The One about Christmas 2009

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. =)

The one where I learned to like my job

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!

The One with Snuggies

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!?