Office professionals

Every year we have a conference at work for all the "office professionals" that lasts a few hours a day for three days. I think it's kind of silly to call us office professionals. It seems like such a high brow expression for the work that secretaries do. They always tell us that we are the back bone of the organization and while I do agree that nothing would get done with out us, I wish they wouldn't try so hard to make us feel like we're special with a title such as office professional. Hahaha! Anyway, the conference was very good.

They offer several workshops each hour and we can choose which ones we want to attend.

I went to one called - "the gift of positive energy for optimal health" which outlined the 7 steps to wellness:

1- rediscover loving relationships 2- reaching forgiveness 3- building self esteem 4- get rid of addictions 5- meditation, be still and ponder 6- enjoyable exercise 7- eating an energy diet

Another workshop was called "moving forward with life when life doesn't seem to move forward" and the speaker talked about how to handle life when things don't work out in the time table or the way we would like. What are we to learn from periods of waiting?

Another class was entitled "Simple gifts" and we were reminded to simplify, reduce and slow down in life - taking advantage of the simple gifts that come our way.

"Commitment and pursuit: climbing your Mt. Everest" was taught by a man who actually climbed Mt. Everest recently with a small group friends who were climbers. The oldest in the group was 68 years old (the oldest to climb Mt. Everest.) He showed some amazing slides of their preparations and climbing expedition and likened it to surmounting the challenges we face in life. He had climbed the 7 summits (the 7 highest peaks on the 7 continents) and finished with Everest at 29, 039 feet. He made these excellent points: 1- have a vision of the big picture 2- make a commitment 3- visualize the pursuit 4- take time to prepare 5- receive wise council for the journey from experienced others 6- have trusted leadership and true and loyal friends 7- focus on the now, take baby steps forward 8- weather the storms 9- onward and upward no matter the challenges!

"Seeking the gift of personal revelation" was an amazing class. I learned some new things about personal revelation and took a lot of notes. "The key to life is learning to yield to the will of God."

And finally - "Write Yourself" a class that encouraged us to write about our experiences and our lives, yes even the common things that go on each and every day. He said to look for stories that happened in different periods of time of our lives, in different places, different events and things that taught us different values. Time, Place, Event and Values. He gave us some rules to follow when writing a story and some basic principles that help in telling a good story. He told us to access his web site for more writing tips at http://www.johnbennion.com/. It was a great conference and I feel uplifted and loved as an office professional. Now back to work.

9*1*1

Today while I was driving to work I saw two girls crash on a bike (in front of Doug & Peggy's old home for those of you who know the area.) One girl was pumping the other girl who was on the back of the bike. I suppose the foot of the younger girl got caught in the spokes of the bike and it just stopped on the spot and they crashed. I pulled over immediately and could see that there was no way I could get the little girl's foot out of the spokes. Her ankle was very badly bent and I'm sure it was broken. She was screaming for her mother, poor little thing. Luckily I had my cell phone. I called 911 and within 5 minutes the paramedics were on the scene. I just tried to comfort the girls who were both crying and I sat down on the sidewalk and put little Taylor's head in my lap on the curb while we waited for help. I asked the older girl if she could go to the school and get the Principal since it was only a half block away. She said she could. Little seven year old Taylor didn't know her phone number, but she knew her mother's name. When the paramedics arrived, they went right to work on getting her ankle out. She would scream with every spoke on the bike that they cut. They finally got her free and got her on a gurney. The Principal arrived and said he had already called Taylor's mother. The mother didn't have a car to get to the school, so the Principal sent another teacher to pick her up. Meanwhile they got Taylor loaded in the ambulance ready to transport to the hospital. I was VERY impressed with the paramedics who were calm, professional and kind. They gave Taylor a brown teddy bear and she really clung to it. I tried to give her reassurance and comfort, but she was pretty scared and was in a lot of pain. Poor little girl. They finally decided to take her to the hospital and have her mother meet her there. She started shaking (probably going into shock.) I must say that my heart was pounding too. I'm very grateful that we have emergency response teams who are competent and capable. It's a great blessing to have someone to call for help in an emergency...my first time to call 911.

Something to ponder

Last Tuesday at the MTC devotional, Elder James J. Hamula spoke to the missionaries. He gave an amazing talk. One of the things I've been thinking about all week is this concept he taught the missionaries:
We (as missionaries) are to inspire faith...call men and women to turn from their old ways and follow the Savior in a new way. All of this to prepare them and us for the unavoidable day when we will all return to the presence of God. (1 Nephi 10:21) We know that no unclean thing can DWELL in the presence of God, but we will return to the presence of God. We will! Everyone will because of the atonement of Jesus Christ! Jesus made it possible to be in the presence of God, but the question is - will we be permitted to stay? Only those who qualify and are clean from the blood and stains of the world will be permitted to DWELL there.

Pretty in Pink!

THANKS to niece Lindsey for taking these beautiful pictures of our GRANDdaughters! They're very photogenic girls, if I do say so myself! I love how the pictures captured their different expressions and their personalities. So, so, CUTE!

Dee's cereal

I recently discovered this new cereal that I really like. It's sold in the refrigerated section of Macey's grocery store. It's kind of pricy - $18.50 for a bag, but it has 46 servings in one bag. It's made in Orem and probably only sold in Utah. I've noticed it before, but I resisted buying it because it cost so much. However, I must say that I love it! I'm not a fan of cold cereal. It's tastes too much like what I think it would be like to eat cardboard. I'll eat it, but a prefer eggs or cooked cereal. We use to call cooked cereal "mush" growing up. We would eat cracked wheat, oatmeal and cream of wheat on a regular basis. I think cooked cereal stays with you and keeps you full a lot longer than cold cereal.
Any, back to Dee's. Here are the ingredients listed on the back of the bag: organic wheat, brown rice, rolled oats, sunflower seeds, almonds, raisins, flax seed, garbanzo beans, organic corn, cranberries, bananas, oat groats (what ever that is) barley, oat bran and spices. That's it. No preservatives (hence the need to keep it in the refrigerator or the freezer) and very high in fiber. Rick thinks it is like eating bird seed! It claims to "fuel your mind and jump start your body." Dee Jardine, the creator of the cereal says "I found problems such as low energy, diabetes, weight loss, high blood pressure, constipation, high cholesterol and failing eye sight simply went away upon changing my lifestyle." It has 220 calories per serving with 5 g of fiber, 7 g protein, 31 g carbohydrate and 8 g fat. All you do is mix 1/3 cup of Dee's cereal with 2/3 cup water and microwave it for a couple of minutes. I like to add a tablespoon of honey and presto - a healthy, filling breakfast!