Thank God for Flat Tires

A little over a week ago I had a flat tire on the way to get my mom to bring her to church Sunday morning. So there I was on the shoulder of 522 changing the tire, good thing that I was headed towards Kenmore at the time and not heading back to Monroe, at least the shoulder is wide enough especially since it was the driver side tire that was flat. Apparently I had hit something in the road that cut the tread of the tire.

Now when we bought the van all four tires would need to be replaced before winter. I had one of the back tires go bad about six weeks ago so I replaced those two then. At least it was one of the front tires this time. New tires all around before winter was the goal and I guess that even though we didn’t budget for it yet, we met our goal about three months early. Another real important part of having new tires is that remember my adventure on Friday? There is no way on that wet road would my van been able to climb the steep streets of Seattle without a whole lot of slipping and maybe not at all.

Some times we have “flat tires” in our lives also, we are busy cruising down a road and all of a sudden we are forced to pull over and fix something. In every case in my life when I have had a ‘flat’ it has always worked out for the best. I was reminded again this weekend that when I was dating Kyle before we married I had “kicked him to the curb” twice. Now that is a real flat tire. In both instances we were headed on down the road to marriage and something just came up and stopped our little journey causing one or both of us “fix” the flat tire in our lives. Today we have successfully completed the first couple of legs of our journey and have now joined up and are traveling in the car pool lane of life making better time and not getting stuck in traffic as often.

Yes flat tires slow us down and may even cause us to change our plans, but they also help us to fix areas that are weak and worn in our lives. Thank God for flat tires.

I'm Praising God Today

I’m praising God today for the weather; it may not be sunny and hot but at least I have a nice home to live in that keeps me warm and dry and eyes to see the clouds with.

I’m praising God today that I could fill my gas tank up; gas is still too expensive but at least I have a car to drive that I can put the gas into.

I’m praising God today for my job; but I have the ability and freedom to work and it is a good job.

I’m praising God today for my family; we may not always get along and it is difficult to be who I am and not what they expect me to be but I have a family.

I’m praising God today for the ability to walk; it may hurt when I walk but I still have the ability to get someplace on my own and I’m not dependent on someone else to take me there.

I’m praising God today for my friends; they may not always call when I need it or sometimes they say things that hurt, but I know they would do anything for me just as I would for them.

I’m praising God today for children, even though I have not had my own; I have two wonderful step sons, a grand daughter and many nieces and nephews at church so I can love them with my God given mother’s heart.

I’m praising God today that I can look forward to tomorrow; it may only be another day in the routine, but I know my friend Cynthia would love to have just one more day where cancer is not consuming her body and life.

I’m praising God today for my life; it may not be story book perfect but it is my life and it will only end with Heaven.

I’m praising God today and every day.

Preventative Maintenance

This morning I found it a little ironic as I could hardly move from my adventure yesterday that I go out of my way to do PM on my cars, but avoid doing any on my physical body. So why is that? Preventative Maintenance makes sense, not only for our cars, heating systems, and dishwasher, but for our bodies and our spirits.

I am really good about getting preventative maintenance on my vehicles, getting the oil changed every 5000 miles taking it in every 15,000 for a look over and replacing the belts, fluids and such as recommended. It is always cheaper in the long run than a car payment.

I think I am pretty good about doing the spiritual preventative maintenance. First, I make it a priority in my life to spend time with the Lord daily. That time is spent with reading the Bible, writing in my journal, reading devotionals, praying for others, praying for myself and just sitting to listen to Him and what He would like to say to me. I really try and do it first thing in the morning, but there are a few mornings that I don’t make it first thing, but I make sure I get it in for the day. I just hate it when I miss the first thing in the morning. I just don’t feel right until I get it in. I relate it to getting a caffeine headache when I don’t have my morning cup of tea. Just as my physical body craves the caffeine, my spirit craves that time with God.

Preventative Maintenance for my body should be a simple thing. I take vitamins daily, I try and get at least six hours of sleep each night ( six is good considering that my husband gets up at least by 4am each day). I eat pretty healthy, but I’m a fan of McDonalds cheeseburgers and fries. I guess the only thing healthy in the way of eating I do is that I don’t eat the deserts, candy or soda (that way I really don’t gain weight). What I don’t do is exercise.

Exercise is such a simple thing; just a walk around the block each day would do it. I know that when I do exercise I feel better and I sleep better. I know I have the discipline to exercise. I know that if I would exercise I wouldn’t be in as much pain on those days when I do have adventures like I did yesterday. I guess it is just starting and that is the problem, I know that when I start I will need to keep it up and I hate not finishing something.

So maybe now that I have told everyone that I need to exercise, I will get started? I’ll let you know in a week or two how it goes.

An Unexpected Adventure

Today was just one of those days. I should update my list of bottom characteristics that I posted yesterday to add the fact that I sometimes wait until deadlines are near to actually act on them. At times it makes my life very adventurous like today. Next week I will be escorting my mother who is in a wheelchair back to Michigan to spend a few weeks with my sisters in Detroit. To get on a plane these days you need valid photo identification. Here’s where the adventure starts, my mom’s Michigan driver’s license expired last year. She is unable to drive any longer so why get a new drivers license? No problem, just get a Washington State Photo ID. That’s what I thought six weeks ago when I took her to the Dept of Licensing and there starts the adventure.

Because her Michigan license had expired she would need additional documents to prove that she was who she was and that she in fact was a resident of the state of Washington, again no problem, yeah right. There are very specific rules on what documents the DOL will accept and I did my research and thought I had that. I was really trying not to wait until the last minute so I took her to the DOL in mid-June to get her ID. Now because my mom lives in a Senior Assist Living facility she pays no utilities, because she doesn’t drive she doesn’t need Auto Insurance, because she is retired she doesn’t have a business license, because my other sister who lives in Michigan does her taxes the IRS thinks she has a Michigan address, bottom line she didn’t have the right documents when we got there. They told me that if I got her a WA Voters Registration card I would be ok, so that is what I did thinking that I would get that back in 2-3 weeks and still have time.

We have been watching the mailbox daily for the last two weeks and no card in sight. Last night I went on line and found out that you can type in a persons name and birth date and find out if they are registered. Sure enough my mom was not in the system. I was going to have to take her to a get one in person.

I go into work early because I am going to be gone for a couple of hours. I head on over to my mom’s place at about 9:30 and pick her up. We take a little detour to the Woodinville Branch Office where we found out they can’t do them in person before we head to downtown Seattle and the King County Administration Building on James and 5th. We get there easily enough, but where to park? Where to park a wheelchair van and get someone in a wheelchair out of it without them flying down James or Jefferson straight into Puget Sound? Oh and yes the “unloading zone” was full of two parked cars. I found a parking garage on James and 6th only one block down James and we will be there. Only problem is that but we are talking about being on First Hill in Seattle and that road is very steep.

How do you wheel some one in a wheel chair down a very steep hill ---- Very Carefully. In fact I walked her down the hill backwards making sure that she had her hands on the brakes and that I planted each foot to make sure they would slip. One slip and I was going to be run over by a wheelchair. To make it all the more adventurous it was raining. No not the normal mist we see, but an honest to goodness rain and of course since it wasn’t raining when I left home this morning I didn’t have a jacket on.

We get to the building and use the buttons to open the automatic doors only to be greeted by six steps up to the lobby. No ramp, just the step and a wheelchair lift that was broken, now what? My mother can’t stand on her own let alone climb a stair and since she out weighs me by 70 lbs there is no way I am going to carry her up the stairs. Just then God provided an Angle. This gentleman came down the stairs, saw our problem and went and got someone from Voters Registration to come and do my mom’s paper work right there in the entry way.

We get her registered and her card in hand and now it is time to get back in the van that is one block UP that steep hill. Nope, I didn’t push her up the hill. I left her in the lobby (taking her wallet with me) and ran up the hill or at least tried hurried, drove down and double parked on 5th Ave then ran in and brought her out and loaded her into the van. Now as I’m getting her wheelchair strapped in place I step off the curb into the gutter in the street, remember now that it is raining. Yep, I stepped off into about 4 inches of water and now not only am I wet from running in the rain, but both feet are wet.

From there we went back to Bothell and the DOL and there were only three people in line in front of us. My mother is now an official Washington resident with a Valid Photo ID. I am back at work after only a short 3-hour adventure. I guess I could have waited until Tuesday to make things a little more exciting, but I think I had enough excitement for today.

The Bottom Five

Earlier this week I had someone ask me one of the most thought provoking questions I have been asked in a long time. I haven’t figured out why this question is still rattling around still but it has been something that my mind has been chewing on for days and yes it has even invades my sleep. Now I could go on and on and not tell you the question but I figure if I share it maybe I will get some relief and possibly get the rest of you stirred up a little. READY?

What are you top five characteristics and what are your bottom five?

Ok on the surface it seems pretty benign and shouldn’t be any big deal. I have had to answer questions like this before, but I think what is different about this time is that the individual was very specific and wanted the full complement of the bottom five. Often people will only ask about the bottom one or two and it is pretty easy to point out what we feel our bottom character weakness is because we are usually dealing with it on a daily basis to correct and improve upon it. But sit in front of someone that is asking the question because they are evaluating you and will judge you on your answers and then come up with five.

How honest can we be with ourselves let alone exposing these to someone with the power to ultimately help or hurt you? How honest can we be with our friends and loved ones? I have seriously thought about asking my closest friends to tell me what they see as my bottom two or three just as a base line to make sure that I am working on the right ones but I really didn’t want to make them feel like I was putting them on the spot. I even went so far as to ask my husband last night and that brave man gave me honest feed back and yes, he said two of the ones that are on my list as well.

How honest can I be, well here goes, this is the list I gave and it is in relation to my job and are not in any order:

Top Five
* Intense
* Passionate about doing the right thing
* Able to translate technical Geek Speak to every day language
* Organized
* Love to deal with People

Bottom Five
* Intense – not everyone likes intensity.
* Impatient with people that don’t want to do the right thing.
* Need to have change, can get bored.
* Sometimes interrupt people because I think too far ahead.
* When I get really angry I have tears. (Now this one is not a good thing in my profession, it would be more expectable if I punched the wall and when I am that angry, as a woman the tears are uncontrollable)

So there you have it, I challenge you to look at your bottom five and see where you are and ask God to help you address them as you can.

How I Would Communicate

If I had my way I would be able to sit across the table from you and talk. We would talk for hours back and forth about today, about the past and about tomorrow. We could look into each other’s eyes and truly connect. But that not being possible, I would call.

To call takes less time but I might miss you and would need to leave a voice message. To call you might be interrupted by the kids or a call on the other line. To call I can’t see your eyes so we have to trust that the words and tone get through. But sometimes a call is not practical, so I will write.

To write a letter allows me to take the time to tell you everything that is going on in me. It allows me to proof read and rewrite until the right message and feeling is captured. To write a letter doesn’t allow two-way communication and may take days to get to you. To write takes time, but that not being quick enough I would send an email.

To send an email is quick and arrives within minutes. To send an email can be impersonal. To send an email allows for a faster response. To send an email can become a habit. To send an email allows the ability to hide the true feelings. To send an email can mask the hurt and pain. To send an email is temporary, but when that is not on the schedule, I will send a text.

To send a text allows the ability to connect and show you that I care. To send a text allows for the communication lines to stay open without interrupting the busy schedules. To send a text is only a tool until there is time. But now that there is time I will sit across the table with you and talk.

A Mother's Love

Most of us have heard that you shouldn’t get between a mother bear and her cubs. The depth of the power and love in a mother’s heart is pretty phenomenal. It says in the Bible that the eyes are the window to the heart and if you look into the eyes of a mother when it comes to their child this becomes clear.

Look at the intensity in a mother’s eye as she watches her 3 year old take her first ride on a water inner tube. She looks as if she could walk on water if the tube were to tip. Look at the pride as a mother watches her 9year old over come his fear and jump from the tower into the water below. She is at once extremely happy for her son and yet totally relieved that he was not hurt. Or the realization in the eyes of the mother who’s 6 year old just told her that she wants to jump from the tower next year. She is proud that her daughter has no fear and at the same time wanting to protect her daughter.

Then on the other side look into the eyes of a mother of a sick child and see the agony of not being able to ‘kiss it and make it better’. She knows that her daughter will struggle and she will be there to support her all along the way. The look of grief as a mother sits and holds the hand of her daughter as cancer ravages her body knowing that death will not come soon enough to bring relief to her daughter and yet create a hole in her own heart that will never heal.

The capacity of a mother’s heart is incomprehensible. The capacity for joy, for dreams and for pain, the capacity for pure love.

Why Do We Do It?

I have today off because I have a few appointments this afternoon so I just finished taking care of the lawn. I am thinking that the folks that live in places like Albuquerque and Phoenix have it right, they just pave over the areas where we would have lawn. Think about it. At this time of the year if you have a lawn you need to water it about every three days since we don’t get rain. Then at least once a week you need to mow it because when you water it grows. Then I just put ‘weed and feed’ down because with all the watering it needs nutrients. The more you water and feed the more it needs mowing. It is just one vicious cycle so why do we do it?

We do it because it is the American Dream to have the house with the white picket fence with the manicured lawn and flower beds. We do it because that is what mom and dad did and it wouldn’t be home without it. We do it to keep our homes looking good because they are a reflection of who we are. We do it because we want to take care of what the Lord has given us. We do it so that we can enjoy a walk through the grass in our bare feet. We do it because we get satisfaction for a job completed. We just do it I guess.

Weekend Warrioritis

So yesterday I told you about The Tower, then on Friday I rode the Jet Ski, swam around in the lake for a while pulling the kids around in a tube and then taught a couple of teen girls how to drive the wave runner. For those of you that don’t know, to me a Jet Ski is the original Kawasaki stand up personal water craft as pictured above.

So today and probably for the next few days I have a case of Weekend Warrioritis. I put everything I had into yesterday and then some. Back in the day I used to ride a Jet Ski and look like the woman in that picture. Too bad that day has come and gone and no matter how much I try the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak and I just can’t even get the strength to stand on one any more so I rode it on my knees and almost drowned doing a few tricks. The wave runner, or sit down craft, is more my speed now especially since I don’t take the time to exercise.

How many times do we try and just make it through the day to day stuff and then when the opportunity comes to do something more challenging we find that we just haven’t stayed in good enough shape to pull it off and then after the fact we are in pain and ache all over for a few days.

I hurt in places that I haven't in years but regret none of what I did this weekend and given the chance would do it all again. That is the price worth paying for some fun. Who knows this may just be the motivation I need to get back into exercise.

The Tower

Here it is as promised, The Tower. This picture doesn’t really do it justice, especially since it was over cast when I took it. The Tower is an old ski stanchion from Stevens Pass Ski Resort that has been stuck in the ground next to the lake. The first step is the hardest both on the climb up and the drop down. On the way up the latter on the stanchion starts about 3.5ft up from the ground so I had to lift myself up with my arms to be able to reach the first step with my knee. Then on the way down the platform is 30ft about the water surface so there is a real point of letting go and trusting when you make that step.

So we get to the lake on Thursday and I’m am talking to one of my friends who is willing to try just about anything and she is telling I really need to do The Tower, she had done it twice the day before and really enjoyed it. She told me I really needed to go off of it with her. I told her that with my bad foot I just didn’t know if I wanted to take the chance. From that height the water is hard, so you need to be able to point your feet and go in toes first. I knew that would be very painful with my foot. But sure enough after a quick trip to our hotel and then back out to the lake, I put on my suit and there is a group of others up on The Tower preparing to jump off. I climb the tower step up onto the platform and without stopping to think about it I took off the tower.

So did I feel a rush of adrenaline, or a feeling of flying like one of the other kids was talking about? Nope it was no real thought at all except protect my foot. I hit the water and instincts took over and I swam to the surface. I came up did a quick inventory and hadn’t hurt my foot, “Yahoo, I had jump from The Tower.”

Let's Have Fun

We loaded up the mom-mobile and headed to the eastern side of the mountains to Lake Chelan for the annual church staff retreat. There were seven of us in two cars traveling over together. On the way over we stopped at Zeke’s drive-in. That was the first time I have every eaten there after hearing about it for years and how I really needed to try it. All I can say is I am not disappointed that I haven’t tried it before. I guess you need to enjoy onion rings to really appreciate Zeke’s.

The next stop was “The Alps”, a candy store just outside of Leavenworth. They have great homemade taffy, brittle and other sweets as well as the all important bathroom. It is a must stop for just about everyone I know that is heading east.

We arrived in Chelan just about 3:30pm and spent the rest of the evening hanging out at the lake and jumping off the tower. I’ll get pictures and write about the tower tonight or in the morning.

It is nice to be away from the daily grind, but even better being with friends and family with a common purpose. It is about having fun.

Missed a Post

I missed posting a blog yesterday, sorry about that, I wish I could blame it on the weather and maybe I still can considering that it is suppose to hit the mid-90s today, but the truth of the matter is I couldn’t come up with a topic last night and I am working on completing a big project at work so I can take a few days off for some fun.

Fun is a good thing and I know for myself I just don’t get enough of it. I tend to put off the fun because of the list To Dos. Problem is I sometimes don’t do the To Dos because I can’t have fun. Does that make sense to anyone else?

So I have made a choice to finish up this project at work and to go home tonight and get a few of the To Dos done and then I will be fresh and come up with better material.

Billiards and Bifocals

Yesterday a group of us got together and there happened to be a pool table, so of course we had to take advantage if it. It is interesting for us baby boomers to get together, especially now that our children are adults and join us in these little adventures. We play pool and have fun and you will see flashes of the former glory, as when Bob ran the table from the break, but then the next game you can hardly see the ball at the end of the table.

Three out of the six of us playing now have progressive lenses and it is very difficult to play pool with them. I love my progressive lenses, they allow me to see without needing to take my glasses on and off for reading to driving. But when you are bent over a pool cue and trying to focus on the cue ball near you and the ball and pocket at the other end of the table it is almost impossible to find a spot in focus on both and not getting yourself seasick. I just can’t do it so I take the glasses off and thank God that I am far sighted and the cue stick is longer than my arms so I can see all of the balls fairly well.

We had fun yesterday, all of us thinking back to the days when we could actually make a few buck around a pool table, but the best part of it is that today we play as friends are comfortable cheering and jeering each other as we have our visions of grandeur and a good time just being with friends. Billiards and Bifocals just don’t mix, but friends can always find a way to enjoy being together.

Because of You Lord

Becasue of You
I can love, I receive love, and I can give love.

Becasue of You
I can be healed, I am healed, and I bring healing.

Because of You
I can prosper, I am prosperous.

Because of You
I can trust, I can trust others, I can be trusted.

Because of You
There is peace, I have peace.

Because of You
There is faith, I have faith.

Becuase of You
There is victory, I have the victory.

Because of You
I can have joy, I am Joy.

$8.95

What will $8.95 get you? A super sized meal at McDonalds, 2 or 3 trips to Starbucks, less then 3 gallons of gas. How about a care package shipped to a solder serving in Afghanistan. Yep, this box is filled with items for a group of guys that are currently deployed in Afghanistan for 15 months. This box is filled with things like tuna fish, Excedrin, Fruit bars, Cheezits and cough drops. Every day things to us, but are real special treats for them.

Tonight I met with a few other folks at Susan Locke’s house to work on special packages for her son Christopher and his men. He leads a group of six guys; Adam 27, Joshua 24, Westley 19, Richard 19, Kristopher 19, and Cody 19. We are going to make up these care packages with the things that the guys request and a few extra cards and letters so that they have some contact with home. Things like Hot Rod magazines, Beef Jerky and energy bars; stuff that young men enjoy and make a very tough environment livable.

Susan had a stack of packages already made up just waiting to send them when she had the money in her budget. Just in the last few weeks she has sent over 20 packages and at $8.95 each that is no easy task. On our way out tonight we each grabbed a couple of boxes and will skip the McDonalds or a few Starbucks and for $8.95 the Flat Rate Package from the USPS will arrive to the guys in a week or two.

Maybe you too could come up with $8.95, or you know of a company or business that would like to include a care package in their daily postage I know that Susan and all of the other mothers with children serving in the military overseas would appreciate anything that can help.

If you know of a business that might help let me know and we can provide some of the details.

I just don't get it.

What is the attraction with firecrackers, bottle rockets and M-80s? Ok I have used them all but why the big draw? And if you take it a step further what is the big deal with fireworks? This is a question I often ask people that tell me they are excited to go and see the fireworks and as of yet I haven’t heard anyone that really can say why they like them so much.

Last night I was sitting at home working on a couple of post for my blog when the neighbors started lighting off fireworks. It was hot in the house but cool outside so I had the windows open to get the breeze going. Finally after an hour and a half I had to get up and close the windows, it sounded like a war zone and was only getting worse. Three hours later I was starting to really get tired and annoyed the noise that was still going on. Now I’m not a prude and think people can have a little fun but I also think you could find something just a little quieter after 11pm. I gave up and went to bed hoping that I was tired enough to get to sleep. Well guess what it was 12:30am before the firecrackers stopped. I have a question, how much money do you need to spend to have enough fireworks to light them off for 4 ½ hours without stopping? How much hearing loss is there after 4 ½ hours of lighting bottle rockets? How much trash is in the street from thousands of firecrackers?

I guess I’m just a little cranky today because the noise last night kept me up, I just don’t get it.

It's Alive and Well

This is proof that I can actually NOT kill an indoor plant. This is a plant that my mother bought with her “bingo bucks” and has in her room and I am horitculturally challenged. My mother loves flowers and when she had her own place my sisters would tend massive flower beds around her condo. Both of them have amazing green thumbs and can grow just about anything.

I get there one day and here is this pretty little plant all in bloom and my mother is so excited. Now please note that she had one once before and I killed it so I was not to excited to see another one. After a few weeks the flowers wilted and I thought, “oh no not again”. I picked off the wilted flowers, moved it over to the window sill and watered it every time I am in the apartment. This last Tuesday when I was there I noticed it had all these new flowers on it and wasn’t dead. Praise God I didn’t kill it.

Don’t ask me why this one is still alive, but for now everything is right in the world.

I love a Parade

I don’t know what it is about parades, but I do really love them. My brother in-law Kirk always is surprised when I sincerely ask if I can be part of the parades he does during his campaigning. I look forward to BPD (Big Parade Day) each year here in Monroe. When I was in the Majorette and Drum Corp most of our competitions were during parades and then of course we marched in other local parades. I don’t know what it is about being in a parade that I love but I know that it probably started back when I was in grade school.

Today in our housing development they had their annual July 4th parade. The kids in the neighborhood get their bikes, trikes and strollers decorated and then when the streets are blocked off they make the trip around the block. It may not seem like much but I remember when I was in grade school that our subdivision had a July 4th parade and to me it was a big deal. We would either decorate our bikes or dress up in a theme costume. One year, along with my younger sister and brother we dressed up like the Fife and Drum painting and we won 1st prize, I still have that ribbon packed away in a box.

So every chance I get I will be in a parade, it’s just a special time for me.

Independence Day

Today as we celebrate our country's Independence we need to stop and think about what that really mean. We are celebrating our freedom, our capacity to exercise choice or free will, the right to enjoy the privileges of living in the United States of America. We only need to read the 1st three paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence ratified on July 4, 1776 over 200 years ago to realize that as it says in the bible:

ECC 1:9 What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.

Today this country is free and today this country defends our right to be free and it supports and aids other countries that dream of this same goal.

So for today we celebrate, we celebrate the past, present and future.

Do you know how much impact you have?

I just sent flowers off to one of my co-workers, Cynthia McCrary. She is off on long-term medical leave and probably won’t return without a miracle from God. Just two months ago Cynthia was diagnosed with a Melanoma cancer and was not given a very good prognosis.

Cynthia chose to leave work and here is her explanation copied from her blog:
I have decided not to go back to work at SonoSite because of the pain I am having. I had hoped that chemotherapy would reduce that pain, but so far it does not seem to be working that way. The workplace at SonoSite is such an exciting and positive atmosphere with so much innovation and so many bright people with great ideas. It is not a place for someone who is in pain or not functioning at 100%. Perhaps that is one reason it has been hard for me to reveal this illness to my coworkers there. I have always presented my professional persona at the workplace-confident, professionally dressed, and proud to be one of the healthy, capable people working at the company. I don't think I could maintain composure with my coworkers now that they know what is happening to me, and I don't want to be tearful at work. I want them to remember the person they worked with when I delivered all I had, not the ailing person people feel they have to "tiptoe" around. The sadness of the changes I am going through has no place at work.

Cynthia’s blog is one that I have been reading pretty regular, it has made me think. First do we really know the impact we have on people around us our friends, family, co-workers and just the neighbor next door? Second, have we told those that are in our lives as friends, family, co-workers or neighbor how they have made an impact on their lives?

I am grateful for Cynthia’s web site because she is being very open; she is an example of strength, bravery and “grace under fire”. She has given people a chance to express their feelings, to keep up to date on her and to let her know how wonderful she is.

Today is the best day to let someone know just what they mean to you, tomorrow may be too late.

Thanks Cynthia.

http://www.cynthiamccrary.com/

One Million Dollars

This last Sunday Pastor Jeff asked the question what would you do with $1,000,000? Kyle and I looked at each other and new we had a plan:

10% - Tithe
10% - Offering
20% - pay off debts
20% - Invest
20% - Education Fund for Grandchildren
10% - Fun
10% - Families

Wouldn’t take long at all when you have dreams and vision.

Interesting Tid-bit

I ran across this little tid-bit this morning and found it interesting. I don't know why, maybe it is the engineering in me or maybe the facination with trains I have had since I was little, but in any case I decided to share it here. It makes me think about other things we do just because we have always done it that way.

The US Standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That's an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used? Because that's the way they built them in England, and English expatriates built the US railroads.

Why did the English people build them like that? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used.
Why did "they" use that gauge then? Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing.

Okay! Why did the wagons use that odd wheel spacing? Well, if they tried to use any other spacing the wagons would break on some of the old, long distance roads, because that's the spacing of the old wheel ruts.

So who built these old rutted roads? The first long distance roads in Europe were built by Imperial Rome for the benefit of their legions. The roads have been used ever since. And the ruts? Roman war chariots first made the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagons. Since the chariots were made for or by Imperial Rome they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing.

Thus, we have the answer to the original questions. The United State standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches derives from the original specification (Military Spec) for an Imperial Roman army war chariot. MilSpecs and bureaucracies live forever.
So, the next time you are handed a specification and wonder what horse's rump came up with it, you may be exactly right. Because the Imperial Roman chariots were made to be just wide enough to accommodate the back-ends of two war horses.

We Are What You Eat

So am I the only one that has heard this saying, “we are what we eat.” As I was fixing my dinner this evening I thought about this as I reflected on what I have eaten today.

Breakfast: Blueberry Bagel and two slices of cheese

Lunch: Fish Tacos (at Canyons, really good if you add jalapeños).

Dinner: Fresh Mozzarella Cheese, Tomato slices and Balsamic vinegar with fresh local raspberries for desert.

If I am what I eat, I guess I’m a not easily described, what do you think?

Senior Discounts

Today was another trip to the Bingo Hall with my mom and yes once again we were shut out. We got there early and as I was getting stuff for our lunch when I looked up and see this sign on the wall advertising a Senior Discount on Monday’s. So I was walking back to my chair and realized that I’m now a ‘Senior’. I think that was the first time I have noticed that there are some discounts that I am now eligible for. Not sure how I feel about that, but hey if I can get a discount why not.

I took the picture with my cell phone so it isn’t all the good of an image; it advertises Senior Day, $2.00 off every Monday, 50 and over.

I did it!!!!!!

I currently work for a company that makes hand carried ultrasound equipment. This equipment is used in a lot of Emergency Rooms and Intensive Care Units because of its small size and portability. For the last year an a half part of my job has been to train the sales team on how to connect the equipment to the hospital network. Well today I had to put my money where my mouth was. I actually went down to a Doctors office on 1st Hill in Seattle and installed one of our systems onto the hospital network.

I prepared the training materials I use in my classes by reading the technical documentation and everything made sense to me and seemed pretty straight forward. I have had many complements on the classes I give because I translated the “Geek Speak” in to a language that our sales team could understand. But the truth is I had never done an actual installation. So today was interesting because I was going to be by myself and could look real dumb in front of the customer if I didn’t get the stuff working.

Well not only did I get it working, but it only took me 20 minutes and half of that was waiting for the IT guy to fix the patch panel to activate the network port in the Doctors office. Not only was I able to do it, but I just validated that my teaching materials are really quite good and almost anyone could do it.

Oh Happy Day.

Skills, Talents and Gifts

Did you know that I like to play golf? Yes, that is probably redundant for most of you reading this, but I just wanted to make sure that you knew that about me. Golf is a skill that I am learning. I wish I could say I was a talented golfer, but that is not the case. Maybe that is part of the allure of golf for me is that it is something I need to learn and perfect, it doesn’t come naturally.

Now I am not a born klutz, but I also don’t have a natural talent for sports either. Back in the day I played collegiate softball and basketball so I could hold my own. I was part of the team not so much for my physical abilities, but for my mental abilities. I had the basic skills and I used my mental skills to anticipate. This helped me to compete against others that had natural talent but hadn’t put the effort into it to develop that talent to its full potential.

When you think about talent often it is in reference to music. Music is another area that I have a passion for but I was not blessed with that natural ability or talent. I work and practice to improve my skill on the guitar and I am so grateful for the music team at TRC for allowing me to play with them as I continue to improve this skill.

We all know of people that are very talented musically or even physically some have even honed their talents and excel. But then there are those that are gifted.

So what’s the difference between being talented and being gifted? Both come naturally and those that are talented may be gifted. The people with a gift except and cherish that gift as something that they didn’t earn or deserve. It is not theirs and can be taken from them. A gift is God-breathed. Those with a gift may not be the most technically proficient but they have a heart that is pure. That is probably the biggest difference is the purity of heart.

I have many skills and I try to keep learning new skills as I go. I have a few talents and these I continue to develop as you would a muscle. I have a gift that I didn’t create or earn it is God-given and I am only asked to be a good steward of it and to cherish it as the gift it is and to not become prideful in it and thus tarnish it, to keep my heart pure.

So today I would ask you what is your gift and do you respect it?

Heart Pills

I’m going to let you in on a little secret; Kyle and I have found the perfect holistic approach to heart medicine. Now I’m not all that holistic, my favorite meal is hot dogs so don’t get the wrong impressions. Since Kyle’s little heath opportunity a couple of years ago we both have become more aware of foods that are good for your heart. Tops on his list are Dark Chocolate and Whole Almonds.

FACT 1: Studies have suggested that cocoa or dark chocolate may possess certain beneficial effects on human health. Dark chocolate, with its high cocoa content, is a rich source of the flavonoids epicatechin and gallic acid, which are thought to possess cardio protective properties.

FACT 2: Research further associates almonds in lowering the blood presence of HDLs (high-density lipoproteins) and LDLs (low-density lipoproteins) equally with the statin drug line and can significantly lower heart disease risk.

Those two facts equate to the perfect heart pill being – drum roll please:

Dark Chocolate covered Almonds

One more fact is that because I buy them for him on special occasions such as our anniversary, his birthday, Valentines day, Christmas or any other day that I want to let him know how much I love him they speak to his heart.

So the next time you want Dark Chocolate covered Almonds, go to Monroe and stop by Sweet Escapes and ask for “Heart Pills”, they will know what you mean and probably get a laugh out of it.


Trivia
* Consumers spend more than $7 billion a year on chocolate.
* U.S. consumers eat about 2.8 billion pounds of chocolate annually, making per capita consumption about 12 pounds (5.44 kg) per person a year.
* American chocolate producers use about 1.5 million pounds of milk.
* Chocolate has over 500 flavors components, more than twice the amount found in strawberry and vanilla.
* Switzerland has the highest Chocolate consumption in the world with an average of 10 kg (22 pounds) per person.

Which one is the Blue Jay?

Yesterday when I stopped to get my mom some strawberry's there was this bird in the parking lot. If you were to ask my husband he would tell you that it was a Blue Jay. But you know what that is not correct. The bird I saw was a Stellar Jay as shown in the picture above.

A Blue Jay is native to the eastern half of the US and is slightly smaller and has a white under belly. This is the bird that the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team is named after. It is shown in the picture below.

Just a bit of trivia for you west coasters.

Stuck in a Rut

So when does our daily routine become a rut? A routine is something that is followed regularly and often performed without much thought. A good athlete or entertainer will practice and practice repeating a particular task until it becomes routine and they don’t have to think about it. We in our own lives have routines, we routinely go to church, we routinely go to work, and we routinely have meals. Routines are not bad, I really don’t like to have my day-to-day routines disrupted. I personally don’t like it when I miss a meal or have my sleep disrupted.

But when does a routine become a rut. A rut is when you do the same thing all the time and become bored. You catch your self-doing something just to do it and never make any progress. Again as an athlete, they must change or alternate their training routines or their muscles will get bored and not continue to grow. An entertainer must change their routine or people will get bored and not see their show more than once.

What actions in our lives are routine and what actions need to be changed up to prevent them from becoming ruts? Maybe the only thing we need to do is change our perspective so that we see them as routine and that there is a benefit to the routine.

Rut – definition: A grave with the ends kicked out.

Aging

Saturday night I was standing around talking with a couple of friends and the topic of age came up. I have developed a trick over the years of how to find out peoples ages and not be offensive. I just make sure I guess an obviously wrong, yet flattering age. As an example, I sometimes need to find out what class room to put a student in at church so I guess there age to be 15 or 16 when they are really about 8 or 9. It always makes them feel good. Or how about a 16year old, guess that they are 20 and watch them glow. Now this trick works on us more mature folks as well, tell a 50 year old that they look like they are 30 and you have made a friend for life.

Aging is a fact of life and the alternative isn’t very promising. What we can avoid is getting OLD. Old is a state of being stale and showing deterioration. We need to mature as we age, we need to continue to grow in character and wisdom with every experience that life brings us. My husband is always saying, “old is a state of mind” and I prefer to age like a good cheese and get better as the time past.

Blow Out

My June 6th post talked about praying specific prayers, too bad I don’t always remember that. As I talked about in yesterdays post Kyle and I attended the Mariners game last night. As is normal the weather this last week has been iffy for an enjoyable game down at Safeco field. Yes, I love to go to the ball park, eat hot dogs and peanuts and enjoy the game, the only problem is that I don’t like to be cold.

For the last couple of weeks I have been praying for the weather to be clear and warm. Last night we got to the game and it was near 70 and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Thank you Lord that you answer even prayers for weather at a sporting event just to make me comfortable.

The only problem was that I didn’t pray that the Mariners would show up and play baseball. They were blown out. The Reds had 4 runs in the first inning and it went down hill from that.

Reds 16, Mariners 1

So remember, God expects us to ask and He expects us to be specific, even if it is only a ball game.

"There is No Crying In Baseball"

This is a line that Tom Hanks used in the movie A League of Their Own about the Woman’s baseball league during WWII. This is also a line that Kyle used last night while we were part of a sold out crowd at Safeco Park that celebrated the return of Ken Griffey Jr. A crowd of true baseball fans that showed their respect to a player that is credited with “saving baseball in the Northwest”.

I was amazed at the emotions of the moment and frustrated when the tears did start. See for me, I thought it was just going to be a night that Kyle and I got to go to a ball game. I am a fan of baseball, not necessarily a fan of a particular team, but what I love most is going to the ball part. As a kid I would go to ball parks and watch my dad play recreation league, and then I myself started playing in organized leagues when I was in third grade. I like to be in and around the ball field, whether it is softball or baseball.

So about two months ago Kyle came home all excited about having tickets this game at the end of June, it would be the first game that Griffey played at Safeco since being traded to the Reds. I was glad for the tickets, especially because they were great seat behind the Mariners dugout, 12 rows up from the field, but didn’t really care about the inter-league play part of it. I guess I’m a purest or just don’t like change and I don’t like the inter-league format, leave it for the World Series. So anyways, we head down to the ball park and get to our section, make a pit stop, grab a foot long hotdog and a soda and arrive at our seats just as the national anthem starts. We sit down and start eating our hotdogs and settle in for the pre-game festivities. The sun is shinning the weather is warm for a Seattle game and the seats are full. Out comes a couple of guys in suits and then they announced Ken Griffey Jr and the place erupts in a standing ovation that lasted and lasted. I almost went deaf from the guy behind me yelling so loud thank God it was an open stadium. It was during that time that the tears started. As I tried to wipe the tears and not be obvious I notice that the guy in front of me has tears running down his face too, it was just an emotional moment in time.

In trying to figure out why I was in tears I can only think it was because of the true emotion of the moment. In that time there was no division, there was only celebration, there was unity and where there is unity there is power.

Strawberry Season

These are the freshly cleaned local strawberries that I picked up for my mom at the Yakama Fruit Market in Bothell. Now that she lives in Kenmore I drive by it when I go to her place and these last couple of weeks they have had local strawberries so I stop in and get her a pint, clean and cut them up and put them in individual serving baggies for her to enjoy during the week.

Now you might think that I am being the “good daughter” but the fact is that I do it for my self also. See every time I stop to get her some, I bring some home for myself also. I love fresh strawberries and raspberries (so does my mom). I know that cherries are big here but for me it is all about the berry.

So today I got my mom strawberries and oh by the way, got some for myself too.

Words - Part 2

Yesterday I was working with a group here at work and as we were finishing our task I said “Cool”. Then I corrected myself and said “Sweet” and we all laughed. I told them I was trying to change my demographic and use the new words I had learned from the interns.

Then there was the conversation with a friend where she told me that recently she had given a gift to someone and they told her to “Shut Up”. She explained that at first she had been hurt and then it was explained to her that it was a Good Shut up and meant ‘you kidding right, that is awesome’.

Here is a short list of idioms that are a part of our culture and language, I challenge you to keep track of how many times in your daily speech you use an idiom, I think we all would be amazed. Let me know if you have others.

SMILE

She wants her teeth back

I love being Grandma Karen, I get these little pic on my phone. Isn't this precious?

Top 10 Signs You Work in Marketing

1. You lecture the neighborhood kids selling lemonade on ways to improve their process.

2. You get all excited when it's Saturday so you can wear casual clothes to work.

3. You refer to the tomatoes grown in your garden as deliverables.

4. You find you really need PowerPoint to explain what you do for a living.

5. You normally eat out of vending machines and at the most expensive restaurant in town within the same week.

6. You wear gray to work instead of navy blue to make a bold fashion statement.

7. You know the people at the airport and hotel better than your next door neighbors.

8. You ask your friends to "think out of the box" when making Friday night plans.

9. You think Einstein would have been more effective had he put his ideas into a matrix.

10. You think a "half-day" means leaving at 5 o'clock.

Words

I have become more aware of my own lapse in writing and grammar since starting a blog. I have become too reliant on MS Word for spell check and grammar check capabilities. After a few obvious errors being pointed out to me I now create all of my blog entries in Word first and then cut and paste them so that I get some help. Too bad I’m still not getting it right all the time. I was thinking about all of the folks that are trying to learn English today as a second language and how hard it must be for them.

I have made a short list of words to consider:
- read or red
- threw, through or thru
- hear or here
- right or write
- witch or which
- no or know
- your or you’re
- too, to, or two
- I will read or I have read

Can you think of other examples?

The Intern Inn

During this last year, we renamed our home The Intern Inn, because on many occasions we had three or even four of the ten interns in this years class spend the night. We had two that were our full time interns, Josh and Juan. I can’t say that we spent a lot of time with either one of them due to very different schedules, but being a host home was an interesting experience.

Things I learned from the Interns:
- Young men will sleep until the very last moment.
- Young men take more time in the shower than any woman I know
- Young men can sleep through just about anything, including the noise from the garage door opener hung just below their bed.
- Young men love to invade the refrigerator at 11pm
- If you don’t want leftovers invite the interns over for dinner.
- If you DO want leftovers you need to HIDE them.
- Young men’s voices can penetrate most walls at 1am.
- Young men just need a little direction some time.

This morning I said goodbye to Juan as he is heading home to Texas and Josh will move out today. So as of tonight The Intern Inn is closed for remodeling and restocking.

Character

Thinking about the Intern’s graduating has caused me to think a little about Character, I’m still working on my thoughts about Character but decided to share a couple of items I have come across:

Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

-- Frank Outlaw

Organization is 60%.

Organized - methodical and efficient in arrangement or function.

I was talking with a colleague at work this week about how I manage to keep a complex set of problems and responsibilities organized and from being overwhelmed. She herself was feeling totally overwhelmed and was looking for any help. This is the strategy that the Lord gave me back in the 80s when I ‘burned myself out’ trying to do too much for too long.

First - God blessed me in that I just think organized, I see a problem, I then see the steps necessary to get to the end. Not everyone does, but just as I have learned to be an exhorter, you can learn from others a few steps to help you be organized.

Second - I use the resources available and don’t expect or try and do everything myself. Thank God I can rely on Him when I just don’t know what to do next.

Third – layout a plan or a map of how to achieve your goal, with out a plan you can easily get off course.

Four – Once I have a plan I manage the exceptions. The plan should manage itself.

Forth - make a list of the things that need to be done, not so much so you can keep track of them, but more so that you can cross them off and see that you really are getting stuff done. When you are feeling overwhelmed it is usually because you are looking at the end and not seeing the steps that are already behind you or the fact that you accomplished something.

Fifth - pick one or at the most two things that you will get done each day and make sure that getting them done is realistic. The trick here is that at the end of the day you can say that you met your goal. Now if you get more than that done it is extra and you don’t feel condemned.

I have found this strategy useful in every area of my life, not just at work, but in my personal life also. As a working woman I sometimes get overwhelmed with the things I need to do at home as well as in the office. Think about it, I know for me I really don’t like spending all day on a Saturday cleaning house so I do it in steps in the evening during the week. Clean the bathrooms and vacuum upstairs one night and clean the kitchen and vacuum the downstairs the next, do the laundry on Friday nights when Kyle and I are sitting around watching TV. That leaves Saturday’s open for what ever else I may want to do.

So for today make a list and find one thing that you can get done. You will feel better knowing you accomplished something when you lay your head on the pillow tonight.

What Would You Do?

Picture this; you are running a little late and yet you need to make a quick stop at the local Fred Meyer’s and pick up something to take with you. You pull into the parking lot and it is really full. But wait, you see a spot just on the other side of that red mini van near the exit and you think, “Yeah, I hit the parking lot jackpot!” You pull out to make a smooth sweeping turn into the spot and just as you are about to put it into park and jump out of your vehicle you look over at the side of the mini-van and see this sign:
Yes, my wheelchair van has this sign on the side of it and because I use this van as my everyday vehicle this scenario plays out every time I park in a parking lot. I find it interesting as to whether or not the spot on the left side of the van has a car in it when I come out of places. I do my best to park away from the buildings so as not to take up two prime locations, but there are times when I too need to make a quick stop on the way home.

So, what would you do?

My Liliac Bush

I love lilacs in the spring. As a child we lived on a farm for a short period of time. This farmhouse was 100+ years old. Yes, it was built before Washington became a state. I was only about 7 and the lilac bush was my favorite place to play. These bushes were probably as old as the house it self and so they have strong branches and were just the right size for me to be able to climb. I could even hide inside of them and not be seen from the outside when they were in full leaf. I would crawl inside the bushes to just get away from everything and to dream about all the things I would do as a grown up. Any time I smell fresh lilacs I think of the dreams I had for my life.

Since that time I have had lilac bushes at each of the homes I have lived in and on Sunday I planted lilac bush at the house we moved into 2 ½ years ago. When I finished planting it I thought finally, it is a home, a house of my dreams. I can hardly wait until spring when I have lilacs of my own again and to dream new dreams under my lilac bush.

Opportunities

A few years ago I made a choice to change the way I think. I made the choice to look at the circumstances, obstacles, trials and challenges that come as opportunities. Instead of being “a victim of circumstances” I take advantage of the opportunity. Every instance in our life is an opportunity to learn, overcome and grow. By looking at them as opportunities it allows me to see them as positive events instead of negative events.

This is a learned behavior for me and it has been very valuable. Now don’t get me wrong it is not always my first reaction, but I have been doing it long enough now that it doesn’t take me too long change my thoughts, usually in a few hours at the most.

I even like to use scriptures – Karen’s version

James 1:2,3
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face Opportunities of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

1 Peter 1:5-7 (New International Version)
who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had all kinds of Opportunities. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all Opportunities, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

So let your opportunities today lead you to a new level.

Giving is Priceless

I had the most amazing weekend. I crawled into bed last night with a feeling of utter joy. Last night I stayed up too late because I was reliving it, none of the events this weekend were planned or structured and yet they were totally of God. I was able to give of my self, my time and my resources.

First my mother who is unable to do very much for herself had asked me to pick up a few birthday cards for her to give to her friends. No for me I can’t just give just any old birthday card; it has to be just the right one for each individual. I don’t know which type of store I can spend more time in, a bookstore or a Hallmark Shop. When I look for birthday cards I will open each card and read it sometimes laughing out loud. If I find a card that fits a certain person I will buy it and then hold onto it for months waiting for that persons birthday to come around. Each person is unique and their birthday is unique and so should their card.

Feeling that way about birthday cards it was hard for me to think about picking out just a few random ones for her to give so I decided that since I didn’t have anything scheduled during the day Saturday, I would just make time to go and get her and take her to the store and let her pick out her own. The really cool part is that I didn’t tell her about the plan, I just showed up as she was finishing her lunch. She was sitting at the table with her friends and I came strolling in the door. She looked up, saw me and asked what I was doing there. I told her that I needed to go to the store and pick up a few things for her and I thought I would take her with me. That little gift of my time, a couple of hours out of my day were priceless to her. That smile on her face and the sparkle in her eye when I told her the plan was priceless to me.

Then there was just giving of my self by talking to friends who just needed a little encouragement at that moment. It isn’t that I can change anything; it is just being there and knowing that someone cares that makes it more manageable. It wasn’t much but I know in my own life that when a friend reaches out and just cares it is priceless. It is priceless to me to be a friend to them.

I was also able to give of my resources this weekend, even though I have needs of my own, I have learned that if I give to others first my needs will be taken care of. To be able to give someone a dinner just to bless them when they don’t need it, to buy lunch for friends just because or to pay for the car behind you in the Starbucks line, to be able to meet a major need in someone’s life. All of these are small things and the receivers would have never asked and that is what makes the gift priceless. To know that I do have the resources to give, no matter how small is priceless to me.

I had an amazing weekend, I was able to give and that for me is priceless.

M.E. - Recap

I started writing about Memorable Experiences (M.E.) with my first posting on May 12th, and did my last one to day on June 8th. I started out with a list of about 5 and ended up doing 16 of them. During that 4-week period I add and subtracted a few items. I made a choice at the beginning to share only the positive experiences and not to share the negative opportunities and deep loses I have had in my life; who would really want to hear that stuff.

Hopefully if you have read them all you weren’t bored, I really did try and keep them short. For every ME there were at least three pages of notes that I had to cut down and yet not loose the spirit of what I wanted share. I have kept the short and long version of each one, who knows what I will do with them.

If you haven’t read them all, here is the list and what the key point of each.
· 5/12 – ME – 1st trip to Seattle – Developed the confidence to be in front of a crowd.
· 5/13 – ME – Almost Arrested in DC – Ask when you are unsure.
· 5/14 – ME – The Night The Edmund Fitzgerald Sunk – Learned to make hard choices.
· 5/15 – ME – Working on Mackinac Island – How to deal with people
· 5/16 – ME – Freeport Pretzels – Reached the end of myself and accepted Christ
· 5/17 – ME – Germany; Arm-in-Arm – Grew emotionally, Spiritually, and relationally.
· 5/19 – ME – Fighting for Shoes – I am called to a Nation
· 5/22 – ME – Hotel Good View and AK47s – Grateful to be an American
· 5/24 – ME – Hurricane Kenna – Gods extends His Grace and Mercy to the helpless
· 5/25 – ME – The Big C – The Lord is faithful
· 5/26 – ME – I Can’t Fix This – Keep trusting and believing
· 5/29 – ME – Gas Chambers – Truly there is good and evil in the world
· 5/30 – ME – Secret Service – The pure enjoyment of friendship
· 6/4 – ME – Kissing the Blarney Stone – Take time to stop and take a break
· 6/7 – ME – End Of An Era – In a time of transition stay focused on the Lord
· 6/8 – ME – Health Opportunity – Trust God with all things.

Thanks for being patient and we will see what comes up next.

Next M.E. - ???; Yet to be determined.

M.E. - Health Opportunity

I turned to see my husband holding his chest, his completion ashen and his eyes pleading and confused, then ever so slowly he says he is having chest pains. I quickly end the phone conversation I was having with my niece as Kyle made is way to the couch to sit down. That is how my world was rocked on November 20, 2005. All of the first aide and lifesaving training kicks in as I grab his wrist and check his pulse and respiration. They seem normal but the fact that he had no color and was cold and clammy told me that something was wrong. I told him I wanted to call 911 and he said no. I asked if at least he would let me take him to the ER and of course he said no. I asked again and he said yes. Right then and there I knew this was no small thing so I quickly get my shoes on and grab his shirt and shoes and hand them to him and he tells me we have to wait until the end of the Seahawks game. WHAT, I turned around and saw that there was only 43 seconds left in the game and stayed calm enough to let him finish the game. I figured if I freak out it wouldn’t help either one of us.

We ended up in the ER in Monroe and the doctor there found an anomaly so he kept Kyle over night. The next day during his stress test he starts having chest pains again and they shipped him off to Everett immediately, it has one of the best Cardiac Care Units in the country.

The best way to describe his condition is that Kyle was a heart attach waiting to happen. If he had not let me take him to the ER and he would have gone to work the next day; he had what they call the ‘widow maker’, he would have died even if he had been in the ER at the time it would have still been fatal.

Once at Everett they schedule a procedure to unblock his artery and put in a stint to keep it open. The night before the procedure I stayed with Kyle; I can’t say that either one of us slept. I even wrote in my journal that morning while he was on his way to Everett, “Lord, if this is the last day for Kyle here, I want to thank You for the time and legacy. I know I can trust You with him.”

I truly didn’t expect him to live through the procedure. During the night I really felt it was going to be our last chance to be together but I was at peace. I felt that Kyle would go and it was OK to let him go. Maybe that was it; I just needed to get to the point that I would let him go.

Two days after the procedure we had the Pearson family over for Thanksgiving Dinner and what a time of rejoicing we had. The day after that I slept for 14 hours, I guess I was just a bit tired.

I have come to grips with my own death, knowing that I can trust God. That night I came to grips with the Kyle’s death, knowing hat I could trust God. Is there anything else that I can’t trust God with? What more could there be, this was just another Health Opportunity.

Next M. E. - Recap

M.E. - End Of An Era

An era - a period marked by distinctive character. On August 1, 2005 an era came to an end for me, I was laid off from a company that I had been with for 11years. A new VP had been brought in for the purpose of bringing change and he decided that anyone that worked in Marketing who didn’t have a Marketing degree was not good enough. So there were seven of us in that category. Even though I had 5 years of experience as a Product Marketing Manger I wasn’t qualified purely because I have an engineering degree and not a marketing degree.

When I was told the word "transition" came to me. Transition - A change from one state to another. I needed to transition from my confidence in who I thought I was at work, to who I am in the Lord. Transition - characterized by strong contractions - I guess that is the best way to describe it - strong contractions that will yield a new birth, a new vision, a new level of faith, a new trust in the Lord. Transition - from one of being in bondage to my job to one of liberty in the Lord.

The last time I had a month off was June 1975 - thirty years ago - when I finished college and before I started my 1st professional job. I took a month off to mark the transition from student to professional. I sailed, I swam at the beach, I played my guitar. It was a wonderful time as I look back on it. It was a major transition time in my life. Not only did I leave college and what I had known for the last five years, but also I moved to a new state where I knew no one. I moved to a place were I finally reached the end of myself and had to reach out for something bigger than myself. Someone I could trust to lead me and carry me when I wasn't able to do it on my own. It was after that transition that I reached out to the Savior and accepted Jesus.

Now, fast-forward 30 years and it is another time for a month off (actually turned out to be 4 months), I played golf, I sat with a friend under the shade tree and drank tea. Another time of transition, but this time it was different, I knew Jesus as Master, as my Lord and as my Friend. I had the Father God to love and protect me. I had the Holy Spirit to lead and guide me. Just like a switchback on a mountain trail, I have been climbing, climbing, climbing all the while heading in one direction, but now to continue to climb higher I needed to make a drastic turn or the climb would be too steep and I wouldn't make it. The switchback is necessary to keep my footing on the climb upward.

During that time of transition my prayer was that I would stay focused on the Lord and what He wants for me. He has proven Himself more faithful than I could have ever believed. Transitions are never painless but once you get through them it is always an improvement.

One of the most bizarre events in the lay off process was that on the day that the official announcement was made public to the rest of the company that I would be leaving, I received a performance raise and my severance package was based on my new salary.


Next M.E. – Health Opportunity.

Canned Vegatables

Have you every thought about canned vegetables? Most of us have some in our cupboard or pantry. We usually have more than one variety. We store them to keep on hand just in case.

There are few people I know that like the taste of a canned vegetable better than the fresh one (except for peas, maybe). It is the convenience of the canned vegetable that we probably like most. All you need to do is grab the can opener and warm them up and there you have something that nourishes your body. Is there anyone that hasn’t heard, “Eat your vegetables, they are good for you”?

To me eating canned vegetables is a lot like watching TV preachers. Yes it is convenient and you get a message, but is it really as good as being in a live service? Yes you get nourished and you get a large variety, but really now, don’t the fresh vegetables just taste better. Isn’t it worth the extra effort?

Pray the Specifics

This week I had a little reminder that at times we need to be specific in our prayers.

Back on the May 22nd I wrote about feeling as if I’m being used at work. Well I did accept the new position but I have also been applying for several positions at different companies. On Monday when my new position took effect, I received an email from a friend and she said that she was praying that I would hear back on the jobs that I have applied for.

On Monday afternoon I received a call from one of the companies that I had previously applied with and they said they had a short-term contract position open and wondered if I was interested. I told them no thanks; I was only looking for a full time position.

On Tuesday I told my friend that I needed her to pray a little more specific and pray for a full time position and she said she would more specifically. Low and behold Tuesday afternoon I got contacted about scheduling a phone interview with a different company looking to fill a full time position. I had to laugh and called my friend and told reminded her that “the prayers of a righteous woman avail much.” James 5:16b

So remember that God loves it when we get specific with our prayer request.

Interesting

This is an interesting picture that I took recently.

“Interesting”, there is so much power in this one word. This one word can mean so many things. I even train our engineering staff and sales staff to use this word when working with customers. Remember the customer may not be right, but they are never wrong. I tell them to respond with “interesting” instead of telling the customer they just had a dumb thought.

It can mean how totally cool, tell me more or it can me that is really bad, how could you say that. I learned this word/phrase from a friend of mine in Illinois, she uses it in almost every situation and uses it to encourage even when you say something totally stupid. It is a phrase that has served me well in my professional and my personal life. It has become my first response to any situation that may be hard or when the wrong response may hurt someone.

Interesting is a word that fits every situation. It is a word that does not pass judgment and leaves room for interpretation and continued communication. Isn’t that what we all want is the chance to make dumb statements from time to time without judgment and leaving the door open for communication.

So the next time you are in a situation and you are left struggling with how to respond, just nod your head and say, “interesting” and let the other person lead the conversation from there.









By the way that picture above was from behind a waterfall, the shot below was taken from just outside the waterfall.

M.E. - Kissing The Blarney Stone

By March of 2005 my job required an excessive amount of travel. Now when I say excessive I was spending more than 80% of my time on the road and during one 18-month stretch the longest time that I spent at home was 8 days. Most of the time I would fly out for a few days be home for a couple and fly out again, I was a true road warrior. I chuckle when people talk about how fun it would be to travel, but it is only fun if you like seeing a lot of airports, conference rooms and hotels. Seldom is there time to visit any of the places or for that matter, even go outside except to catch a cab headed to the next destination.

One of the perks of that much travel was the number of frequent flier miles that I accumulated, so when I had to go to Dublin, Ireland for a meeting I used some of those miles for Kyle to go with me. Neither one of us had been there before and besides we just needed some time with each other at that point. I had meetings for 2 ½ days so that left us with time in the evenings and two additional days to be tourist once you take out the travel days.

I highly recommend that get a chance that you take the Hop-on/Hop-off tour bus as we did. It allowed us easy access to all of the regular tourist sites: Dublin Castle, Trinity College and the Book of the Kells, The River Liffey, Ha’Penny Bridge, Guinness Storehouse (I drank a Coke), Old Jameson Distillery (I drank water). In fact Kyle spent one of my meeting days riding around town he enjoyed it so much.

On one of our days together Kyle and I took the train down to the town of Cork and then off to Blarney Castle, home of the Blarney Stone. Its official Kyle is full of it. We even have the certificate mounted and hung in our house commemorating the fact that he kissed the Blarney Stone. The legendary Stone of Eloquence found at the top of Blarney Castle and it is said that once you hang upside-down and kiss the stone you gain “the ability to influence and coax with fair words and soft speech without giving offense’. Now he is on par with the likes of Sir Walter Scott a host of American presidents, world leaders and international entertainers that have gone before him. Can you imagine the germs that are on that thing?

In that same period of my life, besides all of the travel and day to day stuff with my job, Kyle and I had a new home built, my mother moved from Michigan to Monroe and I took responsibility for her and her upkeep. So I was stressed with a capital “S”. I was on the verge of a physical and emotional break.

This trip along with some great advice from one of the pastors at The Rock Church brought some much-needed rest and a reconnection with my husband. We enjoyed long walks, many laughs at nothing at all, eating the best fish and chips ever, sitting in the park talking with the locals and even sharing a kiss on while on the walls of Blarney Castle. There are times in each of our lives that we just need to stop and take a break. Even today, Kyle, my Swedish, Jewish, German husband speaks with a fine Irish Brogue upon request.

There is a stone there,

That whoever kisses,

Oh, he never misses

To grow eloquent.

'Tis he may clamber

To a lady's chamber,

Or become a member

Of Parliament.

Francis Sylvester Mahony


Next M. E. – End of an Era

No Foo Foo Pizza – there is just something totally wrong with calling anything with a cream sauce, fruit or whole wheat crust a pizza. Now I know that I am in the Northwest, heavy on the West, but common – Pizza in America was first started by Italian immigrant with the first "official" pizzeria in America is generally believed to have been founded by Gennaro Lombardi in Little Italy, Manhattan1905 with New York's issuance of the mercantile license. I know many Italians that agree with me.

So though you may call it Hawaiian Pizza, to us purest pineapple is a fruit and belongs in a dessert.

BTW: We had pepperoni PIZZA for dinner tonight.

Making Progress

For the past couple of months I have been unable to wear my own shoes. I have been wearing post operation attire to protect my foot as it heals. I am happy to say this week I have been wearing my own shoes. What a feeling – even thought I still have a little pain, the fact that I am in my own shoes is an assurance that I am making progress.

We all want to know that we are making progress that is why we make list. As we cross things off our list and we know we have made progress. It is feeling that we are making a difference and everything is not a waste.

Sometimes in our walk with the Lord we don’t think we are making progress, we feel as if we are just going through the motions and not making progress. Sometimes changes in us come at such a rapid pace and it is obvious that He is changing us. Other times the changes are slow and sure, maybe it is just a time where He is helping us to develop patience and grace, but rest assured He is at work and if we stop and think we will see that we are making progress. Maybe we aren’t so quick to get made, or we are at peace when we don’t get our own way, or maybe when we do get mad we get over it quicker, that is progress.

So remember progress is measured in the little things sometimes and rejoice when you can get back into your own shoes.

Happy Anniversary Kyle

Today is our 7th wedding anniversary but I’m not really one for ‘anniversaries’. By definition an anniversary is the celebration of a past event. I would rather celebrate our marriage and not the wedding.

· Our wedding had a beginning and an end; our marriage I truly believe will never end.
· Our wedding had only a few guests; our marriage is full of people, friends and family.
· Our wedding happened in the past; our marriage happens in the now.
· Our wedding was legal event; or marriage is a God event.
· Our wedding was only for a day; our marriage is new every day – even if it does start in the middle of the night.

So today and every day I celebrate our marriage and the wonderful man who continues to make our wedding a marriage that I celebrate.