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Saturday, May 31

Rare

I've only been around for 28 years but I know that some things are very rare.

Rarely are we afforded the opportunity to be plunked back down in the exact same surroundings. And rarer still is when those circumstances that surround us are identical but our own circumstances are completely different. If ever one could be granted a do-over/take-2 or truly experience deja vu, this would certainly be it.

Everyone has a "best time of their life". . .and several runners up. And usually that winner is filled with something momentous, something not found in everyday life. And so it was for me the first time around: an extraordinary night in which something "momentous" happened that was not found in everyday life.

Enter the rare do-over/take-2/deja vu. Here is a night filled with the ordinary. Nothing momentous. Everything possible in everyday life. And yet, it's the ordinary that makes it extraordinary.

Today I'm thankful: for the ordinary, for second chances (cue Celine Dion), for being able to recognize the simplistic beauty of a moment while I'm actually in the moment, that God knows exactly what he's doing because I clearly didn't/don't have a clue.



this is what bored people do on a bridge waiting for fireworks to start:

seriously, why must I always make this face???

Friday, May 30

Happy Birthday to me!



My birthday got off to a phenomenal start so let's see what else is in store: work (which is great because if you haven't noticed, I love my job & we're in the midst of summer hours so I'm done at NOON), eye exam (= new contacts!), Dosha, nap, BBQ, Rose Festival fireworks.

Yep - today's going to be AWESOME.
7:39am ~ "Delight" of the day #1: A dove just landed on the roof right outside my bedroom window. Awesome.
10:59am ~ to no one's surprise, my cubicle is decked out with streamers and balloons. To my surprise, it has a 7 year-old's theme: SpongeBob balloons, Finding Nemo streamers & Hannah Montana noise makers. (When I was on hold with NikeTravel yesterday and listening to the hold music, I guess I shouldn't have admitted that I knew that Miley Cyrus was singing.)

Thursday, May 29

And in conclusion. . .

it is impossible for me to look even remotely cute in my glasses.

Note to self: order contacts from Costco TODAY!!!

Sunday, May 25

Mutant squirrel

We have a family of squirrels at work that we love, feed and watch constantly throughout the day. Now we have a hairless, mutant squirrel that grosses everyone out every time it shows up.



Proverbs 19:21


Friday, May 23

Birthday wish

I've finally figured out what I want for my birthday!


"In addition to the jewelry, Tiffany will accessorize Ms. Sharapova’s custom French Open tennis dress. The “Paris dress,” by Nike is a 1920s-inspired design that reflects her dynamic sense of style. Designed in collaboration with Ms. Sharapova, the performance Dri-Fit dress is dark obsidian blue with contrasting chalk white satin ribbons and double layered pleated skirt. The elegant, ultra-light creation is finished with a luminous Tiffany pearl button closure that fastens at the back of the dress."





http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080522005644&newsLang=en

Thursday, May 22

article from The Onion

PORTLAND, OR—In a move that added the world's pre-eminent equine athlete to its stable of endorsers Tuesday, Nike signed Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Big Brown to a seven-year, $80 million endorsement contract that included a $10 million signing bonus as well as the creation of a signature horseshoe, the Air Brown.

"Nike is ecstatic to sign the top star in horseracing," CEO and Nike president Mike Parker said, unveiling the "jumphorse" logo as the Kentucky-bred colt trotted onstage. "From Michael Jordan to Tiger Woods, Nike has created formidable partnerships with the very best in sports. I can't say how proud we are to work with B.B., who is an extraordinary individual both on and off the track."

"Big B doesn't complain when he gets the far outside starting gate position," Parker added. "He just gallops. And he gives hope to everyone out there that if they train hard, push themselves, and keep their snout clean, they can accomplish anything."
Big Brown, whose Nike endorsement deal is the largest ever for a thoroughbred, was flown from New York to Portland in a private Nike jet stocked with the world's finest bourbon, caviar, sugar cubes, cigars, carrots, and hay. Upon arriving on the west coast, the equine superstar's handlers whisked him past a throng of cheering fans into a stretch limousine bound for Nike headquarters, where Brown, his 11-horse entourage, and his team of lawyers reviewed the contract one last time before signing.

Slated for release on June 1, the lightweight, U-shaped Air Brown horseshoe features Nike's patented air-cushioning system, consisting of a pressurized gas encapsulated in polyurethane and aluminum. According to Nike engineers, the innovative technology was created to provide equal measures of comfort, support, and performance on both dirt and grass tracks by reducing shock, distributing pressure, and protecting the hooves from overpronation. Big Brown intends to debut the Air Brown horseshoes on June 7 at the Belmont Stakes, when he attempts to become the first horse to win the elusive Triple Crown in 30 years.

Although Big Brown was approached by a number of suitors from sportswear manufacturers including Adidas, Reebok, and Pony, the undefeated 3-year-old was ultimately won over by Nike's willingness to work closely with him to create a horseshoe conforming to his strong sense of personal style as well as his physical needs. Big Brown was reportedly impressed by Nike's efforts when technicians used cameras to record his gait from multiple angles while he ran on a treadmill.

"Because Big Brown's hooves have been prone to injuries, we created 3D computer models to map out their exact size and shape in order to design a customized horseshoe that fits perfectly," Nike technician Kenneth Phillips said. "We've also determined he can reduce the risk of impact injuries during his workouts by exercising on a quartet of stationary elliptical machines."
Nike marketing personnel said that throughout the design process, Big Brown has viewed his trademark sportswear as a lifestyle rather than a line of products bearing his image. Whether approving design sketches or choosing materials, the racehorse has emphasized the promotion of individual identity by insisting the Air Brown buyer should be able to customize their horseshoes with alternate color schemes, optional blinking LEDs, or Swarovski crystals.

"B-Squared brings a lot of energy to this project—you should see him cantering around in a frenzy, ranging back and forth in the studio space," Parker said. "He's really exposing a side of himself that many people haven't seen before. He's showing everyone that he's for real."
While some critics have insinuated that Big Brown is too young and lacks experience, Parker confirmed his company's confidence in the colt's potential when he pointed out that the racehorse is undefeated in all five of his career starts and yet still takes time to volunteer in the community.

"We signed Jordan when he was just a rookie and brought LeBron on before he even played in the NBA," Parker said. "Those guys turned out great. Well, B.B. is like three Kobe Bryants, two LaDainian Tomlinsons, and an Alex Rodriguez all rolled up in one. "

"Big B might be an upstanding citizen, but he's totally rock 'n' roll," Parker added. "You never know if he's going to come out of the gate with a green, purple, natural, or orange mane."
Despite being overwhelmed with pre-orders of Air Browns, Nike has maintained that Big Brown's new casual line, the B2 Titanium HorseNeaks, would be available for purchase in August.

Wednesday, May 21

Best e-mail exchange yesterday at work.

(Names have been altered to protect the identity of co-workers who have no idea that I have a blog. Or that I blog about them. Hint: as in all e-mail chains, start and the bottom & work up.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Patrick Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 9:29 AMTo: Lst-New.Concept.Team Subject: RE: Questions for China call

Just as I suspected! Oh yea, one more question, have you seen this picture?


From: Laura Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 9:25 AMTo: Patrick Subject: RE: Questions for China call

Your answers are below in red. . .

From: Patrick Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 9:22 AMTo: Pete; Melissa; Aaron; Holly; Patrick; Laura; Jill Subject: RE: Questions for China call

What call? Don’t know
Who’s on it? Don’t care
When will it be? Again. Don’t know.
How long? Still not caring.
Why do I have to be on it? Because
Will you be on it? Heck no!
Are you going to miss us when you leave? You have no idea how much!

From: Laura Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 9:07 AMTo: Lst-New.Concept.Team Subject: Questions for China call

Hey guys,

Can you please send me by noon, any questions you want addressed during the China call?

Thanks!

Friday, May 16

Help! I need somebody. Help!

OK, things are not going so well for the continent of Asia lately. If I posted statistics for death, injury & missing tolls, they would need to be updated by tomorrow morning anyway. So if you can, I HIGHLY encourage you to give to a REPUTABLE organization. Here are some links below to help you on your way:

American Red Cross
Save the Children
Northwest Medical Teams (oh, sorry, Medical Teams International)
Doctors Without Borders

Sunday, May 11

Welcome Home Henry!!!


Saturday, May 10

28 Days Later

No I'm not writing about one of the worst movies ever made that should be "Eternal Sunshined" out of everyone's head who's had the grave misfortune of being tortured with that waste of time & space. I'm writing about me (duh - it's my blog) and the last 28 days of my life.

Now I'm going to try my darndest not to get too cheesy but hey, that's me so tough noogies if I go there. (But I really will make a conscious effort not to.)

As my co-worker Pete's life coach, I always tell him 2 things: follow your heart and you can't know where you're going until you know where you've been. So let's take my own advice on that second part and rewind about 29 days. I don't remember what I did during the day but I do remember trying to go to sleep that night. It was awful. I bawled myself to sleep. Sometimes "a perfect storm" will happen in your life and there's nothing you can do but just batton down the hatches, take cover, pray that you make it through and wait for it to pass. Your only goal is simply survive. Nothing more. Some people may face it head on. I am not one of those people. So I bunkered underneath the covers where I was housesitting and tossed like a fish around the 6 different pillows this bed had. I felt like Goldilocks that night: each pillow had it's own problem of being too big, too hard, to squishy, etc. So, taking advice of the wooden sign next to my bed at home, when I can't sleep, instead of counting sheep, I talk to the shepard. I'm sure it was a very incoherent monolouge seeing as how I was working myself up and blowing my nose every 2 minutes. (side note: did Jesus ever catch a cold? Another question to add to The List I guess.) I do know that I asked a lot of questions, and the vast majority of them began with "Why". Curious by nature, I love knowing the big picture and just getting snippets of a story or system (in A&P) doesn't make sense to me. But I know I'm not privy to that kind of information. There isn't an old lady living next door that I can go look in her eye and know how it's all going to turn out.

Luckily God has a great sense of humor and I'm sure He was laughing at me on the night of April 11th. Oh foolish girl, just trust me will you? Just give me 24 hours and you will see.

April 12th kicked off 28 days like none other I can remember. They say things happen in 3's. So has it been this past month. Things that I have been completely unworthy of I have been given and when someone asks me how I am, I want to steal the standard response of the same question from a Treehouse leader: "Better than I deserve." (Now here's where I'm going to struggle with the cheesiness. My sincere aplogies in advance.)

Proverb 13:19 says, "A longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul" which is what will happen around 2:30pm today. The fam is headed down to Salem to pick up the newest member of our family, Henry. If you're a dog person, you understand. A dog enmeshes itself in your life. It comes it and takes over and you're thankful for that. I've never seen unconditional love like I have with Murphy and Riley. Think of the person you love most in your life. Have they been excited to see you every single time you meet? Are they excited enough that they drop what they're doing and run to greet you? Do they make you laugh until you cry several times a day? Dogs in our family are part of the family. Some people might not get it, but that's OK. Our house has been empty, quiet, dull and simply a house for 6 months (actually 5 months and 29 days). As of this afternoon, it will be a home again. Good thing Henry O'Malley doesn't realize the responsibility he has but if he's anything like our other puppies, he won't have to even try.

I'm pretty sure getting into nursing school could be classified a big moment in anyone's life, especially mine. Seeing the huge manilla envelope and already knowing what it said inside was an odd feeling. When was the last time you screamed and ran around and cried because you were so excited? I can only think of one other time in my whole 28 years. How lucky I feel to be part of the "Elite 8%". How lucky I feel to now have had 2 moments when I could scream out loud and act like an idiot without giving a rip about what anyone else thinks. How lucky I feel to be given my old student ID#, my old e-mail address back and a chance to go through Linfield again enjoying the non-tennis aspects of school and graduate in good ol' McMinnville. How lucky that I did not have to decide where to go to school and that the decision was made for me. Apparently Someone knew I would have picked another school or Linfield so that option was simply taken away from me. Great - that makes life so much easier!

And last but certainly not least, the third is my . . . . .yeah right! You think I'm blogging about that? You're crazy. I haven't done a "what I learned today" post in a very long time so I'll do it here being as vaguely specific as I can. I've learned that: I love sushi, I was right in sticking to my guns back in the day, it isn't about what you do, and most importantly that three is definitely better than two,

Hebrews 11:1 ~ "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."

Friday, May 9

Maybe I should have stayed home. . .

I'm finding it is slightly difficult to study the Reproductive System at the library without feeling like I'm going to be kicked out at any second for inappropriate material being displayed on my computer, book & print outs.

Sunday, May 4

2 More Reasons to be Thankful

According to my self-urinalysis in lab on Friday I am neither pregnant nor do I have cancer or the kidney!

WOO-HOO!!

Nano-ounce

My new favorite word.

(And I don't care if it's real or not!)

Friday, May 2

Seriously?!?!?!

I don't know if you've heard, but they've renamed the Portland medical university that sits atop the hill.

It's now OHS-Poo.



GO WILDCATS!!!