Day: last.

My last day of work!! How has it come so quickly?!

Today I was a cool post day, which is beautifully air conditioned, wonderfully bee-free, and marvelously not busy. It was a very slow day, I had unlimited root beer and I had a good person to work with. Kaylen is form Hong Kong and she is a riot. She's leaving next week, and so understands my sadness. She also did a 10-week program and is sarcastic and witty and hilarious to hang out with! I'm so glad I got a good person to work with; it would have been a very long 12 hours without her! 

I watched bits and pieces of Illuminations as I cleaned up, and when I got back to base, I was in no hurry to leave. I banked out, Evan let me have a Mickey Premium ice cream as a goodbye, and then we sat and got talking with Evan, Joey, Karen, Jackie, Kaycey and Kaylen for almost an hour and a half. I miss them all already! We laughed and talked and made fun of Kaylen's accent and made fun of the Canadian 'eh' and made fun pf the Texan 'howdy'. We told stories and laughed and joked and it felt like a family. One that I was desperate not to leave behind. So I stayed as late as I could. But when every one else started to leave, I had to too. Kaycey, Kaylen and I left together, all headed for the bus. I hugged Jackie goodbye and waved to everyone else. I changed out of my costume and set it down the laundry chute. For the last time! Strangely both liberating and saddening! :(

The bus ride home was great - I don't know how I managed to not know these girls until the last week of my program (way to go, Steph) but they are fantastic and I will miss them! The rain was pouring beautiful and warm, and I made plans to see them both tomorrow for at least a hug goodbye; but I think Kaycey and I are going to ride Space Mountain together because we found out that we both just giggle uncontrollably the entire time! ;)

So, now I'm home. Making plans to see everyone I want to hug goodbye. Eduardo and Kaycey and Hudson and Sam and Emily and AHHHHH. So many people that I don't want to say goodbye to :(

And now it's time to pack. Get everything together so that tomorrow I don't have to.

One day left! Make it count!

Goodbye, HS.

Today started early with my lat trip to Property Control! I found some good deals and left content :) I had to put some things back because I found myself picking things up that I only liked because I knew I was leaving. I'm already coming home with no money, lets just leave the unnecessary things on the shelf, shall we? :)

When I got home I got ready to go to my graduation! All of my friends are going to the one tomorrow, but I work and I wanted to get my ears!! I'm going to get them personalized at MK on Thursday :) there was good food, dance music, and characters in graduation outfits. It was HOT today. Worse than I've felt all summer. Sheesh. I didn't stay long, and instead of going right home, I got right on a bus to Hollywood Studios for my last time.

When I got there, I wandered in and out of stores until it was time for my real reason for coming... One more showing of Beauty and the Beast! I was actually disappointed with the actors who played Belle and Gaston this time around, not that they weren't excellent. Just that now I have my favourites and they weren't there :( it felt a little like a best friend sending a sibling to say goodbye. Similar and heart felt, just not the same!

After that, I checked the bus schedule for getting back home... One hour. I went to check the lines for Rockin' Roller Coaster and was shocked to see hardly a line at all! In fact, there wasn't ANYONE in the single rider line before the merge point. Sounded too good to be true! I walked to the podium only to be handed a fast pass by the family in line beside me!! Their mom didn't want to ride after all!

Not only did I get on the ride faster, but I also had the option to ask for the front seat, which of course I did! The guy in line a couple spots back was also a single rider in the fast pass lane who wanted the front, so we rode together. He recongnized my hat and asked if I was a CP and when I was going home, and we bonded over making a face for the camera. He was wonderful to meet!

When we got outside, Florida was crying to see me go... it was bright and sunny and hot, with huge rain drops falling at the same time. I shopped a little bit more, got my picture taken with the Sorcerer's Hat one last time, and got on the bus home. Goodbye, Hollywood Studios. I will be back.

Once home, I went to the front desk to borrow a vacuum cleaner. They only have one with a hose that worse for vacuum bags for packing, and it had to be back within 40 minutes. I speed packed, let me tell you. I got my big blanket and more than half of my clothes into one vacuum bag and into my suitcase, and then sucked all the air out to make room for more. I returned the vacuum on time, and came back home to pack and pack and pack some more.

I was able to talk to Mom and Dad for a bit, and when Emily go home, we tore our room apart and got all our stuff together and started putting it in suitcases. I'm feeling pretty okay with the way things are looking, but it might be a tight fit!

We're headed off to bed late and I have a full day of work in the am. My last day!! How crazy is that?!

Fantastic Fantasmic.

Today I spent a good chunk of time in my room, 'packing'. And by packing I throwing everything into a big pile on the floor and pulling out the suitcases and then stopping because it was making me sad.

I spent that time procrastinating by talking to Gregory, Tanya and Dad. All good people! :)

I really didn't do much else during the day, the weather was iffy and I was enjoying the quiet of my apartment. In the evening I went to Hollywood Studios specifically for Fantasmic; I went early enough to get a seat that was front and center and bought a fresh, hot churro and fresh, hot popcorn. Both were fantastic! I was prepared to get wet from the water hydro-technics (is that a word? It is now) but I barely got sprayed and still had the best seat in the house.

Again with the goodbyes... I cried on the bus on the way home. I'm not done with HS yet; I need to see Beauty and the Beast at least once more before I leave! :) But that was my last Fantasmic. And my last Illuminations was last night... and I just want to not be saying goodbye.

I think we should just move all of Walt Disney World to Nova Scotia. First of all, best of all worlds. Second; Main Street USA in the snow?! Yes please!

Early morning tomorrow! Lots of last minute things to do and see!

Eggs and tea.

Today was an early morning; I was off to work by 7:30am. My first stop: Epcot costuming.

As per my mother's request, I signed out one of every costume I've worn as a Disney Cast Member. Mom, just for you I will be taking photos of them all tomorrow. Emily is quite excited to help me out with my photoshoot. You're lucky I love you!

The next 10 and a half hours consisted of getting to know Sandra, my coworker for the day, from Lithuania. Her first language is Lithuanian and she's never been to Russia, even though it's basically right next door. I also spent the day dodging bees, again. They were small numbers though, and I can dodge one or two while Sandra was fearless and would get whatever the bee was guarding. She was wonderful. I closed right on time and inventoried and banked out right on schedule. It was my last day in the red shirt, and also my last day working outside in the Floridian heat. And I'm sooooo glad!There are just some things that I will not miss even a little bit.

After work, I got changed and went right back into the park. I went to Italy for some souvenirs and chatted the cashier there for a few minutes. Then I found a fireworks spot in between Norway and Mexico for my last viewing of Illuminations! They were fabulous!!

I got on the bus just as it was pulling away, and my new Italian cashier friend was sitting right next to where I was standing. She and I chatted some more... and I realized why the weather is such a common small-talk topic. Because when you are both in an unfamiliar climate but your home weather patterns are similar, you bond over it. Easily!

I walked home and was able to facetime with Tanya for a while and then made myself some supper... fried eggs and fancy tea. Not too shabby at all, in fact it was the most delicious thing I've had in a while. Yummmmmm.

My eyes are now drooping to Doctor Who, and so this is where I will sign off!

First goodbyes.

Last day at Restaurantosaurus today! I was filling until my break which made the afternoon fly by! We were working as a great team - we had orders on the counter before the guest was ready to take it and were getting them out faster than the cashiers could ring them through.We were the Counter Crew, and we were killing it!

After my break, I sliced tomatoes. A lot of tomatoes. 1500 slices of tomatoes, actually. On the plus side, I had a slicer which did 6-9 slices at a time. But I still sliced between 200 and 250 tomatoes. My arm aches.

After work I went to the Festival of the Lion King, of course. Hudson and Sam came with me, and because Hudson knew someone working at the theater, we got a front row seat! Usually reserved for wheelchairs or special groups, it was the best seat in the house. Show #7 was the best of them all; the front row is fabulous and I got a kiss on the cheek from Timon and a high five from a tumble-monkey and I hand-jived and I sang along and it was absolutely wonderful!

And then I left. I didn't feel the need to visit anything else, and my last hello became my first goodbye.

There were tears in my eyes as I went through the gate. As I took one last look, the reality that I was actually leaving hit me, and I realized how much I was going to miss having Disney in my backyard (a crazy amount, in case that wasn't perfectly clear).

I took the bus to Hollywood studios to meet up with Natalie for Fantasmic. I got some fresh popcorn and wandered the streets just soaking it in. I stopped at the writer's stop and got a carrot-cake-cookie-cream-cheese-sandwich (which was meant to be on last night's list, but I'd forgotten) and it was incredible! Natalie and I went to Toy Story Mania where they found an expired fast pass for her collection and then we made our way to the Fantasmic theater. We got really crappy seats, which cancelled the idea of maybe this being the last Fantasmic show I go to... there's no way I'm letting my last show be that one! We left a little early to catch the bus and got home in time for me to do some laundry (oh, the mundane in the midst of excitement).

I have now procrastinated sleep for far too long and will head to bed... a long day at Epcot tomorrow will be my second last day of work! Absolute insanity. Goodnight all!

The countdown is on.

I hate it when late buses put a negative air on the entire day. Sitting for 45 minutes at the bus stop has soured my attitude, but I will try to remember the good parts of today for retelling them to you!

Emily and I caught the same bus to Animal Kingdom this morning... we got all snuggle-y since the air conditioner was dripping on her ;) She went to the Lion King show with a friend from work while I went to work. Dreading the inevitable trash running, I sat down nest to Kacey in the break room. She and I have bonded over trash running every day.

But, as luck would have it, I got a filler position! It's easily the position that makes time go the fastest as there is constantly something to do. Officially, you take the tray from the kitchen-to-front counter and give it to the guest. And you add drinks and desserts. But you also ask the guests where they're from and make it a game of what to put where on the tray. And if you're really good, you give out two orders at once and pick up both trays of a guest's order and try not to drop the five bacon cheeseburgers and the three chicken sandwiches and the order of nuggets and not forget to add the salad-that-doesn't-have-a-lid. Good times.

I absolutely adore it. It's a job that requires being quick on your feet and a smile at all times. A guest is much less likely to be angry that their food is taking a while if you've already gotten their drinks and are asking them where they're from. (I met my first Maritimers today, lovely folks from Hamilton, NB knew exactly where I was from. Unlike the guy from California who thought I lived near Finland. Yep.)

Matthew, the coordinator for filling, is a 5-foot-nothing whirlwind who doesn't accept nonsense or longer wait times than absolutely necessary. He's easily my favorite at the restaurant, a little bit because he's good as a coordinator, but also because he works his butt off. If there are orders sitting on the counter, he does tell us to pick up the pace, but then he also steps in and helps us get them out. And if we're getting them out just fine without him, he tells us that we are doing a wonderful job. Working in the public eye for the last four years has made me appreciate the value of some well-spoken and well-timed encouragement. Whether it be from a boss, coworker, guest, customer, or friend who stopped in to say hello, it is needed. Your entire day can turn around with a single "Thank you for doing your job, and for doing it well." And Matthew is good at that. He gives high fives too, which are always in style. And he noticed that I was not failing today. In fact, I was doing really well. I take pride in doing something fast and right and well. But it's even better when your boss notices. And Matthew was noticing me today. I was doing multiple trays at a time ("Two trays! I love it, keep it up!") and Kim and I were getting our side out faster than the four other girls on the other side ("You girls are killing it! This is awesome!". It was a good morning. Kim and I rocked it as a team ("Come on Side 2, pick it up. Kim and Steph are kicking your butts!").

After filling I went on break and then was assigned to (drum roll please!) busing! Aka, NOT TRASH. Not only that, but I got the side of the restaurant that closes early and my break was late. So when I got the assignment and got to my location, it was practically empty and already clean. I swept the floor and cleaned trash bins, but then we called a coordinator to check our work so we could finish up. Matthew was the one to come in a check, and he was blown away by how early we were done, and then looked at me and said "You were spectacular today." And I got another high five. Awwwwwwe yeah. Cloud nine.

I sliced some tomatoes to pass the time until I was allowed to clock out, and then I got changed and went to the Festival of the Lion King, again! It was amazing, again. And it was amazing the second time too. That makes 6 total... I'm going to have to be careful or it may over take Beauty and the Beast for most-watched show of the summer. That's just no good! ;)

After the two shows, I took the bus to Magic Kingdom for the evening I didn't do very much except for check a few things off my list of must-dos for the week (listed at the bottom of this post!). It has hit me very hard and very suddenly that all those 'I should do those at some point over the summer' things need to be done this week. Ahhh! I ate ice cream from the Main Street Ice Cream Shoppe and I bought popcorn at the circus and I walked through New Fantasyland (as always) and I watched Celebrate the Magic fomr the train station.

I left right before Wishes to get to the bus stop so that I could get home and get to bed early. HAH. That would have worked, if the buses they have for us aren't total junk. I waited 45 minutes for a bus that is supposed to come every half hour. On the plus side, I had internet and was chatting iwth Gregory which made the time go by faster (thanks, kiddo!) and they play the Wishes soundtrack at the Contemporary bus stop so that it goes with the fireworks that you can see from there :) So I still got my Wishes! :)

Home late, in bed late, blogging late. And work in the morning! It never ends! (Oh wait it does. 6 days. SHHHHHHH!) Night!

List:
- Eat circus popcorn at the Storybook Circus
- Meet Merida
- Buy (get) graduation ears
- Get the Christmas presents for my family I noticed in the first week
- Go back to Property Control
- Watch Celebrate the Magic from as close as I can get
- Watch Wishes form Train Station
- See Fantasmic
- See Illuminations
- Beauty and the Beast
- Get a Disney teddy bear
- Lion King
- Have an ice cream sundae on Main Street
- Buy an outrageous helium mickey/princess balloon, and make a wish and let it fly at the end of the day.

Thunder and trash and sadness.

This morning I had on a skirt that didn't show my knees (so that I wouldn't get in trouble for half of my kneecaps again. How scandalous!) and flip flops.

The thunder woke both Emily and I up at 6:50 this morning (me, who could probably sleep through a train running through my house). It was so loud that the apartment was shaking and car alarms were going off. Yeah.

So, flip flops to work meant that I had dry shoes for today! Which was great since I was trash running again. For four and a half hours of my six hour shift. Because that's fair. Sigh. And it was on the crappy side of the lodge too. Just praying it won't be the same tomorrow.

My 11-5 shift was pretty boring today. After the morning/afternoon of trash running I was assigned to busing tables again. It was a slow afternoon after the rain passed and so it was pretty boring, but I wasn't trash running, so I wasn't complaining! KJ and I got the lodge side cleared and closed in record time, and perfectly done too, I might add.

Instead of going home after clocking out, I got changed and headed to the Festival of the Lion King! It hit me kind of hard today that I only have one week of Disney left. Only a week! Only four days of work after today! #holymoly. That's like a normal person vacation. Ahhhh!

The Lion King was excellent, and I've decided to go back tomorrow. And the day after. And ride Everest. And just generally come to terms with the fact that I won't see Animal Kingdom again for a while. And next week I'll have to say goodbye to Hollywood Studios, Epcot and Magic Kingdom. In that order. I will sob next week at this time, knowing I have to leave in the morning.

I might cry now just thinking about it.

Anyways! It was excellent, and then I went home. Not super exciting, nor super restful, and I didn't get anything done. I did talk to momma for a bit :) And then Dad :) I watched some tv episodes and facebook stalked some folks. I contemplated my future and realized how odd it would be to break the 17 year long habit of going to school in September. And I wondered briefly what I will do with my life. You know, a normal evening.

Back to Animal Kingdom in the morning! Hopefully I'll break my trash running streak (cross your fingers!) Night everyone :)

Internet woes.

Today I was back at Resto for day 2. I started off as a filler, which was the same as being thrown into a pit of vipers. Not that I’ve ever been thrown into a viper pit, but I’m assuming it’s similar.

“Where’s my drink? Why don’t I have my food yet? I’ve been waiting here forever. I don’t have all I need. Can you find out where my food is?” Jumpins, people. Have some patience. Four and a half minutes does not equal forever.  The hot food came out from the kitchen and I added the cold items to each tray. I got into the rhythm of it pretty quickly, and was pleased that when the coordinators came along to help, I was not among the ones getting snapped at.

The time flew quickly as a filler, always busy and always a guest to talk to. Before I knew it, break time had arrived and I was being given another assignment. Trash runner, again. This time though, on the convenient side of the lodge, with the dumpster outside the back door.  Emptying trash cans is a pretty easy job, and someone has to do it, but I was bored out of my mind! No one notices the trash kid. I’m invisible. So much so that people get stupid. If the bin is outside of the trash can because someone is putting a new bag in, then please don’t put your trash through the hole. It ends up on the floor. And when you walk away, the invisible girl has to pick it up. Why are people idiots?

Some folks are kind, and will ask where I’d like it to go. For these people I gave them a smile and took their entire tray and told them I’d be happy to do it for them. Not only do they think I’m wonderful, but it is actually just easier to do it myself.

Around 3pm, the restaurant starts to empty out. And around 4, my side was actually closed to new guests. Eventually I was walking around doing nothing, because the trash wasn’t filling up fast enough to make emptying the bags worth it. Finally at 4:30 we emptied the trash for the last time and a manager came to make sure it was all done and then I was sent home. Yay!

A friend drove me home, which was lovely. I got home and fell asleep to Doctor Who after a bowl of ice cream. I woke up to a skype call from my momma! We chatted for a bit, but then she had to go. I made a cup of my fancy tea that I bought on Monday, and let me tell you, necessity is the mother of invention. Without anything to steep the tea in, I used tin foil with some holes poked in it. It worked wonderfully (and tasted marvelous)!

I was also able to facetime the family in Ontario again… lots of laughs and getting caught up before – ffft! – out goes my internet. Out goes the modem. Which I have no access to. My troubleshooter tells me that my router connection is fine, but I should restart my modem. The one in the locked room. Great. Sorry guys, it’s not my fault that I hung up on you!

Another cup of tea and some non-internet activities later, and I’m writing my blog post in a word processor with the hopes that the modem is up and running again in the morning. Goodnight everyone!

Restaurantosaurus.

First things first: when I woke up today I returned the car I'd rented yesterday. It felt like saying goodbye to a good friend with whom I'd shared a great adventure. But alas, she had to go back home. When I got back to my apartment (not only will Enterprise pick you up, they'll drive you home!) I got ready for work. Today I finally had an ugly enough costume that I felt like a Disney cast member. And I looked like a 50's house wife.

There's an adorable (not) apron for it too.

I've been deployed to Animal Kingdom this week, and I'm working at the restaurant called Restaurantosaurus. Also known as Resto.

And it was today that I realized how lucky I truly got with Epcot ODF, because working in the restaurant was not glamorous or easy or relaxing. Not that I'd expected it to be, and not that my job is those things. But it was hard work. And I was in a skirt.

I got on the bus that would arrive an hour before my shift started, because I had no idea where I was going. Thankfully, a couple guys wearing the male equivalent of my costume were walking from the bus stop as well, and I must have looked as helpless as I felt because they took pity on me and helped me find everything I needed. They showed me where I could put my things, where the break room was and where I could clock in. So, instead of needing the full hour, I had 45 minutes to chill out and wait for my shift to begin.

Also waiting were two other members of my Epcot ODF family who were there for their first day as well. One of them had a Vanilla Coke in hand, which I haven't had in years since they stopped selling them at home. I bought one and it was amazing! I'm now a little worried about my pop intake this coming week though ;) We had a cast member meeting before the place opened and I learned a little bit about the atmosphere... they are very heavy into guest interaction and being available for whatever the guest needs. But, and I don't know about you, I like to be left alone while I'm eating. So I mostly just kept my mouth shut and paid attention anyway.

When I clocked in I got my assignment, and found more Epcot ODF family members who'd been at Resto last week as well; and they showed me where to go and what to do. I am very grateful to Marie especially, who is newer to Disney than I am, but who helped me tons.

I spent my morning busing tables. I have never in my life bussed a table, and even though I got the swing of it pretty quickly (how hard is it to wipe down a table and push in chairs?), I was dodging people with trays piled high with food, and squeezing between  full table to get to the empty one in the back corner and getting leftover food all over my clothes when a pile of trays needed to be taken back to the kitchen. I also had to tell a group of 4 Chinese ladies who spoke very little English that they had to get up and leave; the way Resto works is that once you have your fast food, you are seated by a cast member. And the ladies, who were in to rest their legs in the air conditioning, were not ordering anything.

I felt rather badly but, as they had snuck in the exit door, they must have known that someone was going to ask them to leave. I was polite but firm in that they had to vacate the table for guests looking for somewhere to eat; it was just after noon and the line waiting for tables was long.

Paul came to relieve me for my break, and unlike at Epcot, at Resto the computer tells you when and where you need to be. So after my break I got my new assignment by logging into the computer, and I was assigned to taking over the trash running for the lodge side of the building. I don't think I would have minded it much, if I wasn't tired from staying up to late and if I wasn't on the opposite side of the building from the dumpster. Every time my can was full (it held 3/9 trash bins that I was responsible for) I had to take it outside and go the entire way around the back of the building and chuck the bags into the compressor.

In a skirt.

So, when I went into the break room to get someone's leftover ketchup off one of my hands and I saw my Epcot family packing up their stuff because they'd gotten ER's (Early Releases) I went into the kitchen to see if there were any left. Sure enough, I was let out early! The coordinator was very nice about it, and seemed happy that I wanted to go home (I was confused, but oh well)!

I got changed into normal clothes and actually hopped into line for the guest bus to Epcot; a much more direct route then going home first. I'd been in line for a few minutes when a mom and her son got into line behind me as I waited. She looked very tired, asked me if this was the line for Epcot, and then informed me that she thinks she's going crazy.

I felt a small tapping on my arm where her very adorable son wanted to show me his pins. "Hi. I'm Jayden. I'm five. My birthday just passed, it was June 17th! I trade pins. Do you have pins? Where are your pins, anyway? This one's my favorite. I'm a Wilderness Explorer! What's at Epcot? Mom, do you have my toy? "

No wonder she thinks she's going crazy. I told her about the hidden mickey pins and how the easiest way to get around Epcot would be. I told her son that I liked his pins and asked who his favorite character was. He talked a mile a minute and was so animated I could barely stop giggling. When the bus pulled up and her son picked a seat, I sat across the row from them. Jayden immediately got up to sit beside me instead, so that "I need to keep talking about pins, mom. I need to know how to do this the very very best! Hey, why don't you have your pins with you today? You can't leave them at home! Then you can't trade!"

Turns out, they are here visiting her daughter, who is doing the Disney College Program until January! When I told them I worked at Epcot, they were surprised and wanted to know if I liked it here. They are going to MK tomorrow, to watch the electrical parade and to visit Mickey Mouse. I told Jayden's mom where the best parade spots were and I told Jayden to give Mickey a hug for me. "Are you going to Magic Kingdom tomorrow?! You can come with us! Right mom?!" I told him that I'd love to, but I have to work tomorrow. "Where to do you work?!" When I told him that I worked at the dinosaur restaurant at Animal Kingdom, his mouth did a perfect little 'O' and his shocked look had me giggling all over again. "Do you get to eat as much as you want?!" I wish, kiddo, I wish!

I told Jayden's mom that he had made my day, but I don't blame her for being tired; I would be too if I'd had him around me for the whole day, let alone the last several years! ;) 

When we arrived at Epcot I asked if I could take a picture, and then said goodbye. I think that this is my favorite part of being a cast member; meeting families that I would never ever ever have the chance to meet otherwise. Have a great day tomorrow at MK, Jayden!

Me and my new best friend, Jayden.

I walked through Epcot to the backstage door by Test Track and back to ODF base to ask a manager for a favor. Luckily, Evan was in today, and it looks like next weeks shifts are all sorted out :)


I headed home just as the rain started, and the bus was waiting for me outside the cast services building. I got home to an empty apartment and promptly fell asleep! When I woke up, I tried to skype my mother and facetime my dad, but neither were available right away, so instead I cooked myself dinner; a real proper dinner for the first time this summer; salmon filet. While it was in the oven I was able to talk to my family in Ontario - different aunt and uncle and cousins this time, but still family! :) It was a short conversation but I would like to state for the record that I've been promised chocolate cake next time I visit!

 When they had to go, I skyped my momma for a while and found out that the link for yesterday's video was no good; it is all fixed now! We chatted for a while and my salmon was ready to eat (It was delicious!) and then she had to go as well.

My house is still empty and I'm not sure where all my roommates are, but another day at Resto tomorrow means that it's now bedtime for me! Goodnight everyone!

Jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.

Skydiving.

I went skydiving.

Am I crazy?!

Last night at 11pm, all three of my fellow jumpers backed out of the trip at the last minute. Including, much to my displeasure, my drive. The Skydive Space Center is an hour's drive away with no public transit available to get there. I was not impressed.

The stubborn bit of my personality came out with a vengeance. I was going. And I would find a way.

So, this morning Emily and I got a cab to the nearest Enterprise location and I rented a car. I rented the cutest little bright red Ford Fiesta for the day. We had directions on my ipod and we took off down the highway, a beautiful sunny Florida morning and hardly any traffic.

I felt so free - and we got the ipod hooked up to the stereo and blasted some Taylor Swift as we drove. I don't know about you, but I'm feeling 22! The feeling was amazing, and I felt like a big girl!

A little less than an hour later we were pulling into the parking lot of the Titusville Skydive Space Center. I went in first to make sure we were in the right place and I was greeted by Wendy, the loveliest of ladies. Wendy was there to help me fill out my paperwork. I went back out to the car to get Emily and then went inside to sign away any rights, responsibilities, my left leg and my first born child. Twelve pages (actually 12, not an exaggeration) of initials and signatures later and a great deal of money off my credit card, and I was ready to go. Emily, who has to take an entire bottle of anti-anxiety meds (okay, that one is an exaggeration) before getting on a normal flight, opted to stay on solid ground ;)

When I walked out into the hangar I was greeted by Paulo, my tandem jumper. He was very nice, very foreign, and easily the biggest and sturdiest looking instructor in the bunch, for which I was immediately grateful. He had me laughing and joking right away about how he was my best friend today, and before I knew it I was stepping into the harness. He expertly did up all the buckles and straps and seemed so at ease that it was easy to stay relaxed. Everything seemed far too loose fitting to be jumping out of a plane, but he assured me that he'd tighten them inside the plane.

I then met Dimitri, my videographer! When we met, he shook my hand and then asked Paulo if he'd read the instructions, since it was his first day and first jump and all. Paulo said he'd skimmed them, but he'd watched it done on youtube, so he was pretty sure he knew what to do. I told them both to cut it out with the jokes because they were being silly! They laughed and then Dimi took me aside to stand in front of the plane and get a small chat on film before I jumped. Paulo ran over a few things with me like how to jump out of the plane (I informed him that he would need to push me) and how to land.

Before I knew it, Paulo and Dimi were all strapped up and leading me towards the plane. I waved goodbye to Emily, smiled for the camera and followed Paulo inside. We straddled the benches and Paulo tightened my hip straps and hooked our harnesses together at the hips. Everyone else filed into the plane and all of a sudden, we were in the air. Unlike an airport, they don't have to wait for airspace to clear, or for the tower to give them the okay. There's only one plane and it can take off whenever it likes. And it likes to do this quickly. It only took us about 10 minutes to reach jumping height, but on the way up I saw the Kennedy Space Center and the Atlantic Ocean and the Florida coast. It was beautiful.

As we went up, I asked Paulo how many jumps he has actually done; I was over his 1800th! That's a lot, and he's still alive and well so I literally was putting my life in his hands. Paulo went over the jump again with me, and as the door opened, he had me lean back against him so that he could hook our shoulder straps together. As he did, he tightened the harness with a quick jerk and everything immediately felt more secure and safe and I knew that I would not fall out of it. We threw our legs over the bench and crouched slowly to the door of the plane. Dimi went out first, holding on to the side so that he could jump with us to get the whole thing on video.

And as I stood there, for a split second with my toes over the edge, my first thought was "I should have worn a sweater, it's cold up here." And then I was pushed out into the open air and my thoughts very quickly merged into

"HEAD BACK AHHH KNEES BENT AHHH ARCHED BACK AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH."

Once the sensation of falling was over (after about 3 seconds), it felt like I was standing in front of a huge fan. I quickly found out the two problems that I specifically would face: remembering to breathe, and painful eardrums.

I found out easily that breathing through my nose meant that I was more easily able to intake oxygen. That, combined with fear that Woody's rocket face from Toy Story would be on my video, meant that my mouth was tightly shut almost the entire way down. It made it look like I was not enjoying the ride... when in fact I was so exhilarated I could barely contain myself.

Not super attractive.

The other problem was my ear drums. This was also quickly fixed with a fast plugging of the nose and blowing outwards, which I had to do several times on the way down! Fighting with the wind for my arm and for oxygen made the minute and a half of free fall feel more like ten seconds. Dimi took video of the whole experience and I'm pretty sure he laughed at me a lot.

Unfortunately, by the time I'd gotten my breathing, eardrums, and "AHHHHH"s under control, the free fall was pretty much done. And while I'm glad that the parachute opened perfectly, I wish the free fall had been longer so that I could have fully enjoyed more of it!

The parachute ride lasted just under ten minutes, and was easily the best part of the whole experience. It was absolutely beautiful from so high up in the clouds, but the mad rush of wind was gone, breathing was easier and I could even talk to Paulo. I took in as much as I could as the air got warmer and the breeze was beautiful and the realization sank in that I had just jumped out of a perfectly good airplane. Holy crap. I could see the Space Center and the Atlantic and trees and pools and houses. I felt like I was on top of the world - which I basically was. We were above the clouds.

We did a couple of parachute spins and all too quickly Paulo was telling me how to land and the ground was rushing up to meet us. And all too quickly I was unhooked and I was done.

I have no words. It was amazing. The video of the whole experience is posted at the end of this post. If you have the patience to watch the whole thing, excuse my I'm-not-having-fun facial expressions. I promise you, I was having the time of my life! :)

 After we were done, I texted my dad while I waited for my edited video to be finished. It was a good half hour to sit and decompress. When I had the finished product in my hands, Emily and I got back in the car and headed to the Florida Mall, because clearly I had not had enough adventure for one day.

We arrived at the mall with no problems, and the place is huge. We visited familiar stores like Payless and H&M and Garage, and unfamiliar stores like Forever 21 and Hot Topic and Charlotte Rousse. I found hardly anything that was my style, but Emily had a blast! There was a Beauty and the Beast shirt in Hot Topic that I might order online in my size, and several Doctor Who items that I dearly wanted (including Ten's sonic screwdriver. Uhm, yes please?) but I didn't get anything except some fancy tea from Teavana that I finished off the last of at home way too long ago.

As we got in the car to head home, the rain started. Of course, what did we expect? It had been beautiful all morning! The rain had to come sooner or later! We waited for a few minutes to see if it would pass, but the storm looked too big and the car was stifling. So I drove, carefully and slowly in the Florida rain.

And took a wrong turn. A lovely young man at the toll booth directed us back in the direction of Disney world and off the highway to Miami so that we could get back home. Nearly there, and I realized I had yet to pick up my new costumes for deployment this week. I'll be working at Animal Kingdom! And I finally have a costume that is ridiculously ugly enough for me to feel like I work for Disney World! :)

So we drove to AK Costuming, and I go there running through the pouring rain, just as the closed the doors. I knocked and begged the lady there to let me in to get my costume. I'd gotten lost and was deployed and just needed a costume. She sighed and opened the door and showed me exactly what I needed. I expressed my thanks by calling her my hero. She giggled so that I knew she wasn't really mad and told me to have a good night.

I did! Emily and I went to get gas and groceries and got home and I felt like a real big kid driving around in my little red car. I got home and skyped my mother, finding she had not had a heart attack at the idea of her daughter jumping out of a plane (phew). And I facetimed my dad and brother and aunt and uncle and cousins in Ontario whom Dad is visit for a few days. They all called me crazy, and I told them it was awesome. I even got to talk to Tanya and Greg for a bit this evening. It's been a good day.

Now, I'm off to bed, but this is what I've learned today:

If you are healthy and not afraid of heights, you have to try it. It was the most terrifying thing I've ever done in my life.

It was also the most fantastic, the most exhilarating, the most liberating thing I have ever done in my life. There is nothing I can't do now. I have done the extremest of extremes and not only lived, I enjoyed it. I jumped from 18,000 feet up, the highest tandem jump in the world. There is nothing I can't do, be, see, or dream. There is nothing I can't have, want, or dare.

"There are people out there who will tell you that you can't. What you've got to do is turn to them and say, 'Watch me.'"

 I went Skydiving and I liked it. I feel invincible. Nothing can touch me, and I dare it to try.

Another day of (mostly) r&r.

Today I slept in! After yesterday's shenanigans, I needed my sleep.

I didn't get enough, apparently, because when I woke up, had lunch, blogged for yesterday and then tried to watch a movie, I fell asleep again. I drifted in and out, not really doing anything substantial. I posted pictures and got another movie going and did some general R&R.

I was woken by a very loud thunder storm that put my plans to go to the outlets with a friend from work on hold for an extra hour until the rain let up. When we finally met up and got to the outlet mall, we were informed that the stores did not close at 11pm like we thought, but at 9 instead! As it was already 8:30, we rushed trying to find what we came for.

I was unsuccessful in what I went for, but still found a good deal on a t shirt and a hat I particularly liked. My friend and I got cold drinks from Starbucks and walked slowly back to the bus stop, talking all the while. The outlets is only a 15 minute walk from my house, but a bus ride from his, so we stopped at the bus stop and he let several go by because we were in the middle of a conversation. He gave me some wise insight and told me all about his meeting this week with the vice president of Epcot. This woman is near-impossible to meet and this kid had managed a meeting in less than two months. I'm impressed. He just doesn't take no for an answer.

We parted ways and I went back home to blog and sleep, when I found that all my plans for tomorrow have been cancelled by the folks I was going with. I was royally ticked off, and so stubborn that I have decided to go anyway. Emily is still coming, so it should still be fun :) I'll post about it tomorrow!

So I spent my evening re-inventing my plan and trying to facetime my dad who is visiting his little sister in Ontario! The internet was not working way up there though, so we'll try skype tomorrow! :) Gregory and I chatted most of the evening; I miss you, kiddo!

I have an early morning tomorrow, and so I am off to bed. Night! :)

Four Park Challenge!

Today was the day of the Four Park Challenge!!!

For those of you who don't know, the FPC is when you do four specific things at all four parks all in one day. The four that Natalie and I chose were:

1 - Ride at least 2 rides.
2 - See a show.
3 - Take a picture with the park icon.
4 - Get a snack.
5 - Trade a pin.
6 - Get a picture with a character.

Okay, so that's actually six. But there were so many good ideas online about what to do! And Natalie only did the first 4 with me in every park. But I did all six for all four parks, in one day. I'm exhausted! It doesn't sound like much, and really; if we took out the shows it would have been a long, but a relatively easy day. Having to see a show made it interesting!

To start off the morning, I woke early and almost missed the bus. I arrived just as it did, with an anxious Natalie waiting for me. Our first stop of the day was Epcot! We went through backstage to Soarin' first, because we knew how fast it would get busy. Once off Soarin' we headed right over to Test Track and on the way hopped into the Character Spot. I'd never been in, but it's just been redone and it's marvelous!

Inside were Mickey, Pluto and Minnie! I got a hug from each and Mickey even twirled me around in the dress I was wearing for the day :) It was delightful to see Mickey again and to meet Pluto and Minnie for the first time this trip :)

On to Test Track! The single rider line showed a 20 minute wait, but instead it was more like 5 :) We hopped in separate cars and met up afterwards. We looked through Mousegear for a fe minutes when we were done, when I realized it was time for the Jammitors to start playing! The Jammitors was our Epcot show since Epcot doesn't have much of anything in the way of shows, and they were excellent today! Sometimes I can hear them play from the carts I work in that area, but being able to watch the whole thing was fun! I've decided that I'm going to convince Dano that he should apply for it! ;)

We got Natalie's snack at the coffee stand and then I traded a pin with a non-cast member trader who had his books out at the pin trading station! He had a board that you could pick and choose whatever you liked from, and several boards that he would make an agreed deal if your pin was good enough. I traded him for a Mickey pin that I quite like, but would be willing to trade again. We got a sweet old lady to take our picture in front of the Epcot ball, and then I bought a strawberry bar to have while we walked to the International Gateway: Epcot's back door.

We got on the boat that would take us to HS in record time; we had finished what we needed to at Epcot by 10:15 :) The boat got us to Hollywood Studios by 11 ish and the first thing we did was head over to Rockin' Roller Coaster (RRC) to check out the single riders line. Well, it was insane long. So instead we grabbed fast passes and decided to wait. Unfortunately the come back time for the fast passes wasn't until 2:30pm. SO we had some time to kill.

Clearly, the show for HS that I wanted to see was Beauty and the Beast! There was a showing at 11:45, and so at 11:15 we went into the theater to sit down for a while and enjoy the shade and relative coolness. The show was just as excellent the eighth time around as the others, giving me goosebumps even in the mugginess. When the show was finished (Natalie says she was pleasantly surprised by how good it was) we decided it was a good time for our HS snack. Natalie got a mac&cheese hotdog, and I got a cinnamon roll from Starring Rolls... delicious.

Next, a character hunt. We went down Streets of America to see if the characters were out and about, but no luck. However, we knew that Buzz and Woody have a permanent location on Pixar Place, so we headed their way. When we got there, Green Army Men were walking around. So instead of waiting in line for Buzz and Woody, I snagged a quick selfie with a Green Army Man and we were on our way again. We spent some time in the air conditioned shops where I found my Hollywood Studios pin - the letter 'V' for my collection. I'm certain I already had it at one point, but it got lost somewhere :(

At 1:15 we were eligible to get another fast pass, and Natalie somehow convinced me to check the Tower of Terror (ToT) return time to see if it was possible. Sure enough, the come back time was 3pm, a perfect half hour after we could go into RRC. I got the fast pass, mostly to make her stop bugging me about going on ToT, with the intention of finding a way to get out of it later. We went to Star Tours and the Christmas store by Pizza Planet as we waited for the last hour of our wait time to drag by.

Finally, 2:30pm rolled around, and it was time for RRC. I forgot how much fun it is to sit with someone you know! Single rider is a great way to do lines alone, but it was fun knowing that I would be able to sit with my friend when I boarded (much like when Mom and Dad and I went on)! Not only did we get to sit together, but we requested the very very front seats. And ok, let me tell you, the front seats on RRC are basically the coolest thing ever. Going upside down without seeing the rest of the train do it first is a whole different kind of exhilarating! Nat and I pulled classic Rock On faces for the camera and almost went again... but she was more concerned with getting me on ToT.

And you know, I figured what the heck.

I was terrified. The anxiety just while I was in line was so intense I felt like I had to pee and puke and faint all at once. Telling myself that 6 year olds loved this ride didn't help. Natalie telling me that she doesn't even do up her seat belt very tight because she likes the sensation of floating? Yeah, that didn't help either. But I waited for them to put me in a seat. I did up my buckle as tight as it would go and even sucked in a big breath so it was tighter than comfy but so I knew I wasn't going anywhere. And you know, the anxiety was worse than the ride (isn't that how it always goes?) and it wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be. Now that said, I'm not sure I'd ever do it again.

We got our picture taken in front of the Sorcerer's Hat on the way out of the park, and caught the bus to Animal Kingdom! HS was complete! It was a little bit later than we'd planned (due to having to wait for the fast pass times) but we figured we'd have lots of time to do everything we still needed.

It was 4pm when we got to AK. Perfect timing for heading to Festival of the Lion King! On the way there, we got our picture in front of the Tree of Life before the rain started; the clouds were heavy and the forecast had called for rain all day. And my poncho hadn't left my bag. We knew a downpour was on its way! We got to the Lion King just as the doors were opening to get people seated in the theater. We sat in the Lion section, right behind a group of Natalie's coworkers. We chatted with them until the show started; the four main singers were different today, and I have to say that I quite liked the other ones better. I'm glad that my family saw the other performers as well. The show itself as a whole was still excellent; Disney never does anything otherwise.

As we exited the theater, everything outside was wet. Clearly we had missed the downpour completely! I was both excited (I didn't want to spend the rest of my day soaked) and sad (all the best adventures happen in the rain) about it. But, there was nothing I could do! :) We waited for about 10 minutes for Pocahontas to come out so that I could get my character meet for AK down as well. We met an adorable family with three young girls. When their mom found out we were doing all four parks in one day, she was blown away. I told her it was easier to do without three little ones and she replied that one park was hard enough. She said it with a smile though, so I know she was having a blast all the same :) Pocahontas was very pretty and complimented Natalie and I on our dresses, and I told her that she should introduce me to Nacoma sometime. We posed for a photo and I was on my way.

We stopped for our 'snack' (ahem, supper) at Flame Tree BBQ. We both ordered ribs, which were quite tasty. I'm not sure why I ordered them, to be honest. I'm not a big fan of ribs, and while they were good, I'm sure I would have enjoyed ice cream for dinner much more ;) (I'm really just five years old, clearly).

We then headed to Expedition Everest! It was around 6pm and most guests were leaving the park for the day which closes at 7. The wait time for Everest was posted at 20 minutes, but it was more like 5! Again we requested the front, because it's just way cooler :) It was so good that we got off and right back on again; and this time it was walk on! Usually, when someone says 'walk-on' they mean that they had to wait less than 5 minutes to get to the gate to wait for their seat. But when I say walk-on, I mean literally we didn't stop for a split second until we were in our seats. No one was in the line ahead of us and we went to the very back and the gate was open when we got there. The train was barely half full! We would have gone again, but that was only 1 out of 2 needed rides for AK so we headed to Kilimanjaro Safaris!

The pensive look.

On the way there, I quickly traded for a Sleeping Beauty pin knowing that they may very well be all closed by the time we were done the safari; and I'm glad I did! The safari was decent, saw a few giraffes, a rhino, and a cast member feeding an elephant. But the best time to go is definitely first thing in the morning. All the animals are much more active, and they are not hiding because they know their dinner will be served any minute. We didn't have to wait to get on a truck though, again less than a 5 minute wait :) That concluded our time at AK! 3/4 of the way done!

By 7:30 we were on a bus headed for the Contemporary Resort! Natalie and I chatted away and eventually the dad of the family next to us asked, "Do you ladies work here? Or do you just come to Disney a LOT?" We let them know that we worked there, and they wanted to know how long it takes to do the World Showcase at Epcot - well, adorable-family-whom-we've-only-just-met, that depends completely on you :)

We got off at the resort and walked to MK. Poor Natalie was fighting her drooping eyelids, but I was pumped and ready to go! I love MK. Every time I through the gates I feel my heart beating out of my chest. This time was no different. First things first, a picture in front of the castle! Second things second, head to Tomorrowland for Space Mountain fast passes!

Except that they were all gone. Well, darn it. So we went into Cosmic Rays to see if Natalie's roommate was working there; we were able to talk to her for a few minutes and Natalie convinced her to give me a free carrot cake as a magical moment because I was "new to the country", ahahaha!

We walked through Fantasyland and saw PhilharMagic and walked (erm, danced) through the Tangled Kingdom and then realized that it was getting rather late and we'd had yet to do any real ride! We went to Thunder Mountain...right down the middle of the parade route. Natalie started waving to the crowd like we were the beginning of the parade (Two kids in ponchos with no parade in sight. Clearly we were the real thing.) and everyone started clapping for her. And she waved, and they clapped, and someone cheered. It was awesome and hilarious and we felt like princesses. Foolish princesses, but princesses none the less ;)

We got to Thunder and got the front seat! Again! Except, unlike Everest and RRC, the front on Thunder Mountain is neither exhilarating or fast or anything a roller coaster should be. It was hilariously fun though, we'd make it to the bottom of the hill before the back car cleared the chain and so we glided slowly down every hill and then, and only then, started going at speed. We giggled the whole ride it was so ridiculous.

We got off Thunder at 9:35 with 10 minutes to get to a good spot for Celebrate the Magic and Wishes... on the other side of the whole park. Which would normally be fine, except when a parade is happening everyone stops to watch. In the middle of the walkways. Sigh.

But we made it! Back to the pathway that has the best view spot just as the show began. Next to us was the third adorable family of the day - they were all wearing 1st visit  pins and were ooh-ing and ahh-ing at every different scene on the castle. And when it was done, were in awe and about to head home. We informed them that it wasn't over - there was still all of Wishes to come! Their mom was so over the top excited it was adorable. We let them know the best place to watch the 11pm parade and told them they'd picked the very best spot of all to watch the fireworks! :)

After Wishes, Natalie and I split up - she was tired and wanted to go home, but I wanted to finish the challenge properly, which meant I still needed another ride, a pin, and a character. I rushed to Space Mountain and only had to wait 20 minutes or so before I got a seat... in the front AGAIN! All four of my roller coasters today and I got the front seats :)

After that I traded for a Baloo pin that's quite cute and part of a letter set... just not mine (dang). And all I had left was a character photo, when I realized that the character spots close down an hour before the park does... and it was 15 minutes until park close. Well, crap! But I had an idea, and it was still a character and I still said hello to him and so it still counts!

That's right, Emperor Zurg and I are friends now. Don't be too jealous.

And that my friends, completed the Four Park Challenge! I took my time walking down main street and I bought myself a prize for completing the challenge - a very cute new wallet with old Disney designs that I've been eyeing for a while! :)

I walked to the bus and only had to wait five minutes for it to show up, making a perfect end to a very long day :) I got home and chatted Emily for a bit and tried to blog my whole day... but so much had happened (and I was watching Toy Story!) that I didn't finish it before I was too tired.

In summary:

1 - Ride at least 2 rides.
2 - See a show.
3 - Take a picture with the park icon.
4 - Get a snack.
5 - Trade a pin.
6 - Get a picture with a character.

Epcot:
1 - Soarin' & Test Track
2 - JAMMitors
3 - Epcot Ball
4 - Strawberry Bar
5 - Mickey Mouse pin
6 - Mickey, Pluto, Minnie

Hollywood Studios:
1 - Rockin' Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, & Star Tours
2 - Beauty and the Beast
3 - Sorcerer's Hat
4 - Cinnamon Roll
5 - Vincent Letter pin
6 - Green Army Man

Animal Kingdom:
1 - Expedition Everest (x2) & Kilimanjaro Safari
2 - Festival of the Lion King
3 - Tree of Life
4 - BBQ ribs
5 - Sleeping Beauty pin
6 - Pocahontas

Magic Kingdom:
1 - Space Mountain & Thunder Mountain
2 - Philhar Magic & Wishes
3 - Cinderella Castle
4 - Carrot Cake
5 - Baloo Letter pin
6 - Emperor Zurg

 I completed the Four Park Challenge and I survived the Tower of Terror... a successful day all in all!

And the planning begins.

Today was a very easy day! A very short shift of only 6 hours had me at Ice Cream 2. No bees in sight!

It was pretty standard, I was working with a new girl so I spent a lot of my time making sure she was inputting things correctly, but she was doing great so I didn't have much to do or fix. I mostly handed guests what they ordered while she rang it up, and then we'd switch. We got put on rain location while it wasn't raining, and then didn't get rain location when it was. You know, standard.

My stocker from yesterday, Trisha, pulled up beside me just as I was starting work and started off the conversation with, "You are going to be soooo pissed off."

I love conversations that start like this, don't you?

Land (home of the bees) had been remodeled (ish) last night. They've taken out the slushie machine and the soda machine. Instead, she only served packaged foods and bottled drinks all day. So the bees clearly left, because there was nothing sweet and sticky for them. And!! And Mission Space, which is one the other side of the park, the vendors were whining so much that they were shut down early. So, wait a minute. I spent eleven hours with bees yesterday, and now you're telling me that if I'd whined more they would have let me go home?

Trisha was right. I was ticked.

And you know, maybe me being literally scared to tears was the catalyst for fixing the problem. And maybe the reason it's being taken care of now is because I was so stressed they finally realized it was actually a problem. But seriously?! Seriously.

As the rain poured my stocker today came to pick me up right on schedule to take me and my money back to base. I clocked out right on schedule and even got a free cinnamon pretzel because it's cart had been shut down early and so my managers had them bring the fresh ones back to base for all of us! :) It was delicious! It gave me the hiccups immediately.

I caught the bus home and got soaked on the walk back to my apartment. I was definitely modeling the drowned-rat look. Emily came in about a half hour later while I was talking to mom and she looked very similar. It's clearly the newest in Florida fashion.

Today has been the first day where the rain has felt like Nova Scotia rain! It's still missing the pine smell, but it's been a moderate rain and it's been raining for hours. Florida rain has been mostly 20 minute torrential downpours that then stop and the sun comes back out. I like Florida's better.

I spent a while talking to my momma and laughing at my little brother being silly and yelling at my dad to come say hello to me. I miss you guys. Only two weeks left! Yay! Not yay :( But yay! (I'm confused about whether two weeks is happy or sad news. Both?)

At the present moment I am planning for tomorrow. Natalie and I both have the day off and you just know that means plenty of shenanigans! We both want to do the Four Park Challenge before we go home... and what better way to do it than with each other with a full day off? :) (I'll let you know all about what the FPC is tomorrow, and how we did!)

Until then, I have to get up early, and it is going to be a LONG day tomorrow! Goodnight! :)

Bees and bees and more bees.

Today was very stressful.

I was at Land all day... with the bees. It was such a long day of watching out for them, that I keep thinking I see one or two (or seventeen) here at home as well. Out of the corner of my eye. I was doing okay dodging the bees and keeping an eye out and explaining to guests that they'd have to wait a minute while we waited for the bee to leave the spout of the soft drink they wanted. I was OCD about keeping the place clean so that the bees would have no good news for their friends. I was told that if I squished them, they'd release a pheromone to attract more of them. And that if I swatted one, she'd sting me. So I was told to leave them alone and they'd leave me alone.

So, I was doing okay. Until I thought about my throat closing up if I got stung. And until one landed on me. Then I went to break and cried and tried to call all of my family. It was very stressful, watching out for bees for 11 hours. Yeah. Not a good time.

Finally the rain hit. It sent all the bees home and even caused my manager to shut me down early. Which was a good thing, because I was about to ask her to get me someone else to take over. I just couldn't handle another minute. I got to the base and banked out, and was invited to a nerd-get-together next week! I'm both excited and half planning to make up some excuse not to go.... a big group of people I barely know and who all know each other really well and that I have to leave again in a few weeks? I'm not sure that I want to be in the middle of that. But it might be fun! I guess we'll see if the official invite comes out before I worry about it too much, right?

I got home a little bit early because of the rain and facetimed with both my daddy and my Tanya for a while! Tanya and I finally got caught up with each other and, only like friends can do, we just chatted for hours. Tanya I miss you! The best part about chatting with her is not worrying about being boring - even if I'm talking about dirt she either finds it interesting or finds a way to make it interesting! :)

After we finished talking I took a long bath and then got into bed to watch tv and surf the interwebs. Now, it's time to be off to sleep! Night :)

International Adventures.

Today was a long day at work... again. I need a new way to say 'long day at work', since I seem to have a lot of them.

The day stretched on at my place of employment (...?)

Anyways. Today I was at the turkey leg cart! I sell giant hunks of meat for outrageous prices and I'm nearly always sold out because they're so popular. Nothing like chowing down on a hunk of meat like it's going out of style. Yum?

It was raining for a lot of the day, so I spent a good part of the day on rain location with the vendor from the ice cream cart right across from me. Before my break I got to know Katia for about 15 minutes. And I found out that in Haiti, there are different styles of Creole for different areas, and much like it's very easy to pick the Newfoundlander out of a crowd, the other Haitians at work make good-natured fun of the way Katia talks when they speak in Creole. In return, I explained to her how the different French areas in Canada worked.

After my break, I spent an hour with Tri (p. tree). Originally from Vietnam, he moved to the US in 1992 and had been working for Walt Disney World for 15 years. 15 years. That's a long time. He has a sibling, three boys and a wife who are here with him, and 4 other siblings still in Vietnam. He has two very young granddaughters who he is very proud hat he spoils to bits :). English is his third language - Vietnamese and French are the primary languages from his country.

It was wonderful to get to know even more people from all around the world; an international adventure should involve not hanging out with only Canadians, I think! ;) I now know (as in, have had an actual conversation, consisting of more than 'where are you from', with) people from Canada, USA, Mexico, China, Japan, Vietnam, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Norway, England, Germany, Colombia, Peru and Australia... and I don't think I remembered them all.

After the rain I went back to my cart and the afternoon went by fairly quickly. My favorite guest was a teenage boy on a dare, who asked me if he'd get a free turkey leg if he gobbled like a turkey. He then proceeded to make the gobble sound. I gave him an A for effort, but informed him that it was not good enough for a free turkey leg. His friends all laughed and cheered and I told him that he should practice more.

I got back to base, and banked out (dancing and singing to TSwift with Jackie!) and clocked out (on time tonight for once!) and was informed by the Nerd Group Leader that I should download a game from the App Store so I could play with them. I have been officially welcomed into the Epcot ODF Nerd population! ... right before I leave for home. Sigh. It's still feeling good to talk comics and video games again :)

I was given a drive home by a coworker who lives in Chatham - again, so so so nice to not have to take the bus! I spent my evening eating ice cream and watching more Doctor Who and catching up with Facebook and Twitter. Just like home, I guess!

I work with the bees at Land all day tomorrow... the girl there today got stung :( I appreciate your prayers again (I didn't see a single snake today!) for keeping the bees and their stingers to a minimum! Goodnight!

Bees, snakes, and promotions.

Today I was back to work; and even though I was dreading it all morning and the day dragged on, by the end of it I was happy to be there again.

First thing I did today was go to a class - why they're teaching me things when I leave in two weeks is beyond me, but hey! I got paid for my time sitting in air conditioning. So what the heck, right? It was a class on Making Magic - the little things that we do to make things memorable when you visit our home. It was pretty neat, all in all. And I'll give props to Ron; he did his best to make sure the three hours flew by.

After that, I went to work. For a long, long 9 hour shift at the Land pavilion, which normally I love, but today I was sharing with several bees. Not so much fun. I don't think I'm allergic, but I still seem to have an irrational fear of being stung... especially since Florida bees do not look as fluffy and friendly as Nova Scotia bees... no, instead they resemble monster NS wasps. I was kindly informed by pest control that unless I tried to hurt them, they would leave me alone. So I spent most of my time letting them have all the space they wanted, and super cleaning and super sanitizing all of the fountain pop spills and sugary slushie droplets. My guests were very kind when I told them I'd be a minute getting their drinks and instead went outside to stand with them as the bee and four of his friends got angry that their sugar supply had dwindled.

But I got along with them well enough to not get stung, so I hope we'll remain on good terms when I have to work there again on Thursday. Or perhaps they'll have moved on to a better location (I wish). I was grateful for the bees, however, when on my radio I overheard a snake call-in from the other side of the park. A guest caught a glimpse of a poisonous snake and told the closest cast member; who just so happened to be an ODVer. My manager said he would call pest control immediately, and I didn't hear of anyone being hurt so I'm assuming it was taken care of properly. The bees and I enjoyed our far side of the park after that.

The day wore on and the rain that hit was insane. I couldn't see more than 20 feet out, it was pouring so hard. And thunder like I've never heard. And beautiful fork lightning, even if it was a little close for comfort. But it was beautiful. All you rain lovers back home, I wish you could have seen the Florida rain today. Man oh man.

Other than that, the day was normal (ish). I was back at base ready to bank out when Evan (one of my favorite managers) informed me that my name had come up several times for a stocker position! :) Several of the stockers are leaving in the next few weeks and several people thought that I would be a good fit. Evan mentioned that this was a great testament to how hard I work; a stocker position is a position where you have to be a hard worker and slacking off just doesn't cut it. I almost laughed at that, because sometimes I feel like I don't do half of what I could be doing, but instead what only gets the job done. But I guess, if most of my coworkers don't even get the job done (sigh) then I would look like a hard worker in comparison ;)

However, I had to inform Evan that even though I appreciated the offer, I myself was leaving in a matter of weeks. In fact, I would be leaving sooner than the guys I would be replacing! He looked at me for a second with a look of shock on his face. I then told him I couldn't even extend, because I'm Canadian. I think he was a little concerned that now he had to come up with another person to replace the position. Sorry, Evan! I really would if I could! Sigh. Nothing like a promotion you have to turn down.

It seems so silly - I've only just learned what to do. I've only just learned how to work here efficiently. I've only just made friends. I've only just gotten into the rhythm of things. And now, I have to leave. I don't want to go (such a different tone from yesterday, hmm? Amazing what I good night's sleep will do). I wish I could bring these fantastic people back home with me. The nerds and the nice managers and the Taylor Swift singers. But I guess this is what Disney does, right? Hires good people. Sigh. I will miss them.

Tomorrow will be a long day, but I'm praying it will fly by. I will also be on the snake's side of the park, so some prayer that it was taken care of properly tonight and that he didn't have any friends would be appreciated. Thanks guys! Night :)