M – Memory and Mackinac Bridge

Memory – on a pretty regular basis I get a pop up from my computer that tells me that I am out of virtual memory. I’m sorry to say I get the same message from my brain these days also. There is just not enough virtual memory or speed to access all that unique information that I have retained over the years. Important things I remember like how to catch Northern Pike, how to tape a sprained ankle on a hockey player, how to test the hardness of metal or how to twirl a fire baton. So the next time you want to roast a marshmallow over a flaming baton, give me a call.

Mackinac Bridge – The big Mac is one of the world’s longest suspension bridges connecting the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan. From water line to waterline it is 5 miles long making longer than the Golden Gate and the Oakland Bay Bridge. The Mackinac Bridge was built in the 50s and my great uncle Camie helped build it. Not only did he help build that bridge, on the day in 1958 when the bridge was dedicated he did a hand stand on the top of one of the towers that are 552 feet about the water’s surface. I have driven across this bridge more times that I can count. I grew up in the Lower Peninsula but I had aunts, uncles and cousins that lived in the Upper Peninsula (UP) and I went to college in the UP. I always love driving on the center lanes that are metal slats because you can look down and see the water below. Someday I may be there on Labor Day to do the bridge walk. If you ever watch Modern Marvels they often talk about the Mighty Mackinac.

The Great Debate

For the last 6 months I have been carrying two phones, a Razor and a Curve. Starting tomorrow I will only have one. Problem is now I have to decide if I want a Smartphone or not.

I ended up with two phones back in January when I changed companies and for various reasons I choose to keep the number I had been using for business for the last 7 years as my personal phone/number and opted for the Motorola razor and got the Blackberry Curve for business. I am going to get rid of the new business number and only have my personal number so now do I upgrade my plan/phone to a Smartphone or not?

Reasons for NOT upgrading:
- I won’t be connected to work 24/7.
- When I am away from my laptop I would be away from email.
- The plan cost less

Reasons TO upgrade:
- I can send and receive emails on my phone
- I can get lots of work done without needing to drag the laptop out
- I would have access to blogs and twitter without a laptop (I currently don’t have any twitter updates come to my phone, I review them online through my Smartphone or via twhirl)
- I have had a Smartphone for almost 3 years.

They fact that I am even debating this question with myself is pretty interesting, have I become that much of a geek or is it just that I have adapted to the current culture and times?

I still don’t know which way I am going to go, any thoughts or opinions?

A Longing in My Heart

A friend of mine Climbed Mt St Helens yesterday and I am so glad she made it. About 10 years ago I first heard about this climb when the group of interns from our church made the climb. Over the last few weeks as she prepared I couldn’t help but dream of one day being able to make that climb.

I have been working out with a few friends in the evening for the last 7 or 8 weeks. Working out in the evening is not my favorite thing. Working out in general is not something I really want to do. I know that keeping my body in shape will help me in the long run both physically and mentally and I have been telling myself and my friends for a few years now that I should exercise. With a big bomb, a little push and lots of encouragement I was enticed to go and join the PC Posse that works out at the “Y”.

The big bomb is that in April I reinjured my right knee and after getting an MRI done the doctor told me that the tendon in my knee is ‘shredded’, not torn, but shredded like Shredded Wheat. There is also other damage to the point that there is nothing that can be done to repair the knee short of doing a full knee replacement. This news hit me like a bomb especially since my left knee is also in need of a major repair and I have seen what knee replacement recovery is like since my mother has had three of them.

My motivation for working out is not to hang out with the RC Posse , it is not about getting in shape, it is not being able to participate in an event even though all of those are definite pluses. My motivation is about being able get through my normal day to day activities. I have no desire to give up on things like a walk along the beach or a hike in the mountains. I have a hope and a longing to one day climb Mt St Helens. Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

L – Lakes and a Loony Bin

Lakes - I have was blessed as a child that when I was in 3rd grade we moved to a house that was a block from the lake that had a beach and boat landing available to the neighborhood association. I was probably 10 when I got my first boat, a canoe, 12 when I got a 12ft pram with a motor and from there it was a sailboat and finally a small ski boat. Some of my favorite memories on the lake were our trips to Champs Drive-n. Champs was a small burger joint, similar to a McDonalds. To get to it you could drive about 20 minutes from our house, but we would take the canoe or the pram there and that was the best. It would take about 2 hours one way, because we paddled across three lakes going under the roads via the large drainage pipes connecting the lakes. We would grab a burger, shake and fries and then 2 hours of paddling to get back home. Would you let your child do that today? Probably not, but back then life was just simpler.

Loony Bin – As I said my mom worked and while I was in school she worked in a State Hospital, a mental hospital, an insane asylum or a loony bin. She started out working the switchboard and eventually taking classes at night, she worked her way up to being the head of the accounting office. This place was built in 1870s and in the 50 held as many as 3100 mentally ill patients in the sprawling 500 acre complex. This Victorian Style building was a key reason that even though I was in High School in the 70s I never did drugs. When I would have to go and see my mom at work I would see the mental patients wandering around and in a few cases would see them being transferred in straightjackets. I would see other teenagers my age totally out of their mind from bad LSD trips. It scared me so much I never tried drugs. Don’t get me wrong the opportunity was there, in 9th grade my best friend was a dealer. I just did not want to end up like that.

K – Keys and Kresgees

Keys - When I was in 6 and 7th grade my dad had his own locksmith shop for a few years. I got to spend most weekends at the shop working the counter while he went out on calls. I learned out to make copies of keys and even did some minor lock repair. As a locksmith one of the things he would do was to open locks where someone had lost the keys. Back in the day with the right set of tools I could even ‘pick’ some brands of locks. Locks have gotten much more sophisticated and I still laugh when I watch some of the shows on TV where they show someone opening up a locked door.

Kresgee’s – Before there was K mart there was S.S. Kresgee a traditional five-and-dime store. This is the store I remember most. On very special occasions we would go to the soda fountain and have a treat. They would offer 1¢ sundaes, well you got to pick a balloon and inside the balloon that said how much you paid and the lowest price was 1¢. While my sister had a sundae I would usually have cottage cheese and peaches, I didn’t like ice cream. I have always had different likes and dislikes and ice cream is one of the strangest. Imagine getting a choice between ice cream and cottage cheese and selecting the latter?

These are some of my favorite memories; thanks for letting me relive them.

A Story of Friends

The friendship between McCarty and Draper is special. The friendship is forever forged by having their names linked on four Stanley Cup championships in Detroit, but this year, it took on a deeper significance yet.

After the championship in 2002, Darren played in Calgary for two seasons and suffered a number of personal setbacks. To start the 2007-08 season, he didn't even have a team, and was out of hockey until December 2007. McCarty and Draper met over lunch and talked about their lives, and Darren expressed interest in returning to hockey. When Kris asked him how serious he was about returning, McCarty vowed to make every effort possible to rejoin the Red Wings.

Draper insisted that McCarty get back in shape, and set him up at CORE, a sports fitness facility he co-owns. Kris then agreed to arrange for a minor league contract with the Flint Generals of the International Hockey League, a team in which he has a financial stake.

McCarty worked hard both on and off the ice, and in March, he was summoned to join the Red Wings. "To get him back on the team was exciting, not only for me as a friend, but for him as well, considering everything he's been through," explained Draper. "When we won the Cup, he jumped onto the ice and skated up to me and said, 'Thanks!' To me, that really meant a lot." Kris added, "You have to remember that in November, he wasn't even playing hockey, and by June, he's a Stanley Cup champion again. That's just great."

J – Just and Jambalaya

Just - and nothing more. Why is it we feel that we have to justify or embellish everything, every decision, every choice. Isn’t it true that most of the time we make our choices just because. Lord, make my yes be yes and my words direct and clear, the them Just Be.


Jambalaya - I love Jambalaya; it is a dish that has all the right flavors, textures and spices. It is traditionally made in one pot with meats, vegetables and rice. All of the ingredients are good by themselves but when combined in the right portions it is another whole level of flavor. Isn’t that true when you bring a group of people together for one purpose? Bring the individuals together and it is brought to a whole new level of what can be accomplished.

I - Icepacks and IM

A sign of the times, I sit at home most weekday evenings with an icepack and IM session. As a baby boomer I have seen my body change almost as drastically as technology has changed.

I remember our 1st TV, our first color TV, that night that man landed on the moon and a whole host of other advances in technology. I remember when Russia was the enemy and now I IM with my peers in Russia on regular bases where we not only talk about work, but traffic jams, the weather and family. Today we have relationships through blogs, Twitter and text messages that we would not have had without technology.

As for my body it has gone from where “no pain, no gain” was my motto to ‘no pain, not breathing’ is my reality. I used to exercise to get my body to do and achieve things it was never meant to do. Now I exercise to try and avoid having a knee replacement at the age of 52 and be able to play soccer with my granddaughter.

Icepacks and IM, you just have to smile.

Flare For The Fair

We decided to go and visit the Orange County Fair today, this is the largest fair in California and last for 21 days. Last year more than 1 million people attended. We both enjoy attending the Evergreen Fair in Monroe, WA so we decided that we would spend some time there this afternoon. We jump in the Town car at the hotel and took the sort ride to the fairgrounds. We knew we were at a different fair today when we walked in the first sight was an elaborate Sand Castle; you sure don’t see those at the Evergreen Start Fair. Wondering around the fair we didn’t see a single lumberjack, no solar tube, or hot tubs. What we did see were glass blowers, putting greens and air conditioners.

Another difference we noticed was the food; lots of fresh fruits, vegetables and no cotton candy to be found. We did find some of the normal fair food, but the most amazing sight would have to be the largest bbq grill I have ever seen. It was a converted semi, the entire trailer was the grill loaded with all kinds of chicken, turkey legs, and lots of ribs.

The fair was the same in many ways, but more than once the differences were obvious. I know I even thought “we aren’t in Kansas anymore”, especially when I was walking back over to a table where Kyle was sitting and I almost walked into Diane Keaton who was there with her grand children.

Sometimes more mess means less stress

Learning to tolerate the natural chaos of life can help you feel happier

Now I feel better. I just finished reading this article on MSNBC.Com.

I really do work better if I have clutter on my desk. I know exactly where everything is amongst all the clutter.

H – Horseback and Hurricanes

Horseback – Standing at the base of a tall steep ridge, I stand in the stirrups, grab hold of the base of the mane with a real good grip and lean forward as I gently give Dudley a nudge with my heals. Up the hill he goes, I totally have to trust that he will keep his footing and bring us both to the top of this obstacle.

That was the scene about 10 years ago when I had to face a fear that had been hidden from when I was probably 10 years old. The first time I ever rode a horse was when my mom and dad took my older sister and I to the local riding stable. Before we went my sister was trying to describe what it was like and what we would see and she described one point in the ride were we were on a “cliff” overlooking the lake on a narrow path and that the horses had to run to get up the hill. I was so afraid before we got to the stables that I was sick to my stomach. We made it though that ride and I went on to enjoy years of being in, around and on horses.

Then that afternoon in Eastern Washington and that whole episode came flooding back as I faced that hill. There 8 of us that were on a camping trip with horses and there was nothing I could do but to trust the horse I was on. Working hard Dudley brought us safely to the top and I sat back in the saddle and enjoyed the view.

Hurricanes – clockwise or counter clockwise, hurricane or typhoon. When you are in the middle of one it really doesn’t matter. The most amazing experience during a hurricane is being in the eye. The wind and the rain suddenly stop and the sky overhead clears and the sun comes out. There is calm and peace. Standing there a sense of relief comes upon you as you start to figure out what has just happened and then the eye passes over and the full fury of the storm returns. Remember when you are in a storm and a sudden calm comes, that is the time to refortify and prepare to the backside of the storm. The eye is there to let you know that you have taken the best the storm has to offer and you made it, anything after that you will make it through also.

G- Grandmas and Gigabytes

Grandmas - The image I have when you say Grandmas is the one of my own grandmother. My mom was what is referred to as a Menopause baby, my grandmother was in her mid-forties when my mom was born so she was always old to us. She was plump, wore the nice cotton dresses, made the best pies from scratch and had white hair and glasses. She looked a lot like the “Mama” character that Vicki Lawrence played. Now that I am a grandmother I need a whole paradigm shift of what a grandmother looks and acts like. Whenever I think of my grandmother the first memory that comes up is her using a chamber pot at night. Lord, let me not fit that picture.

Gigabytes – is a computer memory unit. Today we all walk around talking about how many gigs we have. Too bad we don’t use all the memory we do have, there is an urban myth that we use only about 10%, but according to Dr Eric H Chudler we use 100% or our brain. We use it to live, to love and to learn, are you using your 100%.

F – Fads and Fudge

Fads – Pet Rocks, mood rings, hula hoops; items that everyone that was anyone had to have. Fads are just something that we become convinced will make us better in some what if we have it. Too bad most fads just don’t last. If you spend your life keeping up with the fads you just find that you are always out of step, out of money and out of storage space.

Fudge – At one time in my life I was engaged to a Fudge Maker. Good fudge is made the traditional way; copper kettles for even heat distribution, marble tables cooling the fudge at a consistent rate, hand paddled to cool the fudges and breaking up the sugar crystals to make it smooth. How I wish I could be like fudge, consistent, even headed (cooled) and the crusty edges smoothed out.

E- Excavating and Estrogen

Excavating – I am for ever digging into something new to learn. Trying to uncover something new and exciting. To find something that will bring out the best in me and those around me. I am never satisfied with what I know today, there has to be more to learn.

Estrogen – Why is it that when we are young we look forward to puberty and being grown up and then as we get older we can’t wait for it to be over. I am at a stage in my life where my estrogen levels are decreasing rapidly causing all kinds of changes in my body. I often think my body doesn’t know what it is up to, but the reality is that I don’t know what is going on, my body is doing what it was designed to do. Just because we don’t understand what is going on and what is coming next, it doesn’t mean that there is a problem that needs to be fixed.

Been There....

Done That,
Bought the T-Shirt and Wear the hat.

I realized this morning is the 10th anniversary of me riding in the STP (Seattle to Portland) bike ride. I did a little over 200 miles in one day with the help of three others in my group and a whole bunch of volunteers and organizers for the event.

When I first decided I wanted to do the event I didn’t even own a bicycle. It was July of 1997. I saved up a few pennies and started riding. In January one of my peers at work said she would ride with me if I did it in one day. So I started training harder. I bought a stand that allowed me to ride in my living room. I would ride for an hour each night and then hit the Burke Gilman trail on Saturdays.

By March I realized I needed a new bike and my co-worker decided she wasn’t going to be able to make it. I had put too much effort in by that time to back out now.

In April I did my first Century, road 100 miles in one day with only one rest stop. It was the Daffodil 100 in Orting. This was a huge hurdle because I really didn’t know if I could make it 100 miles, let alone the full 200. After completing that 1st century, I knew without a doubt I would finish the STP. In fact the very next Saturday I rode 125 miles on my own up and down the bike trail and around Seattle.

In June I went on one of the training rides that the Cascade Bicycle club puts on and I met three strangers that became my riding partners for the STP. It is 30% easier to ride and draft with someone than doing it alone.

We started out that 2nd Saturday morning in July, 1998 at 5am. The amount of adrenaline at the start was amazing. ½ way to Portland, one of our team had to pullout with severe back spasms. The 3rd segment was probably the toughest; the wind was blowing in our faces the whole time. I myself was actually the strongest in the last segment. I did most of the riding in front the last 50 miles.

I remember riding up that last hill to the college there in Portland and really had to fight back the tears. Tears of joy, tears of relief and tears of knowing I had accomplished something that I had worked hard for and invested in for that last 12 months. To this day when I see someone out there riding there is a part of me that would still like to be riding and then I remember all other commitments of time and resources I have and go on with life.

D – Dynamite and Doorknobs

Dynamite – Most of us wouldn’t fear sawdust. In fact you see it used in stalls and garages to absorb liquids, however when it is soaked with the extremely unstable and explosive material, nitroglycerin, stuff it in cardboard tubes and it becomes sticks of dynamite. The simple sawdust takes the powerful nitro and makes it something that can be handled and used by many. God in His wisdom has given us the Power of the Holy Spirit to allow many to use it for His Glory.

Doorknob - A device mounted on the exterior and interior of a door for the purpose of opening it. They are always there and we just take them for granted. Think about how many times a day you use a doorknob? How many people are in our lives and we just take them for granted. Maybe it is the person at our favorite drive up espresso? It takes an effort to not take people for granted.

C – Candles and Ceilings

Candles – Candles are self contained and once lit are in perpetual motion until they consume themselves. Similar to a child, once they are let loose they go and go with abandon until they expend all of their energy. As I become more experienced (sounds better then getting old or mature) I find it not only takes more to get going, but I go for shorter and shorter periods of time. The old adage – burning the candle at both ends rings truer with each year of experience.

Ceilings – Most of us have heard the phrase “glass ceiling”, well I have lived it. Probably the 1st place was when I was in school. Being a girl the following rules applied only because I was a girl; you cannot wear pants to school unless the temperature outside is below zero (this lasted until I was in Jr High); girls could not play 5 on 5 basketball because it was too strenuous for them to run the full length of the court, (this lasted until I was in High School). When interviewing a job coming out of college with a major company I had to go to lunch with the secretary instead of the hiring manager (The hiring manager took a fellow interviewee who was male to a restaurant, I got to eat in the cafeteria). I am a successful woman who has worked in a ‘man’s career’ for almost 30 years. Sure there is a glass ceiling but even bullet proof glass can be penetrated with the right tools.

Ahhhhh

I know of no better way to enjoy my early morning cup of tea.

B – Boxcars and Butterflies

Boxcar – Living in a town that is divided by a set of active railroad tracks I often get a chance to see many boxcars. I sit and wonder at times what exactly is inside those cars. As useful and versatile a boxcar is, it goes nowhere under its own power, carrying the load but leaving the engine to give it direction. There are days that I feel as if I am the one carrying the load while someone else is pulling me in a direction.

Butterflies -The change from caterpillar though to the emergence as a butterfly is the greatest change in the animal world. It symbolizes significant change in the course of one’s life, personality or way of thinking. I have heard it said that a specific point in the change from a caterpillar to a butterfly the insect structure is totally broken down and is more of a liquid than a solid, a total restructuring of the parts and pieces down to the molecular level. I myself have gone through a significant change in my life, to become the woman I am today.

A – Actions and Attitude

My life from A to Z, I have decided to take the next few weeks and pull a Sue Grafton and explain my life via the alphabet. So tonight we will start at the beginning.

Actions – When I was younger there was a character that Flip Wilson would play, Geraldine and her tag line was “The devil made me do it.” Too often we want to blame out actions on someone or something else. I try my best every day to own my actions. Even when I re- act they are still my actions.

Attitude – I choose each day my attitude. Challenges are opportunities and life is for living. For me this is a learned behavior and I am not always successful but it is a journey.

Every day is a result of our actions and attitudes. We get to choose our attitude and as long as we own our actions we can be in control even when life throws surprise at us.

Words for Today

THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated. Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to TAX) but "to BIND us in ALL CASES WHATSOEVER" and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious; for so unlimited a power can belong only to God.

Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

Selective Hearing

It is after 11pm last night and I had just crawled into bed and I must have awakened him. He gets up much earlier than I do and so goes to bed earlier. He gets up and goes to the bathroom and comes back to bed and just as I am drifting off to sleep he says, “The smoke alarm is beeping.”
“What?”
“The smoke alarm is beeping like the battery needs replaced, it must be one of the ones down stairs”.

I roll over onto my back, I had my good ear to the pillow so I couldn’t hear anything, and after about 30 seconds I hear this very faint beep. Sure enough it is the beep that a smoke detector emits when the battery is low. I know this because we had two of them on the same evening a few weeks ago start beeping. At that time our son, replaced all the batteries in all the smoke detectors so as to not have them all start beeping.

I get out of bed and go out into the great room upstairs and stand. No beep. I go down stairs and stand. No beep. Finally, I go and open up the slider to the back yard and stand on the patio and I hear it. The beep is coming from one of the houses across the street. Because we had our windows open upstairs he could hear this very faint beep.

Here is a man that when he watches TV it is usually turned up on the loud side, to the point that if you want to have a discussion it has to be turned down and yet he is hearing this beep from across the street.

I closed the windows in our bed room and said good night, another mystery solved. It is often said that husbands have selective hearing and my husband proved it last night.

Low Tide Warning

Today was a low tide day for the Puget Sound Region. The morning traffic reports were full of notices of cancellations, expected delays and vehicle clearance restrictions. If you commute by boat, tides affect your life.

Tides are the rising and falling of the ocean surface caused by external gravitational forces from the Sun and the Moon. Our lives too are affected by the external forces. We feel full and powerful when we are being swept along in the center of God’s will for our lives. Nothing seems to faze us at those times.

Then there are the low tide times when it feels as if God is far from us, that our beaches are exposed and that all the barnacles that are hidden below the surface are exposed. Navigation becomes tricky and the challenge is to not run aground.

But just as with the water of the ocean, God has not gone; there are just external forces that pull at us. It is during the low times that we need to remember that God will never leave us or forsake us. It is during the low tides that it is easiest to clean the crud that has built up below the surface and as long as we stay on the course marked out for us by God we will avoid the hidden sandbars.