Well today they decided to cut us a little bit of a break and not make us clock in until 8 a.m. Their generosity knows no bounds. We got to work and found out that we were only doing four runs! Talk about exciting. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t like running the show; it’s just that once you’ve done it five times in one day it gets a little bit monotonous. We spent the better half of the morning doing some team building exercises! The cast was divided up into five different groups and we had to come up with some sort of Christmas skit. It was pretty great! We had a couple of groups do “Grandma Got Run-Over by a Reindeer” and a few groups do “The 12 Days of Christmas;” we even had the one unique group do an interesting take on “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” They even used tape on their noses for that full Whoville citizen effect.
Once we finished up with the festivities, we started to talk about contingencies. That’s basically, if something goes wrong, they have a procedure for us so that the guests don’t feel like they’ve been completely shafted. I didn’t really have to do anything. I’ve got such an itty-bitty-teeny-weeny role that I don’t even have to worry about it. Holla!
So then began the run throughs. I only had one today but that had to be done in costume. My only goal was not to bite it during the show. I succeeded. I had to sacrifice choreography a little bit, but it wasn’t anything too too noticeable.
Once we finished there (around 5), I headed back to the apartment and ran up to Panera. See, SAU is putting on a “Mystery Radio Show.” Basically, they are doing an old fashion murder mystery. Each character steps up to the microphone (in costume) and reads their lines, so it’s just like sitting in on an old fashion radio show. Now, for those of us who weren’t able to get there to see they show, they web streamed it so we could listen to it live. It was just like an old radio show! It was great! I spent a good hour at Panera cheering for my friends at home, (who did a great job by the way). If you want the link to that just let me know; they’ve got a couple performances left.
I headed back to the apartment and did some ironing for class tomorrow. So now I’m just sitting here refusing to go to bed. I really can be quite stubborn.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
"Just A Snot-Filled Mask"
Today I got up at noon in order to head to Panera to get some homework done. Come to find out, our next week homework assignment doesn’t get uploading for a few days, so I spent the majority of the morning on Facebook and doing various odd and end things. I ended up having a couple hours to kill so I ran to Blockbuster to pick up a movie for a film critique that I have to do. Unfortunately they didn’t have the movie I wanted, but they were having a little a store-closing sale…so…I picked up a few movies. I couldn’t help myself; it was such a good deal!
I ran home and started on one of the movies I bought. I only got through about half of it before I had to head into work. I was doing the parade again tonight so I had to be in by 6:15. Despite it being kinda warm outside, the routine went pretty well; all clothing pieces stayed on. Seriously, they had my belt on so tight I could have burped up a lung! Since I’m still getting over my cold, when I got off route and pulled my mask off I had snot all over my face. I felt wildly attractive.
All in all, it was a pretty great day.
I ran home and started on one of the movies I bought. I only got through about half of it before I had to head into work. I was doing the parade again tonight so I had to be in by 6:15. Despite it being kinda warm outside, the routine went pretty well; all clothing pieces stayed on. Seriously, they had my belt on so tight I could have burped up a lung! Since I’m still getting over my cold, when I got off route and pulled my mask off I had snot all over my face. I felt wildly attractive.
All in all, it was a pretty great day.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
"A Seed"
8 hours 15 minutes-Character [Van Driver] (@ Disney’s Magic Kingdom)
Well, not a whole lot happened this morning. Basically, it was the same as always so I’ll just pick up when I headed into work. I got there around 3 because I was sparing (my first love ☺). Because I was really so bored, I decided to go and watch “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” to help pass the time. It worked pretty well. I forgot how intense that movie is!
After finishing up my time with Snow (we’re on a first name basis), I found out that I was going to be pulled as a van driver. Normally I would be thrilled, but I was actually kind of bummed today because I really wanted to get pulled to a character. Oddly enough, I miss it. What with being at rehearsals all day, I really was looking forward to getting back into the pad and furs; however, God does indeed have a sense of humor, because it was only a couple weeks ago, I was trying on my friend’s attendant outfit making fun of how ridiculous it looks. Well, as luck would have it, I had to go get one of my own in order to do ONE van run…it was a must, apparently. I looked ridiculous! First off the pants are the kind that sit up above your bellybutton so my Popsicle legs were very very apparent. I looked like a daddy-long legs walking down the hallway. I had people jump out of the way and scream, “SPIDER!” as I walked by. Not only that, but my pearly white thighs could blind someone! I felt like I was constantly reflecting the sunlight into people’s eyes as I made my way around. Despite, it all, work ended up not being too bad.
The good news came after I got off work. Not only did I get to have a great talk with Liz (which has been long overdue), but I got to witness to Mike, like hardcore. First off, we started talking about why I am so selective with the girls I consider dating. I told him because my beliefs play such a big part in my decision, which he kind of laughed at. That led into him telling me that he used to be really into religion but overtime just came to “understand” that it was just created by people who just needed something to live for. That led us to talk about life after death. He had some great comments and questions. It really was great on one hand while really challenging on the other. It proved to me just how little I really know and just how much I really need to study up on certain things. Please pray that God planted a seed in his heart tonight and that he will continue to nourish it.
Well, not a whole lot happened this morning. Basically, it was the same as always so I’ll just pick up when I headed into work. I got there around 3 because I was sparing (my first love ☺). Because I was really so bored, I decided to go and watch “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” to help pass the time. It worked pretty well. I forgot how intense that movie is!
After finishing up my time with Snow (we’re on a first name basis), I found out that I was going to be pulled as a van driver. Normally I would be thrilled, but I was actually kind of bummed today because I really wanted to get pulled to a character. Oddly enough, I miss it. What with being at rehearsals all day, I really was looking forward to getting back into the pad and furs; however, God does indeed have a sense of humor, because it was only a couple weeks ago, I was trying on my friend’s attendant outfit making fun of how ridiculous it looks. Well, as luck would have it, I had to go get one of my own in order to do ONE van run…it was a must, apparently. I looked ridiculous! First off the pants are the kind that sit up above your bellybutton so my Popsicle legs were very very apparent. I looked like a daddy-long legs walking down the hallway. I had people jump out of the way and scream, “SPIDER!” as I walked by. Not only that, but my pearly white thighs could blind someone! I felt like I was constantly reflecting the sunlight into people’s eyes as I made my way around. Despite, it all, work ended up not being too bad.
The good news came after I got off work. Not only did I get to have a great talk with Liz (which has been long overdue), but I got to witness to Mike, like hardcore. First off, we started talking about why I am so selective with the girls I consider dating. I told him because my beliefs play such a big part in my decision, which he kind of laughed at. That led into him telling me that he used to be really into religion but overtime just came to “understand” that it was just created by people who just needed something to live for. That led us to talk about life after death. He had some great comments and questions. It really was great on one hand while really challenging on the other. It proved to me just how little I really know and just how much I really need to study up on certain things. Please pray that God planted a seed in his heart tonight and that he will continue to nourish it.
Monday, October 26, 2009
"Die 6 a.m.! DIE!"
Today wrapped up my 6 a.m. shifts! HALLELUJAH!!! We got the rehearsal studio to in our retro 80’s garb all ready to run. I loved the fact that Minnie was sporting blue leggings and a pair of shorts that said, “Dance” across the butt. It definitely made my day. We got there and got ourselves all set and ready to go. Oddly enough, people were pretty talkative this morning so when the instructor got up to give us director, she was having a hard time being heard over the noise. What happened next is, well, you’ll see…I’m sitting there and all the sudden, I see her get that kindergarten teacher look on her face. Ya know the one they get when the students won’t stop talking? Then she proceeds to put her hand up in the hair and count to three. Oh, and she was completely serious! There were 40 year olds in the room! Just a word of advice, don’t ever do the count to three thing with students over the age of ten—they just get angry and insulted. For the rest of the day, people would shoot their hands up in into the air whenever it would get a little noisy, and what do you think they were doing? Counting to three. I must admit, I found it rather humorous.
Today I actually mentally transferred some of my clumsiness to the other cast members. Instead of me biting it on my face, they were the ones messing up choreography and tripping over their Klenex box shoes. It was wonderful! ☺
After work, I headed to Wal-Mart to get my weekly supply of groceries. Who would of thunk I could eat so much in one week! My goodness, I’m gonna have to start starving myself cause my paycheck doesn’t allot for this grand living. One my way out, I saw a girl from my class waiting for the bus to pick her up, so I asked her if she’s like a ride home. She hopped in and proceeded to tell me just how miserable she is down here. Her paycheck isn’t good, she isn’t learning anything, and basically this is just a waist of her time. She is one of the most negative people I’ve ever met. It was so utterly ridiculous; when she got out of the car, I just started laughing. I just can’t imagine living life that way! Stay positive; negativity is just a complete turn off!
After heading home, I fell asleep on the couch for a while, and then headed over the Jessica’s for dinner and the tail end of dancing with the stars. Good times.
Now, I’ve just been chilling in the apartment watching Reba and blowing my nose. Gotta love cold recovery.
Today I actually mentally transferred some of my clumsiness to the other cast members. Instead of me biting it on my face, they were the ones messing up choreography and tripping over their Klenex box shoes. It was wonderful! ☺
After work, I headed to Wal-Mart to get my weekly supply of groceries. Who would of thunk I could eat so much in one week! My goodness, I’m gonna have to start starving myself cause my paycheck doesn’t allot for this grand living. One my way out, I saw a girl from my class waiting for the bus to pick her up, so I asked her if she’s like a ride home. She hopped in and proceeded to tell me just how miserable she is down here. Her paycheck isn’t good, she isn’t learning anything, and basically this is just a waist of her time. She is one of the most negative people I’ve ever met. It was so utterly ridiculous; when she got out of the car, I just started laughing. I just can’t imagine living life that way! Stay positive; negativity is just a complete turn off!
After heading home, I fell asleep on the couch for a while, and then headed over the Jessica’s for dinner and the tail end of dancing with the stars. Good times.
Now, I’ve just been chilling in the apartment watching Reba and blowing my nose. Gotta love cold recovery.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
"Badazzled Bellies"
I forgot to blog yesterday! Well, I’ll catch you up: I was sick. I’ll spare you all the wonderful details, but let’s just say I wasn’t feeling quite ship shape.
Today I woke up around 12:30 and got to work cleaning the apartment. We have our monthly inspection on Tuesday and it was my turn to vacuum and clean the kitchen. It took a couple of hours, but it really wasn’t all that bad. I almost sucked my suitemates belly piercing up in the vacuum, not bellyBUTTON, BELLY piercing up in the vacuum. See he has like the side of his stomach pierced, don’t ask me how he got it done, but it’s definitely there, anyhow, he left the stud on the floor and had it not been for the glittering it would have been long gone. Thankfully, his stomach will live to glitter another day.
After that, I just kind of straightened up while my roommate slept. We decided last night that he is incapable of getting up on time, despite setting the most annoying alarm clock known to man, so I volunteered to yell at him until he got up. Today was round 1. It went off around 5ish. I started yelling, “Mike! Mike! Get up!” He rolled over and mumbled something that sounded like Eggos, turned off his alarm, and then immediately began to snore again. So I started in on him again. “Mike, get up! Don’t fall back to sleep!” Again, “mumble, mumble” snore. I decided to keep badgering him until I finally had him sitting up on the side of his bed with his head in his hands. I can be very persuasive. ☺
Finally mission accomplished: Mike was up and off to work. Needless to say, he was a little tired this afternoon, so he came home and crashed.
Now, I’m at Panera, doing a little homework and reading. I’m gonna try to get into bed early tonight because tomorrow starts the 6 a.m. shifts again, and it’s 80s day. I’ve got to be on my A game for that. ☺
Today I woke up around 12:30 and got to work cleaning the apartment. We have our monthly inspection on Tuesday and it was my turn to vacuum and clean the kitchen. It took a couple of hours, but it really wasn’t all that bad. I almost sucked my suitemates belly piercing up in the vacuum, not bellyBUTTON, BELLY piercing up in the vacuum. See he has like the side of his stomach pierced, don’t ask me how he got it done, but it’s definitely there, anyhow, he left the stud on the floor and had it not been for the glittering it would have been long gone. Thankfully, his stomach will live to glitter another day.
After that, I just kind of straightened up while my roommate slept. We decided last night that he is incapable of getting up on time, despite setting the most annoying alarm clock known to man, so I volunteered to yell at him until he got up. Today was round 1. It went off around 5ish. I started yelling, “Mike! Mike! Get up!” He rolled over and mumbled something that sounded like Eggos, turned off his alarm, and then immediately began to snore again. So I started in on him again. “Mike, get up! Don’t fall back to sleep!” Again, “mumble, mumble” snore. I decided to keep badgering him until I finally had him sitting up on the side of his bed with his head in his hands. I can be very persuasive. ☺
Finally mission accomplished: Mike was up and off to work. Needless to say, he was a little tired this afternoon, so he came home and crashed.
Now, I’m at Panera, doing a little homework and reading. I’m gonna try to get into bed early tonight because tomorrow starts the 6 a.m. shifts again, and it’s 80s day. I’ve got to be on my A game for that. ☺
Friday, October 23, 2009
"Reving Up To Go Retro"
Again, today was pretty similar to yesterday. I had to get up before any living creature and head into work. One new thing: I discovered today that for some odd reason I have become one of the klutziest people on the face of the earth. Look up “klutz” in the dictionary and I’ll be there under “examples.” In the show, I’ve got to wear these massive shoes; if that wasn’t bad enough, I’ve got to march with them on so as I’m sure you can image, those two don’t make for a great combination. I’ve got these equity dancers whirling and twirling and looking well, perfect, for lack of a better word, around me, and I go ahead and almost bite it during my solo right in front of the show director. If that wasn’t bad enough, I managed to trip over myself during every run, and every time I could hear my friends laughing uncontrollably in the background. That’s when you know you’re loved. ☺
After work, Jessica, and her roommate, Megan, and I headed to a local Salvation Army to get me an outfit for 80s day at work. I’ve got to say, I’m pretty stoked about it. It. looks. awesome. Not only that, but I found an awe-some t-shirt! After heading out of there, we ran through Taco Bell for dinner. Overall, it was a pretty good day, even though rehearsals kinda dragged on a little this morning.
After work, Jessica, and her roommate, Megan, and I headed to a local Salvation Army to get me an outfit for 80s day at work. I’ve got to say, I’m pretty stoked about it. It. looks. awesome. Not only that, but I found an awe-some t-shirt! After heading out of there, we ran through Taco Bell for dinner. Overall, it was a pretty good day, even though rehearsals kinda dragged on a little this morning.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
"I. Am. Tired"
Well friends let me just forewarn you; I’m about to fall asleep so this blog is going to be short, sweet, and to the point. I again had rehearsals today for the Christmas show. Not too much changed. I still am getting to be better friends with Derek and Craig. On top of that, people really seem to be warming up to each other. Today, I get kicked in the calf by an equity dancer and he yelled, “ sorry!” as he danced on. It. was. awesome. I felt like we were friends. But in actuality, it seems like people are starting to warm up to one another and finally begin to expand their horizons and accept new people.
After work, I headed back to the apartments and picked up Jessica, and then we headed out to the most ghetto Borders I’ve ever seen. See, I’ve got to keep a creativity journal for my Friday class and my professor suggested putting comics in it, so I had to run out and buy a comic book. After that, Jessica and I ordered a Pizza Hut pizza and kind of settle down to watch a movie. About 30 minutes into the movie, I realized that I was not going to be able to hold out much longer so, I had to bid Jessica goodbye and head home to get ready for bed. I finally understand how it feels to be a 40 year old—it’s only 6:40 and I’m getting ready for bed. Oh, well.
After work, I headed back to the apartments and picked up Jessica, and then we headed out to the most ghetto Borders I’ve ever seen. See, I’ve got to keep a creativity journal for my Friday class and my professor suggested putting comics in it, so I had to run out and buy a comic book. After that, Jessica and I ordered a Pizza Hut pizza and kind of settle down to watch a movie. About 30 minutes into the movie, I realized that I was not going to be able to hold out much longer so, I had to bid Jessica goodbye and head home to get ready for bed. I finally understand how it feels to be a 40 year old—it’s only 6:40 and I’m getting ready for bed. Oh, well.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
"Life in Baca"
So today…oh today. I had rehearsal again today. Just read my blog from the past two or three days and you’ll get the general gist of rehearsals. It goes like this: block…music…run…STOP!…reblock…music…run…STOP!!! …etc.
We finished up around two and immediately after, I ran back to the apartment and grabbed my books for my online class and headed to Panera. With my schedule be a little hectic the next few weeks, I decided it would be a good idea to get ahead, so I’ve spent the last four hours at Panera doing homework. Oh you got to love it! I forgot that wonderful feeing you get when you finish a paper ☺.
More importantly, I decided to read my Bible while I was here. I opened up to Psalms 84. I may come as no shock to you that the past couple of days have been really difficult. You would think that rehearsals would give me a certain level of pride, however, they’ve done just the opposite; they’ve made me aware of just how insufficient I am. All these ridiculously talented people surround me and being in their wake makes me just feel amateurish. I get so nervous I’m going to make a mistake and make a fool of myself (which has never been an issue before—the embarrassment that comes with making a fool of myself since I tend to do that often ☺). All of that has been weighing pretty heavily on my shoulders, well how good God is. I just love those moments when he seems the most distant and then all the sudden completely assures you that he is there and in control. Let me explain…
“5Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on
pilgrimage [a journey to a sacred place]. 6As they pass through the Valley
of Baca [a.k.a. Valley of Tears/Weeping] they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools. 7They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.”
How appropriate to my situation?! I’ve realized just how much I’ve relied on me and my abilities the past couple of weeks. I’ve chosen to leave God out, and now I’ve brought myself to a point where I see just how much I need him. His strength is beyond anything I could ever muster. I asked you to pray that my heart would not grow hard, this is exactly the answer: I must rely on the strength that God gives to his anointed ones. It allows Christians to stand out and lead a different, positive life because it is something that is completely unavailable to the unsaved. It is there I need to rest. It is once there I can have confidence that my heart will stay protected. With his strength at my side, I can walk confidently, even through a place as dismal as the “Valley of Tears.”
We finished up around two and immediately after, I ran back to the apartment and grabbed my books for my online class and headed to Panera. With my schedule be a little hectic the next few weeks, I decided it would be a good idea to get ahead, so I’ve spent the last four hours at Panera doing homework. Oh you got to love it! I forgot that wonderful feeing you get when you finish a paper ☺.
More importantly, I decided to read my Bible while I was here. I opened up to Psalms 84. I may come as no shock to you that the past couple of days have been really difficult. You would think that rehearsals would give me a certain level of pride, however, they’ve done just the opposite; they’ve made me aware of just how insufficient I am. All these ridiculously talented people surround me and being in their wake makes me just feel amateurish. I get so nervous I’m going to make a mistake and make a fool of myself (which has never been an issue before—the embarrassment that comes with making a fool of myself since I tend to do that often ☺). All of that has been weighing pretty heavily on my shoulders, well how good God is. I just love those moments when he seems the most distant and then all the sudden completely assures you that he is there and in control. Let me explain…
“5Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on
pilgrimage [a journey to a sacred place]. 6As they pass through the Valley
of Baca [a.k.a. Valley of Tears/Weeping] they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools. 7They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.”
How appropriate to my situation?! I’ve realized just how much I’ve relied on me and my abilities the past couple of weeks. I’ve chosen to leave God out, and now I’ve brought myself to a point where I see just how much I need him. His strength is beyond anything I could ever muster. I asked you to pray that my heart would not grow hard, this is exactly the answer: I must rely on the strength that God gives to his anointed ones. It allows Christians to stand out and lead a different, positive life because it is something that is completely unavailable to the unsaved. It is there I need to rest. It is once there I can have confidence that my heart will stay protected. With his strength at my side, I can walk confidently, even through a place as dismal as the “Valley of Tears.”
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
"Be Quiet!!!"
For those of you who have wrote me encouraging things over the past couple of days, thank you from the bottom of my heart. That wasn’t why I wrote those things in my blog, but I’m not gonna act like I didn’t appreciate it. Each thought and prayer means so much to me. I truly don’t deserve wonderful people like you in my life (that is yet another blessing I can dwell on throughout the day).
I didn’t have to work today so that was nice to get another day off. It’s really helped pace things out with the last couple of days being a little bit more difficult. In order to make up for my rehearsal this Friday, I had to attend class this afternoon. It was one of those class periods that just dragged on forever and a day. Plus, it didn’t help that we had people that seriously could not just shut up. You know when you want to go just grab them by the front of their shirt and scream, “sssshhhhhh.” So I figured I would solve the issue by glaring at them (while they weren’t looking of course, because if we were to actually make eye contact that would be awkward). Come to find out, it was my sweet mates! They just wouldn’t shut up!
After class, I headed back to the apartment and caught up on Dancing with the Stars. Last night the cast danced the Argentine Tango. That is seriously one of my favorite dances! It’s so legit! So that’s pretty much made up my day. I’m going out to have dinner with a friend in a little while, but other than that, I really haven’t been up to too much.
I didn’t have to work today so that was nice to get another day off. It’s really helped pace things out with the last couple of days being a little bit more difficult. In order to make up for my rehearsal this Friday, I had to attend class this afternoon. It was one of those class periods that just dragged on forever and a day. Plus, it didn’t help that we had people that seriously could not just shut up. You know when you want to go just grab them by the front of their shirt and scream, “sssshhhhhh.” So I figured I would solve the issue by glaring at them (while they weren’t looking of course, because if we were to actually make eye contact that would be awkward). Come to find out, it was my sweet mates! They just wouldn’t shut up!
After class, I headed back to the apartment and caught up on Dancing with the Stars. Last night the cast danced the Argentine Tango. That is seriously one of my favorite dances! It’s so legit! So that’s pretty much made up my day. I’m going out to have dinner with a friend in a little while, but other than that, I really haven’t been up to too much.
Monday, October 19, 2009
"Quicksand"
Well between last night and this morning I came to a lot of realizations that were only further solidified by talking to my friend Jessica, but more on that later. We didn’t have to be at rehearsal today until a little later so that was nice. Derek, a fellow cast member, and I decided to carpool together since Disney has been shoving “Going Green” down our throats. I’ve practically stopped exhaling because “it’s bad for the environment” ☺. Anyway, I got over to his apartment complex around 7:20 (rehearsals began at 8). And after waiting around for about ten minutes and freezing my butt off (you have no idea how wonderful it feels to say that—I’m not complaining ☺), I realized that Derek wasn’t coming. So I ran back to my car and prayed that I would make it to work on time.
Don’t worry, it’s okay, I made it, and so did Derek, but just by the hair of his chinny chin chin.
Anyway, we had rehearsals all morning, but because the dance studio we were in wasn’t built to accommodate the size of the castle stage, my fellow unimportant members and I were forced to sit and watch because there just wasn’t room for us. We decided to stand on the side of the “stage” and do our choreography, but no worries; we managed to entertain ourselves the whole time so we had fun.
After work, I headed back to the apartment to eat and catch a quick nap. I had another bridged shift today what with rehearsal in the morning and a parade at night. I got about an hour of sleep before having to throw on my jeans and head into work. I got there, clocked in, got my make up done (which continues to get better looking-just fyi), and headed to step off. Tonight, rather than being able to climb onto my float, I had to be hoisted up to another float in a cherry picker. It was actually pretty cool, and despite butchering all the choreography, the night seemed to go fairly well. I would just try overcompensating with lots of energy and big movements. Goodness, I tipped my hat and blew kisses like a fiend tonight; however, when it comes time to read my notes, I’m afraid the management staff won’t be quite so impressed with my big movements and flawless kiss blowing technique. Darn it.
So time for the revelations. I never realized just how hard being on my own would be; let me rephrase that, being on my own away from any source of Christian accountability. I miss good solid Christian friends so so much. I normally can embrace new experiences pretty well, but this one has been exceptionally hard, and I finally figured out why. All of the other experiences involved me being thrust into a group of Christians. There we (hopefully) shared some common ground—we were all striving for holiness; and even if everyone wasn’t the strongest of Christians, there was still that common ground which just made certain things okay and certain things completely unacceptable. We could keep each other accountable because if push came to shove, we could bring each other back to the idea of righteous motivations. Here, I don’t have that. Here, I am surrounded by unsaved people daily, the majority of which are highly negative. It because increasingly difficult to stay positive and upbeat when the vast majority of those around you choose to look for the bad in situations. First off, thank you so much to all of you who have been so faithful in praying for me. I am truly humbled by the amount of people who are willing to give up their time to do that! If you could just ask that God be my strength throughout the next couple of months. My biggest fear is that all of this negativity will seep into my heart and I will come back harder and more critical, and I don’t want that. I see just how much an optimistic person is needed in the world, and more importantly, just how much they stand out from the crowd. Please ask that God will continue to fill my mind with reasons to celebrate daily. He IS good and He continues to bless me in ways I don’t deserve! Now comes the hard part, dwelling on that throughout the day.
Don’t worry, it’s okay, I made it, and so did Derek, but just by the hair of his chinny chin chin.
Anyway, we had rehearsals all morning, but because the dance studio we were in wasn’t built to accommodate the size of the castle stage, my fellow unimportant members and I were forced to sit and watch because there just wasn’t room for us. We decided to stand on the side of the “stage” and do our choreography, but no worries; we managed to entertain ourselves the whole time so we had fun.
After work, I headed back to the apartment to eat and catch a quick nap. I had another bridged shift today what with rehearsal in the morning and a parade at night. I got about an hour of sleep before having to throw on my jeans and head into work. I got there, clocked in, got my make up done (which continues to get better looking-just fyi), and headed to step off. Tonight, rather than being able to climb onto my float, I had to be hoisted up to another float in a cherry picker. It was actually pretty cool, and despite butchering all the choreography, the night seemed to go fairly well. I would just try overcompensating with lots of energy and big movements. Goodness, I tipped my hat and blew kisses like a fiend tonight; however, when it comes time to read my notes, I’m afraid the management staff won’t be quite so impressed with my big movements and flawless kiss blowing technique. Darn it.
So time for the revelations. I never realized just how hard being on my own would be; let me rephrase that, being on my own away from any source of Christian accountability. I miss good solid Christian friends so so much. I normally can embrace new experiences pretty well, but this one has been exceptionally hard, and I finally figured out why. All of the other experiences involved me being thrust into a group of Christians. There we (hopefully) shared some common ground—we were all striving for holiness; and even if everyone wasn’t the strongest of Christians, there was still that common ground which just made certain things okay and certain things completely unacceptable. We could keep each other accountable because if push came to shove, we could bring each other back to the idea of righteous motivations. Here, I don’t have that. Here, I am surrounded by unsaved people daily, the majority of which are highly negative. It because increasingly difficult to stay positive and upbeat when the vast majority of those around you choose to look for the bad in situations. First off, thank you so much to all of you who have been so faithful in praying for me. I am truly humbled by the amount of people who are willing to give up their time to do that! If you could just ask that God be my strength throughout the next couple of months. My biggest fear is that all of this negativity will seep into my heart and I will come back harder and more critical, and I don’t want that. I see just how much an optimistic person is needed in the world, and more importantly, just how much they stand out from the crowd. Please ask that God will continue to fill my mind with reasons to celebrate daily. He IS good and He continues to bless me in ways I don’t deserve! Now comes the hard part, dwelling on that throughout the day.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
"A 'Bowel' of Soup"
I had a day off today! I got up around 2ish and decided to head out and enjoy this beautiful day because it’s supposed to get back up into the eighties by Tuesday. Well, I ran to Panera and finished up 1 John. It talked about how a Christian can have confidence when they come before the Lord. If we are asking with the right heart and with the right motivations, we can be assured that God hears our prayers and that he’ll be faithful to answer them. I don’t know about you but that makes me feel all warm inside. After reading and enjoying a wonderful bowl (I almost put bowel again) of broccoli cheese soup, I got some homework done for my creativity and innovations class. It wasn’t too bad, we had to make a creativity kaleidoscope so…about an hour with Word and it was all done.
After finishing up there, I headed back to the apartment and decided to get ready and run to Hollywood Studios to see some friends. Boy did I have a great time! There were some great stories (that unfortunately I can’t post, but ask me about them later. Keywords: photopass cards). I’m sure you can tell from my pictures that I had fun. My friend Jenni and I went to see the second performance of Fantasmic! It was wonderful! She was screaming at the Indians as they paddled by in their canoes trying to make them laugh. She got one of them! It was a good day!
Saturday, October 17, 2009
"Hungry? How About Peanuts?"
Oddly enough, today did end up being a pretty long day. Huh? Who would of thunk it? I worked over 11 hours today. Woot! I had to be at training this morning by 7. I got selected to be in a Christmas show, which I’m uber pumped about. To know exactly what I was getting into, I had already watched the Youtube video and concluded that the choreography wouldn’t be too difficult. Ha! Was I ever wrong!
I got to the training facility early, which gave me a chance to get to know some of the other cast members that are going to be in the show, more specifically the five guys that work directly in our section of the show. I got to be good friends with a guy named Derek and a dude named Craig.
So they get us all in this massive dance studio with tape all over the floor, and have us get down on the ground for warm ups. In my head I’m thinking, “Oh warm ups; I have to do this every day—piece o’ cake.” Then the instruction goes into the splits. Well, I assure you my eyes got about the size of two bagels. I quickly glanced around the room and realized that I was like the only person that couldn’t do it! They all just sitting there checking their cuticles and carrying on conversation as I’m shoving my legs to extend past a 20° angle. So as they sit and talk about the weather, I’m about to scream bloody murder because every muscle and fiber in my legs are cussing at me. The instructor then says, “moving on.” I swear every person in that room could eat a peanut off the back of their thigh with me here completely unable to touch my toes.
So after being utterly humiliated in warm ups, let me say again—IN WARM UPS, the dance instructors decide to teach us the choreography. Well this “simple” choreography is actually much more difficult than I thought! I felt like I was the only person not getting it too, which of course makes it a hundred times worse. I didn’t help that Derek was making me laugh to the point of tears, so when I should be dancing, I’m doubled over wheezing. Let’s just say, my first impression could have used a little work. ☺
After being kicked in the calf by an equity dancer (that’s code for “ooow, ooow, ooow!”), the afternoon wound down and we were sent home around 1; however, I had a double parade tonight so I had to be back at the Magic Kingdom by 6:15. I ran home, ate lunch, and got a little sleep. Around 4:45, I rolled out of bed, put on my jeans (oh yeah, it was in the 70s today—I wanted to scream from shear joy!), and headed into work. Despite being hated by everyone in my group (for a reason I still have yet to discover), the first time out, my mask ended up on my forehead. I figured I would fix that problem by taping it. Well, good news is the tape worked, bad news—the hat Velcro came off, so I had to hold my hat on during the entire course of the parade! I like to go out with a bang!
Overall, the day started out wonderful and then progressed to a little depressing tonight at parade. It really is so hard to love people that make fun of you. You want to just do whatever you can to humiliate them and make them feel as foolish as you have; however, as I was walking through the tunnel, I just thought about how the Bible calls me to love those people despite the things they do or say behind my back. It is their souls I love, not necessarily their actions I care for. Needless to say, I felt a little convicted for some of the feelings I was having toward those guys. The more I thought about what the nature of a true believer should look like, the more my anger seemed to just melt away and subside. The trick will be, forgiving and forgetting the next time I see them.
I got to the training facility early, which gave me a chance to get to know some of the other cast members that are going to be in the show, more specifically the five guys that work directly in our section of the show. I got to be good friends with a guy named Derek and a dude named Craig.
So they get us all in this massive dance studio with tape all over the floor, and have us get down on the ground for warm ups. In my head I’m thinking, “Oh warm ups; I have to do this every day—piece o’ cake.” Then the instruction goes into the splits. Well, I assure you my eyes got about the size of two bagels. I quickly glanced around the room and realized that I was like the only person that couldn’t do it! They all just sitting there checking their cuticles and carrying on conversation as I’m shoving my legs to extend past a 20° angle. So as they sit and talk about the weather, I’m about to scream bloody murder because every muscle and fiber in my legs are cussing at me. The instructor then says, “moving on.” I swear every person in that room could eat a peanut off the back of their thigh with me here completely unable to touch my toes.
So after being utterly humiliated in warm ups, let me say again—IN WARM UPS, the dance instructors decide to teach us the choreography. Well this “simple” choreography is actually much more difficult than I thought! I felt like I was the only person not getting it too, which of course makes it a hundred times worse. I didn’t help that Derek was making me laugh to the point of tears, so when I should be dancing, I’m doubled over wheezing. Let’s just say, my first impression could have used a little work. ☺
After being kicked in the calf by an equity dancer (that’s code for “ooow, ooow, ooow!”), the afternoon wound down and we were sent home around 1; however, I had a double parade tonight so I had to be back at the Magic Kingdom by 6:15. I ran home, ate lunch, and got a little sleep. Around 4:45, I rolled out of bed, put on my jeans (oh yeah, it was in the 70s today—I wanted to scream from shear joy!), and headed into work. Despite being hated by everyone in my group (for a reason I still have yet to discover), the first time out, my mask ended up on my forehead. I figured I would fix that problem by taping it. Well, good news is the tape worked, bad news—the hat Velcro came off, so I had to hold my hat on during the entire course of the parade! I like to go out with a bang!
Overall, the day started out wonderful and then progressed to a little depressing tonight at parade. It really is so hard to love people that make fun of you. You want to just do whatever you can to humiliate them and make them feel as foolish as you have; however, as I was walking through the tunnel, I just thought about how the Bible calls me to love those people despite the things they do or say behind my back. It is their souls I love, not necessarily their actions I care for. Needless to say, I felt a little convicted for some of the feelings I was having toward those guys. The more I thought about what the nature of a true believer should look like, the more my anger seemed to just melt away and subside. The trick will be, forgiving and forgetting the next time I see them.
Friday, October 16, 2009
"British Accents-Cough Drops for the Soul"
I had class this morning. We discussed the necessity of cutting. I really don’t know what all goes into that; I was busy being mesmerized with the British student sitting at my table. Her accent was awesome! I just kept asking her questions so I could hear her talk. I wasn’t really so focused on the answers as I was on just hearing her speak. There is something completely soothing and hypnotic about a British accent. I’m going to move there while my children are young so that they’ll develop such an awesome accent.
Once class was over, I ran back to the room and got my dirty laundry together. I quickly threw everything in at the laundry room and then headed back to the apartment because I was expecting a phone call from Sherf; today was his 40th birthday or something like that ☺. We were able to just catch up for about 40 minutes or so. It was nice to get to talk with him. I haven’t been able to since before I left in August.
After finishing up my phone call, I ran to pick up my laundry. Well, while I was busy folding clothes and whatnot, I got to chat it up with Liz via the cell phone. There were some great updates with her! Things seem to be going well. They’ve got another show this weekend so if you think about it make sure you pray for the actors and actresses in “Meeting in Kansas” and “Meeting in Munich.” I know they’ll appreciate it so so much.
Well, around 4, I was supposed to be having a Elluminate session with Jen Letherer, my professor for COM 102 this fall; however, thanks in part to my ghetto internet connection I was unable to get a hold of her, so I ran up to Panera and we chatted and discussed class info for a solid hour or so.
After that, I headed back to the apartment and made some dinner. Popcorn Chicken…mmmm. And for dessert, Oreos and milk. Can’t beat that! Well, I’m gonna head to bed soon—“soon” being 9ish because I’ve got rehearsal all day tomorrow and then a double parade tomorrow night! It’s gonna be a long day!
Once class was over, I ran back to the room and got my dirty laundry together. I quickly threw everything in at the laundry room and then headed back to the apartment because I was expecting a phone call from Sherf; today was his 40th birthday or something like that ☺. We were able to just catch up for about 40 minutes or so. It was nice to get to talk with him. I haven’t been able to since before I left in August.
After finishing up my phone call, I ran to pick up my laundry. Well, while I was busy folding clothes and whatnot, I got to chat it up with Liz via the cell phone. There were some great updates with her! Things seem to be going well. They’ve got another show this weekend so if you think about it make sure you pray for the actors and actresses in “Meeting in Kansas” and “Meeting in Munich.” I know they’ll appreciate it so so much.
Well, around 4, I was supposed to be having a Elluminate session with Jen Letherer, my professor for COM 102 this fall; however, thanks in part to my ghetto internet connection I was unable to get a hold of her, so I ran up to Panera and we chatted and discussed class info for a solid hour or so.
After that, I headed back to the apartment and made some dinner. Popcorn Chicken…mmmm. And for dessert, Oreos and milk. Can’t beat that! Well, I’m gonna head to bed soon—“soon” being 9ish because I’ve got rehearsal all day tomorrow and then a double parade tomorrow night! It’s gonna be a long day!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
"Changing It Up"
Again let me reiterate how much I love this schedule cause I love this schedule! I got up today at 2:30 and just hung around the apartment. Since I’ve exhausted my list of movies, I was happy to find “The Jungle Book” in the DVD player. After watching Mowgli fall for the little village girl, who knows how to lure in a guy far too well for a six year old, I decided to get up and get ready for work.
I got to there a little early so as to give myself some time to pull my costume and get to my set in time. After I get my entire outfit prepped and ready to go, another character performer asks if I’ll trade shifts with him because he really doesn’t want to be the character he’s been assigned. Well after spending time reading 1 John 4 this afternoon, how could I say no?
I ended up switching with him and heading to my new location. After searching forever, I realized this place was nowhere to be found! I had followed the maps to the “T” and yet, I was standing in the middle of nowhere! I finally found someone who was kind enough to give my directions.
I got all ready to go with a little time to spare. The sets tonight went really well. I thought my partner wanted to step on my jugular in a pair of stilettos, but hey, what can you do?
I realized today as I sat there and read just how hard it is for me to focus when I read the Bible. I don’t know why that is though? I’m mean I think I have a little bit of ADD (amongst other things) but it seems really bad when I’m reading scripture. It’s really frustrating because the thing that I should be most excited about—the thing I should be thirsting for, is boring and easy to shrug off. I’m getting a little frustrated with myself. Anybody else ever had this problem? Any suggestions?
I got to there a little early so as to give myself some time to pull my costume and get to my set in time. After I get my entire outfit prepped and ready to go, another character performer asks if I’ll trade shifts with him because he really doesn’t want to be the character he’s been assigned. Well after spending time reading 1 John 4 this afternoon, how could I say no?
I ended up switching with him and heading to my new location. After searching forever, I realized this place was nowhere to be found! I had followed the maps to the “T” and yet, I was standing in the middle of nowhere! I finally found someone who was kind enough to give my directions.
I got all ready to go with a little time to spare. The sets tonight went really well. I thought my partner wanted to step on my jugular in a pair of stilettos, but hey, what can you do?
I realized today as I sat there and read just how hard it is for me to focus when I read the Bible. I don’t know why that is though? I’m mean I think I have a little bit of ADD (amongst other things) but it seems really bad when I’m reading scripture. It’s really frustrating because the thing that I should be most excited about—the thing I should be thirsting for, is boring and easy to shrug off. I’m getting a little frustrated with myself. Anybody else ever had this problem? Any suggestions?
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
"Round 2"
I reveled today in the wonderful week I’ve been assigned. I didn’t have to be into work until 6:15. I want to hug whoever came up with this week’s schedule. Because I was up til 5 a.m. last night (doing nothing important, I’ll have you know), I decided to sleep in until 2 cause goodness, I could do that! I got up and just kind of laid in bed for about fifteen minutes; I finally mustered the energy to get up.
What did I do today? Well, I did some chores and got some various things all straightened out and taken care of. Not only that, but today was my Mamaw Snuffy’s birthday so I got to talk to her for a while. It was nice considering I haven’t talked to her probably since September.
At 5 I headed off to work. I got there, got all changed, and ended up getting placed back into parade. Ding! Round 2. I had to kind of whirl through my makeup to get to the parade center on time, but the good news is, progress is definitely being made. I didn’t look like I’d given myself a black eye with eyeliner! I got to the parade center pretty early, considering, which gave me plenty of time to pull my costume!
After getting all ready to go, I started to head to step off, however, it was freakin’ hot, so I whirled back around and decided to just hang around the a.c. as long as I could. After I physically couldn’t leech anymore off the cool air, I made my excursion down to the step off. We got all loaded on our float and everything and began to get underway. It felt wonderful not being the new guy and going out there with some confidence!
Well, I decided to go full boar tonight for some reason, so within the first three minutes I had managed to have pieces of my costume start flying into the audience. Like quite literally. I felt it only proper to scream, “Four!” Another great thing happened, I actually got to look around this time. Last parade, I was so focused on the choreography, I didn’t get to really soak it all in. This time, I had some friends that had come to see me. So I’m waving like an idiot and blowing kisses like a fiend from atop this float whenever I would see them! It was great! I love being in this parade!
What did I do today? Well, I did some chores and got some various things all straightened out and taken care of. Not only that, but today was my Mamaw Snuffy’s birthday so I got to talk to her for a while. It was nice considering I haven’t talked to her probably since September.
At 5 I headed off to work. I got there, got all changed, and ended up getting placed back into parade. Ding! Round 2. I had to kind of whirl through my makeup to get to the parade center on time, but the good news is, progress is definitely being made. I didn’t look like I’d given myself a black eye with eyeliner! I got to the parade center pretty early, considering, which gave me plenty of time to pull my costume!
After getting all ready to go, I started to head to step off, however, it was freakin’ hot, so I whirled back around and decided to just hang around the a.c. as long as I could. After I physically couldn’t leech anymore off the cool air, I made my excursion down to the step off. We got all loaded on our float and everything and began to get underway. It felt wonderful not being the new guy and going out there with some confidence!
Well, I decided to go full boar tonight for some reason, so within the first three minutes I had managed to have pieces of my costume start flying into the audience. Like quite literally. I felt it only proper to scream, “Four!” Another great thing happened, I actually got to look around this time. Last parade, I was so focused on the choreography, I didn’t get to really soak it all in. This time, I had some friends that had come to see me. So I’m waving like an idiot and blowing kisses like a fiend from atop this float whenever I would see them! It was great! I love being in this parade!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
"Don't Call Us, We'll Call You"
Hmmm…today. I had off today so by now the majority of you probably know how my days off work. For those of you who haven’t picked up on it yet, allow me to refresh your memory: I got up at 12, which still remains to be wonderful. After getting up, I jumped into the shower and headed to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things. After finishing up at Wal-Mart, I headed back to the apartment to make a quick lunch before the main event, Face Auditions.
I’ve been looking forward to this for quite a while, had I known it was going to turn out to be such an epic fail, I wouldn’t have gotten so excited ☺. We got there around 5:30. First, they shuffled us into a room where we were given a number; I was lucky number 37. After getting our numbers, they held us captive in a dance studio while we waited. Naturally, you just sat there and checked out all of your competitors—a.k.a. you either felt like the creeper or the one who is being creeped upon. After about 30 minutes of asking the same people “So what happens in these auditions?” they finally shuffled the first fifty of us into a studio. We stood there in 5 rows of 10 with these two ladies up front. Basically they would say, “Row 1” and “Row 1” would shuffle forward to be examined. Talk about awkward. You try to carry on a conversation with those next to you, but you feel rude, like your ignoring the judges, so then you try to overcompensate by staring them down, which only makes you look constipated. I found the only happy medium is carrying on light conversation with those around you for the soul purpose of flashing your smile. For example, I was standing next to my roommate, Mike, when it came to my turn to be judged, I turned to Mike and started laughing, he hadn’t said anything, but this gave me an opportunity to show off my smile without directly turning to the judges and flashing my pearly whites.
At the end of the day, I didn’t get pulled. Unfortunately, they weren’t looking for tall, gangly, and butt-ugly characters that have little heads. Go figure. It’s all right though, Mike and I went and ate our weight in Olive Garden breadsticks and dinner mints.
Once I got back to the apartment, I headed over to Jessica’s to just hang out. When I got there, she was watching “Aladdin” (oh the cruel irony ☺). We ended up trying to make our butterbeer formula again…it. tasted. like. feet. No only did it have a layer of foam, but after the first drink, both of us were gagging. That one wasn’t a success.
Considering my complete crash ‘n burn at the audition today, the rest of the day wasn’t too bad.
I’ve been looking forward to this for quite a while, had I known it was going to turn out to be such an epic fail, I wouldn’t have gotten so excited ☺. We got there around 5:30. First, they shuffled us into a room where we were given a number; I was lucky number 37. After getting our numbers, they held us captive in a dance studio while we waited. Naturally, you just sat there and checked out all of your competitors—a.k.a. you either felt like the creeper or the one who is being creeped upon. After about 30 minutes of asking the same people “So what happens in these auditions?” they finally shuffled the first fifty of us into a studio. We stood there in 5 rows of 10 with these two ladies up front. Basically they would say, “Row 1” and “Row 1” would shuffle forward to be examined. Talk about awkward. You try to carry on a conversation with those next to you, but you feel rude, like your ignoring the judges, so then you try to overcompensate by staring them down, which only makes you look constipated. I found the only happy medium is carrying on light conversation with those around you for the soul purpose of flashing your smile. For example, I was standing next to my roommate, Mike, when it came to my turn to be judged, I turned to Mike and started laughing, he hadn’t said anything, but this gave me an opportunity to show off my smile without directly turning to the judges and flashing my pearly whites.
At the end of the day, I didn’t get pulled. Unfortunately, they weren’t looking for tall, gangly, and butt-ugly characters that have little heads. Go figure. It’s all right though, Mike and I went and ate our weight in Olive Garden breadsticks and dinner mints.
Once I got back to the apartment, I headed over to Jessica’s to just hang out. When I got there, she was watching “Aladdin” (oh the cruel irony ☺). We ended up trying to make our butterbeer formula again…it. tasted. like. feet. No only did it have a layer of foam, but after the first drink, both of us were gagging. That one wasn’t a success.
Considering my complete crash ‘n burn at the audition today, the rest of the day wasn’t too bad.
Monday, October 12, 2009
"Partners"
You never realize just how important a partner is until you have a great one! You know those mornings where you think you’re having a bad dream and your alarm clock is just a part of it? Well, I had one of those this morning. I had to be up and at work by 8:30. I got there and warmed up and was heading to my set location about a half an hour early (oh yeah, talk about efficient!). I got there and found out who my partner was going to be—we instantly hit it off! We got along so well! When we were out on set, the guests were loving it! Our friends were best friends so we were shoving each other out of the way, trying to get to the guests first, and doing our best to convince the crowd that we were the superior of the two. It was a great afternoon! Granted we had our attendants give us the “HURRY THE MESS UP!” look a good majority of the afternoon, but we were rocking it out!
After work, I sped home and met Jessica. We had a dinner reservation with the lovely Asian cooks at the local Chinese restaurant. Again, let me say, who ever designed Buddha’s look should have their head examined. Who could want to worship someone who looks as if he’s had his ears plugged and is continually falling out of his XXXXL size diaper! Odd!
We headed back from getting out multicultural cuisine and flipped on Dancing with the Stars! It. was. riveting. After finished up over at Jessica’s I headed home and basically crashed. I’m exhausted and I’ve got a long day ahead of me tomorrow!
After work, I sped home and met Jessica. We had a dinner reservation with the lovely Asian cooks at the local Chinese restaurant. Again, let me say, who ever designed Buddha’s look should have their head examined. Who could want to worship someone who looks as if he’s had his ears plugged and is continually falling out of his XXXXL size diaper! Odd!
We headed back from getting out multicultural cuisine and flipped on Dancing with the Stars! It. was. riveting. After finished up over at Jessica’s I headed home and basically crashed. I’m exhausted and I’ve got a long day ahead of me tomorrow!
Sunday, October 11, 2009
"Life After Harry"
So I came through on my promise—today was quite adventurous. Last night after I had finished blogging, I starting chatting online with a girl I had met earlier in my program, Jenni. Our conversation brought about me mentioning my going to church the next day to which she responded “It’s been a long time since I’ve gone to church.” Well, after one thing led to another, I found myself a church buddy for this Sunday!
I got up at 10 this morning, got ready, and headed with Jenni to the First Christian Church of Orlando! We got there a little late, but overall things went well. The pastor did a pretty good job and the worship was pretty good. Afterwards, Jenni said that she had really needed that. Isn’t it cool how God works like that! So I ended up coming back to the apartment and making lunch, after which I just kind of relaxed for a while.
Around 3:30 I headed over to Jenni’s apartment for dinner and a movie! She made potato pizza (which was actually delicious) and we reveled in “Miss Congeniality.”
Around 5:45 I headed off to work at the Magic Kingdom! Today was a big day—it was my first parade performance ever! Jenni’s roommate Rob, was working alongside of me and so he kindly agreed to show me the ropes. First we went into cosmetology to get our makeup done! That was fun—no stabbing of the eye tonight; granted my right eye looked a ton better than my left, but whatever! After cosmetology, we jumped in a van and headed to costuming where we got our stuff all set. The outfit itself was pretty cool but it was also pretty heavy! I little bit more than I had expected! I felt like I was wearing a football uniform! It was at that point I was reminded why football never ever appealed to me!
After reviewing the choreography in my head, the herd of us made our way to step off (the point where the parade begins). So I get up on the float and her that music crescendo and the doors fly open (we were the first float out)! What a rush! All you can hear is the “ooh” and “ahh”s of the crowd and see hundreds of camera’s going! It’s wonderful! Other than forgetting the choreography a couple of times and a few costume malfunctions all seemed to go well! I really enjoyed it!
The next time I go in I get to see the notes my manager has for me! I thought I did alright, but we’ll see just how wrong I am. ☺ Tomorrow’s gonna be a fun, but long day. I’m up at 6:15 and don’t get done til about 6. Time to gird the loins!
I got up at 10 this morning, got ready, and headed with Jenni to the First Christian Church of Orlando! We got there a little late, but overall things went well. The pastor did a pretty good job and the worship was pretty good. Afterwards, Jenni said that she had really needed that. Isn’t it cool how God works like that! So I ended up coming back to the apartment and making lunch, after which I just kind of relaxed for a while.
Around 3:30 I headed over to Jenni’s apartment for dinner and a movie! She made potato pizza (which was actually delicious) and we reveled in “Miss Congeniality.”
Around 5:45 I headed off to work at the Magic Kingdom! Today was a big day—it was my first parade performance ever! Jenni’s roommate Rob, was working alongside of me and so he kindly agreed to show me the ropes. First we went into cosmetology to get our makeup done! That was fun—no stabbing of the eye tonight; granted my right eye looked a ton better than my left, but whatever! After cosmetology, we jumped in a van and headed to costuming where we got our stuff all set. The outfit itself was pretty cool but it was also pretty heavy! I little bit more than I had expected! I felt like I was wearing a football uniform! It was at that point I was reminded why football never ever appealed to me!
After reviewing the choreography in my head, the herd of us made our way to step off (the point where the parade begins). So I get up on the float and her that music crescendo and the doors fly open (we were the first float out)! What a rush! All you can hear is the “ooh” and “ahh”s of the crowd and see hundreds of camera’s going! It’s wonderful! Other than forgetting the choreography a couple of times and a few costume malfunctions all seemed to go well! I really enjoyed it!
The next time I go in I get to see the notes my manager has for me! I thought I did alright, but we’ll see just how wrong I am. ☺ Tomorrow’s gonna be a fun, but long day. I’m up at 6:15 and don’t get done til about 6. Time to gird the loins!
Saturday, October 10, 2009
"The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Comes to an End"
Let me just forewarn you reader, I’ll probably do a lot of bragging on Harry Potter in this blog! See, I just finished the series! Heads up! Today I got up around 2ish. I didn’t go to bed until the wee hours of the morning last night and the only proper thing to do was to “balance the scales” so to speak by waking up mid-afternoon. I got up and headed into the kitchen to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (a classic never dies!). After lunch, I watched a little Kung Fu Panda and basically just kind of did nothing. It seems like that’s a reoccurring theme throughout my blog! I decided that I would do something to expand my mind so I thought I’d read a little Harry Potter—little did I know it would completely consume my evening. I ended up reading around 300 pages today! That should attest to the intense level of its awesomeness! For me to read 300 pages of anything is a pretty big deal! I paused only for a few necessary things.
Mike asked me to go to Panera with him, so I agreed. It ended up being a great thing because our discussion was great. We starting talking about “Thelma and Louis” which led to a conversation about language, which led to a conversation about personal convictions, which led to yet another conversation about sacrificing your own happiness for those you love! Overall, it was a great way to spend dinner. I hope that I made the Lord a little proud and maybe planted a tiny little seed in Mike’s heart. Readers if you could pray for Mike, I would be eternally grateful! He really does have a wonderful heart and let me just say that I’m so happy that I belong to a God that likes to do things out of the ordinary. It’s gonna take a God like that to get a hold of Mike!
After dinner, I headed back to the room and started to read more Harry Potter. However, I paused for a moment to talk with Mamaw, Liz, and my Dad (all of whom should feel major love by the fact that I stopped reading. That wouldn’t have happened for just anybody ☺). I got to catch up with Mamaw after what’s been forever. Liz was in a show at school today that apparently went off great! So she splurged the details about that and just life in general for a good half and hour. It was great getting to talk to her! I got to talk with my dad for a while too! I haven’t been able to talk with him for some time, so that was nice!
After wrapping up the phone calls, I proceeded to finish up Harry Potter. Let me just plug that for a second: those of you who haven’t read this series, must! It is incredible! I just wanted to run out of my apartment screaming at the end of it!
I got to share my joy with a select few Potter-lovers at home! They were most enthusiastic and I appreciated that! Now, with the 7th novel tucked under my belt, I bid you goodnight reader for tomorrow promises to be an adventurous day.
Mike asked me to go to Panera with him, so I agreed. It ended up being a great thing because our discussion was great. We starting talking about “Thelma and Louis” which led to a conversation about language, which led to a conversation about personal convictions, which led to yet another conversation about sacrificing your own happiness for those you love! Overall, it was a great way to spend dinner. I hope that I made the Lord a little proud and maybe planted a tiny little seed in Mike’s heart. Readers if you could pray for Mike, I would be eternally grateful! He really does have a wonderful heart and let me just say that I’m so happy that I belong to a God that likes to do things out of the ordinary. It’s gonna take a God like that to get a hold of Mike!
After dinner, I headed back to the room and started to read more Harry Potter. However, I paused for a moment to talk with Mamaw, Liz, and my Dad (all of whom should feel major love by the fact that I stopped reading. That wouldn’t have happened for just anybody ☺). I got to catch up with Mamaw after what’s been forever. Liz was in a show at school today that apparently went off great! So she splurged the details about that and just life in general for a good half and hour. It was great getting to talk to her! I got to talk with my dad for a while too! I haven’t been able to talk with him for some time, so that was nice!
After wrapping up the phone calls, I proceeded to finish up Harry Potter. Let me just plug that for a second: those of you who haven’t read this series, must! It is incredible! I just wanted to run out of my apartment screaming at the end of it!
I got to share my joy with a select few Potter-lovers at home! They were most enthusiastic and I appreciated that! Now, with the 7th novel tucked under my belt, I bid you goodnight reader for tomorrow promises to be an adventurous day.
Friday, October 9, 2009
"Relief from Responsibility!"
Today begins my two days of living large! Why is that you might ask? Cause I’m off! Holla! That being said, I still had to wake up at the crack of dawn to go to my class this morning. As I’m sure you can imagine, I wasn’t to thrilled about that! I dragged myself and my now Disney look approved haircut to “Creativity and Innovation.”
Class today was actually pretty fun! Trisha, our professor, had set up various games at each table and expected us to come up with a completely new game using each of our prescribed resources. If you want the official rules to “Rotten Luck” feel free to ask me. It’s probably the greatest game ever!
After class, I headed back to my room and dropped chow and got all suited up for Typhoon Lagoon. My friend Diane and I spent the good portion of the afternoon there. Those places have an incredible way of making you feel horrifically self-conscious about how you look (Don’t worry, I felt better once I saw a dad with two portraits of his two boys tattooed on his beer gut, and right across the bottom it said, “Dad’s Lads.”). We actually had a really good time!
Once I got home, I made myself a great steak dinner and ran out to get a little a Blooming Onion from Outback—goodness, you can’t have steak without a Blooming Onion. What are we, cavemen?
I got to spend a little time catching up with Jess Swindol later this afternoon! That was great to get to talk to her! She allowed me to rant about the complete awesomeness of J.K. Rowling!
Well since my pantry was looking exceptional bare, I decided that it was probably time to make a run to Wal-mart. Plus too, I needed to get the supplies to make some butterbeer, the NON-ALCOHOLIC drink from Harry Potter. Jessica Ellens offered to go with me! So her and I braved the Super-Wal-mart wilds together—bobbing and weaving between angry men and old ladies on Hoverrounds. Once we got back, we tried our hand at the magical brew, it actually tasted okay to start out with, but we went wrong toward the end and it ended up burning your throat as it went down. Needless to say, I don’t think it’ll be crowd favorite at parties! It’s okay though, we figured out where we messed up and have hopefully fixed the problem so don’t be leery of our butterbeer, it’ll be delicious once we get the formula mastered!
Class today was actually pretty fun! Trisha, our professor, had set up various games at each table and expected us to come up with a completely new game using each of our prescribed resources. If you want the official rules to “Rotten Luck” feel free to ask me. It’s probably the greatest game ever!
After class, I headed back to my room and dropped chow and got all suited up for Typhoon Lagoon. My friend Diane and I spent the good portion of the afternoon there. Those places have an incredible way of making you feel horrifically self-conscious about how you look (Don’t worry, I felt better once I saw a dad with two portraits of his two boys tattooed on his beer gut, and right across the bottom it said, “Dad’s Lads.”). We actually had a really good time!
Once I got home, I made myself a great steak dinner and ran out to get a little a Blooming Onion from Outback—goodness, you can’t have steak without a Blooming Onion. What are we, cavemen?
I got to spend a little time catching up with Jess Swindol later this afternoon! That was great to get to talk to her! She allowed me to rant about the complete awesomeness of J.K. Rowling!
Well since my pantry was looking exceptional bare, I decided that it was probably time to make a run to Wal-mart. Plus too, I needed to get the supplies to make some butterbeer, the NON-ALCOHOLIC drink from Harry Potter. Jessica Ellens offered to go with me! So her and I braved the Super-Wal-mart wilds together—bobbing and weaving between angry men and old ladies on Hoverrounds. Once we got back, we tried our hand at the magical brew, it actually tasted okay to start out with, but we went wrong toward the end and it ended up burning your throat as it went down. Needless to say, I don’t think it’ll be crowd favorite at parties! It’s okay though, we figured out where we messed up and have hopefully fixed the problem so don’t be leery of our butterbeer, it’ll be delicious once we get the formula mastered!
Thursday, October 8, 2009
"Good Morning; Long Night"
Since I was up so late last night, I took advantage of my late shift by sleeping in ‘til 1. I got up and had to tiptoe around the apartment because Mike was still asleep in the living room on the mattress he dragged in there! After about an hour of that, I decided to start making a little bit of noise and try to wake him up. It worked. ☺
Not only did I get to sleep in, but I got to spend about an hour talking to Tommy, one of my best friends from home. See, we have been playing phone tag for about a week now, and I finally got him to stop ignoring me ☺.
After I got off the phone with Tommy, I headed back into the apartment and started a conversation with Liz. With both of those conversations combine, I spent the better part of the morning talking to people I can’t see. Once I finished that I headed back to my apartment to watch “The Holiday”—I’m so ready for Christmas!
I drove to work quickly so I could get my haircut before my shift started. I ended up leaving looking like Lloyd from Dumb and Dumber. Gotta love those hair cuts! ☺
I grabbed my outfit and lugged it down the never-ending tunnel to my set location. After climbing a heap of stairs I finally found my offset break room. I was there about an hour early so I had plenty of time to just sit and chill! I took advantage of the excess time by diving into “The Deathly Hallows” once again. That book is the definition of epicness! That were multiple moments were I felt like I was right there with Harry, right in the heat of it. Shoulder to shoulder, fighting off Voldemort!
My shift today was a little different. The outfit itself was malfunctioning a little bit, which made three out of the five shifts a little difficult! It actually got to the point that I was so frustrated with that and various other things that I was ready to scream! I was a good test of patience! I didn’t blow my fuse! It was a great but very trying night! I happily welcome my next two days off!
Not only did I get to sleep in, but I got to spend about an hour talking to Tommy, one of my best friends from home. See, we have been playing phone tag for about a week now, and I finally got him to stop ignoring me ☺.
After I got off the phone with Tommy, I headed back into the apartment and started a conversation with Liz. With both of those conversations combine, I spent the better part of the morning talking to people I can’t see. Once I finished that I headed back to my apartment to watch “The Holiday”—I’m so ready for Christmas!
I drove to work quickly so I could get my haircut before my shift started. I ended up leaving looking like Lloyd from Dumb and Dumber. Gotta love those hair cuts! ☺
I grabbed my outfit and lugged it down the never-ending tunnel to my set location. After climbing a heap of stairs I finally found my offset break room. I was there about an hour early so I had plenty of time to just sit and chill! I took advantage of the excess time by diving into “The Deathly Hallows” once again. That book is the definition of epicness! That were multiple moments were I felt like I was right there with Harry, right in the heat of it. Shoulder to shoulder, fighting off Voldemort!
My shift today was a little different. The outfit itself was malfunctioning a little bit, which made three out of the five shifts a little difficult! It actually got to the point that I was so frustrated with that and various other things that I was ready to scream! I was a good test of patience! I didn’t blow my fuse! It was a great but very trying night! I happily welcome my next two days off!
"A Day Full of Nothingness"
To be completely honest, I did pretty much absolutely nothing today. I know it may sound like that’s my daily routine, but really I did nothing while at the apartment and nothing while at work (expect ready “Harry Potter”—so the day wasn’t a complete waste!). I got up around 11:30 today and kinda dragged my feet as I got ready. Once I had finished lunch, I took my usual place on the couch to watch a little Reba and basically stay unmotivated!
Before going into work, I got to see Jessica, Adam, Kate, and Erika for all of about 10 minutes (granted they were a wonderful ten minutes) especially when I saw that Jessica had showered Adam in a massive amount of pixie dust. He looked ecstatic! ☺
Once I got to work, the daily routine didn’t change all that much. I was a character-reject again today and oddly enough I didn’t get pulled for anything! So I sat there on the floor for eight hours reading “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” and wouldn’t you know it, the book got to a cliffhanger right as I had to clock out to head home!
I spent the latter part of the evening just chilling before I jumped into a little music project I have been working on. I worked on that for about three hours and decided around 4 a.m. it was time to turn in for the night. Thank goodness I don’t have to be at work til 6 tomorrow night!
Before going into work, I got to see Jessica, Adam, Kate, and Erika for all of about 10 minutes (granted they were a wonderful ten minutes) especially when I saw that Jessica had showered Adam in a massive amount of pixie dust. He looked ecstatic! ☺
Once I got to work, the daily routine didn’t change all that much. I was a character-reject again today and oddly enough I didn’t get pulled for anything! So I sat there on the floor for eight hours reading “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” and wouldn’t you know it, the book got to a cliffhanger right as I had to clock out to head home!
I spent the latter part of the evening just chilling before I jumped into a little music project I have been working on. I worked on that for about three hours and decided around 4 a.m. it was time to turn in for the night. Thank goodness I don’t have to be at work til 6 tomorrow night!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
"The Challenges"
I got so much sleep last night! I went to bed around 3 a.m. and didn’t get up til about 2 p.m. this morning—it was great. I daresay the way it should be! I pretty much spent the whole day just lounging around. Around 5 I decided to head into work.
Tonight brought with it some challenges of its own. The outfit itself was massive! Like seriously, the body pad I had to wear was humongous! And now that we’ve switched to winter hours, they’ve extend the amount of time that we’re out on set—instead of being out for 20 minutes, we’re out for 30. However, it continues to say in the 90s during the day and upwards of the 70s during the nighttime. It’s hotter than a mug! After my first set today, I really thought I was gonna pass out. Like I got my outfit off, sat down, and my head was spinning. That was hardcore! But I got to play a villain again tonight so that was great! Villains are seriously so much fun! You get to take out all your frustration out on random people ☺.
After work, I just headed back home and ate dinner and got myself ready for bed. Not too adventuresome! What can I say? I’m in a rut?
Oh and by the way, miss you Marc! ☺
Tonight brought with it some challenges of its own. The outfit itself was massive! Like seriously, the body pad I had to wear was humongous! And now that we’ve switched to winter hours, they’ve extend the amount of time that we’re out on set—instead of being out for 20 minutes, we’re out for 30. However, it continues to say in the 90s during the day and upwards of the 70s during the nighttime. It’s hotter than a mug! After my first set today, I really thought I was gonna pass out. Like I got my outfit off, sat down, and my head was spinning. That was hardcore! But I got to play a villain again tonight so that was great! Villains are seriously so much fun! You get to take out all your frustration out on random people ☺.
After work, I just headed back home and ate dinner and got myself ready for bed. Not too adventuresome! What can I say? I’m in a rut?
Oh and by the way, miss you Marc! ☺
Monday, October 5, 2009
"Starving My Heart"
Well today I returned to my life as a spare, only this time, it was at Animal Kingdom. For some odd reason, I had an unusual amount of energy this morning so while waiting to warm up, I was running and doing flips onto the couches. I got some weird looks. I only ended up sparing for all of 5 minutes before being put at Oasis in one of the worst outfits known to man. Talk about being tested, right after I talk about being positive in my blog last night, I get put in the worst outfit ever! Oh the irony!
Once I had finished doing meet and greets, I headed back to the base where they offered me an early release. Being a lazy bum, I took it. So I got done about three hours early! I ran a few errands and then headed to the movie theater with a few friends. Overall, it was a great night!
This morning I read 1 John 3 and it talked about how sin should not be found in the life of a Christian. The passage says that a righteous man’s life should be characterized by doing right, and to contradict that, a sinner’s life will be characterized by sin (still with me? ☺). Now that’s not to say that a Christian won’t sin! I mean for goodness sake, none of us are perfect, but if a non-believer were to describe me to someone, he’d better not primarily think of some sinful trait in his description. There would be an issue there! As a Christian, when I sin, it should tear me up inside and fill me with remorse. How often does it actually do that? Not often, unfortunately. I need to be more concerned with starving myself of sinful habits and hating the sin that my heart seems to cling to. I want to despise it; after all, it’s what sent my God to the cross.
Once I had finished doing meet and greets, I headed back to the base where they offered me an early release. Being a lazy bum, I took it. So I got done about three hours early! I ran a few errands and then headed to the movie theater with a few friends. Overall, it was a great night!
This morning I read 1 John 3 and it talked about how sin should not be found in the life of a Christian. The passage says that a righteous man’s life should be characterized by doing right, and to contradict that, a sinner’s life will be characterized by sin (still with me? ☺). Now that’s not to say that a Christian won’t sin! I mean for goodness sake, none of us are perfect, but if a non-believer were to describe me to someone, he’d better not primarily think of some sinful trait in his description. There would be an issue there! As a Christian, when I sin, it should tear me up inside and fill me with remorse. How often does it actually do that? Not often, unfortunately. I need to be more concerned with starving myself of sinful habits and hating the sin that my heart seems to cling to. I want to despise it; after all, it’s what sent my God to the cross.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
"Life with Nancy"
Let me just start out by saying how much I love the voyage shift. You don’t have to clock in until 6:30 (which is code for—sleep in until whenever you want). I got up today around noon and basically just did nothing all day. It was wonderful! This was the first time I really had a chance to sleep in in over a week! I was ecstatic to roll over and realize, “why look at the clock, I can sleep til whenever!”
I got to talk with Jess Swindol from home today after playing phone tag with her for a few days (still waiting for that call, Tommy ☺). It was nice to get to catch up with her and the girls! I miss them both so much!
I got into work today around 5:30 because I thought I had to clock in at 6. It wasn’t until I was on the bus on my way to the tunnel that I looked at my schedule again and realized, oh no, I didn’t have to be in til 6:15! But it was okay because it gave me a chance to pull my costume and get it all set.
My shift tonight was wonderful! Not only did I get to be in my favorite outfit, but I was only out on set for like 45 minutes. You can’t beat that! It seriously was so much fun! I’m really hoped I get scheduled there again!
One of the things that really hit me tonight as I watched the castle fade into the distance is how frustrating of a place Disney can be to work for. It is a company that is very much based on years of service. The longer you’ve been here the better jobs you’ll get. Not only that, but it’s such a large company, you can feel like you just get lost here and that no matter how much of an effort you make, you just blend in with the crowd. That forces you to look for a way to separate yourself from the crowd. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense, one of the biggest things that can set you apart here is just being optimistic. I have encountered so many critical and emo (for lack of a better word) people down here who just look for the negative in everything. How hilarious is that? I’m at the happiest place on earth right? My job isn’t to stand out from the crowd. My job is to be the best that I can be and take advantage of every opportunity the Lord gives me, even if that means driving a van. Than you’d better believe, I’m gonna be doing it with a smile on my face. I’m gonna stop trying to stand out as much and simply focus on being me. And when I feel like complaining, I’m gonna just keep my mouth shut because Lord knows this place doesn’t need any more negative Nancys. Thanks readers for letting me rant ☺.
I got to talk with Jess Swindol from home today after playing phone tag with her for a few days (still waiting for that call, Tommy ☺). It was nice to get to catch up with her and the girls! I miss them both so much!
I got into work today around 5:30 because I thought I had to clock in at 6. It wasn’t until I was on the bus on my way to the tunnel that I looked at my schedule again and realized, oh no, I didn’t have to be in til 6:15! But it was okay because it gave me a chance to pull my costume and get it all set.
My shift tonight was wonderful! Not only did I get to be in my favorite outfit, but I was only out on set for like 45 minutes. You can’t beat that! It seriously was so much fun! I’m really hoped I get scheduled there again!
One of the things that really hit me tonight as I watched the castle fade into the distance is how frustrating of a place Disney can be to work for. It is a company that is very much based on years of service. The longer you’ve been here the better jobs you’ll get. Not only that, but it’s such a large company, you can feel like you just get lost here and that no matter how much of an effort you make, you just blend in with the crowd. That forces you to look for a way to separate yourself from the crowd. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense, one of the biggest things that can set you apart here is just being optimistic. I have encountered so many critical and emo (for lack of a better word) people down here who just look for the negative in everything. How hilarious is that? I’m at the happiest place on earth right? My job isn’t to stand out from the crowd. My job is to be the best that I can be and take advantage of every opportunity the Lord gives me, even if that means driving a van. Than you’d better believe, I’m gonna be doing it with a smile on my face. I’m gonna stop trying to stand out as much and simply focus on being me. And when I feel like complaining, I’m gonna just keep my mouth shut because Lord knows this place doesn’t need any more negative Nancys. Thanks readers for letting me rant ☺.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
"Thriller"
So today I beat my personal record. I had my alarm sounding at 4 o’clock a.m! I wanted to through it through the window and then go back over the remains with Roxanne. However, I suppressed my Hulk-like tendencies and forced myself out of bed. I got all ready and was out the door by 5 a.m. By the time I got to work, the sun was breaking the skyline. Does anyone else not see any issue with that?! Having to clock in before the sun comes up? What’s this world coming to? Pretty soon we’ll have mice who can talk and little boys who can fly…oh, that’s right.
I got all ready with my killa’ sweat outfit, and was busy checking myself out in the mirror, when warm-ups started. I ended up seeing two of my training buddies on the bus today, so that was nice, we got to spend the morning together—both of them were working the breakfast shift at the Contemporary Resort.
After warming up, I ran to check back in at the duty captain window. Oddly enough, he had work for me today. It’s weird, I feel like it comes and goes in shifts. I sit here for two weeks doing nothing but staring at wallpaper start to peel and now I’m getting pulled everyday. Hmmm does anyone sense a pattern here? Anyway, I was getting sent to the Contemporary Resort for the breakfast shift too—at least I’d get to spend some time with my friends.
We got through our four sets today without much hazard. Though I may have violated the Disney guidelines by busting out a little Michael Jackson pelvic thrust during the celebration dance (don’t worry the kids were oblivious—the parents seemed to enjoy it though).
They ended up letting me off a little early today so I headed home and caught up with Dancing with the Stars. SPOILER ALERT: Kathy Ireland was kicked to the curb this week! After watching that, I headed to bed for a four hour nap. I haven’t been getting a lot of sleep and that nap felt wonderful!
When I got up, I ran over to Jessica’s apartment and convinced her to go get Chinese with me because I saw a commercial advertising frozen sesame chicken fingers. She agreed, so we sat and marveled at how awkward a Buddha statue is.
We headed back to the room and watched “Chamber of Secrets” while enjoying the taste of Chinese cuisine. I felt like I was eating dinner with Cho Chang. Talk about immersing yourself in a film.
After heading home, I finished some homework (I am now officially caught up) and just kind of chilled. It was nice.
I got all ready with my killa’ sweat outfit, and was busy checking myself out in the mirror, when warm-ups started. I ended up seeing two of my training buddies on the bus today, so that was nice, we got to spend the morning together—both of them were working the breakfast shift at the Contemporary Resort.
After warming up, I ran to check back in at the duty captain window. Oddly enough, he had work for me today. It’s weird, I feel like it comes and goes in shifts. I sit here for two weeks doing nothing but staring at wallpaper start to peel and now I’m getting pulled everyday. Hmmm does anyone sense a pattern here? Anyway, I was getting sent to the Contemporary Resort for the breakfast shift too—at least I’d get to spend some time with my friends.
We got through our four sets today without much hazard. Though I may have violated the Disney guidelines by busting out a little Michael Jackson pelvic thrust during the celebration dance (don’t worry the kids were oblivious—the parents seemed to enjoy it though).
They ended up letting me off a little early today so I headed home and caught up with Dancing with the Stars. SPOILER ALERT: Kathy Ireland was kicked to the curb this week! After watching that, I headed to bed for a four hour nap. I haven’t been getting a lot of sleep and that nap felt wonderful!
When I got up, I ran over to Jessica’s apartment and convinced her to go get Chinese with me because I saw a commercial advertising frozen sesame chicken fingers. She agreed, so we sat and marveled at how awkward a Buddha statue is.
We headed back to the room and watched “Chamber of Secrets” while enjoying the taste of Chinese cuisine. I felt like I was eating dinner with Cho Chang. Talk about immersing yourself in a film.
After heading home, I finished some homework (I am now officially caught up) and just kind of chilled. It was nice.
Friday, October 2, 2009
"Bon Voyage Smith Family"
Today was my last day with the Smiths before they leave for Michigan—I don’t want to talk about that, so let’s focus on the positive! I got up this morning after only getting approximately five hours of sleep, and headed to my creativity and innovation class. I knew it was gonna be a kinda rough morning when I couldn’t keep my left eyelid open. There was no issue with the right. Apparently sleep deprivation only affects my left eyelid, because that was the one that kept closing. I probably looked like I was wasted, which I most certainly WAS NOT (just to specify).
After the class ended I headed back to the apartment to change and eat lunch so that I could meet up with the Smiths at the Magic Kingdom. I ended up getting there around 1:30. We rode Big Thunder Mountain and Goofy’s Barnstormer a lot. We waited to see the “Celebrate a Dream Come True” parade too. It was incredible! It’s probably one of my favorite parades at Disney. In fact, ask Christi to demonstrate the choreography when she gets home, trust me you’ll agree once you experience the magic.
We left the park around 5ish to head over to Disney’s Contemporary Resort for our dinner at Chef Mickey’s with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Pluto. Not only were the characters great, but the food was awesome! It was such a great way to wrap up a wonderful week with some of my favorite people!
After dinner, we all headed back to the Pop Century so the boys could swim. Christi and I sat out on the side with Bella while Josh clearly depicted how one treads water. The boys quickly caught on so, Josh, Christi, and I just sat on the side of the pool and talked.
This week really has been great! I love the Smiths so much (if you weren’t able to pick that up from my blog). They are those kind of people that you meet once in a lifetime. I consider myself very lucky to be so close to them! I cherish them all and will miss them so much! For those of you who remember, say a quick prayer for them as they fly home tomorrow morning!
After the class ended I headed back to the apartment to change and eat lunch so that I could meet up with the Smiths at the Magic Kingdom. I ended up getting there around 1:30. We rode Big Thunder Mountain and Goofy’s Barnstormer a lot. We waited to see the “Celebrate a Dream Come True” parade too. It was incredible! It’s probably one of my favorite parades at Disney. In fact, ask Christi to demonstrate the choreography when she gets home, trust me you’ll agree once you experience the magic.
We left the park around 5ish to head over to Disney’s Contemporary Resort for our dinner at Chef Mickey’s with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Pluto. Not only were the characters great, but the food was awesome! It was such a great way to wrap up a wonderful week with some of my favorite people!
After dinner, we all headed back to the Pop Century so the boys could swim. Christi and I sat out on the side with Bella while Josh clearly depicted how one treads water. The boys quickly caught on so, Josh, Christi, and I just sat on the side of the pool and talked.
This week really has been great! I love the Smiths so much (if you weren’t able to pick that up from my blog). They are those kind of people that you meet once in a lifetime. I consider myself very lucky to be so close to them! I cherish them all and will miss them so much! For those of you who remember, say a quick prayer for them as they fly home tomorrow morning!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
"Hoveround: Get One!"
Wow, I cannot believe it is already October. The time has truly flown by! Today was so much fun! I got to sleep in which was wonderful. I met up with the Smiths at the Hollywood Studios around 11. They were getting their picture taken with Mike and Sulley from Monsters Inc. However, to get to them, I had to walk through the Power Ranger section. The Pink Ranger totally wanted me! Let’s just say it’s no coincidence her wristwatch/walkie-talkie started going off the second I walked by.
After hooking up with one of the best families around (that one was free Josh ☺), we headed over to ride the Toy Story Mania ride. Well since Josh had only been able to get three fast passes this morning; Christi and I sat outside with Bella. It was fun just getting to talk with Christi for a while. Plus, we got to watch a Green Army Man make a dad do pushups.
Once Josh and the boys came out, we headed over to the “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” Playground. It was so much fun! Despite sticking me hand in a wad of hot gum, Josh got felt up by a three year old (I’ll let him explain that one to you ☺), and Nolie decided to act the hero and do a hand-standed flip with a belly roll down the slide in front of about 30 families. As you can imagine, every parent in the vicinity moved forward with a “Oooh.” Good news is Nolie is fine, but let me tell ya that boy’s gonna be a star one day—he really knows how to work a crowd.
Soon after, we headed to the “Lights, Stars, and Motor Cars” show. The boys really really seemed to love that! I have to admit, I did too! I want to be a stuntman so bad!
We finished up there around 2 and quickly made our way back up the front of the park for the “Block Party Parade” that started at 3. Well just before it started, I headed to the main gate because I had to run into work for about an hour today. We were having a college program seminar. So right before I get to the exit, the parade starts, which means I’m stuck because they won’t let me cross in front of the floats, so I sat and watched the whole thing. It was actually a lot of fun.
The seminar itself wasn’t too bad. I was sitting in the front row while the host played a trivia game with the audience. All the sudden a friend of mine comes in whom I haven’t seen in weeks. She proceeds to scream and hug me while I’m still seated. Now this was one powerful hug—she was pushing me so far back into my seat that my feet started to go up into the air, if that gives you any idea. Once she had release her death grip on me (let’s face it, when you’ve got biceps like mine, you get used to hugs like this ☺ JUST KIDDING), we look up to see the host and the audience staring at us. He then proceeds to say into the microphone, “We can give you a few more minutes if you like.” So now, I look like a) the biggest skeeze ever or 2) the biggest playa ever—neither of which are good for my street cred. The seminar itself wasn’t too bad. They talked about maintaining the integrity of the company Walt Disney worked so hard to start. They ended with a bang, quite literally. They finished up in a way only Disney can by shooting the audience with streamer/confetti guns. It was at that point I realized that I’m working where I should be ☺.
Once I finished up there, I headed back to Hollywood Studios. We all went to eat at Pizza Palace. After dinner, Christi let me take the Hoverround for a spin. It completely solidified in my mind why I’ll be getting one the day I turn 60. Goodness, with me being half deaf and now developing seizures, I figure I’m like prime meat for one of their scholarships! And boy am I gonna pimp that thing out, its gonna have flames, a flag, and a fan! Holla! But for today, I settled with circles around the courtyard; however I did put my let up on the wheel though, so it looked like I had a use for the thing. After that, we headed back to Toy Story Mania once more and then onto the main event: taking Nicco on Tower of Terror.
I was so proud of him; he took it like a champ! Granted there were a couple of times he looked like he had just digested his heart, but that boy is a man’s man. All things considered, he really seemed to like the ride!
We all headed back to the hotel and just spent some time hanging out! We decided that my dad, Larry Dean, has the ideal name for a sausage salesman. ☺ Love you dad!
I headed back to the apartment and had to make a Wal-mart run so Jessica was nice enough to go with me! I just got back from there and just now realized that I have to be up for class in about five hours. That being said, I’ll talk to you all tomorrow! ☺
After hooking up with one of the best families around (that one was free Josh ☺), we headed over to ride the Toy Story Mania ride. Well since Josh had only been able to get three fast passes this morning; Christi and I sat outside with Bella. It was fun just getting to talk with Christi for a while. Plus, we got to watch a Green Army Man make a dad do pushups.
Once Josh and the boys came out, we headed over to the “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” Playground. It was so much fun! Despite sticking me hand in a wad of hot gum, Josh got felt up by a three year old (I’ll let him explain that one to you ☺), and Nolie decided to act the hero and do a hand-standed flip with a belly roll down the slide in front of about 30 families. As you can imagine, every parent in the vicinity moved forward with a “Oooh.” Good news is Nolie is fine, but let me tell ya that boy’s gonna be a star one day—he really knows how to work a crowd.
Soon after, we headed to the “Lights, Stars, and Motor Cars” show. The boys really really seemed to love that! I have to admit, I did too! I want to be a stuntman so bad!
We finished up there around 2 and quickly made our way back up the front of the park for the “Block Party Parade” that started at 3. Well just before it started, I headed to the main gate because I had to run into work for about an hour today. We were having a college program seminar. So right before I get to the exit, the parade starts, which means I’m stuck because they won’t let me cross in front of the floats, so I sat and watched the whole thing. It was actually a lot of fun.
The seminar itself wasn’t too bad. I was sitting in the front row while the host played a trivia game with the audience. All the sudden a friend of mine comes in whom I haven’t seen in weeks. She proceeds to scream and hug me while I’m still seated. Now this was one powerful hug—she was pushing me so far back into my seat that my feet started to go up into the air, if that gives you any idea. Once she had release her death grip on me (let’s face it, when you’ve got biceps like mine, you get used to hugs like this ☺ JUST KIDDING), we look up to see the host and the audience staring at us. He then proceeds to say into the microphone, “We can give you a few more minutes if you like.” So now, I look like a) the biggest skeeze ever or 2) the biggest playa ever—neither of which are good for my street cred. The seminar itself wasn’t too bad. They talked about maintaining the integrity of the company Walt Disney worked so hard to start. They ended with a bang, quite literally. They finished up in a way only Disney can by shooting the audience with streamer/confetti guns. It was at that point I realized that I’m working where I should be ☺.
Once I finished up there, I headed back to Hollywood Studios. We all went to eat at Pizza Palace. After dinner, Christi let me take the Hoverround for a spin. It completely solidified in my mind why I’ll be getting one the day I turn 60. Goodness, with me being half deaf and now developing seizures, I figure I’m like prime meat for one of their scholarships! And boy am I gonna pimp that thing out, its gonna have flames, a flag, and a fan! Holla! But for today, I settled with circles around the courtyard; however I did put my let up on the wheel though, so it looked like I had a use for the thing. After that, we headed back to Toy Story Mania once more and then onto the main event: taking Nicco on Tower of Terror.
I was so proud of him; he took it like a champ! Granted there were a couple of times he looked like he had just digested his heart, but that boy is a man’s man. All things considered, he really seemed to like the ride!
We all headed back to the hotel and just spent some time hanging out! We decided that my dad, Larry Dean, has the ideal name for a sausage salesman. ☺ Love you dad!
I headed back to the apartment and had to make a Wal-mart run so Jessica was nice enough to go with me! I just got back from there and just now realized that I have to be up for class in about five hours. That being said, I’ll talk to you all tomorrow! ☺
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