Wednesday, December 27, 2006

In Between


Christmas was a great beginning.
We were able to spend Christmas Eve with our sons.
We ate a great meal and after much pressure from me, everyone agreed to watch Cars.
Nevermind there was no one under 23 in the room.
Mom got her way and we watched a movie that was well crafted and inspiring. It tugged at both your heart and the corners of your mouth. No matter your age, you could not help but smile.
Christmas Day we slept in, spent some time with our TN siblings and nephew and then back home to chill.
Not a lot of running around.
We have yet time to make our visit to our nursing home friends.
We are saving that for this weekend.
These days in between Christmas and New Years have been spent planning our next move.
Dreaming about a home that will be a refuge for family and friends.



We dream about a home site that is a little bit country.. a little bit rolling hills.
We dream about a long drive way leading up to our home where neices and nephews and future grandbabies can wear out their little legs riding bikes.
We dream about a family room filled with a pool table, arcade games, air hockey and comfy chairs.
We dream about an extra bedroom downstairs where our older parents can rest when they visit.
We dream about friends pulling up the drive and feeling free to park on our grass and hang out on our porches.
We dream about the Christmas's to come with our sons and their future families filling our home with laughter.
We dream about a home closer to our church so we can invite friends over for Sunday lunches.



We dream about a hot air ballon taking off from the front yard.
Yes, I would love to take lessons.


This year during the time in between the holidays we are looking forward to buying our first home together.
So far the process has been fun.
Dreaming together, knowing some of our dreams may come true....
It is a good place to be...
In between the reality of where you are and into the energy of the dream of wherever you could go.



Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Sleigh Bells Ring Are You Listening?







"Will have lots of fun with Mr.Snow Man!" Great Ole Song!
So far we do not look to be getting a white Christmas this year.
With 5 days to go, it looks like Mr.Heat Miser is reigning here in TN.

There is a part of me that would like to see a warm snowy day.
Growing up in Ohio we had days, or ones that my memory has created...
That were just cold enough to create icing on the hills in the valley and just warm warm enough that as long as you kept moving you could work up enough body heat to make it comfortable.
I think back to my little brothers sledding with my sister and I.
Our Dad would jump in for some runs with us.
Some years later, our sons slipped down the same hills chased by our faithful Annie.
My imagination is glowing with memory making ideas for this year..
With my sweet husband, our sons and their girls in tow we will find a way decorate this year with new memories.
Still hoping for snow though.




Thursday, December 14, 2006

Going the Wrong Way to Get Right


Yesterday morning I walked into a fog.



We are having a spring winter relationship here in TN.
Last week it was winter.
Yesterday spring entered cloaked in a thick fog.
I left for work about 5 AM.
I felt very safe in the quiet morning.
The fog and the lack of traffic was insulating.
It helped that the temperature was 30 degrees higher than last week.
I was smiling as my bug and I headed off to Nashville.
I have been making this drive for over 5 years.
I would say that I could drive it in my sleep.
Yet not so easily in a thick fog.
Within 10 minutes from home I found myself going the the wrong way onto 840.
No...I did not do a Nicole Richie and head up a down ramp.
I went east when I would have always gone west.
My first reaction was female.
Heart racing followed by self recrimination.
After a few seconds, survival techniques kicked in.
Slow down, remember the answer on your driver's test from 31 years ago..
Things appear to be moving at 1/2 the actual speed in a fog.
Fog thickens...
Breathe...
Then a sign...
It gives the miles to a city east of Nashville...
Ummmm..."I bet it is safer to go this way and connect back over rather than getting off on a country road and turning around"....
"Ummm..."I think I may actually only be off by 5 minutes getting to work because the traffic is less."
"Ummmm..."This might be fun. I might actually like going this way sometimes"
Within a few minutes I went from scared, frustrated to excited and creative.
A part of me was paying attention to the road, and a part of me was writing this blog.
I began to think about how much our attitudes play into survival.
It is so flip to say attitude is everything.
God is everything. We are just here trying to survive in a world that can be very tough.
Our attention to detail, our actions when we think no one is watching determine our course.
Sometimes we are determined to go the wrong way. We only seem to learn from our mistakes.
Sometimes we find ourselves too tired, we become careless, we underestimate what one wrong turn can do to our lives.
And yet..we are both stubborn and resilient as humans.
We can learn from our mistakes and we can bounce back.
Here is the most amazing part of this story..
Shortly before I was to get off the highway the fog lifted..
You could see the start of the sunrise...
Because the fog was lifting I was paying more attention to the world around me.
I passed under a bridge just then..
The name on the sign for the road the bridge connected was
New Hope Road.
It has been a long year for my family.
Many tests, many trials.
The night before this drive I had told my husband that no matter what, I would not want to be a person without hope.
I am thankful I went the wrong way yesterday.

Monday, December 11, 2006

Just Imagine







Have you ever met anyone who helps you take the genesis of an idea into something you can touch.
Can you imagine being so creative that when someone says,
"Dream With Me For A Minute"
You get excited about catching a glimpse of a vision. You are still excited even when you count the cost of how hard the labor process will be to actually make the vision a reality.
Can you imagine being so creative that you can get lost in time while you create even to the point of going without sleep?
What a gift. It is almost as if people who have this gift are from a different world.
My husband has this.
This weekend I needed help. He worked to bring my words into images that would set a stage for a successful launch of a new idea. He ideas and creative touch outshine what I could ever see on my own.
He is also a master in creating energies that help people make the most out of themselves.
I am better for him, in spite of myself.
For so long I could not imagine a man strong enough to help us pick up our pieces and place them into the growing mosaic that is our family.





And now...
I can not imagine us without him.
My sweet husband turns 40 this week.
I can get excited as I know there will be wonderful things that lie ahead for him.
Trying to bottle his creativity would be like trying to bottle time.
Both are energies.
Both are portals.
We can not hold either, but still...I would have to share....
"I have looked around enough to know that you're the one I want to go through time with...."
I love you honey!

Friday, December 01, 2006

When people speak about you…would you love to have them say you are like John?






Will you be known as the one who smiles no matter what…..I am not there yet. I would love to be. An old friend sent me the story about John. Enjoy.




John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good
mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"

He was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"

He replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or ... you can choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood."

Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or..I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.

Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or... I can point out the positive side of life! I choose the positive side of life.

"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested.

"Yes, it is," he said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood.

You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live your life."

I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower industry to start my own business.

We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back.

I saw him about six months after the accident.

When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins...Wanna see my scars?"

I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.

"The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter," he replied. "Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or...I could choose to die. I chose to live."

"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked.

He continued, "..the paramedics were great.

They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the
ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead man'. I knew I needed to take action."

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me," said John. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes, I replied.' The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Gravity'."

Over their laughter, I told them, "I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."

He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of
his amazing attitude... I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.

Attitude, after all, is everything.

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry
about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34