One of these days I will be all caught up

I left off just before Christmas. I had to work Christmas Eve but was off at 5 so could still do something. Sean decided to cook a big Christmas dinner with lots of yummy veggie stuff! He even made his own ravioli (including the pasta) that was vegan for Dan. It was a great meal and I had lots of fun with everyone who was there. I was off on Christmas Day so I went to Sean’s bright and early to help him get ready. He said that he would do a big breakfast for the entire pavilion. He made pancakes, bacon, sausages...I can’t remember what else, but breakfast food. The best part of the morning was that he went to the UPS store and bought two HUGE bags of the packing peanuts. He put only one bag out at first so it looked like it had snowed. After a lot of people had played in it, so it was lots of little pieces, we convinced him to open up the second bag. After everyone was done with breakfast we cleaned up the dishes and Sean, Mel and I went back to our apartment to open presents. Then we all took turns skyping with our family while the others played with our new toys. I think the best gift (or most used) that any of us got was the Mel got an electronic version of Catch Phrase. We play it all the time! A little bit later we were all really tired so we watched some tv and napped. One of the girls in the pavilion was doing a Christmas dinner that I had full intentions of going to, but I slept right through it. So our Christmas dinner was Mac and Cheese (fancy, right?) and we relaxed watching some more tv. It was a really different Christmas then I would have had at home but lots of fun.

On boxing day a few people had planned to have go to the theatre for a movie marathon. I didn’t want to see the first movie so I met them for the second....Alvin and the Chipmunks J The next movie was It’s Complicated, but it was sold out so I went to see The Princess and the Frog. Next was Up in the Air, which was really good. My last movie was Nine which I loved! They were planning on going to see another one but I was tired so I went to catch the bus home, I think the one they were going to see was sold out so they left. I had fun going to see all the different movies, but I felt really tired after so I don’t know if I would do it again.

Not much else happened until New Years Eve. When I first got to Florida I was hoping that I would have it off so that I could go into the park and enjoy myself. So I was a little disappointed that I was scheduled from 4 until 1 am. My opinion was quickly changed though. Yes, we were crazy busy but most of the guests were in really good moods. Plus one of my favourite managers was working. I like him because he knows that we can do our jobs so he is a lot more relaxed with us. About halfway through the night I asked him if I could be down at the cart during the fireworks, I was already on floor stock so he said he would keep me on that and I could be wherever during them. Words can’t even describe how amazing the fireworks were. Before midnight they went around to the different countries to say what time they celebrated the New Year and set off fireworks behind their pavilion. Then as it reached midnight they said how Canada, Mexico and the States will be celebrating and then we did the countdown and the fireworks went off. I have a video of them (yep, I broke the rules and brought a camera out on stage, but that manager walked up as I was doing it and just laughed), it does not do them justice at all. After the fireworks were over it was just funny for us to watch people trying to get out of the park. There were tons of people so they weren’t moving very fast. When we were done and walked through cast services they had some food for us and the hats that they were giving out to guests. Sean, Mel and I didn’t even bother going to line up for a bus we walked to catch a cab as soon as it came in the parking lot. The line (an actual line, not a clump of people pushing to get on the bus!) for the bus was crazy long. They even had security there. Here are the pictures from that week. The first video is the fireworks over Italy. The second video is the rest of the fireworks, starting over Morocco.

On the first mum arrived. Luckily she came in later so I could sleep in and recover from the night before. The weather the whole time she was here was freezing cold. I know I’m from Canada and I should like the cold blah, blah, blah, but it is a different kind of cold and we do not have the clothing to keep warm. Mum and I went around to see all of the Christmas decorations and festivities before they ended. This included the parade and fireworks at Magic Kingdom and the Spectacle of Lights at Hollywood Studios. One day when we went to Epcot we did the Kim Possible thing they have. You get a little cell phone and you need to go to different parts of a pavilion in order to beat the bad guy. It was designed for kids because they sometimes get bored while walking around World Showcase, but it is definitely fun for adults (or big kids) too! On the Sunday mum was here we went to go and see some manatees with Ashley. There was tons of them!! We also did a backstage tour of Animal Kingdom. This is a tour we have wanted to do for years so we finally decided to. It was neat to see back stage, including the elephant barn, the vet clinic, and the building where they make the food for every single (captive) animal on Disney Property. Obviously most of them are at Animal Kingdom but it also includes the animals at the Seas in Epcot, the horses used in Magic Kingdom and the dogs used by security. I'd do that tour again because each tour guide knows different things . Here are the pictures, part 2.

After Mum left I haven't done too much. There have been some random things I've taken pictures of. Rhonda and I went to Magic Kingdom to meet some characters. We aren't sure when Toontown Fair is closing so we really wanted to meet Mickey. Then after we went to see the finals of a cheerleading competition. On another day Ashley and I walked around Epcot. A little bit later Rhonda joined us. When DeAnna was done work we all went to Disney Quest. Rhonda, Rachanne and I went to Boma's at Animal Kingdom Lodge for breakfast. We then did some shopping at a couple of parks and property control before going to see a movie. I got the flu which was gross :( Don't worry, there are no pictures of that. Just after that there was a special event for the Give a Day, Get a Disney Day promotion. Joe Jonas was here, the guy from Dinner Impossible and Ty Pennington!! I wish I had seen him. There was even a little parade. We finally got Olympic merchandise (which flew off the shelves) and a few of us watched the opening ceremonies together. I had some people come to visit me. The parents and brother of my best friend growing up were in Florida and said they would come see me. We had a nice lunch to catch up and the following day took Matthew (the brother) to Epcot. It was really good to see them, especially since they were like my second family when I was a kid. The next thing I did was go home for a little visit so I will post that soon. I need to do it really soon so that I am actually caught up!!