The Christianville Spirit: The First Annual PTLS 5K

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Encourages

April 27, 2016-TCS # 494

Howdy, My Readers! That is How We say Hello in Texas. Howdy Y’all! So I have an exciting story to Tell You! I did My First 5K! Now, That is Hard for Me to wrap my head around, I actually did a 5K and Not just any 5K, This was a Very Special One! The Idea came up to do a Fundraiser and Several PTLS Family Members got together and Decided to just do it! One of The PTLS Members, Holly, decided to literally run with The Idea like A High-Speed Train. They talked about Different Ideas and, Holly says “Okay” and Runs faster than Speedy Gonzales. Pretty Soon, We had a Location and then Sponsors literally came flowing in to help us Raise Money for Potocki-Lupski Syndrome. None of Us saw that one coming, but Like They say, Everything is bigger in Texas! So, My Mom and I drove to Austin on Friday, something that Neither of us have done in at least 11 or more Years and We spent the Night down There to Be Ready for an Early Morning. So, We had the 5K at This really nice Park, North of Austin. Apparently, It is a Very Popular Park for The Locals. Then, We started Welcoming People to Our 5K, We had 60 People or more show up! Some of them PTLS Family Members, Holly’s Family, Family Members of Out-Of-State PTLS Kids, as well as Runners that were Excited to “Just Run”. The Proud Moment came when We had The Legendary Doctor Potocki, The Doctor that named Potocki-Lupski Syndrome, showed up at the Last Minute because She too wanted to Run. Myself and A Local PTLS Family Member got to bring her in, It was sort of like I was part of The PTLS Union Queen welcoming party and escort, It was quite an Honor! After a Few Introductions, It was Time to Run! So, I figured that if I could walk 10 Kilometers in Stockholm and in London, then I could walk 5 Kilometers (or 3.1 American Miles). I started Running at first (Shocking, for Me!) and then, I slowed down to Walk, Just a little Faster. I watched Several People Run or Walk Fast by and I thought, “Oh Man, I am going to be Dead Last!”. After a while of People Passing, I finally found Two Partners that I could walk with. One of Them, A PTLS Member and Another that had PTLS. We mainly walked, but would pick a Point to run to and then, would slow down and Walk again. The Object of the 5K was to walk The Trail (which had a Bit of a Hill) and then, turn around at The Green Balloons and make your way back to The Finish Line. As Runners past, We started counting them and We lost count at 13. The Trail was Pretty Nice though and Had some parts of Shade and Wooded Areas. Luckily, My Mom gave me a Water Bottle to drink while I walked because It was kind of Hot that day and I thought that I would be Fine. Near The End of The 5K, Two People with Kids holding the Green Balloons that was at The Turn-around whizzed past us walking, I thought for sure that We were Dead Last, but We weren’t. I thought, “You Guys got to get behind The Last Walker, because You are pretty much carrying the Final Torch!” But, Against all Odds, Myself and My Partners that I had all ran for The Finish Line. I was quite proud of Myself for Actually Finishing An as-Official-as-It-Gets 5K. My Mom was there at The End to see it happen, I am sure that It was a Very Proud Mommy Moment for Her, as it was for Me. I kind of wish that She would have walked it too (because She had to be The Medical Attendant at The End and Hand Out Awards, Nurse/Presidential Stuff), but Then, She would have not seen The Moment from Her Eyes. All in all though, It was a Fun 5K and We raised a lot of Money for The PTLS Foundation, and that is A Proud Moment in Itself.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Be Proud and Run/Walk for PTLS!

The Christianville Spirit: The Building of People's Moods Rerun

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Encourages

April 20, 2016-TCS # 493

Hello, My Readers! Today, known to People in The US as 420 or 4-20, was actually My Childhood Friend, Lynee’s Birthday. Yes, I thought that was Funny too because 420 is Code for something that I learned but, did not understand, High School Kids and Others, Use to refer to something that is Illegal. But, in all seriousness, She would have been My Age today. So, Happy Birthday, Angel Lynee! A bit of a Note about Last Week’s Newsletter, I forgot to mention about Switzerland’s Vacation Time as One of The Reasons to Live There and Visit There. They have Several Weeks of Vacation Time if You work there. And, Finally I also forgot to mention on My List of Places that I wanted to visit, New York State (The Adirondacks), Vermont/New Hampshire/Maine (To see Autumn Foliage), and finally Japan (Curious about How Crowded it is!). Anyway, On to This Week’s Newsletter! So, in My 10 Years of Writing (I still can’t believe that!), I get curious about Where I was at a Certain Time, Then I find a Newsletter that I had written and I think either “Oh! I remember that!” or “Oh Yeah! That is a Good or Gold One! I should rerun it again”. Sometimes though, The Trouble is that I read it and then, I forget about it and then, Sometimes Question what I should write about. So, This Newsletter is one of those Rerun Newsletters that I thought was Gold! So, This Newsletter was written on April 15th of 2009 (Refer to Newsletter Number 144). At This Time in My Life, We were getting ready for The First PTLS Conference in Houston. Also, I should mention that I was into The Stock Market and Watching the End of The Stock Market Day on The News. Anyway, I feel that This Newsletter needs Re-Sharing! Enjoy!

OK, I know everyone is sick of hearing about The Stock Market and The Economy. But, here is what I’ve noticed about the problem with the investors besides Wall Street Greed. It is also their mood; when their mood is down the stocks goes down and when their mood is up the stocks goes up. You see, people’s moods depend on how they see things. Let’s think of people’s mood as a 120-Floor Building we‘ll call “The Building of People‘s Moods, The 120th floor is the happiest you can be or “Being on top on the world” and then, the ground floor is when your very sad or “Hitting Rock Bottom”. in this building, colored floors that reflect the mood the floor reflects to. These colors and floors are as follows:

Floors 0-40 (Purple Floors)

Floors 40-60 (Red Floors)

Floors 60-80(Orange Floors)

Floors 81-90(Yellow Floors)

Floors 91-120(Green Floors)

Here is what the colors means:

Green Floors: Really Happy People

Yellow Floors: Happy People

Orange Floors: Sometimes Happy, Sometimes Sad

Red Floors: Sad People

Purple Floors: Sad and Angry People

Now, these are the positive side of the building, the really angry, sad, depressed, and evil people go on the Negative Floors or “N-Floors” these floors only go to 20 “N-Floors”. being on the “N-Floors” too long can result in not believing in God, not believing in Happiness, and a lowering Self-Esteem. All it takes is a quick hop on the Elevator and go up to the Happy Floors, just go up!

All in all, As You can see, It is Very Important to know What Floor that You are on. If You are on a Low Floor; Cheer Up, Life does get Better. If You are on High Floor; You are Good to Go and You must be Very Blessed as well.

Thanks for reading The Christianville Spirit. If you are feeling lower than the Orange Floors, Elevate Your Life!

The Christianville Spirit: Walter Mitty and Travel

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Encourages

April 13, 2016-TCS # 492

Hej Hej, My Readers! “Hej, Hej” (Pronounced Hey-Hey) is How You say Hello in Swedish. I always like to try different greetings every now and then. Anyway, so My Mom and I were watching TV last night, not sure what to watch. On Tuesday Nights, usually there is not much on except for New Girl and My New Favorite Show, Fixer Upper on HGTV. Then, I found I had a Choice between Bizarre Foods: Delicious Destinations (going to Puerto Rico and Houston) or A Movie that I have not seen in a while but, is a Hilarious one called The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. I’m not sure that I have written about it and, I thought that I have, but It is a Really Great Movie! It is a Movie that You really have to pay attention to, because The Art Department of This Movie, cleverly puts Words and Different Meanings in The Background, it really is Amazing. Basically, Without Spoiling It, It is about a Guy who works at Life Magazine, but The Only Problem is that although He and His Co-Workers follow the Motto of Their Company, He has not gotten to Experience True Life, other than Helping put the Pictures in The Magazine. So, To Say The Least, He gets Challenged to Experience True Life. You Know, The Sad Thing that a lot of People, at least here in The United States, don’t get to Experience Life and More on The Lines of Seeing The World. Usually, We are stuck behind a Desk, Working all day and For a Not-So-Great Wage and then, Going Home and Then, Pay all the Bills and not have enough Money in The End to “Experience Life”. Of Course, Sometimes, it is for Other Reasons too, like Fear of The Unknown, which is a Problem for Me when I need My Routine but, I digress. Most of Us will however admit that like Walter Mitty, We hate Standing Still but, Not Enough to do something about it. After a While of Standing Still, We tend to Daydream about Things, People, or Places. In My Case, it is both People and Places. Now, Okay, as much as I want to Travel The World, I also like to Stay Home, It is comfortable and predictable. But, I can Dream, can’t I? There are Many Places that I would love to go in The World that I, like Walter Mitty, dream about and research about. Most of What I presently Dream about is Europe. Europe is a Part of The World, as mentioned in Last Week’s Newsletter is a Fascinating Part of The World to Me. It seems like Every Time I read about Someone who has Moved to either Sweden and Switzerland, and Have better Lives in terms of Adventure, Pay, and Not-A-Lot of Stuff (like We Americans love), It makes me want to move to Those Places and Spend maybe 2 Years living there, then Travel Europe and Have a Home Base to go to after. I mean, You know what They say, “Do It while You are Young” and “Spend Money on Experiences rather than Things, Then You make up for It later.” Then, You could experience what Life is like in other Parts of The World. Now, as You can Tell, Even though it was a Year ago in September that I went to Sweden, I often dream about Stockholm, Sweden, There are Many other Places that I dream about too, I would Love to See. Including The Following..

In Europe:

• Norway; Oslo and The Fjords
• Paris; The Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and Rue Cler
• Roma (Rome in Italian); The Trevi Fountain, St. Peter’s Square, Spanish Steps, The Mouth of Truth, and Lots of Italian Food
• The Alps Mountains of Switzerland and Switzerland in General
• The Netherlands; Amsterdam & Holland
• Austria
• Gibraltar 
• Other Schengen Countries

In Asia:

• Bangkok, Thailand
• Phuket Island, Thailand (Pronounced Poo-Kaet)
• Phi Phi Island, Thailand (Pronounced Pee-Pee)
• Bhutan

 In North America:

• Nuuk, Greenland
• Banff National Park, Alberta
• Glacier National Park, Montana
• Salt Flats of Utah
• and, Many Other Places in The United States!

In Caribbean & Oceania:

• Palm Tree Lined Beaches (Punta Cana, Dominican Republic)
• Puerto Rico
• Costa Rica* (in Central America*)
• In Oceania: Bora Bora, French Polynesia and Australia!

As You can see, There are a lot of Places that I want to see or to do. I want to go on these Trips for Various Reasons and with Various People. Some of Them are for Culture; Some of Them are for Fun; Some for Curiosity; and, Many of Them, Myself and My Future Wife will go on Many Adventures. Seems like a Good Excuse too, to see PTLS Family Members in those areas like Europe and Australia. Of Course, I will bring My Mom to some of these Places too and She can enjoy them as well. Now, It surely would be Interesting if Myself, My Mom, and My Brother went to Explore Europe. Europe with My Brother, Michael would be interesting! It would be a scene out of The Movie, EuroTrip. Okay, I know, Different Movie here but, that is What I think it would be like. Anyway, One Other Thought I had about The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Movie, It makes me wonder Why and No Offense to anyone with These Names, but Why are The Most Boring, No-Life-but-Wanting-Life People in The Movies, are named either Walter or Carl. The Rich People in The Movies, seem to be Named that too. All in all, on The Travel of Life, Since I can’t work Three Jobs to afford This, I might have to open a GoFundMe Account to Fund My Traveling and Adventure.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Don’t just Dream about Going Somewhere; If You can, Do It!

The Christianville Spirit: 2 AM Talks with Mom

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Encourages

April 6, 2016-TCS # 491

Happy April, My Readers! This Month is not always a Great Month for Our Family, but We do have an Event this month to look forward to and That, in it’s self, is Exciting! So, on to This Week’s Newsletter! So, I have yet another Untold Story for You! Not another Untold Story! You might say! Well, I promise you that it is a Good One! So, As You may already know that based on My Routine, I stay up pretty late. Pretty Late meaning, 2 AM and My Mom goes to Bed anytime from 9 to Midnight depending what is happening at The Moment. Well, Every Night, as Crazy as it sounds, I like to say to Good Night to her twice. Once to Tuck Her in (Everyone needs to be Tucked in) and The Second Time, to let her know that I am going to Bed as well as What I learned that Night. You See, Everyone has some kind of Nightlife in Them, My Brother had one, and So do I. Only My Nightlife, is Being Social and Researching. Now, Okay, I do plenty of Researching  during The Day, but when I get My Computer, Research I Go! Some Nights, it depends What I do. Some Nights are Boring, I only check Facebook, It’s “Push Back” Articles (Interesting Article Links on Facebook) , and Normal YouTube videos then Listen to some Music while Talking to My Friends. Other Nights, It is Filled with Information Articles in The Categories of Travel, Romance, and World News/Politics/History. But, The Thing is, that I feel the need to Tell My Mom about them when I say Good Night to Her even though She is half-asleep and I just have to save it for The Morning and Remember to Repeat Them. The Thing is though, Some Nights, I have what I call “Information Overload” which is quite a Common Problem with People in My Generation. So Much Information in The World! In The News; On Facebook; Articles I have Read; Whatever happened that Day talking with a Friend and What that Friend said; and, Of Course, The Information that is in My Head already. It is a wonder why People in My Generation are so Stressed! Because of All The Information coming at Them at One Time. So, I feel the Need to spill out The Information that I learned (both Good and Bad) to My Mom, so I can get to Sleep. Now, if I don’t, then, I go to Sleep and by the Time that My Mom gets Home from work, I feel that Yesterday’s Information that I learned went down The Toilet because I turn on The News and Hear what is going on, then I check Facebook and All of That has Information in It. So, I am sure that You are Wondering, What Kind of what I’ll call, “2 AM talks with Mom” do You have? Well, They vary. Either They are Short and I don’t do much and Make Myself Bored so that There is Less Information (Short Talks last maybe 2 or 3 Minutes). “Oh, I just listened to Music a little bit, and I talked to My PTLS Brother, Tyler; My Friend, Deb; or Monica in Sweden”. Other Nights, I go on telling her about Every Article that I read; Something Interesting I learned; Something was Trending in The News on Facebook; and, Of Course, Places that I cyber-travelled to. (Long Talks last anywhere from 15 Minutes to 30 Minutes). I try not to Keep her awake too Long with Our Talks. So, An Example of Our Talks goes like this. The Other Day, I told her that, After I checked Facebook, “Push Backs” (told her about that too), Normal Youtube Videos (and, which They were). I cyber-traveled to Bratislava, Slovakia to See how close Bratislava is from Vienna, Austria (It is Really Close). Bratislava is The Capitol of Slovakia (which used to be, Czechoslovakia) is nearly on The Border with Austria, and The Capitol of Austria, Vienna, is not far down The Road. After That, I hopped on The Danube River and had to Learn what it was in Each Language because I was using Google Maps Sweden (It shows Place Names in Their Native Language as well as English, Unlike US Google Maps that is English Only), I followed The Danube River, upward hoping to get up closer to The Other Side of Europe (like The Netherlands or France), while trying to remember The “Blue Danube” song which I got confused with “Ode to Joy” (The Anthem of The European Union), got to The End of The Danube River and Later, Looking up The Danube River on Wikipedia. After That, I drove fastly across The Netherlands, Belgium, France, and Into The UK. Then, Virtually Flew to Toronto and Driving across The Blue Water Bridge near Port Huron, Michigan (Re-Introducing Myself in The US, I wrote about that once in a Newsletter) and scanned across Detroit (My Mom’s Hometown), hopped on US Highway 23 and, crossed into Ohio and Ending where Popi (My Mom’s Dad) was Buried and Bringing Him some Virtual Adventure. Popi was always an Adventurist and I figured that He would want some of My Adventure. So, Here is Another Example and Hang On! So, Last Night I told My Mom that I checked Facebook and All associated (Sometimes, I skip that part if there is Something that is Exciting Me). I looked up The European Schengen Museum in a Town called Schengen, Luxembourg on TripAdvisor and Adding it on My List of Trips of Things to See and Do. (I did not know about that until I saw a YouTube Video about What Schengen is). I looked it up on Google to see An Official Website about it. Schengen, by the way, is The Most Fascinating Thing called The Schengen Agreement which means Freedom of Movement in Europe without Having to Stop for Customs. 

 I Looked up McDonalds in Sweden and Italia (Italy) to see Differences they have on Their Menu there versus in The United States. It is actually really cool to see the differences. For Example, They have The Traditional Apple Pie or You can get a Raspberry Pie at McDonalds in Sweden. American Fast Food around The World is sometimes a Mix of Traditional American as well as Localized Meals. After That, I went to Finland, because I read an Article about how Finnish Schools are The Best in The World and Why. I ended up at The Finland/Russia Border to see The Road Signs there. After Seeing The Road Signs there, I scanned across to Helsinki and Ferried to Stockholm and saw a Few Signs there, Fly from Stockholm to London, and London to Detroit. After That, I drove with skipping down to Toledo to Visit Popi again and This Time, Bringing Him a Piece of Schengen, Seeing a bit of Finland & Stockholm, and then, Back Home. All of These Trips and Articles, My Mom gets to hear about at 2 AM! Don’t You wish that You lived at My House?! All in all, You never what You are going to Learn at 2 AM. It is just a Matter of Whether She can remember it when She gets up in The Morning, Because I will be Quizzing Her after She gets Home from Work.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Learning can happen at Any Hour of The Day or Night.