As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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It's been a long few days. Friday I get a phone call that DS13 was pushed into a locker at school and hit his head. I freak out, leave work and rush him to the ER because I don't want him to get a migraine which he gets a lot of. He ended up with a mild concussion but he's fine and back to normal. Friday night I get a call from my sister that my mom is in the ER because her sugar is high and she has a fever. We visit Saturday and she seems to be on the mend. She gets discharged yesterday. My sister was also rushed into a neurologists office Friday and has tests and more appointments coming up. So today I check on my mom and she needs to go to the store. I offer to go for her but she declines so I take her. She doesn't wait for me to put the water in the cart and she takes a tumble! She has to be taken to the ER by ambulance.
My mom is still relatively young, early 50's, but I swear she needs to be treated like she's 3! I can't take much more of hospitals and sickness and aches and pains. I want her to be ok and I'm shaking my head with worry and joking on the outside but I am so stressed I want to cry.
Can I please have some pixies that we won't be going to the ER until after my trip to WDW? We leave in 39 days and I would like to not see a hospital until well after we get back!
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I feel what you're going through. I lost my dad in January and along with my sister who works full time we are trying our best to take care of my mom. She's 82, can't drive and constantly has something going on. For years, even before dad passed away, she hasn't had any interest in eating so we're constantly trying to get her to eat. She's very picky and doesn't even want to have to heat something up in the microwave. We're always taking stuff over to her to eat and she tells us "she didn't care for it". Ugh! Add that onto babysitting for 3 granddaughters age 5 and under, 50 hours a week, and cooking "real" 3 course dinners for DH and myself 7 days a week when I get home, along with never having had a dishwasher. Plus I've had 2 surgeries myself since February of last year. I am burnt out! I'm 53 years old and feel like I am stuck. I'm tired of taking care of people. I hope things calm down for you and you get some relief and have a wonderful trip.
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Cindy
Last edited by luvnwdwgal; 04-27-2016 at 09:28 AM..
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jakesmom, that is one stressful stretch of time! Breathe deeply, find your center, and try to relax--this, too, shall pass, as they say.
Cindy, sounds as if you're carrying a too-heavy load, too! I hope you can at least teach that husband of yours to cook, or learn to eat hot dogs or sandwiches occasionally!
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Cindy- You are taking care of everyone but you! You need to learn how to say NO and I CAN'T.
Why are you making a full dinner every day of the week? I work a lot less than you and I don't do that. Some nights we have soup and sandwiches. Everyone puts their own sandwich together. Some nights it's pizza from a box in the freezer. Just because you've always done something one way doesn't mean you have to forever. Make life a bit easier for yourself and change things up. Also, your DH can certainly help out in the kitchen. If he won't cook....he does the dishes.
Also, your mother has likely lost some of her taste buds. It's quite common. One thing to try is figure out what textures she likes best in food if nothing tastes good. Is it easy to chew stuff? Would soup or cereal work for a meal? Are you providing her with something like Ensure, to make sure she's getting the vitamins she needs on a daily basis?
It is hard taking care of older people. Your Mom is way too young to be needing your care. She needs to care for herself better. I take care of my 89 yo Grandma. My Mom was an only child and died several yeas ago. My grandma refuses to move to a home so I have to cook, clean, do the bills, take her to the store, get her meds, etc. Plus I work and have my own house and family. It takes a huge toll on caregivers. I rather take care of 5 babies then one senior. You can not reason with them because they are so stuck in their ways. I hope your son is feeling better. Hang in there.
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Cindy- You are taking care of everyone but you! You need to learn how to say NO and I CAN'T.
Why are you making a full dinner every day of the week? I work a lot less than you and I don't do that. Some nights we have soup and sandwiches. Everyone puts their own sandwich together. Some nights it's pizza from a box in the freezer. Just because you've always done something one way doesn't mean you have to forever. Make life a bit easier for yourself and change things up. Also, your DH can certainly help out in the kitchen. If he won't cook....he does the dishes.
Also, your mother has likely lost some of her taste buds. It's quite common. One thing to try is figure out what textures she likes best in food if nothing tastes good. Is it easy to chew stuff? Would soup or cereal work for a meal? Are you providing her with something like Ensure, to make sure she's getting the vitamins she needs on a daily basis?
I don't want to take over someone else's thread so I'll make this quick. DH does help occasionally but he's 60 years old and working a labor intensive job over 50 hours a week and gets up at 4:45am. He's pooped by the time he gets home and I often find him asleep in the recliner when I get home. He was raised by a mother who made all her meals from scratch plus he's a picky eater.
As for my mother, she doesn't like cereal or soup or any healthy drinks. Believe me, we've tried them all. She can chew fine, she's just extremely picky. It's always been "all about her" and my dad waited on her hand and foot and that's what she expects us to do even though we have homes, jobs, and families of our own to take care of. No matter what you do it's not enough. This Sunday will be spent cleaning her house even though it's way cleaner than my own. Ugh! I can't say no cause then it would all be dumped on my sister. Just like I can't say no to the babysitting. I volunteered to do this cause they can't afford daycare. Just didn't think they would have 3 kids in 4 years and would be so many hours with no back up sitter.
Sorry, so much for keeping this short.
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Jakesmom: I do hope things get better for you and your family! I am sorry you have had so many ER visits!
Cindy: I agree with everyone else - you are taking care of everyone but yourself. That is not good! I understand your desire to help with the childcare situation with your grandchildren. But, the parents of the the little ones really need to find someone to take care of them one day a week or at least a couple of days a month so that you get a break.
I have been in a similar situation where I was not able to say NO to anyone. If you don't learn to say no, you are only hurting yourself! Please take care of yourself!
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Here are some no more ER
I'm sorry you have had such a stressful time. I hope the school bullies have been punished and Mom and Sis have healthy improvements. ( I assume bullies. Either way, someone was misbehaving to cause such an injury.)
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I hope things calm down for you and you get some relief and have a wonderful trip.
Breathe deeply, find your center, and try to relax--this, too, shall pass, as they say.
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