Twelve Months of Training and Travel

[annmarieda]

Ann, I am slowly catching up (even got a few updates done myself) after the week with caring for my mom after work and my brother (her caregiver) being in the hospital.

Oh my goodness, Kathy! I am so sorry you have had to deal with all of that. You definitely have a reason to be behind (although I think you are still doing far better than I am..and I don't have a good excuse)

The ADR's sound great (I am now going to go run out and get lunch after seeing that food porn).

It is weird to not have more ADR's but there are a lot of counter service dinning options there that are not bad.

Transportation plans sound perfect! I like this guy.

I am pretty happy to have booked him again. I think Cynthia could correct me if I am wrong but I think it is just one guy. So had someone else booked him for this weekend there is a chance he would have been busy. I could be wrong though.

 

[annmarieda]

So it happened for both. The dates were extended and slightly changed! What is better than adding a night? Well adding a night and having it make better sense than leaving the day prior.

And why would it make better sense to extend? Well, I will give you one word AIRFARE! (which I will make separate posts with details)

So now the January dates are from 1/6 to 1/15 and February is from 2/18 to 2/25. So in each case we leave the day before we actually arrive and one night was added to the back end.

 

[KatMark]

So it happened for both. The dates were extended and slightly changed! What is better than adding a night? Well adding a night and having it make better sense than leaving the day prior.

And why would it make better sense to extend? Well, I will give you one word AIRFARE! (which I will make separate posts with details)

So now the January dates are from 1/6 to 1/15 and February is from 2/18 to 2/25. So in each case we leave the day before we actually arrive and one night was added to the back end.

Very nice.

I don't know what your plans are for later in 2015, but Mark and I changed our stuff up next year. We weren't going at all, but I am now going May 3 - 10 and then Mark and I are going October 18 - 25 (both trips Todd and Nicki will be with me).

 

[eandesmom]

I think you just have to give yourself a pass. You have had a lot on your plate. Your room isn't going anywhere...

No, but I am and I can't find my clothes. LOL! Seriously, I have no idea where my running tights are and I have stuff everywhere. I spent the entire day today at my parents old house doing yet more packing and purging and the last thing I want to do is deal with more of the same tomorrow but I really have to. UGH!

That is a lot! I have like 3. I actually just watched my run through the castle video. That was pretty cool. I do wish that these could be added to the favorites so I could maybe get a bunch of my races all together.

It is weird to watch the videos, I feel like I look slow, but so does everyone else lol. It's just odd. It would be nice to see it full view though, not just the snippets. I couldn't believe how many finish line photos I have. Overall it's a lot more photo's than I was expecting that's for sure. I do kind of wish I'd bought the pre-buy and will probably do it for princess. I just can't decide if owning the video's are really worth another $20!

I bet it was around WoC. I would not have been too far behind you at this point and you stopped where as I did not. I bet that is where...

Could be, did you see me stop and take the selfies?

I always have fun... but I am changing what I consider to be fun. The Tower of Terror was a HUGE step for me.

Duh! Now there is a smart idea! I don't know why I never thought of that!

You still can!

Just something to consider that we found out this last trip. A lot of places are now allowing for an ap in lieu of a dessert. Which...if one of you gets the ap to share and then the other the dessert it is quite the nice meal.

really? Unofficially they are doing that? I always wished that was the case.

And that mug would be good our entire trip... not just the 2 days. (since it is a "length of stay" mug and probably won't expire until after we are gone) $77 for 2 meals. :scrachin That might not be too hard to do.

How would it be good length of stay? are they not using those chip timer things anymore? I thought it was only length of stay for the reservation you have the DDP for...

Do you mean 2/19? So we would have the credits for 2/19 to 2/21.

Yep

I need a refresh of the list of ADRs we have. I think we definitely will want to eat on 2/25.

We have

2/20 CP breakfast
2/21 Artist Point dinner
2/22 Akerhaus breakfast, Beaches and Cream Dinner
2/23 Tony's dinner
2/24 Plaza late lunch

I think you may be right. I think it might be good for those first two nights since we can stretch them over 3 days. Plus we definitely don't need two mugs. Believe me... I don't need more mugs.

Agreed, I actually wish they didn't include them in the plan at all

Yes, we do need to link that way we won't have to move on that last night. I have a feeling we will not get the waitlist to come through so moving once will be plenty for me. And if we could avoid moving by linking the first two nights (assuming the waitlist comes through) then I may be more inclined to not do the dp at all... just so we don't have to move.

Well if the waitlist comes through, it is still a seperate ressie so we still could do DDP for the 2 nights, if we wanted even if we link. I think. Not positive about that.

Meh... it doesn't bother me too much. I just know that my pace isn't great and it is more of a nuisance than anything else.

You are tough!

 

[MEK]

Yay for extra nights.

I so wish I had an extra night for February, but I found a great off site hotel near the airport for Friday night so I'm happy about that. Fingers and toes crossed for NO SNOW!

 

[Woth2982]

I booked my FL trip. I am going basically for the weekend (dumb new job and my lack of vacation days.......ok I LOVE my new job....but that is another story if I ever get to update my TR again lol). I am there Feb 20 (late arrival) and leaving the 23rd. I only got a 2 day park ticket thinking I will stay in on Saturday resting up for Sunday.

 

[annmarieda]

Very nice.

I don't know what your plans are for later in 2015, but Mark and I changed our stuff up next year. We weren't going at all, but I am now going May 3 - 10 and then Mark and I are going October 18 - 25 (both trips Todd and Nicki will be with me).

2015 will not be our year.

May will involve a different kind of travel for me. Not running and Not disney. Zach and Kimberly are getting married on one of the islands off the coast. So we will have couple night trip for that.

October is a no for us too. ToT 10 miler has been suspended for 2015 so I am thinking IF we go it will be in November for the Wine and Dine half.

No, but I am and I can't find my clothes. LOL! Seriously, I have no idea where my running tights are and I have stuff everywhere. I spent the entire day today at my parents old house doing yet more packing and purging and the last thing I want to do is deal with more of the same tomorrow but I really have to. UGH!

That doesn't sound like fun!

It is weird to watch the videos, I feel like I look slow, but so does everyone else lol. It's just odd. It would be nice to see it full view though, not just the snippets. I couldn't believe how many finish line photos I have. Overall it's a lot more photo's than I was expecting that's for sure. I do kind of wish I'd bought the pre-buy and will probably do it for princess. I just can't decide if owning the video's are really worth another $20!

It is a hard call! I think I gave you poor advice for the prebuy. It is just hard to say how many pics you will end up with. I am glad that I got some of my own for the ToT because during the race I don't think I got but maybe half what I did last year.

Could be, did you see me stop and take the selfies?

I didn't and given that I looked over to see if I wanted to take one there myself I would have thought I would have seen you.

really? Unofficially they are doing that? I always wished that was the case.

I am not sure if it is unofficial or just at some places or even if it is just some options on the menu. Like at the wave it was a cheese plate. (which holy cow was enough to fee the entire table just with one)

How would it be good length of stay? are they not using those chip timer things anymore? I thought it was only length of stay for the reservation you have the DDP for...

They do but a length of stay cup is good for 14 days..maybe 16. Whey you put the cup on the thing... it will say how long your cup is good for. The ones that we got for our first 4 nights - checking in on 10/1 were good until 10/16 (at least I thought it noted 16..it may have been 14) I think they have very few different activations.

This is what disneyfoodblog has on it

$8.99 for 1 Day
$11.99 for 2 Days
$14.99 for 3 Days
$17.99 for Length of Stay (If you’re staying longer, “Add-1-Day” or “Add-2-Day” options can be added.)

Now it says you have to add...but we never had to. The mug lists that it is good "until" so I just have always used it like that.

I assume that they just add 14 days (or whatever it is ) when you have the dp. If they only added a 3 day mug to a 3 night stay then you are not getting the same value out of the dp as someone who stays 4 nights and get 4 nights worth of mug use since that mug there is a cost difference between the 3 day and length of stay that the 4 day would get.


Ours in January was good after we checked out of POR and into OKW even though we didn't have the dp any more.

We have

2/20 CP breakfast
2/21 Artist Point dinner
2/22 Akerhaus breakfast, Beaches and Cream Dinner
2/23 Tony's dinner
2/24 Plaza late lunch

You are tough!

Please! I am not at all!

Yay for extra nights.

I so wish I had an extra night for February, but I found a great off site hotel near the airport for Friday night so I'm happy about that. Fingers and toes crossed for NO SNOW!

Yes! fingers and toes crossed. I know that it was a real problem last year for those arriving I think for both marathon and phm weekends.

I booked my FL trip. I am going basically for the weekend (dumb new job and my lack of vacation days.......ok I LOVE my new job....but that is another story if I ever get to update my TR again lol). I am there Feb 20 (late arrival) and leaving the 23rd. I only got a 2 day park ticket thinking I will stay in on Saturday resting up for Sunday.

I am glad you are liking your job. At least for you a weekend trip is mostly kinda doable. Resting up on Saturday is a good plan We will definitely have to plan to meet up!

 

[eandesmom]

I think I gave you poor advice for the prebuy. It is just hard to say how many pics you will end up with. I am glad that I got some of my own for the ToT because during the race I don't think I got but maybe half what I did last year. I didn't and given that I looked over to see if I wanted to take one there myself I would have thought I would have seen you. I am not sure if it is unofficial or just at some places or even if it is just some options on the menu. Like at the wave it was a cheese plate. (which holy cow was enough to fee the entire table just with one) They do but a length of stay cup is good for 14 days..maybe 16. Whey you put the cup on the thing... it will say how long your cup is good for. The ones that we got for our first 4 nights - checking in on 10/1 were good until 10/16 (at least I thought it noted 16..it may have been 14) I think they have very few different activations. This is what disneyfoodblog has on it $8.99 for 1 Day $11.99 for 2 Days $14.99 for 3 Days $17.99 for Length of Stay (If you’re staying longer, “Add-1-Day” or “Add-2-Day” options can be added.) Now it says you have to add...but we never had to. The mug lists that it is good "until" so I just have always used it like that. I assume that they just add 14 days (or whatever it is ) when you have the dp. If they only added a 3 day mug to a 3 night stay then you are not getting the same value out of the dp as someone who stays 4 nights and get 4 nights worth of mug use since that mug there is a cost difference between the 3 day and length of stay that the 4 day would get. Ours in January was good after we checked out of POR and into OKW even though we didn't have the dp any more.

You didn't give me bad advice at all! I just think I got lucky with lots of photos but really did not expect that. I keep hoping a discount email will happen but it sure hasn't yet.

That's what I thought on the cups but...since our first ressie is only 2 nights I think they would show as only 2 and we'd have to pay more. I suspect that at 4+ nights they just give everyone the max nights maybe?

 

[annmarieda]

These two trips were the last that I had to secure airfare for. I was lucky to have a partner in crime stalking the flights for the phm. It made that so much easier. It also made it so I was keeping a closer eye on January. I am not certain what was going on with fares, but on any given day the cost would be up or down. (I blame the ebola scare) It made for some interesting stalking. The flights for these two trips then were booked all around the same time. One leg for one here and one leg for one there. I can't say for sure which was booked first.

If I had to guess I would say probably the flight down to MCO on 2/18. It was our plan to fly out the night of the 18th all along. It was a bit nerve wrecking though as the red eye flights that day went up in cost and then down in cost and then back up. We finally jumped on one that I think we had seen $20 lower at some point. It leaves seatac at about 5pm so it allows us each to work that day. The first leg is on Alaska (yay, cause Cynthia gets free checked bags) We have a layover in LA. This will give us just enough time to maybe hit a restroom and grab a bit to eat. Then we will be truly operated by American and we will spend the night on the plane. Arriving in the morning at what will feel like 3am to us might be a challenge but hopefully if I am able to sleep from 10pm or so on it won't be an issue.

Next I would guess it was the return flight in January. I had travel credit on SW as well as points... lots of points. The problem was I didn't want to leave early in the morning on our last day. Well, not to get too far ahead of myself with reporting of the most recent trip but lets just say some of my points were refunded to my account which enabled me to have some wiggle room. So I checked to see if the night we were set to check out was available and since it was I put to good use those refunded points :yes:: they were burning a hole in my pocket so to speak) This made me comfortable with a morning flight. A very very EARLY morning flight. It is a horrible flight. Truly it may be worse than our flight from MCO in January last year. (oh gee...and on the same airline ) What was I thinking?! Oh yes... travel credit and points. I also had to fight for my travel credit. It was expiring... all $110 was expiring. So I let it expire and then requested an extension (which is what you have to do) The gal from SW was funny. She was like "I can offer you the extension but there is a fee". She seemed apologetic and weird. The fee is $100 by the way. This is why she felt bad. She asked if I still wanted it. Well, lets see... pay the $100 fee and get $10 voucher or let the entire thing go. $10 is $10 and while I hated to lose the $100... $10 is better than nothing. So with that voucher and points I booked the flight. It leaves... brace yourself cause it aint pretty.... at 6:50am. Does DME even run that early?? Seriously? Does it? Be sure I am watching for a later flight to go down in cost cause this is horrid! There is a layover in Dallas and then a stop in Albuquerque. Now it is just a stop...but in January our "stop" became a layover...a very LONG layover. The only good thing about this flight is it arrives to Seattle at 3pm. Early enough that my niece can catch a flight home that same day. (they are working out their own details on how to get her here and then home... it will be a pain since one parent with fly with her here and then go home and then fly back to pick her up... with her being 14 and it being a 50 minute flight...if it were me I would end up being lazy and just having her fly by herself..but I have 4 kids...and have seen they don't break too easily...no matter much you may or may not screw up with them)

I think next was the return from MCO on 2/25. Yep, this was an extension too. Why? Well, the flight that Cynthia and I wanted was "affordable" with the use of our miles on 2/25 but not on 2/24. So with a bit of finagling we were able to add the night to BWV and transfer some miles and voila we had an AWESOME direct flight home on alaska/ This flight leaves late in the day (like nearly 7pm) With no layovers it arrives home at 10:20pm. LOVE that!

With 3 of the 4 legs taken care of I really felt like I needed to get the flight down in January just done. I had really come to like the plan that Cynthia had for us. Using the night before our arrival to travel seems like a brilliant plan IF we get sleep. I know with Cynthia it will work out wonderful. I will sleep or not. She will or won't. However, neither of us will be accountable for the other's wellbeing. In other words she doesn't need to worry about me if I don't sleep. January though... I have 3 people to consider. Still the notion of not losing a day to travel won out and I found a flight on Jet blue that leaves at a perfect time (for everyone to get a full work day in, school day in and travel from one side of the state to the other in) It leaves Seattle at 9:40. I figure this also should help with making us tired and ready to sleep. There is a layover at JFK. I am not looking forward to this. It will feel like 3am when we get off at JFK. Then we have bit more than an hour until we are headed to MCO. Finally we arrive at MCO at 10am (which for us will feel like 7am) Lets just hope that we get some sleep.

 

[eandesmom]

If I had to guess I would say probably the flight down to MCO on 2/18. It was our plan to fly out the night of the 18th all along. It was a bit nerve wrecking though as the red eye flights that day went up in cost and then down in cost and then back up. We finally jumped on one that I think we had seen $20 lower at some point. It leaves seatac at about 5pm so it allows us each to work that day. The first leg is on Alaska (yay, cause Cynthia gets free checked bags) We have a layover in LA. This will give us just enough time to maybe hit a restroom and grab a bit to eat. Then we will be truly operated by American and we will spend the night on the plane. Arriving in the morning at what will feel like 3am to us might be a challenge but hopefully if I am able to sleep from 10pm or so on it won't be an issue.

In some ways I think having it as 2 legs, for a red eye, helps with my ability to doze. We will see as really heading to LA first doesn't shorten the flight from west to east by much. I have found though if I can doze or at least "rest" most of the flight, I do pretty ok. And, short naps poolside in the afternoon doesn't hurt if they feel needed! Jeff and I did do that this last trip while we waited for our room, it was pretty lovely actually.

I do also think having a breakfast plan after we check in will help, Boma is certainly easiest. Not sure we need a reservation though but then again I'd hate to find out it was really an issue.

Next I would guess it was the return flight in January. I had travel credit on SW as well as points... lots of points. The problem was I didn't want to leave early in the morning on our last day. Well, not to get too far ahead of myself with reporting of the most recent trip but lets just say some of my points were refunded to my account which enabled me to have some wiggle room. So I checked to see if the night we were set to check out was available and since it was I put to good use those refunded points :yes:: they were burning a hole in my pocket so to speak) This made me comfortable with a morning flight. A very very EARLY morning flight. It is a horrible flight. Truly it may be worse than our flight from MCO in January last year. (oh gee...and on the same airline ) What was I thinking?! Oh yes... travel credit and points. I also had to fight for my travel credit. It was expiring... all $110 was expiring. So I let it expire and then requested an extension (which is what you have to do) The gal from SW was funny. She was like "I can offer you the extension but there is a fee". She seemed apologetic and weird. The fee is $100 by the way. This is why she felt bad. She asked if I still wanted it. Well, lets see... pay the $100 fee and get $10 voucher or let the entire thing go. $10 is $10 and while I hated to lose the $100... $10 is better than nothing. So with that voucher and points I booked the flight. It leaves... brace yourself cause it aint pretty.... at 6:50am. Does DME even run that early?? Seriously? Does it? Be sure I am watching for a later flight to go down in cost cause this is horrid! There is a layover in Dallas and then a stop in Albuquerque. Now it is just a stop...but in January our "stop" became a layover...a very LONG layover. The only good thing about this flight is it arrives to Seattle at 3pm. Early enough that my niece can catch a flight home that same day. (they are working out their own details on how to get her here and then home... it will be a pain since one parent with fly with her here and then go home and then fly back to pick her up... with her being 14 and it being a 50 minute flight...if it were me I would end up being lazy and just having her fly by herself..but I have 4 kids...and have seen they don't break too easily...no matter much you may or may not screw up with them)

Ok that sounds AWFUL!

Yes, DME does leave that early. We had a 6am flight to San Juan this last trip. DME at 3:30am. UGH!

I think next was the return from MCO on 2/25. Yep, this was an extension too. Why? Well, the flight that Cynthia and I wanted was "affordable" with the use of our miles on 2/25 but not on 2/24. So with a bit of finagling we were able to add the night to BWV and transfer some miles and voila we had an AWESOME direct flight home on alaska/ This flight leaves late in the day (like nearly 7pm) With no layovers it arrives home at 10:20pm. LOVE that!

I love love love the direct flight home AND free bags both ways!

I will try to call Alaska this week and see if they can move us together, they were really great about it when we had the change from LGB to SNA so I am hopeful they can help. Caveat of course is that it's an American booking. Still, I am hoping they can and then also give me an Alaska confirmation code so we can both do online check in ahead of time.

I need to go back and look at our original ADR brainstorm as it might give us ideas for our extra day.

With 3 of the 4 legs taken care of I really felt like I needed to get the flight down in January just done. I had really come to like the plan that Cynthia had for us. Using the night before our arrival to travel seems like a brilliant plan IF we get sleep. I know with Cynthia it will work out wonderful. I will sleep or not. She will or won't. However, neither of us will be accountable for the other's wellbeing. In other words she doesn't need to worry about me if I don't sleep. January though... I have 3 people to consider. Still the notion of not losing a day to travel won out and I found a flight on Jet blue that leaves at a perfect time (for everyone to get a full work day in, school day in and travel from one side of the state to the other in) It leaves Seattle at 9:40. I figure this also should help with making us tired and ready to sleep. There is a layover at JFK. I am not looking forward to this. It will feel like 3am when we get off at JFK. Then we have bit more than an hour until we are headed to MCO. Finally we arrive at MCO at 10am (which for us will feel like 7am) Lets just hope that we get some sleep.

This is the exact flight Jeff and I did in September. It's not a long layover and the MCO flight was literally across the hall from the SEA gate. We had time for a coffee and a pastry and then were off again. It worked out very well. JetBlue actually gives you a red eye kit, eye mask and earplugs. Very cute. I know what you mean though, when we do the red eye with the kids, if the kids don't sleep it becomes everyone's issue. To an extent. They are old enough to suck it up and while they may complain a little, they also get that it's worth it and we get an extra day of vacation that way.

 

[dizneeat]

Yeah for getting your flights! Even though it took some rereading to figure it all out - blame it on English not being my first language!

 

[annmarieda]

Can you all believe it is time for me to leave again? I never even finished with everything I needed to post for the ToT trip and now I am a day away from leaving for the next trip. Where does time go? Add in the fact that work has been killing me...we had a horrid storm that seems to finally, after several days, be coming to an end... AND my computer died... my planning has really really suffered.


So lets see... the plan.

11/14
Josh will be coming to get me around 2pm. By 3pm we should make it to Steve's office where we will pick him up.Josh will drop us both off at the airport and then take my car with him back to my house. Steve and I will grab dinner at the airport. WeI will fly on Jet blue into Long Beach and should arrive at 7:40pm. Our driver should be waiting. Then he should allow us to make a grocery stop. (likely Target like he did for Cynthia and I)
We will quickly make some basic purchases like flats of water.
Hopefully we will make it to the Annabella by 10pm where we will check in.

11/15
Steve and I will sleep in a tad. We will start our day by having breakfast at the hotel. Next we will head to the expo to pick up our race packets. Then we will head to DTD to see what holiday decorations are there.We will have lunch in DTD. Where I am not sure.
Then we will split up.Steve will go back to the room and I will head to DL where I plan to

1. Ride POT
2. Ride BTMRR
3. Watch the Christmas FAntasy Parade
4. Ride the Disneyland Railroad
5. Ride Gadgets Go Coaster

Steve and I will then meet for dinner at Naples. After dinner we will head to the room to prepare for the next morning. Zach and Kimberly arrive by midnight.

I was able to get a single day ticket from someone for "cheap". Steve did not want to pay extra for that one day and really would prefer to sit back at the room. If weather is really nice I may choose to join him for a bit pool side.

11/16
Up early at about 3:00am (maybe 3:30) Walk to staging area at 4:00am (maybe 4:30) Get into our own corrals 5:00am (maybe 5:15)

Race begins at 5:30am

I hope that both of us will be done by 9:00am. I most likely will wait for Steve after I have found Zach and Kimberly(assuming they come to the finish). Once Steve finishes we will walk back to the room and get cleaned up. We (perhaps just Steve and I) will have breakfast at the hotel. Then we will head to DL where we will

1. Ride the Matterhorn
2. Ride Roger Rabbits Cartoon Spin
3. Ride Mr. Toads Wild Ride
4. Ride Peter Pan's Flight
5. Ride Finding Nemo Sub Voyage

Then we will head to lunch at Tortilla Jo's.
Then we will head back to DL where we will

1. Watch Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln
2. Watch Captain Eo
3. Ride Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster
4. Ride Winnie the Pooh
5. Ride POT
6. Watch the Christmas Fantasy Parade
7. Ride Star Tours
8. Ride Snow Whites Scary Adventure
9. Ride Storybook Land Canal Boats
10. Ride Alice in Wonderland

Then we will have dinner at the Jolly Holiday or some other counter service in DL or perhaps may call it an early night and head to Trader Sams before going to our room.
If we do not go back to the room we will head back to DL and

1. Ride Pinocchios Daring Journey
2. Watch Wintertime Enchantment Holidy lighting
3. Ride IASM
4. Ride Space Mountain
5. Watch Believe in Holiday Magic Fireworks
6. Ride BTMRR
7. Ride Indiana Jones Adventure
8. Ride the Haunted Mansion
   [*}Ride Jungle Cruise

Then we will walk back to the room.

This assumes a VERY long day as the park is open till midnight and using Touring Plans, I set up a schedule that puts us riding the Jungle Cruise at 11:20pm

1/17
Steve and I will start by having breakfast at the hotel. Then we will head to DCA where we will

1. Get a Fast Pass for RSR

Then we will pop over to DL to ride BTMRR
Then back to DCA where we will

1. Watch Viva Navidad Street Party
2. Ride RSR
3. Ride Soarin
4. Ride California Screaming - NOT ME
5. Have lunch at some counter service restaurant in DCA
6. Watch Aladdin Musical
7. Ride ToT - most likely NOT ME
8. Watch Bueana Vista Street Holiday Tree Lighting

Then over to DL for dinner at Blue Bayou
Then back to DCA to watch World of Color
Then walk back to the room

There may or may not be time in there to head back to the room to sit by the pool. Who knows if weather would even be agreeable to do that.

11/18
This will be a day to hit things we wanted to do but may have missed. Steve and I again will have breakfast at the hotel (gotta get our monies worth from the room, right?) So this day may include more down time. We have park hoppers so it would be easy enough to spend time in both parks. I may choose to form some touring plans or may just wing it. What I do know is we have dinner reservations at Cafe Orleans. Other than that... we have no where to be!

11/19
We will have breakfast in the hotel early. We have late check out due to the room category I booked, but will not use it since our driver will be there to pick us up around 8:30am. OMG! I totally forgot there was a change to our flight. We now leave more than an hour later than we originally were set to leave. This puts us arriving to Seattle later. Josh will of course come back to pick us up. Then from there we will drop Steve off for work where he will spend the rest of the day working. I will also head to work once I am home.

 

[KatMark]

Plans doubg great. I can't believe how close your trip is.

 

[Ariel484]

Sounds great, Ann!! Have so much fun and I hope you and Steve have a great race!

 

[eandesmom]

The plans look great! How magical to be there with all the holiday lights and parades AND do a super fun themed race!

I hope it's a good breakfast at the hotel and the weather allows for some pool time but is nice for the race. I can't wait to hear all about it.

Have a blast! And some of that tableside guac for me

 

[Woth2982]

Best of luck this weekend! I will be thinking about you on Sunday! Have fun on the trip. It looks like you all have really great plans going!

Yay on your airfare! You got some great deals! I think I am paying the same and coming half the distance!

 

[KatMark]

​

 

[MEK]

Looking forward to hearing about the Avenger's.

When I really study your plans and the sheer number of races you are doing this year its simply amazing!

 

[annmarieda]

hello

Hello?




Is there anyone still willing to read?

Can you believe I have not been on disboards in about 2 months (give or take some days) Life has been terribly hectic. I knew that it would be given my travel/running schedule but the reality is that it became even more so. Add in that my computer died and I still have yet to recover all my pictures and I just felt like I couldn't even get on here. And... the longer I went... sadly the more I felt like I couldn't.

So lets see.... aside from two trips having past and the last one just on the horizon what else has been happening?

Steve - he is in the middle of a pretty major flare with his chrons. It was triggered by the fact that at the WDW half he had a dns (did not start) Just as we were turning in for the night and had already set our race gear out, he began violently getting sick. So no race for him. Lots of stress and illness and BAM he is completely out of remission. Work though is going well thankfully for him.

Zoe - She is doing pretty well and staying active despite her own health challenges. We always have known that her pain level could require treatment at some point. She gets debilitating spasms and this has began to get worse. She is a trooper though and takes a break to work through it and manages. There are times though that she is unable to walk. For this reason I worried about her race a couple weeks ago. I worried that she would spasm and need to be carried from the course. Luckily it did not happen. School goes well as does her dance.

Alex - He is still here. Still no direction. He did turn 19 though... :roll eyes:

Zach and Kimberly - The wedding is now just months away. I have always worried that given their military involvements that they would eventually move away.. far away. However they are in the process of purchasing a cute home. a 1928 craftsman style home. It is actually really cute.



They should close before I get back from the phm trip.

Kira and Josh - So these two are the ones who I thought would stay put. They purchased a home a couple years after all. However Josh has a bit of wanderlust. He was offered a job in CA. Given the amount he was offered it was hard to not take the job. He is only here for a few more weeks. Kira will finish this term at school and stay behind. Then she will go down. Her hope is that he doesn't like the job and they will move back. She can then finish up her student teaching and be certified to teach in WA. However, I really think that she is more likely to like it down there and given his salary will likely just not finish school. They are about to go on a trip to WDW and plan to get an AP while there and then upgrade that to a Premiere once they move. I have mixed feeling on this entire thing. I want them to do well and succeed but will seriously miss my daughter who tends to call me countless times in a day.

Me - I have been doing pretty much nothing but working or running or traveling. I did know that once the trips started up in August it would be non stop and I am far from complaining because lets face it.. this year I totally spoiled myself. However given I get ZERO vacay time I am in a constant state of trying to get everything done in order to take the time off then I come back and rush to get the next cycle done. Fitting in the long runs in addition to all this has made it so having free time (and thus dis time) is a challenge. However I guess it could be said that my free time is my travel, right? I have taken a trip every month since August (ok, so august and September were a part of the same trip) We even took a trip before Christmas to see family. So while I definitely feel blessed to have taken as many trips as I have I also wonder if I would have perhaps enjoyed the trips more if there were just a bit fewer of them. I say that and think I need to not plan the next race season out in such a way that I am doing this again. However there are races I want to go do. Disneyland half weekend... wine and dine weekend.. avengers... wdw marathon... I want to do them all... At least I do know that I won't finish the season out with phm 2016. I should pick just one on each coast. That would mean no travel between 2/2015 and 11/2015. (because it would have to be avengers for legacy)and then I would finish up with a longer trip to WDW in January 2016 (because Steve will want to take on the half that he missed out on a couple weeks ago) My own health has been a challenge. A week before the WDW half I injured my knee. Ironically this injury had Steve and I preparing for me to be swept. (not for him to DNS) I also have been having blood sugar and blood pressure issues. Also adding to the thought I might get swept was that just before we boarded the plan my blood sugar crashed and I passed out. Darn medicine wasn't regulating my insulin well enough. I had when that happens. It is like a system reboot and it takes a while for me to even be able to speak. YUCK. So I still there...conscious of what is happening around me but unable to really communicate. Yuck. . Blood pressure has been spiking causing some doozies of headaches. The veins in my temple bulge and I feel as though I am a squeezey toy with my head about to explode. Working on day three of that now. :roll eyes: Yep, I guess I am kinda a mess... but I am still running and I do so with a smile on my face (even if I have to go a tad slower on my training runs)

So I will try to get caught up on here. For those of you with threads I am subscribed to I may have to just read and not comment or perhaps I will just start fresh and subscribe to your new threads as you start them.

 

[KatMark]

Wow...you've had a lot going on. Congrats to Zach and Kim on the house. I'm sorry Steve and Zoe are having medical issues and tat you had your own share as well. And now Josh and Kira are moving away from you.

We've missed you and know you will get here when you can.