We Wants The Redhead

New Year's Eve 1996

2011-12-31T09:00:00.002-05:00

Fifteen years ago tonight I married my best friend; my soul mate; the one that makes me laugh and the one that has been there for me every step of the way. We have cried together and we have laughed together. I'm just thankful that we have laughed more than we've cried.

Things I remember from that day:
1. I rubbed my finger raw after tying over 400 balloons.
2. I threw up.
3. I ran a red light on the way to church.
4. The girl that was to give me her earrings for my "something borrowed" wouldn't let me borrow them because she wanted to wear them.
5. Since we were married at night, the girls and I had sandwiches while we got ready. Don't worry, we sent some to Erin and the boys too.
6. I did a champagne toast with my girls before walking down the aisle.
7. I lost my voice that day.
8. Most imporantly, I married my Prince Charming!

Everyday is an adventure and as Jack Sparrow has said, "It is not the destination so much as the journey."

I thought I'd put a little slide show together of pictures from our wedding up until our last trip to Walt Disney World.

This free photo slideshow made with Smilebox

In case you're wondering what exciting thing we have planned for tonight well we are spending our anniversary doing what we've done over the past several years....watching the Twilight Zone marathon.

Deep Voices Are So Sexy

2011-11-14T19:15:00.013-05:00

Just for fun I thought I'd list the Top 5 deep voice actors (or at least what I think are the top 5). Deep voices are so sexy and I get weak in the knees when I hear them speak.

#5 Geno Segers

#4 Ving Rhames

#3 Michael Clark Duncan

#2 Vin Diesel

And the #1 Best Deep Voice
Actor is.............

JAMES EARL JONES

Do you agree with the list? Who do you think is missing or should be higher or lower in the ranking??

Wine and Dine Half Marathon

2011-10-16T12:47:00.002-04:00

First off I would like to say how proud I am of my husband for running his first half marathon!!

Now my take on the Wine and Dine half. It can be summarized in two words: IT SUCKED! Not really but I will say it was the hardest race I've ever done and that's including when I did the half with a stress fracture. See I was training really well in the spring but my feet were bothering me really badly so I went to the doctor. I found out I had planter fasciitis and was told to take it easy on my feet. So I did and even went to therapy and had special inserts put in my shoes. After a few months my feet started feeling better and I started walking again.

We arrived in Walt Disney World a few days before the race to enjoy the Food and Wine Festival and hang out with friends. After being on my feet more than usually they started to hurt again. I did try and take it easy and take rest breaks throughout the day to help. The day of the race was also the 40th Anniversary of Walt Disney World. We got up early and headed to the Magic Kingdom for a few hours but left the park by noon so we could rest and relax.

We chilled out in the room for a few hours and then ate at T-Rex and the relaxed some more before heading out for the race. We met up with the WDWRadio running team before the race. I tried to sit as much as I could before the race started but you know how that goes. Your friends are around and you're standing talking and laughing.

Erin and I were in corral D which meant our start time was 10:15. Starting a race at that time of night is not something I've ever done. I've always heard that night races are harder than morning races. Boy were they right!! Erin and I stuck together for the first mile but then I told him to just go ahead. My run pace is almost a fast walk for him and I didn't want to hold him back so off he went. The race was going good until about mile 6. My feet started hurting and my right hip was bothering me. By mile 8 it started to get worse but I keep pushing on.

Mile 10 came and all I wanted to do was sit in the middle of the course and just cry. I was in so much pain with every step I took. I really didn't know if I was going to make it to the end and at that point I really didn't care anymore. I slowed my pace down and figured as long as there were people still behind me I was ok. I think going through the Hollywood Studios was the worse part of the course. You do a lot of weaving back and forth through it but seeing the Osbourne Lights was rewarding!

As I made my way towards Epcot I would try and stretch my hip and my feet in hopes of some relief. At one point I even stopped for some Biofreeze for my leg. About 1/4 mile from the finish line I saw some friends cheering backstage and I just started to cry. I didn't want to go anymore but they told me I was there, just to go. So I hobbled my way to the finish line and crossed it. Tears were flowing and all I cared about was seeing Erin and taking some Tylenol. I must have looked bad because a volunteer was trying to get me to go into the medical tent. I knew if I would've sat down in there I wasn't going to get back up and make it to the UK to meet up with the running team.

Erin was also a little sore in his hips since he ran the whole race and his longest training run was 4 miles. We must have looked pretty bad walking back to the UK to see everyone. The pain was getting worse and I almost said screw it and left but I really wanted to see my friends. Plus Mojo was texting me telling me the "Box People" were asking about me and wanted to see me. Mom being one of them. We made it there and I said HI to everyone. Talked to fellow team members and friends. Snapped a few photos and then left......very slowly!

A few side notes: Most of you know that I love Disney races and I have fun during them and take lots of pictures. In this race I only took a few and didn't even stop to take character photos. There is a sign of how much pain I was in.

I heard and read all the bad reviews from last year's race but from what I could tell this year's was a lot better. Bag pick up was easy and not crowded. I think the changes they made were great but I don't have anything to compare it to. Only thing I would like to see is that the race started at 9 instead of 10, but then again it doesn't really matter because I don't plan on doing it again.

The food booths were crowded and had long lines. I was telling people I would give them $20 to go get me food but no one would. As we were leaving, Erin stopped at Argentina and grabbed us some beef empanadas.

I'm not a beer drinker or a Coke drinker so I would like to see a liquor option after you cross and claim your drink coupon. A little rum to mix with that nasty Coke, maybe??

I know one thing for sure, I will cherish this medal the most!! Along with my first half marathon medal and my Coast to Coast medal!

Here We Go Steelers!!

2011-08-31T12:10:00.005-04:00

August 18th turned turned out to be one crazy day. Not only was it our first Steelers game, our car broke down. At least the car broke down in Pittsburgh right as we got to our hotel. The sad part about the car is that we had just fixed it a month ago and here we were again getting it towed. I've been a member of AAA for years and never had a claim and now I've had two within two months. Anyone looking for a used VW Jetta Wagon??

Back to the good part...WE'RE GOING TO A STEELERS GAME!! They were playing the Eagles that night. GREAT because I am not an Eagles fan and even more I am not a Michael Vick fan! We have a friend that has season tickets so we met him and his wife for dinner at Jerome Bettis' grille 36 before the game. The food was amazing and my drink was even better! Who wouldn't like a liter of multiple rums with fruit juice?

After dinner we walked to Heinz Field which was only a block away from Bettis' place. You could feel the excitement in the air. Everywhere you looked it was a sea of black and gold. People we buying programs, buying t-shirts and getting their faces painted. We found our way to our seats. I have a problem that when I go to a concert or something like a Steelers game I want great seats close or I don't want to go. I found us seats online for a good chunk of money but still not badly priced for preseason tickets. We were in section 137, row C! Being 3 rows from the field was amazing!! It was thrilling be so close to the players to take pictures. Cassidy was in awe of Hines Ward. I think if she could have rushed the field to hug him she would've.

I won't go into details about the game other than we won and I got to see my man, Troy, get an interception. One thing we didn't realize since it was our first game was that during half time and at the end of the game the players go back into the locker through steps that happened to be in from of our section. This gave us the opportunity for some good photos. At the end of the game they will throw their towels and gloves up into the seats. Sadly we didn't get anything, but there is always next time.

The next morning we waited to hear from the garage about the car. Around noon they called to say that they couldn't fix it so I called mom and dad and they got a car dolly and headed to Pittsburgh to get us. Since we had 3 hours or so till they got there we decided to take the Heinz Field tour. The tour was better than I could have expected. We went to the club level, suites, press box and learned a lot of Steeler/Heinz Field history. The best part was that we got to go in the locker room.

In the locker room there are 2 huge logos on the floor. One says "Steelers" and the other is their logo. You are not permitted to step on them and even the players avoid them. We didn't have much time in the locker room but I did get my picture in Troy's locker and Cassidy got hers taken in Hines'. When we left the locker room our guide took us down the hall and out the chute where the players come out for a game. That was really neat! We got to be on the field but only the one corner of it. It was an amazing to look at the stadium from the field.

If you are ever in Pittsburgh or plan to be, visit www.steelers.com and see when they are offering tours. It is worth the time and money and it wasn't really that expensive. Plus it's right beside the Carnegie Science Center.

After our tour and lunch at the Tilted Kilt we grabbed a cab to the auto shop and waited for mom and dad there. Of course this was the day that it was storming off and on in Pittsburgh and right when they arrived it rained so bad that there was flash flooding in area. Thank the Lord above that we weren't in those areas. After we hooked up the car we started the long drive home. THANKS MOM AND DAD!! WE LOVE YOU!

I created a slideshow from our trip. I hope you enjoy it and GO STEELERS!!

This slideshow design generated with Smilebox

Don't always listen to Mom!

2011-08-04T18:54:00.004-04:00

Mom is what I like to call my GPS. Why Mom, you ask? Well, it's because she likes to tell me what to do. Just kidding! Mom knows I like to kid her. Anyways, on a trip to Long Beach on Long Island several weeks ago I didn't print out directions and decided to follow what "mom" said to do. BIG MISTAKE!!

She took me thru the Holland Tunnel and into Manhattan! Funny thing is about an hour or so before that I was saying that I never wanted to drive to or in NYC. I think I jinxed myself! My "city driving" kicked in and I was cutting people off and turning on red with the best of them.

At one time we thought we were going to see an accident and all I did was cover my eyes and say "I didn't have time to witness anything today." Later we joked that covering your eyes was how you drive in the city.

About an hour or so later we finally arrived at our destination with the help from a new GPS called Pat! Cassidy had quite an experience that day but laughed all the way. Of course now she wants to stay in NYC someday and not drive through it.

I think I've lost count

2011-07-16T14:50:00.005-04:00

Thursday was spent getting more ink put on my body. I love spending time in the tattoo shop. It is unique in its own way. I went to http://blackthorngallery.com/home.html in Mechanicsburg, PA. If you are even in the area you should check them out. Even to just look around the shop.

The first one I received is based on my Coast to Coast medal I earned in 2009. It's on the back of my right calf. I'm hoping it brings inspiration and motivation.

The second one is the old Epcot Center logo but we added color to it. The colors were taken from another Epcot logo. I'm sorry that I don't know what year it changed to this:

So there you have it. I think that makes number 17 and 18 but honestly I'm not even counting anymore. Are they my last? Who knows! I don't even know when I'll get bit by the tattoo bug again. Could be next week. Could be next year. All I know is there are lots of great Disney ideas out there that can be immortalized on my body.

TODAY IS THE DAY!!

2011-05-20T08:33:00.003-04:00

It's pirate day in this house. Actually it's pirate weekend!! Tonight we plan on dressing as pirates and seeing it in our little theater. Then on Sunday we are heading to Tarentum, PA to see it in IMAX 3-D!! Captain Jack on the big screen! Can't get any better than that!!

Let me know what you thought of the movie! Don't forget, drink up me hearties!

Two More Days!!

2011-05-18T20:00:00.003-04:00

This is one of my favorites! Especially when it's on the big screen at the end of the Great Movie Ride.

Almost there!

2011-05-15T21:10:00.001-04:00

Someday I'll own one of these!!

ONE WEEK!!

2011-05-13T21:25:00.003-04:00

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is one week away!! I can't wait!!

Single Digit Dance!! Nine Days Till PIRATES!!

2011-05-11T15:27:00.005-04:00

If you've ever ridden Pirates in Disneyland you'll recognize this picture. Another amazing picture by Marc Davis. I think she kinda looks like me! Would be a cool tattoo someday. Nine more days!!

Pirates Picture #2

2011-05-09T17:29:00.001-04:00

HELLO, MR. TURNER!!

Two Weeks Until Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

2011-05-06T20:35:00.003-04:00

Being the pirate fan that I am, I can't wait for the new POTC movie to be released in 2 weeks. I thought over the next several days I'd share a few of my favorite pirate type pictures with you.

Picture #1: the basis for the Deck 7 Cool Kids logo!! As seen on many pirate crew during the WDW Radio Dream Cruise.

The Countdown Begins!

2011-04-12T07:30:00.003-04:00

Only 572 days until I'm back on The Disney Dream for Lou's Cruise 2.0!! It's time for the Deck 7 Cool Kids to start planning and plotting our takeover again!!

And the winner is...

2011-04-11T07:43:00.002-04:00

Congrats to Saundra on winning the DCL tote bag!!

Presenting Our Contest Photos

2011-04-03T20:39:00.002-04:00

First of all I have to say how disappointed I am that out of the 400+ people on the cruise only 3 of you submitted a photo for my contest. Plus the fact that I personally knew well over 200 of them makes for a cranky pirate!! Oh well, rum helps with the crankies.

Here are our entries:

Angela

Cheryl

Saundra

Voting ends on April 10th at 11:00 pm. Good luck everyone!

Aye be havin' a contest!

2011-03-23T16:25:00.003-04:00

As you know I recently went on my first Disney cruise during the WDW Radio Disney Dream cruise. While I was on the cruise, myself and many, many friends took thousands of pictures. Pictures of the Dream. Pictures of friends. Pictures of food. Pictures of everything. Now here is your chance to pick your favorite/best picture.

If you were on the WDW Radio cruise please send me your best picture. I will select the top 10 photos and post them here and leave it to the readers to vote (hopefully a can create a poll again).

Rules:

1. Photos have to be from the WDW Radio cruise Feb. 27-March 3

2. They can be of food, friends, the ship, Castaway Cay, Nassau, drinks....ANYTHING!

3. Photo must be yours and not stolen off of someone else's Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Photobucket..... account.

4. Only one photo per person

5. Please keep photos sized to 640x480

6. Anyone scallywags breaking the rules will have to walk the plank!

THE PRIZE: An awesome DCL bag

Please email photos to wewantstheredhead73@gmail.com no later than April 2nd.

Our first Disney Cruise

2011-03-13T19:25:00.002-04:00

We just returned from a great cruise on the Disney Dream. I'm not going to go into details about it other than to say it was amazing! The ship is stunning and the staff is beyond amazing! We can't wait to go back in January 2013. I hope you enjoy the slideshow.

Photo slideshow customized with Smilebox

Max....We Miss You

2011-02-03T06:20:00.002-05:00

Christmas Day is usually a happy time for most people. Presents, food and family. For us, this past Christmas wasn't so great. Our first dog, Max, passed away. We're really not sure what happened to him. Maybe just old age. He had just turned 14.

We got Max about 6 weeks after we were married. He was a Husky/Shar Pei mix but looked mostly like a Husky except for his floppy ears. Plus he also had two different colored eyes. That really freaked a lot of people out. Since I'm a big fan of the Little Mermaid we named him after the dog from the movie not knowing that Max is a very common name for a dog. I picked him out because he gave kisses. But the whole ride home he kept biting me. That should've been a sign that he was going to be Erin's dog.

Overall, Max was a great dog. Although he was a chicken when it came to thunderstorms and he hated getting wet. He never grabbed food from your hand. He ate it like a danity old lady. And he always liked it when the neighbor lady walked her Husky, Willow, down the road. We always said that she was Maxie's girlfriend.

He never wanted to stay in the yard so we kept him on a runner during the day. He seemed to like that. But if he got loose watch out! He would be gone for hours but always stayed close enough to home that we could see him. If we tried catching him he would just run farther away, so we stopped. When he was ready he would come home. As he got older, we would let him romp for about an hour then go out to the car. If he saw you get in the car he would come running and get in. So then we always had to take him for a ride around the block. It seemed to satisfy him. He would look at the other dogs with a "I just got a ride" kind of look to his face.

I always laughed that most of the time he ignored me. I would make kissy noises at him and if Erin was sitting there he would turn his head away from me and kiss Erin. What a snot! Yet when I would be away for a few days, he would lay by the door and wait until I came home. He was very protective of me when I was pregnant but once Cassidy came along he always looked at us like "who is she and when is she leaving". Although he always kept an eye on her when she was small.

His favorite snacks were M&Ms and peppermint. If you had M&Ms he would get up in your face while you ate them and try to take them as you were putting them in your mouth. He would also paw at your hand until you gave him one. My mom is always chewing peppermint gum so he really liked her when she came for a visit.

I could go on and on about Max but instead I'll leave you with this:

My best friend closed his eyes last night. As his head was in my hand, he must have been in pain, for it was hard for him to stand.

The thoughts that scurried through my head, as I cradled him in my arms, were of his younger, puppy years, and OH...his many charms.

Today, there was no gentle nudge. With an intense "I love you gaze", only a heart that's filled with tears remembering our joy filled days.

But an Angel just appeared to me and he said, "You should cry no more, GOD also loves our canine friends, HE's installed a doggy-door"!

Scrapbook personalized with Smilebox

Deck 7 Cool Kids Shirts!!

2011-01-17T15:38:00.005-05:00

FRONT

BACK

The shirts are unisex. They are 100% preshrunk cotton and they run good sized, they do not run small. The youth sizes are small is a 6-8, medium 10-12 and large is a 14-16.

Shirts are $12 which includes shipping. For XXL shirts please add $1.50 and for shirts XXXL add $2.00. If you are overseas, please contact me first.

Shirts will be mailed out no later than February 14th.

Payment will be thru Paypal and invoices will be sent out after order is received.

If you are interested, please send an email to lori@wdwradio.com with the following information:

Name:

Address:

Email Address:

Quantity:Shirt size:(For child's sizes please put "child" before the size)

Date Arriving in WDW:

Deadline to order is January 25th!

Zeus, a girl's best friend

2011-01-16T19:19:00.006-05:00

Recently myself and a friend lost our dogs. It's been a very trying time but with the support of each other we are getting through it. Below is her story. Mine will be posted soon.

Zeus, my doggie, my son, my best friend, rest in Peace! By Darlene Nagi

Zeusywoo came in to our lives in the summer of 1999. We went to see him & my hubby put him in my arms. That was it Zeus put his paws around my neck & his head on my shoulder Keith said we’ll take him it’s a done deal. We choose to get a second puppy to keep my Louie (Rottweiler ) active. It worked for about a year as Lou died the next summer

Zeus was my dog, a girl's best friend. He was my alarm clock in the morning. He was my companion when hubby & daughter were out. We had an exercise schedule in the morning. He helped me with my sit ups, LOL. Then his walks after I got home from work. Then relaxing watching tv together & then going to bed. Keith introduced him to the bed when he was with us the 1st night home. Well he still slept in bed all the way up to 11 ½ years & 92.5 lbs. Yes he was a big boy. He also listened to me when I spoke & no one was home. He was a great listener. He helped me though a lot of lonely days. He let my daughter, hubby & myself dress him up! He loved to pose for pictures like his momma.

His favorite things to do were take walks, take rides in the car anywhere, visit with people & be outside. He had a special attraction to playing with a silver bowl outside & inside. He would kick the bowl until he found a reflection. That would occupy him for hours on end. Once he had some teeth removed the bowl went bye-bye, but we played with a flash light so he could chase that & he begged to have it continue even though he was tired. We even bought him a laser that played on the walls & he thought that was awesome.

My baby was an active guy even up to the day before his last. My daughter & I took him for a car ride to the bakery. My hubby & I took him for a walk in the snow storm & he found 1 deer to try & catch, which he didn’t. He slept a lot after that last walk. But it was the best last day of his life. As I tear up writing this last line I know my baby boy is at peace & playing with his bowl in heaven again pain free! I will love & miss him every day of my life as he was the best dog I could ever have!

Disney year in review

2010-12-31T14:29:00.002-05:00

Free digital slideshow customized with Smilebox

This year has been full of ups and downs. Pets lost, friends lost and of course the broken leg. I'm very thankful that the ups out weigh the downs!! I'm looking forward to 2011 with a trip to Disney marathon weekend to cheer on some friends running; the WDWRadio cruise with 500 of my closest friends and then the D23 expo in Disneyland in August.

I hope everyone has a great New Year!! Drinks all around!!

I'm Doing What I'm Told

2010-11-26T17:56:00.003-05:00

So my mommy told me I had to post this on the blog. Here ya go mom! I love you!!

Gold Wrapping Paper

I received this from a friend who had a choice to make.

It said that I had a choice to make too.

I've chosen.

Now it's your turn to choose.

The story goes that some time ago a mother punished her five year old daughter for wasting a roll of expensive gold wrapping paper. Money was tight and she became even more upset when the child used the gold paper to decorate a box to put under the Christmas tree.

Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift box to her mother the next morning and then said, 'This is for you, Momma.'

The mother was embarrassed by her earlier over reaction, but her anger flared again when she opened the box and found it was empty. She spoke to her daughter in a harsh manner.

'Don't you know, young lady, when you give someone a present there's supposed to be something inside the package?'

She had tears in her eyes and said, 'Oh, Momma, it's not empty! I blew kisses into it until it was full.'

The mother was crushed. She fell on her knees and put her arms around her little girl, and she begged her forgiveness for her thoughtless anger.

An accident took the life of the child only a short time later, and it is told that the mother kept that gold box by her bed for all the years of her life.

Whenever she was discouraged or faced difficult problems she would open the box and take out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there.

In a very real sense, each of us, as human beings, have been given a Golden box filled with unconditional love and kisses from our children, family and friends... There is no more precious possession anyone could hold.

Join the WDWRadio Running Team and help support the Make-A-Wish Foundation

2010-11-22T18:34:00.002-05:00

In 2008, Lou Mongello encouraged myself and a friend to participate in the 2009 Walt Disney World half marathon. Now Lou is creating the WDWRadio Running Team in hopes of raising money for a worthy charity, the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Please follow the link below for all the information.

http://www.wdwradio.com/2010/11/join-the-wdw-radio-running-team-and-support-the-dream-team-project-through-the-make-a-wish-foundation/

Halloween Light Show 2010 HD - Thriller ( Michael Jackson )

2010-10-30T19:14:00.000-04:00

It's Pumpkin Roll Time

2010-10-22T13:27:00.005-04:00

Every year around this time or even earlier my church starts preparing for their annual holiday bazaar. The men and women (mostly women) of the church start making pies, cookies, noodles, peanut brittle, hard tack and pumpkin rolls. The week of the bazaar they make the soup and the night before the bazaar they make the breads, apple dumplings and sticky rolls. Also the night before may of the members make other baked goods like brownies, fudge and cakes.

The main baked good that I help out with is the pumpkin rolls. Who can resist the heavenly goodness of baked pumpkin with cream cheese filling. It's all I can do not to put my face into the tub of filling and start eating it. If we're good and IF there is one roll that isn't good enough to sell, Sharon (the Sergeant in charge) lets us eat it but only if we've worked hard enough.

I posted a few pictures of the process the other night on Facebook and a few friends asked about them so I'm going to post the recipe on here.

Pumpkin Rolls with Filling

375 degrees

15 mins.

3 eggs
1 c. sugar

2/3 c. pumpkin

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

3/4 c. flour

Grease cookie sheet and line with wax paper, grease wax paper. Mix above ingredients. Pour batter and sprinkle with chopped walnuts (we don't do that for the bazaar though). Bake 15 minutes. While cake bakes, sprinkle powedered sugar on a tea towel and turn cake onto it. Pull off wax paper and roll cake together with towel while hot. Cool 45 minutes to 1 hour. Unroll and spread with filling.

Filling

8 oz. cream cheese

1 c. Cool Whip

1-1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 c. powdered sugar

2 tbsp. butter

Beat the above ingredients and spread on cool cake. Roll cake again and chill until served.

A few notes: the towels we use are linen clothes that someone made us but I've heard that the old fashioned towel calendars work great. Also if you want to speed up the cooling process, sit it outside on a chilly day (away from critters). They also freeze well.

If you make one let me know what you think. These are probably our number one seller.

better redhead photo

2010-10-07T07:18:00.001-04:00

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.0

Glenn 's work!

2010-10-03T13:58:00.001-04:00

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.0

Calypso Morgan Burke

2010-09-20T13:09:00.001-04:00

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.9

Talk Like A Pirate Day - Live at CapriCon 2008

2010-09-18T11:20:00.000-04:00

This is a great song!! Talk like a pirate day is tomorrow!!!

Celebrating 2 years of fun

2010-09-14T08:00:00.000-04:00

I thought I'd celebrate the 2nd anniversary of the blog with a drink. I know, BIG surprise for me! But this is a new drink that my husband and I created. It's called a We Wants The Redhead. See how pretty it is.

This is what is in it:

1 shot rum

1 shot peach snappes

1 shot amaretto

1 shot southern comfort

1 shot grenadine

and some Sprite

Try it sometime and let me know what you think!

It's A Girl!!

2010-09-12T18:34:00.002-04:00

It looks like we're getting a new puppy. She's a lab/collie mix. I've always wanted a chocolate lab and once I saw her I totally fell in love. She was very calm when I held her so hopefully she stays that way. We don't get her for another week or so which is good because I need to make a place for her.

We're not sure what we want to name her but she needs to have a Disney name. Please vote in the poll to the right and help us name her.

Kingdom in the Sky

2010-09-05T15:19:00.000-04:00

I love this song!! Check it out!!

War Breaks Out In Western Pennsylvania

2010-08-08T13:43:00.014-04:00

Every year around this time thousands of people gather in New Castle, PA for Pennsic War. The Pennsic War is an annual event between the East and Middle Kingdoms of the Society for Creative Anachronism Inc., and is hosted by the Kingdom of Æthelmearc at Coopers' Lake Campground. Now, you are probably wondering what the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) is. Well, the SCA is an international organization dedicated to researching and re-creating the arts and skills of pre-17th-century Europe. Their "Known World" consists of 19 kingdoms, with over 30,000 members residing in countries around the world. Members, dressed in clothing of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, attend events which feature tournaments, royal courts, feasts, dancing, various classes & workshops.

Many of the campsites have authentic period tents, such as this one. While others will have modern day tents or a combination of tents.

The largest activity at Pennsic war is the battles, themselves. Thousands of men and women "suit up" in armour that ranges from the "make shift" style that consists of carpet or bits of plastic to the very elaborate, authentic Gothic plate. Weapons are made from sticks of rattan and can be one or two handed. Most of the battles are field battles but they also have bridge battles, (which is in the photo above) a castle battle and a woods battle.

Other sporting events that take place are archery, knife throwing and one-on-one battles. There are also classes that you can attend from soap making to dancing. And of course there is lots of shopping to be done. Merchants have anything from homemade jewelry to garb to shiny armour.

So, if you happen to be driving on I-79 this week (south of I-80) and see about a mile worth of tents then you've seen where Pennsic is held.

Then and Now

2010-07-30T11:08:00.007-04:00

It's hard to believe that 20 years ago Erin and I graduated high school. It doesn't seem like a lot has happened over those 20 years but I guess a lot has. We got married, bought a house or two, had pets come and go, had loved ones leave our lives, and the biggest thing is we had Cassidy.

A few weeks ago we had our 20 year reunion. Now, I will admit that we were both hesitant on wanting to go. Even after 20 years there are still some people you're not sure you really want to spend an evening with. Long story short, we went to the Friday night mixer where there was about 20 classmates. That ended up being a lot of fun. One of the guys I was friends with in high school but lost touch with flew in from California. And guess what, he's only 10 minutes from Disneyland so looks like a trip to his house is in my future.

We missed out on the dinner on Saturday but met up with everyone later that evening. It was great seeing people after all that time. All the high school drama was gone and all the "clics" were gone. People that didn't talk at all in school were suddenly getting their groove on together. It was a great sight to see. It's like the Berlin Wall came down. And let me tell you, we still know how to party. We closed down the bar at 2 am. And when it all came to an end and pictures were being taken, tears started to roll. For some reason, I suddenly realized how much I missed all my high school friends. I can't wait for our 25th reunion.

thirsty?

2010-07-30T11:08:00.001-04:00

testing mobile blog

Published with Blogger-droid v1.4.8

The Toys Are Back!

2010-06-17T09:32:00.002-04:00

With the release of Toy Story 3, I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite quotes from Toy Story and Toy Story 2.

Woody: YOU! ARE! A! TOYYYYY! You aren't the real Buzz Lightyear! You're - you're an action figure! You are a child's play thing!

Buzz: You are a sad, strange little man, and you have my pity.

Buzz: CAN!

Woody: That wasn't flying! That was falling with style!

Rex: Great! Now I have guilt!

Buzz: I am Mrs. Nesbitt!

Mrs. Potato Head: I'm packing your extra pair of shoes, and your angry eyes just in case

Hamm: You heard of Kung Fu? Well prepare yourself for pork chop.

Mr. Potato Head: I'm a married spud, I'm a married spud...

Amy: Look Barbie! An ugly man doll!

What are your favorite quotes???

Craig Dietz! UNSINKABLE!

2010-06-10T09:10:00.000-04:00

If you ever thought that you couldn't do something then watch this video. I went to school with Craig and he was an amazing kid. Now he's an even more amazing man. His story is a true inspiration!

You drank how much???

2010-05-30T12:45:00.006-04:00

While visiting The World for marathon weekend in January my husband and a friend decided they were going to drink around the countries in Epcot. Needless to say, they didn't get something in every country but they still did pretty well. Here is a list of what he had in Epcot:

1. Scotch flight in the United Kingdom that consisted of 3 different scotches

2. Pomegranate wine in France

3. Saki flight at Teppan Edo which was 3 different saki's

4. Wine flight in Germany which he shared so he had 1-1/2 glasses of wine

5. Canto Loopy in China

6. Tequila flight in Mexico which was also 3 different tequilas

And as if that wasn't enough we went to Jellyrolls that night and he had 2 redheaded sluts, 2 - 32 oz. Hurricanes and 6 Jagerbombs. Of course it wasn't helping that we ran into his cousin and his cousin was buying him drinks.

Now I know the sound of 22-1/2 drinks is a lot and I'm still amazed that he didn't get sick. BUT he also drank all of that over at least a 8 hour period. Would he do it again? 100% YES!

SUPRISE! SURPRISE! SURPRISE!

2010-05-30T11:45:00.003-04:00

We surprised Cassidy with a trip to WDW for her 10th birthday. Above is the video that my great friend, Lou Mongello made for her. After all, Lou is her #1 man!

Below is the slideshow I put together with photos from the weekend and also her reaction to finding out where she was going.

A little background info...I had planned to join Lou and friends in WDW for the 24 hour show. Well, since the show was going to be a few days before her birthday I thought it would be great to surprise her with a trip. I've always wanted to do that. Let me tell you, never again!! I was so stressed out since I couldn't talk to her about it plus I had to pack all her things without her missing anything. And getting the school in on the surprise too was work. I had to wait for her to get on the bus before running in to pick up her homework. I couldn't have it sent home with her that day. But all the stress was totally worth it!!! SHE CRIED!!

Enjoy the show and I'll blog later about highlights of the trip.

Make a slideshow design

Disney Men

2010-04-24T14:34:00.005-04:00

Let's look at the pros and cons of some Disney men......

Will Turner:
Pro: Pirate!! He's got some muscles from making swords.
Con: Can only come to shore once every 10 years....bugger!

Aladdin
Pro: He's got Abu and the flying carpet, which would be great for romantic dates. And of course, Genie.
Con: Those pants.

Hercules
Pro: His amazing strength means I'd always be protected.
Con: The EGO!

Prince Philip
Pro: He's got the horse, which means he could take me away in the perfect fairy-tale ending and he can kick some crazy lady's butt.
Con: He reminds me a lot of The Prince in Snow White.

The Beast
Pro: He's beast-turned-man, which means things could get really interesting in the sack.
Con: That temper.

Tarzan
Pro: Swinging from trees means amazing upper arm strength. Grrrr!
Con: Would I have to pee in the woods all the time? Lori don't pee in the woods at all!

Peter Pan
Pro: He'd keep me young at heart.
Con: I'm pretty sure he's underage. But I've been known to be a cougar!

So, what do you think?

My boob's a burnin'!

2010-04-15T18:33:00.002-04:00

On January 10th, I decided to treat myself (and a friend) to a post half marathon/birthday massage. I booked the massages at Muscles and Bustles at the Boardwalk Resort. I've never had anyone other than my massage therapist give me a massage so I was excited and nervous at the same time. She took me back into the room and I prepared for a nice relaxing massage. Let's just say relaxing is not a word I would use to describe it now.

The girl started out putting towels on my back and then placed something else on my back which at the time I assumed was hot rocks. NOPE! Not even a minute after she placed this bag with hot water/oil in it on my back the closure busted open and suddenly I felt hot stuff on my arm and running down my side. I quickly sat up, not carrying what was hanging out, because it burned. The poor girl felt so bad and wasn't sure what to do. She cleaned up the area and put more towels down for me to lay on. And we started again only this time I told her not to put anything on my back that wasn't regular massaging oil.

I did get my massage but it was anything but relaxing. Feeling my skin burning the whole time pretty much killed any relaxing mood. The whole time I wondering how burnt my skin was. And let me tell you, when hot water/oil pours down over the side of your boob it hurts!!! You don't realize how sensitive that area is until something like this happens.

After she was done and left the room I looked at my arm and breast. My arm seemed ok. It was just red but my boob didn't look good or feel good at all. It wasn't a 3rd degree burn but I bet it was a 2nd degree burn. After I got dressed I told the girl I wanted to fill out an accident report. I wasn't leaving there without it being noted what happened. No one was really sure what to do or what paper I needed to fill out. After a few minutes they found it and I wrote down what happened.

The accident report paper was so stupid. No place to write my personal information in case they needed to contact me. But don't worry, I wrote it in there. They did ask me numerous times if I needed medical attention and while it hurt like a SOB I knew that it wasn't bad enough for EMTs to come look at it. After I filled out the paper I told them I wanted my massage compensated. Then they really weren't sure what to do so after a few more minutes they had me talk to someone. I'm not sure who this person was. I'm assuming she worked for Disney even though the Health Center is owned by the Niki Bryan Spa company. She arrived minutes later to make sure I was alright and she comped BOTH massages. Which was wonderful!!

I will say this though, I am very disappointed that no one called me the next day or even a week later to make sure I was ok. I had to find burn cream and gauze pads for it and it was kinda hard to lay on that side for awhile. And the kicker is 3 months later it still feels funky and there is still a mark on the side of my boob. Lesson learned: never let anyone else give you a massage!

In Memory of Harley

2010-03-21T14:47:00.002-04:00

It's funny how the world works...on January 9th I finish my 3rd half marathon, the 10th was my birthday and I was spending it in WDW and on the 11th we had to make the decision to put our dog, Harley to sleep. Hardest part about making the decision was that we weren't even home but still in WDW. You see, we were to fly home on the 11th but I had become sick the day before and didn't feel fit for flying. So in the process of me being sick and trying to get a room for another night, Erin was talking to my mom, the vet and Craig, the guy that cares for the dogs while we are away. Craig and Erin had talked for 2 days prior about how she wasn't eating or going to the bathroom. He had to hand feed her to get her to eat. So by Monday she was really bad and felt that she should go to the vet. Long story short, mom and Craig had to take her to the vet and "do the deed".

This is the second time mom has "killed" one of my dogs.....inside joke. It is funny though because Cassidy doesn't know that grammy was at the vet with Harley. So anytime mom gets out of line I threaten to tell Cassidy that grammy killed her dog. That usually works.

She drove us crazy with her grunting sounds; her "talking" in the car and her snoring at night. But I miss all that now. I miss her curling up in my legs when I was on the couch and how she kept my feet warm at night. I miss how she would get excited when I got home from work. Heck, she would get excited when I would just go out and get the mail. But most of all I miss the Harley Sue kisses.

Enjoy the little show I put together for her.

Make a digital slideshow

PETS

2010-02-11T20:55:00.002-05:00

My mom sent me this and I thought it was cute. So I wanted to share it with you.

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE PETS, THIS IS A TRUE STORY.

FOR THOSE THAT DON'T, IT IS A TRUE STORY.

The following was found posted very low on a refrigerator door.

Dear Dogs and Cats: The dishes with the paw prints are yours and contain your food.

The other dishes are mine and contain my food.

Placing a paw print in the middle of my plate and food does not stake a claim for it becoming your food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest.

The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack.

Racing me to the bottom is not the object.

Tripping me doesn't help because I fall faster than you can run.

I cannot buy anything bigger than a king sized bed.

I am very sorry about this.

Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort, however.

Dogs and cats can actually curl up in a ball when they sleep.

It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other, stretched out to the fullest extent possible.

I also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out on the other end to maximize space is nothing but sarcasm.

For the last time, there is no secret exit from the bathroom!

If, by some miracle, I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, meow, try to turn the knob or get your paw under the edge in an

attempt to open the door.

I must exit through the same door I entered. Also, I have been using the bathroom for years - canine/feline attendance is not required.

The proper order for kissing is: Kiss me first, then go smell the other dog or cat's butt. I cannot stress this enough.

Finally, in fairness, dear pets, I have posted the following message on the front door:

TO ALL NON-PET OWNERS WHO VISIT AND LIKE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT OUR PETS:

(1) They live here. You don't.

(2) If you don't want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture. That's why they call it 'fur'-niture.

(3) I like my pets a lot better than I like most people.

(4) To you, they are animals. To me, they are adopted sons/daughters who are short, hairy, walk on all fours and don't speak clearly.

Remember, dogs and cats are better than kids because they:

(1) eat less,

(2) don't ask for money all the time,

(3) are easier to train,

(4) normally come when called,

(5) never ask to drive the car,

(6) don't hang out with drug-using people;

(7) don't smoke or drink,

(8) don't want to wear your clothes,

(9) don't have to buy the latest fashions,

(10) don't need a gazillion dollars for college and

(11) if they get pregnant, you can sell their children ...

Where's the light?

2010-01-24T10:38:00.002-05:00

I know it's been a long time since I posted a picture of a light. Sorry, I'm a slacker! Hopefully I can get back to playing this little game again. And I also hope I can remember where I took the pictures at.

Where is this light from?

Marathon Weekend 2010

2010-01-17T16:07:00.002-05:00

There is only one word to sum up Disney Marathon Weekend 2010: COLD!! I hope I am never at Disney when it's that cold ever again. It really throws you off. I didn't do as many things as I would've liked to and I didn't take nearly as many pictures either. Walking around on crutches didn't help either and either did ending up sick by Sunday. It was an odd kind of trip but still a good one.

Highlights from Thursday:
*Marathon Expo
*Running into Erin's cousin in Epcot
*Drinking around World Showcase
*Seeing Tigger (of course)
*Dinner at Teppan Edo
*We Wants The Redhead meet at Jellyrolls

Highlights from Friday:
*Rope drop at The Studios
*One Man's Dream
*Mitch crashing my wheelchair into a pole at the Great Movie Ride
*Streetmasphere messing around with Erin
*The KT tape booth at the expo
*Lapu Lapu's with Mitch
*Dinner at 'Ohanas with my friends

Highlights from Saturday:
*SNOW in Orlando
*Being able to run 3 miles before my leg started bothering me
*Rum shot at the 5k mark
*Doing the half marathon with Mitch and Chuck (I couldn't have done it without them)
*Mitch dragging me up heartbreak hill
*Finishing my 2nd WDW half marathon
*Being so cold that I couldn't even text
*Hoop Dee Doo and Crockett's Tavern
*Trying to walk on crutches drunk. Don't recommend trying that.

Highlights from Sunday:
*Massage at Boardwalk that ended up giving me a bad burn on my body. Hot water bag broke on me and water ran down over my side. Not a pleasant feeling.
*Moving to Kidani Village with savannah view
*Beaches and Cream lunch with Mary Jo and the gang after her awesome Goofy Challenge!
*Birthday dinner at Sanaa. I love my friends!!

Highlights from Monday:
*There are none! I was so sick by Monday that I couldn't fly home. We checked out of Kidani and moved over to Pop Century for a night. I stayed in bed all day while Erin went and hung out with Mojo.

It was a great weekend with some amazing memories! I hope you enjoy the slideshow.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

2009 Disney Year In Review

2009-12-31T13:17:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year Everyone!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The Results Are In...

2009-12-23T18:22:00.002-05:00

After I updated the blog earlier today the doctor called to tell me my results. Looks like I have a stress fracture. I'm not too thrilled that I was told I couldn't train for the race anymore. BUT that doesn't mean that I'm not doing the race. As of right now, I plan on starting the race that day. If I finish, I finish. If not, then I will just hide in my room for the rest of the day with The Captain.

It's hard to know what the doctor is going to tell me to do since I don't see him until January 6th, the day before I arrive in WDW. But I do know that crutches are in my future. I wonder if I can get on the rides faster with them?

Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers over the next 2 weeks.

I needed a good laugh

2009-12-23T13:21:00.004-05:00

If you've been following me on Facebook you'll know that I've been having a problem with my right leg hurting. The MRI showed what appears to be fluid in my femur bone. So yesterday I had a bone and cat scan done on it. Having this pain has really hindered my training for the half marathon in Walt Disney World but thanks to a truly wonderful friend I think I'll get through it. Or at least he thinks I will.

Check out his blog to see how he plans on getting me through the race. It's pretty funny!

http://madhatter77.blogspot.com/2009/12/2-weeks-and-4-days.html

Leave a comment and tell him the redhead sent ya!

4 weeks and counting!!

2009-12-12T08:00:00.003-05:00

I think something fell from the sky and clunked me on the head because 4 weeks from now I'll be participating (notice how I didn't say running) in the Walt Disney World Half Marathon again. But at least I won't be going it alone, I've conned another friend into doing it with me. It'll be his first half marathon so hopefully he'll enjoy it as much as I enjoyed my first.

In preparing for this, I started thinking back to how I got ready for the last one and what I learned in the past. Obviously, I didn't learn to stop doing these crazy things!

The first link is from a previous blog post. It's What I Learned From Marathon Weekend.

http://wewantstheredhead.blogspot.com/2009/01/what-i-learned-from-marathon-weekend.html

The second link is a guide that a friend of mine over at Running Of The Ears put together. Print it out and read over it. There is a ton of great information in it.

http://www.runningoftheears.com/images/WDW-MarathonTips.pdf

I would like to add to pack your running shoes, clothes, anything you want on race day into your carry on. You don't want to end up at the airport with no luggage and realize that all your gear was in your suitcase. Or if you don't have room, ship it down UPS so you can track it. Make sure you give it more than enough time to get there. And remember that UPS will be closed New Years Day so if you're in California make sure you allow enough time. I've done this before, not with my clothes but with my extras. In the past, I've shipped G2, Power Bars, blankets, hat, pretty much anything that wasn't going to fit in my suitcase or that I didn't want to take up space with.

Remember, race day is different than a training day. Your adrenaline is pumping and there is about 20,000 or more people around you. How you feel and how you run on a training day will differ on race day. I know last year I ended up with some bad blisters at mile 3 and the whole time I trained I never had one blister. So be prepared! Pack all the essentials. Better to have it and never use it than need it later. That means extra safety pins, band aids, moleskin, first aid tape, Ace bandages, pain relievers, Imodium ( you never know what can happen that morning). If you think you need it...PACK IT! Especially different shoes for afterwards. Take your sandals or flip flops. You're feet will love that after a 13 or 26 mile race that they aren't stuffed in sneakers.

The biggest thing to remember is TO HAVE FUN!!! You're friends aren't going to care what your time is or what place you came in. As long as you have fun doing what you're doing, that's all that matters! That should be a warning to my friend, we're going to have so much fun that you're head is going to explode!

Here Comes Belsnickle

2009-12-03T18:36:00.002-05:00

Belsnickle is a French/German tradition that celebrates the feast of St. Nicholas on December 6. Belsnickle is what I call a pre-Santa/ little helper elf who checks on kids about 3 weeks before Christmas. Kids put their shoes out the night of December 5, and Belsnickle fills them with candy or coal depending on how you are behaving.

When I was a child, Belsnickle would come and visit in person. He would bang on the door and scary the crap out of me and my step-brother. He looked like Santa but was a lot meaner than Santa. He would ask if we were being good and if he knew we weren't he would shake his switch at us. One year he scared the dog so badly she peed on my mom. And another year he wanted me to give up my blanket. Needless to say, I still have my blanket and it was many years afterwards until I put it away. Before he would leave he would give us a little gift and tell us to be good and to go to our rooms to think about how we can listen to our parents better. It wasn't until years later that I realized we did this so we wouldn't see him drive off in his truck. And I also found out that dad would leave a bottle of Jack in the garage for him.

The tradition still carries on today. Sadly, he has only shown up in person one year for Cassidy but she still knows he's watching because he puts something in our shoes every year. He even found us in WDW last year. And every year Cassidy tries to put her biggest shoe out in hoped that he'll fill it up. She even tries to use Erin's boots but we tell her he knows who's shoes belong to who and that's not going to work.

If you don't already do this, maybe try it this year and start a new tradition in your family.

Tower of Terror 13k

2009-11-14T16:59:00.003-05:00

On October 24th I participated in Disney's Tower of Terror 13k race. This is a night race and started at 10:30. Cassidy was with me for the race but was too young to do it. So she got to be my biggest fan and cheer me on. Sadly, this was the last year for this race. I really would've like to have done it again too since I ended up having an issue half way through it. You see, we ate a late lunch and I wasn't hungry before the race. But I did eat a PowerBar about an hour before it started. Well, about mile 4 or before I suddenly got really hungry. Hungry to the point I felt shaky and needed some sugar. I kept going and at one point a friend of mine was handing out water. I asked her if she had anything to eat and thank goodness she gave me a handful of nuts. This helped but only for a little bit. I could feel myself getting more and more tired since I had no energy. I was grateful when we entered Hollywood Studios because I knew the end of the race was near. I think those were the 2 longest miles ever.

My friend, Bonnie stayed with me the whole time and our friend, Andy caught up to us in The Studios. We all crossed the finish line together and when I raised my arms up my cell phone and Ipod fell out. I found my phone but not my Ipod. Cassidy and April were at the finish line and when I told them a volunteer had overheard me and sent her husband and son back to look for it. Thanks goodness they found it!! I was hoping that whoever found it would call me because I had my cell number on it.

After I got my bag, I went and changed clothes and then ran to get some food. A cheeseburger never tasted so good. After my very late midnight snack, we were going to ride Toy Story Mania but there was a 50 minute wait and Cassidy was really cold so we headed back to our warm, comfy bed at Kidani Village.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Have you ever wondered.........

2009-11-08T13:24:00.002-05:00

......if you should be the one in charge of certain aspects of your life and not others? Think about it, your boss makes decisions for you, The President makes decisions for the whole country, your minister/pastor/priest/rabbi decides what is best for the congregation, the Senate decides what laws we should follow but what do WE decide? When do we get to have a say in how things should be? Maybe instead of electing or choosing representatives we should get a vote in every major decision made. Granted, I know what a pain in the ass that would be but sometimes don't you want to have a say in how something turns out? And I'm just not talking about political decisions, I mean many decisions, work, home, church......

So what do you think? Do you want to make your decisions or have someone do it for you?

Grim Grinning Ghosts Come Out To Socialize

2009-10-14T19:38:00.002-04:00

I'm skipping day 5 of our trip and going right into the Haunted Mansion 40th Anniversary Event. I've never been to a Disney event like this before so I wasn't sure what to think. I think it was amazing, but then again, it doesn't take much to make me happy. I'm not going to go into all the details of the event but I'll list some highlights for you:

*Meeting Jim Shore. This isn't the first time I've met him but he's always so friendly.

*Meeting Jason Surrell

*The lecture with Jason Surrell, Kim Irvine and Tony Baxter.

*Seeing Alice Davis and X Atencio

*The "wedding" of Constance and George.

*Seeing Phineas, Gus and Ezra. Too bad I didn't get to have a picture taken with them.

*The food wasn't too bad, but I think I liked the cake the best.

*The highlight of all highlights was when X Atencio sang a part of Grim Grinning Ghosts. I found a clip of it on You Tube. Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2njZd-US4Nc

I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Our Disneyland Adventure: Day 4

2009-10-07T17:41:00.007-04:00

I'm finding it hard to put into words our experience at Club 33. First of all, to be lucky enough to even dine there (for 4 hours) was amazing. The moment we walked through the door we didn't want to leave. Ever inch of Club 33 was gorgeous and the staff was so friendly. It seemed that once you get a job there, you never leave. Our waitress has been there for 26 years and the top person has been there for 40 years. While we didn't see any famous people, we heard wonderful stories about John Lassiter and others. It was nice that you could go out on the balcony and take pictures and enjoy the view. Plus, laughing at the people below you that weren't in Club 33 was fun too (ha ha).

I owe a HUGE thank you to someone that I've never met before but sprinkled me with some pixie dust and made a dream come true. I won't mention his name but THANK YOU, you are a wonderful person! I hope we get to meet someday...maybe at Club 33 (wink, wink)

You know by reading this blog that I'm not a great writer. So I thought the best thing to do is to copy here what is printed on the History Sheet.

Club 33, Royal Street, New Orleans Square, Disneyland

The colorful realism and the precise architectural detail of New Orleans Square in Disneyland captures the atmosphere of the nineteenth-century New Orleans French Quarter. Glancing upwards to the second balcony and the ornate iron railings hung with flowers, one would hardly guess that they surround the little-known but quite elegant Club 33.

Years ago, Walt Disney felt that a special place was needed where he could entertain visiting dignitaries and others in a quiet, serene atmosphere where superb cuisine and distinctive decor would complement one another. He asked artist Dorothea Redmond to provide watercolor renderings of what such a place might look like. Accompanied by renowned decorator Emil Kuir, Walt and his wife traveled to New Orleans to select many of the beautiful antiques that are on display. After years of planning, Club 33 became a reality on June 15, 1967. Sadly enough it was never seen by its creator because of his untimely death six months earlier.

Club 33, so named after its address, 33 Royal Street, is comprised of two dining rooms and several adjoining areas, all of which hold a wide array of magnificent antiques and original works of art. After ascending in the French lift to the second floor, guests enter into The Gallery. Here they find interesting items such as an oak telephone booth with beveled leaded glass panels adapted from the one used int he Disney motion picture "The Happiest Millionaire" and a rare console table which was found in the French Quarter of New Orleans. In The Gallery, as elsewhere in the Club, are many original works by Disney artists and sketches done as design studies for New Orleans Square and the Pirates of the Caribbean attractions.

The Gallery leads into Lounge Alley which serves as a vestibule and also the buffet for the Main Dining Room and Trophy Room. One wall displays several conceptual sketches of New Orleans Square, and directly across from these sketches is a custom-designed harpsichord decorated with a hand-painted scene depicting New Orleans harbor in the nineteenth century. The furnishings are a combination of antique and reproduction pieces.

The Main Dining Room is decorated in First Empire, recalling the era of Napoleon and the early nineteenth century. Three glimmering chandeliers and wall sconces illuminate the entire room. Much of the framed artwork on the walls is again, the work of Disney artists. Fresh flowers, parquet floors and antique bronzes create an atmosphere of serenity and warmth.

The Disney Room is the second dining room and offers a more informal atmosphere. The design of the room incorporates the use of microphones in the center of each chandelier and a vulture with the ability to speak. Walt Disney's intention for this concept was humorous in nature, as the vulture was to converse with guests during dinner. The pictorial time line that blankets the east wall offers an intimate view of Walt's life and highlights of Disneyland history. Brass plaques on each picture name the scene.

Today, Club 33 functions as an exclusive private club where members or their guests may enjoy a gourmet meal complemented by the finest wines. Tradition, accompanied by gracious hospitality, has been the hallmark of Club 33 since its opening day...and will continue to be for many years to come.

The history sheet refers to the second dining room as The Disney Room but I was told that it was called The Trophey Room. I'm not sure when the name changed or how up-to-date the history sheet is. If you would like to know more about Club 33 you can visit a nice website I found: http://www.disneylandclub33.com/ Here you'll find some fun facts and more photos.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Our Disneyland Adventure: Day 3

2009-10-04T10:45:00.001-04:00

Day 3 brought about the half marathon and the We Wants The Redhead meet. I already blogged about the half marathon and posted a slide show about it.

After the half marathon, we met up with some friends at Storyteller's Cafe for brunch. This is where I met Mark Taylor. Mr. Taylor was the country club manager in High School Musical 2. He was very nice and had also ran the half marathon.

But the second best thing about the day was my first We Wants The Redhead Meet. I handed out buttons and Blow Pops to everyone that attended. There was about 18 of us that meet up to ride Pirates. And then Jonathan picked up 2 more strangers in line to join our group. I asked the CM nicely if he could put us in 2 boats by ourselves but he wouldn't do it so he put all us together in one boat.

Let me just say that I was in the front row and when we went down the first drop it was like being on Splash Mountain. Needless to say, we laughed, we sang and had a pirates life.
Thanks to everyone that came! I really appreciate your support!

Coming up next: Day 4...mom's first ride on any Space Mountain and CLUB 33!!

Our Disneyland Adventure: Day 2

2009-10-01T19:36:00.002-04:00

You would think that after being up for almost 22 hours one would sleep in. NOPE! Thanks to the time difference I was wide awake at 6 am. I turned on the TV in hopes that I would fall back to sleep. Instead I got up and checked my email and Facebook page. Next time I'm rolling over and going back to sleep.

Here are the highlights from Day 2 (Saturday)

*I went to the expo to pick up my race packet while mom finished getting ready and ate breakfast. Getting my race packet was easy except for the part when the guy didn't give me my waiver back and I had to go back to get it to get my shirt. This would be easy if everything was on the same level but it wasn't. You picked your packets up in the "basement" of the Disneyland Hotel and the rest of the expo was upstairs. At least when I went back the guy remembered and knew he had it.

*If you are there to participate in the Coast to Coast challenge go to packet pick up the first day. When I went to buy a shirt they were sold out the first day and that was all they had. I can't believe that over 1,000 people did the challenge and the only item they sold was a t-shirt. What about the pins and magnets??? Disney dropped the ball on this one!

*After I had my packet, I ran it back to the room where I met mom in the hallway. Then we went shopping at DTD for awhile. I picked up a cute dress, a few gifts and a photo album.

*Then we went to DCA and shopped some more. Actually, I had been looking for the Haunted Mansion version of the Game of Life and found it in DCA. After lunch we went ran into Mickey and Minnie. The CM with Minnie commented on my redhead tattoo. Minnie wasn't too happy that I didn't have a tattoo of her. Sorry Minnie!

*We made our way to Monsters Inc. This ride is very cute. So much so that we rode it twice.

*Next was the Aladdin stage show. If you are ever in DCA you MUST see this show. It was amazing!! I wish we could've gone back to see it again. Genie is hilarious!

*After the show we walked around DCA a little and then headed out. We were meeting up with a few new running friends of mine at Mimi's Cafe. On the way there we found the best thing... PEPSI!! Let's just say we stocked up.

*Dinner at Mimi's was so much fun. I think there was about 20 or more of us there and Jeff, our host, was great. He had prizes and gifts for everyone. Thanks Jeff!! You rock!!

*After dinner it was time to call it a night. I wanted to get my race stuff ready for the next day and get to bed early.

Coming up Day 3: race day and the We Wants The Redhead meet!

Our Disneyland Adventure: Day 1

2009-09-28T20:12:00.003-04:00

I posted about the race and did a Disneyland slide show so I thought now is the time to start telling you about my trip. I'll try and keep it short and simple, just highlighting on what mom and I did while we were there. (See mom, I mentioned you already).

Day 1:

*Flight out of Pittsburgh around 9 am with a layover in Phoenix. Phoenix airport is HUGE and of course after we got to our gate they changed it and we had to trek all the way back to where we started (or just about). The worse part was that no airport at all had any Pepsi! What is this world coming to.

*Arrived in sunny, hot Anaheim at 11:45 and jumped on the Super Shuttle. And then the culture shock kicked in. I should not be able to see Space Mountain while sitting at the Ramada Inn. After a few stops, we arrived at Disney's Grand Californian Resort. The doors alone were gorgeous and so was our room. We were in room 5152.

*After changing we walked through Disney's California Adventure (known as DCA from here on out). You can enter DCA from The Grand, which is nice. We stopped by Guest Relations to pick up our Fantasmic Dessert Party tickets for the night and received our 1st visit buttons and Disneyland Honorary Citizen buttons.

*We left DCA and walked over to Disneyland. It's amazing how close together these parks really are. Closer than it looks on any map. The minute I crossed through the Disneyland (known as DL from now on) gate I started to tear up. I was thrilled to be where Walt had once been; to see where it began and to feel his presence. It's hard to put into words what I was feeling at that moment, but for those of you that have been there you probably have a good idea of what I'm talking about. I think the only thing that stopped me from a full out crying fest was that I looked at the castle and said "Holy cow, the castle is small."

*The first place we headed to was Pirates, of course. Actually, mom had to stop along the way and make the trips first purchase. We pretty much walked onto Pirates. I was so excited. I had heard how much better it was than WDW and now I was going to see for myself. Let's just say this: PIRATES IS FREAKIN' AWESOME!!! And I'm going to leave it at that.

*After Pirates, we ate at the Blue Bayou. We split a Monte Cristo. I will say it wasn't bad but I don't think it's something I would order again. Sandwiches shouldn't be deep fried. Then it was time to find my favorite T-I-DOUBLE-GRR!! We didn't find him but we did find Pooh and Eeyore. And then rode Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. I know many people hate the fact that Pooh took over Mr. Toad's place in WDW but I really enjoy the ride. And the one in DL is better than in WDW. Maybe if they would refurb the one in WDW people wouldn't be so upset about it. Who am I kidding, yes they still would.

*We couldn't believe how early people were lining up for Fantasmic. They had their spots held with blankets for hours before the show. I'm actually surprised Disney allows that.

*We walked around for a few hours trying to get the lay of the land. It's hard going into a new place when you are use to being able to walk around and know where everything is. I'm thankful my friend, Lee, came to spend time with us on Sunday and Monday. He was like our personal tour guide. It was great!

*We checked in for the dessert party and then rode the train around the loop. That actually took longer than we thought it was going to and by the time we got back the place was packed with people waiting for Fantasmic. We got to where we needed to be for the party about 5 mins. before it started. The dessert box they give you has a nice variety of cheeses and desserts. Mom and I were smart and only opened one to share and saved the other one to snack on a different day. They offered you pop, water, coffee and tea to drink. I was nice to have a place to sit and not worry about waiting for hours to hold a spot. The only down side was that in front of us was a railing so it obstructed the view a little. Fantasmic was amazing and the dragon was to die for!! I'm so glad the dragon was working when were there. Our attendant told us we could stay there for the fireworks. The view wasn't bad. We could still see Tink and Dumbo flying.

*Once Fantasmic was over and we fought the crowds out of the park it was time to go back to The Grand and crash!! We figured with the time difference we had been awake for almost 22 hours. YIKES! I needed my beauty sleep...it's hard being a redheaded pirate on only a few hours of sleep!

Disneyland Slide Show

2009-09-20T20:59:00.001-04:00

It's kinda long but I hope you enjoy it.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Disneyland Half Marathon

2009-09-16T19:58:00.003-04:00

I'll start my Disneyland trip report with the main reason I went to Disneyland in the first place, the Disneyland Half Marathon. The marathon was held on September 6th at 6:00 am. The day started out at 3 am for mom and I. I had set the alarm for 3:30 but knew I'd end up waking up before it. I took my time getting ready and relaxing before leaving to meet up with some friends before the race. I met up with some Team Voicers under the hat outside the Disneyland Hotel. We walked over to the start together but not before stopping by the porta-potties first. Better off going before than having to go a mile into the race. We, then headed over to our corrals. I think each of us were in difference corrals, so we said our good lucks and went our separate ways. I was in Corral D and by the time I got there it was packed so myself and a bunch of others stood to the side of it until they opened it up. This was a great advantage because when it opened we ended up at the front of it. That's good to give you that extra cushion of time you may need.

The first wave of runners went and then we moved up. By the time we got close to the starting line they were counting down the seconds. No time to rest, let's get going! I was feeling good so I started off with a great pace. My first mile was 11 minutes, which for me is good considering I hadn't really trained much for it. The first 2 miles are what I would call "on Disney property". We started in Downtown Disney and then ran through DCA and Disneyland. Of course, I had to stop and take some pictures with the characters. Some characters were with parade floats; while others were in their respected lands. I think my favorite story from the whole race happened just after exiting Disneyland. We were running backstage when I saw a few CMs taking a break at a picnic table. So I run over to them and sit down. They chuckled a little and I asked them what was going on. They said "Not much. What have you been doing lately?" I replied with "You know, just running around." They proceeded to bust out laughing. I said my good-byes and off I went.

After the course leaves the park you pretty much just run around Anaheim. Not much to look at. A few gas stations, some bands and cheerleaders and people cheering along the way. Around Mile 8 you get to the Honda Center and just past Mile 9 comes Angel Stadium. Running through Angel Stadium was pretty cool. When you enter the stadium you hear people cheering in the stands. There were Boy Scouts and their families cheering you on and squirting you with water bottles. Which felt pretty good. This seemed to have given me a burst of energy. Well, that and the sports beans I had just eaten. The bad thing about running through the stadium was that I got dirt/sand in my sneakers. So I had to stop and clean them out. Which isn't fun when you know you have a blister starting.

After Angel Stadium you are back running the streets of Anaheim until Mile 12, then you enter DCA again. I don't know why but for some reason that last mile seemed to be really long. It could be because by then my back was really hurting. My legs felt fine and my blister wasn't feeling that bad but boy did my back hurt. Seeing Deb Wills from AllEars helped my feel a little better and knowing that my mom was at the finish line helped too. It wasn't much longer that I passed the 13 mile marker and saw the finish line. But I got side tracked when I saw Chip and Dale. I had to stop and give them a hug before crossing which made a volunteer yell at me to keep running. So I didn't get my great photo finish when I crossed but that's ok because all that matters is that I did it!!

After crossing I got a little emotional, thanking God for watching over me on my journey. When they put my 1/2 marathon medal around my neck I got choked up but when I got my Coast to Coast medal I was pretty much in tears. This is what I set out to do. This is what I wanted most. And once I received it, it was hard holding back those tears. After I received my medals I went to get my photo taken and get a snack. Bottles of water, Power Ade, bagels, bananas and oranges were in the tent. I did notice that in WDW they have the oranges cut in baggies already but in DL, the orange was whole. Who wants to take the time to peel an orange. So I grabbed a bottle of water and a bagel and went to find mom.

Mom was right there when I entered the family reunion area. She hugged me and all I said was that I wanted to get back to the room. The pain in my back was pretty bad and I wanted to get a shower, something to eat and some Tylenol. Although walking back to the room was fun. I was acting like my medals were pretty heavy and I was bent over really far. It actually helped my back feel a little better.

This was the race that I decided that I would try taking an ice bath. Mom stopped for some ice and I put on my yoga pants and got into the tub with the cold water running. It wasn't that bad until she added the ice. Holy cow was that cold!!! It's hard relaxing when you're body is shivering. To help pass the time, I called Cassidy to tell her I finished. She was so happy and said she couldn't wait to see my medals. Mom gave me a few snacks while I "chilled out." After about 10 minutes I had enough of that. I warmed up a little bit before getting my shower. Overall, I think the ice bath helped my legs recover better than without it. But that doesn't mean I'd be willing to do it again.

In a later post I'll compare the WDW and the Disneyland half marathons. But for now I hope you enjoy the slide show I put together for you.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I know, I know....

2009-09-15T15:33:00.002-04:00

I'm a bad blogger and didn't update the blog while I was away or since I've been back. I'm trying to sort through over 1000 photos so that I can put a slideshow together for you guys. I am hoping to at least blog about the half marathon before the end of the week.

I can tell you that I did finish and I am now the PROUD owner of a Disneyland half marathon medal and a Coast to Coast medal. I think my back still hurts from wearing them. Man, are they heavy!

Just to clarify

2009-09-02T18:14:00.003-04:00

It has been brought to my attention that when I've been posting about Disneyland that I keep saying "I" instead of "WE".

SORRY MOM!!!!

My mom is joining me on this journey to California. It's her first trip too and I think she's even more excited about going than I am. She has a binder full of DL information that she's been dragging around for the last few months. I think if she packs it she'll be over weight without even putting clothes in her suitcase.

So from now on if I say "I just rode Pirates" remember that it's "We just rode Pirates."

Who wants to meet a Princess?

2009-09-01T16:41:00.004-04:00

My friend, Princess Fiona is having a meet and greet after the half marathon on Sunday. Stop by and say HI to her and tell her the redhead sent ya. Visit her blog at http://df82.blogspot.com/

It's the final countdown!!!

2009-08-30T12:22:00.002-04:00

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??

2009-08-24T18:45:00.002-04:00

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......

2009-08-23T10:20:00.004-04:00

.....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

2009-08-18T19:24:00.002-04:00

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.

2009-08-10T18:40:00.003-04:00

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!!

2009-08-06T09:06:00.003-04:00

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!!

Jonas Brothers ROCK!!

2009-07-28T17:39:00.004-04:00

On Saturday, July 25th I took Cassidy to the Jonas Brothers concert in Pittsburgh, PA. We arrived at Mellon Arena around 5:20 or so. The doors were scheduled to open at 5:30. Radio Disney was there doing tattoos and playing Jonas Brothers music. There was a group of girls by the Radio Disney tent singing and dancing around. It was kinda funny because they didn't care who was watching them or who they ran into. We lined up to get in -5:30 comes and goes - 5:45 comes and goes. We start wondering what was going on that they weren't opening the doors. 6:00 comes and goes and then no long after that the doors opened. There were a lot of people waiting outside to get in but surprisingly we got through the gate pretty fast.

First thing we did was buy a program and then went upstairs and bought our shirts and something to drink. Since I bought our tickets off of Ebay I couldn't wait to see where our seats were going to be. Knowing the area you are going to be in is one thing but actually getting to your seat and seeing how close you really are is totally different. We were on the floor in section 31, row O and seats 1 & 2. I knew our row was by the catwalk but wasn't sure if we'd be beside the catwalk or on the end. Unfortunately we weren't beside the catwalk but we were only about 20 seats away from it. I thought that was pretty cool (and so did Cassidy).

The first opening act was Honor Society. A new up and coming boys band. They were pretty good. I've never heard of them but by the screams of the teenage girls in the arena they knew who they were. I didn't realize before it was too late but they boys walked right by us to get to the stage. When they were done, we watched for them. Cassidy smacked hands with a few of them. After they all walked by she looked at me and told me she wasn't washing her hand again.

Next came a group of girls from South Korea called Wonder Girls. They sang one song and that was it. It wasn't a bad song but I'm not sure why they only sang one and were done. Only thing I can figure out is that they are trying to make it big off the Jo Bros. Not a bad plan but I would've rather had Honor Society or the Jonas Brothers on stage for the amount of time they were on stage.

American Idol winner, Jordan Sparks headed to the stage next. By the time I realized she walked by it was too late to snap a picture of her. Right away you could see why this girl was the American Idol winner from season 6. She's got a great set of lungs on her. She be-bopped around the stage with lots of energy. She could really put on a show. I love her song, Tattoo and Cassidy actually let me sing along to it. I think Cassidy got to touch her hand when she walked by after her set.

The stage crew was getting the stage ready for the Jo Bros when these big equipment containers wheeled past us. I thought there was guitars and other instruments in them. Suddenly there were screams behind us. We're not sure what happened but suddenly another equipment container started coming past us and people were pounding on it. One of the guys was in there! How crazy is it that they have to hide to get to the stage. About 10 minutes or so later, the lights started to come down and We Will Rock You started playing. The crowd started going wild! I was screaming! Cassidy was screaming! Everyone was screaming! And before we knew it, there they were:

THE JONAS BROTHERS!!!

Bad thing about being on the floor is that all the teenage girls in front of us stood on their seats to see. So I told Cassidy to get on the seat so she could see. Didn't totally help since they were also on their seats but she could see a little better. Even at one point I stood on the chair to take pictures. After awhile the security people came around and told them to get off the chairs. I thanked them for doing so. But of course within 10 minutes they did it again. I wish someone would've asked Joe to say something like "we love our fans and we don't want to see you get hurt so please don't stand on the chairs." At least maybe they would've listened to him, but I doubt it.

I knew these guys were good but you don't realize how talented they are until you see them perform live. Nick has more talent in his little finger than I do in my whole body. While on stage he sang, played the guitar, drums and piano. He talked about having diabetes and not letting it slow him down. If you truly believe in something don't let anything stand in your way of achieving it. Amen to that!

Cool things happened during the concert. At one point they hosed down half the arena with fire hoses and there was a cool waterfall at our end of the catwalk. Jordan and Honor Society joined the guys on stage for the last song. We could tell the end of the concert was coming when these big security guys came by and started holding a rope to hold us back. The Jonas Brothers were going to walk past us. I don't know why they thought they needed the rope. What did they think we were going to do to them? Tear their clothes off and kiss them? Oh wait, never mind!

They did walk by with about 3 bodyguards over top them each. We stuck our hands out but I'm not sure if we touched them or not. I know I touched Jordan when she walked by again and the Honor Society guys. BUT if you ask Cassidy she will tell you that she touched them. I'll let her believe that since I don't have the heart to tell her it was most likely a bodyguard she touched.

Overall, the concert was simply amazing! I'd go see them again in a heartbeat! I put together a slideshow form the concert. It doesn't even come close to being there but I hope you enjoy it.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Magic Meets Dream Team Auction

2009-07-22T08:31:00.005-04:00

Many of you know that I am a proud member of the WDWRadio Dream Team. This past weekend some of us gathered at Pat's house in Long Island and wrapped the auction lots for the auction that will be held at Magic Meets. Even though we were stuck in her basement for hours it's always great fun getting to spend time with friends. Enjoy the small slideshow.

Check out the Dream Team blog to view the awesome lots we have in store for this year.

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

Make a Smilebox photobook

WARNING! This is not pretty!

2009-07-21T20:47:00.004-04:00

No one ever likes the healing process of a tattoo. It looks ugly! Well, for some reason my new tattoo is being stubborn. It's swollen, irritated AND ugly. I've never had a tattoo react this way. For about 5 days it hurt to walk. It was really odd. One minute it would feel fine and the next pain was shooting through it. One day I had some ice on it for about 5 minutes and when I got up the pain shot through it so bad I thought I had broken my ankle. I couldn't even put any weight on it. But within a minute or two it went away and I was walking around like nothing happened. Like I said, it was odd.

Today it doesn't feel too bad. The swelling has gone down and it's not as red. And walking around doesn't even bother me. But boy, does it look ugly! My skin looks like over cooked bacon.

I gots the redhead!

2009-07-14T17:49:00.004-04:00

Today was the day of the new tattoo. It was a beautiful day..perfect tattooing weather.
I arrived at Tainted Flesh in DuBois, PA a little early. Better early than late. One thing you NEVER want to do is piss off your tattoo artist by being late. After I signed my life away he asked where he was putting it. Originally I was going to put it on my back but then I asked him if he could cover one up with it. He looked at it and said YES!! Woo hoo!! That was great news! Because of the cover up he had to reverse the drawing. That didn't take long to do. I think we finally started around 12:15 or so. I've never had a tat done here before but Bob was very friendly and I was relaxed in no time. We talked about all kinds of things from his kids to dogs to fish piss. Ok, don't ask about the fish piss.

At one point a group of girls/women came in and wanted their belly buttons pierced. There were so many cameras there to take pictures of this event that you would've thought someone famous was getting it done. They were pretty funny. I think there was about 6 of them there. Laughing and snapping pictures. Out of the group of them only 2 of them got pierced. Not really sure why such a big group had to come to witness the event. Oh well! To each their own. They were entertaining.

This actually took longer than I thought. At one point I just wanted it to be done so the pain would stop. Yes, tattoos are painful. And don't let anyone else tell you otherwise. Now some people have a high tolerance of pain and of course it does depend on where you put it. Since this was on my leg it wasn't bad but it still did hurt. Some places more than others. I'm very thankful that it didn't end up going on my back. That really would've hurt---A LOT!!

After 2+ hours she was finally done!!

I'm totally excited about my tat! I can't wait to show it to my Disney peeps!

Tomorrow is the day!!

2009-07-13T17:59:00.004-04:00

Tomorrow is the day I get my next tattoo. I'm really excited about this one. And I totally lucked out and got in on a cancellation. Normally, I'd have to wait a few weeks to get in. It's the redheaded wench concept art from Pirates of the Caribbean that Marc Davis drew.

I've seen this in lighter pinkish shades and then in red shades. I gave my tattoo guy a few pictures to look at. One is from a site I found and the other is in the cd jacket of the POTC ride cd. She has a pouty face in one and is smiling in the other. I'm going with the smiling one.

And the pirate will not be part of the tattoo.......this time!

The Great Iced Mocha Challenge Results

2009-07-05T11:17:00.006-04:00

As I mentioned in a previous post I was going to get an iced mocha from Sheetz and one from McDonalds; both with whipped cream on them. Here are the photos I took.

Sheetz is first and then McDonalds.

Since Sheetz doesn't normally put whipped cream on theirs they don't put much on when you ask.

Hardly any mixing yet, just melting.

More mixing (and a little drinking). Still kinda looks the same to me.

Nothing seems to look like "cottage cheese" to me. What do you think? I will say whatever whipped cream McDonalds uses does seem to be better though.

I have come to the conclusion that Sheetz can offer whipped cream on their mochas without it looking bad. Besides, if it looks bad then that's my decision because I want the whipped cream on it.

Also, my butt got A LOT B I G G E R drinking one of these almost every day for about the last 3 months.

2009-06-18T16:04:00.000-04:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Cassidy's Dance Recital

2009-06-16T15:32:00.006-04:00

This past weekend Cassidy had her 4th dance recital. She danced in 3 dances; ballet, tap and jazz. She had really cute costumes for all of them. We've lucked out every year and never really had an ugly costume. Although, last year she did have a clown wig she had to wear for Annie. I think we burned it the day after the recital was done.

This year's recital was called "Gimme' A Prop". Just about every dance had some type of prop that the girls had to dance with or use somehow. They ranged from glittery musical notes to yoga balls to ladders. Cassidy had to pop out from a flower pot (Spring Fling); had a puzzle piece (We Go Together) and a set of maracas (Jump In The Line).

Cassidy's little lady sitter (Cassidy doesn't want to be referred to as a baby) did her senior solo since she graduated this year. I think I cried through the whole dance. I've know her since she was Cassidy's age, if not younger. I can't image how I'll be when Cassidy does her senior solo years from now.

It gets to be a long weekend with full dress rehearsal one night and two nights of the recital but it's so much fun. Hairspray, make up and glitter = TONS OF FUN!! (and a little rum helped too)

All the girls did an amazing job! I'll be posting a slide show from the weekend in a day or so.

The Great Iced Mocha Challenge

2009-06-09T21:32:00.003-04:00

Hello, my name is Lori and I'm an iced mocha addict. Or I guess I should say any mocha drink in general falls under my addiction. Iced, hot or frozen it doesn't matter just give me one. I usually get my mochas at Sheetz but recently learned that I really like the iced mochas at McDonalds because they put whipped cream on theirs. I think the whipped cream gives it a little extra sweetness. It's pretty much like adding extra creamer in your coffee.

Adding whipped cream to your iced mocha at Sheetz is not an option. So I sent a message asking Sheetz to please make it an option on their menu screens so I could get whipped cream on mine. This was their reply... "Dear Ms. Burke,

Thank you for your request concerning our Sheetz Bros. Coffeez beverages. Unfortunately, since we use real whipped cream, when you put it on a liquid drink like an iced beverage it turns into something that looks like cottage cheese and it not appealing to look at. This is why we do not offer it on our iced drinks. Other companies use a different kind a whipped cream that does not melt. If you still desire to have it on your drink I am sure that if you request it from the person making your drink they will be happy to put it on. We do appreciate your request. Please let us know if there is anything else that we can do for you."

So today I go to McDonalds and get an iced mocha. My friend, Matt, is working and I told him what Sheetz had told me about the real whipped cream. He said that their can says real whipped cream on it too. I know that my mochas from McD don't look like cottage cheese when I mix my whipped cream in. So this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to get one from McDonalds and one from Sheetz and mix in the whipped cream and see what happens.

It may not be this week but some day soon I will do it and post pictures on how they look. But in the meantime, I think I need something cold to drink.

2009-05-25T20:19:00.001-04:00

Cassidy's 2009 Olympics

2009-05-25T20:05:00.004-04:00

Last week Cassidy participated in the school's annual Olympics. Her class was Team Italy. All year long they learn about their country. She loved it when we went to EPCOT and visited the Italy pavilion. She even brought back candy for her class and an Italian Mickey icon antenna topper for her teacher.

Cassidy competed in the long jump, softball toss and the ski team relay. I'm not sure how she placed in the long jump or the softball toss but her team came in 3rd in the ski team relay. The whole class does the tug-a-war competition. This was the year that she decided her class was going to win tug-a-war. In the past, her class has come in 2nd place but she was itching for first place since that is the only place that gets medals. She stood in front of the class last week and told them how they were going to win. Well, they must've listened because they won. She was so happy and excited. I was very proud of her for being so determined. Let's see what happens next year.

Good Boy, Scout!

2009-05-17T16:53:00.004-04:00

About a month ago Cassidy adopted a dog from the Humane Society. He is what everyone would call a designer dog nowadays but what we call a mutt. He's a beagle/golden retriever mix or for the fancy people we say he's a golden beagle. Scout was 9 months old when we got him and was never abused but also never had the attention that a puppy should truly have. He was given up by his previous owners because they had to move into an apartment and couldn't keep him.

Adopting a dog from the Humane Society felt like adopting a child. We had to fill out paper work and even take our other dogs out to meet him to make sure they would get along. After a few minutes of smelling each other they ran around together and played nicely. Max was acting like a pup again which is good considering he's 13 years old and Harley pretty much ignored him after awhile. But then again, she's about 10 lbs. over weight and couldn't keep up to the other two.

Once Scout was home we decided to get a wireless fence for him so he could be loose in the yard. While Erin and I knew this would be wonderful, Cassidy didn't seem to think so after hearing him yelp the first time he got zapped. She ran into the house crying. We could hear her outside crying for about 10 minutes. I thought it was funny, but she didn't think so. But, it only took a few times before he knew where he wasn't allowed to go. And he loves to have his toys outside with him.

Now he stays in the yard and doesn't even bark when someone walks by. But then again, he's not much of a barker. I think he was home for 10 days before he barked for the first time. Now if I can just get him to stop digging in the yard and in the flower bed. Last night he dug a hole that I think he could almost fit in. I should've taken a picture of it to post on here. Oh well, I bet he'll dig another hole for me to take a picture of.

I think he's good for Cassidy. He's HER dog and she loves him very much. They sleep together every night and she's been taking him to puppy class to train him. Now if I could only get the trainer to teach Cassidy to be good.

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-10T12:50:00.003-04:00

A Mother's Love

There are times when only a Mother's love

Can understand our tears,

Can soothe our disappoints

And calm all of our fears.

There are times when only a Mother's love

Can share the joy we feel

When something we've dreamed about

Quite suddenly is real.

There are times when only a Mother's faith

Can help us on life's way

And inspire in us the confidence

We need from day to day.

For a Mother's heart and a Mother's faith

And a Mother's steadfast love

Were fashioned by the Angels

And sent from God above.

Sorry

2009-05-10T12:24:00.002-04:00

I know it's been awhile since I posted anything and I apologize for that. Sometimes personal things happen and take me away from here. The last several weeks have been crazy and it seemed like I just didn't have the energy or ambition to update the blog. I'm hoping now to get back at it more often. I have a few ideas that I want to blog about so that helps me get back in gear.

I hope everyone has been having a great spring so far.

Lori

People Keep Asking Me....

2009-03-23T21:19:00.002-04:00

....am I 23? And I keep replying "No, I'm 36!" Yes, I just admitted my age. No big deal! It doesn't really bother me since people actually think I'm younger than what I really am. Which is fine by me.

But what is 23? Here are a few things that relate to that number:

1. It was the age I was when I got married. (1996)

2. I was also 23 when the Magic Kingdom was celebrating it's 25th anniversary. What a beautiful pink castle cake that was.

3. In 1923, Time magazine hit the news stands.

4. Bob Baker, George Patton IV, Jean Stapleton and Don Adams were born in 1923.

5. Poncho Villa and Sarah Bernhardt passed away in 1923.

6. 23 years ago (1986) I was in 8th grade. Boy, does that seem like a life time ago.

7. In 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrates. I can remember watching it on tv in school that day. I also went to Kennedy Space Center that year and saw where it had launched from. Very sad.

8. My first trip to Walt Disney World was 23 years ago.

9. I participated in Hands Across America the spring of 86'. I think my mom still has a hat from that somewhere.

10. Captain EO opened in 1986. "We Are Here To Change The World"

But most importantly 23 means being part of the Official Community For Disney Fans. Now I won't go into details since so many other blogs and Disney sites have been talking about this for sometime now. I'll provide the link for you: http://d23.disney.go.com/index.html .

And ask......ARE YOU 23?

Back with a vengeance.

2009-03-01T13:56:00.005-05:00

The last time I had spoken to my cousin, Lorien, she had been voted off Passamaquoddy's Survivor. This had really upset her due to the circumstances. But now she is back and madder than ever! She says that revenge will be hers and no one will get in her way. This concern me because the last conversation we had she mentioned something about a new fishing knife that had more power in it than a Hemi.

I guess we'll all have to stay tuned to see what happens.

http://passamaquoddy.blog.com/

It's Here!!

2009-02-18T16:36:00.005-05:00

One day when I was in Walt Disney World in December I saw this gorgeous painting that I really liked. I thought about it for a few days and went back to purchase it only to find it was gone. The artist that painted it was only there for the weekend. Maybe it was a sign that I didn't need it.

While leaving Epcot one day during my trip in January I happened to look over at the Art of Disney store only to find a sign outside that said Larry Dotson was there. Mr. Dotson was the artist that created the painting I wanted in December. I went into the store and found Mr. Dotson there signing some of the smaller prints he had made of the larger paintings. And then I looked to the right and saw it, the painting I wanted in December. I stood there staring at it debating again what I wanted to do. Well, before I knew it I was telling Mr. Dotson that I would like to purchase it. He was very pleasant to talk to and since there are only 95 copies of the painting, I could pick which number I wanted mine to be. Mine is #6.

I won't tell you what I paid for the painting but I was very thankful that I had some birthday gift cards, Visa Rewards cards and my Birthday Fun card to use towards it. And yes, I was to cheap to pay to have them frame it. But that doesn't matter because it's here and I get to enjoy it whether it's in a frame or not.

Mr. Larry Dotson and myself

I would like to add what the COA states: It's a limited edition print on 100% cotton canvas. Each print is signed and numbered by the artist. First the canvas is printed, then it is sealed with a protective coating and then a gel coat is applied giving it texture. Finally, the artist highlights areas with acrylic paint then another coat of clear acrylic is applied. It's digitally printed using 8 color Ultra-Chrome inks. Light fastness of color Ultra-Chrome prints is rated up to 100 years. It measures 15 x 22.

I got a call today from Passamaquoddy

2009-02-16T22:02:00.002-05:00

As you know my cousin, Lorien, is participating in Survivor:Passamaquoddy. I got a call today from her and she informed me about what has been going on lately. While her team survived the first challenge together without any fights she was nervous about the voting process. Long story short both teams tied for the trivia contest but the other team won the tiebreaker question. Which means that Team Sashimi gets to vote off 2 people from Team Pirahna while Team Pirahna gets to vote off one from Team Sashimi. I can tell you that Lorien was voted off and she is not happy about it. In fact, she found out some interesting information she was going to keep to herself but since she's no longer a participate she asked me to spill the beans for her.

It seems that one night while the teams were still in their attractions, Lorien snuck out to spy on the other team. No one knew she had done this until now, not even her own teammates. Now what she overheard when she got to It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World Of Singing Children did not please her. She had overheard George on the phone talking about her and her fish mart. He was telling them things that only she had told him. She couldn't believe her ears. George was a spy for WaleyeMart!!

You see, about 8 months ago George owned a stand next door to the fish mart. He sold 'Fin'nel Cakes there. Lorien and George became friends right away and once in awhile if the finnel cake stand was slow George would go over and help her gut and debone the fish. Sometimes they would even go to Ella's to hang out. One day, not too long ago, he started asked some odd questions about the fish mart. Like, who did she buy the fish mart from, how much did pay,..... Lorien answered his questions because she thought she could trust him. She had already told him that with the economy being down the fish mart wasn't doing too well.

Two weeks before Survivor started Lorien went in to work to find George's stand all boarded up. She didn't know where he went or what had happened. He didn't leave her a note explaining where he went nor did she receive a phone call. About a week before the show started she saw him across the lake just staring at the water. But she didn't go over to him, she just watched from a distance. While she watched him, a strange man appeared. George handed him a folder but she wasn't sure what was in it. Suddenly, he saw her standing there and they both quickly walked away.

Now that Lorien knows that George is a spy for WaleyeMart everything makes sense. The questions, the stranger and the folder. While she was telling me this story I could hear in her voice that she was trying not to cry (I could also hear her chopping up fish.) but sometimes the tears came through. But then those tears turned to anger. I could tell because the sound of the cleaver hitting the clopping block was getting louder. And then suddenly it seemed that she was speaking in some foreign tongue that I didn't recognize. The last thing I heard before the phone went dead was that she was going to take the deboning knife he used to stab her in the back and stab it in his.

I did see that George was voted off too, so hopefully he got out of Passamaquoddy before she got him.

Visit http://passamaquoddy.blog.com/ for all the Survivor updates and details. Tell Glenn that Lori sent ya.

Survivor Passamaquoddy

2009-02-06T19:37:00.002-05:00

I'm not sure if you guys have heard or not but over at Passamaquoddy they are taping Survivor:Passamaquody. Many people signed up to be picked but only a few were chosen. Here are a few that signed up but weren't chosen: Jonas “Scopa” Grumby, Jim Backus and his wife Natalie, Ginger Spice, Rachel Ray and Mel Strumm. Now I'm not sure why they weren't chosen but I do know one thing, my cousin, Lorien was chosen. While I'm not really close with my cousin, Lorien, since she is like a 3rd cousin twice removed, I did promise her that I would blog about the show. See, she is a fishmonger and she fears that WaleyeMart is going to come in and close her business down. She's hoping that the publicity of the show may help save her Fragrant Fish Mart. So please check out Survivor: Passamaquoddy at http://passamaquoddy.blog.com/ .

Also, if you want to see all the contestants check out http://snowytundratraining.blogspot.com/ Jeff has made a little video of them all.

Go Team Piranha!!!

We're Going To Disney World

2009-02-02T17:24:00.002-05:00

Check out this video!! I love the black and gold Mickey balloons!!

http://www.wdwnews.com/ViewVideo.aspx?VideoID=112216

Congrats Steelers!!

Here We Go Steelers! Here We Go!!

2009-02-01T14:31:00.003-05:00

Here we go- Steelers - Here we go! Pittsburgh's going to the Superbowl!!

I wouldn't call myself a crazed football fan. I like to watch games once in awhile and I'm always checking the scores of the Steeler games. But when the hometown team goes to the Superbowl then watch out, because I turn into that crazed football fan. So much so that I dislocated my left shoulder cheering on Troy Polamalu when he caught an interception during the championship game. My pastor is a big Steelers fan too. We even had black and gold day today in church. And I'm starting to think Obama's not half bad since he's cheering for the Steelers too.

Enjoy the video I found.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk1OrZoAsA8

I Have The Bestest Friends!

2009-01-24T12:49:00.003-05:00

Two weeks ago I celebrated my 36th birthday in Walt Disney World. And while I thought the best present I would receive that day would be my Donald Duck medal I learned that it wasn't. The best present I received was love and friendship. My friends made it the second best birthday I ever had. Number one going to the year I got engaged on my birthday.

My friends surprised me in so many ways. From getting me a birthday cake at dinner at the Whispering Canyon to a cool Tigger watch. Here are a few things I received while I was there:

a plush birthday Tigger with gift card, bath salts from Basin, my cool Tigger watch, a vibrating Alien doll from Toy Story Mania (there's a story behind this gift which is between the giver and myself- lol) and a candy bar cake that was filled with awesome goodies and came with a plush Tigger and balloon.

So thank you to Ryan, Aileen, Pat, Lou, Virginia, Glenn and Tracy for my awesome presents but more importantly thank you for your love and friendship. It means the WORLD to me!! I love you guys!

What I Learned From Marathon Weekend

2009-01-19T19:23:00.004-05:00

My husband tells me I'll never learn but he is wrong. There are plenty of things I learned about doing a marathon at Walt Disney World. So here are things that I learned along with a few tips for next years marathoners.

1. TRAIN! TRAIN! TRAIN! and train some more. I started out training really well but then slacked off once I knew I wasn't going to run the race. That was a mistake. Even if you know ahead of time that you are going to walk the race, train with all your heart. It'll be much easier on reace day if you do.

2. BodyGlide is your friend. I bought some but only applied it to my inner thighs. I wish I would've put it on my feet. Maybe then I wouldn't have gotten the blisters that I did.

3. Research about the race and training for a race. The more you know the easier it will be. At one point I think I had read too much about running. I was overwhelmed with information.

4. It can be chilly on race day so keep that sweatshirt on until you need to take it off.

5. The Race Retreat is awesome! The private bathrooms alone make it worth the money.

6. If you never tried Clif Shots before don't do it on race day. Bring along whatever it is you like and eat that. For me it was JellyBelly energy beans.

7. The port-a-potties can run out of TP fast. Bring an extra roll with you on race day and pass it down the line if you have to. (I didn't run into this in the Race Retreat area) Also, if you have room fold up a few sheets and take them along.

8. Thank the volunteers. Whether they are handing you water, cheering or cleaning up the garabage. They need to know they are appreciated.

9. Cheer on the other racers and make friends with those around you.

10. Wear that medal with pride!! You earned it!

So now that I'm done with the Walt Disney World 1/2 marathon people have been asking me what's next. Before the 1/2 marathon even happened I knew that I would be participating in the Tower of Terror 13k race on October 24th. But over the last few days I've been thinking and I'm formally announcing that.....................................

I'M GOING TO DISNEYLAND!!!

Yep, I'm going to do the 1/2 marathon there and get my Coast 2 Coast medal. I plan on training better for this race. I've never been to Disneyland before so any advice anyone has for me I'd appreciate!! I have no clue how to start planning a trip for there.

WDW 1/2 Marathon Report Part Two

2009-01-18T15:57:00.002-05:00

Ok, here we goooooo....

After going past the Contemporary Resort we headed into the Magic Kingdom via backstage. It was so cool being backstage before coming out onto Main Street. You come out beside Tony's Town Square and what a site it is to see City Hall there and everyone cheering you on. Music is blasting on Main Street, people are cheering and you couldn't help but get excited to be there. As Tracy and I are heading up Main Street we see our friends (Pat, Lou, Val and Virginia) standing there holding signs, whooping/hollering and taking pictures. What a great feeling it was to have friends there cheering us on.

After you go up Main Street you cross into Tomorrowland. By now I was needing to find a restroom. Not so much to go to the bathroom but rather than to take off my sweatpants. I knew there was a restroom by Mickey's Star Traders BUT it was closed!! We continue on the way to the next restroom. It was great getting my sweats off. I was starting to get hot. After going through Tomorrowland you run through Fantasyland. We saw Piglet as we went by and Cinderella's stepsisters. One of the highlights of going through the Magic Kingdom is running through Cinderella Castle. It's not the same as walking through it when the park is open. After going through the castle you head towards Liberty Square and Frontierland. Some of the Country Bears were out to greet the runners. But the best; the coolest part was yet to come. After coming out of Frontierland you head backstage again and as Tracy and I rounded a corner we saw HIM---JACK!!!! We both yelled JACK at the same time and bolted down the hill to him. He was on a pirate ship float with some other scallywags. We got in line to get our picture taken with him. I asked him where the rum was and he told me at the finish line. I found out later there was no rum there.

Now here comes, what I think, is the hardest part of the 1/2 marathon. From the time you leave Magic Kingdom until you see Spaceship Earth is the longest part. You come out of all the excitement of the Magic Kingdom into nothing! You're going along Floridian Way with not much to look at but the resorts and some trees. Granted we saw Mary Poppins and Bert outside the Grand Floridian and a few local bands along the way but it just wasn't exciting. Although one funny thing did happen along this route. I think around mile 8 or so they give you Clif Shots to get a burst of energy. I've had these before and absolutely hate them. But Tracy had never had one before. All I can say is I wish I would've had the camera ready. She put some in her mouth and before I knew it she was spitting it out. The worst part was that there was no water there to drink or rinse your mouth out with. So we had to go another mile to get something to drink.

If any of you listened to the 100th episode of the WDWRadio Show you heard Lou make a comment about how he figured I'd be calling him at Mile 10 swearing at him for him getting me into all of this. I guess I should say that Lou inspired me to do the 1/2 marathon last year. I figured if he could do it then so could I. ( lol, you know I love ya Lou). Anyways, we get to Mile 10 and I call Lou. He's laughing at me because I'm calling him and asks where we are at. I told him it was his Mile 10 you suck, what did you get me into call. He's cracking up laughing at me. I ask where they are at and he said right outside of Epcot. Great- we'll see you there. Around Mile 11 is when Tracy's ankle really started to hurt and my blisters weren't making me happy, but we both refuse to stop at the medical tent. I figured if I took my shoe off, I wouldn't want to put it back on.

As we are crossing the overpass into Epcot my Ipod is playing "I Can Go The Distance". What a perfect song to hear at that moment, especially as I look over at Spaceship Earth. We see the Mile 12 marker and not far past that there are our friends again yelling and cheering. At this point it all hit me. I'm hugging them; I'm crying and I'm telling them I don't want to go on anymore. They were so supportive and were telling me that I was there all I had to do was go through Epcot and I'd be done. Ok! Off we go. Entering Epcot must've given me some energy because before I knew it we were on the way out of Epcot going through a backstage area. Once you are in this area you can hear singing. There is, what I would call, a gospel choir singing. It was beautiful.

We come from backstage by the back end of the kennel club. We're almost there. I'm looking for another friend of mine which I knew was along the way there. I see him and all our other friends cheering us on again and suddenly I look and there beside me is Andy, a great friend of mine. I was so excited to see him that I started screaming and hugging him. I bet it looks great on video. We head towards the finish line. We see the finish line. We run to the finish line- hand in hand- and cross together. Emotions pour out of me as Tracy and I are hugging. We're both crying. We head over to get our medals. What an amazing feeling as they placed it around my neck. And of course the next stop was the medical tent to have Tracy's ankle looked at. As she is sitting there getting some ice put on it I send out text messages that we finished.

We then headed back over to the Race Retreat for some food and refreshments. When we arrived they had a towel and flip flops for us. After some nourishment, we got massages and then headed back to the resort for some much needed showers. Boy, did I stink!

Up next, things I learned from the marathon.

WDW 1/2 Marathon Report

2009-01-16T14:37:00.007-05:00

I'm going to do my marathon report in sections so it's not one big boring post.

Saturday, January 10th started out at 1:30am for me. I had the alarm set for 2am but after tossing and turning I decided to get up and get ready. I had laid out everything I needed the night before so I wasn't rushing around to find things, like my shorts and birthday ears. I had planned on leaving the resort by 3 but since it didn't take long to get ready Tracy and I headed out the door around 2:45 or so. And good thing we did because the way I knew how to get to Epcot from the resort was closed. I wasn't really sure which was to go so I started following a car that had a marathon flag on his window. Needless to say, I followed him to the backstage area and was told which was to go from there.

I think Tracy and I were the 5th car in the parking lot that morning and the funny thing was that we ended up parking beside a friend of ours. Since it was early and rather chilly out that morning we should've stayed in the warm car for awhile. But we didn't. We headed to the race area where I think we were the first 3 people there. Or so it seemed since I didn't see another runners around. All the volunteers were still getting things ready for everyone to arrive and the band was warming up. I had boughten Tracy and I the Race Retreat. The Race Retreat was a special tent that had nice comfy couches to sit on; was warmer than outside; had bagels, fruit and drinks; characters to get your picture with; a special baggage check area but most importantly, it had its own restroom area. That alone was worth the money.

Tracy and I relaxed on the couch for some and then started to see a few people we knew. After chatting with them we figured we better get ready to head to the starting line and get in our corral. This is when I made the biggest mistake of the race. I had a sweatshirt on and decided that I better take it off so I didn't have to deal with it and so they could see my bib number. How dumb was I. I pretty much froze for the next hour before the race started. At least I kept my sweatpants on and had a pair of gloves to wear. Now to get to the starting line area from the race retreat was about a 20 minute walk or more. And in the cold it seemed longer. People were huddling by the portable lights because the generators were blowing out hot air. I wasn't convinced that was a good idea since once you were warmed up you were just going to get cold again. We make it to our corral and wait and wait and wait. It seemed like it was taking forever for the race to start but looking back at it time did fly by.

The race starts in 3 different waves. Wave 1 is for the really fast people that make me sick, Wave 2 is where we were but in the last corral of it and then Wave 3 is usually for walkers. They decide what Wave you are in by the finish time you submit when you register. The wheelchair racers start several minutes before the first wave. They sang the National Anthem and set off some fireworks and the first wave went running. After the first wave of people are gone they move up the next wave. This is when it all started to hit me- the nervousness, the excitement, the holy crap I can't believe I'm doing this!! I kept making funny comments that a guy behind me told me he was loving my energy. ENERGY?? I think I'm going to puke!!

They started the countdown for our wave, set off the fireworks again and bang off we go! It take awhile to get across the starting line with that amount of people so it probably took us 10 minutes or so just to cross it. But of course we didn't cross it without saying hi to Mickey, Donald and Goofy first. The first few miles are the craziest. People are trying to get around you and start their pace. I was finding it amusing that not even 1 mile into the race people were heading to the side of the road to "relieve" themselves. I'm sorry, but peeing in Disney's bushes just seems wrong. But I know, when you got to go, you got to go.

The race goes up World Drive at Mile 2 which the monorail track runs parallel to. The monorails would go by and beep their horns. Once in awhile you could tell someone was videotaping because you would see a little red light on in one of the cabs. After about a mile or so I starting singing "Follow the monorail, follow the monorail, follow, follow, follow, follow, follow the monorail." I know sounds corny but someone was singing it with us. There's not much to look at along World Drive so we were entertaining ourselves by ready peoples shirts. I think my favorite one said "If you're reading this you were just passed by a fat guy." Of course I had to take a picture of it, which made the guy laugh.

Just before you hit Mile 5 is when you have to go up the hill before the Contemporary. We ran down the hill but walked up it. At the top was a DJ doing the hand jive and so was Tracy and I. Since I was wearing my birthday Mickey ears he yelled out "Happy Birthday". I got a few birthday wishes along the way that day.

This is where I'm going to end for now since the best part is next: going through the Magic Kingdom!!

1/2 Marathon Slideshow

2009-01-15T18:12:00.001-05:00

A Quick Update

2009-01-13T14:25:00.003-05:00

I just wanted everyone to know that I survived the 1/2 marathon. I plan on writing a trip report about the race and the rest of my trip. It may take a day or two for me to post it since I need to get caught up on some things first.

Thanks for all your support before, during and after the race! You guys ROCK!!!

Packet Pickup

2009-01-09T06:37:00.003-05:00

Tracy and I picked up our race packets yesterday for the 1/2 marathon. The crowds didn't seem bad at all when we turned our waivers in. We even found Aileen and Ryan from Main St. Gazette when we got there. After we turned our waivers in we headed to another building to get our t-shirt and goody bag. There wasn't even a line for that. That's because everyone was shopping. The expo part of this had 50 vendors set up selling items, giving demos and one both was doing massages.

Disney had an offer that if you spent $125 on Disney marathon merchandise you received a $40 gift card. Well I had no problem at all spending that much. I picked up a 2009 1/2 marathon sweathsirt, glass, t-shirt, 2 magnets (had to get one for my mom) and a shirt for Cassidy that said "My Mom Ran the Disney 1/2 marathon". I got checked out fast but then you had to get in another line to pick up your gift cards. That line was moving pretty quickly until they started having computer problems. So I was probably there 10 minutes more than I should've been. Oh and for whatever reason it was really hot in that building so by the time I was done I needed something to drink and had to get out of there.

Tracy and I signed up for the Race Retreat and we were trying to figure out where we needed to pick up our wristbands for it and get our pins. After asking about 10 people that had no clue we went back to where we turned out waivers in (The Milk House) and found out that's where we pickup our pins and the Race Retreat packet. I'm not sure why they didn't tell us where to get our pins when we turned our waivers in, but oh well.

After this we left and went to get groceries. That was the first time I was down that road. I was all excited to see a Joe's Crab Shack and Tracy was excited for Dunkin' Donuts. After we hit Winn Dixie we grabbed some coffee and donuts and headed back to our room. We quickly put everything away and went to T-Rex for dinner with some friends. It was a nice, somewhat relaxing day.

Today we're hitting The Studios for Toy Story Mania and lunch at 50's Prime Time. Then back early to relax and be in bed early. I just hope I can sleep.

I'm home!!

2009-01-08T12:22:00.003-05:00

Just wanted to post a quick note. I arrived in Walt Disney World yesterday for marathon weekend. I spent one night in Coronado Springs and I'm now at Saratoga Springs. The weather is beautiful today. I knew I needed some sunshine to make me feel better.

Tracy and I are picking up our race packets later today. I plan on posting some photos from the Wide World of Sports. I'm curious to see how this expo compares to the one in May. I did get to see a map and it looks twice the size. It should be a lot of fun and hopefully we'll run into a few friends while we're there.

T minus 2 days will the 1/2 marathon (and my birthday).

A little over a week and counting

2009-01-01T13:00:00.000-05:00

This was me crossing the finish line during Minnie marathon weekend in May. It was a 15k race. Man, I wish I still looked that good. A week and so many days from now is the 1/2 marathon that I'm participating in. Notice how I said "participating" and not "running" in. I feel under trained for it but I know that I will still finish. I may be crawling across the finish line but nevertheless, I will be crossing it.

This is my final plea for donations to the Dream Team. I had a goal of $1000 and as I'm writing this I'm still about $300 short. I know times are tough but please considering making some type of donation to the Dream Team. The money we raise goes to Make-A-Wish to help children's dreams come true. I'm making one of my dreams come true and I would like to do the same for them.

www.firstgiving.com/dwtdreamteam

Thank You!

My Disney Year In Review

2008-12-31T16:37:00.000-05:00