Thursday, December 14, 2006
Conquering fear
We went to Disneyland yesterday. I think it had to have been the best time I’ve ever had there, through my own eyes. This may have been my 30th trip, but Husband and I think it’s the very first time that is has been just the two of us. The longest we waited in line was when one of the rides was shut down for a short period of time, when we were already waiting our turn – Space Mountain – and I think that may have been for 25 minutes.
There’s history with Space Mountain and me. When Son was young I rode Space Mountain with him, and nearly lost him out of the seat. I was hanging on to him, and not hanging on for myself and nearly fainted when we got off the ride. That was about 15 years ago. I’ve never been able to bring myself to ride it again since then. I’m having surgery tomorrow. I’m voluntarily allowing someone to slice me open and I’m scared spitless if I allow myself to think on it for any length of time. I figured if I can do that, then I can ride some silly amusement park ride, right? You might be able to imagine how nerve-wracking it was might have been for me standing there while they shut down the ride from a malfunction. I knew that if I didn’t stay and wait, I’d never go back. I conquered that demon. Then I immediately got back on it again. My face hurt from grinning so much, and my throat was sore from screaming and I had a blast.
Next time, I’ll conquer another demon, maybe two. I have a huge fear of heights and have stayed away from California Adventure because of that. Next time, I’m riding Soaring over California, and I may even attempt Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, but don’t place your bets just yet.
As to souvenirs, I always come home with one or two. This time I came home with a whole new wardrobe. Splash Mountain? More like Drench Mountain! The whole left side of my body was wet, before we got to the 50 ft drop. Husband was in front, and I was right behind him, and let’s just say water could be rung out of my shirt for an hour after we got off the ride. No exaggeration. I sloshed when I walked; my right shoe was so full of water. So after we rode another ride, we headed to Mainstreet where I bought new pants, a shirt and some dry socks, so I didn’t spend the rest of the day trying to unglue my underwear from my behind in front of impressionable young eyes. Husband ended up buying a new shirt as well, but he suffered until his pants dried. His wallet was still damp this morning!
But the best part of the day was when I got home and found waiting on the porch a beautiful bouquet of flowers from Husband’s Marines which included a card signed by them all wishing me much luck and speedy recovery for tomorrow’s surgery.
There’s history with Space Mountain and me. When Son was young I rode Space Mountain with him, and nearly lost him out of the seat. I was hanging on to him, and not hanging on for myself and nearly fainted when we got off the ride. That was about 15 years ago. I’ve never been able to bring myself to ride it again since then. I’m having surgery tomorrow. I’m voluntarily allowing someone to slice me open and I’m scared spitless if I allow myself to think on it for any length of time. I figured if I can do that, then I can ride some silly amusement park ride, right? You might be able to imagine how nerve-wracking it was might have been for me standing there while they shut down the ride from a malfunction. I knew that if I didn’t stay and wait, I’d never go back. I conquered that demon. Then I immediately got back on it again. My face hurt from grinning so much, and my throat was sore from screaming and I had a blast.
Next time, I’ll conquer another demon, maybe two. I have a huge fear of heights and have stayed away from California Adventure because of that. Next time, I’m riding Soaring over California, and I may even attempt Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, but don’t place your bets just yet.
As to souvenirs, I always come home with one or two. This time I came home with a whole new wardrobe. Splash Mountain? More like Drench Mountain! The whole left side of my body was wet, before we got to the 50 ft drop. Husband was in front, and I was right behind him, and let’s just say water could be rung out of my shirt for an hour after we got off the ride. No exaggeration. I sloshed when I walked; my right shoe was so full of water. So after we rode another ride, we headed to Mainstreet where I bought new pants, a shirt and some dry socks, so I didn’t spend the rest of the day trying to unglue my underwear from my behind in front of impressionable young eyes. Husband ended up buying a new shirt as well, but he suffered until his pants dried. His wallet was still damp this morning!
But the best part of the day was when I got home and found waiting on the porch a beautiful bouquet of flowers from Husband’s Marines which included a card signed by them all wishing me much luck and speedy recovery for tomorrow’s surgery.