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TrpltJanie
Cast Member
Posts: 1661
Registered: Aug 2002
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Posted 12-22-02 01:43 AM
Trip report--November 30th-December 14th
Main characters:
Me-mid 30's with a frazzled look permamently etched on my "nun-like" face
Brad-my husband the straight man in our "Burns and Allen" marriage
The Chorus:
Sarah- 8 years, batty over Digimon and Dinosaurs
My 4 year old triplets:
Jonathan-adores Buzz Lightyear
Rachel-carries her much loved "Dot" beanie everywhere she goes
Samuel-loves cars and always has a pocket full of toy cars
My mother-semi-retired school teacher
Richard-my oldest brother with his 11 year old daughter
Michael-my youngest brother with Devon, his 5 year old son
Day one-
"Double your fun!"
I made a vow to pack a week before we left because I hated rushing around throwing things in the suitcases at the last minute, getting horrible headaches, and discovering that I forgot to pack something when my family and I reached our vacation desination (sighing) but it wasn't to be. The morning of day we left for WDW, I had to run some errands and see my doctor for another round of shots so I wouldn't have to worry about it while we were in Florida and got pulled over for speeding in a residential area. The sheriff told me how fast I was going and I was shocked when he told me and I told him that I was not aware of that. However, I also told him that there was NO excuse for me to speed like that, absolutely NO excuse. He nodded his head, asked for necessary information and I gave it to him and he went back to his patrol car. He came back five minutes later, handed the info back to me with a "Madam, please drive carefully and slow down. Have a good day." It was nice not to get a ticket but I felt VERY foolish because my neighborhood had a problem with speeders and I often complained about it and for me to get pulled over for the same reason was my bad. Yes, my kids were with me and I told them that it was wrong of me not to pay attention to how fast I was going.
I have a feeling that I will never be able to keep this "pack a week before my trip" vow in this lifetime so I figured that I'll just keep a bottle of Motrin nearby, drive slow on the days we leave for our trips, and do the "Don't worry and be happy" dance, I should be mildly insane instead of Jack Nicholson's deranged version of "Here's Johnnnnny!" On the second thought, more like Homer Simpson's version of "Heeeere's Johnnnny! D'oh!"
The airport was interesting. Yes, I have gone on different kinds trips---Europe, Hawaii, New Zealand, and Australia-- but this time, it was different because it was the first time I've set foot in the airport with my nifty bionic ear.
(patriotic music plays as I hold the flag up and a gentle wind blows) One small step for mankind... (wind gets stronger and I'm hanging on to the flag) and a huge step for me. (switches the fan off with a "Gee, somebody fiddled with the fan" and puts the flag away)
I could not believe how noisy it was: Cars pulling up, bags plunking on the sidewalk, people talking loudly, car doors slamming, planes landing and taking off, and the metallic rattle of skycaps' dollies as they transported the bags to the check-in lane, and kids talking excitedly about WDW. Inside, the building seem to magnify the noise even more. The announcements over the loudspeakers threw me off and I asked my husband (he's hard of hearing so with the help of his hearing aids, he's fine--normal-wise I mean) if that has always been that way. He said yeah and that it was a way for families and friends to get in touch with each other. Wild.
I had to pull the earpiece from behind my ear and turn off my processor as we walked to the security/baggage check area because the noise and the echos drove me nuts and my head was practically spinning around like a police siren as I tried to match a sound to the person or object. DH saw me do that and asked me if I would be able to handle WDW noises and I told him "Of course! I'm just saving my brain so I could run wild and do the "Brain salad" at WDW. He snickered and my mother overheard me and asked "Brain salad? What are you talkin about?" Michael, my youngest brother, went past me (he made sure I was able to lipread him since I wasn't wearing my processor) with a "You're asking Janie that? She has been insane from day one!"
My response? "Dearest brother. Don't go to sleep tonight 'cause I've packed a roll of duct tape. Hehehehehehe...."
I waited with my triplets while Brad and Sarah, my oldest daughter, went through the security checkpoint along with the rest of my extended family. It was hard trying to keep active triplets under control and with me because they wanted to go with my mother. You know, it is a very strange phenomen with grandparents. My mother was very strict and made me work hard for what I wanted when I was growing up and she certainly didn't pamper me and I have her boot prints on my fanny as proof! Now, if one of my kids want something, I usually say "no" and all they have to do is skip over to my mother and she'll get it for them. Sheeeeeeesh! The aliens stole my mama's brain and replaced with a "June Cleaver" personality and I hate that serene smile on my mother's face everytime she sees me with my hyperactive kids.
I finally let my triplets through the metal detector one at a time starting with Jonathan, the oldest. Rachel skipped through with a "Hi, Mr. Policeman" and Samuel zoomed through the metal detector and thought it was a blast so he zoomed back in with that manical laugh of his and managed to dodge me as he went through the detector again. AAAuuggghhhh! Brad managed to tackle Samuel the youngest triplet, carried him like a bag of potatoes to the gate and that little twerp just kept laughing.
However, I could not go through the detector because of the implant so I notified security people and showed them my medical card. I told my family to go ahead to the boarding gate because Samuel was determined to zoom through the detector again. I was taken aside and told to take off my shoes and stand on a rubber mat with an outline of shoes on the mat. I was wanded and then patted down by a very nice middle aged lady. Took about 2 minutes max. She told me that I was their first cochlear implantee to go through the security checkpoint since the federal government took over the job several weeks before so she asked if she took too long to do the check on me and I immediately reassured her that she did a bang up job and I expected it to be a whole lot longer than I thought and that I was pleasantly surprised on how quickly things went. She smiled and said. "Have a wonderful trip!" I thanked her with a wave and hurried to the gate as I slapped the earpeice back on my head.
Found Samuel jumping up and down on the seat while yelling "Dithney borld! Dithney Borld!" while Rachel laughed herself silly and Jonathan was standing by the window and checking out the planes. I told my mother why she didn't try to stop Samuel from jumping up and down and she pointed at me "You the mama." Pointed at herself. "Me not the mama." Pulled Samuel off the seat and got him to sit quietly by me for five seconds before he slid off of the seat like a bowl of old lime jello, yelling "Mommy, don't kick me! OW! I said don't kick me!" I was so mortified. He got that from his oldest sister because Sarah loves to tease me and get me embarrassed over something silly. I caught Sarah and Jasmyne (my 11 year old niece) laughing at Samuel's antics so I gave them a stern look and they laughed even harder.
I was soooo happy to be on the plane so I could sit and hide my red face. I wanted to be dignified with nice children with Sunday manners so people could comment on how well my kids behaved but noooooooo! I managed to get Rachel who was hysterical from laughing so hard buckled in and Sarah sat with Jasmyne and Devon so they could play video games with their Game Boy. Brad sat between the boys and with some difficulty got them buckled because Samuel had challenged Jonathan to jump as high as he could on the plane seat so Brad did his "Beast" voice to get them to settle down. My mom did the "Madonna" smile on me and my brothers pantomimed me freaking out and did the face twitch on me. Double duct tape for them!
When the plane took off, I was floored by sudden and intense pain in my right ear where the cochlear implant is and got lightheaded. Brad told me a day later when he saw my face go completely white, he knew something was wrong. I pulled the earpiece off and tried to "pop" my ears by yawning but it didn't work and the plane hit a spot where one could feel the gravitional pull--you know, that weird sensation of your body being sucked downward--everything went black. When I came to, the plane started to level off and I asked how long I was out and my mother said "a minute or so. Not very long." The pain was still there and some bloody fluid came out. I knew what happened and when I looked at Brad, we said simultaneously to each other. "Head cold." I came down with a bummer of a head cold two weeks before and I was trying to get over it. So if any of you have a head cold or just got over one, take decongestant meds so you won't have to deal with the pressure and the crap when the plane takes off. I never got nausea ever and that was the first time I ever felt like upchucking. Needless to say, it was awful.
About 30 minutes in the flight, my triplets dropped like flies. I wouldn't let them take their 1 hour nap in the afternoon because I wanted them to sleep a bit on the plane-4 hour nonstop to Orlando. It worked perfectly so it was nice to have some downtime to myself for a while. My oldest brother gave me some motrin for the pain and I managed to take a quick cat nap before dinner. During dinner--triplets were still snoring away so I ate first and then woke them up to feed them-- I read a couple of chapters on "Barry Trotter" novel--a parody of Harry Potter fame--and the book was hilarious to read because it made fun of all things Hogwarts.
An hour before we landed, a stewardess told me to hold plastic cup over my right ear to see if it could ease the pain. I tried cramming tissue in my ear but it kept popping out like a weird. ghostly snake so Michael, my youngest brother, tossed a package of gum (can you figure out what kind of gum?) to me so I stuffed three sticks in my mouth, chewed very rapidly, took the gum out, and plugged my right ear. Hey, I did not want it happen again and my mom could not stop laughing when she told me that the gum was meant to be chewed during the landing not as a wax remover. I told her that I knew that but wanted to "double" the chance of a painfree landing. I chewed two sticks of gum and held the plastic cup over my ear.
The landing was not as rough as the take off but the pain did increase very briefly but I do think chewing, gum plug, and plastic cup helped. However, I had a heck of a time digging the gum out of my ear and did some heavy duty scraping the gummy residue out of my hair. Don't laugh---I was desperate for the pain to stop so desperate times need desperate measures! Brad snickered and told me there was a few strands of my hair looking like some kind of mutated porcupine quills so I snapped with a "You owe me a box of chocolate for that insulting remark!"
I was unsteady for 15 minutes when we got off of the plane. I told my family to go ahead to the baggage claim and that I would meet them there. Rachel didn't want to leave me so she stayed with me and we took our time: got on the monorail, checked out the Christmas tree, and went down to the baggage claim. I did a pit stop at a restroom and wetted my hair a little so I could pat it down. Didn't work. Wet, mutated porcupine on my head.
By the time, we got there, they got all the bags and headed over to Dollar to get our vans. I had reserved two vans for $507 each for two weeks so I gave the info to Brad and my mother and Michael went with him to get the vans while I waited outside in an area by Dollar parking lot with everybody else. 20 minutes later, I was horrifed to discovered that Brad and my mother got a HUGE van that seats up to 15 people. I told everybody that I had concerns that we would be killing each other after two days. My mother laughed and said. "Honey--I think we'll be fine and this van is cheaper because of shared gas costs, parking fees, and all that jazz." She said that the supervisor brought that idea up and he gave us a discount toward the van so it was $859 for two weeks. I shook my head and warned them "Mark my words. That is how McCoy-Hatfield feud started."
Loaded up the van and took off for Titusville. My youngest brother was driving and I knew my way around Orlando so I told him where to go and guess what, he wouldn't listen to me (Me-five trips to WDW. Him-ZERO!) and made the wrong turn because "the sign said so". The road signs are a tad quirky and I told him where to take a shortcut to get on the toll road (Bee line Expressway) to Titusville but nooooooo, we ended up in Kissimmee instead.
Didn't say a word when Kissimmee city sign zipped past us. Didn't say a word when we pulled into a gas station to ask for directions. Didn't say a word when we got back on track ot Titusville. Didn't say a word when we wasted time looking for Holiday Inn in Titusville. Didn't say a word when we finally pulled into the parking lot of the motel at 12:45 in the morning. Didn't say a word when we got to our rooms.
Gave the kids a bath, dressed them in their pajamas and got them in bed. Walked over to my youngest brother's room, knocked on his door, he opened the door and I said.
"I told you so."
Went back to my room and collapsed on the bed.
[Edited by TrpltJanie]
Janie
The Curb Kicker
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TrpltJanie
Cast Member
Posts: 1661
Registered: Aug 2002
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Posted 12-22-02 01:54 AM
p.s. if it is too long--I'll be happy to keep it short and sweet...
Janie
The Curb Kicker
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Mary
Cast Member
Posts: 465
Registered: Aug 2002
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Posted 12-22-02 01:56 AM
Thanks Janie. Day one was worth the wait.
Mary
First Mate, Good Ship Stickey Mickey and Keeper of the Ships Log
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Coastalwader
Cast Member
Posts: 935
Registered: Aug 2002
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Posted 12-22-02 06:31 AM
quote:
TrpltJanie wrote:
p.s. if it is too long--I'll be happy to keep it short and sweet...
Oh no you don't!
Keep 'em coming!
King Unca Bubba Lord DisneyTex
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Ajax
Cast Member
Posts: 1032
Registered: Aug 2002
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Posted 12-22-02 09:14 AM
Janie wrote-
She told me that I was their first cochlear implantee to go through the security checkpoint
Isn't there a federal law that states you're entitled to a prize, ora tax deduction, or something? I'd look into it if I were you.
Great report! My wife did the 'Mom and a van full of Sisters' trip last winter. Mom's still alive, the sisters are all still in the will, and we've received Christmas cards from everyone this year. So it can be done!
BTW Janie, here's something you might want to check into. I shoot very loud rifles for sport at the local range. In addition to the headphones I wear, I use either a foam or putty type sealant in my ear canal. The foam works best for me- you roll it up tightly into a 'stick' then insert it into your ear, where it expands to conform to your ear canal. It's cheap and disposable, and available at a friendly shooting range near you.
And if it refuses to be removed by hand, you can use a corkscrew or a cold chisel. My wife likes that part.
Did you see me at EPCOT on New Years Eve? I was wearing a yellow poncho...
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Ahnalira
Cast Member
Posts: 433
Registered: Aug 2002
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Posted 12-22-02 09:25 AM
Please, don't shorten them one word, Janie!
I know whereof you speak with the tender take off ears... I never tried the chewing gum in ear, but thanks for the tip; >)
Ahnalira
Grace finds beauty everywhere. Grace is my best friend.
Meet The Our Laughing Place Travel Pixies
Everybody's got a Laughing Place... we'll help you find yours!
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Tink *~*~*
Cast Member
Posts: 1066
Registered: Aug 2002
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Posted 12-22-02 10:44 AM
Janie, you made me lose the office pool!
You can buy those little foam earplug things Ajax was talking about in most drug stores. I got them for my brother last trip cause he was allergic to my snoring. Picked 'em up at Walgreens.
Tink *~*~*
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Francine
Super Moderator
Posts: 1309
Registered: Aug 2002
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Posted 12-22-02 04:06 PM
Bravo, Janie!
Francine
Come and visit my other home on the internet Our Laughing Place
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Robey
Cast Member
Posts: 1023
Registered: Aug 2002
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Posted 12-22-02 04:27 PM
quote:
TrpltJanie wrote: Trip report--November 30th-December 14th
More...more...more!!!!!!!!!!! Like being there myself....well
alright, mayber not...second best though! 
I always wondered why somebody didn't do something about that. Then I realized I was somebody. --Lily Tomlin
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Crank
Administrator
Posts: 1957
Registered: Aug 2002
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Posted 12-23-02 11:44 AM
So far so good!!
I use those "squishey" ear plugs you get on the shooting
range. They also come in handy when my wife and I
have a "discussion"...
I like persons better than principles, and I like persons with no principles better than anything else in the world.
Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891
BOYCOTT FRENCH TOAST, GERMAN SAUSAGE AND BELGIAN CHOCOLATES
Crank-->
All Content is © the Poster and is to be considered Intellectual Property. All Rights Reserved. Though Brilliant, Breathtaking and Extrememly Well Written the Content contained herein is Opinion and Opinion only.
ib4cruzn at charter dot net
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Karma
Cast Member
Posts: 344
Registered: Dec 2002
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Posted 12-27-02 11:17 AM
I'm sorry. I'm reading it very slowly, savoring the whole thing...so have only made it half way thru. LOL
Great trip report so far! Hope I can finish without spewing cola out my nose yet again. 
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Peace to all ducks
Don't forget to read my Poop Report...er...I mean my Trip Report
I poke ducks.
Ducks LIKE to be poked.
I am an expert duck poker.
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Robin
Cast Member
Posts: 940
Registered: Aug 2002
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Posted 12-27-02 12:35 PM
quote:
Karma wrote:
I'm sorry. I'm reading it very slowly, savoring the whole thing...so have only made it half way thru. LOL
Great trip report so far! Hope I can finish without spewing cola out my nose yet again.
The trick is 'sip, swallow, read'. We can't be responsible
to any damage to your monitor or keyboard if you perform
the steps out of order.
I toss my cookies for Disney.
I wonder what inspired this new Disney T-shirt? "I'm right. You're wrong. Any Questions?"
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Karma
Cast Member
Posts: 344
Registered: Dec 2002
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Posted 12-27-02 02:13 PM
Oh my gosh, you're right! I was doing it out of order!!
I was sipping, reading and spewing. I need to go back
to sip, swallow and THEN read!
Sort of disappointed though. Was kinda hoping for a new keyboard compliments of the house seeing as I fried it while reading the houses trip reports.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Peace to all ducks
Don't forget to read my Poop Report...er...I mean my Trip Report
I poke ducks.
Ducks LIKE to be poked.
I am an expert duck poker.
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Common
Ground / Goofy's HUGE!
/ Brain Salad |
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