Just another regular day in Las Vegas at the Linq

I live in a place where unusual things are commonplace.  For instance we were recently having lunch at the Sugar Factory inside the Paris when across the street .....

 The water show started at the Bellagio....just another lunch....just another day.

When I was invited to tour "The Linq" I couldn't wait to go.  The fabulous Tabitha Fiddyment counsel for the Linq has been working on this project for a long, long time.  Love her, love her project.  Don't you love the hats?

It is quite an amazing place, one road (formerly an alley) Filled with shops from everywhere.  From Sprinkles to Hat shops, candy shops, restaurants a bowling alley and every other unusual and fun shop you could imagine.  All on this redesigned, saved from ugly, space. It was a delivery alley between 2 hotels...genius!!

Ray Ray loves construction sights!!

And it all leads to the largest ferris wheel in the world. In the world!!   Look at that pod!!  Each pod holds 40 people and there are 22 pods. (how many times can you say pod in one sentence?) The ride lasts 30 about minutes and will run 16 hours a day.  About $30 a ride they are secure their investment will work out....

It is another great project in Las Vegas, a place where the sky is never the limit....especially when the high rollers from Asia come by.

Back to the car past the Flamingos....at the Flamingo....

I think it is Paris...well, almost

This is where I am supposed to go in my head when I get nuts...just saying.

So the news is good...Jane Davis my organizing guru returned today.  And lets just say she was thrilled.  May I repeat that?  Thrilled.  

I don't think you are grasping the enormity of this....a woman who understands organizing, considered my efforts and deemed me a success.  Gasp!!

She confided that she didn't think I would do it...or could do it.    Not sure which one she chose.  Any way I cleaned out 5 drawers of stuff....going through it was like rings on a tree. I found things I hadn't even thought about for years.  It was interesting and it took 3 days.  I am not happy with how slowly I churned through it, but slow and steady wins the race, right?  I threw out tons of written things that are easily found on the computer and realized no one needs that many pencils. I discovered tape, paste and dry erase markers have a shelf life and I spent half a day looking at ancient pictures.

I also found 13 cents.

Then I tackled the book shelves.  They really are just a big scrap book.  Besides my books, which take up a lot of room, I have all my families pictures on top of them to the side of them and in front of them.   

It's a good room. 

I only got rid of books I had already read or just didn't need, for instance why do I have a 1984 writers manual?

My desk was heaped....and for some reason that took forever.  Getting organized has it's hiccups.  I would walk around it, like it was a waste dump.  It felt toxic.  That took forever. But then I found some ways to have some fun with it, I cleared off several shelves next to my desk, and then just sat there.  What do I need?  That has been my problem, if I need scissors I have to hunt for them....and stamps....post its...the only thing that was right where it always is is the scotch tape.  So I put everything next to the scotch tape and promised myself I would put everything back where I found it.  Maybe I could velcro it to the shelf.  

This is right next to my chair...it is still intense, but handy.  The printer is on the bottom, above that a 3 tier paper organizer thing, my calendar, all the office supplies I need.  And they won't move from this spot.  I found a small silver cup to put stamps in.  A basket for the post it notes, a container for all the computer things... a shelf for the calculator, pictures of my kids, and a magnifying glass.  And it was my goal to find the most unusual containers I could find...all around my house.

  

My pens are in one place, my calendar.....a fun little desk container for my notes.  I feel so much more confident and capable.  I have a stack of books to trade or give away and 4 count them 4 empty drawers.

Jane gave me my next assignment, separating bills.  I told her my avoidance problem, my finances are weak so bills make me apprehensive...but if I incorporate the wisdom of my dear friend Valerie, we attract what we fear.  Attracting poverty seems counterintuitive, so I plunge ahead.

She is going to find a form for mileage...caterers drive a lot

Date the receipts.

Clear out the file cabinet, since it is filled with files 5 years old it is as helpful as the 4 huge drawers of "stuff".

Now I have room....

I really don't want to be like those people on hoarders, they get their homes organized and then they go right back to how they were before.

So I have the queen to watch over me and make sure I don't slide.

She is a gift from my friend Betsey who knows I need someone with authority to keep me in line.  So she stands next to my computer and waves at me.  Her purse has a solar power thing on it.

The Queen would never tolerate clutter.

I will be good.....

It Should Be Paris

It should be Paris but it isn't....It is clutter 1,2,3 and 4.

No this isn't a resolution, this is reality....fixing my unorganized mess. It has been impossible to find anything and very hard to do business.  I do everything at this desk and it has been a frustrating ball of tangled yarn getting anything accomplished.

When I realized I needed an intervention I called Jane Davis, who is to organization what Philo Farnsworth is to television.  Jane came over and surveyed the whole situation, because I really wanted help I remained ego-less and simply hopeful there was a solution.  I didn't cringe when she saw just how overwhelmed I was with paper and stuff, I just wanted a road map.

First she told me I wasn't a hoarder and she had seen much, much worse.  Jane is an extremely patient person and wasn't critical.  She explained to me how many offices and homes she had organized and how much better they ran after a few simple steps.  Easy Peasey.

Then she said something I had to hear in order to go forward....."Time is money".  Jane told me about a law firm she started with that basically operated out of a bedroom and is now 18 attorneys.  She attributes a great deal of their success with the organization she instituted in their office.  As she surveyed my mess she told me the hard truth, it is impossible to do business when you don't know where anything is.  Time is wasted looking for things that should be within an arm's reach.  I know this is true when I would think about all the times I wrote notes on anything I could, envelopes, scraps of paper and open books when I couldn't find my note pad.  I would search endlessly for my calendar which would be at the bottom of the bills, or in the kitchen, dining room or even one time my car.  I know I lost business just because I was so unorganized.

Here are the simple steps she asked me to do this week.

1.) Accept change.  That is actually the hardest part, but I have to make our business work, so I will change.  Done

2.) Clear off the desk....of everything....some things can be added back, but for now a clear surface

3.) Clear out the bookshelves next to my desk, I can put files there....or things that have something to do with work and not art books, unfiled papers and broken scot tape containers

4.) Get containers...the chest above was filled with papers I hadn't looked at in 5 years, and that chest can be used for the business files.  Space is important, stuff isn't.
Stuff falls into 3 categories, possessions (accumulated stuff) Treasures (things you love that cannot be replaced) Keepsakes (things people have given you that you really don't care about but you keep them in case your Aunt comes by and looks for lamp she gave you).  So I went through the chest and didn't have to decide about a lot of things, I could just put them in the clear container - has to be clear so that you see what it is right away.  And I could go through it on a Sunday afternoon, no pressure.  It actually took away some angst I would experience when trying to decide to keep something or not.

She also told me to get rid of anything that can be replaced for less than $50.  You know what you say, "I might need this one day"  And maybe you will, but when a whole cupboard is filled with things you might use, then it is just clutter.

I have one week to get this done and she is coming back to help me with the next step.  She isn't coming to check on me, she is coming to implement the next step.  No pressure, nothing hanging over my head.  She was very persuasive in her approach in helping me understand what I will gain from organization.

Control....Ease....Satisfaction....Comfort

I don't believe in complete control, things always occur, but I will have a much better picture of what needs to be done.  And I will be able to find it.  I have to put things I use in the same place every time.  Every time.  Just a few steps will give me the tools I need.  One thing Martha Stewart always says, use the best tool for the job.

Back to work, Paris is under here somewhere...

"I am too old for this!!"

So how many times have you heard this?

"I am too old for this"

I have heard it a lot, mostly in my head.  When I started this journey I began to ponder the words I used.  The catastrophic things I say are just empty words with little or no worth, said out of frustration. And besides, what am I too old for, other than being Miss Texas?  I really wanted to be miss Texas when I was little with big hair and a fabulous accent.  I was even the crown bearer for the Miss Water Festival pageant.  I wore a cute little bathing suit with a sash that said "Miss Water Festival 1971".  The winner went on to the Miss Houston pageant which feeds right into the Miss Texas pageant.  I was 8.  I was never even a real Miss Water Festival much less Miss Texas, so today I am too old for that.  Nuts.


Too old for Astronaut, Swat and Seal teams too.

When do you hear "I am too old for this, or I don't deserve this" the most?  You know when, when you are ticked and don't want to do whatever it is you are doing that you think you are too old for.
It's not like age is some line on a wall like a height requirement at Disneyland.  You really aren't too old if truth be told, you just don't want to be doing whatever it is you are doing.
Right?
Examples.....
I am too old to be raising children - a friend who is raising her grandchildren is chasing toddlers at 60.
I am too old to take care of my elderly parents in their dotage....I am a almost senior citizen, right?
I am too old to be taking care of my husband/wife who is sick.
I am too old to be working full time with no retirement in sight.
I am too old to get divorced.

Granted none of those things sound fun, mostly because we want Nirvana.  We want to be planning endless delightful trips, getting our nails done, eating food with no possible chance of gaining weight, and spending an afternoon a week with spotless grandchildren.  No shame here, it's what's called the natural man syndrome.  The natural man is always looking for the easy way out....let's find the easy button!  But since life doesn't have an easy button, how do we handle the disappointment of the reality of life?
Or better yet how do we answer the age old question...

"I don't deserve this."

No worries, you don't have to confess that you have at least thought that a few hundred times...after all we live in a world with a bunch of air brushed women and blue pilled men all youth worshipping.  It's easy to  measure your life against the make believe lives and come up wanting.  But it isn't real.  Stop comparing your life with a shadow on the wall that is taller and thinner than you.  It isn't real.
The home magazines?  Staged.  Women magazines?  Vogue, 17, Allure, Mademoiselle, Glamour...all air brushed and staged.
Here's another, Martha Stewart has a staff.  She doesn't do everything on that dumb calendar in the front of her magazine alone....she staffs it out.  She wants you to do that crap alone while she pulls on her waders and strolls down a beach in the Hamptons.  Read it all if you want, take an idea or two from them, but don't buy into their definition of beauty or success.  It isn't real....

And get rich quick schemes, anything done too quickly, doesn't work.  Slow and steady wins the race.  The turtle not the rabbit...If there is something you really want you are going to have to tough it out, put in the time and be patient. The adversary (whatever that is for you) wants you to buy into thinking everything has to be done quickly because then you will be disappointed when quick doesn't work and he wins by making you miserable.  Did you see Saving Mr.Banks?  Walt Disney tried for 20 years to get permission from the lovable P.L. Travers to make Mary Poppins into a movie.  20 years!!  Slow and steady won that race for sure!!

Here is the truth...listen up.  Everyone has a problem, everyone.  A wise man once said, "treat everyone as though they have had the worst day of their life and you will be right 50% of the time."  The worst thing is thinking, "I am the only one this has happened to, everyone else in the world has life wired and I am the only one with financial problems, the only one with marriage problems, children problems.  The adversary wants to single you out as the only one.  It makes it easy for him to get you to feel like a failure if you think you are the only one with the problem, right?  Reality is you aren't the best little kid on the block, but you aren't the worst either.  The best way to be unhappy is to think about yourself too much.  Do you see how many times I have used the letter "I"?  I am too old, I don't deserve this....I need better boobs, I need less lines on my face, I need to be in love, I need to be alone, I need, I need, I need......I I I I I.

Stop it...that's right, stop it.  it is as easy as that....trust me and realize that happiness is a choice.
So make a better choice.  It's a choice to save the china instead of using it.  It is a choice to write the book or the poem, to paint or run for office.  It is also a choice to watch Netflix all day every day.  Think ahead one month, just one month, what could you do that would make you feel really accomplished about your life?  It doesn't have to be enormous.  Maybe you did the elliptical for 10 minutes a day, or read a classic, maybe you began yoga.  What do you want to do?  When you thought about your dotage did you envision sitting on the couch watching TV just because you can?  Or did you imagine all the time you would have to learn another language, crochet, do genealogy or have an ant farm?  Did you want to direct a play, sail a ship or write a book?  If you are going to dream, dream big, you aren't too old for any of your dreams (unless you want to be Miss Texas).

Do you spend so much time counting your problems that you have lost the ability to count your blessings?  No matter what your circumstances are you can still do things to help you feel accomplished.  I know the closer I am to God the clearer the answers are....that is where the energy is, and that is where the peace is.  I know the further I am from Him the more I experience fear.  I don't like the feeling of being afraid.  Even if you are fighting oil rig fires you don't have to be afraid.
Remember you are a mammal with opposable thumbs so you can reason and you can choose.  It might take a lot of practice but as soon as you feel those negative feelings, the ones that tell you you aren't good enough, tall enough, lovable enough, stop...breathe...chase them away.  Hand those negative thoughts over to whatever higher power you subscribe too and feel peace.  Really do it, don't just say you will.

This is what I am going to do for one month 10 minutes of some kind of activity...I might dance for 10 minutes, or do yoga....I might do the elliptical, or remember cheers from high school.  I am going to do something and have fun doing it.  Then after a month I am going to look backward with a big 'ole smile!!

How about you?

All The Possibilities

I used to do all the things people do this time of year.  Wonder how I gained so much weight, cried when my children went back to college, tried to organize my Christmas decorations so they would be easier to assemble next year....typical stuff.

But this year is different.  2014 is my year, the year of Jubilee plus 10, the year I turn 60.  That number caused me to do a lot of thinking.  Sometimes pivotal birthdays come and go with a little fanfare, but not much more.  When I turned 30 I was pregnant, we went golfing and my husband wisely gave me a beautiful gold bracelet.  When I turned 40 we went out to dinner with friends and I remember feeling  everything was where it should be, I was married and had wonderful children, we were building a house..nothing to complain about, 40 was fine.  When I turned 50 my children and Raymond gave me an amazing party...They invited every one of my dear friends and asked them to bring their favorite memory of me! You know how we say at funerals that we should have said all those nice things to the guy when he was alive?  Well I had a "live" funeral and it was fabulous!  And I decided 50 was the new 30 anyway.

Turning 60 is another milestone....except this one is different.  Instead of just thinking about the things I want to change or just dreaming about the things I want to do, I   am   going    to     do     them.  I am not setting goals or making resolutions, this isn't about that.  I am going to do the things I have been wanting to do for a long time.  The last couple of years have been something of a personal challenge.  The recession (hell, it was a depression, wasn't it?) kicked our butts and put us in a place where we had to completely financially start over.  Maybe that would have been exhilarating at 30, but at almost 60 it was ghastly.  I didn't react as well as you might think, in fact I reacted rather badly.  I felt sorry for myself, I began to envy other people, I felt hopeless and became increasingly pessimistic about the future.  To say this was a bad time for me and that the minions were winning would be an understatement.

In the worst of it I knew 2 things, I knew I just needed to change my thinking (but I couldn't figure out how) And I knew I would never forget how badly I felt, and that I would use everything going forward for anyone going through the same thing.  It took me a while to get out of the "worst of it", knowing you need to change your thinking and actually doing it is a real challenge.  I started working with a woman who was able to help me change my attitude of things will never work out, to I know it will work, I know I will be successful.  I found tools to use, and I put them into practice.  It has not been easy, I slip back into negativity sometimes, but now I know how to erase those negative thoughts.  I remind myself, they are just thoughts, they aren't real.   My catastrophic thoughts aren't real, they are just thoughts.

This experience was eye opening for me I wasn't just getting mentally better  I saw that I could change!   If I could change something in my life that had literally paralyzed me  I had the power to change other things in my life too.  I saw potential I had never seen before.

God wants a powerful people and I am starting to flex my muscles.

As I said I am not setting goals or resolutions, I stink at goals and I never follow through on resolutions.  I am simply going to change the things that have kept me from really enjoying life.

I am going to take this in stages.  When my children were little they would often sit in the ruins of their room not having a clue how to clean up such a huge mess,  I would tell them to eat the elephant and in order to eat the elephant you do it one bite at a time.

Where to start?  One answer, at the beginning.  I am not a professional in change, I am not a life coach, I don't have a degree in psychology but I am well read and I know where to go to find the answers I need.  I went to my friends first.  I asked them to tell me where they get inspiration, what affirmations work for them, and how do they handle the nonsense that life can throw at us.

I read everything they recommended, a lot that was very helpful and a lot that was very motivational.  Then  I did a mental inventory.  Sort of like the scene in Apollo 13 when after everyone realizes there is a huge problem the first thing the scientists do is find out what is actually on the space ship. They can only find a solution with what the astronauts actually have to work with.

So what do I have to work with?  I have a healthy body that has gotten me through almost 60 years of life (thank you!) I have a curious mind....sometimes too curious.  I have a supportive family, I have a computer (thank you Ashleigh) and I have the will to make the changes I want to make.

The next part of my plan is to pin point exactly what I want to change.

If this project sounds appealing to you, join me.  If you want to join me don't think small, think big, dare yourself to let go of the side of the pool and dive in!!

My friend Mark Andrews recommendation was by the creator of Dilbert - Scott Adams In his Nov. Blog called Systems vs Goals(http://www.dilbert.com/blog/entry/goals_vs_systems/) he writes about how his tiny little blog led to more writing and more writing led to more readers which led to more exposure which led to guest blogs on the Wall Street Journal, which led to where he is now.  That is the pattern my life has followed.  Everything has come though a series of stops and starts.  All the good things have taken time and evolution...as my dear friend (and wildly successful businessman) Charles Miller always said, "Slow and steady wins the race."

This is what I am going to do this year.  I am going to chronicle my journey to 60 through writing.  And writing is coincidently something that is on my list.  See how it works?  One thing turns another.

I am letting go of the side of the pool and diving in.....

Seriously?

Some days......some days...you know what I mean?   It starts out the same way, full of promise . Yes I'm going to exercise, eat lots of fruit and high fiber.....and then I get out of bed and insanity ensues.

On the way to get my running shoes ( I only walk but walking shoes sounds old) I check my emails, which leads to my husband having enough time to catch up with me and ask again for the bank printout.

Crap....

Have you ever done something on the computer that you have done a hundred times only to have it freeze and won't even close?  Or anything else?  I managed to google the solution...but it took forever.

An hour later he walks by and says, "no problem, I'll just get it off my iPad"  What? ....seriously?

No time to walk, wasted that hour pounding my thumb with a hammer.

Next?

Errands to run.....off to the post office to fetch my mail that is being held hostage by the post office because my carrier doesn't care for the bush that is next to my mailbox.  They decided to suspend delivery while the government was shut down which made it impossible to find my mail because no one would answer the phone.  Obviously the person in charge of answering the phones was celebrating the furlough.

We move on to the next errand, Costco.  When I got out of the car I decided to go through the enormous pile of mail to see if a certain check had arrived.  We were contracted out to cater a lunch for a man who worked at a large bank.  He was having a seminar for small business people, ooooh like me! And he wanted lunch for the attendees.  It's been 2 weeks and still no check. He had promised it that night....so I contacted a woman named Olga to find out where the check could be.  She proved to be most unpleasant. During our conversation I asked her if on her way home from work today if she could go grocery shopping but tell them she would be paying for them next week or the week after...hmmm. And I told her how ironic it was that I had been late with a bill to the same bank, 10 seconds late,  and 2 different fees were assessed to my account. I was a bit cranky.  And Olga did not care.

We weren't able to find what we needed at Costco so back out to the car with a lowly case of water.  Checked my purse......and then that dreaded moment when you realize you have locked the keys in the car.

Crap.

While trying to call the roadside service my phone died - by the way it died just as I had worked through the automated hell of,  press 1 press 2 etc.....the annoyance was reaching critical mass.  I found Raymond and used his phone...30 minutes later Pop a Lock was on their way.  ETA?  45 minutes.  Doesn't Pop a Lock sound like Greek food?

We went back inside Costco and decided enough time had passed to qualify for another round of samples.

50 minutes later Redondo from Pop a Lock arrived.  He took one look at my license plate ( longhrn)
And decided it might take longer since I was a Texas fan.  Seriously?  I thought he was from Oklahoma, that's right we whipped their butts last Saturday, but he was from LSU.  What did we ever do to LSU?  

He turned out to be a really nice guy, he even showed us all his tattoos.  When he got to the New Orleans Saints tattoo he proudly told us every member of his family had the same tattoo, all 8 sisters and his mom.  

Somehow he managed to get the lock popped and off we went.  

Some days our angels just have better things to do than watch over us.

I am a Raven!!

So tonight my friends and I are hanging around the nest watching Sunday Night Football when Bob Costas comes on and decides to editorialize his portion of half time.  He drones on and on about the name Red Skins and how we should all be ashamed that a football team would dare use the likeness, image or essence of an Indian to depict the inner workings of their team.  What made sense to me that if I was a football team I would want to hitch my wagon to a group that would signify my toughness, my warrior like demeanor....But not Bob, Dan Snyder should be ashamed of owning a team that would demean a group of people by calling his football team Redskins.  I am a Raven....and as far as I am concerned Baltimore has done all of us Ravens a favor

Up until 1996 Ravens had an image problem.  We had a scary poem and a scary movie moving our trend.  My great-great-great-great Grandfather was the inspiration behind the Edgar Allen Poe poem (say that 3 times) "The Raven".  We are a proud group of interesting looking Birds with a purpose and a presence, we clean up road kill and obviously pose for postcards around the castle.

This is a causal picture of my English cousin Ricky with his intended right before their wedding.

This is my brother-in-laws grandfather who was the inspiration for Alfred Hitchcock's movie, "The Birds".  That movie kind of scared me to death when I saw it, but I liked the recognition. Ravens don't lead the most glamorous life, we eat road kill for heaven's sake...  But then as fate would have it, our lives kind of picked up when Baltimore got a new football team and decided on Ravens to be their mascot.  We were so excited!  A real touch of glamor, people everywhere with T-Shirts on with our likeness.  Instead of being kind of a thug bird, we are now depicted as fierce and a symbol of winning.  From a marketing standpoint I was the Old Spice guy times 10, it was right up there with, "why don't we slice the bread?" It was Nike's "just do it" and "diamonds are forever"  Baltimore did for us Ravens what Bert did for Ernie.  We had arrived, we were no longer just a scary poem at Halloween.

But then there was Bob Costas telling the world that using the name Redskins is demeaning, racially charged and if we are a thinking people we will admit it is wrong.  Maybe that is the rub, I am a bird and I don't think like that.  I guess only humans look for reasons to be contentious.  I may not have opposable thumbs but I know contention has to be searched for because it doesn't come naturally.  It is sort of like pounding your thumb with a hammer.  Who does that?  

Halloween is coming up, my favorite holiday and I have events to attend.  You would be surprised how many people love having a Raven personally attend a Halloween party.  And it's football season...this is my time to shine and no time for contention.

So leave the Baltimore Ravens alone.  I rock that Casbah.  

Just for fun I added our little poem so you can read it to your children, just in time for Halloween..

Wasn't Edgar awesome?

Edgar Allan Poe

The Raven

[First published in 1845]

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. `'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door - Only this, and nothing more.' Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December, And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor. Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore - For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore - Nameless here for evermore. And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain Thrilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before; So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating `'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door - Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; - This it is, and nothing more,' Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer, `Sir,' said I, `or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore; But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping, And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door, That I scarce was sure I heard you' - here I opened wide the door; - Darkness there, and nothing more. Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before; But the silence was unbroken, and the darkness gave no token, And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, `Lenore!' This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, `Lenore!' Merely this and nothing more. Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning, Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before. `Surely,' said I, `surely that is something at my window lattice; Let me see then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore - Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; - 'Tis the wind and nothing more!' Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter, In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore. Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he; But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door - Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door - Perched, and sat, and nothing more. Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling, By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore, `Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,' I said, `art sure no craven. Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the nightly shore - Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!' Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.' Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly, Though its answer little meaning - little relevancy bore; For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door - Bird or beast above the sculptured bust above his chamber door, With such name as `Nevermore.' But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only, That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour. Nothing further then he uttered - not a feather then he fluttered - Till I scarcely more than muttered `Other friends have flown before - On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before.' Then the bird said, `Nevermore.' Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken, `Doubtless,' said I, `what it utters is its only stock and store, Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful disaster Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore - Till the dirges of his hope that melancholy burden bore Of "Never-nevermore."' But the raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling, Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door; Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore - What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore Meant in croaking `Nevermore.' This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core; This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er, But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er, She shall press, ah, nevermore! Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor. `Wretch,' I cried, `thy God hath lent thee - by these angels he has sent thee Respite - respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore! Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe, and forget this lost Lenore!' Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.' `Prophet!' said I, `thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil! - Whether tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore, Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted - On this home by horror haunted - tell me truly, I implore - Is there - is there balm in Gilead? - tell me - tell me, I implore!' Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.' `Prophet!' said I, `thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil! By that Heaven that bends above us - by that God we both adore - Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn, It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore - Clasp a rare and radiant maiden, whom the angels name Lenore?' Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.' `Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!' I shrieked upstarting - `Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore! Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken! Leave my loneliness unbroken! - quit the bust above my door! Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!' Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.' And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door; And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming, And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor; And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor Shall be lifted - nevermore!

Last update: August 22, 2013 by H. Behme
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The Problem of Tall Wheat.

I have lived a good amount of time, enough time to see a few things that were predicted come to pass and a great many things predicted that did not come to pass.  In my teenage years I was told the oceans were doomed, the rain forests were being destroyed and we wouldn't be able to breathe again.  Zero population growth or ZPG was preached high and low.  Vitamin C is good, Vitamin C is bad.  Salt is terrible, Salt is not so bad.  Science, it seems is never settled.  Today we are told we are destroying the world with carbon emissions and the ice caps will melt and flood the earth.   Except now the earth isn't getting warmer, so its just climate change.  

Paul Ehrlich wrote a book in 1968 called the Population Bomb.  I will give you my synopsis of the book.  Ready?  Our earth cannot possibly sustain the amount of people on it.  India will never be able to feed  itself.  Have less children or we are all going to die.  

Yikes!

That probably won't make the recommendations on Amazon but that's as short and succinct as I can make it.

The message from the world is this, there is no solution.  It seems the world wants you to feel hopelessness.  The frustration we feel comes from the fact that we inherently know there is truth and we yearn to find it.  Adversarial forces count on you not finding truth, always trying to keep you off balance, out of alignment, off kilter by constantly trying to convince you there is no solution.  And that means no real truth which leaves you with no real hope.

Little children are always asking, "why?" because they are instinctively searching for the truth.  Our souls need truth, truth is peace... (Another instinct of course is the urge to suck but that is another blog for another day.)

I want to get back to Paul Ehrlich who said India could not possibly feed itself.  Couldn't you make a case easily for that?  How do you feed 1.2 billion people?  Paul Ehrllich felt it couldn't be done and could not even conceive of a solution for it except to have less children (bad pun, sorry)  But then alongs comes an agronomist named Norman Ernest Borlaug.  He invented dwarf wheat that was disease resistant and well, short.  Taller wheat took up more room in the field because as it got taller the wheat would fall over from its own weight. Dwarf wheat takes up less room because it didn't fall over and they could double the yield.  By doubling the yield Borlaug saved the lives of a billion people. Think of that.  

As an aside, Borlaug was one of seven people to have won the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal.  He was also awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian honor.  That's a good days work.

So Paul Ehrlich a PhD wrote a book predicting the end of the world and scared people to death, because he lived and thought small.  Norman Borlaug, also a PhD looked at tall wheat falling over in a field taking up a lot of room and  simply invented something that would take up less room.  He fed the world because he saw possibilities which led him to a solution.

My message is simple, there is always a solution.  Doesn't that bring you more peace than, "You can't get there from here?"  

Here is your first step, start believing it.  Think of Norman Borlaug and the solution he found.  It wasn't just because he had a PhD that he was able to develop dwarf wheat, Paul Ehrlich has a PhD and all he has been able to do is frighten people.  You don't need a PhD to solve your problems.  But you do need to believe you can.

What tall wheat is getting in the way for you?  

Take that first step in believing you can solve your problem, and then watch doors open.  

Remember God is a very big God who can help you develop your own dwarf wheat. You can't do it alone, but with Him you can do all things.  And if you don't believe that, I bet you would like to believe it.  

Wouldn't you?
xxoo

Leaping off Cliffs... Are you game?

I read a woman's blog today and under her byline was written.....Author, Blogger, Motivational Speaker.   I googled her and found that her field of concentration was...wait for it...Happiness.

Isn't that the best?  If you are going to speak or write about something wouldn't you chose the Happiest thing available?   And what if the happiest thing there was happened to be happiness?

Are we not happy because we aren't happy?  Could it be a choice?

OK, sometimes I have chosen to not be happy...

Anytime the conversation begins with, "You can't....."  fill in the blank with anything, anything at all.  Starting with, you can't park there, you can't stand here, you can't have that, you can't do that...My husband believes that I could move a mountain by sheer force of will if I am told "I can't."

When I have to say good-bye, which is why I gave up AOL.  "Good-bye"

When people underestimate me.  (on the other hand I love it when people underestimate me.)

That they swapped out Faith Hill for Carrie Underwood.

Anytime I call Sam's Club Discover.  If we fought a war and our only weapon was the automated system at Sam's Club Discover, the enemy would surrender without a whimper.

I don't like feeling fearful.  It is my struggle, my stumbling block...Fear keeps me from peace, it keeps me from having the kind of faith that fills us with the notion we can do anything.  

Being unhappy is a choice.  Often we lose sight of the fact that we have the agency to choose.  We can choose to be happy.  It's hard to be happy in the face of turmoil, strife or even habit, but it is completely possible.  I think of the book "The Hiding Place" and how they were able to find a blessing in the face of evil.  I admire that choice but I am also baffled by it.  How could anyone see lice as a blessing?  But they can see that the lice keeps the sadistic guards away because they are repulsed by bugs.  How were they able to discern that?  Because their attitude kept them in the light and they were able to see the positive side of a seemingly hopeless situation.  When you spend your time in the dark you aren't able to see solutions.  And all you can feel is negativity, failure, and fear.

So how do we do it...be happy?   How do we retrain ourselves when we are so entrenched in fear, or in the mindset that we cannot succeed?  Is there a map that leads us to faith and then finding happiness? 

I am going to do yoga

 

Have you ever thought to yourself, my prayers will be answered, but maybe not how I have envisioned.  Are there things you really want, but feel you don't deserve them.  Do you set yourself up for disappointment before you have even tried?  Do you say, I am just being realistic, the worst usually happens.  Is it realistic to assume we will fail, or fall short?  Do we limit God?  Wow, aren't you glad George Washington didn't feel that way?  Or the Wright Brothers?  How about Henry Ford who changed the face of industrialism, or Steve Jobs?   From the television to the microwave to the integrated circuit, which is how I am writing this blog...none of those inventors thought they would fail.  What is the difference between me and the guy who invented the vacuum cleaner?  He saw a machine that blew the dust off of things and thought it would be better if it sucked up the dust instead.  So with that idea he invented the vacuum cleaner.  What is the difference between us?  He acted on his good idea.  I haven't.

That incredible quote from Marianne Williamson...remember it?  It is brilliant,

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Seriously, isn't that brilliant?  It begs the question, why are we willing to be content with so little?  I was throwing the word "deserve" around a lot.  Either I thought I deserved more or less than what was occurring.  Now with some introspection, I hope I never get what I deserve, I want rather receive what a loving God is anxious to give me.  Most folks settle, they make safe choices that only allow half the life experience.  Maybe they know a book is in them, or a sonnet, or an opera.  But they are afraid to fail...afraid they will look foolish.  But how will you look to yourself?   And how do you explain to God you refused the gifts He was offering you?

I am going to get a chicken coop just like this

Want to feel alive?  Leap off a cliff.  

You know the woman who wrote the blog that started the idea for this post?  I sent her a friend request on facebook, assured her I wasn't a stalker and then asked if I could talk to her.  She wrote back and sent her cell number and we have a phone appointment tomorrow morning.  I want to know as much about being happy from her that 20 minutes can give me.  

I am tired of being afraid.

I am leaping off cliffs.  

There is a life out there that I want to live.  It isn't the one I have lived in my head lately...I have been given amazing blessings, incredible family and friends and one opportunity after another.  But I have been playing small and minimizing my life.  I have been assuming I don't deserve all the great things I have so there is no reason to fight to keep them.   And I have stopped dreaming.  After all, I am older, too old to start a new career, and certainly too old to make it a success.  You know that adage....It would take a miracle.  Well, miracles don't occur when your butt is chilling at the beach.  It takes a crisis or a disaster to produce a miracle.  I qualify on that front.

I spoke to a woman the other day who is getting married soon who just happens to be 60.  She is happy, really happy, because she is leaping off cliffs.

I have a friend who introduced me to the concept of leaping off cliffs years and years ago.  She is 30 years my senior and spent all of her time lighting fires under people.  She subsidized several tennis players to give them a chance to make it.  She was my mentor reminding me, and not always in the kindest way, that I was more than I thought and I could do anything.  Together we built a wetlands in my front yard.  Completely permitted by the state, it was an extraordinarily difficult experience.  Because it had not been done before I had no hope we could do it.  But Beth had no doubt we would do it.  No surprise, we did it.  Our wetlands led to a PBS documentary on water conservation that went all over the country.  She was leaping off cliffs and pulled me with her.  

Our country has gone through a horrific financial malaise.  Millions of people have lost their entire life savings.....and a huge proportion of them are my age.  Unemployable because we aren't thirty.  Maybe a few aches and pains....maybe poor eyesight, a little memory loss....a nap would be nice.  How easy it is to convince yourself you have earned the right to quit, all the evidence is there.  Giving up is easy in the face of 90 million people out of work.  But my husband and I couldn't give up... we are starting over, with a brand new business. 

We are leaping off cliffs.

And I want a greenhouse.... 

  

This was this ugly voice in my head, "Who are you to start a business?  What are you thinking ?  Just take your lumps, accept the tragedy of financial ruin, sell everything, get an apartment and a minimum wage job.  Just exist."  Those thoughts did not give me peace and giving up gave me huge anxiety.  Would I spend the rest of my wondering if we could have made it work if we had just tried?  No...I....will....not. 

Because I am leaping off cliffs.  

We are going to be a success, I don't want to play small.   Remember that great line from Apollo 13?  The one where everyone is discouraged thinking the Astronauts were doomed?

NASA Director: This could be the worst disaster NASA's ever faced.

Gene Kranz: With all due respect, sir, I believe this is gonna be our finest hour.

I am going to let my light shine, just like Marianne said.  Because when I do, I give everyone permission to start over if they have to.  Or write a book, give a speech, start an orphanage, design dresses, invent something, run a marathon, be a teacher, go back to college, fight cancer, survive divorce.....or start a business when all of your friends are retiring.  This is a time for courage, not worry.

Let's leap off a cliff.  OK?

And I want bees and sell honey

Stevie Wonder, James Taylor, Stevie Nicks, Wendy Cleverly and me.

So today is my birthday, I never thought I would be 59....until I turned 58 and then it seemed like a very good goal.  The good thing about getting older are all the people getting older with me.  Did I ever think Stevie Wonder would be over 60?  Or James Taylor?  Forget Stevie Nicks getting older, I can't bear that.  She will always be that beautiful girl twirling around on stage in a long black skirt.  She epitomizes my youth, a time when everything was possible, and I could wear belts with great confidence.

The fact that the Rolling Stones got old is not a shock, they always looked old, even when they were young.  Now they look.....older.  But I am thrilled they keep performing.  I hope they do until they just can't anymore.  When my friends start retiring I get nervous....  Retire?  Yikes...So Mick and the guys are just going to have to keep singing.  And I am glad....

I have been blessed to basically start over.  After my children really didn't need me the same way I was eager to explore other purposes for myself.  I looked ahead at going to lunch, maybe learning to crochet or make pottery.  I thought I could go back to college, or learn a language.  But necessity prevailed and I joined my husband in a catering business (www.Rayraysfinefood.com) that seemed improbable in the beginning, but now seems perfect.  I will be the first to admit I did not want to, it seemed too complicated and honestly I thought I was just too old.  I was not sure I wanted to work that hard.  As a friend said to me, "I used to cater, but then I quit to do something easier, now I lay asphalt."  I have watched our life take a new shape and I stopped fighting it.  It's scary when we don't have work and exhausting when we do.  But it will be a great story someday, hell, its a great story now!

We just won't give up.

James Taylor was the voice of my high school years, with my friend Roxane we listened to his albums and wondered what Carly Simon had we didn't.  He was enigmatic.  And I think he still is.  He has aged perfectly, in great shape, bald with wrinkles.  It feels dignified...

I have to put Stevie Wonder together with Wendy Cleverly.  Wendy was my dear friend, mentor, and beautiful, beautiful girl.  She was the DJ at the Hilton and got all the attention from the guys you could imagine.  It was fun tagging along with some really famous people she attracted.  She played music in the Hilton Disco (I know it was a long, long time ago) for 20 minutes while the live band took a break. So for 40 minutes we were on our own.  We could go to other clubs or stay there and dance.  Wendy is a great dancer and won every contest.  When she was DJing I always requested the same songs, Stevie Wonder and that song from Car Wash.  She finally got the album for me so I would stop bugging her to play it.  We did the hustle to "I will survive"  and went to bed really late.  I had to be up early every day because I played tennis about 3 hours a day and then I worked at a racquet club.  I went to every tennis court to play and sometimes all in one day.  We would go to the Desert Inn (no longer there) and then to the Frontier (no longer there) back to the Tropicana because they had indoor courts (no longer there) stopped by the MGM, now Bally's and then back to our home courts at Ceasar's.  I met lots of very famous people and found out right away they mostly all had clay feet.  I played tennis with Bill Cosby every time he came to town, which was a lot back then.  He loved to make me run from one side of the court to the other.  His entourage assumed he was a great player...he could be....challenging.  And one of my best hitting partners was a woman named Mirha who was a topless dancer in the Folies.   The only person left in my life from that time is Wendy.  I am happy to say she has been married for 33 years and has 3 beautiful children and 2 grandchildren.  She still looks like the disco queen she was.  Oh did I mention she was the card girl for the Ali fight?  That is a very big deal....

As for me I started over and finally got a real job.  I gave up scooping balls for tennis pros and coming in at four.  About a year after finding a real job I married the love of my life who still loves me.  We have 4 beautiful children...all of this is a shock to me.  Talk about a long shot, although Raymond comes from pretty stable people, my mother was married 7 times.  Hardly the kind of stuff long term marriages are made from.  But that has been the theme of my life....improbable situations with surprising results.

This isn't an epitaph, I have a lot of things to do yet, but I wanted to look back at my life and check out the road I have already traveled.  For everything I wish I had done, I did 10 things I never thought I would.  One thing for sure, music has been the background to my life.  I was thinking about changing my theme song, which is "Feelin' Alright"  by Joe Cocker, but I couldn't find one I liked as well.
I am optimistic about our future, grateful I feel good, happy to have challenges to keep us young, and glad for all the family and friends who will be traveling this part of the road with me.

Happy Birthday to me!!!

On Being Militant....

How do you handle situations that make you really, really angry?  I am kind of confrontational when it comes to things I feel are wrong.  I try and get to the bottom of it, regardless of what it might be.  Today was just one of millions of times I have revealed my feelings about life on earth.  I will draw the curtain back on a little experience I had today and see what you think.

I rarely take clothes to the dry cleaners, we are on an austerity program which precludes luxuries such as someone else pressing our things. But the laundry was piling up and my husband took the clothes to the dry cleaners.  After all they only charge $1.25 to launder a shirt, that is a fair price so I didn't feel too guilty.  My husband's cotton shirts were $1.25 a shirt and wait for it, my cotton shirts were $2.50.

Why?  Our shirts are made from the same material.  I didn't take a silk shirt in...all cotton.  All of them.

Boom...if you are a girl your freight is more.

So we had a discussion, the dry cleaner and I.  I showed him the material and asked on what grounds he felt he could double the price.  He told me, with a straight face, that he used different temperatures on my shirts.

I assured him if he did he wasted the effort.

He told me he knew more about dry cleaning than I did.

I told him none of these shirts had been dry cleaned.  They were laundered, exactly the same.

He told me, "I promise I ironed them on different temperatures, that is the way it is done.  You don't know how this works."

I wish he was right, I wish I haven't been doing laundry for almost my whole life. I wish I didn't know exactly how laundry was done.  I revealed this information to him and let him know that his 21 years on earth didn't make him much of an expert.  In fact if you are 21 years old, how long could you be doing this anyway?

I knew he wasn't going to change his policy, but if we don't register our displeasure about the

stupid things we will eventually explode with frustration.

I will never explode....at least not with frustration.