Category Archives: Uncategorized

Uncategorized

What a Pollyanna!

2 Comments

Day 282 in my attitude adjustment, as I try to grow, while I wait to meet up with Mickey Mouse at Magic Kingdom in October

Today my plan was to get up and go to church. I planned to open my heart to whatever God had for me there; whatever healing, whatever mercy, whatever message, whatever.  I went; God showed up, as he promises to do every time.  I am feeling blessed.

I want to share a saying I saw on FaceBook and Pinterest today: “I really just want to be the warm yellow light that pours out all over everyone I love.”  It is credited to Melissa Garcia from her Pinterest site called Quotes and Things.  Check it out.  I looked at her Pinterest site for 20 seconds and I was hooked.  I am now a follower.

“I really just want to be the warm yellow light that pours out all over everyone I love.”  I love this!  I hope and pray to be that for those I love.  I have some GREAT examples in my life: my brother Gene and his lovely wife Patsy, my cousin Lyn, my daughter Emi, my friend Shelly and many more. They have a gift for seeing the positive side of things, of seeing the good beyond the bad.  They are real silver lining, glass half-full people in my life and I am so grateful for them!

I know there are those who would say, “What a Pollyanna attitude!  What a bunch of Pollyannas!”  Have you every seen the Disney movie, Pollyanna?  It’s such a great portrait of what a positive attitude can do in life.  Here’s what Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has to say about it: “A young girl comes to an embittered town and confronts its attitude with her determination to see the best in life.”  Holy wah!  Is that cool, or what?  The movie has a great cast including: Hayley Mills, Jane Wyman and Richard Egan.  Check it out, if you can find it.  I love it, and will watch it again soon.

So I have decided to own being a Pollyanna.  I am going to revel in it.  I am going to wallow in it.  From now on, I choose to believe the best about people and about situations.  God can use every person and every situation to His glory.  I claim it, and I believe it.

Jump on this bandwagon with me, dear readers.  Let’s let God be the light that shines through us to others.  Woop woop!

Meet you at the Kingdom!

Uncategorized

Addictive Sugar

2 Comments

Day 281 in my sugar battle on my way to Mickey

Today I want to think about my personal addiction: sugar. I came across something on FaceBook and Pinterest today.  It said, “FOOD is the most abused anxiety drug. EXERCISE is the most underutilized antidepressant.”  That one hit me right between the eyes. That has been my life-song in a nutshell.  God is walking me through this painful process of withdrawal from my addiction.  280 days ago when I began making a conscious effort to eliminate (as much as possible) sugar from my diet, I went through a week of headaches, fuzzy-headedness and some mild nausea.  It was not fun facing daily life without my drug, and for awhile I experienced some very scary lows.  Now I know chemically my blood sugar was trying to adjust, but at the time it felt like the lows of depression.  I wondered if I could gut it out.  But by the grace of God and with his help, I got through those early days.  My sugar addiction truly is an addiction, because some days it’s even too hard to take it a day at a time.  Sometimes I have to tell myself, “For the next hour, I won’t eat any sugar,” or “For the next ten minutes, I won’t eat any sugar.”  And then I have to tell myself that again and again and again.

Last week on the Today Show, they said that Americans are eating three times the daily recommended amount of sugar.  We are consuming twice as much sugar in a day as we were in the 70’s.  They went on to say that too much sugar leads to heart disease in adults, and it leads to diabetes in kids.  And doctors are finding a large rise in non-alcoholic, fatty liver disease.  These statistics were from added sugars only, not fruit sugars.

Isn’t that astounding?!?  There is so much sugar being added to our foods to enhance the taste that it is making us sick.  Sheesh!

Those of you who have been following for a while now, know that my dad was a high-functioning alcoholic.  He did a terrible number on his liver, because of his alcohol consumption.  I was so determined not to do the same, and so to this day I rarely take a drink. I have seen what alcohol can do to a home, and I was determined to not raise my kids in that environment.  YET, I did exactly that.  My liver numbers are good, but I was basically doing my best to destroy it with sugar.  And my household was just as affected by addiction.  My dad hid booze; I hid candy.  My dad would look for ways to drink in private; I would look for ways to eat massive quantities of sugary foods in private.  Same thing all over again.  I was so busy trying to avoid his addiction, that I ignored my own to my body’s detriment.

Whew!  Kinda heavy today.  But it’s all cathartic, and I always feel better when I get these thoughts out and quit harboring them.

Thanks for reading! Meet you at the Kingdom!

Uncategorized

God Is Up In Here

3 Comments

Day 280 on my way to the House of Mouse

Today in my quest to be healthier when I meet up with Mickey, I will go in for my post-operative exam.  I had hoped to be much farther down the line by now.  I have had three post-operative set backs: 1) oozing/bleeding sores from the tape that was used, 2) exercised induced asthma (which, I have no idea if this is true, but I suspect is a product of the anesthetic + high tree and mold counts in our area) and 3) a raging urinary tract infection.  A dear sister-friend pointed out to me that God wanted me to have this extended time to heal and to be ministered to.  And when I cried as she chatted with me, she said, “Tears of joy are OK.”  (Thank you, dear Shelly Holmstrom, for putting things into a right perspective!)  I have cried a lot of tears of relief, joy, thankfulness and peace.  And it is all balm to my soul.  (But I just have to say to my ladies out there: isn’t it interesting that happy tears still looks like ugly crying face???)

And speaking of balm to my soul, at our church’s Cafe Chocolat retreat, I was in a “Sweet Circle” with four other women.  Some I knew quite well, others not so much.  We were given a lot of time to share, laugh, cry and pray together.  Definitely balm! One of the women in my group spoke about a book that she was using for daily devotions: “My Grandfather’s Blessings: Stories of Strength, Refuge and Belonging” by Rachel Naomi Remen.  Here’s what Amazon says about it.

“In My Grandfather’s Blessings, Rachel Naomi Remen, a cancer physician and master storyteller, uses her luminous stories to remind us of the power of our kindness and the joy of being alive.

Dr. Remen’s grandfather, an orthodox rabbi and scholar of the Kabbalah, saw life as a web of connection and knew that everyone belonged to him, and that he belonged to everyone. He taught her that blessing one another is what fills our emptiness, heals our loneliness, and connects us more deeply to life.

Life has given us many more blessings than we have allowed ourselves to receive. My Grandfather’s Blessings is about how we can recognize and receive our blessings and bless the life in others. Serving others heals us. Through our service we will discover our own wholeness—and the way to restore hidden wholeness in the world.”

Thank you, Carol Bettendorf, for recommending this book and for sending me a copy of it!  I has helped heal me; it has blessed me; it has been my “Balm in Gilead.”  (Check out the words to that old, old, hymn…priceless!  It is by Washington Glass, I think.)  Here’s a sample: “There is balm in Gilead, To make the wounded whole; There’s power enough in heaven, To cure a sin-sick soul.”

Dear Readers, this sin-sick soul is feeling bathed in love and light.  I have been held up by a wall of prayer from those “angels” in my life,  I have been ministered to by my loving husband (thank you, Lord, for Mike!), and I have been wrapped in the Holy Spirit and in the Savior’s promise to never leave or forsake me.  This healing goes way deeper than my cuts and scars.  This healing goes all the way to my soul and spirit.  Thanks be to God!

Meet you at the Kingdom!

Uncategorized

Random Thoughts

Leave a comment

Day 279 in my mind bending way to meet up with Mickey

Today I want to share three separate and independent tidbits.

  1. I think our kitty was a raptor in former times.  She prowls our place testing the compound…and she remembers!  She is looking for ways out.  The problem is if she ever finds a way out, I’m not sure she’ll come back because (1) She is just that independent, (2) She has no front claws to defend herself, and we live where there are hawks and coyotes, raccoons and foxes.  I’m afraid she looks like a tasty morsel.  Today Mike had to repair a screen in our porch, because it was loose, and Kitty kept pushing it out little by little.  She would have escaped soon!
  2. The old adage goes, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.”  Bullroar!  I have been eating apples daily for the last nine months, and it did NOT keep said doctors away.  As a matter of fact, I have just come through a bout of cancer and a rather painful operation.  (Of course, I ate hardly no apples for the first 58 and a half years of my life…hmmm…I might have to rethink that one.)  🙂
  3. Love is kneeling down in front of someone to put their shoes and socks on them, because they can’t reach without pain.  My Mikey has been doing this for the past three weeks everyday.  It couldn’t be any more romantic if he was Prince Charming and it was a glass slipper.  Feeling loved!

So what does this have to do with me eating better and getting more exercise to prepare to visit Walt Disney World in October?  Well, let’s just chalk it up to mental health and the need to vent.  Thanks for reading, dear followers!  Meet you at the Kingdom!

Uncategorized

Disney Customer Service

2 Comments

Day 278 on my Disney musings as I make my way to Mickey Mouse

I have to take time to pay homage to Disney Customer Service.  You don’t have to travel to many countries as a tourist, before you realize just how good customer service is at Disney (and in the United States in general).  No hate mail, please.  It’s just true.

I had occasion to call Disney, because I couldn’t get My Disney Experience account linked to my Disney Vacation Club (DVC) account. I tried several time to get the job done online, but ended up frustrated every time.   I dialed the number for Walt Disney World and was connected to Maxwell.  He was simply marvelous!  Within fifteen minutes I had my accounts connected, and he gave me a thorough explanation on how the new system works.

For DVC members, you make your hotel reservation on the DVC members website.  Once you have your reservation made, everything runs through My Disney Experience.  Maxwell and the folks at Disney made it all easy-peasey.  I was all finished with my phone call in less than 25 minutes.  (The system works nearly the same for non-DVC members.  Once you have your Disney on-property hotel reservation, then you can access everything through your very own My Disney Experience app).

Meet you at the Kingdom!

BTW: My Disney Experience…I LOVE this APP.  I am type-A when it comes to trying to keep all my Disney trip reservations and info in one place.  With this trip, for the first time, I am relaxed because My Disney Experience has it all there for me to check and see at any time.  Leave it to Disney to revolutionize planning!  Way to go, Disney!

Uncategorized

Disney Vacation Club…Yippee!

Leave a comment

Day 277 in my ruminating on Disney Vacation Club and my pal Mickey

Whew!  I am so grateful for modern medicine and antibiotics in particular.  Though I still have a UTI, the pain has abated considerably.  Praise God!  I am tired from a poor night’s sleep, but I am back on the road to recovery.

Today’s plan is to share about Disney Vacation Club.  Their tagline used to be “Disney’s Best Kept Secret.”  Here is what Disny has to say about it: ”

Discover a World of Choices-When you become a Member by purchasing a real estate interest in a Disney Vacation Club Resort represented by an annual allotment of Vacation Points, you can enjoy flexibility, choice and savings when it comes to your future Disney vacations. Flexibility and Choice – Enjoy the freedom to choose when, where and how often to vacation at any of the 12 uniquely themed Disney Vacation Club Resorts—or explore thousands of other vacation options in destinations around the world…Savings – Stretch your vacation dollars by locking in decades of future stays at Disney Vacation Club Resorts at today’s purchase price. You can save up to 50% on future Disney Vacation Club Resort accommodations. Membership can pay for itself after just 6 to 11 years…compared to the cost of a non-Member renting accommodations at rack rate at most Disney Vacation Club Resorts. Imagine taking your dream vacation—a romantic honeymoon in Hawai’i, a fun-filled adventure with the family at Walt Disney World Resort or a retirement celebration in Europe. With Disney Vacation Club, dreaming is only the beginning—you can collect a lifetime of magical memories, year after year.  All accommodations are subject to availability.”

Wah, right?  I was so-o-o sold.  My beautifully conservative husband took awhile to get on board.  But looking back, he is a big fan!  We only have 150 points…for 40 years.  With those points we (Mike, Me the kids, their spouses (and future kid-lings) go to Walt Disney World  every three to five years, depending on if Mike and I want any side trips along the way.  We have used our points in Chicago, New York, Hilton Head, Anaheim, London, Paris (PARIS!) and Orlando over the years.  We have been able to vacation when otherwise we would not have been able to afford it.  Disney Vacation Club (DVC) has definitely “opened a world of possibilities” to us and we love it!  It has been an investment in our family.  We so look forward to being together on vacation: relaxing, park hopping, dining, and smiling in each other’s faces.  Sheer bliss.

Yes, it is costly.  But you can purchase as little as 100 points and work with it.  Or you can purchase as many points as are available.  When we first bought in, we purchased 230 points.  It was great because we could bring extended family along: my parents, my aunt, Mike’s mom, Mike’s brother and family, two of Mike’s nieces, two of my brothers and their wives, two of my nieces, plus one of those niece’s husband and two boys.  (These were not all at the same time, of course.) When times got tough and we were struggling financially, we sold our points…I cried for a week.  When things turned around, we bought back in (100 points).  It wasn’t quite enough to do what we wanted to do so we made two additional purchases of 25 points each.  All our points are at Disney’s Old Key West Resort. When we arrive there and hear the words, “Welcome, home!” I exhale, and the stress starts to leave my body.  I can hardly wait until October!!

Meet you at the Kingdom!

BTW: If you think about purchasing DVC and want to save a few bucks, ask about availability at sold out resorts, rather than the newest ones.  If folks have sold their points back, you may be able to purchase them.  🙂

Uncategorized

3 Steps Forward, 1 Step Back

4 Comments

Day 276 in pain as I prepare to meet Mickey

I write this in pain.  After feeling much better for the last few days, today a Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) has reared it’s ugly head with a vengeance.  So I hope to feel better and write more tomorrow.

Thanks for understanding.  Meet you at the Kingdom!

BTW: I worked from home today, so I am moving forward.

Uncategorized

Me Little English Mum…

4 Comments

Day 275 in making my way back to you, Mick(ey)!

Happy Mother’s Day, Dear Readers!  Whether you are the mother of strapping boys or pretty girls or strapping girls or pretty boys or fuzzy four legged babies, or anything else, I wish you a Happy Day!

For those of you who lost your mom early on, or whose moms weren’t there for you in some way, this can be a painful reminder of what you don’t or never had and for that I do commiserate.  So I want to talk about the moms in my life:

  1. Mom-Elizabeth May (Peggy) Heath Taskila–She was always a warm body to cuddle with.  She always had a hug and a kiss for me, good times and bad.  She was, for her children, an example of what unconditional love looked like.  It made it all the easier to believe that God could love me unconditionally, too.  Mom was always in our corner, going to battle (often with Dad) for us, and she was our biggest fan and cheerleader.  It didn’t matter where we stood in the pecking order, she was FOR us.
  2. My Sister-in-Loves–Trudy and Patsy–they have been sister, mother and friend at times, and I love them dearly!  Thx, Sisses!
  3. My Friend Extraordinaire Joan–she has been friend, sister and mother to me.  I couldn’t have lived so far from my family for all of these years (about 30) without her.
  4. My High School Chorus Teacher–Miss Trolla–She so believed in me, long before I knew I had any self-worth at all.  She taught me how to sing and gave me a foundation that has served me well as I direct the Contemporary Band at our church in worship.  She never married and had no children of her own, so she made of us her children, and she wasn’t afraid to put us in our places when we strayed too far.  She was the BEST of coaches, and an example of a strong, independent women!
  5. My Aunties–Phyllis, Violet, Yvonne, Ruth, Alice, Annie, Verna, Helmi, Viola, Vivian, Josie (hope I didn’t forget anyone)–always willing to engage in conversation and throw in a hug to boot.
  6. My Mother-in-Love–Estella Oja Jarvi  You taught me so much about being a mom and being a welcoming hostess.  We’re thinking of you today.  Thank you for helping me to raise two amazing people!
  7. My Bestest Friend Jean (friend, sister, and mother when I needed one)–I’ve learned so much about being a mother from watching you.  To me you are the picture of a Christian mother, and I know you learned it from your mom.  Here’s to bread and butter on a sunny summer day.  Love you, my friend!

Thank you, to all of you, for making me know beyond the shadow of a doubt that I am loved, and thank you all for letting me love you, too.

So dear readers, I pray you have a blessed day wherever you are.  Remember to take some time with the Creator, the Mother and Father of us all.

Uncategorized

Disney’s Magical Advantages!

2 Comments

Day 274 in advancing toward meeting up with Mickey Mouse at the Magic Kingdom.

GAH!!!!  My plan for today was to book our trips to and from Disney’s Old Key West Resort and Orlando International Airport on Disney’s Magical Express.  Can you tell?  I’m just a little excited about that!  All six of us who are going in October (me, my honey Mike, our son Jake, his wife Eliza, our daughter Emi and her husband James) have finally booked our flights.  Once all flights are booked, if you are a Disney Vacation Club (DVC) Member (and we are), you can go to the DVC website and book the bus.

Now for those who are not Disneyphiles, Disney’s Magical Express is a free perk that folks staying at Disney resorts are provided.  It is literally a FREE ride to and from the airport.  (Now I know there are skeptics out there saying, “Oh, you’re paying for it.”  And that may be true, but I would stay on property even without this perk, so it feels free to me.  And I appreciate it!)  🙂  And on top of that, we can check our luggage in Chicago, and they will deliver it to our room at Old Key West.  Can you say, “Holy wah!”?  I love it!

So, now we are one step closer to being all ready for our vacation.  I hope to write soon about: Disney Vacation Club (it gets me to my happy place), My Disney Experience (an absolutely fantastic planning app), and  apples (I have a bone to pick with the apples/doctor saying).  Thank for hanging in there with me, my dear readers.  Meet you at the Kingdom!

BTW: I am drinking a cup of Starbuck’s coffee from my Magic Kingdom mug, as I type.  It arrived yesterday!  I LOVE it!  Two of my favorite things in one place–Magic Kingdom and Starbuck’s.  Yahoo!   Ya-le-hoo-lah! Thank you so much, Bro Geno and Sis-in-love Patsy!  And thanks to Regina, niece-in-love extraordinare,for picking up an extra mug, just in case.  🙂  Love you guys!

Uncategorized

…And Four More Restaurants

2 Comments

Day 273 in eating my way around the world and meeting up with Mickey

My plan for today was to continue my research on healthy choices at the restaurants we will frequent at Walt Disney World in October.  My go-to site for this is AllEars.Net.  Seriously, you have to check out this site!  It is simply a Disneyphiles dream.

Here we go again:

  1. Artist’s Point at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge  for dinner: Healthiest Appetizer: Signature Field Greens Salad  Thing I may order: The salad aforementioned or Artisnal Cheese Selection  Entree: Healthiest entree–Grilled Filet Mignon OR Cornish Hen  What I will order: Cedar Plank-Roasted King Salmon  (I’ve had this each time we’ve been there.  It is amazing!) Dessert: Healthiest option:Artisnal Cheese Selection  What I will order-Vairhona Dark Chocolate Creme Brulee AND 6 spoons!  I really want to try this, even just one spoonful.  🙂
  2. Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant at Pleasure Island (or whatever it’s called nowadays-it’ll always be Pleasure Island to me!) for dinner:  This will be just Mike and I, so we will probably leave a lot of food behind.  We get a date night out of the parks; I’m so excited! The healthiest appetizer on the menu is Heritage Tomato Salad.  What I will probably order: (Well, I need to ask about the mysterious Soul Soup!) But I’m thinking the Luscious Tart.  Entree: The healthiest things are probably Braised Be. Beef OR Mammy’s Roast Chicken  But I will probably order Bangers and Booz (one of my all time favorite meals in England or Ireland). And I know Mike will want the Fish and Chips, and we’ll split a side of roasted root vegetables.  Dessert: the healthiest choice-Moore Street Market   But I will try Trifle Sinful OR Dunbrody Kiss (which is described as “chocolate, add chocolate and add some more.”  Oh, yeah!
  3. 50’s Prime Time Cafe at Disney’s Hollywood Studios for lunch:  Appetizers: Healthiest choice: Cousin Amy’s Lettuce Wedge What we will share-Fried Herb and Garlic Cheese.  Entree: The healthiest things on the menu are probably 50’s Prime Time Blue Plate Special “a healthy seasonal special” OR the Salmon or Chicken Caesar Salad  I will order one of those three    Dessert: Healthiest choice: No Sugar Added Cheesecake  What I will order 50’s Boston Cream Parfait AND S’mores AND 6 forks and spoons.
  4. San Angel Inn Restaurante at EPCOT for lunch-Appetizers: probably the 2 healthiest things to choose from are Ensalade Cesar (Caesar Salad) OR  Coctel de Camaron (shrimp cocktail) I would try either.  Entree: Healthiest choices-

    “Loma de Puerco en Pipian – Pork tenderloin served over roasted vegetables and “pipian” – pumpkin, chiles and almond sauce” OR “Pescado a la Veracruzana – Catch of the day prepared with capers, olives, bell peppers, Spanish onions, and tomatoes, seasoned with white wine and spices, served over poblano rice.”   Either way, Mike and I will share.  Dessert: Healthiest option: “Crema Bavaria – creamy Bavarian mousse served with mixed berries, cinnamon and orange liqueur and vanilla sauce”  I will either order that or “Mousse de Chocolate – Chocolate mousse and almond brittle candy.”  Say it with me now, “And 6 Spoons!”

  5. That’s about it.  However, The EPCOT Food and Wine Festival is happening while we’re there, so I know we’ll sample some goodies there, too.  More about that later.

Meet you at the Kingdom!