Broken

We all have take things for granted. No matter how little those things are, you will miss them...desperately! In my case, it's walking. Although it is not a "little" thing, it is something that I take for granted. Fortunately for me, it is not permanent. At least that is what they tell me. They better not be lying to me.

Let me rewind to Saturday night. I was alone at home. Totally alone. Not even the dog was here to witness the fall. It was getting a little late and I figured that I should go out and get something to eat. I had THREE opportunities to change my mind. Opportunities, meaning discussions with myself. 1) I told my self that I really wasn't hungry. 2) I told myself that I didn't feel like getting dressed to go out. and 3) I definitely did not feel like driving

I convinced myself with the fact that I would eventually get hungry and that it would be worse later. So yeah, I started down the stairs and I swear that I heard a voice tell me to turn on the light. But I was already halfway down and I didn't.What happened afterward was in slow motion. Literally. Like in the movies. When I hit what I thought the last step, I remember sort of verbally giving myself a pat on the back. What actually happened was that I miss the last 2 steps, fell, tumbled and hit the back of my head against the wall.  I literally could not get up. Just like the commercial. I had to drag myself to the house phone to call D who was at work.My left foot looked like it had been through a wringer, it was crooked and swollen. And HURT like a... use your imagination.
By the time was all said & done, we learned that I had broken my tibia AND my fibula. After surgery, I now have 2 plates and 13 screws in my body. I am using a walker and a wheelchair and even an old lady shower chair. I am also on heavy painkillers which keep me, well, pain free... and hallucinating. I am very slightly depressed. I now have PT appointments and a nurse will be coming to my house once I get discharged. The pain is excrutiating!

One thing that was re-affirmed again, again is that D LOVES me more than life itself! I have never been alone this entire time.  He sleeps on the chair next to my bed EVERY.SINGLE.NIGHT! I don't know where I would be without him!

I have had some AWESOME nurses and one not-so-awesome one. One of the AWESOME ones even brought me a homemade angel the day after her shift.  She actually made me cry a bit. The nurses here are all great and they especially love D since he does EVERYTHING for me. I guess that the good out-weigh the bad but why do BOTH my arms look like this??? I didn't go into surgery looking like I had just gone a round with Rocky Balboa, but I definitely do now! Both arms were pricked SEVERAL times and one IV was actually not in the vein.
So that is where I am. Sitting in the hospital, on my laptop. If I didn't feel so dizzy, I could use it more often. Unfortunately, I will be MIA from both blogs for a while. Although I feel crushed, I know that I am loved. 110% Yep, the good always outweighs the bad!

Excuse the typos and errors. I'm on Dilaudid.

Giveaways! Ending soon.

I have two giveaways going on right now on my other blog. One is for a package of Stikin™ Labels ($40 value). These are great for everything including clothing. Think school stuff and s]Summer Camp stuff. Ends on 2/28.

I just posted another one. This one is for bra accessories from Exposed Envy. Functional yet fashionable. Ends on 3/7.

Free stuff is always good!

Rant, Rant, Rant

I don't normally go all nuts but this is my personal blog and it's time for a rant! My husband goes into fires, when everyone is running out. He saves babies and has even delivered them. He is usually the first one on the scene of tragic accidents and with his help, the victim may possibly make it. He sees thing that I would never want to see and others that I wish I could.

He just took a huge hit with pay cuts and freezes equaling about 15% of his salary. Now, our idiot Governor, is going after another huge chunk. Not only from us, but from police & teachers as well. This governor is as shady as he looks. I guess since fraud is his game, he just isn't interested in the huge Medicaid and Welfare fraud that is rampant in Florida. When I'm at the grocery store and the lady that is completely dressed in designer duds and is driving a Benz, whips out her food stamps card, my blood boils! Or when my husband runs a 3 AM call for a hangnail (or something similar) and arrives at a house that is worth at least a million bucks, with a BMW & a Hummer parked in the front. The patient insists on being transported because she'ss "Be seen right away" plus she's on freakin' Medicaid! News flash, skank, your hangnail doesn't take precedence over a heart attack! No matter how you arrive!

So yeah, lets not take away from the scammers. Let them live in the luxury that they are accustomed to and that we are paying dearly for. Instead, lets take it away from our Police & Fire, that put their lives on the line every day. Who also save many lives. When these public servants can no longer afford to do what they love, and there are none left, we'll see who will step up and help the public in their time of need. Definitely not our governor.
This would be funny, if it wasn't 110% spot on! Some parts of the video may be offensive to some people.


So there you have it. This is what we are paying for.

Hoarding much?

We travel quite a bit. Since we do not sleep in our car, our nights are spent in hotels. Hotels put out these cute little toiletries that for some reason, I NEVER use during our trip. But I do put them away in my bag and bring them home! For what? I don't know. I NEVER use them here either! Maybe deep inside I believe that one day there will be a shortage of soap & shampoo, and I just want to be prepared. You know, just like we stock up for hurricanes. Quite possibly, I'll be the only one in the toiletries recession that does not stink!

So while cleaning out my linen closet, I came upon 2 huge boxes full of hotel crap.  These are the contents of one box:

I have heard that I can donate it somewhere, but I can't remember where. Does anyone know? It has to be local, because these buggers weigh a lot!

Bucket List

I'm sure that most people have a Bucket List. I do. Actually, I just started mine less than 10 years ago. Well, I always had things that I really wanted to do and places that I wanted to visit. But I never really sat down and wrote them down. After my slight brush with death, I figured that I should start getting some things knocked off that list. Just in case. Because, they are things that I want to do before I kick the bucket!

One constant thing on my list since I was young, was to get married to a fantabulous man and have children. I knocked those off the list pretty early on. Heck, I've been married for more than half my life!

As of 2002, this is what my list looked like.

* Fly (get over the fear)  √           
I still am not completely over the fear.  But at least I get on planes now. I've even been on a helicopter & a tiny fixed wing. Yay me!

Be a contestant on The Price is Right and Wheel of Fortune (half a √)
Although I have not been called to Come on down! (phooey!),  I have attended tapings of TPIR (screen shots) One with Bob Barker right before he retired! I have won so much $$$ on WoF for Wii. Now if I can figure out how to cash in!

Visit Hawaii     √
We have fortunately been able to visit all 4 of the major Hawaiian Islands.  My heart belongs to Maui though.

Meet Tom Cruise.

Swim with a dolphin. √
The most amazing experience ever!

See the Grand Canyon √
Truly awe-inspiring

Travel through Europe.

Fly in a hot air balloon

Explore the Rainforest in Costa Rica

Own a beach house preferably in Maui

Have grandchildren

D basically follows along with whatever I want to do. Bless his heart. He does, however, want to RV across the U.S. I guess, at some point, I will have to give in to that one request.

My list is pretty tame. I have no aspirations to jump out of a perfectly good plane for no reason at all. Or any other daredevil crazy activities. After all. it's things I want to do before I die. Not things that I can die while doing!

As I have  asked before, I wonder what happens when I check I everything off my list. Just kick the bucket? Just in case, I will continue adding stuff to the list as I go along!

What's on your Bucket List????

No BlogHer for Me :-((

I guess it's not meant to be this year! I just realized that my final payment for the cruise portion of our vacation is due on August 6th. After much calculations and tons of head banging, I have realized that I won't be able to make it to BlogHer11.

I was really looking forward to the conference and to visiting San Diego again. But, unless I want to live under a bridge and carry all my worldly possessions in a shopping cart, BlogHer is a no go this year. Unless I win the lotto of course. Or some AMAZING company sponsors me!

Thing is, that I already bought my ticket. If you or anyone you know would like to purchase my ticket, let me know. I have the Full Conference Pass for $163 plus any applicable PayPal fees, if any.

I am wishin' & hoping that BlogHer12 will be somewhere within driving distance and in my time zone. Better yet, bring it to the MIA! That will make it oh, so convenient for me!

Go Red for Women on Feb. 4th

Here I am, once again, asking you to take charge of your heart health. Don't be fooled into thinking that heart disease only affects men. Here is a link to my Go Red post from last year. It also links you up to a short history.

Today I would like to share what it felt like to have a heart attack. On that day, I had taken my daughter to the pediatrician in the morning. As I was driving her back to school, I felt a pulling on the left side of my chest. It went away within a few minutes though, so I went about my day. I ended up at the grocery store, where I grabbed a basket since I only planned on purchasing a few items. I hadn't walked more then a few steps, through the store when I felt that I could not carry my basket with my left hand. I then felt the pulling on my left side again but this time it radiated to my back and left arm as well. I thought it was heart burn. It definitely did not feel like what I would expect a heart attack to feel like. I've heard people describe it as a crushing pain or like having an elephant sit on your chest.
I had cold sweats and when I tried walking towards the exit, I had a very hard time breathing. That is when I sort of started to panic.

I was taken by rescue to the hospital where it was confirmed that I was having a heart attack. The very next day, I was in the cath lab for my first of two procedures to have stents placed in my arteries. Every doctor and every nurse that walked into my room would do a double take when they saw me. I was a tiny, thin, 35 year old woman and they were not used to seeing that.

So why am I telling ya'll this? Well simply because I can. I am thankfully, still around to be able to tell it. To let you know that all heart attacks do not feel the same. That you won't necessarily feel that clutch your heart, intense pain that screams that you are having a heart attack. And that you are not protected simply by being a woman.

The best defense is to take charge of your heart health. See your doctor. Know your numbers. Know your risk factors. And take control. Your heart will thank you for it.

Perfect Miami Weather

Today was an absolutely gorgeous! Temps in the 70's, cool ocean breezes and clear skies.  Who can ask for anything more? We spent the day at Art Deco Weekend in South Beach. That is the absolute best place for people watching!  Fortunately, South Beach is very pet friendly, so Kassie was able to come along.  She LOVES outings!


We ended the afternoon at South Point to watch the ships leaving the port. Guess what? The Epic left without us again! Pfft! We sort of like to torture ourselves like that. We do that a lot. We grab our beach chairs, go to the park and wave good-bye to all those lucky folks on the ship.  We try to pinpoint where our stateroom is located and where we wish we could afford to stay. 

We won't be on the NCL Epic until October, when she sails her Trans-Atlantic crossing back to Miami from Barcelona. To say that we are excited is an understatement. But we are 9 whole months away! Enough time to grow a baby! So the countdown is on! We haven't been on a cruise since Oct 09 when we did the NCL Jewel Repo so we are suffering from withdrawls!

I have seen the Epic from the outside many times, I can't wait to see her interior! I will be sure to share lots of pictures this time!
Hopefully we can get a Cruise Critic cabin crawl organized so that I can preview each stateroom category and report back on those as well.!

Have any of you sailed on the Epic yet?  What did you think of her?

I was born a Libra

 From Google Images

I am not much into the astrology and I don't read my horror-scope every day. I am also not superstitious. But dagnabit, I was born a Libra and that isn't going to change no matter how much the Earth shifts! According to the new chart, I am now a Virgo! Um, no.

If you have not seen the new chart, here it is:

The New Zodiac Chart

Capricorn: Jan. 20-Feb. 16.

Aquarius: Feb. 16-March 11.

Pisces: March 11-April 18

Aries: April 18-May 13

Taurus: May 13-June 21

Gemini: June 21-July 20

Cancer: July 20-Aug. 10

Leo: Aug. 10-Sept. 16

Virgo: Sept. 16-Oct. 30

Libra: Oct. 30-Nov. 23

Scorpio: Nov. 23-29

Ophiuchus: Nov. 29-Dec. 17

Sagittarius: Dec. 17-Jan. 20

They even have a new Zodiac sign in there, Ophiuchus. Don't ask me how to pronounce that! I would lean to thinking that it sounds like Confucius, maybe since I'm totally confused.

So to prove my case, here are a few snippets about the Libra woman


Born under the sign of Libra, the sign ruled by Venus the goddess of love; the Libra woman is one who definitely searches for peace, quality, and justice in everything she does. She is generally working to try to balance the oppositional forces that she senses exists all about her.

In her own life, the Libra girl may find that there is a basic duality as one of her scales is usually leaning towards compromise while the other leans toward her getting her own way.

Actually, I always lean towards getting my way! LOL

The Libra woman must take caution and be aware of her tendency to put off, or avoid, that which seems uncomfortable.

 ALWAYS try to avoid uncomfortable situations!

 Libra women love luxuries and good living in keeping with the sign of the goddess of beauty. However, in accordance with their sign of the scales and balance, the Libra girl will endeavour to balance her urge for the finer things of life by some appropriate saving and economies.

This is totally me! That is why I coupon & stuff, so I can travel!

Libra is the sign of partnerships, unions, and marriage and, for those girls born under this sign there is the inherent desire to merge. Libra woman can be very romantically inclined at a very early age in life.

I was picking flowers for my 17 year old neighbor boy when I was 3 years old!


The Libra woman will generally relate well with people of all the signs, however, those of Sagittarius and Leo can be particularly rewarding.

Well, my husband is Sagittarius, maybe that's why we are compatible.  But now he is supposed to be that new sign, Ophiuchus.  Does that mean we are no longer compatible??

Disney=Nostalgia

 

Walt Disney World will be celebrating their 40th Anniversary this year. As of October 1, 2011, I will have been going to WDW for 39 years and 10 months! We were originally supposed to go for my my 5th birthday in Oct of '71 but my parents, I guess to let them settle in and work out the kinks, decided to go in January instead.

I have seen some really neat retro 40th Anniversary merchandise, but I'm thinking that there really won't be a huge celebration this year. Especially since they are still in the middle of the Fantasyland expansion. Keeping with the retro theme, I would LOVE to see my all time favorite Pooh in his original costume. He was rounder and had a honey pot on his head. I know I have a picture somewhere! I would also like to see Dumbo with his big, floppy ears walking around the park again. Oh and the 3 Little Pigs and Gus & Jaq and ALL the dwarfs and...

I would love to see the the topiaries that lined the road to the entrance of the Magic Kingdom! Once we spotted those, our excitement level would triple! Then, my dad would tune in to the Disney Info Station on the radio and we would be bouncing off the walls!

I don't remember the crowds being as wild as they are now. The characters were free to roam with no one pushing & shoving. People in general are ruder now, so I can understand why characters need body guards. That's a shame!

You know what Disney? Just put everything back to how it was in 1972. Just for a few months ok? While you're at it, I wouldn't mind being 5 again. Thanks!

Here is a video that I found on YouTube. It's not mine, but it could easily be mine since I have one that looks exactly like that! I kept expecting to see a 5 year old me running around.

Even now, at my age, I still get tingly when I enter Disney property. I can not wait for the day that we have grandkids. Actually, strike that, there is no rush. My girls still need to finish school and all, but there is nothing quite like seeing WDW through the eyes of a child. Those are moments that you remember forever and take you back to how you felt when you first experienced the magic.

Now, the 50th Anniversary will probably be a huge shebang! I can only hope that I am around to see it...and maybe with a grandbaby or two! :-))

So, if  you've been along for the ride with WDW for a while, what do you miss most from that era?

Happy New Year!

Happy New year! I have been MIA and I need to get back on track. Sometimes life throws you a curveball and you need to detour in order stay focused.

As you know, I skipped the holidays this year. The best part about that is that I don't have to take down decorations and I don't have diddly squat to put away! Hurray!! As it turned out, however, we would not have been celebrating anyhow. At least not in the traditional way. On December 23rd, my step-dad had a heart attack. He has several other maladies that made this very serious. So he was taken to the cath lab and stents were inserted. That night, he went into cardiac arrest but was shocked back. The doctors basically told my mom that there was no hope and to make arrangements. After about a week and a few days in CCU, he was moved to a regular room and should be returning home soon.

So,although we spent practically every day in the hospital since the 23rd. We did end up celebrating a Christmas miracle after all.

Hopefully I can get back in the groove of things soon. I have to start a weight loss plan soon. I didn't technically make a resolution because I tend to break those pretty quickly. But I do need to really get it done this year. I might seek some outside help as well since I tend to suck at it by myself.

I hope you all have a wonderful, prosperous and healthy 2011!

Hello all. Mrs Krank here. Sometimes I feel that I have a sixth sense about things. Not only the skipping Christmas part of it. Because I still say that my decision was not just being grinch-y. But the feeling that something is just not right. A feeling that bugs you, but you just can't put your finger on it. Until you get the call and you say "I knew something was not right!"

I got the call today. My mom telling that Christmas is 100% off. We were all just going to get together for dinner because, after all, Christmas is about being with family. Not just the gifts. But today, my step-dad had a heart attack. Not a tiny heart attack either. He will be spending the next week or so in the hospital and for the most part, we will probably be there too. We will be praying for a Christmas miracle since the doctors don't sound as optimistic as I would like them to.

Have a safe and joyous holiday.

Christmas with the Kranks

Well, it looks like I actually followed through with my vow to skip Christmas this year.  People were making bets as to how long I would last.  They were sure that I would crack and give in to the holiday.  But as of today, Dec 22nd, I have yet to put up one single decoration or buy one single gift! Yay me! 

My checks have gone out to St Judes & CureSearch and those were the only items on my list. I hope that my friends and family honor my wishes and donate as well.  Although I LOVE presents, there are others that need them more than I do. 

New Years Eve seems to be going to be a very quiet one for us as well.  So far, D is not working but that can change at anytime.  If he gets called in, he will go.  Heck, we need the $$$.  What sucks is that he will have to deal with all the damage that drunk drivers leave behind.  So please, please play it safe.  Just don't drink & drive.  My girls may just be out there and I would hate for them to have to cross your path.

I wish all my bloggy friends a wonderful and safe holiday! Hugs to all!

Viva España!

In just 10 short months,if everything goes as planned, we should be boarding a plane to Spain. I am the planner, the Travel Agent, and the budgeter for all our trips. My husband just comes along for the ride. Oh, and he pays too!

I am going nuts trying to plan this trip! My U.S. based travel is easy peasy. This is our first trip to Europe and it is really stressing me out. So many things to consider! I don't know if I should even consider renting a car or just rely on transit. I'm not quite sure of how much time to dedicate to each city. We only have 7 days total in Spain. We then board the Norwegian Epic for it's Trans-Atlantic sailing back to Miami. I am also not sure how I will handle the 8 1/2 hour flight.  I'm sure that I will need some sort of sleepy time meds.


I'm going to go blind from all the research! One good thing about this trip though, is that we already speak the language! Another great thing is the Sangria! But that's not important right now. LOL

Although I pride myself on getting the most for my travel $$$, I'm having a bit of a hard time with this trip.  Stay tuned, I'll be posting what I learn along the way. Oh, and if anyone has any tips, please feel free to share

BlogHer or Bust!

Since DisneySMMoms did not work out for me for 2011, I have decided to direct my attention completely to BlogHer '11. I have been considering attending Blogher for the past two years but it never really panned out.  I am even tempted to skip this one and hope that it will be here (or somewhere on the East coast) for 2012. But why put it off for yet another year? If I can make it work, I definitely want to be there next year.  Hopefully, I can get a sponsor, since this one will cost a pretty penny.  Between airfare, hotel and the conference itself, ay chi chi, I might have to sell my first born! Or maybe both, that way the 2nd one doesn't think that she's the favorite!


If any of you are planning on attending BlogHer '11 let me know! Plus there is a code out for 20% off registration until 12/31, but the amount of times it can be used is limited ... I think.  Just enter BlogHerGift before check-out

Can anyone really skip Christmas?

Hello everyone, Scrooge here. Not really, I am the first one to say that I LOVE the holidays. I love the music, I love the lights, I love spending time with family & friends. This year, however, I am just not feeling it. Since this year has literally flown by, it feels like I just took down my decorations from last year.

My girls are adults, so Santa is just a memory. Plus on top of that, they really do not need anything. Neither do I. Plus my nephews do not want for anything as well. So this year, I have decided to skip Christmas. My decorations will not be going up. I will not be buying gifts. I will not be hosting parties. I might be baking though, because after all, I LOVE sweets!

So although I always give a little extra to charity during the holidays. This year we will give some more to a cause that we really support. I will ask our friends & family to do so as well, in lieu of gifts for any of us.

If you have been around here for a while, you know that I am a huge supporter of Childhood Cancer Awareness. I give monthly to St. Jude's and to CureSearch. So obviously they are the ones receiving our Christmas gifts as well. I have also purchased a few gifts for Toys for Tots.

If anyone is upset about this, I'm sorry you feel that way.  But I am not sorry about my choice.  No one can tell me how to spend my money.

So if you have a little something to give, please consider these organizations. They can make a world of difference in a child's life. Thanks!

In the meantime check this video out.

All dressed up with nowhere to go!

What can I say? To say that I am disappointed would be an understatement. To say that I could care less, would be a lie. To say that I don't wonder about the selection process would also be a total lie.

So as you can probably guess, I am not one of the lucky Disney Social Media Moms attendees. Not for 2011 anyway.

Let me explain how it all played out. First of all, I was at Disney World this week. I had canceled my Keys to the Kingdom tour scheduled for Thursday, just to be guaranteed Internet access for registration since it was first come, first served..The tour was scheduled to end at 2PM.  Registration was set to open at 2:00 PM. I logged in at 1:50PM and was met by what is now known as the orange circle of death. After several refreshes, I finally got the registration page. My fingers were flying, hoping for no typos, yet still thinking that it was first come first served. At 2:20PM, I printed off my confirmation and received an email immediately after. I was feeling pretty good about it considering that I got it in shortly after registration opened. I even stuck around and offered to register others when I was able to open another registration page.

So today, while at Animal Kingdom, I receive the Thanks but no Thanks email. I literally felt my heart sink. I had such high hopes, that I guess it just hit a bit harder. I know, it's just a conference but a conference at one of my favorite places on earth. It wasn't even about the trip. We are AP holders and we go to Disney a lot! Yes, I did choose the full celebration option, simply because I would have to book a place to stay regardless, but I would have been content with just the conference portion. Don't get me wrong, a stay at the Grand Floridian would be AMAZING! I have only stayed there once and only for one night.  But the whole point of this is the conference.  I remember wishing that there would have been more actual conference sessions when I attended in February.

Yes, I am upset.  Yes, I am disappointed & sad. I am even a bit confused about the actual process. But no, I am not angry and no, I am not devastated.  I still will wake up tomorrow, hopefully, and Thank God for a new day and find something that is meant for me.  There's something hiding behind every corner! Think about it, how many boyfriends did you break up with and feel like it was the end of the world? Only to turn around and find your soul mate. I know it happened to me. 

Now, to address what is going on in Twitterville.  I did tweet as soon as I got the email:

Then my battery died  on my crappy iPhone and I couldn't follow the stream.  When I got plugged in in the car, I was appalled by a lot of what I was seeing. I just sat back and flinched.  Like I said, I was and am disappointed.  I still would have loved to know that it was basically an application and not a registration.  I would have also liked to know what the requirements were before registering/ applying.  I normally don't apply if I don't feel qualified. I definitely would not have canceled my tour if I had known that it really was not first come, first served.  BUT, I would never engage in some of the behavior that I have seen on Twitter.  It's all fine and dandy to voice your feelings... heck, I am....  but not at the expense of others. Personal attacks are never an option in my book.  I am happy for those that I personally know that got in. How could they not want to celebrate that victory? Let them rejoice in peace.  Put yourself in their shoes.

I was fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to attend the very first Disney Social Media Moms Conference.  I'm sure that it was sort of a Beta Test for Disney. Obviously, it worked.  As the years go by, if they choose to do it annually, they will learn from any mistakes made. When I registered for 2010, there was not as much information given in regards to accommodations and park tickets. This time everything was announced up front, including the agenda! So here's to 2012.  I hope that they choose to continue hosting the conference and I hope to one day be able to attend again.

So for those of you that are going in 2011, ENJOY! Be sure to keep us posted so that we can live vicariously through you!

T-45 minutes

As I type, it is T -45 minutes til the Disney Social Media Moms registration. I am still sick as a dog. It's no fun being sick while at Disney! I literally cannot breathe. I desperately need an aerosol treatment but my machine is at home. We've been here since Tuesday and have not been able to do much because I can't function. Fortunately, I had canceled my Keys to the World Tour for today in order to be able to register for the conference. I have a feeling that this is going to sell out faster the Cher's one of several Farewell Tour!



I need major pixie dust ...and a Comtrex or two!

UPDATE

OMG! I logged on at 1:55 PM for registration.  I sat and watched an orange spinning circle for  about 20 minutes before I actually got the registration page. My fingers were flying all over the place, so I hope the typos were minimal.  Especially with my credit card information.  Now we wait for review.  What exactly is the review? I really don't know.  I hope that it is not dependent on stats.  I'm not, by any means, a big numbers blogger.  Not yet anyways.  Like Chris Brogan said at last year's conference, "Don't rule out little bloggers, because little bloggers may become big bloggers one day". Or something to that effect.

Although I still feel like death, and have a feeling that I might need a chest X-ray when I get home, at least being able to submit my registration made my day a bit brighter. 

Good luck to everyone who is trying to get in! Maybe I'll see you in March!

Happy THANKSgiving!

I didn't think that I would be blogging on Thanksgiving, but I have some free time while the bird is cooking. My desserts are done, I just finished making the cranberry sauce and now I'm just hoping that the turkey turns out, or we will be eating burgers. I'm cooking it an entirely different way that I normally do, so I'm a bit worried. Either way, if it turns out or not, the point of the day is to be THANKFUL for what we do have. Be it a gorgeous turkey or some grilled burgers or a cheese sandwich. We will be with our family and that is all that matters.

I am so very thankful for my family. Those that are still with me and those that are no longer with us, but I was so fortunate to have in my life. I am thankful for my health, that after so many complications, I am still around to enjoy each day. And like I always say, I am thankful for my daughters. I am thankful for being given the gift of 2 wonderful girls that have grown into beautiful women, both inside and out.

I am thankful for the opportunities that have been given to me. And although we are not rich, in the monetary sense, I am happy to be able to give to those that have much less than we do.

Fortunately, our girls learned about giving early on and I pray that they continue being as giving as they are now. Short story, when my oldest was about 7, she had a friend that had never been to Disney. To her 7 year old mind, that was a travesty. Her friend was being raised by a single mom that was struggling. Although she really didn't understand the situation, she wanted her friend to experience Disney. She asked if we could take her with us on our next trip. When I told her that I'd have to see if we had enough money to cover her expenses, my beautiful baby girl offered her birthday money. On another occasion, she asked if she could give her bike to the little girl across the street because "she has never had a bike".

So yeah, I am thankful for them, I am thankful for being their mom. I'm thankful for being alive, for my opportunities and for my family & friends. So even if I end up with a cheese sandwich, I will still be grateful. Others have much less than I do.

Have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving Day! Hugs to you all!

I have been stalking Twitter & Email in my obsessive way for weeks now. It all started back on October 21st, when I get an email that started with; "A little bluebird once tweeted..." It ended with; "someday, more hints will come." Since no dates were mentioned, my neurotic obsession began. What has caused me to get into such a tizzy? Well, The Disney Social Media Moms Conference, that's what! Remember this, this, this, this, this and finally this from earlier this year? Well, the next one is scheduled for March 2011.

When I say that DisneySMMoms is the absolute best conference out there, I am not kidding! Now, this year, the competition is huge. Space is limited, just like the Seven Dwarfs cottage, just like they said in the email!

SO today was the day! They announced that registration would open on December 2nd. Problem is, we will be at Disney World. Plus, we have The Keys to the Kingdom Tour booked for, when else? December 2nd! I knew that registration would open while we were away but not on that day! What's a girl to do?

Those of you that have been around here for a while know that I LOVE Disney! My first trip to the Magic Kingdom was in Jan 1972, a mere three months after it opened. I was just 5 years old. OK, I'll wait for you to calculate how old I am. La-di-da-La-di-da. So now that you know my age, subtract the 5 and that will give you how many years I have been going to Disney. Although we are fortunate enough to live in Florida and have annual passes, we have NEVER taken a behind the scenes tour! Go figure. We go at the very least, 6 times a year. So now that I have the tour booked, it looks like I may have to cancel so that I can register for the conference. Again, fortunately we live nearby and can reschedule the tour. But I was so looking forward to it. So I called Disney to see if I could reschedule for the 1st or the 3rd. In a nutshell, it was booked solid. But in true Disney form, the cast member tried to help me find a solution to my dilemma! She even mentioned getting an air card and just taking my laptop with me. I still haven't written that option off. So if you're in the Magic Kingdom and see someone sitting in a corner, (probably next to the castle, for luck) typing away on a cute little pink laptop... come and say hi! Chances are though, that I will end up canceling the tour because I really, really want to go to the conference.

I hope that for once I am quick on the trigger and get in! I love the whole aspect of the conference. I love meeting other bloggers, I love learning more about what's in the future for Disney, I love being at the most magical place on earth... what's not to love. I'm just hoping that people who do register are actually in it for the conference and not just for the sweetheart deal. So wish me luck and send me some pixie dust. I will be wishing upon a star. Because, when you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are. Anything your heart desires, Will come to you.

Maybe I'll be back here with good news. Until then though, have a fabulous Thanksgiving!