Truckee in the Fall

Happy Fall!

 

Oh yes, fall is in full swing and it feels wonderful. I had the good fortune to spend the weekend in truckee with Lisa A. and Kristy P. We caught the aspens in full color, walked along the river, enjoyed some time at The River Inn, went to Tahoe City, tootled old town, enjoyed lazy mornings drinking coffee and inspiring each other with the dreams and goals we are all working on achieving. It was the rejuvenation that I have been longing for and now I'm ready to wrap up this semester at school (just 5 more weeks) and enjoy the coming holiday season. You can see the photo I took with my iPhone while we walked along the river, pretty, huh?

 

Last evening when I got home, Mason started asking questions about the Monday Motivator. We were looking at some pictures on my computer and one of him several years ago got us reminiscing about where and when. I told him I had the whole story written down in the MM and he looked surprised. We looked it up and that story led to another, that led to another until we were laughing out loud. Mason said, "So you just write about us and our stories? That's cool mom." Yeah, much like Seinfeld, I write about nothing or what seems like nothing at the time, when in fact, the everyday goings on in our life are the very things that we treasure later. Mason, at the ripe old age of 9 is connecting the dots and realizing what a gift this silly weekly blog will be for him when his mom is old and gray with no memory left. Can you imagine if you had something like this to reference back to your childhood and even before? What would you learn about your mom if you could read her writings as a teen, young woman, newlywed, and new mother? Today's nothings are tomorrows special memories and as long as you have today, you can start journaling and documenting your journey. I started writing this column (for lack of a better word) as a weekly e-mail back in early 1999 and I sincerely wish I had all of the early entries. I don't, unless one of you computer geeks kept those e-mails from 1999-2002, but I'm grateful for the ones I do have and I'm even more grateful that they are on line, I know they are safe and in the event of a disaster, Mason will always have a way to have our stories.

 

The Mandarin Festival is coming, just two short weeks away and Mason is doing a cooking demo. If you are interested in a really fun day trip, let me know and I will get you tickets. Enjoy the fall colors, warm days and cool nights, and take a moment each day to find things to be grateful for...there really is so much good all around each of us - focus on it, it just feels so darn good! Have a great week!

Exciting News!

Happy Spring! Finally, it seems that the early April showers have taken a break and we can all dry out and soak in some sunshine. Last week I posted a very late, "I'm not here this week" message and I let you all know I had some good news. On Tuesday I had a conference call with our patent attorney and the examiner at the patent office. The call came right on time as my attorney advised me to expect a denial of our application in the spring of 2011 at which point we would address the points denied. We went over them and when it was time for the call, I was expecting plenty of stops and road-blocks. Not so! The woman examining our application was very helpful and even went as far as to say, "Change this wording to something like this..." and "Be sure this area reads like this..." She wanted to know how we came up with the idea and all in all was very patient and attentive. She ended the call with, "Okay, get me these changes and I will go back over the application and let's get you on your way." or something to that effect -- very positive! Now we are addressing some of the minutia of the application and deciding how specific or broad we can go. If all goes well, we could have our patent issued this summer! Isn't that exciting? Other than this big news, our weather has been noteworthy. So wild, the Weather Channel was in Truckee this weekend reporting from Old Town and Squaw Valley. Thursday Hwy 80 was closed for a full 24 hours and upon my initial research (very unofficial), this is the longest closure of Hwy 80 ever. The last time it came close was in the 1980s. We were snuggled up watching the spectacular show of snow and wind while enjoying hot beverages and movies. Funny thing, we often think that more snow is better, but there is so much snow, it was even hard to play in it! Oh, we found a way, but it took some creativity. We missed our usual company for this Truckee weekend, but then again, it was really nice just being together as a family. I kept thinking about this as I watched the snow fall. I noticed how most of the snowflakes were so tiny, yet one by one, they made hundreds of square feet of snow! In light of my progress report on our pending patent, take note how long we've been on this journey (Since January 2008) and imagine how many single phone calls, hours (sometimes minutes) of Internet research, hundreds of other "things to do," and even days and weeks of nothing to do add up to where we are today. In essence, time passes at the same rate for all of us, start whatever it is you want to accomplish so you can be basking in your success, too! Every little task completed is one step closer to that victory! With that, we not only have another opportunity to make this week great, but we have sunshine in the forecast! Later this week and next weekend we are supposed to see temps in the high 70s! If that won't make you smile, nothing will!