Presentation

I am putting together an End-of-the-Year presentation on effective communication for the office and ran across this....



I miss Calvin and Hobbes....

E

Getting Our Tree

Last weekend we finally got our Christmas tree. We found this All-Noble-Fir farm about 15 minutes from our house. How awesome is that? Usually the noble fir pickings are slim at these u-cut farms. So I was thrilled to have so much selection. We found our tree in less than 10 minutes (we were limited to a small tree this year due to space restrictions)....

Christmas Cheer: Peppermint Mocha and a Christmas Tree Saw

Look at all the noble firs! That is Happy Land for an Ozaine!

The classic...dad carrying the tree.

It took us about two days to get the change to actually decorate the tree. But we managed.

He doesn't exactly have to stretch to decorate a tree. He's my own little Abominable Snowman who can put the star on top of the tree.

I, on the other hand, have to stretch.

Unemployed and Self-Employed

Sorry it has been a while since we posted. Christmas season is crazy as always, and it was made especially crazy by the fact that I was wrapping up my 9 years with Ellen Fichen Design. I'm now officially unemployed...and self-employed (I'll continue to work my design business). Eli is due in 4 weeks and I figured it was best to end my time with Ellen at the end of the year. So last Friday was my last day. And I'll tell you, it was a strange, strange day.

I don't know how you just leave a job that you have been working (very happily) for 1/3 of your life. It isn't like I'm off to another, more exciting career or that I'm leaving disgruntled. I left because this alien creature inside me is going to come out soon and, although I have no idea what is in store for me once it comes out, all I know is that suddenly I turn into a mom! Holy cow. I have no idea how to be a mom. I don't know how to give birth! I don't know how to nurse! All I know how to do is what I've been doing for 9 years. I just walked away from the "known" into the "unknown".

Of course I'm very happy about all this...............I think.............I mean, of course I am but I'm also a bit on the nervous side of things. I'm more nervous about the next 4 weeks than anything else. I'm totally excited to meet Eli. I'm totally excited to be a mom, even though I don't know how. But I have to admit that I'm not totally excited to sit around my house for 4 weeks twiddling my thumbs and waiting. You see, my life is fast paced. It goes and goes and never stops. I'm never at home, I only have time to check my voicemail once-a-week (working on that, btw), I eat dinner at 9pm, I've lost almost all my hobbies over the years because I simply don't have time........and now, for four weeks, time is on my side and I have no idea what to do with it!

I suppose most people would be jumping for joy to be in this position, so I keep asking myself "why are you so unnerved about actually having time on your side?" and I realized just this weekend why....

I'm in my third trimester, I'm tired, I'm round and move awkwardly, I can hardly breathe because this little baby is spooning with my lungs, etc....all this is a recipe for becoming a lethargic lazy bum. That is the last thing in the world that I could want to be.

So there is my challenge to myself: Take 4 weeks to rest up before the baby comes, but don't turn into a lazy bum. Not a CLUE how to pull that one off...but here I go...

The "too much time - not enough energy" rocket has launched....

Survey Says....

Go take this 5 minutes survey and then come back and tell me what you ranked first and second. Not surprisingly, I came in Tom Tancredo and Ron Paul, separated by a point.

http://www.kcpw.org/select-a-candidate

It is not a perfect survey but a great educational and conversation piece...

E

A Soldiers Christmas

There is a new Christmas song out there - I don't know who it is from - but it has got to me both times I heard it. Below are the lyrics:

'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, HE LIVED ALL ALONE,
IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF PLASTER AND STONE.

I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,
AND TO SEE JUST WHO IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.

I LOOKED ALL ABOUT, A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,
NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS, NOT EVEN A TREE.

NO STOCKING BY MANTLE, JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,
ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.

WITH MEDALS AND BADGES, AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,
A SOBER THOUGHT CAME THROUGH MY MIND.

FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT, IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,
I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER, ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.

THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING, SILENT, ALONE,
CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.

THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE, THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER,
NOT HOW I PICTURED A UNITED STATES SOLDIER.

WAS THIS THE HERO OF WHOM I'D JUST READ?
CURLED UP ON A PONCHO, THE FLOOR FOR A BED?

I REALIZED THE FAMILIES THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,
OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.

SOON ROUND THE WORLD, THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,
AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.

THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,
BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS, LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.

I COULDN'T HELP WONDER HOW MANY LAY ALONE,
ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.

THE VERY THOUGHT BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE,
I DROPPED TO MY KNEES AND STARTED TO CRY.

THE SOLDIER AWAKENED AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,
"SANTA DON'T CRY, THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;
I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM, I DON'T ASK FOR MORE,
MY LIFE IS MY GOD, MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS."

THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,
I COULDN'T CONTROL IT, I CONTINUED TO WEEP.

I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS, SO SILENT AND STILL
AND WE BOTH SHIVERED FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.

I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,
THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR SO WILLING TO FIGHT.

THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,
WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,
WHISPERED, "CARRY ON SANTA,
IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE."

ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH, AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT,
MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND, AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT.

Remember

So folks may not be aware that we got a lot of rain recently. A lot. So much they are plowing it out...

As humorous as that is, a lot of folks have been affected by this storm. I try to put myself in their situation where my home and job could have been flooded away and it is tough. Especially with the holidays so close. If you are in a situation where you can help, I hope you will.

http://www.salvationarmynw.org/

Once You Dream it is Possible...

I have been taking a lot of flack for being a Ron Paul guy lately. And in large part I laugh and roll with the punches. After all, your friends are a reflection of your values and the freak show does roll in for a lot of RP events. It is entertaining for everyone. :)

However the thing that bugs me most is the frequent comment that RP simply can't win. Pardon me for being a grammar snob, but he can win. It is in the realm of possibility that Ron Paul could win. It is legally an option. For some it is morally and ethically an option. Increasingly it is looking like a financially possible scenario. Politically it is a long shot - but there a vast chasm between "can't win" and "not likely to win".

Which begs the question - why does everyone feel the obvious need to be a political expert and render the verdict "can't win" so flippantly? Laziness in speech comes to mind. Maybe they don't want him to win. Maybe (for those that think we didn't go to the moon) there is something more sinister behind it...

So - in private musing - I think it is possible. And the more one thinks it is possible, the more one sees it is probably. RP is my man. A man in the political world but not of the political world. The more you read about him - you will realize he is not sold out to special interests. He is a simple man who truly believes in government of people, for the people - not for lobbyists and special interests...

ttyl, E

Live From New York

No - it is not Saturday Night Live. But this blog is coming to free courtesy of the wireless service provided by Jet Blue in JFK Terminal in NYC. It has been a long but good trip to the East Coast.

This morning, after a long night of networking - aka partying - Jonathan (a co-worker) decided to get another state under our belt. So - fighting a lack of sleep, I went and got a rental car and we drove to New Hampshire.

I did see a couple Ron Paul signs in the Live Free or Die state. It is very pretty - but COLD. They told us the high was going to be 22 degrees. However the local banks were showing 29 degrees. And very windy.

I am looking forward to seeing my wife and sleeping in my own room...

E