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!

The Exciting Conclusion to the Roommate Saga!

No time or content for a full post, but I now have a roommate. There--wasn't that exciting? ;)

Roommate Notification Part Deux: The Adventure Continues

As soon as I opened my email at work this morning, there was a shiny, purple email from the Disney College Program, saying that I had been matched with a roommate. After my frustration a couple of weeks ago finding out that roommate notification wasn't available for my arrival date, I checked back last Thursday. And, lo and behold, I was able to sign up. It said that there were currently no matches available, but that I would be notified when they had found one for me. The next morning, however, I logged back into roommate notification, and the old message about it not being an option for my arrival date was back up. What the french, toast?

This morning, however, there was that super exciting email. I quickly clicked on the link to learn the identity of my new roommate...and was taken back to the same stupid page saying that my arrival date wasn't eligible!!!

I've sent a message to tech support and housing to find out what's going on. I don't know if it's a glitch in the website, or if the housing people have made a mistake. But this roommate thing is taking on a life of its own! Check back soon for the exciting conclusion to the saga!

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.

Embracing the College-Style Aesthetic

My mom brought up a good question recently: What am I going to do about bedding while I'm in Florida? Okay, maybe not the most exciting question in the world for most people. But for me, the interior designer, a light bulb came on. I get a whole new apartment to decorate! (Okay, fine. My roommates can have some say...if they feel they must.) I'm generally the type of person who goes for the clean, sophisticated, put-together look, with a minimum of clutter. Like this:Pretty, huh? But I am actually looking forward to decorating my room with whatever momentos, pictures of my friends, raggedy quilts, etc. float my boat. It will be fun! It's only for 4 months, and I don't want to spend my time and efforts trying to make my room look pulled together when my roommate will probably be decorating her half with magazine cut-outs of Robert Pattinson. So, as the old adage goes, if you can't beat 'em, why not join 'em?

Maybe it's sad that this gets me so excited. Am I that uptight; that the thought of letting loose is such an event? I say no. I say that I'm just a girl who knows the importance of good taste...and the importance of choosing the right time to ignore said taste.

So in the spirit of my new vision, here is the first item that has been chosen to grace the walls of my room while at Disney:

This double sided poster from "New Zealand's fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo", Flight of the Conchords. The poster came with their CD, and the only problem I have with it is trying to decide which side I'll have to turn to the wall! Originally I thought I liked the picture on the left, but the more I look at the trippy one with the frog, the more I like it. It's a little bit like an I-Spy book on acid. This is an important decision, y'all! I need help! So let me know what you think in the comments section.

Well, I'm off. Writing about my new style-less style has gotten me excited about all things tasteless. I hear the store down the street is having a sale on beanbags and fake plants and I've just got to get over there! (just kidding....I don't think I'll ever get to that point. ;))

Flying Solo

Yestday was Emily's birthday (happy birthday!) and we went out for lunch at Chili's. Emily's deadline to accept/decline date was the same as mine, but she still hadn't quite made up her mind what she wanted to do. She had some other colleges to visit, and wanted to see how those were looking before she commited fully to Disney. So she accepted her invitation, and made use of the two-week time frame for paying the assessment fee. Yesterday was the payment deadline, though, and, coincidentally, the same day she got back from another college visit. Her visit was a success, and so she has decided not to go to Disney.

I'm definitely sad, because how cool would it have been to be at Disney with my best friend? Super fun, right? But while I think Disney would have been tons of fun for both of us, this will probably be a better choice for her in the long-run. I'm just really glad that she was there to go through the whole application process with me, though. Gave me someone to worry about my interview with. :) So, Emily, good luck! Love ya, girl!

Since Emily's not going, I will probably sign up for roommate notification in the next couple of weeks. Disney can match CPs up with one of their roommates before they go, so that they can get to know each other and coordinate what they will bring for the apartment. This whole roommate thing is a little nerve-wracking, as I've never even had to share a room with a sibling, much less with a total stranger! But I suppose it's all part of the experience. So from here on out, my safety net is gone--I'm on my own. This is looking more and more like an adventure all the time, huh? :)