Holidays are here. Why are we in a HURRY?

Jeff holding Madison at her Christmas

party with her 1st grade class.

Christmas is less than a week away. My kids are officially out for the "Winter Break". They are stoked and ready for Santa to arrive. They have been plotting on how they are going to stay up late so they can see him come down the chimney.

This break will be nice. We will get plenty of quality family time together. The kids will play with their friends, ride bikes, share stories about their days, use their imagination and play like the day will never end. These are the memories I want them to hold close to their heart. I still remember being excited about Christmas as a little kid and see it through their eyes every year now.

Life goes fast but in the grand scheme of things, it is but a blip in our family history. When we reach a certain age, life goes faster. I hope this message reaches you and reminds you to stop and savor the moment. Whether it is eating a meal, remember to truly taste the flavors and admire the time and effort that went into the preparation. Give thanks to others for the little things. And look up into the sky and know that we are a tiny spec in this larger universe. 

Today, I am asking you to slow down and savor the moment. Lock it into your memory. Recall it for a time when you find yourself exhausted. Put perspective into your life and you will reflect what you want to attract.

Item #1212 Hug tightly to those that mean something to you. Smile at strangers to encourage them to smile back. Be good. Do good.

I love your guts!

9/11

Growing up, I never knew anything about how devastating it was to lose a beloved leader, JFK. I did not know the tension of Vietnam war or first hand experience of Civil Rights movement. People older than me impacted by these named events told me that in my lifetime I would never know anything that would rock me to my core like these events. I felt lucky that I did not and would know of these events from those who witness or experienced them first hand. 

Fast forward from the mid-eighties to Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001. I had an early morning doctor appointment downtown Austin to do lab work at my gynecologist's office. My husband had taken our son to elementary school that morning and took off to work. I was coming out of the lab into the waiting room and heard some of the ladies behind the desk rustling around with nervousness. I did not know what they heard on the radio. I walked out and got into my car to drive to the office, thirty minutes away. I always had my radio on and had the volume down that morning. I usually listened to music but there was no music. I heard DJs talking and thought to myself, 'Be quiet and play music'. When I turned it up, the DJ said they had breaking news. First thing that came to mind was a traffic jam or terrible wreck. Little did I know that they were about to tell me news that was utterly unbelievable. Simply stated was all they know is that a plane hit a building in New York City. I heard the nervousness in their voice and it was weird. The closer I got to the office, the more they began to describe what they knew and saw on cable television. When they said this at first, all I thought was that a commuter plane lost sense of direction because of visibility, because all I knew about downtown NYC is that it was near the water. Since it was an early September morning, I had rationalized what happened and not sure why this would be breaking news. I was a few exits away from work and they said, "America is under attack. A commercial airplane was flown into the World Trade Center." Hearing this statement burned into my mind and my heart sank. I immediately got my phone and called my husband to know if he heard the same thing. When I got through to him, he said yes. I trembled and was terrified to hear this news and did not know what I should do knowing this information. He said, go to the office and stay there. I immediately thought about the safety of our son. Again, my husband assured me that he was safe at school. 

Finally, I pulled into the office parking lot and immediately asked people if they heard the news. Nobody knew what I was talking about. We went on the Internet and found NO NEWS. I kept going around asking if anyone knew this was happening. I went to my director and other leaders I knew in the office. They said to go to our conference room and turn on the cable television. I rallied my co-workers to gather around the television and watch the news. As we watched, everyone was paralyzed with disbelief. Then, the second plane hit the second tower. I screamed! The air left the room and we could not believe what we were seeing. I began crying and called the elementary school to check on my child. They were on lock down and said kids were going to be sent home on time. Since my child was a car rider, I wanted to go get him. Hug him and burrow in our home. I left the office. Got my child. Took him home and explained what I knew. He had always been a curious child and we had complete transparency to the truth. He wasn't as engaged and wanted to read his books. I understand that he did not get the event, but he was living through history.

Tomorrow morning, I will hold my breath and pray for those impacted by this horrific event in our country's history. I will probably do this every year until I can no longer breathe. I have done this since 2002. 

Today, I hold life, family and friends close. I am blessed every day that I wake up and my feet hit the ground. 

I love your guts.

Meditation...a goal

I am not doing well on my goal to meditate, even three minutes a day. I have to put it into my daily schedule to stop. Be silent. And listen to my heartbeat and open my mind. Even three minutes is enough, if you make time. I am so inconsistent lately and it makes me a little nuts. I am sure it makes those around me a bit nuts, too.

Today, I will begin scheduling time to meditate until it becomes part of my daily routine. Be good. Do good. Get good.

I love your guts!

Sweat. Push. Live.

Since last June, I have consistently worked out with a group of Divas from work. We started the commitment with a few of us being breast cancer survivors and the additional two Divas supported our journey to fight to be fit. I am the last survivor standing, along with my Diva sisters that support me. However, we all support each other and have grown to learn more about each other and meet our personal fitness goals. This morning, our trainer was out of town, but she sent us a workout for us to do. We got the hour of time in and got our sweat on in full force. These ladies have been here to support me and watch me change over the last twelve months. I am lucky to have them not judge me for not looking spunky every morning at 6:30. They are there to push me to do better and we love to laugh and question some of these "made up" exercises. Everything is in good fun. 

The last fourteen months, I learned to be more aware of how much of being a survivor is living and embracing the moment and to laugh through the sweaty times.

I love your guts!