Tuesday, December 29, 2009

The One about Christmas 2009

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Merry Christmas (a few days late) and Happy New Year (a few days early!)

This year was my 2nd Christmas where I didn't see family OR go to Church, so it really didn't feel like Christmas to me at all. I worked at Epcot on Christmas morning, it was rather uneventful other than my manager bringing us donuts and orange juice. Christmas evening, I went to my co-worker's house for dinner with a few other co-workers who are in Florida without any family around. It was a fun time and it was nice to get a real, home-cooked meal on Christmas! Although, I have to say, even if I were with family on Christmas, if I were in Florida, it still wouldn't feel Christmasy because Christmas to me equals snow and cold, not palm trees and 60 degrees (unintentional rhyming but enjoyable nonetheless).


Last night though was SO COLD and I had to work until 11:30 (not late compared to my 5am shifts last year at the Emporium) but regardless, I'm the stupid Minnesotan wearing shorts outside thinking if I can handle blizzards I can handle a "cold" Florida night. But I was assigned to exit surveys, so essentially standing in 1 spot trying to get people to stop to do my survey. It was NOT easy. I know that other cast members doing the same surveys on a warmer day got about 200 completed. I, for once in my life, am lowering the curve with a measley 71 surveys. Thankfully, I had no quota, was just told to get as many as I could. It didn't help that it seemed everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. Including  but not limited to, a frantic woman wanting me to help her find her lost son and a elderly woman who took a dive on the sidewalk in front of me. Ouch!

The cutest thing happened at work though too. I'm standing near town square in the Magic Kingdom, which is all decorated for Christmas with like a 100 foot Christmas tree and all, and this little boy comes running in and with his arms waving in the air proclaims "IT'S A WINTER WONDERLAND IN HERE!!!" I just start laughing and his parents just look at him like, awww, isn't our son the cutest!? And in a non-verbal nod, I communicated back that he was, indeed, the cutest.

A week from tomorrow I'll be on my way to Minnesota and I couldn't be more excited! I was a little bummed when my mom told me, on Christmas, that my sister was going to be taking my bed (the one I hand-picked in High School and labeled my dream bed) to her new house. I was like ummmm hold the phone, sleeping in my bed at home is a whole part of the coming home experience, right!? And I plead my case which resulted in my sister getting a new bed and me keeping my bed at home! Win-win for everyone! My mom also told me that for Christmas, her and my step-dad are taking the entire family to Las Vegas. Because nothing says FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY like Las Vegas!!!!!! lol My family is strange. I'm thinking my 13 nieces and nephews won't be along for this trip. Just a hunch.

Anyways, time to do something productive but before I go, in the spirit of cheesy holiday messages,  I just have to say, it warms my heart that you care enough to read this! I especially love when I get text messages of my spelling mistakes - ahem thanks Billie. =)

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

The one where I learned to like my job

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So I've officially been a Research Specialist at Walt Disney World for about 2 months. I finally was told I get to take off my "Earning my ears" tag from my name tag soooo I guess I'm official. I menionted before that I would be interviewing to go full-time in my current role and, as predicted, it was awkward. But it all worked out in the end because I got the job..yes... the one already had. Don't be confused. Interviews USUALLY are for getting a new job, this interview was to just change status from part-time to full-time. lol But yeah, they told me I got it like 2 days later. I feel everyday I am getting more okay with my job as well. And if you are curious about it, I'll try to explain.

At the beginning of the day, you're given a "strat" with the list of all the surveys you are assigned to complete that day.We have some surveys that can just seem like huge mountains to climb. Example 1: The Dreaded Diary. Completing the Diary requires finding someone who arrived in the Orlando area yesterday or today, is staying OFF Disney property, lives in the USA, has NO cast member with them AND THEN is willing to keep track of all of their spending for their entire vacation including what stores they even just visit and few other details. So yeah, when you have one of those on your strat, it can feel like a weight on your shoulders. Example 2: The fearful Food and Beverage. This entails finding 12-13 people who have had food and/or beverages that day who are willing to go sit at a computer and take a 5-10 minute survey about the food they had. There are a few other surveys that can seem like a daunting task, but regardless, I don't fear them as much as I once did. In fact, yesterday, after finishing all my work an hour and a half early, I did 2 extra show reviews of Tiana's Showboat Jubilee, 5 extra food and beverage surveys AND an extra diary, because others didn't get them done and I wanted to help out. I totally could have just sat in the break room and done nothing. As long as I finish my work, I'm golden. But to be at the point where it doesn't bother me to do extra work makes me finally feel like I'm comfortable with the job I'm in and that's a good feeling. No, this isn't my dream job, but it's nice not to hate my job either. It can be fun actually being able to talk to people (the nice ones) throughout the day and I feel lucky to have fun co-workers to keep it interesting. 

Anyhow, not much else is new, just working and enjoying living in Florida. My roommate from my College Program, Becca moved back down to Florida yesterday and I'm so excited to have her back! A big group of us went out to the Ale House tonight to kind of celebrate all being back together and it was fun. Not to make my Minnesota friends jealous or anything but today was 100% top-down on the convertible weather, it was soooooo amazing. The holidays are making me homesick but I'm consoled by the sun and the fact that I don't fear for my life driving in snow. I can't wait to go home in January though! (And Because I know Autumn reads these, I am already making plans with Emily to come up to Duluth, so rest assured we will probably want to crash at your place oook!?) Night all!

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

The One with Snuggies

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In an effort to continue the exponential growth of the world phenomenon known as the Snuggie, Emily and I decided to test the claims in the oh-so-convincing Snuggie ad campaign. Can you REALLY change the channel of the TV while staying warm!? It seemed too good to be true, we had to test it for ourselves...


 
Unbelievable!! Talking on the phone AND using the computer at the same time while looking fashionable in the popular zebra print Snuggie.


 
 The most obvious use for a Snuggie: sleeping! Duh!
Yet they never seem to show you that on TV, what are they hiding?!




 Guitar Hero + Snuggie = Ultimate Christmas Gift Combo




Someone just told me the Snuggie will now be available in purple giraffe print!


Wow, doesn't she look warm while changing the TV station!? If she had a regular ol' blanket
her entire arm would have indeed fallen off due to frostbite.




Celebrities should wear them in public because they also happen to make a great way to hide from the paparazzi. Of course if they wear one in public no one will think you're famous anyhow, so really, why AREN'T the celebs wearing these on Rodeo Drive already?!? I think I just started a trend






This photo is so rock and roll I can see it being printed in Rolling Stone
with the headline "Move over Jimi Hendrix, Emily Hendricks has arrived!"




And, as those famous ads show, you really CAN watch sports in a snuggie! The question is no longer can you really do all those things in a snuggie, because we've proven, against all odds, that you can.
But the real question, the one burning on everyone's mind is....
when will it be socially acceptable to wear a snuggie everywhere!?

Sunday, December 6, 2009

The (Second) One where I moved - just not as far

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If you've been following along, you know that I moved to Orlando and into my friend Michelle's apartment as a temporary solution while I figured out a place to live. Well, it's December 6th (can you believe it!?) and I moved into a house in Kissimmee this week I'm not going to lie, I have extremely mixed emotions about it. It feels soooo far away (there are 2 tolls to and from work) and when people ask me where I live, I honestly have no idea how to describe it to anyone. "It's next to a Walgreens?" is my pathetic attempt. Well, just about every place is next to a Walgreens around here.

It was a much needed move though, since I couldn't cramp Michelle's space any longer. I'm enjoying having my own room once again, but I do miss girl talk with Michelle every night! The house I live in now is most definitely a shade of pink! Go figure, I live in a pink house! There are palm trees in the front and a pool in the back so I can't complain! (although it's WAY too cold to swim!) I live with Emily Hendricks (for those of you who don't know, I grew up with her back home and we were practically neighbors) and her boyfriend Will- they both work at Magic Kingdom so hey, maybe we can all car pool someday! How cute, right!? haha

Work has been getting a lot better..or maybe I'm getting a lot better at my work!? lol I am not sure which is which but after a while, rude people just bug you less and when people say no to doing a survey, you just don't care anymore because it happens all the time and the next person will probably say yes.

If you're back in Minnesota, I'm hoping to be able to come home in January, so put that in the back of your mind and I'll keep you posted on dates. I won't be home for Christmas sadly, but I'll be off work, with nothing to do, so feel free to call =)

This week I'm hoping to finally get to see Mark & James play on Friday then maybe hit up a concert with Boys Like Girls, The Ting Tings, Ke$ha, Cobra Starship,  and Hey Monday. It's just been waaaaaaay too long since I've been to a concert!

Bonus Features:
1. I had to get new sheets for my new bed and I totally nerded out because I am not kidding you, I found sheets "inspired by" Cinderella but are PINK, even though Cindy is all about the blue ya know, so the fact that they're pink is like a miracle. Basically, they are the prettiest sheets ever and am fairly certain the fairy godmother herself wove them just for me.

2. On tuesday I'm interviewing for the job I already have, weird, right? I'm technically only part time and apparently you have to be interviewed to get statused as full time. How do you interview for a job you already have? I'm confused.

3. Yesterday at work, I was recruiting people to participate in a Food & Beverage survey and I stopped this lovely couple from the United Kingdom and the most hilarious thing happened. I asked them if they would be willing to take 5 minutes to go sit and complete this survey and they said in their cute accents "Well that's alright." So I was like, "ok, well have a great night!" and moved on to find someone else. A minute later, the guy I work with comes over and is like, the people you were just talking to are sitting inside waiting to do the survey. I was like umm, what people!? WELL turns out, that while Americans say "That's alright" as a means of saying no, English people say "That's alright!" like they'd say "Jolly good!" except apparently no one says "jolly good" anymore, so I'm told. So the cute couple saw themselves over to do the survey and probably thought I was the most weird girl ever but they were so awesome and the whole exchange made my night (in addition to my awesome co-worker who pretty much prevented me from going into a major meltdown lol) Anyways, that was waaaaay too long of a bonus feature, but there ya go! Have a good one folks!

Thursday, December 3, 2009

The One with Kris Allen and Christmas!

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Today Emily and I went to the Magic Kingdom to see this awesome guy sing Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree. It was a fun experience. He didn't talk much, just sang the song 3 times, waved to the crowd and went on his way but it was cool! I just love seeing how things like the Walt Disney World Christmas Parade are put together, even if it means seeing Nick Cannon repeat the same lines 3 times over!
 
Despite the huge camera behind us, my camera was the only camera that caught footage of us two ladies throughout the day. We just didn't stand in the right spots to be in the crowd shots but that's Aokay with me! So no need to try to find us in the crowd on Christmas day, fairly certain we'll be no where in site despite the fact that we were up pretty close!  
 
Nick Cannon was looking festive in a red velvet suit, too bad it was like 70 degrees and he was right in the sun! He was a pro though! He'd squint when the cameras were off but when the cameras were on, he somehow managed to appear as though the sun wasn't bothering him at all! You could tell he really was a nice, funny guy too. He'd mess up his lines here and there but just kept smiling and kept rolling.