(a)musings

New blog

2009-01-29T14:09:00.004-05:00

Hello my loyal readers (all three of you)! I have launched another blog, this one chronicling my experiences as a mom-to-be. You can access it here. I hope to post to it more frequently than I have been posting to this blog. This blog will remain in existence so I will still have a channel to share my thoughts with the world. Enjoy!

A Star is Born

2008-12-09T15:51:00.003-05:00

Baby Benjamin Hamm came into the world yesterday! My little nephew weighed in at nine pounds, five ounces and is a cutie-patootie!

Baby Ben: May The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace!

It has been a while...

2008-10-03T16:23:00.005-04:00

...since I last posted. I have been waiting to post until I had experienced something that moved me in some way or struck me as interesting to talk about. I don't like to post without anything in particular to say.

So I have been putting it off. And putting it off. Well today I don't have anything Earth shattering to share. It has been a typical day at the office. It is 4:30 on a Friday, so it is rather quiet.

But two interesting things did happen today: 1. I walked by Robin Williams on the sidewalk and 2. I heard my baby's heartbeat for the first time!

Bill said I should write in the baby's diary that I saw Robin Williams minutes before hearing the baby's heartbeat. But I fear I am a bad mother-to-be, because I have no such baby diary! (Question to mothers out there: is this something I should have? Am I negligent because I don't)?

Because I am lacking this baby diary, I guess this blog will be where I chronicle these two events, one amusing but not life changing and the other highly amusing and definitely life changing--well at least for me and Bill.

Hearing the heartbeat certainly made me feel like this is real. I often wonder if there really is a baby in there, but today confirmed that there most definitely is. The strangest thing might just be next month when we find out if we will be purchasing baby gear in blue or pink. (My prediction: we will be buying blue)!

Now the question is what well-known person might I see on the day of my next doctor's appointment?

That favorite teacher...

2008-09-14T20:45:00.004-04:00

Today I saw her! Madame Krasucki, my French teacher for three years in high school. She has been the teacher I've always cited as my favorite when asked that age-old question of who that one teacher was that had a lasting impact on me. She taught me so much about language, which I loved, but also so much about life! She was that teacher who everyone felt they could open up to and tell their life's story. It's been 12 years since I've seen this wonderful lady, and today I saw her again!

I caught her eye as she was leaving the building, and she stopped in her tracks to shout out my name. It was like slow motion in a movie, I ran over to her. We embraced. I had the silliest grin on my face, not only because I saw her but because she instantly recognized me!

I had to tell her what I'd always told others--that she was and always will be that one extra special teacher. She said I made her day. I hope so, because she made many of mine. If I ever teach, which I sometimes aspire to do, I will try to emulate her caring way and her enthusiasm for teaching yet another batch of students how to make crepes, how to say the Hail Mary in French, and how to pass that monstrous AP French exam!

Madame Krasucki, though I never said it when I knew you well, you are one of a kind!

A week in the woods

2008-08-22T12:33:00.006-04:00

I couldn't be much busier at work these days. Project deadlines are looming, new business pitches are mounting and taking up much of my working hours, and I have unsigned, unaddressed birthday cards sitting on my desk at home intended for friends whose birthdays have since long passed. In other words, I am stretched a little thin.

I don't mean to complain. I only tell you this because I also want to tell you about something I did in the midst of this chaos that was pretty special. This something took me away from all the chaos for seven days, and guess what? The world kept spinning. Business continued at the office. The dogs survived their seven days at the kennel with no permanent damage.

So this special something was Camp Quality. I and my husband served as companions to campers who have or have had cancer. We spent a week in the woods with these kids who ranged in age from seven to 18. My camper has been in remission for several years and looks forward to Camp Quality more than anything each year. Bill's camper is still going through treatment for two types of blood cancer and is responding well. It was his first year at camp, but I suspect not his last!

Being with our campers 24 hours a day for seven days was definitely exhausting, but wow what a reminder of what it means to get back to basics! I spent hours at the archery range with a great kid who repeatedly thanked me for coming to camp. Bill spent an afternoon fishing with a 12-year-old who had faced death. Puts things into perspective a bit.

But the most touching moment was probably seeing my husband lift a wheelchair bound teen out of her chair so she too could slow dance during the most anticipated event of the week--the sock hop! She enjoyed it so much, she asked for a second dance. I was so proud of him for initiating this and for giving this young girl a memorable night during a very memorable week. I was teary-eyed, as I was at least once a day each day of the week.

Then we came home. We did a lot of laundry. Caught up on the mail. Picked up the dogs. Went back to work. The grind was calling. We jumped back in, but with a little more reluctance than usual. We had experienced something so profound that tracking reports and e-mail seemed almost wrong. But we're slowly beginning to get back into our groove with an eye on next year and how we can escape for another week in the woods with some angels (who yes, sometimes acted like devils) on Earth.

RIP Mr. Pausch

2008-07-31T12:22:00.005-04:00

Tomorrow will be the one-week anniversary of the death of Randy Pausch. I've written of Pausch several times before on this blog and how his parents let him literally draw and compute math equations on his bedroom walls when he was a youngster. I was struck by his parents' willingness to let their son literally use his wall as a canvas to scribble and draw about all that interested him. Pausch talked about this and other formative events in his life that enabled him to be able to confidently say that he had lived the life he had always dreamed of living.

Randy, you're an inspiration to us all. May you rest in peace!

v

Living like you're on vacation

2008-07-17T17:56:00.008-04:00

Ever noticed how when you're on vacation, you take on a new persona? You suddenly want to chat with strangers, find out where they're from, inquire about the next stop on their itinerary? Yet, when at home in the midst of the usual grind, you pass strangers on the street or at the coffee house in the morning and don't give them a second glance let alone engage them in coversation?

What if we could live like we were on vacation all the time? Talk to strangers and inquire about their day? Be genuinely interested in their response?

On my recent trip through the great peninsulas of Michigan, we were fortunate to stay at some great bed and breakfast's. In the intimate setting of these small inns, we were able to share breakfast with other travelers. Some were coming, some were going. All were interested in each other's stories. Where were we from? What stops did we most enjoy? Did we want a restaurant recommendation nearby?

What if we could engage strangers when back at home, waiting in line at the lunch joint or walking the dog just like we do when staying at a rustic inn while on holiday?

Having pondered this since my trip, I am going to try a little experiment during the next week. I am going to say hello to everyone with whom I can gain eye contact. I am going to ask them at least one question (besides how are you)? And I am going to see if I can replicate some of the good natured banter that always seems to take place in vacation mode. We'll see what the response is!

In the mean time, enjoy another pic from our U.P. adventure!

(Bill in front of the still operational Whitefish Point Lighthouse on Lake Superior)

Happy belated 4th of July!

2008-07-12T22:10:00.003-04:00

I had meant to write a post around the fourth of July, but left for vacation right after and didn't have a chance. Now that it has been over a week since the fourth, the ideas I had for blog posts have left my head! But I think this cute snippet of my niece Elle that I found on my camera perfectly represents what the fourth of July means to me--freedom to celebrate any and everything with family and friends.

Thanks Elle!

Deja vu at The Soo

2008-07-12T21:30:00.016-04:00

During my recent road trip with the hubby to Michigan's Upper Peninsula, I had the chance to visit the Sault Ste. Marie Locks, a popular tourist attraction in the area. Sault Ste. Marie, or "The Soo" as many call it, is famous primarily for the Soo Locks. These locks make it possible for ships to travel from Lake Superior to the lower Great Lakes.

Per Wikipedia, the Soo Locks are the busiest in the world passing an average of 12,000 ships per year.The locks bypass the rapids of the St. Marys River where the water falls 7 meters (21 feet) from Lake Superior. Or as I heard one father recently explain to his young daughter, "the Locks are like a boat elevator." I couldn't have said it better!

Anyway, visitors to The Soo can watch ships go through the Locks via one of two observation platforms adjacent to the Locks. As I made my way to the platform to witness the first of several barges that would go through The Locks while we were in town, I had flashbacks to my early childhood when I was last at The Soo Locks. The year was 1984. I was six years old. I was missing a few teeth, and my parents were my best friends in the world.

A few things have changed since then. I now have all my teeth (thank God)! I just entered my third decade in this, the year 2008, and I have another best friend to throw into the mix, my husband of 10 months!

So I thought it might be fun to capture the "then" and "now." Check it out below (be sure to note similarity of attire)!

1984...

2008...

You actually might like it here (at least in the summer)!

2008-07-12T21:02:00.007-04:00

Just got back from a needed vacation. The hubby and I spent a little less than a week in Michigan's Upper Peninsula touring what many rightfully refer to as "God's country." Some of the most beautiful landscapes awaited us as we took in much of the U.P. during our travels. I found myself surprised at how little I knew about this spectacular part of my home state.

The trip also provoked a lot of thought and fodder for upcoming blogs. So stay tuned for more!

But while on the trip, I found an interesting anecdote in a book I thumbed through while staying at the Laurium Manor Inn, a beautifully restored Victorian mansion that now serves as a bed and breakfast, in Laurium, Michigan (located on the Keweenaw Peninsula). Titled You Wouldn't Like It Here--A Guide to the REAL Upper Peninsula of Michigan, this short book humorously talks about the reasons not to like the harsh realities of life in the U.P.

The anecdote is as follows:

My friends, Johnny and Alice Penhale of Negaunee (in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula) took a trip around the world in their later years. On their world tour, the Penhales visited Catholic churches wherever they happened to be. In a church in Sidney Australia, they saw a white phone on the wall. A small sign said “Direct Line to God—calls $10,000.” A church in Budapest had a similar phone and sign, but this time the call cost $8,000. In Paris, the cost was $4,000. Finally, in New York City, a phone call direct to God cost $2,000. Upon returning home to Negaunee, John visited a local church to see what a phone call to God would cost. A sign proclaimed that such a call would cost 10 cents. John sought out the priest and asked why a call from Negaunee was only 10 cents when it cost so much more to call God from places overseas and cities in the United States. The priest smiled and said, “Because from here, it’s a local call.”

Michigan's Upper Peninsula--if you ever get the chance, check it out. It won't disappoint in the natural beauty that it offers!

(View from the summit of Brockway Mountain)

Happy Father's Day Dad!

2008-06-11T16:13:00.001-04:00

Happy Father's Day Dad!! (And turn your volume up before clicking) :)

What does the yellow ribbon really mean?

2008-06-02T17:44:00.002-04:00

I recently noticed that one of my neighbors has a yellow ribbon around a tree in his front yard. I am familiar with the concept of tying a yellow ribbon around the "old oak tree," but I have never really seen one on a tree in real life. And to be completely honest, I know neither the origin nor the exact symbolism behind the concept.

I've always thought the yellow ribbon was meant to recognize that the household had a loved one serving abroad in the military and were awaiting his or her safe return. But I wasn't sure if it also had political undertones.

So today I looked it up. And interestingly enough, the tradition stems from the 19th century practice of women wearing a yellow ribbon in their hair to signify their devotion to a sweetheart serving in the U.S. Cavalry (thank you Wikipedia), hence the song "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon," which inspired a John Wayne movie of the same name.
Yellow was apparently the official color of the Cavalry.

In the 1970s, the yellow ribbon became widely known in civilian life as a reminder of an absent loved one, either in the military or in jail that they would be welcomed home on their return. The prison theme is exemplified in the well-known Tony Orlando number, "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Around the Old Oak Tree." I've never paid attention to the lyrics, a sample of which follow:

I'm comin' home, I've done my time
Now I've got to know what is and isn't mine
If you received my letter telling you I'd soon be free
Then you'll know just what to do
If you still want me
If you still want me
Whoa, tie a yellow ribbon 'round the old oak tree
It's been three long years
Do ya still want me?
If I don't see a ribbon round the old oak tree
I'll stay on the bus
Forget about us
Put the blame on me
If I don't see a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree.

Today, the yellow ribbon signifies exactly what I had suspected it did: families waiting for their loved ones serving in the military. I am ashamed I didn't know this, otherwise I would have tied a giant yellow ribbon around one of our own trees in honor of my brother-in-law (and all soldiers), who spent more than six months in Iraq and will be returning to his home and family on base in Germany tomorrow.

Instead, I will send a note of thanks out to the blogosphere to everyone who said a prayer for his safe return!

Libraries-- a blast from the past

2008-05-18T17:31:00.004-04:00

Last Thursday on my way home from work, I stopped at the library. I recently joined a book club, and thought I'd save a buck by checking out our latest read from the library. The library in our town is state of the art. Apparently, it recently went through a renovation, and it looks great!

I can honestly say I haven't been in a library since my undergraduate days at Michigan, and even then I was usually there to study--not peruse the aisles of texts. It's interesting how every library--no matter where--has that same smell and the same sense of quiet. You walk in, you whisper, you make small movements, you do what you need to do without all the commotion of everyday living that seems to take over just about anywhere else we are.

I walked around for a while looking at books on shelves and feeling a little like I'd stepped back in time to my childhood when I spent every other week at the library checking out records and books with my mom. I knew exactly where the Braille books were that I liked to pull off the shelf and touch with my fingertips. I knew where the oversized files were that had to be housed in drawers because of their awkward size. I knew exactly where to find Millions of Cats, my all time favorite childhood book. I probably checked it out at least 15 times!

It felt good to be back in a place of order. Many things change--actually most things change in this fast-paced world of ours. And while the library system has also changed in terms of paper to electronic, it's nice to know that for the most part this institution remains unchanged by time.

I kinda like that about the library. I look forward to going back, and hopefully it won't be 10 more years until I do.

Happy Mother's Day mom!!

2008-05-11T15:05:00.003-04:00

Today is Mother’s Day and I am glad to say
Mom—I love you! Today is your day!
Thanks is not enough for all that you do.
You deserve everything you want times three hundred and twenty two.

You’ll surely get lots of gifts on this Mother’s Day
But here are some words to succinctly say
I wouldn’t be who I am if it weren’t for you
You mean the world to me, I mean it—you do!

I was born last—the final of four.
And yet I never felt you were tired or bored
With mothering yet another crazy girl
Who would make the next 18 years plus a bit of a whirl.

I remember lots of simple but special daily interactions that are distinctly you
Here are a few—most of which still ring true!

In the mornings, there was Alice and Mindy and a Mork in there too,
When mom did our hair, she would name each up-do.
Then there was St. Patty’s when she made that special cabbage and corned beef
And the many skinned knees and mosquito bites for which she’d provide Solarcane relief.

As a wee one I often remember my mom going off to work or school
And tears would drip down my cheek as I sat alone on my kitchen stool
Wishing she would be my room mother or one of the ladies who dropped us at school.
But now that I’m old and work myself, I look back on her impressive career and think “how cool!”

What other kid got to play in her mom’s classroom and pretend to teach the class
And brag that their mom was teacher of the year—one of the many accolades she would amass.
Even while working, mom was sure to take days off to join us on our field trips to the park or zoo
Where I recall a certain little pig that she held in her arms did a little doo-doo.

She would come home on her short lunch break to check on us when home sick from school
And always made Christmas a much anticipated Yule.
The gifts would be stacked in piles marked for each tyke
And the favorite coffee cake would fill us with delight!

In the exciting days leading up to Santa’s big day
She would read us Richard Scarry’s Christmas tales to keep us at bay.
That Terrible Teddy and bare skinned bear
Would have us all enthralled and at the pages we’d stare!

She didn’t like to cook but did it quite often anyway
Baking oatmeal crispies, white velvets and banana bread to our shouts of Hooray.
When we turned thirteen she gave us each a ring of pearl
And on many an Easter holiday she prepped our hair with tight curls.

Our birthdays she always made special with our favorite tasty fare
Working as we ate rarely taking to her own chair.

Many a sleepover she allowed for us to host
And in the kitchen with a book and flashlight she would supervise at her post.

How special in this day and age to remember the beautiful dresses that she handmade
And night after night she sat with us with hands folded as we prayed.
“Now I lay me down to sleep” were the words she taught us to say
Each night before we got into bed and drifted away.

The Bunny cake, aspirin gum, raspberry turnovers and Sanders hot fudge
Are all memories of mom that will from my mind never budge.

Her beautiful scrapbooks have a way capturing moments in time
And freezing them forever in a cute verse or rhyme.
She pays close attention when you mention aloud an item you desire
And goes back later to buy it for you as a special gift to admire.

And even today with her four girls grown tall
She is still giving us her 100% all.
To us and ours and of course our father too
And says when questioned, “it’s just what I do!”

Thought springs from her heart and patience is her virtue
Heck nary one of us regularly made it home before curfew
And never a loud word would she to us say
She just wanted to know we were home and out of harm’s way.

That is, was and always has been her M.O.
After all she is the daughter of Marian Roe!
Two kinder souls I’d be hard pressed to name.
Their kindness puts most others to shame.

Happy Mother’s Day and thanks for the years of wonderful memories!

Love,
Jacquie (and Bill)!

Mothers delight in you

2008-05-09T17:15:00.003-04:00

So many descriptors come to mind for me when I think of the word mother.

But I think it was best said in my Aunt Kathy's funeral eulogy when her pastor said "mothers delight in you."

I'm not a mother--well not to humans--but I am a daughter. And I think my mom delights in me. I love that she does. I love that phrase.

I think it works both ways. Daughters delight in their mothers who would do anything for them and usually do!

Spring has sprung

2008-05-06T09:14:00.011-04:00

After a very long winter, we've turned a corner here in the Midwest. Spring is officially here, and I have proof!
We discovered a family of baby bunnies living under our deck. They are so tiny! The picture below doesn't do justice to how small they are. Adorable. I could've watched this little guy for hours.

We've been watching a robin build this nest on the ledge of the shed in our backyard. Then we saw the three blue eggs she laid and fiercely protected...

Then...they finally hatched! Not the cutest things just yet but undoubtedly they will come into their own!

And last but not least...check out this giant bumblebee checking in on the flowers (you may need to click on the photo to enlarge it and see the bee).

When jogging last night, I could smell the scent of lilacs and apple blossoms in the air--I can't tell you how nice it is to be in the midst of a Michigan spring!

Your daily dose of sunshine

2008-05-05T21:39:00.009-04:00

Sometimes (ok, most of the time), they just make me smile...

I finally caved!

2008-05-01T14:21:00.005-04:00

As mentioned in my previous post, I have been traveling a lot lately. My current job takes me on the road at least once a month, if not more. It's always good to get out of the office and to go somewhere new for a different perspective on things.

My most recent trip to San Francisco had me taking the red eye back to Detroit. The flight is more than four hours long, and I was already tired even before boarding. I decided to make a purchase that I had resisted until now. But enough people swore by these funny looking pillows, and so I finally caved.

My impressions:

Definitely better than any pillow you can scrounge up from the overhead bins. But still not the paradise I was hoping for. Without a doubt it is the best thing I have tried yet for cushioning my head on plane rides. Still, after all the raving I have heard, I thought it would be the best thing since sliced bread. I wouldn't go that far, but then again I have never tried one of these puppies on an international flight. So the verdict is still out!

Anyone else tried these things?

Enlightenment at the San Francisco Airport

2008-04-29T16:53:00.007-04:00

Traveling, and therefore spending a lot of time in airports, gives one plenty of time to observe a cross-section of America. The people watching is prime, and the idle time to contemplate life is plentiful.

On a recent trip to San Francisco, I spent about five hours in the Northwest terminal at San Francisco International Airport. There were very few flights coming and going, and it was rather late in the day. Hence, my people watching opportunities were not as abundant as I was accustomed to.

So I spent the better part of two hours in the terminal's tiny bookstore skimming through magazines and reading the back covers of books for sale. After a few minutes of staring at the book shelf, I started to notice a trend in the titles I was seeing.

These are exact book titles I observed:

"You Staying Young"
"You Can Heal Your Life"
"Stop Whining Start Living"
"Your Best Life Now"
"Go Green, Live Rich"
"50 Simple Ways to Save the Earth and Get Rich Trying"
"A New Earth--Awakening to Your Life's Purpose" (currently Oprah's book club selection)
"Awakening the Entrepreneur Within"
"Become a Better You"
"The 360 Degree Leader"

I found myself wondering, could each of these books really offer something vastly different from the other? Apparently so since some carried the NYT "Best Seller" badge on their jackets. A lot of people are paying a decent sum of money to stay young, heal their lives, start living, live their best life, awaken their life's purpose, awaken their inner entrepreneur, and so on and so forth.

My first instinct was to make fun of these potential snakeoil salesmen trying to make a buck by recycling other people's stories of inspiration. But after mulling it over for a bit, I came to a different conclusion.

People want to be inspired. I know I do. I love e-mail forwards that make me take a few seconds out my work day to think (and I mean really think) or a good story that makes my eyes sting with tears I am trying to hold back.

I remember the way I felt after reading one of my favorite books: "The Alchemist." I was moved to think about what I really want to do in life, or as its author Paulo Coelho would say "follow my personal legend." So maybe someone else's "Stop Whining Start Living" is to them what "The Alchemist" was to me. People want to be inspired, and I see nothing wrong with that.

Seeing God in Mt. Rainier?

2008-04-14T11:20:00.003-04:00

Just read something pretty neat from my brother-in-law. It was an account of how his perspective was changed by looking out the window from his coach seat on a flight from Detroit to Seattle. Upon suggestion from the pilot, he peeked out the window to see a beautiful view of Mt. Rainier. He wrote in his planner the date, May 3, 2003. "I saw God in Mt. Rainier today."

I think I saw God today, April 14, 2008, in that story. Thanks for sharing it Dan!

Can't wait to see where this can go...

It's more common than you might think...

2008-03-14T11:59:00.007-04:00

A while back, I discussed the last lecture of Professor Randy Pausch...his final lecture was not on academics, but on life. Among the many life lessons he imparts on the audience is to give your kids freedom to be creative and to develop their interests. Case in point: his parents let him write the quadratic equation on his bedroom wall and draw all sorts of inventions that planted the seed for his future interest in math and science.

My post posed the question, would you let your kids draw on the wall? Really? Well not long after I asked that question, I began painting a bedroom in our new house. The bedroom had belonged to the previous owner's daughter who spent most of her pre-teen and teenage years there.

Her parents let her do what Randy's did. And the closet walls were sprinkled with drawings, quotes and notes between her and her friend. As I started to paint over these years of memories, including one note ringing in the new year with "Happy 2000" in all caps, I was reluctant and a bit sad to cover up the memories!

So the hubby and I decided to leave one portion of the artwork up...who knows it may be inspiration for a daughter of our own one day so she knows she too can chart out her dreams right there on her bedroom wall.

Enjoy the pics!

You won't know unless you try

2008-02-12T16:42:00.000-05:00

This simple piece of advice is so true!!! You won't know unless you try. I need to tape that somewhere above my computer (where I spend most of my day). A couple of quick and recent examples:

I came home from work last Thursday, and my husband was already home. He sat me down and told me an interesting story. Having recently just purchased a home and being vigilant observers of the Fed's every move, we decided it was time to refinance. So the research on rates, closing costs and points began. Being Chase customers, the hubby called the number for their mortgage financing department. He pressed all the appropriate buttons on the phone and then waited. And waited. And waited some more. When all was said and done, he waited on hold for close to an hour and a half before he gave up. Annoyed at the time wasted and the recorded voice saying how valuable his call was, the hubby looked up the number for Chase's corporate office. He then looked for the number of Chase's CEO--and found it!

So he called the number and immediately heard a live voice on the other line. The voice belonged to the executive assistant of the CEO himself. The hubby asked if he could speak with Bill Harrison. His assistant mentioned that he was in a meeting. She asked what his call was about. The hubby then explained the situation. She was horrified, apologetic and determined to get him some answers.

Within seconds, the hubby had talked to two or three others all who had been briefed before getting on the line about this customer's lengthy wait and his personal call to the CEO. All representatives apologized. All got him where he needed to be. And he got the info he needed. I guess you won't know what will happen when you call the CEO directly unless you try.

In another example, I am a fan of the LinkedIn social networking site. I like to see where my friends and former colleagues have landed in their professional lives and to see who is viewing my profile! So I happened to notice that the president of our company, who I don't know personally and who works in an entirely different office, was on LinkedIn. I figured it'd be a great connection to have and a good introduction to make, so I sent him an invitation to connect. After about a week, he accepted it. Now we are friends on LinkedIn. I didn't know if he would accept my request, but he did. And now he knows an employee in Detroit who he didn't know the day before. I guess you won't know what will happen when you attempt to connect to your company's president on a social networking site unless you try.

The question that remains is what else should I try?

Friday afternoons...

2008-02-08T16:01:00.000-05:00

...should be spent off. Everyone is tired. Creativity is nil. The weekend is beckoning. How about a four-and-a-half day work week? Might do a lot to inspire people to really use their Fridays to get stuff done.

Thoughts??

JG

Have a heart? Consider this...

2008-02-04T12:10:00.000-05:00

I read a moving article in the Free Press over the weekend. A 36-year-old mother of two named Sherry awaited a heart transplant after four years of suffering with cardiomyopathy. The long and the short of the article available here is that she did indeed get a new heart but only after another woman, a 51-year-old mother, grandmother, wife, and sister named Sue, died.

After her recovery, Sherry was able to get in touch with Sue's family. They all met at a coffee shop. The family members of the woman who died--and whose sacrifice enabled another woman to live--all arrived wearing shirts adorned with Sue's photo. Sue's husband asked if he could feel his wife's beating heart! Sherry obliged!

I was teary-eyed when reading this story. I decided to see what I had to do (besides sign my driver's license) to become an organ donor. What I found is that it's really quite simple to add your name to this list. I needed only to enter my driver's license number, name and birthday to confirm my desire to help if the situation ever should present itself.

So I pass the link on to you. Click here if you are a Michigan resident interested in adding your name to this important list. If you're not a Michigan resident, check with your Secretary of State office for information on how to sign up for your state's organ donation list.

Jacquie

Ronald McDonald House Part 2

2008-02-01T16:45:00.000-05:00

I realized I never posted an update on the Christmas Eve fundraising effort of the family. We raised more than $600 for the Ronald McDonald House at the University of Chicago. I am quite impressed! I wasn't sure how others would receive this new idea, but each and every person embraced the idea and contributed more than I imagined.

A big thanks to the family! What a great way to end the year and kick off a new one.

A quick bit of info--the Ronald McDonald House lists out on its Web site what donations can buy. We bought them a computer!

--$5 covers a family who cannot afford to make the suggested $5/night donation
asked of our guests

--$25 buys toiletries and a phone card to make a family's stay more comfortable

--$50 pays the full expense to operate each room, each night

--$100 provides dental care for two local children who don't have access to adequate care

--$250 covers costs to provide a home away from home for a family for a work week

--$500 buys a computer so families can keep in touch with friends, family and their jobs

Very cool!

Jacquie

Write things down and change your life??

2008-01-31T10:06:00.000-05:00

So I have begun keeping a journal. I have tried this before off and on at various periods in my life. But for one reason or another, dropped the habit. Then a few years ago while in grad school, I took an awesome class on creativity. The instructor made us keep a journal during the quarter and encouraged us to keep it even after the class had ended.

I have a vivid memory of my professor inviting a former ad agency colleague to our class to give a guest lecture. His name was Mitch. Mitch brought four of his own journals and kindly let us thumb through them. We saw drawings, quotes, song lyrics, magazine and newspaper clippings, deep thoughts, pitch ideas and pages and pages of notes. It was very cool. He said he loved looking back at old journals for new ideas or even just a laugh at a thought he had harbored at one time. The entire class session was about journaling. What a cool guy. What an even cooler professor for letting that happen.

Mitch made the point that sometimes you get a great idea, but you're not in the most convenient place (e.g. on the el, in the bathroom, driving). But if you have your journal there, you can capture it before a great idea is lost among the thousands of other thoughts that fill our head each day.

Mitch talked about how Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld were lifelong journalers who noticed everyday happenings that had good joke potential and jotted them down for future reference. Those journal notations often provided fodder for stand-up routines or sitcom plot lines in their later careers.

Just last week, I received a magazine in the mail from one of the organizations to which I belong. There was a great article in there about journaling and one of the pull quotes read, "Write things down and change your life." Another direct quote was "The single most important reason for writing down your dreams and goals is this: A dream carried around in your head remains a dream until you take action."

And so the next day I started a journal. I wrote down one of my lifelong goals and hope that by doing so it might actually happen. And I am going to write it down here too, so that perhaps the added emphasis of putting it on my blog for all to see will help motivate me to make it happen.

Drum roll please....

I want to write books. I want to publish those books. I want to make a living off of doing this.

So there it is. It's out there. Let's see if I can make it happen!

Cheers,
Jacquie

Whatever freedom is to you, find it.

2008-01-16T12:12:00.000-05:00

Felt I needed to link to this post because I enjoyed it so much... I am completely behind Polly's philosophy: find work that affords you freedom = success.

Whatever freedom is to you, find it.

For the entire post, click here:

I would argue that the organizations and leaders that find a way to build freedom (freedom from the time clock, freedom from the cube, freedom from the org chart, freedom to create) into work will be the winners in the future. Freedom is a bigger game than power. Power is about what you can control; freedom is about what you can unleash. And, increasingly, freedom isn’t something you pay your dues to earn so much as a basic human right of all working adults. Sounds pretty obvious, but most organizations today would have to go to drastic extremes to make that a reality. And some are.

One of my favorite experiments in this realm, which has gotten a lot of well-deserved attention: Best Buy’s radical experiment in workplace flexibility, the ROWE (Results-Only Work Environment) initiative. Created by two HR dynamos (I know, two words you rarely see in that close proximity), Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson, the program attacks head-on what most “alternative work arrangements” only tip-toe around: the fact that we’re literally laboring under a myth (namely, time put in + physical presence + elbow grease = RESULTS). Our assumptions about how work works, where we work, and when we work are relics of the industrial age. That’s not a new problem. ROWE finally addresses it.

The basic principle: people can do whatever they want, whenever they want, as long as the work gets done. Period. You can come in at 2pm on Tuesday. Leave at 3pm on Friday. Go grocery shopping at 10am on Wednesday. Take a nap or go to the movies anytime. Do your work while following your favorite band around the country. The ROWE “13 Commandments” say it all—here are a few:

–Work isn’t a place you go, it’s something you do.

–Employees have the freedom to work any way they want

–Every meeting is optional

–Nobody talks about how many hours they work

–No judgment about how you spend your time

This is radical stuff.

Comment, critique...

JG

The start of a new and better Christmas tradition

2007-12-20T16:57:00.000-05:00

So this year for the first time, my extended family won't hold the traditional grab bag gift exchange on Christmas Eve. In its place, we'll donate a monetary gift to a charity in the amount of what we would have spent on the grab bag gift (or more if so inclined). The charity is to be picked by the family hosting the Christmas Eve bash that year....and you guessed it, this year I and the hubby are hosting.

For many reasons I am glad this tradition has changed, and I am excited to see how our guests receive the idea and the charity to which we've opted to send the money.

Bill and I toyed around with a lot of potential charities. I love animals and am a supporter of the Humane Society. Bill has sponsored a needy child from Zambia for more than a decade and saw a need there. We also thought about local charities like the Capuchin Soup Kitchen and health-related organizations like the American Cancer Society. But in the end, we decided to pick a charity that has had a very recent impact on the family -- the Ronald McDonald House at the University of Chicago.

This chapter of the Ronald McDonald House provided a place of rest and a source of support to Bill's brother and sister-in-law this past summer. The house is just a short walk away from the University of Chicago Hospital where their daughter, Trinity Ava, was in the neonatal ICU for 13 days before she left this world. The Ronald McDonald House provided a place for Don and Lai-Lynn to stay so they didn't have to drive the hour back to their home in Indiana each night. Following Trinity's death, the chapter provided follow-up support to them as well.

After thinking it over, we couldn't think of any better place to send the money raised as part of this new Christmas Eve tradition. I credit my mom with thinking of this new way to ring in Christmas Day. It's a great idea and one that will have an impact well beyond December 24th.

To the few readers of this blog out there, please share any of your own Christmas traditions and reflections--maybe a memorable moment from a Christmas past.

Merry Christmas,
Jacquie

An Irish Wake? A grand idea.

2007-12-12T16:41:00.000-05:00

I learned a new term yesterday...Irish wake. Have I been living under a rock, or are others new to this concept (which by the way is a fabulous idea) as well?

I don't mean to sound morose...on the contrary, I think this idea of celebrating someone's life in a more festive atmosphere sounds a lot more comforting than munching on finger sandwiches in a cold gathering space.

I attended a funeral yesterday of a friend's mom. The priest who eulogized her mentioned that she had made a decision upon her diagnosis of cancer 14 years earlier to live before she died rather than die before she had lived. She made that decision the day of her diagnosis and stuck to it despite recurrences of cancer throughout the years.

Now, this may be something frequently stated at funerals--I fortunately haven't been to enough to know--but it stuck with me. "Live before I die versus die before I have lived." Have I lived? Really lived? I like to think so, but as I mentioned in my last post, I frequently get bogged down in the details of daily living so much so that I forget to step back and really soak in the most important things in life (like my family).

In an appropriate gesture to her desire for fun surrounded by her friends and family, my friend's mom's funeral was followed by an Irish Wake. I think there' s a real message there...even in her death, she wanted people to live a little. And I see absolutely nothing wrong with that.

LeChaim,
Jacquie

Would you really let your kid draw on the wall?

2007-12-05T17:30:00.000-05:00

Have you seen Carnegie Mellon professor Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture?" It's a YouTube hit, and an appearance on "Oprah" and a feature article in The Wall Street Journal have served to spread his story even further. Professor Pausch has pancreatic cancer and a matter of months--or weeks to live. He imparts his life lessons on his audience, but more importantly his two young sons and baby daughter for whom the lecture was really intended.

The Oprah version is best, but if you can't access it there, see below.

Every time I watch this, I'm moved. Here's someone whose contributions to the human race we should be celebrating (and be reading about in the news versus those starlets whose life stories about which we know way too much).

I've been thinking about this lately as I've seen different speakers in different venues for work or social reasons. They all tell great stories, and I usually leave inspired. But I've noticed that those stories and the lessons contained within them often fade as quickly as they came when I'm back in the grind of day-to-day living.

So I ask myself after watching Professor Pausch's moving lecture another time, would I really let my four-year-old draw on the walls? I don't have kids yet, so I guess I'll find out some day down the road...hopefully at that point I'll remember this man's anecdote about his own childhood imagination played out on his bedroom walls and be encouraged to let junior do the same.

Comments welcome!

Cheers,
Jacquie