwear. Well, maybe some of you get excited about that, but that’s only barely above something like having a McDonald’s Cheeseburger for lunch. Yet, it is somewhat below shopping for something like say, a new washing machine when it dies completely. All of the aforementioned are necessary items, and therefore make the shopping a purely bland experience. Who cares if the underwear is white, beige or blue? Unless you end up in the ER, does it really matter?

Once in a while, if you’re an average American living on an average income, you get to REALLY shop¬- for stuff you absolutely don’t need, but find thrilling to hunt for, and grasp like a hungry vulture. And if it’s something on sale, we really start to get excited and maybe even salivate. For those of who are “in the know”, we like to think that some of the best place for frivolously FUN shopping is in Disney. I am one of those- and I’ll wager to guess you are too.

Ready to go shopping?? How about a WorldWide shopping tour? How about doing it all in one day?--- A race around 1.3 miles of shopping bliss finding just the right something to be a small token reminder of the trip?

The rules of the game went like this: A) The item for purchase had to be under $8-$10 (I thought I’d start at $5, but realized that since my MNSSHP was snatched out from under me, I’d used it to get a few nicer things) B) It had to be authentic to the country it came from in World Showcase C) It was not to be overtly Disney in nature and D) it needed to be small in order to fit back into my already overloaded luggage.

During my PTR, I had gathered all kinds of tips and hints and suggestions from all of you! It was exciting in itself to do the PREsearch for my mega-shopping spree. Would it be successful? Would I find just the right “pretties” to bring home and enjoy for years to come? How many on my list would I actually purchase, and how many countries did I opt for something different?

I’ve got my shop on- do you??!!

If you’ll recall, I zoomed right on past Canada (sorry, Jen!!) on my way to the place of pallid alcoholic beverages. Dragons they are not. They are more like green caterpillars- slow moving and innocuous, but interesting to look at. Being that I only had a half a day to rustle up all my booty, I needed to do this Mega-Shop methodically; so what better place to start than in the UK Pavilion. I ran into a good friend of mine who is in the daycare business.

She has a fantastic magical bag, and although she couldn’t pull anything out of it to interest me (rubber tree plants are too large to pack in my luggage), she did direct me to a simply cozy little purveyor of tea things. On the way, I caught a fleeting glimpse of Burt up amongst the chimney tops. He is her secret lover that she sneaks away with to dance with penguins (remember in Victorian times nannies were not encouraged to become attached) and drink raspberry ices. I love Mary. She’s a little nutty sometimes, but great to hang around on ceilings with.

Inside this cute little shop:

I saw hundreds of teas, tea pots, tea cozies, linens and things. But none of those were what I was looking for today. Tea lasts only a short time, the dish towels were overpriced, and a tea pot was too large. I browsed, asked the hostess some questions about this “Tea for Two” set (I was really just interested in hearing her really cool accent), browsed some more, asked some more questions, because honestly, who can get enough British accent,

and finally found what I was looking for:

I also took a few pictures of the tea cups and saucers tastefully displayed on the walls. My pipe dream is to someday have a similar display of antique tea cup sets in my kitchen as well. Until then, I have a virtual display to look at. So, my prey was found in about 5 minutes, and I spent $8.00.

With my purchase in hand, it was time to head out and spend the next 30 minutes seeing what I could in the UK Pavilion. I had budgeted about that long for each country, which would put me done just about the right time. Maybe it’s just me, but this particular pavilion really doesn’t need a full 30 minutes. Unless you happened to run into a plump, fluffy bear and his playpals. Which I did. And there was hardly any line. Which is the only reason I stayed, because I just don’t normally stand in line for ANY characters.

As I waited in the short line, I found some super fun hidden gems, but to my great consternation vandals had wrecked them. I mean, hello! Can’t you keep your “dog spray” off the props??

I’ve read The Swiss Family Robinson recently, and STILL love it, and, Disney, although had cast some pretty hot actors in their version missed the mark a bit. Still, the treehouse at the MK is a nice attraction to hit up.

Anyone up for feeding the birds??

Winding through the quaint little UK twin city, I found myself in the shop with all kinds of really cool instruments of war hanging around. I fiddled with the backlight function on the POS and still ended up with this:

I fell in love with this tapestry, and thought it’d look really cool in my living room:

Remember in my last installment I told you my day was about to get “rosier” and “crownier”. Well, here comes the crownier part. I have an uncanny knack for taking horrific pictures in hats. This is the 2nd worst hat picture of me- next to the Indiana Jones one. (And see, you didn’t even have to beg for that one.)

But putting bad hat pictures aside, I ran into another good friend of mine along the way out. We greeted each other in the customary royal style:

And when he asked me if I would ride off into the sunset with him, I politely had to decline, telling him I was being held hostage in a land of perpetual rain and moss with no hope of ever escaping; but that if I ever did, he’d be my first choice. At the very stroke of 30 minutes, my glass slipper turned into a leather sandal, and I had to bid a hasty farewell to Prince Charming. I told him that if we ever happened to meet again, I hoped we wouldn’t look quite so much like a “high school marching band meets Disney tourist”,

and off I went to the romantic land of Paris in search of yet another something fun and frivolous!

 

[KatMark]

Great update, Liesa. I love the photos with the Prince...very nice. And I NEVER miss an opportunity for a photo in the UK with Pooh and Tigger (and sometimes Eeyore is there too).

And I think you look very "royal" in your "crownier hat."

 

[Millie12591]

Liesa,

Cute update! I can't believe you met a prince there, usually the only guy "prince," you met in Epcot is like Aladdin. Who is cute mind you, but not really princely. I thought the only way you could meet this Prince was at MK! Very cool! I can't wait to see your other treasures!! I love your little spoon rest/tea bag plate. What ever it's for, it's cute!

I have a prayer request - PLEASE...
Please pray for Lauren. We are half-way driving to Disney and she is nauseated. We have a patch for her that she will start using today which will hopefully help - as we think it is from the motion of the car (she can't sit comfortably unless she is laying back in her chair and I am sure laying back and going in the car is not a pleasant feeling.

We want her to be WELL this trip and want her to be able experience Disney with as much normalcy as possible.

Thanks for your prayers!

Done! Be sure to have a great time and don't sweat the small stuff or the things you can't change.

I am all caught up. I have been under the weather and not been on much but I am all caught up on the other thread and now this new one. Yay for the new camera.

Ooooh no, I hope your feeling much better now. Next time let us know if you can, that way we can pray you better!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

But putting bad hat pictures aside, I ran into another good friend of mine along the way out. We greeted each other in the customary royal style:

And when he asked me if I would ride off into the sunset with him, I politely had to decline, telling him I was being held hostage in a land of perpetual rain and moss with no hope of ever escaping; but that if I ever did, he’d be my first choice. At the very stroke of 30 minutes, my glass slipper turned into a leather sandal, and I have to bid a hasty farewell to Prince Charming. I told him that if we ever happened to meet again, I hoped we wouldn’t look quite so much like a “high school marching band meets Disney tourist”,

and off I went to the romantic land of Paris in search of yet another something fun and frivolous!

This whole interaction had me especially the "high school marching band meets Disney tourist" comment.

 

[jenbear123]

I'll forgive you this time for bypassing Canada only because that store is so mediocre. But if you are ever finding your travel routing towards the REAL Canada (or near my city to be specific) you are not allowed to bypass that!!

I love the pictures you took of the UK. I have never even thought of looking up when I'm in those stores. I'll have to do that next time.

You're interaction with Prince Charming sounds like it was very flirtatious. Playing hard to get, are we Liesa?

 

[MaryAz]

Oh boy, page 5-oh well. Loved the last update. Those shops are so very cute. am with Kathy as far as the pics with Pooh and Tigger. Very nice pics of you and the Prince. Congrats on the new camera-very exciting

 

[MEK]

Oh Liesa - that was an awesome update! I love what you found in England and I love all the cool pictures you took in England.

And you are right - I think Prince Charming borrowed his costume from High School Musical. Not very pincelike indeed!

 

[All7OfUs]

Some very quick replies this time around...

Great update, Liesa. I love the photos with the Prince...very nice. And I NEVER miss an opportunity for a photo in the UK with Pooh and Tigger (and sometimes Eeyore is there too).

And I think you look very "royal" in your "crownier hat."

They are so cuddly aren't they??

I like the way the PP photographer used the POS in that series of shots! I was pleased when I downloaded them that evening!

Liesa,

Cute update! I can't believe you met a prince there, usually the only guy "prince," you met in Epcot is like Aladdin. Who is cute mind you, but not really princely. I thought the only way you could meet this Prince was at MK! Very cool! I can't wait to see your other treasures!! I love your little spoon rest/tea bag plate. What ever it's for, it's cute!

He was rather a surprise when I came across him. And I certainly had this update in mind when I was doing my little meet and greet!

It is a tea bag holder, that we use everyday. Bek is our tea drinker, and it comes in very handy sitting by our stove.

This whole interaction had me especially the "high school marching band meets Disney tourist" comment.

Does his costume not just scream Main Street marching band?!! I say give that boy a trombone!

I'll forgive you this time for bypassing Canada only because that store is so mediocre. But if you are ever finding your travel routing towards the REAL Canada (or near my city to be specific) you are not allowed to bypass that!!

I love the pictures you took of the UK. I have never even thought of looking up when I'm in those stores. I'll have to do that next time.

You're interaction with Prince Charming sounds like it was very flirtatious. Playing hard to get, are we Liesa?

Canada does play a part in my SAtW (Shop Around the World) but not til a bit later. But getting ahead of myself, yes, mediocre is a word that might come to mind.

I swear I will come visit if we are ever up that way!!! YOu KNOW it!!!

YOU MUST LOOK UP!!! There's actually quite a bit there!

At first he was like, "What? Huh? You want me to do it like how?" AFter a bit of prompting, I think he warmed up to the gig and got into it. Maybe, do I dare say, he had fun?

Oh boy, page 5-oh well. Loved the last update. Those shops are so very cute. am with Kathy as far as the pics with Pooh and Tigger. Very nice pics of you and the Prince. Congrats on the new camera-very exciting

They are very cute!! And there's so very much IN them!! I was pleasantly surprised! More pix of all the stores coming up on another EPCOT day as well.

It was fotunate there was no line for the characters! I was ON A MISSION!!!

Oh Liesa - that was an awesome update! I love what you found in England and I love all the cool pictures you took in England.

And you are right - I think Prince Charming borrowed his costume from High School Musical. Not very pincelike indeed!

If I had had a really cool camera like yours imagine what I might have gotten. HA! But anyway, I chalk it up to just having some really nice subject matter.

The costume was pretty un-regal IMHO. Just only sort of so-so, and amatuerish. Nevertheless, the interaction was fun after a bit of coaching...

 

[3prettyprincesses]

Liesa, I just love love love your witty updates! You really have a knack for writing, your wording cracks me up!

I'm amazed at your shopping prowess! With that list of criteria, you made a wonderful find at the Tea Caddy shop. I have a little tea bag holder like that one, it was a gift from my mother-in-law. I use it all the time!

Awww, Prince Charming looks like he might be a tad enamored with you. Must have been that fancy curtsy you gave him...

I can't wait to see what else you bought around the WS!

 

[glennbo123]

Okay, I'm finally here. Last week was rather hectic.

Nice update. I like your description of Mary best: "a good friend of mine who is in the daycare business".

 

[vamassey1]

Lovely update!(doesn't that sound English). What a great idea, I would love to shop around WS with a budget. It makes the searching more fun, like a scavenger hunt. I would have to ditch DH first.

Love your pictures with the characters especially Prince Charming. I have never seen him in Epcot. I've been working real hard on a paper piecing of PC and Cinderella and your picture is spot on what I need for color placement.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

OOOO I love shopping! I remember when you were planning this excursion, and asking for suggestions. It will be so fun to see what you got! I love the tea store - I always buy a stash of Earl Grey in there! Your Tea Bag plate is very cute!

It was so fun to hear the plans for our meet today!!! I'm getting excited to plan what I will bring. The wine tour sounds wonderful! We can take my van even if Terry drives - it will hold 7 of us! I'm definitely bringing some wine from our local 12 Ranch Wines - we can do a tasting of that one and see what everyone thinks! It is one of my favs!

Camille - I'm scared to ask about the T-shirt? So happy to hear Tyler is okay!