Like Grandpa, Like Grandson

  A couple of days after Michael broke his arm, Grandpa broke his leg. Grandpa was ready to trade breaks with Michael, because he's rather have a broken arm than a broken leg. He wants to get back outside to his yard work! It's summer after all! I once broke my toe when I was a teenager. One of my brothers broke his nose, the other had two arm breaks on the same arm in quick succession. Have you ever a broken a bone? Which one? If not, which bone would you choose if you had to have a break? (Inner ear bones, anyone?)

I Saw the Sun!

I remember watching a solar eclipse when my age was in single digits. It was less than satisfying, since it was viewed through a pinhole which let the sun's shadow into a box. The pinhole translated the sun into a tiny crescent slowly shrinking on the far wall of the box as the moon covered its face. It was all I could do not to turn my head to see for myself the celestial event taking place above my head. But I resisted the urge, since I truly value my eyesight. Now I've lived long enough to witness yesterday's solar eclipse through amazing glasses so dark that I couldn't see anything but the small crescent of sun being swallowed up behind the moon. Cool! It was no wonder that ancient people saw this as a doomsday event. Staring at the horrible sight of the sun being eaten up must have struck some of them blind from over exposure to solar radiation, thus rendering the idea of the anger of the Gods. But God and I were sharing a happy moment.
What is one of your memories from childhood?  

Wild Mother's Day Weekend

What is an ideal Mother's Day celebration? Well, since I don't particularly like the idea that children are required to "appreciate" their mothers on a particular day, I say live life as usual! A year's worth of rubbing shoulders with my sons is better than any single day, so go ride some Lagoon rides you've never ridden before, such as the CLIFFHANGER, WICKED, (where my visor blew off and I couldn't retrieve it until after the schedule 3:00 p.m. hat run! How funny that they have a set time to retrieve fallen items... and I found two dimes in my WICKED seat before I even sat down! BONUS!) And I rode an airplane barrel-roll type ride I forgot the name of, and re-rode Rattlesnake Rapids... one of my favorites. After Lagoon, I wen to a CLAY WALKER concert to benefit my dear friend Justin Osmond's OLIVE OSMOND HEARING FUND. Such energy! Such beach balls! Such confetti and streamers! There are more unforgettable concerts and events coming up, with proceeds going toward bringing the GIFT OF HEARING to someone's ears, so check them out in the Upcoming Events box at: justinosmond.com  and treat yourself to some FUN TIMES for a GREAT CAUSE!

Whether you're a child or mother, what does your ideal Mother's Day look like?  

Smile!

The camera man at my sister's house said to smile. But I was eating. That's important, too. But no worries! No stopping necessary! Simply smile and chew!
If you are trying to get something important done, like writing, then you don't have to stop doing everything else. You can just do it faster, or during, or less of something boring. (Yay-uh!) Check out my "Writing Like Lightning" powerpoint for ideas on getting your writing done as fast as lightning! Click here to download it at shirleybahlmann.com!
And we're curious about this, too - what do you like to do while eating?

When Tristi Pinkston put out a call for book reviewers for “Million Dollar Diva,” I loved the title, so I volunteered to review it. Then the book showed up, all pink and pretty with the Eiffel Tower on the cover next to a woman holding shopping bags. Since shopping is not my favorite, I was drawn to the Eiffel Tower. My daydream is to travel anywhere in the world I want to go whenever I want to go, and take along friends on the journey!

Since early in my marriage when we lived in a cinderblock apartment and could only afford either potatoes or milk, not both, I began reading books on how to increase wealth. Many of them said to visualize being wealthy with all the juicy details and the money would come. I got tired of that strategy in a hurry when coming back from my balconied, turreted, ballroom-floored imaginary house to my cinderblock surroundings did not foster feelings of contentment.

During our 34 year marriage, my husband and I have had financial ups and downs which seem to mainly consist of costly emergencies as soon as we got some extra money in the bank. “Oh well,” we’d say. “At least we had the money to cover it.” But that hasn’t always been the case. Sometimes the emergencies put us in the hole, and we’d muddle through the best we knew how.

So I opened Tristi’s new book with mild curiosity, wondering if there would be any interesting information on Paris, but I didn’t hold out much hope for real financial change.

Surprise!

Who would have thought that taking out a loan on a vehicle that was already paid off could be a good financial strategy? And I’d never heard about the nearly free Magicjack phone service listed in between the pink pages. In desperation for our retirement future, I’d opened a Roth IRA savings plan last summer, but lo and behold, there are better options out there! Ones I’ve never heard of before!

Not only does this book hold out help for financial management, but time management as well. Tristi offers her own insights on her job cutbacks as an example of what to keep and what to toss to free up more productive time. Her experience gave me some food for thought, and that’s the best kind - calorie free and full of nutrients that go directly to the brain.

Sometimes I give my review books to the library. This one’s staying with me. They can get their own.

What's just as exciting as the book is that you can follow Tristi’s progress on milliondollardiva.com, where there is also a CRAZY GOOD OFFER for a FREE Million Dollar Diva book for just the cost of shipping and handling… $5.95! I was going to tell you that it’s completely worth it for the $14.95 cover price, but getting started on this financial freedom journey with a $5.95 investment is unbeatable! Go grab it while it’s hot!

See you in Paris.