Two weeks until Disney.
Is it me, or did this happen sort of quickly?
In my defense, I have been more than a little occupied these days. There's weddings afoot, which means I've been trying to go through library books on being a bridesmaid just so I have some clue as to what it is I'm supposed to do. I've also been trying to figure out where to buy a gold chain. Just a simple gold chain, nothing else. This is for my friend Anjali's wedding which is coming up in just a week and a half. Though the ceremony's going to be Catholic and held in a Church, Anjali and us bridesmaids will be wearing saris, and it has been requested that if the bridesmaids are going to wear jewelry, it's going to have to be gold.
I'm a silver person. Not that I have anything against gold, I just prefer silver more. Thus, I'm on a hunt for something gold to wear. Not so surprisingly, a lot of the stuff I've seen in Claire's and After Thoughts isn't necessarily going to work for the wedding. Too...teenage clubish? And anywhere else I've gone tends to charge a little on the higher side, even for a plain chain.
But this doesn't have much to do with Disney...
What DOES have to do with Disney, and has also been a time-waster, has been my hunt for a netbook. I've weighed the options (ok, thought about them...a little), and determined that it would be in my best interest to bring a computer with me to Disney. The desktop won't be going, no way do I want to lug it down there, and as I learned from my year dorming at college, computers in a computer lab are great to have, but are also for public use, not in a private location, not yours to mess around with, etc etc.
I have a laptop, but it's in a weird Zombiefyed (or perhaps, more popularly, Vampirefyed) state where it won't recognize the operating system and won't turn on, but if you leave it alone for a month and a half and don't touch it, it'll work fine. Is it living? Is it dead? It's not gonna work for Disney, that's for sure. So I need a computer to bring with me.
Back in October, once I had gotten back from my Disney trip, I had talked to my friend Dan and told him how I'd tried to send myself text messages to keep track of what I had done each day in the parks (I DID mention I was a Disney dork, right?). I felt the text messages worked well as little outlines, but didn't really suffice as a way to write about all that I was experiencing. Dan then suggested a neat little contraption called a netbook, which is portable like a laptop, but smaller, lighter, and not meant to be the most amazingly powerful computer around (i.e. cheaper!).
That caught my interest, and when I finally agreed to head down to Disney, I figured a netbook'd be the right thing to bring with me. I could keep in contact with home, do work for classes, and even entertain myself with the internet (may I humbly suggest http://www.youtube.com/user/Blendtec or http://www.youtube.com/user/JeepersMedia for your time-eating pleasure?).
But alas, the hunt for the right one has been "difficult" as I've mentioned to Dan. Mostly, it's been the price. I won't go into all the little details, but let's just say weddings + Disney + college loans = where'd my money go? I was thisclose to buying one yesterday, but wouldn't you know it, Best Buy was out of stock. In an even bigger twist, three other stores in the area maybe had one left in stock, but otherwise everyone was sold out, and there was nothing being sent out from the warehouse for the next couple of weeks at least.
Perhaps I'm rushing in to this just a little bit. The guy at Best Buy did suggest that maybe I go with a laptop instead, and found me one for roughly the same price as the netbook. And while I appreciated that, I guess I was just a little more set on the netbook, although now I've got to look at other options. My Mom's also asked me why I don't just wait a little while until funds pick up and get it then. But the way I'm seeing it, if I go to Disney without a computer, I'll learn to adapt to the sans computer lifestyle. Which isn't necessarily a terrible thing, especially seeing as Disney does provide computer labs for people to use. That was what I did back in college. But I was also going home every weekend in college, and had many of my friends living on campus too. I also had a single with my own tv, so entertainment was all of my own choosing.
One thing's for sure though - in two weeks, I'll know whether or not I brought a computer to Disney.
Dan's actually got a roommate who's leaving for a 6 month deployment soon, and I couldn't help but think of the slight similarity between his roommate and myself. When I asked how his roommate's reacting, Dan replied:
Dan: the same wayone prepares for dissappearing on a ship for 6 months
Dan: he's pretty much left emotions behind and is going through the motions
Dan: he's distant depressed and withdrawn
Oh boy.
It's funny, in a way, because as opposed to Steve the roommate, here I am pondering over netbooks and gold chains, and not really giving any thought as to where I'll been soon. I mean, I know I'll be an absolute emotional basket case the day I leave home; it's just my way. And today I went with Ralph to the zoo, and once I got home, I felt a slight twinge of sadness, thinking that today may have been the last time we'll spend time together before I leave. But obviously there's a HUGE difference between being deployed for the protection and safety of the nation, and doing a college internship at Disney.
Dan's response to my less-than-thrilled reaction to what potentially could be me in any number of days?
Dan: you'll be fine
Dan: just look forward and keep your head high, y'know
Simple. And it works so well.
In any case, two weeks from now, I should be somewhere on Disney property. Will I be getting settled in? Perhaps still at the meet and greet dinner? Who knows? In the mean time, I really should get back to attempting to start to clean my room. I did manage unearth a bit of floor yesterday, which was promptly covered up when I unloaded everything off my bed to get some sleep. And my To-Disney pile downstairs has grown a little, although the selection of items is growing tentacle-like outward from the tub base like some weird garage sale octopus. Packing, by way of using my mad Tetris skillz, should soon be up next.
Maybe I'll just go read for a bit :P
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
I'm on a mini-sugar high so I thought I should post
A thought occurred to me sometime last night - today's the 23rd.
To most people, this really isn't anything special. But for me, the 23rd marks the last day of my Disney vacation back in October. Since then, any time the 20th - 23rd rolled around, I'd stop and think "Wow, it's been X months since I was at Disney. What was I doing this time back then?"
I know, I'm a dork.
But this particular 23rd was special because it's the last one I'll be spending away from Disney, at least for the next couple of months. When August 23rd finally rolls around, I'll have already done the drive to Disney, settled in, and even have gotten my role AND have worked a couple of days. It still means I'll look at the calendar and think "What was I doing on the 23rd?", since I'm pretty sure I won't be lounging at the Animal Kingdom trying to get in rides on Expedition Everest like I was back then. But I'll be on property, or at least in the state of Florida as opposed to my not being on property nor anywhere near the state of Florida now.
In any case, Happy 9 Month Anniversary since I went to Disney!
...9 months?
Why do women want kids inside their bodies for that long again?
Oh! One other thing. There was a special on Spongebob Squarepants' 10 year anniversary tonight and it got me wondering - does the theater in Downtown Disney play any of Dreamwork's movies?
This is something I shall have to find out.
To most people, this really isn't anything special. But for me, the 23rd marks the last day of my Disney vacation back in October. Since then, any time the 20th - 23rd rolled around, I'd stop and think "Wow, it's been X months since I was at Disney. What was I doing this time back then?"
I know, I'm a dork.
But this particular 23rd was special because it's the last one I'll be spending away from Disney, at least for the next couple of months. When August 23rd finally rolls around, I'll have already done the drive to Disney, settled in, and even have gotten my role AND have worked a couple of days. It still means I'll look at the calendar and think "What was I doing on the 23rd?", since I'm pretty sure I won't be lounging at the Animal Kingdom trying to get in rides on Expedition Everest like I was back then. But I'll be on property, or at least in the state of Florida as opposed to my not being on property nor anywhere near the state of Florida now.
In any case, Happy 9 Month Anniversary since I went to Disney!
...9 months?
Why do women want kids inside their bodies for that long again?
Oh! One other thing. There was a special on Spongebob Squarepants' 10 year anniversary tonight and it got me wondering - does the theater in Downtown Disney play any of Dreamwork's movies?
This is something I shall have to find out.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
One Month Until Disney!!
Today was officially the one month marker until I arrive at Disney. I realized this at 12:53am in the middle of a Mythbusters episode (don't ask, I don't get it either), and celebrated today by working my butt off.
The morning started out with my parents and I going to Church, my Mom wearing the Disney 50th shirt she had bought when we went in 2006. Of course, of course the radio would have to play The Beatles' "She's Leaving Home" as we drove, leaving me all misty eyed during Mass. Then I had to work, and thought I was going to have a 12 hour shift since Steve didn't show up at four. He showed at five, which was fine, and I celebrated my non-12 hour shift by buying a "loaded" ice cream, Butterfinger flavor. Delicious and totally worth it, even though it was already melting by the time I reached home.
Dinner and then mini-golfing with my parents finished off this epic marker of a day (I lost, woo!) and we ended up driving by the nearby summer fest where my sister was with her friends. We saw some absolutely amazing (and HUGE) fireworks as we drove by, which I tried to capture on my camera phone. The photos turned out...all right, but I'm considering this a prelude to the awesome fireworks + show that Disney provides.
Oh, and best of all, while we were driving, I got to hear Steely Dan's "Rikki Don't Lose That Number", ending the night on a good note.
Now the real countdown begins.
But, seriously, yay ^-^
The morning started out with my parents and I going to Church, my Mom wearing the Disney 50th shirt she had bought when we went in 2006. Of course, of course the radio would have to play The Beatles' "She's Leaving Home" as we drove, leaving me all misty eyed during Mass. Then I had to work, and thought I was going to have a 12 hour shift since Steve didn't show up at four. He showed at five, which was fine, and I celebrated my non-12 hour shift by buying a "loaded" ice cream, Butterfinger flavor. Delicious and totally worth it, even though it was already melting by the time I reached home.
Dinner and then mini-golfing with my parents finished off this epic marker of a day (I lost, woo!) and we ended up driving by the nearby summer fest where my sister was with her friends. We saw some absolutely amazing (and HUGE) fireworks as we drove by, which I tried to capture on my camera phone. The photos turned out...all right, but I'm considering this a prelude to the awesome fireworks + show that Disney provides.
Oh, and best of all, while we were driving, I got to hear Steely Dan's "Rikki Don't Lose That Number", ending the night on a good note.
Now the real countdown begins.
But, seriously, yay ^-^
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Random Photo
Today, my Mom took a picture of me. With her camera phone. Which was especially amazing, since she wasn't sure where to find the phone's gallery once she'd taken it. Needless to say, she does now :P
The photo was a complete surprise. I was sitting outside after work, reading a book, and I looked up to see her standing at the patio door. About two seconds later, I noticed the phone, but by then she'd taken it. I have this very stoic expression on my face in the photo, much like those found in old 1800's portrait photography. Kind of like this - http://www.kenmalgren.com/5Humphreygenerations.jpg - but less dress. My hair was pulled back just like that though, honest.
She didn't say why she'd taken it, but I think she was just "capturing the moment" of my being home and being around. Or maybe she just wanted a photo id to pop up when I call her cell. In any case, she now has a camera phone photo of me. Congratuations Mom and welcome to the 21st century!
I kid because I love, and also because I'm waiting for pizza to arrive.
The photo was a complete surprise. I was sitting outside after work, reading a book, and I looked up to see her standing at the patio door. About two seconds later, I noticed the phone, but by then she'd taken it. I have this very stoic expression on my face in the photo, much like those found in old 1800's portrait photography. Kind of like this - http://www.kenmalgren.com/5Humphreygenerations.jpg - but less dress. My hair was pulled back just like that though, honest.
She didn't say why she'd taken it, but I think she was just "capturing the moment" of my being home and being around. Or maybe she just wanted a photo id to pop up when I call her cell. In any case, she now has a camera phone photo of me. Congratuations Mom and welcome to the 21st century!
I kid because I love, and also because I'm waiting for pizza to arrive.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
T-30 (or so) Days
The countdown has begun.
Hard to believe that it's only a month until I kick off my extended "trip" to Disney. Right now seems like any other mid-week summer night. The weather's cooled off, the birds are quieting down, the ice cream truck has done its drive-by. There's even some guy playing a Santana-inspired riff on his guitar in a garage I cannot see. But yes, this is an auspicious night indeed, at least for me.
Within the next thirty days, so much is going to happen. I'm standing up in two weddings, driving three hours for a bachelorette party and then driving back to attend a hottubbing party in my honor, attempting to see Harry Potter, attempting to clean my room (which is nothing short of a lost city of ruins), while all the while hoping to somehow prep for Disney. This is no easy feat, considering I've only had one year of living-away-from-home experience. Even then, the college was an hour from home and I went home every weekend anyway.
No, the move from Chicago to Orlando (or Lake Buena Vista to be exact) is ever so slightly different from college. And yet, I hope it's not extraordinarily different. True, I'm going to have a roommate for the first time ever. And I'm going to have to relearn to do laundry and ::gasp:: cook and clean for myself. That's what you get when you pull yourself out of the living at home lifestyle. But the work/class schedule Disney's saying I'm going to have sounds familiar enough. Well, except for those peak shift periods, when class will be cancelled and one can be expected to work over 70 hours a week.
That's going to be magical, I just know it.
But somehow within these next thirty days, I'm going to have to do what I should've done months ago - pack up the essentials of my life and prepare for the world to expand beyond my current horizons. Stupid procrastination, I KNEW I should've done this sooner.
My Mom's already speculating on where we'll be a month from now, just like she did a month before I took my Disney vacation back in October. She's hoping by this point our family will at least be in Louisville instead of "some podunk little town in the middle of nowhere". Let's make a note of this, shall we? 8:04PM in one month - where will I be?
Let's also take a bet and see how long it takes me to freak out over everything I procrastinated on. Right now, many are saying I'll freak out the week before. I think it'll be sooner :P
But we'll see.
I am starting to feel excited though. One month (and a couple of days of driving) 'til sunburn city!
Note to self: your skin's so pale you glow in the dark - bring sunscreen.
Hard to believe that it's only a month until I kick off my extended "trip" to Disney. Right now seems like any other mid-week summer night. The weather's cooled off, the birds are quieting down, the ice cream truck has done its drive-by. There's even some guy playing a Santana-inspired riff on his guitar in a garage I cannot see. But yes, this is an auspicious night indeed, at least for me.
Within the next thirty days, so much is going to happen. I'm standing up in two weddings, driving three hours for a bachelorette party and then driving back to attend a hottubbing party in my honor, attempting to see Harry Potter, attempting to clean my room (which is nothing short of a lost city of ruins), while all the while hoping to somehow prep for Disney. This is no easy feat, considering I've only had one year of living-away-from-home experience. Even then, the college was an hour from home and I went home every weekend anyway.
No, the move from Chicago to Orlando (or Lake Buena Vista to be exact) is ever so slightly different from college. And yet, I hope it's not extraordinarily different. True, I'm going to have a roommate for the first time ever. And I'm going to have to relearn to do laundry and ::gasp:: cook and clean for myself. That's what you get when you pull yourself out of the living at home lifestyle. But the work/class schedule Disney's saying I'm going to have sounds familiar enough. Well, except for those peak shift periods, when class will be cancelled and one can be expected to work over 70 hours a week.
That's going to be magical, I just know it.
But somehow within these next thirty days, I'm going to have to do what I should've done months ago - pack up the essentials of my life and prepare for the world to expand beyond my current horizons. Stupid procrastination, I KNEW I should've done this sooner.
My Mom's already speculating on where we'll be a month from now, just like she did a month before I took my Disney vacation back in October. She's hoping by this point our family will at least be in Louisville instead of "some podunk little town in the middle of nowhere". Let's make a note of this, shall we? 8:04PM in one month - where will I be?
Let's also take a bet and see how long it takes me to freak out over everything I procrastinated on. Right now, many are saying I'll freak out the week before. I think it'll be sooner :P
But we'll see.
I am starting to feel excited though. One month (and a couple of days of driving) 'til sunburn city!
Note to self: your skin's so pale you glow in the dark - bring sunscreen.
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