Too Much of a Good Thing

Is there ever too much of a good thing? Yes. I have reached my point of saturation when it comes to my job. I have been working too many hours and not getting enough done. I just came from my boss’s office where I asked him to pick up a couple of my task for me. He had previously told me to let him know when it was too much and I did that.

This was not an easy task for me and I honestly thought I was over trying to do everything, but apparently not. I can remember back in the mid-80s I worked myself to the point of exhaustion where I was unable to work more than a few hours a day for a few weeks until I could recover from ‘burning the candle at both ends”. At that time I was working full time and basically doing full time ministry full time every evening. I had run at that pace for a couple of years and finally my body said enough.

Until I started this job in January I had a personal rule to not work at home at night. If I needed to work extra I would stay at the office late or go into the office on the weekends. This job being something that not only excites me and brings fulfillment has also given me an excuse to break my own rule. I could use the fact that I need to work with our development team in Russia and that happens after 8pm at night usually but that doesn’t explain why I am on the computer working at 6pm and then most nights not shutting it off until 11pm or later. I figure that I have not had a true day off in almost two months. A day where I did not look at email, answer a phone or work on a project.

So now what? All that I can say is that I made the first step this afternoon in correcting the situation by asking for help. I have a deadline that I need to finish up tonight and then it will be time to turn the computer off. Maybe I need to just start leaving the laptop at work, now that is a thought.

Z- Zephyr and Zeppelin

Zephyr – a gentle breeze – How is it that one part of our life is in a total storm and another is as if I am sitting in a sail boat and there is total calm and nothing moving? Form me there is a hurricane blowing in the area of work. The winds, the workload are roaring through and I’m just trying to hold on at this time. I love my job, but there can be too much of a good thing. The problem is that there is so much that needs to be done I just don’t have time to do a good job at any of it and that is making me nuts. And then there is a big part of my life that seems to be in limbo or on hold. I so want to have a gentle breeze blow in so that the sails fill and I start to make progress again.

Zeppelin – Do you remember when The Good Year Blimp was the only one that covered sporting events? Now there are many of them, Snoopy, Good Year, etc. I remember the 1st time I saw in person the Good Year Blimp flying over head. I was in the process of driving from Freeport, IL to Federal, In. I was an a barren road where the nearest town was 60 miles away and I pulled to the side of the road, stood outside the car on a bright May afternoon and just watched for a good 30 minutes as the thing approached and then flew over head. Watching that ‘balloon’ I wondered what it was like to fly one of those. The landings must be interesting.

Made to Feel Like a Queen

I got to spend most of yesterday with my sister and my mom. My sister was out staying with a group of friends on Camano Island. This group flew in from around the country; Michigan, Florida, Arizona, and South Carolina just to spend some time with each other. Because she was in the area she made arrangements to spend a day with us. It would have been more if my work schedule would have allowed it. We picked up mom in the morning and decided to head to Camano and visit a beach and just enjoy the beautiful weather, great scenery and each other’s company because I had commitments that required me to be back in Monroe by because I had commitments that required me to be back in Monroe by 5:30pm.

We got to Stanwood a little before noon so we decided to stop at this little Greek deli that my sister had found for lunch. We ordered Gyros and I asked them to just put it on a plate, not assemble it into a sandwich for my mom making it easier for her to eat. Soon out came our food. Now those who know me will understand how big this was, but our lunch was served on china dinner plate and they brought us real silverware. When was the last time you were served a sandwich and a salad on a real plate and not in some basket lined with wax paper?

My mom’s plate was arranged like it was prepared for a catalog photo. The meat, the lettuce topped with tomatoes, the pita bread cut into perfect rectangles and the sauce drizzled to complete the design. I almost felt a little cheated looking at my perfectly formed gyro compared to her plate. Then came the taste – AMAZING. Everything was fresh and seasoned perfectly, I didn’t even ask for Tabasco sauce.

After we have eaten everything on our plates she came out and asked us if we wanted desert. My sister ordered a piece of cherry/apple pie. So back in she went and soon she arrived back at our table with a huge piece of homemade pie, three forks and an ice cream bar on the side of the plate. I asked about the ice cream bar and she said she just wanted to give my mom a little treat. It was chocolate covered tiramisu ice cream on a stick. My mom’s face lit up like a child on Christmas morning. It was so good to see my mom so happy, that woman made my mom feel like a Queen.

If you are ever near Stanwood or just want really amazing Greek food stop into Suzie’s Place Delicatessen. It is just before you go over the bridge to Camano Island.

Y - Yttrium and Generation Y

Yttrium – What do moon rocks; LCD screens and Cancer Treatment have in common? Yttrium is an element that is found in most rare-earth minerals and Moon rocks. It is used to produce the red in Lasers and LCD screen and isotopes for radiation therapy.



Generation Y – the generation born between1980 and 1990. Here are a few facts about Generation Y according to: Connecting to the Net.Generation: What Higher Education Professionals Need to Know About Today's Students:

• 97% own a computer
• 97% have downloaded music and other media using peer-to-peer file sharing
• 94% own a cell phone
• 76% use instant messaging and social networking sites
• 75% of college students have a Facebook account
• 60% own some type of portable music and/or video device such as an iPod
• 49% regularly download music and other media using peer-to-peer file sharing
• 34% use websites as their primary source of news
• 28% author a blog and 44% read blogs
• 15% of IM users are logged on 24 hours a day/7 days a week
  

Email Overload

I can't respond to any emails today. Something has crashed on my computer and the mouse is missing. . .

X - Xylography and Xylophone

Xylography – The image is carved into the surface of the block of wood, there areas that are not part of the desired image are removed, typically with gouges. The character or image is shown a the surface level and it is cut along the grain of the wood. Once the carving is complete, ink is spread on the block and where ever the block is then placed The Masters Image is left for all to admire.

Xylophone – Wooden bars of various lengths, struck by mallets creating musical tones. Each bar is tuned to a specific pitch allowing the musician to create a melody.

Standing Room Only

Sons, sisters, nieces, interns, friends, it seems like there has been a steady parade of guest at our house these last few months. At times I think we are only visiting. When we bought this large house there was only Kyle and I and the two cats. We knew then that we would be hosting guest. At first I used one of our two extra bedrooms as an office, now I have my office either on the dining room table or at my easy chair that is next to the Bowflex .

Since we have moved in we have had a pretty full house most of the time and this coming weekend could be interesting around here, there is a potential for 7 of us staying here for a few nights. Good thing that we have lots of space, a queen size bed, a set of bunk beds, a double bed, a queen size sofa sleeper and a few other assorted couches that can sleep an adult.

So we will be a little cozy, but you know what, we really wouldn’t have it any other way. If there is one thing that Kyle and I have in common it is we love to make you feel comfortable in our home.

Just One of Those Days

Things are busy, not just busy absolutely nuts. Work, home, you name it, my life is just overloaded right now.

At about 2pm today I walked into my boss’s office to discuss some of what is going on and make sure I hadn’t lost my mind. I sat down in a chair; he walked over to the white board to draw it out so we could both get the information straight. I take off my glasses to give my eyes a change of pace. I look down and this is what I saw:

Yep, one black shoe and one brown shoe, and it’s not like they are even the same shoe. The only thing I can say is at least I have them on the right feet.

Tomorrow is a new day and I know that at least for today I have made a few of my Twitter follower’s laugh which isn’t all that bad.

W - Words and Wife

Words – “Sticks and stones my break my bones but word will never hurt me”, who hasn’t heard that phrase. We use it as a child to try and convince ourselves and others that what is said to and about us doesn’t have an effect. Too bad it just isn’t true. The power of words is amazing. It is the words spoken by a father to his pre-teen daughter, telling her that she is fat and lazy, that hurt her enough that she lashes out at the you neighbor girl telling her she is fat and that she will soon look like her mother that is at least 100lbs overweight. That young neighbor girl then stops eating. At 1st the young girls parents don’t realize it, but they soon find the food that they thought had been eaten partially chewed and hidden in various places in the house, until finally the young girl is so thin that the doctors want to insert a feeding tube to keep her alive. Words, as it says in James there is power in the tongue and it is so hard to tame. My prayer is that my words are uplifting and bring life.

Wife – a helpmate, partner, confidant, lover, homemaker, spouse, and mate, different ways to say the same thing, for every one of these terms there are thousands of definitions of what that means. Every woman is unique and in the uniqueness they bring something different to the marriage relationship. The way I am a wife to my husband may not work for anyone else but me. I don’t remember exactly why or what triggered it, but this last week I have been searching myself to see what I can do to be a better wife to my husband. I love and respect my husband; I do all that I can to be there for him, including working on his truck when his hands don’t fit. I even honestly asked my husband if there was anything he could think of that I could do for him. It is not about something I have to do, it is something I want to do. Wife, it is my goal to be the best wife I can be and the only thing I am sure of is that won’t look like any other wife.

V - Volume and Visitors

Volume – I am back in the office working after a week of working remote, part of it at home and part of it traveling to and from Costa Mesa. These last two days it has been real quiet and I tend to get more done in a quiet environment. The biggest difference is my boss in on vacation this week. You see he has a habit of sitting in his office doing all of his conference calls while on Speakerphone with the door to his office open and the volume turned all the way up. That means that the rest of us not only hear his side of the conversation but the entire conversation. Often I get up and close my office door, but because he has his volume up so loud I can’t get away from it. It reminds me of the people in their cars that feel that everyone sitting in traffic with wants to hear what they are listening to. Sometimes I just want to stand up and yell, “Turn it Down”, but where would that get me? Especially in traffic, I would probably only get either run over or shot.

Visitors – Are family considered guest. I know that when I go back to visit my family in Michigan I usually don’t get to do much of what I really want to do because I run around and see all the family and do all the activities they have planned. They go out of their way to entertain me and make sure I have a good visit. I just did the same thing when my sister and niece were here, making sure they had enough to do. So did I over book them? Did they get to do what they wanted to do?

Jammed Packed Few Days

How is it that we wait until we have out of town visitors to enjoy all that our region has to offer and then we try and cram it all into a short time? Five nights ago my sister and niece flew in from Michigan to spend some time with my mom and I. Here is the schedule we have kept:

Wednesday:
Plane arrives we go to my mom’s living place and surprise her. Spend a little time with her and then head off to my house to get them settled into the guest room.

Thursday:
I am up at 5am working from home for a few hours so that I can take my sister, niece and mom on our first outing. Because my mom is in a wheelchair I get to go with them because I am driving the “Mom Mobile”. We pick up my mom about 10:30am and head off to the Pacific Science Center. We have a great time there and then a quick walk over to the Seattle Center before we head north in rush hour traffic. We get my mom back to her place in time for dinner and then come home to work a few more hours.

Friday:
It was another early morning of work before we head out into an absolutely gorgeous day in the Pacific Northwest. Because the weather was nice we decided to do a walk on ferry from Edmonds and go over to Kingston to have lunch and then spend some time on the beach in Edmonds. The Edmonds and Kingston Ferry docks have great walk on access for wheelchairs. I sure got my workout this day pushing my mom up the ramp to the second deck of the ferry and then keeping her from sailing down the ramp on the other side and yes you get to do it all again on the return trip. After some quality time in the sun it was time to drop off mom and return home for a few more hours of work and getting the laundry done.

Saturday:
Up early to go and get mom and bring her to Monroe for the Parade. We were in the Parade for the Re-Elect Kirk Pearson entry. I pushed my mom down the street while my sister and niece helped hand out candy and campaign buttons along the route. After the parade it was over to Kirk’s for a BBQ and a dip in the pool before we took mom home and after we got back to Monroe the four of us headed over to the Fair for dinner and to look at the exhibits. We got home about 8:30 and we were all tired out from the long day.

Sunday:
A typical Sunday, up at 5am, out of the house by 6:30 on the way to mom’s to get her ready for church. Bring mom back to Monroe for church and after the 1st service take my mom over to visit a friend in Monroe. Back to Church until 2nd service is over then back to get mom and out for lunch. Finish lunch and take mom home and then finally get back to the house at 3:30pm. It was time for a little rest before needing to get online with our developers at 7pm. Finally crawled into bed at 8:30 and crashed.

Monday:
Cloudy day but today was Senior Day at the fair so up early to work a few hours then down to my mom’s to get her and bring her back to the Evergreen State Fair. As we left to go and get my mom the sky started to lighten. We ate lunch, my niece road a few rides, we walked through exhibits, played a few games, won a big stuffed animal and had Scones. The sun came out after a couple of hours and it was a great day. At 4:15 we left to take mom home and as we got about 5 miles out of Monroe the rain started up. I came home and did/doing a little more work and printing out my boarding passes for tomorrow.

Tomorrow:
I get on an airplane and head to Costa Mesa, CA for a few hours only to get back on a plane at 7pm tomorrow evening to fly back to Seattle.

I will be so ready and thankful for a next weekend, especially because it is 3 days and we have no plans.

Wheelchair Friendly

I have come to believe that Seattle is NOT a wheelchair Friendly city. My sister and niece are here visiting from Michigan and since my mom is pretty much happy just spending time with everyone, it is an opportunity to find activities for an active 9 year old that I can get my mom and her wheelchair around in. Because the weather was cool and wet and my niece totally enjoys science (she is so like me it is sometimes scary) I opted to take them to the Pacific Science Center.

Things are going pretty good until it was time for lunch. Of course I didn’t pack one so we needed to go to the little café they have there. We locate this small elevator that will take us to the 3rd floor where the café is. When lunch was over we needed to finish seeing some of the exhibits so we headed back to the elevator. Push the button; wait a few minutes, nothing. Push the button; wait a few minutes, nothing. Push the button; wait a few minutes, nothing. Get the picture here. So my sister goes down the stairs to see if she can ride it back up to us. Soon here comes my sister back up the stairs, the elevator is out of order.

I ask the guy working there how I could get out of there, He says that if I go to the other side of the building there is a ramp. I’m thinking ramp. Controlling a wheelchair going down a ramp from the 3rd floor to the 1st floor is going to be a good work out. I send my sister and my niece down the stairs and I tell them that I will work my way back to them. Off we go across the open deck to the other building. We get there and would you know it, the ramp is closed for construction. Here we are again stuck with no way to get down. Did you ever have one of those déjà vu moments; fire alarm goes off at the doctor’s office, elevator doesn’t work; try to get into the county court house and the lift doesn’t work.

Back we go off to try and find another access and there just isn’t one. So now I am looking for someone who works there and I happen to run into the guy who had just fixed the elevator. Thank God, I really wasn’t looking forward to doing a fireman’s carry down the stairs or something. Oh yeah, all of the bathrooms were on the 1st floor and we both had to go. So the elevator work, we got to the bathroom with no problems and life was good again.

I have come to the conclusion that Seattle is just not wheelchair friendly. Cobble stone sidewalks, steep hills and poor retrofits in the buildings just make it a struggle.

U - Useful and Umbrella

Useful – I think one of the best compliments I have ever gotten was when I was told, “You are handier than a shirt pocket.” I have been designed to be of use. I thrive on helping others reach their potential and in getting a job done. Does that mean I am never still? Does that mean that there are no unfinished tasks at my house? No, the fact is I would much rather do something for someone else than to do the everyday things around the house. I have had the opportunity to ‘do’ many things in my life time. I grew up with a handy man as a father and he and I did many things together. These skills came in very handy as a single woman. I have installed toilets, poured concrete slabs, repaired drywall, hung sheet rock, built a deck and installed many a light fixture and shingled roofs. It sure helps being useful.

Umbrella – as we approach Labor Day, I think about the 7 years that I worked Bumbershoot, the international music and arts festival held in Seattle. Each year I would work the event on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. I usually was either a stage manager or an assistant stage manager. As a stage manager I was responsible for getting the acts on and off the stage on time. Equipment had to be set and sound boards dialed in. I have had the opportunity to work with Ray Charles, UB40 and other noted group along with all the local talent that makes Bumbershoot original. It has been a few years now since I have worked at Bumbershoot, but I still have fond memories of working that event. By the way, a Bumbershoot is another term for Umbrella.

T - Tools and Tradeshows

Tools – “You need to have the right tool for the job.” Have you ever struggled to remove a Philips Head screw with a flat head screw driver? Yes it can be done but it sure is easier if you have the right tip. Our own tools are the same way. My husband is an extremely strong man; he has a set of arms that enable him to toss around hundreds of pound every day. If I tried to do that for an hour I would probably permanent damage something. Now ask him to sit at the computer and debug a technical issue and he might injure himself. We both have different tools and when we apply them correctly we are very successful. Just as you shouldn’t use a screw driver as a pry bar, we need to use the tools we are given for the right job.

Tradeshows – I really like the job I have now but there is one aspect that I miss, working a tradeshow booth. I am in my element when I am on a tradeshow flow smoozing the people that walk by and seeing if the products we have will fill there need. I have sold Wi-Fi networks, Barcode scanners, software and Ultrasound machines at trade shows. Sometimes tradeshows are uneventful but I have had some interesting experiences. There was the time I was in Vegas two days after I had gotten out of the hospital because I had pneumonia. Then there was the time I had a gentleman who worked for the US Government and asked me if we could configure a handheld computer to “blow up” on command. He wanted to be able to remotely detonate it to kill whoever was holding it. TRUE STORY. The oddest one was the day I taught two Surgeons how to start an IV using an Ultrasound machine; wait I’m not a doctor, I’m an engineer. Goes to show you how easy it is to start an IV if you can ‘see’ what you are doing. So if you ever need a professional smoozer, give me a shout.

S - Sports and Sault Ste Marie

Sports: here it is Olympics time I catch myself staying up too late at night watching to see if Americans win their events. It is too bad most of the events now all professionals, it is not that same watching the Pros play. Back in the “olden” days when it was only for armatures (we won’t get into the East German and Russian Training). That is why when the US Hockey Team beat the Russians back in the 70’s it was such a big deal. It was more about the one that truly sacrifices for a few years to win something that money could not buy. With the Pros playing are we not just buying the medals?

Sault Ste Marie – The Soo is located at the eastern tip of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This city on the St Mary’s river was founded in 1668 over 100 years before the United States became a country. Not much has changed in the Soo from when I was a kid; there are a few more hotels now that there is an Indian Casino on the outskirts of town. But still the largest event in the city is the I-500 Snowmobile race. The Soo is like a second home town for me. Both of my parents were born and raised in the Soo so we spent time every year there, most summers my older sister and I would spend at least a couple of weeks there with our grandmothers and cousins. Then I attended college in the Soo at Lake Superior State University. If you walk down the hall at the local hospital you will see a picture of my grandfather, Dr Husband, one of the founders of that hospital. My roots run deep in the Soo and yes, I can go home there.

R - Roses and Road Trips

Roses – Roses are synonymous with my dad, he had a passion for roses. The fence along our back yard was lined with various rose bushes because he was a tester for Jackson & Perkins. Our house always had fresh roses in a vase during the spring and summer. When my dad was first diagnosed with cancer it was a difficult time but we also knew we needed to stay up beat and hopeful. I lived out of state but I remember the call I got from my sister telling me the idea she had when he went in for his first surgery.

My dad came through the first surgery fine and was in his room relaxing when a florist delivered this long box with a big bow around it. He slid the bow off and removed the lid to expose the familiar green tissue paper. Slowly he pulled back the paper on one end to expose the ends of some rose stems. He then went to the other end of the box pulling the paper back and at that moment started laughing so hard that he choked and the nurse came running in from the hall. He proudly pulled from the box a dozen fresh cut rose STEMS. That’s right we sent him just the stems. All’s the nurse could say at that point was, “ I sure hope that means they love you.” For the rest of his stay those stems were proudly displayed in a vase of water next to his bed.

Road Trips – from Jr. High through High School, vacation time meant a road trip to some part of the country for Majorette and Drum Corp Competition. My mom and dad would load us four kids up into the station wagon and attach a rented popup camper to the back and off we would go. We traveled to Minneapolis, Atlanta, Kansas City, Milwaukee and Boston during those years. One year we flew to Seattle but that is not the same. On our trips we would head out early in the morning and only stop for gas usually. We packed bread, bologna and fruit and made sandwiches as we flew down the highway. I remember one trip however when we did make a stop, it was on our way to Atlanta and we stopped in Oakridge Tennessee to visit the American Museum of Atomic Energy. We spent the day touring this facility and learning all about Atomic Energy. I was totally fascinated but I will never know why my dad chose this spot out of all the other things around the country we could have stopped at.

Q - Quality Time and Quiche

Quality Time – Last weekend we went to lunch with friends and we somehow got on the topic of Country Music. I don’t like country and Kyle does so our friends asked us what we listen to when we are together driving in the car. We listen to each other. We turn off the radio, CD players, etc and enjoy our time together. We have driven for hundreds of miles together with no outside influences. It is in those times when we are riding along together that we have Quality Time. I think it started when we were dating, I know we have made major decisions after deep conversations while driving along. Quality Time for us is when we remove all the external distractions and just talk.

Quiche – I heard a radio announcer say a few weeks ago that Quiche needed a manlier name, something like bacon pie. Take Quiche Lorraine, it has eggs, bacon and a crush, = Man pie. I didn’t use to eat eggs, not sure why, but then I started eating quiche. Quiche is just one of those dishes where you eat it and you are satisfied and don’t over eat. . Oh and it helps that my cholesterol reading is so low that it barely registers and they don’t even bother to test it. I one time had a Heart Specialist tell me that with my cholesterol, heart rate, and low blood pressure that I would never have a heart attack. Bring on the Quiche

P – Parades and Pike

Parades – “I love a Parade” Music Man, 1927. That song could be my theme song. I don’t know what it is about parades but I so enjoy BEING in them. I was in my 1st parade when I was in the 3rd grade. It was the 4th of July Bike parade in our neighborhood. My sister, brother and I were dressed up as the fife and drummers of the Spirit of 76. I have paraded on a National Scale with a competition Majorette and Drum Corp. I have paraded on the local level with Jr. High and High School band. I have paraded with my church and now I participate in parades to get my brother-in-law the politician elected or re-elected. It doesn’t take much to get me in a parade. Just ask. I don’t know what it is but I just love being in a parade.

Pike – I grew up in Michigan. Starting in about the 7th grade my family would take our vacation and head off to the Northern Peninsula where we would rent a cabin and spend at least a week fishing for Pike, Northern Pike. I have so many memories I could share but the best one is probably the 1st one, our first night ever, first night of fishing for Northern Pike. My dad had rented a 12 v-bottom boat with a 5 horse motor stuck on the back. That first evening my dad took my younger sister, who was about 8 at the time and myself being about 13 at dusk we set off to a patch of reeds along the edge of the channel. We dropped anchor and started to fish. Now I had fished before, caught many, but mostly perch, bluegills and a few lake trout, nothing over 8 inches in length. That day we had stopped at the hardware store to get my dad a fishing license and the tackle, Red & White Daredevil Spoon with 12” steel leaders. I had only fished with worms and minnow prior to that. We also found out that anything under 22” had to be thrown back, WHAT 22” that is a huge fish. We had just barely arrived in our spot and stated casting our lines when my dad hooked his first Northern. He is really fighting this fish the line plays out and he is cranking the handle when all of a sudden he yells for me to grab the net. WHAT? Grab the net what net? I started to panic; finally I get a hold of the net and start to edge of the boat. I look over the side just as the fish comes to the surface. I almost jumped out the other side of the boat and my little sister is sitting on the very front and if she could she would have walked on water. My dad again yells for me to get the net and scoop up the fish. Not knowing what to do I dip that net in the water and go at the fish front on. Now anyone who knows fish knows that when you put a net in their face they don’t like that. You should if possible net them from behind.

So I have this fish in the net, just in time I might say as I lift it into the boat the hook becomes dislodge and the fish starts to flip around in the net. This fish is 30 inches long, almost half the size I am. There is no way this one is getting away so I fling that net upside down on the bottom of the boat trapping the fish in so it can’t get away. Well with all the flinging I also tangled those three prong hooks on my dad’s lures into the net so badly that we were done fishing for the night. My dad was so excited, frustrated and angry all at once. To this day my mom talks about my dad loudly explaining how to net a fish, she was across the lake and could hear him. Needless to say I learned to just hold the net up until he could grab the fish and he and I spent the remaining summers of his life out fishing together for pike each year on vacation.

My idea of clubbing

O - Oy vey and Osmosis

Oy vey – have you ever reached that point of total exasperation? When you are ready to pull your hair out or worse yet throw a full on fit? How can you possibly describe that feeling, which is where the expression Oy vey came from, it is that untranslatable expression. My husband, that favorite Jew of mine, (yes even his family converted to Christianity before his mother was born he is of Jewish blood) uses this phrase without even realizing it. This is one of those phrases that has crept into everyday language and across cultures in the US.

Osmosis – the unconscious process of assimilation. I must confess I have been assimilated into today’s culture in many ways and yet I am still a Baby Boomer at heart. I don’t have TIVO, a video game, or an iPod, I have very few music CDs and no music DVDs. I have not downloaded ringtones or music from the Apple Store. I would rather read a book than watch a movie. I don’t use Netflicks and seldom rent DVDs. I like Windows XP and command lines. I still use the phrase ‘cool’ and haven’t converted to ‘sweet’. So I guess I am not completely assimilated to today’s culture, but text messaging, twitter and blogging are necessities for me.

N- Nuclear Fusion and Normalize

Nuclear Fusion – the joining together of two nuclei to form more massive nuclei with the simultaneous release of energy, if you this about it, this is also the definition of marriage. You take two individuals that are powerful and full of energy in their own right, full of potential to accomplish so much. But then join the two to where they become one and there is an release of energy and potential that cannot be artificially produced and is difficult to control. But just like Nuclear Fusion if this energy is not controlled it can be explosive and destructive. Fusion reactions power the stars and if we could figure out how to control it we could power produce enough energy from eight gallons of water equivalent to 2,500 gallons of gasoline.

Normalize – is the process of cooling a metal so that it does not become brittle. Have you ever watched a black smith shape a horse shoe? The heat the metal to glowing red hot and then start to hammer it into shape. At just the right time the shoe is dipped in a bucket of cold water that cools the metal and then back to the furnace for more heat and then a few more hammer blows and another dip in the bucket. This process repeats until the shoe is at the right shape and the right strength. The heating of the metal until it is glowing hot releases the stresses inside allowing the black smith the ability to form it and shape it. The hammer blows shape the metal into a specific purpose. The hammer blows also induce stress and if too many are made at one time the metal itself will break. The dip into the water is the where the stresses are annealed and the strength and shape from the hammer blows are trapped inside. Have you ever taken a metal coat hanger and bent it back and forth until it broke? Ever notice how hot those ends got? That is what happens when the metal is not normalized or annealed.

I have found that in my own walk with the Lord that there are times when the pressures of the day are hot to the point that I am glowing, it is in that time that I am stretched, hammered and formed. But there is always a time where I am cooled and come out ready to work hard and I will not break. I have been made for such a time as this.

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.