Icy cold

Man, it's cold out here.

Today is a snow and ice day. The schools are closed. The government opened 2-hours later than usual after sending workers home early yesterday. The flights in and out of DCA were canceled because of an ice storm that came through yesterday and today. I think the ice and snow have stopped for the day, thankfully. You know it's been really cold around here when the Potomac river starts to ice over. It's beautiful but treacherous. It's been a few years since ice has formed on the river during winter.

I am scheduled to go on an overnight trip to Atlanta tomorrow morning. I’m wondering if the airport will be in working order by then. I don’t like to take chances with ice. Whenever it ices really bad and I'm suppose to fly, I remember the Air Florida plane crash of 1982 when the pilot decided to forego a second de-icing of the plane just prior to taking off from DCA. The plane went down just a mile after take off, hit a bridge, and landed in the frozen Potomac river.

Even though it's cold, snowy, and icy here, it's nothing like the snow that upstate New York has experienced recently. Now, that's a snow storm!

Incidents like this remind me of how fragile life is. We should strive to live and enjoy life every day. I find that too often I'm going through my routine without being aware--truly aware of what I'm doing or what's going on. Not good. Today, I ask that you join me to take time to focus and pay attention to the details of life that make us happy. Let's thank God for the blessings He has bestowed upon us. Let's tell our family and friends how much we love and appreciate them. I LOVE YOU! Let's show and share our joy. It's wonderfully contagious.

May many blessings come your way.

I'm felt a little overwhelmed today and out-of-balance. It started off with me being late to work. My trusty cell phone alarm wasn't working because it fell in a cup of water last night. I took the battery out, dried the parts, and let them all air dry overnight hoping to avert a disastrous end to my phone. I'm not sure I was successful.

Then there was a lot of crying from our youngest as I combed and brushed her hair before school. That's not my usual routine. I like to handle her hair on the weekends when we're not rushed. It's a blessing and a curse to have so much hair but to also be "tender-headed". Her hair looks so beautiful after a fresh fixing. It doesn't last long though. The fuzz and frizz returns by the afternoon. It'll be so much better once she is able to do her own hair like her older sister.

Hubby drove me to work since I missed the bus. I love getting rides to work but I don't like being late. Can you imagine hearing that from me? I've lost my work ID so I have to sign in as a visitor and it's a hassle to get through some of the secured doors. I need to get a replacement badge but I totally lost track of time today and before I knew it, the badge office was closed.

My main work this time of year is helping organize our annual national conference. That's quite hectic. It's not as stressful as it once was when I was the lead meeting planner. Now, I'm in a supporting role but it's still more than I expected in a supporting role. Even so, I'm just blessed to have the job I have and to work with wonderful people. However, this is still not what I feel I was meant to do. I am meant to do something creative. My job does not provide much opportunity to be creative. To help me through my days in the office, I've made my cubicle a colorful, inspiring, and energizing place for me. I'm surrounded by things that make me happy and that's good.

We're supposed to have this snow and ice storm rolling through the area tonight and tomorrow morning. I haven't seen much in the way of precipitation. I doubt that there'll be enough accumulation to cause a school delay or closure. It would take a near disaster for the feds to close. That hasn't happened for an extended time since around 1996 or so.

No word on my elder who's in the hospital. I should call cousin to get an update tomorrow. Take care.

Life and Death

I know that death is part of our lives. But, it doesn't make it easier to handle when it happens. I just got word that one of our elders plans to join the ancestors soon. She's 90 years old and is in the hospital. She has a number of old-age ailments, as expected. But, the most troubling part of this ordeal for me is that she has said she is ready to die. Wow, I'm not sure how to take that. That's incredible strength and courage. It's also sad--for me. I'm selfish and want all of those I love to stay around me forever. I know, however, that we'll meet again in heaven. Here's hoping she has a peaceful journey. She's definitely must have lived her purpose here with us.

Hugs.

My Paradigm Shift

I haven't taken any time to meditate on my word for 2007 -- dare. I have this on my to do list. I maybe even do an altered project using letters that spell out dare.

I've started Stacy Julian's Library of Memories online class at Big Picture Scrapbooking. It was a difficult decision to register for the class because it's pricey -- $85. I've read her book, The Big Picture... Scrapbook Your Life and a Whole Lot More , and found it was a paradigm shift for me. I was intrigued by her methods and approach to scrapbooking. I probably could figure out how to scrapbook her way in time using the book and her magazine, Simple Scrapbooks. But, I after reading some raving reviews from regular scrapbookers and deciding that I'd rather have a coach to focus me on my journey, I shelled out the $$. I hope it's worth it.

The first step in her method is to organize your pictures using her system. Man oh man this has been a lot of work. One of the hardest part has been to get off my keester and do the work! Next, was trying to find the organizational products at a price I was willing to pay. I finally got past both of these obstacles and I'm rolling. I bought all of the available albums that Michael's had and asked for a rain check. AC Moore didn't have any of these albums. I paid too much for them at Kohl's; I'm going to return those bad boys.

My studio disorganization is bothering me. I need some shelves to store the last stuff I want to include in my room. I'll probably have some put in my closet and some for my papers. But, I need to pace myself so I don't go broke trying to do it all at once. I still need to finish painting the bulk head (I think that's what it's called) and chalk and paint the inside of my closet. I'm just so happy to have my space I've gotten lazy about the finishing details.

Me and some friends got together and cropped a few weekends back. I'll post a picture later.

My word for the year

I was checking out Ali Edward's newsletter and she challenged readers to come up with a word for ourselves to use/meditate/help us through this year. I chose the word dare. This year I want to:

dare to dream ...
dare to step out of my zone ...
dare to pursue my dream ...
dare to do what's right ...
dare to live my dream ...

Yeah, I want to DARE. What would be your guiding word for 2007?

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I hope you had a safe and wonderful celebration. We did except for hubby. He had to work. Although he was hoping to get off early enough to join us, it didn't happen. I had to be satisfied with wishing him a happy new year over the phone.

One of our neighbors invited us over for a small, informal gathering of friends and their families. It was nice. My youngest had two younger children to play with but sometimes she played the baby of them all. We were all in the basement just hanging out. I decided to get some snacks upstairs and eventually the rest of the party moved upstairs as well.

I brought some spirits to share. I wanted to try something different so I asked the clerk for recommendations on a liquor that can be drank straight over ice. I picked limoncello creme (couldn't find a good image of this) as well as:

I also bought my fav red wine:

This is only red wine I could appreciate after years of trying this and that. I first had it while at Outback Steak House. I love that place. A friend of mine, who's into wine, recommended I try this:

It's good too. I ended up drinking a glass of limoncello over ice and then switching to diet A & W root beer. I'm not much of a drinker but I wanted to try that limoncello creme. It tastes like Bailey's Irish Creme but with a lemon flavor to it. Not my fav.

We ended up staying until around 2:00 am. I was really sleepy and had a big date the next day. It was time for our 11th annual girlfriends lunch at:

I love the ambience in this restaurant. The decor has whimsical, warm, old world feel. I love the look of plaster on the walls. It reminds me of the stucco homes in San Diego. And, the iron scroll work and light fixtures are to die for.

I wanted something light to eat but filling. The Cheesecake Factory has a large selection of the best food in HUGE portions. I ended up ordering the black bean soup for an appetizer and the Thai Lettuce Wraps for my entree. I thought the soup would be whole beans but it was pureed. Even so, it was delicious. The Thai Lettuce Wraps are messy to eat but hmmm, hmmm, good! I passed on getting cheesecake. It's blasphemous NOT order cheesecake while at the Cheesecake Factory. Yes, I was guilty but with good reason. There was a Cheesecake at my in-law's house plus I'm trying to return to adhering to my Weight Watcher's plan. I did bring Mike an meatloaf dinner for him to take to work. It was enough for him to eat for three meals!

Here are the lovely ladies who attended this year's event. Each year there is usually a core group consisting of 5 of us. Then year-to-year people come and go. Some come and stay a few years. We didn't start this with beginning a tradition in mind. But, over the years it grew on us; I look forward to our lunch every New Year's Day.

Afterwards, I headed over to my in-laws house for a visit and snack. My mother-in-law usually makes a nice Sunday dinner which always includes black-eyed peas. I had to get some of those for good luck.

Finally, I took my son downtown to view President Ford's body in state. Mikey isn't particularly a fan of President Ford. However, my son has an eye for historical events. As tired as I was, we drove downtown, parked 4 blocks away, and stood in line for about 1 1/2 hours to go past the casket for a few seconds. All-in-all it was worth it because I got to spend one-on-one time with my son, we were a part of an important historic event, and I have a liking for Gerald Ford, interestingly. Boy, it's nice living in the nation's capitol during these times.

At a conference I attended last year, Gerald Ford's son Steve was the keynote speaker during the luncheon. Here is Steve with his mother Betty. Betty has made great contributions to the nation as well.

Steve Ford was excellent speaker and I learned some surprising things about President Ford. He was a man of conviction, high moral standards, humility, and compassion. He was an a-typical politician because of those traits. What a wonderful and full life he must have lived those 93 years.