Today's Snowflake...

I'll never forget...

How many times can you say that you are waking up to a changed world? I can count the times that I have on one hand, and most of them are not good. Our new President elect touched on this last night, when discussing what the 106 year old female voter had seen in her lifetime, and that got me thinking – how many truly world-changing events have I been around to witness?

How do we recognize these events? Most often they are the “I’ll never forget where I was when…” moments. “I’ll never forget where I was when Challenger exploded.” “I’ll never forget where I was when the Berlin Wall fell.” “I’ll never forget where I was when we went to war with Iraq – both times.” “I’ll never forget where I was when the twin towers fell.”

I’ll never forget where I was when we elected the first African American President of the United States.

I mean, wow. What a way to top the “I’ll never forgets”. All I can hope now is that we continue to top ourselves with the positives instead of the negatives, that we keep moving forwards, and that we never forget what it means to all of us that we can be proud to be who we are, to believe what we believe, and to live the lives we do.

Rest in Peace, Michael Crichton

I just found out that Michael Crichton passed away today, and it is one of those things that just hits unexpectedly. I've enjoyed so thoroughly the world of SciFi through his writing. He was an amazing author who will be greatly missed, but who also has the fortune of living forever through his writing.

Rest in Peace.

Change and Uncertainty

Living with uncertainty sucks.

I'm just going to throw that out there into the ever-broadening ethos.  Whether it is in your personal, familial, or work life, uncertainty sucks.  

The interesting thing is that 5 years ago, I would bet that every single one of us would have totally balked at any sign of change and uncertainty. Now, however, it is like we are in "Change is NOW boot camp", doing push-ups with a "I CAN survive my 401K" and a "It Dropped 500, but I'll SURVIVE!"  

I personally have taken many looks at my life and asked, "is this it?  Is this what I worked so hard for?  Is this all I get?"   Maybe it's not that the change is hard or surprising, but that the ACCEPTANCE of change is something we don't WANT to face.  Well.  Maybe I'll just live in my nice happy-world of avoidance and denial a bit longer.

Isn't it crazy how life seems to often get completely in the way of what we often aim to do?  I seem to be the ultimate queen lately of the "I'm going to's".  

I'm going to seriously clean.

I'm going to get my act in gear and find a new path in life.

I'm going to stop procrastinating all the time.

I'm going to....

I'm going to....

I'm going to....

Yeah. So. How often do all of those really happen?  You got it in one - not very. 

I've found myself in this constant loop of time, like Groundhog Day but not nearly as funny or educational.  It's just the same thing, day in, day out.  It is time to get out of it, but I'm still trying to figure out what the magic path is.  What is it that is going to break me free, and allow me to move on to the next day?  

Moral of the story?  Keep me in your thoughts, and I continue to loop over and over and over and over and over......

many hats

**Warning: A little long.... so enjoy it all!!!****
There are many different sayings about hats - "Talking through your hat", "Eating you hat", "Old hat", "Mad as a hatter" (yes, I know that often applies!), and , for the sports fans, "Hat trick". The one that applies most to my life, however, is "She wears many hats". It is true. In my life, I wear many, many hats.


There is my "Work Hat". This is the hat I put on 5 days a week, when I walk through the doors of The T-System. Have you ever been to an emergency room anywhere in the US? Chances are pretty high that you have, therefore, encountered some of my work. My company provides charting solutions for physician and nurses in Emergency Rooms across the country, and also to many Urgent Care and Primary Care facilities. We help the doctors, and you, be ensured that you are receiving the best possible care by making sure nothing is forgotten when you are being seen. In my job, I am the project manager working directly with the Medical Directors, helping them make customizations galore to their templates, and also working with our Medical Document Designers to ensure that everything is correct, and on time.


Next is my "Family Hat", which can be broken down into "Sister", "Sister-in-Law", "Daughter", and (my personal favorite) "Aunt". My family is wonderful, of that I have no doubt. They keep me happy, they worry about me, they protect me, and they stand up for me. All I need on a bad day is to call a member of my family, and there are instantly at least 4 people ready to jump to my defense. Then there are my nephew and niece, Donavan and Dejah. Though my sister might often beg to differ (as they are 4 1/2 and 2 1/2), those two kiddos are the bright sunshine in many cloudy days. All I have to hear is their voices, their beautiful laughter, and I am instantly better. Also, there is something to be said for the evil pleasure it gives me to hear them giving my sister a hard time!!! Tee hee hee.


Then there is my "Church Hat". I'm an active member (yes, understatement of the century!) of Flower Mound United Methodist Church, mainly through the music ministry program. I am a member of the Adult Chancel Choir and the Adult Hand bell Choir, often-times solo performer of either flute or voice, and director of the Chapel Choir, which is chock-full of kids in first and second grade. Some of my best times have been in that building. It has seen me through many hard times, including those when I was most questioning where I was going in life. Heck - it's still helping me with that! The adults keep me happy, the kids keep me young, and the music keeps me centered around where I need to be.

Now we come to my "Volunteer Hat". I am very happy to be able to find opportunities to volunteer in and around my community. This comes from work opportunities for a variety of foundations and causes (The picture above is of a group of us working on a Habitat for Humanity house in Denton, TX), and also from my work for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. I am very proud to say that I've helped, in my own little way through work with the North Texas Wine Opener, to raise over 1 million dollars for the CFF. And, thank goodness, enjoyed some AMAZING wine and food along the way! I've met fabulous people through this cause, and the many others I work with, and hope to continue work for them in the years to come.


Finally, there is the "Melissa Hat". This is the hat that I don when I need "Melissa Time". I am an avid reader, finding joy and escape in every type of book possible (though my current obsessions are Jasper Fforde *thanks Jamie!*, and Jim Butcher). I am also quite addicted to television. Nothing tops off a long day at work like being able to come home, get some food, and just turn my brain off for a while. I also love movies (check out my movies of the week, to be found also in this blog!), and see as many as possible as often as possible. The rest of my down time is spent exploring - often with me just attempting to get myself lost, and find what there is to find.


So, these are my many hats. Granted, each of these is just a snapshot of who I am, what I do. However, I hope they let you see who I've become, who I aspire to be, and what I love most in this crazy thing we call life.

The Mosquito in My Apartment

For those who don't know, I live in Texas. The land of the Gargantuan Mosquito. I capitalize that because, well, they are huge. And they find you. Hunt you down. Suck your blood. Pleasant, right?

Well, getting nabbed by mosquitoes when you are outside is pretty much a "whatever" moment - you expect it. You see them coming, yet you know you can't avoid them. What is worse is when they get into your home. You know they are there, because you mysteriously start getting mosquito bites. (Mine turn into veritable welts - itchy, annoying, unbearable.) They just show up, out of nowhere. You haven't been outside in HOURS, you haven't seen the little buggers flying around, yet you KNOW they are there.

And, you know that there is nothing you can do about it.

So, how do I deal? Well, I scratch at the annoyance until it gets so fed up with me that is disappears, and then I move on. I know the mosquito will still be there, searching for me, but I also know that I bigger, I'm meaner, and I can kill it when it shows me the slightest moment of weakness.

Still, I really hate those freakin' mosquitoes.