Procrastination

 Thinking of writing a blog and actually writing one is two different things. This started out as a project to digitally scrapbook my memories and to help my 7 year old overcome his fear of writing. In theory this sounds like a simple idea, but in reality it is difficult to show a child how to do something when I'm working night shift and not getting to see the child much except on weekends. And also difficult when I myself have no blog writing skills or not much computer/ office skills for that matter.

  Second obstacle: what subject will I write about? Summer was approaching and in my fantasy world I thought of all the cool things me and my kids would do this summer. My oldest son, a 13 year old 7th grader was looking forward to a 2 week trip with school he had been planning and saving for all year. His 7th grade junior high hosts The Great Western Expedition every year and he had put down his deposit, done 3 fundraisers, and set up a special savings account just for this trip. He dutifully put his babysitting and mowing money in his savings each week and was very excited about going on a trip with his friends. I on the other hand was pretty nervous about my firstborn being gone for 2 weeks, especially since the kids were not allowed to take their cell phones. Not that I'm a hovering parent or anything, my son is very responsible and babysits his little brother 4 nights week while I'm at work and his Dad is taking college classes in the evenings. But its just nice to know I can call or text on my break to make sure everything is okay, that they have eaten dinner and done their homework and the house hasn't burnt down.

  We knew a temporary layoff was coming up at work and I was looking forward to having the summer off with my kids, well the recession must have eased up a bit because we kept getting more orders at work and the upcoming layoff kept getting postponed. So our summer plans kept getting postponed also. When I wasn't working it seemed like all I did was haul my son and his lawnmowers around to get his mowing jobs done in between the rain. It must have rained for 40 days and 40 nights, I thought we should probably build an ark!

  So much for a fun summer of bike riding, going to The Beach Ottumwa
  http://www.cityofottumwa.org/parks/beach/home
, walking the trails http://www.wapellocountytrails.com/
 and going geocaching, http://www.geocaching.com/

  I ended up working thru the end of July and school starts earlier this year; so much for summer plans. I was getting pretting anxious about older son Sam's trip, and came up about a great idea about how cool it would be to take my youngest son Jesse on a special trip while Sam was gone, just the two of us since my husband Doug had school. I had a few personal vacation days to use, would be out a babysitter, and actually had money saved up in a special savings account just for vacations. I was saving for a family vacation for the next year, but convinced myself that I would be able to replenish the account before the following summer. I kept having this recurring dream about taking Jesse to Walt Disney World alone.
 
  I love Disney, everything about Disney, the man, the books, the movies, the tv shows, the parks, the toys,the games, everything! We had all been to Walt Disney World as a family 4 years before and I spent 3 days alone at Disney the following year, Doug was working a trade show in Orlando just outside The World, so I was able to get a pretty cheap mini vacation and meet him there. Doug likes Disney too, but was a bit of a spoil sport when it came to touring the parks, so why force him to go if he's gonna be a downer? So here it is the end of May and I want to plan a Disney vacation in a mere 45 days, I told Doug what I wanted to do and he said go for it!!

  Thats all I needed! I'm pretty much Disney obsessed, have all sorts of Disney vacation planning books and subscribe to several Disney websites, even though I'm not actually actively planning a trip I like to keep up on all the magic and you just never know when a great deal is gonna come along. Before he could change his mind I went online with a calender in hand, I had 4 PVD days to use so if I combined those with a weekend we could have 5 nights and 6 days of magic. Planning a Disney trip on such short notice is crazy, but I felt like a pro.First I called my Aunt Evie, who is really Disney obsessed! Then I went to http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/ to check resorts and room availability for the time frame I had in mind, I wanted to stay at Port Orleans French Quarter.

  Years ago when I lived in Tucson, Arizona I worked for a DuPont jobber mixing and matching automotive paint. One of our customers was The Larson Company http://www.larson-usa.com/index2.html

 They built fake rocks and trees for zoos and exhibits that looked so real even the guys that worked there couldn't tell the difference. One day they brought in some little hand painted clay models of alligators playing musical instruments. These would become large fountains to be placed around a swimming pool at a new resort at Walt Disney World. I had to custom match the paint colors and make a formula in Imron for several models. I wish they would've let me keep just one little alligator model! That was about 20 years ago and ever since I've wanted to go to Walt Disney World and stay at Port Orleans French Quarter! http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/resorts/port-orleans-resort-french-quarter/

 Doug actually worked for The Larson Company for about 6 months in the '80s. If you've been to any zoo's anywhere in the world you've seen some of their work.

  Port Orleans is a moderate priced resort and was available during my time frame, being the frugal Mom that I am I also checked availability on the Value resorts, but I was unable to find anything during my time frame on such a short notice, oh darn, looked like we would have to stay in my 1st choice resort! Then I checked for specials on Disney's web site and all the sites I knew of, the best special I could find at the time was The Kids Stay and Play Free for kids ages 3-9, so all I would have to pay for Jesse was transportation and meals.

  Next I went to all the travel sites I could think of to find a deal on air fare, my requirements were a nonstop flight from Des Moines to Orlando International Airport, get there fairly early and leave late in the day and it had to be cheap. I found an awesome deal on AirTran http://www.airtran.com/Home.aspx
 $89.00 each way on Tuesday and Thursday and & $15.00 for 1 checked bag, if I left on Thursday that would give me 4 full days in the parks and I would only have to use 4 PVD's, perfect. And since we were flying into MCO http://www.orlandoairports.net/ we could use Disney's Magical Express Service http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/resorts/benefits/airport-service/ and we wouldnt have to pay to rent a car or limo to get from the airport to our resort!

  Everything was falling into place so easily, now I just needed to check prices on park tickets and meals, Jesse's tickets were free and I went with the Magic Your Way Base Ticket with Quick Service Dining Plan http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/vacation-packages/2010/quick-serve-dining/
 between airfare and meals it would only cost about $250.00 to take Jesse on a trip he'll always remember!

  The first trip we used a travel agent and it doesn't cost anymore to have an agent book your trip for you so we called a wonderful agent, Kerri Gobrecht with Magical Moments Travel http://www.magicalmomentstravels.com/, we did have to book our own airfare but she did such a wonderful job making all the other arrangements for our hotel, park tickets, dining plan and Magical Express service, all I had to do was pack, dream and keep it all a secret from Jesse! And it stayed a surprise until he got off the plane and saw the Magical Express bus!

  Next thing I did to get ready for our trip was to order a new passporter http://www.passporter.com/wdw/home.php , it's a travel guide that has just about everything you need to know to plan a Disney vacation, from resorts, parks, restaurants, tips and transportation, and they have a great website. Then I found a deal to preorder Disney's PhotoPass CD http://www.disneyphotopass.com/previsitoffer.aspx, let Disney photographer's take your pictures while at the parks and when you get home you can add special borders and you have the rights to the pictures and can get them printed anywhere, then you'll actually be in your vacation pics not just taking them!