7 days

Wow, wow, wow...it has been forever!  As of late, I have been having computer issues.  There was a virus, a near crash, lots of cussing...finally a miracle, lots of backing up, more cussing, and finally it appears all is well.  I am still going to start researching new laptops, because I fear my little ol' cow is not gonna make it much longer.  But, for now, she is plodding along, so I will catch you up.

BENIGN...never thought I would be so damn glad to hear that word, but the tears at the radiologists office indicated otherwise.  I tried really hard to just assume it was nothing, and not be worried, but when you are a single mommy (and probably when you are not as well) worst case scenario has a way of sneaking into your thoughts.  For me, worst case wasn't dying and leaving her (although technically that would be) it was having to have surgery and then chemo.  I felt like no matter how much I tried to NOT think about it, thoughts of, who will drive me to/from the hospital, who will pick up Pea if I can't, I'm tired all the damn time now, how in the world will I be able to take care of her if I am really tired, chemo tired, just kept popping into my head.  I won't go into all the details, but the quick and the dirty is: the lump (which is on the left side) is nothing...the spots (on right side) are calcifications, and again, nothing.  I feel very lucky, and grateful.

Also grateful for Baby Bean, who, as you know is finally here!!  She weighed in at a whopping 9lbs 2ozs and has more hair than her Aunti K.  I was able to fly up to meet her (and see the rest of her family) over Thanksgiving.  What a doll.  I am so excited for Smash to finally get to experience a little girl, and new babies in general just make the world feel like a better place.  We had a whirlwind visit and I was back home Saturday night.  I was lucky not to have run into any flight delays and I hate to admit this (as a former hater, since I worked for the competition) but I love love love Southwest Airlines.  I used to not like the whole cattle call arrangement, but it really does speed up boarding and since my Pea likes to pick her own seat, there has never been a "BUT MOMMY I WANT TO SIT HERE!" "Pea, no, we can't, this is our seat, over here, get over here now..." crying, screaming, dragging down the aisle...nope, not once.  SWA is also very good at being on time, which I hope is still the case next weekend, when we fly down to Orlando to have our Christmas in the World.

7 days...seven...one week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To say I am getting excited would be a gross understatement...it is pretty much all I can think about.  I have had to venture out into cyberspace to find folks who understand and support this craziness because all of the people I have real human interaction with, think I am whackadoo.  I have learned that talking incessantly about all things Disney to normal people just pisses them off and makes them roll their eyes, so I choose instead, to find like minded people, who I wouldn't know if they slapped me in the face, to share with. Both http://m.touringplans.com/wdw/chats  and  http://www.disboards.com/index.com have become my go to resources when I have had a question or have just wanted to share. 

This is where if you are tired of hearing me talk about Disney, you should stop reading...I would venture to say, you might wanna not read again until after the new year, because I am pretty sure that is all I am going to write about for the next few weeks...don't say I didn't warn you.

My plan for today, since the Pea is with her dad, is to pack all of the little surprises that I am taking.  I don't have time to do ALL the packing, and I want to wait until I have a better idea of how the weather will be to pack the clothes, but I don't want her seeing the Cinderella dress, the fancy shoes, the new Fairy dress (from her Aunti Smash) the little ornaments, or the stockings, so I will get those hidden in the suitcase. 

The first few days of our stay will be in Birthday mode.  We are staying in a standard view room at Animal Kingdom Lodge and will be racing around the parks trying to do and see everything we can before it gets crazy busy.  We will celebrate my birthday in Epcot (and it will be the one day, out of 8, that I will be in charge...maybe) top it off with VIP viewing of the fireworks (yes, I paid for it, no I'm not a VIP, other than in my own mind) and then we will chill for a day (again, maybe).  Then, for our last 3 days we move into a Savannah view room (where you can see the animals!) and go into Christmas mode.  The parks will be crazy at that point so we will spend more time at the resort and doing special experiences (more on that later).  Thanks to a very clever, and less selfish person than I, on the Disboards, there will be a tree at bell services that I will pick up and decorate the room with.  I got in on the tree exchange and sent down a tree last week, and it has been great fun getting updates from the other families, all sharing trees.  I would have never thought to ship mine down early so other families could enjoy it, but I'm glad I did, because it is really nice feeling like a part of a bigger community.

Now that I think about it, it's probably the feeling of community, overall, that kept me coming back to the Disney chats and forums.  It started with a search for information, and answers to my questions, but now that I feel like I am pretty versed in most things Mouse, the draw is more the people.  I feel like that girl in the Blind Melon video...I'm the bee ( http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7763324546201298850 ) ...and I found my people.