* My Disney World Adventure... 4 months of everything but work :)
...I played in the tunnels underneath Magic Kingdom
...and marched in costume in the Mulan parade!
...I spent three fun filled hours on the streets of MGM taking pictures of magical moments, and giving them out to families!
...I spent an evening volunteering at an Enchanted Village that housed children from Disney's version of "Make A Wish". That night was filled with so much magic, love, tears, and just the most beautiful memories!
...I got to ride on the Tower of Terror in the middle of the night, when all the guests were gone. We walked through that haunted castle and they offered to let me ride alone in my very own elevator!!! I passed
...Mom, Judy and I stayed at the Disney Institue and they spent their days exploring while I worked. It was an amazing week filled with breakfast buffets with Mickey and his friends, hotel hopping, lounging in hammocks, late nights on Pleasure Island, .... and ultimately, Judy getting lost on a boat and us missing our flight home! There was no flight till morning and we were already checked out of the hotel, so we slept on the chairs by the pool!!! Homeless in Disney World... an amazing adventure!
...I signed up for a commercial/marketing campaign for a new ride an Animal Kingdom. We showed up (about 100 cast members) at 4am and rode the Kali River Rapids ride over and over for about 4 hours while they filmed and photographed us! It was amazing, and very wet!
...I was pulled onstage at a comedy club, and was used as a prop in an improv game. The scene got a little raunchy, and my face got a little red :)
...At the Adventurer's Club, I was tackled by a French Maid, handcuffed by a sheriff, and completely confused when my barstool kept lowering all by itself! So much fun :)
...I danced on a revolving floor with cages, strobe lights, and pulsating music. I watched the people dance the night away at an 80's themed club with old guys constantly trying to pull me onto the dance floor :) I made friends at the BET club, and they attempted to prove everyone has rythym. They were wrong!
... Fireworks!!! On most every night I was in the magical land of Disney, I watched 3 completely amazing firework shows. If I was working, it all started with my show..Fantasmic! This beautiful and exciting show culminates with Mickey popping out of a huge mountain, and fireworks lighting up the sky! It is musical/lightshow that is unmatched! While the 10,000 plus guests are leaving our show, the Epcot fireworks begin. I spent each night helping guests find their way out, while listening to them oohh and ahhh and all the bright explosions! It was amazing! And on most nights, I left from work and made it to Pleasure Island by 11:30pm.... just in time for the Countdown! You see, on Pleasure Island, every night is New Year's Eve! Theirs a 30 minute countdown, where everyone packs the West Side of the Island (imagine NYC crowds where you can't move) and the music blasts out from all around you. Dancers perform stunts, and blacklight trickery. They get everyone screaming, and dancing along. Then, as you reach that final minute, the New Year's countdown explodes! People scream, fireworks errupt in the sky, and confetti covers the island!!! It is beautiful, and I got to do this almost every single night!!!
November 18, 2011
Those Moments Where I Failed
Lately I've been going through my journals and remembering some really big life moments that changed me forever. There are so many wonderful ones, from Camp Sunnyside to my Disney Days. I will dedicate another entry to those, but for this one, I want to write about a day that left a scar on my heart. It was a day where I let a little boy down in the most fundamental of ways.
I remember sitting there beside his cot at the daycare, his little body trembling as he alternated between crying and screaming. He kept saying, " I just wanna go home. " The more I'd try to calm him, the louder he got. My coworkers had just shook their heads when I decided to go sit with him, " just let him cry it out " they said. Anyone who knows me at all knows that I just cannot do that. This little boy was brand new to our daycare, and was going through, what I was sure to be, the hardest days of his life.
I sat there quietly for a few minutes, hoping my presence would help him feel more safe. He got louder and louder, wanting desperately for me to listen and take him to his mom. I talked calmly and reminded him that I could not do that. It was breaking my heart, but I tried again to assure him that he was going to love it here. I reminded him of the playground he had loved so much earlier in the day, and of all the arts and crafts we would be doing. I told him we could skip naptime and go for a walk. I tried everything, but it only seemed to make his body shake more, and the tears come faster. After awhile I knew his little body couldn't go on, and his voice was getting horse from all the screaming. I got firm and said, "Look, you can cry if you want to, but you have to stop screaming!" My strong voice startled him, and he had the saddest look on his face when he looked me right in the eye and begged, " Please, I just wanna go home". My eyes instantly welled up, and so did his. I could feel his little heart breaking, and I pulled my eyes closed and leaned my head back against the wall. The tears came down my cheek, and my heart began to ache like it hadn't in a very long time.
I felt awful for being a part of this. I wanted so much to take him in my arms and tell him it was going to be okay. I wanted to take him to the one person who could fix this for him. He wanted his mom. Not the woman who the courts had given him to today, who had brought him to this shelter to live. Not the woman who had finished her own long struggle with addiction and who now was trying to put her life together. This woman was fun to visit now and then in an office or at the park, but this woman who would be picking him up after his nap, she was not his mom. She may have given birth to him 5 years ago, but ever since then, there was another woman who had held him and sang to him, and tucked him in each day at napttime. That was the woman he was crying for. That little boy fell asleep begging me to take him home, to his mom. My heart broke, and it has yet to heal.
I remember sitting there beside his cot at the daycare, his little body trembling as he alternated between crying and screaming. He kept saying, " I just wanna go home. " The more I'd try to calm him, the louder he got. My coworkers had just shook their heads when I decided to go sit with him, " just let him cry it out " they said. Anyone who knows me at all knows that I just cannot do that. This little boy was brand new to our daycare, and was going through, what I was sure to be, the hardest days of his life.
I sat there quietly for a few minutes, hoping my presence would help him feel more safe. He got louder and louder, wanting desperately for me to listen and take him to his mom. I talked calmly and reminded him that I could not do that. It was breaking my heart, but I tried again to assure him that he was going to love it here. I reminded him of the playground he had loved so much earlier in the day, and of all the arts and crafts we would be doing. I told him we could skip naptime and go for a walk. I tried everything, but it only seemed to make his body shake more, and the tears come faster. After awhile I knew his little body couldn't go on, and his voice was getting horse from all the screaming. I got firm and said, "Look, you can cry if you want to, but you have to stop screaming!" My strong voice startled him, and he had the saddest look on his face when he looked me right in the eye and begged, " Please, I just wanna go home". My eyes instantly welled up, and so did his. I could feel his little heart breaking, and I pulled my eyes closed and leaned my head back against the wall. The tears came down my cheek, and my heart began to ache like it hadn't in a very long time.
I felt awful for being a part of this. I wanted so much to take him in my arms and tell him it was going to be okay. I wanted to take him to the one person who could fix this for him. He wanted his mom. Not the woman who the courts had given him to today, who had brought him to this shelter to live. Not the woman who had finished her own long struggle with addiction and who now was trying to put her life together. This woman was fun to visit now and then in an office or at the park, but this woman who would be picking him up after his nap, she was not his mom. She may have given birth to him 5 years ago, but ever since then, there was another woman who had held him and sang to him, and tucked him in each day at napttime. That was the woman he was crying for. That little boy fell asleep begging me to take him home, to his mom. My heart broke, and it has yet to heal.
November 17, 2011
Being A Vegetarian
I can't remember the exact date that I became a vegetarian. I know I was around 17 or 18 years old. Everyone thought it was a phase that I'd outgrow, much the way I did Cheerleading, Karate, and wanting to be a Movie Star. Honestly, I wasn't sure I could do it either but in the beginning, it wasn't even hard. For as far back as I can remember, I was very connected to animals, and to people who picked on or tortured bugs, insects, or anything alive. I was extremely empathetic, even to those lonely carts at the laundry matt that got seperated from all the others ( but that's another story )
May 13, 2011
Jellybeans and Friday the 13th
Sometimes I just make up a catchy title and then start from there :) Well, it's been quite awhile since I've added an entry, so I thought it was time. After my last enttry, someone e-mailed me and said some pretty hurtful things. Another person was trying to be reassuring, and said, " You are such a nice person, if only you hadn't been so mean as a kid " Heraing that, hit even harder than the other person's intentional jabs. I tried to shake it, but it hit deep, and then my walls went even higher. I like to think I'm past allowing other people's interpretation of my past affect me, but I am not. Words matter, and as much as I wish I knew how to stop it, I think I am always going to have this hidden desire to be liked and understood. But here's the thing... I like me... I like who I was as a child, as a teenager, and who I am now as an adult. If you don't, then feel free to stay away and stop reading my blog :)
So, back to jellybeans! Did you know that at the JellyBelly factory they take you on a train and show you how they are made.... then you get to go into this candy workshop and try as many odd flavored jellybeans as you want! It was amazing :) I tried Bacon, Squash, and Vomit flavors! Disgusting, I know, but it makes for great storytelling!
Today is Friday the 13th. I remember how exciting that used to be when I was in school. Every teacher would comment on it, and kids were all giggly at every bad thing because they were sure it was a curse! But today, it was a pretty good day. Mom and I worked out the bills, I went with all the aunts to the movies, and then I sat at Zoup and read a magazine. A good day. Obviously I don't believe that a certain date can bring problems any more than I believe a bunch of sevens lines up will bring me luck. But still, it's fun to attach holidays to random days.... it gives you something to talk about :)
Alright, this was definately my most uninteresting entry, but I plan on using this site again, so some days will just be me rambling. For now, I'm off to watch some television!
So, back to jellybeans! Did you know that at the JellyBelly factory they take you on a train and show you how they are made.... then you get to go into this candy workshop and try as many odd flavored jellybeans as you want! It was amazing :) I tried Bacon, Squash, and Vomit flavors! Disgusting, I know, but it makes for great storytelling!
Today is Friday the 13th. I remember how exciting that used to be when I was in school. Every teacher would comment on it, and kids were all giggly at every bad thing because they were sure it was a curse! But today, it was a pretty good day. Mom and I worked out the bills, I went with all the aunts to the movies, and then I sat at Zoup and read a magazine. A good day. Obviously I don't believe that a certain date can bring problems any more than I believe a bunch of sevens lines up will bring me luck. But still, it's fun to attach holidays to random days.... it gives you something to talk about :)
Alright, this was definately my most uninteresting entry, but I plan on using this site again, so some days will just be me rambling. For now, I'm off to watch some television!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)