Winning Strategies

New Years Rockin Eve

Thousands of people converge on the American Airlines Center and fight the bitter cold to count down to the New Year. Women in short skirts and men without jackets speckle the crowd.

There is no shortage of hats, funny glasses, noise makers and comical costumes. It is like a giant bash with thousands of your closest friends.

The band plays on a live stage and keeps the crowd moving, a necessary act to keep from freezing in the 33 degree temperatures. It is almost 11 pm and we will soon be counting down to a new year.


 

Dinner at the House of Blues

The neighborhood is a buzz of activity as the area prepares for 2010. Victory Plaza is expecting 40,000 to count down to the new year. The House of Blues is a buzz of activity and energy as well. The food is great- and the energy is just as good.


Caleb ordered a delectible plate of steak medallions with asparagus and potatoes.  Brandon had angel hair pasta and shrimp and Michael and I ordered mahi mahi.  Mmmnnnnn mmmnnnn good.  We topped it off with a chocolate mouse and an apple dumpling.

The View of the Downtown

It is rainy and gloomy on this new years eve night. It is still early, and Michael and I and the boys are heading off to explore the hotel.
Tonight, starting at 9, the hotel is going on lock down and will only allow registered guests inside. The Chevy Music Stage is setting up for the bands that will play tonight. More to come...
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We Check into the W

Looks like despite the rain, everyone is readying for the festivities.

Ringing in the New Year at the W Hotel at Victory Plaza

We plan to ring in the 2010 new year amidst the bubbles, babes and activity of Victory Plaza. I will blog live updates as the needle falls in downtown Dallas. Perched in a room high above the city- we will upload pictures from both the ground as well as the view from the room.
It will soon be a New Year. We can start anew with fresh attitudes and happy and fulfilling dreams as we head into a great 2010.
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A Great Legacy

All day long after writing the post on building a legacy, I've been thinking of my grandmother Beth.  She built an incredible legacy.  Although she died several years ago, she made a huge impression on the world that still resonates today in the hearts and minds of the many people that she touched in Roscommon Michigan and beyond.

She had a way with kids.  She hand made puppets and taught story time at Markey Baptist Church in Houghton Lake, Michigan.  She was an incredible story teller.  Her eyes would glisten and her voice fluctuate and you would believe that you were there in the story and that it was unfolding right before your eyes.  She was an uneducated woman, never went past the 8th grade.  You would have never known by the way that she could tell a story.

She loved her husband Edgar, and spent over 50 years married to him until he preceded her in death.  She raised four children of her own (Norma Jean, Anna Elois, Edgar Jr, and Bruce) as well as adopting a special needs child (George Lucas).

Today I'm thinking of a blind friend of mine in Las Cruces New Mexico, Paul Sealing, that I use to read to when I lived in Michigan.  He still misses my Grandma as do I.  She touched his life in a special way.  She also touched my life in a special way.  I miss you Grandma.

Today I applaud the legacy of Grandma Elizabeth and the amazing life that she led.  In memory....

Life Sentences

If you were to sum up your life in one sentence, what would it say? What kind of legacy are you building?We toil and work away not always thinking about the culmination of the entire piece of work that is our life.

You are building a legacy. You may have never thought about it that way- but each action, each move, is a building block on a giant leggo set constructed into a life.

Write a sentence that you would like to be the summation of your entire life. From that sentence- you have a go-forward conscious direction. You can determine today the legacy that you want to leave behind.  Not only can you pre-determine the legacy that you want to build, but you can start today making decisions and following actions that build the legacy that you want to leave behind.

All great intentions, great actions and great lives ALL started with just a small thought in someone's head.
Isn't it amazing to think that every man/woman that you've ever respected and admired their life accomplishments started it all with just one thought.

The power of the human mind amazes me. We decide to 'take action' and our lives can change from that day forward. The higher the resolve that we have to accomplish it, the higher the percentage that it will happen.

Create a legacy that is worthy of you. Think a new thought, dream a worthy legacy.

A Blessed Christmas Day

A winter storm blew in and for the first time that I can remember since coming to Texas- we have a white Christmas.

The hustle dissipates from the busy week, and a stampede of kids and chatter of children fill the house. Heather is here and we have all of our children in one place- a mother's dream.

Worries about long lists of 'To Dos' are gone and the long awaited day is here. Outside I see children playing in the cold, the normal empty streets and sidewalks of the neighborhood come alive.

I think about the promises I've made this year; the ones I've kept and the ones I haven't. I think about the good I've done and what more I could have done.

I hug my boys, my daughter and my husband and lift up a prayer of thanksgiving for this moment.

Years from now in a hospital bed I may need to recall the strength built in this moment. Funny how the older you get, the more you realize how short life is- and you finally stop wishing it away.

I appreciate all my readers that have stopped in to visit the blog this year.
My hopes are that in some way it has encouraged you, brought out the best in you and helped you to seek another day with a refreshed and eager attitude.

You have been a huge blessing in my life. You have allowed me to do two things that I love, writing and encouraging others. Funny how you set out to help and encourage others and end up encouraging and helping yourself.

Merry Christmas to all- let's plan for a fabulous 2010 together!

Merry Christmas

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My Mom is my Hero

You would walk into the church, decorated just perfectly- yet you'd never know the lady who placed the decorations so nicely.  Into the homeless shelter you would pass, but you'd probably not get to meet the woman who put up all the trees and made it look like Christmas at Carriage Town Ministries (http://www.carriagetown.org/).  You'd see my dad there, teaching classes to the needy of Flint Michigan, but you'd probably not run into my mother sorting donated clothes in the back room.   You could attend a wedding in Michigan, with all the decorations and time spent decorating donated by an amazing woman, but you probably wouldn't see her there.

Behind the scenes of all of these and more is the most beautiful woman that I've ever known.  My mother is the most selfless woman that I know.  Yesterday she celebrated her birthday.  Well into her seventies, she does things for other people on a daily basis and keeps a schedule that even I couldn't keep nor ones half my age.

For all you do Mom for others, we love you.  For all the effort and time that you spend that goes unnoticed by most- we notice you.  For all the love that you show through your decorating and time spent on others, we appreciate and love you.  You are one of a kind.  You are my hero.  Happy Birthday to Elois Eastman of Flint Michigan.  Thank you for showing me an incredible example of what a woman can be.  You are truly a woman adored and loved by her family.