Influential Books

My friend Jennifer blogged recently about the 5 most influential books in her life. And over the last month 5 people have asked me for book recommendations. Plus in the last month during our packing and moving I spent a little time with each of my favorite titles as I tucked them each into storage boxes. So I think the blogging gods are asking me to think about books and what they mean to me! Here is a list of the books that have shaped, changed or made a huge difference in my life.

1. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
"I'll never live for the sake of another man; nor let another man live for the sake of mine"

2. Sophie's World: A Novel about the History of Philosophy by Jostein Gaarder
Philosophy woven with fiction -- the perfect way to learn

3. The Bridge Across Forever: A Lovestory by Richard Bach
Modern fairy tale and a great love story

4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
My first glimpse of injustice

5. The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
Understanding true ambition

6. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
Great introduction to the beat generation

7. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
A great, simple look at life and what really matters

8. Beloved by Toni Morrison
Horror, love, magic, great fiction

9. The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Feminism 101

10. Rise to Globalism by Stephen Ambrose
American Foreign Policy 101

11. Race Matters by Cornel West
My introduction to race in the USA

12. A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present by Howard Zinn
The real history class

13. Make Gentle the Life of This World: The Vision of Robert F. Kennedy
RFK's son has put together a collection of thoughts, quotes, and inspirational material on various topics from life to race relations

14. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
A fantastic journey and so authentic

15. The Joy Diet: 10 daily practices for a happier life by Martha Beck
The best diet ever - useful and challenging exercises for bring more joy into your life

16. Being Perfect by Anna Quindlen
My mantra

17. The Impossible will take a Little While by Paul Rogat Loeb
Inspirational reading in a time of doubt

18. 100 Ways to Motivate Others by Steve Chandler
And motivation for yourself to want to try and be better

19. Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller
A great fictional futuristic tale

20. Captains & Kings by Taylor Caldwell
Wow - an epic of JFK porportions....

20. Cry, the Beloved Country, by Alan Paton
Inspiration, history, and fiction

21. Five Quarters of the Orange, by Joanne Harris
One of my favorite authors in one of my favorite places

22. Time Traveler's Wife
Simply amazing and thought provoking

23. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Beautiful relationships between women in an interesting and challenging time

Gratitude & Traditions

This Thanksgiving season I am grateful for:

vacation days from work - ahhhhh

our house is sold and the excitement and adventure of moving

I love buying nice Christmas gifts for the people I care about

my intelligence and paycheck that give me the options and power to live life on my terms

my health and most of my family is healthy

organizing things and making lists

Tyler and Kevin live in AZ and are liking it

Ben and I are going to Ohio for Christmas to spend time with my family

2008 is an election year (go Obama)

my life is full of fantastic friends

Ben accepts me for exactly who I am

books and tivo allow me to experience different worlds

new traditions such as "Pre Thanksgiving Spa Day" with Kelly

Pre Thanksgiving, Thanks for Me, Because I Deserve it, Spa Day:

Kelly and I spent Wednesday at the Camelback Inn Spa and decided this MUST become an anual tradition. Massages, steam room, mimoas and lunch by the pool, soaking in the jacuzi, girl talk, meditation, naps, magazines, and facials. I am spoiled rotten. (And not too many naked people Cindy...) What a perfect way to start out the holiday season and set the tone for a peaceful, relaxing, centered holiday. Our goal is to increase the participation rate next year by 100% so mark your calendars now! I might have to go back sooner and take Ben - if you take away the girl talk and facials it would be a very relaxing day to connect and there were lots of guys hanging out by the pool and in the exercise area.

Move Update:
We got the keys to our new appartment and are starting to packup and move a few things at a time. We will be on Priest, just north of Ray in a 2 bedroom appt and a garage space to store all the rest. Hopefully it will all fit! As I start to pack, it's a great feeling to go through all of my books and decorations and think back on the stories and memories they each bring. Packing up the kitchen and there are so many generous wedding gifts that we received. It's amazing how much stuff you can accumulate after living somewhere for 7.5 years! The movers are coming December 8th to help with the furniture.

Under Contract

We got an offer on our house and are now under contract!! We are excited and hoping for a smooth transaction through the inspection and loan approval for the buyers. The close of escrow is planned for Dec 12th!!! If all goes well we will be in a new appartment by mid-December and starting to look at new houses in January in this buyer's market!! So many exciting new changes and adventures ahead. I'm scared and excited and making lots of lists as we plan for the move.

"Generation Me"

I read a fantastic book this week that was really thought provoking and wanted to share my thoughts. It's called Generation Me and the subtitle for the book is Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled--and More Miserable Than Ever Before. The book is by a professor who studies generational differences and includes fabulous pop culture references that rang true to me... from Marlo Thomas's "Free to Be You and Me" celebrating the individual and gender equality to references to Seinfeld or Friends episodes. The book refers to anyone born between 1970-1995 as "GenMe," and shows that the parenting styles of the time (focusing on self esteem and individuals being "special") have raised individuals who were told they could be anything they wanted to be. Interestingly enough, much of this stems from the access to reliable birth control so that many more children were planned and "wanted" than previous generations.

Sounds all good right? Well, there is a huge mismatch between expectations and reality as these kids who have been taught to dream big enter the real world. Not all professions are dream-fulfilling desires but are still essential for society to function. Kids dream of being in the NBA or an actor, yet such few people actually ever attain these positions. Such beliefs also have created a generation of young people who believe every dream is attainable but who aren't prepared to deal with discovering it isn't so.

The author calls for us to "ditch the self-esteem movement" in favor of education programs that encourage empathy and real accomplishment to spare some of us the depression that often occurs when we hit the realities of today's increasingly competitive workplace and. Get rid of the phrases, "You can be anything you want to be" and "Never give up on your dreams." Both statements are totally untrue. You can't be good at everything... no one is. And, sometimes you have to put true desires on hold while you deal with practical matters such as paying the bills and managing unexpected events. It's a Free to Be You and Me world where more 20-year-olds expect – not hope, expect – to make a living as musicians, actors, or artists NOT as lawyers, nurses, accountants, business owners, journalists, teachers, or factory workers. If the world was ready and able to cooperate with that dream!

Generation Me's expectations are highly optimistic: they expect to go to college, to make lots of money, and perhaps even to be famous. Yet this generation enters a world in which college admissions are increasingly competitive, good jobs are hard to find and harder to keep, and basic necessities like housing and health care have skyrocketed in price. This is a time of soaring expectations and crushing realities.... "the gap between what they have and what they want has never been greater."

Here are some of my favorite stats and quotes from the book - good and bad news:

"In the early 1950s, only 12% of teens aged 14 to 16 agreed with the statement 'I am an important person'. By the late 1980s, an incredible 80%, almost seven times as many, claimed they were important".

"Seventy percent of late-1990s high school students expected to work in professional jobs, compared to 42% in the 1960s ... In 1999, teens predicted they would be earning, on average, $75,000 by the age of thirty. The average income of a thirty-year-old that year? $27,000."

"Only 1% to 2% of Americans born before 1915 experienced a major depressive episode during their lifetime, even though they lived through the Great Depression and two world wars. Today the lifetime rate of major depression is ten times higher ... In one 1990s study, 21% of teens aged 15 to 17 had already experienced major depression ...".

"David Mindich, author of Tuned Out: Why Americans under 40 Don't Follow the News, interviewed 18-to-24-year-olds in 2002. He found that 60% could not name a single Supreme Court justice, 48% did not know what Roe vs Wade was, and 62% could not name any of the three countries Bush had identified as the 'Axis of Evil'".

"While only 30% of Americans support gay marriage, 59% of American 18-year-olds do". YEAH!!!!!!!

"Reliable birth control, legalized abortion, and a cultural shift toward parenthood as a choice made us the most wanted generation of children in American history. Television, movies, and school programs have told us we were special from toddlerhood to high school, and we believe it with a fierce self-confidence. Then many people reaching their twenties find that their jobs do not provide the fulfillment and excitement they had anticipated, and that their salary isn't enough to afford even a small house."

Missions Accomplished

What a busy week for me with Tyler & Kevin!! I am in heaven having them here and helping them get off to a good start!

Race for the Cure with Wonder Woman (aka Julia)

Shopped for and bought a mattress

Shopped for and bought couches

Shopped for and bought a car

Unpacked storage pod & boxes

Now we can start to have some fun. Tomorrow night is my first experience with America's Next Top Model. And I'm looking forward to wine and girltalk Friday night! The weather is finally nice enough to start hiking again on the weekends.

Just finished reading This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman which was a very fun read of personal statements from people ranging from Albert Einstein to Hellen Keller to Colin Powell to Margaret Sanger.

I just realized I have 2 extra vacation days I need to take by December 31st or I will lose them.... any suggestions??

books tv housing & learning

I have read a bunch of books lately. You know how sometimes you get on a roll?

• The Double Bind: A Novel by Chris Bohjalian - I've enjoyed each of his books this was no exception
• Letter from Point Clear: A Novel by Dennis McFarland - a little slow but interesting characters
• The Knitting Circle: A Novel by Ann Hood - fun, easy and a surprisingly good storyline
• Right now I'm reading Up from Orchard Street by Eleanor Widmer for my Soroptimist bookclub.
• Did you see that Ann Patchett (author of Bel Canto) has a new book out called Run?

We wait all summer through bad reruns for a fresh fall TV lineup and here are my favorites so far. New shows have mostly been a disappointment (Cane, Bionic Woman...), but a few with potential are Private Practice, Dirty Sexy Money and Big Shots. And I have to say my favorite is the Women's Murder Club which premiered last night. It's based on the James Patterson books and I really think they picked the perfect actresses to play the roles! And I'm happy to see my old friends in the returning shows: Brothers & Sisters, Heros, Boston Legal, House, and Greys Anatomy! Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat Pray Love was just on Oprah last week. It was awesome! I loved that book and it was especially great to see Oprah ask questions about her year of self discovery.

We've been busy helping Kevin and Tyler find a place to live so that Kevin doesn't have to commute from Chandler to his job in North Phoenix. They have signed a lease on a condo in Scottsdale which is absolutely perfect. Great location near old town and totally rennovated so that all the appliances and even the bathtub are brand new! Ty flies in tonight and I'm so excited to welcome her to Arizona! They still need to buy the basics like a bed and a couch but I think they will love their new home.

At work I had a training class this week which was very motivational. Microchip works with Steve Chandler on leadership training. For the class we all read his book 100 Ways To Motivate Others and we were able to have a workshop with him based on work examples. What I really thought was cool is that his philosophy brought together many of the pieces from The Secret's Law of Attraction, things I have read by Martin Seligman on the science of happiness like Authentic Happiness and many other books I have read about optimism and leadership all into one accessable package. His approach is the perfect combination of down to earth and spiritual. He was able to use words like compassion without alienating a room of technology managers. I look forward to reading more of his books, following his blog and someday I totally want to have a mastermind group with some of you! In many ways we already have one - challenging each other to create and implement goals, brainstorm ideas, and support each other with total honesty, respect and compassion!

I'm such a wimp

I had my wisdom teeth removed last Friday. You would have thought I'd been run over by a truck or something. It SUCKED!! I totally underestimated how hard it would be. I really thought it would be a great opportunity to spend quality time with my tivo and catch up on some reading and eat pudding for a few days. For 4 days I really just laid around in pain with my best friend Vicodin and ice-packs to try to reduce the swelling.

Everyone reacts to being "under the weather" differently. For Ben, he gets crabby. For me, I get depressed. I am not a good patient at all. By Monday I really thought I would never be able to eat again. Yes, I have the tendancy to be a little extreme.

My bottom left tooth was wrapped around the "inferior alveolar nerve" that supplies feeling to the lip, teeth and tongue on each side of the mouth. So I'm got nerve dammage - meaning I'm totally numb on the bottom left of my face. Luckily I'm not drooling on myself! This nerve heals slowly so my dr says it may take 6 months to a year before it feels normal. Booo hisss.....

Well, that's what I have been up to. The good news is that I've graduated to eating chips and salsa again so life is good!

SUNDAY: Home sweet home

After such a wonderful trip with my sisters, I feel so lucky that they are such cool people and I genuinely just like them so much. It was the trip of a lifetime and I will never forget our adventures!!

Ben picked me up at the airport and we had family over to watch some Vikings football. It was nice to hang out with my favorite guys Ben and Gus and to sleep in my own bed with my own pillow... for at least a night or 2. Because I left on Tuesday for Boston for work for the week which really sucked. Boston was fun and exhausting. I'm looking forward to things slowing down a little bit in October. And I'm so excited to have Kevin & Tyler moving to Phoenix in October!!

SATURDAY: My 33rd birthday!!

Ahh the perfect day for my birthday. We got to sleep in. Then we had Mexican food for lunch. Oh how I crave my chips and salsa! Then we spent the afternoon at the San Fran Modern Art Museum (SFMOMA) and saw lots of Matisse, Picasso, photography and more.

We got tickets to Cobbs Comedy Club in the evening and saw the divas of comedy including Caroline Rhea, Aisha Tyler, and Sue Murphey. Lots of great female energy and laughs!!

FRIDAY: wine, wine, wine!!

Friday we took a wine tour to Sonoma. Ohhh how I love to taste wine. Our first winery was Jacuzzi, yep like as in the hot tub guys. They had some delicious wines that you can check out at World Market or Trader Joes: White Arneis Paicines 2006, Red Primitivo North Coast 2005. We also went to a tiny vineyard called Homewood that had fabulous Pinot Noir and Chardonnay as well as a Cab that I loved so much that I bought 6 bottles to ship home! Wine country is so beautiful and calm.

We had lunch in Sonoma and then drove to Muir Woods to hike with the tall redwoods. Our tour group stopped for fantastic views of the Golden Gate Bridge on our return to the city. That evening we dined at the Firenze By Night and hit a trendy North Beach bar on our way home.

THURSDAY: Hippies & old friends

Thursday we spent investigating some of San Francisco's famous neighborhoods. We were in the Haight-Ashbury which was the center of the 60s hippie movement and home to the Greatful Dead, Janis Joplin and Jefferson Airplane. Today it is very touristy with a lot of tie-died T-shirts and botiques - much more expensive than I anticipated.




Then we went to The Castro, which is San Fran's gay pride area featuring the Castro Theater and many independent stores waving proud rainbow flags. We visited Harvey Milk plaza to pay homage to the political gay activist who was assasinated in 1978 with San Fran's mayor. The controversial trial involved the so-called "Twinkie defense" and riots of outrage. We went to a fabulous pet store and my puppy-niece Stella got a very trendy pretty new collar!!

We met a friend of mine from high school, Tony Kim and his wife Brandy for dinner & drinks that night. I hadn't seen Tony since graduation day in 1992 so it was fun to catch up on life with him!

WEDNESDAY: Yosemite

Wednesday we took a small tour to Yosemite. It's over 4 hours away so it was a LONG day trip but the views were soooo worth it! Amazing. I can't wait to go back someday and spend time camping and hiking.

We had a picnic lunch in Yosemite valley and even got time in the afternoon to hike with the Giant Sequioa trees (world's widest trees).

We all slept good that night after being gone from 6am til 9pm!! I even finished Harry Potter on our drive home.

TUESDAY: Crazy lady

Tuesday we mastered lots of public transportation including buses and trains to get to San Jose California, home of the Winchester Mystery Mansion.

Number of rooms: 160
Cost: $5,500,000
Date of Construction: 1884 - September 5, 1922 Staircases that go into walls, doors that drop off from multiple stories, sky lights blocked by walls, and more strange stuff from this crazy lady!

MONDAY: Beatnicks, fortune cookies and beer

Monday was Courtney's 30th birthday. Time to celebrate and what better way that shopping??

We hit Chinatown and shopped for jewelry, trinkets and were amazing by how huge it was. Had a great authentic Chinese lunch and even stopped by a small store in an ally to watch ladies make fresh fortune cookies and bought an entire bag. No birthday cake but plenty of cookies for the birthday girl!!

Next we toured around North Beach which is where many of the Beatnicks hung out. The City Lights bookstore founded by poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti and published Allen Ginsberg's "Howl". People like Jack Kerouac and Bob Dillan hung out there. Lots of history from a transformational period in our history.

We hiked up Telegraph Hill to the top to get to Coit Tower. You know how every city has something you climb or go to the top of to see the best views, well for San Fran it's Coit Tower. Everyone who lives in San Fran must be in amazing shape because those hills were quite a workout!!

After all that exercise and hard work we treated ourselves to birthday dinner at "The Steps of Rome Cafe" and tapped a Heinekin mini-keg for more birthday celebrations.

Happy birthday Coco - I hope you had the best birthday ever!!

SUNDAY: Prison, chocolate & little italy

On Sunday we took the ferry out to Alcatraz island and took the amazing audio tour learning all about the prison and those who tried to escape!

Then we were lucky enough to be in town for the chocolate festival at Giradelli Sqare. Had a hot fudge sundae. You sensing a food theme to the trip yet??

Then we moved from Fisherman's Wharf to North Beach which is where our condo was for the rest of the week. Home away from home! It was a 2 bedroom condo that had just been remodled and absolutely perfect. We had a kitchen and large bathroom and place to spread out! North Beach is Little Italy and have the best Italian food I've had since I lived in Youngstown. We had dinner at Cafe Pelligrinos and then we even managed to find a fun Irish Pub to frequent called O'Reily's Pub. North Beach is within walking distance to Chinatown, Union Square and Fisherman's Wharf so it was a great location to be.

SATURDAY: Fly to San Fran!!

Saturday we flew into Oakland and took the BART into San Fran. We stayed at Fisherman's Warf Saturday night and got to experience all the tourist attractions. We ate yummy clam chowder and sourdough bread, walked Pier 39, touched the Pacific, walked by Ghiradelli Square and more and it was so chilly Courtney even had to buy a sweatshirt. We ending our evening at Jack's Pub at the Cannery which had something like 68 beers on tap - no we did not try them all!!

Pier 39 & the sea lions was Tyler's favorite thing ever and she can imitate their "bark" perfectly!!

FRIDAY: Kevin has 2 interviews & job offers in Phoenix!!

Kevin had interviews at Performance Software, a small embedded software company, and at Honeywell with their space division. Both opportunities are in Glendale. And he got 2 offers - not a bad batting average huh?!! He decided to go with the smaller company at Performance SW and he and Tyler will be moving to Phoenix in October. Who is the happiest big sister ever? What a most excellent birthday surprise!! Not sure if they will end up living in the west valley or more central in Tempe or Scottsdale but either way I'm thrilled to have them close and willing to put more miles on my car to see them wherever they end up!!

"For Sale"

Look how cute our house is!! We listed it this week. Once we sell, we will rent for a few months while we search for our next house. Lots of great deals out there for the kind of house we are looking for. Such a strange feeling that people I don't know can come into my house any day. And it really sucks to have to make your bed every day just in case someone might want to view our house... lazy me would rather hit snooze that extra 10 minutes. It's fun to apply my marketing hat to something less technical and make fliers and write up descriptions for the internet listing! I'm scared and excited all at once.

Spoiled by Family & Friends

My mom was here for her annual trip to the "Alcott-Colombe" spa as she refers to our house. She stays for a week each summer and sleeps in, suns by the pool, floats and reads about a book a day, gets all cute in time for me to get home from work, and every night we eat out and watch a netflix or movie. It's always so fun to have her in town.

Then I got a surprise visit from Courtney. Most of you know she works in adoptions for childrens services in Columbus. Well one of her kids was being placed with grandparents in Tucson and another case had connections in Glendale that required her to fly out to Arizona for 5 days for work. It was so fun to see her again so close after our trip to the beach this summer. Plus we got to make more plans for our upcoming trip to San Fran!!

And as if this was all not enough, I got a call from Tyler's bfriend Kevin (aka Garage Boy) who has 2 job interviews here in town this week. He is flying in tomorrow and staying at our place for a few days also. Please send good luck karma his way as I try to implement my master plan to migrate my family to Phoenix.

I leave this weekend for the week in San Fran with my sisters to celebrate the week of big "3" birthdays. Courtney turns "30" and I turn "33"!! We have plans to do wine tasting, hiking, Alcatraz, a trip to Yosemite, and lots more.

To top off all this fun activity, Ben and I spent the weekend in Rocky Point with some of our most fun friends watching Wade and Karen's wedding on the beach. It was romantic and beautiful and so much fun!! There was even a rainbow over the point as the ceremony finished. And you just can't beat a weekend with Ben, friends, a lazy river, swim up bar, tacos, beer and great mexican food. It's official that I am totally spoiled rotten.

Thousand Spendid Suns

A Thousand Spendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini is the best book I've read in months. I loved the story and was sad to see it end. The historical context was very interesting and the relationships between the characters were incredibly original. It was easy to read and I'd highly recommend it to anyone! The last 10 books I have read have been just ok and I was starting to wonder if all the good books have been read. So this one restored my faith that there are lots of good books out there just waiting for me. Now, I'm starting the last Harry Potter!!

August already??

I was in Lexington Kentucky and Indianapolis the first week of August. Lexington was very green and there were lots of farms and horses and a few customers too!

Indianapolis was fantastic - I could totally live there! The downtown area had such a fun flavor and atmosphere - lots of arts, culture, restaraunts, bars. No wonder some of my favorite people are from Indianapolis!! It's always refreshing to visit the midwest where the people are just so darn friendly and helpful.

Last week I spent at our MASTERs conference for Microchip customers at the JW Marriot at Desert Ridge. Gorgeous facility lots of hours and hard work. All of our customers are invited to spend the week taking classes from our engineers to learn more about our products. Thank god for comfortable shoes. I was the emcee at a robotics tournament one night and shared the stage with our CEO - very intimidating. The high school kids who compete in the FIRST program build there robots and our company sponsers lots of the microcontrollers and software needed for local teams. I got to park in the spa parking lot, but didn't get to take advantage of their services - maybe other time because it sure looked fabulous!

This weekend my mom flew into town for her annual week at the Alcott/Colombe spa where her only goal for the week is to "get a tan before going back to work". We had a very fun pool party yesterday with my aunt, uncle, cousin and her 3 little kids - twins Alyssa & Ryan and baby Dylan!

New Prince Album!!!!!!!!!!

I have been a Prince fan since I was 10 years old and Purple Rain came out (1984). I can remember doing everything "purple" for years and my parents hoping it was a phase. He is a genious and I had no idea the extent back then. I own probably 30 Prince CDs and each one is unique. He just loves to make music and wants people to listen. I love that his music and his passion is not about money. He's been embracing the web, digital media and experimenting with giving away albums with concert tickets. So cutting edge!!

Prince has a new album out this week. You can listen at his website.

There are a few really good songs. My favorites are "Planet Earth" and "I love my guitar".

Here are some snippets from recent news:

The title track of Planet Earth invokes John Lennon's method in "Imagine": Take lyrics about questioning the status quo and put them to an undeniably catchy tune. The song doesn't come near the simplistic eloquence of Lennon's ballad, but it's hard not to hum along to "Planet Earth" even before you know the lyrics.

Over in England, Sony didn’t bother to release the album at all, because Prince struck a deal with the London tabloid the Mail on Sunday to give away the album to its 2 million-plus subscribers. U.K. retailers went ballistic, but what did they expect? It’s Prince, the man who plays by nobody’s rules but his own.

Since breaking away from his longtime home at Warner Brothers in the mid-‘90s, where he once famously said he was treated like a “slave,” Prince has been in the news as much for how he’s chosen to release his music as he has for the music itself. In 2004, the ticket price for his arena tour included a copy of his album “Musicology,” which was given to ticketholders as they entered his concerts. Prince has been nothing short of a one-man revolution when it comes to distributing his music. In finding new ways to reach his fans, he anticipated the seismic shifts now rocking the music industry.

Who knew I was so smart in grade school? And if you want to learn more this entry on Prince in Wikki is amazing!

Retired?

My dad officially retired on June 1st from Delphi after an entire career lifetime of service. This is an ending of an era since I don't think any of us will stay with the same company for our careers. Heck most of us won't even keep a single career. I know I'm on my 3rd company and my next move will probably be into a different career.

But retirement hasn't been treating him well. I think maybe dad should go back to work! Since retiring my dad has:

1. Had a hole drilled in his head down to the skull to remove skin cancer
2. Had 3 shots into his spine to help alleviate back pain from spinal stenosis (and they didn't even work)
3. Had a strange bone growth removed from his ear
4. Had regular checkups for his chronic myelogenous lukemia, heart problems, sliding hiatal hernia, and sarcoidosis
5. And now, the icing on the cake, he spent 3 days in the hospital for pneumonia this week. His temperature was over 103 when he finally agreed to go to the ER on Sunday. Sooo stubborn and dumb - he refused to let feeling like crap interfere with his beach vacation all of last week.

I believe that my dad's sarcoid and CML are caused by exposure to Agent Orange from his time in the Marines in Vietnam. The sarcoid caused lots of lung dammage and scarring and the lukemia decreases his immune system - hence the pneumonia. He will fight off this pneumonia - I have no doubt. But I hate it that he is sick. In my opinion, noone on the planet worked harder, sacrificed, planned, did all the right things, and deserves to enjoy his retirement more than my dad. And I'm just pissed off and angry and sad that he hasn't had time to enjoy it yet. Plus I'm pissed off at our government for getting into wars and not taking responsibility for the people who agree to serve and sacrifice.

North Topsail, NC

A week of heaven on the beach. That's vacation! Ben and I flew to Raleigh and drove to the North Carolina coast to meet my family for a week on the beach. Mom and Dad knew we were coming, but is was a sucessful surprise for both of my sisters. Tyler's boyfriend Kevin (aka Garage Boy) also joined us for the first time and it was nice to have him there.

North Topsail is a small and narrow barrier island off the coast of NC - a few hours from the Outer Banks. They have a amazing beaches and we even saw dolphins a few times. Our house on the beach was so perfect - you could walk out the back door and be right on the sand. The ocean water was warm and we had fun jumping waves and reading on the beach. I read just about a book each day. Here are my short reviews: Three Junes by Julia Glass (started slow but I really enjoyed the ending), Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner (cute beach read), Abortionist's Daughter by Elizabeth Hyde (good mystery and interesting context), Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult (another typical Picoult but an interesting storyline that made you think about religion and belief) and Anybody Out There by Marian Keyes (a typical Keyes book - perfect for the beach).

The night of the 4th of July there were impressive fireworks over the ocean. And the night of the 5th Ben and I drove into Wilmington for dinner to celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary. We had dinner as the sun set over Cape Fear river on the River Walk.

Photoshop

My parents got me Adobe Elements Photoshop for Christmas and it was so hard to figure out that I had to sign up for an online class to figure it all out. My class is just finished and here is my final project - Colombe family photos from Easter. The lake is near Tricia's house in Sun Lakes and it was her dream to have a family photo where we all wore blue jeans, white shirts and no shoes.

Just imagine that between 2 kids, a dog, and 6 adults not one picture turned out well - many times the kids were crying and sometimes Ben was ready to kill Angie's dog. I'm still not sure why Gus wasn't invited to be in the photo? Hehehe...

Let's just say everyone's heads come from different originals to make this work - even the dog! And I even had to make a golf cart in the background disappear and added some feathering around the edges. I love this new program!!

From Cicadas to Cervezas

I started out last week in Chicago for work. I had "booth duty" at a technical tradeshow and explained our Ethernet and QVGA Graphics display demos to thousands of people. A fun group of sales guys were there and we managed to entertain ourselves at the Sensors Expo. I talked with people ranging from a chicken farmer to a plumbing supplier to a guy how makes cellphone chips - the entire range possible! I guess every 17 years, the cicadas return and I was lucky enough to be in town. It was so loud that we could hear them swarming from inside the rental car and they were diving at my windshield. Walking across the street was frightening as they flew into my hair. I usually try to act professional and adult around co-workers but it's hard not be scream like a little girl when a flying bug is coming at your head!! The photo shows how gross they are - but each one is seriously like 2 inches long and fearless!

When I got home, our friends Karen & Wade were in town on their way down to Rocky Point Mexico and we met up with them for drinks. Didn't take much to talk us into joining all of our friends for a weekend in Mexico! We found a great rate on a condo rental and drove down Friday after work. Rocky Point or Puerto Penasco is on the Sea of Cortez and only about 4 hours from Phoenix. They are building amazing resorts there and there is still a great small fishing town feel to it. We had a lot of fun hanging out on the beach, catching up with friends, eating tacos, and drinking cerveza!

Kudos to Lands End

Does anyone else out there hate to shop for a bathing suit? I'd like to give a shout out to Lands End. I discovered them a few years ago and they really amaze me. Lands End has a technology where you can enter your height, weight, measurements - and make a virtual model to try on clothes and bathing suits. You can even pick her hair style and eye color. Well I ordered 3 bathing suits online (that looked good on my model) last weekend. They came today and ALL 3 OF THEM FIT PERFECT. It's truly a miracle. I love when technology really does make our lives better sometimes.

Ben's New Hobby

Is 32 too early for a mid-life crisis? Hehehehe... When Ben recently started talking about buying a guitar I really thought he was joking. Kinda like we always talk about buying a hot-tub or a new house or bikes. Or sometimes when we are especially sick of work (which is about 5 times a week) we joke about cashing in our 401k and buying matching Corvettes. But then one morning he woke up, got dressed and went to the store to buy a guitar. Who knew? Even Gus got a treat because he can hang out in the box. I'm such a sucker for the cat in a box photos!

I think it's very cool that Ben has started a new hobby. And I love the fact that he is not afraid to try new things. Sometimes I call him my "new husband" because he is always changing. He has always had a huge love of music and especially classic rock songs with lots of guitar. When we moved in together and merged our CD collections there wasn't even one single CD that we had in common! But his music is much more popular and he is the resource among our friends who don't know the artist or title for song - they all call to ask Ben. One of my favorite features of the new guitar is that it comes with headphones too! Good luck with your new hobby - maybe we can make music together - Ben on the guitar and me on the piano and then we can quit these boring day jobs and go on the road touring! Well, that probably won't happen but a girl can dream huh?

Sisters!!!!!!!!

This was the best weekend EVER!! My sisters were here for a nice long weekend. I had 4 and a half days off from work. We swam in the pool, ate party ryes, made chocolate chip cookies, giggled, told stories and mostly just enjoyed each other's company. We did lots of shopping and I got 4 pairs of shoes while they were here. Maybe it is a good thing they don't live closer or I'd have to have a bigger closet!


We went to the Science Museum and saw BodyWorld3 with real plastinated bodies positioned in different poses. I think the parts that were most interesting where the comparrisons between a healthy lung & smokers lung; normal brain and brain that had stroke dammage or Alzheimers; and the section with embryo and fetus at various stages was also fascinating. And best yet, I didn't pass out!

Courtney turns 30 this September and we are trying to plan a "Sister's Trip" to celebrate. But it's so hard to make a decision on where to go! After 5 days of discussion, the finalists are:

1. Puerto Rico (the exotic choice)

2. Cruise in the Carribean (the exorbitant choice)

3. Rocky Point (the economical choice)

4. San Fran & wine country (the token mainland destination)

Of course we also spent time pampering and got cute feet (pedicures) and hour long massages. Ahhhh.....