The Don’t Postpone Your Joy and Birthday Celebrations Mousefest Trip - UPDATED 12/31 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
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Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
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To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
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The Don’t Postpone Your Joy and Birthday Celebrations Mousefest Trip - UPDATED 12/31
Cast of Characters: Me, JoanW, aka Joanie Balonie, the aging princess, age 5-0 creeping daily upon me, first time Mousefester; DNiece-in-law (DH’s Pat’s niece) Louise, aka Weezie, also a princess, not aging as fast as me, but is 39+ and holding, 3rd time’s a charm at WDW and first time Mousefester; and younger DSis Mary Jean, known sometimes as MJ cause there’s too many vowels in her full name, a Disney World Virgin, first time ever to the parks and Mousefest, and “it’s a small world after all” – lives in the same neighborhood in Michigan as Jennifer Marx’s sister. And a princess too. Such royalty.
Purpose of Trip: We’ve adopted Caldercup’s mother’s mantra of “Don’t Postpone Your Joy" as a way of getting over the shock of losing our mother at Christmas last year, and Louise is dealing with chronically ill parents. And I’m turning 50 in January and Louise is turning 40 two weeks before me. And Mary Jean wanted some warm weather and fun because it’s cold and snowing all the time in Michigan. More on that cold later.
The Plans: We started talking about Mousefest I think in May. Or June. I got a pm from Larry and Eileen and others about who could possibly attend. I started working more hours over the past year and got a good raise. I could pay for this myself and not touch house money. An independent woman! I asked DH Pat via email (I'm such a weenie) if he would mind if I took a vacay with Louise, and he didn’t say no, and didn’t say yes, which means in his best Eeyore voice, “okay, if you HAVE to. I’ll survive.” Sweet. Let the planning begin. He feels the magic, sees the magic, but doesn’t feel the need to experience it more than one time in his lifetime. And I’ve taken him three times already. His magic level has been achieved. And then DSis Mary Jean wanted to come along too because she knew that it sounded like really big fun. And that means if she comes along, we can stay at Shades of Green, the military resort onsite (retired Navy), which means all the perks of onsite at a great price! Score! And tickets! And Starbucks! And no DH or Children of the Corn to watch me! Pure Joy! I can be as corny as I want to!
Louise and I checked flights from Baltimore on a daily basis, and in July we scored round trip flights under $200. We snagged those, and Mary Jean got hers from Michigan. And a $17 a day rental car from Priceline. She got our reservations for Shades of Green. We’re in! I could say it out loud that we were going! I have this voodoo feeling that if I get too excited it will crash and burn and not happen. So I withheld my excitement.
Speed up the months, and it’s December. And I have to get my butt in gear to make arrangements for the girls to get to and from school. And play practice. And load the fridge and freezer. And put up the tree, decorate the house, make sure there's dog kibble for the dogs, do laundry for the time I am away and for the rest of the family, and pack my suitcases, print itineraries for me, and DH Pat on the kids, and as I type this it exhausts me. But it's so worth it. I also packed some "things" to share my joy. I crafted, I shopped, I had the excitement I'd been holding back.
So on Wednesday, December 10, I load my 30 lb suitcase and carryon into the car at 11:00 pm, and set my alarm for 5:00 am. I pop two Tylenol PM's and my head hits the pillow with a thud.
Next: Let the Festing Begin, and Fun Joan, Louise and Mary Jean Emerge!
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