Trip--October, 2010-the big 4-0!! - Updated 4/5 - Baby Boy is Born! - Page 9 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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What to do with myself for the next two days?
1. type this while I'm sitting in a workshop in which I am the notetaker and no one guesses that I'm not typinig what I'm suspposed to be typing (its a repeat for me, so I'm cool on the notes...)
Done
2. get my hair highlighted by Ted. I love Ted. He's a super hairy greek man who always tells his clients how beautiful there are. I pay him a fortune to lie to me. And no baby worries, I highlight with foils--nothing touches my skin the shop is well ventilated.
Done. Ted has been slowly moving me in the direction of Heidi Klum's hair cut...bangs were a big change, and we started last spring. Today I sport the Heidi hair, pre-bob, but not quite so blond and not really as good (please, if only I had 3 arms and was double jointed I could get this blow out), but I like them:
3. Pedicure. I'll do this on my own tomorrow night. I don't let the ladies touch my feet after this incident five years ago when I specifically asked to keep my calouses because I'm a runner and I've worked hard for them. Despite this request I battled fresh blisters on fresh skin for weeks after. I vowed never to have a pedicure again.
not done, later today
4. Swim once, bike once, run once. Why? Because I'll feel better about myself. Does it matter considering the Food and Food Festival? No.
Swim tonight...I failed to get out of bed this morning. Darn the fetus, it likes to sleep way too much!
5. gather and finalize paper work organization. Mostly done, but I like to triple check.
Done!
6. Check in online for flights, tomorrow after lunch.
Done!
7. Try on all clothes, make a big mess in the bedroom, get annoyed that nothing fits, try on new combinations of clothes, run to Target/Old Navy/Walmart in effort to find things that fit and make me happy, ulitmately buy nothing and pack the first things I tried on.
Done for the first part, still need to do the putting it in the bag part (and I am stopping at Target...)
8. Remind Jake several hundred times to bring x,y, and z (varies depending on time of day and current panic levels).
Done, but will get done again...and again....
9. Call Boardwalk to see if they can link our two seperate studio reservations (when we added a night we ended up with a new ressie).
Done, but was advised to wait til check in, so not done really.
10. drive to the airport!!!
clearly not done!
Plus I'm getting just about zero done at work. I've done the teacher list for the Federal Judicial Institute I'm running, sent copies of next thursday's presentations to my secretary for proofing and copying, added a bunch of bookmarks to my teacher's resources sites on delicious, tried three times to record a narrated power point from a thing I did last week and continue to swear in the middle of it and then have to edit out my f words and s words and usually I start over again. I still need to update my work blog page with some research results people might like, and call some lawyer who won't stop bugging me about Teacher/Lawyer Partnership (fyi don't claim you have the state's largest TLP if the person who organized stopped doing it over a year ago but no one told the schools...). And put together the final pages of the Federal Jud. thing for copying and mailing...
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We're back and right now I want to tell the story in reverse! Well, not really reverse but I need to let out a big ol' selected digit to Delta Airlines. I think I told you all the story of how when I tried to change my two one ways for the race into one one way to MCO they tried to charge me $250 so I bought a new ticket...
Yeah, that part was fine. Yesterday morning I attempted to check in for my flight only find that my flight didn't exist. Not my eticket number, but my actual flight. They cancelled my flight altogether and put me on one 3 hours earlier. Yup. EARLIER. I called. The agent said later flights were booked. I said I can't make a flight that much earlier (really, because I don't want to, therefore I can't) so what will you do with me when I arrive at the airport expecting a flight at 6:30. Suddenly, I'm on a later flight. Like magic. Except not.
Lets go to the airport, shall we? They can't issue my ticket. I stand in a few lines, finally I get a helpful woman who explains that she can acutally put me back on the earlier direct flight because its been delayed and hasn't left yet, but should be at 7:30. Great!! Print me a ticket!! So I see Jake to his gate to leave for NY (long story) and I go to mine for Detroit. Except now the flight is at 8:30. No matter, still better than switching planes later. Oops, now its at 9:30. Hey, our plane is here!! Cheers all around (and imagine the folks who had been expecting at 3:30 flight...). Ooops, mechanical trouble, at least 10:30. I get in line fully planning to get on a flight the next day and pay to stay in the airport hotel. Here is the only good thing Delta did: They paid for my hotel and got me on the 8AM flight and gave me two meal vouchers. Awesome. I can get some sleep and some food.
Then I looked at the meal vouchers. Apparently the people at Delta are either anorexic or think its 1975. Each meal voucher was good for $6. Yup, six whole dollars to spend at the airport. Where a salad will run you $13 and a coke $3. Thanks.
I'm going to tell you who not to screw around with: pregnant ladies who are hot and sweaty and hungry and tired and who have been hanging around the airport for several hours after spending time arguing with airline employees on the phone. If the military could be made of us we would be unstopable and the only thing it would cost might be food every two hours or so.
Okay, rant done (ooh wait, not yet, see I had to work when I got home from my extra night in Orlando only to find that our tech guys didn't accomplish the most simple task ever and have told me that they think some company whose name that can't remember might be able to help us, and then my distance learning set up crashed and people who paid a bunch of money to see a lecture all got screwed, but that's not about Disney or Delta). I can move on with my report. I start at the beginning this weekend and I promise it will be happy and full of food!!
I've already done some meal postings over on my blog if you just can't wait!
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It was supposed to be race day and I tortured myself by checking the weather in South Carolina—perfect race day. Then I went into the basement and rode my bike on the stationary trainer for 45 minutes before heading to the pool for a 3000 yard swim. I like to start my vacation with a good workout, its makes me feel better about the debauchery that is about to begin. In this case it also served to remind me that while I've got the endurance for a half iron race, 15 ½ weeks pregnant will mean you aren't very fast!
After my workout I finished my last minute packing and dressed for our 40 degree rainy weather and headed out to the airport. Jake and I are leaving from different airports as I'm working in Michigan until January—I leave from Detroit, he's back in NY (where we will live with Beanie Baby). Anyway, the Detroit airport is one big pain in the behind. The parking at the Delta terminal is $20 a day, so I usually do an off airport lot and its huge, so getting anywhere takes longer than you ever expect. I was lucky today though, it was rainy but it stopped in time for me to park, I had the fancy new mobile phone delta ticket (no paper, just a screen shot that you scan) and there was no line at all at security. None, I was the only one. Tip for the future: fly at 2PM on saturdays.
I'd eaten a decent breakfast after my workout and figured I would get to the airport around noon and have some lunch. Lately my A-Number-One food craving in bacon. I'm like that dog in the Beggin' Strips commercial—I smell BACON!! BLTs are pretty high on my list, so that's what I had. With fries. Let the debauchery begin!
I found my gate, and people watched and waited. The flight crew arrived and sat in my general area. My pilot's name was John Holmes. I giggled (he's a famous porn star...not sure how I know that, I just do). I texted Jake and he said his pilot's name was Ron Jeremy...
The flight was mostly fine, I had an exit row seat and I was able to sleep a bit. The only distraction was the lady behind me who was trying to talk to the Japanese couple sitting in her row. Unfortunately their English was not very good and she did the stereotypical thing: talked much louder and much slower. And didn't stop. ARE...YOU...STAYING...IN...ORLANDO? Thank goodness for iPods...Jake's flight was also easy, although he had a similar guy behind him, the sort who announces things in general, perhaps to show what he knows. Like during the landing, he stated, with that tone that makes it sound like you've done this a million times, “yup, those are the afterburners...” Not annoying so much as entertaining I guess. Jake also has a problem with people who so much as breathe near him. I swear he can't hear a thing in our house, given the volume he keep the TV to, but on a plane...if you chew gum, sniff, cough, exhale, shift your weight, whatever, he can hear it and it drives him insane. I don't get it, I was just glad I didn't have to sit next to him and listen to the complaints!
Jake landed about 30 minutes before I did, retrieved his bags (I had a carry on only) and we met at the Enterprise counter. Again, no line!! I rented an economy car, sort of assuming I would get upgraded to a mid size, because that's what always happens. Not today! We headed out to the parking garage, and were escorted to a the cheapo cars to select a Hyundai Allantra. A completely manual, lowest car package ever vehicle. Crank windows even!!! I didn't even know they still made cars like this. Manual locks (that we kept forgetting didn't unlock or lock with the click of a button). But it had an MP3 jack. No cruise control, but XM radio and iPod dock? Also, not a lick of pick up. God help you if try to beat someone to the merge on the highway...
We headed out toward Disney and I asked Jake if he had cash for the tolls. He said yes. Sweet. First toll. $1.25. What do we have to pay it with? $100. They don't take $100s. We got the pay later reciept that I still need to mail in...Did the same at the second booth. But no sweat, we clearly weren't the first and in no time we were at Boardwalk ready to check in.
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Disney Magic - Oct 2015
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Pixie Dust
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with work! Have a terrific trip! 
Susan
Looking forward to your report Kim! 
I look forward to hearing all about your trip! 
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