This Week's Inspiration

I was home from work again today (Friday). I went to the doctor last week and found I have a sinus infection. I've been on antibiotics and new asthma medicine. I woke up this morning with my sinuses pounding behind my forehead and eyes - especially the left side. I thought, at first it would subside and I'd be able to go to work. I took an ibuprofen with a glass of milk and started pushing myself through my morning routine. Not 5 minutes after taking the ibuprofen, it decided to leave it's comfy home in my belly. I hate throwing up! Hate it! I get all weepy and it freaks my dogs out. I went back to bed. Eric brought me the phone and left the dogs with me in the bedroom. I called in and left a message for my boss then fell asleep. I slept until noon, got up, let the dogs out, was still really dizzy and my head was still really pounding, so back to bed we all went. I got out of bed around 4:00 and crashed on the couch in the livining room. Head still pounding! I couldn't believe it. I lay there all evening and then at 7:45, it was gone - just like that! I looked at the clock because I was so surprised. 7:45 on the dot! Good as new.

That all said, I wanted to share a couple of videos. One, I've had in my training video arsinal for a while (the basketball one). The other, Derek showed to us at work this week.
This week we, at work were talking about people who move you to be better without that being their intention. I thought I would share the couple of videos we used to illustrate the point. The first is the video of Paul Potts from Brittain's Got Talent. The video has been circulating for a while now, but I like it. I love the way the judges see the unconfident man - they look at eachother waiting for the confirmation that this person should not be on stage. I find that I, too, am blown away by the emotion of his voice.


This video has also circulated around the internet, but I love it. I like the lesson it teaches about underestimating people and what they can do.

Marcus' First Birthday

Marcus was born on March 19, 2007 - he entered with world with a few health problems as a preemie. There were a few tense days for him as he clung to life and we as a family held steadfast to our faith and prayers.

He was transferred to the University of Utah's NBICU a few hours after he was born and there remained for nearly two weeks. Richard and Cynthia can still barely talk about it and the few thoughts or mentionings bring tears - we choose to stear our conversations away to the happier days that followed as Marcus gained his health.

Now, a year later, he is as healthy and active as any toddler. We celebrated his first birthday on the 20th. He dove into the frosting of the cake without an ounce of hesitation.



After transferring much of the frosting to his face and chest, Marcus was tired and sugar-loaded and needed a bath. He loves the water and played and giggled.



This was all very exciting by itself, but then Richard showed up with the new boat and the kids were beside themselves - climbing all over, pretending to drive, showing off. Richard was like a kid on Christmas morning - beaming at his favorite present. (And now we're forced to lose a few pounds so we can get up waterskiing rather than become an anchor, sinking straight to the bottom.)

Elise, Collin and Andrew

Happy Birthday to Marcus!!

Mom (Abuela), Marcus and me

Hello? Is Someone There?

I’ve been having the CRAZIEST nightmares again. I used to have them in high school and early 20’s but I they’ve subsided in recent years only to return last year. So Monday, March 17 – St Patrick’s Day – I was home sick. I took Eric to work because I wanted to have the car just in case I needed to go to the doctor.

When I got home, I lay down on the living room couch for about an hour and then decided to go let the dogs out from the basement. As I walked through my kitchen toward the back stairs, I had an eerie feeling and double checked that the back door was locked.

As I headed down the stairs, I saw immediately that Casey’s kennel was not in its rightful place (on top of Tamika’s kennel). As I got to the bottom of the stairs I saw his kennel at the other side of the room facing the back wall, on its side. My first thought was that as he was getting in or out of the kennel, it wobbled and fell off with him still in it and perhaps he moved it in a panic to get out. It seemed rather far from its correct location, but it seemed a stretch to feasibility.

Then I noticed that one of the doors to a room was opened. It’s the room that houses our computers and other office supplies. It wasn’t opened wide enough for any of the dogs to get into, but I know we shut it when we left.

I decided to call Eric and discuss this – to be sure we really did check the door. I was kind of creaped out as I stood in front of the fallen kennel (which was near the opened door). Eric answered the phone and I began to tell him of Casey’s kennel when the phone made a digital-like beep and then died. I looked at the phone, thinking the battery must be dead, but it was full charged and for the first time, the eeriness turned to fear.

I called Eric right back and as he answered, the curtain that hides the closet-sized room with the hot water heater and the furnace began to wave back and forth. At the same time my heart sank with that movement, Eric asked me if I had checked the locks and rooms for anybody.

I sank back against the wall as my imagination walked away with all rational thoughts and left me in a panic. A gazillion scenarios ran through my head. INTRUDER! But the dogs were fairly calm – shaken, no doubt about it, but calm. I opened all the doors in the basement in a fury to check that all was right. It’s odd what you see after this kind of fear. Little things seemed out of place – a book that I was sure was on my desk was now on the chair. The remote controls that are usually left in their pocket on the couch are left carelessly on the table. Little things.

Ultimately, I double checked the locks and decided upstairs was a safer bet, surrounded by my dogs. You have to get past them to get to me, right? So what I’d hoped as a restful recovery from my sinuses was a jumpy jittery day aware of ALL sounds in the neighborhood.
This was my daily shot:

Back to a typical week! Yeah!

The last few weeks have been so busy and crazy that it's nice to end a week looking back on a normal week. Nothing out of the ordinary. Sleep, work, come home and play video games or watch CSI or Law and Order on cable. Now it's Friday and it's my graveyard shift.

All of my 365 day pictures were done in my living room (not a lot of creativity) but I made myself laugh, so that's where it's at.




This one was just too funny! I was eating Thin Mints, thinking to myself, "what am I going to do for my daily shot?" It was late and I was ready to go to bed and hadn't considered what I would do. As I'm chomping on the cookies it hit me and I just laughed so hard when I saw the look on my face in this shot!

As a side note: this week EA announced that there will be a Sims 3 to be released next year. I have become an addict of the Sims and enjoy playing Sims 2. When I've had a run in with a fellow coworker or anybody really, I create them and then watch them drown, or get hit by a satelite or starve to death, or really any of the many forms of death in the game. President Bush has met the Grim Reaper multiple times.

Hopefully, Sims 3 will live up to the hype. March 19, EA will make the formal announcement on: http://thesims3.ea.com/
Some of the pictures that have been published:

The Oreo Cartoon

Sandy sent this to me and I found myself amused with the budget explanation. I have followed the presidential race (and elbowing, kicking and screaming). I would love to see some kind of real plan laid out by our candidates.

George's Funeral

At 4:25 a.m. on February 28, 2008, Eric's grandpa (Pop) passed away. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's not long after Eric and I started dating. The whole of my relationship with Eric, I have not seen George as he was prior to this terrible diagnosis.
Eric and I have joked that we are Romeo and Juliet in a Lisonbee and Irwin saga. Irwin Trucking competed for many of the same jobs as did Lisonbee Trucking (when it was around). When Eric and I first started dating, each of our families reacted the same way when we mentioned our last names: "Irwin! as in Irwin Trucking!?" "Lisonbee, as in Lisonbee trucking!?"
After a week of planning and travel arranging, the funeral was held on Friday (3/7/08) - it was cold and brisk, yet sunny and bright. George was burried at Camp Williams (which is a forever long drive out of Salt Lake).
It sounds silly, and maybe odd, but I was excited to see a military honors funeral - I'd never seen one (except on TV). Eric's cousins: Dusty and Darrell (who are in the Marines) and Ryan (who is in the Navy) were dressed in their formal uniforms and looked very nice.
Ryan's remarks at the funeral were most touching. He talked about George's early life and how rough it was. What stuck me most (and by the gasps and sobs in the audience, I wasn't alone) was what most of us want: for our parents to be proud of what we've become. Ryan spoke of George's concern for making his father proud.

At the interment, I was touched as taps was played, the flag was folded and the flags were presented to George's children. I had held it together pretty well until I saw Eric - he presented the flag to his dad and had seen the look in his dad's eyes and he (Eric) faltered and it broke my heart. Just as it was coming to an end, the three trucks from Irwin Trucking that had come to Camp Williams all honked their horns as a final salute and farewell to George.
I found that I was deeply touched by the family which claims little emotions as they expressed their own love and honor to their father and grandfather.