For those who know us, it is no surprise that we are traveling all over this summer and that our travel plans are a little on the crazy side. But this year it is turning out to be more crazy than normal.
Let's back track a bit...
April 7th, 2012
I received a call from my brother, Bob. My Mom and Dad had been in a car wreak. Mom was fine however, Dad was in the hospital and the car was totaled. My brother sounded so stressed. My parents live a good 45 minutes from Kansas City which is where my brother lives and the hospital.
After talking with him more and my husband, we decided that I could go help out. My youngest is in an online school so we could simply take his school work with us. We already had plans for Spring Leadership in Spokane, WA April 20th, so I would leave after that.
April 25th, 2012
Jared and I take off driving toward Kansas. We arrive on the 27th. Dad was doing well in rehab however, it was taking a long time for him to get his strength back. For pictures of that trip click on this facebook link: First Kansas Trip
May 3rd - 6th, 2012
Jacob drives to and from Colorado Springs, CO to train at the Olympic Training Center.
May 14th, 2012
Dad gets out of rehab and we head home with a short stop in western Kansas to visit my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Joel and Becky and mother-in-law, Norma Jane. We arrive home on May 16th. The yard is a 8" high, the koi pond and pool are both green... YUK!
May18th, 2012
Jeff comes home to Phoenix for the weekend and we attend a family friend's wedding. John went to Florida for his friend's wedding. Jacob goes to Speed Skating Regionals in Citrus Heights, CA.
May 22nd, 2012
My brother calls, Dad took a tumble and fell. He is back in the hospital for observation.
May 23rd, 2012
They send Dad to the Heart Institute, he didn't fall, it actually was his heart. His implanted defibulator went off while he was home. He isn't expected to make it through the night. We decide for me to fly back ASAP.
May 24th, 2012
I fly back to KC and arrive at the hospital mid afternoon. My nieces, sister and brother are all there with my mother. They decide to move Dad out of the ICU and into comfort care. Dad had signed a DNR the day before. John helped Jared finish his last 3 days of school! Which wasn't a small task, he still had 3 major projects to finish and submit. The sitting in the hospital continued for 4 days. Dad was alert, aware and talkative. He wasn't in any pain so he wasn't on any pain meds. At 3am on Memorial Day morning, Dad's heart finally gave out.
May 28th, 2012
Mom and I go back to the farm and begin the week of planning.
June 1st, 2012
Jacob flies from San Jose, CA and meets up with Jeff in Phoenix. They fly to KC. John is a groomsman in a wedding on June 2nd. After the wedding, John, Jordan and Jared start driving to Kansas.
June 3rd, 2012
Dad's memorial service. Three of the boys were still on the road, they miss the service but arrive at the farm in time to see some family.
June 4th, 2012
Dad's internment in Ft. Scott National Cemetary, with full military honors. He was a WWII vet, you can go to the link to see the memorial video and obit: William Reynolds Obit
John, Jordan, Jacob and Jared all take off driving for Phoenix.
June 5th, 2012
Jeff and I fly back to Phoenix.
June 7th, 2012
Jacob flies back to San Jose, CA. and it's my birthday... oh ya, the pool is green AGAIN!
Now time to plan our summer travels!!!
I'm living on the eighth day, right now!
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
The Disney World
The first day there we sat down front for the Fantasmic show. I just LOVE that show!! It's all about using your imagination and good beating evil. There we were, crammed in with a bunch of people watching as Mickey kicked the witch's butt, the music soared and out came the Mark Twain with Steam Boat Willy at the helm and the crowd roared!!! Instantly, we weren't black, white or Hispanic, Christian; Muslim or Jew; Asian, European or American; liberal, conservative, democrat or republican; we were all little children excited to cheer on Mickey!
It occurred to me that Disney is an entirely different world. In an increasingly volatile world, the "Happiest Place on Earth" is an oasis on non-violence. Aside from some of the rides, pirates fighting, Brier fox tying up Brier rabbit, and of course the eternal battle of Pan vs Hook; the most volatile thing is a cranky baby who is waaay past due for their nap. There is a unity of childhood wonder that over takes everyone who enters and brings a smile to your face.
There was the large, I mean 300 lb large, gangster. He was tatted on every spare inch of skin, including his shaved head, and huge gages in his ears, very scary looking dude. Something was so sweet to see him trying to squeeze into the itty bitty car on the Pinocchio ride. As his excited precious little 2 year old princess, literally, she was dressed as a little Disney princess, urged him to, "hurry up daddy"! Can't help but smile at the scene!
Then there was the grumpy teenager who obviously was NOT happy about having to wait in line with his little sister in order to "see" Minnie. When it came to their turn, Minnie held her arms open wide, the little girl ran to her. After a big bear hug, Minnie motioned to the teen to come over and get a hug. For an ever so brief moment, the chip on the kid's shoulder fell off, he relented and gave Minnie a hug. He couldn't help himself and broke into a huge grin. I hope his parents were quick with the camera because it didn't last long.
Finally, how about the boat load of strangers, who were just soaked from a plunge down Splash Mountain. As they are laughing and happily singing along to Zippty Do Dah, look up to see the passing train. They wave and the train load of strangers smile and wave back! In what world does this happen? In Disney's world, that's where! I think it was because, that train full of people knew what had just happened to us and why we were laughing. It was a unity of shared experiences.
As we hear so much about bigotry and division in America and the world, how is it that we all come together at Disney? Maybe it is that we all have that childlike wonder in us no matter how old we are. I believe that's what the Bible calls "childlike faith". We all want to believe that good always beats evil, that there is good in all of us (except Disney villains). To understand that we are all more alike than different. Laughter has no language! How could we change the world if we noticed good, if we were excited, cheered, smiled, hugged, waved and laughed with strangers? We should all strive to bring a little Disney into the real world because (everyone sing along) "it's a small world after all!"
I'm living on the eighth day, right now!
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Merry Christmas Video
It was a year of travels, Inline races, Disneyland, and Field trips.
Jeff is still working in Long Beach, CA. John is still at home in Phoenix, although he manages to stay out of most pictures! Jordan is finishing up his Associates Degree in Dance at Scottsdale Community College. He is working as a professional dancer, teaching and as a member of Conder Dance. In July, Jacob moved in with his speedskating coach in San Jose, CA. He is finishing up his Senior year and skating full time. Jared attends Connections Academy, an on line charter school. He joined the AZR Ascenders Rock Climbing Team this fall. I'm living on the eighth day, right now!
Merry Christmas and a Happy Blessed New Year!
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
New Year, New Blog
Well, I haven't posted in a very long time.
To give an update, I have pretty much stayed on track with my daily tasks. I'm a little lacking on eating enough fruits and veggies but I have added yoga to my exercise routine. I obviously haven't been posting my updates. The rest I have pretty much kept on track with while adding a few more goals as well! Looking back at my previous posts, I can see the slight edge at work in my life.
The sub-title for this blog no longer applies:
This is a personal journal tracking my Goals and Daily Disciplines for 2010! Feel free to look up different topics but if you want to follow my "journey" I recommend starting at the beginning.
I will also be removing my checklist, I'm keeping track of my daily disciplines on my mobile device. It's more readily available and it reminds me of my "TO DOs".
However, this blog will still be my thoughts on my journey of improving everyday through the slight edge principle. Along the way there will be random thoughts and general news and information.
I'm living on the eighth day, right now!
To give an update, I have pretty much stayed on track with my daily tasks. I'm a little lacking on eating enough fruits and veggies but I have added yoga to my exercise routine. I obviously haven't been posting my updates. The rest I have pretty much kept on track with while adding a few more goals as well! Looking back at my previous posts, I can see the slight edge at work in my life.
The sub-title for this blog no longer applies:
This is a personal journal tracking my Goals and Daily Disciplines for 2010! Feel free to look up different topics but if you want to follow my "journey" I recommend starting at the beginning.
I will also be removing my checklist, I'm keeping track of my daily disciplines on my mobile device. It's more readily available and it reminds me of my "TO DOs".
However, this blog will still be my thoughts on my journey of improving everyday through the slight edge principle. Along the way there will be random thoughts and general news and information.
I'm living on the eighth day, right now!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Why can’t men vacuum?
Those who are friends on facebook know that we have recently done some upgrades to our yard. By June we finally had enough grass that required a lawn mower. So the weekend of my birthday my husband bought ME a lawn mower. IT WAS NOT A BIRTHDAY PRESENT! He bought it for me because he is still working as a consultant in Long Beach, CA.
Mowing the lawn is an entirely new experience for me. I grew up in the country and we did mow the 5 acres around our house, mowing was my dad’s job. Although, I do recall my mother hopping on the riding mower once in a while but it was definitely a parent job not a kid job. When I left my parent's house I was in college and then I got married so any lawn I had, my husband took care of. It is just the way we settled into our household chores. I got laundry, he got yard. Although THAT is not a fair comparison, I HATE doing laundry and he loves working on the yard. It’s the farmer in him.
We got an electric lawn mower, a pretty cherry red one (STILL NOT A PRESENT). Our yard is so small that a riding mower would be ridiculous. A person would spend more time turning around than mowing. It made me think of Rosanne’s “Domestic Goddess” routine when she said she would do housework when they made a riding vacuum cleaner. (first vacuuming thought)
Even though I haven’t mowed lawns before, I remember watching my dad go back & forth in a pretty pattern. I also frequently would be outside doing other yard work when Jeff mowed and for some reason weed eating became my job. So I’m not a complete yard novice. However, adding the electric factor makes a difference when figuring out the best pattern method, you have a cord to contend with. There is also the tree and pool slide to maneuver around. It has taken me four or five times to figure out which patterns work best. The backyard was easiest just the outside edges were odd shapes but the front had the tree and phone trunk line box (why is it in OUR yard?).
Yesterday, as I finally found the exact right pattern for the front yard, I thought how much it was like vacuuming. Cord management is a large part, covering the area efficiently and getting around obstacles. I know that men take pride in their lawns and mowing techniques. It made me think, “Why can men vacuum better?” I know the few times that I asked my husband to vacuum, he just did a willy nilly starburst type thing in the middle of the room.
As a reminder, I live in a house of ALL boys, four sons in all, which brings me to another question, “With an all male household, why is mom the one doing the yard work?”
I'm living on the eighth day, right now!
Mowing the lawn is an entirely new experience for me. I grew up in the country and we did mow the 5 acres around our house, mowing was my dad’s job. Although, I do recall my mother hopping on the riding mower once in a while but it was definitely a parent job not a kid job. When I left my parent's house I was in college and then I got married so any lawn I had, my husband took care of. It is just the way we settled into our household chores. I got laundry, he got yard. Although THAT is not a fair comparison, I HATE doing laundry and he loves working on the yard. It’s the farmer in him.
We got an electric lawn mower, a pretty cherry red one (STILL NOT A PRESENT). Our yard is so small that a riding mower would be ridiculous. A person would spend more time turning around than mowing. It made me think of Rosanne’s “Domestic Goddess” routine when she said she would do housework when they made a riding vacuum cleaner. (first vacuuming thought)
Even though I haven’t mowed lawns before, I remember watching my dad go back & forth in a pretty pattern. I also frequently would be outside doing other yard work when Jeff mowed and for some reason weed eating became my job. So I’m not a complete yard novice. However, adding the electric factor makes a difference when figuring out the best pattern method, you have a cord to contend with. There is also the tree and pool slide to maneuver around. It has taken me four or five times to figure out which patterns work best. The backyard was easiest just the outside edges were odd shapes but the front had the tree and phone trunk line box (why is it in OUR yard?).
Yesterday, as I finally found the exact right pattern for the front yard, I thought how much it was like vacuuming. Cord management is a large part, covering the area efficiently and getting around obstacles. I know that men take pride in their lawns and mowing techniques. It made me think, “Why can men vacuum better?” I know the few times that I asked my husband to vacuum, he just did a willy nilly starburst type thing in the middle of the room.
As a reminder, I live in a house of ALL boys, four sons in all, which brings me to another question, “With an all male household, why is mom the one doing the yard work?”
I'm living on the eighth day, right now!
Sunday, June 27, 2010
A Mother’s Worry
As I mentioned in a couple of posts my 16 year old, Jacob has been having cardiac tests. Their concern was that he had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or HCM. This is a congenital condition of an extra thick heart muscle. The most common symptom of this undiagnosed condition is SCD or Sudden Cardiac Death! Great! Just what a mother wants to hear. The cardiologist helped some, he seemed to think that Jacob was just EXTRA healthy. Did I mention that he is a nationally competitive speed skater? He trains very extensively. That’s actually how we got him checked; his coach noticed that he got light headed frequently.
The cardiologist was pretty sure that he just had a super healthy heart and a strong vagal nerve. The vagal nerve is what controls our heart rate. We can learn to stimulate our vagal nerve through bio-feedback and breathing exercises. This would actually explain a lot. Through Jacob’s training we have had a hard time getting him to maintain a high heart rate. It seems as soon as he stops he heart rate returns to normal very quickly. He has actually had coaches not believe that he had skated his hardest when he could talk calmly within 1 minute.
Still the cardiologist wanted to do a stress test and an echocardiogram, just to check. The stress test seemed to show that he was good. They managed to increase his heart rate normally. Everything looked good. The echo would just confirm that everything was ok. Then we didn’t hear for almost two weeks!!!
Finally the call came, “we need to schedule an appointment to discuss abnormalities in his echo”. What? Jacob was leaving in two days to train for Indoor Nationals; he would be back for the Fourth of July, then gone again for more training and Outdoor Nationals until August. What “abnormalities”? Does this affect his training? His life? They had no answers and left a message for the doctor. He didn’t call back until the next day. THAT was a stressful 24 hours! Jacob has two congenital heart defects, a bicuspid aortic artery and a mitral valve prolapsed. Basically, one valve has only two flaps, when there should be three and the other valve has a floppy flap. The only time that these can be dangerous is in an un-healthy person. He may be more likely to have heart disease later in life if he doesn’t practice a healthy heart lifestyle.
All of the sudden God’s blessings became clear. Because he is an athlete we were able to discover this now AND he already lives that healthy lifestyle. He will probably always have a cardiologist to check on him on a regular basis. He may or may not need heart surgery as an old man but that is many, MANY years from now. So he is cleared for training as hard as he wants or I should say as hard as his coaches want and we will meet with the cardiologist in August to find out more details but for now, a mother’s worry is calmed!
I'm living on the eighth day, right now!
The cardiologist was pretty sure that he just had a super healthy heart and a strong vagal nerve. The vagal nerve is what controls our heart rate. We can learn to stimulate our vagal nerve through bio-feedback and breathing exercises. This would actually explain a lot. Through Jacob’s training we have had a hard time getting him to maintain a high heart rate. It seems as soon as he stops he heart rate returns to normal very quickly. He has actually had coaches not believe that he had skated his hardest when he could talk calmly within 1 minute.
Still the cardiologist wanted to do a stress test and an echocardiogram, just to check. The stress test seemed to show that he was good. They managed to increase his heart rate normally. Everything looked good. The echo would just confirm that everything was ok. Then we didn’t hear for almost two weeks!!!
Finally the call came, “we need to schedule an appointment to discuss abnormalities in his echo”. What? Jacob was leaving in two days to train for Indoor Nationals; he would be back for the Fourth of July, then gone again for more training and Outdoor Nationals until August. What “abnormalities”? Does this affect his training? His life? They had no answers and left a message for the doctor. He didn’t call back until the next day. THAT was a stressful 24 hours! Jacob has two congenital heart defects, a bicuspid aortic artery and a mitral valve prolapsed. Basically, one valve has only two flaps, when there should be three and the other valve has a floppy flap. The only time that these can be dangerous is in an un-healthy person. He may be more likely to have heart disease later in life if he doesn’t practice a healthy heart lifestyle.
All of the sudden God’s blessings became clear. Because he is an athlete we were able to discover this now AND he already lives that healthy lifestyle. He will probably always have a cardiologist to check on him on a regular basis. He may or may not need heart surgery as an old man but that is many, MANY years from now. So he is cleared for training as hard as he wants or I should say as hard as his coaches want and we will meet with the cardiologist in August to find out more details but for now, a mother’s worry is calmed!
I'm living on the eighth day, right now!
More Thoughts on Life
We have been having beautiful weather here in Phoenix. May was gorgeous and it stayed beautiful for the first half of June. I had a wonderful birthday day. My husband, Jeff, was home for the weekend and stayed over for my actual birthday (on a Monday). My whole family was here, which is rare, usually my boys are going in four different directions. My daddy called to wish me a happy birthday. It’s a long story but I haven’t spoken to my parents for many years so it was a HUGE present to get to talk to him. We talked for an hour and what a joy to hear that they are doing well. My parents are in their mid 80s so it has been a constant concern of mine. Then I received over 60 birthday wishes on facebook. What another joy! Finally, we went out to dinner at “The Melting Pot” which is a fondue restaurant. It is almost dinner AND entertainment. Three hours of talking, dipping, cooking, laughing, it was sooo much fun!
Because of the weather I have been hiking a lot for my exercise. Sunday, June 13th, I was hiking with my prayer partner. It was beautiful blue sky, a lovely breeze and we were able to pray together and praise God on the top of a mountain. On the way home, my cousin, Kay, called me. My Uncle’s wife Donna had passed away. What? I couldn’t have heard her right. Donna was this energetic, active, healthy lady. When we stayed with them last summer she hiked my tail off. How? As I broke the news to the rest of my family, each replied with, “What?” It was mind boggling. I went a little numb. All the joy and hope I had been feeling just sort of drained from me. My poor uncle, to have found love again after my aunt passed, then for her to be so suddenly taken from him. Thank God for our faith. Donna was a Godly woman so we know that she and Jesus are rejoicing at her homecoming. All I could think of was the line in a song, “… life is precious, life is sweet…” The joy I was feeling that week was replaced with melancholy. Life goes by like a blink of an eye. Lord, help me to make the most of every single moment!!!
I'm living on the eighth day, right now!
Because of the weather I have been hiking a lot for my exercise. Sunday, June 13th, I was hiking with my prayer partner. It was beautiful blue sky, a lovely breeze and we were able to pray together and praise God on the top of a mountain. On the way home, my cousin, Kay, called me. My Uncle’s wife Donna had passed away. What? I couldn’t have heard her right. Donna was this energetic, active, healthy lady. When we stayed with them last summer she hiked my tail off. How? As I broke the news to the rest of my family, each replied with, “What?” It was mind boggling. I went a little numb. All the joy and hope I had been feeling just sort of drained from me. My poor uncle, to have found love again after my aunt passed, then for her to be so suddenly taken from him. Thank God for our faith. Donna was a Godly woman so we know that she and Jesus are rejoicing at her homecoming. All I could think of was the line in a song, “… life is precious, life is sweet…” The joy I was feeling that week was replaced with melancholy. Life goes by like a blink of an eye. Lord, help me to make the most of every single moment!!!
I'm living on the eighth day, right now!
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