Election Day

Well this year's November election was pretty exciting in our household. My husband got to vote for himself as well as the president of the United States on the same ballot. Our journey into the unknown territory of politics was definitely a learning adventure for us. We often felt like we were always behind rather than ahead. Luckily we had a local council member mentoring my husband which was huge. My husband did what he felt was possible to run his campaign on a limited budget. He attended candidate forums, posted lawn signs, walked the neighborhoods and attended political events where he could network. I have a lot more respect for people who run for office now as it takes a lot of time,energy and funds.

We attended an election night party at local restaurant where other candidates and elected officials would be at. It made the suspense of waiting for the results a little more bearable. I was so excited for my husband at the thought of him winning but I also knew if he lost he would be crushed. When the preliminary numbers came in my husband was in the lead. He only needed one seat of the two available. His lead was far enough that we felt pretty secure in his win.

My job is now done as campaign manager, treasurer and volunteer. I now get to return to my regularly scheduled programming while he gets to begin his job of attending board meetings and hopefully making a difference in the field of education. Good luck hubby I wish you the best!

9/11

It's been eleven years since terrorists took 4 airplanes and used them as weapons to destroy the lives of many. Every year I think I'm a little more healed emotionally but I find that every year I still find myself crying because it all comes back to me like it was yesterday.

I didn't know anyone personally who was killed that day, but as a flight attendant who works for one of the airlines that was hijacked I can relate to the flight attendants. I wasn't flying that day but I was awoken by a good friend who was hysterical. She was concerned for my well being because she knew I flew and she knew I could of been on one of those flights. I could of but luckily I wasn't. I was startled by her hysteria as she kept saying turn on your t.v. planes are crashing into the world trade center. I went to my television in disbelief at what I was seeing. It was surreal. Really? this is happening? it was like a bad movie. How could this really be happening? I ran to my computer to pull up the names of the flight crews but they were already purged from the system. The phone continued to ring all day. Family & friends all concerned for me. Wondering if I was on one of those planes.

Those flight attendants went to work. It was like any other day in the life of a flight attendant. We go to work, we jump on planes, we fly 7 miles above the earth, we leave our families, we jet around the country, stay in hotels and eventually come home. That day they went to work, got on a plane and became part of a weapon of mass destruction. I cannot fathom what happened on those planes during those final moments. I don't even want to. I know that those crews in my eyes are heroes. People think of the firefighters and policemen on 9/11 but often don't think of the flight crews. The crews who were relaying information about what was happening onboard their planes to the ground people. The crews who helped cause an air stop of all aircraft because of the information they relayed. The crews & passengers who caused the United plane to go down in a field instead of at it's intended target.

Air travel has never been the same nor has the job of being a flight attendant. We look at passengers differently. We are more aware of our surroundings. We don't put up with much attitude from passengers. 9/11 is forever in our minds. We will NEVER FORGET nor do we want to.

Politics

A new journey has begun in my life. My husband decided he wants to run for our school district's governing board. It's a four year position which he has to be elected into office for. I"m excited that he wants to do this because he hasn't been able to get a job as a principal so I feel this would be a great avenue for him to get more educational experience and I think he would find fulfillment in doing. He has a great background in education having been a teacher for the past 15 years. He has a passion for education and he knows what is currently going on in the educational system. In my mind he is the perfect candidate for the job. He just has to beat one incumbent to get the seat.

Now for the journey part. We are diving into unknown waters. We are running a campaign. We are raising funds, getting endorsements, creating websites, donation options and now getting involved with the Republican party. Luckily we have a city councilmen helping us every step of the way. We went to our first meeting tonight where my husband was officially endorsed by the Republican Party. It's all very exciting but also opening our eyes to this whole new world of politics. Our lives will never be the same because I know my husband will now become active in the party and it will become a part of our lives. I"m a Democratic who leans close to the Republican side but I"m not ready to give up my voter status. Luckily he is running for a non-partisan position so I don't have to pledge my allegiance to the Republicans just yet. I know this is just the beginning of journey as I see him pursuing higher levels of educational political offices in the years to come. I support him 100% but only time will tell where our journey will lead us. First things first... winning in November.

Given Notice

I had a co-worker die this week from colon cancer. She was diagnosed at almost 48 and died 18 months later. She fought the most valiant fight. She never asked "why me?". She never wallowed in her circumstance. She accepted her fate even as she fought hard to prolong the inevitable. She shared with us on Facebook her journey and she re-iterated how thankful she was that she was given "notice" of her death. It gave her time to write letters to her only child. Letters for his birthdays, graduations, wedding, life moments that she will not be here to experience with him. It gave her time to say her goodbyes and to go on a lot of vacations. She got a lot of life in in a very short amount of time.

I think I'd personally rather be given notice too. We are never really prepared to die but I'd hate to wake up one day and die before the day was over. I would not have time to do the things my co-worker was able to do. So I try daily to live my life to the fullest. I check off my bucket list and I tell my love ones all the time that I love them just in case it's the last time. If my death is sudden I want them to know how I feel and know that they were loved. I want them to know I lived a full life and I made the most of my days. What about you?

15 years ago today

It's been 15 years today since I lost my friend Tara to breast cancer. She was 31 when she died. She was 26 when she was diagnosed. She fought a hard 5 year battle but ultimately lost. I was in my twenty's when she died. I had experienced the death of my grandmother earlier that year but no one else had yet to depart my world. I have a lot of regrets in regards to my time with Tara. My first regret was that I never really thought she was going to die. I mean I knew she had cancer but for some reason her telling me she had spots   in different areas( lungs, brain etc) didn't register that she was already pretty along in her fight. I called her regularly and I tried to see her fairly often. I don't know if I was encouraging to her or discouraging to her. Sometimes I think I said the wrong things. Maybe I didn't listen enough. Maybe I talked too much. I remember giving her a book "When bad things happen to good people" along with an Angels inspiration book. She liked the angel book because it was uplifting. I don't know what I was thinking giving her the other book. I remember having conversations about her cancer and comparing it to another person who told me their cancer story. Why did I even bring up this other person's story?

I often calk up my actions to thinking it was because I was young and like I said had not experienced a lot of death or cancer in my life.I wish I could chat with her one last time and say I"m sorry for any of the stupid things I said to her which probably didn't make her feel better. I would of taken lots more pictures with her. I would of been more in tune to the gravity of her situation. I would of hugged her more. There are lots of things I probably would of done different given the opportunity to interact with her again.

I can say though that her life had a great impact on me. I immediately wanted to make sure her life had meaning and had touched me in some way. She died in August and a few months later I began volunteering at the American Cancer Society. I wanted to make a difference and I wanted to pay tribute to my beautiful friend. I've been on a committee for kids who are dealing with cancer for fifteen years now and it's all because of Tara. I still miss her and I still have regrets but that life experience has forever changed me and for that I am thankful.

Senselessness

A few days ago a man walked into a midnight showing of the new Batman movie. He decided to throw tear gas into the theatre and just randomly start shooting people. 12 people died that night and many more were injured. They went to a movie expecting to be entertained and instead they lost their lives.

I often wonder why we have these senseless tragedies. Why does someone who appeared to be very bright and educated would go on a killer rampage. The killer was a Ph.d student in neuroscience. He was dropping out of the program but none the less he was educated and most likely very smart. He was probably depressed or stressed. Why however do you decide to go and take whatever is bothering you in life out on innocent people? If you want to die then kill yourself but don't kill others. The killer didn't even kill himself after this act of violence.

What causes a person to snap like that? He even took the time to booby trap his apartment in hopes of killing more people. Why are people allowed to purchase guns like semi automatic weapons? He bought guns from different locations in Colorado over several weeks. Why isn't there tracking to make sure these types of purchases within a short period are not allowed? There are a lot of questions I have and a lot answers we'll probably never get regarding his motive.

Life is fragile. It ends abruptly and often without warning. We do not know the day or hour but it's coming. I'm not morbid just a realist. Hug your family tighter. Live fully and try not to live in fear. Fear stops us from living freely. Make the most of your time daily. I know I do.

Freak Accidents

My oldest son was involved in an accident last week. A freak accident is what I would call it. We were at a department store about to exit. As we were leaving we passed through the exercise equipment area. My daughter & my son ran ahead of me. My daughter jumped onto a treadmill. I called to them as we were leaving. I saw my son run over to an exercise station which had pulley weights. I see him bend down and then I see this weight lifting bench fall down from an upright position. I see him quickly move not realizing that  he didn't quite get out of the way. He comes running toward me screaming with blood gushing out of his right thumb.

The next 10 minutes involved store employees running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to find some ice and a towel to wrap his profusely bleeding thumb. Eventually a female employee grabbed a blouse off a hanger and used it to wrap around his thumb to stop the bleeding. My son crying kept asking for his daddy. My parents fortunately were also in the store but not present when the accident occurred. I had my father stay with my daughter to wait for someone to fill out an accident report. My mother came with me to the hospital so she rode in the back seat to keep pressure on his hand while I drove.

The verdict was he broke his thumb in 3 places. The concern is the growth plate break. He ended up needing surgery and two pins to try and put everything back together. He is wearing a cast and will have it on for 4 weeks. Only time will tell if this break will affect the growth of his thumb or if he has range of motion issues or nerve damage.

The store has called and is launching an investigation. The verdict will be their fault as the weight bench was not properly secured. My son bumped it and it fell. End of story.
I am thankful it wasn't worse. That it didn't fall on his head or that it didn't severe his finger all together. He's young so hopefully that will play in his favor during this whole healing process. So with that said "Let the healing begin".

Event planning

I seem to find myself doing a lot of event planning this year. First Fawn's fundraiser followed by my 10 year vow renewal. In April a Junior League event and now in June an airline reunion. Lastly I just volunteered to help with my 25yr high school reunion as well. Hmmm why do I do this? These events are quite time intensive and yet I still find myself volunteering to do them. I'm not sure what the appeal is to me. I contemplate this often. It's not the time commitment because I definitely could do with less time involved activities. It's not the organizing because I definitely could be doing more productive things like organizing my house.

 I think when it comes down to it I really just enjoy getting people together. Events are excuses to see people and to spend time with people I would maybe not see otherwise. Well if that's the case why should I care to see them if I never seem them anyway? that's a good question. I honestly don't know any answer. Yes there are people that I never see or rarely see, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy seeing them when I do see them. It's just a fact of life that we can only have so many relationships of any substance in our lives at any given time. There is just not enough hours in our day to dedicate to lots of good relationships. However I do enjoy seeing people from my past or friends who are more like acquaintances or even people I barely know but yet enjoy their company.

So I guess this is why I do these events. Life is about experiences and memories. Events create memories and I enjoy that. So next time I am contemplating planning an event. Most likely I will say yes and.here I go again.

Food? Is it really necessary?

I had an insanely busy May and as a result didn't post at all.  Just too much busyness to even write at this point.
In the month of May I not only had this insane schedule but I was dealing with stomach issues. This has been going on since March but is becoming progressively worse over time. I had an endoscopy which basically is a scope that goes down your throat (you are slightly sedated) and checks out your esophagus, small intestine and stomach. My results came back with inflammation in my stomach. As the month continued on my episodes were getting worse and closer together. I told my doctor and he sent me in for a gastric emptying study. This required me to eat a radioactive egg sandwich with grape jelly. Then every hour for 4 hours they took a photo of my stomach as it was digesting. No results yet and my episodes still rage on. Since food is aggravating my problems I figure I should just go without until we get this resolved. I mean is food really necessary? I can get all my fruits, vegetables, proteins from liquids can't I? At this rate I don't even miss food because I look at it and think is eating this worth getting sick and my answer is also nope! So it's funny how at first you miss it but as time goes on you just say I don't need that and you carry on.

Suicide

A week ago I heard the news that a classmate of mine had committed suicide. I was shocked to say the least. He was a fun, outgoing, social person who I never in a million years would picture to be the type of person to  take his own life. I went to elementary through high school with him. He became a singer with his own band after high school. I even auditioned to be a vocalist with his band. He always seemed to be doing well and managed to make a career out of performing, which to me is a feat in itself. He was also the father of two young boys. 

Suicide is hard for those left behind to understand, because we will never know what was going on in his mind during those last few moments of his life. Then there are the questions of why? why did he do it? why would he leave his sons without a father? why didn't he reach out to his friends or family? why didn't he seek counseling or some other sort of help? so many why's and we'll never have answers. Instead we are left with a void. 

His service was standing room only. A testament to the amount of lives he touched. If he had been there to see the love and support in that chapel maybe he would of changed his mind. If only.......

Chronic Pain

Pain is something I deal with on a daily basis. Pain is something I think I have built up a tolerance to. Not by choice but just by stamina. Why do I have pain? I often wonder. I was perfectly healthy until I was in my early thirties. I used to donate blood regularly at the blood bank. Then one day the strangest thing happened. The blood bank called me and said my blood was testing as having syphilis. I'm thinking syphilis? Well I guess they then run the blood again and it comes back as a false positive. This happened several times and eventually they sent me a letter asking me to not donate blood anymore and to see about visiting a doctor to investigate my issue.

I went to the doctor and I guess I developed some anti-bodies on my blood which now made me no longer eligible to donate. My doctor said other than being low iron I was perfectly fine and he said sometimes these things just happen. I was like okay.

A few years later my symptoms started to evolve. First a case of Pleurisy shortly after my first child was born. Excruciating pain in my lung that required steroids. I again asked why this happened. Again my doctor said sometimes people just get this.

Since the pleurisy I have never been the same. My torso aches all the time. The only way to describe it is a feeling of being squished by a truck. Constant pressure on my torso from front and back.  Along with this constant pressure I experience fatigue and acid reflux.

Shorlty after my second child was born I developed this strange red spot on my head. It looked like ringworm. I went to the doctor and they ended up doing a biopsy. It came back Discoid Lupus. The skin version of Lupus. Discoid Lupus causes scar tissue and bald spots from the lesions. I now have to be careful about sun exposure as the sun is what causes the lesions.

Then after my third child was born my ANA test which is a Lupus specific test finally turned positive. I am however still not diagnosed as having Lupus. My official diagnosis is Mixed Connective Tissue Disease for now. Although my symptoms tend to be more on the Lupus side.

So for twelve years I have been dealing with these autoimmune issues. My body for some reason is attacking itself. I take medications to help alleviate some of my symptoms and I try to pace my life with adequate rest and listen to my body. I've come to live with my pain as it fluctuates daily and throughout the day. I always remind myself it could be worse. I could be terminal. I could be so debilitated that I could not function. I try not to wallow in my pain and have actually gotten used to it. This is my new normal. I pray it doesn't get much worse. It's been a slow progression and I'm still not sure what I am battling with sometimes since I am kind of an anomaly. I'm thankful for my doctor who works with me and let's me get any tests I may think I need. 

Why am I writing this today? Probably because I am in a lot of pain. People in pain look like everyone else. Their pain is usually not visible which makes it harder for outsiders to understand. Invisible illnesses are probably the hardest to have. 

Airplanes & Staying Seated

I am a flight attendant by profession. I've been one for 19 years now. Today I was reading about a flight that experienced clear air turbulence and dropped 6000ft. Twelve people were injured as a result. I always find it interesting how the minute we take off people unbuckle their seat belts. I guess they feel once they are in the air they are now safe from danger. I also find it interesting that people wander about the airplane and many passengers also let their young children walk up and down the aisle. Passengers seem to be everywhere but their assigned seats.

My job is to be up doing service and cabin checks. I am standing or walking around the airplane the majority of  the flight. I have no choice but to be up as I have job duties to attend to. We warn people in our announcements that they should remain seated and to keep their seat belts on. Personally if I had a choice I'd be sitting with my seat belt on the entire flight and I do when I am a passenger. Needless to say when these turbulence incidents occur it is usually the flight crew that is more likely to be seriously injured.

This plane dropped 6000ft. This is the equivalent of a one mile drop straight down in the sky. Yes this would be pretty scary but even scarier if you're not buckled in and you hit the ceiling because you're not belted in or you fall and hit your head because you are in the aisle when it happens. We don't remind you about your seat belt to me mean or to keep you out of our hair. We remind you because of incidents like this that do happen and do cause injuries.

I also suggest you pay for a seat for you under two child and put them in a car seat again for this very reason. Last thing you want is your child be a projectile on an airplane. I"m just saying... but I also digress.

                                                        Buckle up, stay seated and be safe!

Why?

Today I found out that the pastor of my church & his wife's son died. It saddens my heart on so many levels. First because I am good friends with the wife. She's been like a big sister to me the past 10 years. Romans 12:15 says to "rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn." I have always taken this scripture to heart because I believe we are to stand side beside our fellow brothers/sisters in good times and in bad. Today I am mourning alongside my friend as she tries to come to grip with this devastating loss to her family. I cannot even fathom the range of emotions one must feel when losing a child. It's just not the way life is supposed to happen. The grey haired are not supposed to bury the black haired young. As a mother I cannot imagine a deeper pain than that of losing your child. I think it's every mother's worst nightmare. How do you ever move on from such an occurrence? How do you ever really feel normal again? I guess you don't because everything is forever changed and you are forever changed.

Yes bad things happen. They happen all the time. No one wants tragedy happen to them. If given the choice we'd all rather die later rather than sooner, but it just doesn't always work that way. We are not promised a tomorrow. Rejoice in today. Today is the present. Live fully in the moments you have.  Will you be angry for the time you feel robbed of or will you be thankful for the time you were given? I hope I would be thankful. Distraught but extremely thankful.

Hats & More Hats

I've recently taken up a new hobby in the last 6 months. I've fallen in love with millinery. I've always loved hats but now I LOVE hats! It's funny how you can suddenly be turned on to a new skill and become so completely immersed in it rather quickly. I've been taking classes and seeking more classes. The more I learn the more I find myself wanting to learn. I love researching well known milliners like Philip Treacy or Stephen Jones and perusing hat supply websites. There are so many different styles of hats. I've made wool, straw, fascinators & buckram hats. I find it to be such a fun & creative process. I have a greater appreciation for hats when I see one that obviously took a lot of time to construct. I also find myself scoffing at hats that look quite simple and yet the price tag says something different.

What do I plan to do with my new hat making skills? Good question. Right now I'm simply enjoying the process of creating. I feel I am returning to my original degree of Theatre Arts Costuming. Only time will tell where this journey will lead me. It's never too late to learn a new skill and pursue a new passion.

Vow Renewal

Last month my husband & I celebrated our 10 year anniversary. A milestone most definitely but is it considered a BIG milestone? no. Most people wait until the hit the 20 year mark to do any serious celebratory actions. If you asked me two years ago what our plans were for our 10 year I would of told you without a bit of hesitation that we were going to the Galapagos Islands. A place I have always wanted to go and felt our anniversary would be the time. Then something happened. My good friend got married and he was married by the worship pastor at my church. He was so personable, funny and made me wish he had married us for our wedding. In that very moment the Galapagos Islands went out the door and the new plan was to renew our vows. Yes we or rather I decided we should renew our vows and have a reception afterwards. Just a small mini wedding. My husband of course thought I was a little crazy but being the great hubby that he is decided to go along with my plan.

We had two years to save and two years for me to plan. We decided on a Friday evening the day after our actual anniversary. We were married on 02-02-02. We renewed our vows at the little chapel on the campus of the university we both received our bachelor's & master's degrees from. We had our 3 children as our attendants and invited just close friends and family. One of my band mates owns a vintage car and was kind to be our driver for the night.
We dined. We danced. We ate cake. We celebrated. We were thankful.

Would I do it all again? In a heartbeat most definitely yes. Since our wedding 10 years ago fifteen of the people who attended our wedding have died. I'm sure when we celebrate our 20 year there will be  more added to that list. Life is so short and we rejoice in each day we are given. We will forever have the memories of our wedding and now of our 10 year vow renewal. Galapagos will always be there. The people who were there celebrating with us last month will not. My husband even agreed it was the better choice.

From Stranger to Friend- Fawn

In April of 2011 I  read a story in the newspaper about a woman who was 35 years old that stage IV lung cancer.  I was immediately moved by the circumstances of this woman. She was a mom just like me who also had 3 young children. My heart was drawn to her story and I started following her blog. I would read and comment and offer my help if she needed it. I didn't expect her to ever take me up on my offer because I was a complete stranger and I assumed she had help from friends/family/co-workers as many often do when dealing with a cancer diagnosis.

In October Fawn emailed me and asked me to go with her to her chemo appointments. I was completely surprised by her email and her request but I knew I had to go.  She was reaching out to me and how could I refuse? I have rearranged my schedule to be there as many times as possible on her chemo days. I have gotten to know Fawn and have been listening to her fears, her hopes, her challenges and to my surprise the lack of support she is receiving from anyone. It truly breaks my heart.

I felt compelled to help her so I hosted a spaghetti fundraiser at my cousin's restaurant "Lunch with Tony" in Alviso to try and raise funds for her. I had some generous friends who donated some great raffle prizes but I  had trouble getting people to buy tickets for the lunch. I told Fawn this and her response was " Lots of people have cancer why should anyone care about me?". People did care and people showed up. People she did know but were there to support my efforts. It was truly touching to see the support.

That article connected two mothers each with 3 children who otherwise would never of met. Two people who surprisingly also share the same birthday. I never thought an article written about someone who is facing a terminal illness would inspire me to reach out. I am so thankful I did.

Fawn has become a dear friend to me in these few months that I have gotten to know her. It saddens me that she has to deal with this diagnosis and that she will not live to see her children beyond their elementary years. She said this could happen to any of us and it's so true. We never know what life is going to throw at us. We have no guarantees of a long life. Another reminder to embrace each day and live fully in the moment. It all can change in an instant. I pray Fawn is able to prolong the progression of her cancer. She knows her fate and has accepted the inevitable. Can we all say the same?

If you would like to contribute to her fund. Go to   http://www.gofundme.com/fawnlee

New York

I love the city of New York. I think it is one of the best cities around because of the diverse amount of things to do and see. I have been there on layovers for work. I recently went in November to take my daughter to the American Girl store. This time I took my husband without kids for 3 days. My husband has never been so it was exciting for him to getaway and have me all to himself. I could not of asked for a better trip.It started with being treated like royalty on our flight by two of my fellow co-workers. They moved us up to the crew rest seats which recline and hooked us up with lots of snacks & adult beverages. We arrived on a Sunday and began by checking out the city by foot. We had a hotel in the theatre district, which is my favorite area of New York. I showed him Rockefeller center specifically the Lego Store and Times Square specifically the Toys R Us store. 

On Monday we took a venture out to see the beautiful Statue of Liberty. Then a trip by water taxi to Brooklyn. A college friend of mine has a cozy cafe there that I was invited to come visit. What a treat that was. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was just amazing. Leisah and her partner Monica are just the most awesome people and we felt so blessed to have spent the afternoon with them. That night while walking around the city and getting ready to just relax in our room we spotted a marquee for a show called "Shatner's World". I inquired at the front desk if it was showing and he said yes in half an hour. So we quickly went back out and to the box office to buy tickets. My husband is a huge William Shatner fan and was excited to see his one man show which is only running for 3 weeks in New York before going on tour. I personally did not think the show was that great. It wasn't that funny. I found it to be a narrative of his life for the most part. After the show we waited in the cold for almost an hour to catch a glimpse of him. When he finally exited the theatre he stopped and shook my husband's hand.  I missed the Kodak moment but it still was a mission accomplished!

The next day I wanted to see the 9/11 memorial. I fly for American so I have a connection to those crew members that died on flight 11 that day. I went to their names and when I actually touched their names which have been inscribed on the stone I broke down in tears. It could of been any of us that day on any plane that was flying. It just happened to be theirs. It always puts perspective on the fragility of life when I think about that day and how our days are not promised. 

That evening we went to see "Spider-man turn off the dark" musical. I wanted to take my husband because he is a marvel comics fan. I wanted to see it because it has been a logistical nightmare and encountered numerous  problems with the production. It also cost a small fortune to produce. I can probably bet the show will never tour either because it is so complicated. I found it to be a definite theatrical experience with spider-man soaring through the theatre over patrons heads. Definitely a feat I have never seen before elsewhere. The songs were not that memorable but I'm glad I saw it. As we were walking back we passed by the theatre that was showing " Anything Goes". I spotted Joel Grey who is currently starring in that show and asked him for a photo which he graciously said yes. It was a pretty cool random sighting for me since Joel Grey is a huge theatre icon. I was a theatre major in college so I appreciated the chance meeting.

We flew home the next day with lots of memories and so thankful for all of it.

Whitney's Funeral

I watched the Whitney Houston funeral today because I knew her funeral would be a wonderful celebration of her life. She started singing in church as a young girl in Newark, New Jersey and today she returned home for her final church service. A moving tribute to an amazing singer. I was most touched by Kevin Costner's speech. I loved the emotion when Stevie Wonder, R Kelly and Carvin Winans sang. Carvin has this falsetto that is just out of this world.

Yes it is always sad when a life is cut short, but really what is considered short? it's all relative. 48 is not young but it's also not old. She lived a life with many successes. She used her God given voice to touch the lives of many. She was a mother to a daughter. She lived a life that many of us can only dream of. If she had not gotten into drugs she probably would of lived longer but it wasn't meant to be. The life of a star so bright often burns out before it should. Many of the greats have fallen before their time. The pressures of staying on top. The stresses of keeping grounded midst the craziness. Pills to stay awake, pills to go asleep, pills for anxiety, pills for  depression. Pretty soon you don't know what you've taken or when you've taken it. She didn't mean to die that day. It was a chain reaction of errors. I don't think anyone ever wakes up thinking today I'm going to die. It just happens and eventually to all of us. We are not promised a tomorrow so let us rejoice in the life she lived.

Content Magazine

Last night I had the privilege to attend the launch party of a new magazine called "Content". It has a been a labor of love for it's creator Daniel Garcia. Until recently it was only a digital magazine but last night they were celebrating the first print edition. It was a fun soiree at the San Pedro Market Place. There were models in beautiful gowns standing on podiums. Lots of food provided by various restaurants that are located on San Pedro St and a hosted bar was flowing with beverages. A hundred or more people were in attendance to show their love and support for this new magazine which will feature the people of San Jose. I love the idea. I love the focus of it. I subscribed and hope it is successful. It's good to support people who are trying to make a difference.

Here is the link if you would like to subscribe  http://content-magazine.com/welcome/?page_id=6485

Wish Upon a Wedding

Today I decided to take a leap of faith. I have accepted a position with the organization Wish Upon a Wedding as their fundraising chair.. I say I am taking a leap of faith because I have never (a) been on a board of a non-profit (b) been a fundraising chair (c) been told I need to raise 25K in funds. I have done a lot of in-kind donation asks for my work with the American Cancer Society's Courageous Kids day but it is nothing of this level. I think I am capable of taking on this position and with the help of my board and be successful. Here's to a new opportunity and living life fully because not everyone can.
you can check out their website and their mission at http://wishuponawedding.org/

As a nationwide 501(c) (3) organization, we celebrate the courage, determination and spirit of couples in love during their most challenging times.

Former First Lady Laura Bush

Yesterday on my flight from San Francisco to Dallas I had former first lady Laura Bush in first class. We were informed of her soon to be presence on our flight before we went down to the plane. She had 5 federal agents and an assistant with her. Three of the agents were in coach, one in first class and the other in the cockpit. She was one of the last to board the flight. She was as pleasant and as classy as I expected her to be. If I wasn't trying to be professional and keeping her presence low key I would of asked to take a photo with her.

I found myself pondering how much of our tax payer dollars go to making sure she has security when she travels. I mean once you're a presidents wife you can never go back to just being a normal person again. I guess she must have a certain level of security for the rest of her life. Then I found myself thinking what about those federal agents. What an interesting job that must be just following people around who need to be possibly protected. Sounds pretty cush to me.

It made for an interesting work day and for a story to tell. I'm always happy to report when someone I see in the public eye is nice in person. I guess to some degree they should be since they chose to be in the spotlight. Living life....

We are all Terminal

I had a blog long long ago. It was so long ago that I don't even remember the name and I was unable to find it. I am assuming it must of been deleted due to lack of use. My hope is it that I will use this blog and make a point of posting now that I have created a new one.

Where does the blog title come from? We are all terminal. It's just a fact of life. We are all terminal in the sense that we are all going to die from something. We are terminal in that our life has an end and therefore we will all terminate.It's just a matter of when. I find that by addressing this fact of life enables me to live my life more fully and with more intention. I know that I have a finite number of days and I need to maximize my time before my days are over. Morbid you say? no not really. When I die I want my life to be well lived. I want to feel I lived my life with purpose and that I lived it fully even in the craziness of this world. I can't control what others do or what is happening in the world but I can control how I let it affect me and how I choose to react to my circumstances. I hope that this blog will help me keep everything in perspective. To be thankful in all things and know that it could always be worse.