2014 - I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas - Annual Post

So...you can always count on me to do an annual Christmas - White Christmas map.

Look at this gem I found:

Trick or Treat - a thing of the past?

The day goes by soooo slowly.  I remember my younger days with a plastic mask and some cheap vinyl or plastic cape looking thing -- that would resemble a costume but kids today would still google it.  Tick, tick tick....when are we going Mom?   ....when your Dad gets home from work  ....Dad is HOME!  ....after dinner  .... after it turns dark  ...REALLY how long can you put this off?!?!?!  And then we head out.  Visiting all of our neighbors.  Most of our neighbors went to our church so we got invited in a lot.  Come in!  Let me take your picture!  We would get yummy goodness by the handfuls and then we were off again.  Not before our Dad dug deep in to our bag to find his favorite candy bar to snack on along the way.   If it was cold, we didn't notice.  Luckily our grandmother was "halfway" through the process so we could warm up if we were cold or get a drink if we were thirsty.  We would do the entire neighborhood -- down streets our bikes would never go....just to be sure we maxed out our candy search - and our parents. Then, once we had rung every doorbell, we went home to evaluate our efforts.    A long night worth every step as we counted chocolates and sweet tarts and traded for our favorites.

Those were the days....

Now we have sexual offender finders so we avoid those houses.  We have people lacing swedish fish with marijuana.  We have all sorts of crazy I can't even think of.  We have grown "kids" prowling the neighborhoods and scaring the little kids.  And yet, I still take my child trick-or-treating.   WHY do I do this?  I guess I want her to have that same nostalgia that I have about my Halloween days but it just isn't the same.  Also kids get an abundance of candy from various sources these days.  It's not an elusive "treat" that you won't get again for another 12 months.  As a matter of fact there are stores filled with every possible candy you could ever want.  And kids have money!  So they can go to said stores and buy whatever they want.    There are office trick or treating events, trunk or treats, church events etc.   I would bet money that my daughter will not be taking her child(ren) from house to house - because recreating the nostalgia is just not the same.

InsideOut in Merida 2014 - Ready to Serve: Simple Faith in a Complex Place

I love this story of my baby girl -- and my growing up ever so quickly niece....



InsideOut in Merida 2014 - Ready to Serve: Simple Faith in a Complex Place: So, faith. It’s an small word with an enormous impact. And from all the enormity, there’s a book that states it is necessary to ta...

Doing the right thing...

Sometimes doing the right thing involves giving up something of yourself or your person or your tangibles. Many times - often times - We have the opportunity to do something random for someone else yet we don't...today I gave my seat to a soldier in the military who is going home for 5 days after graduating from officer camp. His parents had flown to DC to see him graduate. I told him I would trade seats so he could sit with his dad. He didn't want to because he was in a crappy seat but I insisted...and I am so glad I did.  

To the Graduates of 2014...It's time to grow up.

I love seeing young people grow up and be successful.  It's awesome when you know they have worked hard and after all of that time get to finish something and start something new.

Some are wrapping up high school...a huge milestone.  Going off to college is exciting, scary and a big grown up thing to do.  Some are jumping out of the world of exams, class and their parents $$ to a giant world of business, professions, and performance reviews.

Here is some advice from a 40-something that has been there, done that.

• Having your parents address your graduation invitations makes you look like you really aren't ready to go out on your own....still have Mommy change your sheets too I bet.

• The people you invite to your graduation, speak to them when you see them.  If you haven't thanked them for your gift, MAN UP and walk over and say -- Thank you so much for the gift you sent.  Are you not prepared to do that?  Maybe you aren't ready for the real world.  These are people who know and love you...and wish for your success...what about those competing against you?  

• You sent an invitation to an event....that you know they will not attend.  You counted on it actually because you only had four tickets to the actual graduation.  (What would you have done if I REALLY showed up!?!?!?)   So let's talk about the REAL reason you sent the invitation....a GIFT.  Of course, you need to fund your dorm room...or maybe some of you will buy books a computer or something!  I'm in!  I did it!  But I wrote a Thank You note for EVERY gift I received and you should too.  Here's why:  People expect them.    If you didn't give me a hug, call me to thank me, or send a biplane over my house saying thank you (notice I didn't say Text me - for the love of God do not text a thank you)  for the gift, you better spend 2 minutes of your summer break thanking me for the monetary gift I sent you...Yes you have time - we're friends on Facebook -- remember?

• College Grads - create a linked in Profile and connect with all of these adults you are inviting to your graduation.  You never know who might connect you to your next job.   You're being responsible and sending them a Thank You note!

• Don't know what to say in your  Thank You note?  Come on, it's time to use that education your parents paid for....GOOGLE IT.

• Did your parents tell you that you didn't have to send a note?  You do.  They lied.  If you do not take the time to thank someone for a gift - you didn't deserve a gift.

So the devil's advocate of my rant would say...it's wrong to give a gift and expect something in return.  True.  And I'm not expecting a $100 out of their first paycheck.  The Thank You note is not about the note itself, it's about the time spent writing it.  Taking time out for others -- is the art of gift giving.

A Disney Vacation...a planner's DREAM...or so I thought

I am a planner. I like to plan fun things.  I like to plan events.  I like to plan out vacations for my family and then live a fun experience.

A Disney Vacation takes that to a WHOLE OTHER LEVEL- we are talking planning "on crack."  I should have known.  Have you seen the planner books for Disney?  They are inches thick!



So why isn't this fun for someone who likes to plan?  Because of the meal and fastpass planning.  First is the meal planning rant -   I don't like deciding dinner at home -- but this meal planning at Disney is even worse.   You have to make these reservations MONTHS in advance - TO EAT.  I don't know what I want tomorrow -- let alone 6 months from now.  Why why why does it have to be this way?  There is no getting around it -- if you want to eat on Disney property you have to plan REALLY FAR in advance.  Otherwise, you're having a burger and popcorn on the street or ridiculous fast food.  Hello we couldn't even order carryout from a DD restaurant.  "First come first serve"  REALLY??!??!?

Secondly is the FASTPASS system.  I like the Fastpass Option and love that I can do it on the app.  But you only get 3.  If you don't know the rides very well, you don't have a clue which FPs are worth it and which ones aren't.   For example, I got us fast passes to a newer ride that never has a wait.  So that was a total waste of a FP.  I guess with MORE RESEARCH on MY END I could have figured that out....and touringplans.com helps a lot in this aspect.   But then don't forget you have to plan your fast passes around your dinner reservations.  Oh and those things don't care if you overlap.   So you could have dinner at the same time you're on Space Mountain.

This was our 2nd Disney Trip...and probably our last for a really long time (even though we have 3 more days on our passes!!!)  My daughter isn't crazy about the rides, has met all the characters that she wants to meet....and hates the lines.  I think we just don't LOVE Walt Disney World.    We like it, but we don't LOVE it.    The planning takes all of the supercalafragilisticexpialadocious out of the trip....there is no room for spontaneity and you have to "build in" your rest days.    The planning is more work -- and lord help you if  someone throws a wrench in your plan.

For example, this morning, my daughter didn't wake up until 10:00 AM.  We had lunch reservations at 11:20.  We RAN out the door and into MK and BARELY made it to our time.  As a matter of fact, my husband and I had to run to the restaurant from Main Street and left my Mom and Daughter behind just so we could check in.   After we ate, we were so over it -- we did a few meet and greets with Tinkerbelle and Tiana and just came back to the resort.   After a swim, we were starving -- and yep without a reservation...so we ended up with fast food....ugh.  That is soooo annoying.    We went back to Magic Kingdom but there wasn't a table to be found.

In my next rant, I will focus on the wait time for Anna and Elsa at Norway in Epcot.  Don't even get me started on that mess.

Poster-Sized

All this talk about the galaxies comic made me nostalgic.   I went and bought the print of the crazy thing!
I took a picture...this is how I can tell I'm getting old -- I don't have a stitch of makeup on...and yep -- I just posted it -- blotchy and all.