Post-Disney Depression

Yes, it's real...and, as per usual, for me it's pretty serious thanks to Asperger's, but "regular" people get it too (or so I'm told). I've spent an entire year planning a trip that is over with in 11 days. All my energy has been focused on one thing for such a long time, and in a flash it's over. That would be upsetting for anyone.

Toward the end of the trip, I'm ready to come home, but once I get home and am thrust head first into the "real world", I want nothing more than to go back, or even better, start planning the next trip! It makes me moody and I don't want to talk to anybody or go anywhere or do anything. But at the same time, I can't bring myself to organize our trip pictures or put my new pins up in their books, it's just too depressing! There is no place in the world that makes me at peace like Disney World does.

I did upgrade to an annual pass, so once I get a new vehicle, I can go whenever I want, but I can't get a new vehicle yet because of my finances...nothing kills your checkbook like a Disney trip! And it never fails that bad things start happening when I'm the brokest (aka Zach's illness and my self-created Disney credit card debt). The new job and the lack of overtime money aren't helping the financial things. It doesn't bode well for one's state of mind (even though I know it's all my own doing).

This after effect of Disney World sometimes makes me wonder if it's even worth it going in the first place. It's the closest to a depression that I ever get. I'll get over it, I always do, but until I do...ugh. I try to remember all the annoying people and all the bad moments, just trying to lower the giant pedestal I have Disney put on, but it never works.

Being an Asper-girl means all my obsessions are intensified, and Disney is one of, if not THE, biggest obsession I have. I feel nothing for things that I should, things that so-called "normal" people feel (and since I don't feel those things, I can't really describe what I don't feel), but the loss of Disney is almost devastating to me, probably like a "normal person" would feel for the loss of another human. It is what it is, and knowing these feelings are stupid and misfocused doesn't make them any less real to me. Ah, the joys of being an Asper!

Life will get back to normal (or as normal as I can make it), but until then, here's looking forward to the next trip!!

IHSW update

Since it's been so long since I've posted a stitch update for the Ribbon Topiary project, I first better post the last pic of my progress:


And here is what I got done last weekend:


It's the first real stitch progress I've made in months. I will be so glad to finish this project so I can get back to my little Highland girl.

On other fronts, I won an autographed copy of John Taylor's new book (the audiobook version-I'd much prefer a real book, but since I've never won anything before ever, I'm not complaining...much).

As you can tell, it's still in the plastic. I was really looking forward to reading his book, but I just can't bring myself to open this, partly because I don't like audiobooks and partly because I don't want to mess it up since John's hand actually touched it!

Zach is doing better, but still not out of the woods yet. He's really upset because this new food only comes in wet version. He gets wet and dry of his old food, the dry stays out 24/7 and he gets the wet in the morning and night. He's really missing his dry food. He spends a lot of time searching for lost pieces around the house (and, unfortunately he's finding them because he's like a hamster, he gets a mouthful of dry at the bowl, carts it off somewhere, spits out the pieces, and then eats them one at a time, so there is stray pieces in all kinds of locations). Not only does his wee hurt from the stones, but now it's like he's on a diet - poor little dude is hungry and sick! I feel like a bad mommy!!

Precious little Zach

What Zach thinks of the Piggies from Angry Birds:


I know I haven't done my IHSW update yet, but I have good reason...Zachary is sick. He has bladder stones (again) and is peeing blood. He also has a severe bladder infection.

Removing the stones is a major surgery, they pretty much have to gut him, take out his bladder, split it open and empty it of all the stones, then scope his urethra for stuck stones, sew his bladder back up, fill it with liquid to make sure it's not leaking, then stick it back in, and finally sew up his gut leaving about a 5-6" scar.

He's had the surgery twice already and now that he's 12, it's more dangerous than ever if they have to do it again. But, so far, the stones he has are all pretty small. One is stuck at the end of the urethra, two are stuck in the base of the urethra, and there are two stones free-floating in his bladder. The kind of stones he grows are like little maces, they aren't smooth but rather covered in tiny little spikes. When they are little, they don't do much damage, but they can actually cut through the bladder wall if they get too big (especially since his bladder has been split open twice already and areas of the wall are weak).

He's on antibiotics for the infection and a special food to help dissolve the stones a bit more to make them easier to pass. He's been on prescription food for years that supposed to keep him from forming stones, but it's not fool-proof. I also give him Smart Water (which has electrolytes in it) to help with his urinary health...yes, my dog drinks Smart Water and I drink tap...see where the priorities lie in my household?

We are basically waiting a couple of weeks to see if he will pass the stones before we jump into surgery. The doc isn't too thrilled at the prospect considering his age, but Zachy is a very healthy pup otherwise, so the surgery WILL happen if necessary. So everyone please bare with me while I take care of my little munchkin and any good wishes you want to send his way would be greatly appreciated!!

His little buddy Pascal is looking out for him as well (and his Mommy spends way too much time using apps!)

Updated site (again)

I know I just changed the color of my site, but the darker color just didn't suit me, so I changed it yet again. I was trying to go for a fall/winter look (or as fall and winter-y as purple can get), but I think it was miserable and oppressive, so back to the lighter I go!

IHSW and TUSAL

I haven't stitched since last month's pathetic attempt, so there is nothing to report Ort jar wise, so hopefully I will be able to rectify that this in the next couple of days during the International Hermit and Stitch Weekend. Now that Disney is over with, it's time to get back to the real world!

I'm home!

OK, so I've technically been home for well over a day, but I needed a bit of "me" time after all that "people" time.

Considering how bad my memory is, I doubt a few Disney review will happen, but here are a few highlights, first the bad:

Am and I are both getting old! Between the bad troubles, headaches, sore tummies, and feet trouble, both of us had a rough time!

The days of enjoying the peaceful October time in Disney World is now over...I've NEVER seen it so crowded!

I now understand why people complain about the groups of drunks at the Food and Wine Festival...they were everywhere! Having drinking contests and just being general idiots, but it was the large quantities that was shocking.

What is up with the store CM's lately? Did they ALL have to go through some new training course that taught them to move like snails? I can't tell you the number of times I wanted to just rip the scanner out of some CM's hand and check out my stuff myself! Not ONCE did I have a CM move like they were in a hurry (or like I was...which I pretty much always am)!

And speaking of CM's, I realize that I am an Asper girl and have selfishness issues (or what the rest of the world would call selfishness), but I sure as heck could care less about the CM's personal lives and every single one I encountered had to tell me some story about how they came to Florida, where their husband works, to even what they are eating for supper that night! They all started off with "where are you from?" and then once we said, off they went on their own tangent. None of them had any Disney comments that would even kind of interest me. I don't deluge them with my business, what makes them think I want to hear theirs?

Brazilian tour groups were EVERYWHERE...which is also probably why the parks were so crowded. Although they weren't as bad as I have seen, there was no line cutting or shouting out loud, the whole "I understand English when it comes to how to ride rides and where to go", but "I don't understand English when you tell me no flash pictures", got really old really quickly!

Speaking of guests, this is my dance space and that's yours...stay out of my dance space!! I can't tell you how many times I had people stand right up on me (and yes, I know I have issues with that, but this was beyond normal to the point that even Am noticed it). I'm not saying they had to stand a mile, but at least a foot would have been nice! That extra foot isn't gonna get you in the ride any quicker.

And what is up with kids and flashing things? Their shoes, their toys, their jewelry...everything flashes! I never noticed it before (probably because I didn't know how easily I could have a seizure because of Ferg-id), but I had to take bus rides with my eyes closed, ride some rides with them closed, even walk through queues with my eyes shut. And the darker the area, the more flashy things kids insisted on operating. To add insult to injury, Disney was actually selling most of these flashy things! That is definitely going in my complaint letter to them this year. A brain tumor sufferers worst nightmare!

Oh, and I gained 12lbs that I now have to re-lose.

And now the good:

They had a special "dress rehearsal" of the New Fantasyland section and not only did we get to ride the new Little Mermaid ride, but we got to shop, tour the restaurants and have LaFou's Brew at Gaston's Tavern! I could well up just talking about it! It was gorgeous and sweet and pretty advanced, and all the things I knew it would be, but since there is a possibility I won't be going in December, it just made it that more special.

For the first time ever, I actually loved eating at The Hollywood Brown Derby. It's always the one place I dread, but it was actually really good (even that bitter grapefruit cake). It's one of Am's favorites because of the cobb salad, but it's always been one of my least favorites...consider one of my stead-fast opinions changed!

But, on the subject of food, how amazing was the Food and Wine Festival! Only one thing I had was horrible and, believe it or not, it was the cheese fondue from the Cheese stand. Of all things that SHOULD have been good, how can you screw up melted cheese? And everything was on a roll of some sort, but it was still good! I tried things I would have never tried before, ate things I never miss, and enjoyed every second of it (despite the gritty fondue and the extensively long lines).

It always amazes me how much Disney changes from one trip to the next, but since I skipped a year, new stuff was everywhere...from the new graveyard at The Haunted Mansion, to the New Fantasyland section to even the fronts of stores and even just the smallest change of new carpets everywhere...Disney is ever-changing and constantly amazing!

But at the same time, I'm constantly amazed at how much Disney stays the same...you can always count on the best food anywhere and the rides to be completely immersive from the start of the line to the exit of the ride. Everything is always clean and fresh and generally (despite their snail's pace and annoying personal diarrhea), the CM's were overall kind and nice.

How good it felt to be home at the Wilderness Lodge again! I'm never as happy as when I stay there, and this time was no exception. It really is "my perfect place". For someone who is terrified of trees and woods, doesn't like western architecture and artifacts from America's old west days, it should be my worst nightmare, but it just has this amazing vibe than makes even me love it. And we've always managed to stay there after a refurb, so it was as beautiful as ever!

You can also count on guests being complete idiots and adding to our fun by having something to make fun of! And older man singing "Ho, Ho, Ho, Ho" for Pirates instead of "Yo Ho" gave us a new theme song..."ho, ho, ho, ho a Santa's life for me".

It feels really good to be an annual passholder. Not only did I get discounts everywhere, but it really made me feel like part of everything...I don't know why I didn't do it sooner (probably because I still have spending issues and can't afford to go more than once a year because I spend too much in the stores!).

I'm sure I'm missing some important stuff, but that's it for my "quick" recap (those that know me know I don't do "quick" posts!). If I think of more later, I'll add it, plus some picture highlights.

Disney so far...

Well, I tried to blog from my tablet, but it definitely does NOT like the wireless service here! Luckily Am brought her laptop, so I'm not totally without! Drive down was almost uneventful, until we hit the heaviest rain I have ever driven through with the added bonus of it being 10 pm in heavy interstate traffic going 70mph...not good times! But luckily that didn't last long.

First impressions of our first value...ugh. It was clean and nice because this wing has only been open 3 weeks and it was fairly pretty...but, and I guess there is always a but, I have never seen so many kids in one place in my entire life! I don't think there are that many kids in the actual parks! And not just the typical 2.5 kids to a parental unit, more like 5 or 6 to one parent! There is no way anyone can control that kind of brood on their own, especially in a place like Disney.

So now I'm coming to you live from Wilderness Lodge and all is right with the world again! Bed is 110% better, bathroom is much bigger, room is bigger, we're inside instead of walking a billion miles...sheer bliss!

Since I am using Am's laptop, I can't post pictures yet, but it looks as though my new Sony is quite possibly the best camera I've ever had!

Until my next free moment...see ya real soon!

This is it!

...the day before we pack up and drive down to Disney! Thanks to everyone for your kind words and all my Disney blogging buds...Vickie, Joyce and Abby, I'll be thinking of you, so if you're ears start burning, you'll know why! Same to my non-Disney blogging bud, Madison, Boo To You!!

Katy...bestie oh mine...one day it will be us going!

Tony...bestie oh mine 2...ditto...no excuses!

I say I'm gonna blog while I'm there, but I'm not gonna promise anything. Disney is a difficult place to get free time. I always plan to take notes of funny or weird events, but only do the first couple of days (which is where the blog might come in handy). Am is a master at trip notes though, so I'm not worried about documentation of important events.

Zachary could care less for all my pre-trip preparations...his Gram is gonna stay with him so he can be in his own environment. He probably won't even miss me! But I will call him anyway, just to annoy him since he's scared of the phone. His brother (rest his little soul) loved the phone and would sometimes even try to talk back. Times like this is when I miss Zander the most, he would be pacing the floor and constantly be under my feet because he knew I was about to leave. Zachary is just pissed because the bed is covered with luggage and he can't snuggle up and go back to sleep!

I just remembered I forgot to make Mousekeeping envelopes (if you didn't think I was crazy before, you will now!). Mousekeeping is what the hotel housekeeping staff are called at Disney World and I make envelopes to leave their tips in with little pictures and sayings on them thanking them for an excellent job. It's cuter than just leaving the money on the bathroom counter, and, since I hand-make mine instead of downloading them from the web, they are a bit more personalized and special. So I'm off to make quickie envelopes and hopefully they will turn out ok.

Everyone have a great week and a half and a full report will be due upon my return!

And I just realized that I not only passed my trip goal weight, I blew it out of the friggin water! Yea me!

It's Halloween-lo-ween everybody!! I like duck butts and I cannot lie! And one more completely meaningless quote (well, to anyone other than Am and I)...Love Ya, Mean It!!