To start with – it’s not only my mom’s birthday but separated by just a few days is Mike’s mom’s birthday. They’re only one year apart in age, too. And typically, two weeks later it’s Mother’s Day.  Lots of mom shopping going on.

It’s also a very busy time at work and that’s the time frame that salaried cast members are asked to help with work in the theme parks. I was scheduled today to be at Magic Kingdom for a few hours assistance.  With this you never know what your assignment is until you walk in the door at the Magic Kingdom, check-in and then receive your assignment.  For me this year, it was helping at Cosmic Rays.

And most important – it’s the anniversary of when Mike and I reunited.  This year marks our 3rd anniversary together.  He remembered it in high-class fashion:

I love being part of such a big program. The best part is the relationship side – meeting so many new people and reconnecting with so many people I’ve been social with online. My only regret is not getting to spend time with everyone.

I love meeting the moms and meeting their families.  I’m so struck by how they manage so many things at one time and still maintain huge smiles on their faces.  I tend to usually get the comment “You look stressed.”

I love seeing the looks of joy and awe in the eyes of the children.  At the Disney Junior dance party the kids seem to be mesmerized by the characters and the action on the stage.  It was so much fun to watch.

At the Talk with a Disney Chef & Sommelier, I was so impressed by the questions asked by the group. They were asking things I never would have thought of – so insightful!  This was a big hit.  Who doesn’t enjoy some serious Disney dining?

The speakers were awesome!  Chris Brogan (above) delivered another humorous yet informative talk.  He’s just plain spectacular.  What I love most is how he engages with the audience.  He mingles with them during the entire conference. This means so much to people – uh – called relationship building!  He’s a master at it.

We scattered little surprises throughout the Celebration, like a Duffy surprise after lunch.

Ah, to be back at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort – lakeside, on a gorgeous spring night, listening to live music. That was nice!

This weekend I’m planning on a super-duper mani/pedi to get relaxed.  I may even pay a few bucks extra for some extra foot massage time. Just sayin’…..

I still need some time to gather my thoughts for a coherent blog post on the entire event. I’ve been visiting some of the site from the bloggers who attended and I am so impressed with their writing talents and amount of content they publish.  Janice and Susan from 5 Minutes For Mom are simply amazing!  Their energy levels are through the roof and it shows in their website.

While I gather my thoughts, here are some photos from the event. These are a compilation of my pictures, plus photos from Preston Mack – the official Disney photographer on Friday, and Josh Hallet of hyku.com who attended Thursday’s breakfast with Guy Kawasaki.

Kathy Ireland captivated the audience with her eloquent presentation.

Backstage with Kathy Ireland. What a beautiful person she is!

Walt Disney World Resort President Meg Crofton welcomed the moms to the first ever Social Media Moms Celebration.

Maxine Clark, founder and Chief Executive Bear of Build-A-Bear Workshop delivered the opening presentation that set the tone for the rest of the day.

Cool shot of the American Adventure rotunda where Guy Kawasaki presented. Photo compliments of Josh Hallett, hyku.com

Marissa Jaret Winokur had the crowd laughing with her creative presentation on how she uses social media.

Chris Brogan and moms from the conference at Epcot on Thursday nights.

Chris Brogan and me at the end of the day’s events on Friday. Oh yeah – the Muppets showed up for the festivities, too!

ABC’s Extreme Home Makeover star Ty Pennington at Thursday’s Volunteer Family Celebration event at Epcot.

The new Guinness World Record for structure made out of canned food. The food was all packaged up and distributed to local food banks in Florida and Georgia, enough to feed 70,000 meals!

I was fortunate to be in Atlanta when the announcement was made today. Dozens of volunteers from around the city gathered at the Butler Street YMCA for a day’s work to clean up the facility.  So many wonderful people got down and dirty planting, gardening, painting, building benches, cleaning, and helping any way they could. Disney entertainment teams kept the place jammin’ with music.  Colorful Mickey Mouse balloon towers aligned the work areas. A fabulous acapella quartet from Voices of Atlanta rocked the house. And the weather, slightly chilly, but nonetheless spectacular. And of course, a Disney event wouldn’t be complete without a little character – and who better than Goofy and Pluto to lend a helping paw. Er, I mean hand.

Two members of the Walt Disney World Moms Panel also attended, Jennifer and Heather both of the Atlanta area.  Heather had her entire family joining in the volunteer activities at the crack of dawn – weeding, painting and planting flowers. They were such an inspiration.

For all the details on how to get in on Disney’s Give a Day Get a Disney Day, go to www.disneyparks.com.

VoluntEars painting artwork for the amphitheater.

Moms Panel Jennifer, Laura and me outside the Butler Street YMCA

Voices of Atlanta – Awesome group! 

Good luck everyone!

Shawnie 1990 - 2009

If there was ever the “sweetest cat ever” – that title went to Shawnie.  She constantly purred and loved sitting in laps.  She was never sickly and lived a very long, happy life.  Nineteen years is a pretty  long time – we were lucky to have her for so long.

My mom is obviously taking it very hard.  For the past five years or so Shawnie has been at moms side – sleeping next to or on top of her every night.  I last saw Shawnie yesterday and it was obvious her time was coming. She looked awful and was having a hard time walking. I’m glad I got to say good-bye yesterday.  She is in a good place now.

Shawnie & Mikita sharing dinner

Mickey Towel Art awaiting me in the room at the Boardwalk

It’s no secret to anyone that part of my job involves working with many talented and amazing mom bloggers. While I’m only a mom to my baby dogs, I do blog, occassionally so I have the experience to know what it takes to maintain a blog.  It truly amazes me the work these women put into their blogs. The writing is often flawless, the stories are creative and captivating and the accompanying photos are all so professionally shot. I sit in shame and bewilderment as to how they do it and maintain their homes and families.  My hats off to all of you. You inspire me.  I will provide a blog roll list on one of my next updates so you can check them out yourself.  I can’t do it right now because I need to be downstairs in a few minutes to meet the next wonderful mom bloggers - who are calling themselves on Twitter – #disneymochamoms.  Follow our trail this weekend on Twitter.

Michelle Stevens, me at Rix Lounge

Gorgeous bar at Rix Lounge

  

Artsy cool lighting

I’m always a slightly nervous heading into these weekends. It goes back to the feelings we all felt in high-school, wondering if we’ll be liked, will we be accepted, and will we get along.  We all come from different backgrounds, different areas of the country, different living conditions, different family make-ups, different economic status.  But the one thing I think we all had or felt, was an appreciation and adoration of the Disney brand.

I was honored to meet these very amazing women.  There were 3 moms here who each have 6 children! Two moms with very 7-month old boys. Yet they were all so cool and calm and so much fun to be around. I’ve never been blessed with children, sadly, although I treat my two dogs as my kids. I had so much fun with everyone this weekend. AND I even had a golden opportunity to babysit a 7-month old for about an hour – and the precious baby never cried once! I did good. 

@mommysnacks; @momminitup; @lauraspencerone; @foldinglaundry; Miss something; and @momtalkradio

Me (@leannej); Megan http://www.velveteenmind.com) at good-bye breakfast Sunday morning

@crazyadventures little dude with Chip & Dale The Fantasyland Philharmagic band. Awesome!

@crazyadventures & Lil'Dude at Epcot's Chef de France

@crazyadventures

 

Hollywood Brown Derby celebrates DHS's 20th birthday

Hollywood Brown Derby

I’ll share more soon.  I had an extraordinary weekend – made many new friends and am totally exhausted.  Having a glass of wine then off to bed. @magicalmoms ROCK!