EEEEEE-ticket!!

If you are under forty, you likely have no idea where the term "E-ticket ride" means or came from. No, it has absolutely NOTHING to do with e-tickets for plane rides, baseball games, or movies. It comes from...Disneyland.

In the olden days, Disneyland was not a free-for-all-go-on-every-ride-until-you-drop-from-exhaustion-or-lose-your-cookies amusement park. When you entered the Magic Kingdom, you bought with your admission, a book of tickets for the rides. It was all done by letters A-E. The "A" tickets were those rides that you could take your 96-year-old great-grandmother with the bad ticker on - the carriage ride, a slow walk through Sleeping Beauty's Castle, or perhaps the daring King Arthur's Carousel. "B" tix were those things that you might take your 2-year-old or easily excited relatives from Des Moines on - Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, Casey Junior Circus Train, or the Motorboat Cruise (miniature outboards on a track -you could spin that wheel for days and go nowhere). "C" tickets were pretty awesome in that it began to include rides that the feint of heart (moi) and little kids with their parents could all enjoy and come out smiling at the end (Mad Tea Party being the notable exception) - rides like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Peter Pan Flight, or my personal favorite, Autopia. "D" tickets were definitely popular - Rocket Ships, Skyway, and still more rides for Granny, the big boats Columbia and Mark Twain. "E" tickets were the primo, popular, gotta-do-'em rides -not all of them thrill rides, but all with an element of WAAAAAAA. Like all things precious, there were fewer of the higher tickets than the lower. In fact, you could see folks bargaining for an "E" ticket with a couple of "C"s and a stack of "A"s. It was quite common to leave at the end of the day with a stack of the lower ones. But the "E" ticket was synonymous with a stomach-lurching, eyeball-popping, sometimes terrifying ride.

This has been our life - particularly in the last couple of months.

Since we learned that we would have to move, with no place to move to, it has been nothing short of the consummate "E" ticket experience. With only a few days left in September, and having no idea where to live, God provided us with this oceanfront bungalow. It's only temporary, however, so we are still searching for a long-term solution. In the meantime, we were still praying for some business for Don. A few days after moving in, someone called wanting to by the convertible. Sold!! While I was sad to see her go, I knew that God had His plan in motion. And I got to bring my jeep here! A few days after that, Don got a business lead which took us to the Big Island. Had we not sold my car, we would not have been able to do that. God is indeed good! So, our week over there turned into nearly two weeks with me doing research on properties and assembling materials for the clients and Don researching everything else and e-mailing the clients before they arrived. He was working nearly 12-14 hours a day! Goodness. Our only nod to touristy stuff was a morning ride on the Atlantis Sub. But the house was found and after some negotiations, the deal was struck!! PRAISE GOD!! More paperwork for Don. Of course, now we wait for escrow to close as Don prepares for his next clients (due in this week), and look for a long-term home. It's still nutty and crazy and full of nerve-wracking lows and breathtaking highs. And while, at times, we wish we could be back on the Main Street Carriage ride, we need to remember...

"E" tickets are the most coveted and desired of all the tickets!!