Photo: Lynn 2005
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Motorcycle Adventures
I know a number of folks that have motorcycles now or are planning on getting one and when I hear them I remember my Motorcycle Adventures.
On a different trip through the upper peninsula of Michigan I was riding by myself and enjoying the scenery and the warm summer day when I noticed that the diver of the pickup truck coming from the other direction was waving his arm in exaggerated up and down motions to get me to slow down. I slowed wondering what was ahead? Soon I found out, there in the road was a mother black bear and her cub. No way would I want to run up on them only protected by a motorcycle. Thankfully they looked at me, were not phased and headed to the other side of the road. I didn't waste any time getting out of there.
After college I went to work as a Mechanical Engineer and I spent most of my first paycheck on used 200cc motor cycle. I had that one for about 2 years before I bought a brand new Red Honda 650. I rode that bike from early April until Mid-November as long as it was over 40 degrees outside. In fact there was one summer I loaned my car to my bother and I only had the bike for transportation.
I had many adventures on that bike, I traveled all around Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan staying at camp grounds along the way. Adventures like the time I was riding down the road and a storm blue in and it was very difficult to keep on the road so we stopped in this little roadside bar. Once inside we found out that we had just missed the Tornado that had blown through, now that will make you stop and think.
On a different trip through the upper peninsula of Michigan I was riding by myself and enjoying the scenery and the warm summer day when I noticed that the diver of the pickup truck coming from the other direction was waving his arm in exaggerated up and down motions to get me to slow down. I slowed wondering what was ahead? Soon I found out, there in the road was a mother black bear and her cub. No way would I want to run up on them only protected by a motorcycle. Thankfully they looked at me, were not phased and headed to the other side of the road. I didn't waste any time getting out of there.
I had other wildlife encounters, a fox running along the side of the road or when I came around a curve in the road near home at dusk one night a there standing in the road were four deer. Thank God for good brakes and dry roads, I was able to stop in time.
One of the most interesting encounters was with farm animals, pigs to be exact. On night I was out driving in the farm country of Illinois, where there are no street lights and few buildings and of course it was cloudy so there wasn't even moonlight. It was totally black, the only light was from my motorcycle. All of a sudden I see this flash of pink and then a sea of pink. I was right in the middle of a herd of pigs that had gotten loose. Again no wipe out, I wasn't going that fast and those things can run.
Thankfully I only had to lay my bike down once when someone pulled out in front of me as I was coming home for work. It is amazing what asphalt will do to the face shield on a helmet.
So for all you that ride or wish to ride, I envy and applaud you. I say go for it and enjoy the adventure.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
M.E. - Secret Service
It was a dark and stormy night; the streets of Warsaw were completely void of traffic. All access into the city had been blocked off to prevent the insurgents from getting to the US Embassy. Alone on the corner under a spreading Maple stood a young soldier. Hands nervously playing on the Uzi machine gun strung around his neck. The glow from the nearby street light gleamed off his bright blue eyes, eyes that were seeking what could not be seen. Sirens were heard coming from the direction of the river as the motorcade of the US Ambassador approached.
The young man tensed as the motorcade drew near. Suddenly, out of the shadow a flash and the sound of a shutter on a camera closing and then she was gone. Having taken the prohibited photo of the embassy, Mary Martinez, one of Interpol’s most wanted had again eluded capture.
In June of 2004 I had to go to Warsaw Poland for a business trip and since Kyle couldn’t get off work I took Mary Martinez with me. It happened to be just days before the upcoming presidential elections so there was a lot of activity in town. On Sunday as we were walking around Warsaw being tourist, Mary was taking pictures and as she went to pass this hotel there were two secret service types that started to move towards her. She was not aware because she was so interested in looking at the buildings. I’m sure if she had wanted to photograph the hotel or even go in that they would have stopped her, I was watching all this unfold from behind her a few yards. On another afternoon we went on a walk down to the park to see the memorial to Chopin and another palace. The story above is an embellishment of the memorable experience we had on that afternoon walk. Below is the real story.
About five blocks from the park we started to notice that there were a lot of policeman around, some directing traffic, some just sitting by in cars. We were walking along embassy row and found the US Embassy and just as Mary was going to stop to take a picture we saw a sign that said no photos. Then we noticed that there were police armed with machine guns at each crossroad stopping all traffic from entering this major road.
We kept walking and just after we crossed the intersection on the other side of the US Embassy we heard sirens. Coming up the side street was a string of police vehicles – like minivans on steroids and a bomb squad truck that headed down the side street beside the embassy. We kept walking and as we were about to go into the underground crosswalk I saw those same Secret Service type guys from the previous day. At that moment we heard more sirens coming from the direction of town and a motorcade of about 20 cars going very fast. We didn’t know it at the time, but it was the Prime Minister of Japan visiting the President of Poland.
While we were in the park we noticed helicopters circling over us. Even as we walked along the road outside the park there were three different police cars that approached us slowly but never stopped us. Finally we returned to our hotel and right outside our window on the 29th floor another helicopter was flying around. Our joke for the week was that Interpol wanted Mary for some past crime and I wouldn’t be able to get her back into the US. We laughed so hard during the trip that I cried and my sides hurt.
Probably the best thing out of that trip to Poland was the pure enjoyment of that trip. Business travel can be very grueling but during that trip, having Mary with me, we ate room service, had fresh flowers and candles in our room and had fun just being together. Even today when we are together and see a cop car or a helicopter flying around we remember our trip to Warsaw.
Next M.E. – Kissing The Blarney Stone
The young man tensed as the motorcade drew near. Suddenly, out of the shadow a flash and the sound of a shutter on a camera closing and then she was gone. Having taken the prohibited photo of the embassy, Mary Martinez, one of Interpol’s most wanted had again eluded capture.
In June of 2004 I had to go to Warsaw Poland for a business trip and since Kyle couldn’t get off work I took Mary Martinez with me. It happened to be just days before the upcoming presidential elections so there was a lot of activity in town. On Sunday as we were walking around Warsaw being tourist, Mary was taking pictures and as she went to pass this hotel there were two secret service types that started to move towards her. She was not aware because she was so interested in looking at the buildings. I’m sure if she had wanted to photograph the hotel or even go in that they would have stopped her, I was watching all this unfold from behind her a few yards. On another afternoon we went on a walk down to the park to see the memorial to Chopin and another palace. The story above is an embellishment of the memorable experience we had on that afternoon walk. Below is the real story.
About five blocks from the park we started to notice that there were a lot of policeman around, some directing traffic, some just sitting by in cars. We were walking along embassy row and found the US Embassy and just as Mary was going to stop to take a picture we saw a sign that said no photos. Then we noticed that there were police armed with machine guns at each crossroad stopping all traffic from entering this major road.
We kept walking and just after we crossed the intersection on the other side of the US Embassy we heard sirens. Coming up the side street was a string of police vehicles – like minivans on steroids and a bomb squad truck that headed down the side street beside the embassy. We kept walking and as we were about to go into the underground crosswalk I saw those same Secret Service type guys from the previous day. At that moment we heard more sirens coming from the direction of town and a motorcade of about 20 cars going very fast. We didn’t know it at the time, but it was the Prime Minister of Japan visiting the President of Poland.
While we were in the park we noticed helicopters circling over us. Even as we walked along the road outside the park there were three different police cars that approached us slowly but never stopped us. Finally we returned to our hotel and right outside our window on the 29th floor another helicopter was flying around. Our joke for the week was that Interpol wanted Mary for some past crime and I wouldn’t be able to get her back into the US. We laughed so hard during the trip that I cried and my sides hurt.
Probably the best thing out of that trip to Poland was the pure enjoyment of that trip. Business travel can be very grueling but during that trip, having Mary with me, we ate room service, had fresh flowers and candles in our room and had fun just being together. Even today when we are together and see a cop car or a helicopter flying around we remember our trip to Warsaw.
Next M.E. – Kissing The Blarney Stone
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
There's Nothing Like:
- A sunny morning in May in the Northwest,
- A view of the Olympic Mountains majestically protecting the west coast,
- The smell of a freshly bathed baby,
- The all out abandon of a child playing in the waves on the beach,
- The taste of fresh cherries,
- Walking hand-in-hand with the one you love,
- The smile of recognition across the face of an old woman,
- Sitting across the table and having tea with a friend,
- Dirt under your fingernails after planting flowers in the garden,
- Sleeping in your own bed – Ahh Home Sweet Home,
- Living life,
- The Love of God
M.E. - Gas Chambers
You enter the compound by passing under the sign that reads - “Arbeit Macht Frei”, or “work (will) make (you) free.” Inside the gates are the majestic brick buildings that once housed the pride of the Polish army. Today it houses the remains of the Nazi’s attempt at the “total solution”. Here in Auschwitz four gas chambers, disguised as bathhouses and with crematoria attached, had a combined capacity to kill over 12,000 people a day to exterminate Jews and other political and social minorities.
Our tour guide takes us through the various buildings explaining what happened here and at other concentration camps under the Nazi rule. Here you find a room full of crutches and artificial limbs taken from those who were considered not worthy to live. A room of reading glasses left behind by the owners as they entered the ‘showers’. A room full of children’s shoes the reminder of the innocence that was shattered during this time. Who would believe humans were capable of such evil. No wonder some want to believe it did not happen, but once there, once you see, once you hear the sounds, there is no doubt that it happened.
I asked our guide what he felt about people like us coming to ‘tour’ this sight. His response was that he welcomed the visitors so that they would understand that it was the Nazi’s that did this and that Poland was an occupied nation. The Poles too were oppressed by the Nazi’s. This young man told us about his father who as an eight year old boy during the German occupation and was given vodka and cigars to ruin the potential and to break his independence and create a dependency that would stop all possibilities and create hopelessness.
Psalm 25: 5
Our tour guide takes us through the various buildings explaining what happened here and at other concentration camps under the Nazi rule. Here you find a room full of crutches and artificial limbs taken from those who were considered not worthy to live. A room of reading glasses left behind by the owners as they entered the ‘showers’. A room full of children’s shoes the reminder of the innocence that was shattered during this time. Who would believe humans were capable of such evil. No wonder some want to believe it did not happen, but once there, once you see, once you hear the sounds, there is no doubt that it happened.
I asked our guide what he felt about people like us coming to ‘tour’ this sight. His response was that he welcomed the visitors so that they would understand that it was the Nazi’s that did this and that Poland was an occupied nation. The Poles too were oppressed by the Nazi’s. This young man told us about his father who as an eight year old boy during the German occupation and was given vodka and cigars to ruin the potential and to break his independence and create a dependency that would stop all possibilities and create hopelessness.
Psalm 25: 5
guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.
How can you see first hand the wall where the firing squad would do their duty, the 3ft by 3ft cells where prisoners would be bricked in with no exit and not be changed forever? What was that change, I don’t know if I can fully explain it? Understanding is probably the best word. The understanding that there is good and evil in this world, the understanding that I am so blessed, the understanding that without God all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. The understanding that we will only ever know in part what happened in camps like this here and around the world today.
Next M.E. – Secret Service
How can you see first hand the wall where the firing squad would do their duty, the 3ft by 3ft cells where prisoners would be bricked in with no exit and not be changed forever? What was that change, I don’t know if I can fully explain it? Understanding is probably the best word. The understanding that there is good and evil in this world, the understanding that I am so blessed, the understanding that without God all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. The understanding that we will only ever know in part what happened in camps like this here and around the world today.
Next M.E. – Secret Service
Monday, May 28, 2007
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Roughing It
Back in the day I used to camp, in fact I would load up a tent, my sleeping bag and a few other essentials on to the back of my motorcycle and I would take off for a weekend or a week of travel around the mid-west. That is how I would spend my summers, running around on my Honda 650. I have encountered skunks and raccoons while camping. Riding a motorcycle you never knew what was around the corner in the road like a couple of white tail dear, a black bear and her cub or a herd of pigs on a dark country road.
Today my idea of roughing it is to stay at a Quality Inn in stead of the Hilton and to eat my meal from a plastic basket instead of a plate.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
M.E. - How Do I Fix This
This entry is from Kyle and what he felt about the “The Big C”
The C word is a terrible thing, there’s a great amount of fear with it.
When I got the call from Karen I started crying I was on a route and I thought ‘God have You forsaken me, have you forsaken us’. I didn’t know what to do. With everything I can do physically I just couldn’t do anything, I couldn’t fix it. And I was trying to think of the options and the only one that I could come up with was pray and believe.
The first thing I thought about was how helpless I was, I couldn’t even do anything. I didn’t even know what to say. The second thing was could it be possible that I could lose my wife?
Here I am this great big hulk of a man able to bench press 300 lbs and something like this ran me cold. I felt like a total numskull. Besides I didn’t have any life insurance on her yet Ha Ha. The only thing I could do is just pray for Karen and speak positive stuff as much as I could. Even with the call of God on my life as a prophet I didn’t see this one coming, I just felt so helpless.
But I did see something in Karen; she had something coming up in her. I believe it was Faith and that’s what I saw in my wife.
It seems like it was a thousand years ago that this happened but it was only a short time ago. We have not let this experience define who we are and we keep trusting and believing God.
Next M.E. – Gas Chambers
The C word is a terrible thing, there’s a great amount of fear with it.
When I got the call from Karen I started crying I was on a route and I thought ‘God have You forsaken me, have you forsaken us’. I didn’t know what to do. With everything I can do physically I just couldn’t do anything, I couldn’t fix it. And I was trying to think of the options and the only one that I could come up with was pray and believe.
The first thing I thought about was how helpless I was, I couldn’t even do anything. I didn’t even know what to say. The second thing was could it be possible that I could lose my wife?
Here I am this great big hulk of a man able to bench press 300 lbs and something like this ran me cold. I felt like a total numskull. Besides I didn’t have any life insurance on her yet Ha Ha. The only thing I could do is just pray for Karen and speak positive stuff as much as I could. Even with the call of God on my life as a prophet I didn’t see this one coming, I just felt so helpless.
But I did see something in Karen; she had something coming up in her. I believe it was Faith and that’s what I saw in my wife.
It seems like it was a thousand years ago that this happened but it was only a short time ago. We have not let this experience define who we are and we keep trusting and believing God.
Next M.E. – Gas Chambers
Friday, May 25, 2007
M.E. - The Big C
Down inside, each of us knows when something is wrong, why is it that we try to deny that. In 2003 I tried for months to ignore the symptoms I was having in my physical body. Finally I gave into the prompting of the Holy Spirit and the strong urging of Pastor Lori and I went to the doctor to be checked.
After a number of tests, a lumpectomy and a biopsy I received words on my voicemail at work that no one wants to hear. Yes, my surgeon left me a voice mail that the biopsy results were not good and that I needed to make an appointment with the oncologist. The next day in the surgeons office I heard what he said as if I was not in the room. I sat there unable to say anything as he told me I should have both breast removed.
How I got from Bellevue to Monroe I don’t know, I had called Kyle and told him before I went to see Pastor Lori. She and I sat in the old church offices where we cried some, we laughed some and we talked. We just sat and talked and then we talked some more. After a while when we were talked out I got in my car and went to work because I didn't know anything else to do. I don’t remember getting to work or even being there that day. What I remember is that as I was leaving at my normal at the end of the day and as I walked out the doors on my way to the parking lot, I heard the Lord speak to my spirit and He told me He would provide us a strategy. I needed to be like Caleb and see the big grapes and not the giants.
And His strategy is healing. On a Wednesday night February 4, 2004 after service, I was asked to come forward so that some of the pastors and elders could pray for me. As I stood there and as they prayed I began to first feel a peace come into me, then the peace was followed by an intense heat in the spots where the tumors were located. That night I went home with the two lumps still there but knowing that the Lord had touched me. And then the next morning I woke and one was gone.
What a morning that was, I was up at 4:30 am with all this exciting news and no one around to share it with. It was too early in the morning to call anyone with the good news so I dressed and headed off to work. On my way I called a friend in Illinois (2 hours ahead of us) because I new she would be awake and she had been praying for me. Later in the morning I made the most exciting phone calls of my life as I called Pastor Lori and the few others who knew of my health opportunity and I was able to tell them that I was healed. The remaining morning the second lump had also disappeared.
Since that time I have had “Cancer Free” mammograms and I continue to be checked annually. From that experience I can truly say that the Lord is faithful. Now do I always remember that? I wish I did, but the truth is that sometimes in my humanness I forget, but that doesn’t change the fact that He cares enough to give us Grace and Mercy along with His healing power. Today thanks to a good bra and the right cloths no one notices that 1/3 of one breast is missing and I’m not totally balanced physically.
Next M.E. – How Do I Fix This
After a number of tests, a lumpectomy and a biopsy I received words on my voicemail at work that no one wants to hear. Yes, my surgeon left me a voice mail that the biopsy results were not good and that I needed to make an appointment with the oncologist. The next day in the surgeons office I heard what he said as if I was not in the room. I sat there unable to say anything as he told me I should have both breast removed.
How I got from Bellevue to Monroe I don’t know, I had called Kyle and told him before I went to see Pastor Lori. She and I sat in the old church offices where we cried some, we laughed some and we talked. We just sat and talked and then we talked some more. After a while when we were talked out I got in my car and went to work because I didn't know anything else to do. I don’t remember getting to work or even being there that day. What I remember is that as I was leaving at my normal at the end of the day and as I walked out the doors on my way to the parking lot, I heard the Lord speak to my spirit and He told me He would provide us a strategy. I needed to be like Caleb and see the big grapes and not the giants.
And His strategy is healing. On a Wednesday night February 4, 2004 after service, I was asked to come forward so that some of the pastors and elders could pray for me. As I stood there and as they prayed I began to first feel a peace come into me, then the peace was followed by an intense heat in the spots where the tumors were located. That night I went home with the two lumps still there but knowing that the Lord had touched me. And then the next morning I woke and one was gone.
What a morning that was, I was up at 4:30 am with all this exciting news and no one around to share it with. It was too early in the morning to call anyone with the good news so I dressed and headed off to work. On my way I called a friend in Illinois (2 hours ahead of us) because I new she would be awake and she had been praying for me. Later in the morning I made the most exciting phone calls of my life as I called Pastor Lori and the few others who knew of my health opportunity and I was able to tell them that I was healed. The remaining morning the second lump had also disappeared.
Since that time I have had “Cancer Free” mammograms and I continue to be checked annually. From that experience I can truly say that the Lord is faithful. Now do I always remember that? I wish I did, but the truth is that sometimes in my humanness I forget, but that doesn’t change the fact that He cares enough to give us Grace and Mercy along with His healing power. Today thanks to a good bra and the right cloths no one notices that 1/3 of one breast is missing and I’m not totally balanced physically.
Next M.E. – How Do I Fix This
Thursday, May 24, 2007
M.E. - Hurricane Kenna
Many people go on adventure vacations and plan them for weeks. Kyle and I had an adventure vacation in October 2002 in Puerto Vallarta Mexico with out any need to plan. This vacation started out normal (what ever normal is for a trip to PV) and about midway through it became an adventure when Hurricane Kenna came to town.
The first indication we had that something was two nights before it hit, we were walking on the beach and we saw the Cruise ships and Naval ships leaving for deeper water and a school of porpoises swimming in very close to shore. Then the next night as we were leaving church some of our friends cancelled a dinner appointment for the next night because they said they were leaving town to avoid the hurricane.
The morning of the hurricane started out with us looking out our balcony to see waves crashing against the patio of the hotel pool area some 30 yards from the ocean. Soon we were being asked to leave our room to head to a safer part of the hotel. This entailed a run though the lobby while avoiding the four-foot waves rolling in from the ocean and climbing up to the fifth floor of the adjoining condo building to be sheltered from the 150 mph winds, rain and the sea water running through the streets.
We watched from our perch as busses floated down the street, horns blaring and lights flashing. We saw one man desperate to save his truck crawl out a window and into the swirling water and tie it off with a fire hose. As the eye passed over and in the calm, EMTs arrived and carried out a couple on Sea Kayaks, the glass being blown out in their room had cut them up. As the storm started back up we watched as the back of the hotel next door started to crumble, the people waded to safety in chest deep water across the street to a different hotel.
During and after the storm the employees or our hotel, Canto Del Sol, stayed and took care of the guest of the hotel even though many of them were very scared. As soon as the storm ended they trucked in fresh food and water for everyone and set up make shift kitchens anywhere they could without power or running water. They made us as comfortable as they could with food, water and candles. The next morning they even found us a different hotel that had power and water restored for us to move into.
Was I scared? There was one brief moment of panic when I saw the cars banging up against the ceiling in the garage as we finished running though the lobby, but because there was no time to stop and I did one of those ‘oh God, oh God’ prayers I was soon at peace and knew everything would work out fine. In the aftermath it was amazing to see the destruction in the tourist section of town and then to see that there was no damage to the tattered homes surrounding the dump. About that experience I just tell people that there are folks that pay a lot of money for that type of adventure and we got it as a blessing.
Next M.E. – The Big C
The first indication we had that something was two nights before it hit, we were walking on the beach and we saw the Cruise ships and Naval ships leaving for deeper water and a school of porpoises swimming in very close to shore. Then the next night as we were leaving church some of our friends cancelled a dinner appointment for the next night because they said they were leaving town to avoid the hurricane.
The morning of the hurricane started out with us looking out our balcony to see waves crashing against the patio of the hotel pool area some 30 yards from the ocean. Soon we were being asked to leave our room to head to a safer part of the hotel. This entailed a run though the lobby while avoiding the four-foot waves rolling in from the ocean and climbing up to the fifth floor of the adjoining condo building to be sheltered from the 150 mph winds, rain and the sea water running through the streets.
We watched from our perch as busses floated down the street, horns blaring and lights flashing. We saw one man desperate to save his truck crawl out a window and into the swirling water and tie it off with a fire hose. As the eye passed over and in the calm, EMTs arrived and carried out a couple on Sea Kayaks, the glass being blown out in their room had cut them up. As the storm started back up we watched as the back of the hotel next door started to crumble, the people waded to safety in chest deep water across the street to a different hotel.
During and after the storm the employees or our hotel, Canto Del Sol, stayed and took care of the guest of the hotel even though many of them were very scared. As soon as the storm ended they trucked in fresh food and water for everyone and set up make shift kitchens anywhere they could without power or running water. They made us as comfortable as they could with food, water and candles. The next morning they even found us a different hotel that had power and water restored for us to move into.
Was I scared? There was one brief moment of panic when I saw the cars banging up against the ceiling in the garage as we finished running though the lobby, but because there was no time to stop and I did one of those ‘oh God, oh God’ prayers I was soon at peace and knew everything would work out fine. In the aftermath it was amazing to see the destruction in the tourist section of town and then to see that there was no damage to the tattered homes surrounding the dump. About that experience I just tell people that there are folks that pay a lot of money for that type of adventure and we got it as a blessing.
Next M.E. – The Big C
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Here’s How I See It
Just this afternoon a friend who is battling a little head cold was asking whether I thought Cold Medicine actually helped a cold. First, you pray believing that God is the healer, then knowing that God using all things to His good, I believe that you should do what ever may help.
Here’s how I see it, when it is cold, I mean 30 degrees, outside you would put a coat on to make you feel better, right? The coat doesn’t make it any warmer outside; it just makes you feel better. So, cold medicine may not make the cold go away but for me it makes me feel better and less crabby. So take cold medicine as long as you are fighting a cold.
Here’s how I see it, when it is cold, I mean 30 degrees, outside you would put a coat on to make you feel better, right? The coat doesn’t make it any warmer outside; it just makes you feel better. So, cold medicine may not make the cold go away but for me it makes me feel better and less crabby. So take cold medicine as long as you are fighting a cold.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
"Am I being used?"
I find myself in an interesting situation at work these days. I don’t have enough work to keep me busy and even though I keep telling them I need more to do they just can’t believe that I have everything caught up, I am an enigma to them.
Recently my boss’s boss, one of the VPs has been trying to create a new position at the company that he would like me to fill. This has been going on for a couple of months and finally yesterday he came to me and told me that the job was approved and that if I was interested I needed to apply for it. He and I went to his office where he told me that he really wanted to move quickly with this and it was, in his mind a formality for me to apply for the position, in fact he has asked me to start as of today doing the work of that job.
Now here’s were the problems start. I want to be used, but I don’t want to be used, and part of this feels like I am being ‘used’.. This new position carries a whole lot more responsibility, which is not a problem, however when I asked if the pay would increase along with the increased responsibilities he told me that it would be a lateral move, but it has lots of exposure and potential for pay increases. Potential doesn’t pay the bills and all too often in Corporate America potential is just vaporware, to quote Jerry McGuire, “Show me the money”.
Another problem is that this job is really just something created in this VPs mind and I’m not so sure that after six months there will be anything left to do. Right now there are task not being completed because there have been a couple of key players that have left the company and the company is trying to eliminate the “positions” but the task still need to be done. This position will pick up some of those tasks. So what happens when the company decides they made a mistake and really do need to fill those other positions? I’m again deemed expendable and who knows where I would end up.
The final problem is that I really, really, really hate being bored and need something to keep me occupied. I also feel bad about getting paid and being under utilized. So I will apply for the position and do everything I can to make the job, the VP, and the company a success, I know no other way to work. I will work hard to be utilized and not to be exploited.
Recently my boss’s boss, one of the VPs has been trying to create a new position at the company that he would like me to fill. This has been going on for a couple of months and finally yesterday he came to me and told me that the job was approved and that if I was interested I needed to apply for it. He and I went to his office where he told me that he really wanted to move quickly with this and it was, in his mind a formality for me to apply for the position, in fact he has asked me to start as of today doing the work of that job.
Now here’s were the problems start. I want to be used, but I don’t want to be used, and part of this feels like I am being ‘used’.. This new position carries a whole lot more responsibility, which is not a problem, however when I asked if the pay would increase along with the increased responsibilities he told me that it would be a lateral move, but it has lots of exposure and potential for pay increases. Potential doesn’t pay the bills and all too often in Corporate America potential is just vaporware, to quote Jerry McGuire, “Show me the money”.
Another problem is that this job is really just something created in this VPs mind and I’m not so sure that after six months there will be anything left to do. Right now there are task not being completed because there have been a couple of key players that have left the company and the company is trying to eliminate the “positions” but the task still need to be done. This position will pick up some of those tasks. So what happens when the company decides they made a mistake and really do need to fill those other positions? I’m again deemed expendable and who knows where I would end up.
The final problem is that I really, really, really hate being bored and need something to keep me occupied. I also feel bad about getting paid and being under utilized. So I will apply for the position and do everything I can to make the job, the VP, and the company a success, I know no other way to work. I will work hard to be utilized and not to be exploited.
M.E. - Hotel Good View and AK47s
During the last five years in my previous job, I traveled about 70% of the time and with business and personal travel I traveled about 200,000 miles a year. Most of my overseas trips were to Asian countries.
I visited Taiwan six times and the one thing that stands out the most if the scooters. I know that the Vespa type scooter is trendy now, especially for Seattle college students, but in Taiwan it is a way of life. I’ve seen entire families, mom, dad, two kids and the groceries stacked on a Vespa type scooter. In the city of Taipei there are thousands of these scooter parked along the streets just off of the sidewalks. There are scooters parked at any opening. I always got the urge to push one over to watch them all fall like dominoes.
While I visited Japan twice, I didn’t really see much of the country. On the first visit, I was so busy I saw the hotel and the conference center and they were connected by a walk way, eating at such exotic places as Tony Roma’s and McDonald’s – they have rice bowls on the menu in Japan. On night I did get to eat a Sea Snail that was the size of my fistand I hope to never do that again. The second visit was a little different in that I only got out of the hotel one night and we walked downtown and ate Italian.
The most interesting trip was when I went to both Hong Kong and China. This trip happened just two weeks after Kyle and I had gotten married and neither one of us was very excited about me being gone for two weeks. One of my scariest times during any of my travels was when I had to give up my passport for three days in Hong Kong while they got me a visa to enter China. Imagine being in a foreign country and giving up your American passport, knowing that it would be worth thousands on the black market. Well, I got my passport back with my visa and we then took a train into Mainland China.
Changping Town, Dongguan city an industrial city 100 miles north of Hong Kong was my destination in China. Once we reached the city and we checked into this very nice five star hotel, Hotel Good View, I must say the view from the hotel was very good. During this stay I experienced communism up close and personal. I had the phone blocked in my room, our conference room at the factory was bugged and I had guards with AK47s escort me back into the hotel. This last experience occured on the last day in China. I went to the edge of the hotel grounds to gather a small baggie of dirt to take back to a teacher friend of mine. Well while I was bent over gathering the dirt, the woman I was traveling with tells me that armed guards were heading my way. Sure enough when I got up there are men with AK47s were coming to see what we are doing. I quickly stick the dirt in my pocket and start admiring the flowers. After a few minutes of them watching us we headed back to the hotel steps and they followed us making sure we didn't get into any trouble.
Travel to Asia is an interesting experience, it is nothing like travel in the USA or even Mexico. The cultures are just so very different. I have eaten things I really liked and some things that I hope I never know what they were, but most of all I truly appreciate the freedom that we have here in the USA and that I don’t have to worry when I want to gather a dirt sample.
Next M.E. – Hurricane Kenna
I visited Taiwan six times and the one thing that stands out the most if the scooters. I know that the Vespa type scooter is trendy now, especially for Seattle college students, but in Taiwan it is a way of life. I’ve seen entire families, mom, dad, two kids and the groceries stacked on a Vespa type scooter. In the city of Taipei there are thousands of these scooter parked along the streets just off of the sidewalks. There are scooters parked at any opening. I always got the urge to push one over to watch them all fall like dominoes.
While I visited Japan twice, I didn’t really see much of the country. On the first visit, I was so busy I saw the hotel and the conference center and they were connected by a walk way, eating at such exotic places as Tony Roma’s and McDonald’s – they have rice bowls on the menu in Japan. On night I did get to eat a Sea Snail that was the size of my fistand I hope to never do that again. The second visit was a little different in that I only got out of the hotel one night and we walked downtown and ate Italian.
The most interesting trip was when I went to both Hong Kong and China. This trip happened just two weeks after Kyle and I had gotten married and neither one of us was very excited about me being gone for two weeks. One of my scariest times during any of my travels was when I had to give up my passport for three days in Hong Kong while they got me a visa to enter China. Imagine being in a foreign country and giving up your American passport, knowing that it would be worth thousands on the black market. Well, I got my passport back with my visa and we then took a train into Mainland China.
Changping Town, Dongguan city an industrial city 100 miles north of Hong Kong was my destination in China. Once we reached the city and we checked into this very nice five star hotel, Hotel Good View, I must say the view from the hotel was very good. During this stay I experienced communism up close and personal. I had the phone blocked in my room, our conference room at the factory was bugged and I had guards with AK47s escort me back into the hotel. This last experience occured on the last day in China. I went to the edge of the hotel grounds to gather a small baggie of dirt to take back to a teacher friend of mine. Well while I was bent over gathering the dirt, the woman I was traveling with tells me that armed guards were heading my way. Sure enough when I got up there are men with AK47s were coming to see what we are doing. I quickly stick the dirt in my pocket and start admiring the flowers. After a few minutes of them watching us we headed back to the hotel steps and they followed us making sure we didn't get into any trouble.
Travel to Asia is an interesting experience, it is nothing like travel in the USA or even Mexico. The cultures are just so very different. I have eaten things I really liked and some things that I hope I never know what they were, but most of all I truly appreciate the freedom that we have here in the USA and that I don’t have to worry when I want to gather a dirt sample.
Next M.E. – Hurricane Kenna
Monday, May 21, 2007
"Breathe"
“ Breathe”, “ Breathe”. I caught myself saying this a few times this weekend. First when a friend took a little spill and had the wind knocked out or her and then with my mother as she was drinking water.
With my friend, for a moment she didn’t have a choice on whether to breathe or not, with the impact from her fall caused her diaphram to go into a spasm, similar to a ‘charlie horse’ in the leg and it wouldn’t move and she couldn’t breathe. It took a few seconds for the diaphram to relax and for her normal breathing to resume and no damage done.
In the case of my mother, her Parkinson’s makes it difficult for her to do more than one thing at a time, like when she is drinking. We think nothing of it, to pick up a glass of water, drink and breath in between sips without putting the glass down. With my mom, her brain is sending signals to drink and breathe, but the involuntary signal to breathe gets lost and the result is that she starts choking. Again the chocking is a normal reaction of our body, but it could cause more issues if the chocking continues and she is unable to catch her breath.
Breathing isn’t something we really think about, it happen involuntarily and without much thought. There are times however we feel as if we are sufficating from the pressures of life. For me it usually happens when I get overwhelmed, which usually comes when I think I have to fix everything. I run around trying to fix stuff for my mom, I try and fix things for my friends, I try and fix things for my husband. The reality is that I just can’t fix any of it so why do I try. You would think I would learn that the only thing we CAN do is pray. The more and more we pray when things happen the more and more we develop the response of prayer to any problem and soon it becomes involuntary.
I know for me I just need to remember to “breathe” when life brings a little chaos, breathe a little prayer and as I breathe, things seem to return to normal and I can make it for another day.
So for today, I will remind myself to “breathe”.
With my friend, for a moment she didn’t have a choice on whether to breathe or not, with the impact from her fall caused her diaphram to go into a spasm, similar to a ‘charlie horse’ in the leg and it wouldn’t move and she couldn’t breathe. It took a few seconds for the diaphram to relax and for her normal breathing to resume and no damage done.
In the case of my mother, her Parkinson’s makes it difficult for her to do more than one thing at a time, like when she is drinking. We think nothing of it, to pick up a glass of water, drink and breath in between sips without putting the glass down. With my mom, her brain is sending signals to drink and breathe, but the involuntary signal to breathe gets lost and the result is that she starts choking. Again the chocking is a normal reaction of our body, but it could cause more issues if the chocking continues and she is unable to catch her breath.
Breathing isn’t something we really think about, it happen involuntarily and without much thought. There are times however we feel as if we are sufficating from the pressures of life. For me it usually happens when I get overwhelmed, which usually comes when I think I have to fix everything. I run around trying to fix stuff for my mom, I try and fix things for my friends, I try and fix things for my husband. The reality is that I just can’t fix any of it so why do I try. You would think I would learn that the only thing we CAN do is pray. The more and more we pray when things happen the more and more we develop the response of prayer to any problem and soon it becomes involuntary.
I know for me I just need to remember to “breathe” when life brings a little chaos, breathe a little prayer and as I breathe, things seem to return to normal and I can make it for another day.
So for today, I will remind myself to “breathe”.
"Why Not"
People who ask why keep others from getting thing done.
People who ask why not get thing done.
People who ask why not get thing done.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
B I N G O !
Yesterday I had the opportunity to go to the Bingo Hall with my mom. We had a good time even though we didn't win. It was fun just to do something she really enjoys.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
M.E. Fighting for Shoes
October 1998 was my first trip to Puerto Vallarta to help the people living in and near the dump. I could write a book about this trip and about my experiences in Puerto Vallarta, but this is only a blog. I struggle on how to put to words what this experience was for me. How to describe all that is still inside these 8 some years later.
I remember each and every detail from riding in the back of the old van on a tire trying to keep my feet out of the holes in the floor, to sitting on the loading dock at the airport waiting for more food trucks to come. Or what about that first night in the country when we went body surfing and watched the most amazing sunset.
One morning we met at the hotel buffet to have breakfast. There was the seven of us women from The Rock intermixed with about 12 Mexican women from Perdon y Amistad. We couldn’t speak Spanish and only a couple of them spoke English but we shared a meal and our hearts and we left there knowing that we knew each other and had made true friendships.
Today when we talk about Mission to Mexico we talk about ‘the compound’ and the School of Champions, on this trip none of that existed. On this trip we went into the dump. In amongst the discarded boxes, the bottles, the buzzards and dogs, you see clusters of shacks made out of what ever can be found. Boxes, crates or bedsprings anything that can be used to hold up more cardboard or tin sheets used for roof. This is where the families lived, where they had their babies. There is no fresh water source and not much protection from the summer rains. This is the look of hopelessness.
We took every chance we could to play with the children, to touch them and to love on them. One afternoon we had the chance to help give some children from the dump a shower for the first time in their lives. Shower is the rough term for it. It was cold water running from a shower head hanging on the wall in the woman’s restroom and a hose stuffed through the window in the men’s. These children didn't know how to use the soap or shampoo. The children get all cleaned and they are given something to eat and then we play a game of tag. For a moment they are children. As the van pulls away to take them back to the dump they press their faces against the window and wave, all smiles and clean. Clean they go back to the shacks in the dump.
I don’t know which of the events made a bigger impact, but what I do know is that I did not want to get on the airplane the day it was time to leave. I still do not know what it was that gave me the strength to board that flight back to Seattle and I know that I probably cried the first three hours of the flight back.
I guess I better talk about the shoes, this actually happened as we were trying to enter the country. The custom officers tried to confiscate the 300 pairs of shoes we had brought with us to give to the people living in and around the dump. We made two big mistakes, we had all these shoes in six large boxes and we tried to take them through on one luggage cart making it too obvious that we had some ‘goods’. This was a big red flag to the officials that thought they could sell them on the ‘black market’. In the end with much arguing and persistence we were allowed to enter Mexico with our shoes.
My first trip to Mexico was one that changed my life forever. Prior to that trip I had a desire in my heart to reach the nations little did I know that I was called to a Nation. Today when I return to Mexico I become whole and feel complete. I see the world in 3D, but here in Monroe my life is lived in black and white and one dimensionally. One of my friends in Mexico says that I have the heart of the Mexican.
For more information see Mission to Mexico at www.therockchurc.info.
Next M.E. – Hotel Good View and an AK47
I remember each and every detail from riding in the back of the old van on a tire trying to keep my feet out of the holes in the floor, to sitting on the loading dock at the airport waiting for more food trucks to come. Or what about that first night in the country when we went body surfing and watched the most amazing sunset.
One morning we met at the hotel buffet to have breakfast. There was the seven of us women from The Rock intermixed with about 12 Mexican women from Perdon y Amistad. We couldn’t speak Spanish and only a couple of them spoke English but we shared a meal and our hearts and we left there knowing that we knew each other and had made true friendships.
Today when we talk about Mission to Mexico we talk about ‘the compound’ and the School of Champions, on this trip none of that existed. On this trip we went into the dump. In amongst the discarded boxes, the bottles, the buzzards and dogs, you see clusters of shacks made out of what ever can be found. Boxes, crates or bedsprings anything that can be used to hold up more cardboard or tin sheets used for roof. This is where the families lived, where they had their babies. There is no fresh water source and not much protection from the summer rains. This is the look of hopelessness.
We took every chance we could to play with the children, to touch them and to love on them. One afternoon we had the chance to help give some children from the dump a shower for the first time in their lives. Shower is the rough term for it. It was cold water running from a shower head hanging on the wall in the woman’s restroom and a hose stuffed through the window in the men’s. These children didn't know how to use the soap or shampoo. The children get all cleaned and they are given something to eat and then we play a game of tag. For a moment they are children. As the van pulls away to take them back to the dump they press their faces against the window and wave, all smiles and clean. Clean they go back to the shacks in the dump.
I don’t know which of the events made a bigger impact, but what I do know is that I did not want to get on the airplane the day it was time to leave. I still do not know what it was that gave me the strength to board that flight back to Seattle and I know that I probably cried the first three hours of the flight back.
I guess I better talk about the shoes, this actually happened as we were trying to enter the country. The custom officers tried to confiscate the 300 pairs of shoes we had brought with us to give to the people living in and around the dump. We made two big mistakes, we had all these shoes in six large boxes and we tried to take them through on one luggage cart making it too obvious that we had some ‘goods’. This was a big red flag to the officials that thought they could sell them on the ‘black market’. In the end with much arguing and persistence we were allowed to enter Mexico with our shoes.
My first trip to Mexico was one that changed my life forever. Prior to that trip I had a desire in my heart to reach the nations little did I know that I was called to a Nation. Today when I return to Mexico I become whole and feel complete. I see the world in 3D, but here in Monroe my life is lived in black and white and one dimensionally. One of my friends in Mexico says that I have the heart of the Mexican.
For more information see Mission to Mexico at www.therockchurc.info.
Next M.E. – Hotel Good View and an AK47
Friday, May 18, 2007
The Shoes of Your Life
Dear Daughter,
Sitting here today I was thinking of shoes and you came to mind. I started to think of how at each different stage of your life your shoes would change.
First there are the shoes that are so cute, yet totally impractical. You hardly kept them on your feet, yet they were so much fun for mom, auntie and grandma to buy. Usually you only got to wear them once or twice when you were dressed up for church or maybe for that picture to put on Christmas cards. Those shoes cost almost as much as mine.
Next came your first pair of Mary Jane’s. You looked like a little girl, no longer my baby, really starting to grow up. You put them on with your school uniform and were so adorable, how could anyone resist giving you a big hug but you were busy and always moving so it was hard to catch you to give you a hug. But at night after the day was over and as you were settled into bed all worn out from the day’s activity. You were peaceful and with your eyes half closed you would say your prayers and then snuggle in. It usually only took a page or two of the book and you were off to sleep.
As you grew in to a young woman there were fights over the heals being too tall for a young lady or that they cost too much. You had your own style and there was no going back. When it came time for the prom we went all out and got the perfect pair to match the perfect dress. I cried as my ‘baby’ walked out the door on the arms of a young man in a tuxedo.
Now I experience the empty nest as you race off to college and out on your own. I get a text every now and then and I read your blog so that I know what your up to. Your shoes range from practical to trendy but who cares you only live once. You come home for the holidays and bring your laundry and at least one friend with you each time. I don’t see much of you during your visits because you ‘must’ go out and reconnect with all your friends there is so much going on. I sleep better each night just knowing you are near if only for a day or two.
“Mom I met a guy.” How can so few words make such a change in a life, yours and mine? Soon we are making plan for the wedding of your dreams. We talk of all of the uncertainty and all the fears of what the future will bring. You ask so many questions and yet there is no assurance I can give that will totally bring peace, all I can do is pray with you and keep track of a few details. You dress in your gown and slip on the matching pumps your hair done up with a few strands of delicate flowers woven in. I kiss your check, careful not to leave lipstick, and send you off to marry the man that will care for you, but he will never love you like I do and I can rest in that.
Soon you call to tell me that I can dig out the old baby shoes that are tucked away in the back of the closet. A call when you head to the hospital, a call when they have a high fever, a call to see if Grandma can baby-sit. Life seems busy, yet simpler when you stop by just to have a cup of tea while the kids are down for a nap. Now your shoes become more comfortable both to deal with the swelling and to be able to chase around after your own child and the cycle begins again.
Shoes styles come and go but my love for you will never change.
Love,
Mom
Sitting here today I was thinking of shoes and you came to mind. I started to think of how at each different stage of your life your shoes would change.
First there are the shoes that are so cute, yet totally impractical. You hardly kept them on your feet, yet they were so much fun for mom, auntie and grandma to buy. Usually you only got to wear them once or twice when you were dressed up for church or maybe for that picture to put on Christmas cards. Those shoes cost almost as much as mine.
Next came your first pair of Mary Jane’s. You looked like a little girl, no longer my baby, really starting to grow up. You put them on with your school uniform and were so adorable, how could anyone resist giving you a big hug but you were busy and always moving so it was hard to catch you to give you a hug. But at night after the day was over and as you were settled into bed all worn out from the day’s activity. You were peaceful and with your eyes half closed you would say your prayers and then snuggle in. It usually only took a page or two of the book and you were off to sleep.
As you grew in to a young woman there were fights over the heals being too tall for a young lady or that they cost too much. You had your own style and there was no going back. When it came time for the prom we went all out and got the perfect pair to match the perfect dress. I cried as my ‘baby’ walked out the door on the arms of a young man in a tuxedo.
Now I experience the empty nest as you race off to college and out on your own. I get a text every now and then and I read your blog so that I know what your up to. Your shoes range from practical to trendy but who cares you only live once. You come home for the holidays and bring your laundry and at least one friend with you each time. I don’t see much of you during your visits because you ‘must’ go out and reconnect with all your friends there is so much going on. I sleep better each night just knowing you are near if only for a day or two.
“Mom I met a guy.” How can so few words make such a change in a life, yours and mine? Soon we are making plan for the wedding of your dreams. We talk of all of the uncertainty and all the fears of what the future will bring. You ask so many questions and yet there is no assurance I can give that will totally bring peace, all I can do is pray with you and keep track of a few details. You dress in your gown and slip on the matching pumps your hair done up with a few strands of delicate flowers woven in. I kiss your check, careful not to leave lipstick, and send you off to marry the man that will care for you, but he will never love you like I do and I can rest in that.
Soon you call to tell me that I can dig out the old baby shoes that are tucked away in the back of the closet. A call when you head to the hospital, a call when they have a high fever, a call to see if Grandma can baby-sit. Life seems busy, yet simpler when you stop by just to have a cup of tea while the kids are down for a nap. Now your shoes become more comfortable both to deal with the swelling and to be able to chase around after your own child and the cycle begins again.
Shoes styles come and go but my love for you will never change.
Love,
Mom
Thursday, May 17, 2007
M.E. – Germany: Arm-in-Arm
Shortly after I became a Christian I became involved in Aglow, an International Christian Woman’s organization. I first got involved at the local level, then at the regional level and finally accepted a job at the International headquarters in Edmonds, WA as their IT Manager. Aglow was a vital part of my development as a person and as a leader. It was in Aglow that I found out the true meaning of God’s love. It was in Aglow where I met a woman that taught me that a hug was a good thing and not something to dread. It was in Aglow that I met a life long friend and though her I learned how to love a family and how to be a friend.
During the eight years I was active at some level in Aglow I had many experiences, but the most memorable happened at an Aglow International Conference in 1989. The group of us from the Northern Illinois Area Board attended the conference together. One of the highlights of any International conference is the Parade of Flags. This is where a woman from every nation that Aglow is active in, dresses in a costume of that nation and enters the conference hall carrying the flag across the platform to be recognized and celebrated.
During the 1989 conference we were standing clapping for each nation and they came to Germany, this is just after the Berlin Wall was opened. There coming down the aisle were two women arm-in-arm both dressed in the traditional German folk dresses, each carrying a slightly different flag. It was the West German and East German delegates united for the first time. The place erupted into cheers, applause and tears celebrating the freedom and giving Glory to God. This moment was extra special for us on our board because one of our members had escaped as a young girl from East Germany with her family. We rejoiced with Hanni knowing her and knowing in part the joy in that moment of seeing the country of her birth free.
I guess Aglow was an experience were I grew emotionally, spiritually and relationally. It was also through Aglow that I came to fulfil that desire to live in the Seattle Area.
Next M.E. – Fighting For The Shoes
During the eight years I was active at some level in Aglow I had many experiences, but the most memorable happened at an Aglow International Conference in 1989. The group of us from the Northern Illinois Area Board attended the conference together. One of the highlights of any International conference is the Parade of Flags. This is where a woman from every nation that Aglow is active in, dresses in a costume of that nation and enters the conference hall carrying the flag across the platform to be recognized and celebrated.
During the 1989 conference we were standing clapping for each nation and they came to Germany, this is just after the Berlin Wall was opened. There coming down the aisle were two women arm-in-arm both dressed in the traditional German folk dresses, each carrying a slightly different flag. It was the West German and East German delegates united for the first time. The place erupted into cheers, applause and tears celebrating the freedom and giving Glory to God. This moment was extra special for us on our board because one of our members had escaped as a young girl from East Germany with her family. We rejoiced with Hanni knowing her and knowing in part the joy in that moment of seeing the country of her birth free.
I guess Aglow was an experience were I grew emotionally, spiritually and relationally. It was also through Aglow that I came to fulfil that desire to live in the Seattle Area.
Next M.E. – Fighting For The Shoes
Tapestry of Life
I had this thought yesterday on the way to work:
There are many 'shades' of days in our lives, whether the day is dark, bright, or somewhere in between, all of them expertly woven together make a beautiful tapestry that is unique to each of us.
Let today be just another thread in the piece of art that is you.
There are many 'shades' of days in our lives, whether the day is dark, bright, or somewhere in between, all of them expertly woven together make a beautiful tapestry that is unique to each of us.
Let today be just another thread in the piece of art that is you.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
My Grand Daughter Katelynn
This is Katelynn our Grand Daughter, we had just finished our ice cream after she did her kindergarten recital.
She did a great job, the lighting in the gym was poor so the picture doesn't do her justice. Here she is played the xylophone and did a couple of folk dances
I really like this Grandmother thing and I'm pretty sure that she thinks that Grandma Karen is ok too. Tonight we decided that we needed to convert one of our extra rooms into a music room for Katelynn and Grandma Karen.
True Reflections
Notice the colors of the reflection on the right in this picture. At first glance it appears blurry, but look closely and it is a true reflection.
1 Corinthians 13:12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
M.E. – Freeport Pretzels
Coming out of college in 1979 as a woman with an engineering degree made me in high demand to fill a quota, my challenge was to pick a job where I would be ALLOWED to work and not to just sit in the corner and look pretty. I finally selected to take a position at Micro Switch in Freeport, IL. I was a woman in a man’s job and thank God I had spent that time behind the bar or I would have never made it. I could write a book about sexual discrimination, but I would have to write it as a novel because most people today wouldn’t believe that things like that actually happened.
It was after about five years in Freeport that I reached the end of myself and literally wanted to kill myself and end my suffering. I remember standing in the living room of my rented duplex and thinking, I am “successful”, I have a new car, a new motorcycle, an Irish Setter and more money than I know how to spend and yet totally hopeless so what have I got to live for. I spent probably another six weeks or so working out the plan to kill myself making it look like an accident.
On a Friday night I dressed up for a ‘night out’ making sure that everything looked normal and not planned. I was going to spend some time at the Singles Meeting to have a few drinks and be seen before heading out to find a truck to drive head first into. I reached the Holiday Inn, walked in and headed for the conference rooms but the place was dead, no activity was going on, there was no music from the band that usually played at these events. There was no Singles Meeting that night. Now what was I going to do, it was only 8pm? I went to my car and sat, sat trying to figure out what to do then I remembered that one of my friends from volleyball/softball had invited me to come and hear the band that was playing at the Christian coffee house.
The coffee house was in the older part of town in a storefront building on a dark street, the lights inside are down low because the band is playing. I enter in the front door and scan the room looking for Jamie. I see Jamie sitting by herself at a table near the front window and make my way over to her. She looks up and smiles and pulls a chair out for me to sit in. Since the band is playing I just sit down and we don’t speak.
Finally, the band takes a break and Jamie ask me how I’m doing and I tell her without looking up from the bottom of my cup that I’m really not doing well. She tilts her chair back up onto the back two legs and looks at me and says, “Well, you know you really need Jesus”. I looked her in the eye and say, “Yeah, you’re right, it’s time”. She proceeded to fall backwards onto the floor in shock. Once she gathered her self up, she led me in the sinner’s prayer. On the night that I planned to kill myself I gave my life over to Jesus as my Lord and Savior. As it says in Gal 2:20, …and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.
Now I wish to tell you that everything in my life was a bed of roses and I never felt depressed from that point on, but I can tell you that since that time the Lord has been faithful as long as I put my trust in Him and don’t try to do things on my own. It was in Freeport that I finally came to the end of myself and sought the true One that could get me through the day-to-day stuff called life.
Next M.E. – Germany; Arm-in-Arm
It was after about five years in Freeport that I reached the end of myself and literally wanted to kill myself and end my suffering. I remember standing in the living room of my rented duplex and thinking, I am “successful”, I have a new car, a new motorcycle, an Irish Setter and more money than I know how to spend and yet totally hopeless so what have I got to live for. I spent probably another six weeks or so working out the plan to kill myself making it look like an accident.
On a Friday night I dressed up for a ‘night out’ making sure that everything looked normal and not planned. I was going to spend some time at the Singles Meeting to have a few drinks and be seen before heading out to find a truck to drive head first into. I reached the Holiday Inn, walked in and headed for the conference rooms but the place was dead, no activity was going on, there was no music from the band that usually played at these events. There was no Singles Meeting that night. Now what was I going to do, it was only 8pm? I went to my car and sat, sat trying to figure out what to do then I remembered that one of my friends from volleyball/softball had invited me to come and hear the band that was playing at the Christian coffee house.
The coffee house was in the older part of town in a storefront building on a dark street, the lights inside are down low because the band is playing. I enter in the front door and scan the room looking for Jamie. I see Jamie sitting by herself at a table near the front window and make my way over to her. She looks up and smiles and pulls a chair out for me to sit in. Since the band is playing I just sit down and we don’t speak.
Finally, the band takes a break and Jamie ask me how I’m doing and I tell her without looking up from the bottom of my cup that I’m really not doing well. She tilts her chair back up onto the back two legs and looks at me and says, “Well, you know you really need Jesus”. I looked her in the eye and say, “Yeah, you’re right, it’s time”. She proceeded to fall backwards onto the floor in shock. Once she gathered her self up, she led me in the sinner’s prayer. On the night that I planned to kill myself I gave my life over to Jesus as my Lord and Savior. As it says in Gal 2:20, …and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.
Now I wish to tell you that everything in my life was a bed of roses and I never felt depressed from that point on, but I can tell you that since that time the Lord has been faithful as long as I put my trust in Him and don’t try to do things on my own. It was in Freeport that I finally came to the end of myself and sought the true One that could get me through the day-to-day stuff called life.
Next M.E. – Germany; Arm-in-Arm
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Small Details Are Important
It is amazing how the small things really make a difference. Just imagine being on the second floor of a building and the fire alarm goes off. You're thinking no problem just head for the nearest staircase, walk down and head outside right?
Now imagine that you are in a wheelchair or better yet you are pushing your mother in a wheelchair and sitting in the doctors office on the second floor for a normal visit and the fire alarm goes off, now what? Did you know that when a fire alarm goes off the elevators stop working.
Yes this afternoon I had my mom at her doctor and the fire alarm sounds, not a drill but a true alarm and I am trapped on the second floor with my mother in her wheelchair. So here I am with one of the nurses trying to figure out if it is a real fire and if so how we are going to carry my mom down the stairs. Just then another nurse comes running up and says that it is just burnt toast and the fire department is on the way.
So good news we won't die in a fire this afternoon, but it sure was a wake up call for the clinic's staff, what would they have done if it has been a real fire? Now we end up standing there with our fingers in our ears (the alarm is still going off) while we wait for the fire department to come for about5 minutes. Thankfully they turn off the alarm, however they can't get the elevator restarted we have to wait for the elevator man because no ones knows what to do. Did I tell you that the elevator man is in Redmond?
We go back into the exam room and finish up our appointment and then wait. And wait. And wait. 45 minutes later the elevator guy shows up and we get to leave the 2nd floor and he trains the clinic staff on how to restart the elevator. Did I tell you I had taken my lunch time to take my mom to the doctor, now that's a long lunch.
So, it is true the small details really matter.
Now imagine that you are in a wheelchair or better yet you are pushing your mother in a wheelchair and sitting in the doctors office on the second floor for a normal visit and the fire alarm goes off, now what? Did you know that when a fire alarm goes off the elevators stop working.
Yes this afternoon I had my mom at her doctor and the fire alarm sounds, not a drill but a true alarm and I am trapped on the second floor with my mother in her wheelchair. So here I am with one of the nurses trying to figure out if it is a real fire and if so how we are going to carry my mom down the stairs. Just then another nurse comes running up and says that it is just burnt toast and the fire department is on the way.
So good news we won't die in a fire this afternoon, but it sure was a wake up call for the clinic's staff, what would they have done if it has been a real fire? Now we end up standing there with our fingers in our ears (the alarm is still going off) while we wait for the fire department to come for about5 minutes. Thankfully they turn off the alarm, however they can't get the elevator restarted we have to wait for the elevator man because no ones knows what to do. Did I tell you that the elevator man is in Redmond?
We go back into the exam room and finish up our appointment and then wait. And wait. And wait. 45 minutes later the elevator guy shows up and we get to leave the 2nd floor and he trains the clinic staff on how to restart the elevator. Did I tell you I had taken my lunch time to take my mom to the doctor, now that's a long lunch.
So, it is true the small details really matter.
M.E. - Working On Mackinac Island
In my Sophomore year of college I met a woman who’s Grandparents owned a bar on Mackinac Island (pronounced Mackinaw – the ‘c’ is silent) she asked if I would be interested in working for her on the island during the summer. I spent three summers on the Island, working on the weekends in the middle of May and then full time once school was out until school started again in September. The Island is known for its fudge and the fact that it doesn’t allow motorized vehicles. Travel on the island is either by foot, bicycle, or horse-drawn carriage. During the summer months this Island hosts approximately 15,000 “fudgies” a day, but there are only about 550 “islanders” year-round residents.
To watch people from behind the bar is an interesting experience in itself. Tourist can ask some of the most interesting questions. Some of my all time favorites are:
“Is this island surrounded by water?” – No the backside is pink lemonade.
“Do you have to take the boat to get here?” – No, the bridge swings over every night at midnight."
"Which way around the island is shorter?" - Go left it is 8 miles, go right it is 8 1/2 miles.
One of the things about the Island is that there are a lot of bats. The climate in Michigan and the fact that the farthest a person can be in the state from fresh water is 5 miles, means that there are tons of mosquitoes and the bats eat mosquitoes. So living on the island you just get used to seeing them flying around at night. Here are a few of my favorite bat stories.
First there was the time that early in the day, not many people in the bar a couple came in and ordered drinks. The woman had two fresh cast on her arms, she had fallen the previous night and broke both wrist. The husband was sitting there giving her a hard time because she was in pain and wasn’t real interested in doing a lot of sight seeing. At one point she looks up and hanging off of the molding along the ceiling above them was a small bat. She calls me over points it out and ask me what that is, I tell her it is a bat and the big brave man, her husband, lets out a yelp, drops on all fours and crawls to the bathroom in fear. Needless to say she and I had a good laugh at that one.
Another time on a nice sunny afternoon I was working the bar and we had a steady stream of folks in and out and all of a sudden a bat plops down on the bar in front of everyone. I casually reach up and take the hat from the head of one of the patrons, cover the bat, sweep it into the trashcan, carry it outside and came back behind the bar. It was a reflex response on my part. The people sitting at the bar at the time sat totally stunned and didn’t know what to do. I just handed the guy his hat back, said thank you and offered him a drink on the house. I’m sure it made for great storytelling when they got home, I know I have enjoyed telling it over the years.
Other exciting events during my time behind the bar were having someone shoot off a gun in the bar in celebration (good thing no one lived in the rooms above the bar), I had to save one of the waitresses from being strangled (it is amazing how quick a man will back up when you hit him in the throat with a Billy club) and when I physically threw a man out that was making vulgar remarks to a couple of young ladies (I even surprised my self at how angry I was and how easily I tossed that guy).
It was during the time on the Island that I really learned how much of a ‘schmoozer’ I am. Bartending is not just about following the recipe it is about working with people, I averaged $200 per day in tips and my single biggest single tip was $100. Even then the Lord had a plan and a purpose for me and He provided this opportunity not only to meet the need I had (to pay for collage) but taught me about people and myself in ways that would have not been possible any other way.
Next M.E. – Freeport Pretzels
To watch people from behind the bar is an interesting experience in itself. Tourist can ask some of the most interesting questions. Some of my all time favorites are:
“Is this island surrounded by water?” – No the backside is pink lemonade.
“Do you have to take the boat to get here?” – No, the bridge swings over every night at midnight."
"Which way around the island is shorter?" - Go left it is 8 miles, go right it is 8 1/2 miles.
One of the things about the Island is that there are a lot of bats. The climate in Michigan and the fact that the farthest a person can be in the state from fresh water is 5 miles, means that there are tons of mosquitoes and the bats eat mosquitoes. So living on the island you just get used to seeing them flying around at night. Here are a few of my favorite bat stories.
First there was the time that early in the day, not many people in the bar a couple came in and ordered drinks. The woman had two fresh cast on her arms, she had fallen the previous night and broke both wrist. The husband was sitting there giving her a hard time because she was in pain and wasn’t real interested in doing a lot of sight seeing. At one point she looks up and hanging off of the molding along the ceiling above them was a small bat. She calls me over points it out and ask me what that is, I tell her it is a bat and the big brave man, her husband, lets out a yelp, drops on all fours and crawls to the bathroom in fear. Needless to say she and I had a good laugh at that one.
Another time on a nice sunny afternoon I was working the bar and we had a steady stream of folks in and out and all of a sudden a bat plops down on the bar in front of everyone. I casually reach up and take the hat from the head of one of the patrons, cover the bat, sweep it into the trashcan, carry it outside and came back behind the bar. It was a reflex response on my part. The people sitting at the bar at the time sat totally stunned and didn’t know what to do. I just handed the guy his hat back, said thank you and offered him a drink on the house. I’m sure it made for great storytelling when they got home, I know I have enjoyed telling it over the years.
Other exciting events during my time behind the bar were having someone shoot off a gun in the bar in celebration (good thing no one lived in the rooms above the bar), I had to save one of the waitresses from being strangled (it is amazing how quick a man will back up when you hit him in the throat with a Billy club) and when I physically threw a man out that was making vulgar remarks to a couple of young ladies (I even surprised my self at how angry I was and how easily I tossed that guy).
It was during the time on the Island that I really learned how much of a ‘schmoozer’ I am. Bartending is not just about following the recipe it is about working with people, I averaged $200 per day in tips and my single biggest single tip was $100. Even then the Lord had a plan and a purpose for me and He provided this opportunity not only to meet the need I had (to pay for collage) but taught me about people and myself in ways that would have not been possible any other way.
Next M.E. – Freeport Pretzels
Monday, May 14, 2007
M.E. - The Night The Edmond Fitzgerald Sunk
I went to college at Lake Superior State University; it is a small college of about 3000 students at the tip of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The college is on the outskirts of a town of Sault Ste Marie with 16, 000 residents, home of the Soo Locks.
While at college I took full advantage of the opportunity and maybe too much of an advantage. In my first year I carried a full load as a Math Major – 22 credits, played collegiate basketball and softball, played the clarinet in the concert band and was enrolled in ROTC. Too bad I had calculus at 8am, because that was the one class that because I opted to miss too much and flunked it the first semester, you see I had passed calculus in High School and didn’t feel I needed to go. Doesn’t look good if you flunk the classes you are majoring in.
The second year I learned not to over do it and dropped band, didn’t schedule the early classes and backed off some of the nightlife. Yes, that was at a time when I was out most nights playing pool and dancing at the local disco – “ The Back Door”.
The third year I dropped softball and ROTC – I had developed an ulcer and the Army rejected me. This was also when I changed majors and switched to Mechanical Engineering. The Math Department didn’t like me taking classes in two areas and asked me to pick between the two, so I picked Engineering.
The forth and fifth year (I delayed leaving college and got an extra degree in the fifth year) I stayed the course, finished my eligibility in Basketball being the first woman at the college to earn a four year ring and graduated with two degrees and over 15 job offers.
College was an interesting time in my life and one of many experiences but truly the night the Edmond Fitzgerald sunk was one of the most unique. Maybe it was because of the ‘yard sailing’ or maybe the Gordon Lightfoot song, but to this day I remember the feel of the wind and the smell of the wet grass. Maybe it was because as we were having such fun while out on Lake Superior just 60 miles away there were 29 men that lost their lives. It is almost incomprehensible the strength of the wind until you have been in it.
Some of you are probably wondering why the “Edmond Fitzgerald” sounds familiar; it is because you probably were around during the mid-70s and listened to pop radio and the song by Gordon Lightfoot called “The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald”. That song was written about a ship that sunk in Lake Superior on November 10, 1975. I remember that storm well. We are not talking a small windstorm; we are talking two days of winds that were sustained at 50 mph and had gust of up around 90 mph. The wind that night would have been classified as a Class 2 or 3 Hurricane had it been on an ocean. I remember trying to walk across campus that morning and not being able to get very far very fast. You would take one step forward and two steps backwards when you were trying to walk into the wind. Now if you were lucky enough to be walking with the wind it was pretty easy sailing as long as you could keep your feet.
Speaking of sailing that night I got to participate in ‘yard sailing’. It was the one and only time I have every seen this done. Along with the wind was rain and after a time the rain began to soak the grass out behind the student cafeteria to the point that the ground was saturated. So what we did was put on tennis shoes, grab old blankets and then you would run with the wind, quickly hold up the blanket and plant your feet. The blanket would act as a sail and the shoes were as skis across the wet grass. It was like you were an iceboat shooting across the lake. There were only two problems with ‘yard sailing’ 1) the blanket got soaked in the rain and was hard to hold up, and 2) if you were good the wind would carry you into the brick wall of the cafeteria because you couldn’t see through the blanket.
During my college years I learned to live on my own and to make hard choices in life as well as paying the consequences for your actions. Flunking a math class was a new experience and one that I sure didn’t repeat.
The Next M.E. – Mackinac Island
While at college I took full advantage of the opportunity and maybe too much of an advantage. In my first year I carried a full load as a Math Major – 22 credits, played collegiate basketball and softball, played the clarinet in the concert band and was enrolled in ROTC. Too bad I had calculus at 8am, because that was the one class that because I opted to miss too much and flunked it the first semester, you see I had passed calculus in High School and didn’t feel I needed to go. Doesn’t look good if you flunk the classes you are majoring in.
The second year I learned not to over do it and dropped band, didn’t schedule the early classes and backed off some of the nightlife. Yes, that was at a time when I was out most nights playing pool and dancing at the local disco – “ The Back Door”.
The third year I dropped softball and ROTC – I had developed an ulcer and the Army rejected me. This was also when I changed majors and switched to Mechanical Engineering. The Math Department didn’t like me taking classes in two areas and asked me to pick between the two, so I picked Engineering.
The forth and fifth year (I delayed leaving college and got an extra degree in the fifth year) I stayed the course, finished my eligibility in Basketball being the first woman at the college to earn a four year ring and graduated with two degrees and over 15 job offers.
College was an interesting time in my life and one of many experiences but truly the night the Edmond Fitzgerald sunk was one of the most unique. Maybe it was because of the ‘yard sailing’ or maybe the Gordon Lightfoot song, but to this day I remember the feel of the wind and the smell of the wet grass. Maybe it was because as we were having such fun while out on Lake Superior just 60 miles away there were 29 men that lost their lives. It is almost incomprehensible the strength of the wind until you have been in it.
Some of you are probably wondering why the “Edmond Fitzgerald” sounds familiar; it is because you probably were around during the mid-70s and listened to pop radio and the song by Gordon Lightfoot called “The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald”. That song was written about a ship that sunk in Lake Superior on November 10, 1975. I remember that storm well. We are not talking a small windstorm; we are talking two days of winds that were sustained at 50 mph and had gust of up around 90 mph. The wind that night would have been classified as a Class 2 or 3 Hurricane had it been on an ocean. I remember trying to walk across campus that morning and not being able to get very far very fast. You would take one step forward and two steps backwards when you were trying to walk into the wind. Now if you were lucky enough to be walking with the wind it was pretty easy sailing as long as you could keep your feet.
Speaking of sailing that night I got to participate in ‘yard sailing’. It was the one and only time I have every seen this done. Along with the wind was rain and after a time the rain began to soak the grass out behind the student cafeteria to the point that the ground was saturated. So what we did was put on tennis shoes, grab old blankets and then you would run with the wind, quickly hold up the blanket and plant your feet. The blanket would act as a sail and the shoes were as skis across the wet grass. It was like you were an iceboat shooting across the lake. There were only two problems with ‘yard sailing’ 1) the blanket got soaked in the rain and was hard to hold up, and 2) if you were good the wind would carry you into the brick wall of the cafeteria because you couldn’t see through the blanket.
During my college years I learned to live on my own and to make hard choices in life as well as paying the consequences for your actions. Flunking a math class was a new experience and one that I sure didn’t repeat.
The Next M.E. – Mackinac Island
Sunday, May 13, 2007
M.E. - Almost Arrested in DC
I went to Washington DC the first time with my 9th grade class in the spring of 1970. Mood rings, pet rocks, bell bottoms and leisure suits were all the rage. It was a time when I could the wear pants to school when it was above zero, back then girls were required to wear skirts or dresses. The Vietnam War was in full swing along with all of the war protest, including on May 1st when the shootings happened at Kent State. So when we got to DC things were a little intense. The Washington Monument was closed to visitor because of protesters so we couldn’t race up the stairs. At night even our motel had motorcycle cops driving around the walkway outside our doors all night long.
Most of our touring of the city occurred during the day but this one night we went to see all the memorials with all the lights on. On the way to the Lincoln Memorial our bus driver told us to be sure to look at the back of Lincoln’s chair. Well what none of us realized was that because of protesters you weren’t allowed to go behind the chair. As we walked back there a couple of National Park Policeman came and made us “put our hands against the wall”. At that instant I think every ounce of my blood drained out of my body and I almost passed out. The five of us punks had never been in a situation like this and it took everything in me to not die on the spot. We had no idea what was going to happen next, I’m thinking we are going to go to jail and boy wait until my folks hear about this. Thank God that the cops looked at this group that was scared silly and realized that we really weren’t trying to do any harm to the monument and let us get out of there. This was one of the last nights there and I really don’t remember much of the trip after that.
From that experience I know that I learned that I could live though the fright of my life and that a healthy respect for authority was good. Even adults that truly mean the best for you can sometimes lead you astray and that it is best to ask when you are unsure.
By the way, there is an American Flag craved in the marble of the back of Lincoln’s Chair.
Next M.E. - The night the Edmond Fitzgerald Sunk
Most of our touring of the city occurred during the day but this one night we went to see all the memorials with all the lights on. On the way to the Lincoln Memorial our bus driver told us to be sure to look at the back of Lincoln’s chair. Well what none of us realized was that because of protesters you weren’t allowed to go behind the chair. As we walked back there a couple of National Park Policeman came and made us “put our hands against the wall”. At that instant I think every ounce of my blood drained out of my body and I almost passed out. The five of us punks had never been in a situation like this and it took everything in me to not die on the spot. We had no idea what was going to happen next, I’m thinking we are going to go to jail and boy wait until my folks hear about this. Thank God that the cops looked at this group that was scared silly and realized that we really weren’t trying to do any harm to the monument and let us get out of there. This was one of the last nights there and I really don’t remember much of the trip after that.
From that experience I know that I learned that I could live though the fright of my life and that a healthy respect for authority was good. Even adults that truly mean the best for you can sometimes lead you astray and that it is best to ask when you are unsure.
By the way, there is an American Flag craved in the marble of the back of Lincoln’s Chair.
Next M.E. - The night the Edmond Fitzgerald Sunk
Saturday, May 12, 2007
I hit the ball
Yahoo!!! I went to the driving range and hit a few golf balls today. I also freaked out my husband when I got down flat on the ground to take this picture from the golf balls view point.
With the problems and subsequent surgery on my foot it has been a long, long time since I have had the chance to swing the golf clubs. Did I tell you I have a passion for golf?
Now I could get all pious and come up with something about how golf is a corollary to being with God; you do know that GOLF stands for God Of Love and Forgiveness. But the truth is I absolutely enjoy the challenge and the fact that it is all up to me, absolutely nothing else. I have settled it in myself that I will never be Tiger Woods or Michelle Wie, and with that came the fun of just doing the best I can, enjoying being outdoors and sometimes being with friends - Robin and Mary I will be ready soon. That is what it is all about for me.
So thank you Kyle for a great afternoon and for everyone else go find something fun and DO IT.
M.E. - 1st Trip To Seattle
M.E. (Memorable Experiences) - At lunch Friday afternoon Kyle and I were talking and it came up that I should share some of the experience I have been through. I will try and only mention the interesting experiences hoping that in sharing them and what I learned will shed some light on who I am.
My first trip to Seattle was for the National Championships with the Waterford Eagles Majorette and Drum Corp. It was my first year in the corp and on the very first night in town we performed before hundreds of people in the Grand Ballroom at the Eagles Hall downtown for the Parade of Champions. Many in the audience stood on chairs straining to see us as we entered into the room, the click of our boots matching the beat of the drums in complete unison. Then up on stage to do our routine praying please God don't let me drop my baton now. I had never been up in front of that many people before and I loved it. It was the first time I felt good about who I was and what I could do. It was during that trip when I was in the 6th grade that I said that someday I would live out here and it only took me 21 years to accomplish that.
For six years I was part of the corp and the experience was one of family and friends. My sister and I were majorettes and my brother started on the bugle and then moved up to playing the bass drum as he grew in to it. The members of this team ranged in age from 5 to 18 and traveled around the country each year staying together in hotels, campgrounds and cabins. Taking care of each other, the older kids watching the younger kids while the adults attended conference meetings.
This experience taught me how to stay dedicated, the value of team and preparation. We spent every Monday night of the year practicing two hours, indoors in the winter and out on a parking lot during the summer with sweatshirts on to prepare for the heat of marching in parades in full uniform.
I traveled on my first commercial airline to get to Seattle and we spent time in the hotel pool, riding the monorail to and from the food court at the Seattle Center during our off hours and going to the arcade where I won a number of stuffed animals for the young kids. It was a trip that I look back on with happiness. My years as majorette prepared me for all the travel I have done and gave me a confidence and poise before crowds that comes in handy today.
Next M.E. - Almost Arrested in DC.
My first trip to Seattle was for the National Championships with the Waterford Eagles Majorette and Drum Corp. It was my first year in the corp and on the very first night in town we performed before hundreds of people in the Grand Ballroom at the Eagles Hall downtown for the Parade of Champions. Many in the audience stood on chairs straining to see us as we entered into the room, the click of our boots matching the beat of the drums in complete unison. Then up on stage to do our routine praying please God don't let me drop my baton now. I had never been up in front of that many people before and I loved it. It was the first time I felt good about who I was and what I could do. It was during that trip when I was in the 6th grade that I said that someday I would live out here and it only took me 21 years to accomplish that.
For six years I was part of the corp and the experience was one of family and friends. My sister and I were majorettes and my brother started on the bugle and then moved up to playing the bass drum as he grew in to it. The members of this team ranged in age from 5 to 18 and traveled around the country each year staying together in hotels, campgrounds and cabins. Taking care of each other, the older kids watching the younger kids while the adults attended conference meetings.
This experience taught me how to stay dedicated, the value of team and preparation. We spent every Monday night of the year practicing two hours, indoors in the winter and out on a parking lot during the summer with sweatshirts on to prepare for the heat of marching in parades in full uniform.
I traveled on my first commercial airline to get to Seattle and we spent time in the hotel pool, riding the monorail to and from the food court at the Seattle Center during our off hours and going to the arcade where I won a number of stuffed animals for the young kids. It was a trip that I look back on with happiness. My years as majorette prepared me for all the travel I have done and gave me a confidence and poise before crowds that comes in handy today.
Next M.E. - Almost Arrested in DC.
Friday, May 11, 2007
A Gift From a Child
How simple it is for a child to change the whole atmosphere. Just now Kala - the four year old daughter of one of the managers where I work - handed me a piece of Belgium chocolate. Her daddy just returned from a business trip in Belgium and had brought her back the small backpack with these bite size candy bars in it. Abel needed to come into the office this morning so he brought his daughter with him so that they could spend some time together. She decided she wanted to share her candy with the rest of us so she has been running from person to person handing each of us one.
This morning the office has been quiet and professional and as Kala in her too loud voice entered our cubical farm the whole place lightened up and became joyful. As she skipped from cube to cube and made sure everyone saw her new shoes, everything else that was so important just moments ago fell to the way side as everyone focused on the joy and gift from Kala.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Kodak Moments
When taking pictures I like to get at different angles to catch the feel of the entire experience. Rarely when you look at anything from one perspective do you see all that there is to see. Too often we make judgments after only looking from one angle.
So enjoy the view from as many angles as possible and you may just catch a Kodak moment
2 Corinthians 1:12-14 (The Message)
Now that the worst is over, we're pleased we can report that we've come out of this with conscience and faith intact, and can face the world—and even more importantly, face you with our heads held high. But it wasn't by any fancy footwork on our part. It was God who kept us focused on him, uncompromised. Don't try to read between the lines or look for hidden meanings in this letter. We're writing plain, unembellished truth, hoping that you'll now see the whole picture as well as you've seen some of the details. We want you to be as proud of us as we are of you when we stand together before our Master Jesus.
So enjoy the view from as many angles as possible and you may just catch a Kodak moment
2 Corinthians 1:12-14 (The Message)
Now that the worst is over, we're pleased we can report that we've come out of this with conscience and faith intact, and can face the world—and even more importantly, face you with our heads held high. But it wasn't by any fancy footwork on our part. It was God who kept us focused on him, uncompromised. Don't try to read between the lines or look for hidden meanings in this letter. We're writing plain, unembellished truth, hoping that you'll now see the whole picture as well as you've seen some of the details. We want you to be as proud of us as we are of you when we stand together before our Master Jesus.
Photo: Mt Baker with Denie 2003
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
The Girls
These are "The Girls". No this is not trick photography or a posed shot. I walked into the bedroom one morning and found our two cats laying like this, ran out of the room grabbed the camera and they were still there while I took this shot. If you look closely the cat on the left has orange eyes and is a little darker, the one on the right has yellow eyes and a cropped right ear.
These two give Kyle and I such enjoyment. I think that Kyle's greatest enjoyment is harassing them, but they really don't seem to mind. The one with the yellow eyes is Bonita, she is too smart for her own good. It would be real scary is that cat had opposing thumbs, no telling what she would do. She is very fond of shining things and ink pens. I cannot leave any jewelry laying on a table or she will take it and hide it some place. If you are using a pen or pencil she will get up on your lap and try and take it out of your hand. Having her around is like having a 15 year old girl, she even gets crushes on young men, first it was Jason, our son and currently it is Terryl.
Poppy is the other one, she is also our furry alarm clock. Poppy is like having a 7 year old boy in the house. She is easily influenced and a little shy. Bonita puts her up to things and Poppy gets in trouble for it. Poppy's internal clock is so good that I haven't used an alarm clock in over a year and she gets me up within a 15 minute window everyday. 5 am whether it is a Monday or a Saturday, she sits outside our door and meows until someone gets up and feeds her. Then at about 10 minutes to 7 each night she stands in the kitchen and meows to get her dinner. The strangest thing is that she was right on time even when we adjusted the clocks for daylight savings.
The Girls are very much alike, yet very unique. I praise God that we are able to have them both.
A Lighthouse
Lighthouse have special meaning for me. I have always been facinated by them and have had the opportunity to be near them most of my life. A couple of years ago the Lord showed me some interesting insights into Lighthouses.
The Lord is steadfast, just like a lighthouse – standing forever against the elements – the wind, rain, sun, hurricanes and gales. He is forever faithful to show us the areas of danger in our path and a light piercing the darkness, forever calling through the fog of life showing us the way. Psalm119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
A light house is usually cylindrical to allow for the trials of life to not stick to it. It is a never ending surface as far as the east is from the west. They are usually painted white with red stripes. The white is for the pure love of the Lord and the red stripes are both the measure of His love for us(John 3:16) and a sign of His arms of love wrapped around us.
The beacon atop a lighthouse is like the Lord’s eyes continually upon us watching out for us. PS 33:18 But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
A light house is usually cylindrical to allow for the trials of life to not stick to it. It is a never ending surface as far as the east is from the west. They are usually painted white with red stripes. The white is for the pure love of the Lord and the red stripes are both the measure of His love for us(John 3:16) and a sign of His arms of love wrapped around us.
The beacon atop a lighthouse is like the Lord’s eyes continually upon us watching out for us. PS 33:18 But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
Picture: Desperation Pt Lighthouse with Mary -Feb, 2004
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Things I've learned from mom - recently
Last Sunday Pastor Melinda read a humorous list of things we've learned form our mothers and since I just came from helping my mother do a few things I have come up with a list of recent things I have learned from my mom (in random order):
- How to Rat hair - I attempt to style my mom's hair every Sunday before I bring her to church, please don't laugh at her, she can't help it if her daughter studied engineering and not cosmetology
- How important Handicap Bathrooms really are.
- How to pivot on one foot when you need to turn and can't bear weight on the other foot - I used this one a lot after my foot surgery.
- How to drive an electric wheelchair
- All the options that come with a walker - wheels, baskets, brakes, seats... etc
- How to mount hand rails at the right height in the bathroom in my house
- How many friends you make over your life - last year I addressed over 100 Christmas cards
- How to get someone out of a wheelchair without hurting either one of us - OK, I'm still perfecting this one.
- How to appreciate all the things I can do for myself
- How to frame artwork - she has become an artist since moving out here.
- How love can overcome even the grosses of tasks
- How to weave through a crowd pushing a wheelchair without running anyone over.
- How steep a ramp up the stairs in the garage really is
- No matter how much you can't do, there is something you can always do if it is only to say Thank You.
Thanks mom
Fog
Coming to work this morning there was fog in Monroe. As I was sitting in traffic, that's another topic - why does it take 45 minutes to commute 12 miles? - I was thinking about fog and how much I enjoy the serenity of it.
I was born and raised in Michigan and always lived near the water, not always on it, but near to it. When the conditions are correct, no wind, the water and air temperatures are different enough fog appears. I remember being in a small fishing boat with my dad and heading out for a morning of fishing in the fog. The water is as calm as can be, yet on shore you hear the gentle lapping for the waves on the sandy beach and maybe the occasional cry of a gull. As the small motor putters along we get to our favorite spot and it seems like we are the only ones in that moment and time. We dip our net into the water, everyone knows that you can't catch a fish with a dry net, and then we cast our lure looking for that elusive 'big one'. Sitting there in the fog, the boat gently rocking in the ripples of waves, just me and my dad, there is a peace and serenity and everything is right with the world.
Ever so slowly the first cast are made and the slow crank of the fishing reel as my dad and I do what we both love most, just to spend time together and fish. Not a word needs to be shared, not a problem exist in the world, nothing but the two of us. Sitting there in the fog, as is moves around you and slowly burns away with the warmth from the rising sun.
"Get the net, I got one"
Monday, May 7, 2007
Keys
Yesterday afternoon Kyle and I went to a birthday party and when we were leaving the house he told me that I was going to be driving the van. Only thing was that I had left my set of keys on the table in the house so I had him give me his keys. There must be over 20 keys that he carries around. Keys to the house, keys to both vehicles, and keys for work.
It is with keys that you hold the power and authority. If you have keys to our house you have the authority to go into our home. Now you could get into a locked home without the key, but you would be doing so without the authority. Kyle has the keys to the plant, he has the authority to open the plant, which he does a couple of mornings a week. With that authority comes expectations. Expectations that you will do what needs to be done, for Kyle this means that he is there before everyone else at 3:30 am or before.
I carry fewer keys on my key ring, does that mean that I am less important then Kyle? Yes and No. I have not been asked or given the authority to open the plant, so I am less important there, I shouldn't have those keys on my ring. It is not my call or destiny. I do however, have keys to the office I work in that let me get in during off hours, but Kyle does not. He isn't responsible there.
The Lord gives us all keys. In Matt 16:19 He has given us the keys of the kingdom. Isa 33:6 the Fear of the Lord is the key to wisdom and knowledge. Does this mean we all receive the same key or the same wisdom and knowledge from the Lord. I am guessing that just like Kyle and I having different authority where we work we also have different keys for our different callings and responsibilities. Does that mean one of us is better, I think not, we just have different experiences and authority.
So do I want to carry all those keys - no way, I'm happy with what I have and am thankful that I don't have to let anyone in at 3:30am.
It is with keys that you hold the power and authority. If you have keys to our house you have the authority to go into our home. Now you could get into a locked home without the key, but you would be doing so without the authority. Kyle has the keys to the plant, he has the authority to open the plant, which he does a couple of mornings a week. With that authority comes expectations. Expectations that you will do what needs to be done, for Kyle this means that he is there before everyone else at 3:30 am or before.
I carry fewer keys on my key ring, does that mean that I am less important then Kyle? Yes and No. I have not been asked or given the authority to open the plant, so I am less important there, I shouldn't have those keys on my ring. It is not my call or destiny. I do however, have keys to the office I work in that let me get in during off hours, but Kyle does not. He isn't responsible there.
The Lord gives us all keys. In Matt 16:19 He has given us the keys of the kingdom. Isa 33:6 the Fear of the Lord is the key to wisdom and knowledge. Does this mean we all receive the same key or the same wisdom and knowledge from the Lord. I am guessing that just like Kyle and I having different authority where we work we also have different keys for our different callings and responsibilities. Does that mean one of us is better, I think not, we just have different experiences and authority.
So do I want to carry all those keys - no way, I'm happy with what I have and am thankful that I don't have to let anyone in at 3:30am.
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