Just for Fun...

I saw this on a blog and thought it was fun! I got 52 of them. My life is kinda boring so I was surprised. But I don't know if the ones I didn't get are even on my list of things to do....

Just bold the ones you have done and then post it on your blog!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity - how about 10%?
7. Been to Disneyland or Disneyworld
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Olde Faithful Geyser Erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie or on a TV show
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Had an encounter with a wild animal
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets, or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a Jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Taken a martial arts class

My Own Angel

I was my own angel today...

When I worked in ICU years ago there were 2 things I did for patients that they absolutely loved and they always called me an angel. (I actually did a lot for patients but these things were my favorites because of the response I would get.)

The first - a warm blanket. We kept them in a warmer in the back and when patients were cold after surgery or after being transfered from ER or whatever, we would get out the warm blankets for instant comfort. They loved that!

The next - pineapple juice. Let me explain. We got a lot of patients with chest pain - heart attacks. They take nitroglycerin tabs for the chest pain and that usually gives you a whopper of a headache! I mean these are heart attack patients and they are complaining almost more from this headache than from their chests. I learned a little trick from the other nurses that the acid in pineapple juice would take care of a nitro headache. So I would bring them a glass of pineapple juice and an hour later they would be singing my praises!

Okay long boring story - but this is my journal.

Yesterday I went to the dentist. I hate it - but nitrous oxide makes the cleaning bearable. I was even joking to Stephen that I loved the laughing gas and it almost made the trip to the dentist enjoyable. Well, I had a whopper of a headache all day yesterday and despite lots of meds nothing helped. It woke me through the night and this morning I'm up again taking some heavy doses of Anacin, Ibuprofen, trying heat on my neck muscles, cold pack on my forehead. I'm going over everything that could be causing this terrible headache....

Then it comes to me - the nitrous oxide at the dentist. I have a nitro headache! Just like my patients in ICU. I opened a can of pineapple tidbits, drained the juice and drank it with high hopes. 2 hours later, my headache is almost gone! Hallelujah! No wonder my patients loved me - that headache was bad! And that pineapple juice worked!

Amazing how my mind was able to sort through my experience files and find a solution. I am really thrilled at finding this fix this morning. WOW!

My Son

My son wears my clothes - okay just one jacket but...

I came home from Hawaii and found that Andrew has decided that my Columbia fleece jacket is "cool." He missed me so much he decided to wear my clothes...He wears it to school. I actually found it in his laundry and he has adopted it as his own.

I wonder if his friends would still think he was "cool" if they knew he was hot in his mother's jacket.

I like to think of it as my love encircling him as he walks down the halls of high school. How many other ways is my love surrounding him - not just in jacket form but in teachings and love and acceptance.

He has found a physical thing of mine which he thinks is very cool and is finding comfort in wearing. I hope he finds comfort and coolness and protection in all the other stuff I have surrounded him with...

Tammy shot these photos last summer in Manito park. She is so great to do these yearly photo shoots with the kids. I love being related to an awesome photographer!

A Very Good Book

Warning - this blog really is a journal so be forewarned that I am thinking outloud here....

I picked this book up at the library on Wednesday night. I finished it this morning. I am full of thoughts this morning and so grateful for a story to bring them out. I love to read. I am a different person each time I add a book to my experience. (Sometimes more than others.) What a blessing to have a book and it's story and thoughts and ideas rolling around my head while I drive the carpool or make dinner or do what I do in normal life. Such freedom and permission to wander in a new place - we get this in a book.

This was a good one. A true story, well written and thought provoking. It is about a women married to a Maine State trooper. They have an ordinary life with 4 kids. Then on an ordinary day, while he is on duty, he is killed in a motor vehicle accident. She describes her grief, dealing with his death in a beautiful, personal way.

But the main story is about her after his death. She decides to fulfill his dream of becoming a Utilitarian Universalist minister. She becomes a minister and works as a chaplan for the Maine State Search and Rescue Wardens. She accompanies the wardens on rescues as well as searches to give comfort to the families, to show respect and pray over the dead bodies, to provide support for the wardens.

She admits that she is spiritual but not religious. She does not even believe in God - just a spirit of love and peace. She isn't sure about the afterlife. She does have a profound respect for nature and for all of God's creations. She studied the life of Jesus and knows the stories from the Bible but she is not able to come up with a concrete image of diety. She isn't really even trying to work this out. She just is content with the idea of love being the most important thing.

I can't help but apply my knowledge of eternal truths to her story. I come away with the same conclusion - that love and service to others is vital and is indeed sharing God's love. But I'm glad for the deeper knowledge in the face of mortality that there is a plan and an afterlife and a God that knows us individually and is aware of us in families and relationships.

She sees tradedy that doesn't make sense, miracles that do not make sense. She lives in a human world and sees human bodies fail, and humans make terrible choices and humans say goodbye to loved ones but she does not question the fairness of it. She marvels at the outpouring of support and care and love that humans can give each other in the time of crisis.

Maybe it just hit me right, but I loved her exploration of earthly life, human need and the importance of helping each other.

Her last chaper includes these words:

"In a true story, the end is never tidy. So I can only give you untidy searchers returning to the firehouse for their lunch. They are tired, cold and very hungry. They are greeted with platers of lasagna, bowls of coleslaw.... In a little while, they will go back out and search some more. They will try to find a body, living or dead. For now, they are here together, joined in community, bent on the common purpose of love."

I think back to my days of working in the hospital as a nurse. I was in ICU and saw a lot of tragedies, miracles and families saying goodbye. I saw humans facing the death of loved ones young and old. It was intermixed with daily life. I worked a 12 hour shift where someone was dealing with an unexpected death and then went home to volunteer at Tammy's school or go grocery shopping. The living and dying was all mixed up in ordinary events. Even the wonderful watershed days of my life are mixed up with human detail. I dropped off soccer snacks for Megan's team on the way to the temple the morning Tammy was married. Life goes on....

I think of all the sunsets and breath-taking landscapes that I've seen and how I have appreciated Gods love for me in these gifts. I have taken time on an ordinary, mundane day to appreciate and notice the sunlight or rainbow or fall colors. But I've also felt God's awareness of me and love for me on the days when trials have come and my fellowman has been there to help me. His love is palpable then, in the form of my friends and family and the hugs and tissues and cookies that they bring. I think He planned to show his love both ways. It is amazing.

Fun for Valentines!

We decided to celebrate Valentine's Day by taking the family skiing! What a fun day at Mt. Spokane. The kids have all learned to ski in school (except Melissa.) And Mike and I used to ski a lot before kids! So - we put it on our list of things to do this winter.

Andrew was our only snowboarder. He loved it. He said it was a lot like longboarding - which is on hold now because of the snow and ice on the roads...

Megan and Dad were a team - he had a great day with her. Megan was glad to have Dad as a partner because, "No offense Mom, but Dad is a lot braver than you. He's not always worried that I'll get hurt."

And Mom spent the day with Melissa teaching her how to ski and relearning herself. It has been 18 years - no lie. Mike and I went for our Honeymoon to Jackson Hole and then moved to Florida. No more skiing. So this was a lot of fun for everyone. Melissa was a pro in one hour. She gets to go again this Thursday for school and she is excited.

Katie spent the day skiing with her cousin Jayna and some friends.

I didn't get many pictures of her.

Fun with Tammy and Toby!

We have so much fun when Tammy and Toby come home. They came for the Superbowl and got to stay for a few extra days.

I love this photo of Toby's hat and Dallas' shoes- like father like son. Grandpa and Dallas.Dallas has learned to give kisses.
Doesn't Dallas make a cute little kangaroo?

Somehow our fun always involves making treats....

We had fun melting chocolate for suckers and pretzels and chocolate covered strawberries.

Braces for Megan

The beginning of 2 years of fun!

Before

After

Megan got her braces today.

But Mom and Dad are the ones to pay!

Hey that sounds like the beginning of a poem...

HOW SWEET IT IS!!!

What a game - what a victory!

It's like we were waving our terrible towels one second and crying into them the next! Congratulations Steelers on your sweet and hard fought victory over the Arizona Cardinals.

We came home from church, changed into our black and gold jerseys and sat down to cheer our boys on to victory. We had some great food and wonderful company. Tammy and Toby and little Rookie of the year came for the weekend to share the Superbowl with us.

How fun it was to share the excitement of the game with friends and family. Our neighbors (avid Seahawks fans...) brought us over a "consolation" prize of Steeler plates and napkins for our party. They were thinking of us but hoping we would lose to the Cardinals. (Are they still bitter over Super Bowl XL?? - Not really. They are great!)
We had a couple of victory cakes. Tammy ordered a Terrible Towel cake and was able to bring it on the plane. That's a fragile carry on!

We had fun making some Superbowl cookies on Saturday. The girls are sooooo creative. I love the jersey cookies. Almost too cute to eat!





It was so fun to call and text my brothers and sisters during the game. I was shocked when David actually answered his phone after halftime. He was lucky enough to be at the game! For that reason alone WE HAD TO WIN! He said it was awesome to be there. He did admit that his boys were crying into their terrible towels during the 2 MINUTES that Arizona had the lead.

Was it really only 2 minutes - it seemed like 2 hours. I was sweating it out and helping Melissa who had some tears of her own. We were discussing how to be brave and gracious losers. "Oh me of little faith!"Stephen had a big Superbowl party at his house and I got to talk to Mom and Linda and Steve. Kerry even texted me - "Sweet!" And Carol and Diane were watching and cheering here in Spokane!

The Steelers - known for their awesome defense - and was not the Harrison touchdown so sweet - but in the end it was the offense that came through. I love you Big BEN.

***Note to the team - Please do not win in the last 37 seconds of the game next time. The crowds may love it but I prefer a safer point spread!

GO STEELERS! Such a sweet victory. How fun to grow up in Pittsburgh and share all this fun with our family! GO STEELERS!