Welcome To The December Photo Challenge

I am spending this first day of December in Wichita, KS. I am attending an instructor's training class. Many of you already know this...
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What you may not know is that my wonderful host Eric, does not have Internet service at his house. So I am sitting in my car outside of Panera, quickly posting this photo before I go to Eric's and study for my quiz tomorrow (got 100% on today's quiz!).
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If you are familiar with Wichita you may recognize the Indian in the picture. He is called the Keeper Of The Plains and quite impressive.
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I didn't remember until I was leaving training this evening that I needed a photo for today. The sun had just dropped over the horizon and I came around the corner to see the Indian and the cool bridge near him. I parked, jumped out, snapped quickly and am quite pleased with the picture.
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See you tomorrow...wish me luck on my quiz.

Edumacation

I'm off to Wichita for the week.
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Packed up my erg, my camera and enough clothes for a month. Filled a cooler with good healthy food. Watered the plants. Filled the food and water bowls. Scritched all the furry ones.
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Leaving the home front in Manda's capable hands...of course I haven't yet seen her but I know she's back in town hanging out at her mom's.
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I'm taking an instructor's class this week. Soon I will be able to help teach our new fire folks.
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I'll be busy this week but look for the December Photo Challenge pictures beginning on Tuesday. (see the button on my side bar for more info)
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Have a great week.

And Just Like That...It's Christmas

I love Thanksgiving. I love the food, the time spent with family, pie...oh, I do love some pie!

But what I really love is that Thanksgiving gives way to Christmas.

Not the Black Friday madness but the twinkling lights, the cold stillness, the hushed reverence, the music, the tradition...the season.

Every year...as soon as I've eaten my weight in mashed potatoes and gravy...and pie, don't forget the pie. I put up my Christmas tree. Sometimes on Friday or Saturday but often on Thanksgiving evening. I put on the Christmas music. This year it's James Taylor and Hall and Oats. Good CD's both of them. I get a glass of wine and my house transforms.

You know, some might think it's silly, the trouble I go to with my house at Christmas. I don't have a Christmas gathering. I'm often out of town for Christmas. But I don't do Christmas for anyone else.

I do Christmas for me.

Thankful!!

Wordless Wednesday

(Well...not completely wordless.)

He's Totally Got My Number

"Aunt Jenn, I have something important to tell you."
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"What is it?"
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"So, we have a poem to recite tomorrow. It's for grandparent's day."
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"Uh huh."
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"But aunts and uncles can come too. So....if you're not busy or you don't have a fire...could you come?"
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So what did I do? I got someone to work a few hours for me and I went to grandparent's day. And you know what? There were more aunts and uncles there than grandparents.
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He's totally got my number.
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And I have some cute pictures but I didn't bring the camera adaptor to work so I'll try to post those tomorrow.

G'night....

I Don't Believe In This BMI Crap

Oh....never mind.
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I was writing a post about BMI and even the third rewrite sounded like I was either obsessed with my weight or whinning about it. This post here says what I'd like to say...go read it...then come back.
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Okay, did you read it...no? GO.
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Right. See. She says it so well.
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For me to have a BMI in the middle of the healthy range I'd have to weight 150 lbs.
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When I was an elite athlete...IN MY 20's!...I weighed 155-160. And I rowed 6 hours a day, biked or ran another 1-2 hours. And ate everything in sight...whole cartons of Ben and Jerry's...oh...those were the days.
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If I ever had a doctor tell me that my current BMI of 27.7 was too high...I'd tell them to go suck it.
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Luckily I do not. My very young, very thin doctor says I'm fine.
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And she's right.
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But I do miss the whole cartons of Ben and Jerry's...I'm not gonna lie....

I'm Always Up For A Challenge!

Kimmy has a little challenge for us.
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It's true...my attention to this little blog of mine has been little. Or none.
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It's almost time for the The December Photo Challenge. So I will have a photo for all the days of December.
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But...what to do until then?
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The
The Holiday Erg Challenge starts Thanksgiving day...like I said, I like a challenge!
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My goofy brother Stephen has a blog. And some how he has it linked to his facebook...perhaps I can figure that out...
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So basically, I'm in.
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Bring it!

A Little Hula Hooping

It all started with a simple conversation about unicycles...and all of a sudden there was a hula hoop...

June Marie's Mystical Mile

This is the entire mile. At the end...there's a suprise.

It's A Brave New World

I don't often share real stories from work. That can get you in trouble if you're not careful. But this is too funny and I think I can pull it off and not identify the innocent.
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Last shift I was riding out as acting captain. A guy from another station...we'll call him S...was driving. And a new paramedic was on the back end...we'll call her A.
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I've worked quite a bit with both of them and enjoy their company. We were having a fun shift. Hadn't been terribly busy but weren't bored to death either.
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Late in the evening we got toned out on an automatic alarm at an apartment complex.
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I was already dressed for bed...in my t-shirt and shorts.
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Normally at work I wear my hair in a ponytail but don't sleep in one so I had taken my hair down. When the tone dropped I couldn't find my hair elastic. It took me an extra few seconds to get to the rig...now don't be alarmed...we were still the first ones responding so I'm only talking a few seconds.
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But those few seconds were important because my crew was already on the rig. Waiting on me.
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I jumped in the rig, put us responding and said "sorry guys, I couldn't find my hair thingy."
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A responded " Hey, you could have used one of mine, I always have an extra."
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To which I replied. "Thanks but I always keep one here on my bunkers."
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At this point, S...now keep in mind, we are running lights and sirens in the big red truck, getting our gear on, looked at the map book, getting ready...S replied
"Please tell me we are not talking about hair thingys on our way to a house fire!!!!".
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He he he.
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Best part of the whole shift.

Nothing Is Worth More Than This Day

That is what the medallion around my neck says.
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I bought it for myself a few weeks ago. I didn't realize how important that phrase would become to me.
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Many of you know that I've been doing a little rowing lately. And that I've been trying to lose some weight. I am getting more comfortable in my single and the pounds are coming off in a healthy way.
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But this experience has done something I didn't expect.
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It's given me back myself.
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I feel more like me than I have in several years. I'm achy and sore in many places from the rowing and the gym. I'm hungry sometimes...but not all the time. And I've not gone on some crazy diet that is unmanageable. Just watching what I'm eating and writing it down so I know my total calorie count each day.
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But Nothing Is Worth More Than This Day.
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And Nothing Is Worth More Than I Am.
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Sounds self centered and I suppose it is. But if I'm not whole, healthy and happy...what good am I to any of the people I love?
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What good can I do in this world?
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It's important to me to make a difference. With my family. With my rowers. In my work on the big red truck. In my community.
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So here is my challenge to ya'll.
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Look at your life. Ask yourself " Am I taking care of me so I can take care of my people?"
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Make the changes in your life so you can be the best you you can be. That's what we all want for you.

I Really Should Take This Dog For A Walk

I really should.
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I don't really need to lay here on this bed. I'm not tired. Just bored. Just uninspired.
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Do gloomy Sundays affect you this way? I just can't get moving.
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Could be the furry boys cuddled up close, purring and being all fuzzy cat like.
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The dog is cuddled up here too. But it is, as always with her, only a temporary condition. If I got up and moved around she'd be up. Wiggling and excited to see what I might do that could be fun...or involve food.
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Okay. I'm getting up. I'll clean out the back of the car. Bundle up and take the furry beasts for a walk.

Rain Choir - Perpetuum Jazzile is an a cappella jazz choir from Slovenia.

This is really cool...and appropriate for today.

Boy Did They Throw A Wet Blanket On My Excitement!

I was going to pay off my car today.
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I looked at the budget and it was scheduled to pay off on November 10 but the money scheduled to pay it with is currently sitting in my account and well...
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Kind of a neat birthday present to myself.
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But you see. The bank always has a way of ruining the fun.
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My car payments are on automatic withdrawal. They are paid on the 10th of the month. Today is the 8th.
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They need 15 days to stop an automatic draft. So if I paid it today I'd still get hit for the payment. Now since the 10th is a Saturday and Monday is some random holiday the payment won't actually post until Tuesday.
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So.
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On Tuesday I will pay off my car.
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And on Tuesday I will be excited.
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Today I am not.

What Inspires You?

We've been talking a lot at practice this week. Well...actually we always talk a lot. Or at least the kids talk a lot. Sometimes I can't hear myself think. Oh my, do they talk a lot.
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Where was I...
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Right. This week at practice.
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I've been trying to figure out how to light a fire under this group of kids. Make them faster, more focused, inspire them.
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So I asked them. "What inspires you?"
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The answers were interesting. And somewhat predictable. I wasn't really surprised by any of the answers.
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Music. Stories of triumph over adversity. Competition. Inner drive.
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But still. I'm at a loss. How do I inspire them? I want them to want to be better. I want them to be the team I see in them. The team I can't quite get to.
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I'm frustrated. They are frustrated. We are not achieving the speed we're capable of. We are making dumb mistakes.
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What inspires you? Were you ever really jazzed by a team experience? Tell me about it...
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Please.

I Hate Commerce Bank

Yes.
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I just named names.
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I hate Commerce Bank.
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And maybe not for the reasons you might think.
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The rowing club has a corporate credit card with Commerce for when we travel. I have a generous limit and Jeff pays it off immediately.
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But often I cannot use it.
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You see, Commerce has a policy that I can only use my limit once in any 30 day billing period. So even if our balance is $0 if we've traveled once already in that billing cycle...I can't use the card.
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Tricky when we often have regattas two or three weeks apart.
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But that's not why I hate Commerce Bank.
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1000 Commerce business customers had cards that they suspected had been compromised. So at midnight on Friday they deactivated the cards. My card. And I was in Des Moines, IA with the team. A phone call would have been nice. An email. Something.
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But even that is not why I hate Commerce Bank.
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When I was younger I often cut the finances close paycheck to paycheck. Oh, who am I kidding...I always ran short. I wasn't making any money and I was a lousy manager of what I did have.
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Things are better now. I make a nice living. Not millions but enough that I don't have to stretch between checks like before. I don't worry about money. I have a plan and it works.
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But I remember what it felt like to have my ATM card denied. Or write a check and have the little check computer spit it back out.
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Embarrassment. Despair. Worry.
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That is why I hate Commerce Bank.
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Because that's how it feels when I use that card and it's declined.
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It's like being poor all over again.

Pink Fire Trucks

Today I wrote a message to my mother on a pink fire truck. These fire trucks are driving across the country to raise awareness for women's cancer...all of them, not just breast cancer. And they are being driven by men.

I cannot tell you how much I want a set of these hot pink bunkers...and look at the helmet! It's pink! With ribbons! Love it!

Mom couldn't make it over to sign herself so I made sure she was represented.

I'm sure there are ladies whose names I should have added. But always know...they are in our hearts.

A link for you...The Pink Heals Tour

Sisters

Happy Birthday Kimmy!
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Love you very much!
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She is your mirror, shining back at you with a world of possibilities. She is your witness, who sees you at your worst and best, and loves you anyway. She is your partner in crime, your midnight companion, someone who knows when you are smiling, even in the dark. She is your teacher, your defense attorney, your personal press agent, even your shrink. Some days, she's the reason you wish you were an only child. ~Barbara Alpert
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Having a sister is like having a best friend you can't get rid of. You know whatever you do, they'll still be there. ~Amy Li
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A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost. ~Marion C. Garretty
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Is solace anywhere more comforting than in the arms of a sister. ~Alice Walker
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If you don't understand how a woman could both love her sister dearly and want to wring her neck at the same time, then you were probably an only child. ~Linda Sunshine
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You can kid the world. But not your sister. ~Charlotte Gray
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Sisters never quite forgive each other for what happened when they were five. ~Pam Brown
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A sister can be seen as someone who is both ourselves and very much not ourselves - a special kind of double. ~Toni Morrison
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Children of the same family, the same blood, with the same first associations and habits, have some means of enjoyment in their power, which no subsequent connections can supply... ~Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, 1814
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What's the good of news if you haven't a sister to share it? ~Jenny DeVries
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Sisters is probably the most competitive relationship within the family, but once the sisters are grown, it becomes the strongest relationship. ~Margaret Mead
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If sisters were free to express how they really feel, parents would hear this: "Give me all the attention and all the toys and send Rebecca to live with Grandma." ~Linda Sunshine
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When sisters stand shoulder to shoulder, who stands a chance against us? ~Pam Brown
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The mildest, drowsiest sister has been known to turn tiger if her sibling is in trouble. ~Clara Ortega
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A sister is a forever friend. ~Author Unknown
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Sisters annoy, interfere, criticize. Indulge in monumental sulks, in huffs, in snide remarks. Borrow. Break. Monopolize the bathroom. Are always underfoot. But if catastrophe should strike, sisters are there. Defending you against all comers. ~Pam Brown
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We know one another's faults, virtues, catastrophes, mortifications, triumphs, rivalries, desires, and how long we can each hang by our hands to a bar. We have been banded together under pack codes and tribal laws. ~Rose Macaulay
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You are the best sister ever! (most of the time)

Me And My Scale

Hey there ho there!
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No, I didn't forget I have a blog...haven't we already been through this...I should be fired. But, alas, I AM the boss of this blog and I like me...so there.
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I'm on a diet.
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Don't even start. I DO need to lose a few pounds. Stop the slow creep upward on the scale. Nothing crazy. Just keeping the weight in a healthy range. Revamping the food that goes in. Making sure I'm doing my part to improve the calories burned.
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You know...healthy and all that.
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And I have a scale. There are really three schools of thought on the scale issue.

1. Weigh every day.
2. Weigh once a week/month.
3. Never go near the blasted thing.

I'm an every day weigher. Always have been. It will not be changed.

My scale is possessed.

I began at my heavy weight not to be mentioned. In the first week I lost 13 pounds. I'd get on the scale every morning and think "It just cannot be this easy".

Then I thought maybe the batteries were dying. So I got new batteries. Same unbelievable loss. So I started to think "Okay, so this is good".

Then Saturday I was bad. Not like I ate a whole cake and a carton of ice cream bad. But I had more than one beer and more than one chocolate martini and the guac...oh...the guac. And the stuffed dates. And food from the grill...okay, maybe I was that bad.

Sunday morning, against my better judgement, I got on the devil scale. All 13 pounds. Back.

A little panic. Put the scale on a different part of the floor. Took the battery out and put the old one back in. Stood a different way. Left and came back later.

13 pounds. Back.

Yesterday down 2 from there.

Today...back to 13 lost.

I think the damn thing is fucking with me.