Misty for Disney

I belong to a group called All Ears that is through Yahoo! Groups where I get all of the information on Walt Disney World and Disneyland through moderators and participants. They have a website too that is chock full of Disney information (www.allearsnet.com) and it is one of my favorite sites to visit whether I am going to Disney or not. I am obsessed.

Well, recently, there have been a lot of posts relating to Disney cast members going above and beyond for guests. I found myself getting a little misty reading some of the stories. It just shows that despite all of the incidents and accidents in the news lately, Disney is keeping its magic alive.

For instance, there was a post about a man whose child slipped and fell on the way to the restroom at the Rainforest Cafe. He said she was screaming her head off and some cast members came to her rescue and called an ambulance. The paramedics determined that the little girl just had a bruise on her forehead so, the manager of the restaurant asked the little girl if she wanted to go to the doctor or eat some food. She chose food and he gave her a tiara and a wand because he overheard the family discussing the little girl's birthday meal she would be having at Cinderella Castle the following day. Then the manager sat them without a wait next to the animatronic gorillas so that the little girl could see them move every time it "rained. He also checked on them repeatedly during their meal. The manager even told her that Cinderella was anxiously awaiting her visit! With that news, the little girl forgot all about her little accident and just imagined the princess waiting in the castle for her to show up.

It is stuff like this that keeps me going back to Disney every chance I get. Not only do you get to be the child you keep inside, but you get to feel the excitement and the magic that Disney is famous for. It warms the hearts of many. Even my dad, who shares my love for Disney and is pictured above with the castle at Magic Kingdom.

18 days until I am there again. It will be my 13th time.

My Shiny New Bike

Saturday morning, I ran out to do a few things but when I returned, my hub was actually awake and told me he had a surprise for me. He said he felt bad that I haven't bought anything for myself in a while and wanted to buy me something I would really enjoy. So, we headed out. He slowed down in one area while driving because he wanted to go into a store that was no longer there. Just our luck! So, he kind of had to tell me what he wanted to get me because he didn't know where else to find it. He said he wanted to buy me a mountain bike! So we went to a bike shop that wasn't too far away and picked out a nice, new, shiny, red, expensive Raleigh mountain bike. It is really nice. I may need to adjust it a little bit but it is great. I took it out yesterday for about an hour, just riding up and down the streets in my development. It is meant for like 70% street and 30% trails, which is what I will be doing. I enjoy it immensely and it is another way to exercise my excessively large rear. Also, do I need a helmet? I haven't worn a helmet on a bike ever. I just figure, if I am dumb enough to fall off of it by doing something I shouldn't be doing, then I deserve to get hurt. I still have to get completely comfortable on it because I haven't ridden a bike in almost 20 years. But, it is true, riding a bike is like riding a bike.

"A 20/20 Vision of Our Diverse Society"

Last night, John Quinones, from ABC's "20/20" and "What Would You Do?," spoke at St. Joseph's College and it was very interesting and insightful. He made remarks about racism and ignorance and how people had a genuine lack of respect for one another that he feels is actually improving now with Obama's presidency. He feels that people are communicating more because our president is communicating more. However, according to his show, "What Would You Do?" people have a blatant disregard for those who are in distress. They have a hidden camera show that deals with ethical dilemmas and whether or not people will come to a person's aid or walk on by. Quinones even showed a clip of the show and it was pretty disappointing and then heartwarming. It made a few people in the audience cry, not me but, a few people. There was an instance of an actor who played a homeless man who collapsed on the sidewalk. People just walked on by, they counted 86 passersby. Then a homeless woman with a cane walked right on up and asked people to use their cell phone to call 911 for the man. 24 more people passed until one woman did what she had asked. It was touching how kind the woman was and so many viewers were inspired by her that ABC gave her a home and the medication she needs to live. They even started a Facebook page in her honor.

Quinones made you think about what you are doing to help those around you and if you have the ability to be someone's hero. I was slightly disappointed in myself because I wasn't sure if I could step in front of a stranger with a bat to stop him from hitting another person out of fear but, what if that person would die from their injuries and I was the only one who could stop it? It is a really difficult scenario but, I do hope that if it came to stepping up or not that I will and I will be proud of myself for doing so. I had his book, "Heroes Among Us" signed by him and he wrote, "Be a hero." I just hope that maybe, one day, I can be.

I am a travelin' woman!

So, I love traveling. I have never been to Europe but it is on my list. I love to experience new things, see new sights and taste new food. By new I mean, new to me. People have probably been eating some of the things I have just tried for hundreds of years but I have been ignorant to it. Like poi for instance, I ate some while in Maui and it was actually a nice addition to marinated steak. As for sightseeing, I was excited to see Alcatraz and Fisherman's Wharf in 2005 when we took a trip to San Francisco. I am a real seaside type of person. I am a fan of the small towns on the water and that is why I enjoy the Hamptons. There are galleries, museums, shops, restaurants and gardens. It is just cute and quaint. I do not enjoy snobby people but that is a rare few who think they are better than everyone else. There are a lot of people who are just making a living or enjoying their summer on Long Island.

This year, like I think I have said in a prior post, I will be heading to Walt Disney World with my husband and family. I cannot wait. I have been researching and organizing the information I have for the trip. I am like a Disney encyclopedia by now because I have already read 3 tour books and one dining guide. I am prepared and I do not even know who is going yet...I just know that I am.

Sorry if I get a little winey...

Tonight I went to a wine tasting party and tried to buy a bottle of wine because I love it so much but the lady didn't have what I wanted in stock. Aw well! I learned a lot about tasting, like what to do when tasting a wine for the first time. First, you hold the glass up to check out the color and guess when the wine was bottled. Then you hold the glass to the side to check its legs, which ultimately tells you the extent of the alcohol content. Then you smell the wine by sticking your entire nose into the glass. Then you sip the wine and swirl it around your tongue to get the real taste of it.

I find it amazing that most wine comes from grapes but they all taste very different according to the other ingredients and fermenting process. Also, supposedly wine tastes bitter when you eat a grape first and then sip the wine. I didn't seem to mind though. Even though I enjoy a sweeter bottle of wine, like Riesling or Gewürztraminer, I will drink whatever is around because I like to try new things. I also like to taste different food with wine to see how the taste of the wine changes. It is all very interesting and slightly intoxicating so the intelligent conclusions that I come up with does escape me after one too many. Oops!

Oh, it started at a young age

Today, while reading posts from the Disney listserv I belong to, they asked an interesting question: What actual moment did you fall in love with Disney?

To which I answered, with Disney geek acronyms:

My mother could probably answer this better than I but, I believe I first fell in love with Disney when I was about 3 years old. My Poppy (my mother's father) taped all of the Silly Symphonies for us to watch and I would just play it over and over and then I would put Snow White in the equation and that would be on repeat as well. At 3, I had already taken over the living room along with my pal Disney. I was obsessed and still am at 28.

I feel that Disney has always been a part of my life and my parents are to blame. They had their honeymoon in WDW in 1976 and stayed at the Contemporary. My older brother's first stuffed animal was an odd looking Winnie the Pooh that they purchased during that trip. In 2007, my husband and I got engaged in Cinderella Castle. Just this December, my parents and aunt and uncle just became DVC members. We are going again in August and I cannot wait. I know there are plenty of things I have not done yet. So, to date, I have been to WDW 12 times and Disneyland once. We also have plans to travel to the new DVC property in Hawaii in 2011. I know everyone will laugh at me because I still travel with my parents on vacations at 28 years old but that is what Disney means to me. It is all about family and not having to be a grown up.

I can't pinpoint a date and time but, I know how it all began...

I can't save the world so I will help the world instead

Today I went to a talk on Fair Trade where a lady from the World Village Trade Market explained what the initiative was and what we can do to support it. Well, it is buying products from companies that offer a fair wage for what is created, use sustainable methods, have acceptable health and safety conditions and do not have any child laborers. I fully support all of those aspects because there are millions of people overseas that make two bucks a day and that is not even close to being enough to live. I just got paid today and I make well more than $2 a day and I still am overly frugal and can barely support my lifestyle. However, I choose to live on one of the most expensive islands in the nation, so this is my own fault. I have choices though, these people do not.

So, today I went to hear what fair trade is all about and then I bought a few little trinkets from their table of goods. One thing was a turkey finger puppet that I plan on giving to Kaitlyn as a Thanksgiving gift and the other is an ornament from Thailand that is a symbol of courtship and marriage. A whole story came along with it. Those are the things I love to buy, so the World Trade Market has a great customer in me. I love arts & crafts and I love to purchase unique items that you can't buy just anywhere and I am supporting a group of women or men in a foreign country who create these things to make ends meet. Well send me a catalog because even though I won't be spending enough to send their kids to college, I do have some Christmas shopping to do...

Missing Her Still

Planning a wedding is fun and stressful, and sometimes even triumphant, but for right now, all I feel is sadness. Not because I don't love my TK, I do, more than magazines and Disney World, so that is a lot. I am sad because I feel like I should be doing all this with my grandmother present. She should be chirping in my ear, "Don't do that!" or "That's not how we did it in the olden days!" or "Yellow, who likes yellow?"

I just really miss her now more than ever. When I was a little girl I thought she would be there on my big day. That she would be walking down the aisle before me and sitting in the left pew sobbing through a smile because she was so happy for me. I always thought there would be an invitation with her name on it that I would make sure was perfect because she would save it on her refrigerator for months. I would have to take her dress shopping and have her pick something shiny and beautiful because she didn't want to look old, she wanted to look beautiful. Then she would start throwing money around because anything my mother would not agree to, she would just buy for me like she always had.

When she passed in 2003, I knew she would miss things in my life that I wanted her to be there for, such as my graduation from grad school in 2006, my wedding this year and in the future, the birth of my children. I can still hear her voice in my head and feel her in my heart, I just wish I could see her and touch her to know she is here for me now. I guess I will just have to settle with knowing she surrounds me and protects me everyday from afar, and that is more than a lot of people have.

The Future Mrs. Kuehnle

While on vacation in Walt Disney World, we went out to dinner at Cinderella Castle for what I thought was a dinner for my cousin's fiancee Jade. We sped through appetizers, dinner and dessert and I was excited for the fireworks to start. Then the waiter places a dish in front of me, which confused me so I looked at Tom and he said, "That's for you." So I lifted the lid of the dish and saw a glass slipper with a rose in it and the ring, all sitting on a bed of rose petals. Then Tom got down on his knee and asked me to marry him. I started to cry and hugged and kissed him. Then he tried to slip on the ring, which I almost forgot about. It didn't fit at first so I had to slip it over my knuckle, then it fit perfect. The photographer started to take pictures as the fireworks started. Then the waiter brought out more dessert that was a white chocolate slipper with chocolate in it and mine read "Will you marry me?" and his said "Happily Every After." It was perfect! Then the photographer took photos of us looking at the fireworks and kissing. I was shocked and was so happy. We are so excited!

20 for Tom

Well I decided to participate in the Overnight Out of the Darkness walk on June 9th in NYC in honor of my friend Tom who passed away on Halloween of 2006. It is a 20-mile walk for suicide prevention that lasts from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.

I am trying to raise $1000 for the event and am about 35% there and that is fine because I have a few months. I also have a few months to prepare myself for a walk that may make my legs fall off. I may have to do some training beforehand. I go to the gym 3 or 4 times a week but I still think my feet are going to be burning. However, this is all for a good cause and it gives me something I can actually do for my close friend who I couldn't help while he was alive. Maybe I will help some other person not cause the same hurt and pain for their friends and family.

Please go to www.theovernight.org/fundraising/20forTom and donate to this worthy cause!

The Day the Music Stopped

This is a poem I wrote about my friend Tom's death that I read at his funeral. It was hard to write and even harder to read but with the strength that he and my grandmother gave me that day, I was able to read it without a tear. RIP Tom...I miss you every day.


The Day the Music Stopped

Silence is all we heard this Halloween.
No laughter from children, no festive songs were sung...it was just silence on the day the music stopped.

Until the tears started to pour and we heard the collective sobbing of all who were touched by Tom's unique ability to make you feel special and belong. He connected all of us and when we drifted apart, he brought us back together. He reminded us, and still reminds us, that we all have a link to each other. It is him.

His unwavering loyalty and quirky sense of humor made him one of the best friends we would ever know.

When Tom took his own life, rest assured that he did not die alone. A little piece of each of us died too, but we were there with him. He had us and now we have him in our hearts forever.

This tragedy should teach us all to appreciate eachother because the next time you turn around someone you love may not be standing next to you. You may have forgotten to tell them how much you love them or how happy you are that they are in your life. It happened to us...suddenly. We couldn't say goodbye, we couldn't say anything…on the day the music stopped.

By:
Melissa Gonzalez