Pics & Fun

So it's been a VERY busy few weeks but I'm managing to squeeze in some fun (I'll save the work update for another blog)! Here are some pictures from the Leads & Trainers Party held in Paradise Pier at DCA. It's the Resort's way of celebrating the various Leads & Trainers - duh - so it's a small-ish group. To put it in terms a few of you will understand, the party was held from 8-11:30pm... during that time I was able to ride California Screamin', Toy Story Midway Mania (3 times), King Triton's Carousel, Mulholland Madness, Orange Stinger, take an hour to eat dinner, dance a bit on the dance floor, play the midway games, and take some pictures. Needless to say - I was beat at the end.


~Me having fun............~Chris is ready for TSMM


~Marcie & Chris waiting their turn....~Karen (my boss) working


~Sandy working too.......~Christine on the carousel


~Alex & Renee on TSMM.........~Christine & Chris on Mulhullond Madness


~Rusty & Marcie enjoying dinner....~The group, all on 1 bench!

Life Side

Thought I should also post about that life side of my life. So last Tuesday was the stage management summer soiree. It was held at a park down the road from the Resort. Holly did an amazing job putting it all together. Good food, fun games, and just a chance to be together in a relaxed, social atmosphere.

On Thursday, I went to the parking lot of the Fox Theater in Fullerton to see Back to the Future. They project it onto the side of the theater as a fund raiser to help restore the Fox Theater. Also, as it was Sept. 11th, they held a special flag raising ceremony in conjunction with a National Guard unit and the city's fire department. It was really quite well done. Holly, Chris, Sandy, Scott, and I enjoyed candy & beverages under the stars watching a classic (well, a new classic). Amazingly (or not) a group of youth next to us had never seen it. It was really strange hearing people laugh for the first time at the movie. Overall, good fun - and they're showing Ghostbusters in Oct - you bet I'll be there!

Friday was a busy one for me. First after work was Concert Under the Stars at Cal State Fullerton. My friends Adam Saucedo & Alyssa Marie Webb were both performing and I was super excited to support them. Ironically, the show was a tribute to Walt Disney's contribution to popular music. So Sandy, Chris, Sarah and I (all Disney folk) spent the evening listening to Disney songs. Adam & Alyssa Marie were fantastic - even if they didn't have as many solos as I'd have liked. Next up was a birthday celebration for Annalisa at the St. Regis Resort in Dana Point. We dropped Sarah off and headed south to join Annalisa and company. We spent the next 2 hours talking, laughing, and having a hoot.

Saturday was spent around the bathroom as I was recovering from a bout of food poisoning (I started not feeling well on the way to Dana Point). It was not pleasant. All plans went out the window - including work. But thankfully, it passed and by Sunday I was my jovial self again.

Sunday was nice - I attended church with Ashna & Preston followed by a late lunch at their home. They were so gracious to let me share their Sunday. Preston made a great pasta which we ate while watching Nim's Island - a cute movie I thoroughly enjoyed. After the movie I headed down to Karen & the boys. I picked up some dinner on the way and got to spend some time with the family. I also helped Karen baby proof the back door to the garage that Shane recently learned how to open. Then while Karen went to get dessert at Golden Spoon, Brandon played while Shane (who wasn't feeling well) and I watched Caillou, the holiday movie. I am a total Caillou convert - I can't wait to have kids so they can watch it. I wanted to finish watching the movie.

And tonight Chris & Sandy are coming over for dinner & a movie. The movie is still up for a decision - currently I think our choices are The Great Race, Xanadu, or something else entirely. It'll be nice to hang out just the three of us, we haven't gotten to in a while.

So there it is... the life side ;-)

Emerging Leaders Weeks 3-5

Well, I was really good about updating regularly for a bit and then I got behind. I blame my life - for once my work life balance favored the life side. Crazy for me, I know! So on to the update...

I'm almost halfway through the program and it's great! Oh, first, a shout out to Craig - a fellow Emerging Leader who found my blog here in cyberspace... You Rock! I've now completed three more classes: Systems Thinking, Good Show Begins with Me, and Business Results. Systems Thinking is just that - knowing how you fit into the greater system of business; thinking big picture & how one decision can affect many - often in departments other than your own. Good Show... is pretty self-explanatory. I'd even taken it before just a few short months ago. But it's always good to be reminded that Walt Disney created Disneyland with specific criteria in mind & it's up to us to uphold that standard. Business Results covered the more financial, internal workings and components to the company. The facilitator for the financial portion was an absolute hoot - totally dry sense of humor that kept me laughing the entire hour.

Also, we participated in our first Leadership Perspectives session - where current leaders sit down for a one on one with us. In this first session we were able to hear from and talk with the VP's for Food & Beverage, Human Resources, Travel, & Entertainment. Mostly what I took from this session is that we are all human, subject to the same passion, faults, and greatness. It was refreshing to know that my instincts are right on track with the VP's. I just need to trust them and own them.

The most exciting bit of the past few weeks was the opportunity to attend the 2008 Disneyland Resort Leadership Conference. Two days of seminars on everything from personal finance to Disney heritage to leadership practices. I attended nine sessions over the two days. I wish I could've fit in more. I listened to executives of the company - Ed Grier, Michael O'Gratten, and Jay Rasulo - talk about their styles of leadership and how they lead this company. I listened to the legendary Marty Sklar and his Mickey's 10 More Commandments of leadership. I attended a session about Ub Iwerks and his amazing contributions to the technology of film and animation. Another session was about Microsoft Office 2007 - it's rolling out at Disney early next year (most likely) and I wanted to be ready. Just touched on the basics but now I'm super stoked and ready to sign up for more practice sessions. Two of my sessions were dedicated to leadership practices - one on Giving & Receiving Feedback and the other on Leading Change - Lessons learned from the American Revolution. Absolutely fascinating... I learned so much - many notes taken from all the sessions.

I've also worked on & turned in my first homework assignments; began my project in earnest; and spent time training at Princess Fantasy Faire. All things I will continue in the next weeks as well. Here's to continued learning & fun!

September Nights!

Rick passionately relating some story, while hanging out at the Uva Bar at Downtown Disney.

Anna & Ryan listening to Rick relate some impassioned story, hanging out at the Uva Bar at Downtown Disney.

Tim kissing me as we ignored Rick, hanging out at the Uva Bar at Downtown Disney. We had such a good time Thursday night! I haven't seen Tim or Rick or Anna or Ryan in such a long time, it was so much fun to catch up & tell stories. I was kinda glad that the Park (Disneyland that is) closed at 8pm that night so we could spend quality time together just chatting. And it's even more fun when those around you get tipsy while you (and Ryan) stay completely sober, enjoying the increasing lightness of character of the others (whatever that means! - I couldn't come up with the phrase I really wanted, oh well - I think you get the point!). Definitely need to do this more often.

Sarah at the Night Flights Summer 2008 Concert Series at the new Orange County Great Park on Saturday night. She'd been told about this concert from an audio guy friend of hers - he'd said that an Irish folk modern group was playing & she thought of me. So we headed out to the former El Toro Marine Base and the new Orange County Great Park. It's really fantastic seeing this park finally taking shape. Check out http://www.ocgp.org/ for more information. And the concert & balloon ride are completely free. We saw the concert but didn't have time for the balloon ride - maybe next time. Eileen Ivers & Immigrant Soul played for 90 minutes and they were great! She'd formerly played for Riverdance so she knew her stuff. There were kids dancing in the aisles, good times being had by all - except for the lady next to us who "shushed" us near the end of the concert for talking. We're outside, at an upbeat, rocking folk music concert and she wants us to not talk - seriously! Whatever... not to be judgemental or ageist, but she was older and not exactly the proper demographic for the setting. Check out http://www.eileenivers.com/ for more info on what I heard that night.

On Sunday evening - Rick, Camille, Ryan, Anna, Eric, & Breanne spent the night playing at the Resort (Disneyland & Disney's California Adventure [DCA]). We started over at DCA on the new Toy Story Mania. Then I got to play on all the big kid rides I haven't done in a while due to the fact I seem to always spend my play time at the Resort with my nephews (which I love, don't get me wrong!). So I played on Soarin over California, California Screamin, Space Mountain, and the Nemo Submarines. It was my first time on Nemo - it was cute, not worth waiting hours in line cute, but worth waiting the 5 minutes on Sunday night. See one of the folks I went with has a medical condition that allows them to get a special card to bypass the lines at all the rides. Wow, do I want to always go to the Resort with them from now on! Yikes what a difference not waiting in line makes on your mood and all that you can do!

But now it's back to the grind of work. At least right now, it's a good grind. I'll get my summary of the past two weeks of the Emerging Leader experience up in the next few days - it's still totally awesome! Oh and last weeks Melissa Etheridge concert was fantastic! She's quite a storyteller & the people watching was SO much fun! Ask me about it sometime for a good laugh.

Last Summer Celebration

As summer comes to a close, and while Grandma is still in town, we decided to hit an Angels game one afternoon - the Angels ended up winning & we had a blast, especially the ice cream cookie sandwiches!


We finished the summer at Disneyland - riding rides, watching the Jedi Training Academy & Pixar Play Parade. It was a long fun day and a great way to finish off the summer!