Random Hellos

The "Be Better 52 Challenge" for this week is "Random Hellos"!  I've done a good job at being friendly and saying lots of hellos!  As I've thought about this I was reminded of a story my mother told me from my childhood.

My parents and grandparents grew up in a small town in the south, Lonoke, Arkansas.  In towns like Lonoke there are no random hellos.  You say hello to everyone because you KNOW everyone. Not only do you know their names, you know where they live, where they go to church, their parents and grandparents and brothers and sisters and cousins!  I read once that in a small town you don't need to use your blinker because everyone knows where you are going! That is at least partially accurate!

My Daddy was in the navy and we lived the first 6 years of my life in the northeastern part of the United States. Part way through my 1st grade year, Daddy got orders to move the family  to Sigonella, Sicily.  Because this was a new base, the housing was not completed so Mama and I moved to Lonoke to spend several months living with my Grandma Boyle while Daddy flew off to Sicily.

 After a few weeks my Grandma told my mother that she was really concerned about me. "Marilyn is just not polite.  She doesn't speak to people."

 Moma had to explain to her that in places like Brooklyn, Boston, and Providence, Rhode Island, people don't speak to strangers on the street.  They don't even say a polite hello.  If you do, you run the risk of being looked at like the nice southern fellow in this commercial who didn't understand 'polite' in Yankee territory.

So I'm sure this week Grandma Boyle is pleased that I am being very polite, southern style and 'speaking' lots of random hellos!

Just a Normal Wednesday

Every Wednesday I 'go to the dogs'!  That is my day to volunteer at the Oregon campus of Guide Dogs for the Blind.  Several people have asked me what I do out there so I thought I should share my typical Wednesday.

In the morning I volunteer in the vet clinic.  My tasks are many and quite varied.

I file and keep up with the inventory of supplies.

I clean.  Anyone with one or two dogs knows how much dog hair they shed.  Now imagine a multitude of dogs in and out all day.  Yep, that is a LOT of dog hair.  Since it is a vet clinic a dog might be sick so we have to work hard to kill germs too.

I have also learned how to wrap surgical instruments to get them ready to put in the autoclave.

This is a pack for a modified ovarian hysterectomy. (modified because they are now done laproscopically)  Inside this wrap are all those instruments arranged for the doctor's convenience during the next operation.

Sometimes I ignore huge mountains of laundry like this.....

to spend time with sweet little dogs like this one!

He's a puppy who was neutered yesterday and was waiting for his family to come pick him up.  He won't in pain but just didn't want to be alone.  I tried to convince him that he didn't need me to hold his bone; that he could manage that himself but he thought it was so much nicer to have me right there with him.  The laundry could wait!

Cuddling dogs coming out of surgery or waking up from sedation after X-rays is one of the perks of being a Vet Clinic Volunteer!  It's a tough job but somebody has to do it!

In the afternoon I'm a 'K9 Cruiser', fancy language for a dog walker.  I go in one of the kennels and am greeted by this:

Lots of expectant hopeful faces!  "Please, please pick me!"  "I need a walk today".  I try to pass them all by without making eye contact.  In the center of the kennel is the 'workroom/office'.  

There I find a list of dogs approved for cruising.  The 'Canine welfare technicians' or the CWTs, in conjunction with the trainers, have decided who is on the list.  Usually it is dogs who are waiting to start training, career changed dogs, or retired or boarding guides.  So I get the lucky dog, put on his collar and off we go.  Today I walked 6 dogs in the sunshine but I have walked in the rain and sleet and wind!  The dogs don't care so you just learn to dress accordingly!

When I come back to the kennels these little heads all pop up.....

I think they are just hoping I'll take them next!

I love my 'Dog Day' Wednesdays!!! 

Be Better 52

To start the year off right and keep my motivation going all year I joined the "Be Better 52" challenge

It's really an ingenious idea.  Each participant pays $52 for the year.  Every week a new 'challenge' is given by way of an email.  If you complete the challenge $1 is given to charity.  If you complete the challenge and post about it on social media, the donation doubles. A simple way to 'be better' and be generous!

The first week's challenge was to drink lemon water each morning.  That was easy!

The next week that challenge was to get up 15 minutes earlier than normal and develop a morning routine.  I kind of fudged on this one since I already get up early and I have a set routine that works well for me. I did TRY to go to bed 15 minutes earlier.  A couple of nights I succeeded! 

One of the best parts of my morning routine is walking with these good friends!  In Oregon it is often cold and wet, not damp - WET - but we love the time to talk!  Good for the body and the soul!

This is week #3 and the challenge is to enjoy healthy smoothies!  That is something I have wanted to try so this week I have done it!  Healthy green smoothies!  So far I have enjoyed them.

48 more weeks ahead with fun challenges to improve my physical and mental health and to donate to one of my favorite causes - Kenya Keys.  http://kenyakeys.org

Getty

After our fabulous day at the Reagan Museum, we decided to make a stop at the Getty Center since it was on our way back to the airport. Unfortunately it seems that many people had the same idea!  The parking garage was a traffic jam of cars slowing descending to lower and lower levels in search of a parking spot.  Then there was a long line of people waiting to take the tram up to the museum.

 Once we got to the museum itself, we were not bothered by the crowds since it is huge with multiple buildings. The buildings themselves are works of art!

We took in two temporary exhibits.  One was Ruben's tapestries.

From the museum brochure:

Rubens drew on a wide range of classical and christian iconography, and traditional allegories of good verses evil, to express the spiritual victory of the Catholic church over its foes. Powerful figures in motion, rich color, and playful illusions abound, as Rubens created different levels of reality to engage and delight the observer. 

George and I were 'engaged and delighted'!

Since we are both interested in photography we decided to see the Josef Koudelka Photography exhibit. 

I'd never heard of him before but I'm always fascinated to try and figure out what separates an ok photograph from an award winning one! There were 140 of his works produced over 5 decades.  He does give lectures abut 'why good photographs are so rare."  I'd love to hear that!  My quick analysis is the photo needs to tell a story and bring some emotion.  Also I think that black and white images are particularly compelling.

We managed a quick visit to the impressionist gallery.  Who can resist a Monet?  

I was also captivated by the colors in this 1854 work by Richard Dadd  'David Spareth Saul's life'.  The soft colors are unusual for that time period.  Beautiful!

We both hope to go back to the Getty and spend the entire day.

Reagan Library

Check one off the bucket list!  George and I had Alaska Airlines credit that had to be used by mid January so we decided to take a couple of days and fly down to California to see the Reagan Library.  It did not disappoint.  I love President Reagan's attitude and approach to life.  As I thought about how to make a blog post about him, I decided to use some of the photos I took and some of his best quotes.

For many years Ronald Reagan collected quotes on notecards and organized them in a flip folder.  He often used these quotes in his speeches. He truly was the 'Great Communicator'.

No foe of freedom should doubt our resolve. We will prevail, because our faith is strong and our cause is just. 

February 26, 1981

...let me say, I take full responsibility for my own actions and for those of my administration. 

March 4, 1987

I believed - and intend to make it a theme of my campaign-that America's greatest years were ahead of it.

Whatever happens now, I owe my life to God and will try to serve him in every way I can.

from his diary March 1981

Whatever else history says about me, I hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, not your worst fears, to your confidence rather than your doubts.

Republican National Convention 1992

As for the enemies of freedom...they will be reminded that peace is the highest aspiration of the American people.  We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it; we will not surrender it- now or ever.

January 20, 1981

And so we will work together, that we may forever keep our swords at our sides.

May 31, 1988

I know in my heart that man is good, that what is right will always eventually triumph and there is purpose and worth to each and every life.

What wonderful words to live by!  What a positive uplifting man!  I will try to remember his optimism and emulate it.

No News = Good News

I thought I should do a quick cancer update for 2014.  Yes, for me this year "No news was good news'!  My calcitonin number when up a little but not significantly.  Calcitonin is the measure of the spread of my medullary thyroid cancer.  So while I do still have cancer, it is not affecting my life at all except for the occasional blood draw and neck ultrasound.  Both ultrasounds that I have had this year show no cancer. It is there somewhere but still microscopic.  This type of cancer is normally very slow growing so that is good news too.

I feel 100% fine and completely
normal.  May this trend continue for many years is my prayer.  I would appreciate your prayers too!

Happy 2015!  Love life and see good days!

Movies

We always seem to see a lot of movies around Christmas time.  This year was no exception.

My favorite was "The Hobbit - Battle of the Five Armies".

As you might expect it was action packed but tied up the story from the Hobbit very well.  Also set up the Lord of the Rings trilogy nicely.  I may have to find time to re-watch those movies soon.

I wasn't sure what my opinion of "Into the Woods" would be but I liked it very much.

Such a clever weaving of several fairly tales into one story!  Meryl Streep is fabulous as she always is!  I even liked Johnny Depp!  And the two handsome princes had me laughing out loud.  I would have ended it at the "happily ever after' part but that is just the romantic in me!

Then last night for New Year's Eve we saw "Unbroken".  Let's just say that the book is so much better!

The movie is good and the story is uplifting.  What a human can live through is amazing!  After all the abuse Louis Zamperini's body endured, I find it astonishing that he lived to be almost 97 years old.  I wish that the story had included the reason he forgave his captors.  It was his conversion to Christianity that changed his life and attitude.  Oh well, that is Hollywood for you!  But I did love the last scenes showing him carrying the torch at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Japan.  The second POW camp where he was held all those years ago, is very close to where he carried the torch.

We also watched a few movies at home...

The first three Hobbit movies so that I could remember the story well....

And best of all....

Any attempt to remake this movie should be against the law!  It is a practically perfect in every way!

By the numbers!

A couple of 'significant numbers' from 2014

I indexed just over 126, 000 names last year!  My goal was 100,000 so I'm pretty happy with that.

If you haven't heard of indexing, let me explain.  For many years our church has photographed genealogical records from all around the world.  These have been available on microfilm at Family History centers.  After their conversion to a digital form, beginning in 2006, volunteers like me started making indexes to the records.  That means that many of the records are now freely searchable on line.  Since it's beginning this unprecedented crowdsourcing effort has produced more than one billion searchable records.

I am just one of hundreds of thousands of indexers from all around the world.  To quote from the Family Search Website, "Through this selfless effort, millions of people worldwide have found information and discovered stories about their ancestors".  So if you are interested in family history, take a look at familysearch.org!  You might find that long lost great grandfather!

1,000,000 Delta miles....George achieved that milestone this year.  That is a LOT of time spent in an airplane.  More than 40 times around the world!

I'm glad that I got to take some of those trips with him.  And I'm thankful for his years with HP since they paid for a good number of those miles!!!