Some Natural Magic

I got some bad news since my last post. I'm a bit unwilling to go into the details, but it basically leads to the impossibility of me getting an internship for the Spring. Which leads me to beg the question:

What am I doing here?

If you were to ask me what I'm best at, I'd tell you in an instant that the thing I know most about, the thing I know best is Walt Disney World. If you asked me about the thing I cared most about I'd tell you it's happiness: my own, that of others... that's why I'm in this field after all. Happiness is so important, so essential that I do my best to find the happiness in every situation. But the more and more I think about it, the more and more unhappy I become. The more and more I think about where I am right now, in comparison to so many others, to friends and cohorts, the more dissatisfied I am.

So where do I find happiness in such a situation, when the happiest place on earth is not so happy? I go back to simplicity... my first thought is a movie, where I can escape into happy endings... well, the few I've seen in the past few days all had depressing endings... fail 1.

So then I turn to music, which for the most part makes me happy, but sometimes just reinforces the sadness...

So then I turn to nature--to the calm of a Florida summer night, to the occasional brief gust of wind, to the low rumble of thunder. Sometimes it's exactly what I need.

So where do you find your center of peace?

High-Ho, High-HOH, to Registers I Go!

So, in some movies or TV shows there's the idea that if you want to escape Death someone else must take your place. Well, apparently HOH works the same way.

This past week one of the seasonal CMs started getting HOH shifts... and then on Sunday when we got our schedules, she got the HOH shifts I usually get, and I didn't get any.

It was bittersweet, because of course I'm thrilled I don't have any, but at the same time I'm sad for her because I know that feeling of, "Oh, great, now I'm stuck with these." I really wish they would just rotate people through the shifts, that way no one gets stuck with a whole week of them. I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen though.

Anyways, so I have 2 more HOH shifts and then I'm back to registers for the time being =D It's late hours, but I'll be happy to be around people again!

Quick personal note, I love having my friends here from all sides of life: CP friends, college friends, high school friends, church friends, family. I'm really really lucky to have such a great support team. So thanks to all of you who read this, and thanks to those I don't know who continue to give me support <3

A Bruise by Any Other Name.... Would Still Be a Bruise

One of the simple joys in life is seeing a movie by yourself at a small movie theater in the morning. It's usually empty, so for the most part you have a HUGE screen to yourself, and you only pay about $5 for it!

You know how movie theaters have those railings on the side, and sometimes it's dark and you can't really see? Yeah, that's what happened to me on one lovely Monday morning when I decided to see a movie on my own. I ran into the railing. I'm not sure how, but basically I slammed my arm into the railing with such force that it left a bruise.... a bad bruise... and then the second day I had the bruise I rammed it into something else... so the bruise spread.... now it looks more like someone grabbed me by the arm forcefully. I can't tell you how many people have mentioned it looks like I have an abusive boyfriend. Freaky, right?

Anyways, back to Disney topics... I was back on registers these past 2 days and I miss them so much! Today I got to sing Happy Birthday and make sticker crowns and smile til I was blue in the face! I've gotten to work with some of my favorite people too!

I miss registers =(

Back to HOH tomorrow!

Finally Back at Regis-wait... you need me to be a stocker tonight?!?!

Today was my first day scheduled back as a normal register shift... and three hours before my shift was supposed to start I get a text from one of my roommates: Deployment just called, they need you to come in as stock tonight.

Seriously?

Seriously?

It's like someone up there is pointing down and laughing at me each time. Yes, Rory, we'll give you a little hope at something normal, but WAIT, come back and do this instead.

I mean, it was fine. Seriously. I've started taking pride in my stocking skills these days... and at least it was a non-HOH, non-morning shift and I got to work with and see some of my favorites. This is one of the hard parts of always getting HOH shifts: I never see any of my friends at work anymore ='(

I've decided if things don't change I'm going to start picking up shifts and having more 14-hour days. Register shifts are seriously *that* important to me. I wish I could make someone higher up see that, so I'll just have to prove to them that I'm a hard worker.

*Basic Story of the Day*

On my way toward my one and only break today I passed a family talking with the CM outside Splash Mtn. The CM was trying to suggest they go in the Splash store, but I stopped to let them know it was down. The guest really needed flip flops (her shoes broke!), and the only open place we sold them was Trading Post (a 5-10 min trip back and forth). So I offered to go grab the shoes and bring them back. As a result, my break was delayed about 30 minutes, but it was totally worth it, and it really made the guest happy. My closing manager was also impressed, so that's good =D

All You Need is Faith and Trust, and a Little Pixie Dust

"Think of the happiest things, it's the same as having wings!"

Today was a busy day. But I'm back. No Early Release today, no awful feeling like I might drop down with the plague any second. No, I'm back, with a little something special to prove it!

I was a stocker today, not Put Away, just a stocker, and I really liked it... for the first time I actually truly enjoyed my stock shift. My main responsibility was the Briar Cart, a small cart that sells water and squeeze breeze fans. It's practically everyone's least favorite place to work because it's out in the sun in a high guest contact area, and it was a blazing hot day today.

Perhaps one of the reasons I loved my shift today was because I was able to prove myself. So many times I hear complaints about the stockers, and I wanted to prove to those I was working with that I could be a good stocker, even with bronchitis. It was a day of running back and forth between getting ice, grabbing water, filling squeeze breezes, and regularly stocking the Briar Patch. It was a day of asking what I could do to help, a day of being friendly and courteous.

And I got a GSF. Now, in case you forget, or just tuned in, a GSF is a Great Service Fanatic card. It's given to a CM who follows the Disney Service Basics and is recognized for doing an outstanding job (either by a manager or by a fellow CM).

Now, today was a hot day. Today was a crowded day. Today was not a good day to be in a theme park, but by focusing on the positive (ie I'm getting healthy again, my life is pretty rocking right now, my best friends are almost all coming back to town this week, I'm going home to a bed that doesn't creek and a ceiling fan, just to name a few =P)... anyways, by focusing on the positive I was better able to "soar" through the day and make it a good day =D

A Day at Liberty, A Talk with a Manager, and a Cough That Just Won't Go Away

Today's been interesting, and it's only 2:45!

Today was another HOH day and we were over-staffed in Frontier and under-staffed in Liberty--so I volunteered to go help at Liberty Square today.

WOAH. What a difference. Seriously, this was an entirely different HOH experience.

In Frontierland we spend the first part of the day putting stuff away all together. We usually have 5-9 Bales worth of merch on Upper days, and about 4-6 on Lower days. We usually put away stuff in the store, and then, for the most part, put it away in the shop as well. Sometimes we'll just bring it to the stock room, where we'll individually go to for the second part of our shift. It's a lot of stuff, but it always gets done, usually early too. There's a lot of teamwork.

In Liberty we had 2 SMALL bales, and we all pretty much split up from the beginning. I was working in a shop called Yankee Trader... it didn't get a delivery today, but the stockroom from yesterday wasn't put away... at all. It looked AWFUL--2 VERY small rooms FULL of boxes and barely any order to follow. And there I was, my first time working in Liberty Square. Let's just say it was confusing and different.

I got to speak with my scheduling manager today about having so many HOH shifts. For the time being it's going to stay pretty much the same, but eventually I will get more of a balance, which I'm really looking forward to! Balance is certainly one of the most important aspects of life.

And finally, my cough. I now compare it to hacking up death or something similar. I got to work feeling awful, so I put in for an ER for noon, which I got. After I got home I changed and ran to the store to get chicken soup, ginger ale, tea and medicine. I'm now in bed propped up with pillows and watching Grey's Anatomy (the perfect thing to watch when you're sick =P). I'm seriously hoping that an almost full day of rest will do me some good. If you're the praying type, all prayers are appreciated <3

Maybe I should just wish on a star =D