If you've worked with me you know that I set deadlines. I learned this at first from an old boss - Jim Roda at Kitsap County Public Works. He taught me "if you don't set a deadline, it won't get done." He was right. I've gone a little overboard on urgency and deadlines. Nowadays I set them a bit earlier than it might be possible to complete them. Sometimes probably drive people around me a little crazy. Here's why. I have a tumor in my chest. It's the size of a softball, lodged in the middle of my right lung, and adjacent to my heart. It's been radiated - it's not dead, but it's not really growing either. It just sits there. I feel the tumor with every breath I take. I feel the pain from it pressing against nerves from my shattered rib (where it started) every moment of every day. Yes, the drugs help. The pain is a tolerable reminder that I won't live forever. How long do I have? No one knows. Given how fast this one grew, and given ...
This morning I realized that my life is very much on track. I wish that, 15 years ago, I could have seen a glimpse of what my life would eventually become. A very rough time could have been a little easier. I've made mistakes. Some of them I regret very much. But I've made good decisions too. Now I'm reaping the results. In the words of a very smart friend, "make sure that every step you take leads you in the direction that you want to go." Thank you Micki for that very good lesson, even though it hurt at the time. My kids are wonderful. Most of them still love me and want to be around me. My job is wonderful - I love my co-workers. And my husband is better than I ever could have wished for. I'm so blessed with Dave in my life. I didn't see this coming, but I did the work and tried hard not to repeat mistakes. Therapy helped me get through some very hard times, as well as the love of family and friends. If your life is currently very hard, hang in there. D...
On this day the woman who birthed and raised me was born. In many ways she was a wonderful woman. I choose to honor the good in her today - the things she passed on to me that I recognize as wonderful and valuable. The things that made me a better person. Among many other things she taught me generosity, love of cooking and food, and the value of trying to do the impossible when it’s in service of a higher purpose. We shared many, many great times over the years. Peeling apples for pies and a love for discussing religion and the Bible. I'll never forget our white water rafting trips, and her joining me to jump off a 25-foot cliff into a raging river. I cherish those memories. She wasn’t so hot at some other things. Her Evangelical passion was the "Unstoppable Force" to my queerly "Immovable Object." It destroyed our relationship over the last 3 years of her life. Her dedication to the Bible often trumped her dedication to family, with sometimes disastrous res...