a creature of the night....

     I confess... I have become one of the creatures of the night...not by choice, but by schedule... For those of you who might have noticed, I have been rather lax in the facebook/blogging world these past few weeks.  For those of you who may NOT have noticed, let me just say simply "I have been lax."      However, with that confession, comes another.... It has not been entirely my fault... it is the fault of a mouse and millions of people who flock from distant shores to see said mouse.  Because of this "flocking" which extends late into the night, I have been compelled to stay and sell wares, baubles and remembrances to the above stated masses of people.
     In plain English, I have been scheduled to work the closing shift at MouseGear, the largest merchandise store of the four Disney Parks.  My shift begins usually somewhere between 2-4 pm and ends between 1-3 pm.... Just recently I completed 16 days with only two days off. 
     I have throughly enjoyed my adventures as a Cast Member at Epcot MouseGear.  I absolutely love mixing and mingling with the guest.  In fact, I have been given a couple of special " You Made a Difference" or " Magical Moments Maker" awards by my supervisors at work who have watched- unbeknown to me"--my interaction with guests and/or their families and hence the above mentioned awards. 
    The downside to this magical experience is that once the guest are gone home, I usually discover that the feeling in my legs from the knees down has also gone...I have a half mile walk from my car to the underground tunnel where I clock in at....and then that same distance at the end of the shift... So, at least I am keeping up my walking routine... In fact, I have lost 10 pounds since July 3, just by walking at work...
     I have learned to embrodiery the "Disney Hats" and have become quite proficient at it...I have been a personal shopping advisor to many a guest from around the world and have witnessed the seasons of summer vactions from schools all over the world..
    My reason ---lame as it may seem---for not surfacing to write before this is simply that I have been totally exhausted when I get home in the wee hours of the morning.... sleep until about 3 hours before work and do the routine again....
     So, there you have it.... Yes, I am still alive!   But, Yes..... I have also become one with the creatures that inhabit the darkness after the fireworks are gone......

MOUSE GEAR...

This is the name of the place I will be working while at Disney... It is the largest merchandise shop on Disney property.. The only one larger is at Downtown Disney.   It has four entrances to it .... Here are some pictures of "stuff" available for sale... everything from crystal Mickey earrings to Disney pencils..   By the way, it is located to the left behind the big Ball known as "Spaceship Earth."

This is the wall of Bulk Candy..... !!!!

                                                      Notice the "Engineer" Costumes

                       Whew !!....   guess there isn't gonna be any "down time" at work here !!  

Hi Ho, Hi Ho.. It's off to work I go... .

I started my career with Disney along with about 50 other newbies at a classroom at Disney University.  The day long class is called " Traditions" and immerses you in the Disney frame of mind, history and culture... It was really quit enjoyable.  The exciting part was when we were presented our "official Disney name tag" at the end of the day..There is a ceremony and everything... Folks... Make no mistake.... The enthusiasm and joy of working for Disney that you hear and see people talk about is not fake !!   It trickles from the top down to every cast member --no matter what part you play...   Kind of reminds me of how the Church works and the joy that comes naturally from the whole environment of the Gospel..

 During the Traditions Class, When you answer a question correctly, or are the first to answer it, you get a "Critter."  These are small plastic figures of Disney Characters that are not available for sale or anywhere else except during the Traditions class.    I was beginning to think I was going to come home "critterless" because it was getting late in the afternoon... Then.. .we were blessed by a visit from a very, big, MOUSE !  Mickey surprised us with a visit !!   The coordinator then started a round of trivia questions for us to answer.  I thought... I am pretty trivial.... I can do this !   The question was asked.. "What was the name Walt originally wanted to name Mickey?"    I KNOW !!   I KNOW !!  My mind said as my hand shot up !   Miraculously, I was called upon and almost had a Senior Moment !  Then, I recovered quickly and answered " Mortimer"   That was correct !   Success at last !   I was gonna get a valuable "critter."   I did get my "critter!"  But it was presented to me by none other than Mr. Mickey Mouse himself !     I managed not to faint and gave him a good tight hug for all of his many fans in the Cattell family-- including in laws and out laws !!  

Oh... what an experience that was... Dreams really do come true, don't they ?!!??

"Now it's time to say Goodbye to all our company ......M I C K E Y M O U S E

Now that I have been in Orlando just under a week, worked 4 days and had two off to try to unpack the car... let me give an update...
Leaving Tifton was a WHOLE LOT HARDER than I thought it would be.... The lucky part (I guess) was that everyone had to leave quickly to be somewhere else, so my goodbyes were quick!  
I must say that I really miss Caiti... She has been an appendage of mine for almost a year and life seems a little less comical and chaotic---I am not sure that is a good thing... I really do miss her snuggles and hugs and unconditional love.  
Jimmy gave me a tight hug as I left and has called several times since to "check" on me... He is not very demonstrative in his affections, but I KNOW he loves me, in spite of all my quirks!
I was doing really well with my Goodbyes to my two close friends- Debra and Debbie until they both told me that I was the sister they never had and they would miss me too much!  Who knew??  Amazing how the number of sisters a person can have can grow over a lifetime.
I should have never visited Mom and Dad after my two Debbies got my "hay fever" started...   It has been 19 years since I came back to Tifton and Mom and Dad have been the one constant during my time there.  Physically, I was ready to leave, but when I started with the good bye hugs to my parents... I realized that I was not mentally ready to leave them... It was the hardest thing in the world to do to pull away from them and actually walk out that door and get into the car....    Heavenly Father, Please take care of all my loved ones that I left behind in Tifton... Bless me that I might make them  and YOU proud of me..

His ways always amaze me !

One of my biggest worries about my temporary move to Orlando has been.... WHERE THE HECK DO I LIVE FOR JUST 9 WEEKS !   Anyhow, today I got a wild hair and decided to look on Craigslist for Orlando.  I came across this ad there:  "From July to Sept. only I am renting my spare bedroom.  Beautiful two story townhouse in Winder Garden, Fl.  Furnished queen sized bed and TV, Wi-F- and utilities included, except for the phones.  WOW !!  I thought, this is just what I need and the time frame is perfect !  So, I called...
Needless to say, my new landlady's name is Christine.  I will be living in the bottom of the two story town house.  The reason she only needs to rent the room out for such a short period of time is that she is getting married in October.  Did I say the rent is only $400 !!!   Also, it is quite near where Travis and Sarah are and very close to work.... When she made the comment that "The Lord must have brought us together."  I knew I had found the right place!

As the World Turns.... so are the Days of My Life !

My philosophy these days is to take life one day at a time... I actually read a statement just last night that said
"I try to take life one day at a time---but sometimes several days attack me all at once!!"  Don't you love that??!!
Anyhow, because I know my Disney experience will be short lived and I know that I am not rich enough to retire, I have been looking at "less than traditional" employment.  Most of you know that I have been applying to agencies who recruit teachers to work overseas.  Specifically, I have been applying to work overseas in South Korea.  Although I have had great response to my online applications and have had two over the phone interviews with the recruiters for the schools, I have discovered one sad fact.  The odds of my getting an opportunity to teach overseas in specifically Korea are getting lower and lower.  It is not because I am not highly qualified.  The problem is I AM TOO OLD!    The retirement age in Korea is 55.  Most parents pay big bucks to these schools for teachers to teach their children English at a early age.  My preference of students is from ages 12 through Adult.  not necessarily the "little darlings"   Therein lies the problem. ... Most parents expect their child's teacher to be YOUNG and full of endless energy.  Although my energy level is high when teaching, my age is also "higher" than most Kindergarten teachers.  Thus, the recruiter's problem with me... They are doing their best, but......   
Because I really want to work somewhere overseas, I am open to all kinds of possibilities.  Also, because I really like to do things just a tad different than other people, I want a job now that most people would not normally think of.   I got an offer yesterday to be the manager of a new cooking school that will open up sometime in the fall of this year.  That was a really cool offer.  The funniest part and the one that makes this opportunity unique is that it is in Manchester, England.   I am supposed to be talking with the lady who made the offer in the near future.  That is when we will both see if we can come to an agreement on what she wants as compared to what I want.... I will keep you posted ---"As the World Turns on the Days of My Life!"

Florida or Bust !!

I realized today that although I had posted the results of my interview with Disney on Facebook, I didn't give a lot of details on it.  Soooooo...... here's the update--   A week ago today, I had my face to face interview at Casting at Disney.   I learned a couple of things even before I had my interview.   I already knew that Disney employees are called Cast Members because they all play a role in helping people have a magical experience at Disney.  However, CAST also stands for  Compensation, Appearance, Schedule and Transportation.  These are all the categories that a new employee needs to know about.  Cool, huh?? 
Anyhow, I was interviewed by a guy named Steve.  His wife is actually the secretary of the VP of Casting.  We hit it off great because we are both a bit old !  I had applied for a job in either Housekeeping, The front desk of one of the resort motels or to work in the child care center.  None on those jobs were available.  However, he looked at the screen and said "Wow!: This one wasn't here yesterday!   It just happened to be a job in Merchandising (sales clerk) at Mouse Gears.  For those of you who are uninformed (as I was prior to this experience), Mouse Gears is the largest gift shop Disney has.  It is at Epcot just back behind the big
"Golf Ball"  Epcot also happens to be where Sarah works.  The uniforms the Cast Members wear are not too hideous looking and the best part is THAT IT IS INSIDE AND THE A/C WORKS WELL !!
Needless to say, I said "Yes- Gimme that job!" 
I will be leaving Tifton around noon on July 2nd.  I have to start the training process at 8 am on July 3rd.  My position is considered "Seasonal" which means it is temporary- sort of...  After the training period is over, a seasonal employee can work pretty much on his or her schedule.  For instance, if I were a seasonal Cast Member and also a teacher and I had a long four day weekend.. I could call up and say "Put me on the schedule for 2 days (or however long I wanted)   Also, once you are training in merchandising, you are able to work in any of the gift shops on Disney property which means OVERTIME !!! I can pick up overtime shifts pretty much as needed while I am down there at Disney.  My official dates for this employment are from July 3-Sept 4th.  Because it is only for about 9 weeks, I will not be able to rent an apartment very easily.  So, I will probably be staying in an extended day motel unless some generous person wants a roommate for a short while or a church member has a room to rent out.
I am really excited about this opportunity for several reasons.   Top of the list--I can see my kids more often and I will be working at "The Happiest Place on Earth!"  Nuff said !!