Tag Archives: Life Lessons

Cold Toast, Worn-out Wonder Wieners, and other Life Lessons

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Six Life Lessons I Have Learned

1. A watched toaster never pops.

 You have to ignore the toaster. Don’t wait for the toast to pop up. Walk away. Get distracted by something else. Fold laundry. Do your taxes. When you get back to the toaster, you’ll find your toast has popped up. Except it’s cold. How long did it sit, popped up and waiting for you? Hmmm? I have learned the solution. Outsmart the toaster. Press the cancel button every few seconds. Pop up, push down, pop up, push down. Check the toast until it’s a light, golden brown. The toaster is ill-equipped to stop you from this ingenious action. And you will feel victorious as you enjoy your warm toast. read more

I Hoped For Pancakes, But Got Marriage Counseling

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It’s 11 a.m. and I’m thinking about pancakes. I’m at the new, just-opened Denny’s in Maricopa, Arizona. This is not the average run-of-the-mill Denny’s that many of you might be familiar with. This is like Strawberry Shortcake Denny’s with pink and red striped awnings and cherry red neon lights spelling out breakfast and lunch. Maricopa doesn’t have a real-life, well-known, sit-down chain restaurant. Maricopa offers lots of fast-food joints where you scream your order at the cashier behind the counter. You scream because the teenage employees have cranked-up the music so loud your head hurts. read more

What I Learned From the Not-So-Good Things in 2015

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"In this life we cannot always do great things. But we can do small things with great love." ~Mother Teresa

“In this life we cannot always do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” ~Mother Teresa

Flat Tire
Jerry and I didn’t have a care in the world as we rode down the street in our ancient, yet still running very nicely, Ford Explorer. Mainly, we didn’t have a care since the car’s AC kept us cool. The heat outside could sizzle eggs on the sidewalk, should anyone want to try it. Suddenly…Bam! Ba-bump, ba-bump, ba-bump. “We have a flat,” Jerry announced and pulled the car over, got out and began to change the tire, kneeling on the soft, melting-to-a-boil asphalt. “Do you want help?” I asked while silently thinking, pleeeze-say-no. Jerry said, “No, I’ve got it.” Suddenly out of nowhere a man in a pickup truck pulled up behind us. “Need help?” he called out. Jerry thanked him and said he had it under control. “You sure?” the guy asked. Jerry assured him all was well. I realized then, no matter how much we hear on the news of terrorism, murders, and general hatred between various groups, kindness for humankind still exists. A stranger in a pickup offered to sweat in 100-plus degrees in order to help Jerry, and for no other motivation than kindness. After all, what else could it be? We didn’t post a sign on the road stating that anyone who helped us would get ten bucks. read more

Eight Things I Learned about Life at Disneyland:

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Disney1

Life Lessons I Learned at Disneyland:

1. Mick Jagger must have been singing about Disneyland when his lips famously flapped, “You can’t always get what you waaaaahhhh-nt.” The price of admission to Walt’s theme park is more than the cost of a new Lexus or Audi. Even so, don’t expect to get everything you want.  Jerry and I signed up (and paid extra) for the “Walk in Walt’s Footsteps Tour.” The tour promised a behind-the-scenes look at Disneyland. Unfortunately, Jerry and I chose to take the tour the day before Disneyland kicked off its 60th Anniversary Celebration. Our Disney tour guide flat-out told us, “Ordinarily our tour goes to the Dream Suite, but we won’t go there today.” (sad face) And, “Yes, the Peter Pan ride is on the tour, but not today. It’s under construction.” (another sad face) The comment that should have been said but wasn’t, “Actually, this tour has hours to waste since we cancelled just about everything featured on the tour. Let’s start by killing time at The Enchanted Tiki Room, an attraction not on the tour and that you already paid for with your admission ticket and would probably not go to anyway.” The only thing Jerry and I got on the tour that we expected for our extra charge is a stroll through Walt’s apartment above the Firehouse on Main Street. We were not allowed to take any pictures inside Walt’s apartment, but the tour guide promised she would take our picture for us. “You’ll want this for your Christmas card,” she said (wink, wink).  Once our tour group stood inside Walt’s tiny apartment, our guide noticed a woman preparing to snap a picture of Walt’s Victorian armchair. She gasped in horror, “No! No! No! Only ‘I’ can take pictures in this apartment.” She took deep breaths to calm herself from the tragedy she had narrowly averted. Jerry whispered to me, “What’s so special in this apartment that we can’t take pictures? Are they afraid we’ll take a picture of Walt’s grilled cheese-maker?” We didn’t know the answer and still don’t. One thing I do know. The tour made me realize that sometimes in life you get disappointed and don’t get the Dream Suite, plus unfulfiled promises of Christmas card quality, (yes, we got blurry photos), and when you least expect it, you’re surrounded by fake tropical birds singing, “In the tiki, tiki, tiki, tiki, tiki room.” read more