Quote of the Day 12/08/2009

Chance makes our parents, but choice makes our friends.

~Jacques Delille
1738-1813, French poet

Quote of the Day 11/30/2009

The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others. Devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.

~Mitch Albom
(b. 1958- American best-selling author, journalist, screenwriter, playwright, radio and television broadcaster and musician)

Quote of the Day 11/25/2009

Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and
responsibility to give something back by becoming more.

Anthony Robbins
~1960-, American author, speaker, peak performance expert

33 years and counting...

227: Days since I quit smoking
458: Days I've known that true love is real
12,053: Days I've been in the world

And 12,053 days is just enough time to have met and loved such wonderful people in my life - all of you (I hope you know) shape who I am today. Thank you :) Life is Good!

Cheers,
J.

Quote of the Day 09/16/2009

I believe the single most significant decision I can make on a day-to-day basis is my choice of attitude. It is more important than my past, my education, my bankroll, my successes or failures, fame or pain, what other people think of me or say about me, my circumstances, or my position. Attitude keeps me going or cripples my progress. It alone fuels my fire or assaults my hope. When my attitudes are right, there is no barrier too high, no valley too deep, no dream too extreme, no challenge too great for me.

~Charles Swindoll
(b. 1934 - American pastor, author, educator)

Quote of the Day 07/28/2009

There is no failure except in no longer trying. There is no
defeat except from within, no insurmountable barrier except our own inherent weakness of purpose.

~Elbert Hubbard
(1859-1915, American Author, Publisher)

Quote of the Day 06/23/2009

I completely agree with this quote... you must take care in order to get where you are going. :)

"Take care of your body with steadfast fidelity. The soul must see through these eyes alone, and if they are dim, the whole world is clouded."

~Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
(1749-1832, German Poet, Dramatist, Novelist)

Quote of the Day 06/15/2009

I just finished reading a book by Dr. Wayne Dyer called 10 Secrets of Success and Inner Peace. I absolutely love his work... I always feel so amazingly peaceful because of it. Not to mention it all makes so much sense! Below is quote from one of his books - simple, yet profound!

"Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into."

Wayne Dyer (b. 1940)
~Renown author, speaker, "Father of Motivation"

Happy New Year!

Just wanted to wish all of you a happy and safe New Year! May 2009 bring fulfillment to all your wishes and that you take a few moments to appreciate all the blessings in your Life. Here is a stream of consciousness of all the things/people/places I am grateful for:

Chad...My Family...Willowby Bobbin...Excellent Friends...Passion...God...Ability to Learn...6 Nieces...Books...Music...Healthy Thyroid...Gainful Employment...Love...Laughter...Greek Food...The Best Mattress in the World...An Ever-Expanding Knowledgebase...An Ever-Expanding Universe...Anthropology...Blogs...Txting...Dreams...Art...Another Day with You...Soulmates...Opportunities...Past Lives...Introspection...Sisters...Starbucks...Aesthetics... Spa Days...Thoughtfulness...True Love...All Four Seasons...A New President...Travel...Weddings...Mom...Imagination...Creative Writing...Great Quotes...Dad...Sandalwood...Massages...Deepening Spirituality...Occasional Total Nonsense...Hope........

These are all things I want and wish for in 2009. I hope that 2009 brings you joy and happiness!

Cheers,

J.

Gimme, gimme some lovin'!

Just when I thought Life could not get any better after the cruise, it did! I met the most amazing man I've ever known. We got to chatting via email and phone calls based on the advice his mother. She obviously saw some special compatibility there... I am compelled to agree with her! It's so different that all I can do here is attempt to relate elements of our relationship... keep in mind that all these elements are fully integrated and flow together.

Chad and I relate on a much different level than I've ever experienced. It's light-hearted and deep... fun and intense. We agreed early on to total honesty. That simple promise has catapulted a potentially good relationship into the most incredible closeness between two people. We share anything and everything ~ the most mundane of opinions to the deepest held beliefs. We certainly don't agree on everything (Thank God!) but we both maintain very open-minded perspectives. It's the most loving, non-judgmental and accepting relationship I've ever had. Respect and trust were simply there from the beginning. I never thought I'd meet anyone who had the similar blend of creative and logical aspects to his personality.

Neither of us are sure how the whole thing works... it just does. It's completely easy and comfortable. We share a very positive outlook and each of us actively learns from past mistakes and relationships. We have thrown out the dating rulebook... we are now building a real and solid foundation as we go along. We give each other space and we listen to each other with open, unbiased ears. Our strengths and weaknesses are evenly matched up... we end up teaching each other about a variety of things. Our individual interests are wildly divergent but we do share a passion for writing. He writes screenplays and I write poetry. He's a film industry aficionado and I am fascinated by anthropology.

The truth of this relationship ultimately found in the Time that stretches before it... I make no predictions here! I don't want to predict anything or apply any labels our relationship simply because I no longer worry about things like that. It just is. I am so happy to be on the journey with him. That fact alone fills me with peacefulness and a quiet knowing.

I look forward to many, many years of challenging each other, to getting to know one another and to simply loving and sharing the journey together!

Cheers,
J.

Quote of the Day 08/18/2008

OMG - I love this quote! It's essentially my mantra for everyday Life. I don't always achieve it, but I do give it the Harvard effort... Imagine if we all made this goal our own everyday? Enjoy!

"Spread love everywhere you go: first of all in your own house.Give love to your children, to your wife or husband, to a next door neighbor ... Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting."

Mother Teresa (1910-1997)
~Albanian-born Roman Catholic Missionary

Quote of the Day 08/16/2008

I love this quote because of its simple truth. I have experienced it before and I am experiencing it now since the most amazing person I've ever met entered my Life six weeks ago. Enjoy!

"You will recognize your own path when you come upon it, because you will suddenly have all the energy and imagination you will ever need."

Jerry Gillies
~American Author, Speaker

Quote of the Day 08/12/2007

"Whatever does not destroy me makes me stronger."

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)
~ German Philosopher

Quote of the Day 08/01/2008

"Friendship improves happiness, and abates misery, by doubling our joys, and dividing our grief."

~ Joseph Addison (1672-1719)
British Essayist, Poet, Statesman

Thyroid Update

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! I have just found out the most thrilling news! I had my thyroid levels checked last Monday and discovered Thursday that all systems are running normal again! Yay! Eight months of hard work and discipline have paid off. While being monitored by my M.D. and my Nutritionist, I went on a wheat and sugar free diet while taking special supplements. This has effectively normalized my TSH (pituitary gland) levels, T3 and T4 hormones.

There is one caveat: my thyroid could be on its way to burn out. I'm not in the clear just yet! I could still slip into Hypothyroidism. We will know for sure in November when I get tested again. My M.D. doesn't think this is the case since the T3 and T4 hormones have stayed the same for three months. I will always have Graves' Disease (autoimmune) and will always be on a modified diet... I'm seriously OK with that though! I beat the odds and I won't be subjected to the suffering of those who've had their thyroid killed by radioactive iodine or surgically removed. For those folks, thyroid replacement therapy is vital. From the many I've talked with, it's far from feeling well. Thyroid replacements basically keep your body from going totally wacky but it doesn't stop a lot of the troublesome side effects of hypothyroidism. People who are on this treatment tell me that their metabolism is not right, fatigue is always a factor and one even reported continued problems with her eyes (gritty, sandy feeling ~ extremely unpleasant ~ and bug eyes). Without proper thyroid hormones, other systems in the body suffer too. The endocrine system (essentially all the hormones in your body) is a delicately balanced system. See all the symptoms of hypothyroidism as outlined by the Mayo Clinic. Not fun!

As you can imagine, both of my doctors were THRILLED! The implications of my treatment are huge! It could make all the difference to the next person diagnosed with Graves' Disease. (Note: my case was diagnosed early and it is autoimmune... I understand from my doctors that straight up hyperthyroidism can't be treated with diet.) I am very lucky to have such sensitive and intelligent doctors. They worked in unison and continue to be so supportive. They answered an endless number of questions from me. They recognize that traditional medicine doesn't have all the answers. With my unique treatment, I hope it opens up avenues to other non-traditional treatments.

For more information on my experience, please read my first post about living with and treating Graves' Disease. Also know that I was (and continue to be) under close medical supervision throughout the entire process. A thyroid disorder is nothing to take lightly!

Cheers,
J.

Added bonus: I've lost about 20 pounds since last December. That's just my body normalizing... I've been too lazy/too fatigued to actively exercise. That's changing now that I feel so much better. Doctor's orders!

Babies, Babies and More Babies!

I look around me and babies are cropping up everywhere! Is it catching? Is it an epidemic? Not hardly! I consider baby creation a blessing!

To give you a quick idea of who in my world is having a baby, take a look at this list ~ in chronological order:

• Lisa, a sweet co-worker had her baby in June (her second child)
  
• Holley, my good friend is due in September (her third child)
  
• Shannon, my good friend is due in November (her second child)
  
• Marti, my dear sister is due in November (her third child)
  

When my sister has her third daughter, Gracie Leigh, that will make me an aunt six times over! Wow! I'm excited... a new life comes into the world and brings joy and hope. I look forward to passing on our family's unique perspective to her... one that she will carry on far into the future and hopefully pass on to her children. It's uplifting to think of what she will bring to this world and what kind of footprint she will leave behind her.

It was actually rather comical that my sister is having another girl. I am the youngest of four girls. All my sisters married men who have brothers. You'd think that the odds were excellent for having boys... Nope! My uncle, Fenton, was the last boy born into our family. I'm beginning to think that we're so good at producing girls in this family that we should probably stick with it. We can simply 'marry in' the menfolk...

I know one thing: when a boy IS finally born into my family, I will feel sorry for him. Not only will he be spoiled rotten and be surrounded by beautiful women, but he will never know a moment's peace! The only solution to that problem is to have two boys... spread out the abundance of attention.

I also have a sneaking suspicion that I will be the only one left to have the aforementioned boys. I'll probably end up with a whole gaggle of boys! It's OK because I am getting excellent training as we speak! All of my (immediate) co-workers are men. I have learned so much from them: how to look at situations with a uncomplicated attitude, what's acceptable man behavior and what's not, how to treat women and (best of all) how to walk like a man ~ literally. If there were a degree for such education, I'd certainly be working on my Master's by now. :) Holla ~ Edward, Ken and Sam! Thanks for the schooling!

If you are in the process of making a baby (post-conception stories only, please!), let me know about it by posting a comment to this blog entry. I'd love to hear from you!

Cheers,
J.

The Paper Shredder

The last two weeks of work have involved moving the Help Desk (my job) to a new building. As you can imagine, it's an ongoing process. We are getting other people moved at the same time. For the most part we have settled in and have hit the ground running.

As the new workflow starts to take shape, we've noticed a few office items that cannot be split up... master keys, refrigerator, wall clock, paper shredder... oh, no! The paper shredder is vital! How will we keep sensitive data that we want to discard secured? We turn to our Budget Man and he says, "Sorry... No money!" What to do? I have come up with the perfect solution... it solves two problems at once... a true win/win situation!

Bring Willowby Bobbin to work as our in-house paper shredder! He's my two-year old pup and he loves to shred any paper product. He'll even do boxes. If it existed as a tree at one time, he loves to chew it up.

The other genius aspect to this plan is that if disgruntled users come to the Help Desk all we have to is point to Willowby and say, "Look! There's a cute, fluffy puppy who wants to play with you!" I guarantee it will work every time!

It also will keep me from missing him so much during the day. After all, he's my munchkin!

Cheers,
J.

Dancing Queen

I am coming to the conclusion that the biggest reason cruising is so relaxing is that there is music everywhere you go. Music for me is nearly transcendental! Where there is really good beat music, I love move to it. As the cruise went along, the more I found myself spontaneously and subconsciously moving to the music. On a cruise nobody cares if you're swaying in the breeze! In fact, it's almost expected to see people dancing any time of day or night.

This picture is of Maria and Lena practicing the Salsa lessons we learned one night on the cruise. Salsa dancing seems so easy! Three easy steps! Yeah, right! It's three combinations of three easy steps... and it goes fast! It was so much fun and I am so glad that I experienced it. If only my feet could say the same! I do believe that dancing is good for the mind, body and soul. I don't dance as well as Maria (how does she do that with her hips?!?) but I love feeling the music move through me and expressing that through dance. If you don't believe me, go ahead and try it right now. What? No one is watching! Put on your favorite toe-tapping music and get to it. You'll thank me later. ;)

Cheers,
J.

Welcome to Paradise Island!

The second most relaxing moment of my cruise with Maria was, without a doubt, lying on the white sand of Cabbage Beach located on Paradise Island, Bahamas. We found the location due to our excellent tour guide, Eustace, during the previous day's tour. He showed us all of New Providence Island for $20 apiece. All of the native Bahamians we encountered were so gracious and hospitable. I would probably be nicer, too, if I lived in paradise!

I've experienced many beaches before... Paradise Island ranks No. 1 now. Aside from being picture perfect, the warm salt water is so dense that you don't even need to kick to stay afloat. It simply cradles you in its embrace and all your cares melt away. The water takes on many shades of blue... from turquoise to a deep navy. Even though it was overcast the setting was ideal.

Throughout the four hours we languished there, several locals hawked their wares. Anything from beads and braiding to wooden flutes. Even if you didn't book an excursion, you had the opportunity to parasail, board a banana boat or rent a jet ski.

While soaking in the sun, I noticed a particularly industrious pigeon nearby. All the pigeons I've ever come close to always are hunting for food. This pigeon (see inset) was intent on digging a hole. If you look closely, you can see the sand flying up past its beak. I'm not sure what the little pigeon hoped to accomplish, but it seemed quite content. Truly, I believe it's impossible to be stressed on this little stretch of heaven. If you are stressed, then you're doing it wrong. :)

Cheers,
Jaime

Quote of the Day 07/19/2008

Today's four quotes are all about being yourself. I believe that is the most difficult task we each have in our lifetimes. Enjoy!
J.

It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. ~e.e. cummings

I think of life itself now as a wonderful play that I've written for myself, and so my purpose is to have the utmost fun playing my part. ~Shirley MacLaine

Never apologize for showing feeling. When you do so, you apologize for the truth. ~Benjamin Disraeli

You must have control of the authorship of your own destiny. The pen that writes your life story must be held in your own hand. ~Irene C. Kassorla