Starting to Look Like a Home. . .

Most of you know that my condo has been in a constant state of change for a majority of the last nine years. Many of the major changes began about four years ago (I think), when I gutted the kitchen and built it back up from the drywall. Large job. . .I never want to be kitchen-less for six months ever again!!!

Most recently, I replace the flooring on the 1st floor with ceramic tile (with tons of help from Luke and CBoy - we won't talk about the injuries) and on the 2nd floor with wood laminae (again with tons of help from Luke and CBoy). I have overcome the dreaded scaffolding to get rid of all of the white walls (NEVER AGAIN) and replaced all of the cheap painted doors, baseboards and molding with stained pine (gotta love Bobby and his air nail gun). Since I am outsourcing two of the bathrooms this fall, I just have a lot of small jobs to finish up (don't ask for my definition of small).

Yes. . .I admit it - I don't think there will be anything in the condo that is the same as when I bought it. Well. . .Maybe the laundry/furnace room! :)

Tonight, my decorator and I worked on the living room. With it's fresh coat of gold paints and beautiful ceramic tile (just a few more jobs left before I can call it done), it was time to hang the new curtains and some pics on the wall. I have a huge "To Buy List" and the mantle and back door needs to be installed before we can finish up. I'm even starting to think about a bookshelf-type door and some track lighting (hmmm. . .Did I just hear Luke and Bobby moaning?).

I must say, that even with it only partially done - it is beginning to look like a home!




The picture on the left is my patriotic corner...





The one on the right is the very small area in my living room that has everything hung up. The stuff on the table with change, but wanted it to look complete for the picture.





Namaste.

"What a wonderful life I've had! I only wish I'd realized it sooner." - Colette

Forwarded Emails

Some of what gets forwarded in email land is entertaining, though most is a figment of the imagination. A great deal of the emails get annoying for the previous senders don't delete out all of the "forward lingo" from the last 10 people who have forwarded it. I, personally, have made it a practice to be very selective in what I pass on - probably about 1% of what I receive and to clean it up before I hit the send button.

I opened my email today to find a forward that touched my heart. Instead of forwarding it, I'm sharing it here (in it's cleaned up form, of course). I think it's time to get some more care packages in the mail, despite my feelings for those in D.C.!

The Daughter of a Soldier

Last week, I was in Atlanta, Georgia attending a conference. While I was in the airport, returning home, I heard several people behind me beginning to clap and cheer. I immediately turned around and witnessed one of the greatest acts of patriotism I have ever seen.

Moving thru the terminal was a group of soldiers in their camo's, as they began heading to their gate everyone (well, almost everyone) was abruptly to their feet with their hands waving and cheering. When I saw the soldiers, probably 40 of them, being applauded and cheered for, it hit me. I'm not alone. I'm not the only red blooded American who still loves this country and supports our troops and their families.

Of course, I immediately stopped and began clapping for these young unsung heroes who are putting their lives on the line everyday for us so we can go to school, work and home without fear or reprisal. Just when I thought I could not be more proud of my country or of our service men and women a young girl, not more than 6 or 7 years old, ran up to one of the male soldiers. He kneeled down and said "hi," the little girl then she asked him if he would give something to her daddy for her. The young soldier, he didn't look any older than maybe 22 himself, said he would try and what did she want to give to her daddy. Then suddenly the little girl grabbed the neck of this soldier, gave him the biggest hug she could muster and then kissed him on the cheek.

The mother of the little girl, who said her daughter's name was Courtney, told the young soldier that her husband was a Marine and had been in Iraq for 11 months now. As the mom was explaining how much her daughter, Courtney, missed her father, the young soldier began to tear up. When this temporarily single mom was done explaining her situation, all of the soldiers huddled together for a brief second. Then one of the other servicemen pulled out a military looking walkie-talkie. They started playing with the device and talking back and forth on it.

After about 10-15 seconds of this, the young soldier walked back over to Courtney, bent down and said this to her, "I spoke to your daddy and he told me to give this to you." He then hugged this little girl that he had just met and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He finished by saying "Your daddy told me to tell you that he loves you more than anything and he is coming home very soon."

The mom at this point was crying almost uncontrollably and as the young soldier stood to his feet he saluted Courtney and her mom. I was standing no more than 6 feet away from this entire event unfolded as the soldiers began to leave, heading towards their gate, people resumed their applause.

As I stood there applauding and looked around, their were very few dry eyes, including my own. That young soldier in one last act of selflessness, turned around and blew a kiss to Courtney with a tear rolling down his cheek.

We need to remember everyday all of our soldiers and their families and thank God for them and their sacrifices. At the end of the day, it's good to be an American.

Namaste.

"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much." - Helen Keller

Trying To Get Back on The Wagon. . .

. . .Of being on my diet, that is.

Since getting back from vacation, I have been struggling to get back into the diet groove. I've been doing better, honest I have. . .Been back to the gym in full force (the agreement that I have with myself is that I will post to this blog when, and only when, I go to the gym - looks like I'm posting a lot :) ).

The one and only problem that I seem to be having is ICE CREAM! Yes, ICE CREAM! I have been craving huge amounts of ICE CREAM. So, I indulged big time today (we won't talk about how many times I've indulged recently) - to the point that my stomach had a conversation with my craving creator. This was not a good conversation.

So tomorrow, I am going to ban that I.C. thing from my diet and get back into the groove of looking like that person that I already am in my mind.

Namaste.

"To me, good health is more than just exercise and diet. It's really a point of view and a mental attitude you have about yourself." - Angela Lansbury

Customer Service. . .

I admit it. . .I am probably one of the most generous tippers on the planet. I have been known to tip 25- 30% at a restaurant / spa. I don't hesitate and I do it willingly - if it is earned. I will also admit that I don't hesitate to leave a penny, again if it is earned (for those of you that don't know. . .A penny left as a tip is very negative. It is meant to say, no I'm not cheap or forgetful. . .You just provided an unacceptable level of customer service). Notice, I said EARNED in both situations.

While I was growing up, we were very dependent on Mommy Marie's tips from work. Some days those tips paid for my lunch at school. It was not a hand-out or a way for others to support my family. IT WAS EARNED. Granted, I have only had one part time job where I was in a "receiving tip" situation. I did not expect them, but treasured what I did receive as a sign of work done well.

I am starting to get very frustrated with those in the service industry who think that a 15% tip is automatic no matter how well they do their job. After all, we live in America - you are free to provide the level of service that you wish to provide at that moment. But please remember, I am also free to provide you with the tip that adequately reflects that same level of service. Funny how that works, hmm?

What brought this topic to mind tonight? Earlier this evening, I was trying to get membership prices at my gym for a family member. Even though the sales members in this industry don't get tipped, they do work on commission. Instead of paying attention to what was going on, all of the sales members (and then some) were in the manager's office laughing, joking, having personal conversations on cell phones, etc, etc, etc. It hit me after I left, without the information, that it wasn't the end of the month, so they may not be so worried about sales goals at this point in time. Hmm. . .interesting thought.

I then called another branch of the gym (a location that I also work-out at on occasion as it is near work) and received good information, plenty of payment plan choices and a sales member who was interested in discussing options and receiving a referral. I think that this is someone who should receive all of my referrals / commissions / renewals in the future! (See quote below)

Namaste.

"The only people you should try to get even with are those who have helped you." - R.J. Rehwinkels

Must - Read!

Wanted to throw this link up real quick:

http://www.blackfive.net/main/2006/07/i_think_you_hav.html#more

Definitely a reporter that we should support in the future!

Namaste.

Ever had one of those days. . .

. . .When you realized that you were in over your head? That was me today!

I was blessed with a four day holiday weekend to celebrate the Fourth of July. This morning, I woke up before the alarm went off - looking forward to going to work. Felt kinda nice, actually.

Then I started up the computer and checked email. . .And reality struck and struck hard. I realized that I should have put in some hours over the weekend to meet a HUGE deadline that I have looming.

No problem. . .I'm going out of town this weekend, but will be back fairly early on Sunday and I can put in some time then. OOPS! Big office move this weekend and we can't get in the building to work while the movers are there. CRAP!

OK. . .I'll just put in the headphones and start trudging. I can do this! HMMMM. . .Why is my computer running so slow. . .Shouldn't take 20 minutes to get a program log-in box. . .Ok, enough of this - I got about two hours of work done in eight hours. . .Time to call the IS Help Desk. Trojan Virus? ON MY COMPUTER?? HUHHHHHH??? What do you mean the old virus protection program was taken off of my computer, but for some reason the new one wasn't loaded????

OK. . .Step back and punt. . .45 minutes to load the new program, remove the Trojan and scan the laptop for any other bugs and such. It's time to get some work done! Needless to say, I put in 13.5 hours today and ended up having frozen yogurt for my afternoon meal (I eat every three hours) and a Dairy Queen Blizzard for dinner (but it was REALLY good) which led me to feel very guilty and scared to get on a scale. . .So I headed straight to the gym. Have I mentioned that I really want to continue to loose weight, not put any back on (but the blizzard was REALLY good)?

Ironically, it's now 11:55pm and I am actually starting to feel like my head is getting back above the water line. I'm going to hit the sack hard and head into work early in the morning. . .Another full day should be enough to get me back into stretching distance and all is becoming well in my world!

WOW, that felt good to get all of that out into blog land and not festering in my mind. After all, tomorrow will be a much better day with everything crossed off of my To Do List!

Namaste.

"Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved." - Barbara Johnson

Some Memories To Share Post 3

In Skagway, we went on a train ride into Canada and learned lots about the Alaskan Gold Rush. We took a bus trip back from Canada where I think this photo was taken.











In Ketchikan, we saw totem poles, native dancing and lots of eagles.














The Hubbard Glacier was gorgeous. . .Definitely couldn't get it recorded well on film!











Hope you enjoyed the vacation pics! Happy Fourth of July to everyone!

Namaste.

"Freedom isn't free - just ask any Soldier / Marine."

Some Memories To Share Post 2

The cruise stopped in Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan with a jaunt into the Hubbard Glacier. Our room had a balcony and there were times that I just sat there enjoying the view with no concept of time. Unfortunately, the pictures do not do the scenery justice.

A Panoramic Photo of Alaska. Not sure if this was from our balcony or in Juneau (Yes, I know that the water doesn't line up. . .Mother Nature wouldn't stop the water movement for the second picture!).



After being told that we needed to go to Hawaii or the Bahamas during mating season to see a breach, the Hump Back Whale gave us a show of a lifetime and just because he could, proved the tour guide wrong. Believe me, the tour guide was very happy to be proven wrong!








Orcas in Juneau. We also saw them in Seattle,
but I like this pic the best because of the baby that was showing his dorsal fin and the great air action from the blow hole.









I'm trying to keep the size of the posts at a reasonable amount, so I am breaking up the pictures into multiple posts. . .Stay tuned!

Namaste.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has." -Margaret Mead

Some Memories To Share

Yesterday, I had the intention of posting some vacation pics since I am taking my sweet time deciding which ones to print and scrapbook. Reality left for a more holiday slanted post, so today I am going to revisit yesterday's plan.

I crossed one of my "Want List - Great and Small" items off of the list. . .I headed out to Seattle for a few days before hopping on a cruise ship to visit the southern part of Alaska.

The few days we had in Seattle were packed with lots of sight-seeing. We took in all of downtown, went Orca watching, house envying and of course, had some wonderful crab cakes!

Panorama of Seattle from above. It was the first time that our tour guide has been in the Sky Needle - and she lives in a suburb of Seattle!
Sky Needle from below.The graves of Bruce Lee and Brandon Bruce Lee. Yes, I go cemetery hopping. When I realized that the Lee Family was buried in Seattle, I did some fancy talking to get a visit added to the day's itinerary.

I will post some Alaska pictures in a future post.

Namaste.

"I used to want the words 'She tried' on my tombstone. Now, I want 'She did it'." -Katherine Dunham

Celebration of Freedom

As I sit here typing, I hear the wonderful sound of fireworks being sent off to celebrate the Fourth of July weekend. I have to admit that this is my favorite holiday of the year; however, I have begun to 'celebrate' it much differently than I did when I was little.

Tonight instead of searching out where the firework show near my house is, I am reading military blogs to remind myself the meaning of America, the sacrifices that U.S. Marines/Soldiers are making and the history behind this wonderful holiday. This has become a more reflective holiday for me over the past five years. . .interesting that I only really noticed it this year.

>Michael Yon: Online Magazine was one of the sites that became my weekly read after I decided not to put too much time into MSM (Mainstream Media - i.e. the evening news). He has traveled with troops during the war and is not there to risk himself for "the video feed", but to document the truth of the journey both good and bad. The link takes you to his most recent dispatch and reminds me once again of what a hero is and why I read blogs and not TIME.
http://michaelyon-online.com/wp/warrior.htm

>Capt. B is a Marine that I sent care packages to through the anysoldier program. I began to read his thoughts via emails that he sent out to those of us who were sending packages. He is now in the states and I keep in-touch via his blog. My understanding is that he is co-writing a book that will definitely be on my to buy list. This link points to his post about "who knows what this holiday is about". Of his three questions, I hit the first two exactly. I struggled a bit with the third one, but knew enough that I feel like I wasn't totally ignorant on the subject.
http://www.onemarinesview.com/one_marines_view/2006/06/what_do_you_kno.html

>Blackfive was the first blog that I ever read. He has gotten so busy that he now has other bloggers posting on his site as well (a shame, if you ask me) so I don't visit the site as often as I used to. He hasn't posted his "fourth of July" message yet, so I am linking to the first post that I read there - it is hilarious and a must read!
http://www.blackfive.net/main/2004/12/every_care_pack.html

I mentioned care packages above: The past few years, I found myself with the uncontrollable desire to send care packages to my troops (yes, I did say 'my'. . .they are defending my freedom aren't they?) both through www.anysoldier.com and www.soldiersangels.org. Until recently, I did not know any of the soldiers that I sent packages to (last count I had shipped to 69 Units/Soldiers/Marines, many multiple times). I can say that I don't like/support (however you want to phrase it) the guy at the White House, but I will always support my guys/gals on the front line.

I don't feel like I have missed anything this weekend by spending a bit more time in front of the computer. I will get my 'ooh' and 'aah' fix during Cincinnati's huge fireworks show in September for Labor Day Weekend.

Namaste.

"How we remember, what we remember, and why we remember form the most personal map of our individuality." -Christina Baldwin