My Name is Kris and I Blah-g

I submitted a favorite “vacation memory” to Disney to be in the running for a trip to Disney World. Vote for my story by clicking here:

It’s 4 am. In about 2 hours, we’ll embark on a day long journey to Anaheim. What am I doing up so early already? Can’t sleep anymore… Before it would just be the excitement of the trip that would get me going. But these days, I usually can’t sleep more than 5 or 6 hours at a time. Some people think that’s a lot. I am sure there are others in this house who’ d relish 6 consecutive hours of sleep. But for this girl, it’s unusual. I kinda like my 8+ hours that I used to get. Anyway, I’ve been awake now for about an hour – had to go to the bathroom, so now I’m wide awake. I am sure about 5 hours into our car ride, I will be wishing I had gone back to sleep! I was checking out my stats and besides the fact that it appears interest in my blog is waning (gosh, have I gotten boring already?), I noticed that someone stumbled upon my lil’ ol’ blog looking for a Kmart near Disneyland. I am sorry you didn’t find what you were looking for here. But if you happen to look again, maybe you will find this post instead…I don’t know of a Kmart near Disneyland. BUT, there is a Target. It’s on Harbor Blvd and it’s about a half mile to a mile, I’m guessing SOUTH on Harbor. It’s on the left. If it has to be a Kmart, then I dunno. Sorry. Can’t help ya there.So, this trip is, as one could imagine, bittersweet. It is our first vacation after losing Mike. I can’t go a day without thinking about what happened to him. I’d like to forget those last images of him, but I am resigned to the fact that they’re going to stay in my mind probably forever. What I am trying to do is remember our last vacation WITH him. It was to Disney World and we had a blast. The pictures from that trip and from previous Disneyland trips hang on our bedroom wall. My bed faces this wall so I look at them all the time. Mike was quite the goofball, as my daughter likes to call him. We laugh at these pictures because of the funny faces her Daddy is making in them. We had such fun. THOSE are the memories that I want to remember. So, I’m going to really try for the next week to keep those in mind. And we are going to enjoy this break from reality as we take in the magic of Disneyland. Disneyland will become our home away from home this year. We recently received the proper documentation that will allow us to continue our flight benefits with SWA for the next 4 years (yay!) and with the season passes, we will go there as much as we can. Already, there are 2 more potential escapes to the Magic Kingdom in the next 2 months – the next only 2 weeks away! Gotta love free flying…It’s been a long time since I’ve been on a road trip. I’m trying to remember when. I think the last time was when Mike’s parents and brother came to visit and we drove them to Las Vegas and to Colorado. That was a great trip! Except it was stinkin’ hot at the Hoover Dam. I thought Mike’s mom was going to melt right onto the sidewalk! Also, what a vision it was to see his mom and dad sitting at a slot machine. We had to get permission to take their photo in the casino (they don’t like that in those places) but that image is one of my favorites. We gave them each a quarter and told them to go for it. Mike’s dad won about a $1. His mother promptly told him that he’d have to pay tithes on it. Ha ha. Anyway, I am trying to figure out just how we are going to pack up the van. We have a lot of stuff. It’s going to be a huge challenge. Honestly, I don’t know how the ice chest is going to fit. Someone’s suitcase is just gonna have to stay home….

This week is a 2 day work week. I begin a blissful 5 day weekend on Wednesday. The other day Mike suggested to me that since we have a couple days off together that we should see about flying down for a quickie trip to the Mouse House on Thursday and Friday. Just the thought of walking around the Magic Kingdom is enough to send me into Disney shock and I gave the idea some serious thought. You see, it’s not often that the idea of traveling to Disneyland is not my own. I should embrace the opportunities when they arise. That alone was reason enough for me to check out car rental prices and hotel room availability. But soon reality sunk in. First, would I really want to brave Disneyland during the 4th of July holiday? Not really. Is a quick 1.5 day trip worth the $80 we’d spend on a car and $100+ we’d spend on a hotel room… eh? Yes! I would say that it would most definitely be worth it but do I have the $200 or so laying around to spend right now? No. I don’t and in being honest with myself, I just didn’t think we’d enjoy it was much as we would say during the slow times. I’ve been to Disneyland when you can narely walk a step without bumping into someone and it is NOT fun. As much as it pained me to tell Mike the bad news, I had to pass on his most generous offer to fly to Southern California.So, what to do with all my free time this week? This week will pass quickly. I have no doubt. The 4th will be taken up with barbecue and fireworks and there is no other way to celebrate that. Thursday is up in the air but I choose to go in search of a coveted fishing spot. I have yet to find one in Utah worthy which is scary cuz fishing is huge here. Friday we will take Michaela and Matthew (nephew) to Lagoon and that will be a fun, very hot and expensive excursion. It’s not Disneyland by any stretch of the imagination but it’s something to do. I suppose the weekend will be relegated to those things we usually put off doing….laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning… YUCK. Then it’s back to the grind… maybe a crowded day and a half at Disneyland isn’t sounding so bad right about now!

This morning, as every morning, the alarm clock chimed at 5:15. And like every morning, I turned it off and rolled over to go back to sleep. But this morning was different, I couldn’t merely go back to sleep. It started in the pit of my stomach. You can call it nerves, anxiety, hunger – whatever. To me, it was my reminder that today was the day I have been counting down to for weeks. I must say, I am excited to head to sunny California this weekend – even if it’s only for 3 days. The way my stomach is feeling I know I must be anticipating the trip in a big way. I always do this. Driving to the airport, getting checked in, getting on the plane….it always makes me uptight. Once we are in the air and getting to where we are going, I am fine. Let’s just get there already! It didn’t used to be this way. I don’t know if it’s because I have a child now and there are so many things you have to watch and take care of when you travel with a child or if I am just getting old. I used to LOVE going to the airport. It meant exciting things. Now, I have to make sure (1) that we’ll make the flight. Mike gets free flight benefits through work which are AWESOME but there is always that chance that you just may get kicked off the plane or not make it on it in the first place. I really don’t like that. (2) Making sure all the potty breaks are done in a timely fashion. The one who seriously pushes the envelope is Mike. He always has the urge to about 5 minutes before they board the plane and I have now just gotten accustomed to giving him his boarding pass and telling him that we’ll just meet him on board. If he makes it, great..If not, have fun hanging out at home with the dogs! Anyway, we should be leaving for the airport in less than 2 hours. It will be nice to get that part out of the way.Today we’ll pick up our rental car and make a bee line for the beach. This will be the first time that we spent any quality time at a beach that Michaela will remember. We took her to one when she was about 1 but she doesn’t remember that at all. We intend to stay there most of the afternoon, getting sunburned and building sand castles. Sounds like heaven. I suppose we’ll make it back to the hotel in time to see the local news about the frenzy at Disneyland. Tonight is the Hollywood premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean. Although I would love to witness all that star action, I know better. I need to stay away from the Magic Kingdom tonight. It will be a mad house. We’ll invade Disneyland tomorrow. I just need to be patient.Anyway, this is my last post prior to leaving. I should have pictures and stories upon my return. I know some of you are out there reading…how about commenting every once in a while? It’d be nice to hear from some of you.

I’m testing out a photo gallery feature. I am not sure how I will like it but figured I would guinea pig it here with some pictures from the Buzz Lightyear ride at Disneyland.