Open Wide!

I went to the dentist yesterday for an evaluation. To see what braces could do for me, what kinds of braces there were and, more importantly, how much these braces may cost. . .

I'm getting braces next month.

However, this was after 3 hours of evaluations, impressions (with the goopy ceramic stuff that they say should taste like fruit punch but doesn't), discussions, calculations, and bargaining.

And after all this, I've concluded that orthodontists should NEVER eat onions for lunch. No matter how tantalizing the sandwich.

Of Beauty

She Walks in Beauty

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that 's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellow'd to that tender light

Which heaven to gaudy day denies.
One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair'd the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.


And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,

But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!

~Lord Byron

This week, my grandmother is ending her battle with kidney failure and old age in general and is getting ready to head home beyond this world where my grandfather and her Savior has been waiting for her.

And its time. She is tired, her body has given out, and she is at peace with going. And yet, I look at her and her life and her sweet personality and the memories we've had with her through the years and I'm saddened. Not hopeless, but saddened.

Because when we lose bright stars like her, the world becomes just a bit more gray.

Of Dancing

This past Friday, Greg and I started taking ballroom dancing lessons. It only took 5ish years to convince him (even our wedding wasn't much of a motivating factor) but proves the saying "If at first you don't succeed; try, try again".

We signed up. And so inspired 2 of our neighbors that they and their spouses signed up too. And off we went to our first night.

When we arrived, we had to wait outside as the last class finished up Salsa lessons. As they all filed out, one guy was near to staggering, and he took a deep, shaky breath and admonished our group: "Prepare yourselves, it's brutal in there". I could feel fear start to creep into the hearts of our men. But, we as women were undaunted, and we led them to the dance floor to commence with our training.

We started off with the two step, and aside from the fact that I was using my hand-hold on Greg's right arm to attempt steering him around the dance floor, that went really well. . . until the dance instructor saw what I was doing and quickly admonished me and then made the whole class do an exercise in posture and resistance in you ballroom 'stance'. Chagrined, I made more of an effort to follow, and not lead, but by then we were learning the tango and I could barely keep up, let alone boss the situation around. Greg had a rather difficult move that involved him turning around me, while I stepped in between his legs, and then we both do another turn, and end up going back the same way we were coming from.

It looks amazing, but is difficult. And when both of you as dance partners are rather tall, you tend to make up a lot of ground practicing this move.

And so we started lapping people left and right - careening down the dance floor one way, my cheeks flapping in the wind as Greg whipped me around and I felt the awesome power of G-forces, and then it was back down the other way with much the same speed and length of stride. I could see the fear on our friends faces as we bore down on them, and as they anticipated our approach they would lose focus on their own steps and stomp on a few toes. Before you knew it we were back down the other side of the floor, terrorizing complete strangers, most of whom would not stand their ground and choose instead to scatter in front of us like frightened chickens.

It was awe-inspiring to feel the power our tango had on the group and not even the dance instructors could put us on the right track - we were a Force Unstoppable by mere man.

We were a giggling Force Unstoppable by man.

And afterwards the 6 of us went out and had some beers and dinner, and recounted the harrowing tales of trying to dance together as couples, and the strange parallels it bore to an actual relationship. Who was willing to lead, who was willing to follow, who could hold their posture with resistance, who was a limp noodle....and I think it's a good thing we're all taking this class together. Perhaps all young couples should be required to work together in this manner.

Either way, we're all looking forward to this coming Friday, when we get to learn 4 more sequence of steps, and hopefully, are a bit better (and maybe slower) than we were last week.

Of Walking into Doors

I'm in Orlando for some new employee orientation with my company. It's not been much of a picnic. I was supposed to stay for 3 extra days to hang out with a family member who has been having a rough go of it lately, and at the last minute plans went up into the air...and stayed that way for 2 days. I finally had to call and see what was going on...and was told to rebook my flight and leave 3 days early because the family member could no longer see me.

So I did. And by re-booking I threw corporate at my job into a tizzy because I have to pay about $150 to change the ticket...but they're unsure of how to get that money back into their account.

So they've been on the phone, and I've been on the phone, and I've been on the email, and sending emails, and somewhere in there actually getting oriented on what it means to be an employee here....

And today, on a break, while I was talking on the phone I disinterestedly watched one of my fellow new employees head outside for a smoke break. But, something amazing happened here. Rather than take one of the obvious doors, he went straight for the window with the etched 'M' in it between the doors, and then, rather than putting his hands in front of him to push the door that wasn't there...he instead just walked full-tilt right into the window.

And fell back dazed and confused as to how this had all just happened. Not to mention embarressed that he was sitting on his butt in the lobby rather than outside where he had intended to be.

And rather than laughing at him (though it was a bit funny), I quickly turned away so he wouldn't know I had seen his blunder...because I felt a pang of empathy with him. In that one move he had summed up my whole Florida trip.

And I'm ready to go home.

Living Life Deliberately

There's something about living deliberately that is very, very difficult. I had some moments of clarity on vacation those few weeks ago, and one of them was about some sort of a purposeful life. Getting to work at a specific time, every day, tracking how much time I spent watching TV, how cooking once again was slipping into a 'whatever will take less then 20 minutes' mode, how I was missing all my outside time now that the weather is warming up...those sorts of things.

As Janet Luhrs says:
"Simple living is about living deliberately. That's all. You choose your existence rather than sailing through life on automatic pilot."

And I've felt very much on auto-pilot these last few months.

So the first course of action was to begin waking up at 4:00am consistantly, so we could be at work by 5:30, and be able to leave by 3:00, leaving plenty of time in the evening for dinner, yardwork, conversation, and the VERY occasional television show - such as Heroes or House. This has also included going to be at 9:00pm every night to ensure plenty of sleep is had before the next work day.

We're now into 14 out of the standard 21 days to make something a habit, and it's getting much easier to roll out of bed when that alarm goes off. Going to bed promptly is still something of a challenge, but it's happening (it's the falling asleep part that's difficult), and life is becoming much more ordered.

I've been a bit surprised by how much time we're getting back by doing this. Even the simple act of going to work early cuts our commuting time down by a half hour each way - a full hour each day reclaimed, not to mention all the TV time that has been regained as well.

Though it's not felt great some days - for the most part it's been amazing how much things change when you decide to be purposeful, and then resolutely stick to it. Even when there are plenty of reasons why you don't have to.

Of Gardening and Spring

I love to shop. I suppose I'm much of a typical girl in that sense, I can spend hours and hours and hours browsing, looking, touching, and perhaps even eventually buying.

When I wasn't in my conference in New Orleans last month, I spent every free minute walking and shopping all throughout the French Quarter. I just love it.

Two of my favorite things to buy are books and plants, and now that spring has finally arrived in Colorado, I have started purchasing plants with reckless abandon. My planter boxes overfloweth, my mini whiskey barrel is a work of art and my hanging basket is all a-froth with pink flowers. My back garden is the repository for all things bulbs, and seeds and though they are growing....the thing about this form of plant-life is that it takes a while for them to come into their own and really take off.

Like maybe a year or two.

And honestly, who has that kind of time with nothing else in between?!

So last night when we went to Home Depot, as I was browsing for 2 more packs of petunias for the flower boxes. . . I found them. Bright pinks, oranges and yellow Nordic Poppies....called Champagne Bubbles.

I couldn't resist. They went in my cart, as did some Geraniums and Sweet William. Greg sighed and shook his head as we went to check out, another $30 to the backyard...but I was excited. Many girls like shopping for shoes and clothes and other things that stay in their house where no one can see them...but in the summer my garden is something to see, something that brings beauty and life to the Prairie around us.

And I'm rather proud of that.

An Article on my Brother's Platoon

I have a Google news alert for the 82nd Airborne. Anything having to do with the 82nd that crosses the news wires goes straight to my inbox. I like to keep an ear out for anything that may have to do with my brother (the one on the right in this picture).

This morning, I had a notification, and found this amazing article that is all about my brother's platoon!!!! It really doesn't get any more specific than this. My brother is from Company D, 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division....and the guy Cox, who is interviewed is one of his good friends!!!!

So my morning was very cheered. Though you have a general idea of what the guys are doing there (fighting the war, eating, sleeping, waiting for packages, etc....) this gives such a great glimpse into something that's their every day life. Something that isn't full of death.

So, this morning, here's to my brother and all the amazing things they're doing over there - including revamping their FOB!