[disneydani]

Day Two/Part One

I woke up this morning, once again, with an inner calm that almost made me nervous…it is not like me, at all, to be calm. The rest of my crew was stirring and it was a treat not to have to wake anyone up! I gently pulled back our curtains to reveal a partly cloudy day; there was a call for rain showers but I wasn’t worried, nothing was going to rain out Andrew’s special day!

We had plans to split up this morning. Andrew and Paul quickly washed and dressed, headed to the lounge for a quick bite, and then met our friends in the lobby for a morning at DHS. This would be Andrew’s only opportunity to hit the big rides there as his buddies would happily join him. Izzy also was quick to rise and get dressed as she had a very special morning planned: she was heading to MK with all four of her grandparents to spoil her! We stopped by the lounge for her allergen free raspberry muffin and fruit plate. I was happy to see Lauretta, who is one of the sweetest CMs in the lounge. She has a great smile, lovely personality, and told me I looked like I lost a few pounds…she is a keeper! I grabbed myself a muffin, some fruit, and my requisite cranberry juice. Izzy and I munched away and then met my parents and in-laws in front of the monorail station.

We all hopped on the monorail while I went over last minute recommendations with my mom and mom-in-law. I handed over all Izzy’s meds and knew she would be in good hands! We arrived just as opening ceremonies were getting under way….ahh magical. I advised my family to head to the left while I went over to guest services; I needed to do some ticket upgrading. I waved goodbye as Izzy and the elders headed through the turnstiles. I went back to the GF via the boat; it was totally peaceful as I was the only one on the boat.

I quickly gave Heather a call to thank her for all her generosity and to update her on what was going on. I knew she really wanted to be two people at that moment: one present at her kids’ competition and another one at WDW, celebrating with our family. I assured she was exactly where she should be, with her kids.

I had a couple hours to myself and I had two priorities….I wanted to type up and print out my speech and I wanted to take an hour to relax and meditate. It was going to be a long afternoon and evening and I was determined to give myself a little R&R to ward off any potential MS interference! I stopped by the business center and took care of my speech and then headed back to the room. I was happy to see the room was already made up. However, something caught my eye that put an even bigger smile on my face.



I recognized this immediately as we had looked at this container for our centerpieces at one point. I loved this mug but couldn’t make it work for what we needed. My brain was trying to figure out who sent it….I was definitely surprised to read the note from Nala…she was already so kind with the autograph and Disney Dollars! Once again, the friendships that have developed as a result of these boards are amazingly wonderful. I don’t know if Nala knows this about the arrangement but there was another card attached to the mug with this sentiment.

Mickey and Minnie have left behind,


A special hidden treasure for you to find.

Look among every petal and stem,


And you will discover a pretty little gem.

A Symbol that’s meant magic through the years,


A very famous set of “Mouska-Ears”.

Gently hidden among the petals, was a crystal mickey head, about the size of a thumbnail. Unfortunately, I do not have mad photog skillz like some of my fellow PPs and do not have a decent picture of it. I will tell you, though, that Andrew slipped the gem into his pants pocket the evening of the ceremony. So, thank you again, Nala….you are a gem, too!

Time was ticking and I forced myself to lie down and attempt to relax for an hour. Luckily, those pillow topped beds at the GF make it easy to do so. I didn’t take a nap but was able to lie quiet for about 45 minutes and I definitely felt refreshed afterwards.