We had a Magical Week!

We spent a lot of time this last week at Mickey's House.  In fact, we received our 5 year pin for volunteering at the Children's Miracle Network Golf Classic.  The best part is that we have worked with the same "crew" for all 5 years.  So, it really is a reunion each year to see each other again.

The Trout and I drive a wagon/cart which we fill with cases of bottled water and bags of ice.  We divide the golf course into sections and deliver the water and ice to the tee boxes in our section throughout the day.  The ice and water is only for the golfers and caddies, so we do get up close to watch some golf.  That is the very best part!!

Readers have been asking me how the Trout is doing.  He is doing quite well, seven weeks out from surgery.  In fact, he was lifting the ice and water without problems so he is definitely on the mend.  The difficult part is that he will probably have to wait another seven weeks or so until he can swing a golf club, but we are thankful he is feeling so well.

We are glad to be back in Florida, because the weather is gorgeous.  I love this time of year when you can turn off the A/C, open the windows and let the cool air flow through.  After living over 50 years in the Midwest, it is so refreshing to enjoy warmer falls and winter.  Yes, we do cheat and get out of Florida in the heat of the summer, but that is what retirement is all about.

A Magical Day

Who's the leader of the club that's made for you and Me?  M-I-C-K-E-Y  M-O-U-S-E!!!!

Guess Where We Went Today?

We spent some time this morning at Disney.  It is that time of year again, when we do our volunteering at the Children's Miracle Network Golf Classic at Disney World.



This is a map of the Palm and Magnolia golf courses which will be played this week.

It is our 4th year and once again, we are helping to deliver water and ice to the tee boxes for the pros and their caddies.  Today we picked up our uniforms and hats and tomorrow we start slowly with a training session in the afternoon.  Then, we have Monday and Tuesday off and then 5:30 a.m. until dark Wednesday through next Sunday.

As usual, Disney does everything first class.  These type of topiary displays are often seen at The Magic Kingdom, but they are also here at the Palm and Magnolia golf courses.

The golf courses are lush and groomed to perfection.  It looks to be a beautiful week for the golf pros to enjoy a last of the season competition.

And of course, the best part of all of being at Disney is seeing this little guy.  How can anybody not smile when they see Mickey.  We are looking for an exhausting and busy week, but it will also be a fun week.  I won't be blogging much, but will see you when it is over.

Disney goes Hollywood

Where else are things done to perfection? The tree is tall and perfect, everything is clean and orderly, everyone friendly....I'm talking Disney World!

The Trout and I spent the day at Hollywood Studios at Disney World. After volunteering a lot last month at Disney, today was a day for play. Our first time to Hollywood Studios, and we had a great time. Amazing what we squeezed into a day, but the crowds were thin which helped. You can see the picture perfect blue sky. About 76 degrees today--perfect.


Photo above is a view of New York City - Disney World style.

The Muppet Show was great fun. 3-D and the muppets seemed to be right in our faces. Lots of laughs. And, of course, my favorite, Miss Piggy!!


I had to take a picture of Miss Piggy's clothing trunks. Such a lady, she is.

We managed to experience The Great Movie Ride, Indiana Jones, The Studio Backlot Tour, Toy Story, Journey into Narnia, and Beauty and the Beast.

Had a very nice lunch at The Brown Derby. The original one, in Hollywood, CA, closed in the 80's. So, of course, had to have the traditional Cobb Salad which was first served in California at the Brown Derby.

It is very typical...when you live near to something special, you rarely go to see it. I am so glad we went to Disney today, especially before the Christmas crowds get here. (smile) You all have a Magical Day!!

What a week!

What a week! Other than miserable cold rain on Thursday, we had a beautiful sunny week at Disney on the Palm and Magnolia golf courses. Some days were 12 hour days, others a little shorter. Starting work in the dark and ending in the dark was pretty typical. But, there is a spirit at Disney that makes all of this volunteer work so much fun.

There were over 900 volunteers for the Children's Miracle Network golf classic this year. Can you imagine organizing so many people to do their jobs, find their way around, feed all these people breakfast and lunch and still maintain a happy spirit?

The committee The Trout and I worked on "Water Service" is the group we have worked on for three years now. We have it pretty much figured out as to what needs to be done and when. As a matter of face, we have just submitted our request for the same committee next year at this time. I can't even begin to say how many cases of water and 20 pound bags of ice we loaded off of refrigerated trucks into our small carts and filled water coolers on the tee boxes. The water is only for the golfers and their caddies, but some of the golfers get friendly with the spectators and pass them out to family, etc. That just means more runs for us. We have to watch that we halt when the golfer tees up, hits out of the fairway and puts. Can be challenging.

The first two days the amateurs played with the pros. The excitement was around Johnny Damon who plays for the Yankees. He was enjoying himself even though his golf ball sometimes went where no golf ball should go. He had a large crowd following him and you could tell he was having fun.

There were quite a few spectators this year despite the fact that there were not a lot of big name players. We tend to favor Zach Johnson, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. That is kind of our home where we grew up, so we are always for the local boys. Zach came in 9th and won quite a bit of money. What impressed me of this golfer was that as he was walking up to the tee box, with spectators all around, he says "Hi baby" to a young boy in a stroller. He is a very kind young man, not always thinking about himself.

Last night took a little longer for the game to end as there was a Sudden Death with 3 players on the 18th hole. Two went on to play the 3 par 15th hole once again and Stephen Ames won. He also won in 2007.

So, our Disney gear gets packed away for a year. We have earned tickets for the Disney Park and golf passes for the Disney courses to use in the next year. Now, the holidays and then in April we get ready for the American Pie Contest sponsored by Crisco which we will be judging for the second year. And so it goes....

It's volunteer time again

It's that time of year again. This will be our third year that we are volunteering at The Children's Miracle Network golf classic at Disney World. We drive a cart and fill the barrels on the golf tees with ice and bottles of water for the golfers. We start early...like 6 am and work until 5 pm. Since we have a 45 minute drive to Disney World, it makes for a long day. Our reward, being around great people, happy people, very talented golfers, and Disney World theme park passes and passes to play free golf on the Disney courses.

Going early we see wild turkeys, deer, and lots of rabbits on the golf course before it gets light. During the day, alligators are spotted in the ponds. We will be working Wednesday through Sunday, so the week does get long.

I hope you have a chance to watch the golf classic this weekend. We will...up close and personal. As they say to all the workers at Disney World, "have a magical day!" We will!!

It's the Dog Days

It was a good day, but an extremely hot day. We started out with 90% humidity today and it did not get any better. The men went to play golf at Disney this morning, and the women went to Celebration, the Disney designed small town nearby for lunch at Columbia Restaurant. In one of the beautiful park areas of Celebration, I found someone enjoying the 'dog days of summer'. This was a very huge dog and he was loving it. For one brief moment, I thought about joining him.

And then I get home and my wonderful surprise was here. I won the drawing last week at "At Home with the Farmer's Wife" and Suzanne sent me the book I won, Cindy LaFerle's "Writing Home." Thank you so much, Suzanne, I will enjoy this and will save it for reading in the mountains of Montana next month.

Rain is threatening, so hope it cools down soon.

Spring

It is now official! It is Spring and the days are getting longer.

"With the calm patience of the woods I wait, For leaf and blossom when God gives us Spring!"

--John Greenleaf Whittier

It was a magical day

As my immediate family knows all too well, I have a very unreasonable fear of heights. I have been rescued by the Trout from the wall surrounding Rothenburg, Germany, threatened to jump off a ski lift when it stopped at the very peak of the run (I felt jumping would be less painful) and can't walk to the edge of anything without feeling my legs collapse.

Well, we went to Disney yesterday, Epcot, and it was a perfect day. We met up with our friends from Wisconsin, Jim and Laurie, and had an absolutely enjoyable time. The highlight of the day would be the experience of "Soarin'". You are strapped into a seat similar to an airplane seat and there are thick metal handles beside your knees that you cling to. And then, they move you up toward the movie screen and the soaring begins. It is as if you are in a glider flying over California. You just miss getting hit by a golf ball slicing through the air at Pebble Beach, over the mountains, wine country and on and on. I am shutting my eyes a lot and keep telling myself, you are not flying, you are sitting and will not fall. I got through it and it really was so much fun. Did it cure my fear of heights? I really doubt it.

The Flower Expo at Epcot started yesterday and it was magnificent. We walked through all the countries and had dinner in Germany at the Biergarten. It felt so very comfortable being able to speak German again with our darling waitress from Berlin. And, of course, the food was wonderful but I still prefer my red cabbage recipe from last week.

We volunteer at Disney every fall for the golf classic and one of our payments for volunteering are tickets to Disney. It just made it all the nicer to know we had worked for this day and were rewarded generously.