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CHRISTMAS: JOY AND SORROW

2011-11-26T22:33:00.002-06:00

Christmas is a time of great joy.

"For unto us born a Savior who is Christ the Lord.

It is also a time of sorrow. For many people Christmas, Thanksgiving, holiday celebrations can overwhelm them with a sense of loss for those who aren't there to celebrate with them. They have loved ones who have gone on before them in death, have left in divorce, have died prematurely before knowing a Christmas, or perhaps only knew one. People who lose children are very susceptible to the blues I think, being one of them. So how to handle the holiday blues before they handle you?

Sometimes you can't. Sometimes you just have to let yourself experience them. But, fight going too low. The healthy hurting of a partly broken holiday heart is understandable. Full blown depression, no matter the time of year requires treatment immediately.

Well I'm writing in the abstract, let me just say, I'm having a bit of trouble this year. I'm missing my little girl and little boy who have unfortunately and unnaturally gone ahead of me. And as for the daughter I delightfully got to raise, it's not looking as though she will be coming home for Christmas. Nor is my dad coming up.

So right now I am telling myself to snap out of it which is kind of a joke in our family. We are all so sympathetic and empathetic it's rather the opposite of the way we relate to each other, but we're fond of saying it to ourselves!

And I'm counting my blessings. I'm so thankful Mike came through his recent surgery so well. And I'm taking the focus off of myself and focusing on others and my Christmas projects, like Christmas cards and decorating and normal things like work.

And I'm praying for my friends to be well for Christmas. Friends who have much more challenging lives that I. Like Heather Siebens who lives in constant pain and Mary Triviski who has recurrent viral Meningitis.

And I am thanking God for the fullness of my life. The new client whose project I start in two days. And the Birthday party we're having for dad in our party room on the 29th of December that will gather the whole family at last. I am the hub of party planning central.

So now I am smiling. Writing always makes me happy and I found this great quote about the bittersweet emotions surrounding Christmas:

“In this way Penelope's happy and sad feelings got all mixed up together, until they were not unlike one of those delicious cookies they have nowadays, the ones with a flat circle of sugary cream sandwiched between two chocolate-flavored wafers. In her heart she felt a soft, hidden core of sweet melancholy nestled inside crisp outer layers of joy, and if that is not the very sensation most people feel at some point or other during the holidays, then one would be hard pressed to say what is.”
― Maryrose Wood, The Mysterious Howling (The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place #1)

I wish all of you a very Happy Holiday Season, whatever you celebrate and a very Merry Christmas too! Here is a picture of Mike and I taken on Thanksgiving. Isn't he looking well? Love to you all! Libby

I Just Had The Most Spectacular Day!

2011-08-19T02:02:00.004-05:00

Do you ever have a day that overwhelms you? Sometimes there are hard days that are overwhelming because we're anxious or stressed. How often are you just overwhelmed by LOVE? The love of your God, the love of dear Twitter friends who just want to show you how they feel about you, the love of precious family and friends at home? Well, I just had one of those days. Hence the picture of the waterfall which represents the outpouring of love I felt today.

It all started Monday evening. I had been reading my friend @997dave Reynold's first ever blog post. It was really, really good. I tweeted it and thanked him for a great post, the usual stuff you do for a friend. Only he and I didn't know each other that well, yet. We are best buddies now. We're fellow #UsGuys, the astonishingly wonderful Twitter tribe or family I call it...Visit them any time 24/7 if you want to laugh, be inspired, learn, or just get involved in a great conversation. Just type in #UsGuys on your Tweet Deck or whatever you use and follow their stream. Hop in and comment, the water's fine. Just tell them @libbytalks sent you.

So Dave and I were getting to be friends. We had a wonderful exchange, about his blog please click here to read it, his life in BC, Vancouver Island, we Skyped, I followed him on a new social media platform, we shot the breeze. I say this casually, but it was quite intense. God was blessing our new friendship for sure. So I mentioned, not casually, while we were Skyping that I had bi-polar disorder. He was kind of amazed because well, it's not obvious that I battle this every day. I have learned so much and been so fortunate with meds, good doctors, a God who loves me, and a husband who can't be beat by anything. So I lead a normal life. I live and work and worship my Lord and chat with friends and love my family. Sometimes it can intrude, but not often anymore at my age. I seem to have hit a very stable phase of this thing and I'm riding the wave. Thanking God all the way. I mentioned to Dave I had written about this a while back and Skyped him the link.

With that it was getting late in my time zone and we called it a night. Then came today, or rather Thursday, because it is now in the wee hours of Friday and I'm writing this down so I can get to sleep. Dave left me a direct message on Twitter asking if he could RT my story. At first I hesitated. There are pros and cons to letting this type of information be tweeted around. Especially since I'm up for a great job right now. But, on second thought, think of all the people who can be helped to know that I struggle this each day, yet I emerge victorious! This is a true story with a happy ending, very powerful and helpful for those who struggle with this disorder or one like it -- or live with someone who does -- so, I said sure.

The next thing I knew, the most beautiful poem had been written by @Josepf Haslam, chief curator and poet in residence at #UsGuys. It was so beautiful, I cried tears of joy upon reading it and it linked to the post I did in February in which I talked for the first time in the #UsGuys or Twitter for that matter, frankly and openly, as @libbytalks about being bi-polar. Like I'm doing now.

I will continue to be open. Yes I have bi-polar disorder, and no that is not who I am. It's just something I have, that I deal with daily like diabetes. I keep myself balanced doing all the right things and getting plenty of all of the good things that keep us all healthy -- and I THRIVE. Thrive to be the person I have been put here to be. The creature God has created. I am not disabled, handicapped or living half a life. Thankfully, I'm living a whole, exciting, daring, lively and yet peaceful, wonderful life! Thanks to my husband, my friends, my Lord and my whole family here and on Twitter and Facebook, a good doctor and the religious taking of two meds that correct the misfiring that would otherwise be going on in my brain and I live well!

But back to this most wonderful poem. I wantd you to see it and follow the links if you like to my first post. And please come back with your friends and questions. I'm here to answer them if I can. I'm here to help where I can. Thanks dear friends and fellow humans, especially ALL #UsGuys, the best support system on Twitter! Thank you dear @997dave, @Josepf, Deep @xdeepS, all who commented: @Milaspage, @ty_sullivan, @CinziaRolling, so many of you! I love you all!

For those who missed it, please click below to read this lovely, loving poem by Josepf Haslam:

#usguys #poem on #leadfromwithin about @LibbyTalks Heart
Poetry

I Love My Friend Heather @AliveinMe

2011-08-12T17:44:00.002-05:00

"It is not a question of God allowing or not allowing things to happen. It is part of living. Some things we do to ourselves, other things we do to each other. Our Father knows about every bird which falls to the ground, but He does not always prevent it from falling. What are we to learn from this? That our response to what happens is more important than what happens. Here is a mystery: one man’s experience drives him to curse God, while another man’s identical experience drives him to bless God. Your response to what happens is more important than what happens." –Chip Brogden

Don't you wonder sometimes why some people suffer so much and your life is sailing on? I wonder this daily about my best friend Heather @AliveinMe. She has had 3 brain surgeries to stop severe epilepsy and is living in constant pain as a result of her 3rd surgery. And she still has seizures! I am so sorry for her suffering and the pain in her life. Even in the midst of it she is an incredible artist: jewelry designer extraordinaire, mom and wife, and an amazing Christian who gives God all praise and doesn't blame Him for her circumstances.

Now they want to do a 4th surgery! It's a Corpus Callosotomy http://www.webmd.com/epilepsy/corpus-callosotomy. They want to separate the two hemispheres of her brain in order to control seizures! I don't know if she will agree to a 4th brain surgery, but the quality of life quotient could push her to it.

If she does decide to go ahead -- I want to be there. She lives in Philadelphia. I love her like my own sister. She is more than a friend, she has a big piece of my heart! I don't want her to feel she has to be strong around me though. When she is crying and in pain a lot, she doesn't call. Doesn't want to inflict her emotional and physical pain on others. I do wish she would. I am praying for her with every breath, but I want to help bear her burdens. I love her.

I'm sure that's how God feels about us when we're hurting! Please join me in prayer for my dear friend and sister, Heather, @AliveinMe on Twitter. Thank you!

For Heather's take on the 4th surgery idea, please refer to her blog post: http://hiswill4me.blogspot.com/ And thank you all for the RTs wonderful comments and prayers!

Sept. 11: Women's Hockey Scores Big With She Skates Minnesota

2011-08-03T03:44:00.000-05:00

Sept. 11: Women's Hockey Scores Big With She Skates Minnesota

The Best Group of People Ever

2011-07-26T01:35:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was my 40th High School Reunion. I wasn't transported back in time entirely, but rather profoundly struck by the incredible people my classmates had become.

Our class President has gone back to Seminary. Our men and women have their own busnesses: Graphic Design firms, Office furniture, architecture and the works for business, on of our guys -- a successful actor/producer/screenwriter/director lived in L.A. for many years and has a long standing marriage of 26 years. Also a believer in the Lord.

Amazing men and women with big dreams, talked not just about their jobs, photographer for National Geographic, but things they treasured more. A 36 year-old marriage, my friend, the husband involved talked about his treasured morning times with his wife -- drinking coffee and reading the paper together. He engaged in this ritual because there was no one else he could sound off the day's events with the way he liked, or share the laughter of the comic strips the same way. Obviously they were in love and also best friends! They enjoyed each other's company and had built a bond that would carry them through for another 20-30 years!
One woman talked about taking her grandchild to the pool just that day that we all lived at all Summer. Another about her dear daughter and her new grand daughter who was already showing signs of pure genius.
I listened and talked for two nights. It was so apparent that I graduated in 1971 from Edina High School in MN with an exceptional group of people whose commitment to life and family and values had deepened with time. On Saturday night we talked of the classmates who had gone before us into the next life and the profound influence they had on us, and the many people their lives had touched. It was a beautiful short program of celebration, remembrance and marking the importance they had been to all of us. I went on my own both nights and took pictures. My dear husband, Mike drove me and picked me up so I wouldn't have to park in a crowded lot in the heat Friday night and so I wouldn't walk the downtown streets alone on Saturday. I am so beloved and cared for in my life by his devotion, God's love and my daughter's sweet attention. I counted my blessings both nights that I was well, healthy, and privileged to attend. I think many people did. The consensus on Facebook today was that we couldn't wait 10 more years, but would plan one in 5. We had so much fun together and friendships were forged and deepened. We need to keep them up and see all, or as many of us as possible very soon again! Friendships are the stuff of life we discovered those two nights, or maybe we just remembered it from years ago when our friendships were formed, in Kindergarten, Junior High and High School. I am proud to be a member of this delightful, touching, love-filled class. We are a big one. We're baby boomers. There were over 900 of us. And there are deep memories of wonderful times together. http://www.facebook.com/groups/68054434131 The salt of the earth had a reunion last weekend. And I was there. Thank you dear God.

Real Best Friends are Grown not Made!

2011-07-02T23:15:00.000-05:00

My best friend and I celebrated our birthdays together the other day! We took time out from busy schedules, family demands from husbands, children and parents to be together for one long, lovely day...! These are the beautiful times, the special, time-stands-still golden times of life that should be marked my sparklers in the desert! Big Smiles and terrific memories.

We have been friends, Lynn and I since we were 13. That's many decades ago. Sure I have other Best-Type friends, but we have something very unique. History. Time. We've gone through the dating years, acne, first jobs, college, young husbands, young children, many surgeries and challenges with our health, mostly mine. The building of our careers, the wearing out of younger bodies, the quizzical nature of growing older, aging parents, you name it we've been through it together. And looking back at all of it we laugh at the good and the bad times, hug, toast each other and for the moments we are together....ALL IS RIGHT WITH THE WORLD!

Halt the Bombing!!!!!

2011-06-07T01:38:00.000-05:00

"Halt the Bombing" my best girlfriend yelled to the heavens when she heard I was having surgery on Friday, last week. Another year another surgery?

My husband Mike and I were beginning to wonder when starting in 2006 I kept getting hit with the need for one surgery after another. I thought it all had culminated in the most complicated surgery of my life in January of 2010 when I had a open Celiac artery repair. What?!! Exactly. Who'd ever heard about the condition I had anyway? Now this is where we miss the beat and forget to be thankful. A highly intelligent, gifted gastro-enterologist named Dr. Helou at my clinic: Park Nicollet in St. Louis Park discovered it. And another gifted vascular surgeon proved I had it by giving me an abdominal angiagram and mimicking the condition that was choking off the blood flow to the main artery attending to the digestive system, thereby causing pain and PROVED I had it. This, along with the grace of God, gave me the courage to have the surgery. It also provided him with the map he needed to do the abdominal bypass. It was a miraculous surgery. It was written up in a research paper and presented to all of the Upper GI Department at Park Nicollet, so other doctors would catch the condition typified by: stomach pain, nausea and weight loss, sometimes. Mostly pain, bad pain after eating. And now they had a test to prove the condition true before operating!

It's hard to have the right attitude when you're in chronic pain, but this comes close to the outlook I now have on life:

"Aim at Heaven and you will get Earth 'thrown in': aim at Earth and you will get neither."

— C.S. Lewis

So I looked Heavenward when hearing I would be having another surgery for two hernias right on my incision line from my last surgery. I explained to my best friend, there was no bombing coming from heaven, just the usual pangs of a creation living after the fall. In other words, the world is NOT perfect and it is NOT God's fault. That's how I aim at Heaven in bad circumstances, remember that our God is not the author of Evil, that's just not in his nature. Evil, decay, death, are a part of the world we live in but we are bound for a better place: Heaven and if we keep our eyes on that we can go through almost anything. I may be bold and say anything. Only if the Lord carries me, but I will go!

It helped a lot not to panic. Not to dwell on the brain swelling incident after my last surgery and some minor complications with anesthesia I would rather not repeat. So I didn't. I aimed at Heaven and got the blessings this life can offer thrown in. Some people would say I'm very lucky to have come through this last surgery so well. Sailed through it.And though still in the throws of some post-op pain. I know I will be okay this time.

I am very thankful and blessed at the life I have. I have a wonderful husband and daughter Mike Sweiger and Abby Sweiger on Facebook. I am so happy for the many friends on Twitter and Facebook who prayed for me through both of these surgeries! Very grateful to have some new wonderful friends on Twitter, the #UsGuys tribe. One of whom is about my best friend: @JosephGier and @StephenCaggiano and @myagenda, Jeannette, and @Milaspage: Mila and so many many more. Friends like my #BFF for many years Heather @AliveinMe who's blog is so inspirational: http://hiswill4me.blogspot.com/ and Heather lives in constant unbearable pain! And my dear friends Angie @angels510 and @SuuperG. And dear Rich @RichardBejah who had surgery right before mine. Now these friends are Facebook friends and friends in real life IRL and will be lifetime friends. A new friend I just made through #UsGuys @GailZahtz you must check her blog, because she has been through much more in life than I and is younger to have had so many challenges: www.gailzahtz.com. And last but not least, my Facebook friend Mary J. Triviski who is a prayer but will become a blogger to talk about her heath crisis and help others in the future!

If adversity brings us closer, and it does, then we have stood the test of friendship! If when next it hits we Aim at Heaven, I believe we will be closer to the biggest, best friend in the world and out of it! :)

Memorial Day Weekend 2011: So Much to Be Thankful for!

2011-05-29T08:49:00.003-05:00

{EAV_BLOG_VER:ef4db6aef5abd6b4}What a wonderful weekend to give thanks for our freedoms! Freedom to speak our minds. Freedom of to share our faith and to worship. Freedom to enjoy equality in a world of inequities. Freedom to live and love and have our being in the Land of the Free.

I am so thankful today for our freedom to worship. To be vocal about our faith and hope and the love that we have for our country, Our God, our family and friends.

So many days we take these things for granted. As we think about the many blessings still afforded us in this the best country on earth, we also celebrate the soldier and the hard fought victories that keep it so. And we think of the people we love who have gone on before us. I always think of my dear children, Shirley and David. Little Shirley was a premmie who died seconds before birth. David was my beloved second born who gave me so much happiness during his short (11 month) life. They would both be in their 30's now and my family would be much louder now, with the ruckus of 3 children rather than my only loving and most precious girl, Abby (28). Abby's name means Bringer of Joy and she is aptly named! In her young life she has brought me more joy than a mom could imagine knowing! I smile as I write about Shirley and David. Thinking of them alive in Heaven which is the biggest freedom of all. We will have a joyous reunion and celebration -- our family! Mike and Abby and I continue to enjoy such great times together!

I hope all of you enjoy and celebrate life this weekend. Those who have gone before us, the soldiers, all someone's children would want us to. Celebrate our freedoms and the life we all share in this Country: Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave!

Social Media In The CEO's Suite --- #UsBlogs #UsGuys

2011-05-02T07:48:00.004-05:00

Everyone wants their company to be up on the latest in Social Media, right? Tweeting the latest information about their growth, answering customers questions, branding, setting themselves apart from the competition with a Terrific Mind-Blowing SoMe Strategy! Not yet perhaps, but they're getting there. How about the CEO's -- are they blogging and tweeting? Or have they relegating that task to an intern, or a manager adept in Social Media?

I have a new client, a start-up, that's going to be a big company judging from their business plan. They want to make sure when they roll out they're on Twitter, Facebook and Linked-In ALL IN A BIG WAY! Social Media Strategy: still in development. That must be established first! Sooner than later, they want to interact with their Business-to-Business clients and Business-to-Consumer customers in Social Media. They want to be engaged, social, readily accessible and responsive to all! When I built their website we put in a blog for the CEO to post in. Right now he's posting their progress. I will continue to strongly encourage his involvement, because I believe communicating his vision for their endeavor is vital to its success.

One source which conveys this importance is in an article put out by Mashable in June of 2010: How CEO's Are Using Social Media for Real Results. The article is very inspiring on what the CEO can accomplish by taking a leadership role in Social Media:

Carmen Magar, CEO of Chocri, a make-your-own chocolate bar company, says the exposure makes a difference. “While the competition can see everything (e.g. when customers suggest a new topping) and some of them seem compelled to copy my blog posts nearly word for word, it’s worth it because authenticity rules.”

Authenticity is the important thing above all else in life, marketing and of course: Social Media. If your company's CEO/leadership know this, it will help them to be more convinced of the importance of their presence in any Social Media strategy.

*This post was created for the #UsGuys on Twitter and their #UsBlogs initiative which seeks to communicate the importance of Social Media in the lives of companies and individuals.

THANK YOU SO Much! Two Years of Tweets and 10,000+ Followers!

2011-05-01T13:53:00.003-05:00

I've had a very exciting weekend. Personally it's been quiet and relaxing. Online it has been a total blast! Yesterday, April 30, 2011, my main Twitter account @libbytalks passed the 10,000 follower mark. I never would have believed it if someone had told me this would happen!

I have loved Twitter so much since I began tweeting in earnest in April of 2009 (I joined in 1/09, but hardly tweeted, didn't get it!). In April, it clicked. For me it was like entering a whole new world. I used to just sit and watch the stream go by. I still abandon Tweet Deck, go online and experience the flow of the stream like I used to. I love the interaction, movement, new ideas flying by. Two years ago I was very ill. I was in a lot of pain. Twitter became a place where I could focus on something other than myself and forget the horrible pain in my body. I am an extrovert to the max and interacting with so many new people, lifted me out of myself and helped me to think about other things: what they had to teach me and how great they were to meet and tweet with.

Twitter is not a religion :). I have my strong faith to carry me through hardship. But it is a delightful gathering place of information, people, humor, living: an impassioned marketplace of ideas! And it's fun. I remember fondly my friend @Fun2Tweet, now @DailyImage: Chuck from California gave me my first #FollowFriday. He tweeted about me and mentioned my bio...it was funny and sweet. I've participated in nearly every #FollowFriday since! I've had different accounts than @libbytalks, but they have come and gone. I remain @libbytalks observing, contributing, saying HI to friends, praying for friends facing sadness, exclaiming with joy and triumph their successes.

Who is @libbytalks? She's just me. My voice. I go on Twitter now in good health, without pain. Whenever I feel the call and have a moment. I don't schedule tweets. I don't auto-follow. This account has grown organically and I've had great pleasure in the experience. I didn't invent the moniker for Twitter. Libbytalks was my blogging name. I had been blogging for a few years and on MySpace and Facebook...but nothing flipped my switch like Twitter. I love the immediacy, the instant replies, the quick and yet satisfying interaction with friends who are courteous, caring and add blessing and great value to my life.

I'm celebrating this weekend what I consider to be a real milestone: 10,000 followers, friends I can talk with whenever I want and can share ideas and my loves and observations with day after day. And there is so much I am learning. Six months back maybe, I met a great bunch on Twitter, the #UsGuys tribe and stream. Their chats are ongoing 24/7 and they talk Social Media which has become my passion as well as my livelihood. Beautiful minds, young and not as young (like me) engaging and sharing their insights, blog posts, gems of information found on the Internet that day. A smaller group, a piece of Twitter yet contributing so much content and wisdom. I am proud to be in their ranks.

I'm most happy to be me and enjoy life...on I'm most happy to be me and enjoy life...on Twitter and off. Some of the people IRL (in real life) laugh or don't understand why I'm on Twitter or how or why anyone would want so many followers. But, my dear mom understood. Eighty-one years old, battling Alzheimers and a recent stroke she said, "I'm not surprised Libby! You love to talk to people and meet new people...to do this every day --it must be so fun for you!" It is fun! A great big party...a 2nd college education...a family I couldn't be without, and dearest of all: a circle of friends! Thank you for being there and welcome! I couldn't be happier to meet you! Love, Libby aka @libbytalks

Making a Difference In This World: The Power of Social Media

2011-03-26T08:56:00.002-05:00

During my 2+ years on Twitter, I have seen a great many causes supported and lives changed, due to the power of Social Media. It's amazing how many can truly make a difference! The earliest cause and hash tag I was introduced to was #Eric #ETA. I became part of an awesome group of people supporting a young man, Eric De La Cruz, who couldn't get a heart transplant due to preexisting conditions and a number of scenarios roadblocked by our current Health Care System. For a synopsis read: http://www.lifewithoutpants.com/the-inconvenience-of-change/we-love-eric-the-inconvenience-of-change/.

A burst of tweets, fund-raising, non-stop efforts of his sister Veronica De La Cruz made a real difference. Regardless of your stance on health care reform, you must admire and support the efforts of these brave people instrumental in keeping #Erics story alive before and after his death on July 4, 2009 and their brave fight for change! For an update read: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/veronica-de-la-cruz/health-care-year_b_839542.html .

Today, the influence of caring hearts on Twitter never sleeps and the power to bring change in people's lives and in our world is tremendous. #PrayerforJapan #CareforJapan -- the mobilization of thousands upon thousands of people on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and more -- are raising money and awareness for the people of Japan! The vastness of support is beyond comprehension and the people on social media are bringing healing to an entire country! For more details on the vast world wide efforts of social media for Japan, please read: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/7868184/social_media_summoning_aid_for_disaster.html?cat=15.

What can be accomplished is enormous, it starts with just one person, just one tweet, one blog, one mention, one update. An avalanche of support later the world is changed. You can make a difference in this world thanks to Twitter, and all of the people involved in the many sites of Social Media!

#UsBlogs #UsGuys blog challenge for March 26th: "Social Media for Social Good".

Happy 96th Uncle Rog!

2011-03-23T04:13:00.001-05:00

My husband's Uncle Rog who I call my Uncle too, because we are very close and I say he is my uncle! We share a passion for life, knowledge, computers, photography, people, family -- and admiration and love for each other! Love between relatives and friends for the 32 years I have been in the family and married to his prize nephew. Years that have grown ever closer in the passing of time: his Birthday on St. Patrick's Day, celebrated on the closest weekend to the day! This year it was on Sunday, March 20th and all of us ventured to Southern Minnesota to Southern Minnesota for his annual party.

Fall days spent in the water, trying to swamp a pontoon boat equipped with his inventions and being unable to do so no matter how many of us leaned over the rail! I had perfect faith in him too. I remember I was wearing my new spring coat, my new glasses and carrying my latest, beloved phone!

The admiration part is just as tangible. I admire Uncle Rog for all the things he has accomplished in his life and all he still plans to do! I hope I have plans at his age and yet when you talk with him, you are constantly struck with the excitement in living in his manner, his speech, the animation in his voice, the power packed knowledge of his amazing mind. He is an inventor first and foremost and is having the prototype for a boat built that will hopefully revolutionize the way the Coast Guard deals with rescues. He admires me for ordinary things that come second nature to me: my blogging, my love of all things social media. The pictures I take with my camera and even phone that look so lifelike. He still can't get over a camera in a phone!

Here we are squeezing my husband, Mike...Rog's nephew into the picture! :)

After the party we were back at his house and he explained his patent again and the properties of his leisure boats, dreams for rescue boats -- and the concrete plans he has for making the waterways safer for everyone. They are the plans and dreams of a much younger man you think, but then you see the intelligence in his eyes and know that there's a reason this all has taken so many years to develop. Rog has been thinking, advocating, coaching and coaxing them along. Making something out of nothing, the inventor's gift, his purpose in life, his legacy.

Social Media Event IRL, Week Without #SXSW

2011-03-12T20:31:00.032-06:00

This week has been super busy. And exceptionally busy for many people on Twitter too! So many of them went to Austin, Texas for a HUGE Social Media Event: SXSW (South by Southwest) Interactive -- featuring five days (March 11-15) of presentations by the biggest names in social media, the SXSW Trade Show and programs showcasing the latest technology and the most innovative ideas imaginable. So why didn't I go? Well....first of all I don't think I'm quite ready. I would learn a lot, but more importantly I would be overwhelmed. Give me another year absorbing information, learning on Twitter and in the #UsGuys Social Media, Customer Service, Marketing, Innovative Ideas Galore Twitter Stream and perhaps I'll be ready for an event like this.

Also, as I began to say, I had quite a lot going on IRL (In Real Life)! Last week my mom had a stroke. First it was a stroke, then no, then yes. It was very confusing. Let's just say that she went from being able to walk and talk to hardly speaking and living in a wheelchair. Every time I was her she seemed worse and phone calls were out. But, I saw her today, March 12th and she is much better! So perhaps it was a medication reaction of some type complicating her already difficult condition: Alzheimers. She and I are so close, I was devastated to think our chats were suddenly over. I am preparing myself for the gradual loss of them that will come with her disease, but poof they're gone? That would be really tough. So I am very grateful.

Earlier this week I had the privilege, rather than flying to Austin, of picking up my Uncle Rog from the V.A. hospital in Minneapolis after a follow-up appointment to surgery and driving him to his home in Southern, Minnesota. Now I say privilege because Rog will be 96 on St. Patrick's day and I say any time I spend with him is pure poetry and a real blessing. Especially since he survived a terrible leg break and two surgeries this past fall and winter! Rog and I had what I'm calling a Social Media Event IRL...Everyone in Austin that I know is learning a lot and having a blast. Well that's what I did my two days with Rog and beginning later that evening with his daughter Sharon. The following day about 5:00 p.m. Sharon's twin sister Sandy showed up to complete the picture and put the Fantastic in Blast!

First of all, Rog is not just an amazing 96 yr. old who just survived 2 surgeries! He is an inventor. He holds the patent on an invention that will revolutionize the leisure boat industry by making them very hard to sink. I know this for a fact because I was in on the testing of his invention on a lake near his hometown a few years back. We tried all day, about 8 to 10 of us to sink a small pontoon boat and couldn't. Now our family knows how to have fun! I say our family and Rog is my Uncle, he actually belongs to my husband, Mike, but I've made him my own. We're related by marriage and that's good enough for me. He and I get along well like two kids at a Birthday Party! We joke and laugh and have a wonderful time. We talk computers because he loves his and now that he's recovered he sits in front of it all day. I showed him Twitter and he tried to wrap his inquisitive and intelligent mind around it but too many generations seemed to be between us, I had trouble getting through on that. Life, however, he has mastered. He and his wife sang to their children to wake them up every day, "Good Morning to you, Good Morning to you..." A delightful song about greeting each new sunshiney day with a smile. I enjoyed a precious sight when Sharon sang it to him to gently help him wake up from an afternoon rest. He loves his family, wants to leave a legacy with his invention and certainly will. He respects me, though he doesn't understand for my knowledge of blogging and Twitter. He's mastered so much IRL. I could learn so much from him if we had lots of time together. I'm going to take all I can in the ensuing months or years he is with us. He's moving to Silver Bay (WAY NORTHERN!) Minnesota to live in assisted living and I will gladly drive with my husband or without to visit him. Sharon lives about one half hour south of there. I love to spend time with her too!

Thanks for listening to my Social Media Event IRL...we had so much fun -- eating good food, drinking sodas and iced tea because Rog can't have his beer yet -- hoping to have one on his birthday! Watching movies together. Taking turns at the computer and listening to each others hopes and dreams. I hope all of you in Austin learned as much and had as great a time! I know you did. Maybe next year! #UsGuys #UsBlogs entry

Losing Myself: That is My Greatest Fear

2011-03-07T00:23:00.002-06:00

This blog is a response to the #UsGuys #UsBlogs topic: "What is your greatest fear?" This picture was taken by Mark Chatwin from Australia, my internet friend of many years: @MarkChatwin on Twitter.

Losing me, losing control, that is my greatest fear. It is having the circumstances of my life, my illness, bipolar disorder, spin so fast that I am left behind at the bottom of the gorge, while the sunshine peaks down at me, but shows me no way of getting back up from where I've fallen. No one likes to lose control, but even more for someone who has their sanity to lose. If we lose control we are liable to end up in a strange place with other people in charge of our every decision -- with all freedom lost and no hope of recovering it except for by getting well -- some nebulous goal we can neither grasp nor imagine at the moment. So, we hang on very tight and hope to grab at some twig or branch to keep us from falling farther into the dark hole we are in. Not knowing that such effort, piled on top of our illness, can only make us worse. What we need to do is let go of the edge, free fall into the darkness, and trust that we will land in a safe place. I did this. I let go of the edge of the precipice and let myself fall. I had been fighting hard for wellness for weeks, which had turned into months. I was very ill when first diagnosed and giving the doctor's a tremendous challenge. One day while lying in bed, I heard the still small voice within me say, "Let go, I have you." I was frightened, but the feeling or inner voice was persistent. Finally I did, mentally, I let go. I felt myself falling for what seemed like forever. I was terrified as I fell, afraid of the feeling of having no control. Then I landed. All around me was the deepest, warmest, strongest sense of love I have ever felt before or since. Suddenly I knew that I had a Friend much bigger that myself, the Lord who surrounded me always with His awesome love and I never had to fear losing myself or being out of control again. He had me safe. He was in control and I could relax in that certain knowledge. From that day I began to improve and thankfully, have never been that ill again.

Do I still fear? Yes? Of being out of control? Sometimes. Of being alone, losing myself, disappearing into some crevasse of this frightening illness? Never. For I know the One who created me. Who allowed this illness into my life. I know that He has gone before me and walks beside me, has my back, and no matter how far I may fall...He is not just the sunshine at the top of the abyss, He is the warmest love of all at the bottom.

Movies: How They Impact Our Lives #Usblogs #Usguys

2011-02-27T00:40:00.005-06:00

This blog post is for week four in the #Usguys #Usblogs weekly blog topics. This week the one we chose is: What we learn from the movies.

Everything I know about life I've learned at the movies. Well not quite, but they have made an extraordinary impact on me. I remember seeing "The Brothers Grimm" on the biggest screen in Minneapolis, the Panorama at the Cooper Theater in the early 60's. Fairy tales came to life! My little cousins, my sister and I were awe-struck. My husband and I, who a year apart in age, remember seeing "How the West Was Won" and later "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World at the same theater." We didn't meet until we were in our twenties, but our childhood memories of movies are very similar!

His is favorite movie is "The Godfather". My favorite is the 1981 Academy Award Winning Best Picture: "Chariots of Fire." It is the true story of Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell training to run and running in the 1924 Olympic games. I'm not usually big on true stories. I'm a hopeless romantic who grew up watching romantic comedies and musicals of eras gone by, the 30's and 40's. But I was moved to the depths by this movies and it changed my life a bit. Certainly it changed my heart.

Chariots of Fire
Courtesy of Photobucket

When "Chariots of Fire" came out I had written a screenplay, begun in a college class and finished by sheer determination. I had written a true story of my battle with bipolar disorder and peddled it in Hollywood to the likes of Melissa Gilbert, a good friend of my then sister-in-law. My brother is an actor. I was turned down everywhere I went. I had first written the story as a fictionalized account and then my true story. No one was buying either. No one could believe the true version: that my husband left me while I was hospitalized for bipolar disorder and my son died before I was released. It was too sad with not enough relief for the audience. I came through it. God carried me through. I was very relieved, why not the audience?! :)

After having my screenplay rejected so many times, I was a bit hardened to the entertainment industry and to the type of stuff they were making. I thought there was no way they would ever pick a story of triumphing over the odds due to a strong will and love for God -- the outcome of "Chariots of Fire." It was a movie of conviction. Eric Liddell's 100 meter Olympic Race was scheduled for Sunday and he felt it against his beliefs to run on the Sabbath, so he declined to run even at the urgings of the Queen. As it happens he ran a race he hadn't trained for the 400 meter and won the gold. His teammate, Harold Abrahams took the gold in the 100 meters and the British team went home triumphant! It was so beautifully crafted. It also won best screenplay, best music, and best costumes. I loved every minute of it, but will never forget one line by the Missionary Runner Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson) who said, "God made me fast, and when I run, I feel His pleasure." Immediately my self pity and discouragement over my writing left me. I thought to myself, "When I write, I feel His pleasure!" I think we all have that feeling when we are really clicking and doing something we were born to do. Those may not be your words to describe the feeling, but let me suggest, you could be feeling the pleasure of the One who gave you the talent you are using!

"Hide not your talents, they for use were made, What's a sundial in the shade?" — Benjamin Franklin

2011-02-26T23:11:00.001-06:00