Brrrr. ...

It was fun and strange at the same time to be back on the mountain. So many familiar faces, but so many unfamiliar ones, too! I was basically stuck at the Greeter position all night because they needed a trainer to re-certify me. It was cooooold, friends. I had stopped on the way to work and bought a pair of tights to wear under my costume, had a long-sleeved shirt under my costume, a jacket, and two pairs of gloves. The only things that got really cold were my fingers and my nose. I may have to go to costuming again and ask for a beannie hat!

Highlight of the evening:

I saw a group of young gentlemen wearing familiar high school shirts and sweatshirts. Turns out they went to the same high school I did in California! I was so happy and excited to see them, and they told me of all the changes happening at my old school. I immediately wrote them a fast pass and one of them asked me which year I graduated.

They passed me again with high fives as they were going through the fast pass line. One of them, the one who asked which year I graduated, stopped and asked me, "Hey did you know Jackie B?"

"Jackie B? I graduated with her!"

"She's my Mom."

I didn't care. I grabbed him and hugged him. =)

The park was so full last night. There were two e-stops, which makes the wait time much, much longer. At one time we had a 200 minute wait for standby! For most of the night, it was 160 minutes! I spent my entire time at greeter saying, "Yes, the wait time is REALLY 160 minutes. That's 2 hours and 40 minutes. Yes, the wait time is REALLY 160 minutes!" We were able to clear most of it out during the fireworks and the longest it was after that was 30 minutes. From 12 am to 1 am it was a straight walk through.

When I left at 1:30, I had to sit and warm up the car quite a bit before I could drive home. It was covered in ice! As people would get to their cars and warm up, the steam from their exhausts would flow over my car and freeze. Cars that were by themselves or where no one had left yet were fine.

Tonight, I'm praying a trainer will be available to re-certify me so I can go through rotation. This means they have to explain to me the new cell phone policy and new lost child policy, click it off on my account, and then I'm qualified to push buttons again.

Off to check the weather report!

Merry Christmas!

"And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn." Luke 2:7

O Lord, I always want to have room for You in my life.
We praise You, Father, as we remember how You sent Your Son to earth!

It's Christmas Eve!

Yes, we were the crazy ones who waited until today to finish our Christmas shopping.

We went pretty early in the morning, so we actually beat most of the crowds at the mall. We had our lists, left our babies at home, and conquered!

Highlights in hilarity:

Himself: See that shiny red outfit in the store window? I'd pay you $100 if you wore it to church on Sunday.

Me: Those are pajamas!

Himself: $200 . . . .

At Target, we were repeatedly blocked from all progress. There was a woman in front of us at one point whose hips stood at least 12" wider than each side of her shopping cart. As she ambled along, she would drift, with her cart, toward whichever side she happened to be perusing. Himself was following behind me with our cart and I would try to go around her one way; she'd drift and cut me off. I'd try heading to the other side of her; she'd drift and cut me off.

Finally, I feigned right and when she went to cut me off, I zigged to the left! Ha!

Immediately, a man with shoulders the size of Texas stepped from an aisle and blocked my way.

I couldn't believe it.

The two of them blocked the entire aisle. I just prayed and prayed that they didn't know the meaning of Himself's laughter! He practically had tears streaming down his cheeks, he was laughing so hard!

I finally ducked down an aisle to cut across the store. The whole time Himself was chanting, "She's coming at ya! She's gonna get ya!" which of course referred to Miss Wide Angle. Finally, I successfully popped out into the area of intention and let out a "HA!"

At that moment, a very familiar voice spoke in my ear with, "What are you guys getting?"

Ack!

Sons should not sneak up on their mothers who are shopping at Christmas.

Since the Pinkie Swear

Ok, the update:

Himself has already shed 10 pounds, simply by not drinking any soda or milkshakes since the pinkie swear.

Don't hate, people. He can't help it that he's male.

I'd like to say I've lost 3 pounds. Of course, it can never be that simple - I bought these new shoes and they add (not kidding) two pounds (we checked) and then at work there's a scale in the bathroom that also looks to be off by two pounds and that's just too much math for me to handle when all I want is chocolate.

Our dear patients are determined to sabotage my efforts. This week we've been gifted with cake, cookies, truffles, bon bons, crackers, Belgian chocolate cups, more cookies, etc. I had to do a double pinkie-swear with Nancy to keep out of it!

Good thing she won't be in the office today.

Lovely

Ty's Brown-Eyed-Girl sent me this photo. I love it.

I'm so glad Ty's over the phase of glaring at the camera whenever someone wanted to take his picture! That was so annoying.

One more day of work and then I'm off for three days! I plan on staying up late and sleeping in, not out of rebellion or anything, but to prepare me for my Space shifts next week. I'm so looking forward to getting back to the mountain!

I Will Remember

Dear Mementos, Old Costume Jewelry, Trinkets and Tidbits,

You're probably wondering why I asked you here today.

Each of you came into my life through a special event. It may not have been a particularly earth-shattering event, but it was one that brought a smile to my face, laughter to my heart, or tears to my eyes. I have kept you around these many years to remind me of our special day together.

Here's the deal - I can't keep up with you anymore.

The dusting, storing, arranging, and upkeep of you has become a burden I can no longer carry, so I'm releasing you to bring joy to others.This doesn't mean I will forget our special day, it just means I no longer need you to remind me of it.

Thanks for the memories!


Whew! I spent an entire day doing laundry and cleaning my room yesterday. I still haven't finished, because I have dusting to do. I can't describe how good it felt to be able to walk across my bedroom floor again! Ty brought Jessie over and we were all in my room, BECAUSE WE COULD BE, laughing and chatting. I still have some taming-of-the-desk to do but I'm getting much closer to simplifying everything. It feels like I've actually conquered something!

Yesterday, I also wrote a chore list on our white board and invited any and all to pick up a chore. Glenna vacuumed the stairs and washed BOTH dogs (yes!). Himself cleaned off his own desk. We laughed and said we needed to add his desk and our room to the chore list, just so we could cross them off! If only Missy would stay out of my room - I could leave the door open all the time. She gets mad at me and leaves little "prizes" for me to find, so that can't happen. Ugh! Why do I let these dogs run my life?

I also went on the Hub to see if I was able to pick up any Space shifts during the week the dentist office is closed. Boy, did I! I'll be working four days, each shift BEGINNING at 7:30 or 8:15 PM. I can't wait to be back at the mountain, but I'm not looking forward to the late hours again. These days I'm a pumpkin-head by 9:30 at night. It's worth it, however, to keep my seasonal status at the park.

Off to prepare for the church brunch!

Fabulous Friday

Drove all by my onsies last night to pick up our girl. I'm so, so proud of her for completing her first semester of college!

I'm also so happy that she's home for Three Whole Weeks!

A Magical Night

On December 4th, my family graciously encouraged me to meet up with some friends at Disney.

It was so. FUN.


Brieanna and Ashley were two of the CP's (College Program) who worked with me at Space. This is the lighting that we're in the entire time unless the ride breaks down.

The first time I saw them, I came home and told Kelly how alive and vibrant and amazing they were! They just breathe life into any room. Some of you may remember Brieanna's gentle reminder to be careful how I portray people on this blog and I have never forgotten it.

(She thought I was calling her a mean girl. I meant that she knew her business and I needed to know my business, too!)

Anyway, they invited me out for a night at MK and I'm so, so glad I went! It was so out of character for me - meeting up with a group of people at 6 pm, playing all night, then driving home in the wee hours. I felt like I was 18 again, but they've always treated me like one of their peers at work. I love these girls!


Here's Brieanna without her curls. She's so gorgeous!


Disney really goes all out at Christmas and makes the park so beautiful. Here, the castle is covered in lights and it looks like ice has formed. The castle would turn different colors all night, each one so beautiful. The "ice" turned off during the fireworks show.

We were joined by Josh, Nick, and Tony, whom I also worked with. Oops, except I didn't work with Nick - he's a speedway cast member. We always feel so badly for the speedway guys out in the heat and gas fumes all day, but he says he just loves the speedway crew.

We went on so many rides that I've never ridden before, such as Winnie the Pooh and Philharmagic. We must have spent most of our time in Fantasyland.


The following blurry photo is what a very bad idea looks like:


When it's cold outside, don't go on Splash Mountain.
Top row: Ashley and Nick.
Middle Row: Josh and Tony (who lost their gentlemen cards that night!)
Front Row: Brie and Me, about to get VERY wet and thus saving the "gentlemen" who dived into the middle row, forcing us to take the front and the splash!

Yes, I'm holding onto Brie for dear life.

Here we are afterward:

Ashley was laughing so hard, I'm surprised she got the picture! Josh is the one in glasses. Tony has little cat ears on his beannie hat. The cute hat didn't save him from the lecture, believe me!

Why did I even bother with my hair?

After the splashdown, we headed for main street to watch the fireworks. Brie and Ashley have worked the greeter rotation so many times that they have every line and boom and swish memorized. Wishes! Here we are before the show with now wet and frizzy hair:


After the fireworks, Josh had to leave us because of his 6am shift the next morning.

When I was on my way from the cast parking lot to meet them, I ran into a friend on the cast bus. He told me he was working three "sets" at Pixie Hollow and that he would leave my name at the entrance so we could go around the line. After Josh left, we hurried to Pixie Hollow to meet Terrence, friend of Tinkerbell!

Anyone recognize him? ;-)

Terrence was SO much fun and had us all laughing. Ashley is always smiling like that, though!

He introduced himself to each of us and when he got to me, he asked, "What's your name?"

Blink.

"What's your name?"

I just stood there with a stupid grin on my face. I didn't know whether to say MrsJLW or J or WHAT, and there he was, this guy who was my former Jr. High student, and he had an acorn on his head. He broke character a little and laughed silently.

"Does she have a name?" he asked the group. "Should we give her a new one?"

After coating us with Pixie dust so we could fly, he quickly arranged a game of "fly and go seek" with us.

Brie, hiding in Pixie Hollow




Tinkerbell, "hiding"

Surprisingly, none of us cast members had ever been to Pixie Hollow before. We didn't even know where it was! When I asked "Terrence" how to get there when we were on the bus, even he didn't know for sure, saying, "You know, I've never gotten there from the park before."

Just so you all know, it's in Toon Town, in the Judges' Tent.


Group shot!

Nick, Me, Terrence, Brieanna, Ashley, Tony

Here we are with Tinkerbell:

See the ears on Tony's hat?

We had a group photo with another fairy, but I look fat in that picture so you KNOW it's not going up. Just so you know, I was wearing my jacket with all the amazing pockets and the pockets were full so I didn't have to carry anything.

[crickets]

Whatever.

After Pixie Hollow, we headed to Space Mountain to ride and so Brie and Ashely could get their things. It was SO great to see so many of my castmates! I really, really miss them! I can't wait to pick up some shifts at the end of December so I can see them again.

I also can't wait for February, when Brie comes back from Wisconsin, Ashely comes back from Tennessee, and hopefully my other castmates will join us for another magical night!

Yes!

Congratulations to Tyler, who has now passed seven out of seven ASE exams! This means that after the required job experience of two years (one of which was his year in school) he will be Master Certified in diesel!

That's a National certification, you guys.

Back flips encouraged.

=D

Sunday Night Special

I haven't posted in so long.

I'm just dealin' with it all, friends. Wheelin' and dealin'.

Coping?

I hope to get some photos up soon, but my computer time is limited to when I actually have a computer.

Still gathering info for the insurance company. We're almost there.

AWANA was fun tonight! I loved the lesson and believe I could have spent the entire year talking about Hebrews 10:1-18. Our God is amazing!

. . .and On. .

Insurance forms arrived today. I have to show proof that the items were mine and in my possession. They want receipts, repair bills, warranties, photos (HAHAHAHA) or other such proof.

Anyone who knows me knows that insurance companies send me through the roof.

THE ROOF.

They want the replacement cost value. Time to do some research!