http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blog.php Discussion forums about Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel provided by PassPorter Travel Press, the ultimate Disney travel guide and book series. en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:59:32 GMT vBulletin 120 http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blog.php http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/698-horizons.html Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:25:56 GMT Horizons (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBxRvSG8tDM) Take a look at the attraction above. This was one of the major influences in my life when I was young. The attraction is gone now, but I still remember it as one of my favorites. Did you get to see Horizons before it closed? Did you enjoy it? Do you know which attraction replaced it? Horizons

Take a look at the attraction above. This was one of the major influences in my life when I was young.

The attraction is gone now, but I still remember it as one of my favorites.

Did you get to see Horizons before it closed? Did you enjoy it? Do you know which attraction replaced it? ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/698-horizons.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/697-bloggin-heart-today.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:04:48 GMT This goal that I've set to blog every single day for a school year has taught me something about myself. Sometimes I don't really feel like blogging!

Like last night, for instance. I was really pushing myself. Well, not tonight! Let me tell you about my day!

Actually, I need to give a little background. I'll start way back at being a little girl and visiting DisneyWorld. I remember going through some of the attractions that showed the future of computers. I remember the computer classes and the computer communication scenes from the end of Carousel of Progress to Spaceship Earth.

They fascinated me. I loved to see them because I LOVED the possibility!

Well, today was almost a whole day just listening to all the amazing ways that computers can be used in the classroom, and all I kept thinking about was how cool this is! The world that I used to love to see at Disney is right here!

And a part of that world is the fact that I can sign on to my laptop during a break and check on how my college class is doing with their term papers. (Or, NOT doing their term paper, as it were, but I was STILL able to check on that.)

And now I'm here writing to my special little computer family. And THAT is cool, too!

So, if you are reading this, thank you for being in my computer. It is a little cramped in here, though, so get out now and stretch!

G'night! ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/697-bloggin-heart-today.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/696-toto-were-not-disney-resort.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:27:58 GMT I'm sitting here in my hotel room waiting for the conference tomorrow, and I remembered I almost forgot today's blog.

I turned on the laptop and struggled to think of anything Disney related that I felt like blogging on. Nothing. Nothing in this room inspired me at all.

Then I took a good look around. Shabby carpet, worn bedspreads, scuffed walls, drab olive and brown tones in non-descript rectangles hanging in frames over the beds. The heat/air system is dented with the front panel hanging off. The plastic on the lampshade is cracked.

Then I got it! There is nothing at all magical about this room! This is not the way Walt would have done it.

To be fair, the public areas of this convention center are quite nice, with fireplaces, lavish snack areas, and very friendly staff. Oh, and cute little pillows on the bed bear the message "be well".

I'm really not a complainer, and I don't want to make it sound like this place is a no-tell motel, because it is fine, I'm sure. If I recall, last year's room in a different wing was not quite this bad.

There is just a distinct lack of attention to detail in this particular room. There is no theme to grab and inspire.

Do you think WDW resorts take care to create a total experience right down to the rooms?

OK, I'm tired, and that's all I've got! I hope someone can breathe some life into this with comments!:p ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/696-toto-were-not-disney-resort.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/695-pack-meeting.html Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:54:18 GMT Monday
November 16

Tim was out of town on business, so Jay was put in charge of tonight's meeting. It had been raining off and on all afternoon and evening, so we were wondering if some people might just stay at home tonight. As it turned out, almost everybody was there, it just took them a while to show up! We had gotten there a little early to set up the room, and we started about 10 minutes late because there was hardly anybody there at 6:30.

Jay asked the 2 Tiger cubs and Joshua to post the colors. This is something we never do, but ought to! (We just always start with the flags already in their bases.) The other scouts lined up, the color guard came in with the flags, and once the flags were in place the other boys joined them for the pledge, scout promise and law of the pack. I think everybody enjoyed it, it added a little something special to what can unfortunately sometimes get a little routine. I think the boys were much better behaved doing it this way, as well. ;)

After this Jay asked me to make some announcements. I think I mentioned that I had taken on the task of sending out a weekly email newsletter to the whole Pack to keep everybody updated. So I guess you can say that I can also have some control over the calendar - when I see something that I think we really need to participate in, I just slip it into the calendar. :o

So Jay wanted me to talk about a couple of things coming up. Especially since we don't meet next week because of Thanksgiving, when we come back, these dates are going to slip up on us. So I reminded everybody about participating in the toy drive for the children's hospital, and about the campout the second weekend of December.

I also let them know about taking a field trip to the Natural Science Museum. The boys enjoyed going there last year, and the date I'm wanting to go is when they host an activity called "Christmas for the Birds" where they help kids make natural ornaments out of various food items that are safe for birds. Feeding the birds is an elective for almost all the Cub Scouts - Jay took Joshua last year and said the place was packed with Scouts! This is an example of something I slipped into the calendar. If we had waited to ask Tim if we could do something, and then try to figure out all the details, it might never get done. So I just took the initiative - because it's a special event at the museum, it's a little different than me just picking a date at random for us to visit. And then whoever can go can go, and if they can't make it, that's fine too.

Jay recognized the three boys who participated in the work day at the Nature Center Saturday, and had them recite the Outdoor Code, which was something he thought was cool from when he was in Scouts. It wasn't significant to them completing the project, I mean it didn't "count" for anything, but Jay wanted to make a big deal out of those who participated, and hopefully give them a little extra something to remember the activity by.

Next was something new for us, although I think most every other Pack in the country does it - a show and tell time for each den. Tim is the Tiger den leader this year - the parent I had recruited hasn't been there since the first den meeting so I guess he isn't coming back. Since Tim was out of town, Jay asked one of the Tiger parents if he would get up and share what the Tigers had been working on so far this year. Then I had my turn for the Wolves. I showed our den flag and explained how the boys participated in creating it. The Bear leader told some of the things they had worked on, and the boys went up to demonstrate some of the silly games they had recently played. The assistant Webelos den leader summarized their recent activities, and then we were done! It was kind of thrown together tonight, but I hope the idea will catch on and that the other den leaders will find it to be a fun time, especially for the boys.

Finally we moved on to the awards presentation time, which had been saved for last.

Another something special that Jay planned was to have an actual ceremony to award the Bobcat badges, instead of just handing them to the boys and moving to the next item on the agenda. :rolleyes: Jay found a brief ceremony online, which basically emphasized the importance of the Bobcat badge, which is a foundation for all the other work you do in Cub Scouts, and the first step on the way to earning the Arrow of Light, which is the highest award for a Cub Scout. Then he presented the badges to the parents, who in turn pinned them onto their sons. Just a side note - the Bobcat badge is pinned on upside down, until the scout does a "good turn", at which time it can be turned right-side-up and sewed onto the uniform.

Next, one of the Webelos II scouts was recognized for all the awards he had earned over the summer. He had been out sick when the other boys received theirs at the September Pack Meeting. He received multiple belt loops, pins and activity badges. It was really cool!

After this we broke up for snacks. While the boys and parents ate, Jay collected popcorn fundraiser money from everybody and I helped him count it and make sure everything was correct. We only had one scout who didn't have all his money, but his dad knew one of the checks was at home somewhere, and assumed that they just never collected the other person's money - the check mark under "paid" had been scribbled out.

And that just about wraps up our evening. I think it turned out really well! We'll miss next week because of Thanksgiving, and December will be short also because of Christmas! Hopefully, though, the holidays from the meetings will give everybody a chance to get caught up on completing their requirements. ]]> christiejay http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/695-pack-meeting.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/694-when-goals-seem-multiply.html Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:54:27 GMT Somehow, I can't believe that there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four Cs. They are curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy, and the greatest of all is confidence. When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionably.
Walt Disney

I am posting in between meetings and taking a break from the things on my "to do" list. Today is one of those days when lots of goal seeds seem to all be blooming at once.

I've gotten quite a few messages from blog readers (and blog peekers...one or two time visitors who's opinions I value) that deciding on a goal is a scary proposition.

Some have enthusiastically decided on a goal, only to change it or decide the time is not right.

I think a wise person avoids goals that are not really a priority. A different type of wisdom would be knowing that, even though a goal was started, that it is time to drop it.

But some times it is hard to plan ahead. Some goals get sent out into the world, and need someone else's approval to move forward. If someone else approves it, then the work starts.

I've found, with these goals, the best way to assure that you keep busy is to send out lots of little goal seeds, knowing that most will not take root.

Well, I'm in a phase where all my goal seeds have taken root and, for a time, I'm a bit under the gun.

This can happen in lots of ways. Interviewing for a whole bunch of jobs, then being offered all of them. Or maybe trying to have children and discovering that triplets are on the way. Maybe auditioning for several shows and getting them all.

I'm running out of time, here, so I'm hoping someone else will help me develop this topic.

Have you ever had a bit too much great stuff to manage? What is your number one tip for managing? ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/694-when-goals-seem-multiply.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/693-blog-progress.html Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:40:18 GMT

"Oh yes, what demons may one find in their closet of anxieties....." Opus

So to help Sandra I will point out that creating "Goals" will help focus attention on something other than our closet of anxieties. If I focus on helping others I can go to bed feeling good and leave the closet door closed.



Posted Today at 06:49 AM by daddyof2princessess

Let's use Aaron's quote as a writing prompt. Please help develop this blog entry in the comments. I'll come back later when I get the time.


WOW, Aaron, scary stuff!

Aaron makes a great point that, whatever is causing you the problems, setting goals might just be the best monster spray of all!
THANKS! ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/693-blog-progress.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/692-keeping-up-blog.html Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:19:31 GMT "I was a little guy and I'd be up to my nose in snow. I still have nightmares about it. What I really liked on those cold mornings was getting to the apartment buildings. I'd drop off the papers and then lie down in the warm apartment corridor and snooze a little and try to get warm. I still wake up with that on my mind."
Walt Disney


Have you ever felt like young Walt? Up to your nose in snow and freezing cold?

It's easy to lose track of the fact that, at some point, you'll most likely get out of that situation.

Think of the adversity, the disappointments, and the difficulties that must have formed Walt Disney's basic beliefs about life and the world. I honestly can't imagine how he ever became the man who dreamed such dreams, let alone found the way to make those dreams come true.

What is even more amazing to me is that Walt's story is not entirely unique. There are countless examples of men and women rising above some sort of challenge to beat the odds.

WOW!

Well, today, I am working to rise above the clock, dealing with several deadlines that are hitting me all at once. Sometimes deadlines are the wall of snow and cold that cause shivers and chattering teeth.

But, not today!

One of my deadlines was right here, my project to blog every day. And here...I DID IT! I still have not missed a day since September!

Have you ever had a scary, tall wall of snow and ice that got in your way? Isn't it great when you grow up and realize it is not as tall as you thought?

How is your project going? If you are new, can you think of joining us with some sort of project?




Quote from page 9. Read more about Walt's childhood in

Williams, Pat How to Be Like Walt:Capturing the Disney Magic Every Day of Your Life. Florida:Health Communications, Inc. 2004 ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/692-keeping-up-blog.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/691-readin-reelin.html Sun, 15 Nov 2009 20:38:44 GMT Saturday
November 14

This morning I finally got around to doing with Joshua one of the things I had assigned a couple of weeks ago. (Achievement 7e) We were supposed to read three stories about people who are helping the environment and discuss them. I had two newspaper articles and one magazine article/advertisement.

One of the newspaper articles was about a light-bulb distribution locally that was being sponsored by the government of Venezuela. They hand out energy-efficient light bulbs to the elderly, low income, and handicapped people. The program originated in Venezuela (and I believe is partially sponsored by Citgo) and they wanted to bring it to the US.

The other newspaper article mentioned various things people had done in this area for Make a Difference Day. Not all of these projects were about the environment, but some were. Like helping the city of Jackson mow and weedeat in the city cemeteries, and helping to clean up one of the city parks and make it wheelchair accessible. Seems like there were one or two more projects that applied but I can't remember now ...

The magazine article was kind of one of those advertisements in disguise. But last year (the article was from an old Newsweek), Panasonic employees around the world took part in conservation projects like planting trees and plants, cleaning the beaches, and so forth.

Now that we have finally read our articles, we can take them to next week's meeting and pass them on to somebody else to read. I figured not all the boys would be able to find stories like this, or just wouldn't take the time to look, so I said we would pass around what each of us found.

This afternoon, we had been invited to Joshua's Sunday School teachers' house for a party. They live out in the country and have a small pond. They've wanted the kids to come out for a while, and the weather was so nice they said we could all come in the middle of the afternoon and spend an hour or two fishing before it got dark.

Sidetrack: One of the awards I'm trying to encourage all the Wolves to earn this year is called the World Conservation Award. This is the first year the scouts are eligible to earn it, as Tigers couldn't for some reason. You can earn it at any other time as a Cub Scout, but it had been worked into the lesson plans I'm following, so I'm hoping the boys will complete the requirements this year. Anyway, one of the requirements for this award is to complete all the electives from 2 out of the 3 following units: birds, gardening, and fishing. Well, Joshua completed all but one of the fishing electives at day camp. The only one he didn't do at camp was to fish with a cane pole. Well, today was the perfect opportunity!

Back to the day's activities: on our way out of town to the party we stopped at Wal-Mart and bought one of their $5 cane poles and a tub of worms to use as bait. Once we arrived Jay attached the line and hook and got Joshua started. Some of the time Jay put the line out and sometimes Joshua did. But they ended up catching about 10 fish! They were all small, and Jay threw them all back in the pond. But there were two or three people that caught some pretty good-sized catfish and kept them.

The rest of the evening doesn't relate to scouts, but we had so much fun I just feel like sharing! :p We brought our fishing gear up to the house and loaded up on the trailer for a hay ride. We stopped at the goat pen to let the kids feed the goats, then rode through their fields for a few minutes. Once back at the house the kids roasted hot dogs over a bonfire while most of the grownups helped to set out the food in the kitchen. Soon the kids came back in to fix their buns, and we all fixed our plates. They had cooked hamburgers and baked beans earlier in the day, so once those were all warmed up, we sat down and enjoyed a great meal. There were a couple of desserts and dips, too. After we all ate we walked back down to the bonfire so whoever wanted to could roast marshmallows and make smores. The teacher had pulled the hay bales off the trailer from the hayride and placed them around the fire for us to sit on, and we sat around and visited for a while before finally heading home. We had such a great time, and did so many things, that I was surprised to see that it was only 7:00 as we were driving off!

Wrap-up to scout stuff for the day - 1 more achievement completed, and 1 more elective. The elective also counts toward the World Conservation Award, the first completed step toward that for us. ]]> christiejay http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/691-readin-reelin.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/690-take-out-your-monster-spray-start-spraying.html Sat, 14 Nov 2009 15:05:46 GMT "I was a little guy and I'd be up to my nose in snow. I still have nightmares about it. What I really liked on those cold mornings was getting to the apartment buildings. I'd drop off the papers and them lie down in the warm apartment corridor and snooze a little and try to get warm. I still wake up with that on my mind."
Walt Disney



According to some authors, Walt Disney carried recurring nightmares of walking through blizzards or being punished by his father well into adulthood. Obviously, these fears did not keep him from making his dreams come true. It is hard to imagine being strong enough to overcome such a hard, scary childhood, but Walt apparently did just that.

Let's stick with being kids for a little while longer and look at one of the most common nightmares... the dreaded moster in the closet. Or was your monster under the bed? YIKES!

How scary was that!

As a grown-up, the monsters may be different, but they are just as scary. Grown up monsters are those worries that take on form in our imagination. They get bigger and bigger. We can't quite see them, but they are waiting someplace to jump out and remind us of just how small and helpless we are.

Or are they?

Grown-up monsters may hide inside our jobs, our homes, even inside our bodies. They distract us from fun, annoy us out of our peace, and scare us so that we can't ignore them.

But, the truth is, most of the grown-up monsters exist in our imaginations. Most never materialize in real life. They are just possibilities. Maybe they are worst case scenarios that look like a Yeti, but end up being more like a big rat in real life.

Wouldn't it be great if we could avoid spending Yeti size anticipation energies on what ends up to be just a big rat?

Just for today, let's take out our monster spray and spray those monsters away. You can go back to worrying tomorrow, I promise.


Quote from page 9. Read more about Walt's childhood in

Williams, Pat How to Be Like Walt:Capturing the Disney Magic Every Day of Your Life. Florida:Health Communications, Inc. 2004 ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/690-take-out-your-monster-spray-start-spraying.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/689-thats-no-way-talk-child.html Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:45:18 GMT We're just getting started, so if any of you start to rest on your laurels, just forget it.
Walt Disney

Yesterday, our theme was that we are just getting started. In a way, you can think of that as constantly learning and developing, just like a child. (ClickHere)

The challenge was to look at your areas of weakness the way a loving parent or caring adult might look at a child. If you looked at your "stuff" that way, would you be so hard on yourself?

Grown people often function in the role of self-parenting or self-teaching.

Today, let's look at the way we speak to ourselves when we need to shape up, learn something, or apologize.

What is your tone? What kind of phrases do you use? Do you call yourself names? Do you punish harshly for small infractions? Do the things you say to yourself set up impossible expectations?

When I ask some people these questions, I find that their "inner voice" often mimics that of an actual parent or authority figure from the past. Sometimes, adults don't know how to speak with kindness and respect to a child, especially when the child had made a mistake. If you grew up with one of those parents, teachers, or authority figures, be careful you aren't repeating that pattern!

For today, can you take a good look at the way you speak to yourself? Can you ask yourself...if you overheard an adult speaking to a small child with the same tone or words, how would you react?

(By the way, I am having trouble finding personal messages between all the picture messages on my home page, so if you wrote something there and I didn't respond, I am not ignoring you! It would be best if you wrote here if you want me to see it. Also, remember that my home page is public! Any member can see it!) ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/689-thats-no-way-talk-child.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/688-den-meeting.html Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:50:04 GMT Monday
November 9

We seemed pretty light on attendance tonight, I guess it is just that time of year where people are getting sick more often.

First up, there was only one Tiger in attendance, so we started out our den meeting with them for a flag ceremony and one quick activity for the Tigers. James finally had his turn to carry the US flag.

When we had the chance to go into our own meeting room, we had quite a lot of stuff to work on. I don't remember the exact order we did everything, so I'll just go by the order of how it's listed in the handbook.

Achievement 7b - talk about land, air and water pollution.
Achievement 7c - talk about recycling. (Joshua and I had already done this one during the summer, when I found an article about recycling in our town's newspaper.)
Achievement 7f - talk about conserving energy.
Achievement 9d - rules of street and road safety.
Achievement 9e - rules of bike safety.

I was really pleased with the level of participation the boys had while discussing these topics tonight. A lot of the time Joshua is too busy playing to do any talking, and a lot of the time Justice and James are in too foul of a mood to cooperate. (Justice wasn't here tonight.)

After all our talking I passed out a wooden picture frame for the boys to decorate. I am going to print out the pictures I took of them in their uniforms a few weeks ago to put in the frames. Then they are going to give them as a gift, which is one of their electives. I'll cover the conclusion of that project as we get to it.

Neither James nor Joshua wanted to decorate very much, so I pulled out my handbook and chose some electives for them to do to take up the rest of our meeting time.
Elective 1c - write your name using American Sign Language. (Spelling it out letter by letter.) James refused to participate, which is fine by me. :rolleyes:
Elective 3b - use the ruler printed on the page in the handbook to determine what your handspan is, in both inches and centimeters. For some reason Joshua had an extrememly hard time figuring out what he needed to do, but he thought it was cool once he saw how to do it.

And that was about all the time we had tonight. I awarded Joshua his first bead, which signifies that he has completed all the requirements for 3 of the 12 units for his Wolf badge. The units he completed were - 2 - Your Flag, 3 - Keep Your Body Healthy, and 12 - Making Choices, which we haven't covered yet in our meetings, but they went over at day camp this summer.

I assigned several things for the boys to do as homework, including starting a month-long job chart. I just realized we haven't started ours! Always something to do ...

After tonight's activities, Joshua is almost finished with three more units, we should be completing those within the next few weeks. Also he has now earned his third Silver Arrow Point. ]]> christiejay http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/688-den-meeting.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/687-work-day-nature-center.html Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:25:35 GMT Saturday
November 7

This service project had been scheduled last year. But at that week's meeting when I asked about the details, Tim admitted that he had forgotten all about it. :rolleyes: It never got rescheduled.

Our local nature center is one of my favorite places, and I was determined not to be a no-show this year. I emailed the volunteer coordinator to let him know some of us would be there, and to see what kind of projects he had that would be appropriate for our age level of boys.

Our assignment was going to be pulling privet - hedge. It is a non-native plant here and very invasive, eventually choking out native plants that are trying to get started. I passed along this info to the rest of the Pack and hoped for a good turnout!

Saturday morning came and of course we were the first ones there. But shortly another family pulled up. We waited around a few more minutes, because Tim had told us he would be there. But we were losing work time and decided to just go ahead and get started.

The volunteer coordinator walked us down the trail to the area we'd be working in, and showed us the two plants we could pull - the privet he had previously mentioned, as well as some honeysuckle vines. He cautioned the kids about the poison ivy, then let us get to work. Tim and his kids arrived just as we were getting started. Apparently he thought the nature center was one street over, so he drove around for a few minutes until he found his way. :crazy:

We started pulling privet and honeysuckle, and spent quite a bit of time encouraging the boys to do more than just stand around. But once they got the hang of it, they did quite a bit of work. We were able to clear the whole area along the trail that we had been assigned. About this time, the volunteer coordinator showed back up with some seeds. He stressed to the kids that once you remove plants, you should always plant new ones. :)

He had redbud seeds and gave each of them a handful to plant. Each child planted in one area, and we spread them out where we had been working. Then they also got to plant a tree - one that had been left over from the plant sale. It was a winterberry holly bush, they really enjoyed helping plant that. I reminded them to come back and remember where they planted this stuff so they could check on it in the future.

After our hard work the kids really wanted to walk on the trails, so we did that. Amazingly, the other two families had never been here before. :eek: So we showed them around. Tim had to leave halfway through to get one of his sons to a birthday party, but the rest of us kept walking. We were pretty tired by the end of the trails, mainly because it was lunch time! The weather had been so perfect and we got a lot accomplished.

Several awards require a service or conservation project, and I'm not sure yet which one I'm going to count this activity for. I'll have to let you know in a future post! ]]> christiejay http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/687-work-day-nature-center.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/686-how-old-grown-up.html Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:45:42 GMT We're just getting started, so if any of you start to rest on your laurels, just forget it.
Walt Disney

There are all kinds of learning experiences.

You can call them alot of things: mistakes, failures, Boo-boos, owies, infringements, violations, the list goes on.

I think a risk comes when we start to identify with those things that we could have done better. When we start calling our mistakes character flaws, personality problems, ingrained habits, and other labels that lead us to believe that the mistakes are out of our control.

Another risk comes when we are resigned that something "is just the way it is". We might believe that a pattern can't be changed, or that we are stuck in a rut.

Very often, I'll hear the phrase "S/he should have known better".

Well, what if that person is still learning? What if they are taking advantage of the fact that we grow up right until the moment we drop dead?

And I mean literally! I've worked in settings where I was there for people who had no family near the end of their lives. I have to say, some of the insight and growth that I witnessed from people, even at the age of 100, was astounding. I think that is why I can always hang onto hope when I see mistakes I've made.

I'm not all grown up yet! I'm still learning.

I challenge those who may be still learning to give themselves the kindness and patience that they might offer a child.

If something is not going your way, you've made a mistake, or you are feeling stuck, think it through as if you were young enough to deserve patience, guidance and more chances to make it right.

That is what I will be doing today. I hope someone out there will join me!

Have a fun day! ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/686-how-old-grown-up.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/685-todays-blog-honors-veterans.html Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:03:21 GMT
Thanks to Diz (Dorie) for the graphic.


Aaron posted:


As a Veteran of the U.S. Navy myself, and the son of a retired Vietnam Era Sailor, I can assure you Mickey is still a popular symbol of "home" and all things U.S.A to our men and women abroad. In Vietnam aboard ship, at least the ones my father was on, Mickey movies were a regular favorite. Also if you watch the film Full Metal Jacket at the end they are singing the Leader of the Pack Clubhouse song. This is not a great exaggeration. It is still often sung during "working" parties, especially the foul ones, to help keep the mind busy. I remember being aboard a carrier singing it as we scrubbed garbage containers (Buffalo Soldier by Bob Marley is another favorite we had).



Posted Yesterday at 08:53 AM by daddyof2princessess

I'm asking all our PassPorter Veterans and all those related to Veterans to post a little something today. Describe your experience of decscrible someone else's. OR, just post the names of the Veterans you want to honor.

Happy Veteran's Day!

"To top it off, 1935 was the year Adolph Hitler banned Mickey Mouse cartoons from German Theaters. Later, during World War II, Mickey Mouse encouraged Americans to support the war effort by purchasing War Bonds. " Pat Williams ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/685-todays-blog-honors-veterans.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/684-mickey-mouse-gas-mask.html Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:55:10 GMT "To top it off, 1935 was the year Adolph Hitler banned Mickey Mouse cartoons from German Theaters. Later, during World War II, Mickey Mouse encouraged Americans to support the war effort by purchasing War Bonds. " Pat Williams

Mickey Mouse's picture was on the gas masks worn by children in the London Blitz. On D-Day, June 6, 1944, soldiers in Normandy were given the password "Mickey Mouse."

I am so excited today, and I was not sure if I'd be able to REALLY tie my thoughts into our theme of using Walt's life as inspiration. Then I opened one of my books and there it was! Mickey taking a role in WWII!

I'm excited because, last night, I downloaded the near-finished draft of a book that I've been waiting for YEARS to see finished. This draft had the photos of scrapbook memories that Harold Gantert, a POW from Stalag Luft III, carried back from Germany.

I spent hours at The Empire Diner in Parsippany, NJ, asking questions to get this quiet, humble man to tell me his story. Then I spent hours going over tapes to write his words down. I heard stories about prison concerts, theatre, gardens, parties.

By the time I was done, I could envision the camp and practically hear the shows and concerts in my mind. I was like Clara in the Nutcracker Suite, my head full of of all sorts of colorful characters in places I'd never visited. Only THIS was a prison!

After hours of writing, I took on a co-author and the reformatting began. Then came the struggle to scan the documents and place them in the book. And now, without doubt, we are just a few edits away from having something.

The story of Harold's year in Stalag Luft III sounds as if he were away at Boy Scout camp. He was captured within months of D-Day, when soldiers used Mickey Mouse as their Password.

The point of the story is that, with the right attitude, you can endure any hardship, any discomfort, any injustice, any deprivation, and come out OK. You might even have a great scrapbook, a few funny stories, and some happy memories.

I wanted to share the story SO BADLY because, if it changes one other life the way it changed mine, it NEEDS to be shared.

When I opened the document last night and saw the draft with the photos I had a moment. I'd almost given up! I thought it would never get done.

But there it was. A story that is almost ready to go out into the world.

As optimistic as I try to be, I have to admit that many aspects of today's world are downright toxic. I think having Mickey on a gas mask may have made it a little brighter for some. I'm hoping that Harold's story will do the same for a few people now.



Read more about Mickey and WWII on page 60

Williams, Pat How to Be Like Walt:Capturing the Disney Magic Every Day of Your Life. Florida:Health Communications, Inc. 2004 ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/684-mickey-mouse-gas-mask.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/683-what-about-those-long-shot-dreams.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:18:13 GMT We're just getting started, so if any of you start to rest on your laurels, just forget it.
Walt Disney


Trivia Davids posted:

Three short months after having all our adoption requirements completed, I got a call from a coordinator at the agency. We had been chosen by a birthmom out of the 15 families she had been presented with. In open adoption, the birthmom gets to choose the family she wants to raise her baby. Although there is no guarantee until 3 days after birth, this was a great first step. Communication was very slow at first, but after getting up the courage to call us, she decided to officially match with us. Since she lives in NV & we in CA, we had to hire legal representation in both states. In order to get to know her better & hopefully solidify her decision in picking us, we decided to make the 10 hour trip (each way) to go meet her.




Posted Yesterday at 09:53 PM by Tricia Davids

And later, Tricia posted:

So much for posting a short update - sorry! Just wanted to let you know that we had a great time with the birthmom & her boyfriend this weekend. I think the connection we were able to make was worth the time, effort & expense of the trip. She should deliver some time in the next month so if all goes well my 12 year goal will be complete soon!



Posted Today at 12:08 AM by Tricia Davids

Angie Daley posted:

I know it sounds corny, but I believe that you are that someone! For example... my store is shutting down, I quit my job as a cleaning lady and the options are endless! I can do or be anything... I'm trying to break into the School Board arena as a TA, everyone thinks this is an awesome idea and that it shouldn't be a problem for me to do... you are the only one that considered what I do, what I love to do, and what may not give me the same love and satisfaction that I get when I create and paint. Whether or not it is a fact... no one actually knows, not even myself, you are the ONLY person that looked at those factors and then challenged me to take it one step further and closer to what I really want to do without just settling. You have challenged me as an artist to create 12 new specific pieces in my portfolio and challenged me to consider other options regardless of how easy or hard it may be to achieve.
So let me be the first to say that I have called on you as my CHALLENGER Sandy! My motivator... and we have never even met... that says A LOT!!
Thanks for everything!!



Posted Yesterday at 09:21 PM by A.Daley

Isn't that interesting! Tricia is finishing a 12 year goal and Angie is starting a 12 painting goal!


This is not a huge group we have here, but we sure have alot of faith and courage! Some dreams are long-shots. You can put your whole heart and soul into them, you can struggle and do all that is in your power, and you might still walk away empty handed.

BUT! You might just get what you want.

It's hard to imagine working toward ANYTHING for 12 years without knowing if I'll ever have anything to show for it. But Tricia and Roger did that on their journey to become parents.

And Angie is making a promise to remember her true passion...becoming an artist...even if earning a living might still be a priority.

Those long-shot dreams can take a lifetime of effort.

Sometimes we might decide we've put enough time into it and give up. Sometimes we might decide we've come close enough, even though we don't have all of what we wanted. Sometimes we might feel that we've seen the required number of failures that tell us that our dream is simply not realistic.

But sometimes we keep going, no matter what.

There is no guarantee, BUT never stopping IS the only way to make it to a long-shot dream.

You can gamble with your hope, your resources and your time with NO certainty of winning.

Or you can walk away.

Do you have a long-shot dream? What are you willing to bet on that dream?

By the way, I really want to be a best-selling author one day, with a shelf full of books that make people see life in a brighter light. ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/683-what-about-those-long-shot-dreams.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/682-id-love-your-opinion-just-agree-me.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:01:39 GMT We're just getting started, so if any of you start to rest on your laurels, just forget it.
Walt Disney

Did you ever ask someone to look something over, then get it back with a big smile and a "Looks Wonderful!"

......and not much else?

Or maybe you are struggling with a tough decision and, when you ask advice, you get a big thumbs up.

It happens to me all the time. That is such a big boost to my confidence! It pushes me to work harder. It energizes me.

But I don't learn a whole lot from that.

Later I'll discover I could have done a better job. Or maybe I'll see that a decision I made would have been so much smarter if I'd considered a few other facts.

And I'll remember to appreciate the people in my life who challenge me.

I'm not talking about those negative, abusive, nasty people who love to see you squirm.

I'm talking about those people who really do see a better way and aren't afraid of setting you straight.

I'm talking about the people who take your stuff seriously enough to do the hard work with it.

That kind of attention takes time! It's hard to be the giver, but it is just as hard to be the receiver.

Is there someone who is challenging you right now? Do you think they might have something to offer you? ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/682-id-love-your-opinion-just-agree-me.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/681-too-busy-blog.html Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:47:38 GMT What a busy day! I want to get to my trip report update, and I've been busy with a project. Click on the link below to find out what it is! The people in the photo are my friends Connie, and Harold who is the subject of the book I'm working on. OOPS! See, I can't keep a secret for anything!:p

http://www.parsippanyfocus.com/

Oh, and for all the people who keep asking me to post a photo, I am in that photo way in the very back! ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/681-too-busy-blog.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/680-what-do-i-do-now.html Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:23:25 GMT We're just getting started, so if any of you start to rest on your laurels, just forget it.
Walt Disney

Orionchika brought up an interesting point...What will we do when we are finished with this?

Well, that made me wonder, What WILL I do when what I've been doing is finished?

I mean, there are a couple goals that, it seems, I've been working on FOREVER, and the progress has been like my wagon has been hitched to snails. Not even fast snails, but really lazy slow, stuck snails.

Lately it seems as if some of those slow, stuck snails may be moving. WOW! What if I actually manage to finish some of those perpetually unfinished things?

What would life be like when my head is just a little bit clearer?

I imagine there would be a whole lot more space for dreams and goals.

That's all I have today.

What do you think?

Quote from Walt Disney Imagineering A Behind the Dreams Look at Making the Magic Real ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/680-what-do-i-do-now.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/679-todays-guest-blog-jamie.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:40:07 GMT

I keep wondering after a whole year of following this blog; what in the world am I going to do after the year is up and you choose to no longer blog? Sometimes I am only a lookielou and sometimes I comment, but everytime I come here I leave with something I didn't have before: An idea, encouragement, or food for thought. Thanks Sandy:D



Posted Yesterday at 10:45 PM by GoofEme

(Jamie is responding to this invitation)
This blog is special to me because of the comments, or even because I can see people are checking in to read without posting.

This entry is an invitation for anyone to blog in the comments about whatever they want to discuss.

I'm turning over the controls for today's entry.

Anyone want to give bloggin a shot? ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/679-todays-guest-blog-jamie.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/678-guest-blog-angie-daley.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:23:23 GMT Today's guest blog by Angie Daley



Posted Yesterday at 10:40 PM by A.Daley

here goes!
So much has happened that my head is spinning! So is my "path". The folks subletting my store Angie's Attic have decided to vacate at the end of the month so I have to close my shop, atleast until after I return from Disney in December... ahhhh.... and now, me being the cleaning lady for a Boys and Girls after school program, went to work to clean n' such, find out later that everything is shut down due to H1N1 in the place... I was not informed! I found out 3 hours after cleaning toilets, garbages, tables, talking on the phone. So I walked out, later finding out that the all around feeling was that "it's my job"... which it is, but I deserve at least a warning to prepare for such a deep cleaning, putting my family, including my 4 year old at risk.
I have decided that I am better then that and deserve better then that. Especially after last week, it shut down due to Step Throat... no warning, but stayed and cleaned.
I have made a decision that I am going to prepare all I have to be a Teacher's Assistant! THIS IS MY NEW GOAL! I will fix my life and make myself proud!
Thanks Sandra... this all went down today and it was perfect you allowed me a place to vent...
I appreciate EVERYTHING you do!
That's all... I give up

Angie is responding to this invitation:
This blog is special to me because of the comments, or even because I can see people are checking in to read without posting.

This entry is an invitation for anyone to blog in the comments about whatever they want to discuss.

I'm turning over the controls for today's entry.

Anyone want to give blogging a shot? Just post in the comments! ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/678-guest-blog-angie-daley.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/677-field-trip-police-station.html Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:31:59 GMT Monday
November 2

Our first field trip of the year! We started the meeting with our regular opening ceremony and a few announcements. I passed out some info about a toy drive for the childrens' hospital that all scouts in our area have been encouraged to participate in. Then I explained what we'll be doing at our work day at the local nature center this Saturday. You'll be sure to hear about those things in the future!

Then it was off to the police station. Our meeting place is only 2 blocks away, so we were able to walk. Since it was in the evening, there were only a couple of dispatch operators working, plus the officer who was expecting us. Of course there were several officers out on patrol, but nobody else at the station.

We started out by going into the municipal courtroon where there was enough room to sit down, and the officer explained about city court. He also told us that the Mayor and Board of Aldermen use the same room for their meetings, which was something I didn't know. Then he got bombarded with questions - good and bad - from the kids as well as the parents. I must admit that he was very patient with the silly questions the kids got started asking (like if they have bazookas, and if they shoot the windshields out of cars they are chasing :rolleyes: ), and had some great answers for them.

Finally it was time to take a tour of the station! I wasn't expecting such a lengthy Q&A so I had started getting antsy. First up was the payment office for those who had traffic fines. Then the records department, where you would go if you needed a copy of the police report from an incident.

Then the cool part - the officer had to use a secret code to let us through the doors! :p We saw a few offices and he let us look into the evidence room, although we couldn't go inside it. He is in charge of evidence so he was being real strict about that.

You know the large row of glass windows and telephones you see in the movies and TV shows for visitation? HA! Here we have a small window/slot in the concrete wall! :D No cushy visits here! We walked around the corner from this area and saw the booking room. All possessions and evidence get put into lockers, locked, and are pulled out from the other side in a secure area. The officer let the boys into a cell and shut the door - most of them thought it was cool. :rolleyes:

We headed down the back hall (we were making a large circle - the inside of the circle are the cells, so there's just 4 concrete walls and no windows.) At the end of this hallway was the dispatch office. There were two ladies working tonight. It was quiet at first, but then a call came in. We were allowed to stand in the hallway and listen for a while as long as we were being quiet. It was a 12-year-old boy. He was at an apartment complex on the main highway that goes through town, but didn't know which one. There are lots on the highway, so the dispatcher was trying to get him to put an adult on the phone (which he never did while we were there) or either tell her some things he could see around him, in the hopes that she would be able to pinpoint the exact apartment complex he was at. After a few minutes, the officer moved us on to let them continue to handle the situation.

We made our way back to the lobby, where one of the den leaders used the time to explain to the boys how important it is to know your address in case you should ever have to call 911. And if you're not at your own house, to be able to cooperate with the dispatchers to give them enough info to help you. We all thanked the officer who gave us the tour, especially since he had to stay late to do so. He did a great job, and I think all the boys enjoyed it.

I didn't realize it, but we ended up staying at the police station for over an hour! This meant that there was no time to discuss various safety-related achievements afterwards like I had planned to do. So once again I get to rearrange my lesson plans! Somehow we'll get it all done. :yes: Tonight's visit counted for Achievement 4f - to visit a government or historic place in the community and tell why it's important. ]]> christiejay http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/677-field-trip-police-station.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/676-slowly-but-surely-making-progress-some-achievements.html Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:07:13 GMT Saturday
October 31

Something about being the den leader ... I can assign various things easy as pie, but for some reason keep forgetting to get them done at home with Joshua! :crazy:

Today we took Joshua to a 1-mile race, so I used this opportunity of us leaving the house to do Achievement 4d. This talked about making sure you do various things before leaving home. Some you should do almost any time you leave, like turn off the lights and close and lock all the doors and windows, making sure you have your key with you. But a couple we didn't do today - things that would only be done for a longer trip, like turning off the water and making sure your pets will be alright.

And then tonight Joshua completed his 2-week health habits chart for Achievement 3a. There wasn't any stated goal for doing this. The lessons I take from it are to see how well you are doing at taking care of yourself, and to see the areas where you might need to make some improvements. So we talked about what changes he could make in his daily routine.

Monday
November 2

This afternoon, I took advantage of a tiny amount of free time before going to the meeting to go over three more achievements.

4a - Make a list of phone numbers to post by the phone. Our area uses 911 for all emergencies, so it was easy to combine Fire, Police, Sheriff and Ambulance all together. We then added (actually I made Joshua do all the writing) my sister's home and work numbers (the only family here in town), my work number, and my parents' and grandmother's home numbers. When this was done Joshua posted it by the phone. Then I reminded him about proper phone usage and manners.

4b - Talk about what to do if somebody comes to the door of your house. I hardly ever leave Joshua home alone, and have only recently started doing so. But we have already talked about this issue. My rule to him is just to ignore the doorbell or somebody knocking. I've told him that if it's me coming back to the house I will be able to let myself in. Anybody else that might come to the door, there is no reason for him to open it.

4c - Talk about what to do if somebody calls on the phone. This is another topic we've already discussed. My rule for Joshua right now is to simply ignore the phone if he is home alone, and let the answer machine pick up. However I did remind him of what to say and not say, in the event that I do tell him it's okay to answer the phone in the future.

So that's our catch-up routine for the past few days! Having completed the health habit chart now means that Joshua has completed 3 whole units and has therefore earned his first bead. They get one for each 3 units completed - no particular order. He finished two at day camp, and we've started several others, but now finally finished a third. I'll award him his bead and the totem it goes on at the meeting tonight. I have no idea how close the other boys are, because they have yet to mark off anything in their handbooks! :eek: I keep reminding them ... ]]> christiejay http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/676-slowly-but-surely-making-progress-some-achievements.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/675-just-what-worth-my-time-attention.html Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:10:31 GMT When we consider a new project, we really study it-not just the surface idea, but everything about it. And when we go into that new project, we believe in it all the way. We have confidence in our ability to do it right. And we work hard to do the best possible job.

Walt Disney in Walt Disney Imagineering, a behind the Dreams Look at Making the Magic Real by The Imagineers, p.
83.


I stood in front of a class today trying to get a group of students to look at their paragraphs and spend some time editing, improving, or otherwise making the work better in some way. The majority simply felt the first shot at it was good enough and, you could tell, they had NO idea what I was looking for.

"What do you mean, develop the idea more? The grammar is good enough. I can't think of any details to add! I like it fine, thank you! Can I go to the bathroom?"

The funny thing about it is that some of these students have the same spark and creativity that I'd expect to find in a young imagineer.

OK, I know that writing a term paper is not as exciting as creating a multi-sensory theme park attraction, but just where do we start developing our skills for enthusiastic excellence? If we aspire to mediocrity all our lives, can we suddenly turn on the drive to succeed later? I wish I could ask Walt when he started to care so much about his creations? Can he bottle some of that for the rest of us?

I wonder when it was that Walt Disney knew that focusing his attention on the creation of a over-the-top magical theme park was worth the effort? I mean, he must have started before he had a clue that he'd finish the job.

I'll be honest, if someone came to me with the kind of plans that Walt must have been throwing out there, I'd think the person should cut down on the caffeine at the least.

I get it that much of the Disney empire was built with the ultimate goal of making a profit, but Walt, in those early years, could never have imagined what the future would hold.

I wonder about the goals that seem like too much effort for the fact that they might fail. I think of the dream projects that really don't seem to have enough reality to deserve my full attention when there is all this daily life to contend with. I think about my hesitation to devote energy to some of my long-shot plans. Mainly today, I'm thinking of those GOOD ideas that seemed too far fetched to even try. Like getting back to my ideal weight and fitness level. Like writing my first best seller. Like believing in my dreams again.

So, I am not much different than my students, not knowing how to get my thoughts refined to really reflect the full depth of what I want to say. Or not knowing how to get my hopes to the next level of action. Or wondering if, maybe, it isn't even worth it, so I may as well just relax.

So, here I am following through, at least, with my commitment to a blog a day, for what that is worth, and wondering... what if I gave that same daily time and attention to one of my dreams? Where might I be at the end of a school year? ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/675-just-what-worth-my-time-attention.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/674-value-knowing-someone-watching-your-goals.html Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:36:59 GMT I'm one of those very blessed people who has some truly caring friends. I'm also one of those people who is pretty good at finding resource people or communities for my interests, which is one of the reasons I ended up here at PassPorter.

I have several groups of people for different interests, activities, or just friendship and, for that, I am just so grateful.

But, I have one goal in particular that has not been going well AT ALL! Like Scott posted today about his goal, there is very little progress in this one area. Very little focus, Very little commitment.

I don't think the specific goal is important, but what is important is how helpful it is to know that someone is checkin in. Especially when the checking in involves a cheery message.

I am trying to write a blog that will inspire or cheer others because I know that is the best way to energize myself. The truth is, I AM A TAKER, not a giver!:p

Seriously, though, there are times when we need to give and there are times when we need to take.

The strange thing about it, though, is that all of it seems to happen at the same time.

So, today, when I needed a boost to motivate me with my gaol, I found it in the cheery greetings of some people who are traveling the same road.

And now I am going to turn that around to whoever reads this.

Whatever it is that you hope to do. Don't give up! You can do it!:D ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/674-value-knowing-someone-watching-your-goals.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/673-blog-can-like-message-bottle.html Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:33:13 GMT Somehow, I can't believe that there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four Cs. They are curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy, and the greatest of all is confidence. When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionably.
Walt Disney

...

I am two tenths of the way through my goal to blog every day for a school year. Last month at milestone marker time, I felt relief. I wasn't particularly seeing how anything I wrote could inspire, motivate, comfort, or otherwise spark anything other than the obvious question of who does this person think she is and why doesn't she just give up and stop this nonsense?

At the one month point, to be honest, I had not hit my stride and I couldn't particularly see the point of deciding to do something silly like this. I saw myself plodding along blogging to myself and getting noplace.

I wonder if all bloggers feel just a little bit self-conscious, especially a little unknown blogger. Oh, the dread of looking like the person who gives a party and no one shows!

But, all you potential little unknown bloggers, don't let that stop you.

I'm so excited to see that Todd has branched out and started his own blog. Check it out! Way to get out there, Todd!

Todd's_Blog

This month I see a few more readers, a few projects that are showing progress, and I thought to myself...hmmmmmmmmmmmm...I'm starting to believe in this.

I'm still quite often blogging to myself, but, maybe blogging is a little like setting a message in a bottle out to sea. You might never know where it went, or if it will ever read but, maybe, just maybe, on the perfect day, that message will mean something to the right person.

Several people who've started with a project, have had difficulties and I am very happy that this place was a safe place for sharing. Please don't feel that you are valuable only if your project makes progress.

Anyway, I thought of Walt's quote as I thought that I am starting to believe in this concept, somehow.

The internet gives us the option of leaving almost limitless messages, like notes in a bottle ,out in the world. Wouldn't it be great if, after reading this entry, you randomly left something that might inspire, comfort, of lift someone's spirits someplace? Maybe you can write down a not of encouragement or a joke and leave it someplace in real time for those who don't frequent the internet?

Maybe if there is someone who could use a little nod of encouragement, a little human regard, or something like that, you can reach out? A quick phone call? A card?

Or, if you want to be REALLY brave, you know that person at work or in your social group who no one ever speaks to? You know, the one who, if you are nice to them, you are breaking some sort of rule? Just say "Hi."

I don't know, and I'm moving rapidly into rambling again, so I'll sum it up.

I believe in that great feeling that happens when people connect, and I want to thank each and every PassPorter who has brought that feeling to me in so many ways. ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/673-blog-can-like-message-bottle.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/672-sometimes-you-just-have-complain.html Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:10:21 GMT "What do you mean we can't get rid of those weeds in time? Then go over there and put some fancy signs with latin names in front of them."
Walt Disney

What a great time to be focusing on that particular quote. Today's work on my Ecotour project is not going well.

For some reason, the site is refusing to download the photos, saying they are too large. I found the most well described directions, written by Lizardcop in The Garage, but after a few hours of tinkering, I am still not able to get the photos to post properly.

It seems that life is handing me what I routinely hand to others...problem based learning. That kind of learning that takes repetition, failure, repetition, more failure, trial and error, failure, following directions step-by-step and still failing.

I love to say how failing is just a step closer to getting it right. Struggle through it. Tough it out.

If one person is able to do it, that means it can be done.

If one person understood the directions, that means what needs to be explained has been explained.

It's a wonder I don't get hit all the time when I teach. HOW ANNOYING!

If I followed Walt's quote above, I'd put a positive spin on this and say how I am growing gray matter. If I followed Walt's quote above, I'd be blogging about the joys of struggling through something new or something along those lines.

Well, guess what. Right now I am behind schedule on my trip report, I've spent hours and only managed to download a few photos, and if I was two years old, I'd be having a tantrum right now.

So, I have weeds and I'm ready to take a flamethrower to them. No cute story about fancy signs with latin names here.

Hmmmmph! ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/672-sometimes-you-just-have-complain.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/671-illusion-delusion-sometimes-all-way-things-turned-out.html Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:02:03 GMT One of my favorite Walt Disney stories has been told in a few different ways. I hope I have not changed the facts too much here.

Walt Disney was taking a tour of Disneyland before the opening, and the gardeners pointed out some weeds that simply could not be addressed before the guests arrived. Walt Disney said "What do you mean we can't get rid of those weeds in time? Then go over there and put some fancy signs with latin names in front of them."

I was a kid when a cast member in Walt Disney World told me that story. Something about Walt's attitude stuck with me, though I still struggle daily to really apply it to life.

Walt was not one to gloss over the facts and realities. He was meticulous about keeping his parks sparkling. He hired round-the-clock workers to touch up paint, fix ragged edges, and generally keep the place looking new each morning when the gates opened.

Still, when something was unavoidable, he found a way to work around it. He found a way to keep the guests from knowing.

Perhaps a big part of The Magic is The Illusion. Illusion change the way we see or interpret something.

If he had a small space, his Imagineers used forced perspective to make the space appear larger. On a larger scale, he changed a useless swamp area into a theme park and, most likely, was a major influence on the economy of Central Florida.

And I have to mention that when Charles Mintz took control of Walt's early cartoon character, Oswald the Rabbit, Walt saw that as an opportunity to create Mickey.

I think it all started with the belief that the situation could be changed in some way. Sometimes the change was very real, but sometimes that change was just the appearance by creating illusion.

Granted, there is a fine line between illusion and delusion, but I think the line is drawn here:

If you actually manage to accomplish, create, change, or survive the long-shot...well, the belief that it is not possible was an illusion.

If you keep at it, but you just can't make the long-shot work for you, some might call your belief delusion.

And, the belief that I can keep working on this blog and not get my office work done is a BIG delusion, so I have to stop here.

I hope I am not incoherent and, please post some comments. I'll be sure to go back and edit this at a later date, and I'd love to have your ideas in my mind as I do that.

Carry on! ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/671-illusion-delusion-sometimes-all-way-things-turned-out.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/669-bragging-area-who-loves-ya-baby-you.html Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:06:33 GMT Somehow, I can't believe that there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four Cs. They are curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy, and the greatest of all is confidence. When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionably.
Walt Disney

...

Quite a few readers have followed up to tell me that they are not, for one reason or another, making the progress they'd hope to make with their goal or goals.

(Remember, though, if you follow up on Facebook, on my home page, or in a PM, others can't share!)

I've worked with lots of people in schools, colleges, and worksites, and the trend seems to be that those who believe in themselves get further. To be honest, some of the people I've seen rise to the top have had less skills or smarts than those who were left behind, but they DID believe in their skills enough to keep moving.

This blog entry is saved for comments about your talents and strengths. You have free bragging privileges here.

PLEASE, those post your comments so the shyer ones will also feel free to post.

What are your strengths in general?
What are your strengths relative to your goal?
What are your areas of skill or talent? ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/669-bragging-area-who-loves-ya-baby-you.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/668-closer-than-before.html Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:07:54 GMT Somehow, I can't believe that there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four Cs. They are curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy, and the greatest of all is confidence. When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionably.
Walt Disney

...

Have you ever come in contact with someone who has managed to hit a bullseye? If you happen to look at the picture after they've hit it, it seems pretty quick and easy. You might even thing "Well, that was so simple, I could do it myself!"

The truth about hitting most targets, though, is that it usually takes a whole lot of practice, preparation, and misses.

That's how it is with success.

Today I had an interesting conversation with someone who has managed to hit a target and land something pretty special. Having just met the person, it was easy to lose awareness of the long road that must have been taken to get there.

More than one of the blog reader has commented on not having enough time, money, or resources to keep up with a project. Mind you, more than one is alot, by percentage, considering how many are commenting here!

I know there have been moments when I've wondered if I have what it takes with one project or another.

But when I look at most success stories from the beginning, I see a long line of failed attempts, rejection, near misses, dreadful mistakes, close-but-no-cigar, more failure, almost there, then BULLSEYE!

I think I'm going to take some time to consider that I just HAVE to be closer to my goals because I just keep plodding along.

That's all I have for today.

And I am one day closer to blogging every day!

Carry on! ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/668-closer-than-before.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/667-halloween-party.html Wed, 28 Oct 2009 02:26:00 GMT October 26
Monday

Tonight was a Pack Meeting, I had thought some new scouts would be ready for their Bobcat badge. But Tim never said anything, so I guess they're not.

Tonight was also our annual Halloween Party! After a few announcements we dug into the food - sandwiches, pizza, cocktail sausages, cupcakes, cookies, brownies, and chips and dip. Plenty of food and something for everybody.

Next was the costume contest. The boys came up by den to show off for the judges, then one winner from each den was chosen. Tim had gotten glow necklaces for the winners.

Then came something I had forgotten about being planned for tonight. Jay and one of the den leaders did a skit called Falling Rock. They were going to do it at the campout a few weeks ago but that didn't work out, so they decided to do it tonight instead. It went over really well.

Then finally it was time for games! I posted parent volunteers at each of the five stations, to supervise the games and hand out the candy for prizes.

There was a beanbag toss, ring toss, and fish pond. A game where they had to toss washers into a pie tin. And one called Marble Sharpshooter where they had to roll a marble in between two glass jars without hitting them. All these (except for the fish pond) were in the Wolf handbook as electives.

Finally the candy for the game prizes was depleted and everybody headed home. A few parents helped clean up, so that didn't take too long.

Next week we go on a field trip to the Police Station!

Review of electives completed tonight: 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d, (those were the four games the boys played) and 9a, which was to help with a party, which the Wolves did by preparing the games. ]]> christiejay http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/667-halloween-party.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/666-practical-area-cynics-pessimists-welcome.html Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:07:48 GMT Somehow, I can't believe that there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four Cs. They are curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy, and the greatest of all is confidence. When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionably.
Walt Disney

Many readers and friends seem to be in synch with the topic of confidence.

During a catch-up call with my friend Doreen, she mentioned that the topic of her latest article was confidence. As she told me about it, I wondered how it was that, of all the topics we could have picked, we both chose confidence.

Some readers have mentioned that they lack the confidence to even set a goal.

Some posters have let me know, in one way or another, that they were overwhelmed, uninspired, or, for any number of reasons, having difficulty with the concept of pursuing their dreams. It is difficult to focus on any goal that is not necessary for survival or facing a hard time deadline, I realized that the hard facts are just as important as the dreams, especially if you want to see those dreams come true.

A while back I created a space called dream_area_no_practical_thinking_allowed.

Today I'm creating an area for those who need to complain about how hard their goal is, why things are getting in the way, why they have no time...whatever.

Bookmark this place if you think you'll need to visit often, but once you leave, you have to leave all your practical whys or why nots posted here.

Use this to think through your stuck places, do find a way over the barriers, and to find solutions for the problems that get in the way.

Be careful not to get too stuck in the "why nots", but visit here as often as you need.

Let's see if anyone takes me up on this. ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/666-practical-area-cynics-pessimists-welcome.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/663-can-you-give-me-shout-out-when-i-run.html Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:15:27 GMT Somehow, I can't believe that there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four Cs. They are curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy, and the greatest of all is confidence. When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionably.
Walt Disney



I am still working on confidence today.

Can you give me a shout-out?

I'm taking a break from my dreams today to focus on the difficult, the uncomfortable, and the scary.

Today's focus is partly in response to some posters who really have some front and center "stuff" that is...well...difficult, uncomfortable, and scary. (I thank you for your honesty, those who are letting me know that life is interfering with your dreams.)

The focus is also because I have a whole day's worth of difficult, uncomfortable, and scary stuff to deal with.

Several people have mentioned the economy in one way or another, as being a barrier to moving forward. Being self-employed in a private practice and in a private school, I really do feel the pain right with you.

The truth is, though, with my business numbers cut in half, I've had the time to start this blog and to learn to do trip reports, and I really enjoy this.

I've had some extra time to plan for the students I DO have, including the curriculum for my college course. A little upgrading in the quality never hurts, does it?

I've had some time to think about what I'd want to do if I cut my losses and walk away. What if I really can't justify my office space with these numbers? What if the incoming flow continues to be so much less that previous years? Can I do something to improve that?

I've had some time to think about how much I really DO want to be a writer with a shelf of ragged paperback best sellers sitting in a library. That is my one true dream that has been with me since childhood. Could this be the time to pursue writing?

But, as many of you point out, your dreams only take you so far if you don't have the basics of life worked out.

And, working out the basics takes confidence. For me, it seems like I have plenty of courage...those bursts of energy and drive that shoot out like a sharpshooter's bullet and hit that target.

So why am I floundering? Most goals aren't completed in one shot! The whole target imagery doesn't work!

After courage you need confidence, and that is not my strength.

Let me transition from sharpshooting to running, so as not to mix metaphors. OK, I've transitioned..........................NOW!

Courage is for sprinters, while confidence, I think, is for distance. Some problems, jobs, or projects are distance runs, plain and simple. Getting through a tough economy where jobs and homes are no longer a given is a marathon. You have to keep moving, even though you can't see the finish line for the twists and turns.

Courage, I think, is that adrenaline shot that starts you out, but confidence is that calm, steady voice that says "Slow, steady, pace yourself, one step at a time, get to the finish line."

Having more courage that confidence, I think, is why I might have a whole life full of unfinished projects. It might be why some of the difficult and tedious things get pushed aside because they are, well, difficult and tedious.

I look at this blog as an example. I had plenty of courage to start this, but when I wondered if I was getting anywhere, I had to really dig deep for the confidence to keep going. I'm glad I did that because if most bloggers are honest, they are blogging for their own reasons and, for me, this is a great journey. The fact that others hitch a ride from time to time just makes it richer.

So, today is a day for confidence.

Today is a day for making those calls that take some confidence. Today is a day for making those decisions that take confidence.

Today is a day for deciding to keep moving for 8 hours of focused activity even if it seems as if the finish line is miles away. Even if the fact IS that the finish line is miles away.

Can you give me a shout-out when I run by you? ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/663-can-you-give-me-shout-out-when-i-run.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/662-thank-you-we-just-getting-started.html Mon, 26 Oct 2009 04:25:57 GMT When I first started this blog, I was not sure about what I was doing. Blogging is new to me, and I probably should have started without a promise to blog every day for a school year, but I probably would have dropped it by now if I had done that.

Lately, more and more people have been giving me a shout-out. Some are posting on my page or sending PMs, while others are posting here, where their comments can be shared.

I appreciate each and every comment. I really don't know if this is making a difference to anyone, but it sure is making a difference for me.

Sometimes life can leave you wondering if you can have any influence at all. There are so many struggles, disappointments, and failures.

Some people have been making progress toward their goals, and that is thrilling to me. Sometimes the silly little goals teach the skills for those BIG ominous goals we are forced to take on later. Growth has to start someplace, right?

Doing this blog every day has helped me to keep my eye on the prize, which is believing that I really can muddle through and come out into something good.

I hope it is making some little difference for you too! ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/662-thank-you-we-just-getting-started.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/659-shooting-moving-targets.html Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:14:15 GMT Somehow, I can't believe that there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four Cs. They are curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy, and the greatest of all is confidence. When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionably.
Walt Disney



Some projects require the ability to move forward, even if you are not confident. That, I think, is one of the hardest things to do if you like to feel prepared and informed.

There is only so much you can do, though, and sometimes you just can't know. When you shoot an arrow at a target, you are aiming at a spot. Sometimes it isn't that easy. Sometimes everything is moving.

Some goals seem to have targets that remind me of the_Toy_Story_Attraction_at_this_link.

There is spinning and movement and I can get sick and dizzy just thinking about it! Goals like that really test my confidence because, well, how confident can you be when there are so many variables?

A goal that involves other people's cooperation, a goal that involves input from others, or a goal where you are competing for resources or spots takes more confidence than a goal you control all on your own.

A goal that is way over your head...where you need the help of someone who is a specialist is tough because you have to place your confidence in the specialist. If your goal is to overcome an illness, it is hard if you don't have confidence in your doctor. If your goal is to file complicated taxes, it will be more difficult if you don't trust your accountant.

Needing a specialist will complicate a goal because, if it is unrealistic that you will go back to school for an MBA, a law degree, a CPA, you are really at the mercy of th specialist who is supposed to guide and educate you.

Relying on conditions can also complicate a goal. Say you are planning a picnic. You are pretty much relying on a lack of rain. If it rains, your goal may have to be adjusted. Maybe your goal is to learn to ski, but the weather is so warm all the snow has melted.

Moving targets. They can suck the confidence right out of your spirit.

Just for today, if you are being drained by the uncertainties of moving targets related to your goal. try to focus on pushing forward with as much confidence as possible.

Shoot the arrow at what you see right now. Then you have to see what happens next before you put a whole lot of thought into your next shot.

Are moving targets getting in the way of your goal? ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/659-shooting-moving-targets.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/658-when-confidence-requires-reality-check.html Sat, 24 Oct 2009 14:21:51 GMT Somehow, I can't believe that there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four Cs. They are curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy, and the greatest of all is confidence. When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionably.
Walt Disney



In the above quote, Walt says a person can reach ANY heights if he has the right attitude.

That is a tall order and, in all honesty, must be somewhat unrealistic if the laws of nature prevail.

For example, how many young people have aspired to become president? Only a number of people will be able to make it, plain and simple. How many young people aspire to fly into space? Only a number of people will make it through astronaut training and, then, only a small number of those will reach space. And, to get back to Walt Disney, very few people will be able to transform a set of notions into a set of theme parks and entertainment ventures, but, there it is! Somebody did it!

BUT, having that confidence is absolutely necessary to be in the running. Even if the odds are completely against you, confidence is required to take your shot, especially a long-shot that will most likely be shot down.

There are so many variables when a goal is attempted. A goal is really just a target. When you shoot an arrow at a target, there are any number of ways to win points.

Of course, a bullseye gets the biggest payout, but hitting the adjoining circles is winning also. When you practice shooting arrows, you don't walk away if you don't hit a bullseye. You keep at it, hoping you'll get closer with practice.

Today, try and think of your goal in realistic terms. If you are having trouble hitting that bullseye, can you pull back a little bit and let yourself work on just hitting the target at all?

Just don't put the bow and arrow down and walk away. ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/658-when-confidence-requires-reality-check.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/maryel8775/657-what-do-you-do.html Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:34:45 GMT What do you do when you love someone so much that you stand by and watch them hurt themselves by not taking care of themselves at all. To the point where they don't take their meds, they are awake ALL hours of the night and spend 24 hours a day on the computer.

Then they land in the hospital in ICU and almost die due to respiratory failure. But yet they wake up from it and then survive to get moved to a private room, first thing they ask for is this D*MN computer. Do you take it to them so they can continue on this life of destruction or do you try to step in and save their lives.

You have already lost one parent, do you really need to lose the other? I am torn because this is my life. I want my mom around forever but she is determined to live in destruction mode.

She can barely walk. She will need physical therapy and occupational therapy but all she cares about is this computer. I want her to realize there is MORE to life then the blasted computer.

I had to cancel this year's trip because of her health. So I want to make that a goal for her for next year but I am afraid that she will have a relapse again. I can't take anymore stress. I am so sick to my stomach, that I just want to smash the computer because it has taken away my mom's life so to speak. ]]> MaryEL8775 http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/maryel8775/657-what-do-you-do.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/656-another-goal-update-can-anyone-else-post-updates.html Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:44:14 GMT OK, let's here it? How are the goals going? Are you working on other goals? What's happening?

I have photo updates to show how I've finished my therapy room and my sanctuary room from organizing or decorating a room. (Remember? the parts of the project at these links.)

I'm still working on getting the photos up, and I'll let you know as soom is it is done.

Anyone else? Please post those updates! ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/656-another-goal-update-can-anyone-else-post-updates.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/655-another-goal-update-calais-school-therapy-room-photos-can-anyone-else-post-updates.html Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:44:09 GMT OK, let's here it? How are the goals going? Are you working on other goals? What's happening?

I have photo updates to show how I've finished my therapy room and my sanctuary room from the parts of the project at these thinks, but I have to get the cord that downloads the photos into the computer back. With a little luck, they'll be posted today.

Anyone else? Please post those updates! ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/655-another-goal-update-calais-school-therapy-room-photos-can-anyone-else-post-updates.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/654-friend-yourself-today.html Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:51:13 GMT Somehow, I can't believe that there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four Cs. They are curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy, and the greatest of all is confidence. When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionably.
Walt Disney

Still thinking about confidence, here.

I wish I could bottle it and sell it next to Red Bull in the supermarket.

Confidence makes everything easier. Lack of confidence takes so much energy.

We all have this internal mental dialogue. Some of the things we tell ourselves can be so harsh! If I had a friend who said some of the things I say to myself, I'd seriously reconsider the friendship!

In the past couple days, my inner dialogue has been very friendly. The "I can't, I'm not ____enough, Why am I always so _____?" kinds of thoughts have been few and far between.

And, as a result, life and living is easier.

Just for today, can you try and see if you can be a good friend to yourself? Try to keep that inner dialogue kind and thoughtful! ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/654-friend-yourself-today.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/652-den-meeting-fun-electives.html Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:08:06 GMT Monday
October 19

Tonight was the "extra" den meeting night I lobbied for, when I found out that last week's meeting had been taken over by a flag retirement ceremony. Then last week the rain canceled the ceremony and we had a den meeting anyway. :rolleyes: So tonight was another night of piecing together a few remnants of my original lesson plans.

Only Justice and Joshua were there tonight. And since both of them have already had the chance to carry the US flag in our den's flag ceremony, I decided to skip that for tonight, and wait until a night when one of the other two boys were there so they could have a chance carrying the flag. Don't know why James was out, and I don't know whether Tyler will be coming back or not. :confused: I sent an email to say that we've been missing him, and to encourage him to keep working on learning his Bobcat requirements, but I didn't hear anything. Tim said he was going to contact them as well.

I wanted to get a little closer to wrapping up the unit on Flags, so I went over what little information I could find on the Mississippi flag (2d) and explained the process of raising and lowering the flag on a flagpole (2e). Basically that you have to stand at attention the whole time, and use the proper salute - if in uniform use the cub scout salute, if out of uniform just put your hand over your heart.

Next I passed out the health habits chart that the boys have to keep up with for the next two weeks. They could have made their own, but I had a sample one in my lesson plans so I made a copy for everybody. (3a) They have to keep track of every time they bathe, brush their teeth, drink water, get plenty of rest, get some exercise outdoors, and wash hands.

Before wrapping up this portion of the meeting I reminded the boys to think about what they were going to collect (a requirement we'll be working on in a few weeks), and to keep looking for articles about people who are helping the environment. I also asked them to either come a few minutes early next week to help set up for the Halloween Party, or to be prepared to help clean up afterwards. That's also one of their electives. We're definitely going to be busy this year! :tongue:

Next came the fun part of the meeting. I had already arranged through the church to bring the boys over to the gym to work on some of their sports electives. We started out with demonstrating a sprint start in track and seeing how far they could run in 10 seconds. (20h) Next they had to do a standing long jump. Mine was pitiful! :o (20i) And then I stretched the guidelines a little bit, when they said to play a game of basketball. First they had to demonstrate dribbling, passing and shooting. They did that fairly well. But it's kind of hard to play a game of basketball with just two boys. With our den, though, this is about as good as we're going to get, so I let them go ahead and count it as credit, since a main part of it was focusing on the skills of the game. Now, I wouldn't go so far as to give credit for this toward the basketball belt loop award, but for one of these electives, that have to be combined with 9 others to receive an award, I don't feel too bad about that. (20m)

We still had some time left over, so we went into the front part of the activities building and I let Jay handle explaining table tennis to the boys. Joshua's already familiar with the basic concepts from playing various Wii games, plus I think on play night at the church he might have gotten in a little practice. Justice on the other hand was getting frustrated, mainly because he kept hitting the ball too hard and missing the table. But they learned the basic rules and played a game together. (20a)

After this we did our closing ceremony and dismissed a little earlier than normal.

Joshua's progress from tonight's meeting - he had already completed the two requirements from the flag unit, but he was able to count all four of the sports electives. This gives him a total of 2.3 Silver Arrow Points earned!

Next week is the Pack Meeting and Halloween Party. Should be a lot of fun! ]]> christiejay http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/652-den-meeting-fun-electives.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/651-confidence.html Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:41:28 GMT Somehow, I can't believe that there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four Cs. They are curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy, and the greatest of all is confidence. When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionably.
Walt Disney

I just realized that confidence seems to be a byproduct of courage, at least for me.

The courage phase was forging ahead, even when the going was tough. After you do that a while, you seem to get the confidence that tells you "yeah, I can do this!"

For me, confidence is the wind you catch to make for smoother sailing. It takes the edge off of the job.

Do you need a shot of confidence to fill your sails? What could your confidence say to you today to help with that? ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/651-confidence.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/648-its-smooth-sailing-when-you-catch-wind.html Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:03:12 GMT Almost forgot to blog today. What a great day!

The therapy room that I've been fixing up at school is shaping up.

I actually stopped by the college tech dept. to learn how to add a new online feature to my course.

I've been somehow moving forward with all sorts of things that seemed alot more difficult to do than they really are. Once I got them started, they were done before I knew it!

Somehow, when I set my intention for the day to be mindful of when I am lacking courage, I could see when the self-doubts were taking the wind out of my sails.

And, strangely enough, it made a HUGE difference.

Is anyone else working on courage? If so, how's it going? If not, how's it going anyway?

Also, I got another wonderful surprise in the mail from another wonderful PassPorter. THANKS! I love the cat card! ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/648-its-smooth-sailing-when-you-catch-wind.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/647-courage-won-over-confusion.html Tue, 20 Oct 2009 03:42:09 GMT Today was a day to forge ahead with a whole list of chores that seemed like they had no clear way to go.

A few took some detective work, a few took some thinking, and some just needed to be done.

But here I am so much closer to where I hoped I could be.

I want to thank the people who click and don't post, the people who post comments here, the people who post on my page, and the people who PM.

I don't know how this blog is working for y'all, but, for me, these daily entries seem to add a powerful energy to my day.

And thank you, Susan Wiggs, for sending me your new books and the yummy chocolate.

I think this was a pretty good day!:) ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/647-courage-won-over-confusion.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/646-when-courage-meets-confusion.html Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:58:39 GMT Somehow, I can't believe that there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four Cs. They are curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy, and the greatest of all is confidence. When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionably.
Walt Disney

Still on courage, here.

As I think about how courage relates to getting things done, I realize that I have alot of work to do.

This is a very hopeful place to be, actually, because I'm at a turning point where I realize what work needs to be done. I can see that I get blocked when my courage faces confusion.

Confusion is that point in any project when I need to find a new path, learn a new skill, or get past a self-doubt to move forward.

Confusion is that point in learning or doing when I don't know what comes next and I can't seem to figure out what to do right now to move on. It is the phase, I think, before this:

ouch

I'll take my Ecotour Trip Report as an example. That was such a huge goal for me to take on because I first had to learn how to upload photos and place them into a trip report. I'd put off completing the report, which is something I really wanted to do, because courage hit confusion.

When I set the goal on this blog, I sat down and did a little research, found simply stated directions here:

post_trip_report

To be honest, this was a little confusing at first, basically because I was sparking new gray matter, and that is always like hacking through a jungle path with a neuron machete.

Eventually, though, I got here:

garage

where guides are just waiting to assist. Try it out! Ask a question, and they come and answer it!

Now, every time I upload photos, all I have to deal with is how slow my laptop works. There really is no confusion at all. And once the confusion factor is removed for me, the other factors Walt mentioned:

curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy, and the greatest of all is confidence.

are free to create.

I can be a lion when courage meets adversity. I can be a champion when courage meets injustice. I can be a pioneer when courage meets new territory. I can even be a conqueror when courage meets a battle that I find worth fighting.

But when courage met confusion, I shrank. I'm changing that now. I've missed too many opportunities to not get past this.

They say we teach best what we need to know, so there you are!

Has confusion interfered with something you are trying to accomplish? ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/646-when-courage-meets-confusion.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/645-mr-wizard-may-i-have-some-courage-please.html Sun, 18 Oct 2009 13:26:29 GMT Somehow, I can't believe that there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four Cs. They are curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy, and the greatest of all is confidence. When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionably.
Walt Disney



Do you ever wonder if you have the guts to do what needs to be done? Or, do you to do what NEEDS to be done, but can't quite muster the courage to try what you might WANT to do?

Do you need just a bit more courage to really pursue your dreams?

There are so many reasons for holding back. Some of the reasons are good ones.

It's a stupid idea.
You might get hurt.
You are being selfish.
There is no way you'll ever be able to do that!
You could poke someones eye out.

Those could be valid reasons to give up on a dream. There are as many good reasons for giving up as there are dreams.

The problem is, though, sometimes just a little bit of courage can cast your why-nots in a whole new light.

Maybe a little courage could change your impossible dream into a long shot? Maybe you can use your negative thinking as a blueprint for the barriers you'll need to jump over. Maybe that image of failure is a map of the stinkin thinkin blocks that you'll have to get around?

I say maybe because there really ARE good reasons why a sane person might not pursue a dream. I'm short and not good at sports...as well as not even slightly interested. If I set a goal to become a basketball player, all the courage in the world, I'm sure, wouldn't get me there. If I set a goal to become a swimsuit model, there would be good reasons why I shouldn't quit my day job.

But, barring the obvious absolute truths, alot of the reasons why we can't go after our dreams are just a reflection of the beliefs that need a shot of courage.

So, for today, let's look at dreams. They may be related to a project or they may be general.

Where in your life could you use a little courage?

Can you find a more empowered way to view the situation? The reframing blog at the link below might help.

reframing ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/645-mr-wizard-may-i-have-some-courage-please.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/643-you-moving-forward-your-project-life-happening.html Sat, 17 Oct 2009 14:32:21 GMT There are supposed to be 5 stages of grief

Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance.

Sometimes, though, facts are facts, there is no one to be angry with, there aren't any deals to be made, there is no real point to getting depressed, and you have no CHOICE but to accept because, well, what you have is what you have.

If you've worked to cultivate a sort-of Zen attitude, where you try not to judge the events in your life as either good or bad, you might not go through the typical stages of loss.

If you've worked to cultivate a God centered attitude, where you believe a higher power really does have your back when you look at the big picture, you might not go through the typical stages of loss.

If you've worked to cultivate an attitude in alignment with nature, where cycles, tides, and seasons ebb and flow in such a way that you believe the universe is in balance even when you have floods, earthquakes, war, and illness in front of your eyes, you might not go through the typical stages of loss.

Well, I seem to have assimilated those philosophies and more into my thinking and, I have to say, it makes me a strange case when there is a loss.

The only situation, I think, that really makes me uncomfortable is being stuck, or when there are unknowns. I hate not knowing what is next! Uncertainty is a stage of loss, for me, that I still work hard to make peace with.

After the uncertainty stage comes the picking up the pieces stage.

That will be my project today.

Quite a bit of my routine became caretaker. It started with two cats three medications and eye drops, some two times a day. If you've ever tried to get a cat to take meds or sit still for eyedrops, I'll tell you THAT is a project. Once you get the pills into the cat, you really do need to sit there and make sure they aren't spit out. I won't even go into the end-stage regime for Smokey's constipation...sorry I even mentioned it, I know that is TMI.

For four or five days, I spent most of the day attached to a cat. She always liked to sleep on me, but lately, I also carried her around because I knew the end was near. I knew she'd want to die with me holding her, and I am SO thankful, is just the way it happened.

So what about my blog project?

I said I would add to my Ecotour trip report every Friday, an intentionally simple goal, I was able to keep up with. Here it is My_First_Trip_Report_Key_Largo_Ecotour. This is simple once I figured out how to post photos online. My other project is to decorate my new therapy room at The Calais School, which is actually going well.

Soon it will be time to raise the bar and come up with some projects that are a bit more ambitious, but first things first.

Time to put some effort into tearing down the parts of the house that started looking like a cat hospital. Time to get rid of the cat bed that is too far gone to be used by Coco, the other cat.

Time to think about what I will do with the mental energy freed up by not worrying about what to do next for Smokey and, frankly, the constant worry that I might not be home when she passed.

This Blog is actually a few projects within a project. A daily blog, which I am keeping up with, even though I tend to ramble when I suffer a loss or a crisis.

(I hope I don't get pulled over for a BWG..Blogging While Grieving)

I'm also trying to see if this blog can help people with projects but life is happening to them as well.

SO MANY PROJECTS!

Today, though, my main project is to put away all Smokey's things that need to be put away. To wash all the things that need to be washed from the ordeal. And to clear a path to move forward.

Sorry about the rambling again. I promise I'll be back to my old self soon.

Have you moved forward with your project or is life happening? ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/643-you-moving-forward-your-project-life-happening.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/642-thanks-disney-surprise.html Sat, 17 Oct 2009 03:16:09 GMT I got Goofy Gummy bears, stickers, and a nice note from a Maryland PassPorter. WHO WAS IT?????????? Thanks! I got Goofy Gummy bears, stickers, and a nice note from a Maryland PassPorter.

WHO WAS IT??????????

Thanks! ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/642-thanks-disney-surprise.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/641-picking-up-moving.html Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:04:56 GMT I love that every morning is a new day, full of all sorts of opportunities.

Sometimes your project is just picking up and moving on. This is my first morning in 17 years, barring vacations, that I am waking up without my cat Smokey there.

I've seen all sorts of reactions to the loss of a pet from others. I remember being so terrified that I'd fall apart when I lost Smokey, because she has been such a constant companion all these years.

What a blessing it is that, each morning, the sun rises, coffee brews, and life goes on! ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/641-picking-up-moving.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/640-constants-perfect-timing-sleep-deprivation.html Fri, 16 Oct 2009 01:06:48 GMT Somehow, I can't believe that there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four Cs. They are curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy, and the greatest of all is confidence. When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionably.
Walt Disney

This is off the topic of projects and Walt Disney, but it's the topic on my mind. I can tangentially connect it to the Disney quote I've been looking at for a few days, so let the tangent begin.

My 17 year old cat died an hour or so ago.

Losing a cat that I've had that long made me wonder what lasts. So may pets and people come and go. Or maybe I come and go and the pets and people stay.

However it works, as I considered making Smokey's final vet appointment, I felt a little alone, losing a constant that's been in my life as so many other things changed.

A childhood friend from sleepaway camp read on facebook that my cat was failing and sent me a message of comfort. Something about the constant of a childhood friend DID feel comforting.

The phone rang this morning, and it was my friend Lorrie. I'd worked with Lorrie almost 20 years ago until she moved to Tenessee and I went back to grad school. She was on her way to NJ and she wanted to be sure to see me. A constant.

Lorrie and I don't often get a chance to talk with our busy lives and schedules, but we always find each other at just the right time, it seems. Once, we lost touch with each other for years, and we bumped into each other at Carribbean Beach Resort. I was staying there...she'd stopped by for five minutes to find a seasonal trading pin...I got to meet her kids for the first time as they sat in the car with their Dad, the engine still running. Then she drove back to Tennessee. Perfect timing... the kind of thing that has almost impossible odds!

The timing of some events makes you wonder....

I dreaded taking Smokey to the vet for that shot, but I was afraid she'd suffer tonight when the vet was not available.

I made the appointment for 7:15 so she could see her Daddy one more time. Her Daddy got there about 6:30, just when she was showing signs of discomfort.

Kitty and Daddy got to say their good-byes, then Smokey passed quietly and without pain in my arms at about 7:00. We got to the vet on time, and they confirmed that she was already gone. The timing was a blessing, and I am so thankful that she died at home like that.

When we got home from the vet, my high school friend called to make plans.

So, I sit here feeling blessed for a cat that was devoted and loving for 17 years, for the kind of perfect timing that connects old friends to show you that even when people are out of sight, they are not as far as you think. And, especially tonight, for the kind of timing that gives a beloved pet exactly what you know they'd want, which is to die peacefully at home in Mommy's arms.

Mainly, I am extremely sleep deprived after four or five days of round-the-clock cat nursing, and I hope this rambling blog entry is not to incoherent. ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/640-constants-perfect-timing-sleep-deprivation.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/638-different-kind-constancy.html Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:56:55 GMT I've been nursing my sick cat for several days now. She only takes water from an eye dropper. She'll eat some wet cat food from a spoon. She needs to be placed in the litter box every few hours.

I'm running off to work now with barely enough sleep to keep awake because both cats were with me all night.

In spite of all that, I'm so grateful that Smokey does not seem to be in any pain. I'm happy to do this.

So, this is sort-of a blog about why I'm not really blogging this morning. I'll try again later!

Hug your furbabies, everyone! ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/638-different-kind-constancy.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/637-unexpected-den-meeting.html Tue, 13 Oct 2009 22:43:32 GMT Monday
October 12

Tonight we had a flag retirement scheduled. We were supposed to meet at our local nature center, and one of the den leaders had this ceremony to go through with the boys, after which an old, tattered US flag would be buried. However, it has rained just about every day for the last couple of weeks, and today was no different. It probably wouldn't be raining during our meeting time, but we couldn't be sure.

So about 3 hours before the meeting time, the den leader contacted Jay and said let's just meet at the church and do this some other time. He couldn't get a response from Tim, so I sent an email to everybody to tell them about the change.

Having not really prepared for a meeting tonight, I looked over my lesson plans to see what I could pull together. I figured I could do a few activities from each of the next two sets of plans, and fill in any remaining time with some of the electives I had chosen as "filler" activities.

Our opening went fairly smoothly. The announcements were short, so we were in our meeting room before you knew it.

I started in the unit about the flag. We did two requirements - first, to discuss the proper care of the flag, and how to display it. Second, Jay found an old flag that was no longer on a pole and the boys took turns folding it properly. Joshua had done both of these at day camp.

Next I moved on to the unit about taking care of your body. We discussed several ways to stop the spread of cold germs - things you should and shouldn't do if you have a cold. Then I handed out bandaids, and we talked about how to take care of a small cut. Then each boy put their bandaid on their Mom or Dad. Again, Joshua had done both of these at day camp.

Moving on to a couple of electives - first we did a little more work on our target for the beanbag throw game. I cut out the target spaces from the box, then let the boys decorate the box with markers.

Second I passed out a sheet of paper and showed them a couple of secret codes that were mentioned in their handbook. One was to assign each letter a number, the other was to assign each letter another letter, by writing the alphabet backward. (So A would be Z, B would be Y, etc.) I showed them how it worked, they figured out a coded sentence in the handbook, then I asked them to choose one of the codes and to write their own coded message. When they were finished they passed their paper around the circle and solved each other's code. Amazingly enough they all chose the number code, and all wrote their names. :rolleyes: So much for creativity! But this was an elective all of them could count, and they thought it was pretty cool.

Once again we were the last den to leave for the night. Not sure how I always manage that, but I guess it's alright. We're making good progress. So far, even though I've had to shuffle some things around, we are still right on track with my lesson plans.

Next week we are supposed to go to the gym. Now that should be interesting! Tyler wasn't there again tonight so I sent him an email to check up on him. Hopefully he will be back - he was in another pack last year but didn't stick with it for some reason, so I was really hoping he would get into it this year.

Joshua's progress as of tonight's meeting - one additional elective completed. ]]> christiejay http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/637-unexpected-den-meeting.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/636-constancy-again.html Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:15:21 GMT Somehow, I can't believe that there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four Cs. They are curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy, and the greatest of all is confidence. When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionably.
Walt Disney

I'm still on the constancy "C" of Walt's quote.

I'm taking just a little time here to blog on how constancy is important when working toward a goal or a project.

I googled constancy and I found definitions like faithfulness, steadfastness, consistency. It makes me think of following through with what you say you will do and being dependable.

In the quote above, the point is made that you need to believe in a thing, all the way, implicitly and without question.

I think sometimes, what interferes with constancy, is taking on responsibilities or routines that don't really fit in with core values.

Sometimes you might have been tricked, guilted, or strong-armed into a role that you didn't want.
Maybe the concept of something being "your turn" was thrown out there. Maybe you know in your heart that this is something you should do.


Maybe you have something on your calendar that you don't really want, but there simply is NO CHOICE, and you just plain have to follow through. Doing the annual chore of taxes comes to mind, but there are a million examples.

I've found that my core beliefs about any chore has everything to do with how I feel as I am tackling that chore. How I feel as I am tackling that chore has everything to do with how long I put it off, how much work I put into it and, very often, the quality of the finished product.

Are there any aspects of your project that you don't fully believe in? Are there other obligations that are dragging your productivity down? Can you help to balance that somehow?

Carry on! ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/636-constancy-again.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/635-still-constancy.html Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:06:19 GMT Somehow, I can't believe that there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four Cs. They are curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy, and the greatest of all is confidence. When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionably.
Walt Disney

I'm still on the constancy "C" of Walt's quote.

First of all, thank you SO much, those who posted. I really do appreciate that, as it gives the illusion that there actually IS a group participating with this blog!:p (Seriously, though, I DO thank you!)

OK, I'm taking just a little time here to blog on how constancy is important when working toward a goal or a project.

I googled constancy and I found definitions like faithfulness, steadfastness, consistency. It makes me think of following through with what you say you will do and being dependable.

SO, here is my daily blog!

I am bleary eyed because I stayed up all night with my sick cat, but I'll try my best.

If constancy is all those things I mentioned above, if I am honest, the individual I fall short with most of the time is myself.

I'm constantly promising myself I'll do this or that. Sometimes the this is something I WANT to do or sometimes the that is something I SHOULD do, but I need to really think about what happens when I let MYSELF down!

Do you sometimes have trouble following through with the things you promise yourself?

Today, as I get my work done, I'm going to really think about the things I've told myself I would do. Are they really important? Do I have a logical plan? Do they empower my overall goal or just get in the way?

Should I stop blogging and get back to my stuff?

YUP!

Carry on and, again, THANKS FOR POSTING! ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/635-still-constancy.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/634-fake-till-you-make.html Sun, 11 Oct 2009 16:59:51 GMT Somehow, I can't believe that there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four Cs. They are curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy, and the greatest of all is confidence. When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionably.
Walt Disney

I think I'd like to spend a few days on this quote. Today I want to discuss constancy.

I was talking with a friend today, and we were discussing momentum, particularly the way the once you get moving you seem to keep moving, but once you plop on the couch, you tend to remain plopped on the couch.

We both have things we are so eager to accomplish today, but, at the same time, there's that couch! Oh, and did I mention the remote?

Or maybe your plopping place is in front of the computer, or perhaps it is at the kitchen table with a snack. Some people enjoy a good group plop with other people who are sitting around thinking about what they should be doing, but not really doing it.

To get something done, you need a measure of constancy. You need to unplop and get moving toward the goal.

But, my friend's dilemma was a lack of motivation. For some things, I have to admit, I have the same lack of motivation.

Here's what we came up with, though. It seems that the internal dialogue before deciding to either move or plop, it can be a toss of the coin which way you go.

What if we just err on the side of constancy?

What if we just say, I spend 30 minutes power walking every Sunday and I'm off to do it now. Or, in her case, I decided to spend some time dealing with backed up mail today and I'm going to do it right now.

To just jump right in there and cut out the hour-or-so of back and forth inner dialogue, even if you aren't sure about it.

Could that have a fake-it-till-you-make-it effect?

I sort-of went through that with blogging today. I wasn't really sure if I wanted to do an entry at all, but I decided to do it anyway and, for what it is worth, here it is! By sitting down and starting as if I wanted to, I ended up with the entry I promised myself I'd keep up with every day. Constancy, as Walt said.

And now it's time to go off to my favorite walking path by the castle to do my power walking which, by the way, always includes the Disney parade music I have on my ipod.

And, thanks Jen, for inspiring me. Hope the mail and the basement work out for ya! ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/634-fake-till-you-make.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/633-i-know-you-can-do.html Sat, 10 Oct 2009 14:38:01 GMT "Walt Disney was magical. He would give you a challenge and say 'I know you can do this.' It was electric to be around him."
Richard Sherman, Disney Songwriter

Do you know anyone who gives you the boost you need to keep going with your challenges?

I've been lucky to have several people. I've actually managed to gather different people who help me with different challenges! I'm not going to start naming people because if would take too long and I don't want to miss anyone, but I love you all! Some of you are PassPorters!

When I start to run low on batteries, there are certain people who I can connect with to recharge. Walt Disney and the projects that have come about from the wave that he started long ago, are great examples for me.

When I do my power walking, I usually listen to Disney parades on my ipod. When I start planning a trip to The World, the countdown gives a charge to each day. And, of course, the interesting things that happen here at the PassPorter site are so entertaining. I've also made some great friends here...people who I'd never have met any other way, I'm sure.

Online communication, in my opinion, is a major challenge. It is a skill, or a set of skills, that is an evolving art. Online communication can be one of those challenges that requires a "boost" of encouragement or guidance from time to time.

When people send the wrong signals in real time, they have all those great non-verbal cues to let them know they need to adjust their delivery. A smirk, a bewildered look, body language, and the all-too-awkward small group laughing in the distance while glancing in your direction. I see it all the time with my kids in school. AHHHHHHHHHH! I'm so glad to be out of school!

Who am I kidding, though! I see the same thing with grown-ups. Only, online, it is hard to judge just HOW the message is coming across. And, without the non-verbal cues, the opportunities to misunderstand, mislead, be misled, or just miss the point entirely are almost without measure.

It's a challenge, that's for sure! But it appears that so much of our communication is going to happen online, so it is a challenge worth exploring.

I imagine if Walt were alive today, he'd be finding ways to make the internet a place very much like his parks. Where everyone is welcome and comfortable.

This is for those people who never know what to post, are afraid of looking silly, are afraid to put their thoughts down in writing because of spelling, grammar or vocabulary. This is for the ones who have been flamed, misunderstood, shunned, or who just plain come off wrong. This is for those who PM or email me because posting is scary.

Keep at it! If Walt were here, he'd say "I know you can do this!".

I know you can do it, too!

Happy Saturday!:)


Quote from p. 279 How to Be Like Walt ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/633-i-know-you-can-do.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/631-get-up-move.html Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:51:56 GMT Can you get up and move today to spend fifteen minutes on a long shot? What would you do? If you like, you can work longer or continue for the week-end!

Bruce Gordon, Disney Imagineer and Author, had this to say about Walt Disney:
Walt dreamed of being a Hollywood director, but there he was, stuck in the Midwest. So what did he do? He went to California with little more than the clothes on his back and some pocket change. Then he scraped and struggled and battled to make his dreams happen. The lesson is clear. If you have to get up and move to make your dreams come then then get up and move!"

I really like this thought. I think of all the individuals who were born into opportunity and squandered their lives. I think of all thr individuals who were born into opportunity and did great things with their advantages. Nothing fascinates me more, though, than someone who was able to create their own opportunity from nothing!

I'm on a roll with my EcoTour trip report, and I'm ready to make my next entry today, so that project is going quite well! I can't believe I made such a big deal about learning to post photos!

There are a few long shots, though, that seem a bit daunting. One long shot is the basement, which seems to be a magnet for boxes and unwanted stuff.

My plan is to start with 15 minutes, but probably, once I get started, I'll work longer.

This actually supports my goal because it drives me nuts every time I look at how things were just tossed down there. Sometimes you have to tackle the foundation, where you can't see, in order to keep building where you can see.

It is a real scrape and struggle job, like in the quote and, frankly, I know one day I'll walk down there and everything will be tossed in the middle of the floor again, but I'll just get up and move again and pick up.

So, today I'm looking again at the nuts and bolts, trying to get inspired about the practical stuff.

Is anyone with me?



quote from p. 33, How to Be Like Walt, Pat Williams, Health Communications, Inc.2004 ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/631-get-up-move.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/630-enough-about-inspiration-day.html Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:07:35 GMT I've been blogging about how I seem to be attracting the word inspiration into my life. Here online, at work, in my social groups, ALL over the place.

But getting a job done takes more than inspiration!

Harriet Burns, an Imagineer said "Walt was highly creative, but his brother Roy was the left brain of the family."

To give a very short explanation, the right brain dreams and creates while the left brain plans, computes and completes.

Walt had Roy, and, when you read the story of Walt's success, you see Roy there through it all.

We've been talking about dreaming and getting inspired, but let's take some time to think about practical matters that are attached to your dreams and goals.

Just for today, can you focus on those left brain matters you'll need to address for your project? Does it involve planning, organizing, managing time, facts or numbers?

Let me know!

Brain_Test ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/630-enough-about-inspiration-day.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/629-more-inspiration.html Wed, 07 Oct 2009 23:49:56 GMT How's this for lazy?? I was so busy today, but I'm not going to miss a day of blogging, because I said I'd blog every day.

Here is an interesting PM exchange I had with a fellow PassPorter. One of my goals was to somehow pass on inspiration and motivation.

I'm sure I didn't change daddyof2princesses' life, but the exchange seemed somehow relevant.

Here it is...my lazy day blog!

This is a conversation between visitor message on two PassPorter's home pages.

09-28-2009 11:16 PM
Sandra Bostwick






Yesterday 09:27 AM
daddyof2princessess

Hi there! You are correct I am a new member! My DW is mommyof2princessess who has been here for a while though, so I am somewhat familiar with it all. Thank you for enthusiastic welcome though it helps inspire us new people to just jump right in!


Yesterday 09:34 AM
daddyof2princessess

Oh drat. It's momof2princessess not mommyof


Yesterday 12:00 PM
Sandra Bostwick

OK, did you use the word inspire on purpose? Were you reading my blog? It's been all about inspiring, and people have been using that word with me lately!


Yesterday 02:18 PM
daddyof2princessess

Sorry haven't read the blog yet but I will. When you think in an inspirational mind set it shows and moves others. I guess that's why it keeps popping up around you.


Yesterday 03:51 PM
Sandra Bostwick

That is so funny! Would you mind if I blogged about our conversation. It seems like the word inspire keeps popping up for me since I started that blog!


Yesterday 07:00 PM
daddyof2princessess

Use it at will. I am glad to be able to contribute in any small way to your Inspirational work. Pun way intended on that one.


Yesterday 07:28 PM
Sandra Bostwick

OH BOY! I can see YOU are going to liven the place up! Welcome again and keep in touch!


Yesterday 07:28 PM
Sandra Bostwick

PS, your two princesses are adorable! ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/629-more-inspiration.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/628-ouch-phase-oh-i-get.html Tue, 06 Oct 2009 20:17:39 GMT A big part of my job is to create suffering.

That's a pretty harsh thing to say, but it really is true. A good therapist or teacher knows that, for most people, ouch is the stage before growth or learning.

Sometimes I need to learn my own lesson.

Let's take a simple example, which would be learning how to upload photos from my digital camera to place them in an online trip report. Luckily, there are step-by-step instructions here, but it still took a little mental muscle stretching to find the instructions and follow through.

I remember when I was trying to create photo albums on my home page a while back, and I gave up. This time, though, I'd said I would post photos by Friday for my project, so I worked through it.

I don't think I am any smarter now, so why did I do it? Because I just accepted the ouch phase of my project.

Are you putting off something you could be doing because of the ouch factor?

When I help students work through the ouch factor, I become a magnet for all sorts of negative emotional ammunition.

I assure them that they can do it. I praise them for little steps. I might give little hints, but never the answer. And I NEVER back down unless I know I'm about to go too far.

But, too often, when I am working on my own goals, I feel the burn of ouch inside my brain and I pull back like I've touched a red hot poker by mistake. In some situations, like posting my own photos online, I just give up.

I give up and lose out.

Any goal that matters is going to have some ouch in it.

Learning something new... pushing with exercise... giving up something that is not healthy for something healthier... doing those unpleasant little tasks like making sure you understand changes in the tax codes before you file...

OUCH OUCH OUCH OUCH!

But only if I push through "ouch" can I reach "I get it!"

If you are working on a project with us, do you have any ouches? How do you deal with them? ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/628-ouch-phase-oh-i-get.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/627-den-meeting-achievement-1.html Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:17:01 GMT Monday
October 5

The college group was not meeting at the church tonight, so all the doors were locked. Thankfully Tim arrived after just a few minutes and we were able to get inside. Seems like all the boys arrived at the same time, so they got started with their opening ceremony while I was still preparing our room for our den meeting.

I slipped into the meeting in time for announcements. Tim handed out the patches from the campout this weekend, and each boy had to tell what their favorite part was. Several boys chose the 3-mile hike, some said just spending time with their friends, and Joshua picked the hunting dog demonstration. This was a change - at the campout he had said he liked BB-gun shooting the best.

We broke into dens quickly tonight. I was going to do our flag ceremony indoors, but Tim was using the large room to meet with the Tigers, and the other ceilings were kind of low so we took the flags outside and did our ceremony there. After getting the flags put away we moved onto our achievements. Tonight we were focusing on Achievement 1, which is Feats of Skill. We started by heading back outside for the boys to play catch with a baseball. They were doing very well with tossing it easy to each other, and not throwing it hard, but we still had a couple of incidents. First, when James tried to catch the ball one time, it bounced up off his hands and hit his nose - it bled a little bit but nothing major. Just enough to take him out of commission for a few minutes. His dad took him back in to get a wet paper towel and settle him down, then he was right back out. Then, Joshua got upset because it was starting to hurt when he caught the ball. Granted, I didn't have gloves for the boys to use, but he is just not used to catching a ball. Anytime you catch a ball it is going to sting a little bit and he's just not used to that. So after settling him down, we finished up with our catch activity and went back in.

I laid down a strip of painter's tape on the carpet in the hallway. The boys had to walk the line forwards, backwards, and sideways. Next I laid down a board, and they had to walk back and forth on the board. All of them did very well on this.

Our next set of activities proved to be very challenging. First, a forward roll (somersault). Then, a backward roll, then a falling forward roll. Justice was able to do all of them. James did just the forward roll, but Joshua couldn't do any of them. (I forgot to mention Tyler wasn't here tonight.) So I told them they could work on these at home.

The last activity was a fun one - different types of animal walks. First was the elephant walk, just on their hands and feet. Then a frog leap, followed by a crab walk. These were a lot of fun for the boys and they were all able to complete them.

We went back inside our room for the rest of the meeting. I had James work on his handprint stencil that he missed last week. While he did that, I talked to the boys about preparing some games to play at our Halloween party. There are several suggested in the handbook that would work perfectly. But two of them would require some prep work. I passed out newspaper, which we rolled up and twisted together (held in place by duct tape) to create rings for a ring toss game. We started work on our target for the bean bag toss (using a cardboard box), but started to run out of time so we will finish that at our next den meeting.

Before the boys left I got a picture of James since he missed last week's meeting (these will be used in a few weeks - still need to get Tyler's), and we did our closing ceremony. Justice's mom said she had his handbook for me to sign, but it turned out she hadn't marked his day camp activities yet, so there was only one thing I could sign, and nothing I could transfer onto his advancement chart, since that only shows complete units.

Wow! The time at den meetings seems to fly by, but so far we have been able to complete everything I've had planned. I haven't had any extra time yet to work on electives, but I've got several "filler" activities ready to go for when I do have extra time one week. So far so good with the den leader thing!

Before leaving, Tim gave me the last two Tiger Track beads that Joshua had earned back in the spring and never received. So now he's caught up on his awards except for Resident Camp this summer. I still need to find out why we haven't received any paperwork from that yet.

After tonight, Joshua has completed 3 more requirements. Once he learns how to do flips he will complete this unit and earn his totem and his first bead. (Tim brought those to me tonight also, so I'll be starting to hand them out soon.) ]]> christiejay http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/627-den-meeting-achievement-1.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/626-akela-cub-campout.html Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:48:10 GMT Friday
October 2

Jay got off work this morning and took a short nap. Then he was right back up - packing up the tent, our sleeping bags, pillows, camp chairs, and his clothes. Next he went by the church to load up the box of non-perishable food items that we store there, and finally it was on to Tim's house to pick up the cooler, additional totes of food and cooking items, and our "camp kitchen" table. He drove down to camp and set up our tent. A couple other families joined him shortly after school was out.

Joshua and I started packing up after I picked him up from school. I made us some sandwiches to eat tonight since we wouldn't be cooking at camp. I had to go by and feed my sister's dog (she's at WDW!) on the way out of town, then happily we had an uneventful drive down to the camp.

A few other families started arriving right after we did, but we noticed that there were some who had signed up to come but weren't there at all. Either somebody had gotten sick or their plans had changed. We made a campfire and for the most part just sat around all evening. The boys played with each other and we all talked. One of the den leaders told a tall tale about his safari to Africa, which was really quite interesting. ;)

Saturday
October 3

Breakfast was awesome this morning! We had pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, and both link and patty sausages. Many of the boys helped either with the cooking or the cleanup as part of their badge requirements.

Next came assembly at the flagpole, and a few announcements. The activities would be starting this morning and continuing throughout the afternoon, with lots of things planned. The theme was Trailblazer Adventure. I believe this is a national group, with representatives all over. There were so many activities that they were all held at the Cub World section of camp, instead of at the regular shooting range and activity field.

We had a couple of hours this morning, and we didn't really know all the activities that were planned. We just simply got in the first line we came to. That turned out to be slingshots. This was something new for Joshua to try. He never hit the target, but I think he enjoyed the experience. Next was BB-Gun shooting - he did really well as usual, although he had a little trouble with his gun so he didn't get as many shots as the other boys did. After this we saw the hunting dog. Joshua was picked to throw the "bumper", her training device, for one of her demonstrations. It was amazing to see how well trained she was. We then joined a talk already in progress by a falconer - the same one who came to talk to our pack back in the spring. And then the morning session drew to a close.

Lunch today was sandwiches and chips, and Tim had to go to the administration building to officially register all of us. This was something new this year, but I liked it. He had to turn in a list of names of the boys who had registered, and turn in any money for scouts who hadn't paid yet. In return he received patches for all the boys - this was great! We are still waiting for patches for our winter and spring campouts, so I hope this is something that can be done at all the campouts in the future.

Time for the afternoon session of activities. Joshua wanted to start with Archery, which was a good thing because the line wasn't too long when we first arrived. They've started using all compound bows, which he doesn't like because they're harder for him to pull back. So he didn't hit the target at all today. He just needs more practice and more arm strength. We went to the fishing area but didn't catch anything, unless you count the lilypads. After a few minutes we handed our rod to somebody else to give them a turn. We visited the trappers display and heard them talk about how setting traps is a big responsibility, that you can't just leave them, but you have to check them on a regular basis. They had several animal hides for the kids to see and touch. On our way out we stopped for a talk about reptiles by the Science Museum. They had turtles, snakes and other critters. But Joshua wasn't paying attention or wanting to touch any of the animals so we just walked back to the campsite.

Oh, but before we did that, we had to turn in our activity card. When the man checked to see that we had participated in all the activities, he asked Joshua what his favorite part was, and of course he said BB-gun shooting. Then Joshua received a Trailblazer Adventure patch that was very colorful. From here we decided to first walk down to the Trading Post to look around. Jay found a camp cap on the clearance table that he wanted, and we also got some slushies because it was so hot. After resting there for a while we went back to the campsite. There was nobody there when we arrived. I thought that was odd since all the activities were over, but I kind of enjoyed the quiet. I took a few minutes to sew my last two patches onto my uniform, and eventually people started showing back up.

For supper we had hamburgers and hot dogs. Then we started getting ready for the evening activities. Jay had volunteered our pack to take down the flag. There was not going to be an evening assembly, so we were the only ones there. And by this time many of the scouts in our pack had left, so we only had 4 boys still at camp - just the right number to act as color guard. After folding the flag and putting it back in its proper place we got ready for the campfire program.

Tonight's campfire was short and sweet compared to the one last year that seemed like it would never end. A couple of packs had skits, and we sang a couple of songs. Then we had the traditional face painting of all the new scouts and leaders. I cheated and didn't go down when it was my turn. They were really piling on the paint tonight and I just didn't feel like it! Plus I don't really feel like a new leader anyway, and nobody from our pack mentioned me going down, so I just stayed seated. Primarily it's for the kids. We only had one new scout attend the campout, and he had to leave this afternoon, so none of ours went down. Jay and another den leader had a skit prepared, but it got skipped over. That's okay, they'll just have it ready to go some other time. Instead we jumped right to the end of the program, which was the burning of a US flag for retirement. This is something else Jay volunteered us for. He played Taps after one of our den leaders put the flag onto the campfire. And after Taps was over we were dismissed.

Sunday
October 4

I woke up about 3:00 to the pitter-patter of raindrops on the tent. It wasn't enough to call it a sprinkling of rain, just a few steady drops here and there. Unfortunately I also developed an upset stomach so I had to make a few trips to the bathroom trailer (one step up from a latrine!). After a couple of times I got tired of going back in the tent, with the zipper and all, and just sat around the campfire - we still had one log that was smoldering. It was actually very pleasant sitting out. It wasn't very cold (I had on a light jacket anyway), and when the rain started back up again later I just went back in and laid down. I had to get back out later and sat out by the fire until it started raining again. By then my stomach was feeling much better and I just stayed in the tent until it was time to get up.

Because of the rain, and because people were trying to get home quickly, we didn't cook breakfast this morning. Tim put out poptarts, but I didn't have any. I just decided to drink a Coke and wait until I got home to eat. I really wanted to leave as soon as possible, but because of all the camp stuff in Jay's truck Joshua was going to have to ride with me in the car. Plus, I really needed to stay and help clean up anyway. Soon everything was squared away and we were able to leave. After an hour's drive we were back home, where I unloaded the car, got a shower, and took a 2-3 hour nap!

This weekend's campout counted as Elective 23a, participating in an overnight campout with your pack. ]]> christiejay http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/626-akela-cub-campout.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/624-little-inspiration-dance.html Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:08:36 GMT I HAD to make the comment below on a trip report by Nimros (AKA Cathy). This photo was taken by her DH, Kevin. Here is a link to the whole report, where you can find this photo and many others.

Nimros_Trip_Report

Originally Posted by Sandra Bostwick


AWESOME!

Loved the report and the photos, especially this one! Spectromagic always makes me smile.

***end quote***


When I saw this photo, I was simply AMAZED! I think something about the bright blue sky and the fireworks fascinated me. That started an interesting series of events.

Cathy posted this response on her trip report:

I was pretty amazed that Kevin got this one, too. He said he timed it with the music.

At this point, I sent a private message. Private message is an interesting online communication that can be used for evil (to create cliques and gossip behind people's backs) or good (to bond a little more privately , to seek personal support and spread sunshine). I seem to have settled into a group that prefers the second choice.

So, anyway, here is what transpired:

(From me)
You should send that castle photo to the site where Jennifer picks the photo of the month. I'll bet that will at least be considered!

The water photos look so refreshing, too!

(From Cathy)
Okay - you've inspired me. I'm on it and I'll let you know what happens!
Cathy
(emphasis on work is mine)

(From me)
OK, this is cracking me up!

First of all, I think your photo should be self-inspiring, because it is GOOD!

Here is what is making me laugh. I am doing a blog project here on using a community to get yourself inspired, and it is TOO funny that you used that word.

Would you mind if I blogged about what you wrote? I hope not, because I am off to do JUST THAT right now!:p


(From Cathy)

Now you have ME laughing! And you know what - I KNOW you're doing that blog because after reading an entry, I remember trying to think about what was near my desk that inspired me...and I think subconsiously, I must associate YOU with the word 'inspire.':):):)

You are inspiring, you know.

(From me)
TOO funny! The blog was getting so few comments that I was wavering on if it was worth it or not. This is inspiration squared! Can I post a copy of the photo and give you credit for it?

(From Cathy)
Why not? Maybe you'll inspire a few more people!!! I've got to get over and check out the blog....

(Here I am blogging)
I really didn't set out to do this on purpose, but this is an example of JUST what I was trying to explore. The interesting way that people can motivate and inspire each other.

I'm in the process of completing my first trip report. I wonder if I'd ever have figured out how to post those photos if I hadn't made it a goal! When I first posted, it was fun enough, but when people started responsing it was like a shot of enthusiasm in my arm.

There is something so very real happening right here in this PassPorter Community. I wonder if it is the example that is set of supporting and encouraging. I'm not sure what it is, exactly, but there is SOMETHING, and this is an example.

Have an inspired day and try to see if you can inspire someone else. Please post in the comments if you were able to do that. (Remember, Private Messages keep you from sharing with everyone AND I don't want to encourage inner circle groups in this blog, where others may feel out of the loop.)

Again, have an inspired day! ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/624-little-inspiration-dance.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/623-what-makes-great-gathering.html Sun, 04 Oct 2009 12:29:09 GMT I've been blogging lately on the theme of people. Since my goal was to tie the blog into Walt Disney or Disney related projects or places, I've been thinking about the social atmosphere of the theme parks as I blog.

Last summer I took a solo trip to the theme parks just to watch the people. I didn't do a study, but I seemed to notice something.

The families who were all decked out in Disney...theme hats, T-shirts, Mickey ears, Bibbity Bobbity Boo do's, pin lanyards seemed to be laughing and smiling more. They seemed to have more of a spring to their step.

I'm not a researcher, so I don't know why that would be. Maybe people who love Disney are just a bit cheerier than others? Maybe someone who would spend so much money on Disney stuff is a little nutty to begin with? Maybe I just noticed these people more because they stood out? Maybe they just decided to do the trip up and were immersed in the excitement?

Please don't bring out the flamethrowers if you disagree, and feel free add your own comments if you agree or have another opinion about this because, as I said, I wasn't doing clinical research here!

BUT, there was something else that I seemed to notice about the Disney Clad Happy Folk......(Drum role, please!)

They seemed to interact more with others. I saw more random greetings as people passed by. I saw more comments or giggles exchanged that were obviously related to silly hats or wearing a celebration pin. I saw lots of oohs and aahs about princesses while parents beamed.

I spent one trip wearing a pink tiara Minnie ear hat complete with veils, and I don't think I EVER enjoyed so many brief exchanges with strangers. There was something about the social tone that made me end each day thinking "Wow, THAT was a great gathering!"

Aside from standing out, maybe these little signals created a common bond that is, well, just uplifting!

Yesterday there were gatherings all over NJ for groups of people who had some common bond. Some were gatherings of people who lived in the same town and others were based around a particular theme that can touch your life and somehow marks you.

There are marks from belonging to groups, choosing certain careers, having certain spiritual beliefs, or being a fanatic of a certain TV personality or show.

Some marks are hard to see AND hard to live with, like the marks on those who have survived a particular illness, lost a loved one to a drunk driver, lived with an abusive personality, battled an addiction, suffered a trauma, or felt the strain of caregiving. There are marks from having children with particular challenges,

A group of about 8 friends joined in with what must have been over a hundred people to celebrate unity. I really only knew my 8 friends, but there was such a bond between everyone in the room. It was just wonderful!

There is something about a gathering of people who share the same hard-to-see mark that is unifying. Strangers smile more, chat in the food line, and are generally more friendly. The warmth was somehow magical, and Ic ould see everyone was happy to be there. The atmosphere reminded me of the same celebratory tone as Walt Disney World!

But I didn't see one set of Mickey ears. So what WAS it? ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/623-what-makes-great-gathering.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/622-i-did-i-started-now-im-doing.html Sat, 03 Oct 2009 22:09:34 GMT ECOTOUR_Trip_Report

I can't believe it, but I started my first trip report. Once I figured out how to post those photos, it was nothing. I'm already having so much fun with it.

I kept putting it off because I was not sure where to start and how to do it, but when I set the goal with the blog, next thing you know, I'm on my way.

I thought this was going to be a huge ordeal, but it is actually a light, fun thing to do. ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/622-i-did-i-started-now-im-doing.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/621-people-still-need-people.html Sat, 03 Oct 2009 15:42:11 GMT You can dream, create, design and build the most wonderful place in the world, but it requires people to make the dream a reality.
Walt Disney

The internet creates all sorts of social options, but sometimes you have to wonder if they are meaningful or just community flavored chewing gum...passing the time but becoming more and more pointless with every chew. Sandra Bostwick just a few minutes ago responding to Angie Daley

HE HE HE! It made me giggle to write my own quote for a few reasons. First of all, it really is a silly thing to do. Second, I REALLY do think Angie is going to be a famous artist some day. Another reason is simply that a person can, as Walt said, dream, create, and design the most wonderful place in the world here on the internet and here, in my blog, I can quote myself and pretend that someone is listening!

You really can create and modify all sorts of situations here on the internet and, if you do a good job you can attract all sorts of people.

Walt was speaking of the various projects that were produced to attract people. He created everything from cartoons to a spacious, meticulously crafted theme park, but what is it that made people visit?

I've heard alot of people comment that Disney theme parks are fantasy. Well, OK, yeah. But if people go there and feel entertained, inspired, or even just distracted from daily drudgery, isn't that real?

I know lots of people who still think that the internet is not real. I have to wonder about that myself sometimes. I hear all that internet connections don't count in the real world. Well, I suppose that depends on where you are visiting, what you do when you get there, and if that has any redeeming value in your life once you sign off.

I think the biggest point to be made when considering if an internet connection is real is this...are the people involved being who they really are? Is one or both trying to be someone different from who they truly are? In my book, that would make the connection fall into the "not real" category. Others might disagree.

Different people will also gravitate towards different internet places. Let me give an example. I enjoy popping into Facebook from time to time to check in on my page, but I don't get it. I feel lost. The page is confusing, maybe because I've set it up that way, I'm not sure.

I can't seem to track a linear conversation. I have hundreds of messages backed up that need to be clicked on and I finally get so confused that I log off and hope no one feels ignored.

I'm not big on internet games, either. I know there are entire communities built around these games and, the funny thing about that is that most of those people would think that a community of people obsessed with Disney would be nuts.

The internet is such an amazing place where anyone at all can create anything from a virtual universe to a topic oriented blog.

I've been looking at book discussions, trip reports, threads, blogs, profile pages, private messages and all sorts of internet social options. What it is all about?

The fact of the matter seems to be that if something is not clickworthy, it is much less of a reality. I don't think it is the number of clicks that matters, though. Some click have more meaning than others.

When I think of this, I think of the trip reports here. Some of the trip reports are so beautiful. The photos take me to places through someone else's eyes and it is fascinating. I've spent an hour on some trip reports.

That is a click that matters!

I have to run out to a festival now and I don't have time to edit this, so please consider it a ramble. This will be a real place with real people. How about that?

Maybe I'll come to a point later. Can you help me make my point? ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/621-people-still-need-people.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/620-walt-waved-me-today.html Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:18:28 GMT I woke up today without any real inspiration to write a blog entry.

I asked myself if I really wanted to do this every single day for the next nine months?

I decided to wait and see what the day would bring. Today was a day for office work, which is not my favorite part of being a self-employed occupational therapist.

I stopped to pick up the mail on the way to the bank and, there is was! A wave from Walt! My inspiration!

A mysterious package was in the mailbox!

It had writing in both French and English. A PassPorter from Canada had sent me a surprise!

Angie Daley sent me all sorts of goodies and a wonderful note about how our blog had inspired her! I even have some beautiful drawings from Alice.

This was all I needed!

I'm going to dinner and a play with friends tonight, but I'm going to take some photos of my package and post them here later.

I think it is so amazing that Walt Disney, who was so concerned with creating gathering places for people, manages to draw people together in cyberspace now. Thank you Angie for that wonderful package, and thank you Walt, for planting a seed that brings people together in so many places and situations. ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/620-walt-waved-me-today.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/619-why-blog.html Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:08:25 GMT I am 1/10th of the way into the goal of blogging every day for a school year about goals or projects. Since this is the first time I've tried this, I have no idea how it will go. I feel relieved that, at least, it is 1/10th over now! Bloggin is a new concept for me, and I'm not sure I fully understand it.

Some days, this blog seems to set my mind on a certain way of thinking, which gives the day a "tone". Making a conscious decision to set a positive tone for the day seems to be helpful when I need to keep my momentum going.

I'm not sure I need to blog for that, though. That can be done by meditating or writing in a personal journal.

The best part of a blog, I think, is the interaction. I especially enjoy when people respond and it feels like we are moving forward together.

So, the jury is still out on blogging, and here is my entry for today.

What do you think about blogging? Do you think you ever might try to write your own? ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/619-why-blog.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/618-little-steps.html Wed, 30 Sep 2009 11:32:42 GMT Walt accomplished great things, one step at a time. Now you can too.

Some projects and people can just flow naturally and, before you know it, they are done!

Others need to be thought out and planned with little goals to mark the way.

For example, I've already contacted the EcoTour Captain to get his comments for the report, and he sounds interested in the project. I posted my first photos on a test thread last week.

Each of those little steps were pretty big barriers, especially learning the tech of uploading and posting my photos. Now that they are done, I'm on my way.

I've decided that I will post the first part of my trip report on Friday.

So, your job for today is to just think about those steps that might get in your way. ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/618-little-steps.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/617-den-meeting.html Wed, 30 Sep 2009 03:21:13 GMT Monday
September 28

First the arrival. We got there first and the door was locked. But because I had been by the church office last week, I knew that one of the college students' groups uses the door at the end of the building. So I told Jay to check it - it was open, so he came through and opened our door and left it propped open. Everybody else started arriving right after us, so we quickly got the room set up.

Time to start and Tim still wasn't there, but everybody else was, so Jay and one of the other den leaders took charge and had the boys go through the opening ceremony. Then Jay started asking how many would be attending the district campout this weekend. While we were discussing the campout, Tim ambles in, just looking around and talking about how it's so hard for him to make it by 6:30. :rolleyes: He seems to be oblivious to the fact that we've already started the meeting. Somehow Jay and Mark hand over the meeting to Tim.

Tim continues with info about the campout, then moves on to a review of the popcorn sale fundraiser. A few people had some questions so we handled those, then we split up into our dens.

Tonight we had in attendance Joshua and Justice. James was not there. But we did have a new scout, Tyler. He's very cute, sweet and quiet. :D My kind of scout. :D His dad is the one I think I mentioned before, who has agreed to lead the Tigers, with his younger son. I showed everybody the advancement charts I had prepared for them, then we took the flags outside to get started.

Tonight we started with Achievement 2f, Participate in an Outdoor Flag Ceremony. I assigned each boy a position, and Jay helped us. I've never been in charge of a flag ceremony before, so Jay made sure we had the procedures correct. Joshua had already completed this requirement during the USS Kidd trip, as did Justice. So only Tyler was able to count it, and James could have if he'd been here. We will probably do an outdoor flag ceremony the night we visit the police station, so hopefully he will be present that night.

We moved back inside to our meeting room, where I had intended to have a Bobcat relay race as a review of the Bobcat requirements. Tyler was actually in scouts last year in a different pack, but never did earn his Bobcat badge (not sure what the story is there), so he will need to earn it this year before he can get his Wolf Badge. But since we had an odd number of scouts we couldn't divide into teams. Instead we sat around the table and talked about all the requirements. Tyler didn't do that much talking but he seems to be pretty familiar with many of them. Hopefully his dad can work with him and his younger brother together so they can both get Bobcat within the next couple of weeks.

We continued at the table, and started working on Elective 12e, Make a Stencil Pattern. This idea came from the Fast Tracks lesson plans. The boys started out by tracing their hand on a sheet of cardstock. Then they cut around their hand in one solid motion, leaving the handprint to fall out of the middle. This left a hand-shaped stencil. Next, they laid the stencil sheet on top of a sheet of yellow-gold felt and traced around the inside of it with a pen, then cut out the felt handprint.

I am going to sew the handprints onto a large piece of royal blue fabric I found, and then we will have our very own den flag. In the middle I'm going to take another piece of felt and put "Wolves 2009-2010". Then each year I can replace the centerpiece to reflect our current den name. I'll also have to keep having the new scouts do their handprints to add to it, and we'll just remove the handprints for any scouts who drop out. Hopefully I can keep them interested with lots of activities and awards so that none of them will drop out, I think that's sad when they give up on it. I'll get James to do his handprint the next time he is here.

Before we left I took a picture of Justice and Joshua in their uniforms (individually) to use for another project in a few weeks. Tyler didn't have his uniform on, so I'll get his picture another night, along with James.

We didn't really have any extra time tonight, so I didn't get to use any of my filler activities. Actually, all the other dens had already left - somehow I was not aware of that. Before leaving I checked with Tim to see about going to the police station November 2. He said they told him to just let them know when we will be coming, so I told him let's try for that date. It works best for me, and I'm sure the other dens can use a trip to the PD as well.

I also told Tim our den would provide the games for the Halloween party. There are four games suggested as elective activities, and all of them would be perfect for a party setting. I asked about having a work day at the Nature Center for either a conservation project or a service project, and Tim was very excited about that. Several awards the boys will be working on require such a project. He also seemed to like my idea of having a show-and-tell time for the dens at Pack meetings. That's actually what is supposed to be happening anyway, but we are having to make small steps within our Pack. We are getting there, I think. At a snail's pace. ]]> christiejay http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/617-den-meeting.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/616-what-if-you-outgrow-your-project-before-you-done.html Tue, 29 Sep 2009 11:57:39 GMT "All I want you to think about is when people walk through or have access to anything you design, I want them, when they leave, to have smiles on their faces. Just remember that. It's all I ask of you as a designer." Walt Disney

What is your motivating drive as you, the designer of your project, move forward? Do you think that drive might morph into something different? Could that stop you from finishing your project?

Walt was motivated by that smile. If you look way back when Mickey was Steamboat Willie, it is clear that simple diversional entertainment was the mission.

Do you think Walt would be surprised at the number of current attractions that have been designed to teach, thrill, scare, enlighten, or enrich, especially at Epcot?

Even the expression of Walt's mission changed, expanded, and grew. It started with his drive to create entertaining cartoons, and morphed into his drive to create entertaining environments.

So often, when we set a goal or work on a project, our goals or reasons change. Sometimes this is the result of learning, and it's OK to change midstream. If we do that too often, though, we'll never finish what we started.

There really is no one answer to the questions above. I think it is something that has to be considered every step of the way with anything that takes your time and effort.

What do you think?


Quote from page 18,Walt Disney Imagineering-A behind the Dreams Look at Making the Magic Real by the Imagineers-published by Hyperion in 1996. ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/616-what-if-you-outgrow-your-project-before-you-done.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/615-skating-shopping-sewing.html Mon, 28 Sep 2009 22:50:43 GMT Thursday
September 24

Tonight Joshua's school had a fundraiser at the local skating rink. Somehow I convinced Jay to take him and watch him skate for a couple of hours. Well, by the time they made it there and got ready, Joshua actually skated for about 90 minutes. But all that time was able to be logged in to go toward the 3 hours of skating time he needs for his Roller Skating belt loop. So after this evening, he is halfway there! He completed the other two requirements back in the spring, so after one more skating trip he will have earned the belt loop.

Saturday
September 26

Okay, so this is a pretty lame entry, but here it is anyway! We had gone over to Jackson for Joshua to run in a 1-mile fun run race. We had to go in separate vehicles, so after the race Jay took Joshua home and I went back to the scout shop. Why, when I was just there? Well, in filling out some pocket certificates for all the belt loops Joshua earned at day camp, I realized I hadn't bought enough. So I stopped by and picked up a few more.

{Pocket certificates are business-card-sized cards that can be presented to the boys anytime they earn an award in scouting. The only time our Pack awards them, though, is for the rank badges. But Joshua has seen Jay's from when he was a scout, and likes them, and I think it's a cool idea to have them for all your achievements. And since they're only 12 cents apiece, I just go ahead and buy our own. I fill them out with all the appropriate information, then get Tim to sign off on them.}

Monday
September 28

Okay, so my third "S" in this post's title didn't actually happen. I had intended to spend this morning sewing on some of the patches for my uniform shirt so I could wear it to tonight's meeting. But then I realized I should really wash the shirt first, which gave me the perfect reason to postpone my sewing for another day! I love procrastinating, don't you? ;) ]]> christiejay http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/615-skating-shopping-sewing.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/614-dream-area-no-practicalthinking-allowed.html Mon, 28 Sep 2009 12:31:07 GMT Here is how an Imagineer describes the process of dreaming up a new attraction: While dreaming and scheming, we give the idea shape, whatever it might be for now. We ignore any obstacles it may present, for we are not yet concerned with how.

Have you ever gotten yourself all excited about a possibility? Maybe then you shared it with someone who told you it was impossible. Or maybe you shot the idea down yourself!

This is an area where you are free to dream and share those dreams in your comments without fear of being shot down.

Maybe you are hatching a new career? Maybe you hope for big changes in your life? Maybe you are wishing for a miracle?

Dream away and don't edit. You can even get silly if you want.

Sandy's Dream

When I was a kid, before Disney even started the Disney College Program, I used to dream about Disney College. It usually went along with the dream that I was all alone in the parks after closing, just running in and out of each attraction and looking behind the scenes. I used to draw pictures and write about Disney College in my journals.

Disney College first started in 1981. I'd already started undergraduate school, but, I wonder, if I'd heard about it, would I have gone? I think so.

I have a feeling, my life would have taken a completely different path if I'd known that a Disney College had actually come into existence. But I believe anything that is meant to be happens in its own time.

My dream is to somehow work as a support or an associate with Disney College. Unfortunately, the College where I am presently teaching does not offer the program, and did not seem too interested in getting it up and running.

Since I am dreaming, I wish that I might somehow work for Disney College remotely, maybe as an online support. I'd love to do what I am doing now, which is to specialize in helping students who have minor learning disabilities to settle into the rigorous routines of work, study, and young adulthood without relying too much on their accommodations.

I'd like the job to require a few trips out to Florida a year and, of course, that glimpse into behind the scenes.

There is my dream. OK, now, what's yours?



(Quote from page 40-Walt Disney Imagineering-A behind the Dreams Look at Making the Magic Real by the Imagineers-published by Hyperion in 1996.)


Post your dreams below. ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/614-dream-area-no-practicalthinking-allowed.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/613-can-you-get-excited-about-what-might-stand-your-way.html Sun, 27 Sep 2009 13:27:23 GMT "All I know about money is that I have to have it to do things. I neither wish nor intend to amass a personal fortune. Money may worry me, but it does not excite me. Ideas excite me."
Walt Disney

Can you fill this quote in with your own words? What might be holding you back from your dreams and goals? Could you find a way to be excited about that barrier?

"All I know about ______ is that I have to have it to do things. I neither wish nor intend to ___________. _________ may worry me, but it does not excite me. Ideas excite me."

Here's mine:
"All I know about technology is that I have to have it to do things. I neither wish nor intend to learn how to do all the fancy tricks that are available. Technology may worry me, but it does not excite me. Ideas excite me."

Since my current goal is to complete an online trip report with photos, the first problem for me was technology. I had no idea how to upload photos to the PassPorter website, then move them into a trip report thread. The whole process seemed so daunting and, I have to admit, if I had not put my goal on this blog, for all three people who are following to see, I'm not sure if I'd have learned that new skill.

I neither wish nor intend to learn how to do all the fancy tricks that are available, but I really wanted to be able to post some photos online.

I was so excited when I realized I could post a photo of my chandelier here to illustrate my first goal.

Technology may worry me, but it does not excite me. Ideas excite me... I actually do get very excited about the way technology has added a spark to the expression of ideas. Technology has changed the nuts and bolts of daily living. Right down to the core. We are different, down to the way we do even the simplest things.

A basic drive that we, as humans, have is to communicate, share thoughts and information, look for groups where we feel comfortable, and socialize. When I think of the way technology has changed the expression of that simple drive, I have to say it DOES excite me.

So, last night I learned how to post my personal photos on a website. One small step for man; one giant leap for mankind, as Neil Armostrong said?

Probably not, if you are just thinking about me.

BUT, wait!!!!! If you consider all of us, as a group, sharing the visual details of our lives through the air. Sometimes in real time through phones while we run errands. Sometimes on video. If you consider that grandparents can live across the world and have lunch with their grandkids on a screen. How about the fact that we can earn a respectable college degree while taking a number of classes online?

I think, if you put it all together, it really is a giant leap for mankind.

Strangely enough, technology plays a big role in my love for Walt Disney World. When I was a kid, I'd visit Walt Disney World, especially when Epcot opened, and see these amazing glimpses of a future that I just KNEW would soon be here.

Here is one of the attractions that showed some of the technology that fascinated me.

Horizons

I guess if I really think about it, technology makes me both worried, as Walt said, and excited. But the fact that I was motivated enough to get over a hurdle that has been in the way of my progress, WELL, that is my giant leap.

Carry on with your magical day!

Quote from How to Be Like Walt by Pat Williams ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/613-can-you-get-excited-about-what-might-stand-your-way.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/612-state-your-goal-day.html Sat, 26 Sep 2009 13:10:11 GMT We are coming close the the end of our first month. I'm hoping people are becoming more clear about their projects.

I'd like to post names and projects at the top of the blog so we can easily see who is working on what. If you finish a project before June, you will get a gold star next to your finished project and you can start another.

Should we give a special prize to the one who earns the most gold stars?

Please post in the comments as follows:

Your screen name, your real first name.
The name you gave to your project.
Your end goal. This is how you will know you did it!

Then I can combine all your comments at the top of the blog.

I'm going to post the first project comment!

Projects in Progress:
:)GoofEme- Jamie
Project name: A den even Simba would love.
Goal: Den and adjoining room remodeled so DS(19) can move to that end of the house to feel more independent without moving out. Bedroom cleaned out, repainted and moved into. Den/French doors installed and reg. door made to a wall, new flooring, new or reconditioned furnishings in place. Possible small gas fireplace installed by next fall.



:)christiejay - Christie
project - remodel the master bedroom
goal - let's shoot for June so I can get a gold star!


:)Todd Neuman
Project name: Get more pictures of things for my Web Site Neuman's Wheelchair Bound Travel
End goal:complete my area hotel befor I go in November.

:)Sandra Bostwick-Sandy
Project name: The Key Largo EcoTour First Trip Report (The actual trip report will have a different name, I think.)
End goal: I will post photos and write descriptions of my fascinating journey through Key Largo with Boat Captain Mike Makowski and Jennifer from Dove Creek Lodge. I'll post at least weekly and I'll be done when I run out of stories, photos, or questions.

:)A.Daley, Angie.
Project name: The Magical Mission!!!.
Labour Day Weekend 2010 (Alice returns to school)

My goal is to fill my "castle" with 12 pieces of my own Disney Art.
I will create 10 more original pieces on canvas based on WDW landmarks and architecture and place the throughout my "castle". 1 in every room, for future motivation, inspiration and future goals.

:)Disney (Jeff) still coming up with a name.

Finished Projects:
:)Sandra Bostwick (Sandy)
Finished project: Redecorate and paint my bedroom with a theme.
End Result: I LOVE IT! My room is freshly painted, I have a some new art on the wall and I removed some that did not fit. The clutter is removed, and it looks just like my theme: Sanctuary. ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/612-state-your-goal-day.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/611-give-yourself-one-hour-wonder-today.html Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:54:24 GMT Wonder

The link above is an article I wrote a while back about Wonder. I hope you like it.

On page 8 of How to Be Like Walt, Pat Williams quotes Walt Disney as follows:

'People who have worked with me say I am 'innocence in action.' They say I have the unself-consciousness of a child. Maybe I have. I still look at the world with uncontaminated wonder, and with all living things, I have a terrific sympathy. It was the most natural thing in the world for me to imagine that mice and squirrels might have feelings just like mine."

Can you try to let wonder into your daily routine for just one hour today? Can you let us know how it went?

Some people may say that Walt Disney had his head in the clouds, but the fact is, he was able to turn his wonder and curiosity into momentum and productivity.

The optimist might say he created a fantasy world that delights countless children and adults. The pessimist would, at least, have to admit that he created an empire that turned a pretty impressive profit.

Walt Disney's life involved challenging conditions and limited resources, but his enthusiasm got the job done...and THEN some.

Was he too innocent to realize that the odds were against him every step of the way?

Did he ignore barriers, which somehow helped him to get past them?

Did others describe him as unself-conscious because their judgments, criticisms, and doubts didn't seem to phase him?

We can only speculate on those questions now. Let's see if the hour of wonder that you give yourself today has a gift for you. Please post your thoughts here. If your project is too personal to discuss here, just tell us about your hour of wonder.

Remember, private messages to me keep others from sharing in your success!

Carry on! ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/611-give-yourself-one-hour-wonder-today.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/610-gathering-materials.html Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:13:59 GMT Wednesday
September 23

Having worked in the church nursery and preschool department for about 5 years now, I know what resources are on hand. I also know how little most of those resources are being used. So tonight at church, after Joshua and I ate supper and I dropped him off at his choir class, I unashamedly went digging for treasure.

First I went to the church office and got a few sheets of cardstock. I figure they can spare a few sheets, it's not something I'm going to be using all the time anyway.

Then I went to the nursery to see if the big stash of scrap fabric was still there. It was, and after some digging I came up with a lot of royal blue fabric, and several single sheets of yellow felt.

What will all these things be used for? Ah, but you'll have to wait until after our den meeting Monday night to find out! :D

On my way to the prayer service, I went back through the kitchen to ask if, by chance, the vegetables they serve us come in those large tin cans. They do, and I asked if they could save some for me for a future project. But wow - they actually had enough on hand from tonight's green beans that should completely take care of what I need them for. They ran them through the dishwasher for me and I picked them up after church was over. Score! These will be for a project at a later date - I've been keeping a mental list of all the various things I should start collecting for these things. ]]> christiejay http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/610-gathering-materials.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/609-where-could-your-train-thought-take-you-today.html Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:27:39 GMT Remember our book How to Be Like Walt by Pat Williams? On page 7, Walt Disney's grandson,Walter Disney Miller, says "As a boy in Missouri, my grandpa loved the railroads because they could take you anywhere-to all kinds of unknown places. He never lost his fascination with trains."

It seems as if Walt's mind was always moving to the next project, the next location, the next new idea. Yet, he was able to stick with what was right in front of him long enough to see his projects through to completion. That is a real gift!

I live near a train that runs into NYC, and I am always fascinated when I see one speed by. For some reason, I find the double decker trains all lit up at night to be the most interesting. I find myself wondering who is riding and what adventures they are headed for. Are they happy? Do they love their life?

One of the reasons I was excited to get into NYU was the opportunity to ride the trains into the city as a routine. Can I tell you, though, some early mornings when I was schlepping in the pre-dawn darkness through slush to catch an early train, I learned that some trains are just not fun.

They were the same trains, same tracks, same places, but some days it was a thrill and some days I fell asleep standing up.

I think our train of thought can be the same way. Same people, same job, same resources, but one day it is an adventure and, another, it is nothing special.

Today is really an opportunity, like any day. What is on your agenda today? Can you try to set a path on a train of thought that would give your day just a little enthusiasm and spark? Please let me know how it worked out.

Carry on! ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/609-where-could-your-train-thought-take-you-today.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/608-can-you-think-few-resource-people.html Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:09:41 GMT Walt Disney was an idea man, but he knew how to find good resource people who could carry the idea out. He also knew how to find people who would support him, motivate him, and advise him. He basically built a city, filled with the latest technology in robotics (at the time) and added some of the most unique art you can imagine. To do that, he had to take his ideas and add landscapers, architects, excavators, electricians, plumbers...you name it, he needed it! Walt was so good at finding help, that his ideas continued to develop long after he was gone. When your resources are taxed, a little help can go a long way. I know none of us are trying to build a city, but even the small projects might benefit from a little help. Who are your resource people? Walt Disney was an idea man, but he knew how to find good resource people who could carry the idea out.

He also knew how to find people who would support him, motivate him, and advise him.

He basically built a city, filled with the latest technology in robotics (at the time) and added some of the most unique art you can imagine. To do that, he had to take his ideas and add landscapers, architects, excavators, electricians, plumbers...you name it, he needed it!

Walt was so good at finding help, that his ideas continued to develop long after he was gone.

When your resources are taxed, a little help can go a long way. I know none of us are trying to build a city, but even the small projects might benefit from a little help.

Who are your resource people? ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/608-can-you-think-few-resource-people.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/607-pack-meeting.html Tue, 22 Sep 2009 22:11:17 GMT Monday
September 21

First meeting with our new scouts, and Tim is late. Since he's the only one with the key, that means we were all just waiting around outside for him to arrive. We did plan to meet on the playground to let the boys have a few minutes of playtime first, but it was too wet from all the rain to let them get out there. So we just stood around. (I asked at the church earlier today about getting a key, but they are reluctant to hand out any more keys at this time. We are going to have to figure something out, though!)

A few parents had fixed and/or bought snacks, which was good because Tim never said anything to remind us about bringing something to eat. The subject was just kind of dropped last week and never picked back up. Those were set up on the table while Tim organized the awards he was going to hand out. A few of the boys moved the chairs into place and brought out the flags.

One of the den leaders started off (because Tim wasn't ready to start yet) by calling up a few of the boys in uniform to show the new guys what the options were and how to wear the uniform. He went over a few other basic things too, which I thought was very nice and helpful to the new families.

Then the boys did the opening ceremony and Tim handed out awards. There were tons of things to hand out, since we haven't had a pack meeting since they went to day camp back in June. Eight of our boys attended and they each earned several awards. You'll probably remember that I enumerated Joshua's awards in some previous posts. He also finally got his Emergency Preparedness Award that he had earned back in March. Tim didn't bring the Tiger Track beads with him, so he still owes Joshua the final two he earned back in May. But at least we've caught up a couple of months ... :rolleyes:

We briefly discussed the popcorn sale fundraiser and the fall campout which is coming up in just a couple of weeks. Then we broke up for snacks!

I've looked ahead to my plans for next week's den meeting and will need to gather a few materials. I'm going to look at the church when I'm there Wednesday night to see if there's anything on hand that we can use. Otherwise I'll buy it when I get out Monday morning. Only one new Wolf scout showed up tonight, so that brings us to a total of 4 for "my" den. I like small numbers, especially since I'm not a natural leader. Makes things go smoother. ]]> christiejay http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/607-pack-meeting.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/606-your-computer-comments-getting-through.html Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:56:38 GMT IMPORTANT: If you get email notifications of blog posts, and you send a return by email, your comment will not post here on the Blog, so you won't be a part of the group process. Please be sure to click the link and post under comments.

Technology can be a real challenge. It keeps coming at us with new gadgets and procedures like an automatic ball throwing machine set at high and fast. We can duck and cover or we can try to keep up by taking a swing whenever we can.

Unlike the automatic ball throwing machine, though, technology is not something that most people can simply decide to walk away from.

I've received a few e-vites which are cute little invitations that keep track of who responded and how. It took some thinking to figure out how to respond, and I'm still not certain if I responded correctly. A while back, I was invited to an event on an old address which I rarely open. I missed the event.

Has technology changed the way you socialize? Does technology ever get in the way of making connections?

(To be continued-I just ran out of time!)

Have a fun day! ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/606-your-computer-comments-getting-through.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/605-shopping-me-time.html Mon, 21 Sep 2009 18:16:33 GMT Monday
September 21

:D Finally I get to go to the Scout Shop and spend money on me for a change! :D

Having taken on the responsibility of den leader, I felt it was important that I get a uniform. Jay had several old uniform shirts, but they were from when he was much younger and thinner :smirk: so they didn't quite fit me all that well. So I got to go to the scout shop this morning!

I picked up a shirt, a World Crest patch, a "2", some shoulder loops, and a Centennial Ring Patch. We had already purchased some extra council strips last year, and Jay had plenty of "1"'s from the Troops he has been a part of. Oh and the coolest part in my opinion is that I'll now have a place to officially wear the patch I got when I took Joshua to resident camp over the summer! :cool:

I'm a little too lazy to sit down and sew on all those patches before tonight's meeting :rolleyes: , so I'll just wear our Pack T-shirt again tonight, and have my uniform shirt ready for next week.

Tonight's a Pack Meeting. I know for a fact that at least some awards will be presented tonight, because Tim called me on his way to the scout shop Saturday to pick them up. Now whether he will have everything, that remains to be seen! I'll let you know tomorrow. ]]> christiejay http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/605-shopping-me-time.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/604-reframing-those-negative-thoughts.html Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:20:28 GMT The Book How to Be Like Walt opens with "When Walt Disney was just a boy, his father put him to work in the harsh conditions of a Kansas City Blizzard-then kept the money Walt Earned. Even so, Walt embraced a nastalgia for his early years while dreaming big dreams of the future."

If you read various accounts of Walt's early years, his accomplishments become even more amazing. One thing is for sure...Walt didn't let ANYTHING stop his imagination or his drive.

Can you, just for today, try to reframe any disappointments or memory grudges that might drag you down or take away your drive?


Reframing means to look at something a different way. Lets take your project, for example. If your goal is to get a better job, rather than look at past rejections as...well...rejections, you could look at them as experience in job hunting. If your goal is to organize a basement, but every time you make progress someone comes and throws more junk there, you might remind yourself that you are in better shape, at least, because of your earlier work.

Maybe Walt told himself "Well, life was tough when I was a boy, but it sure made me a hard worker and taught me to believe in tomorrow."

Just for today, every time a negative thought creeps in to slow down your progress, try to zap it with a realistic, but optimistic positive thought.

Let me know how it goes! Carry on.



How to Be Like Walt_Capturing the Disney Magic Every Day of Your Life by Pat Williams with Jim Denney, Health Communications, Inc., FL, 2004 ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/604-reframing-those-negative-thoughts.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/603-can-you-imagine.html Sun, 20 Sep 2009 11:44:58 GMT When you can't imagine the finished project, it is hard to know where to start! I'm hearing quite a few comments that seem to suggest just that. Please don't give up!

Can you imagine what you want to accomplish when you are finished with your project? Can you write just one sentence about that?

Sometimes, you just have to give your critic a break and let your imagination get you going, even if the path will be unpredictable.

This makes me think of The Dreamfinder and Figment in the original Imagination Attraction.

Right now, working on my office, I can imagine an efficient system for files, an organization system for thousands of books, and clear work surfaces.

I'll be honest, just taking the time to imagine my final product has helped me plan my next 15 minutes!

By the way, here is an interesting commentary on the development of the original Imagination Attraction. Hope you like it!

http://www.figmentsimagination.com/mediavault.html ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/603-can-you-imagine.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/602-what-gets-way.html Sat, 19 Sep 2009 13:36:57 GMT Jeannie_Amendola

Visit the article above to meet Jeannie Amendola. I had the amazing opportunity to speak on the phone with her for fifteen minutes, and just her voice energized me in a way that lasted a long time.

If you clicked on the article, you'll discover that Jeannie is legally blind. I really don't think that is anywhere near the top of the list of the traits that make her special, but it does represent an obstacle that could certainly make reaching her goals more difficult.

What stands in the way of your progress right now? What can be changed? What is temporary? What is most likely going to be with you for good?

During the interview, Jeannie made this comment:
"I've had cast members approach me and say that they'd seen me live out my dream as a Disney ambassador, and that I'd inspired them to go out and achieve their dreams," Amendola said. "That is more rewarding than anything!"

There are so many obstacles. Some are very concrete, like lack of funds. Some may involve an ovewhelming responsibility that takes all your time. Perhaps there is a physical or mental disability. Maybe you have certain personality traits like being disorganized, negative, unmotivated, or "stuck". Maybe people are holding you back, like a difficult boss or a teacher who does not understand you.

For this entry, let's just consider what might be holding you back. Take it out and look at it closely. Write down all the aspects of what is holding you back and don't start going into what you can do about it.

That will be tomorrow.

Remember, you don't want to put all your business out there! On the other hand, if this gets any bigger, the PMs are going to take so much time, that I won't have time for blogging!

If your answers are too personal to post, just speak in vague terms, please, but let us know you are with us and how you are doing.

Carry on! ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/602-what-gets-way.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/601-registration-night.html Fri, 18 Sep 2009 20:53:03 GMT Thursday
September 17

Tonight was the big night for our school district, for all the boys who were interested in joining Cub Scouts, to come out and get registered. It was held in the gym of one of the local churches that sponsors a pack.

There was a good number of people there, although I don't think it was quite as crowded as it was last year when we were registering. Tonight I went along just to help out and represent our pack.

The district director spoke for a few minutes about the benefits of cub scouting, then each pack was given a few minutes to speak. For our pack, our Webelos den leader did the honors. He mentioned when and where we meet, and that all our dens meet at the same time. He pointed out that this was good for families with multiple boys in scouting, so they just have to get out once a week for all the den meetings. He highlighted a few of the things we do throughout the year, and then the other two packs had somebody speak.

I didn't know what to expect as far as how many would be interested in joining our pack. One of the packs in town has such a good reputation, and they always get such a large number of boys. For us, though, we had about 7 or 8 new boys, which is about the same as last year. 1 fourth grader, 1 second grader, and 4 first graders. But I think there were one or two others that I'm not counting, I can't remember exactly what grade they were in. I helped parents complete the registration forms and explained how much money was due at this time. I also helped tell them how to get to the scout shop for uniforms and handbooks, and where we would be meeting at the church for their first meeting Monday night.

The best thing for me is that one dad, he had a second grader and a first grader. He had picked up an adult leader application when he walked in, I guess he thought all the parents needed to fill one out. But I explained that for his first grader, just his info on his son's form was all he needed to get registered as his son's Tiger partner. However, he had said something about how he had been in scouts. So I ventured forth and mentioned to him that we were still looking for a Tiger den leader, if that's something he might be interested in. And guess what? He said he thought he could do that! :D :love: I told him that the council office offered training, as well as it being offered online, and that we (meaning me ;) ) could provide him with lesson plan ideas. So he took the form home with him and is supposed to bring it back Monday night.

Why am I so excited about this complete stranger agreeing to be the Tiger den leader? Because if you remember, I had mentioned that Tim said he would do it if nobody volunteered. But I know that is a bad idea. He barely makes it to the meetings on time, and he never seems to have a clue as to what's going on. That's really not the type of person you want in charge, certainly not in charge of the entry-level group. That's why I had originally decided to lead the Tigers, to help them get off to a good start. But hopefully this will work out. Tim and Jay can help him out at first until he feels comfortable being the one in charge.

Tim really liked my email newsletter. (I've sent him a couple of samples over the past 2-3 weeks.) So after this next meeting on Monday, I'll be ready to start sending it out to everybody. We just need to make sure we get all the emails of the new families put in correctly so everyone receives it.

That's all I can think of for today. Monday night is supposed to be a pack meeting, and Tim is supposed to hand out awards that were earned during the summer at Day Camp. Hopefully he gets the chance to go pick them up! :crazy: ]]> christiejay http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/601-registration-night.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/600-walts-wave.html Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:30:53 GMT Jeannie_Amendola

Visit the link above to meet Jeannie Amendola, a truly inspirational Disney Cast Member. Here are her thoughts during a ceremony at the Magic Kingdom.

"I could hear my own voice on the microphone as I was speaking to these government officials and special guests at Walt Disney World and it almost felt as if Walt Disney himself is there with you, as if he is placing in your hand his magic and his dream, and you have to cherish it and nurture it and share it with all of the cast members and with all of our guests around the world."

I can't help but wonder, if Walt had not created such powerful momentum with, as Jeannie said, "his magic and his dream", how different would my world be?

Walt was obsessed with bringing entertainment, recreation, and leisure to the world. He managed to get others to buy into his vision so that they, like Jeannie, would feel so passionate about that vision that they would "nurture and share it".

WOW! There are so many thoughts that come into my mind with this, but I think this thought shines the brightest right now for me.

All over the world, there are movements on all levels to create hatred, anger, and misery. The world is full of complainers, hackers, gossips, thieves, con artists, liars, abusers, mean people...you name it! And that's just the beginning, but I don't want to go too far into the inner loop of the dark side.

Walt created a movement that attracted people who wanted to make the world a brighter place in any number of ways. He must have done something right, because the movement is still going!

I know an adorable little Disney Princess named Camille who delights all by dancing in her princess costumes. I know of so many people who count the days by their next Disney vacation. The phenomenon of the PassPorter Disney trip report has a huge following.


Can you post the ways that the momentum of Walt Disney's ideas created a bright spot for you or someone else? Do you think it is catching? ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/600-walts-wave.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/maryel8775/599-i-survived-open-house-being-building-my-ex.html Fri, 18 Sep 2009 01:32:35 GMT Well open house started off quite nicely til I saw my ex walk thru the door. He pretty much ignored me as we were selling 50/50 raffles and bake sale items for the PTO. He took DS to see his teacher and took what seemed like forever, then he comes over to me and throws an envelope at me and tells me to DEAL with it. Then he takes DD off to see her teachers and ends up embarrassing her. Well that doesn't fly with me. So finally I get a chance to go see DS's teacher and she is amazing, really nice and helpful all at the same time. She is even willing to help out the PTO at dances as a chaperone. :cool:

Then finally I could go and see DD's teachers and they are all supportive and helpful too. DD isn't being bossy or very talkative which has been a big problem for quite some time in school.

I did talk to ALL teachers about the upcoming trip and they are all MAJORLY supportive. They told me to just email them and remind them of the dates that the kids will be out of school. They will work with the kids when they get home on catching up on anything they missed. DS's teacher just simply told him to keep a journal of what he does daily. .

The only bad thing about tonight was it was so hot in the school that while I was gone to see DD's teachers, DS who was helping out in the cafeteria got sick 3 times. I do believe it was from the heat as he is fine now. I might keep him home tomorrow just to make sure but I will see how he is feeling in the morning.

Well Blog, I shall bid you adieu tonight and head to bed. ]]> MaryEL8775 http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/maryel8775/599-i-survived-open-house-being-building-my-ex.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/598-life-some-assembly-required.html Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:10:25 GMT Check out this book:
Walt Disney Imagineering-A behind the Dreams Look at Making the Magic Real by the Imagineers-published by Hyperion in 1996.

On Page 89, you'll find a photo of a construction site. On top of raw earth is a tangle of wooden pallets, construction materials and halved columns, lieing in a heap. A big piece of canvas, crudely attached to two sticks and stuck into the ground, announces ITALY PAVILLION-SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED.

Can we really know where we are headed during the assembly stage of a project?

The Imagineers commented on the preassembled ruins of Italy: "If we are to take the idea any further, we must prepare ourselves for a road never traveled. We know not of the challenges that await around all the unexpected twists and turns that lie ahead. Each step forward may mean three steps back. But three steps back reveals our true direction."

One of the most striking thoughts I get as I look at the photo is how, at a quick glance, the future Italy Pavillion looks like a city destroyed.

At a certain point of any project, deconstruction and construction appear very similar!

Some bleaders have let me know that they are presently in a phase of tearing things apart, losing something rather than gaining, destroying rather than building. How can they participate in a blog about creating something?

Well, I can't answer for everyone, but if you are one of those, I challenge you to consider that, even if you are being forced to take something apart, you can still travel with us because your three steps back will reveal your true direction, as the Imagineers said.

At a certain point, a snapshot in time will leave any observer wondering if things are being built or destroyed anyway.

As I prepare myself for, yet, another day, I'm going to hang a sign in my mind: MY LIFE: SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED.

Have a magical day! ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/598-life-some-assembly-required.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/maryel8775/597-open-house.html Thu, 17 Sep 2009 10:56:35 GMT Do you attend your kids open house? How supportive of your child(ren)'s school are you?

Well today I ask these questions because, I am now the school PTO President. Tonight we have our Open House and I have to be front and center in the midst of EVERYTHING. I have to find time to visit my children's classrooms and their teachers, while mingling amongst everyone else.

Because of open house however, the kids have a half day of school today. So I have to get the van in for an oil change before they get released, go to the Maintenance dept to submit forms for building usage for the PTO events. Get Milk! all before they get home, while still trying to figure out where dinner is going to fit into this evening. I am thinking bologna sandwiches for the night.

I also have to be at the school for 5pm to help set up our table for tonights presentation. I am only hoping that I don't have to make any speeches.

Luckily there is NO girl scouts to do tonight. WHEW!!!!!

So my last question to you is: How many hats do you wear in a day???

MOM, PTO President, Girl Scout Leader, Taxi, Daughter, Friend, and Parent!

Today these are my hats to wear. ]]> MaryEL8775 http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/maryel8775/597-open-house.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/596-virtual-wave.html Wed, 16 Sep 2009 11:48:41 GMT What does it take to get a good virtual wave going? If this blog were a wave, what could you do to help?

I mentioned in an earlier post that I once tried to start a wave while waiting for FANTASMIC! Here are two links that give more information about FANTASMIC! if you are interested:
Fantasmic!

Fantasmic!_Video

Getting back to the wave, the FANTASMIC! amphitheatre could seat 10,000 people when filled to capacity, so people start filing in hours before. When my boredom inspired me to start a wave, my friends were pretty mortified.

I jumped up, yelled, made eye contact as much as I could, then sat down and gave people time to process. Here and there, I could see pockets of wavers following along.

Some of the groups were so far away that I could hardly see them. I remember one gigantic rowdy group that took up a huge square of space. They looked like a huge blur of brightly colored shirts that let out a roar of "WOOOOS!" as they moved. Another group must have been a hundred people moving in straight rows, looking like a centipede crawling along.

Easily, thousands of people must have been involved in the movement, while thousands watched with varying degrees of interest, annoyance, or bewilderment. There are also always those who wish they could join in, JUST ONCE, but control the impulse for one reason or another.

These virtual communities that are popping up all over the place are just like a wave. If you look at the PassPorter site, for example, that started with Jennifer and Dave waving and ended up with a pretty large community of regular wavers.

There are ripples all over the place, as people post threads and others respond. It is actually quite interesting.

This particular group blog project involves spending a full school year creating a movement of inspiration, momentum, or enthusiasm around the ideals of Walt Disney for ANY number of projects, goals, or undertakings you choose.

Do you believe we can start a wave? Can you encourage a few people to join in?

Have a magical day! ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/596-virtual-wave.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/maryel8775/595-did-you-ever.html Wed, 16 Sep 2009 04:49:13 GMT Did you ever have one of those days where nothing seems to go right? Where no matter what you do, you can't seem to do anything right or please anyone?

Well a lot of my days seem like that. I wake up and wonder, "Is today going to get any better? Are the kids actually going to get along today?" Then I go and take a peek at my sleeping angels before I wake them up for school and remember that all of this that I am doing is for them and that I love them very much.

I was often told that I was lazy, good for nothing, bad wife, bad mother, stupid, and even pathetic.

Now to some of you this sounds pretty awful that someone could come and say these things to a person. This is what the last 8 yrs of my life has been like.

NOW I am out of that situation and trying to head into a better direction. The kids were pretty much treated the same way. So they often say things like, "I am so stupid!" I just tell them that, "You are not stupid, you just didn't stop to take the time to think clearly and think this through completely before you did the actions."

I am trying to re-program my kids so to speak and get them to raise their self-esteem as well as my own. Everyday I keep thinking that this is all for the best and that we will get through this together.

I have started to try to find new ways of involving the kids, whether it is helping me choose and cook meals, to helping me plan activities that we can all do together. I want them to feel important. I want to feel important.

I think it will take some time to get the ball rolling but everyday has a brighter outlook to it.

Just "ONE DAY AT A TIME!" that will be my motto from now on. ]]> MaryEL8775 http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/maryel8775/595-did-you-ever.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/maryel8775/594-day-life-if-single-mom.html Tue, 15 Sep 2009 22:42:43 GMT Oh boy, there is never enough time in a day when you are a mom. There is always things to be done, places to go, people to meet, and appts to deal with.

My usual day starts off at 6:00am. I wake up to the IPOD blaring "Crazy Train" by Ozzy. Because that is how my life feels like. One big crazy train ride that won't ever stop.

I wake the kids up and get one out the door by 6:30am and the other is in the shower at this time. Then it is time to dose morning medicine and get him out the door.

Then it seems like I might have 5 minutes to myself but NO... Dishes need to be done, laundry needs to be washed, dried, folded, and put away. Something needs to be taken out for dinner.

Then it is off to this place to speak with these people about doing these activities. If it isn't running to the school to deal with PTO business or dealing with one of the kids and their teachers, then it is running my parents around to appointments or off to the mall to pay bills or just out and about.

Then we get home just in time for the kids to do homework and make dinner. Then it is either time for girl scouts or meetings for Avon or even PTO meetings. Some nights its just let's get the kids fed and relaxed so that I can send them to bed.

But even after they are in bed things don't stop there. Because since the kids antagonize each other ALL day when they are home, I am purely exhausted and still have things to do. The kids have to brush their teeth and shower before bed and then they need to settle down, hopefully without acting up. DS has to take his meds for bed to help him with his medical situation and then finally after they are asleep, I can leave my spot at the kitchen table where for the last hour I have been sitting to make the kids stay in their beds and go to sleep without picking on each other.

Once they are asleep then I can take my own shower, relax and settle down to the radio and maybe a good book or even some time on the computer. But then I have to take my medicine to help me fall asleep even though I am so tired from all the antics of the kids.

Then maybe, just maybe around Midnight, I might, just might fall asleep only to wake up again at 6:00am to "Crazy Train" all over again. ]]> MaryEL8775 http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/maryel8775/594-day-life-if-single-mom.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/593-den-meeting.html Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:16:29 GMT Monday
September 14

Tonight was our first den meeting, and my first as den leader. Unfortunately our new scouts won't be with us until next week so I couldn't really do any of the activities. Well, I guess I could have, but I didn't want the new guys (whoever they may be) to be behind as soon as they start coming.

So after we had our opening ceremonies and broke into dens, I basically just talked to everybody. James was back tonight, so that gives us three Wolves. And when we got to the church, there was a man in the parking lot (I guess he was just lurking around, waiting for some scout people to show up) who said his boys go to another pack, but since they're changing their meeting night he was thinking about moving his boys to our pack. One of his boys is in second grade so if they do transfer in, that would give us four Wolves. Thursday night is the big registration night for our town, and I am planning on going. That will let me know the total number I'll have.

So what did I talk about at tonight's meeting? First I let them know that working at such a slow pace last year was fine for Tigers, because we only had 15 requirements. But that won't cut it this year, because there are 58 requirements to earn their Wolf badge! I let them know that I had gotten some lesson plans off the internet (FastTracks) and that many of the requirements would be completed at the meetings. However there were several that would have to be completed at home. And they should try not to miss any meetings so they won't fall behind. Since there won't be any time for us to make up the activities at a later date, anything they miss at a den meeting they will need to make up at home.

I let them know that I'll be guiding them through the process of earning their Wolf Badge, plus a Gold and two Silver Arrow Points. (That's based on the electives that are already part of the lesson plans.) There are also lots of electives that are very simple, that I plan to use as filler activities on nights when we finish up early and need something extra to do. So depending on how many of those we can complete, the boys might even be able to earn more arrow points - it just depends on how many den meetings they attend. Of course some are better off being completed at home, and I'll suggest some of those as we go along. We're also going to try to earn the World Conservation Award.

I explained where the patches would go on their uniform, because Justice seemed interested in that. I explained that as we go along, and as each boy completes all the requirements in 3 sections, they will receive a yellow bead to mark their progress. This will give them a little recognition until they are ready to receive their Wolf badge. I told them the plan is for the boys to receive their badge at the Blue and Gold banquet at the beginning of March. But not to worry - if their scout isn't quite ready at that time, they will still have until the end of the school year to work on the requirements.

I think that's about all we discussed. I'm planning on attending the registration night Thursday - one, out of curiosity to see how many new scouts choose to register with our Pack, but two to help Tim out. I don't know how many other leaders are planning on being there, and I want to make sure that at least one of us present can instill a little confidence in the new families.

The FAQ brochure that Tim thought was such a great idea to hand out to the boys at church for recruitment never happened because he would never get back with me about what to include. But he is planning on having something simple to hand out to our new families Thursday night. I suggested including where and when we meet, and listing the leaders' names and phone numbers. We'll see if it actually gets done, I don't have a lot of faith!

The Raingutter Regatta planned for next week has been postponed again, once Tim realized how many boys no longer had their boat kits. He's going to try to find enough extra to pass out and then reschedule the event once more.

We still haven't started our popcorn fundraiser, mainly because Tim never went to the info meeting. So when we told him that the big pack here in town was already selling, he said he didn't think it had started yet. I told him it started September 1. Then he admitted he hadn't gone to the meeting. An extra meeting is next week, he is planning on attending that one. By the time the boys finally get their order forms, they won't have much time at all left in which to sell. ]]> christiejay http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/christiejay/593-den-meeting.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/591-how-creative-ideas-shaped-into-something-real.html Tue, 15 Sep 2009 09:42:49 GMT If the spark of an idea is strong, it will never fade away. Even if it travels only far enough to appear on that first piece of paper, there it will patiently remain until the time is right for it to re-ignite. (quote from page 36 of Imagineering, A Behind the Dreams Look at Making the Magic Real, Hyperion, 1996)

On the same page, a quote from Walt Disney advises "Get a good idea and stay with it. Dog it and work at it until it's done, and done right."

While these two concepts seem to be on the same page they seem to...well...NOT be on the same page as far as meaning. The first quote seems relaxed and forgiving, while Walt almost sound like an idea task master.

If you are developing any creative ideas right now, how can your theme help you know when the job is done, and done right? Are you relaxed or a task master?

I've been spending some time looking at the trip reports on the PassPorter site, and I feel like I stumbled across a whole new world of ideas. The photos and narratives seem to reflect each author's unique characteristics to create a theme. Some writers posted clouds, some focused on hidden Mickeys, some highlighted gardens, others showed lots of characters, and many showed warm loving families.

Most of the trip reports center around a theme with a title that lets you know a little bit about what to expect. A funny title includes "Dragging Grandma Kicking and Screaming" and a sweet title included "Pumpkin Pie with Loads of Whip Cream on Top" in honor of a DD with a nickname "my sweet little pumpkin pie."

They were all about Disney, but each World looked like a completely different place.

That got me wondering what, exactly, I am trying to do with this blog? Can there be a focus, especially when I am trying to stay flexible and go with the flow of comments.

Already, the original title seems outdated and not quite right. For me, the theme is also layered because I am working on my own ideas while working on the blog itself.

I realize now that this blog is like the first quote and these entries are like that first piece of paper, waiting to be developed.

Hmmmmmmmmm, where will this blog go? Where will YOUR project go?

Any ideas? ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/591-how-creative-ideas-shaped-into-something-real.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/589-full-swing-into-school-year.html Mon, 14 Sep 2009 11:57:19 GMT Today I'm required to do that which comes most naturally to me...multi-task. My attention is being forced from my Sanctuary Theme room. It's time to begin a new school year!

I opened my imagineer book and found the quote "You don't build it for yourself. You know what the people want and you build it for them."-Walt Disney

Are other people involved with whatever theme project or projects you've chosen? What reaction or outcome would you hope for? Do you know what theme might inspire THEM?

This is a time when I meet a few new students but, mostly, it seems, greet students who I know very well. This is a time when I try to figure out HOW, as an occupational therapist or as a teacher, can I possibly help these kids do better in school?

In my elementary school, my private practice, and my work at the college, I have enough of a challenge getting students to LISTEN . Then, I need them to make the effort for muscle thinking. (The term I use for the "ouch" that you sometimes feel while learning new concepts.) Through all this, I hope that I am someone they enjoy seeing. I hope they walk away with a smile and a good feeling.

Today, as I start off the school year, I'm going to spend some time reflecting on how I might incorporate The Walt Disney Concept of various distinct and well-though-out themes into my work.

Have a fun day!

P.S. Remember to post your comments here, not on my page or in private message so others can share. ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/589-full-swing-into-school-year.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/588-todays-projects-went-like-buddah-budduh.html Mon, 14 Sep 2009 02:12:17 GMT Today, after church, I went right to Home Depot and got supplies for my theme room. I'm still working on the first theme of Sanctuary in my bedroom.

It took two coats of primer and white paint, but the ugly, beaten up doors are now nice and white.

There is a movie called "Catch Me If You Can" with Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio on TV right now.

The movie has a scene where a con man is asked to say Grace before dinner, but he does not know how. He tells this story instead:

Two little mice fell into a bucket of cream. The first mouse quickly gave up and drowned, but the second mouse, he struggled so hard that he eventually churned that cream into butter and he walked out. Amen.

I'm posting that story for anyone who might be thinking of taking on a challenge and might need a little reassurance. Sometimes the challenge forces the struggle that ends up saving you in the end.

I hope some people take on a project...ANY PROJECT, big or small, and follow along with the blog. More mice churning makes the butter more quickly!

Of course, if you don't choose a choose a project, then please follow along anyway. ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/588-todays-projects-went-like-buddah-budduh.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/587-fork-road-progress.html Sun, 13 Sep 2009 12:08:27 GMT Yesterday I hit a fork in the road of progress. I've been bloggin about creating theme areas in my home, similar to the way that Disney Parks have separate and distict themes.

After accomplishing some nice theming in my bedroom, I became very enthiusiastic about creating a theme in my downstairs office play room. The problem? I had not really finished my bedroom yet.

Does energy and momentum sometimes work against you when you are trying to focus on one project?

Page 34 of Imagineering: A Behind the Dreams Look at Making the Magic Real notes that "the process of developing an idea can be temporarily stopped at any time for many reasons, including a change in concept direction, a change in project priority, or even a change of mind."

The Imagineers quote Pablo Picasso: I look at flies, at flowers, at leaves and trees around me. I let my mind drift at ease, just like a boat in the current. Sooner or later, it is caught by something.

Well, yesterday, my inspiration split like two bright butterflies that suddenly began flying in different directions. There is NO WAY I could have worked on both rooms at the same time!

This time, I decided to focus on the details and finishing touches on my bedroom theme. Today I'll finish the trim and, I think, put a coat of accent paint on the ugly doors that are marked with scratches and paint splatters from 30-some years of wear and tear.

THANK YOU BLOG! Each time I post, it feels like a little spark of energy is deposted into my project account.

Is anyone working on projects along with me? You can adapt your own project to the reflections if you are not inspired to work on your home right now. ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/587-fork-road-progress.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/586-pause-reflection-energy-motivation.html Sat, 12 Sep 2009 13:43:04 GMT Check out this book:
Walt Disney Imagineering-A behind the Dreams Look at Making the Magic Real by the imagineers-published by Hyperion in 1996.

On page 77, I found this quote: "There are no days in life so memorable as those which vibrate to some stroke of the imagination"-Ralph Waldo Emerson.

This thought struck me. When I think of vibration, I think of energy, which really is required to get anything done.

Are you one who jumps right into your goals, dreams, and projects? Are there barriers that get in the way?

My goal for this blog is to spend some time every day for a year using Walt Disney's ideals, style, or philosophy to bring change into my world.

I decided to try a group blog because working in a group is one of the biggest motivators I know. So, I'm going to ask anyone popping in...if participation in the work is not for you, can you cheer me on?

I've actually seen a big improvement in my energy since this blog has sparked my imagination. Yesterday, I came to a crossroads. I went downstairs to the room where I see my kids in my private practice. I looked at the work I had up on the walls. All the reminders of progress, creativity, and fun.

I have a habit of leaving one item up for each student to remember them by. Well, that is a loving way to remember your kids, BUT it gets a little messy and cluttered.

I've known for years that I need to do something about those walls, but I just never could decide to take action on it.

In just a few moments, I took down a whole wall of treasured artwork and stories, and had to admit...THIS LOOKS A WHOLE LOT BETTER!

Maybe I need to keep a scrap book with the kid's work and let the walls calm down.

I just bought a new hammock swing, which hangs in the middle of the room. The colors are bright and tropical. When I first put it up, it clashed harshly with the colors from my kid's artwork. When I took the artwork from the one wall, the swing looked balanced in a nice way.

I started to get all excited about the theme for this room, which would be similar to a Caribbean Beach Resort/Coronado Springs/Adventure Land motif.

I mean, I really got excited! And that is important because I felt a momentum that I used to have daily. My imagination would spark and I would immediately embark on a firestorm of activity.

I think the decisive factor with productivity is that you must actually believe you will accomplish something. I think this belief can get squashed by any number of factors: lack of funds, lack of time, negative people, poor health, poor organization, you name it.

My imagination spark, for much of my life, came effortlessly and, I have to admit, I did not appreciate it much. The way things often go when we grow up, I could not count on that spark as much lately.

I'm actually glad for that because, yesterday, when the spark lit up, it was not something to be taken for granted. It felt like momentum, energy, drive, and growth.

I was vibrating to my imagination, and it felt like a rush.

Can anyone relate to that? ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/586-pause-reflection-energy-motivation.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/585-theming-dreaming.html Fri, 11 Sep 2009 12:04:31 GMT We are almost ready to move on to our next theme area. Before we leave this first area, though, let's do a little dreaming.

Take a good look at your theme area and think about any improvements that might require a shopping trip, take a little work, or could make a nice future project. Write your ideas down.

Walt Disney said I just want to leave you with this thought, that it's just been sort of a dress rehearsal, and we're just getting started. So if any of you start resting on your laurels, I mean just forget it, because...we are just getting started.

Everything Disney constantly grows and changes. Imagineers never stop asking how could a theme be improved. Many of the plans never get started. Some won't be attempted for years.

A dream is just a wish your heart makes, so there is no pressure to follow through here.

Write your dream list here.

Here is my dream list for my first theme area.

1: two new white doors.
2: a new paint job on walls.
3 a new coat of paint on my furniture.
4: some sort of small, unique hanging light accent for one corner.
5: possibly some sort of mirror or framed mirror accents for the walls.

Have a great day! ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/585-theming-dreaming.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/584-home-6-15-minutes-listen.html Thu, 10 Sep 2009 13:32:30 GMT Good morning! Sorry, to those who were wondering where I was yesterday morning. I had an early surgery, I was zonked on Vicoden, and I did not have a designated blogger. I can't afford a BUI...Bloggin under the influence.

OK, here is today's 15 minutes. We are still on our first theme room. Here's the Disney Principle.

What sounds do you hear in your theme area? Do they support or interfere with the atmosphere that you are trying to create? Can you do anything about this?

Walt and his imagineers took great care to make sure that what you hear is consistent with the theme of each area. The sounds seamlessly blend as you walk from theme to theme, so you notice a change in your mood and you immediately become immersed in the theme without consciously knowing why.

Sit for a few minutes in your theme area with your eyes closed. Then write down what you hear. If there are distracting sounds, is there something you can do about them?

OK, can I tell you that my particular theme room is in a nighmare spot. I love right on a highway so I can have zoning for my occupational therapy private practice in my house. That is great for the 6 step commute, but it is AWFUL for the noise. As I listened, all I could hear was cars speeding by and even worse, trucks and the occasional speaker on wheels. I can actually FEEL the vibrations when I concentrate.

On a tangent, that worries me, because there have been some studies on auditory processing disorders that found a correlation between decreased processing for certain sound frequencies that are regularly tuned out because of constant annoying noise. They found that the brain may develop a switch to tune out these frequencies in all situations.Also, there is the obvious fact that a noisy room can be distracting.

Anyway, here is what I've been doing in this particular room to combat the noise.

First, I am rarely in this room during rush hour traffic, which makes a HUGE difference. I would honestly go nuts if I this room were not my bedroom. I don't even need an alarm clock-the traffic wakes me up with the windows closed. So, my one strategy is to use this room at the best times for quiet.

I also have a loud air conditioner that screens the noise. I have a white noise machine that I use alot.

I use the TV alot to screen the noise, but that creates its own background distraction.

I don't really have any radio in here. I'm thinking of maybe moving one into the room.

OK, let's hear your noise list and what you can do about it. Remember, you are still focusing on that one first theme room.

Have a fun day! ]]> Sandra Bostwick http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/584-home-6-15-minutes-listen.html http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/blogs/sandra%2Bbostwick/583-home-5-15-minutes-keep-simple.html Wed, 09 Sep 2009 22:13:26 GMT