A Post Mostly About Knitting (Sorry!)

I started a new knitting project last night, and remembered that I never shared pictures of my other projects. I know you've all been foaming at the mouth with anticipation (can't you at least pretend?) so here are a couple, as promised:

This one is, as you can see, a bag to hold my knitting projects. This was my first big project and I'm pretty proud of it. I even sewed in the lining, which is a gorgeous Amy Butler fabric. I love her patterns and luckily I had enough fabric left over to re-upholster a chair cushion. (You can see the chair in the corner of the top picture here.)

This one is, duh, a headband. I did it to use up some extra yarn from my second project (no good pictures of this one yet) and also to practice doing lace work. Even though this may not look like "lace", the open holes in it technically make it lace. I'm not sure how I feel about the finished piece, but I learned a lot of new techniques and all it cost me was a few bucks for a new set of needles.

My newest adventure is an honest-to-goodness sweater and is definitely the hardest project I've tackled yet. It's going well so far, though, but we'll see how I feel in a few days.

As a reward for all those who suffered through my knitting pictures, I do have one small piece of CP news: I officially opted out of roommate notification. I'm just going to let the chips fall where they may when I get there. Adventure, thy name is living-with-whoever-you-just-so-happen-to-stand-next-to-in-line. (Hey, Adventure, you might want to consider getting a nickname.)

I'm Back!

Well, I'm back home, minus my luggage. I barely made my plane last night--the last flight out of Atlanta--but unfortunately my bags missed the plane, and I'll have to pick them up today. So that was sort of a pain. But otherwise, my trip was great and I'm feeling refreshed and ready to get back to real life...and planning for Disney!

After I got assigned to a roommate, we emailed each other back and forth for a few days. I was double checking some of my Disney arrival information today on the College Program website, and decided to check and see if I was still matched up for a roommate. Well, guess what. I'm not. I don't know what's going on with that. The way that the website's been, it may just be a glitch, or she may have found another roommate or whatever. I have no idea. Oh, well. So I'm signed back up, and we'll see what happens. I'm actually thinking about taking this opportunity to opt out of roommate notification all together. I'm wondering if I'll be happier waiting until I actually meet some people at check-in. Then at least I will be able to have some say in who I'm rooming with. Plus, it will add an element of surprise. And I like surprises!

I'm going to spend the next couple of days browsing the official website and the blogs, trying to figure out what my schedule will be like for my first few days at Disney. Since my mom is flying back, I will have to take her to the airport and the only direct flights are at the Sanford airport, which is about 45 minutes away from where I'll be. The flights are all early in the morning, and we'll have to figure out what day I won't have to be at training early so that I can take her and be back in plenty of time. Whew! I'm tired just thinking about it.

Just one month and three days now until I'm on the road to Orlando!

A Quick Vacation-y Update

Well, hello there, friends! It's been a while! I've been on vacation for the last few days with limited internet access, and limited interest in blogging (sorry!). It's been a nice rest, so here I am for a quick update.

My wonderful grandma had some travel points, and used them to make reservations for my mom and I in Orlando. I'm not really sure which hotel she used them at, but I know it was close to Vista for check-in, and that it's a reputable hotel chain. Sounds good! So this means that, even though we still haven't sold our old house, my mom may go with me now because she was reluctant to pay for the extra 3 or 4 nights for her hotel. So now that's taken care of. Thanks, Nana! :) (yes, I call my grandma 'Nana'. Don't make fun of me!)

Well, now I'm off to do more vacationing! See you guys again in a few days when I return to real life. Happy 4th, everybody!

Some Less-Than-Two-Months-To-Go Musings

This past Wednesday marked the beginning of the two month countdown before I leave for Florida. Crazy. So I now have less than two months before I'm going to be living on my own, in a new city, working a new job, hanging out with new friends, living under a new, made-up name, going around with a new post-plastic surgery face...wait a minute. Those last two aren't going to happen. But the first few are! And not only that, but I will also be going to Disney World basically every day! For free! Amazing.

I've begun to sever ties with Missouri. Last week, I notified the nursery coordinator at church that I would need to be off the schedule starting in August, and my boss is beginning to look for temporary help for the office while I'm gone. Today, I even kept the cardboard boxes when we got in supplies at work. I'll need them to pack in!

I feel like I keep saying this here, but I just can't believe that this is really real. Every day I get a little more excited, apprehensive, reflective, and prepared for the whole experience. A while ago I caught a special on the Travel Channel about Disney World. And I watched it, thinking how crazy it was going to be to pass Graumann's Chinese Theatre every day on my way to work. Or to walk through Cinderella Castle on my lunch break. Unbelievable. In 58 days, I will be somewhere completey different, living an almost completely different life. And as scary as that thought is, I really, really just can't wait. :)

Finalizing Travel Plans

My mom and I had another long discussion yesterday about travel plans for August. My last day of work will be Friday, August 7th. I'm planning to use Saturday to wrap up my packing, and then we'll get on the road first thing Sunday morning. We're going to break the 20-something hour trip up into two days--definitely an improvement over our Spring Break driving marathon. We have family in Alabama, so we're going to make a little detour and spend Sunday afternoon and night with them. Then we'll get back on the road at a leisurely pace Monday, and get into Orlando late Monday night. Tuesday, we're planning to spend the day at the beach, and then Wednesday is the big day--CHECK-IN! (And Ikea. :) )

This is all just tentative. My mom's going to fly back, and they only have flights early Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings. So we may not leave until Monday, and then we could do the beach on Thursday. In fact, she might not even get to go--we've been trying to sell our old house for months now, and until that happens, the extra hotel bills and plane ticket may not be in the budget. We'll just have to see.

But either way, it is exciting to have an actual plan. Just a little over two months to go now! So exciting! :)

Roommate Selection

I know I left my blog on a bit of a down note for quite a while...this wasn't intentional! My moment of crisis really was just a moment, and I've been feeling much better and excited once again for my Florida adventure. There just hasn't been much else to write about!

But today I'm going to address yet another of the big decisions that need to be made before August...roommate selection!

I've already talked about the Roommate Notification Process, but just in case you missed it, if I opt in to roommate notification, Disney will select a roommate for me and let me know their identity ahead of time so we can get to know each other and coordinate things we'll be bringing with us. But lots of other CPs are trying to find roommates on their own on discussion boards and in the CP Facebook group.

There are tons of posts out there that read like personal ads: "Female CP, arriving August 24th, looking for roommate. Crazies need not apply." And there's something to be said for this method. You can specify that you want a roommate who is neat, or who wants to help host lots of parties. Disney doesn't take personalities into consideration, mostly just gender, age, and arrival date. I've had a few Facebook messages and such from some very nice CPs, introducing themselves, and even though they were just asking general questions about my arrival, what role I would have, and all of that, I wondered if they were looking for a potential roommate. It's a good way to do it, I guess!

But, by golly, something about it just creeps me out a little bit. It seems to go against everything Dateline has ever told us. Giving out information about myself to an almost-total-stranger on-line? (And yes, I realize that that's exactly what I'm doing here at my blog. But for some reason it doesn't disturb me quite as much.) I just don't know if I can bring myself to do it.

Even if you find someone to room with through the internet, you really still don't know that person at all. Sure, you know more about them than you do when you do with roommate notification, but still...I think I'm going to take my chances, and see who Disney pairs me up with. If it just doesn't look like things are going to work out, you have the option of opting out of the match. I don't anticipate needing to do this, though. I get along pretty well with just about anybody. But it is nice to know that I have that out if I need it.

The website says that roommate notification will be done around June 1st. And...ooh! I just logged into the website, and it says that my date is ineligible for roommate notification, anyway! So the entirety of the above post is now null and void. It's a little frustrating that I have now finally made a decision, only to find out that there was no decision to be made! Oh, well. It does say that my date may become eligible later, and that I can sign up to be matched when/if that happens. But I think I'll just use this opportunity to ponder my decision for a few more days.

A Place to Call Home...For a Few Months

I will be checking in in just under 4 months. And by check-in day, I have several decisions to make, mostly related to housing. Now, for anyone who doesn't know, here's the housing situation: WDWCPs live in apartment complexes located on Disney property. Each complex features 24 hour security, and facilities including a fitness center. Every week, rent is automatically taken out of each CP's paycheck for the for the fully-furnished apartments.

Above: One of the buildings at Chatham. Pretty!

There are three housing complexes for CPs--Vista Way, Chatham Square, and Patterson Court. Vista Way is the oldest, smallest, and also has a reputation for being a bit crazy at times. This does NOT sound like the place for me. I'm not against fun, but what I am against is stepping out of my door in the morning into a big pile of sick left by one of the revelers from my neighbors' party.

Chatham and Patterson are both quite a bit newer, with Patterson being occupied for the first time just last year. This means that all of the appliances and furnishings will be newer! So no years-old gunk stuck in the can opener, and minimal stink in the microwave. Chatham's just a couple of years older, though, and the apartments are larger. Plus, Chatham has a bus stop where CPs can catch a shuttle to the parks, the grocery store, etc. Patterson residents have to walk over to Chatham to catch a bus.

When I check in on August 12th, I'll be able to state a preference for for which complex I live in. I'm planning to request Chatham. Check-in starts at 9 a.m., so I'm hoping to be there plenty early. That will help my chances for getting my choice. There are no guarantees, but I've got my fingers crossed.