Words of Wisdom Wednesday

This might have been a good idea!

Travel Tuesday

So, our trip to Disney was fabulous--so much fun! But honestly, I'm already sick of talking about it after that long post yesterday. Instead, here are some fun facts.

*We have been to Disney 8 times, starting when our girls were little. 

*Unbeknownst to me, we have only stayed in the deluxe resorts--until this time, we opted for the economy resort. It was nice enough, beautiful landscaping and spotlessly clean, but definitely several steps below what we're used to.

*I ended up NOT doing the 5K when I found out that it was going to be still dark. I quit walking in the dark about 8 months ago. I do not see well in the dark and no longer take chances due to my "fall factor!" When Butch got back--they left at 3 a.m. and got back about 8--he told me that I had made the right call. They stood waiting for the race to begin at 5 for two hours--their "coral" didn't start until nearly 6. I can walk all day long--but standing on concrete kills me and my back!

*Still, I walked 36.5 miles over the course of 5 days. Butch--including the race did 52 miles.

*Sandy, Stephanie, and Mindy did the most fabulous job planning every little detail of our trip. That is essential if you want to have a good time at Disney. It requires a lot of time--a lot! And if you hear someone say they don't like Disney--I guarantee it's because they didn't plan. We are crazy over the top, detailed planners for all vacations!

*Due to that diligent planning, we were able to do more rides with NO waits than ever before. 

*Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween is the best value! You pay for the party, and get to enter the Magic Kingdom for free starting at 4 p.m. before the party starts at 7. All the rides were "walk-on!" This was a bucket list item for us.

*Epcot is our favorite. We've now done two food & wine-fest events there. We enjoy the scavenger hunts too.

*Another bucket list item: We got to see the transformation from Halloween to Christmas OVERNIGHT! Unbelievable!

I could go on and on, but I'll stop here and just share a few pictures:

Cinderella's castle decked out for Halloween.

The "Headless Horseman" at the start of the parade.

OMGosh! You trick or treat during the party. I lost my bag right off. When I told a cast member what had happened, he started me off with half a bag! It's to just a couple things but a scoop full! I was as excited as I was when I was a kid! It was always about the candy!! I put my Kindle in the picture so you can really tell how much candy there is.

The early morning racers! Butch, Justin, Mindy, Sandy and Nicky. 

We wore Disney every day! You just get into it when you are there! I had two shirts that I never even wore. We have one from every trip we've taken.

Christmas overnight!

The original five!

I'm not wearing a belt--it's my stupid fanny pack. I took it off in most of the pictures!

That giant Christmas tree is so darn cute. The ornaments are giant and adorable--gingerbread things and a giant popcorn garland.

Sandy and Greg on Main Street.

The original five!

Mindy and Justin.

Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head. 

Stephanie and Nicky--Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh!

Another Disney trip in the books!

Me on Monday

Yesterday was A Day of Problems and it was all my fault. Talk about rookie mistake—this is a doozie! Warning—it’s long. I cannot tell a short story. The details are too important to leave out! 

Okay, you’ve been warned.

We were coming home after spending 5 days at Disney. We had a very early flight—7 a.m. We always get to the airport 2 hours ahead, so that meant we had cars picking us up at 4:30 a.m. It’s a 30 minute ride to the airport. We had to get up at 3:30 to allow time for walking to the lobby and checking out—our room was very far away—a quarter of a mile round trip! (I logged 36.5 miles walking this week.)

To make matters worse, it was “daylight savings” time on Sunday. We weren’t sure how to set our alarm. So, we set two—one for 3:30 when we wanted to get up and a back-up for 4:30 in case the phone time did not change properly. *Side note: the phone adjusted as it should.

We checked out and our ride arrived right on time. Everything was going smoothly—UNTIL—this is a biggie—I discovered when we were checking in that I had left my wallet with my driver’s license in the hotel safe! OMGosh!

At least 500 things ran through my mind:

*Do I have time to get back to the hotel, retrieve my wallet and get back in time for the flight?

*How would I get back in the room as I had already checked out?

*How could I even prove anything?

About that time, Butch remembered that he had a copy of my passport. The guy is amazing! He’s always prepared! At least it was something. We didn’t know if it would work, but we proceeded to check in. When we got to the counter we explained the situation, we were told that it all depended on TSA as to whether they would let me on.

My head is still spinning—Butch was calm and said, “Okay Barb, one thing at a time. Let’s check our bags and then find the TSA desk. This kind of thing must happen all the time.” They let us check our bags with just the paper copy of my passport.

We got to the TSA desk. After waiting several minutes, I explained the situation. The gal was very nice but immediately told me that I could not use my phone from that point on until she got—I don’t know who—let’s just call him a “big shot” TSA person—on the phone to ask me some questions. 

While we were waiting to be connected, Butch walked off to call the hotel to see about having them mail my wallet. He returns a few minutes later and said that they would not mail I.d.’s, credit cards or cash. OMGosh! Now what to do? 

I kept insisting that this was my problem and I would handle it as he kept saying he’d go back to the hotel and catch a later flight. Then when I said that I would do that, he realized that since our bags are checked, we wouldn’t be able to get them back nor would they send them on if we didn’t show up for our flight. 

Then I had a genius idea! Call Sandy!!! She and Greg were still at the hotel!! They could get my wallet! Plus, we’re going on our “mother/daughter” weekend next week. She could bring it to me then. (I double-checked with the TSA agent I was working with to make sure I could use my real passport for that flight.) We felt bad about waking them up at 5:30!

As I’m still waiting for my “talk” with the TSA “big shot”, Butch went off to call the hotel again. He was gone quite awhile this time. When he came back, he said that they had to get ahold of a manager to see if Sandy would be allowed to pick up the wallet and they would call him back.

Finally, the agent working with me started asking me questions and relaying the info to the “big shot.” Luckily, it was all easy stuff that I actually remembered like—which state was my social security number issued (Missouri), the last four digits of my phone number (8451—although I worried that it might have been the old house phone they wanted) and a couple other things—and then the one I was certain would trip me up: What is the make and model of a car that’s in your name? I glanced at Butch, but realized he couldn’t help me. I’m not sure any car is actually in my name. I quickly said, “Jeep Grand Cherokee”—thinking to myself if they ask me the year, I’m scr**ed! I cannot keep it straight. I think it’s either a 2016 or 2017. Luckily, they didn’t ask that.

Whew! I passed and was good to go. Almost…! The agent had to walk me through security every step of the way. 

This is the worst part. I had to take off my shoes and walk barefoot on that disgusting floor!! (Don’t worry, I washed my shoes when I got home—as always!) 

I had to take everything out of my carry-on bag for swabbing. Then while that agent stood there, another one pulled me aside and removed everything from my purse—unzipping and removing stuff from every space—swabbing along the way. 

I passed, met up with Butch and was heading to the gate. He said that we were going home and then he’d fly back down later in the week to sort it all out. He still hadn’t heard back from the hotel. 

Right about the time we got to the gate, he got the call. Yes, they would allow Sandy to pick up my wallet! Hallelujah!! I breathed a deep sigh of relief. We were good to go!

Still, I wasn’t going to relax until Sandy called to say she had it. I texted her and said that I wanted them to use the cash in my wallet for a nice lunch! She responded, “No worries! You don’t have to treat us to lunch. I think a week in Disney is reward enough!”

Okay, I warned you that this was going to be long. This saga is NOT over yet!

We made it home. As soon as we got to the house, I went around back to open up the front door. That’s when I realized that my car keys were also in the safe!! Okay, no problem, we have a digital lock on the door and we have a spare set of keys for my car. 

About the time that I was going to tell Butch this, he said, “I just remembered, your keys were in the safe too!” He immediately called Sandy—who had already picked up my wallet. She said that she didn’t get the keys because since her dad didn’t mention them that—she didn’t think they were mine. There was also a little notebook that she also left behind. She only took the wallet because that’s all she thought we were missing!! Well of course, I was so grateful as the wallet IS the most important thing. 

Once we unpacked, I went to the grocery store while Butch called the hotel, yet again!! 

When I was checking out, the cashier said, "How is your day going so far?” I thought to myself, “Oh honey, if you only knew!” But I said, “It’s just fine!” No sense launching into this long story! She wouldn’t really want to know.

When I got home, Butch had the information for me to file a “lost & found” claim with Disney. I filled out the info online, got a case number and they’ll let me know if/when they find the keys. I was supposed to describe my keys. Now I know the I have some “stuff” dangling off of it, but for the life of me, I couldn’t think of what they were. I know I have one of those carabiner things and it’s pink. That should be enough to identify them. 

Disney has a huge, central, lost & found department. I’d love to see that! I cannot imagine all the thousands of things lost on a daily basis there. 

Anyway, it’s over now. I think I think I need a drink!

Something for Sunday

October by the Numbers:

It was a productive month. Besides all of the regular activities, I finished my pumpkin topiary needlepoint and walked to West Nashville with my friend, Nancy--6.5 miles. 

Movies Seen: 3

*****White Bird

*****Saturday Night 

*****Conclave

Books Read: 12

Five Stars:

Darling Girls

The Heiress

Hello Beautiful

She’s Not Sorry

Bud, Not Buddy

The French Eat Everything

Someone We Know

Daughter of Mine

Broadway Shows:

*****Moulin Rouge

***Little Shop of Horrors

Podcasts: 3

Lunch Out: 13

Dinner Out: 6

Documentaries/Movies/Series Streamed 

Netflix 

Worst Roommate Ever (1 episode)

Your Honor (8 episodes to the end)

Outlast (6 episodes)

Arrested Development (1 episode done with this)

Hitler and the Nazis: Evil on Trial (2 episode)

No One Wants This (5 episode)

Deceitful Love (movie)

Peacock:

Found (season 1—13 episodes)

Regular TV:

Found (4 episodes)

High Potential (3 episode)

Summit (1 episode)

Natzi Town (PBS—2 episodes)

The Golden Bachelorette (5 episodes)

Survivor 3 ep)

Law & Order (2 ep)

Law & Order Suv (2 ep)

Dateline (2 ep)

Trips: 

Scrapbooking at Kentucky Lake

Richmond, Virginia

Disney

Scrapbook Pages Completed: 14

Scrapbook Saturday

Friday Funnies

Happy Halloween

As you already know, we're in Disney for Halloween. OMGosh! It has been so much fun. Of late, I have been complaining about how expensive Disney is. This is the first time that we've stayed at one of their "economy" resorts. It's hard to believe that price-wise this is economy. Disney is just plain expensive. But, I do regret staying on the "economy." We love Disney and have really missed the "perks" that I didn't realize only came with the "deluxe" resorts--like--the ability to go to any of the parks with early or late hours. And, although our rooms are "cute"--they are nothing compared to the deluxe rooms. 

Okay, enough of that. Let's just say we're spoiled! Oh--and our room is a quarter mile from the main building where you have to go for everything. Seriously. I logged 9.3 miles the very first day! 

Upon arrival on Tuesday, we got on the bus for Disney Springs and had lunch--$350 worth! That was for 7 of us. One thing you can always count on--Disney food is excellent--and huge portions. Butch and I always share. 

After lunch, we had a little time to browse the shops before going back to the Art of Animation resort where we were staying. We had to change in to our Halloween costumes before heading to the Magic Kingdom. We had tickets for "Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween" starting at 7 p.m. However, the price of $112 per person allowed us to enter the park at 4 p.m. 

We all dressed up. From left, Juston and Mindy were characters from Toy Story--he the pizza man, she--the alien:

Then you have Butch and I as Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head. Stephanie is Winnie the Pooh and Nicky is Christopher Robin down to his red tennies! Greg is Wall-E and Sandy is Eve:

Our costumes were secrets from each other. It was so much fun. We wore them on Halloween (today) too.

Back to the party. So, when we got to the park, we got our bracelets that says we're part of the party, Then we got our trick or treat bag. We were able to just about walk on every ride. There was a special Halloween parade that started with the "Headless Horseman."

When we were ready to start trick or treating, I realized that I had lost my bag. Honestly, I felt like I was a little kid--the disappointment of it! I went to one place and told the guy that I had lost my bag. He asked me if I had a lot of candy, I admitted that I only had the two things that cane with the bag. Then he said he was going to start me off and gave me two big scoops! We only went to about 3 or 4 places and this was our haul!

OMGosh! This is more than I ever got as a kid!! And in case you have forgotten how I felt about candy, you can check out this post, This one goes all the way back to 2011. I still stand by it. It was always about the candy!

Okay, that's enough about Disney. Here are a couple other things I want to share:

Mindy and Justin made "stuffed pumpkins" for dinner and had a caramel apple for dessert,

How cute are those?

And now, for a public service reminder:

Have you voted? We have!