fireworks & more fireworks

everything is always incredible here. tomorrow's a week until home, and i can't wrap my head around it. in fact, technically it's a week until home right now. and like my roommates and countless of my friends, i'm so not ready to leave yet. it does make it easier that the majority of my friends are leaving at the same time, but it's going to be hard to come to terms with the fact that the best thing that's ever happened to me is coming to an end.

the past few days have been great. a few days ago, i met up with a friend at magic kingdom. she was still working, so i decided to go to main street to get my name embroidered on my graduation mickey ears - something i had been waiting to do since the moment i got here. it's such a unique milestone and it's a very special 'souvenir.' on the way, i saw one of my friends crying, and she just found out the sad news that she has to leave a bit earlier than us. it's heartbreaking to have to say goodbye already. obviously i got emotional too and everyone knows i'm not too good at hiding my emotions. i went to my old friends on main street and they comforted me, and gave me treats from the confectionery, and i got my name embroidered on my hat. that just added to the height of emotions. we went and ate a quick dinner together and then headed back to her apartment complex where we met up with the rest of our little posse and we went for a midnight dip in the pool. completely unprepared for this little adventure, we went in our clothes. my phone went for a swim too, but it's okay now. thank god.

the next day, july 3rd, i was upset i had to work a late shift because disney had special 4th of july fireworks on the 3rd and the 4th. i so badly wanted to see them. however, i got the right assignment at the right time and was working outside during the 25 minute spectacular. it was absolutely amazing. they had identical fireworks shooting off from two different locations in magic kingdom - one in their usual spot behind the castle, and one somewhere else (i'm not too sure where it was because our restaurant was blocking the view for me.) at the end, the entire perimeter of magic kingdom was lit up with fireworks. it was the most incredible thing i have ever seen. my shift ended about five minutes after the fireworks, and waiting for the bus was insane. there must have been hundreds of kids on the college program waiting for the bus, which was taking forever due to closed roads for the fireworks. more and more people kept on coming and me and a friend of mine were just sitting there in shock. friends of mine with cars kept passing by, greeting me and i was just secretly hoping they would offer us a lift home. finally another friend of mine from main street came by and i begged him to drop us home. thank god i saw him or we would have been there for another three hours waiting in the confusion. that night i got the exciting news that my good (only friend who visited me haha) (except drew) friend scott tasker and his family were coming up this side for just one day on july 4th. i literally spent all night contemplating whether to call in sick to see them. i asked my managers and coordinators what to do and everyone was telling me to call in.

i couldn't do it, and i went to work. working on july 4th was insane. i was actually afraid of some guests. what made it even worse, was that it started to rain. when it rains, it feels like the whole guest population (about 70,000 people that day) takes cover in our restaurant. i did my best to keep a smile on my face when explaining to people that we simply can't stop serving food, and politely refusing all the other brilliant ideas they were suggesting. i put in the request to leave early so i could meet up with scott but it didn't look hopeful. after about 3 hours of working, my manager told me i could leave. i was so happy. i was just so excited. i got home as fast as i could, showered and got ready in about ten minutes and met them at the gate, since they so kindly picked me up. they took me to old town to this little amusement park. it was just like what you see in the movies. they had been there so by the time i got there they were winding down. but we drove gokarts on a few different tracks, in between laughing at other people having their turns while we waited in line. after that we went and had dinner together and then drove to this town called celebration (which used to be owned by disney.) seriously the cutest little place i've ever been to. all the buildings are perfect and it looks like a town that would be in a tv show. all the little shops are so quaint and sweet. people were riding in horse-drawn carriages and, the one thing i have found an obsession with while being here, is that the lighting was perfect. it didn't even look like a real-life place. we moved through the crowds, past the live concert, to a spot on the lake where the fireworks were being shot off from. there were so many people but we found a spot and didn't move. when the fireworks finally went off it was so exciting. we were so close we could feel them (literally - pieces of ashes kept kitting us.) there were a lot more fireworks than expected, and every time we thought it was done, more were set off. there was one lady a couple people away from us who was so hyper, and was unsuccessfully trying to get everyone to scream along with her - she couldn't get the hint that everyone was peacefully enjoying the fireworks with their loved ones. but everything there added to the perfect little evening. of course as soon as the fireworks were done, plenty people were ready to go home, as were we. they dropped me back home and headed back to their long drive 'home.'

work today was brutal because i was over exhausted, and i definitely did not have enough energy for a twelve hour shift. it was a nice day though. to thank us for our hard work, the managers had a little cook out for us, and they all took turns grilling chicken, burgers and hot dogs back stage of our restaurant and when we had our breaks we went and limed with everyone out there. it was quite nice. i thankfully got to leave a little bit early again, and of course now that i'm home, i'm full of energy. but it's time for lights out and sleep. just one more week. wow.