Thankful Me

I intended to make this post my vacation report, part one.  Instead I've decided to comment about those people who, like this bear, find themselves far removed from solid footing, yet are managing to hold on anyway. We all face challenges during this journey called life.  Why do bad things happen to good people?  Here is my philosophy: We experience trials in our lives so that we can be more understanding and better able to serve others.  When I am going through a difficult time, I want to talk to someone who understands--someone who has "been there."  Trials are not provided to "teach us a lesson" in the punitive sense, but trials do help keep us humble, and help us learn to refrain from judging others.  Trials help us focus on the things that truly matter.  In short, trials help us become more Christ-like.  As we all experience hardships, we should be supportive of others as they face their challenges.  For my...

I'm dealing with writer's block; not for lack of things to say, but for the overwhelming task of trying to properly immortalize in a blog a fitting tribute to Dad.  Dad is a retired teacher by profession, but a forever teacher to me.  He's taught me to have confidence in convictions, and to allow others to hold their own beliefs.  He's taught me it's OK to be a little different.  (Who else lived in an underground house, kept boa constrictors in the living room, fought off scotch broom with the help of goats, and all this without a TV?!)  He and Mom gave me what every child should have:  a stable, calm, home where love and laughter resided.  Thanks, Dad.  Happy Father's Day!

I'm a morning person.  None of this "hit the snooze alarm" stuff for me.  However, some days I'm really a morning person, and manage to get quite a few things accomplished before most of the world is awake.  Today is such a day.  I took today's photo through my freshly washed window.  That's the view from my kitchen table.  I just love looking at the birds, and the flowers.  Daffodils and irises are finished blooming; roses, butterfly bush, and salvia are blooming now; and gladioli, dahlia, and pomegranate are yet to bloom.  I often linger at the table, taking my time with the crossword puzzle, Sudoku, and Ken-Ken, just so I can continue to enjoy the view.  (My photo doesn't quite do it justice.) Today, however, I did not even pick up a pencil.  Besides the window washing, I've weeded the front yard flower beds, and done the more routine sort of things: prayer and scripture study, journal writing,  e-mail, feed the dog, fil...

I've been told that my oldest daughter and I sound alike, but I never realized until recently just how similar our voices are.  When we were at Disney California Adventure, we decided to play in Ursula's Grotto, where we could provide "voice-overs" to movie scenes.  We alternated reading the lines for the characters.  On playback, we started laughing the instant the second character started speaking... because it sounded exactly like the first!   Bambi sounded like Thumper, who sounded just like my daughter.  She thought they sounded just like me.   We both decided we like our voices, now that we know what we sound like! Although we have been confused for each other on the telephone before, we could never really hear the similarity ourselves, until we listened to that recording.  My mom and sister and I look alike, but I've definitely found my identical voice twin in my daughter!

Camera-savvy youngest daughter took this photo on our trip to Disneyland on Monday.  But wait, you say--doesn't Star Tours officially open today?  That's true, but before a ride officially opens, Disneyland often has "soft" openings.  Monday was such a day, when Star Tours had a "sneak preview" and was open to everyone.  Thanks to short lines early in the day, and the use of fast passes, we were able to ride four times !!!  The ride lived up to its hype.  Each time we rode, we experienced something different than the previous times.  We never knew where our journey would take us.  Each ride visits multiple locations, so even though we visited the same place on more than one ride, we never had the exact same experience.  Sometimes we met Darth Vader, other times Yoda, other times Jar Jar Binks.  One of my favorite scenarios is the underwater adventure.  I won't spoil it for you, but the imagineers really put a lot of humor in...