It's the final countdown!!!

Five days and counting until my first trip to Disneyland!! And what a trip it's going to be. While there I'll be participating in the 1/2 marathon; holding the first ever We Wants The Redhead meet; checking into (and hopefully out of) the Haunted Mansion's 40th anniversary event; spending two days at the D23 expo, but most importantly I'll be walking where Walt once walked. Every time I think about what it's going to be like when I step foot onto Main Street my eyes start to tear up. It's an emotion that's hard to describe. I just know that I'll be able to feel Walt's presence when I'm there. So if you happen to see me on Main Street sitting there crying you'll know why.

Now, I want to know from those that have been to Disneyland before what should be on my "must do" list? Any place that I should eat for sure? I can tell you that we are eating at Blue Bayou and Storytellers. Monte Crisco's for everyone!!

Who wants to meet the redhead??

I hope you can stop by and say hi! And if everyone wants to, we can even board the Black Pearl and search for Jack Sparrow.

2 weeks from today......

.....I (hopefully) will have finished my second 1/2 marathon at Disneyland. In doing so I will receive a Coast to Coast medal also. Participants that ran a 1/2 marathon in Walt Disney World and do the 1/2 in Disneyland qualify for the Coast to Coast medal. I think I'm more excited to receive that medal than the Disneyland medal. For me, it's proof of accomplishment.

If you follow me on Twitter, I'll be "tweeting" during the race. Usually at the beginning, middle and end. Let's hope the last tweet is me saying that I finished. I don't feel that I'm as prepared as I should be for the race but I also know that I run better with a group of 15,000 people better than alone. When you get in a group like that you have the mind set of "I'm going to pass that person now and then that person." It helps pull you along the way.

My plan is to run a mile/walk a mile, but I have a feeling that plan won't start until about mile 3 or 4. The first few miles are through Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure. I hope to stop for a few photos with the characters and take some pictures. Then I'll probably have to play catch up so I stay ahead of the dreaded sweepers. But my BIGGEST fear of all that day will be that it'll be H-O-T. I'm praying for nice cool weather in the morning so that heat exhaustion doesn't kick in or my asthma acts up. So please pray for nice weather for me and all the other runners on September 6th.

MagicMeets 2009

MagicMeets was very special for me this year but for one specific reason more than another. You see, a very special person did a wonderful thing for Cassidy this year. Here's the story..hopefully the short version.

Cassidy was bidding on the lot of mystery pins. She really kept an eye on it and was beside it the last few minutes of the auction. She was high bidder for awhile until the last few seconds when someone outbid her. Once she realized this she came running at me crying. I can understand how upsetting that would be for a 9 year old. The woman that won the auction saw how upset she was and came over to her. She told her when everything was done her and Cassidy would sit down and look at the pins and she would allow Cassidy to pick out 2 of the pins. Let me tell you, I was crying, Cassidy was crying, Val was crying and my mom was crying. That is true Disney magic!!

I didn't know her and she didn't know me. She was just a wonderful woman spreading that Disney magic we all know and love. And in the end, she let Cassidy pick out her 2 pins and then gave her an extra pin from her collection. So D.D. if you are reading this THANK YOU!!

If you want to read more about MagicMeets check out these blogs. There are some great stories on them.

http://www.thewedpage.blogspot.com/

http://disneydaddy.blogspot.com/

http://www.wdwradio.com/Dream-Team-Blog/

I hope you enjoy the little slideshow I put together.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

My talking dog.

Everytime we take Harley in the car she likes to "talk". It 's really annoying but funny. I video taped this while taking her to the kennel the other day. We tell her she's "going on vacation".

Enjoy!

It's Time For MagicMeets!!

This weekend 500 Disney loving fans will gather in Camp Hill, PA for MagicMeets. MagicMeets is full of fun and surprises with great speakers and breakout sessions. But for me, MagicMeets is about helping raise money for ill-stricken children. The Dream Team holds an amazing auction with about 100 items to bid on. There are auctions that range from pins to scrap booking supplies to a Pooh Christmas tree to a personalized DSI tour with Lou Mongello. All the money raised during the auction goes to Make-A-Wish Foundation® of America. To look at the auction lots check out The Dream Team Blog http://www.wdwradio.com/Dream-Team-Blog/

But there are also other ways to help if you don't want to bid on an auction lot or if you're like me get outbid on an auction lot.

Minnie's Mart
Friday evening holds one more new event at MagicMeets: Minnie's Mart, hosted by The Dream Team Project. You'll find all sorts of Disney-related goodies on sale: toys, pins, collectibles, posters, and more! All proceeds benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of America. Minnie's Mart will be open in the lobby of the Convention Center on Friday, August 7th, from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Come early for the best selection! Minnie's Mart is cash-only, with items ranging from $0.50 to $25.


And even if you are unable to attend MagicMeets, you can still help out! Thanks to the guys at the WDW Today podcast, if you make a donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of America at http://www.firstgiving.com/dwtdreamteam between 9:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, August 8th, your name will be announced on the WDW Today Live Podcast. All donations made during the time period will be included in the Auction total announced at MagicMeets. When you fill in your donation, please include your Internet community affiliation in the comment field, so that you can be thanked properly on the air. Check out the WDW Today podcast website for details on how to join them for this and all their live shows. They will have a chat room going during the broadcast, which is always lots of fun, and sometimes have a live video feed direct from MagicMeets.

Last year we raised a total of $20,000!! I'm hoping that we can top that number this year!! More importantly I hope you can help us beat that total!!