Fall
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Under 21 Jumpstreet
Max Schultz and I have a date every quarter or so. The last time we hung out one-on-one we went to the Wings Over the Rockies museum. Both of us always look forward to our two or so hours together-he is such a sweetheart and I think we make a good team. Today we went to Jumpstreet on Arapahoe Road. It is an indoor trampoline park, with huge trampolines to jump on, trampoline dodgeball, a human maze and an obstacle course. I admit...I was a bit nervous at first. Not only was I afraid I would lose him in the crowd, I was afraid of my abilities on a trampoline. Luckily, most activities were crowded with kids, and Max is a little socialite and he made some friends. But, I did venture onto one of the trampolines and had a ball jumping up and down. If I didn't feel like such a dork amongst all the cool kids I would have tried to do a running kartwheel or something. I didn't want to make a total fool of myself so I just got on and off, jumping here and there, jumping with Max and then watching this teenager do amazing flips off the sides of the trampoline. I do think they need to have "adult hour" where adults only get on the trampolines and make fools of themselves, without the fear of trampling all over a kid. Because kids at places like this have no fear, and adults like me do.
Monday, January 24, 2011
My first Valentine
A certain favorite girl of mine gave me my first Valentine of the season. Sheepishly, she gave me this Valentine as I walked through the door of her house ready to watch a movie with her mom. Then she ran to her mom for a hug.
I love the love of a child...it is so pure and sweet.
Thanks, Mia
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Winding down
I had a very lovely weekend. Friday night I got an order of fajitas to go from a little Mexican restaurant by my dry cleaners. I picked up some work pants and decided to try out Las Brisas and it did not disappoint. Everything was so flavorful, from the chips and salsa to the meat and veggies. After indulging myself, I headed to Meg's to watch The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo and it didn't disappoint, either. Yesterday I had my hair done by my magical Anna at Sisto's Salon downtown. I grocery shopped, and then read Twilight. I met up with some friends to meet their men for the first time. Today I cleaned, and then treated myself to Blue Valentine, which was a very good movie. It was depressing, yes, but so real and artfully done. It is a reminder that life is unpredictable and can't be fit into neat and tidy boxes.
Now I am in bed and ready to devour the rest of Twilight. I never read the books or saw the movies of this series, but it is our book club pick this month and rightfully so. Diving into a book about vampires and teenage love is a great way to wind down the weekend.
Now I am in bed and ready to devour the rest of Twilight. I never read the books or saw the movies of this series, but it is our book club pick this month and rightfully so. Diving into a book about vampires and teenage love is a great way to wind down the weekend.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Intersecting lives
The last two nights I have slept well and dreamt hard. The peculiar thing is that I dreamt about Mike. That hasn't happened in a while. In one dream I had forgotten his birthday, but when I apologized he was okay about it all...his birthday didn't seem to be on his mind. In another dream I was at a friend's house for breakfast, and he showed up and I apologized that there wasn't a place set for him...and he was okay with that, with the plastic cup I set out for orange juice, possibly a cup a child drinks from. Mike wasn't in the least concerned.
I woke up both times feeling pleasantly surprised. I got to see him again, and each time, he was very congenial, even happy and content.
But interestingly, today,I had such a weird morning. One would think after this content night's sleep I would wake up early with a spring in my step. Instead I slept in a little but took the dogs for a walk and had breakfast in a quick amount of time. I even had 5 minutes to spare so I thought a Starbucks Chai was in order to celebrate. That is where the morning turned to mush. The Chai took 10 minutes too long and that put me behind my desired time frame to get to work. I also discovered during my drive that my soup spilled all over the front passenger seat. So, I was not only late but late trying to clean up spilled soup on upholstery. Lovely. I tried to blame these turn of events on something other than what they were, but I couldn't...I knew when I left the house the top to the Tupperware for the soup was loose, I knew that I was trying a new Starbucks and couldn't depend on fast service. I couldn't look to the sky, shake my fist and say "Why Me?" I had to accept that my day started because of my choices.
Until, later in the day, "R" walked into the CCA advising office.
Everyone in the office was busy and I sit close to the front desk. When students walk in I always ask, "Can I help you?" which is the question I dutifully asked from my desk. This man with a familiar face approached me with some paperwork. "Yes, I applied and had to bring in some additional information." I looked at his face, and then down at the documents to his name..."R." I knew immediately that he had been one of Mike's nurses. The vision of the night came back to me...was it one of Mike's last? I slept in the room on a cot, but didn't wake during the night. "R" was so quiet coming into the room with Mike's medications because he was that kind of nurse...stealthy, steadfast, but caring and soft spoken. He helped Mike make it through that night, and when I woke Mike was still there, alive and we held hands. "R" was finishing his rounds, but not before he saw tearful glances exchanged between Mike and I ("I made it" the tears said). When I saw him today I wasn't sure what to do...so I fumbled in my computer system and looked up his record for notes to make sure I was following procedure. I made copies and other notes. I asked myself over and over...Do I say something?
And...I did. I figured life is too short and my dreams too real not to let this man who made a huge impact on me and Mike know what an angel he was that night. So I asked him..."Are you a nurse at PSL?" He said he was. I told him my husband was one of his patients and we thought he was great. I then moved on and got to all the business I needed about him taking community college classes-to supplement his nursing degree. He then asked me, "Who was your husband?" and I said, "Michael McClanahan. You were his nurse during a terrible time. I had spent the night, and you were so quiet and peaceful when you entered the room." This was almost 2 years ago and I really didn't expect this person to remember, but he said, "Ah, yes...I remember you...and your husband. We all do, he made quite an impact on us." I smiled, thanked him, and got him on his way with all his CCA paperwork. But I couldn't shake "R" and the meaning of his visit.
I could, however, guess at this meaning. All of us experience crappy days-a line too long, food that goes bad, a dog who throws up in the corner of the room, ourselves not feeling well because of fatigue or the flu...but we all experience intersecting moments, too. Maybe today I left the day feeling comforted that "R" and his colleagues were impacted by Mike's life on their own...Maybe I felt comforted when I told "R" how much he meant to Mike and I during this scary time and what a gift he has to make people feel secure and comforted. Either way, lives intersect and a bad start to a morning has no say in whether that intersection should occur or not. And when it does...You are ready or not.
I woke up both times feeling pleasantly surprised. I got to see him again, and each time, he was very congenial, even happy and content.
But interestingly, today,I had such a weird morning. One would think after this content night's sleep I would wake up early with a spring in my step. Instead I slept in a little but took the dogs for a walk and had breakfast in a quick amount of time. I even had 5 minutes to spare so I thought a Starbucks Chai was in order to celebrate. That is where the morning turned to mush. The Chai took 10 minutes too long and that put me behind my desired time frame to get to work. I also discovered during my drive that my soup spilled all over the front passenger seat. So, I was not only late but late trying to clean up spilled soup on upholstery. Lovely. I tried to blame these turn of events on something other than what they were, but I couldn't...I knew when I left the house the top to the Tupperware for the soup was loose, I knew that I was trying a new Starbucks and couldn't depend on fast service. I couldn't look to the sky, shake my fist and say "Why Me?" I had to accept that my day started because of my choices.
Until, later in the day, "R" walked into the CCA advising office.
Everyone in the office was busy and I sit close to the front desk. When students walk in I always ask, "Can I help you?" which is the question I dutifully asked from my desk. This man with a familiar face approached me with some paperwork. "Yes, I applied and had to bring in some additional information." I looked at his face, and then down at the documents to his name..."R." I knew immediately that he had been one of Mike's nurses. The vision of the night came back to me...was it one of Mike's last? I slept in the room on a cot, but didn't wake during the night. "R" was so quiet coming into the room with Mike's medications because he was that kind of nurse...stealthy, steadfast, but caring and soft spoken. He helped Mike make it through that night, and when I woke Mike was still there, alive and we held hands. "R" was finishing his rounds, but not before he saw tearful glances exchanged between Mike and I ("I made it" the tears said). When I saw him today I wasn't sure what to do...so I fumbled in my computer system and looked up his record for notes to make sure I was following procedure. I made copies and other notes. I asked myself over and over...Do I say something?
And...I did. I figured life is too short and my dreams too real not to let this man who made a huge impact on me and Mike know what an angel he was that night. So I asked him..."Are you a nurse at PSL?" He said he was. I told him my husband was one of his patients and we thought he was great. I then moved on and got to all the business I needed about him taking community college classes-to supplement his nursing degree. He then asked me, "Who was your husband?" and I said, "Michael McClanahan. You were his nurse during a terrible time. I had spent the night, and you were so quiet and peaceful when you entered the room." This was almost 2 years ago and I really didn't expect this person to remember, but he said, "Ah, yes...I remember you...and your husband. We all do, he made quite an impact on us." I smiled, thanked him, and got him on his way with all his CCA paperwork. But I couldn't shake "R" and the meaning of his visit.
I could, however, guess at this meaning. All of us experience crappy days-a line too long, food that goes bad, a dog who throws up in the corner of the room, ourselves not feeling well because of fatigue or the flu...but we all experience intersecting moments, too. Maybe today I left the day feeling comforted that "R" and his colleagues were impacted by Mike's life on their own...Maybe I felt comforted when I told "R" how much he meant to Mike and I during this scary time and what a gift he has to make people feel secure and comforted. Either way, lives intersect and a bad start to a morning has no say in whether that intersection should occur or not. And when it does...You are ready or not.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Going out of business
(photo courtesy of the internet)
If there is one thing that makes me sad, it is a bookstore going out of business. The Waldenbooks in Cherry Creek is closing its doors, and I do hope that is not an indication of the future of bookstores. There is nothing like browsing the shelves of every topic imaginable, pulling up a stool or chair and flipping through pages of books. I was in a minor book funk recently until Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro came to be by way of book club, and I fell in love with all the stories. Now I am on a kick:
Eckhart Tolle: A New Earth
Rhoda Janzen: Mennonite in a Little Black Dress
Elizabeth Kostova: Swan Thieves
and...Twilight (a new book club read)
There are still tons of fiction books left at the bookstore, and now everything is 50% off. So, in case you have the fear like I do that turning actual pages of a book will become extinct, you may want to stock up.
Guess what I am off to do right now on this quiet, cold and snowy day?
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Resolutions?
My friend Susan asked me the other day if I made any New Year's resolutions. I guess I looked a little taken aback (I mean...who makes those anymore?) and said, "no." She was a bit incredulous and I had to explain. "I mean, who wants to set themselves up for failure?" She clarified what resolutions means to her...she said, "I don't mean anything huge, just small goals." She told me some of hers: to do her nails more, wear more makeup, etc. Later in the day, Meg and I dissected the concept of resolutions and decided that we would call them something else. Maybe-life re-energizers? I came up with a little list of my own.
1. Do my hair a little differently. Instead of washing and blow drying every day, maybe curl it a few days a week.
2. Choose between actually wearing all the clothes in my closet or getting rid of the stuff I never wear and whittle my wardrobe down to the 5 pieces I do wear. I can't have it both ways.
3. Get rid of 3-5 things every day. I don't mean tried and true possessions...I mean things like: throw away the expired yogurt container in the fridge, pay bills right away to get the paperwork off the desk, that one sock where I will never find it's match, put the old magazines in the recycle bin, etc.
4. Connect each week with a friend I haven't spoken to in a while (go beyond Facebook).
5. Eat foods with more color in them (and I don't mean food coloring).
6. A few nights a week, go out and do something. Because I get home around 3:30 I tend to put my PJ's on, eat dinner early and plop down on the couch for some Lifetime made for TV movies. I think it will do me good to go out, sit at Stella's and read a book, or hit a mall I normally don't go to, or go out to a movie.
I think these are all very attainable "re-energizers" and will bring a little verve into my everyday life. I like that Meg and I reworked the concept of resolution to make changes that will actually enhance life.
What might yours be?
1. Do my hair a little differently. Instead of washing and blow drying every day, maybe curl it a few days a week.
2. Choose between actually wearing all the clothes in my closet or getting rid of the stuff I never wear and whittle my wardrobe down to the 5 pieces I do wear. I can't have it both ways.
3. Get rid of 3-5 things every day. I don't mean tried and true possessions...I mean things like: throw away the expired yogurt container in the fridge, pay bills right away to get the paperwork off the desk, that one sock where I will never find it's match, put the old magazines in the recycle bin, etc.
4. Connect each week with a friend I haven't spoken to in a while (go beyond Facebook).
5. Eat foods with more color in them (and I don't mean food coloring).
6. A few nights a week, go out and do something. Because I get home around 3:30 I tend to put my PJ's on, eat dinner early and plop down on the couch for some Lifetime made for TV movies. I think it will do me good to go out, sit at Stella's and read a book, or hit a mall I normally don't go to, or go out to a movie.
I think these are all very attainable "re-energizers" and will bring a little verve into my everyday life. I like that Meg and I reworked the concept of resolution to make changes that will actually enhance life.
What might yours be?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)