Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Disney Expert??

At what point did I become a "Disney Expert?"

Last night I found myself watching Monday Night Football, praying that Santonio Holmes catch at least one touchdown (sorry...fantasy football fanatic). As I was screaming at the television, the phone rang, and it was my wife calling from work. "Damn it...I'm in the middle of something here. What's she thinking calling me now?"

"Hi hun. There's a woman here at work who's going to Disney right after Thanksgiving and she needs some advice."

My wife's a genius. She finds the one thing that would distract me from football....Disney talk. Anyway, she explains to me that one of her co-workers is headed to Disney and she is looking for advice on dining. After explaining that she should have been thinking about this 4 months ago, I launched into 20 questions. How many people? How many kids? What kind of food do they like? Are they on the Disney Dining Plan? How much time do they want to spend eating?

20 minutes later, I had waxed poetic on everything from, not burning table service credits on kids meals, to the best places to go for a romantic night for the adults only. I even found myself giving some insight into the babysitting services offered.

Where did this info come from? 2 years ago I could have given a limited number of restaurant reviews based on personal experience, but now I feel like I can speak intelligently on a wide gamut of Disney related subjects, whether I've personally experienced them or not.

I have to give credit to the variety of podcasts and blogs that I ingest on a weekly basis. Being steeped in Disney has somehow transferred me into the resident expert for friends and family. I guess if I ever decide to abandon my current profession, I could go crawling to Main Street Travel Co. looking for a job.

Who else has turned into the go-to person for all things Disney?? I know I'm not the only one.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Quick Update

Just a quick post to say that I wasn't able to complete this past weekends 15K. I am usually off from work on Saturday and Sunday, however, this weekend was a little different. I got a promotion at work and needed to go in during the weekend to get some things done. Sunday I did get in a brief run, but certainly no 10 or 15K. I'm hoping to make up for things this weekend. I'll keep everyone posted. Congrats to everyone else who did participate. Great Job!!!!!!

Monday, September 15, 2008

Steps in the Right Direction

Today's post is about taking steps in the right direction. Lately I feel like I've been taking steps back. My mileage has been way down and weight has been way up. My morale has been bottoming out and I've been getting pretty discouraged, at times wondering if I'm going to be able to get to the finish line. I've been avoiding posting because I didn't want to post negative news. (Doesn't mean I haven't been reading all of yours.)

I've been trying to ask myself, "why?" What has caused this regression?? Why don't I continue to move forward, but instead stand still or even move back??

Then this weekend I got a dose of reality. Who cares why?? It doesn't matter why I've stop doing what I know I should. It's just time to suck it up and do it.

Yesterday was the Mighty Meehan 5K in Dennis, MA. This race is to benefit Infant ALL (a type of leukemia). The race is named after Turlough Meehan, a young soul who left this earth too early last year at just 6 months. I had agreed a couple months ago to run this with a good friend of mine...and to be honest...if she wasn't doing it, I probably would have backed out. The weather yesterday morning was breezy and overcast. It actually felt like it was going to be great weather for a run. Then the rain came. Not only did the rain come, it came in sideways. I don't think I ever experienced rain coming down at such an angle. While waiting for the starting gun to sound my right side was soaking wet and my left side was completely dry. A very strange experience. The the race began and the rain came down harder and the puddles grew quickly. While running in those strange conditions something weird started to happen. Instead of feeling miserable and cold, I was feeling motivated and moved.

As I dodged puddles I would look up at the other runners and walkers, many of whom were friends and family of young Turlough. I realized that no amount of rain was going to prevent them from honoring him. Not only were the runners and walkers supporting the cause, but those who couldn't walk or run the distance had set up camp around the course, cheering the rest of us on. About half way through the race I found myself laughing and now I was aiming for the puddles. I felt like I was 8 years old again and running just because it was fun to feel your body move that fast. When I was done, I was soaked. I couldn't have been more wet if I had jumped into Chris's DVC pool ;0)

Now I'm feeling reinvigorated!! I'm a little embarrassed to admit that my last long run was during the Corn Fest Fun Run. But I'm looking forward to the challenge of this weekends run. 15K is a lot of miles. I figure it will do 1 of 2 things. I will not perform as well as I hope to and it will be motivation to work harder, or I will do better than I hope to and it will push me to continue to move toward that ultimate goal...EPCOT...sorry Jonathan, I know "Main Street Awaits," but that ain't the finish line.

Sorry to have run so long, but I'll try to be better about posting more regularly and that should reduce the overall length. Thanks for the prodding Mike...sorry it's been so long since I've checked in.