I sorta forgot about this... oops!

So yeh I have let the blog down ever so much! I have been here just over 2 months now and it seems to have flown in but in the same way it seems like I've been here much longer. I think it's because I'm in a routine now and just getting on with it.

As you could guess I have done a lot in 2 months so I'm not going to go into great detail. I feel settled in the apartment but it still doesn't feel homely, but I am now sharing the room with maroa the French girl. I am really happy about this arrangement as she is lovely and we seem to get on better together and the other 2 seems to get on better, so all in all everyone is happy for now. I have however put in for a move to a 1 bedroom apartment purely for the extra space, so hopefully I will be in before Christmas so I can put some decorations up. That is if I want to, I might just not think about Christmas this year, just kind of skip it all together.

The first week started with just some paperwork and the first day of work started off with traditions which gives us all the Disney Basics and a bit of history, we then got paid to go round Magic Kingdom to see these basics in action. We also got to watch some of the parade which was great. After we got back our boss came in and gave us our name badges, yes that's right the "Big Cheese", Mickey Mouse, came in to personally give us our name badges. Everyone was so happy, and at the end of the day we were all even more happy as we had our Disney Id's which means we have access to it all!!! This is when the fun begins!

After traditions we all headed to Magic Kingdom to watch Wishes and the Fireworks, the 5 of us where watching and all but Matthew started crying, but it has got to be the fastest change of emotion ever because as soon as it finished Myah had us in stitches.

Since getting here I have been to all the parks but still Hollywood Studios is my favourite and Sarah has enlightened me to something that I have never done before, the Animation Studios where you actually learn how to draw a character. So far I have been quite a few times, and also got a few of the Artists drawings, my favourites have to be Eeyore and Jack Skellington, but Rupunzel is really good too, Buzz Lightyear however is awful! After speaking to a guy on Rockin Rollercoaster when I was last there, it has gave me an idea. He had done the ride 13 times that day so far and he was aiming for at least 15 to beat his cousin, so I think one day I might see how many times I could do it or maybe Tower Of Terror or both. Good task to aim for and it doesn't cost anything. :D

On the subject of tasks I have already done the 4 parks in 1 day. I done it alone which I think helped. I started with Animal Kingdom, got there at just after 10am, went straight onto Everest, I actually walked right on, then I went on Dinosaur, once again walked right on, so far so good. It was only 11am and I was already on my way to the next park. I decided to go to the park thats bus came first so it ended up being EPCOT, so off to work I went. Once I got there I headed right for Test Track and done single rider on that. It did take a little longer than expected because it kept experiencing "technical difficulty", but that all got sorted and then I was off. I decided to have some lunch there, it was Food and Wine so it was sort of like the main attraction there. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it! So after lunch I walked round to Hollywood Studios, I really do love that walk between the parks, its so peaceful. So once at Hollywood Studios I had a little wander round the shops looking to see if I could say anything that took my fancy. I then headed down to Tower Of Terror and Rockin Rollercoaster and done them both twice. I love it when there is no queues for those rides. I thought I was doing good because by the time I got the bus to Magic Kingdom it was only about 2.30pm. I thought I was going to have it all done in no time. Oh how I was wrong! I got to Magic Kingdom and it was ridiculously busy. If I hadn't done all the other parks I would have about turned and left. I headed to Big Thunder Mountain to get a fast pass because I knew it would be busy. I got the fast pass for about an hour later, but what was shocking was that the queue was 2 hours long! Totally mental! I then decided to walk over and see how long the queue was for space mountain and on the way go on Pirates of the Caribbean, when I got to it it was 45 minutes long! Its normally about 5/10 minutes so I wasn't doing that, but I did go into the Tiki Room. Its a nice little thing to do, plus I don't think I have ever done it before so it was fresh. I got over to Space Mountain and the queue was like 90 minutes so I thought I'd give it a miss and do Carousel of Progress instead, that is also something I haven't done for a long time, and I probably wont do it again for a long time. After that it was time that I could get another fast pass so I got one for Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger. I done both rides and then met up with Sam, Ameila and another 2 girls to watch the Electric Parade. I left after it but they stayed for the fireworks. It was a great day and I can say that I done all 4 parks in a day but it was surprisingly very tiring.

In work I am no longer the newbie, far from it actually, there has been I think 3 new groups after me which means my seniority is going up, not very much but still going up. In the same breath there has been a lot of people already left since I started, so it is giving me the idea of how fast people come and go. I do really enjoy the work so far, it is a lot of fun, but like anything I think it is what you make of it. I did put my name forward for becoming a trainer, but I was told at the moment I haven't really been here long enough. I did think that would be the result but it is always worthwhile putting my name down for it, show my interest.

As most people know I really do love Hallowe'en, its my favourite time of year, so this year so far I have been to 3 Hallowe'en nights and it is only the 20th of October and I still have the cabin on Hallowe'en itself. Mickeys Not So Scary Hallowe'en party was amazing both times, it was the first time I had done it and I would happily do it every night it's on, but it costs too much. I also done Universals Hallowe'en Horror Night last night and I have to admit I did jump/scream a few times both in the Houses and also the in the Scare Zones. We managed to do all of the Houses, Scare Zones and Shows, plus we went on The Mummy and done a few houses and scare zones twice. It was such a good night! On Hallowe'en itself a group of us girls are going to the Wilderness Lodge Cabins for the night. Sounds like the start of a Horror movie "a group of girls spent Hallowe'en night in a cabin in the woods watching scary movies!". Haha! I can't wait, its going to be so fun!

Well I think that's me caught up with everything so far, if I have missed anything then I'm sure I will remember at some point. Lets see how long it will take for my next post, fingers crossed not nearly as long cause my memory is crap!

I know it has been long so I will continue where I left off,

So I have been here and done so much so hopefully I can remember everything I have done.

I will continue where I left off before with my mini holiday. Me, Vicky, Matthew and Myah met up with Brett on Monday morning and headed off to universal. Once we were there we got our universal annual passes!!!! Woohoo! We had planned on starting with the Wizarding World of Harry Potter but it seemed everyone had the same idea so we instead started with Spiderman which I love, and while we where in the queue for it Brett told us that he had never been on a ride so we obviously went on the Hulk after Spiderman. I think he started to feel the effects but we then went on Blutos Barges and got completely soaked! Worst thing was we were all wearing denim so even by the end of the day we were all still a bit damp. Since we were already wet we decided to go on the Jurassic Park ride cause it wouldn't have made much of a difference, Brett decided to sit this one out so we went and queued and got to the gate so we were next onto the ride and then true to form the ride broke down for the day.
I mean we already had crap luck so far so why change what has worked so much in the past few days. We then had lunch and then the moment had arrived!

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was final there for me to go in!!! I was so friggen excited I actually was shaking! So I walked into Hogsmead and it looked amazing, better than I actually thought, they really outdone themselves. I have to admit thought that the Forbidden Journey was a bit disappointing. I mean it was a decent ride but I think I had been so excited about it, I had hyped it up more in my head so I was a little let down.

We then headed round and went on the Dr Suess carosel which was amazing and then the Cat in the Hat ride which was just bad, and what made it worse was the queue was the longest of the day for it! So that was us finished at Islands of Adventure so we headed round to Universal and started with the Beetlejuice show which I really love. We then done the Simpsons ride which is just fun, but I still don't no if I prefer that or back to the future. We also done Disaster and Shrek 4D, we were going to then do Rip Ride Rockit but I wasn't up for it, neither was Matt or Brett so Myah and Vicky went into the queue but after a little while they came back because the queue was just not moving.

We headed back to the hotel because we were all shattered, after travelling the day before and then getting up early and being at the parks all day, from open to close. We then decided to get some pizza delivered and by the time we waited for it we were all pretty much asleep so the knock at the door gave us a bit of a fright.

The next morning was the big day, the day we moved into our Disney Apartments! We were all so excited and also a little surprised at just how much extra stuff we had already got from Walmart that me didn't have when we got the the hotel. It was kinda funny though as we all pretty much left the hotel with a pillow, still in the plastic so it didn't look like we had stole them from the hotel.

We got to Vista Way where we thought we were supposed to be but apparently the taxi driver dropped us off at the wrong place in the complex, he didn't listen to the security when they gave directions, so we where sitting at what we thought was the right place twiddling our thumbs thinking something was wrong, little did we know it was, haha. Once we finally got to the right place we watched a little video and got our arrival packs and our apartment allocation, luckily we all got the commons which is what I really wanted, also got a 2 bed on the ground floor. So pretty much ticked all of my boxes.

My flat mates are from Japan, Hong Kong and France. Toko from Japan had been there one week before us but the rest all started on the same day, its got its good and its bad points, the good is that there isn't the bonds formed already and we are all just starting out, the bad however is that the apartment is just so bare. When I go into others who have been here a while, or even into my arrival groups theres just feels homely but I suppose ours will get that way soon.

Same day we took another trip to Walmart and then off to Hollywood Studios, which is my favourite park because it has my 2 favourite rides, Tower of Terror and Rockin Rollercoaster!
Was so funny because Matt has never been to Disney Florida so he was a big kid, and when we went on Tower of Terror he squealled like a wee girl. I was in stitches!
Watching Fantasmic I think we all had a little cry, but it is an amazing show!

So I will leave it here as there is still so much to write and this has dragged on a little. Lets hope I don't leave it much longer because then even more will happen and this will just take forever to update, but then I suppose it serves me right for leaving it so long.

Let the Journey Begin

So I am just finishing my first week here and already I feel like I have been here for a long time.

I suppose I better start from where I left off with the travel, and let me just say I really do think I am jinxed when it comes to travel!

So Saturday morning was a very stress free morning, I got up, had french toast, got my stuff together, done the last minute checks and then headed to the airport. Steph wasn't coming as it would have been too emotional, but I understand. Now up until this point I was fine, hadn't really got emotional (well other than my party) but in the car to the airport it sort of just hit me that that was me leaving. I did have a bit of a cry in the back seat, and it didn't help that Pauline text Real Radio in the car to wish me good luck. The guy on the radio read it out and when he got to the part where it was saying "working in Disney for a year" he was like, that is just sickening, that is a dream job! So I got a bit emotional at that as well, but then I was fine.
We then got to the airport and sat for a wee while and I checked my case in, and surprisingly it was 21.9kg, but I had 23kg so I was happy with that.but then thinking I could have taken more! Then it was time to head through security, and once again I had a bit of a cry when I was saying bye, and so did my dad and this time he can't blame it on the wind! So after I said my byes I headed through security, not looking back and that was me really on my way. The flight from Glasgow to Gatwick was fine, but then I got to Gatwick and by the time I got off the plane and got my case, as they just seemed to take forever getting there,  I had missed the bus to the Hotel, (little did I know that the bus that passed like 3 times went by the hotel as well, they don't advertise that one!) so I had to wait for an hour to get the next bus.
When I finally got to the hotel and checked in I got told that they hadn't taken the money for the room when I booked it back in November which I was not too amused about, but luckily I had money in my bank that I could pay it. I went and dropped of my case and then met Matthew, one of my travel buddies. So we just went to the room and watched some t.v. while waiting for Vicky to arrive, once she did we went for a final carvery before we left, then came back to the room and watched Tangled, I really do want a Pascal! We then all went to bed as we had an early morning the next morning.

Up we got and headed downstairs to get the shuttle to the airport, but it was full so we had to wait for the next one, but there was a bus running shortly so we went over to the bus stop to get that but when that came it was already full so we ended up having to wait on the next one, which luckily came only a few minutes later. It just ment however that we got the bus to the airport at the time we said we would meet Myah there, but we got there finally. We got checked in and then had to wait in the longest security queue ever! it was as if they only had like 2 desks working and all these people trying to get through, so we didn't get through until like 7.30 and we had the airport lounge booked from 6 - 9, so not amused about missing out on so much of it, but when we finally got there it was totally worth it, had breakfast and we all had a drink with Myah or her final legal drink for the year and then headed to the gate. We got on the plane right away which was great, and that was pretty much where the good things finished.

We got on, and got seated and somehow I managed to fall asleep before we had even taken off. I was surprised at this as I can't normally sleep on planes,  but I woke up about 45 minutes later but it felt like it was only 10 which was ok as it passed some of the time. When I woke up though that is when I realised just how loud the plane was and also how cold it was. I have never been that cold on a plane before, I was shivering and had to use the blanket over the whole way, also because it was so loud and the earphones where crap on the plane for everyone around the same area, not sure if it was the whole plane, but I couldn't hear the movies that where playing so we didn't really have much to do, so it was a really long and boring flight.

Whenever the arrival times would come up on the screen, I would get a little worried as we only had a 1.5 hour layover and the flight was running late. So after a long flight we finally came in to land, and it was the worst landing I have ever had. Instead of coming down at a slant it felt like the pilot was going down in big steps. It made our tummys jump more that the tower of terror it was that bad, but we finally arrived and then the fun really began!

Getting off the plane took forever and then we had to go through customs, collect our bags and recheck them again and then got through security again, now by the time we got our cases it was about 2.30 and our next flight was leaving at 3, there was a huge queue to get our bags through and then another queue to get through security so we asked if there was a fast way through because of when our next flight was but all we got was just queue there, queue there, you will make it! I knew we wouldn't and they were all so unhelpful! I was not amused. Once we had rechecked our bags we then went to security, and in Atlanta they use the x-ray machines on random people and lucky me I got chose, but just as I was about to get it (after waiting in another queue) it broke down so I had to go back through the normal way, but I had gave one of the security people my passport just as I was about to get in but that person walked off somewhere and it wasn't until I got through security and was about to run to try and get the plane did I realise I didn't have it, so I had to go back. I saw my passport just lying on a table at security, nobody was looking after it, it was just unprotected, and I thought that was supposed to be security! So we then had to get a underground to the other terminal to get to the plane, so we all ran to the gate and got there for 2.55 but the gate had closed and the plane had already left! So we had to go and get rebooked into another flight but the next flight where all 4 of us where guaranteed was not until 6 but we were put on the standby list for the flight at 4, so we waited to see if we could get on that, but unfortunately only 3 of us could, so we just decided to wait together for the 6pm flight. We got some food and then headed to the new gate and where finally on the way again.

We landed in Orlando airport and me and Matthew had planned on getting phones at the airport because it said online that we could but when we got to the phone shop and they didn't do phones, so we were not happy! So we just headed to the hotel and when we got there Vicky checked in no problem but when I went to check in they said they couldn't find my booking! Starting to get extremely frustrated now as nothing seemed to be going right, but after about 25 minutes they finally found it, stupid travel republic done something odd! We headed to the rooms left our luggage and headed to walmart, no luck with phones there either, so none of us were very happy at this either as we had all hoped to be up and running with our phones right away so we could get in touch with other people here and also home cheaper, but it just wasn't to be so we got sme stuff and headed back to the hotel to start our mini holiday which I will give details on the next post.

So that was my exciting travel experience but I got here finally, safe and sound and thats all that matters!

xxx

Last Post From Home

Well like the title says, this is the last post I will be doing from home as I am flying out tomorrow, well actually as I am writing this today!

So all my packing is done, well I hope anyway, and if I have forgot something then I'm sure I will be able to get it no problem over there. Sitting in my room, it doesn't look like I'm leaving apart from the suitcases at the bottom of my bed, it still doesn't feel like I'm leaving either, its just such an odd time. I know I'm leaving, everyone else knows I'm leaving and keeps asking if I'm nervous but to be honest I'm not. I am sure it will hit me either on the plane or maybe even after a few weeks of being in Florida and realising that I wont be coming home after a holiday. I guess I will just have to wait and see what happens.

So I would say that's pretty much all my goodbyes done, well with Stephanie it wasn't really a goodbye as a "I'll text you", hehe. I am kinda glad about that as I just know that she would start crying and it would set me off, she might come to the airport in the morning and if she does it is going to be awkward and emotional, but I just keep saying to her that it's only a year and not much happens in a year.

At the airport I do think that there will be tears (mainly from my dad!), but  by the wonder that is the world wide web it will be easy to keep in touch with everyone, whether its through video calls or something as silly as a facebook message, it just means that I am going to be in touch no matter what.

So I am going to leave it here for now and say that "Daria's Disney Adventure" is finally beginning!

Final Week

Well as the title suggests this is my final week before I leave and I feel like I just don't have enough time.

So today I have been doing all the stuff that I said to myself I would do last week like paperwork and packing. I got most of the paperwork completed I just need to get it sent off. Hopefully I will be getting a tax rebate and also money back from my road tax because the car will be getting sorned. I have cancelled everything today that needs to be done, well I hope so anyway, and have done most of the rest of it. The one thing I haven't been able to do so far is the car insurance because the renewal hasn't came in yet, so I'm just going to call them tomorrow and see if I can get it done sooner so I don't have to worry about anything else, well apart from packing.

Speaking of packing I decided to buy a new suitcase today. It was totally by chance as I was only on the Argos website to check dimensions of the one I already have and I saw that they had a sale on for the same style as the hand luggage case my uncle got me for Christmas so had a look. Lucky me the matching one was on sale for £24.99 so I thought why not, and it fits the dimensions for Delta perfectly and its pretty lightweight which is always a bonus. It means now I'm all matching with my cases, but this will be the first time I wont have a bright girly colour so I will need to remember that at the baggage reclaim.

So tonight I will partly pack and see what last minute things I need to get. I'm hoping it's not a lot but I will just have to wait and see. I'm sure I wont but then again I will probably end up over packing like I do every time I go somewhere. I suppose it is a bonus that I will be able to buy anything that I forget there, plus new stuff when I need it.

The thing with it being my last week means I am trying to see a lot of people before I go and like I said at the start there just doesn't seem to be enough time for it all. It also means starting the goodbyes which is going to be interesting. I think I will be ok after having a cry on Friday night, but I think the hardest ones will be Natalie and Stephanie because if they start crying then I don't know if I will be able to control myself but I am going to try, I mean its only a year and if I think back to what has happened in the past year its not really been that much.

That will do me for now but I will make sure and update this before I start the journey, maybe by then I will be nervous and need somewhere to ramble, well more than I normally do.
So until next time :-D

My Leaving Night

Well last night I had my leaving night, but it wasn't what I had expected. I thought that we were going to start with a charity night and then head into town but how I was wrong.

The charity night I was told we were going to was actually a surprise party for me. My friends and family are all sneaky buggers but I love them for it. The day started with me going for a wander round the shops with Natalie and going for lunch then headed back to hers and watched The Little Mermaid, getting right into the Disney feel. So we started to get ready and let me just say face paint is such a pain to get on and looking good, it took me forever, Natalie had done her hair and make up and got ready and I was still doing my face paint! HAHA!

Now this is when the fun starts: what I was aware of was that we were going to go to the weevers just after 8, but 8 came and Natalie said she had to call her dad (unknown to me Stephanie text her to stall!) so she went upstairs, now if anyone knows me you will know I hate being late anywhere so I heard Natalie finishing up upstairs so I called a taxi so that we could go right away. Natalie was a bit shocked but obviously didn't say anything so off we went, on the way there I was texting Stephanie just to see how it was looking so far, and she was doing a good job at lying as she had been all up until this.
In the taxi I said to Nat that it wouldn't surprise me if I saw my uncle there as it was his local and he always goes to things there, once again there was a shocked silence, (thinking about it I really am so unobservant). So we got there and Steph met us outside and we headed in, and yup the first person I saw was my uncle, but then there was shouting and as I looked around I saw everyone else and just couldn't help but start to cry as I really had no clue.

It was so nice to see everyone together like this as there was some people there that I haven't seen in such a long time. It took me a long time to get over the shock of it all and there was a few comments that this was the quietest they had ever heard me, but as the night went on the shock wore off and I really started to have a good time. I think everyone did. Everything that was arranged was perfect, it was a great night.

I knew I had some really great family and friends, but for them to organise this altogether I really couldn't ask for any better. I am going to miss everyone while I'm away but this was a great send off.

So Much Has Happened

As you can see from the title so much has happened since the last time I updated this.

Firstly I got my visa!!!!

That was the main thing that seems to cause the greatest panic with everyone, but when I went everything went smoothly, I don't think it could have gone any better! Everything just seemed to go perfectly.
My day started off early, which I hate, after a late night as I couldn't get to sleep. I set off to the airport car park at like 4am, the roads where empty which I love, got there and left the car and got right on the bus, got to the airport and had some coffee and porridge. This made me have a little giggle as I thought to myself I could not get more Scottish if I tried as I had had Haggis the night before and then porridge for breakfast. Disney made the right choice with me as I will be representing Scotland. :-)
Got the flight, which just like the last time I was on it seems like the shortest flight ever. 45 minutes and most of that time is taking off and landing, the seatbelt sign is off only for about 15 minutes. Once in Belfast I got 2 buses to the embassy, thing was my appointment was booked for 10.45 am, I got there at 8.55am, so I was super early. Luckily they were all really nice and I was in and out in less than 30 minutes so I had the rest of the day in Belfast alone as my flight was at 6pm, I had thought about chancing my luck and going to the airport and trying to get on the earlier flight, but I didn't bother. Didn't think easyjet would let it without a cost, so not worth it, so I just went for a wander round Belfast had some lunch, lay on the grass in the sun. All in all just a really good day, very relaxing with great results of having my visa!

Between then and now not very much has happened, but in the last few days I have paid my assessment fee after a lot of problems getting access to it, so that is me officially done everything official that needs to be done for going to Disney so all that is left to do is pack and get things with my car sorted, but other than that Disney here I come!

So yesterday was my last day in work so I decided to wear my Minnie ears to get in the Disney mood. In work it just didn't feel like my last day, just felt like a normal day, I did however just not care about the stats like I normally would, I just took it easy. I do have to admit though I am happy that it is over and that I now have 2 weeks to myself to get everything in order.

I have been tackling the hard job of clearing my room of all non essential things and it is taking forever. I have so far chucked so much out, but looking around my room you would think that I haven't touched it. You really don't realise how much crap you gather until it comes to the time to get rid of it and for me that time is now and I have to say I am not liking this! I suppose it is a good thing I am not too sentimental or there would probably be a lot more stuff that I wouldn't fling out.

Now that I have time to myself I will take the first week to try and get everything together so that I can have my last week to see everyone for the last time and just chill before I leave. Today I got a camera and the final part of my costume for my leaving night which I am really looking forward to. I am keeping what I am wearing under wraps, but I will be taking plenty of photos and will upload them here.

So thats me for now, and since I am off for the next 2 weeks I am sure I will be able to keep this more up to date than I have been.

xxx

Catch Up

It has been a while and I have just not really been in the mood to update this but today I thought was a good day to do it.

So I left off in Kos with me going horseriding and lets just say I will not be doing it again, yes it was pretty riding along the beach but then it got boring, no matter what I tried I could not get the horse to move any faster than an OAP walking through the shops on a Sunday afternoon. It was so dire! I felt so bad for Vahri and the other girl out on the ride because I felt like I was holding everyone back, even the dog that was out with us stayed back with me and kept turning round looking at me like "could you go any slower!". After much trying I finally just gave up and let the horse just go at its own pace. When we got back to the stables and I got off the horse I didn't realise just how sore it was to be on a horse. I did feel like I was walking like a cowboy and had a little laugh to myself.

On the Friday we went back on the 3 island cruise to get photos and have another good tanning day, and what a tanning day it was. It was roasting! I was so happy to get into the water and cool off. The water at Pserimos was crystal clear and nice and cool, well freezing when we first went in but great once we got over the initial shock. While in the water I had a float about watching the fish. It is so relaxing watching them just swimming around beneath you. We then stopped at Kalymnos and got photos of lots of churches, for such a little village/ town it had lots of them, and it seemed like they had more spent on the churches than the rest of the village, all very grand. I suppose it is like that all over Greece though. Finally we stopped off at Plati and got to jump off the boat, well I did, Vahri wimped out. That is the best way to get into the sea, jumping off of a boat as you dont have to deal with all the sand of a beach. I hate sand, it just gets everywhere and then if its windy it blows in your face. Just not nice. So jumping off a boat gets rid of all that hassel and that is why I love it. Finally on the way back to Kos harbour we done the Pirate thing again, but this time we got photos! Argh Matey! Had such a lot of fun, thats why we done it again because it is just so fun.

Last day in Kos was on Saturday and my mum had the day off work, so we had a little tour of the island, we started off at the ruins at Askipleion which I got lots of photos of, it is rather large, and we had some fun doing stupid poses on thousand year old ruins. It started to get a lot hotter during the day so we decided to head to the beach at the other end of the island, which also has its own little ruins, nice little house on the beach. Once again the water there was lovely, crystal clear and very cold. We then went out for dinner, a farewell dinner which was lovely and then went up to the turkish village and got some amazing dessert. When we headed to the airport that night, we got there and the airport was full! If you have ever been to the airport in Kos yoou will know how small it is, now add in what seemed to be 8 delayed flights worth of people plus all the other flights that were heading out. Rather a tight squeeze so we sat outside the front for as long as we could so we didn't feel like sardines too much. Luckily our flight was on time, and everything else went to plan, then we landed in Stansted and had a bit of a wait, but it seemed to go ok, and then the flight back up to Glasgow was fine. The only depressing thing was that I left Kos it was lovely and warm, landed in London and it was like 30 degrees and sunny, landed in Glasgow and it was 17 degrees and raining! Typical!

Got back home on the Sunday and back to work on the Monday, so depressing that it felt like I was never away, but at that point I knew that I only had another 7 weeks before I would be in Florida so it lightened the mood a little.

Friday in work I handed in my notice, was so happy. Only 4 more weeks of work makes it so much more real! Time really is starting to fly now. My friends even brought up my leaving night and what we should do. I think we are going to have a Disney themed outing into town in fancy dress. I guess it is predictable but I know we will have a good night.

So 6 weeks today I will be on a plane about 2 hours away from Florida. Very exciting! All I have to do now for going away is pay the assessment fee once I get the visa, then just before I leave get my car insurance in order and pack. The list of things that needs to get done has become very small.

I think that is me come to the end of my catch up for now.

41 days

Kos and my Idiocy

Well I have been here in Kos for 12 days now and have been taking the time to relax. We have been going to the beach and pool getting a good colour. Happy days! We went on a boat trip last Friday, now I would have had pictures of the day out but we got hassled out the door 3 hours before the boat actually left by a certain mum who will not be named. Haha! So we are planning on doing it again this Friday as it is a good day out and its a good chance to be a Pirate, Arrrrgh!!!!

Vahri is still adamant on going horse riding, so it is booked in again for tomorrow as it was cancelled the first time we tried to go. Not 100% wanting to go, not really wanting to go at all, but will see how I feel tomorrow, and if there is a group going out Vahri has said that she will go alone with the group and I will just head to the beach or the shops for a wander to the pass the time. Will let you know what I decide next time.

It is getting really hot here, today I saw the temperature gauge getting up to about 38 degrees celcius, but I guess I will have to get used to it again for when I go over to Florida since I am going in the height of summer so it will be super hot. So going back to working in the heat and having to wear full length clothes will be an adjustment, but I have done it before so I will be able to do it again, plus the bonus is that because I am working in Merchandise I will mostly be inside and the Americans do love their Air Conditioning. I may even need a jacket or cardigan to handle it, doubtful but it may have to be an option.

Now for the Idiocy part, I am not exactly sure what I done but the other night I was lying in bed and I woke up with a pain in my eye, so I have either scratched my eye or hit it off the bedside unit in my sleep. At first I thought I maybe got something in my eye so I got up and checked it in the middle of the night, but no luck, so I went back to sleep but not for very long. I woke up early again but this time the pain was a lot worse, got my mum to check it but still nothing there, so it must be scratched. Got some eye drops and ended up staying in all day, sleeping in a dark room most of the day to give the eye a rest and then when I woke up I sat like a pirate all day with a towel with ice in it wrapped round my head and eye like an eye patch, what a pretty picture that was. During the day it did get gradually better, and this morning when I woke up it didn't feel like I  had anything in it which was a big bonus, so today I ventured out in the sun, still had the eye shut in the sun as it is still tender. The eye drops that my mum got me don't seem to be helping much, they seem to be making my eye blurry but my mum insists that it will help, guess I will just have to wait and see.

On another note, a fresh batch of fellow CRP's travelled out over the weekend, which got me thinking, its only 54 days til I leave and to be honest it can't come soon enough, I just can't wait to get over there and start this journey, and to meet up with all the people that I have already met and also to meet the ones that I have only spoke to online as I know that we are going to have lots and lots of fun Disney times as we are all as big Disney freaks as each other.

We thats all folks.

"you've got a friend in me!"

Visa, Kos and other Stuff

Well a few days ago I got my Visa papers through and was checking in work when I would be off and trying to plan when I would be going to book it, have decided to go to Belfast instead of London as it is going to be easier, cheaper and a lot faster. So I checked my schedule and was hoping for the 30th June but when I called the visa number the 1st available date was later, so I have got the 14th July at 10.45am. Once I had that booked I booked the flights over,  so in the space of like 20 minutes I spent lots and lots of money :( but it has to be done. So once that is done all I think I have to do will be pay the fee thing and then pack, it is just flying in now. 61 days til I fly!!!! Woohoo!!!

So I have been in Kos now for 5 days and having lots of fun. Have been to the beach, in the sea, built a sandcastle and was invited to a 5* hotel for the day so had a fun day there. Vahri has roped me into going horse riding on Thursday, not amused! Will have to just wait and see how it goes. We are then going to go on the 3 island cruise next week. Have been looking into other things that we can do but so far we are at a loss. Still got plenty of time to decide what we are going to do.

That is all that I can think about just now, must be all the sun and fresh air messing with my head. :)

Insurance

Well as you can guess from the title, that's me got my insurance finally! I have only been saying that I would be getting it for months, but now that I have it that's one more thing that I have ticked off my imaginary to do list. I think all I have to do now is get my visa which I have to wait to do, pay the assessment fee which I also have to wait to do and then pack and say bye to everyone. So all in all a very short looking list, but I'm sure that when I will be doing everything on it, it will take a lot longer that it will look on paper.

So all is calm on the Disney front for now, not much else I can do just now for leaving apart from count down the days which at the moment is 81 days, so it is flying in now. Excitement!

On another note, I am leaving for Kos 2 weeks on Thursday, well unless Iceland screws the plans! Stupid ash cloud better calm down, I am not having another one ruin my travel plans. Cannot wait until I leave here for a break, just need to get away and chill, like the calm before the storm because I know that as soon as I get back its going to be all go!

I had a thought the other day, that when I am in Disney it is going to be strange not driving for a full year, and having the freedom of a car to just get up and go, but I guess I done it for 17 years I am sure I will be able to last another year. The one bonus I suppose is that if I do go out for a few drinks I don't have to worry about having to drive the next morning.

I think I will cut the rambling off there, so until next time. :D

p.s fingers crossed that I win the lottery before I leave as that would be awesome! I can always dream.

Double Figures!!!

Like I said in the previous post I would post again once I was into double figures and now I am. I was actually in double figures a few days ago but I have just not been up for writing this. I wasn't as excited as I thought I would be. I think all this waiting is just bringing me down and getting to me, not in the sense that I don't want to go, just that I am sick of all the waiting. At first I thought it was a good thing that I had all of this time to wait so that I could get all of my things in order and get enough money saved up, but it is now dawning on me that I didn't need that much time to get ready. As I have all this time I feel like I'm not doing anything for going away for such long periods of time because there is a lot of stuff that I can't do so I just don't feel like doing the stuff I could be doing any more. I know that is a bit of a ramble but I feel that is what my head is like just now, everywhere and nowhere all at the same time and doing the same thing everyday and not enjoying it just keeps making me think of what I could be doing in Disney.

I have also been thinking about when I get back from Florida and I know I am looking far too far into the future just now but I can't help it. I am a worrier at heart. I keep thinking "how will I cope coming home to normality after being there and doing something so different?" and I do really think that I wont cope very well but I know my friends and family will help me through. No matter how they do it, from small things to the big, even if it is just a chat online I know it will help cause I know it is going to be a huge adjustment. The adjustment in Disney I think will be easier as everyone will be feeling exactly the same plus its going to be awesome, working in Disney, living in Florida it really is a dream.

When I get back I will also have to limit my stories that begin "in Florida/ in Disney" and especially "this one time in Disney/Florida" because I know it will get very old very fast and I don't want to bore people like I think I have done already with all my talk about over there. I have tried to limit myself talking about it to only when somebody asks about it as I don't want it to seem like its all I think about.

I think I will stop there as I don't have anything else to write, and this post isn't exactly happy cheery but I am sure that the next post will be better, I think I am just in a slump. Need to snap myself out of it as this is not a good Disney attitude, well at least not in public, so I will need to practice having the split persona in case I do have an off day in Florida which I cannot show when I am working in Disney as I will always be on stage.

New Phone

As you can guess from the title I decided to get the new Dell Streak when I got paid. I like it but everyone that has saw it has only said it is HUGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't care because I like it and I am the one that's using it, not them! On Friday I went to the orange shop to add a internet bundle so that I can get full use of it, and since I got it I have used half of the bundle already but I think that is mainly down to the fact that I went mental with downloading apps and getting my email set up. I was also easily amused with the maps section as it is also a SatNav which is awesome.

As the phone is unlocked it "should" work in USA, I don't know why it wouldn't as long as I get a US sim card and I have been looking at Virgin as it seems to be the best deal. That will be one of the first things I will be doing over there so I can keep in touch easier.

I still haven't got my insurance yet, but I will get it this month! I WILL! So as soon as I do I will be blogging about it.

Only 11 days until double figures!

Germany

My wee cousin Vahri has just decided to go to Germany for her 3rd year of University. Sounds good and I know she is going to have a ball. I don't think she is going to want to come back, just like me with Florida. One of the good things about this is that we are both leaving for the same year so even though we are going to miss each other it wont be too bad as we will both be busy doing new stuff. It will also make Vahri less emotional about Asda as I did find it kinda funny when she started crying about the fact that she thought I was replacing her with someone else when I go to Walmart in Florida. I did think it was quite sweet, but still very funny!

I am pretty sure we will sicken each other when we are in Kos together, that is my plan for everyone, make them sick of the sight of me so its not so hard when I leave and so that when I get back they will be even more happy to see me. Well that's my plan but whether it works that way is something else entirely!

I can't wait to go to Kos to get away from here and just chill, plus also get to see my mum even though she is going to be working but I am sure we will have plenty of fun together. I also need a tan as I am feeling kinda pale and sick looking but I am sure that will pass once I have spent a full year in the Sunshine State. Will just have to adjust to the temperature in Florida as it will be quite a bit of a difference compared with Scotland which you will see from my previous post has a tendency to have 4 seasons in one day.

On another note, I really want to get the Dell Streak as it just seems like a cool phone/tablet but I was undecided whether to get it here before I go or get it in Florida, with the exchange rate it would have made more sense to get it in Florida but I was having a look through the Tesco website and it is half price!!!! Woohoo!!!! So the decision is now do I get it now, even though it is a little extra cost that I had sort of budgeted for but not completely or wait and then possibly get it later but then it will probably be more expensive then. Decisions. Decisions.

I have also been thinking more about the medical insurance and I think I have came to the decision that I am going to get the 4 months here and then get the Disney Insurance when I am over there. It seems like the more sensible option and if I ever had to go to the doctors or hospital (touch wood I wont) then it would make the process a whole lot easier. Other than this I have not really thought too much about any more Disney stuff as it just seems to be dragging at the moment but it is not long until I am down to double figures until I leave as it is now 114 days, as it has just passed midnight as I have been writing this, so only 2 weeks until double figures. I think once that happens I might have another wee burst of excitement like I did when I went down the hundreds.

I have been saying it for months but I really think I will get the insurance this month so I can tick it off of my imaginary list of things to do which at this moment does not seem to be getting any smaller, but I'm positive it will soon.

This post is a bit all over the place but I think that is what my brain is like just now, I need a holiday. I am so glad that I have 2 long weekends in a row so that I can reset myself. Don't you wish sometimes that you had a reset or refresh button to make you feel better right away.

I think I have rambled enough so I will finish up there.


"A dream is a wish your heart makes!"

A Little Get Together

Last night as my Dad and Pauline where staying in Edinburgh for their anniversary I had a few people over for a belated birthday night, just a quite one (well sort of).

Finished work at 7pm and went and picked up the usual culprits and headed through to mines, Nat and Steph came well prepared with a BBQ and assorted BBQ food, so we started to make it but then realised that one disposable BBQ was not really going to be enough for what we had so the George Forman saved the day! I did burn my thumb on it, but that was just my stupidity! Once all the food was made, and there ended up being loads, we just chilled with drinks and the music channels on. Lost count at how many times Adele came on, we then turned it to another channel that had Pop Domination and it was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Heard all of the old tunes like A1, Billie Piper, Backstreet Boys etc. It brought back the memories and we were all singing our hearts out!

Once Nat and Steph left, Vahri, Louise and I stayed up until about 4ish singing, painting each others faces and just generally having a laugh. Was good fun. Ended up doing the dishes and cleaning up at 4am, I still don't know how we used so many plates! Sharing a bed with Vahri was funny as she got one of my teddys and fell asleep cuddling it after joking around with it for a little while. It has been a while since I have shared a bed with her as we usually sleep on couches or floors, I suppose sharing a 2/3 man tent might have been a little bit more cozy. Didn't really get much sleep as it was a tad hot so that's why I think I am going to have an earlyish night tonight.

I don't know if I mentioned this before but I got more dollars after my birthday so I think that is me changed over as much as I can, not to say that if just before I go I have a bit of cash spare then I will change that to dollars as well, but my money now is just going to pay for the rest of the things I need to get, Visa/Trip to London to get the Visa/Insurance/Housing fee/Euros for when I go to Kos/Road Tax/Car Insurance and other bits and bobs that I will need before leaving. When I put it down on a list like that it freaks me out a bit thinking that I still have a lot to do, but I will get it all done as a lot of it I can't do now anyway so that calms me down just as quick. I also have one less thing to get before I go as for my birthday Nat and Steph got me a Disney Princess duvet set for me to take with me. I love it! From Vahri I got a ticket to go and see 3 oh! 3 so that will be good and will bring back the memories of T in The Park and The Leeds Festival last year as we same them at both, it's going to be so fun!

Don't think I have any other news or anything of interest so I will finish here whilst I watch The Rocky Horror Picture Show. "Don't just dream it! Be it!"

22

So today is my birthday, and so far so good.

For breakfast my dad made me french toast which is a must for birthday breakfast and then I opened my cards and presents. I got some very nice cards and dollars which is all I really wanted. My dad and pauline gave me enough for my Universal Annual pass so that's me happy and ready to go see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!!!! Its going to be epic, I can just tell. They also got me a Disney Couture Bangle that has
"Believing is just the beginning,
All you need is faith and trust,
And a little bit of Pixie Dust"
on 3 separate but linked bangles. Very cute and so appropriate. I also got a little Me To You bear and an Eeyore tote bag. I just love Eeyore!

Before I went to sleep last night I had a call from my mum who stayed on the phone long enough so that she could say Happy Birthday to me twice as soon as it happened. Was nice to speak with her for so long, but I will be going to see her in June with Vahri. Should be fun.

Well today has been a very different birthday from last year and I am sure it will be a very different compared to next years birthday but I suppose that is better than always doing the same thing year after year.

Off to get ready now for dinner as we are going to Frankie and Bennys. What to have? What to have?

Tuna Pasta mmm!

Well after Tuesday I was in the mood for tuna pasta, got home and there was no tuna so I was gutted. Was busy on Wednesday, so today the mood for it came back so made it and have to say it was good, but I just know it will be better tomorrow, it is always better the day after. Have to thank my mum for the recipe, i.e. fling everything and anything into the pot and some chopped tomatoes, tuna and pasta and hey presto, delicious tuna pasta. The best thing it very rarely tastes the same twice as its a case of what do we have in the kitchen this time. I do think I might be living on tuna pasta when I am in Florida. Easy and quick to make, also cheap which I am sure will be a big thing over there.

So its my birthday on Sunday and have decided that I am not doing anything apart from going out for dinner with family. The joys of growing up, everyone is busy and has other stuff to do, plus I wasn't really up for doing anything this year, doesn't even feel like its my birthday already. Maybe I am on a downer after last years birthday being in Disney but I guess I have next years in Disney to look forward to, a completely different experience with a new group of friends.

I have decided though to have a girlie night in the following Friday so I'm sure that will be fun, need to work on some drinking games, might even go with Stephs game from beefeater as it did seem to work well. Might even pick up another shocker game as that was fun the last time.

TTFN

Seats are Booked!

Well as you can tell our seats on the flights are booked, well all but Matts. Me, Myah and Vicky are all booked in and sitting pretty, just waiting for our Prince to come. When we were booking the seats it all seems so real as when we were booking the seats you see a little picture of the plane so its like "woohoo! that's us in the plane to Disney!"

On another note I had a rather eventful weekend, on Saturday I went to my friends house warming and at the end of the night went to get my bag as we had called a taxi, but my bag was nowhere to be found. Called everyone that was there that night and everybody said that they didn't have it. It had my car keys, house keys, bank card and driving license in it, also a few wee bits and bobs but nothing to mention, but the main thing I was worrying about was my car keys as the car was sitting outside the house and would have been there all night. I was worried that even if nobody at the house warming had the bag then one of them might have lifted it and then dropped it in the street or in a taxi. Steph was freaking out a bit and persuaded me to call the police to report it, so I got a crime reference number and they told me to cancel my bank card, so at about 4.30 am (ish) I was cancelling my bank card. Luckily my wee cousin Vahri came and picked me up, as I had had some drink, and took me home where I got my spare car key so that she could move my car. Strange thing was that on the way along the A80 in the middle of the roadworks there was a boat just sitting there, so very random, and no I was not so drunk that I imagined a boat on the road.

So after all the running around I just stayed at Vahris and didn't get to sleep until about 6.30am and it was already starting to get light, good thing I was shattered as I was unconscious within minutes. Then at about 8.30am Vahri got a call saying that one of the girls that was there last night had my bag wrapped up in her jacket and she had only checked her bag the night before. I was glad but also a little annoyed as I had cancelled my card all because she couldn't check her stuff properly. I guess I just have to be happy that I got my stuff back and I had another bank card I could use until I get my new one. Went back to sleep and woke up at 10.30am still shattered but had places to be so went and got my stuff and went home. Like I said eventful.

Then I went to the Outside Inn for a mothers day lunch with my step mum, and the rest of the ladies on her side of the family. Have to admit that it has really went downhill compared with what it used to be, the service was crap, the food was ok and not one of us was truly happy with it. What a shame as I was thinking about going there for my birthday dinner with my friends but that's not going to happen now. Still have to decide what I want to do for my birthday. Any suggestions are welcome.

Its almost in the 120's that's another step closer to double figures! I think when it gets to double figures it will just fly in.

Nights Like This

Well it is Friday night, people are either working or already have plans, so I am spending it in the house. I'm bored but to be honest it doesn't take much for me to be bored, so it is nights like this that I am going to love having a bus that I can just get on and go to some of the Disney parks, go for a walk around, go on some rides, see some shows and just generally pass the time in a less boring way.


I do plan on going to at least all of the parks myself just so that I know that I can be totally independent but I do think moving to Florida for a year really does prove that, but this does seem slightly different, its more like going into town yourself but a much larger scale. It is just another step that I personally think I have/want to take to build my confidence. The whole Disney experience is going to do that so I am going to do as much as I can when I am there as this is too big an opportunity to waste any moment of it.

A few weeks ago I had a random thought about being over there and thinking just how much I was going to miss everyone as we are all really close so it is just going to be an adjustment which I am sure we will survive, I mean its not as if its the first time I have went away for long periods of time, this one is just going to be a little (well a lot) longer than before.

A little note to my friends, I had a thought when I was talking to Stephanie, and I will not bring you anything back from Disney until you put your ariel bobbers on the cars, because if not then you just don't appreciate my previous Disney gifts and will not get any more. :P so there!

New Travel Buddy

Well, I found out the other day that I have a new travel buddy Vicky. So our little group is growing, so exciting. So we are all flying together and me, Mat and Vicky are all meeting in Gatwick on the 13th and then meeting up with myah on the 14th to fly out, its going to be great meeting up with everyone and getting the party started.

The original plan was to just have one hotel room in Florida, the rooms can fit 4 in it, but from what Myah has said I think having 2 bathrooms might have its benefits if we want to get anywhere. Plus it means that I wont have to share a bed with Myah because if I did she said that she was going to kick me out of bed to wake me up instead of just jumping on my bed which I think would be a better way of being woke up.

I can not wait now, but there is still so much I have to get which is still freaking me out a little, but I know it is going to all work out in the end, it always does.

Well tomorrow is the 1st of April, another month down and also my birthday month. This year I am not really in the mood to go out for a big night or anything, I think I just want to go for dinner with friends and have a few drinks, well maybe more than a few but nothing big. It has also got me thinking about what I want to do for my leaving night as I want all my friends there and be able to have a good time but not be too stressed out and emotional, but to be honest I don't think I will be the emotional one.

A lot of people that have went out have had fancy dress leaving nights, but I think it would be too much to ask of people to get dressed up, even though I do think it would be funny to see a group of people all dressed up in Glasgow in August. Would get a lot of looks. I have plenty of time to worry about that, or might just leave it to one of my friends to organise as I think at that point I will be too hyper to focus on most things.

Duvet

Well the other day I decided to get some little things to mark of my to get list. I got a few sheets as they were on sale, was planning on getting them anyway so decided to get them while they were cheap, I also got a duvet, Vac Pacs and a pair of trainers.

So today I decided to see how small I could get the duvet to see how much space it will take up in my hand luggage, and I am happy to report it does go pretty small even though I did get the higher tog one as the 4.5 tog seemed very thin and pointless, plus I got the 9 tog for the same price so happy days! Was also having a clear out of my room to try and get rid of stuff that I don't need and came across one of my old single bed sets so I think I will take that as well, save some money. I think I may even have some other ones in the house somewhere, but if not I will get a few fresh ones as the benefit will be that they are already folded small in no way that I ever could get it.

Guess that's another thing that I will have to decide later. Got to love Procrastination. I mastered it during university.

On another note I was out at a Charity Event and they had a raffle with lots of really good prizes and true to form I did not win one thing. There was 6 of us and between us I think we had about 40 tickets and the only person that won anything was my friend Stephanie and she won twice. What a shame since she won 2 bottles of whiskey and does not like the stuff. After the night was over we all tried to get a taxi and not one would come and get us so that just left us to walk to the closest house, which I have to be honest when you are wearing heels, wasn't close enough. I was so glad to have 2 helping hands along the way though. Have to admit it was a really good night and the walk home was actually fun if not painful.

Today I have just had a lazy day, but that's what Sundays are for.

Another Sleepless Night

Well as you can gather I am wide awake as normal, I think my body has decided that it is on Florida time already, the joys of working back shift, it messes with the body clock. Everything is pushed forward like 4 or more hours, but to be honest it doesn't bother me that much as I have always been a night person, and for all that know me, NOT a morning person.

So while awake I have decided that I will get my medical insurance next week, and take the time tomorrow to do all the research, that is if I wake up early enough. Guess I will just have to make myself get up, no matter how hard it is.
I am still not 100% sure what to do about insurance, I no that a lot of people are considering the 4 months here and then getting the Disney Insurance, but that just means more money taken from the wage, where as if I get the year cover it means that it is all paid for and I don't have to worry about it, so unsure and confused. Why do things always have to be so difficult.

I am also going to get another year multi trip travel insurance just before I go to Kos to see my mum so that I can use that for any travel that I do, and I can always see about extending it towards the end if I do decide to go travelling after the program. I think it will be better to be over protected rather than not have enough and end up regretting it.

I haven't bought anything else for going away but keep looking at different things, a few things I want to get soonish are: Duvet, Bedding, Work Shoes and Insurance. Then I can start looking at the other stuff like clothes and other random stuff that I will want to take, but will need to make sure that I limit the random stuff I take as that is usually what weights down my cases.

Well I finished all 6 of The Vampire Diaries books and I'm still unsure if I like them because it seemed like the story itself was very random to point of being a bit ridiculous, and yes I know it is a book about vampires, but what I mean is, it was doing to much too fast, and reading it seemed to be a bit of a chore even though they are not the most difficult to read, it was more the way the story seemed to jump from different peoples points of view and at times it was telling the same thing but from different people, but then at other times the story just carried on with the other person. It was that way that it felt very difficult to read and I think it was partly down to this that I didn't enjoy reading it as much as I have other books. I am sure though that when the next book does come out I will read it as I don't like to leave things unfinished and the story isn't quite finished so I want to see if all the way through to see where it is going to go.

Well that is another day down until I leave for Disney, 144 days until the journey to infinity and beyond begins. xxx

My Ghostly Visitor

I know that I have already posted, but I think I have a ghost in my room. It is very odd, all of a sudden I just smelt fag smoke. Now nobody in my house smokes, I've checked the house incase there is somethink burning but nothing. I was speaking with my mum when it started and she seems to think it is my gran. I have to admit when I first smelt it I had the same thought.

Its odd, its only in one place, right beside where I am sitting. When I stood up to check the house I smelt around my room and it didn't smell anywhere else only right beside me, but not even on me, or on something next to me, the smell was coming from mid air. Very strange!


So I sprayed some smelly stuff to try and get rid of the smell as I hate cigarette smoke, I hate the smell of it completely, but it didn't work, so I decided to speak to "my gran" to say Hi and that I was happy she was there but the next time she comes if she could not smoke beforehand that would be great. That didn't seem to work either, was a long shot but worth a try.


Now I am going to try and get to sleep and try to ignore the smoke smell, doubtful but I guess it needs to be done.

St Patricks Day

Well tomorrow is St Patricks day and I am not going out because I am working, but it does make me think about previous years and how much fun I have had. Then I am thinking what is next years St Patricks day going to bring.

America does everything huge and I know that every American can trace there roots back to either Scotland or Ireland, so I know that St Patricks day will be a big thing. Should be fun.

Well haven't been doing much lately, but I did go to my Managers wedding reception on Sunday night and I have to say she did look very pretty. It was a small wedding but for the 2 of them it seemed perfect. Apart from that I have only been working and reading. In the past 3 days I have read like 4 books, well it is 2 volumes with 2 books within each volume. It is The Vampire Diaries books, and I have to say they are ok books to read, not as good as the Sookie Stackhouse books but still readable.
Compared to the books, The Vampire Diaries TV program is just the same characters and setting but completely different stories, so after watching the program first I think that is not allowing me to like the books as much, but then with True Blood I watched that first and then read the books and have to admit I loved the books. So I guess I'm just a bit odd.

Well that is all today, but I did start doing a packing list and had a little bit of a freak out as there is so much I need to get, and I thought I was doing so well.

4 Seasons in 1 Day

True to form in Scotland today we really did have 4 seasons in 1 day. I have to admit that I don't think I will miss that too much when I'm in Florida.


So it started off at 3.30am this morning as I was heading home after being out for my wee cousins birthday night out and it was pretty mild but then it started raining, then I started to get really cold, but not sure if that was the weather or me just shattered. Got back to Vahris house and the wind began to howl so loudly felt like the windows where going to in, but I was unconscious before I could really care too much.

So woke up (at 7.30am might I add!) and it looked kind of sunny so I was happy and headed home and then the rain started again. A little later just before I headed to work it started to hail stone. So now that I think of it we had all for seasons before 9.30am!!!!

Later on the rain started again and the wind together so that is just awful combined, and then the snow, and it just kept going round in a circle of different weather. This has continued all the way until now as it was snowing not long ago quite heavy and now it has just stopped and the sky is looking pretty clear today.

This weather is a joke, and I'm sure that when I tell people from other countries that we have all 4 seasons in a day they will think I am exaggerating, but I really am not. It happens all the time. Ask any Scottish person.

But OMG!!! I just had a full rant about the weather, I will have to pass on this culture to the other countries when I am in Florida as it is a very British thing to do.

Ok so rant over and I am shattered (hmmm I wonder why?) so I think it is time to get some zzzz's.

Pancakes

Well as you will probably know today is Pancake Day, so I wanted to make some.

I text my dad earlier on in the day to see if he wanted to make some this evening and he was fine with it. After I got in from my day out catching up with Fiona my dad had bought one of those pancake mixes where you only have to add milk and shake as he like myself don't really have a clue of how to make them from fresh. I did however Google it last night, sad I know but I don't care. So anyway, I added the milk and shook the mixture and then let it set like the instructions said, my dad had got the pan ready for me so I started the first one.

What a disaster that was.

It looked nothing like a pancake, I wont even say what it looked like but lets just say not nice in the slightest. My dad came through saying that I should "let him do it", so I sat down watched him and said to him that I think it was the pan as it wasn't truly non stick, but as usual dad plodded along, and yup same as before his turned out awful, slightly better looking that mines, but still awful. Needless to say I did have a good laugh and got the other pan out and started again. This time it turned out better (well slightly) but took a little longer. Me and my dad had a few, Pauline didn't brave it, probably because it was me making them, and to be honest, they were edible but not particularly nice, so some got binned. So not sure if I will be attempting them for another wee while.

Have to say though I did do better than a time when I was younger and tried to make pancakes and ended up at the nurses office.

I was trying to flip the pancakes but in doing so I lost my grip on the pan, and instead of letting it fall I tried to grab it again. So I ended up wrapping both of my index fingers round the metal part of the handle at the connection to the pan and burning my fingers. I ended up with a blister on each part of my fingers. Was kind of painful. So I am happy that this time I didn't do anything stupid like that, well sort of. I did burn the tip of my finger grabbing a pancake as it folded over and I couldn't get it separated without grabbing it in the pan.

Next time I make pancakes they have to be awesome and I have to not burn myself, if not I will just give up. It might be natures way of telling me that I shouldn't be making pancakes for some reason. So better not mess with Mother Nature!!!!

On another note, whilst I was out with Fiona today I was telling her about what I have done so far for Disney and I got so excited even though I haven't actually done that much. Disney just makes me feel like a kid again and I love love love it!

I did however have a little dilemma today. I was in Asda and had a look at different duvets to try and decide which one to take with me to Florida, and yes I know most people might think I am mental, but what can I say I like a duvet even if it is just to hug and wrap my leg round when trying to get to sleep. I am taking it in my hand luggage so it doesn't weight down my main case. This does mean that it can't be too big even though I am going to vacuum pack it, so here is the dilemma: do I go for a double to make sure that it completely covers me when I get over there as I have heard that the single beds in are bigger than here, or do I go for a single duvet so that it will be smaller to take over (but not by much) and so that I will also be able to get more fun duvet covers, like a Mickey and a Minnie mouse one I have seen. I'm such a big child and I think that is why I may be more likely to go for the single duvet so I can get the character covers, but I have still not made my mind up. When I do it will get posted.

The Latest

So I have been told off lately for not updating this, so here I go.

The other day I got some Dollars so I could not spend the money here and also I can get an idea how much I will have when I get over there. When I got them, the rest of the day I was extremely happy, I think it was because it's silly things like that that make me feel like I am one step closer to Disney.

Apart from the Dollars I have not done anything else Disney related in a while hence the lack of blogs, I have just been working, which luckily they have said that they are looking for overtime, so I think I will definitely be doing some to get extra pennies for Disney.

Speaking of money I was having a discussion with my wee cousin about the lottery and what would I do if I won. I tend to have this conversation a lot, wishful thinking, but then you never know, it may just happen one day so you need to be prepared. :D Anyway, we were talking about what we would do and I do think that I would still do the Disney job for the year, as I don't think any amount of money would allow me to do something like this otherwise. I know that some people would think I would be mad to do it, but if they really knew me they would understand.

Have started to get little bits and bobs for things to take, so makes me a little happy as well knowing that I will have some things for arriving there so that even though the first place we will be after getting to the hotel is going to be Walmart.

I will try and post more often but at the moment there is nothing much to post as I am limited to how much I can do in preparation for leaving, and I don't want to bored you with the same post "not been doing much just working" .

Travel Buddies

My travel buddies have increased, it has went from me and Myah to me, Myah and Matthew!!!!!

Florida here we come! Its going to be a blast!
Myah is excited as it just means more photos to be taken, plus it means that she now has someone else to get super hyper with. One downside for me is now that there is going to be three of us in the room in Florida I will now be sharing a bed with Myah and instead of her jumping on my bed to wake me up the 1st morning, she know can just kick me out of the bed to wake me up!!!! Buggar.

Another little count down update and we are at 182 days until we leave for Florida. (181 until I leave Scotland)
It seems like only yesterday it was up in the 300's so it is going quite fast, but at times not nearly fast enough.

Til next time have a happy Disney Day :D

Second Meet Up

Well on Saturday I met up with a group of Disney people that have already been there and done the CRP, and I have to say they were all really nice and gave me lots of info about what to do over there, and what they done, so it was very interesting.

We went to Tony Romas and were in there for over 3 hours just sitting and chatting (eating lots as well) and we all seemed to have a really nice time, Ellie is applying again this year so I've got my fingers crossed that she gets it as she does seem really nice.

Sunday I had my little cousin Emilys christening which was a lot of standing up, mouthing hymns, sitting down and repeating. Food was nice.

Monday night I went and saw Tangled with a few of my friends and when it started and I saw the Castle I got so excited. Have to say I loved the film, and just makes me more excited about going now. I am such a big kid, I was laughing my head off at some of the bits in the film. I think that everyone should go see it, you cant beat a good Disney film.

The Meet Up and Work

Well, went down to Birmingham on Saturday on the train, Vahri loves me that much that she took me to the train station in the morning. Got on the train and got comfy then realised that I didn't have my headphones, bummer!!!! After a little (large) amount of boredom texting I decided to put The Little Mermaid on but not as loud that it would bug other people I hope, but if it did, too bad! Everyone's got to love a good Disney film!!!! So 4 and a bit hours after leaving Glasgow, train was like 20 mins late, I finally got to meet my lovely Disney Girls Lea and Elin, they were waiting on me at the pub.

Got out of the station, and instead of trying to find our way by foot, which if Elin had been guiding us we would have totally got lost!!!!! Haha!!!!! We got a taxi. It really wasn't that far. So we got to the room, which to be honest had such a funky smell but we got used to it, but every time we went back to it, it hit us like a ton of bricks, left our stuff and then went to find the Disney shop. It was a must!

So in the Disney shop I bought the three of us Minnie Ears, Elin got us all Disney Princess Perfume, totally makes us smell amazing!!! Lea had already got us lovely shot glasses and keyrings, but she got herself a Belle cuddly toy, is so cute.

After the Disney shop we headed back to the room as it was already 6 by this point and dinner was at 8 so we had to get ready, got back to the room, was so much easier to find it than the Disney shop as we didn't get lost on the way back to the room! So getting ready we poured ourselves some drinks and then we got the willy straws out and started to confuse the others with our texts, but was fun, anyway I went into the bathroom to get a shower and ready and stuff, and just my luck my top fell in the toilet before I could close the lid. Lets just say I was not amused but its a good thing I overpacked so it wasn't too bad, then to make matters worse I ripped my tights, nothing seemed to be working for me, but I got over it and had a great time anyway.

Met up with all the others in Gary and Megans room, it was great to finally put a face to all the names, and then headed downstairs to Frankie and Bennies for some dinner. Food and cocktails where amazing, but it always is from there, then we all headed out to find somewhere to go. Ended up in Lloyds and had a great time, dancing like a maddy having a few more drinks, all in all a really good time. Headed back to the hotel and found a taxi that took 8 of us back as Megan and Alex came back later, was a bit of a squeeze but save us getting 2 taxis. Once we were back in the hotel we all met up in our room and had a wee chat and lots of laughs until we all got really tired and had to head to bed. Next morning Elin was up early to get her train along with Lea who had to "talk to the big white telephone"! I was just far too tired to notice.

On the way back home I fell asleep on the train at times, woke up with a sore neck, but got over it, overall it was an amazing weekend and so glad I finally got to meet everyone but it was so odd cause it felt like we already knew each other for years we got on that well. Well that's how I felt, so I hope that's what the others felt as well. Can't believe the next time I see them it is going to be in Disney! Kind of bittersweet but will be amazing in the end.

In work today I got a final answer from work, I will just have to resign and then when I get back if they are recruiting I have just to give my manager a call to arrange an interview type thing, but not the same tests as before as they already know I can do it, which is reflected in my stats so that's a bonus.

That's all for now, will post again soon. Well maybe, depends on if I have anything worthwhile to post about. Don't want to sound too boring

Work?

In work this week after a few days of bugging my manager I finally got an answer, it isn't set in stone as it still has to be confirmed with HR, but looks like because its more than a year I will probably have to resign and then reapply, but when I reapply I should be able to get back into my team on the same wage etc, which I don't know if that is good or not, but I suppose having the strong possibility of having a job after I get back is a good thing.

This time next week I will be meeting up with fellow Disney folk and having a ball, I just can't wait to meet everyone and have discussions about Disney knowing that I will not be annoying people as like I think I've said before, I think I am starting to get on my friends nerves, I mean I am trying to limit my Disney chat with them, it is just hard.

On another note, I have heard now of 2 people leaving early from Disney, one after about 3 months and one after just 1 week. Personally I think that these people didn't give it a chance, specially the one that came back after a week, and they possibly thought of it more as a holiday than actual work. It does help that I have made a lot of friends through fb, so it means that I don't have to go there worrying about being alone, which is always a benefit. I'm sure that I am going to love it, and I am determined to last the whole year, or even more if they would let me.

212 days til I start, 211 days til I get to see Harry Potter world at Universal, 209 days til I leave Scotland!

The Pack

Well like the email said I got my pack on Monday, but to be honest I was a little disappointed in it.
Getting it did feel like a step in the right direction and a little step closer to Disney but it never gave me any info that I didn't already know. It just gave me a Disney paper folder which I will be using to keep all my stuff in when I get round to printing it off.

Still haven't had a answer from work about taking the year out, I'm going to wait another week and then maybe ask again, I don't want to pester them but I would like an answer as it would give me a little relief to know that I don't have to worry about finding a job when I get back.

Also 11 days until I am going down to Birmingham to meet up with fellow cast members, its going to be good!!! I'm sure we will have such a ball.
Then the following weekend I am meeting up with other Disney folk in Glasgow, but this time its mainly people who have been out before so it will give me a good chance to pick their brains about it.

I have been reading over a lot of what people who have been out there have been saying about the differences between Merch and F&B, and even though I am happy about getting merch as that is where I would say I have the most experience, I am getting the feeling that because it has a smaller group of staff compared to the F&B side its not going to be as good an experience. I mean I know that it is all about what you make of it but there is the financial limits of merch compared to the tipped positions in f&b which could put a bit of a downer on things when you can't afford to do things that maybe some of your friends in f&b are doing because they might be earning in tips for one day more than what you earn in a week in merch. It is starting to make me think I should have asked for f&b first but then again I'm sure I will have a great time in my role in merch no matter what. After all it is working in Disney, the happiest place on earth.

CRB

Just a little post but its official, I am a good girl!
I got my CRB form back today and its all good, so that's another thing I should tick off my list whenever I actually write it.

Stupid snow has started again, it better not stop me from going into town tomoz, I don't want to get stuck in the house again because of it! Fingers crossed.

Big Step Today

I took a big step today, one that I have been worrying about for a while now, only because then it is completely real now.

I finally told my work what my plans are, mainly because of this blog, I wanted to tell then, not for them to find out from someone else. I only told them today though, I don't actually know what will happen now and what they will say, fingers crossed they will let me leave for like a years (little bit more) leave, Toni did say that my performance couldn't be held against me, it could actually work in my favour.

So fingers crossed that I can go to Disney and not have to worry about having to find another job when I get home, because to be honest as jobs go its ok, the people are nice, the customers are "bearable",its close to home, and I can do it well. I know this is thinking almost 2 years away but these little things have to be done.

I'm hoping that I will have an answer in the next few days, so as soon as I know I will post it.

On another note, I am such a geek in trying to get organised for disney that I have been looking for shoes for work, to be completely honest, I have had the pages bookmarked for quite some time, but I have a 10% voucher code for Crocs, and I am tempted to get a pair, just to start off with, is this just a bit excessive considering iv got until August. The strange thing is I know myself that this is strange and a tad obsessive but then another part of me just thinks its organised, I wish the voices would agree at least some times! Only kidden, I know not to listen to them! :)

Off to bed now, but at least that's one more thing off of my list of things to do, I think I should write a list so that I can actually start ticking the stuff off, just so I don't forget anything. hmmm, something for me to think about doing.

The Pack and Other News

Little update,
Got an email from Hannah at Yummy Jobs saying that my welcome pack should be here on Monday, Thursday at the latest! Woohoo!
Cant wait to read it, I also got the email from Disney as well, exciting getting an email directly from Disney not through the recruiter, makes it all so real.


In other news I have booked the hotel for the meet up in Birmingham that me, Lea and Elin are all sharing!!! Should be so much fun. I cant wait to meet other Disney freaks as I think I am starting to bug my friends with all the Disney talk, as it really has become an obsession, ooops, maybe need to think about working on that, another thing that I need to work on is my sarcasm as I know I will have to tone it down in America as they don't really get it. 2 weeks on Sat til the meet up, and then its going to be so long until I see everyone again.

221 days to go! 218 until I leave Scotland, almost into the 100's!

The First

Ok, so this is my first post, and a little introduction to what has and will be happening.
I was in Disney this year in April for my dads wedding and also my 21st and we got talking about working in Disney and how he couldn't do it, being smiley all the time but that I probably could, I have to say that I did agree as you cant help but smile in Disney.
When I got home (after getting held up because of the ash cloud) I was just looking online into the possibility of actually working there and that is when I came across Yummy Jobs who are making this all possible. I was told that the application time opened in June so it was a long wait before I could even apply to work there, so I got my C.V. up to date and told some people what I was planning to do and then the waiting game began.
June came and on the day the application opened that is when I applied, couldn't wait any longer, then the waiting continued...
and continued...
and continued...
Until I got an email saying that I had been selected for a phone interview, happy days, so I booked the date and time and then some more waiting but not so long this time.


Day of the phone interview and I just done it in bed as I selected one of the earliest time slots and after it had been done I felt quite good about it and then surprise surprise more waiting!!!!
After more waiting I was sent another lovely email saying that I had been selected for a face to face interview, but there was a few problems before I could accept.

1: I had still not got my degree results and that had a lot of influence on what I would be doing in 2011
2: I had still not told my dad that I had applied
3: I had still not told my mum that I had applied
4: The interview was on my dads birthday
5: The interview was on the day that my friend was having her birthday night out

I tackled number 2 first, so just came out and told my dad and his reaction was ooo, awrite, and then a silence. Then over the next few days the shock gradually wore off and the questions started coming: where will you stay, what will the money be like, why do you want to do it and a few others. I tried to answer as best as I could. He then did say that he would prefer it if I had graduated 1st so that everything in uni was all final and I didn't have to worry about it, which I did agree with. He did say that he was just waiting for the day when I told him I was moving to another country so he wasn't totally surprised, well so he says.
Then it came to number 1 and go me I got my degree, about time too! So that morning when I told my dad after saying congrats he was like "guess your going to Disney then". I was so excited. I then told my mum after she asked what I was going to do now that I had got my degree, her reaction was pretty much the exact same as my dads. So I confirmed my interview that morning and went and got the flights, hotel and oyster card so I was all ready.
4 and 5 they just had to accept, but I did go out for my friends birthday that night, I went straight from the airport out.

London and the Face to Face:
I went down the night before got in late as I was working that day and my flight down was delayed so I was freaking out a little. Once I was down there and got to the hostel I was staying in, I got some sleep, not sure how though as I was rather nervous excited. Next morning when I woke up got ready and went early, I hate being late, found the place after a little detour i.e went the slightly wrong way, but got there in plenty of time still. While sitting outside of the restaurant I began chatting with some people who also looked a little lost like myself, and I started to get more excited but a bit more relaxed at the same time as there was others just like me. Had the presentation which was great and then the interview bit, which was really short, I was a little surprised about. After the interview I knew that I had done my best but I just wasn't sure as I didn't get much from the person that interviewed me, I cant remember who it was as I didn't actually take much in that day.
Then once again the waiting started.
So I went to Kos to visit my mum and was checking my email every day, and as the weather wasn't great when I was there I was checking a lot. Then one day the weather was ok, so went out, then went out that night, one of the few nights we did and then got back, and just had a quick check of my email, nothing and then was just going to clear my junk emails and then I saw it, the email from Nick.
 I opened it and covered it and read it a line by line and at the start I did think I hadn't got it, but then I saw what all the waiting was heading for 

CONGRATULATIONS!!

You have been offered a role on Disney’s Cultural Representative Program from

August 16th 2011 to August 10th 2012

Your role in the show will be in Merchandise

 I walked out of my bedroom and looked at my mum and just screamed!!!!!!!!! she was really happy for me, it was late but I still, to the anger of some of my friends, sent them facebook messages and texts to let them know. I got some happy replies and some angry ones for waking them. 

This is what all the waiting was for and know I had it, but then there is even more waiting before I could go. The Joys!! but it will be worth it. I know it will be!

So that was my first post and I know it is a bit long but there was even more I could have wrote, but I will save that for another day, and as I have a long time to wait the post between now and then will just boring old stuff, but I will try my best not to be too boring if I haven't already.