May the Force be With Us...Jan 23 Western Caribbean+Star Wars day at sea; update 1/13

[TiffyRose]

Background
I'm TiffyRose, fairly new to DIS but a lifelong Disney fan. On and off AP at DL (we live 5 minutes from the park) since age 9. I'm 31 now, so about 20 years of AP. Mom is my main Disney buddy/supporter. DF has learned to love Disney more through the years, but he's happiest if the parks aren't crowded, the weather is perfect, and he can go home halfway through the day. This last one is why he sometimes has a pass. DH of 2 1/2 years (I'm seriously crazy about him and he's rediculously awesome) is not a super Disney fan. He loves the movies, and he'll tolerate the parks occasionally, but I can't ever see him with an AP. He knows I love it and doesn't discourage me though.

Mom, Dad, and I are DVC members. We've done one family cruise, two trips to WDW, and they've done one cruise and a trip to Tahoe without me. Part of being an only child, at least for me, was that my parents almost never went on trips without me. This is something I have to get over, especially as my husband and I like to travel and it will DEFINITELY not always be with my parents. (Although we've done some weekend travel with them and some week long travel with his parents who live in Fl. I like both, but I'm a grown up and need more space these days.)

The plan
This part has some nebulous elements that I want straightened out soon, and you'll know why.
My mom wanted to take DH and I on a cruise with her and dad. That's right, she's paying for transport and cruise, we cover any extra (drinks, Palo, excursions, tips). How do you say no to that!? Now a vacation that would have cost us ~$5000 will cost more like $1500. That's still an exspensive trip for us, but doable. Plus mom gets the joy of having people she knows and likes (besides dad) to have dinner with. (The Alaskan cruise they took together lacked this. There were some odd people at their table...) so we started looking at cruises in January. Dad and I are church musicians, so December is out, we don't do heat well, so not Summer, January is a great time for us to do vacation. Then I saw (ahhhhhhhhh) the Star Wars day at sea sailings! DH and I are all around nerds, and I thought this would be something he would really like. There was a small delay as Mom bought some more DVC points, direct of course since we use them for cruising. Called DVC, got it squared away, and now DH and I have an inside stateroom and mom and dad have a deluxe veranda (she's never had one, she really wanted it).

We invited DH's parents, but they opted out. MIL has never done a cruise, isn't sure she'd like it, wants to try a shorter one first. Plus, it's a lot more money for a shorter time frame than they usually spend on vacation. Hopefully at some point we can convince them. I would love, when there are offspring, to have all the grandparents and us on a cruise together.

We also checked with dear friends who live in FL to see if they wanted to join. Parents close to mom and Dad's age, two daughters about my age, we grew up at church together. The first cruise we did was with them, about 6 years ago, and none of the daughters were married. Now we all are, the youngest has her own youngling (her hubby also grew up at church with us, I call him my brother), and she and her sister are trying to procure more. With the prospect of two incubating sisters on the horizon, plus my brother wants to do a shorter cruise while we're cruising to celebrate the youngling's 2nd birthday, they will probably not be joining us either . However, we may stay either with them or my in-laws (Tampa area), or a combination thereof a few days before the cruise. Oldest sister works AK/Epcot with their animals and education department, so we may get a sign in day. I'd love to do a day at Universal too and see the second half of the Wizarding World stuff they put in. We'll see though. Definitely one day at Epcot is in order, maybe some time in new Fantasy Land. Dad wants to eat at LC, I agree!

This is why we need to clear the nebula and figure out what we're doing. I'd like to set up some ADRs, but the longer we wait the harder that will be. I'll have to check and see how early we can do that. I've been reading other trip reports, and I don't know why I have 180 days stuck in my head. I think this is cruise/concierge related and has nothing to do with us though. Plus the whole FP+ thing is totally new since we did WDW last, so that needs researching.

Star Wars!
Here's some of the fun stuff. So Disney hasn't released everything about the SWDaS yet. I can't find info on if it's replacing pirate night, or in addition to. I think? it's replacing. Either way costumes are in the works. I have my day wear picked out; my pink "I find your lack of faith disturbing," tank top. I call it my Christian Darth Vader shirt....DH has a "Come to the darkside, we have cookies.-V" shirt I hope he'll bring.

But for dinner, of course I want to do Leia. But I really didn't want to do Leia like everyone else. This needed to be not your momma' Leia. So after much debate with DH (that's not recognizable as Leia...I know that's one of her outfits, but I don't think of her in it...can't you just do something with the bun hair...?) we agreed on a very sexy dress with no back and an exposed midriff. I've got a few surprises in store on that one, so no more details or pictures. (Must be most awesome looking, non-traditional Leia on boat!) at least until after the trip. DH will be Han of course, but maybe a slightly more formal Han to go with my Leia. Dad's gonna go full Vader, which may confuse some guests depending on how much work he puts into it. Mom's soon Aunt Baru. I tried to talk her into a ghostly Amidala, then my real parents would be playing my cos-play parents, but it was a no go. And there may be a gold bikini at some point, probably after dinner.

With all this skin exposing costume wear, I'm in serious get in shape mode. I'm in ok shape already; 5'8", 150lbs, but I'd like to have a couple ab lines by January. That means dropping 10-20 lbs and keeping up the muscle. So, barring illness and other emergencies, I've been hitting the gym 3-5 times I week. I want to get up to 6 consistently. Two days a week are elliptical and weight machines, 2 are Pilates abs and bike, and two are other exercise video plus swimming. My new food motto is "Leia doesn't eat...insert bad food here." Mc Donald's is a popular one I've been saying.

Pirates!?
If I'm wrong, and we still get to do pirates, we do have great costumes from our first cruise. Mom and I made corsets and shirts, pantaloons for her. I have a kerchief hem skirt I wear with it. I actually got asked if I was a cast member when I wore it before, so it's pretty awesome. I'll try to find a picture. Dad has a puffy shirt and shants (short pants), but DH would need outfitting. When I saw his profile on OKC (we met online) he had a pirate costume he'd worn for a customer event, and my first message to him was titled "Here's to Nordic Pirates." (He's a tall blond who people think looks Nordic...my very own Thor.) So he's got a history of pirate wear. I really do hope we get both, but I wouldn't be surprised if this cruise is about space pirates only.

I think that's gonna be it for now. I'm gonna try and navigate the nebula with my mom tonight. Look for future updates including excursion plans, budgeting/money saving, shopping updates, and probably weightloss updates as well.

 

[TiffyRose]

This is why I love DIS boards
Because they teach me I'm not crazy. I knew 180 days was right for ADRs! Yesterday was 185 days out from the cruise, with still no firm plans on pre-cruise activities. So I talked to my parents who basically said, this is up to you and Mike (DH), mostly Mike, and how much time you want to take off. My concern is ADRs, namely for Cindy's, BoG, and LC. DH thinks it's a little nutty, but even though I know it's January and the parks are less crowded, I know these ADRs can go fast. We are not quite 180 days from when I would want to be at the parks, so we need to figure this out quickly. Thankfully he said he can get me an answer on how much vacation time he'll have then by tomorrow. This slightly assuages my apprehension.

I'd really like to do one split day between MK and Epcot, then another split at Universal parks. DH is concerned about having enough time with his parents. I'm hoping they'll come with us to Disney parks day, but we can always stay with them in Tampa to give us more time with them.

Talk of ADRs had DH freaking out about money slightly. Our usualy vacations are not this exspensive. Our last week-long trip was to Pensacola/San Blas with his parents last October. We paid for airfare, some food, and a little shopping. They rent a condo there every year, so accommodations were covered, and they drove us everywhere so no car rental. Even with similar items covered on this trip (my parents are covering the cruise accommodations and airfare) it's still going to be pricey. Two park hopper tickets for Disney one day and Universal the next would be about $600, not to mention food. And if we do Universal I really want to eat at the Hog's Head and the Leaky Cauldron...so now the $1500 trip starts to look like a $2500 trip...

But this is me not freaking out. I've already budgeted for a good portion of this. Thanks to DIS I know about the magic of the Target gift card run around. We will be trying this soon to make sure it works, then stocking up. That will save us more than $100 I think. We will extend the offer to my parents to do the same for them so they can save some too. We may be able to do something similar with airfare via Southwest, but I don't know how DH feels about flying them.

Meanwhile, our date nights are now relegated to, "do we have a gift-card for that?" This is fine, we buy lots of discounted gift cards, so we have choices. There's also a good chance we will just cut way back on how much we eat out. Also, DH has a couple of CCs with great rewards. I don't; CCs and I are a dangerous combination. So I'm trying this thing where he puts almost everything on his cards, earns points, gets cash back, keeps a running tally of my exspenses, and I pay him every month. It's like having my own CC with points, but being highly accountable to the person I oay every month. It's already got me evaluating every time I want to spend money.

Well this turned into more of a cruise budgetting update than anything, although I started with ADRs...by this time next week it will all hopefully be much more solid.

Tiny updates on other cruise stuff: decided to do FEs for the trip, more on that later. This also meant joining our cruise meet board! Yay, friends! And got in a great workout this morning. Sounds like mom and dad are just about ready to really get on board the get in shape train. This makes me happy for many reasons. They are over 60, I'm an only child, and I need them to be healthy for as long as possible. I won't have any siblings to help me if they get really sick. I know they can do it, they did for our first cruise...DH is already onboard this train. He's down to his HS weight! He looks totally awesome! And he's mine and I don't share!

K, that's it for now, I have to go grab the laundry, then go to work. I'll update as soon as we get our ASRs done!

 

[TiffyRose]

Dancing With Myself
Alright, so no followers yet, but there's lots of time yet. I think today I'll put a link in my signature and maybe that will create a little action around here...

Let the Fishing Begin!
We have our FE group set for the cruise. That's exciting. Never done one before, but it looks like fun. When I mentioned it to my mom she was right there with me. This week I need to start getting things set up for that. I'm planning on making the majority of my FE gifts with stuff I already have, but there are a few things I need to get from Micheal's and Target first. I don't want to say too much about it because I want them to be surprises. But they're gonna be awesome!

It's a Christmas Miracle Charlie Brown!
Ok, not Christmas and nothing to do with Charlie Brown, but I think DH is finally starting to get a little excited about this trip. For several weeks it felt like he just wanted me to stop talking about it with it being so far out. But then on Friday he starts asking things like, "will I be able to have a cigar on the boat?" and saying things like, "well I'm definitely bringing these two shirts on the cruise," and finding a luggage tag at Target on Saturday that says, "these aren't the bags you're looking for," with C3P0 and R2D2 on it. I think I may have pushed him far enough over the edge that he came back round the other way...the old, "if you can't beat um, join um," philosophy. Fine by me! I think it also helped when, after talking to my parents yesterday and communicating that four parks in two days was feeling like overload and a lot of money to DH, and exactly how much money that would be, we all decided to scrap Disney parks (gasp!) for this trip. DH is not nearly as Disney as parents and I, so he was feeling like this trip was a little Disney overload for him. Plus mom and dad had just watched one of the Harry Potters on Friday or Saturday, and dad was very excited about the prospect of seeing WWoHP at Universal. So...Universal it is. Two Universal parks in one day is more doable, I think, than two Disney parks in one day. We invited DH's parents to join us on that day as well, and it sounds like they actually might. One of the deciding factors for them is that it will be January: much more doable according to the weather, and I think they have more interest in Universal than Disney too. (I know, these people are odd and speak some foreign non-Disney language...) So right now the plan is to fly out either late Wednesday/early Thursday, spend Thursday with the in-laws, Friday at Universal, Friday night with other Florida friends, on board Saturday, off ship Saturday next, Fly home Sunday, and day of rest (at least for DH) on Monday. If this is how it goes, we will do a one-way into Tampa, and a one-way out of Orlando.

The change in plans from doing both Disney and Universal means I no longer have to worry about ADRs, which is nice, although I love almost everywhere I've eaten at Disney, and missing out on some of those places is a bummer. But there will be more Disney trips I'm sure.

Weight for It
This weekend was, apparently, much more indulgent than it should have been, and my weigh in today was not what I was hoping for. In fact it went entirely the wrong direction. I know some of it is salt/water weight, but that doesn't make me happy either. I missed my workout today because I slept in. As a hotel slave, I usually work Sunday night till 11:30 or so. Then I have to come home, wind down, I usually eat something, and finally pass out on the couch. This means not very productive Mondays, especially when I have to go to a different location for work, which means leaving a half hour earlier. I could try and squeeze it in now, but i really don't have enough time to do that, eat, and pack dinner. So...I get off work earlier tonight, and hopefully I can get up early tomorrow, and get in my workout before I have church meetings. I really hate staff meetings during the summer...

Parents and I are doing DL on Wednesday night, so I'm getting a little dose of Disney soon!

 

[TiffyRose]

First... A Trip Report in a PTR
So parents and I went to DL last night. Last year mom and I did this on Wednesdays during August because there's no choir rehearsal. Dad didn't have a pas then, so it was mother/daughter bonding time. Well, he has a pass now, so we all went.

Our purpose was diner, Paint the Night parade, and fireworks. We got there around 7ish. I love my parents, but they shouldnt have taken the freeway to my apartment, probably cost us a good half hour.

We decided to eat at Carnation. The wait was 30-45 minutes. All I can think is, "do we really want to eat here, or should we go find good parade seats?" Well, that's where the parents wanted to eat, so I was very outvoted. While we waited, dad got a coke and a scoop of vanilla from Gibson Girls. It was HOT out, and icecream is cold...he had about half and mom and I put a dent in the rest. We waited another 10 minutes and finally got seated right at about the 45 minute mark.

Dad had milk, mom water, and I had a lovely light pomegranate lemonade. Parents split the meatloaf plate, and even though I knew there were other, much healthier options, I had the sourdough bacon melt with fries. It was SO good. I ate half and boxed up the other half for DH. When I showed it to him when I got home, he sort of wanted to eat it immediately...

Then we went off in search of parade viewing. It was now less than an hour before the parade and things were packed. Last time I stayed for the parade, I was by myself and finding a seat was very easy. This time, not so much. Thankfully (?) mom uses her wheelchair when we go to the park (6 foot surgeries and a missing tendon on the bottom of one foot make prolonged walking painful), so we were able to squeeze into the back of the handicap viewing area in the FL/Mainstreet corridor.

Somehow even more people jammed in there by the time the parade started. Dad's tall (6'3") so the little kids around us were trying to get around him so they could see. Here is one of the results:[GALLERY=] [/GALLERY] one random child got held up to see for all of two float segments. He was, apparently, rather heavy for his size, and dad had to put him down, but it was super cute while it lasted.

I LOVE this parade (granted, I'm a sucker for most parades): the fiber optics, the floats, Rapunzel, Ariel...ok all the princesses...I may have teared up a couple times. Now I would just like to say, if anyone ever gets stuck in front of, or beside me at a parade or fireworks, I apologize in advance. I WILL clap, wave at characters, dance around, wave my hands in the air, and sing along with complete abandon. Thankfully for you, I'm a trained musician and I sing on key. But if you want to just hear the soundtrack, back away slowly...

After the parade we did our best to get in front of the castle for the fireworks. Unfortunately we had a lovely tree blocking half of the castle and couldn't really see the projections. Mom and dad want to go again so we can have a better position. Maybe if we camp out by 5, instead of slipping in at 7:45 that will be easier...just saying.

On another note, apparently the composer of the new music during the fireworks...we know him! His family used to go to our church! I was at his wedding 20 years ago (can't believe it's been that long). We don't really have any contact with them anymore, but church family is forever. So that was pretty cool to find out. And what a great career step for him! Royalties for every night's show, plus probably in the commercials, and if they release it on iTunes or cd...and once you've worked with Disney, if you did a good job, you often have the opportunity to work with them again. So congratulations to him.

After the fireworks (which I also cried during several scenes of) we very slowly made our way out of the park. There was a super long line for the bus, so we hoofed it. Dad had never walked back to the structure, so he got to do something new. All in all it was a nice trip, and I love seeing my parents enjoy Disney Magic.

Next up...an actual cruise update (tomorrow).

 

[TiffyRose]

Life, and other things
So, it's not Friday, which would have been "tomorrow" according to my last post. I had a few other things that got in the way this weekend, but now I'm ready for an update.

Dad left for Tahoe yesterday. He's at a workshop with a bunch of other choir directors, enjoying the scenery and finding new music. I have been tasked with, "take care of your mom." I know how much I hate living alone; the one time DH took a business trip for over a week I had horrible insomnia, worse than usual. Of course I'm happy to spend time with mom, but unfortunately I don't have a lot of it to go around. She works regular hours, my shifts are afternoon/evening, I never get home til 11 anyway. That leaves my days off, which thankfully for summer, means I have Tuesday and Wednesday nights available, and a little more time on Sunday's. But some of that time is pre-reserved for DH. With my schedule the way it is, we squeeze in as much face time as possible during the summer. So it's, "sorry mom, no Sunday activity." We will probably go to DL on Wednesday again.

On the bright side, they're supposed to be adding a 5pm-1am shift at work. While that may sound aweful, if I do that Sundays, it would mean a couple extra hours with DH a week. I wouldn't want to do it on Saturdays because of church Sunday. I always end up tired to church already, no need to make it worse. I also wouldn't mind doin that shift Mondays or Thursdays. DH also works normal hours, so he was concerned about our schedules coming more out-of-line than they are now. But I don't see a difference for the weekdays; I get home and he's already in bed most of the time. If not, he's sleeping on the couch and needs to move bed-ward anyway. I'd rather have those few extra hours of spending time with him on Sundays for sure.

In Other Travel News
Last week we got an invite to my cousin's engagement party in Washington state next month. I'm going to take 4 days off work to go. My Aunt (his mom) and uncle (her brother) moved up after my grandmother's house sold last year. Haven't seen them since they moved, which is odd because we used to see them for all birthdays and holidays. I miss them more than I like to think about. Christmas and Easter this year were odd without them. Besides, a couple years ago my cousin had said marriage to this same girlfriend/fiancée was not in the foreseeable future. We were fine with that as it appeared they were going to live together permanently as a family. But I love weddings and I'm VERY excited for them. She has two teenage daughters from a previous relationship, and I don't expect I'll get any fresh (baby) cousins out of this (but would be happy if I did), but expanding the legally official family is nice.

Also in talking to in-laws last week, we will probably be going to the panhandle area of Florida for a week in October. We went last year. I don't think I had the best idea of what to expect, and I don't think I managed those expectations well (most sure fire way to not fully enjoy your vacation). Now that I know what to expect, and also because I'm in a much better place personally (better shape, less depressed) I'm really looking forward to it. Also looking forward to MILs grits. They're southern, I never had grits growing up, and last year was the first time I'd had any: instant love. It was a struggle not to eat the whole pot. Dad says, "you can make them here DD." I say, "too dangerous! I will eat them all!" Seriously, how come no one told me about this breakfast porridge which is like eating liquid corn bread?!is it October yet? And I KNOW they're supposed to have grits on the ship, so that will be happening as well.

Speaking of the Ship
Not really a lot to say on cruise front. Except that I've been window-web-browsing for things I want to spend money on... I'd like to wear something flapper-esque for either formal or semi-formal night. Here are the two I like best, considering my budget, that I've found so far. I don't want something that's too costume-y, but since the Fantasy is Art Deco inspired and has flapper Minnie, I thought it would be fun. My concern with the first one is how short it looks, but I think it might be better quality, and less like everything I already own (black), than the first one.

Of course as I was looking for a nice flapper dress I came across some really cute dresses, more 1940s/50s, that I thought looked like something a woman would have worn on a cruise at that time, especially for embarkation day. Something like this: This also comes in other colors. I'm not ready to order this till I make more headway with my weightloss.

Then, because I was thinking of a dress like this, I started thinking of a cute retro carryon. Either a train caseor a suitcase I LOVE this pink case soooo much. I have visions of me in that dress in gray with this case and my wide-brimmed black sun hat walking onto the ship. How practical all of that is, I don't know. Mostly considering that case is technically too large to qualify as a carry on according to DCL regulations, and also because I may be in charge of carrying our alcohol and my mother's nightly sports drink allotment (7 total for the cruise) on whatever my carry on is, and I don't know if they'd all fit. Not to mention, I don't NEED another suitcase...I just WANT it...maybe someone will get me one for Christmas.

In a Thought Tangent Not Long Ago, in a Cruise Still Too Far Away...
I've also been looking at costume accessories for StarWars night. Blaster holsters are PRICEY! But I think I found enough info to suggest I can make DH one from scratch with used purses from the thrift store and some online patterns. That will save $$. Then blasters: blasters come in everything from white and orange Halloween props to made out of actual gun parts replicas. Somewhere in the middle are the Etsy repros, usually the Halloween props carefully repainted. With as much time as this would take, plus the FE work I have to do, Hotel Slave work, church work, and trying to add in a full course load of classes in a couple weeks, trying to paint something myself sounds incredibly stupid. So Etsy it is. Found a great seller on there who does a steam-punk Han Solo blaster. DH thought it was really cool, so that's for him. Same seller does Leia's blaster cheaper than anyone else, and I'm wondering Dow much more it would be to have him do it in steam-punk style as well. It wasn't listed on his page, but I'll ask.

I also took a look at rebel-type jewelry, specifically earrings. I love me an awesome earring and it's the form of jewelry I wear most often. I found some cool Jedi Order hoops that I really liked...until I saw a picture of someone wearing them...I really don't like the way they sit in the ear, and they're almost too small for what I was thinking. Then I went and looked at some more photos of Leia: could not find one of her with earrings! So that settled that.

Just a couple more things
I got all the info back from my FE group that I needed to get started on that. I need to hit up Michaels soon to really get started.

I got in all my workouts last week! That's the first time I've done 6 straight days! I was/am excited. Now I need to reign in the food a bit more to really get the results I want. Weekends are seriously killer on that front. Plus I feel like I might be PMSing, the timing is right for it, and I always hold onto a lot of water weight then.

We bought our first round of Target gift cards yesterday, so probably tomorrow we'll see if we're able to combine that with the RedCard savings like I read on the Budget board and start really saving for the cruise. If it works, I'll offer to mom and dad as well, and probably do the same for renewing my pass in January. Yay Disney savings!

 

[TiffyRose]

That Was Really Dumb
Normally I'm a very smart person. But occasionally I make very poor choices. Usually these involve a good amount of procrastination, but not today. Today, my stupid choice revolves around a dress.

I love dresses. I have so many, half are stored in my suitcase because I ran out of space in my closet to keep both the everyday ones and the special occasion ones. DH helped me decide/approved this awesome, very sexy dress for Star Wars night on the cruise. There's skin out all over the place. I haven't ordered it yet because I want to order the size I'll be on the cruise, and I don't KNOW what that will be yet (I think it will be a 6, which is the smallest I've been in many years, but you never know). So I'm on a weightloss mission, and it's going well. I lost almost 2 lbs this week!

But then yesterday I skipped my workout. I woke up feeling eh, so I decided to do it after work. Did that last Monday and Thursday, went very well. But after work last night I still felt eh, mostly hormonal and hating everyone, so I got some Taco Bell and skipped the gym.

So instead today...I did today and yesterday's workouts back to back. This is the first time I've attempted to do this. I did it, but I'm worried it was a really stupid choice. Like, I may end up really sore tomorrow. Right now I'm in the tub cooling off from the heat and my poor little knees are yelling at me. When I was standing before, my legs were all jello-y. If I don't feel like dying tomorrow, I'll be ecstatic.

 

[TiffyRose]

Inching Along
There's not a whole lot going on worth reporting on. We're in that lull between feverishly booking stuff and really trying to get ready where not much happens. I did call DCL today to check on some dining stuff. The dining rotations aren't out yet, nor are the theme night lists, so I didn't put in a rotation request yet. I think we'll be requesting whatever has AP third. I think they usually do Crush the first night in AP, and I can totally skip that. I've done it twice at DCA, and I don't have any burning desire to do it again. Hopefully that would mean we do Palo that night and don't miss Pirates, Star Wars, Formal, or Semi-Formal night. I like to dress up, costume changes on a cruise determine a lot of my activity choices.

I also made sure parents and our dining ressies were linked and requested a table for four. While I'm looking forward to meeting some DIS people from our meet board on board, the horror stories my parents told about their table mates on their Alaska trip does not have me wanting to share dinner with strangers every night. For DH I also requested a full booth or half booth at EG. He has back issues and certain chairs don't work well for him. I'm going to check back next month and see if the dining rotations and theme nights are up so I can get those requests in. There's just so much time before October 25 when we can start doing excursion and dining reserving.

A Little Snag
So a couple weeks ago we purchased a few Target GCs with the hope of buying some DGCs from their website. Sadly they are currently unavailable, with no firm answer on when/if they will come available again. If it doesn't happen in the next month, I'm going to assume Target has got wise to us savy DIS boarders and will only have them available in store. This would be a real shame, but as long as we can still get some kind of a discount, plus our cc cash back, we will still get our DGCs from target. I hate to loose the extra 5% savings though, but 7% is better than just 5%...

And Here Comes the Busy
I have a 90% complete degree in music from a nearby private university. I've been putting various amounts of effort into completing this for the last 6 years. I'm finally at the point where I have enough internal motivation to actually get it done. So Monday is my first day back at Community College in at least a year. I'm taking 17 units, 2 online classes, and still trying to work both my 32hour a week hotel slave job and my 5-7 hour a week music job. My DH and DF are most excited about the prospect of me finishing my degree. I know I'll be very busy, but I'm sure it will be worth it. I won't have this semi-failure hanging over my head any more for one thing. I'll feel like I'm finally able to pursue full time work, which equals more time with DH and more $$. And maybe within the next 2 years I'll be ready to incubate another human. Honestly, I thought DH and I would be parents already, but the no extra people until you've completed your degree rule, while totally justifiable and something I agree with, has hung up that process. That would make all the in laws happy. That would be a nice official retirement present for my parents; here, help care for my offspring! As all of my closest friends either have kids or are trying to procure them, there is a little of the, "I don't want to get left behind," thing that plays into this, but it's something we want for ourselves anyway.

Princess Leia Goes to the Fair
Finally, a word on diets and the fair. This week is the last week of the OC fair, which is also celebrating its 125th anniversary. DH, parents, and I all went yesterday. Each year our church volunteers with Heifer International to staff their booth at the fair, so I get in free. It was also $3 admission before 3pm yesterday, so it was a great day to go with the family.

Now, I LOVE food, and it's really my main motivation for going to the fair. I like to try some of the new things they have each year, drink a little too much, and see all the crafty stuff people do. The woodworking is ways lovely, I like the odd and oversized produce, and the table settings give me ideas for future parties. DH either enjoys or tolerates all of this.

But this one day of over-indulgence will wreck havoc on both the body and your weightloss. I gained a whole pound yesterday. To be fair, I'm sure some of it is water weight from all the salt we ate. On the otherhand, it was all very tasty. I think the highlights were the waffle cone with vanilla ice cream, strawberries, and whipped cream, the lightly fried bacon wrapped shrimp, and the puffadilla with carne asada. This last item is a deep fried cheese empanada they cut open and add steak too. It was very tasty.

We also got too watch and meet Joe Castillo, who was on America's Got Talent a couple years ago and does sand stories. Please google him if you don't know what I'm talking about, it's really cool. We got a book and DVD of his stuff as well; support artists!

Our last couple stops were for some honey sticks (support bee keepers!) and to pick up a cigar for DH. Personally I think they're aweful and smelly, but if he only has one or two every few years, I can live with that. All in all it was a great day, but now I'm totally wiped. I'm very glad I had the day off work today.

 

[Alex Aymar]

Following can't wait to hear about your trip

 

[TiffyRose]

Following can't wait to hear about your trip

Welcome Alex, and thanks for following. As far as I can tell, you're the first person to read my PTR other than me!

 

[TiffyRose]

I'm Still Alive...I Think...
So it's been a couple of weeks since I've had any time to write an update. Not that there's been a lot to say. School started for me two weeks ago; with 17 total units, including one language course and two online classes, not to mention 30+ hours of work a week, I'm just trying to keep my head above water. Thankfully work has been pretty quiet, so I've been able to get some school reading done there when I don't have anyone to check in. And DH is being Super Supportive Man! helping extra with home chores and giving me plenty of guilt free time/space to get done what I need.

My various vacations this year are keeping me motivated. First up is Washington state with my parents for a long weekend in a couple weeks. Getting to see family I used to see all the time and haven't seen is almost a year... Then October (right after midterms!) has DH and I going to the panhandle region of Florida to spend a week with his parents. And of course as a reward for an excellent semester, January has the big Disney trip. Plane tickets for all but the last trip are booked already. We took an almost identical trip last year to see my in-laws, but I was new at wirk and didn't realize the best way to handle vacations with my boss is not to ask for them, but to book them, then tell him you're taking it. Our schedules get made 1-2 DAYS before they start, so getting advanced approval doesn't really happen. Well now that I know this, we booked that flight sooooo much earlier than last year that we saved $400-500 dollars! That makes a huge difference for us.

In Disney Trip News...
We almost have our itinerary nailed down for that trip. We still need to confer with our Orlando proximity friends to make sure everything's good, but we are getting close. Then we can get tickets for that.

We also had our first round of Disney gift cards through Target go through (note to self:check the mail), so that's going to save us enough money that one of our excursions will basically be free! I let my parents know as well so we can help hook them up.

And...the scale is finally reflecting what I'm seeing in the mirror. It's really tough with school to consistently get in all the working out I want to do, and last week was not great. However, the scale, which had beef saying essentially the same thing for several weeks, did start saying something else (lower) this week. That was exciting. I think the thing that really did it was cutting out my 4th meal every night after work. When you get home from work four days a week at after 11 or 1, it can be hard to tell your brain and body to shut up and sleep. So you eat a little something, watch a little TV, and then go to sleep. And your body has almost no time to process that food before you send it into storage mode. It's really hard, but I'm trying to just come home and go to bed; I think living in a perpetual state of exhaustion helps with this.

I really wanted to hit the park four a couple hours Friday, but arguing with my computer about downloading the text for one of my classes killed that idea. Maybe next week. For now I'll get my Disney fix here and through Netflix and our DVDs.

 

[chunkymonkey]

Following along! Saw you answered one of my questions on the DCL forum! I don't think may people read the DCL pre-trip reports, that's why there is low traffic here. But great to know you will be on the same cruise except in January! I will await to see all your feedback after your cruise! Love your outfit choices. I'm thinking as dessing up as Leia too even though, I am so lazy about actually getting a costume and I don't really want a cheapie costume which will probably not be doing me any favors. You are very determined on getting in shape, I'm sure you will have amazing results! I would really like to get more fit as well. I train once a week with a trainer but it's definitely not enough. I'm going to have to step it up soon! Feb will be here before I know it.

 

[TiffyRose]

Thanks for joining in. I get that a PTR is definitely not as exciting as a TR so people don't often read them. (Kidding, no biggie) I needed something to occupy myself and keep me organized through six pre-cruise months...I read your recent TR on your last cruise I think. So this makes us even?

Once a week with a trainer is better than nothing for sure. I found the hardest part was convincing myself I had time to work out. Then you have to actually find the time you know you have and get up and go. It helps that our apartment complex has a gym with a pool next to it. I can walk to my workouts whenever I need to, including after midnight when I get off work sometimes. DH even comes with me sometimes (he usually goes by himself when I'm at work).

As far as costumes go, a few thoughts: 1. They can be excellent motivation for said crazy workout schedule. 2. As far as price goes, there are always ways to find things cheep, but finding something that fits and looks awesome is more important. And 3. Leia wears several different outfits across the 3 movies, so don't be afraid to go non-traditional. I love this one for example.It's the pink hair! Or you can go kinda dark...And or course there's always steam punk!There's so many fun ways to do Leia if you have the time and money...

And if I find out more about dining rotations, you can bet you'll see it here!

 

[TiffyRose]

Start Planning!...or Not...
So I've been really busy between work and school and haven't had time to do any updating. Well DCL sent me an e-mail with "here's some stuff you can do to get ready for your cruise!" including a reminder about on-line check in...yeah still can't do that until 10/25 guys. So that wasn't really helpful...

But...

New Fantasyland Back on the Agenda!
So originally there was a thought to do back to back Disney (MK and EPCOT) and Universal (both parks) on Thursday and Friday respectively, then get on the boat Saturday. DH said 1. Too much money, and 2. Too much walking in too short a time/body failure eminent! This was understandable but disappointing. Well my mom got a little windfall recently and said, "how about a Disney day and I'll pay for it?" She REALLY wanted to go to New Fantasyland. With that in mind I suggested we go the day the boat gets back. We were planning on flying out of Orlando on Sunday and needed to go that direction anyway. Mom said ok, I said I'd ask DH. I was still concerned about Disney overload with him, but I knew if mom was paying it would take the sting out. Well, he said ok! It gives us a chance to invite his parents to hang out again, so that's a bonus. He also liked paring down from 2 parks in a day to one. I'm excited! I really wanted to do dwarfs and see all the updates. Even if we don't get to eat at Beasts or Cindy's it's still worth it, and it'll make my mom really happy. I sort of can't believe our vacation actually got better!

 

[disnygirl55]

Following along! I need a Star Wars cruise buddy that will share navigators when you return, give us the scoop on the dining rotations that were offered, and give us a preview of other special surprises. I'm so excited that it's less than a month from your online check in date! We are cruising on the last Star Wars cruise in April... looking forward to anything you're willing to share!

 

[Mdcantu]

Following!

 

[poohs4me]

. As far as I can tell, you're the first person to read my PTR other than me!

Add another follower as well!

 

[TiffyRose]

To my little band of followers. October 25 is fast approaching and it's getting to be decision time on some things... The more I think about it may be time for a full fledged update...but I have work in a couple hours, I still don't feel super (came home from my vacation sick!), and I'd like to give DCL one more call to try and iron out a couple things first. How about a mini vacation report!

To Florida We Go
My DH Mike's parents live in Florida and every year for about the last 10 years they rent a condo or house near Pensacola at a place called Cape San Blas. Mike's gone a few times, we went last year, and a week ago Tuesday we took off again. It was a great trip. Aside from having to do a significant amount of homework, including 2 midterms, it was awesome. Got plenty of beach time almost every day, read a bunch of non-homework stuff, and finally really got started on my fe gifts. Didn't get any done, but got a good start. Mike was happy cus he got to see the puppies Our apartment is not well situated for the size dogs he'd like, so seeing his parents two dogs for a whole week is great for him. Overall it was a good vacation, and it makes me wish the cruise were here already. But I still have so much crafting to do!

 

[TiffyRose]

One More Thing!
Ok, just called DCL, finally got word on important stuff I've been wanting to know! For those interested in dining rotations: 1: RAERAAE, 2: AERAEER, 3: ERAERRA. I know several people were interested in this, and I said I'd post as soon as I found out. Also, special dining events are as follows: S:Sail Away, Su: Formal, M: Pirate (no fireworks), T: regular rotation, W: Star Wars (fireworks), Th: Semi Formal, F: Farewell. So they can only have one night of fireworks, and for these sailings, it will be on Star Wars days, not Pirates. But we do get both pirates and Star Wars! Hope this helps anyone with bookings and such as those windows approach (I know some have already passed, but we can't all be Platinum CC or concierge).

 

[emilymad]

One More Thing!
Ok, just called DCL, finally got word on important stuff I've been wanting to know! For those interested in dining rotations: 1: RAERAAE, 2: AERAEER, 3: ERAERRA. I know several people were interested in this, and I said I'd post as soon as I found out. Also, special dining events are as follows: S:Sail Away, Su: Formal, M: Pirate (no fireworks), T: regular rotation, W: Star Wars (fireworks), Th: Semi Formal, F: Farewell. So they can only have one night of fireworks, and for these sailings, it will be on Star Wars days, not Pirates. But we do get both pirates and Star Wars! Hope this helps anyone with bookings and such as those windows approach (I know some have already passed, but we can't all be Pkatinum CC or concierge).

Thanks for posting this! We are on the same cruise.

DH is not into Star Wars at all so I am a little nervous about how he is going to deal. DCL assures me that it will just be the one day but we will see. He has only seen the movies once and doesn't remember anything. I grew up watching them on repeat. I am going to have him watch movies 4 through 6 in preparation.

 

[TiffyRose]

Ok, time for a real update. I should be in my Anthro class taking/finishing a quiz right now, but my body decided to over sleep enough that that'ws not happening...

Ship Activity Booking!
Saturday night after work I was very excited to find that the DCL website is set to EST rather than time zone spacific, so I could start booking things at 11:00 PST, which is when I got home from work. Mike and I, maybe against his will?, had already looked at excursions and decided what we wanted, and armed with the dining rotation info, I know I wanted Palo on Tuesday, so I headed to Book Activities first. Tuesday we have Palo in the evening and horseback riding during the day, yay! Wednesday is Grand Cayman, and we previously saw an excursion that did both sting rays and turtles. Mike LOVES rays, and we like turtles, so that's what we were planning on. Well, since DCL updated their website and such, that excursion is no longer being offered . I went to look at our other options and Mike said he wanted something with about the same level of Animal interaction. So it's dolphins and rays on Wednesday. It wasn't nearly as exspensive as I thought I remembered every dolphin option being before. I could be wrong on that since I'm not sure I every seriously considered dolphins, but we thought it was reasonable for us. For CC, I booked the whole group, including my parents, for some parasailing. Parents and I did it on our last cruise together, and I knew they'd enjoy going again. I looked to see if I could pre-book a tasting or mixology, but they're not available on line, so I'll do that on the boat. I know Mike's interested in the Whisky tasting, and I want to do mixology. If one is late enough that it's after Palo, that might be nice.

Online Check In
With the fun stuff done I headed to Online Check In to do the responsible stuff. Got though step one, parts of step two, and step four, but didn't have enough info for step three. I don't currently have a passport, and Mike didn't want to dig his out then, so that will have to wait. We also don't have our flights booked yet, or our pre and post cruise plans solid. I keep trying to get my mother to get going on that end, but to no avail. Maybe this week, now that Disney needs that info to move forward, I can get her to do it. I found good flights into Tampa on the Wednesday night/Thursday morning before and out of Orlando the Sunday following, we just have to book them. Our plan has been to ask friends who live in the area to stay with them before and after, but I'm pretty sure we haven't done that yet. I'm thinking it might make sense to recant a car, but with it being broken up by the cruise, I don't know... That one needs thought.

Then Sunday Afternoon...
My mother calls. She wanted to know if we'd booked our excursions yet, and could I book theirs? Yes and partially yes were the answers. Of course I was in the middle of trying to get homework done, so we didn't have time for everything. So we got them booked for horseback riding with us, but I don't know what they want to do on Wednesday, so I told her she'd have to take care of that. I tried to book them Palo for Tuesday also, but apparently, and this seems like a design flaw to me, while you can book excursions for everyone in any stateroom linked with yours, you can only book adult dining for your own room. I asked mom if she'd set up an account on the DCL website for herself yet?...nope...so I told her she needs to do that. If she doesn't by Wednesday, I guess we'll take care of it then. All this has me wondering if I should look into becoming a travel agent, but that's an entirely different conversation.

Pre-trip Shopping
Also on Saturday night I mentioned to Mike about the Star Wars merch and other on-board gifts you can have in your room. I'm planning on having a fruit plate in my parents room as a thank you for taking us on this cruise and a beer mug in ours so we have it ready to go. Mike was intrigued by the cigars. The set of four is about the price he's willing to pay regularly, the descriptions sounded good even to me and I don't smoke, and he collects cigar boxes, so having one from the trip would be cool. He hasn't looked at the Star Wars merch yet, but there are a few things on there I could see getting.

Weightloss Update
Between school and health stuff, I'm running behind on this one. Now that one vacation is over, I'm hoping to get back on track this week. Work seriously kicked my butt last night, and I know that if I were working out again, it wouldn't have been so bad. I have to figure out how to squeeze it in and still keep up with school...

That's all for now. Hope everyone else's planning is going well!