We're Off To See The....Mouse!

No wizards for us - we're Mouse fans!

Tomorrow we are headed to Florida for the family trip with Hubby's side. This is an Anniversary celebration trip for Hubby's parents who were married 40 years in June. We didn't go in June because it would've been too hot for my in-law's. Or rather, too hot for me!!! I hate the heat, so why would I leave New England to go to Florida where it's even HOTTER??? 13 of the 15 immediate family are traveling together, so this should be interesting!

This will be Pal's 5th trip to WDW (I know, spoiled brat!). I lost count of how many times I've been there...I know it's over 10 at this point, and that's only since 1990.

My first trip was with my brother and his (then girlfriend) wife, and my (at the time) boyfriend. It was a great time because I was experiencing Disney for the first time, but I should've left the at-the-time-boyfriend at home!!!

After that trip I broke up with the boyfriend. On my husband's birthday. Ironic?

I continued my newfound obsession with Disney by going with my new boyfriend, now Hubby, along with his sister and her (then) boyfriend, now husband. Hubby and bro-in-law would drive his Grandparent's car down to Florida for them so they could fly down, and then his sister and I would fly down with them and we would take our vacation from there. A couple of times we went to Disney, but a couple of other times we went on a cruise and to Marco Island. Those were the greatest times - no kids, no marriage, no worries! Hubby and I refer to those times as "Glory Days".

I also went in 1997 with Hubby's sister, and we rented a convertible sports car! We thought we were hot sh*t!!! We did everything from Busch Gardens to Disney to visiting the Grandparents and some other retired people we knew down there. It was an awesome trip.

Today marks the 10 year Anniversary of my Disney trip with my siblings. We went for 5 days and had a lot of laughs (and a few fights). We still giggle every time we mention certain things about our trip like "Who's that lady?"; "Disney is obsessed with water!!!"; "our brother's clipboard"; "I don't have a mug. Still."

We started taking Pal when he was 2. It was right after 9/11 so there were no crowds. He was in awe of all the activity and we loved watching him. He loved the Playhouse Disney show, until Winnie the Pooh and Friends came on...he turned to me with his nose all scrunched up and said "Can I play with my trucks now?"!!! Too funny, he never did like Pooh. Poor Pooh.

We went back with Pal when he was 4, with my in-law's. They had taken the other 2 grandsons when they were each 4, but we weren't comfortable with them taking Pal by themselves...he would be too much for them to handle. Well, that turned out to be the best decision we ever made, because Papa had a heart-attack about 2 hours after we landed. Luckily, we were with Hubby's cousin who lives down there (and happens to work for Disney!), so she knew the closest hospital and we got him there within minutes of the first chest pains. Thank God he was okay, it was so scary. Papa never did make it to any of the Parks. Then, in the same trip, Pal got bronchitis and we spent 7 hours at the ER with him, and I came down with the stomach bug and missed an entire day at the parks. I was too busy "riding the porcelain bus". Sorry, there's the poop talk again.....

After the previous trip from hell, and after Papa recovered nicely from his heart attack, we decided to give it a go one more time. This time we invited my oldest sister who loves Disney, and hadn't been since our siblings trip in '98. So, it was Hubby, Pal and I, my sister and my in-law's. We had a fabulous time, and Papa even surprised my sister by telling the waitress at "Whispering Canyon Cafe" (an oxymoron) that it was her birthday - they put a brown paper bag over her head because she was so mortified, and the entire restaurant sang Happy Birthday to her!! We laughed so hard because she was so embarrassed. Good times.

And then last year, Hubby kept bugging me to take Pal again, and I kept saying no...until I caved of course. So in 5 weeks time we booked, planned and executed our 4th trip without Pal knowing...We showed up at his school on the last day, dismissed him early and drove straight to the airport - he had NO idea before hand! The look of shock on his face was priceless - it was an awesome moment.

So now here we are at Pal's 5th trip to Disney. He will have his 4 cousins from Hubby's side to play with: 2 older and 2 younger. I'm sure we will take lots of pictures of all 5 boys and I will post one when I get back. My in-law's are excited to travel with (most of) their family. Now all I have to do is survive (most of) their family!!!! Just kidding. Really.

I'll say hi to Mickey Mouse and friends for you all!

G

Hello? Is this thing on?

Did I scare everyone with my poop-fest? I apologize. It was not in good taste but hey, it was what was going on in my life at that moment. And I was bored at work.

This weekend we closed up our camper for the last time -- we are getting rid of it and hopefully getting a new one for next year. We had to completely clean out the camper, after 15 seasons of camping in it, and it was like moving!!! There was so much stuff to go through and get rid of (which I love to do!! It's a sickness, I know). But we had to pack all of our stuff in boxes and move it up to my sister-in-law's camper to store for the winter. The owner of the campground wanted us to do this now so that he can haul the camper off of the site and do some repair work to the hill in front of our camper. It has been eroding for years and now the pipes are exposed. I am hoping that he actually DOES the job before next season...he has a tendency to promise things and then not follow through. I hate that. It would really suck if we buy a new camper and then can't have it delivered because the site is not ready.

Now it's Monday and I'm home with Pal because he caught my cold. I was miserable on Friday and Pal woke up yesterday with a cough, and this morning he felt warm so we decided not to send him to school. This gives me a chance to get myself 100% better and get some stuff put away from the weekend.

So, please continue to read my blog - I promise not to post about poop again. For a while at least.

Happy Monday!

G

Update on Poop Fest

Good news - there was just a blockage in the pipe and the "Septic Guy" was able to snake it out. Now we get to fill it all back in.....

Everybody Poops...

I feel like all I do is talk about poop. And I don't mean bull-poop. I mean bodily function - people and animal - POOP.

When I worked in Boston, I used to take the bus to the train station and there was this couple that rode the bus with their little daughter. They would read to her on the bus, out loud, every day. One day, they were reading "Everyone Poops". It made me laugh out loud! There is even a girl poop book and a boy poop book!

Even Oprah isn't immune to talking about it with Dr. Oz on her show. According to Dr. Oz, your poop should be slightly green in color and S shaped. Go ahead, everyone looks. Oprah says that every time she gets nervous about interviewing someone, she just remembers to herself that everybody poops!

Lately, in my life, it has been talking about my niece, K, and her Ulcerative Colitis and her having surgery to remove her colon (if you want the gory details, her very descriptive blog is listed in my "Blogs I Like" section!!!). Then my Mom was diagnosed with colon cancer, and we were talking about her poop and her lifelong battle with poop-related issues. My sisters and I have talked about poop at length when discussing the need to have a colonoscopy.

My nephew has just recently become totally potty-trained, and we discussed his poop habits at length several times with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law! Of course, then I live with hubby and Pal and they think poop is a dinner-time subject. Then my father-in-law likes to regale us with the dog's poop-of-the-day! I can't get away from it! Another poop-related blog you should check out is Manic Mommy (on my list of "Blogs I Like") and read HER recent issues with poop! Now THAT is so gross I could throw up just thinking about it.

And last, but certainly not the least, is what happened yesterday....during dinner my mother-in-law told us that we might need to call a "Septic Guy" because they've been hearing gurgling noises from the toilet and shower whenever we do laundry. When she went to take a shower yesterday morning, there was a "brown liquid" in the bottom of her shower stall....NOT a good sign, no, not at all....hubby called the "Septic Guy" and he told us to dig up the septic tank!!! Well, not the whole thing, but the top of it where the caps are, so we can look in and see if it's full. EWWWWWW.
He also wants to know when the last time it was pumped, and I luckily remembered seeing a receipt from the previous owner for a pump-out in '02. I dug that out, and also found the plot plan for our house (which we have owned for 3 years) and on the back of the plans were EXACT DIRECTIONS to the location of said septic tank caps!

God Bless You, previous homeowner!!! We love you, buddy, wherever you live now!!

After about an hour of digging, hubby unearthed the caps and opened them, much to Pal's delight. EWWWWWW. Pal runs into the house and says "Daddy told me to shut the door because the smell is really bad." This is not a good sign. When I asked him if he looked in the tank he said "Yeah, it was all muddy and wet". EWWWWWW.

Today Mr. Septic was coming to see for himself whether the sucker is full. It's a sh*tty job, but someone's got to do it!!!! Glad I'm not doing HIS laundry, gurgling noises included!

I'll let you know how my poop-fest turns out, possibly tomorrow.

G