Mary Beth Sprinkle, 74, went home to be with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on Wednesday, June 2, 2010. Service: 10 a.m. Friday in Blessing Colonial Chapel in Mansfield. Interment: Mansfield Cemetery. Visitation: 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home.

via Mary Beth Sprinkle Obituary: View Mary Sprinkle’s Obituary by Star-Telegram.

There is also another copy here.

I am sharing with those of you who stop by here, but also so that I will remember to go back and look at both guest books and print out any comments for my father.  He doesn’t have a computer…

It’s been a longish day.  I’m almost thinking that the night of visitation is longer than the day of the funeral.

I want to thank everyone who has taken time to send me emails, tweets, direct messages, facebook messages, etc.   When you do a large portion of your work on the web, and travel another portion of your work life, the in-person support isn’t as plentiful….and  the virtual support is more appreciated than you can know.

It’s time for bed.  One more day of extended family and the friends of my parents…

I confess that if you work in the service industry, it’s possible that I will thank you and call you darlin. Or accidentally bump into you, and apologize and call you sweetie. Or honey.

I don’t mean it to be offensive.

I’m Southern.

I likely cannot see your name tag. Or have failed to remember your name when you said it earlier in the day. Because I’m horrible at names at first, though I am fabulous at remembering faces and details about you and your life that you have shared.

So forgive me. Using a term of what some would see as endearment doesn’t mean anything beyond the fact that I am thankful that you are such a kind and wonderful human being. That your politeness and caring is appreciated.

That you have been a blessing to my life in that very moment when our paths crossed that day. Life is full of stress. And you have reminded me that people are good and kind and caring.

So, Thank you, darlin.

I share this because I offended not someone that I called darlin, but my mother. Who complained that I shouldn’t after calling a nurse sweetie, a radiology tech darlin, and the gal from food services honey. The nurse and I discussed the whole “darlin, sweetie, honey” thing. But my use of those words, though offensive to my mother, the observer, were not meant to be. It’s meant as a compliment. I’m being polite.

So, please forgive me if I offend you by calling you darlin. I don’t mean to.

This whole train of thought led to the Perfect Country and Western Song playing through my head all evening, and I woke up thinking about it this morning. It’s a Monday, and the perfect song to share to lighten the mood. Please be patient with the commentary from the legendary David Allan Coe.

And thank you, sweetie. I hope you have a great day. I may not call you by your name, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t appreciate what a wonderful person you are, darlin. Life is short. You’d be surprised at the number of folks who don’t thank them for a job well done.

Be sure and be thankful for the kind souls that cross your path on this Monday, ok, honey?

As I was catching up on Tonya’s blogs from the past couple of weeks, I looked down at myself and saw part of what was adding to my sluggish day:  white tank top, grey knit shorts, no shoes, hair in a pony tail, no make-up….. Yep.  I was totally slacking in my appearance today.     No wonder I wanted to lay on the bed and nap with the cat this afternoon!  This is my first no-face-to-face client contact day this week, but it isn’t an excuse.

My clue to take the time to look and feel my best regardless of whether I’m sitting at home on the phone coaching or walking the streets of Paris.

That was six months ago.

I’m not surprised that my coaching practice has grown tremendously since I stopped wearing my PJ’s to work.

Everything is energy. Now, when I encourage women to look and feel fabulous, my energy is in alignment. I feel authentic, not like the man behind the curtain with coffee breath and last night’s crust in his eyes.

If you are a work-from-home entrepreneur or stay-at-home mom, and you love hanging out in your pajamas until dinner, and you feel fabulous doing it, I say, “Rock ON!”

However, I discovered that I was using it as an excuse to be lazy, to slack off.

I was hanging my head in shame when the UPS man would bust me at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, still wrapped up in my robe, looking like I had the flu.

Remember, the way you do one thing is the way you do everything.

Treat everything as if it matters, because it does.

via My Chic Awakening (A Must Read for those who Work from Home).

I have friends who are incredibly productive in their jammies.  They are able to get all their client work, a dozen emails, an interview, a podcast recorded and fix three meals while in comfy clothes.  But I know that I’m not like that.  I am most productive on the days that I get dressed in real clothes.  No, I don’t have to put on a suit, but it’s amazing what putting on dressy shorts or a spring dress, putting on some perfume and a pair of earrings, and slipping on a pair of sandals does for my production.  I love to look nice and smell pretty, so why, on a day when I’m feeling blue or sluggish would I forgo that important twenty-minutes it would take to get all the way dressed, slap on some lip-gloss and slip on some shoes?

When I first began officing from home, I scheduled a regular pig-tail day.  It was on Mondays.  I didn’t meet with clients, instead, I stayed home and caught up on email, and did my weekly billings and such.  On those days, I wore comfy clothes, put my hair in pigtails, and caught up on desk work as well as house work.    In recent times, though, with the economy so soft, I work whenever a client needs something done.  Even though it’s usually scheduled a week or so in advance, my work schedule varies from week to week.  I lost my regular pig-tail day and instead of having a productive casual day, I slipped into having a non-productive slob day here and there.

If I’m going to accomplish my goals, I have to pay attention to these things.   I would never go to a meeting like I am dressed right this moment.   I’m worth the short investment of time it takes to put on real clothes.  Just like I am worth cooking for, even if I’m the only one eating that meal.  Because if I don’t nurture myself, who is going to do it?

Treat everything as if it matters, because it does. Amen to that!

Wow.

I took some time and read through some of the older postings.      I found a link to the first post I made for “World Without Weblogs” for World AIDS Day, organized by Brad of Brandlands who passed away this past year.  Hard to believe I’ve followed folks like Zeldman and Jim McCormick and Eric Brooks for almost 10 years.  Back then, there weren’t very many blogs and the blogging community was pretty small.   This was long before Twitter and Facebook.   We all “knew” each other.  Everyone supported each other’s writings and the ability to read so many personal stories was comforting and refreshing.

During the first three years of my blog, I met people like Lee and Melissa through my blog – people that have become some of my best friends.

I also found the logo from All Things Girl from 2004.  With the 10th Anniversary of ATG coming in August and a re-design scheduled for the September issue, it’s exciting to see the growth.

2004

Current Logo – Revealed Oct. 2007

New Logo – To begin with redesign Sept 2010

I hope you’ve had a good weekend.  And have a great week.  I’m traveling tomorrow….

You are on a journey. You are searching to find your purpose and heal all the pieces that have disconnected you from your truth. Your great power is your desire and passion for learning and discovering. You might take this quality for granted, but know that it is desire and passion that creates worlds. You are ripe to burst into a new level of awareness and launch a dream that has been held within you forever. When you feel safe you have a childlike openness which keeps your mind young and healthy. There may be lots of questions swirling around within you right now, write them all down on a piece of paper and release them to the wind for every single one will be answered as you continue on your journey.

Your greatest challenge: While you are on the journey to know and discover who you really are you can feel lost and confused. The journey can feel tiresome at times because you might think it would be easier if you just had all the pieces. But, your challenge is to trust your process and know that it is unfolding perfectly with your best interest at heart.

Your greatest opportunity: You are on the journey of discovering your true purpose. This is the opportunity of a lifetime. You are on track to ignite a dream held deep within.

Your call to action: Trust yourself as you continue to move forward on this journey. Keep moving forward even when you can’t see where you are going. Think of a situation in your life where you need to trust yourself more. What would you do if you did trust yourself? Do that now.

via What kind of creative spirit are you?.

Always a little freaky when you do a quiz and it turns out to be pretty spot-on.  What about YOU?  What kind of creative spirit are you?

Yesterday was the 68th Anniversary of the Doolittle Raids. Mere months after the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, 16 B25-Mitchells were FLOWN off of an aircraft carrier to bomb Tokyo. These were not planes built to be flown off of carriers…And the crews knew there was not enough fuel to get them back to the ship, but only enough to hopefully get them to China.

When I visited the USS Hornet this past week, I said a quiet prayer for these amazing men. I was standing on the dock where they stood. Wow. (The Hornet, by the way is the 2nd Hornet that was put into commission sometime in 1944, the 1st Hornet was sunk by the Navy after being severely damaged in a typhoon).

Two years ago, I was blessed to go to luncheon and symposium that the surviving Raiders and their families attend. In reading through the news of the most recent reunion held this past weekend in Dayton, OH, I was sad to read that three of the gentlemen in the raids have passed away since 2008, and of the eight surviving Raiders, only four were healthy enough to travel and attend.  There are eight survivors now.

I’m sad when I think of the sheer volume of stories that will never be told, never be heard, as we lose this generation. Will future generations remember what these men and women did during WWII, or will it become simply a paragraph in a history book? I feel so blessed that I have been able to chat with veterans of this generation, hear their personal stories, be reminded that there is more to war than a series of events, but that there are real people behind it.

I’ve seen some of the criticism about the new HBO Series The Pacific. I remember talking to George Pelecanos as he was beginning to work on the project back in 2008. Some say it’s not about the war, it’s really about the men in that Marine Battalion. I understand that people want to know about the war, what happened in the Pacific Theater. And I want to know the facts of what happened in Guam, and the Guadal Canal, and Pearl Harbor and Normandy and Berlin and London. But I also want to know about the people, because we lose so much when we fail to look beyond the facts.

“David’s son Absalom turned against him and was killed. Yet David wrote some of the most beautiful psalms, the ones about being lovingly cared for. Also some of the whiniest. I deeply respect that about God, that he chooses anti-heroes, people who have lost much, cynics. It makes me hope he has a place in the palm of his hand for ironists, the immature, the somewhat snide, the ones who can’t help but laugh at bits of religion. Me. He’s brought me to his beautiful place to show me something.”

via The Silent Treatment: A quiet vacation at Virginia’s Holy Cross Abbey in the Shenandoah Valley – washingtonpost.com.

I read this piece with great interest and it interested me on many levels.

I’ve thought about a retreat in the past and  I had plans to attend one with Christine Kane in 2007, but ended up having to cancel due to some family matters.  There is also a great appeal to being surrounded by those who have chosen a monastic life since “faith” is my word for 2010.  A retreat at home is impossible, as I am always able to fill the quiet time with things and distractions.

Certainly something to consider.

The office windows are open today and the breeze is crisp. The navy curtains are gently blowing and the cat is alternating between sitting against the screens and letting the smells tickle his little pink nose while the wind caress whiskers and sitting on my desk. There is a magical quality to spring that makes me want to sing arias to the flowers and lay on the freshly mowed lawn.

I haven’t yet ventured out to find bluebonnets, but I will in the next couple of weeks. It’s early still. (The photo above was taken in the Spring of 2004). I will be venturing to other favorite cities (and maybe a new city or two) for work responsibilities and am planning to pad at least the first trip by a day so that I can enjoy the beauty of Mother Nature in the spring.

I hope that wherever you are. And whatever you are doing today. That you take a few moments to appreciate the gloriousness around you and to be thankful for the abundances you are blessed with.

Last week, my mother went to the ER last Thursday (March 11th)  because she had a shortness of breath and was pretty sure she had pneumonia (again).  She has previously been diagnosed with emphysema as well as COPD.  She last had pneumonia in early December and her doctor asked her to come back after the first of the year to get a  CT scan – she didn’t go.  After reviewing the X-Rays, the doctors told her that there was a very large mass in her lungs.  They had compared her X-Rays to those taken at the same hospital in late 2008.

By Saturday, the doctors concluded that it was cancerous, though a biopsy would be required for an “official” diagnosis.  A biopsy was scheduled for Monday and on Monday, she had a panic attack, so the biopsy was done on Tuesday.  On Wednesday, we were told it was officially Cancer and either a 3 or a 4.  She has had a complication with the procedures being done.  As a result of the biopsy, a  pneumothorax developed (basically an air pocket in the chest cavity outside the lung) and she has had fluid build-up.  She was in ICU on Wednesday, and then they drained the fluid and did a bone scan.  On Thursday, she was moved to a regular room again.

Cancer was diagnosed as a 3b, bordering on 4.  Oncology wants to treat with a combination of radiation with chemo.  In order for treatment to begin, she has to be stabilized with her breathing.  More fluid had built up in the short time since the drain and the Pulmonary doctor wants to put in a small catheter that will allow her (or us) to drain it for her.  This was scheduled for Monday.

Friday was her worst night – even worse than when she came into the hospital.

Today she was moved back to ICU.  The Pneumothorax that had stabilized yesterday grew substantially overnight.    Her right lung was in danger of collapsing as the bulk of her chest cavity was filling with air outside her lungs and the pressure had to be relived, so a chest tube was inserted by the Pulmonary doc today.  And she will be in ICU until Monday.  The chest tube is painful, so today she has been put on morphine, too.

On Monday, the doctor will decide if the tube can be removed and when the catheter (drain) can be installed.  The theory is that the fluid a by-product of the tumor, but they don’t know for sure.

We are in a perpetual cycle.  The tumor needs to be reduced as soon as possible, so the oncologists want her to start radiation as early as possible, preferably next week.  However, if she cannot breathe due to fluid buildup, she can’t tolerate treatment.

She doesn’t want to be at the hospital by herself.  We are all spending as much time as we can up there, but we are all getting a little weary.  And she is exhausted.

And on that note, I am heading to bed.  Sweet Dreams…

The book is more attractive to me than the toolbox because no matter how much I love the web, I LOVE books.   The book is laid out in a monthly format.   I can process it in a manner truly conducive to learning – in small, management tasks rather than trying to “eat an entire elephant”.

Each month, I’ll tell you a little about what area of life I’m focusing on….and during the month, make a post over at the ATG Blog as well.

So let’s talk about January.  In January, the focus is “Vitality”.  Boost Energy by doing things like: going to bed earlier;  exercising better; toss, restore, organize; tackle a nagging task and act more energetic.   Gretchen talks about tackling not just physical energy, but the mental aspects of energy as well.     Physical energy begins with a good night’s sleep…I’m wondering if it’s truly possible to get to bed early?  We shall see.

For those of you reading along with me that want to try to journey along on the Happiness Project with me, The Happiness Toolbox is great.  Or pick up the book.  As I mentioned, I LOVE books and being able to hold it in my hands.

I am finding it hard to believe that it’s 2010.  I know usually by this point, I have introduced my focus for the year in the form of my January column for All Things Girl….that will gel over the next few weeks.

Speaking of All Things Girl, be sure and check out the January issue with cover girl Amanda Palmer!

Happy New Year.  May 2010 bring you love, joy, and happiness