Busy, Busy, Busy

Well I feel that I have neglected my blog a little of late but life has been so busy that I don't seem to have had time to think let alone blog!

So it all started over a week ago...

Day 1 - Daughter has guitar lesson followed by her brown belt grading - 4 hours gone.  I was then out at the theatre with my BFF to see 9 to 5 the musical which was fabulous.

Day 2 - Father's Day - so a day devoted to our dads.

Day 3 - Full day at work followed by a quick meal and out the door to the theatre for the second time in three days.  This time to see Birdsong a play set in World War 1 - terrific performance and very moving.

Day 4 - Full day at work, quick cup of tea and then out the door to take my daughter to her karate lesson followed by a trip to Costco to stock up on supplies for that weekend's Summer Fair at my pre-school.

Day 5 - Full day at work, followed by daughters first parents evening at secondary school. Pleased to report she is doing really well :) Then home to wait for my grocery shopping to be delivered, think I stopped about 8.30pm for the first time that day!

Day 6 - Another full day at work that ended in a 2 hour staff meeting.  Then home to make dinner and 6 dozen muffins (apple & cinnamon, chocolate and blueberry) all for my pre-school's Summer fair.

Day 7 - Last day of work for the week, finished with an hours overtime getting ready for the Summer fair. I spent a little time with my mum having a catch-up before heading home to get the dinner sorted and then leave the house at 8.30pm to make my way into Derby to complete a moonlight 10K walk for my local hospice.  It was a really fun night, hanging out with some great friends and 499 other ladies who all managed to raise £43,000 - wow!  Home for 12.30am!!

Day 8 - Up at 7am (on a Saturday!) to head down to my pre-school to run our annual Summer fair.  After a very grey start and a mid morning downpour the weather managed to stay dry for the fair and in 3 hours we raised an amazing £900!  The best part of the day was finishing off with a take-out for dinner (our local kebab shop is amazing) followed by Wreck-it-Ralph on Blu-ray and posh chocolates - fantastic :)

Day 9 - A little less hectic but I had a few jobs around the house to catch up with and concluded the afternoon with a walk in the grey and the wind!

So as you can see things have been a little hectic.  So much so that my running endeavours have taken a back seat big time although I was really pleased with my 10K walk as I think we improved on last year's time by over 15 minutes.  So I still have that target of running around Lago Dorado at Coronado Springs and  I will do it.  I have decided to get out when I can even if I only get out and walk, as long as I am out there and moving.  Hopefully as the school term comes to an end and life becomes quieter I will have a good few clear weeks to get those miles in and make my little dream a reality - only 57 days to go :)

The Finer Details

So we are down to 68 days to go! Over the last few days I have managed to get some of the finer points put in place ready for our vacation.

Reservations have now been made for a hotel near our departure airport for the night before we fly.  We have a relatively early check-in for our flight but have a car drive of over 3 hours to get there.  So it makes life so much easier to drive to the airport the day before and then we're ready and refreshed for that early check-in.

I have also booked the car parking for the duration of our holiday, so I now know that whilst we are off having fun our car will be looked after and waiting for us when we return. I have opted for the valet service this year, just to avoid any delays when we get back.

This year I have had to apply for ESTA's (Electronic System for Travel Authorzation) for all of us.  An online system to get approval for entry into the US.  Which for some reason was strangely nerve wrecking when applying; making sure I'd input everything correctly and then paying the fee and waiting for the result only to then see 'Authorization Pending'!!!  Which meant I then had to log back on to check a day or so later and was much relieved to see 'Authorization Approved' - phew!  This will last us for two years...seems a good excuse to think about another vacation ;)

And finally I have booked an ADR (Advanced Dining Reservation)!!  My very first ADR...ever!!  We will be eating at Teppan Edo at the Japan pavillion in Epcot...and yes I'm just a little excited.  Booking online was so easy and it would be very tempting to make a few more reservations but as we have the Quick Service Dining Plan this meal, and any others like it, will have to be paid for separately out of our vacation budget.  So for the time being I am happy to have this one booked and I think we shall see what happens whilst on vacation.

So for now I think I have booked and sorted as much as I can, I have even booked all my hair appointments between now and when we go!  After all I want to look my best for Mickey :).  In fact the only things left to do are to order some US dollars nearer the time and a last minute shop for all the 'essentials'...68 days and counting!

Lists and More Lists

We have reached about 80 days until our vacation and I am now just about to enter 'list' mode!

I like to be organised and the only way I can do this and be sure that I don't forget anything is to make lists.  I always have a 'to do' list on the go but I now feel the need to start making special holiday lists.

I don't think a day goes by where I don't think about something to do with our vacation...it could be simply daydreaming about a certain attraction or the more mundane thoughts like 'how many pairs of shorts shall I take?'.

So the more I start to think about vacation related stuff the greater the need to start writing (ok, typing) it all down as I don't want to forget anything!

Now I'm not normally a forgetful person but I do feel the need to mention our vacation to Disneyland back in 2010...although to be fair I didn't forget anything I just had a slight delay in remembering to pack something!!  We were all ready to go, the cars were packed and off we set on our journey to the airport, we had traveled no more than a mile when I suddenly remembered my hair straighteners!  Thankfully we had not yet joined the motorway and simply had to come full circle and take a trip back home - oops!

Me with straighteners 

But a girl couldn't be without her straighteners now could she!!!  And I have never lived it down since...but I do have two pairs of straighteners now, so this shouldn't happen again!

But it does prove my point that making lists is a good idea.  So I currently have a list of things to do prior to our vacation and soon I shall start making lists for the actual vacation, and remember I have a husband and two teenagers to get organised so I need all the help I can get ;)  Although to be fair Simon is as organised as me and as my own personal tech support takes care of all the technical stuff - cameras, i-pods and the like, even today he has ordered a stack of tapes for the video camera :)

So today has seen me with my little black book, an array of guide books and an internet connection, making lists and researching stuff...

...after all, this making of lists is all part of the vacation experience and just adds to the anticipation and helps count down those days...how many to go?...