Weekend blessings

Last weekend I was reminded how lucky I am to live in this community. On Saturday, I went to my friends Dana and Pete Townsend's open house and got to share my Sensaria products. Then, I took the kids downtown Olympia to a store/restaurant called Traditions for a Dana Lyons concert. We met friends there and had a great time. Traditions has great products from cultures around the world and supports fair and equitable trade. How wonderful to have a place like this!

Dana Lyons is an environmental folk singer that I've known for about 5 years. I was excited to hear about a web research project he's working on. I am hoping to get his project connected with Evergreen's sustainability efforts and the Focus the Nation resources.

This weekend I enjoyed the reaction I got when I wore a cocktail dress to a girlfriend's cocktail party. Friends who've known me for about ten years all commented on how good I looked and a couple of people had to do a double take to recognize me. I'm glad I had the excuse to dress up! Dana and I played pool (we both suck) and I had a wonderful time!

December already?

It seems like just yesterday I was sitting by the pool in Maui... that was two months ago.

Today there are ridiculously heavy rains and wind. I had to go around a few flooded intersections to take the kids to school today. Then I went to buy them boots before working from home.

Saturday afternoon and yesterday it snowed... We got a couple of inches yesterday morning - enough for the kids to both make snow people. Today there isn't even a sign of their efforts as the snow is completely gone.

Apple Cup

The last weekend in November my family attended the annual Apple Cup party at the Grimm's. I was more excited than usual to go watch the Apple Cup (a college football game with Washington rival schools battling for the prize), eat like a pig and see old friends because Dana was coming. I adore her and hadn't seen her since her wedding in July. I am a proud Geoduck (The Evergreen State College doesn't have a football team), but Kerry is a Coug, so we all wear WSU gear and root for them. The day ended with frosting on the cake when the Cougs beat the Huskies 26 to 22.

Thankful

I am so thankful for so much! My kids are on the top of that list.

We spent Thanksgiving at our house and had a fairly small gathering, yet a full traditional turkey meal with mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberries, berry and pumpkin pie. The sun shone most of the day. Nature and beautiful weather are a couple more of my blessings.

My life is full because I have so many friends dear to me. I am also thankful for my perfect health and my home. :) The list really goes on and on...

Remembering doranne

I'm kicking myself a little for not attending the gathering this weekend for doranne crable. She was truly an amazing woman that I had the privilege to know and work with. Thankfully, Brian shared the programs from her remembrance with me. I enjoyed the following poem from the program:

They are not dead,
Who leave us this great heritage
of remembering joy.

They still live in our hearts,
In the happiness we knew,
in the dreams we shared.

They still breathe,
In the lingering fragrance,
windblown, from their favorite flowers.

They still smile in the moolight's silver
And laugh in the sunlight's sparking gold.

They still speak in the echoes of words
we've heard them say again and again.

They still move,
In the rhythm of waving grasses,
in the dance of the tossing branches.

They are not dead:
Their memory is warm in our hearts,
comfort in our sorrow.

They are not apart from us, but part of us.

For love is eternal,
And those we love shall be with us
throughout all eternity.
Anonymous

I did not know doranne long, but feel lucky to have known her at all. Until we meet again...

Fall in my yard

One of the things that made coming back from Maui bearable is the beautiful fall foliage here in the Pacific Northwest. Although the weather hasn't been great, we did get a few days without rain so I was able to capture some of the colors in the following photos.


I know some day I want to live on the ocean. I also want to spend time every year in Maui. Maybe three months during winter I could soak up the sun at the beach in Maui, then come back to the Northwest for the rest of the seasons.



Today I am happy for the seasons and the natural beauty around me.

San Diego with Laverne

Wednesday, November 7th, was Laverne (Laura) and my first day in the big city. The weather was cloudy and a bit cooler than I hoped, although we both wore flip-flops anyway. :)

After we checked into the hotel, we walked across Harbor Drive to a restaurant on the bay (Anthony's - but not the same Anthony's as we have in Olympia) for a late lunch, early dinner. Thankfully, we were able to order off the lunch menu. We both ordered different tropical drinks and ate seafood. After eating, we thought we'd plan our night. Because it was still very early, we decided to kick back a little in the room and took a very short cat nap.

We did some research online for interesting places to go and learned of a roof-top bar with sand on the floor at the W Hotel that we wanted to find. We walked to Gaslamp Quarter - an area in downtown San Diego filled with hotels, restaurants, bars and shops. We walked around, bought some postcards in a little store, got some water and orange dream and then went into House of Blues. The bar wasn't very busy, so we shopped in the store and asked the guy there where the W Hotel was. He asked his manager and we finally got a definite answer with directions. It was closer to our hotel and only a few blocks from where we were.

We were escorted in the doors of a very chic, hip hotel that was lit like a dance bar. The entire place was dark except for mood lighting including blue lights. Our escort, Brandon, led us up to the second floor where we walked past the hotel pool with an image projected onto the bottom of it. Past the pool we were led up another flight of stairs onto a roof-top called The Beach. The bar was at the far end, through the sand. Yep, there was sand on the 'floor' so I just had to take off my flip-flops and enjoy it. From the bar looking back at the hotel we saw another projected image, this time a changing video, on the side of the hotel, that seemed to change with the music. There was a fire pit, swings, benches along the edges of the sand floor and heat lamps. We thought it was so cool!

We got there about 9pm and there weren't very many people there. We ordered two silk panties and $30 later, were sitting on a bench watching the video with our feet in the sand. People kept coming and a little after 11pm, the place was packed. We decided to pace ourselves and head back to our hotel since I still have two and a half days of work here and we better save up for Thursday and Friday nights!

We got to bed a little after midnight - 3am Indiana time.

Second Night in San Diego
After a day of sessions, I went to the conference’s networking event and met a few colleagues from other colleges, ate some great food and had a drink. Laura came back with her sister and nephew and then joined me at the networking event. Laura, Jill and I were the last ones to leave.

Laura and I went up to the room and I showed her some of the YouTube videos I’d seen in presentations like a fabulous piano solo by the YES piano player, the Schmirnoff Tea Partay and we searched for the IKEA opening in Minnesota. We ended up watching Paul Potts singing for Britain’s Got Talent. Wow! His voice makes the hairs on my arms stand up and brought me to tears. We watched (Donnie Osmond dance) and sang to White and Nerdy a couple of times and also listened to Slam Door.

Finally, at a little after 10pm, we headed out to the W. We got there, ordered Sprites and settled in. We met a large group of people that were there for a conference and were staying at the W. They were Greg, Greg, Ken, Ken’s wife, and Mike along with others I didn’t meet. Then we met a group of 21 and 22 year olds – two of whom (Shawn and Valerie) were celebrating their 21st birthday so we helped them celebrate! Other friends there were Ashley, Barrett, Cody, Grant, and Kelly. Somehow time flew and we left a little after 1am. We got to bed a little after 2am and I set the alarm so I could get up for the conference the next day… I had a great time!

Friday in the Big City
The conference sessions ended about 5pm. On the way to the elevators, we were all complaining, again, about all of the train noise in our rooms at night. Everyone but Jeff had been woken up every night to the sound of train whistles. Jeff invited Jane, Rachel and I to check out his bay-view room in an hour – at 6pm. I took the shortest nap ever (10 minutes), changed clothes for dinner and dancing and waited for Laura to get back from Sea World and dinner with her sister, brother-in-law and nephew. We took our bottle of Orange Dream over to Jeff’s at about 6:30pm. The five of us finished off the bottle and then decided to get some dinner. We took a cab to Gaslamp Quarter and had dinner at Jimmy Love’s. Both Rachel and Jane got pizzas while Jeff and I split a Shrimp Fettuccine.

After dinner we walked to The Bitter End – a three story club with a dance floor in the basement, bar and pool on the main floor and a bar and lounge on the 2nd floor. What a cool place! The dance floor was dark and they had a smoke machine. The music wasn’t any of our favorite, so we went back to Jimmy Love’s to check out the band that was setting up when we left. We got there and went right onto the dance floor. We danced about three songs before the band took a break. During the break, we decided to walk to the W. It was amazing how packed the W was just compared to Thursday night. Too packed for me and it was getting late, so we headed back to our hotel. We went to our rooms about 12:30am. Another fabulous night!!! (It's really no wonder Laura and I like going out together - we always have a lot of fun together!)

Last Day in San Diego
Saturday morning Laura and I got up about 8:15am to the first sunny morning since we’d gotten there. We got ready and packed our suitcase. I decided not to go to the morning session and have breakfast with Laura instead. We split the cinnamon French toast (YUM), scrambled eggs and ham. We finished eating just before 10:30 when she had to catch the shuttle to the airport. I hugged my friend goodbye and went into the conference. I listened to the rest of that session while sitting near Jeff. He, Jane and Rachel were all there, along with Jill.

After the conference, I finished packing and checked out of my room. I ran into Jane, Rachel and Jeff in the lobby. Jane and Rachel were going shopping and Jeff wanted to get something to eat. I went with him to Anthony’s across the street and we talked while he ate his coconut shrimp. He had an hour and a half before catching his shuttle, so we grabbed a cab to Coronado Is. We sat on the beach soaking up the glorious sun while sitting in the sand (and watching a bull-dozer move piles of seaweed on the beach.) We had to catch a cab at 2pm so Jeff could catch his shuttle. He caught the shuttle to the airport and I did a little souvenir shopping.

I then went to the deli down the street (where Casey, Rachel, Jane, Jeff and I ate lunch the day before.) I ordered a turkey sandwich and sat in the sun outside. I spent as much time as I could in the sun until I had to get my bags and catch the 3:30 shuttle. I got to the airport and checked in only to find out that my flight was delayed an hour and a half. So, I had 2-1/2 hours to kill. I wish for that kind of time most days, but when I get it I don’t know what to do with it! I read my book in the sun until I thought I should get inside (and my eyes wouldn’t stay open anymore.) I ate the other half of sandwich for dinner and now am trying to document my San Diego trip before the memories fade.

Someone I admire said something I really like “Memories are the best gift someone can give.” Thanks Laura and my new friends for the memories!

Fun with the girls

Last night I spent time with our Sensaria leader team and a few lucky incentive earners. Katie, Cami, Kirsten, Toni, Mary, Angie and I were there to pamper Stephanie, Kim and Marti. One of the things I take for granted since joining Sensaria is how many fabulous, amazing women I get to spend time with on a regular basis. I am so blessed!

Cami made some food (she said she didn't want to make dinner, but we decided her personal motto is "go hard or go home" because she went all out as usual) and we had plenty to eat! Angie made chocolate fondue with all kinds of yummy treats to dip! My favorites were strawberries, pineapple and marshmallows! I brought some brown sugar mozzarella bread from The Rock (I'd eaten plenty of it at The Rock before going) and Jacob and Cami made fresh chocolate chip cookies for us. There were also egg rolls, chips and mexican dip and other treats.

I got to try a drink called Silk Panties. Wow! It is super yummy - made with vanilla vodka and peach schnapps - but definitely a sipping drink. I'm not so good at sipping, so kept a water with me, also. I'm sure that drink is supposed to be served in a small glass because it's all alcohol. Mine was in a huge wine glass so I figured I had the equivalent of three to four drinks. What you may not know about me is that I'm a 'cheap drunk' with a typical two drink limit. Good thing I had over 5 hours to drink it... ;)

What I enjoyed most last night was sitting around the living room, soaking our feet, telling stories of what we did as young and stupid teenagers, laughing our heads off and painting our nails. I gave Marti a little foot massage, leg massage and painted (sort of pitiful) flowers on her big toes and filed, buffed and painted her finger nails. I secretly think I'd enjoy doing nails (not acrylics) as a hobby when I'm able to quit my day job. :)

I am grateful for my time with friends!

Memories of Maui

I returned from Maui almost two weeks ago yet am still not completely comfortable in my old daily routine. Among other things, I LOVED the weather, the beauty, the sea life and my schedule (or lack thereof.)

It was especially wonderful because I earned the trip through Sensaria along with other leaders, so although I was on vacation with my family, there were many of my friends and their kids there, too. In fact, a lot of the reps brought children who are about the same age as my 8-year-old twins. This meant there were a lot of times that Sophie was off swimming and going down water slides with Emily, Sierra or Georgia while Kameron played in a 'cave' between two waterfalls or searched for geckos with Matthew, Josh or Cole.

I brought three books with me and surprised myself by only getting half-way through one. I LOVE to read, but I found so much else to enjoy!

We stayed six nights in a fabulous hotel, the Westin, on Ka'anapali beach just north of Lahaina. The hotel has five pools, two water slides, numerous water falls, pink flamingos in the coy pond next to the lobby, etc. The beach was only feet from the pools.



Most mornings we'd get up, put our suits on and head to the pool. Around lunch we'd head to Whaler's Village for some lunch, then back to the pool or to the beach. It's the first time in my life when I went so many days without 'getting ready' every morning and instead just put on a visor and went.

One of the best parts of this trip with the kids was that I didn't have to worry about them in the water. They've been taking swimming lessons for most of their life, so although they aren't ready to be life guards yet, they are totally capable of taking care of themselves for the most part. Kameron even got more comfortable than he was before and started going down the water slide like a cannon ball so he could go super fast. Even I wasn't willing to do that since at the bottom I felt like I was getting tossed up and over the sides if I was going too fast. And, when they were on boogie boards and got dumped, they didn't like it, but brushed off and tried again.

Ka'anapali beach had a lot of coral in the sand, making it fun to grab coral with my toes to see what it looked like. Kameron collected some and I took a few nice pieces home.

Our second night there, Sensaria had reserved one of the pool decks for a nice dinner to celebrate our accomplishments. Besides a short acknowledgment from both Rob (the owner) and Melissa (the president), the only other planned event was entertainment by hula dancers who later taught the kids to hula. That night was super windy (the wind at times was strong enough to tip over almost-full drinks and move chairs), but nice. In fact, one of my favorite things about Maui is the wind.

Sunday night we took Rob Barnes (Sensaria's owner and CEO), his wife Angela, their kids Carter and Cole and Angela's sister Joanne with us to a Luau in Lahaina. We had fantastic seats and Baga (my mother-in-law) bought me my birthday present on the beach - a necklace made out of abalone shells. I enjoyed watching the show so much that I'm hoping to find a place here in Olympia where I can learn to hula! What a great art form as well as exercise!



On Monday night we had another phenomenal dinner with Sensaria at another location on the Westin grounds. That was the only night it really rained hard. The rain lasted only about 10 minutes, but got all of the tableclothes soaking wet. The tables were moved under cover and we all enjoyed the rest of the night by some waterfalls.

In Lahaina 12 years ago, I had gotten three toe rings that worn together, look like one. I've only had them off two times in the past 12 years. While visiting Lahaina, I decided to see if the place where I'd gotten them was still there. Not only was it still there, but we all decided to get new toe rings. I swapped out my old ones for new ones and got another set of three for my other foot. Kerry got a set for one of his feet, and both kids got one. (Later, Kameron decided he really wasn't a toe ring kind of kid...)

One day in the middle of the week, my friend De Lisa who lives on Maui met us after she got off work (she is an 8th grade science teacher) to teach us how to surf. My friend Toni and I shared a board and Kameron and Sophie shared a board. With board rental we also got booties, rash guards (long-sleeved 'shirts') and board shorts. First I helped Toni by pushing her as the waves came close and told her when to start paddling. De Lisa's friend Trisha was there with her daughters and one of them, Kailey, helped Sophie and shared her board. I was so proud of both kids for their attitude of trying, falling and getting back up to do it again! As for me, although I have tried fairly unsuccessfully to snowboard and wind surf, and am usually best at sports that include motors (racing cars, racing snowmobiles and flying planes), I just LOVED surfing! In fact, I guess it is pretty unusual for me to have gotten up at all on my first try. I not only got up once, but four times that afternoon! I can totally understand why someone would want to move to Maui, get a job that made ends meet, and then spend the rest of their time on the beach. My friend De Lisa works until 2pm every day and then surfs or swims or does yoga almost every day. What a life!

Another adventure was a snorkeling trip to Molokini. I've always wanted to snorkel there, so we took a boat to Molokini and then to Turtle Reef just south of Lahaina. Poor Sophie has my flaw of getting motion sick, so we were both less than thrilled with the boat ride and sick stomach. She ended up using a cool boogie board with a snorkel mask built in so she could snorkel.

Kerry and Kameron are both naturals at snorkeling, so they loved it! I've been so spoiled in the past with great snorkeling that I was a bit disappointed in Molokini. (Since being back, I've been told that it's a better place to scuba.) We just started feeling better when we got back on the boat and went to Turtle Reef. Both Sophie and I were sick again by the time we got there. And, our arrival seemed to have scared away the turtles that were in that area when we got there. That is, until I'd given Kameron the underwater camera and gone off by myself. I didn't realize how far away from the boat I'd gotten, but I was momentarily scared by something moving and noticed a Green Sea Turtle swimming just below me!

I started waving and pointing to get others' attention, but when I looked up I realized that I was the only one out there. It was the only one any of us saw under water, but we got another chance to see them from the boat when our anchor got stuck in the coral reef. Thankfully, this crew cared as much as I do about preserving the reef. In fact, usually they connect to something already anchored, but the chain had broken and they'd had to use another anchor. So, the captain tried manuevering while one of the crew got in the water to help get the anchor loose. In the process, the line pulled a slit through the boat's fiberglass next to the 'door' on the front. That was a bit nerve racking. But none of it compared to how much I wanted to get to shore. I could have easily jumped off the damn boat and swam to shore, but no. Instead I had to sit there watching all of this while getting sicker. Sophie had fallen asleep so at least she wasn't awake for this. The 'good' news is that there were a lot of turtles swimming around the boat, occasionally popping up to get a better look at these dumb people trying to get a boat loose. No less than 45 minutes of trying ended in one last failed attempt and then the crew member tied a life jacket onto the end of the anchor and let it go. She got back onto the boat and finally we were on our way back to Lahaina. Next time I'm going to just swim to Black Rock - the heck with stupid boats! :) (And I think I want to go on another cruise!?)

For the last three days on Maui, we stayed in our condo in Kihei. At first I think we were all a bit disappointed because we'd been so spoiled by all of the pools and the beach being so close. We did, however, now have more than one bathroom and some room to move. We also had a kitchen and washer and dryer in the unit. One of the first things I did was do our previous week's laundry and check out the pool. Although it was only one pool, it was still pretty nice. It had a water fall going into it on one end and was just as warm as the Westin pools. The pools were pretty much the same wonderful, perfect temperature as the ocean there!

Our first day in Kihei we visited a plantation and learned a lot about coconut palms and coffee growing, among other things. (Both kids had to work on reports since they were missing an assignment at home. Sophie chose to do her report on the coconut.)


Our second day I drove us around the west half of the island (a shorter drive than the drive to Hana) along one lane winding roads. I felt like I was auto cross racing at slow speed! ;) We ended up driving by and stopping at the Westin. Since I still had friends there, we spent the late afternoon in the pools with our friends. De Lisa came and met us by the pool for about an hour and then we drove to Lahaina for a show. De Lisa's roommates fiance is an actor in a fabulous musical calle Ulalena. It is the story of Maui's history told as a musical. It had the most amazing music and special affects with curtains and lights!

The last day in Kihei we visited the Maui Oceanic Center. Kameron was doing his report on the Green Sea Turtle and the relationship with the health of the coral reefs, so we learned more about the sea turtle and took pictures of the ones they had there.

Sadly, we had to come home. We have decided that Maui will be one of our regular vacation destinations as long as we continue to get so much joy out of going there!


Next I am looking forward to meeting Laura (Laverne) in San Diego. I have to be there for a conference and since we didn't get a chance to misbehave together in Rochester this year (her and my friends Jerad and Mitch called me occasionally so I was there in spirit), we're going to meet to celebrate our birthdays and misbehave in San Diego next month. Without getting too depressed (while blogging my Maui trip), I'm so moved by what's happening in San Diego... I'm hoping the wild fires get under control and that no one else loses their life or home!

Well, enough for now.

Moving Day

Somehow almost three months have past since I last took the time to post anything.

Today my office is moving out of the building I've been in since I started working for Evergreen (over 11 years) into a 'temporary' office (we'll be there almost 2 years) in a trailer. We were to have all of our stuff packed and ready by 8am. It is now after 3pm and they are just loading my stuff into a moving truck (to drive it down the 'walkway' and around another building to my new day-time home.)

I am sitting with my laptop on a desk that I am not taking with me, with my phone next to me and nothing else in the room besides personal paintings that I'll have to walk over. There is no one left on this side of the building, so it is nice and quiet - I wouldn't mind staying here (until the construction noise starts...) ;)

My new office is a little room in a trailer that I'll share with my student/temp employee. It'll be pretty cramped, but we've got windows that open! I am the only one in my department currently with a window and now all of our department will have windows. Some of my co-workers will be in cubicles now, though. I'm thankful I'll have a door that will shut.

Tomorrow I'll unpack some, Wednesday I'll work some and then on Thursday I'll be on a plane to Maui! I know, rough life, but someone's got to live it! I will be there for 10 days and really CAN'T WAIT!

The only bummer is that, for the first time in four years, I'll miss my annual trip to Rochester to attend a conference and misbehave with my friend Laverne. What's Laverne to do without Shirl? We'll have to meet and misbehave somewhere else soon...

Most perfect day of century

Today is 7/7/07 - the most perfect day of the century in my opinion. And I've told my kids that so much that they are now repeating it.

Several things happened today and are still going on. Live Earth was a celebration/event occurring in several places across the globe today. "Concerts for a climate in crisis". It makes me have hope that enough of us will do what it takes to save the planet in time. Explaining the problem to 7-year-olds is a good way to get clear on the danger. To listen to my kids makes me so proud. And I know that if the earth is left to them, it will be in good hands.

Also today our friends Pete and Dana got married. The ceremony was very casual and was held at the sunken gardens of the Capital Building grounds here in Olympia. The reception was held at Pete's parents place high on the ridge above Oakville. We ate, talked and enjoyed the sun and breeze most of the day with friends. It always amazes me what a small world it is. One of the women there went to school with Kerry and is my friend Karen's niece (although she's only 2 years younger.) Karen is Sophie's best friend Kimberley's mom.

The kids played with other kids, slid down a hill with a slip and slide made from plastic and a sprinkler and also had a good time. I made sure they were covered in sun screen, but as usual ignored my own sun protection, so got a bit burned. You'd think after having skin cancer I'd be more careful - but I so love having color to my skin. Pitiful, really.

Anyway, many, many other things have happened since I last blogged. I will work backwards in time -

My nephew Jacob celebrated his 26th birthday yesterday and we were invited to his place for a BBQ. Another perfect weather day and a nice, cool evening outside. He just got his Fire bird painted and it's gorgeous! He said he'll let me drive it when it's all done. Yippee! I wish I could race him in similar cars, but I imagine he might beat me... :)

Bob, Jacob's dad, came to the dinner on his motorcycle - and Kameron fell in love. At seven years old, it's hard to explain to him that it will be another 10 years or so before he can have a bike like that. His bike has a skull in the back of the seat whose eyes light up when he drives. How cool! He even gave Kameron and Sophie skull beads he keeps with him. Kameron is so into anything with skulls like Pirates and dressing up for Halloween as Ghost Rider.

Friday I walked in the afternoon with Laura and Tracey. It was the first time walking with the two of them for a very long time. Bonnie was out with chemo again last week, but hopefully we'll all four be able to walk again soon.

Thursday I ran in the morning and walked with Alley down the beach trail at lunch. We didn't have enough time to get to the beach and back before my next meeting, but the weather and the trail was perfect.

For the Fourth, we had some of the kids' friends and their parents over to enjoy the festivities here in Ken Lake. The kids all participated in the Ken Lake parade and then we had a potluck picnic at the park. A guy came with all kinds of entertainment for the kids including music, limbo, face painting, etc. Kameron swam most of the day (in his jean shorts) and Sophie went home on her bike to get two swimming suits - one for her and one for her friend Kiera. That evening we took Baga with us to see Transformers. She didn't like it because of the violence, Sophie wasn't sure if she liked it, but Kameron, Kerry and I loved the special effects. After the movie we bought an Optimus Prime t-shirt for Kameron. His new favorite shirt!

Tuesday of last week I ran at lunch instead of in the morning. Amy had invited Alley and it was great to spend time with both of them. I was even able to run some of the time. :) It is so wonderful to have Alley back in this country and to be able to see her on a regular basis again.

Last weekend was Sensaria's National Convention. (It also happened to be the weekend that South Korea's president was staying in Seattle - in the same hotel. This made for some complicated logistics.) Convention is always a fun-filled three-day girl's party and this year was no exception. Tammie, Linda and Sarah all roomed with me and we were just like young girls when it came to bed time - giggling and talking until early in the morning. Then getting up not enough hours later.

My favorite parts of convention this year were seeing all of my dear friends from across the country, dancing with a lot of them, spending tme with the wonderful Olympia girls including Katie, Toni, Stephanie, Cami, Mary, Angie, Tricia, Cyndi, Amy and Tammie and sharing my Peak Potentials experience with Ryan. One of the best parts was seeing my suggested scent come to life in a trial body butter! How awesome is that?! Also, there were other scents that I recognized from other reps' suggestions from Leadership in San Francisco a year and a half ago. I can't wait to see which ones become part of our product line! And, learning about all of the new fall products and programs, being one of the reps chosen to introduce all four speakers for one of the workshops, and getting to take home samples of two of the best new products was fabulous! It's so hard to believe three days can zip by so fast!!!

The two days leading up to convention didn't go at all like planned. I had taken Friday off to get a mani and pedi, but that didn't happen. Kameron was sick on Thursday and I took him to the Dr. on Friday. He had Strep Throat, so my plans of self-pampering went out the window. It was nice, however, to spend two days taking care of my little momma's boy when he was sick. :)

Torn

Today I am torn between being happy and celebrating my accomplishments, and being sad for my losses.

I am happy that I have been consistent with my new goal of exercising more regularly. I went running today and feel great about my new habit. I love getting out in the early morning and having time to myself to 'meditate'. I am using a technique for quieting and controlling my mind that I learned from Sensaria's president, Melissa Soete. I spend about five minutes on each of the four steps of Breathe (concentrating on my breathing), Gratitude, Vision and Affirmations. And, I'm able to run longer and stop to walk less often. Most days I feel like I have more energy all day after running - but not today.

I am sad today because I have to say goodbye to several friends. One of my friends graduated and is leaving the country soon - I may not see him again. One of my co-workers and friends is leaving his Evergreen job and going on the road to help the Edwards campaign. And one of my favorite co-workers already left Evergreen for another college. Life is full of losses, but today I am especially sad about it.

Summer hair

Today is the summer solstice - a day I cherish and dislike at the same time. I love the beginning of summer - one of my two favorite seasons. I love the long days and the mornings that are perfect for running. I don't, however, like the thought that the days will now get shorter. I guess I just need to take my own advice and focus on the positive! Yay, it's summer!

I wore my long hair not only to work but also to a Thurston County Chamber After Hours event tonight at my friend Victoria's business - New Home Hunters Realty. (I have a hair piece I bought about a month ago and haven't worn much in public - just around friends. It makes it look like my hair goes to the middle of my back and is wavy at the bottom, like my daughter Sophie's. It's amazing how real it looks!) What a difference a hair do makes! A lot of people at work got a kick out of seeing me with long hair. I wonder if anyone who was at the After Hours will say anything the next time I see them...

Almost every day I'm reminded what a small world it is. I met a (gorgeous) guy at the After Hours who will be teaching the financial seminars I am attending in July. He weight trains with Victor - a friend of mine and the boyfriend of Sensaria's president.

After coming home for a bit, I met Vikki at Costco so she could see my hair. She just laughed! Especially when I took it off right there in front of everyone. It's fun, but I wouldn't want to wear it all of the time. I do still plan to wear my long hair to the awards dinner, though, next Saturday in Seattle. Maybe I'll keep it on all day so when everyone sees me on Sunday they'll just think I got my hair cut. ;)

Ok, enough about my hair.

Happy Summer Solstice!

Ordinary miracle

I love the song Ordinary Miracle by Sarah McLauchlan and have been singing it all morning. It reminds me of all of the things I have to be thankful for - profound and small. I start with this past weekend.

I had a wonderful time with friends on both Friday and Saturday nights. Friday was so fun! I brought the kids with me to Andrea's graduation party. I met a fabulous lady, Gretchen, (Andrea's sister-in-law) who I really hit it off with. We decided we were twins separated at birth - scary to think of more people like me out there, huh? She makes a very strong, mean lime drop so I ended up very happy and too tired to prepare for Super Saturday. I look forward to spending more time with her, but she lives in Seattle.

Saturday I got up at 4am and started getting ready for my Sensaria booth at Super Saturday. I got there at 8am and thankfully found someone (my Evergreen boss) to help me carry the EZ Up and tables. I found another vendor to help put up the EZ Up - sure, it's easy to put up with someone helping! The day wasn't near as nice as Friday with occasional downpours, wind and sun breaks. I bought a shirt from a great local T-shirt company whose booth was across the aisle. I wanted the Ghandi shirt, but they didn't have it in my size. The one I did get says "What is the use of a house if you haven't a tolerable planet to put it on? - Thoreau."

Alley brought the kids to Super Saturday on the bus - they liked that! I ate lunch with them, they wandered around with Alley, and took the bus back to her house. I left about 3pm to go get them and take them to my mother-in-laws in time to come back in the evening to tear down and pack up. What a long day!

Then Brianna, my spa sister Mary's daughter, watched the kids for the night so I could go to another graduation party. They seemed to enjoy having a sitter that wasn't a relative. :) I got the chance to get to know a friend of mine better and had a nice time.

I keep being reminded what a small world/planet this is: my friend John is leaving soon to work in the Galapagos Islands where he's a tour guide. When I logged onto my computer, a web site that came up said Kevin Bacon's favorite vacation location is the Galapagos. Kevin's son is coming to Evergreen in the fall. And Kevin's 'friend' Kyra's favorite charity is Natural Resources Defense Council (www.nrdc.org), where I am a supporter and on the Global Warming Map. My friend who is a tour guide in the Galapagos did his thesis on Global Warming...

This morning I went for a run/walk at 6am and it was beautiful! Again, so many "ordinary miracles" that I am thankful for! The sun was coming up, the air was cool and the trees, flowers and sky were all giving me reasons to be happy! That and the fact that I have a healthy body that allows me to run/walk. I am truly blessed!

Reflection on the importance of ceremony

Today is the graduation ceremony at the college where I work. Every year I help in some way. This year, like last, I helped pass out programs and was one of four ushers to get the students into their seats. I do this because it is now one of the only ways I get to connect what I do every day in my job with the outcomes of this institution (since I no longer have a job where I have the chance to interact with faculty and students on a daily basis) .

Although it rained enough to get the chairs wet early, the sun was out most of the afternoon. I got a bit of a sun burn, in fact. ;) What a nice day!

I am glad that when I graduated from this college, I participated in the ceremony. Although I considered not 'walking', I decided it was a ritual not only for me, but for my family as I am the first college graduate in my family. I also realize that I too often don't take the time to celberate my accomplishments. I'm glad that on that day over 10 years ago, I did.

The graduate speakers shared something I wanted to remember - the new academic R's - repose, reflect, respond.

Laverne's got a plan

Oh, I'm so excited! Laverne will be turning the big 4-0 this year and thought her and I could celebrate it together. Since she lives in Indiana and I live in Washington, we'll have to figure out where to meet. We normally spend a week together every fall (for the past three years) at a conference for Web geeks, but neither of us are planning to make it this year. Every year we'd consume more alcohol and get less sleep, so maybe its a good thing we aren't going to have the opportunity to out-do ourselves. We are, after all, getting older. ;)

Fun with the girls!

I love girlfriends! :) I got to spend a few hours tonight with some dear girlfriends - shopping for jewelry (great for me as I was a crow in another life), drink some wonderful drinks that Toni invented and just be. I went wearing my 'long hair' and ended up loaning it to a friend of Toni's. And I came home wearing a headband of hers. Mary, Stephanie and I got to spend time talking about life, health and what we plan to wear at the awards dinner at the end of the month. Toni modeled her dresses for us as Cami showed up late because she had a spa party tonight. There was also Terry, Susan, Kathryn (who now has long hair), Kristen and Jessalyn. I am so blessed!

Friday at last

Actually, this week flew by. Today at lunch will be my first attempt at running during lunch. Amy Greene is going to accompany me, although she's been working out, riding her bike and running for some time now. I can see it now! If I do any running along with walking, I'll be happy. I'm so blessed to have friends that push me to be a better me!

Focus on health

I have a goal of losing 20 pounds this year, maybe 30 overall, so I've been working out the last couple of weeks. I'm also trying not to weigh myself so I am just eating better and exercising and judging my success by how my clothes fit. I went 'running' tonight. Well, actually I only ran to the corner, then walked the rest of the way. I'm not sure how far it is around my lake neighborhood, so I'll have to figure that out. Also in support of my weight goal, I'm trying to get comfortable with my hair looking the way it does without a lot of effort and products. That's big for me - like when I stopped wearing any make up except eye makeup about 2 years ago. This is the first time in my life that I don't have bangs, too. I am hoping that if I can get used to my flat, fine hair, I can start running or exercising during lunch, take a shower and go back to work. Maybe I'll stick with brisk walking? :)

My first post on blogger

After talking to John Pumilio about setting up his own blog, I decided it was time for me to do so in a place not associated with my job. I love reading my friends' blogs and think about posting things about my own life occasionally, so this is where I'll do that.