Ketchup

There are no shortcuts to any place worth going. - Beverly Sills

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. - Helen Keller

Ok... so I didn't post the next day like I had said but I had intended on doing so. I just became preoccupied with a hectic life. So let me catch you up:

On the 24th I was deployed to Mouse Gear. I had told Troy that he owed me big because of the frightening little boy who wanted to kill me, so he sent me to Mouse Gear. I love Mouse Gear. It's one of my favorite places to work. Most of the people that work there are great and the guests that come through are almost always in a good mood. That took up a good chunk of my day. I had come home just in time to get a shower and get dressed for Pleasure Island. It is still my Monday and Thursday night release. It feels good to be able to go out and have a great time. Not that I'm not having a good time everyday - it's just that these parks aren't my style. I prefer more a more thrilling park (like Cedar Point) but the club scene here is like no other. ~Anyway~ I get home at like 3 am and head to bed.

On the 25th I got up kinda late and rushed around to get some laundry done because I was heading out with a friend, Brian. We hung out for the rest of the day before club hopping around down town.

On the 26th Brian and I went to Universal Studios. Now that is a park! There are some serious rides there. I managed to ride The Mummy a few times. It is now one of my favorite roller coasters of all time. It's great. After we hung out there we headed over to his friends house where we hung out on the porch until me went to down town to watch the Pride Parade. Then everyone headed to a bar to get something to eat. Brian then brought me home because I had work Sunday morning.

The 27th. I was deployed to The Universe of Energy were I was a greeter for the attraction. So from 9-5 I stood outside under an umbrella and greeted people as they entered the ride. Kind of boring, yet fun. I had a blast with the guests. Every job is only what you make it. If you make it fun then it'll be fun. Besides it gave me an opportunity to meet so many people from all over the world and I was able to have a conversation with them. Not to many jobs allow you to have such interaction with so many people. Towards the end of my shift I had the chance to meet Renee, Shawn, Alyssa, and Lorette (sorry if I butchered your names). They were guests from New Jeresy. Very people. Renee is one of Disney's biggest fans so I decided to give her some trading cards that I was able to obtain through a class (the only place in the world to get them). So we made plans to meet up the next day in order to give them to her. I then came home and tried to relax for one evening but Kama called and invited me over to dinner. So I went over and had me some soul food. Thanks Kama. She's so great. I then came home and went to bed.

Which brings us to yesterday the 28th. I got up early and got ready to head to the Magi Kingdom to meet up the Renee and company. I was to meet them at The Crystal Palace where we had lunch with Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger and Piglet. After which she wanted to know if I would like to spend the day with them at Magic Kingdom. So I did. I had so much fun and Renee (who is an older lady - late 40's I think) also had a great time. She included me into their family vacation photos. lol She's so nice. When the time came for me to leave we exchanged numbers and addresses. She wants to send me copies of the photos she took. I then came home rushed to get dressed and headed to Pleasure Island. I had to get there before 11 so I could stop by Guest Relations to pick up my lost check card. I had left it at the bar on Thursday. I got a little drunk and forgot I ad opened a tab and left it with the bar tender. I made it just in time. I got my card and then headed on over to Mannequins. But this time I didn't open a tab - I didn't get anything to drink - lol. I got home around 3 and headed to bed.

So now here we are at today. Finally. I slept in a little but not much because I had plans for 11 but they were cancelled last minute. I was slightly annoyed but it gave me a chance to have some time to myself and relax. So I took 10:30-1:30 and relaxed at the pool. My back is really red. But I think it'll turn into a nice tan in a couple of days. I already had a small base tan going so it's shouldn't stay red because it doesn't feel burnt. Now if I can just get the rest of my body to darken in as much as my face and back I'd be good to go. ~Anyway~ I then got a shower and headed out to do some grocery shopping. I was starting to run a little low. After coming home from that I made myself a little something to eat, watched some TV and now here I sit. =)

So now that you're all caught up you can finish up your book. =P And feel free to stalk me anytime so you don't need to wait for me to update you. =P I promise though I will try and be more responsible with my blogging.

The only service a friend can really render is to keep up your courage by holding up to you a mirror in which you can see a noble image of yourself. - George Bernard Shaw

Well I just got home from one of the longest days of work I've had so far. I was deployed to Pin Station. It is just so boring and people are nuts about the whole pin trading thing. A young child (about 8) threatened my life today because he wasn't able to have the pin he wanted. I had to call security to have him removed from the park. Ugh...

I'm tired and have such a headache. I'll post more tomorrow.

Finally

The road to happiness lies in two simple principles: find what it is that interests you and that you can do well, and when you find it, put your whole soul into it -- every bit of energy and ambition and natural ability you have.- John D. Rockefeller III

I've not posted an entry in such a long time. People are probably beginning to think that I quit or died. But the truth is that Disney had shut off our second line in order to install our high speed net and it took them a week to install it. Well today I come home and find the box on the wall and it's all lit up but it doesn't work. Damn it. Another reason I don't post often is that I don't have a computer down here. I use my roommates. It's not available for my posting pleasure at all times. Sometimes he's on it for hours (it is his, after all) or he goes thru stints where he shuts it off and keeps it locked so no one can log on. That's usually after one of the other two roommates do something stupid and annoy him. Like Jason.

Jason annoys the hell out of all three of us. He only has the desire to talk about 1 out of 5 things. Disney, Home Depot, sex, Madison or football. He needs to widen his horizons and move on to bigger and better things. He needs to make some friends and get out of our hair. He always says how he's going to clean the apartment and win the cleanest apartment award for the rest of us. I came home today to find that our apartment had been inspected today. We obviously had won due to the prize basket sitting on the counter. I picked up the paper they left to see what out score was and where we scored highest. Well guess what - the few things that we did do poorly on were his fault. It was his bedroom. His dishes. His garbage. His bathroom. Hmm... so much for him winning the award. I think that basket should go to Daniel and I since our room was (and I quote) "Spotless! Great Job!! Exceeded all our expectations!!!" =) Better luck next time Jason.

Yesterday was kind of a big day for me, here. After work I had decided to go to Magic Kingdom and Pleasure Island with Rachel. Rachel is also a Rescue Ranger at EPCOT. She has just become my best friend here. She's great. I was able to talk to her about things that I've only ever been able to tell a select few. She in return was able to share intimate parts of her life with me. I've made a lot friends but she was the first that I feel such a connection to. I have a feeling that she's going to make this a lot easier for me.

I was able to talk to my mommy for a brief few moments the other day. I miss her so much. I had also finally been able to talk to Daniel. I'm not liking this whole not being able to talk to my friends and loved ones any time I want.



And my horoscope for today:

Keep others honest. Hold them to their promises. You've been burned often enough to know the signs. You always liked to imagine what you could have done, and now you have a good plan ready to launch. Demand the money up front. Pierce the smokescreen of all those words about sharing to reveal the greed behind them. The wrong people will leave, and good riddance to them. The clever ones will seek new ways to trick you. The right people will respect you from here on out. You can easily tell the good apples from the bad ones in this bunch.

Realization

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it. Life is a beauty, admire it. Life is a dream, realize it. Life is a challenge, meet it. Life is a duty, complete it. Life is a game, play it. Life is a promise, fulfill it. Life is sorrow, overcome it. Life is a song, sing it. Life is a struggle, accept it. Life is a tragedy, confront it. Life is an adventure, dare it. Life is luck, make it. Life is life, fight for it! - Mother Teresa

For the past few days I have been wondering a lot of things. I have especially been pondering my motives behind coming to Disney World in the first place. My main reason I gave to people was that it was a great opportunity that I couldn't let pass me by. I've let a lot slip by in the past and didn't think I could live with myself if I let this as well. It's a good reason and the most accurate one for my being here but I don't fully believe myself that it's the only reason. I think I was chasing something... a dream perhaps. It doesn't really matter what I was chasing the point being that I was chasing and not running. Or was I. Could I have been running from something, but from what... life maybe. Life seemed to have been creeping up on me and at a decent speed. Here I am, 22 and have accomplished very little in my life. So maybe part of me was running from getting older and trying to grasp onto the threads of a lost childhood. A childhood that was stolen from me. Turning 22 was a big deal for me (like 30 is for most people). It was the point at which I realized that I indeed had missed out on having a childhood and I am now a grown adult. It's the point I realized that I can't go back and retrieve what I lost. My life is moving forward and with each day my stolen innocence was fading further and further into the distant grey and becoming nothing more than a mere memory. But these memories aren't the kind where on looks back on and tells with pride or to get a laugh. They are memories that I try to not look back upon because the pain is sometimes still very fresh. Other times they are memories from which I draw lessons on how to live my life in the future. Why is it so hard to let go of the pain? This comes back to the chasing of a dream. I had missed out on my childhood and what better place to reclaim one than at Disney World. The dreams I'm chasing are the dreams of a child. A child who somewhere, somehow got lost and the path of life took a harsh turn which left me with nothing... not even a goal. Yet, here I am at the happiest place on earth and I'm not so happy some days. The missing of home isn't all that overwhelms me. It's also the realization that I have left something behind that is more precious to me than anything I have ever "owned" before.

I thought that my life was missing something (other than a childhood). Everyday I had the nagging feeling that I had nothing. I accomplished nothing. I'm not going anywhere. It seemed to me that if I had stayed then I would be lost again but this time it would be my fault. I had an opportunity to get out and I needed to take it. Especially at that time. I had been feeling that I was losing everything: my goals, my ambition, my spark, my friends... my life. It felt as if everything was draining from me slowly and I needed to stop it. Here I am - 1300 miles away from my problems. I did well. But somewhere in the trip I picked up different ones, yet they're the same ones. My goals are set back in order. Being around thousands of children (of all ages) daily helped to remind me why I want to work with children. My ambition to go back has to be put on hold because I'm here until January. My spark has returned but I need to keep it to a minimum as to not get myself worked up and run back home. My friends... well they too I left in the dust when I went running. Unfortunately, I may still be in the danger zone for losing them. I am hoping that the friendships I had would be strong enough to last the time and distance. My life still seems empty in many ways. There I was thinking that I had nothing when I had everything I needed. I just needed help to realize it. My entire world is wrapped up in one person. My Pookie is everything in the world to me and all I need or want at this point. But, I'm here - I'm here. So I am back to where I thought that I started... with very little.



My horoscope for the day:

Open yourself to something new. It would be presumptuous to say that the world is waiting, but you'll merge easily with whatever current is flowing past your door. Adventures are available for the asking. If that comes as a surprise, maybe it's because your recent inward focus kept you from noticing the wonders already in progress beyond your walls. Get used to the new climate. Catch up on the latest gossip. Steep yourself in recent history. Instead of kicking yourself for staying out of the loop, make up for lost time. Full membership privileges are yours.

Happy Birthday

No man is a failure who is enjoying life. - William Feather

Today is my mom's birthday. Happy Birthday Mommy. I Love You and miss you.

I am missing everyone back home. I got a letter in the mail today from Shawna. I'm not sure how long ago she wrote and sent it but it seems to contain information that I already knew was happening. Hmm... I dunno. She's working in Ohio with her mom and I don't have that address to send her a letter back so I'll have to write one and send it to her address where Danny will get it. I don't like being so far away from everyone I care about. It has little to do with actually being away but it's the distance. It really is a long distance. Ugh...

I am however finally gettin to know some of the international students and finding out about the culture of other countries firts hand by talking with them. The information they have and can share is fascinating. By the time I leave here in January I will have friends from all over the world. =)

Still Training

To be capable of steady friendship or lasting love, are the two greatest proofs, not only of goodness of heart, but of strength of mind. - William Hazlitt

I am still in the midst of training. I wish it was over but I still have a week to go because I need to be trained in everything that goes on in EPCOT. So far I've trained in Imagination, MouseGear, Living Seas, Liberty Inn and Mission Space. Oh the fun of it all. The costumes for some of the area are fun while others aren't so great. Mission Space's costume is great. The Liberty Inn costume consists of knickers... and we all know how Dustin feels about those. hehe Today I'm back at Liberty Inn but I'll be training in the back and that doesn't require knickers.

They're keeping me pretty busy but they informed me that after my training is over my schedule won't be so compact and full. Which is what everyone says, even the CP's that have been through the same training I'm going through. I have off Friday & Saturday this week. I get two days off a week and they will always be consecutive, which will be nice. I am also guaranteed at least one back to back, which is a Saturday-Monday off. That would be so nice.

I've not had much of a chance to get around and experience the parks yet. I've been to Disney-MGM and Magic Kingdom a few times but it was only to browse to get to know the parks more. I have, however, got to experience Pleasure Island over and over. hehe It's the one thing that is keeping me from going insane from missing my loved ones. I keep accumulating more and more friends. My inner circle is growing and we all go to PI on Mondays and Thursdays to have a great time and network. =) Networking is important here. This weekend and next week I plan on getting on over to Animal Kingdom and back down to Disney-MGM.

My roommate situation isn't getting any better or any worse. It's kind of at a stand still. The two that annoy me are truly nice guys, they really are... but the fact that they are breathing the same air I'm trying to breathe annoys me. Their mere existence. I think it's mainly because they never change they topic of conversation from anything other getting it on with some girl or something related to Disney. One just can not carry on an intelligent conversation with either one of them. Thank goodness that I rarely see them because I work in the mornings and am off by early afternoon and they work in the evenings and by the time they get home I'm either in bed or out with friends. I'm sure it will get better as soon as I figure out a way to get them to change their topic of conversation. hehe

I miss everyone lots especially you pookie. Oh and I lost my address book somewhere along the line so I need everyone's address again so I can write you. I know yours Pookie. I love you.

And here is my horoscope for today:

Wanting to belong is a natural feeling. If you're far away from your family in distance or emotion, you'll find an acceptable substitute. Clubs and teams hold the appeal of like-minded people united in a common purpose. Relationships address needs that neither party might be able to express. It never hurts to get your wish in a slightly different form. Unusual pairings take the idea of connection toward completeness. You can't tell if your lucky or unlucky star is responsible, but something up there has a strange idea of matchmaking. Live with this for a while before deciding whether or not you like it.