This birthday is gonna hurt

Lately the thought of my upcoming birthday has been on my mind. And for some reason, the thought of turning 36 (yes, I said my age- GASP!) really kind of bothers me.

I've never been bothered by my age before. I've never lied about it or anything to appear younger. And goodness know, I certainly don't act my age- that concept is way over-rated. So why is this one bothering me? I didn't care when I turned 21- except for being able to drink. 30 was no big deal. Heck, even 35 didn't matter. So why 36? It's such an odd age to be bothered by.

I think it has to do with the fact that I am now closer to 40 than I am 30. Wow, writing that makes it seem even worse. But I get that these are all just numbers and really don't mean much.

As I get older, I learn who I am more. I am more and more comfortable with being me- the good, the bad, and the ugly. When I looked at some pictures from our recent cruise, I noticed a few wrinkles around my eyes when I smiled. Eh- that's life. I know more about what I like and don't like. I've really thought about what I want out of life. I've learned that no one out there is perfect- and often it's those imperfections in people that make them the great person they are. I am more accepting of people than I was before. These are all great things that come with ~gulp~ getting older.

When I look at it this way, I wonder why this birthday bothers me. I still don't know- but for whatever reason, this birthday is gonna hurt. Oh well... Maybe I'll just celebrate it with a couple of drinks like I'm 21 and won't care.

I lived without my phone!!!

As most of you know, and if you don't know- where have you been?, I just got back from an amazing 10 day Disney vacation. We spent 5 days in the parks and then 5 days on the Disney Dream cruise ship. There will be blog posts about both of those later, have no fear.

But this blog post is focusing on the fact I did something I didn't think I could do. I lived without my phone (and laptop) for 5 days. Yep- I had to turn my phone off and go cold turkey from all forms of social media. If you know me at all, you know I am just a little addicted (stop laughing!) to Twitter and other ways of communication with my friends. Now, I will admit I twitched. A lot. But, it helped that a good friend of mine (Jim) who is equally addicted was on the cruise with us- we suffered together.

Now, the ship did have phones that would work on the ship so you could stay in touch with family members around the ship. They would call and even text. There was just one problem... Jim and I couldn't work them. The phones are very similar to the 'non-smartphone' phones. Which I can't use anymore. I would attempt to text and ended up sending only one letter. Or I would try to text and would make a call instead. I gave up trying to use it and just accepted the fact that I had to go cold turkey.

There were definitely times I wanted my phone. There were so many great things I wanted to be able to tweet or show people. Jim and I would look at each other and just comment how much it hurt not to be able to share whatever idiotic thing he had just done. In fact, we may or may not have pretended to hold our phone in our hands and type and few times. When we were lounging on Castaway Cay on Wednesday and the rest of the world was at work, I so wanted to be able to rub it in to everyone. But I couldn't.

After 5 days, I admit, I didn't want the vacation to end, but I was ready to have my phone back. I know that I can live without and be unplugged for a while. However, I have no problem admitting that I don't like doing it. Yep- I am addicted...

Let's talk tattoos

As I have said before, this is my blog and I can talk about what I want to. And today, I want to talk about tattoos.

Yes, tattoos. I've had several friends lately who have gotten them. And I want one.

I don't want anything big or fancy or in a very obvious place. Just something small and tasteful.

So what's stopping me? Well, there is a bit of a- hmmmm, how to put this- disagreement in my family about getting one. Yep, I've been told "No." Now, if you know me at all, you know that I don't deal well with being told no. In fact, it's like waving a red flag at a bull. However, I'm not sure that's the best thing to do in this situation.

I mean, this isn't like buying a new pair shoes I really don't need or changing my hair color. This is something permanent (duh).

So... I guess I will continue to want one... And who knows, maybe someday I'll surprise everyone and post a picture of my new tattoo.

10 days and counting!

10 days from now we will be leaving for our combination Walt Disney World and Disney cruise vacation (on the Disney Dream). We will be going with some wonderful friends of ours and we are beyond excited.

Our vacation buddies!

So, I figured I would a "10-things I am looking forward" post. I know, this concept has been done to death by everyone, but I never claimed that I was original.

1. Staying at the TreeHouse Villas. Our friends are DVC members and were lucky enough to snag a THV for our Disney World stay. I can't wait to see these!

2. Lunch at Kona. I know Kona has good food, but that is not why this one makes the list. This one makes the list because there will around 18 of us at this lunch. This includes some wonderful friends that I have yet to meet in person. I'm pretty sure that by the end of lunch we will kicked out of Kona, but who cares!

3. Taking Matty on the new Star Tours. He is so in love with Star Wars right now that he will go crazy for the new ride.

4. Seeing the amazing Atlantis resort. Our excursion at Nassau is the Atlantis Aquaventure- we get to go play on the water slides and eat lunch at the Atlantis resort.

5. Hanging out in a cabana on Castway Cay. Need I say more?

6. Food, food, and more food.

7. Seeing the Magic, Memories, and You show at the Magic Kingdom. I admit, when I first heard about the show, I thought Disney was making a horrible mistake. But, I was wrong- this has quickly become one of my favorite things to see. And yes, it makes me cry- which considering I am NOT a crier says something.

8. Carrot cake cookie from the Writer's Stop. Yes, I am slightly addicted to them now.

9. Eating breakfast on our verandah on the Dream. Someone bringing me coffee when I wake up and being able to just sit and enjoy it sounds like HEAVEN to me!

10. Being able to just relax and soak in a Disney atmosphere for 10 days. I can't wait!

Now, some of you may notice I didn't say things like the AquaDuck, pools, oceans, etc. Believe me, I am looking forward to all of those, but wanted to add some different things to my list. And no, I haven't started packing yet.

Packing Procrastination

Wow- it hit me this morning that we leave for our 11 day Disney World and Disney Dream vacation in 12 days. Now, don't get me wrong, I have been counting down the days for weeks (ok, months). But it hit me this morning that 12 days is really not very long.

For normal WDW vacations, it isn't unusual for me to have piles of clothes and other things on the guest room bed weeks ahead. Part of this is because I don't bother unpacking some things out of suitcases- for example, our ponchos live in the suitcases. My Disney backpack hangs out on the guest room bed and I am constantly putting things in there. There have been trips I have had everything ready to pack, or actually packed, two weeks before the trip.

But this isn't a normal vacation. It's 5 days at WDW and then 5 days on the Dream. OK- the packing for WDW part is easy. I can do that in my sleep. And I know that I will have to break one of my cardinal rules of vacation and actually do laundry on this vacation (made easier since we are staying in the Tree House Villas). But it's the packing for the Dream that is giving me fits.

Of course, I am now thinking that I have nothing to wear. And if you have seen my closet (or closets) you know that is not even close to being true. I am panicking about what to wear to the dinners... How many awesome pairs of shoes can I take... Do I have a dress that is dressy enough for our dinner at Remy... I hate my bathing suits- should I get a new one? All sorts of very difficult questions. And yes, I know, whatever I take or wear will be fine- but do you not get that is not the point? It has to be just perfect!

So what do I? Nothing. I delay and procrastinate packing. I refuse think about it. And the more I do this, the closer it gets to the time we leave. And the closer it gets to the time we leave, the more I panic about it all. The more I panic, the more I don't want to think about it. And so the packing procrastination cycle continues.

This is all normal, right?????