Introduce yourself and to shake things up tell us you favorite Disney memory, it could be anything from your first trip to Disney World to watching a Disney movie that inspired you. Also, please share your goal for the month, anything that may get in your way and how you're going to overcome it.
Hi I am Tammy 42 almost 43 years old. I live in Montana with my husband and our 2 girls ages 12 and 9. I put my goal down in an earlier post but will restate here that it is to drink at least 64 ounces of either straight or fruit infused water a day. The biggest thing that may come in the way is the girls taking drinks from my water bottle while we are out and about with all our activities. I plan to overcome this by making sure that they have theirs when we leave the house. While I haven't been on as many Disney trips as some on here ( 2 trips to land in 87 and 95 and one to world in 10) it is so hard to choose just one so I will be sharing a few.
On our trip to WDW our first full day we went to MK ( I say 1st full day as our flight landed around 4 in the afternoon so we saw a bit of the resort-from our room to the food court and the check in building especially since we had to leave our house a little after 4 in the morning our time and we only live about 20-30 minutes from the airport depending on traffic and if we can use a road that was originally a path for the family it is named after to herd their sheep from one area to another without going a long way around. Due to the nature of this path widened as much as possible into a steep and narrow road ( you get a flat on here you have to drive on the rims to either the top or the bottom as their is no place to pull over at all-on the going up you have 6 inches between you and the concrete barrier that was put in place to keep people from going off the edge of the cliff when they replaced the guard rail. On the down direction there is not much more between the side of the cliff walls and you and their is always the danger of falling sandstone rocks). Yes I have a love hate feeling about this road-the scenery is breathtaking and it cuts a lot of time off when I do need to go that way but driving the road is a challenge we were tired and just wanted to grab a bit to eat and get some rest) my youngest who has special needs went up to Minnie Mouse and did her first spontaneous communication with someone other than a family member when she handed Minnie her autograph book and signed Please. I just about cried.
The other one also took place at MK on our last full day ( especially since we had a 7 am flight. Note to self don't let my sister book flight arrangements. At least the airline had a change so we didn't have a 45 minute layover instead it was supposed to be 2.5 hours but due to mechanical issues with the plane and weather conditions at our home airport ended up being closer to 4.5 hours and when we took off we didn't know if we were landing at our home airport or in a different town a 5 hour drive away). 12 year old ( 5 at the time) really wanted to meet some of the Fairies so we headed over to Toon Town in order to get in line. Due to having severe hypotonia we were using a stroller as a wheel chair for 9 year old ( 2 at the time) and while we were told a few times no strollers as soon as we said we are using the stroller as a wheel chair and showed the tag ( which I usually had held out from the stroller using the hand of the side it was on while pushing one handed) it was just go this way no problem. We had been waiting in line for a while listening to comments from others about how it must be nice to be one of those people who think they don't have to follow the rules, who did we think we were, there are no strollers allowed, can't we read, ect with me starting to fume and wanting to go tell them off and DH going calm down honey ( It took him a few years but after dealing with the school district he finally figured out that it's best to just back me up when I am in a fight one of the kids modes) when a cast member came to us and asked us to come with ( I did not even catch the name). We were taken back to the front of the line where the greeter was and were told that their were complaints about us having a stroller and that a manager would be by shortly to talk with us. I thought oh no we are going to be told that we have to figure out a way to park the stroller and have our her walk with DH carrying her if needed ( one thing about kidos with hypotonia when they get where they can no longer struggle to keep themselves upright it is like carrying a dead body except they protest if you just grab both arms or feet and drag if they get too heavy). The manager told us that we would get to go in through a back door to meet the fairies and that it would be just our family. The doors would open shortly to let the family in front of us in and then they would do a few from the regular line before it would be our turn but it would be a much shorter wait than we would have had other wise and that she was sorry we had to put up with the comments of people around us when we had a special needs child. We ended up only waiting about 15-20 minutes instead of the 45-50 minutes we thought we still had to wait ( total of about 40 minutes from the time we got in line originally) and we were able to spend quite a bit of time meeting Tinkerbell, Iridessa, and Terrence which our older daughter loved though she really had wanted to meet Silver Mist or Fawn as those are favorites ( and I think more important the ones her cousins had met earlier in our trip).
Just like Walt, where we grew up can affect us for the rest of our lives. How does where your from affect you? Maybe you're from a region that eats lots of fried food or maybe from where hiking is a way of life. Do you still live in that kind of area or have you moved on?
Seeing that cows out number people 6:1 here in MT and it is a very outdoor lifestyle state ( not fun when you have a skin tone that is burn, blister, and peel even with factor 45-50 sun screen and are unsteady on ice-a good winter is when I don't land on my hind end at least once, this past one was not the case) it is a lot of beef, wild game, fresh from the lake fish ( usually fried), and vegetables from the garden. Fruits were usually strawberries and apples with the occasional oranges, bananas, and water melon though we did have others from time to time. I not only live in the same kind of area my house is actually about 30 yards from the back of the house that I grew up in ( well from the time I was about 15 months old but the move was a grand 60 yards).
Bonus question- Where were you born?
I was born her in MT as were my parents, and 1 of my grandparents ( the others were born in Colorado but moved here around the age of 3, Illinois but moved here at age 1, and South Dakota and didn't move until an adult). We actually live on land homesteaded by my great grandfather.
What do you find to be the hardest part of a healthy lifestyle and how do you have fun?
The hardest part of having a healthy lifestyle is trying to do too much for my body with having the fibro and chronic fatique and than paying for it unable to exercise and barely able to move. I ended up doing this last month setting my goal too high and trying desperately to achieve it. How I have fun is spending time on the computer though we I can I like get in some light casual swimming.
Bonus question: What was your first job?
Other than a regular babysitting job which was every week and raising animals for shows ( we made more in sale and prize money than our friends did working jobs all summer long) my first job was at a small town truck stop and camp ground where I worked mainly in the kitchen doing dishes, putting away the stock order, and some prep work. I did some waitress work and a little bit of grill cooking but not a whole lot of those. I got this position because that is where my dad was staying while working on a road construction job and he found out the owner needed a little extra help ( it didn't help that the person actually in charge of ordering and putting the stock away had emphsemia so wasn't able to do as much.
Walt followed his own dreams even when those around him didn't approve or didn't understand. This is probably what made him so successful later in life. If we want to have success with a healthy lifestyle sometimes we have to stand up to people that don't agree with our choices. This could be the coworker that persuades you to have a piece of cake or your kids wanting to stop for fast food. When these situations arise how do you deal with it? Are you still learning to stand up for what is best for you?
I am trying to stop at places that have healthier options when stopping for fast food though it is still a bit of learning to stand up for me from time to time but more on the I am eating what you ( person who is judging my food choice at the time) don't think that I should ever let past my lips until I am at the perfect goal weight for 6 months to a year in moderation which is what I have been advised by my medical provider in order to prevent a complete relapse and abandonment of my weight reduction plan so kindly shut your mouth and keep your opinions to yourself or at least not in my hearing variety.
Bonus: What did you want to be when you grew up?
In 2nd grade I stated for our school year book ( one of the fun things about attending a school that went up to the 8th grade ( though due to construction my class only got to go till 6th and the year ahead of me till 7th but we didn't get the big send off because it would have taken away from the 8th graders graduation) that I wanted to be a house wife as in I wanted to be the one to order stuff for wonderful parties, make sure that the food was just right from the place I hired to cater for me, arrange flowers for social events with my husband. In 8th grade we had to explore a career as part of planning out which classes you wanted and needed to take in high school I chose interior designer ( except I am not good at making things or sketching out ideas just taking what others have made and going these curtains, this rug, this color here, done-I just need a decent budget to do my house at least one room all at once and not take so long that what I wanted can no longer be found and nothing goes anymore with my original plan).
What do you think has been the biggest thing you have learned so far? Has someone given you a pearl of wisdom that changed your way of thinking? Maybe you discovered that you are stronger than you thought?
The biggest thing that I have learned so far is that it is a life style change and that it is best for it to be gradual because otherwise I will not keep with it. Oh and unless the change is because of a food allergy everything in moderation not being drastic.
Atleast it's the weekend so DS won't be missing school and DH is home to help. I will be on tomorrow morning to comment and post the weekend question.
This is great advice
