*** Many Thanks to Fran for the link and her very sage answers ***
I'm posting these here for two reasons, one - to pass them along, as well as a referral to Murderati, and 2- to save to answer later.
(I haven't been blogging lately for a variety of reasons, but commit to getting back to these this week.)((Updated 1/04/2010))
1) Who's your hero?
I have had different answers to this over the years, and I don't know if I can narrow it to one now. I have often said either my Mom or my Dad, and perhaps the truest thing I can say right now is both of them. They have not only persevered and overcome a number of challenges, which is why I have named them before, but they continue to provide a great example. They have really mastered the "aging gracefully" thing, and continue to be productive and self sufficient now at 82 and 87. Dad still mills lumber and builds cedar chests and other beautiful wood items. Together they put in a big garden and harvest and Mom cans and freezes the results. I hope that I can be as good at life as they are.
2) What was the very best day of your life? (Aside from significant others/ marriages and births of children.)
The best day? Boxing Day 2009 maybe? We had a gathering at Mom and Dad's that inlcuded my sibs and their children, unfortunately the steps weren't there, but all the rest and Andy's wonderful Miranda. It was a real blessing to see all of them all together, from my son, who at 29 is the oldest grandchild, to my sister's 6 year old.
Or maybe the Spirit of Grace concert before Christmas - part of the day went south, just the interpersonal relationship stuff, but he rest was splendid, and the concert was a huge success, even raising $700 for Chrissie's school.
It appears that I have a lot of best days.
3) If you could go anywhere, right now, obligation-free, without stress, etc., where would you go?
I would go to Australia. I loved going there with my daughter's band and would like to see it without benefit of the whole 150 members of our party. Melbourne, which reminds me so much of Victoria and Vancouver, really warrants more time to explore and so does Sydney, and everything in between :-) I loved the people, who remind me of my Canadian cousins, fun and much less inhibited than us (their country wasn't founded by Puritans - it shows). It was pretty amazing to stand on a glorious golden sand beach watching the waves splashing in the sun, wrapped in coats and hats, to realize that the only thing between us and Antactica was 2,000 miles of water.
4) Which two characters would you love to see meet up for a road trip? (can be anyone in literature... anyone at all)
OMG - Claire and Jamie, and that way for sure I'd know that among the 3 of us there would be 2 super adaptable, creative and inventive survivors in any situation.It doesn't hurt that one is a Dr. and the other a Scot.
5) If you could pick the traits of a favorite character to adapt in your own life, which character and traits would those be, and why?
Right now my favorite character is Clair Frazer - she is smart, inventive, adaptable, a capable survivalist and according to her creator, tall and beautiful (I've got the tall part already). For the folks who only read mysteries, you probably won't know her, but she's a good person to read about, and I can't wait until the next installment, which is much like being on a road trip or equivalent with her and her family.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Sunday, December 6, 2009
The on-set of the Christmas season.
SO, this was Giving Tree Sunday. A practice we started a few years ago to help our teen groups get to know each other better and help out some kids in the community. What we know is that the tags on the trees in the mall that are least likely to get taken are those for teens, so it seems logical that if we give a group of teens sufficient funds they would be able to pick out a selection of age appropriate gifts. This was one of our most successful trips yet, we had 18 young people, who we divided into 5 groups, each with $100 to spend, and gave them 45 minutes to come up with as many gifts as they could.
Of course, there were moments of typical teen-ness, the analysts ended up in the same group and got a little bogged down by possibility, they just needed a little extra push to remember the purpose of the trip and their goal, then they went off very successfully. The group of boys who discovered a place to get "really cool" shirts that came with headphones for only $12.99 were the efficiency pros for the day. In all there were 20 or so gifts (it depends on how the Rotary sorts them out) and they donated about $2 of left over cash. A pretty fun and successful project!
The best part about the trip today for us, maybe not for the mall merchants, was that it was not a zoo as it has been so many times in the past. We actually drove right there and found parking really easily.
I sang in my first concert of the season last night. In many ways I am glad that I'm not a church musician anymore and don't have to prepare for service every week with special events and services concentrated this time of year. Other times, I'd like to be back in the organizational side of it, maybe if I didn't have to work full time too, because then I'd be in the rhythm of the church calendar and be more "Tuned up" all the time.
The concert went well, although some anticipated performers were unable to attend and the audience was pretty sparse. It is a recurring one, we do the reading of the Christmas story interspersed with songs - maybe people figure they have seen it before, so why bother. I like to be there each time because I want to see how the other participants have changed, and for many of them, grown. We don't meet ahead of time, we each rehearse our own pieces and so it's always a surprise to see what other folks are doing. Our fearless, peerless, leader manages to pull it all together pretty well. Even when it isn't seamless, no one who isn't a participant does.
Next Friday is our BIG concert, the quartet has been working on this 1940's radio show that should be a knock out. We have actually been promoting it,Dunny put it on a web site and submitted it to the local paper, and we both made it events on Facebook, so who knows what might happen? The ideal would be to fill the room, since we are going to contribute any funds we bring in to Chrissie's school, I'd love to see a crowd.
Of course, there were moments of typical teen-ness, the analysts ended up in the same group and got a little bogged down by possibility, they just needed a little extra push to remember the purpose of the trip and their goal, then they went off very successfully. The group of boys who discovered a place to get "really cool" shirts that came with headphones for only $12.99 were the efficiency pros for the day. In all there were 20 or so gifts (it depends on how the Rotary sorts them out) and they donated about $2 of left over cash. A pretty fun and successful project!
The best part about the trip today for us, maybe not for the mall merchants, was that it was not a zoo as it has been so many times in the past. We actually drove right there and found parking really easily.
I sang in my first concert of the season last night. In many ways I am glad that I'm not a church musician anymore and don't have to prepare for service every week with special events and services concentrated this time of year. Other times, I'd like to be back in the organizational side of it, maybe if I didn't have to work full time too, because then I'd be in the rhythm of the church calendar and be more "Tuned up" all the time.
The concert went well, although some anticipated performers were unable to attend and the audience was pretty sparse. It is a recurring one, we do the reading of the Christmas story interspersed with songs - maybe people figure they have seen it before, so why bother. I like to be there each time because I want to see how the other participants have changed, and for many of them, grown. We don't meet ahead of time, we each rehearse our own pieces and so it's always a surprise to see what other folks are doing. Our fearless, peerless, leader manages to pull it all together pretty well. Even when it isn't seamless, no one who isn't a participant does.
Next Friday is our BIG concert, the quartet has been working on this 1940's radio show that should be a knock out. We have actually been promoting it,Dunny put it on a web site and submitted it to the local paper, and we both made it events on Facebook, so who knows what might happen? The ideal would be to fill the room, since we are going to contribute any funds we bring in to Chrissie's school, I'd love to see a crowd.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Random thoughts
What a week!! The surgery went well, they were able to do everything and I don't have to go back except for a check up in 4 months. Of course, now I'll have to get crowns, but that can wait until the next insurance round or two, Thank God!!
I got really tired of the pain meds and think I learned that if I need them again I'll switch to tylenol sooner. It made me feel really antsy and sometimes kind of skin crawly.
I went back to work today. No, I didn't really need to stay home yesterday, but I have so much vacaiton time on the books I'm going to lose it if I don't take it before the end of the year. I would like staying home more if I could get something done here, but that is not in the cards right now so I'm back at work trying to sort out everything that went on while I was gone for a week.
Rehersal last night and today went well, so I am looking forward to our recital and our concert. I am always so impressed by the people I sing with, they are so talented, and seem to learn things so easily. They certainly bring me to a level I never thought I could achieve.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
So, watching my regular post choir Tuesday TV show and the statement just made was "Feel the fear, and do it anyway". That's what I used to tell poeple in my public speaking classes, and other groups I facilitated. That and, "The worst thing that can happen is you will screw up, and you will at some time screw up royally, but you won't die". Or, "There is nothing you can do that can't be done...". The little trick phrases we use to encourage ourselves and others.
Maybe it's time to reinsert that into my daily self talk. It worked really well the first year I did Weight Watchers, but this last year and a half has just been a holding pattern. I need to re-tool/re-boot/get it in gear.
A lot of weight loss has been about feeling fear and getting to the roots of unhappiness. Obviously I haven't got there yet, and I have been letting the frustration with that contribute to getting in the way of progress.
I didn't work out for a week after my surgery, partly because I didn't feel well and partly because youngest child was camped out in my work out room. I rode my bike for 4 miles this morning and did an almost full complement of stretching and the light lifting that I do, and it felt good! Starting tomorrow I'm adding another workout session into my day somewhere.
I got really tired of the pain meds and think I learned that if I need them again I'll switch to tylenol sooner. It made me feel really antsy and sometimes kind of skin crawly.
I went back to work today. No, I didn't really need to stay home yesterday, but I have so much vacaiton time on the books I'm going to lose it if I don't take it before the end of the year. I would like staying home more if I could get something done here, but that is not in the cards right now so I'm back at work trying to sort out everything that went on while I was gone for a week.
Rehersal last night and today went well, so I am looking forward to our recital and our concert. I am always so impressed by the people I sing with, they are so talented, and seem to learn things so easily. They certainly bring me to a level I never thought I could achieve.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
So, watching my regular post choir Tuesday TV show and the statement just made was "Feel the fear, and do it anyway". That's what I used to tell poeple in my public speaking classes, and other groups I facilitated. That and, "The worst thing that can happen is you will screw up, and you will at some time screw up royally, but you won't die". Or, "There is nothing you can do that can't be done...". The little trick phrases we use to encourage ourselves and others.
Maybe it's time to reinsert that into my daily self talk. It worked really well the first year I did Weight Watchers, but this last year and a half has just been a holding pattern. I need to re-tool/re-boot/get it in gear.
A lot of weight loss has been about feeling fear and getting to the roots of unhappiness. Obviously I haven't got there yet, and I have been letting the frustration with that contribute to getting in the way of progress.
I didn't work out for a week after my surgery, partly because I didn't feel well and partly because youngest child was camped out in my work out room. I rode my bike for 4 miles this morning and did an almost full complement of stretching and the light lifting that I do, and it felt good! Starting tomorrow I'm adding another workout session into my day somewhere.
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