You might be a GIS Professional If...

You might be a GIS Professional If.... (Most of these Apply for me :)
- you hear the words spatial and enterprise and do not think of Star Trek
- your idea of curling up with a good book is with a Rand McNally Street Atlas
- you assume that the people around you are yawning because they are tired
- you are the only person in your organization that realizes the term 'GIS system' contains a redundancy
- you actually care about what datum was used
- FGDC metadata does not put you to sleep
- you find yourself critiquing Mapquest maps
- you see an address and wonder how that codes into the centerline
- you notice inconsistent signage on streets
- you can navigate a southbound trip without turning the map upside down
- you are not amazed that a dispatcher knows where your cell phone call is coming from
- the Map Store is your favorite stop at the mall
- when told to turn 'East' you know which way to go
- you can make the wrong turn and get back on the correct route without anyone else knowing it wasn't just part of the trip
- you can give directions without mentioning McDonalds or Starbucks
- you laugh at the folks climbing Mt. Elbert (highest point in Colorado - over 14,000 feet) who say "we're almost there, the GPS says it's just few hundred feet away"
- you find errors on the AAA travel atlas and try to get a refund
- you get excited thinking about the next census!
Adapted from 'ewolf' at www.gisnuts.com

Day 3

•Day 03 — Your favorite television program

OK, so I am capable of visiting my blog more than one day at a time.

Thoughts on my favorite TV programs. I tend to watch a little bit of this and that and my TV partners dictate which programs I choose.

Right now my favorite grown up program is Parenthood. I started watching it when it first came out last year and recently got Joe interested too. It just seems to be so true to life plus funny and entertaining.

As a family we like to watch Biggest Loser because fitness and health are important to our family and it is great to see these heavy people overcome physical and mental obstacles to living healthier lives. We also watch Survivor as a family and pretty much have since the beginning...

Some more seasonal family shows include America's Got Talent and the Amazing Race because it is like a travelogue and Nickelodeons Double Dare mixed together.

As a family we also watch American Pickers and other fun shows from the History Channel and Discovery.

On the rare moments I am riding solo with the remote I am rather addicted to HGTV. So that is all I got for today. Tune in for Day 4 tomorrow.

Day 1 and 2

Ok, so I already blew it. I did think about getting to the blog yesterday but things got away from me.... so here are two days at once... or maybe I will just start today and overflow into April... hmmm... no I am here so I will get caught up.

•Day 01 — Your favorite song
It depends on my mood I suppose for any of my favorites... I can start with genres I tend to follow... rock (soft, classic... some hard), 'bitter bitch', jazz... blues... Celtic, pop, a tiny bit of country... a little bit of this and a little bit of that. :)

Today, given that another person I love dearly is dying from cancer, a favorite is "Live like We're Dying" by Kris Allen which I think I have blogged the words to before. Just a reminder that we never really know how short life is going to be so don't take your days for granted...

Another one I am loving right now because it is a gorgeous love song even if is a little country is "Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum because sometimes you need a reminder to have more passion in your life.

I have a handful of favorite artists off the top of my head Sara McLachlin, Sheryl Crow, Indigo Girls, Dave Matthews, Amy Grant, Five for Fighting... just to name a few. I love music but find that I don't listen to it as often as I would like to.... I don't know why especially since I carry my ITouch with me everywhere most days. I am trying to play more music at home because I remember music filling the house when I was a kid and I grew up loving music.

What kinds of music do you like?


•Day 02 — Your favorite movie
Favorite movie is another one that depends on my mood...

Favorite foreign film is Amelie, Favorite Romantic Comedy is Sleepless in Seattle, I love most movies of any type that are based on true stories. It just seems to make it all that more real. I don't get to watch as many movies as I would like and have a couple of Netflix ones from October sitting in front of my TV... partially because I watch a lot of what Abby wants to see, I check out a lot from the library, and partially because the window of free time each night after the kids go to bed seems to get smaller and smaller... or my list of things I want to be doing with that free time as gotten longer.

Either way I watch a lot of different kinds of moves... my favorites being anything comedy and anything based on true stories. I don't really do scifi or super violent movies so Joe and I have to take turn picking to keep a balance. Enough ramblings for today... the last movie I saw was the Kings Speech which I think it a great story with wonderful actors.

What else should I see?

Building a Dream (Vision) Board...

I need to get focused on what direction I want to be going. What do I want to achieve in the next month, six months, year, 5 years, etc? How does that fit in with what my husband wants in the same time line or my kids... So beyond my resolutions for the year and my bucket list which I could probably get organized and post here I want to vision out and get a fire lit and move forward with myself.

My understanding of a vision board is it is a mosaic of photos (phrases) that identify with me and my goals for the future. It is based on a concept in Napoleon Hill’s book Think and Grow Rich, Hill said, “If you can conceive it and believe it, you can achieve it.”

So stay tuned.

30 Day Challenge

Hey All,
I have been doing a lot of self reflection and study the last few weeks and am learning about things like Vision Boards and Ideas to improve my TS business and my day to day life. I have been listening to Seminars on 'The Mind Aware' thanks to the heads up from my TS Sponsor.

Anyway I listed to the post by Robyn Beazly today and she blogged about the 30 day challenge so I thought I would give it a whorl... I will start tomorrow (31 days in March and all) and post once a day if all goes well.

•Day 01 — Your favorite song
•Day 02 — Your favorite movie
•Day 03 — Your favorite television program
•Day 04 — Your favorite book
•Day 05 — Your favorite quote
•Day 06 — Whatever tickles your fancy
•Day 07 — A photo that makes you happy
•Day 08 — A photo that makes you angry/sad
•Day 09 — A photo you took
•Day 10 — A photo of you taken over ten years ago
•Day 11 — A photo of you taken recently
•Day 12 — Whatever tickles your fancy
•Day 13 — A fictional book
•Day 14 — A non-fictional book
•Day 15 — A fanfic... ok not fan fiction... how about who am I a fan of?
•Day 16 — A song that makes you cry (or nearly)
•Day 17 — An art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.)
•Day 18 — Whatever tickles your fancy
•Day 19 — A talent of yours
•Day 20 — A hobby of yours
•Day 21 — A recipe
•Day 22 — A website
•Day 23 — A YouTube video
•Day 24 — Whatever tickles your fancy
•Day 25 — Your day, in great detail
•Day 26 — Your week, in great detail
•Day 27 — This month, in great detail
•Day 28 — This year, in great detail
•Day 29 — Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
•Day 30 — Whatever tickles your fancy

Don't know if I have any followers since this is by invite... but if you are out there chime in.

Off to the looney bin

Otherwise known as parenting. I don't always make good decisions in life... like today at work I was so intent on what I was working on that I came to the sudden realization that the 20 oz. of water I chugged in the last hour had created an urgent situation... TWICE. Or that eating chocolate in angst to start the work day does wonders for a blood sugar crash late in the morning.

So when it comes to my kids one should note that while in my head I think it would be so cool to be SUPER MOM (hear the music and see the cape flap) I am alas only human and sometimes I don't make good decisions.

I am envious of a few of my friends who always seem to come across as being in a mommy bliss so full of love for their children that they always seem happy and unflappable. I am sure anyone that sees me with my kids thinks what does that woman take because she is like the energizer bunny... maybe she should slow down and actually finished getting dressed before she runs out the door. I love my kids, really I do, but sometimes I just need to catch my breath.

So this morning I get up with high expectations of a great day leading into a weekend filled with travel, family and what is sure to be a beautiful wedding. But oh it wasn't to be. What is it about six-year-olds that makes them so much harder to deal with than 18-month-olds. Give JJ a banana and a room with a cat and he is in bliss and can keep himself entertained for at least a few minutes while I fold a weeks worth of laundry. I know I can tackle him, get him dressed and groomed in under five minutes to leave the house on time.

His older sister Abigail is a whole 'nother story. She had brought some potato heads (read 7 or 8 not sure why we have so many) up to hear room last night. Mind you she hasn't played with these in months so maybe that was the fascination. But after dragging her out of bed she proceeded to sit down on the floor and start to play. I am thinking it is 6:30 and I still have to put the clothes away and really we don't need to leave the house until 7:20 so I ask her to get dressed and I leave the room. I come back in 10 or 15 minutes after finishing my chores and she is still sitting on the floor playing with the potato heads. Still not dressed or groomed. So I ask her nicely for the third time to please get dressed and groom herself or perhaps the potato heads will be no longer once I get out of the shower.

So I go shower and come back to her still sitting on the floor... dressed this time and looking mighty proud of herself. At this point it is 7:10 and I am thinking S$%^ no way we are going to make it out of the house on time if she doesn't get a move on. I am by now more than a little annoyed she is still sitting quietly in her room playing (why can't she do that when we want a few minutes of peace???) So I scoop up her brother and race downstairs all the while hollering at her to get her butt moving. So after two trips up the stairs she finally wanders down (with all the potato heads wrapped up in her blanket... she thinks I don't know) and I hustle her towards the bathroom.

She is in there while I am loading the car and getting her brother ready and I am thinking OK we are getting somewhere. I go in to the bathroom and I haven't a clue what she had been doing for five minutes but she hadn't brushed her hair or teeth. So I ask her what she was doing and she says 'mommy my tummy hurts so I can't brush my teeth'. This is Abby code for 'I am hungry so I refuse to function like a normal human'.

By then I am ready to strangle her because this will be the fourth day out of five that I am running late for work (at least two of these days were because of Abby getting stuck in neutral... one because we overslept and one because well it was Monday). So screechy bird mommy with flapping swirling motions comes out... I am pissed at this point and she is crying and JJ is standing there looking absolutely baffled. God help us please I am thinking... so she did brush her teeth 'just super fast mommy' and we get to the car where I toss her a brush, a breakfast bar and her lunch and we are off for another day with the episode soon to be forgotten.

How it makes my heart ache to start the day like this... usually happens once a week so I vow to change MY behavior, and to talk to Abby, AGAIN about HER behavior and how it makes us both feel, and we live to love another day.

Olympic Accomplishment...

I am sure I mentioned in one of my June blogs about the follies that started my season. Wind... Rain... and a bit of disappointment to be sure. I had three more races lined up for late August and early September with a month of rest in between. The first was Hickory Grove... I did this race last year and well... it sucked. I did part of the swim looking into the sun and then have to run up a huge hill to get to transition. The bike has a hilly 3-4 mile loop with a one mile out and back so basically no forward momentum allowed. The run covers every terrain possible, grassy path, asphalt road (very hot), more grassy trail, and then gravel road...

So you might ask why do that race again. First reason... great swag as they have the best workout shirts in the race packet and second because last year I had just had a baby and this year some training had actually taken place so I was off to see if I could improve my time. So I get there and hang out with my friend Jill (doing her second triathlon ever) and go through the motions. the swim was good... the bike was uneventful and the run was hot just like I remembered... YUCK! I only dropped five minutes off last years time so that was a bit of a let down especially after being so on fire at Hy-Vee in June. The plus to this race is Joe brought the kids so I actually had a cheering section which I love. The weather was beautiful (the skeeters were horrible.) I probably will only volunteer at this one next year since it is so close to home.

Then I was up to do CyMan in mid September which is a fundraiser/charity race put on by the ISU triathlon club. I was feeling a little blah but took the kids down to pick up my race packet anyway and scored a new running hat. Ok folks this kind of nice gear is expensive to buy so I get most of my workout clothes at the races I do so I apologize if I sound so material. I ended up not doing the race with my first Olympic looming as I would have had three races in five weeks time.

So then comes Peregrine Charities race in Waterloo. It was super fun to go back to my old hometown area. I stayed with some old family friends and had a delightful dinner with their Indian (the country) friends and was up early the next morning to head to the race. It was a beautiful morning with mist coming off the lake (64 degree water & 42 degree air temp). We hopped around in our wetsuits to stay warm for an hour while the opening ceremony and first six waves got off. I was excited and one of the race volunteers got a photo of me seconds before my start with a huge smile on my face (I will try to get it and post it.) I rocked the swim at just over 25 minutes and first in my wave to finish. They had pool noodles on ropes guiding us so it was almost like following a lane rope.

I took my time in T1 wiggling out of the wet suit, putting on my socks, shoes and jacket because I was soaking wet and it was chilly. I had a solid ride but know I can do some different training next year to do better. Then a quick T2 and out onto the run course... the first mile was pain as my feet were completely numb. I don't know if I mentioned this was my first Olympic race since Hy-Vee was cut short. It is a .9 mile swim, 25 mile bike and 10k run (6.2 miles). Running has been my nemesis over the years but I have been working hard with better form and more consistent training to make running easier for me. So I headed out for only my 3rd or 4th 10k run of the season. The last one I did was in early July and didn't have a triathlon attached to it... I did the same time on this 10k and came it at 3 hours and 1 minute at the finish line. The Peregrine folks organized a GREAT race with fun things like a unique race shirt and sock, and my race number actually had my name on it. And what a great charity to give money to... rare pediatric diseases. I love the Olympic distance so I will have to look for most races in the Midwest at that distance.

So I am already looking ahead to next year and the year after. I am thinking I might see if I can get on a team together and do the swim for a 1/2 ironman next year. I am also wanting to build up my run speed for next year from just under a 10 minute mile to something in the 9 minute pace. I'm hoping in two years barring any running issues I would like to do Dam to Dam with Joe or the Des Moines half marathon. Just thinking if I can conquer that there might be a 1/2 ironman in my future. I won't say never but I still think it highly unlikely that I will ever do a full ironman because a 15 hour race that ends with a marathon just seems a little bit crazy to me. I know a lot of you are thinking doing a triathlon at all seems a bit crazy, but I love competing against myself, having clear goals and working hard to maintain my fitness and set a good example for my kids. So until next year enough about the tri. :)