Back from Disney World

... and wow... the best AND the worst week I've had in a while, Hard to explain, but hang in there with me and I'll try :)

My mom is currently unable to walk under her own power. She has difficulties breathing (she should probably be on oxygen, but she is stubborn, just like her daughter!) so we had to make special arrangements for the trip. Obviously we weren't going to be riding many (if any) rides. Mostly I'd be pushing her through the parks, talking, looking at the flowers, and taking in a show here and there.

The staff at Disney was, as always, BEYOND fantastic. You want to have a great vacation, I do recommend that you go. It's so much more than Mickey Mouse! For example, EPCOT had a flower show which was amazing, and the Lights - Action - Motorcars show at MGM was unreal, it was so good!

The problem was - how can I say this without sounding like a jerk? Oh yeah, that's right; it's my blog so I can be a bit peeved if I want to. The problem was the other visitors!

How so? Well, there were the teenagers who would LITERALLY vault over her if she was in line for a show. Not "Pardon me" not "Please" just SHOVE and run! As if there were limited seats and it was somehow appropriate to cut off an elderly woman in a wheelchair so they could sit closer! Or the woman who (I am NOT making this up) tried to push my mother out of HER way to see the parade - while actually saying "I hate these darn wheelchairs!" Um, Ma'am? She's not deaf, and neither am I! Obviously I didn't allow her to do this, and I pointed out that she was actually in the wheelchair section!!! To which she replied "Says who?" at which point I pointed to the sign. Unbelievable.

This happened again and again, every single day. It got to the point where we started making jokes about it, but inside I was fuming! I sincerely hope none of the dozens of people who were so thoughtless and rude is ever confined to a wheelchair - or if they are, that the people they encounter show more tact and empathy than they showed my mother.

But enough of this negativity - I've said my piece. What I was happy about was the care that the Disney staff showed her. In many cases they gave her good seats, or escorted her to the front of the line (not always, but often enough that she didn't feel excluded) and they were always polite and cheerful. It must be something in the water!

It was wonderful to have a whole week to just relax and unwind. I've been so busy lately it felt like I never slept.. but now I'm a bit more focused. I've also picked up some new vitamins which I think will help me feel better. I should have done that weeks ago!

Back to basics

I've been trying to flutter with Flylady for a couple years now. The last two months I've been SO busy trying to build my business (this month I did a ton of invoicing, so something is going well!) that my house just fell apart.

It isn't that I don't try, it's that I try too hard at the wrong things. I end up at my computer at the oddest hours doing just one more blog post (STOP looking at the timestamp on this post - yes I mean YOU - stop it! I'm SERIOUS!) so yesterday I decided to just stop, take a deep breath and jump right back in where I was doing baby steps.

And after only two days, I've got the dishes caught up, the living room rescued - I'm so pleased, my house is starting to recover and feel like a home! BTW, I'm a big fan of FlyLady and if you haven't been able to find peace in your home because you're a victim of the clutter monster (like me) then I do really recommend her. It's all about learning to love yourself, really. And that's something I need a lot of help with, constantly.

Mom will be coming up Monday, and then on Wednesday at 7am we're flying to Disney World - just the two of us. I can't wait - we both need a break so desperately. Mom works with my kid brother at his store and her health has been not the greatest - a few decades of smoking has taken it's toll and she's having trouble walking now, so we're going to get ourselves a limousine (actually, a wheelchair for mom) and I figure the exercise pushing her will be a blessing for me. I'm really glad I quit smoking years ago - I may never have been able to stay on a diet consistently but I can feel good about that. It was a struggle but definitely worth it - I quit about seven years ago and have never smoked since - not once. Basically because, like an alcoholic, if I smoke just one I'll be right back on the pony. So no cigarettes for me :)

If only it was that easy to diet! The problem is I have to eat every day... if I could go cold turkey on food I'd have licked this thing years ago. I just have a hard time with moderation - and sugar and caffeine are how I regulate my moods. Well, I'll just keep trying... one thing I am proud of is that I've learned how to eat meals and since March 1 I've done just that.

Yeah I guess that made no sense... see as a kid generally we didn't get "meals" - money was tight, and my kid brother had a lot of allergies so a meal was meat and maybe potatoes and corn. Maybe. Salad? not a chance. Milk? Didn't have it. We had coke. No I'm not kidding - no milk or juice, we were a coffee and pop only household LOL. But I've been working on balancing my meals first, and once I've got the knack of that, then reducing portions. So tonight for example I had a biscuit (ok, two) a caesar salad, broccoli and cauliflower, roast chicken and rice. See? A meal, with side dishes and everything. Even a salad! I've been doing this for weeks now and the other day I got mad because we were out of salad and dinner just didn't seem right without one!

Yay ME! Could I eat less? Yeah, but it's hard overcoming 40 years of really AWFUL food habits all at once. I've tried that before and failed. So this time I'm going to take baby steps and see how I do. For May I'm going to start slowly reducing portions... hopefully by fall I will see an improvement. Oh, and I'm walking two or three times a week now - a mile at a brisk pace. (It wasn't real brisk at first but now I can chug right along) so I'm all ready to go see Disney World! Maybe next year I can go back and be thin enough to actually ride the rides... wouldn't that be something.

Oh, and for those of you wondering why I didn't write about the results of this week's American Idol - well it's because, in my mind, there weren't any. "Postponing" voting someone off is just that - postponing it. To be truthful I thought it was silly and disingenuous. Has American Idol just jumped the shark? Well, only time will tell.

Well that's MORE than enough for one night - my mouth runneth over :) I'm going t try this sleeping thing I've heard so much about - chat with you later!

Is it spring yet?

I really, REALLY am sick of winter! My poor daffodils got nuked by the last round of winter snow, and I'm SO ready to go grab a flat of flowers and put them out... if only the temperatures would cooperate.

But good news! In two weeks, I'm going to go where it's sunny and warm - Mom and I are taking a spur of the moment trip to Disney World (WOOT) where we can relax, soak up some sun, and I can finally get a decent night's sleep. I don't know why but i haven't been able to sleep through the night in months. I'm guessing it's stress, what with working from home, mounting bills and so forth. I wouldn't be able to afford to go anywhere, but since Mom and Dad are paying... well, I'm going to go and try not to feel TOO guilty about the trip. And when I get back maybe it will finally be above 40 degrees.

Look out Mickey Mouse, here I come!