Snacks at the Movies Too Expensive?

With the Academy Award nominations announced, does it make you want to go to the movies and see some of those films in the theater? We’ve seen a couple of them, but the cost of treats and tickets will soon be cutting into our vacation budget even though we’re senior citizens getting a break on the cost of our tickets!

For example, yesterday we would have spent $51.68 if we’d purchased popcorn, soft drinks and candy! As it was we paid $42 because we had water instead of sodas and we didn’t get candy. It got me to thinking about how to save money at the movies, by sneaking in your treats.

Do you frequently have a friend or family member whom you love, come into your mind and you think, ‘I should call so-in-so’ and then you don’t, but then the loved one calls you? It'd be good to call your friends often because chances are if you're thinking of them, they're thinking of you.

The other day I’d been thinking about Bernice, my friend in Fresno and because we hadn’t talked in several years I sort of was worried that maybe she was dead (you have to start thinking that way when your friends get old and Bernice is 84). She and I were friends from the church we were members of, and we remained friends after I moved to Washington 42 years ago. I’d been thinking about her for several days and had promised myself I’d call her before the day was over. Bernice is one of those senior citizens who hasn’t even dipped her toe into the 21^st century as far as cell phones, Facebook, Google and such are concerned. I’ve tried to talk her into getting a smart phone or a computer but it was always like trying to talk a slug into running.

So back to the day when I talked to her; the phone rang and it went like this.

Ring, ring, ring?

“Hello?’

“Hi Pam this is Bernice.”

“Oh, my goodness! I’ve been thinking about you and honest I was going to call you today! It’s sooo good to hear your voice!!!! HOW ARE YOU?!!!!!” (I was so delighted to hear her voice my energy level was up there as if she’d been raised from the dead.)

How can that be when I'm only 45? (Okay, I feel as if I'm 45.)

When McKenzie, my first grandchild was born 23 years ago (my youngest daughter Joanna's child) I was stunned by the experience. I was honored to be at the birth and had one of the major shocks of my life; I loved that infant with the identical love I had for her mother when she was born. Being a grandmother was one of those surprise perk events God has up her sleeve. 

When it came to wondering what my "gramma" name would be, I really didn't care. I called my grandma on my dad's side Gramma Dot and my mom's mother was Granny. I decided I'd just wait and see what name McKenzie would give me when when she started talking. She named me Ila, pronounced eye lah.

Last week I was invited to go to lunch with McKenzie and Joanna and at the lunch I was informed that I’m going to be a great grandmother in July! The news lit up the table at the Applebees we were in like news that North Korea is going to be nice now!

When I got organized in the late seventies, I decided to keep it a secret from my husband, kids, parents and best friend. I’d read that when you want to make an important transitional change in your life, keep it to yourself and wait for “them” to come to you and say, “What’s happened to you?” or ”You seem happier and you’re always on time lately, what’s up?”

What I discovered by keeping my mouth shut on my plans was I had more energy! There was a certain excitement in “my secret.” Also, those closest to us have heard us talk about needing to change, wanting to change and planning to change, so to make a chronic announcement, “This year, I’m going to get organized,” “lose weight” or “budget and get out of debt,” your friends and family are liable to say, “Yeah, sure Martha, what’s new?”

I also think there is power in sharing your intentions with those who have the same goal. I’m so thankful for the platform I've been able to create so we can help each other and share our triumphs as well as our failings. I’m just talking about keeping it a secret from our loved ones, until the results start to show up.

“Before you say or do anything when entertaining, consider saying it or doing it in front of your daughter.” Advice given to comedians by Phil Rosenthal, the creator of “Everybody Loves Raymond.” That is good advice even when we're not entertainers.

What an honorable thought. That premise reflects on Phil’s work. He’s not only a great comedy writer, but he’s a good family man with a wife and kids. He also has a fun new series on Netflix called, “Somebody Feed Phil.” It’s a documentary, food/travel show chock full of Phil’s humor and stars him. It’s very entertaining and worth watching as he eats his way around the world. I am NOT a traveler, but the first episode we watched had me dying to go to Bangkok! That is saying a lot folks!

There’s a huge difference between a drastic transformation and change that takes place as gracefully and gradually as a baby turns into a toddler. But when we’re fed up with our old ways we tend to want an instant and dramatic fix. That’s what impatience is all about. Take weight for example, we want the weight to come off faster than we put it on. We get frustrated with a loss of just one pound in a week, yet if we gained a pound a week, we’d gain 52 pounds in a year. I don’t know anyone who’s done that and you probably don’t either.

If you’re like me, you tend to have that notion: All or nothing at all. When we want to get organized usually we’ve come to a place where every room is laced with chaos. When we decide to fix our finances it’s when the power’s been shut off or we max a few credit cards and sink into financial depression. When we want to lose weight it’s usually because we’ve let it go so long that our pants hurt and we’re scared to get on the scale. We’re sort of like the frog that stays in the water as it is heated to boiling and cooks to death, only we don't cook to death, we snap.

Everyone has an inner child, but not everyone is aware of it. Your inner child has been with you since you grew up and if you haven't been aware of her, you're in for a treat! 

Three of my books deal with problems I've faced in my life; being in debt, being over weight and being disorganized. My unique, fun-loving approach to solving these challenges have to do with getting to know the child that resides in me.

Do you sense that if, right now, your body weighed what it weighed in high school, you'd feel better than you do? Just think back for a minute about your body in high school. Can you remember how fun it was to be active in it? It was flexible and it loved to be frisky and run, jump and dance. 

The older we are the more we seem to have time on our sides. No you read that right. Sides. Time meaning a length of time to collect fat. For most of us it's a gradual collection over the years. The collecting is surprisingly gradual! For example, if you gained just one pound a year, you'd weigh 25 pounds more at your 25th high school class reunion, 50 pounds more at your 50th. One pound a year! That's only 1.3 ounces a month!!!

Did you make a New Year's Resolution? The reason we make them is we want something to change and we think the change will make us feel better. Really we want to be happy. We feel better when we’re happy. Abraham Hicks said, “A happy life is just a collection of happy moments. But most people don’t allow the happy moment, because they’re so busy trying to get a happy life.” So we make resolutions to improve in the desire to lead to a happier life and we can miss all the yummy, happy moments that occur in spite of our resolutions.

Here it is the second week in January and by now many people have not been able to keep the resolutions they made on New Year’s Eve. Congratulations to you if you’re still on track with your resolve! But if you’re starting to fall off that resolve wagon, it’s really not that big of a deal and it’s not too late to put an addendum on it! You have a choice jump off the wagon or stay on with some help. 

Do you love the thought of "getting away?" A Great Get Away catches our attention! Much of our desire to get away on vacation is to subconsciously get away from our stuff. At the resort it’s easier to forget about the garage that’s filled leaving the car to live in the drive-way. When you’re eating out in restaurants on vacation it’s easier to forget about the outdated food in your pantry and the cupboards filled with stuff you don’t cook with or eat on. When you go to bed in a hotel room it’s easier to forget about your closets filled with old linens, tired towels and clothes you can’t fit into. When you're distracted by new surroundings it's easy to forget about the attic crammed with sentimental stuff that’s boxed up waiting for you to be sentimental over it. Clutter creates stress. Stress makes you want to get away! So if you could eliminate clutter, maybe you wouldn’t want to get away!