The Mouse's House! Tomorrowland Speedway Lives On.

We made a trip to Walt Disney World last week.  Out of the four times total that I have been, it was the best, by far.  My four-year-old son's excitement was like nothing I have ever seen.  He knew where we were going, but he had no idea what it would be like.

So when we arrived at our hotel (one of the Disney properties) with its giant statues of Mr. and Mrs. Potatohead, a Mickey telephone, and Baloo and Mowgli, he thought THAT was IT.  And he would have been perfectly happy if we had never left the hotel.  Had we known that, we could have saved hundreds of dollars on passes to the parks.  But we had the passes, so we decided to go ahead and use them.

Of course, a lot has changed since my first trip down there as an eight-year-old in 1981.  Magic Kingdom was the only thing there back then, and the Contemporary Resort with the monorail running through the lobby was the only hotel "on property."  But the Disney property has so many parks, attractions and hotels now, it is like its own county.  Forget about zip code.  I'm pretty sure our hotel (with over 3,000 rooms and about 4 pools) had its own zip code.

But a few things remained the same from my very first visit over 30 years ago.  The Tomorrowland Speedway has the same little race cars.  I was entertained, while waiting for my husband and son to make their way around the track, by watching the people finishing the ride.  A teenage boy, in particular, edged up behind an old man who was alone in another car.  The boy was making small surges in his advances, peering carefully over the front end of the car.  He would get very close, then the old man would move up.  They danced like this for a bit, until suddenly the boy went pouncing forward like a cat and gave the old man's car a good BUMP.  The old man's car jostled forward and his head whipped back a tad.  A smile crept across the boy's face.  He laid back for a while.  But when the cars started moving forward again, he leaned up and began peering over the front bumper again.  Reprobate!  The sign clearly says "No Bumping."

Stay tuned . . . more Disney vignettes to come in the near future.

Big Things are Happening!



The time has come!  My internet makeover has begun.  While I will continue to post on this blog every now and then (mostly more personal stories and anecdotes; much the same type of thing I have already been posting here), pleasepleaseplease follow me over to my new professional blog . . . drumroll, please . . .

http://perrincothranconrad.authorsxpress.com/

Please click the link above and follow my new page, as well!!!  As I continue to build my platform as an author, I will need your continued support.  The more followers I have on the new blog, the better it will look for me in terms of future publishing projects.

It was built for me by my publisher, iUniverse, and of course promotes my book, The Ballad of the Shirley T.  They also built pages for me on sites like Shelfari, Goodreads, LibraryThing . . . the list goes on.  And in the coming days and weeks, I will be working on polishing up those pages and making them my own.

A great big THANK YOU to all of you who already follow me!!!  Y'all are my "inner circle."  Please follow my new page, as well, and tell your friends and family!

Okay, if you haven't clicked the link to follow my new blog, here it is again:

http://perrincothranconrad.authorsxpress.com/

Thanks and love to you all!!

A New Year's Non-Resolution

I usually make one or two.  And a few have even been kept and accomplished.  So it's not that I have anything against New Year's Resolutions.  On the contrary, I think they can be extremely helpful in getting people to stop and assess where they are, where they would like to be, and what needs to be done to get there.  Goal-setting is an essential element to successful living.

But I am not making any resolutions that are specifically tied to the new year.  I currently have a different approach.  My idea is that I need to constantly be in a state of self-assessment.  Goal-setting, steps toward accomplishment, and celebration of milestones should be daily (as appropriate) without regard for the calendar.  Of course a new year is a great time to make fresh starts, mentally.  But every day can be a fresh start, no matter the date.  This can apply to relationships, work, self improvement, or anything else.  For me, it specifically relates to writing and business goals.  Days of rest are essential, too, but that doesn't mean you can't take your day of rest to reflect on where you are going.

Happy New Year, and may you find that every day is a new day for dreaming, contemplating, planning, working, celebrating.  "May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.  We will shout for joy when you are victorious and will lift up our banners in the name of our God.  May the Lord grant all your requests."  Psalm 20:4-5 NIV

Duckbilled Platypus and Other Problems

I am happy to report that I got over my sprained foot with little trouble.  All is well, and I am wearing all my shoes now.  But not all at one time.  You know what I mean.

The temporary immobility did cause me some stress, and I started to wage my annual Christmas Sinusitis battle.  I won last year, and I am bound and determined to win again this year.  Two years ago, it took me out flat.  We were moving into a new house, all my inlaws were scheduled to arrive about 10 days after we moved in, and I had a sinus infection so bad that my nose looked and felt broken.  Oh, and my grandfather died in the middle of all that, too.  When I spoke, I sounded like I had a clothespin on my nose.  That was a good day, when I actually had a voice.  A few months later, after two rounds of antibitotics and steroids, I emerged from the fog.  But it wasn't until the following summer that I could actually sing with the radio.  My voice was the last thing to return fully.

So when I coughed a few days ago and thought I heard a hint of congestion, I rolled my eyes and lined up all my meds and vitamins on the counter.  This evening, my husband asked me if I actually knew what all I took today.  Yes, I did, and I listed them for him.  He said my kidneys and liver are working overtime right now, which is fine with me if I can beat this thing.  And by the way, I am winning so far.  Benadryl, Flonase, ibuprofen, Airborne, Vitamin C and others are all in the fight now.  I think the Sinusitis knows it's going down.

And so it flank attacked me and gave me a cold sore.  One good lick before it went down for the year.  Just one good punch to remind me who's boss and say, "I'll be back next year.  Here's something to remember me by.  Merry Christmas."

Definitely the worst one I have ever had, this cold sore has managed to swell the lower part of my face over the last couple of days.  My husband and I have amused ourselves with the fact that I have the appearance of a Duckbilled Platypus.  Oh well, we have to find the humor in it somewhere, right?

I was not to be deterred from winning the battle, one way or another.  Sunday morning found me at the urgent care facility run by my doctors' office.  Now you can add an anti-viral I can't pronounce to that list of medications on the counter.  Thank goodness, this pesky thing has had a short life and is on the way out.  I'm just thankful that all the Christmas parties were last week, when I could hobble in with a simple sprained foot and enjoy them.  If they had been scheduled for this week, I most certainly would have missed them.  "I'm sorry we can't come to your party.  I have the appearance of a Duckbilled Platypus."  They would have thought I was making it up.

Men vs. Women: This is Funny

Below you will read an exchange between my husband and me.  It took place this morning.  I was sitting in front of my computer and reflecting on how our little boy gets so angry when one of his toys breaks.  He and I have discussed how he is actually sad, but it feels safer to be angry than to be sad, so he prefers anger.  Just like most men.  I started giggling.

Chip:  What's funny?
Me:  Men and their anger.
Chip:  Why?
Me:  I dunno, even from toddlerhood, it seems men are capable of one emotion: anger.
Chip:  Yeah?  And?
Me:  When you're sad, you react with ANGER!  Frustration?  ANGER!  Disappointment?  ANGER!  Stress?  ANGER!  Vulnerability?  ANGER!  Depression?  ANGER!
Chip:  Yep.  And you wanna know why?
Me:  Hm.  Women?
Chip:  You got it.

I thought so.  I was just checking.

Technological Upgrade for this Author

I am NOT, I repeat, NOT a computer nerd.  I have great respect for computer nerds, and despite the use of the sometimes-pejorative word "nerd," I am in complete awe of them.  I can turn a computer on, figure out how to post to my blog (obviously), update facebook, just barely manage to update my website, and stuff like that.  But when it comes to promoting myself as an author online, I am way out of the loop.

So when I see these other blogs with the RSS feed symbol (I don't even really know what that is), I feel very intimidated.  I know that being an author is 10% writing a book and 90% marketing.  Nowadays, that means internet marketing.  Sure, having a blog is important and helpful.  But the hundreds and hundreds of hits I have on my blog every month are not indicated in the fewer followers I actually have.  And I do wish I could set up one of those little buttons where people could share my blog posts on Facebook or Twitter, but that is so confusing to me.  I know I need help.  I am not afraid to ask for it.

So that's why I have enlisted the help of my publisher.  In the coming weeks, you will see some exciting new things for the technology portion of my writing career . . . and I will announce them right here.  Stay tuned!!

Aw, Foot!! Getting Older is a Pain.

I am accustomed to various aches, pains, twinges, and the like.  First of all, I just turned 39.  Secondly, I have given birth.  Third, said birth means that I now chase a four-year-old boy around for the better part of my day.  "Put that down!"  "Stop that!"  "We do NOT put (fill in the blank) in our mouths!"  "Do you need to go potty?"  "Uuuugggghhhh, if you wanted to do a craft, why didn't you just tell me?  Now there's glue in your hair."  "How did you get on top of the refrigerator?"  "Are you sure you don't have to go potty?"  "How did THAT get in THERE?!" 

Now what that means is that when I do even notice the aches and pains, I usually ignore them and go on.  Women who stay home with their small children don't have time for pain or illness.  I can't say how long it's been, but for quite a while, I have noticed a feeling in the bottom of my left foot like a pulled muscle.  Oh, and I have had a small red bump on my leg for over a year.  And a weird flaky spot on my face.  Maybe more headaches than I used to get.  The list goes on, but I won't bore you with all my old lady maladies.  The trouble, though, is that women tend to overlook things anyway.  That's because we are tough.  Last year, I reluctantly dragged myself into the urgent care clinic to find out that I had just passed a kidney stone.  "Is that what that was?!"  I asked the doctor incredulously.  Waving my hand, I reported, "Oh, I've had those before!  Didn't even go to the doctor."
So on Saturday, after having given my son's birthday party a few days before and having attended another two birthday parties for four-year-olds earlier in the day, I almost thought nothing of it when it became excruciating to walk on my left foot.  After all, children's birthday parties are stressful and hellish at best a great chance for the kiddos to burn off some energy.  Refer to the quotes above.
When I couldn't get a shoe on my foot for the pain and swelling on Sunday, I sent my husband and son off to church without me.  Ahhhh, I thought.  Nice quiet house to myself for an hour.  But by Tuesday morning, I cried "Uncle!!" and went to the P.A.
I had somehow sprained the top of my left foot.  And now I have to stay "off" of it.  Bwahahahaha!  The P.A. is great, and a sweet girl, but she doesn't have children.  I'll try, but I won't be off of it completely.  The anti-imflammatory drug made for some nice, deep sleep last night, though.
Oh, and the pulled muscle feeling in the bottom of my foot?  That was Plantar Fasciitis.  No extra charge for that.  And the bump on my leg?  An old abcess that was never attended, so now it's scar tissue.  I try not to overwhelm her with too many extra unrelated things when I go in.  She might try to refer me to a gerontologist.