avalon451
Errrr... what?
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2008
Hi there. My name is Gail, but I was formerly known on these boards as Avalon.
Once upon a time, in a land far, far away (okay, it was 2008, and we live near Seattle) I planned a trip to Disneyland with my family for the first time. I have 3 lovely daughters, who were then 5, 9 and 12, and a sweet husband who's an engineer at Boeing. The trip was... well, sort of a bust, at least for my oldest, who got very, very sick with some kind of flu thing, the very first day. DH and I spent a lot of time swapping hotel duty to stay with her. So, with the encouragement of the lovely folks on these boards, DD12 and I went on a "do over trip," just her and me, the following October. That trip was fantastic, a great bonding time with her, and it is detailed in the link in my signature below.
Fast forward 8 years. Those lovely daughters? Even lovelier, now at ages almost-13, 17, and almost-20. DH? Still a sweetheart, and we celebrated our 25th anniversary last summer. The intervening years, however, have not been kind. My middle daughter went through a lot of problems with anxiety and panic attacks. Then, just when she'd made great strides with that and was living nearly normally again, she was diagnosed with a tumor in her spinal column at age 15. It was successfully removed, but started growing back again 15 months later, and she had to have proton radiation last summer to stop the growth. She came through it all beautifully, bravely and with hardly any problems, thank God. The remaining 3 small lesions in her spine seem to be "dead" and stable, no new growth, and she has very little leftover nerve pain, just occasional tiredness when she over does things. So that is a watch and wait situation, and the prognosis for her type of tumor is usually quite good.
As you can imagine, even with insurance there have been hospital bills, leaves of absence from work, etc. adding up to some debt load. However, we had a very fortunate financial windfall this year with DH's bonus, and suddenly, except for our mortgage, we're debt free. YAY! My paycheck (from part time library work) is my own again, instead of the car payment's, or the line of credit payment's!
So I was musing to DH last Sunday night, thinking about starting to save up my earnings for a graduation trip for the girls next year, maybe to Hawaii. DD13 will be graduating from 8th grade, DD17 from high school, and DD20 from college. I said, "You know, though, I always kind of wondered what it would be like to go to Disneyland again. So much has changed since we went. But, you know, I was the one who was really into it, did all the researching, made friends on the DISboards... If I ever went again, I always wondered what it would be like to go solo."
Darling Husband looked at me in all seriousness, and said, "Do it."
I scoffed. "I couldn't possibly."
"Why not?"
"Work. The kids, I'm their taxi, and the appointment master, how could I possibly?"
DH looked at the calendar on the fridge where my work schedule is posted. "Look, you have 3 days off the fourth week in March." He got out his work laptop and looked at his schedule. "No problem, I can easily take that week off and do the kid taxi duties."
"I can't spend that money on just ME!"
Reasonably, DH said, "Look, you always encouraged me to go solo backpacking, and that is my renewal time, just for me. You helped me buy all that top-of-the-line equipment, plan the time, and just take off. How is this any different? After all you've been through? You totally deserve this."
I love that man.
The kids were... well, the youngest was like, "Cool. Treat yoself." The oldest was like, "Okaaaayyyy..." The middle one got kind of pissed. "Don't you think you should be spending that money on the house or something?" Till her dad shot her a look and she subsided. I'm still fighting the guilt, kind of, and I'm keeping it very quiet. I'm not talking about it to the kids much, and I haven't told family anything yet, though I'll have to tell my mom and my brother eventually. I'm going to keep it kind of on the down low, just because I think the attitudes would be mostly, "What? Why would you go without the family?"
I'm telling you, though, I am SO looking forward to this. I think I will miss the fam. But I think I will greatly enjoy the freedom to do what I want, at my own pace. Any of you parents out there can relate: a vacation, even with older kids, is always about the kids. Are they rested, are they fed, warm, happy, tired? Are they scared of that ride? Do they want me to go on the Teacups with them? Can we all sleep in the same room without keeping each other awake all night?
This time. This time... I will have a hotel room to myself... a bed, a BATHROOM all to myself (with 3 teenaged girls, that is no small matter!). I will get up whenever I want to (early, to get to the gate at opening) stop and rest when I want to, eat some fancy meals with wine (Napa Rose, Chef's Counter, you bet!) and just generally enjoy the hell out of my 3 days in the parks. I will ride California Screamin', front car, as many times as I want. I will do RSR for the first time, single rider. I will ride POTC, my absolute favorite, till I can't get the song out of my head. I'll ride IASMW because it was closed for a massive refurb both times I was there before.
So... the planning has begun, I'll introduce myself a bit more later on with pictures, and tell you what I have planned so far.
Let the magic begin!
Once upon a time, in a land far, far away (okay, it was 2008, and we live near Seattle) I planned a trip to Disneyland with my family for the first time. I have 3 lovely daughters, who were then 5, 9 and 12, and a sweet husband who's an engineer at Boeing. The trip was... well, sort of a bust, at least for my oldest, who got very, very sick with some kind of flu thing, the very first day. DH and I spent a lot of time swapping hotel duty to stay with her. So, with the encouragement of the lovely folks on these boards, DD12 and I went on a "do over trip," just her and me, the following October. That trip was fantastic, a great bonding time with her, and it is detailed in the link in my signature below.
Fast forward 8 years. Those lovely daughters? Even lovelier, now at ages almost-13, 17, and almost-20. DH? Still a sweetheart, and we celebrated our 25th anniversary last summer. The intervening years, however, have not been kind. My middle daughter went through a lot of problems with anxiety and panic attacks. Then, just when she'd made great strides with that and was living nearly normally again, she was diagnosed with a tumor in her spinal column at age 15. It was successfully removed, but started growing back again 15 months later, and she had to have proton radiation last summer to stop the growth. She came through it all beautifully, bravely and with hardly any problems, thank God. The remaining 3 small lesions in her spine seem to be "dead" and stable, no new growth, and she has very little leftover nerve pain, just occasional tiredness when she over does things. So that is a watch and wait situation, and the prognosis for her type of tumor is usually quite good.
As you can imagine, even with insurance there have been hospital bills, leaves of absence from work, etc. adding up to some debt load. However, we had a very fortunate financial windfall this year with DH's bonus, and suddenly, except for our mortgage, we're debt free. YAY! My paycheck (from part time library work) is my own again, instead of the car payment's, or the line of credit payment's!
So I was musing to DH last Sunday night, thinking about starting to save up my earnings for a graduation trip for the girls next year, maybe to Hawaii. DD13 will be graduating from 8th grade, DD17 from high school, and DD20 from college. I said, "You know, though, I always kind of wondered what it would be like to go to Disneyland again. So much has changed since we went. But, you know, I was the one who was really into it, did all the researching, made friends on the DISboards... If I ever went again, I always wondered what it would be like to go solo."
Darling Husband looked at me in all seriousness, and said, "Do it."
I scoffed. "I couldn't possibly."
"Why not?"
"Work. The kids, I'm their taxi, and the appointment master, how could I possibly?"
DH looked at the calendar on the fridge where my work schedule is posted. "Look, you have 3 days off the fourth week in March." He got out his work laptop and looked at his schedule. "No problem, I can easily take that week off and do the kid taxi duties."
"I can't spend that money on just ME!"
Reasonably, DH said, "Look, you always encouraged me to go solo backpacking, and that is my renewal time, just for me. You helped me buy all that top-of-the-line equipment, plan the time, and just take off. How is this any different? After all you've been through? You totally deserve this."
I love that man.
The kids were... well, the youngest was like, "Cool. Treat yoself." The oldest was like, "Okaaaayyyy..." The middle one got kind of pissed. "Don't you think you should be spending that money on the house or something?" Till her dad shot her a look and she subsided. I'm still fighting the guilt, kind of, and I'm keeping it very quiet. I'm not talking about it to the kids much, and I haven't told family anything yet, though I'll have to tell my mom and my brother eventually. I'm going to keep it kind of on the down low, just because I think the attitudes would be mostly, "What? Why would you go without the family?"
I'm telling you, though, I am SO looking forward to this. I think I will miss the fam. But I think I will greatly enjoy the freedom to do what I want, at my own pace. Any of you parents out there can relate: a vacation, even with older kids, is always about the kids. Are they rested, are they fed, warm, happy, tired? Are they scared of that ride? Do they want me to go on the Teacups with them? Can we all sleep in the same room without keeping each other awake all night?
This time. This time... I will have a hotel room to myself... a bed, a BATHROOM all to myself (with 3 teenaged girls, that is no small matter!). I will get up whenever I want to (early, to get to the gate at opening) stop and rest when I want to, eat some fancy meals with wine (Napa Rose, Chef's Counter, you bet!) and just generally enjoy the hell out of my 3 days in the parks. I will ride California Screamin', front car, as many times as I want. I will do RSR for the first time, single rider. I will ride POTC, my absolute favorite, till I can't get the song out of my head. I'll ride IASMW because it was closed for a massive refurb both times I was there before.
So... the planning has begun, I'll introduce myself a bit more later on with pictures, and tell you what I have planned so far.
Let the magic begin!
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