Just a 'lil bit of change...

 a few changes....

New roommates!

Last week we finally had a full apartment again. Three American girls have moved in and will be here until January so threat of moving any time soon! My actual roommate leaves in a couple months and I'm kind of looking forward to it as I want to make several changes to my room! She has the bigger side of the closest but I have way more clothes so that will be the first thing to change! It's a bit awkward to move into a room with someone who has been there a while as you just need to fit your stuff around theirs if they aren't the most welcoming. The girls that have moved in are pretty nice and brought tv's with them so we have a working tv in the livingroom again, yayyy!

Starbucks :)

Starbucks recently opened a store at Magic Kingdom and now have opened up at Epcot. For the soft opening, lots of cast members were given vouchers to go and get free stuff. The time I was given to go was three hours before I was due to start work so after my yummy frappachino I went and did Test Track and then Soarin. Not a bad start to the day :)

And thy name is....

So I am now a shirted UK Lass. My name is Ragebook Riot..... for my love of being raging, Facebook and being a drunken riot. I knew it would have something to do with at least one of those things haha. I love my shirt! So I was not happy when I had to wear the "Disney Dick of the Day" tshirt last night. Booooo :( I think that stupid thing is cursed as I then twisted my ankle pretty badly, cried a lot and have spent the day hobbling around with a stupid swollen foot.

Sooo many people!

The recent arrival groups have been friggen ridiculously large and it's too much! The parks are now pathetically quiet until Food and Wine so there's a lot of people and not a lot happening. ER's and extra days offered all the time and we're really struggling to get hours. With only a couple of people leaving and millions showing up it doesn't seem to make much sense right now. It's also getting increasingly difficult to get to know all the new people before the new group comes along. The people that are leaving are people that I've got to know so it's pretty sad to see them leave. On that note, another big group are arriving today so there will most likely be a throw in on Thursday.

Appearances..

I get bored with my hair really quickly so for me not to have coloured it for over 6 months is a pretty big achievement. It was really, really bugging me though so last night I finally gave in and dyed it a bit darker. Now it just needs cut and I'll start feeling more normal!

Ummmm...

Kind of drawing a blank here, clearly the brain isn't up to speed today. Oh, my little blogs now had wellll over 10,000 views... crazy! The pressure is on to entertain lol! I have had a seriously lazy day and haven't been to the parks other than Epcot in a long time so I was planning on going to one today but then I messed up my ankle :( So hopefully a day of rest and huge amounts of ibuprofen gel will do the trick so I can get out and about tomorrow! My best friend and her boyfriend are looking at coming out soon and my other close friend is coming out at the end of October, so exciting!!! Can't wait to show everything to my pals from home who have never been here before. I also really can't wait to get into the kitchen and start food running and server training... need money! Still never been to Universal lol.... 

Videos

So I've taken a lot of random videos during the last four months and never do anything with them as they generally take ages to upload. So it's raining, I have the day off and I have been searching through my files and uploading the bits and pieces that I find. If anyone is interested then you can find them over...

here!

Initiations, pre-service, big changes all around!

As usual it's been a bit crazy and I've kept thinking to myself that I need to update and then would find something else to do. So here's some of the stuff that's been keeping me busy....

Pre-Service Test
I always said that I would do my pre-service test as soon as I could... well that never happened and I went from being quite organised to just being in an utter state of doom over it. To get into service you need to first do a written test, which asks questions about service standards and testing your food and drink knowledge. Doesn't seem that difficult but it involves learning what is in every pub blend, cocktail, whisky flights, testing your knowledge on the wines we sell... and then knowing all the components and ingredients for the lunch, dinner and children's menu. I got all of the drinks learnt pretty easily (no surprise there) but just couldn't get my brain to switch on at all when it came to learning the menu. Meanwhile, people that had arrived after me were doing their tests and got dates to go into training before me... the whole thing was pissing me off and I eventually sat up until 5am one night and got it all learnt. I also told everyone the day before that if I didn't do it the next day they could punch me in the face, so that was motivation. I am useless at studying, I've always been a last minute crammer, that's the only time I can get my head around things! So the next day I went into work and then one of our managers pulled me aside and was like "DO IT!!!" No pressure or anything. Went for my break, had a wee last minute revision and then went off to do my test. Then got really impatient about hearing how I did as the managers were having a meeting and no one was free to mark it. Eventually it finished, but still wasn't marked and I was due to finish my shift so one of the managers marked it for me then and there. And I passed, yayyyyy. I will begin my service training at the end of September and I wish it was sooner as podium is driving me a bit crazy at the moment. Over four months of the same stuff is pretty tedious and more than anything, I cannot stand seating shifts. There is a "greeter" who checks the guests in, then the "assigner" decides which table to put them on, a ticket is printed with the guests name and table number and any important info that the server should know. Then the seater takes the ticket, pages the guest and assembles their party, brings them into the restaurant, hands menus and leaves the ticket for the server. It's not particularly busy right now so it can really draaaagggggg by. I'm always volunteering for any other job, whether its taking over as chippy filler or bussing tables, just to have something to do. And I have a 1pm-9pm seating shift on Monday.... the joys.....

Apartment changes!
So most of my roommates are on college programmes and they were all gradually finishing up and leaving. When 50% or more of your roommates leave, housing will usually contact you to say they will move you. You then get put in with other people that have been living here for a while (usually with a similar arrival date), and then they make your apartment nice for a whole bunch of new people to move in. They sent an email saying I was being moved on the 6th of August and would need to be completely moved that day. Then with a couple days notice they sent another email saying the move was cancelled... then I had no idea what to expect. My German friend has recently turned 21 and needed to move out of her wellness apartment into an over 21 apartment and by sheer luck she got moved in with me! Yayyyy!!! So now there is us two, my actual roommate and three empty beds at the moment. It's nice to have a familiar face around here, we don't work together so we're not in each others faces all the time but we can chat and stuff. I was really getting on with the others though so it was a bit sad to see them go.

Initiation!
Initiations for Lasses were on Monday. Can't give out details but it was a lot of fun, disgusting at times and I don't remember anything after the actual initiations were over and we went to the bar. Woke up on my sofa the next day with practically no hangover which is pretty amazing but luckily I had the Tuesday off anyway. Not a bad thing when my hair was solid with dried in maple syrup, coloured bright purple and full of glitter. Will get my shirt on Monday and find out my Lasses name :) Cannot wait!!!

eeewwww

Allllllllllll of the new people!
At the moment I don't really know many people from the arrival groups and they are getting here every couple of weeks so it literally feels like you've got to know the last lot and then another big group show up! Had a group arrive on Tuesday so we had a throw in for them last night. Heard nothing of the throw in chat cos there was so many of us and we couldn't hear unless you were at the front but I'll get to meet them eventually. 

Four month anniversary
Four months... a third into my programme! Didn't go over the top for our anniversary, due mostly to our pathetic podium wages, so the UK lot went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner on the 9th which is our actual anniversary and then two days later we went for dinner at House of Blues with a couple of Canadians. Both were mega tasty meals, stuffed!

Nights out.
The usual, Thursdays, occasionally Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays if I've still got money left over :) Tuesdays are for sleeping lol! 

Park life. 
Haven't really been to the parks recently, we've gone sunbathing at resorts (finally checked out Art of Animation and Caribbean Beach Club) but I've only been to a park once since my last post and that was just a couple of hours at Epcot one morning before going sunbathing. It puts me off when it's so busy and the lines are so long, when I know if I go when it's quiet I can get a lot more done. Feeling rather down and in a bit of a weird funk at the moment so I think I need to make a pilgrimage to Magic Kingdom and cheer myself up again. 

Royal Baby Fever
Feels like the baby was born agessss ago now but we had a lot of excitement about everything at the UK pavilion and a couple of days later we had a massive group photo taken in the morning, followed by a sort of baby shower, where people brought in stuff for a pot luck lunch. Something a bit different! 

Christmas in July
One of the full time staff invited us to her local British pub for their "Christmas in July" party.... one of the most random nights ever but bloody hilarious! Christmas decorations everywhere, performing Hillbillies, karaoke, lots of cider and a lot of dancing. Mad!

Two weeks is shortly right...?

So it's been a jam packed couple of weeks since my last blog post. Will just try and remember some of the stuff that's gone on... this may take a while..., 

*Being sick - 
I've managed to get sick twice in the last 3 weeks. Not fair! Last time was like a really bad cold... and working in chippy over the 4th July while you have to keep running out the back door is not a thing! Survived, but the cough that came with it lingered for a while. So you can imagine how I felt yesterday when in a few short hours I went from having a sore throat, to a headache, to being completely feverish and getting no sleep what so ever. Today I've spent all day in bed as I feel like I've been kicked repeatedly in the back, its 8:30pm and I've only just got the energy to start writing this blog. Luckily I had today off so I could spent all day in bed but tomorrow its back to work so I'm chowing down on medicine like there's no tomorrow and hoping for the best!

*Daytona Beach - 
On the 3rd July, myself and some friends hired a car and headed out to Daytona beach. Have to say that I prefer the beaches on the Gulf of Mexico but it was still a good day. We got caught in a heavy thunderstorm on the way there but as soon as we got to Daytona it had totally cleared up. There was a lot of singing in the car, jumping around in the water (which really contributed to me getting very sick the next day, woops!), walking along the beach and fun times before heading back home. I love trips to the beach, it's just good to get away from the Disney bubble for a bit and makes it feel like I'm on holiday :)

* Emeli Sande - 
Made a last minute decision to go see Emeli Sande at House of Blues with a bunch of people from work. Was a good gig but I was a bit raw from having my family just left and she's one of my mums favourite artists. With this and thinking about missing my nephews first birthday, there was crying and far too much alcohol involved. Befriended a random American couple and I don't really remember the rest but I have most definitely been told stories about the rest of the night. Awkward!

*4th July - 
I was doing a chippy filler shift on the 4th from 4:30-10:30pm. It was crazy busy! The line was all the way up the street heading towards the French pavilion and we just couldn't get the food made fast enough! At one point we had 4 chefs and 4 fillers and it was still crazy. Apparently we only took around $1000 less than the restaurant which is quite impressive! Instead of our normal 9pm fireworks, they started later and first did Illuminations and then did special fireworks for the 4th. All the staff that were working went out the back and watched the fireworks before heading back in to clean up. Never seen anything like it! So many going off! Was a really late night for us and the line for the buses was insane when we finally got back to cast services so we were really happy to get home.

Fireworks at the Polynesian - 
 While Hollywood Studios and Epcot only did special fireworks on the 4th, Magic Kingdom did theirs every night that week. So on the last night they were on, a group of us went to see them from the Poly before heading to House of Blues. Never watched the fireworks from there yet so was a nice change to sit back and watch them with a cocktail instead of being crammed onto Main Street. All the loungers were taken so we made a big giant square out of towels and watched them from there. Then headed off to HOB on the guest bus to get more boozy. Good night all round!!

3 month anniversary - 

It's always a nightmare trying to get everyone together at the same time to do something for our anniversary so we decided to go for breakfast instead for a change. We had heard about Olivia's cafe at the Old Key West resort and they are doing 40% discount for cast members so we got a taxi out there in the morning and had a nice breakfast and then had a walk about before some people had to go to work. I had plans to go sunbathing at the Polynesian after to go study for the pre service test while revising so got the guest bus to MK and then the monorail over to the Poly. Was only there a few hours but managed to get very sunburnt and I haven't stopped peeling since!

*Birthdays, birthdays, birthdays - 

So it feels like barely a day passes without it being someones birthday out here. We've had nights in with pizza, nights out in Orlando and a night at Raglan Road at Downtown Disney. All have been fun and with people getting really homesick on their birthdays, it's really nice when we all come together to do something for them. Add to this list, a collection of Lasts (last night out for people that are leaving) and lasses and its been pretty non stop round here. Probably explains all of the sickness! And on that note, I'm finishing up as I'm currently farrrrrrr too hot cos of this fever and need to cool down.

Stay-cation!! (part 2)

So the family are well gone but I've been busy/ill so will try to recap as well as I can!

After going back to work for a few days and doing the normal CRP life, I got picked up by the family on Monday night after I got home from work. Went back to the villa and had a bit of a munch before going to bed. Originally we were going to do Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios on the Tuesday but instead we decided to have the beach day on the Tuesday. Got up mega early on Tuesday morning, loaded up the car and headed out in the direction of Clearwater, but instead of the touristy beach we went further past to the Indian Rocks beach. There's small hotels and lots of amazing seaside HUGE mansions but none of the commercial stuff you get on the busier beaches. Was a really pretty spot and the weather was realllllly hot and sunny. Defo got a lot of sun and was feeling the effect for a few days (and my tummy is now peeling, booo!) Collected more shells which is always a way of keeping me entertained and went out in the water a lot as it is the Gulf of Mexico so the water temperature is amazing, and there's lots of sandbanks so you go out a little and then you hit shallow water again. 

The next day we were up super early again to do some more parks! Headed out to Animal Kingdom and it was already getting really hot for the morning. The car was telling us it was 100 degrees outside and I believe that! My burnt skin was not loving being in the sun so I was jumping into the shadows whenever I could. We headed straight for Everest and got fast passes which were for like an hour later which was really handy and then went over to do Dinosaur, have a wander in the shops and look about and then come back. My mum is not a fan of any sort of rollercoaster so I was impressed that she actually went through with it, although she did admit to feeling a bit sick after. We got fast passes for the safari and went off to watch Festival of the Lion King... they've seen the show in London and think this was a highlight for them. Got the jalapeno cheese  pretzels (well... the family did, I just recommended them as they aren't exactly celiac friendly)... and they also tried funnel cake.. not so friendly either. Then we went back and did the safari...a lot of the animals were hiding because it was so hot but did manage to see the elephants which I love!

After the safari we headed to Hollywood Studios and I knew that although my mum got through Everest, she could not handle Rock 'n' Rollercoaster so me and my brother headed off to do that while my mum and stepdad did their own thing. Caught back up with them as the Indiana Jones stunt show was about to start so headed in to see that as it looked like it was about to rain. Luckily it didn't! After the show we did Star Tours and then headed to see the Muppet show which is a favourite of my mums (it was a big thing for us on our first visit almost 21 years ago!) Went a walk and bumped into some of my fellow CRP's which was amusing then did a bit of retail therapy before heading back to the villa. We would of stayed for Fantasmic but my stepdad really wanted to leave to go get food so we headed off to Red Lobster (and of course, we had Lobster). Got back to the villa and went to their clubhouse for a margarita before calling it a night.

The next day we got up and packed up bags full of stuff for me to take back to my apartment (like my mums hair products that cost a fortune here and all their laundry supplies), and went to the outlets on the other side of International Drive. Bought lots more things for my nephew whose first birthday was the day after they got home and then they dropped me off. My mum got a bit emotional as I knew she would and I'm not big on the big goodbye as it gets me upset so I shot off back to drop everything back off at my apartment before heading back to work! Also got to speak to my grandparents for the first time since being here before getting back to the apartment so was good to briefly check in with them. 

Next blog post to follow shortly............

Stay-cation! (part 1)

Soooo... my family got here a week ago and I haven't taken any extra time off so I've been cramming in lots of stuff on my actual days off. They aren't staying on property and have a nice wee villa and a car so they keep themselves entertained when I'm not with them.

Last Saturday I met them before work and had a quick wander of the outlets and some lunch and then they kept on shopping. I had PM shifts (what else!) on Sunday and Monday and then they picked me up from the Commons on Monday night when I got in from work. My mum said to bring anything I needed washed... hadn't done proper laundry in a good couple of weeks so I literally stuffed everything into my massive pink laundry bag and dragged it out to the car with me. My mum washed, dried and ironed it all :) Result! My drier is pretty crap, it only seems to like making clothes hot and damp so this was a proper novelty.

Got some food at the villa and stayed up chatting for a bit, had some of their duty free booze then went off to bed. Would of gone straight to sleep but I discovered the tv in my own room. Yayyyy! Small things in life people! 

On the Tuesday we were having an Epcot day... my family have never done this park before so I've been holding off from doing a lot of the attractions until they got here so we could do them together. Had breakfast and then headed out to the park. First thing we did was Spaceship Earth, mainly so my mum would finally know what is in the "big golf ball". Then we headed over to Test Track and already the fast passes were at the later stages of the day so we decided just to do the standby line.. it said two hours but it wasn't even one. My brother really enjoyed it and I discovered that he hysterically laughs on the rides like I do. I'm not the only weird one! 

After this we walked over to the Showcase and just went to the American pavilion for some lunch as my brother is a right fussy person and loves chicken nuggets lol. Then we went back to Mexico and worked our way right around the whole showcase. Had to give my mum and stepdad a row at the UK pavilion as I was not up for them embarrassing me, I do enough of that myself thanks! We then went back and stood in the massive line for Soaring (which they all loved so that was a result), then headed back to the car to go back to the villa for dinner and freshen up a bit. 

Got back to the park around 8pm and found a spot between Canada and the UK for the fireworks and my mum and I went to get ourselves a margarita. I see the fireworks about 5 days a week, but to be able to see it as a guest is a bit different so I used the opportunity to get some really good photos. It was Extra Magic that means that the park is open until 11 but only resort guests can go on any attractions (booo). My mum bought some presents for my nephews first birthday at Mouse Gears using my discount and then we were just having a bit of a wander, while waiting for the park to clear out a bit and a really nice cast member let us on the Nemo ride. The ride itself is not all that exciting but the aquarium is pretty cool (who doesn't like dolphins?!) so it was a good end to the night. 

The next day we headed off to Tarpon Springs which is bit further past Tampa on the coast. It has the highest percentage of Greek people in the whole of the USA and this is very apparent! The little touristy shore front is full of Greek restaurants, bakerys, shops full of tacky crap and a hell of a lot of sea sponges. There are fishermen who go into the Gulf for 4 weeks at a time and come back with a hell of a lot of sponges and then these are sold in all the little stores. All the architecture is very Greek, all blue and white colours everywhere and it really felt like I was in Greece and not Florida! My stepdad had already inquired about a boat trip so we got lunch and then had a wander about the shops before heading off on the boat. 

The boat trip took us along the Anclote river and the Gulf of Mexico and is one of the only boat trips where you can see dolphins and maybe manatees. We were lucky as the boat path goes directly through the area where a pod of dolphins are living. The boat stopped for a bit so we could watch them and try to get photos (easier said than done). There was even a baby dolphin, not more than a couple months old that was swimming right up to the boat, so cute! There are a lot of huge sandbanks and we headed out to an island which is home to a lighthouse, a lot of shells and not much else! Everyone on the boat went off to collect shells for half an hour and I finally got my feet in some real sand... and the sea! The water was unbelievably hot! It was like the best bath ever, with crystal clear water and white sand. We then got back on the boat and headed back to land.  

We then decided to spend the last hour or so of sunshine at another beach nearby so drove out to it... it was the weirdest beach! The sand was like mud that we all got stuck in and the water was even hotter here! No graceful exits in or out! The amount of boats that got stuck as they also tried to come in was also hilarious. Watching men being all brave, and getting out the ladders on the back of their boat as they descend into the water... and then they realise it only comes up to their knees. Rinsed as much sand off of us as we could and then got back in the car for the journey home.

On Thursday I had work in the afternoon so we spent the morning at their pool and then they dropped me back off at the Commons :( Really felt like I had been on holiday and wasn't very keen to go back right away! The plan for this week will be the same sort of schedule so we are going to hit both Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom on the Tuesday and then probs another beach place on the Wednesday. I finally look like I have a tan again!

2 months gone already!!!

I've spent today being extremely lazy and slobbing around when I should of been out doing a million and one things that need to be done, so in an effort to be somewhat productive, I'm having another update on the blog.

Sooooo, to start off with I thought I'd just put this out there. I loved reading blogs during the agony of the waiting process. Loved it. Spent hours trawling the internet for them and a ridiculous amount of time reading them. Hated all the blogs that were started and abruptly ended after one entry.  I'm not writing this for anyone else, I'm doing it for me so if people don't like that then don't read it! This is for me, I can barely remember what happened yesterday (which is why I take so long writing these, I literally have to trawl through Facebook and my work schedule to retrace my steps) so I have this to look back on and remember all the little things.

So with that out the way, this is what I've been up to...

Thursday 30th May - Went to work for yet another PM shift and then went out with a bunch of people to Bar B Q bar which is in Downtown Orlando. Very weird experience walking through the city for the first time! The bar itself is huge, there's even a bar and dance floor up on the roof, surrounded by all these massive buildings and skyscrapers. It was heaving busy so we headed back downstairs and had a good laugh and dance about. I got pretty drunk after being given too many shots and strong drinks and managed to fall on the way back to the taxi. Anyone that knows me back home and has seen me on a night out will know that I fall down A LOT so I'm surprised it took this long to happen haha! Probably to do with almost never wearing heels!

Friday 31st May - Called in as I felt completely rotten the next day. Hangover wasn't too shabby which is most likely due to me throwing up a lot when I got home the night before but my throat was really, really killing me. The sore throat has been happening a lot recently and got to the point where I had blisters and ulcers all over the inside of my mouth and down my throat. I wondered if it was tonsillitis but then another celiac sufferer pointed out to me that this is yet another symptom. Eugh... I had the celiac thing under control at home and never really had a lot of problems with it when I first got here, but now I'm suffering worse than ever. Pretty much everything makes me ill now, I get the most uncomfortable pains and side effects and I think its why I lost a lot of weight as well. Didn't get the info about the sore throat till later the next week and in that time I racked up a lot of gluten and wheat packed meals!

Saturday 1st June - Had the Saturday off as I had swapped shifts with someone so me, Jen, Harriet and Scott headed off to Magic Kingdom for a few hours. I feel like I don't see them unless I'm at work or on nights out so was good to see them for a day! First we got off the bus at the Polynesian and had some lunch there. I love this resort! Then we got the monorail over to MK and did the Monsters Inc Laugh floor and Stitch's Great Escape and had a bit of a wander about the shops. Decided to get some cheap food so got the bus back to Vista and walked over for some very cheap food! Its already cheap there but Disney employees get a discount so its like $3 for all you can eat pizza, pasta, salad and dessert. Stuffed ourselves and then headed home, where my sore tummy ensured that I had a quite night in!

Sunday 2nd June - Went back to work for my PM shift which was pretty non eventful, can't remember anything specific from that day other than it was my older brothers birthday back home! After work I just stayed in as I still wasn't feeling terribly great so just caught up with some tv.

Monday 3rd June - Another non eventful day, went to work and then didn't go to Lasses that night as I still wasn't feeling good and didn't want to feel worse the next day. Bit annoying that I missed one as I had managed to rack up a few weeks in a row but I just didn't want to feel any worse!

Tuesday 4th June - Regular days off! The latest arrival group arrived and was good to have some new people around after having no new arrivals for over a month. I wanted to go sunbathing but it was pretty cloudy out so instead I went to Publix and did some laundry and then me and Charlotte got the bus over to Vista to go to Cici's (danger food!). It was much busier this time and we had a wander through dollar tree beforehand as there was a big line. When we left, the heavens had opened and it was properly pouring it down, ruining my carefully straightened hair! Typical! 

Wednesday 5th June - Headed back over to Vista again to get some stuff from Walgreens and had another wander over to Dollar Tree then there was a housing event on over at Chatham so we headed over to meet up with a bunch of people and meet all the new arrivals. It was drizzly weather yet again and we kind of all just hung out at this one table. Other people got food but it was pizza which I had defo had enough of! They had a character meet set up in one of the classrooms so we joined the line and got some photos with Perry. The event finished at 10pm so we left and then walked back to Commons. Me and Jen couldn't decide if we were going to go out or not but decided to in the end. Went back downtown to I Bar this time which was a lot of fun. It plays cheesy music all night long so we were dancing about like morons and singing away. 

Thursday 6th June - I was working a 2pm-8pm seater shift which was fine by me as its the earliest I ever get to finish work but it was raining and really quiet at work. One of our co-ordinators sent some of us to go clean the keg fridge which was really annoying but then he cut us around 6pm so me and Harriet headed home to change and go back out again. As usual Transtar were up to their usual games and the bus I was wanting to get was late! Always at the worst times! It was Anna's birthday and some of us went for dinner at Bongos, which is a Cuban place at Down Town Disney. It was good, but not amazing which is a shame when it looked so good on the menu. Everything comes with rice and they mark the gluten free dishes on the menu which was a nice change! For a country that is obsessed with allergies, illnesses, etc they are rubbish for labelling foods and menus out here. We decided to get a taxi back to the commons so we would be able to get the taxi to Cowboys. Squeezed into the taxis and headed out for another fun night.

Friday 7th June - Had another non eventful day at work, Its been raining a lot recently which has kept people away from the park and makes the day dragggggg by! When I got in I just stayed in but ended up not being able to sleep until about 5am which is pretty annoying!

Saturday 8th June - Went to work via Walgreens to get stuff for my Lasses outfit for Monday. Had a chippy shift which was the quietest day ever! It rained really heavily and the crowds never came back. Took a miserable amount of money but was just glad to be inside the chippy and out of the rain! Thought about going out that night but it was another night at Cowboys and was mostly servers going for a last cowboys so I just stayed in instead. All these nights in explain why I'm not so skint this week!

Sunday 9th June - My two month anniversary!! We couldn't decide what to do at first, its difficult to get all of our arrival group in the same place at the same time. We finally decided to go for dinner at Kouzzina at the Boardwalk. I had a PM shift and it was really busy, I was doing greeting and it was crazy, I kept running out of pagers which was annoying. Of course, when you are in a hurry to get out of work, it never happens so I had to quickly change out of my costume and run over to the Boardwalk where the others were waiting at the table. We shared a bottle of wine and my meal was AMAZING! Best thing I've had since being here. It was also the most expensive but I preferred to have really enjoyed it than spending money on a so-so meal. I had the short ribs with smoked feta mashed potatoes... so good. Best cheesy mash ever lol! Had a chocolate martini for dessert and that was really yummy as well. Harriet got the chocolate liqueur flight which was so cool, three different liqueurs with huge strawberrys and like a little squeezy vial of the liqueurs to squeeze into them. Yum! Had a lot of people asking us to go to House of Blues but I'm not really a big fan, I rarely have good nights out there which is a shame. By the time we finished dinner we didn't really have time to go either so we just went home.

Monday 10th June - Got up and made my Lasses costume... which isn't so much an outfit that you wear lol. It was a themed night as it was a Last and we had to dress as a song title. So I did "It's Raining Men" and got an umbrella and cut out and then attached pictures of men from thread. Snazzy. Lol! Went to work, managed not to get rained on and did my first magical moment! For those that don't know, we can do a magical moment which involves picking a child and asking them to help start the fireworks. There was a family with two cute little girls and earlier the girls had told Anna that they had met Belle and were really excited about it. I asked their server to find out their names and then went over and asked if there was two girls called Kayleigh and Stella there. They looked at me so confused and I was like "I'm so happy I found you, I've been looking everywhere for you!!", then said that Mickey was stuck on the monorail and couldn't start the fireworks but Belle remembered meeting them and said they would be able to help me. When I told them this, the older girl had her mouth hanging open and just nodding away. So when I said will you help me, she was just like "yes, yes yes yes yes!" . I then said I would go get the magic wand and would be back soon and she cracked me up by saying "but I need to eat my dinner first!" I came back with the wand when it was time and we had a little practise of pointing the wand (with the light off of course, we don't want to start the fireworks early) and then did it for real. The youngest girl didn't really like the fireworks at first, but this isn't unusual as they are so close and the show involves a lot of fire which is scary for kids. The parents were really happy and I left them with little certificates, pins and lots of Mickey stickers.

Was in a really good mood after this and headed home to get ready for Lasses. Had a really good night and there was some really amazing costumes. Came home and munched on popcorn before finally going to bed!

Tuesday 11th June - Slept most of the day as I was just so tired so never did any of the stuff that I needed to  do today which means I need to try and get it all done tomorrow! Woops! Did make a big lot of spag bol though which will keep me going for dinners for a while! My family get here on Friday which is exciting!! Even more exciting, they are bringing me Cadburys chocolate!

Finally, going to mention a really cute thing I saw when I was walking into work one day, but can't remember which day it was. We see a lot of people celebrating getting over illnesses or Make a Wish families but this particular family just caught my eye. I was doing my usual speed walk through the park to get to work and there was a man just in front of me with a bright green printed t-shirt and I was like "what does that say?" As I got closer I could see a sort of caricature picture of a little girl with short hair, and then as I got closer I could see that she had a speech bubble that said "I kicked cancers ass!", then it had a little score board that said "Jessica 1- Cancer 0". Then in big writing it had at the bottom "if she can beat cancer, I can do anything"  As I passed the man, I could then see this little girl who looked exactly like the drawing on the tshirt and she was the happiest little kid I've ever seen, just running about pushing her younger sibling in a stroller. When you live in the "Disney bubble", you sometimes switch off and don't appreciate where you are and how amazing everything actually is. That little girl just running about and laughing at nothing in particular definitely made me re-think my mood and brightened up my day. :)