September 11 Remembered

It had truly been one of the most amazing weekends, ever.

A four-day brief foray into western Colorado...a surprise trip from the Hubs, for just us...no kids, no distractions...

Our four days were spent exploring the beautiful aspens, streams, and mountains of Colorado - tracking elusive wildlife, hiking long-abandoned trails, and just taking in the absolute stunning beauty that makes America the wondrous country that it is....It was an absolute, fantastic four days that I wanted to last forever.

Unfortunately, reality arrived, and it was time to head home...we arrived home late, on a Monday evening. I opted to take Tuesday off of work, so I could catch up on "Mommy" chores: laundry, bill paying, cleaning, shopping, etc.

The kids were up early that morning...the two younger boys were eating breakfast, getting ready to catch the elementary school bus...Dear Daughter was all of 2-years old that day, and so I kept her home with me, in lieu of day care....

I turned on the television with the intent of flipping it over to "Blue's Clues" - my daughter's absolute favorite program at the time. However, when the TV came on, it was on ABC...and was broadcasting "Good Morning, America." My eyes glanced at the screen to see what was on...and I don't think my eyes left the screen for 3 or 4 days....

The image was terrible...one of the Twin Towers in NYC appeared to be on fire...and the news anchors were sounding a bit confused and bewildered, as they speculated on the air about what had caused this horrific fire at the World Trade Center. I sat down for what was supposed to be just for a minute, so I could absorb what I was seeing, and process it...A bomb, perhaps? An electrical fire? What had caused this?

And then...the unthinkable...on live TV, I distinctly remember hearing my 2-year old daughter exclaim, excitedly, "Mommy! A plane! A plane!" as the image of an airplane appeared on the screen, and slammed into the second Tower.

I screamed. I burst into tears. I immediately recognized that my beloved country, the United States of America, was under attack. By an unknown enemy. But we were clearly being attacked.

And then - I realized I had to pull it together for the sake of my kids, who were now all watching me for cues on how to react to this. Suck it up, sister - you're a Mom, and you have to keep the kids calm and not freak them out. It was ALL I could do to put on a brave face and get my sons out the door for the bus....

Many phone calls were made that day...calling to check on the welfare of friends and family and co-workers...my parents came over and spent the day...perhaps we all felt that tug of family, that need for the secure and the safe....and we watched the screen, looking for answers, looking for reassurances from our leaders, and hoping and praying for the families and people affected.

It was the worst of times that came off one of the best of times, and it was very surreal - to go from an extreme Rocky Mountain High to accepting the reality that there were men in the world, so evil, they could do these acts to innocent people.

I will never forget...I will always remember...and my prayers and thoughts today are with all of us who were affected by the events of September 11, 2001.

Peace. And I say that with all my heart....

Peace.

Fool Me Once...

And today's lesson, dear readers, is all about being prepared....

A month ago, I visited a local community organization on behalf of the Red Cross...they had asked me to come out and do a presentation on the Pandemic Flu.

On my way to the civic center, I swung by my office at the Red Cross, where a co-worker had set out everything I needed to do the presentation...brochures, a projector, and a laptop computer. The brochures were in a giant plastic bag, and the electronic equipment nestled all snug in their respective black cases....I grabbed all of the bags and loaded up my car and headed out.

However... when I arrived at the civic center, I discovered - to my horror - that I had brochures, a projector, and a....projector. No computer. No way to run the slide show. The co-worker had inadvertently set out TWO projectors and NO computer. Oh, NO! Disaster!!!!

Having the wonderful God-given gift of gab, and quick thinking, I improvised, and did a wonderful presentation on the Psychological Stages of a Disaster...something that I've spoken on numerous times and can do off the top of my head.

The audience - of which there were 75 people! - ate it up and everything was cool....Whew. Crisis averted.

This is a monthly speaking engagement, and today was my day to head back out to the same civic center, and this time, speak on earthquakes.

I swung by my office at work, and my co-worker had set out brochures, and the two black cases....which, hopefully, held a laptop and a projector.

Not wanting to take any chances, I checked the black cases before I left my office to insure that they did, indeed, carry the necessary equipment...and to my relief, I saw a laptop in one and a projector in another. Whew. I was good to go.

So, I arrived at my destination, and began taking the laptop and projector out to set up...everything was going along very nicely until I began searching for the cable that "connects" the laptop with the projector...you know, that very-valuable piece of cording that allows the laptop to "speak" to the projector. Without it, you're screwed.

And guess what? (Yeah, you know where this is going, don't you?)

No cable. No connection. I'm screwed.

Are you KIDDING me???!!!

I seriously looked around for a minute, swearing on everything that is holy that I was being punk'd....and when I realized I wasn't being filmed for "Candid Camera", I just continued swearing on everything that is holy. But, you know, silently, as I didn't want to freak out the audience.

Having the wonderful gift of gab, and the wonderful foresight to be prepared for disasters, I had fortunately printed off the Earthquake slideshow before I left the house this morning...

...so I was able to do the presentation on the fly...using my notes as back-up...and the audience ate it up and everything was cool....Whew. Crisis averted.

But seriously? Two months in a row?

Next month, you know darn tootin' that I will be taking EVERYTHING out of the black cases while I'm STILL at my office to insure that I have EVERYTHING I need to speak...I'm really running out of the gift of gab.

And I'm starting to get just a bit paranoid...justifiably so, I think.

Peace.

Red Cross Ramblings

Busy, busy, busy...

...it's September...which means it's National Preparedness Month...

...which means I'm crazy, insanely, over-the-top busy with Red Cross.

Yesterday, I visited a local high school, and did back-to-back presentations on Disaster Preparedness. My first presentation was done with a class that was supposed to be "Team Sports." Boy, weren't the jocks surprised when they saw they weren't shooting hoops in the gym - but instead were having the wonderful opportunity of hearing me jabber about disasters for an hour.

They were thrilled - THRILLED - with sitting in a rather warm, stuffy library...after lunch...discussing how to be prepared if a tsunami were to hit the Midwest tomorrow.

Okay, enough with my sarcasm...it actually went pretty well...once they got over the shock and disappointment of it all. I think they actually had a bit of fun - but they would never admit it. They're teenagers, after all.

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Today was spent meeting with the Leadership Council of the American Red Cross....it was our monthly meeting, where we can sit and pow-wow...some good news came out of this, as we are just that-much-closer to finding our 5,000 beds for possible Louisiana hurricane evacuees.

In the meantime, I still say a prayer every time a tropical storm perks up in the Atlantic, invoking every thing that is holy that the storm will bypass our good friends in New Orleans. Now, don't get me wrong - I LOVE the people of the Big Easy - but I love them even more if they don't have to mandatorily come visit me here in Kansas City. And I have to house and feed them. For weeks. Possibly.

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Tomorrow, I have the unmitigated joy of visiting a community center in a nearby town, and doing a presentation on something near and dear to my heart...earthquakes.

You probably didn't know I was the Queen of Earthquake Preparedness, did you? Well, I am...and I have a kick-ass speech, full of pathos, humor, passion, joy, and amazing trivia - all about the Big One That Is Yet To Come....And all of the ones we've had before...such as the deadliest earthquake in recorded history, which was in China in 1556. I wasn't there, of course, but I have it on good authority that over 830,000 people were killed...can you imagine that? Unbelievable.

Now, see...? If the Chinese people had had ME come and do an earthquake presentation - they would have been PREPARED and would have known what to do when the ground started shaking. Think of all the lives that could have been saved...???!!

I'm just sayin'.....

Peace.

Third Time's a Charm?

When my Dear Daughter was 6 years old, she begged and pleaded to have her ears pierced...

...when it reached the point where I no longer delighted in seeing her beg and plead and suffer and it crossed over to where it was just down-right annoying, I caved and took her in and had the deed done.

Within two months, because of lack of care and lack of initiative on her part, her ears closed up and they were pierced no more.

When Dear Daughter turned 9, she once again began begging and pleading to have her ears pierced. This time, though, I fought back a little more and reminded her of how she had not shown responsibility for the ears when she was 6, and why should this time be different?

"Because I'm older and I'm more mature," was her very wise and mature answer. She then tacked on a plaintive "PLEEEAAASSSE!"
for good measure.

We debated back and forth for a few weeks, and after repeated assurances from her that she would take care of the ears, I took her in and had the deed done. Again.

And again...within a few months...she had neglected to keep earrings in, and the ears closed up and they were pierced no more. Deja vu.

"I'm done," I said to Hubs. "She can beg and plead until the cows come home, but I'm done. No more."

I knew Daughter was too smart to come to me and beg and plead any more...she knew I stood firm and it wasn't going to happen any more on my watch.

What I didn't count on was her roping in someone else.

Yesterday, her older sister (We'll call her "Daughter J") called and asked to take Dear Daughter (who's now 11) out for the day...they'd go to a local festival in town, do some shopping, and just hang out.

Daughter J is 30 years old, married, with two sons of her own. I know she likes female company, so I said, "Sure. No problem."

As I sent Dear Daughter out the door yesterday with Daughter J, I hugged her and said, "Now - be good...don't be a pest. Make good choices and be smart." You know - all of those "Mom" things we say as we send our kids out the door.

Dear Daughter came home last night with two, fresh holes in her ears...I guess her idea of "being good" and "making good choices" and "being smart" was begging and pleading older sister to take her to get her ears pierced.

Argh. Here we go again.

Peace.

Weekend in Review: The Water Edition

Ft Myers Beach...Labor Day weekend...2010

Water.

If my weekend had a theme, it would be water...isn't water a wonderful thing?

I spent Friday morning in Florida, waiting for the guy to show up who was going to install my recently purchased water softener/filter unit.

I had discovered - to my horror...well, actually, more to my hair's horror - that our water in Florida was extremely hard, and extremely full of chlorine. And ammonia. Gah! That week we spent in Florida last month had done a number on my hair - to the point where even my hairdresser had exclaimed, "What the heck happened to your hair??!!"

If you're getting chewed out by your hairdresser, then you know that something needed to be done. And soon. So, without further ado, I purchased a water filtration system, and it was to be installed on Friday. Oh joy.

The guy showed up only 90 minutes late (gah!) and with my assistance ("Where do you want it, ma'am?" , or "Where's your nearest GFI?" and "How much salt do you want?" and so on and so on), we got it done by noon.


Isn't this a thing of beauty??!!

After the guy left, I looked longingly out the back door at my pool, and heedless of the doctor's warnings about swimming so soon after my surgeries, I plunged in. To heck with it - the pool was full of chlorine, so how infected could I really get? I mean really? And even if a teeny, tiny bit of infection was to occur in the incisions, that could be managed with some antibiotics, and the pool was looking so inviting and so refreshing...and you could really see where my brain was going...



The pool water was fantastic...in it's late-summer glory of absolutely divine temperature that cocooned my body and washed all my cares and worries away....

And it felt so, so good.

After the dip in the pool, I took a shower - and it was pure joy...

....I have to say that my hair was very happy and pleased with the results. My shampoo was foamy and bubbly; my skin felt clean; and my hair? Was doing the happy dance afterwards. No more lectures from my hairdresser. She will be so happy, too. Happy hair and happy hairdressers are the simple things in life we should savor....

That evening, I drove down to Ft. Myers beach and had a delicious, old-fashioned chocolate soda from Kilwin's Chocolate Shop. And I will confess, dear readers, that the heavenly scoops of chocolate ice cream and foamy mounds of soda water was my dinner. Hey - I was by myself, and I had no children around that I needed to be setting good examples for, so veggies? Organic? Poo on you....I was having a chocolate soda for dinner.

And it tasted so, so good.

Saturday morning and afternoon was spent fiddle-farting...I read some more Randy Wayne White, I shopped some more at a home decor shop, and I swam some more in that delicious pool...

At about 3:00, the phone rang, and it was Kevin, my Hub's boss. Kevin is the one who initially bought a house a year ago in Ft. Myers, and convinced us to do so, as well. Kevin was also down in Ft. Myers for the Labor Day weekend.

Kevin says, "What 'cha doing?"

I said, "Nothing of importance. Why? What's up?"

He says, "I'm fishing off my boat. Wanna' join me?"

Before he had said the last word, I was already jumping in my car and heading on down to his place. Kevin has a kick-ass boat...and when I say, "kick ass", I mean this thing is monstrous...it has a 600-gallon gas tank, and has two bedrooms, a kitchen, and enough room to hold 30 people. I like boats...fishing? Not so much - but I could watch while he fished, and I could enjoy the boat.

We spent several hours on his boat - watching some of the other boats go by, including this monster:



And fishing? All Kevin would have to do is throw out a line, and a minute later, he'd have something, like this:



...we then took the boat out for a cruise around the beach, and I managed to snap a (blurry) photo of what appeared to be a bald eagle in the mudflats....


...the evening was beautiful and it was just an awesome trip...Kevin's wife, Debbie, had joined us and the three of us kicked back and relaxed.

And life was so, so good.

Sunday, it was time to come home. First, though, I went next door and socialized a little with my Florida neighbors, Larry and Linda. They are some pretty cool people and I needed to say my good-byes until the next time.

Around 11:30, my car had arrived to take me to the airport - and so off I went, locking up the house. It's always sad to leave the house - wondering when I would be able to return...hoping that it's okay while we're gone....

A very, very bumpy ride home, as there were lots of thunderstorms and giant clouds we went through as we flew north....but we landed safely in KC around 4:30 and I was met by my smiling family.

Coming home, I was met with piles of laundry and piles of mail...and some happy pets.

And being home is so, so good.



Peace.