Without Music the World Would Be Silent

My love for music started early on. First from the time I stepped into a skating rink music filled my life on a regular basis. Most weekends we spent our time at one of the few rinks that still had a organ player at the public sessions. Many early skating rinks had on-site organ players to accompany the skaters even at competitions. Later you cut special " 98 record albums" that you picked the music for. Most skaters of today don't even know what a record album is. During my era you had a multitude of cassette tapes in your skate bag because you never new when a music malfunction would occur.

I have always had a pretty eclectic music taste. My mother was a music buff also so she had cabinet after cabinet of albums. I still have a box of albums tucked into my closest that I just can't seem to get rid of. Even today when I hear a piece of music no matter what it is I think, "Wow would that be a good piece to do a skating routine too". Many an afternoon I would put on music and plot out a skating routine on the living room floor. Sometimes it would drive my parents crazy. Jumping in the house was tolerated to a degree.

The whole point of this post was I saw Barry Manilow and Neil Sedaka on television this past week which brought back a memory of my teen years. When most kids my age were listening to hard rock music , my choices were classical, Broadway show tunes, Barry Manilow and Neil Sedaka, Barbara Streisand and the list goes on. I can remember pretty much every piece of music I ever had a routine too and the reason behind it. Toward the end of my skating time I did my own music and choreography.

Although I listen to alot of country now, I still pull out some of my closeted favorites. So if you see me in my car, and my lips are moving I am probably not talking on hands free on my cellphone I am probably singing to one of my favorite old songs..

Skating-Not Always a Fairy Tale World

As it gets closer and closer for the Vancouver Olympics skating it a part of the news again. Like any sport it is not only the good but the bad you hear about.

Of course recently while watching one of the competitions that is a qualifier for the Olympics the subject of the Tonya/Nancy saga came up. I am sorry does this have always be a part of Olympic reporting? It was sad then and it is still sad. Although up until this past week Nancy has continued on skating professional, married and had a family. She has done very well. On the other hand Tonya continues to still be an accident waiting to happen. Not one of the fairy tale stories of the skating world you periodically hear about something not skating related she is doing.

To make matters worse a tragedy again has happened to Nancy. With the death of her father Dan allegedly by her brother's hand, the downfall of the skating world becomes a sad part of skating reporting.

As with anything when a family devotes themselves to supporting a family member(s) in a specific endeavor it becomes hard on everyone. My first thought was that it is quiet possible the problems that have been eluded to about Nancy's brother have been a root of problems for many years for him.

From personal observations I encountered alot of on/off ice drama's when it came to seeing what it did to families. One of the reasons I never pushed skating or anything to the 100th degree.

Parents yanking kids off or pushing them on the rink, arguments amongst siblings, the pedestal effect can damage everyone. Names that come to mind are: Christopher Bowman, Nicole Bobek, and the list goes on. Issues other than skating became a bigger part of their lives. Along with the coach, the off ice academic teacher, ballet, strength and the never ending list maybe one I am not sure any have thought of during their careers was-a therapist..

For as much as I had dreams of doing more with my skating during my time I am glad I kept my priorities in check and chose to treat it more as fun than an occupation. Just glidding along and feeling the edges was therapy enough for me...

While You Were Sleeping......

As the television viewing seasons go from year to year it becomes harder and harder to find something good to watch. But, since last year was the last for one of my favorite programs ER when they came out with a program called Mercy I was curious. I knew it wasn't going to be the same type of hospital drama but thought I would watch a few times and give it a chance.

Overall it is a pretty good show. This past episode in part was about a man who had an accident and was in a coma for 10 years. Their have been several over the years who have been lucky enough to awaken from long-term coma's one thing you don't think about is the psychological issues it can do. Ten years is a very long time and alot happens in a ten year period. That was the basic premise of the story was the things in history that he missed and the changes he was going to have to accept. In one conversation with the nurse she had taken him for a ride in his wheelchair and they were overlooking New York. She randomly mentioned, we had a Black President, the technology such as IPODs, GPS, etc. As he was listening and looking out at the skyscrapers he asked, "Where are the towers?" She explained all the things that had changed because of 9/11 to him.

This also took me back to when my granpa had his stroke in the 70's. They said although he had a severe brain stem stroke and was unable to verbally communicate he could possibly hear what was going on. He wouldn't respond as normal but you might get some form of a response. Several times when someone went into his room and talked to him he cried. I have heard several people who have been in situations where they were unable to speak say they could hear what was going on. The "hearing is the last to go" comes to mind.

Ironically the man in the program could remember little things, like the strange name of his girlfriend he had only dated briefly and the nurse who took care of him would say a certain saying in chinese to him everyday. Pretty amazing..

When you stop and think all that has happened it does make you feel a sense of wonder about all that happens over the course of a decade. Sometimes it's difficult being awake through it all but think how it would be if you slept through it.

Wonderful Things Happen to Wonderful People

At a time when you think people you know are not lucky, something wonderful happened this past week to my in-laws. They are very, very deserving of it and it was a long time coming. From the first time that I met them 27 years ago they have always been and will continue to be very deserving people. They both were working parents when their boys were growing up, stretched a buck until it couldn't stretch anymore and always went way beyond for everyone in the family and even others.

I have heard both of them tell many a story on how my father-in-law basically raised two families in his lifetime. He was the oldest and when his father died in a farming accident everyone looked to him to be taken care of. Even after they both married , family members from both sides always looked to them for help, even sometimes when they could ill afford anything. They have never asked for anything back in return, selfless by most standards, so it's always been my thoughts that those same people, that were fortunate enough to receive help from them should return the favor someday.

This new event has made me sit back and see what will happen. They have both struggled the past several years with illnesses and situations no one should need to deal with especially at this time in their life. They should and need to be enjoying what time they have left on this earth and let others and those people who were fortunate for their help to help them in return.

That hasn't come as frequently as I had hoped but again no control over other's thoughts and moral ideals.

That little voice that my parents put inside my head always comes out "don't depend on other's be self sufficient, because most of the time other's don't come through for whatever reason". It's hard not to listen to that but I am doing my best to tune it out.

So I hope they can enjoy themselves, be selfish not selfless this one time.

The Beginning of the Year Brings Re-evaluating Priorities

Starting a new year has its advantages and disadvantages. I gave up long ago with the resolution thing but both as an individual and someone who runs businesses prioritizing and evaluating your business situations always is high on the list at the beginning of the year. If anything this year I need to be even more organized and making priorities a top one on my list. Maintaining the list is another thing entirely but my goal this year is to keep everything in working order on every front.

Learning when to say the "no" word is also difficult in any situation. I try to take on only what I can handle in both my personal and professional life but it becomes more and more difficult as the years go by. I love keeping busy but sometimes it is not just the keeping busy aspect its not letting things fall through the cracks.

My perfectionism hat comes into play too. I know no one is perfect not even me but if you can come to as close as possible it does help occasionally.

Today a meeting with a labor company we have used for many years made all this come into perspective. We have had the same company for 10+ years and this was the first year we have had an on-sight meeting with them. The regional manager and branch manager found this amazing but as we told them the small companies usually fall through the cracks because we usually aren't as important as a larger corporation. After spending and over an hour in talk with them it made me think there is still hope for the smaller companies that are still in business today.

That old saying, "don't lose hope, don't give up" played in my mind and goes along with keeping me focused on priorities. We will see, right now January is looking hopefully, now six months down the line I will re-evaluate my feelings and hope I still have my priorities in line....Only time will tell.

Where Would Music Be Without Elvis?

I have posted a couple times that my granpa was an Elvis fan. My grandparents went to Las Vegas almost every year and I'm pretty sure at least once they may have seen him in concert, although I don't recall. I'm blessed to have been given granpa's Elvis record collection too. When Elvis died in 1977 my granpa was saddened like everyone. I remember thinking one year later when granpa died, "well at least he is in heaven with his music".

This past Friday was Elvis 75th Birthday. Wow time ha flown! It is definitely hard to think of him being that age and alive today. To think all that he did for the different types of music and the influences he had but never was able to see is also sad.

They had a tribute to Elvis on a movie channel I watch and they did interviews with Priscilla Presley and one of Elvis closest friends. One of the questions they asked was if he was alive today what would Elvis be doing? Priscilla said she thought he would be preaching somewhere. I'm not sure if that would be true but it would be interesting to see what his thoughts about music today would be.

Out of all the movies he made the one they showcased was one I had actually never seen. "Jailhouse Rock". Many a weekend I have watched and still watch the different campy movies he made in the 60's. But, I do have to agree with Priscilla I think Jailhouse Rock was probably one of the better movies he did along with Love Me Tender. Why, because I too think it caught Elvis at a time when he was still young, fresh and didn't have the Hollywood and music influences that ultimately along with drugs and fame caused his death.

David and I toured Graceland on one of our summer anniversary celebrations. Yes, we had our picture taken in front of the gates like millions and millions before us. I remember it was very eerie how it was as though you were frozen in time in the decorations and all the rooms themes. But he felt at home their.

Elvis will always be the King of Rock and Roll. He definitely brought music to the forefront.

Happy 75th Elvis and thanks for the music.

A New Decade

As I posted on my facebook page a few days ago, "Only 362 days left in the year". I was being totally sarcastic but it is so true how time flies, whether you are having fun or not. When you stop and think about the past 10 years and what has happened and what accomplishes personally and as a family I/we have made it just seems so bizarre to me. As we get advanced in years it sometimes becomes harder and harder to sometimes get things done in a day much less weeks, years and lets forget a five year plan, those went out the door as soon as I stopped working outside in the general workforce. It's way to hard!!!

When I run through on fastforward the last decade the first things that come to mind: the kids graduated from high school and college, had one get married, the family trip to Hawaii, family and friends who have passed on, family and friends who have struggled with illness, my 30 year reunion and trip this past year, of course the list goes on and on.. When you think as a whole the obstacles the world has been through this past decade and the changes that we have been through you wonder how we even managed to make it through this past ten years.

And what a year 2010 will bring: becoming a grandparent, taking on civil group responsibilities as President of local women's group, taking a trip to Washington D.C, and numerous other things to come.

You never know what surprises are around the corner in your life. At each passing day you begin to hear the voices of grandparents and parents especially "Your just happy to wake up every morning and hope to look forward to the day to come".

I hope this decade is gentle, kind and blessed. I will make every effort to do the best I can, in everything I do, I will try to have a smile on my face (not always easy) and take each day as it comes. Don't forget your family and friends, the line of communications doesn't always go both ways, so take the first step, because other's may not.