Blame our parents and their anniversaries.

Hmm, I suppose we should pick a location for the dinner, eh? I've been leaning towards Catal, mostly because it's been quite some time since we've eaten there.

Well, I usually do blame your parents for your birthdays. ;)

What about Dogal ?

It's looking less and less like I'll be able to go. I'll have to see when I get out of my co-chairing duties tomorrow night. :(

Crap, I must need to go to bed. I Googled "dogal" to see if it was some crazy fancy restaurant or something. I think there's a hand print from where I literally slapped my head when it finally sunk through my thick skull.

Hah!

Maybe that's where your headache came from earlier? :)

We're going to do our best to be there. Matthew works in the morning and I have gigs tonight and Saturday. As long as we still have a little pep in our step, we should be there. Maybe not for dinner, but perhaps for a ride or two afterwards.

I'm aiming to be there. Might be delayed due to LA traffic, but I'll try to call if I'm running horribly late.

Okay, by my count there are 8 that seem to be in the yes column, and a handful of maybes. I'm gonna call Disney dining and make a reservation for 12 for as close to 8:00 as I can. We can always adjust on the fly.

By the way, fair warning, we will NOT, I repeat NOT be trying to make it for fireworks. I'm burned out (so to speak), especially the lamed down version. We will be having a leisurely dinner then heading into the park to...gasp...ride attractions. Whether we close the park or not will be up to my darling wife as she has to work in the morning.

So the tentative schedule:

~6:30PM: GD & CP arrive, rally at the hub until at least 7
7 (crosses fingers)-8ish: ride something. Preferably somethings.
8-whenever: dinner at Catal
whenever -whenever: Whirlwind attraction hopping

Oh, the eight attendees on my list are:
GD &CP
Babette
Kevy and Gus
Morigoon
Katiesue


.....

Wait, that's 7. Did I miss someone on second count? Well, 12 still seems like a good number judging by the maybes. Let us know here if anything changes and PM us if you don't have our cell numbers.

Gah, what the hell happened to Disney Dining?!

So, I called trusty old 781-DINE. Let me walk you through it:

Clearly Recorded Voice: Hi, this is Pam [or whatever the name was], how can I direct your call?
Me: Uh, Disney Dining [isn't that the number I called?]
Live human: Okay, one moment

Now I get a menu, where Disney Dining is option number 4. So, just to recap, I called Disney Dining, where I had to be asked to be transfered to Disney Dining, where I then had to select Disney Dining from a menu.

Ooookay.

10 rings later (yes, 10), someone picks up. I ask for a reservation for 12 for Catal. He checks the computer which tells him that I have to contact Catal directly. Fine, I can dig that.

I call the number he gives me, which seems to be Patina for the whole resort, not just Catal. I tell this guy the info, he puts me on hold for a minute and comes back. He tells me, "Here's Catal's direct number. Give them a call tomorrow and maybe go in 30 minutes early." What?! Sorry, with a party of 12 I'm not going to just kinda wing it.

So instead I call Catal immediately. Their response is to call the number that just sent me there. I very politely let them know that that's what I just did and they sent me to here. Fortunately at that point the nice CM helping me (Lisette) simply said okay and took care of it right then and there.

But that was simply astoundingly ridiculous.

Aaaanyway.

Tomorrow night, 8PM, Catal. Outside patio (if we take our time, perhaps we can watch fireworks from there).