I’ve Got This Watch

May 30, 2016Holidays, Navy, Sea StoriesChris, Memorial Day, Navy, ReneCadyLy

I apologize in advance for the ramble-yness of this post. I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about this, but they aren’t very well organized.

Today’s Memorial Day.

What does that mean?

I guess to most people, it means a three-day weekend, gathering with friends and family, grilled food, openings of pools and hanging out at beaches, and the start of summer. For me, until I joined the Navy, this was my predominant view of the holiday. And while celebrating this American way of life is good, and being with friends and family is important, it’s so much more than that.

Memorial Day – the holiday itself – is for remembering those who died while serving the United States Armed Forces. I have two in particular which I remember:

Rene LaMourt: He went on his first deployment on the USS Eisenhower and was out at sea for more than six months. When he returned, he took some leave and was going to fly home to visit his family. On the way to the airport, the girl giving him a ride to the airport got a flat tire. She pulled off onto the shoulder of the freeway, and Rene started to change the tire. While he was getting the jack out of the trunk, another car hit him and he was pinned between the two cars. They had to amputate both his legs in the hospital and he died of shock that evening.

Rene wasn’t officially “on-duty” when the accident happened, but he never made it home. And he was serving. He was helping someone else out. Because that’s what military people are: Servicemen. We are broken down in boot camp and trained to give our lives for our country, for our brothers and sisters in the Armed Forces, and for any person who crosses our path who needs our assistance. We are trained to follow orders, to complete the mission, and to disregard ourselves in doing so. We disregard ourselves, but we know that the soldier standing next to us has our back and will give his life for mine. Just as I will give my life for his. So, we can be off-duty, or separated, or retired. But we are still on-duty. We are still military. We will still serve. Because it’s who we are now.

Chris: I’m leaving his last name off on purpose. He went to war in Iraq and Afghanistan. He came back home to his wife and children. A few months later he committed suicide.

PTSD is real. War is hard.

Sacrifice. We sacrifice a lot by being in the military. Some personal liberties. Comforts of home. Family. Friends. Safety, sometimes. Privacy. We also gain a lot: bonds that go far beyond friendship, opportunities to see places we’d never have seen on our own, opportunities for education, growth in strength and character, an understanding of what it takes to be a strong nation, exposure to other nations… Our families sacrifice, too. Military members’ salaries are not on par with people with equivalent jobs in the private sector. We do look after each other so that no one is without a home or their families are not fed, but it is often a very tight budget. That’s okay, we are resourceful, if nothing else. Our families have to be strong while we are deployed. They are without us. Relationships are strained. Some of us never make it home. On Memorial Day, we honor not only those of us who gave all, but also their families, who also gave all.

I was thinking about these things as I got ready for work today. I had to work today. Most of my friends have the day off and are spending it doing those Memorial Day weekend things. I’m seeing lots of posts on Facebook about grilling and being at the beach and the pool. I was invited to a barbecue at my best friend’s house that I had to decline. But I’m okay with it. Because we are remembering the fallen. And the fallen are my brothers and sisters. Because the military makes you family, even if you’ve never met. Even if you’re from a different branch. And if my brother or sister is not able to stand watch, you fill the gap and do the job to carry on the mission. It’s just what you do. You keep on keeping on, as they say. You live for them in a way. You take care of their families. You serve, because they can no longer serve.

I am happy to be serving today, in what little capacity I can.

Rest easy, brothers, I’ve got this watch.

Geaux Wild – People: Cindy Guentert-Baldo

May 25, 2016Geaux WildCadyLy

I love Cindy so much! I didn’t know her extremely well online before coming to Geaux Wild, but I was thoroughly delighted to have met her in person. She’s an amazingly genuine person, and integrity means a lot to me. I enjoyed her Llama Lettering talk: she gave us not only examples of different ways in which to letter, but she showed us how we can make baby step improvements to our natural handwriting in order to create fun lettering in a style which is entirely our own. She did not make a big deal about her own talent, but let me tell you, her talent is considerable! I love how fun everything looks. I love even more how she owned every mistake that she made and admitted that certain letters were not her favorite to do.

Cindy is the type of person to be happy to see others succeed. She was continually encouraging and praising everyone on their lettering efforts. I doodled a quick sketch of my name during the practice time in her session and Isa took it over to Cindy, so she could see it. The next time I ran into Cindy, I got a huge hug! 🙂

Which brings me to my next point: Cindy gives great hugs. 🙂 I tend to be a huggy person, but I also tend to hold back a little bit because I don’t want to make non-huggy people uncomfortable. Cindy goes for it and you can tell that it’s because she truly has affection for you.

Point #2390830498: I think Cindy genuinely has affection for us all. And that’s a reflection of her heart. Which is an amazing heart. She pulls all of this off with an infectious positivity which is refreshing and contagious.

For all of these reasons, Cindy was definitely a favorite of mine to meet this weekend. (And I’m sad that I didn’t get a single picture, either of her or with her.)

Bad Driver Award: MI BMP 1724

May 10, 2016Bad Driver AwardCadyLy

Dear Young Woman in the Black SUV,

When you are merging onto a highway, the people currently on the highway are to maintain their speed and you are supposed to speed up or slow down to merge into their lane.

You are *not* supposed to get along side someone and try to shove them out of the lane so you can occupy their space.

I understand that it’s rush hour, but that’s a good way to cause an accident.

Thanks!

642 Tiny Things: #2

April 9, 2016Randomness642 Tiny ThingsCadyLy

Write last year’s fortune cookie. It got everything right.

Wow. How do you condense an entire year into one phrase?! I don’t know that I even remember everything that happened last year…

“You will find joy in new friends, new adventures, and new passions.”

Not to say that long-time friends are not a great source of joy, but I *did* meet a lot of awesome people last year and made (hopefully) some lasting friendships. 2015 was a pretty good year. This year, I am focusing on discipline and self-mastery. It’s time to take all of the joys, passions, obligations, etc., and make a plan for a balanced life. We’ll see how that goes. But any progress is still a victory!

Savoring the Small Moments

March 13, 2016UncategorizedCadyLy

It’s mid-morning, thanks to Daylight Savings Time, but the rooms are not filled with sunlight, as they were yesterday. Instead a quiet grayness lights the house, and occasionally, you can hear the staccato of raindrops falling to the ground from the trees or the ro Even the rain is too lazy this morning to fall steadily.

I had sat on the sofa, with my feet propped up on the small ottoman, drinking my breakfast shake that I wished were a coffee. Not that I don’t like my shake, I do, but on a morning like this, a warm coffee to cuddle into would be preferable. But I am out of creamer.

My library book is about 2 weeks overdue, so I’m trying to finish it. I’m reading “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.” This book is rather like this day; it reads in a slow, rich manner, inviting you to savor it in an unhurried manner. So unlike much of my life.

Sidda, one of the characters, is in the Northwest, and is experiencing the cold and the wet as I am this morning. But the book often has scenes from her mother’s life in hot and humid Louisiana, and the detail makes it come alive for me. I can’t wait until I get to visit Louisiana and experience this for myself. I can only hope that I will allow myself time to enjoy it and not get caught up in the whirlwind of events which I am sure are going to be present.

So, for the moment, I’m trying to savor this morning. To listen to the quiet, soft rain. To cuddle into my throw blanket. To enjoy the flickering light of the candles. And to read a good book and not worry about tomorrow just yet.

My Black Friday

January 16, 2016Exciting Adventures of the Everyday, Health and Medicine, UncategorizedCadyLy

Friday morning. One of those which is so blackly frustrating that you are certain you are getting a foretaste of Hell itself. I have been having increased pain in my arm and it took a lot of crying and tossing and turning to fall asleep. Then, an amber alert went off at 2am, waking me again. No surprise, I woke up later than I wanted.

Getting dressed in new clothes always takes a little longer, due to the tags and whatnot. Getting dressed in new clothes with a messed up arm and hand is even worse. DELAY.

Blood glucose, which was low at the time of the amber alert, is now high. Decide it’s best to take insulin now, rather than in an hour when you get to work. DELAY.

Frustration after frustration happened in the short time I was getting ready to go to work. The final straw was when I could not find my glasses and spent 10 minutes looking for them. I wanted to do violence to something, but I couldn’t think of a proper target. Just one of those frustrations where you want to scream and hit something and fall into a puddle and sob until it gets better.

But I’m still running late.

And I have to scrape snow and ice off the car. With my painful, messed up arm.

WHY am I in Hell? What did I DO to deserve this?

The drive in to work was probably mostly fine. The normal morning rush and all that, but I was in a black mood (and knew it). I wasn’t driving with road rage, because I don’t do that. But there was plenty of profanity in my head for all. My apologies, fellow drivers.

I arrived in Ann Arbor with some time to spare, so I decided to stop at Starbucks to get some coffee and breakfast, as I had taken insulin before I left. While there wasn’t a lot of people in line at the drive-thru, this is the slowest Starbucks ever. DELAY.

I make it to work and to my desk with 2 minutes to spare, but I was already done with Friday.

THANKFULLY, I love my job and my coworkers, and I had a project to work on, so things improved greatly from there. I got to have breakfast, work on my project, take some calls, and prep for a professional certification exam I was taking in the afternoon.

I had sent a message to my Neurologist’s office yesterday about the increased pain and numbness and received a message back, adjusting my medications. I looked up the gabapentin online to look at dosing and saw that it peaks in effectiveness about 3 hours after you take it, and can make you sleepy. I was told to increase my dose to about three times what I was currently on. My boss noted that everyone will have to keep an eye on me, as I adjust to the new meds, and make sure I’m good with the changes before I tackle my long commutes. He asked when I was starting the new meds. As soon as I got home, I replied, as I had counted out my medication for the week and only had the old dose on me (which was fine). The suggestion was made that I start the new dose at home, where I can evaluate how it affects me. Which was my plan all along.

HA HA HA.

The drive home took TWO HOURS. It was grey and cold and rainy and SLOW. I had to keep turning the heat/defrost on, then back off as I got too warm. I was getting really tired, bored by the slow traffic and lack of distraction (my phone battery had died), and was feeling slightly nauseated from all the stop-and-go. And, of course, this was just about three hours from when I took my noon dose of medication. Never mind that it had never affected me like this before, but NOW I was being crushed with fatigue.

I made it home without incident, but I was crazy tired. I mean, like I was drugged (hahaha). I stumbled to and from the mailbox and brought packages in, took my dinnertime medications, and immediately fell into bed. I was asleep probably within 5 minutes of being home. I slept from 6 pm until 4:30 am, when my alarm went off.

AND THUS FRIDAY ENDED. Hallelujah!

(Sorry, everyone. I don’t have any pictures from Friday.)

A Dark, Quiet Morning

January 10, 2016UncategorizedCadyLy

This morning is a bit of a rarity. I don’t have to go to work today, and a have a couple hours before I have to be out of the house. So, I am not rushing around trying to get out of the door. I woke up to the sound of rain, but now there are just a couple snowflakes floating to the ground. Even though the sun is technically up, it is overcast outside, which means that my house is dark and still.

My desk, illuminated only by my little task light.

Typically, I like all the lights to be ablaze, and I keep myself busy flitting about the house going from one task to the next.

But there’s something nice about this stillness and quiet. I’m going to keep the light low for a short time, grab a coffee, and reflect upon my day. It’ll be nice to have a low-key morning.

Happy Sunday!

7 Quick Takes

January 1, 20167 Quick Takes FridayCadyLy

— 1 —

I’ve joined a site called Blogging for Books. They send you books for free. In return, you review and publicize them. 🙂 I ordered a book about Pope St. John Paul II for my first review.

— 2 —

PopSugar Reading Challenge. This challenge isn’t so much about reading a specific number of books, but rather to read all different kinds of books. I’m looking forward to broadening my horizons in 2016!

— 3 —

Full Disclosure…Up to this point, these Quick Takes were written on December 1, 2015, and then left, neglected, in my Drafts until now.

— 4 —

Redemptive Suffering. If you have been following my blog for any length of time, you know that I have a mitochondrial myopathy. It’s a rare neuromuscular disorder that most people have never heard of. For the past 3 weeks or more, I have had horrible knotting of my muscles in my right arm. It really hurts and makes me cry sometimes in front of other people. It’s made worse when I use my arm, so writing and typing are difficult and painful. I’m trying to use this pain constructively, but I really hope that relief is around the corner somewhere.

— 5 —

I started knitting (again). I saw a picture on FB yesterday of someone considering making a temperature blanket (basically, knitting one row per day in the color of the high temperature of the day).

It looked really pretty and I was considering making one. The only problem is… I don’t knit. I *did* try knitting once and got a few rows done, but since then, my yarn and needles have been sitting on top of a bookcase collecting dust. So, today on the way out the door to work, I picked them up and stuffed them in my purse. I had watched a tutorial from New Stitch a Day yesterday, and picked up where I left off this morning. I even multitasked, watching training videos for work as I knit. This is (more or less) what it looked like a little earlier this morning.

— 6 —

If you read my last blog post, you know that I have created a plan for this new year which includes 12 different focus areas. I still have to make detailed plans for exactly how I’m going to progress in these areas, but I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to make progress in each area, even though I know that I will not make every goal and that things will not go perfectly. Such is life, right? 🙂 What are your New Year’s Resolutions?

— 7 —

Happy New Year! I wish you all the best and hope to be more prolific in my blog posting this coming year! Please comment or write me! I love hearing from people.

God Bless!

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t the Lyceum!

Making It Happen for 2016

December 31, 2015Challenge Accepted!, Exciting Adventures of the Everyday, PlanningDiscipline, Goals, Intentional Living, Lara Casey, Making It Happen, New Year'sCadyLy

A friend recommended a book to me, “Making It Happen” by Lara Casey. As I was looking into the book, I found that it was part of a larger program to help you live more intentionally and realize your goals. The more I read, the more I wanted to try her whole program, so I ordered the Powersheets bundle with her book. Not being patient enough to wait for the order to come in, I also got the Audible version and listened to this in the car during my commutes to and from work.

I absolutely loved it! She does an amazing job of weaving together advice and personal testimony while keeping your primary focus on what God wants for your life.

I identified strongly with Lara herself, and a lot of her personality traits are my own, so her advice based on her experience was immediately relatable to my own life.

There are 7 initial steps to get ready to Make It Happen.

Step 1: Evaluate Where You Are

The very first thing you do in your Powersheets is to fill out a page about yourself. After your name, it says, “I am a (thing beyond a job title here) ___.” I filled in that blank with “joyful mess!” I guess that’s the best descriptor I have for myself at the moment. Things to tend to be pretty messy and haphazard in my world (which hopefully will be helped this year), but I do tend to be optimistic and joyful, no matter what happens.

After this, I wrote, “In the past, I have ignored, neglected, and put off many things I needed to do but now, I’m ready to make a plan, evaluate what’s important, and MAKE IT HAPPEN! The things I value most are the people I love, God, and my faith.”

Three words that describe me: fun-loving, extroverted, and enthusiastic.

My home/personal space is usually lived in, chaotic, and a MESS! (Probably my mom’s fault… After all, she used to call me Mess Anne growing up….)

Favorite colors: yellow, green, aqua

Favorite foods: chips + salsa, Taco Bell, alfredo sauce, grilled cheese

If I could have someone else’s job for a day, I would be a travel photographer.

My favorite song right now is Justin Bieber’s “Sorry.” But check back in a couple days and it’ll likely be something else.

Person I would most like to meet: Right now, I’d most like to meet Lara Casey. I think we would become friends. 🙂

I get most fired up when someone encourages me or I’m challenged or pushed to soar. I’m fairly extroverted, so it makes sense to me that I find strength and motivation from other people.

I get along best with people who – yeah, I checked off every option there. I love people!

My best memories involve spending time with friends and family, experiencing something new, and doing an activity that I love.

I accomplish things best when: (1) I have a cheerleader rooting me on, (2) someone else depends on me, or (3) I give myself a deadline. The only one I didn’t check was the one that says, “I have quiet time and space to think,” because I am awful about sitting still. I never do it. I am horrible at meditation and listening to God. But I know that I need to grow in this area. Still, it’s important to know how I’m best motivated, especially as I try to stick to the plans which I’m making now.

Things I love to do:

Be with other people
Dance + listen to music
Watch movies
Read books
Take photographs
Travel
Give random gifts
Make others happy

I am most grateful for (in no particular order):

The people God has brought into my life
My cheerful disposition
God’s faithfulness and love
My job and boss
My best friend
My goddaughter
Fr. John
My faith

It is good to take these steps, these minutes, to reflect upon who I am, what I love, and what motivates me. It’s part of the process to determine what is really important in my life. I only have so much time and energy. If I waste it on something that I don’t really value, then what was the point? I’d be much better off to allocate my resources to things and people that are important to me.

Step 2: Plant the Seeds

I’ve made 12 categories of things that I’d like to work on in the next year:

Blogging
Exercise
Faith Life
Finances
Food/Blood Sugar
Household
Personal Relationships
Photography
Reading Challenge
Thesis
Twidget Enterprises
Work/Professional Life

Step 3: Clear the Clutter

This section tells you to write down everything that is distracting you or holding you back from realizing your goals. In addition to knowing what’s important to you, what motivates you, and what you want to accomplish, it is good to know what obstacles are in your way. If you are aware of them, you can plan for them (to an extent).

For me, some of my pitfalls are if I am not feeling well or if I let myself become distracted or sidetracked. Plus, I also have a tendency to allow one “mess-up” to completely derail me. Right now, I don’t feel prepared for the next year and the challenges I’ve set for myself. But that’s okay. I don’t have to have the entire year figured out by tomorrow. I *can* figure it out as I go.

I want to change my thinking from “chasing perfection” to “chasing progress.”

Step 4: Meet Your Fears

I don’t have a ton of fears. The couple that I came up with are that I’m afraid that I’ll burn out or compromise my health, as I have a tendency to take on too much, work too hard, and not leave any time for myself to rest and recharge. I’m also afraid that I won’t follow through and that I’ll be in exactly the same place in all of these areas this time next year.

Step 5: Watch the Powersheets Video

There’s SO MUCH great information on her site, LaraCasey.com. Some of the things that stayed with me as I watched was that it’s okay to make a mess. She was talking of working in your Powersheets, but I take it to mean anywhere along this process. The Powersheets, my planners… All of these things are just tools, things that help me. I shouldn’t be concerned about keeping my tools pretty. I just want to make my life beautiful — for myself, and so that I can me a mirror of God’s grace and love to others. At the end of the day (or year), who cares what my planner looks like, or if my handwriting was bad? These things are not ultimately important. If I end the year having grown in faith and love and as a person, then my year will have been a success.

In doing her Powersheets, Lara got on her knees and read Scripture. I need this kind of inspiration. To have God be such a central part of my life. She recalled a passage in the Bible, right before Jesus selected the Twelve. In order to make good decisions, Jesus first spent the entire evening in prayer to the Father. Grounding yourself in prayer and the Word is so important.

In one of her Periscope videos, she talks of the song, Oceans:

While I was waiting for Oceans to load on YouTube, I had to watch an advertisement. It was for Zootopia, and during the ad there was the quote, “No matter what type of animal you are, change starts with you.” Which is SO appropriate for today and for this project!

Step 6: Decide You Can

This is a very long section in the Powersheets. Basically, you write out what has been working and what hasn’t, what you would like to prune from your life, and what you would like to cultivate. Then, you decide on goals (which I’ve written above). Remind yourself of what you want to achieve and why.

Step 7: Set Purposeful Goals

This is where you break down your goals into actionable baby steps, so that you have something concrete to work on and a way to measure progress on your goal. I am really glad that Lara has you revisit and tweak these goals every 3 months. It will help me re-commit to them (or refine/delete/replace them if that’s appropriate) and also see where I am, like a report card.

I’m so excited for this year and hope that you are as well!

God Bless and Happy New Year!