Back to....Northern Lights Team

Oh dear, after such a nice weekend away from the work place, my husband just commented to me that it will be hard for me to go back to work tomorrow. Yeah, he would say that....the retired guy that doesn't have to worry about doing extra things on the days off, getting up every Monday morning knowing there are 5 days before the next time off.... yes, he is right. It WILL be hard for me to go back tomorrow. It seems that I have heard a lot of women in these last two years tell me that they are still working while their husbands are retired at home. This seems to be a babyboomer thing. Why are so many women still employed while the men are home playing? I'll tell you why..... a major thing in life these days .... we women are still working so that we have health insurance!!!! Yep, that's exactly why we are still working!

I thought that perhaps you would like to see who I work with and for. I have posted our team photo.. Our Northern Lights team met half way in Bemidji on Thursday to get together for a face to face meeting. Usually we meet each Thursday morning, via conference call. Our meeting on Thursday was led by one of our HR trainers and it was a workshop on "Being Productive at your job". It was nice to see three of the girls that I do work for, via e mail, phone calls... job orders. One is in the western part of the state up toward Moorhead, one is in the Bemidji area, and the other is in the Brainerd area. Then there are 3 in our Duluth office that I work for. So...I work for 6 very busy staff that plan events for raising income to support our programs, and to provide education and research, to kick cancer in the butt! Tina alone has 6 Relay For Life events in the next 2 weekends. My life is going to be no less hectic these next 3 months as they were these last three! I hope and pray that I survive this summer!

PS.. At least with the three day holiday I feel that I actually got some things accomplished this weekend, compared to some weekends, and even got some relaxing time in....See posts below) AND I updated my Blog!!!

Good Weekend....

"Got Photos?"

PHOTOS .... PHOTOS.....PHOTOS......PHOTOS....PHOTOS....PHOTOS....EVERYWHERE!

MUST GET THEM ORGANIZED!!!!! 39 years worth!!!!

Well, our family went no where this weekend, except to the cemetery. The kids were all doing their own things, and our son worked most of the weekend. But, I had a good weekend, even though I didn't see anyone or visit anyone or had fun with anyone. I totally relaxed on my day off on Friday, so that by Saturday I actually had energy to do some extra things around the house.... scrubbed the bathroom really well, went through clothing, cleaned some areas that needed attention. Today I had a choice between doing more cleaning, working on a "catch all" room upstairs, or working some more on photos that I have had sitting in a huge pile in the dining room corner, and with trying to work on them at different times that corner grew into practically the whole side of the room and was looking pretty darn bad! So, I started at 6:30 this morning and worked on photos most of the day! I ripped apart about 10 albums that had gotten yellow pages and took them all out, so that I can sort through and work on putting a nice book together for each of our kids and grandchildren. I also want to pick the best of each child's life time and scan them to get them on cd's. I know this is going to be a big venture, and as one of my friends once said "Linda, this is a job for your retirement years, not now"....but...what happens if I don't make it to retirement... (well, you never know...and I know I will be working for quite a while yet)... I just know that no one in my family treasures these photos like I do, and I am so afraid they would get thrown away...so I HAVE to get them organized.... those 10 albums only were up to our youngest son's 3rd birthday.... what about all the years after that....they are in RUBBERMAID bins upstairs....MANY rubbermaid bins...so you see this is just a START...I've been putzing around with this project for 3 winters now... and I must get moving and get these done so I can dig into the BINS!

PS....if anyone has done a project like this and has any tips....I would love to hear them!!!

A Day to Remember...

Last evening Bob, Rob and I went to Calvary Cemetary to visit grave sites of his family. They are all at Calvary, except for one Aunt, who is at Park Hill with her husband. We said a prayer over each, and spoke of how much we miss each of them. We spread some of his sister Carmella's ashes, who passed away in November, over his Mother's grave site. She had instructed her husband to have Bob do that in the spring. (the rest of them are with her husband in California). We couldn't find the graves of his brother and sister, who both were under age one when they died, Thomas and Dorothy. One of phneumonia, and one of a heart problem. They were born when Carmella was small, but before Bob was born. I remember that Mother Pugliese would have trouble every year finding their sites, but we always searched until we found them.... we gave up the search yesterday, I hope Dolly will forgive us. We always took his Mother to Calvary each Memorial Day weekend. She told us that when "I'm gone, this will be your responsibility to do."

We also remember those soldiers who fought for us in the military. And, though I'm not back in PA to visit their graves, I also remember my Mother, Dad, brother, grandparents and Aunts and Uncles that we have lost over the years.

Mom, Dad, brother Jerry, Mother Pugliese, Bob's Aunties: Rose, Mary, Mae, Louisa, Helen, Uncle Tom, his cousins Tommy, Carl, Sammy, Florence, Francie, Rose; my Aunts and Uncles that are gone: Aunt Nancy, Uncle Dick, Uncle Stan, Uncle Bill, Grandma and Grandpa Ebersole, Grandma and Maurice Gochnauer, So many Wiley Great Aunts and Uncles, So many Ebersole Great Aunts and Uncles, cousin Ronald, and many loved friends both in PA and here in MN, Helena and Flick, Ruth, Blanche, just to name a few of many...

I visit my Mother and Dad's and brother and try to get to my Grandparents grave sites when I go back home. Even though, I believe as my Mother always did, that as long as you have them in your hearts, all year long, it's not necessary to visit the gravesite. She always said "only their body is there, not them... so just keep them in your heart". But, I do believe that it doesn't hurt, out of respect to visit them over Memorial Day. It's for the "respect", that my Mother in law did this.

We don't just remember these loved ones on Memorial Day, but all through the year, we don't have to go to their grave site in order to remember, honor and respect them.

Take time to remember your loved ones.

"Which Tudor Queen are you like"??

A few months ago I joined "Facebook". Many of my younger friends and family are on Facebook and would rather communicate through it, rather than e mail, or reading blogs. I don't like it as much as blogging. But, it has some interesting aspects, and I like reading the thoughts others have and updates on what they are doing. One thing fun to do is quizs they have for people to take. You can choose to put the results online or not. Most of the time I don't. But the quizs are interesting. One I took was "what kind of Mother are you", and the answer was June Cleaver (from Leave it to Beaver, you know)...well, June Cleaver I certainly never was. I noted many people got that answer and they all disputed it also. I wasted some time this afternoon taking some of the quizs. Two were most interesting, especially the one that was called "What is your Temperament". I think that one hit the nail on the head and was pretty accurate. (See post below). Another was "Which wife of Henry VIII would you be?"

Since I have been watching the Showtime series about the Tudors of England the last 3 seasons, and have had an interest in the Tudors time, I thought I would take that quiz. I knew before I took it that I wouldn't be Anne Boylen...ha ha, but wasn't sure which one I would be like. Well, the answer was Catherine of Parr. Since Catherine was the King's last wife, and the Tudors series hasn't reached her yet (we are only on Anne of Cleaves) I didn't know much about Catherine. So, of course I had to do some searching on the internet, to see if facebook's description of her fit the history facts. It did.

This is what Facebook said:

"Linda just took the "Which wife of Henry VIII are you?" quiz and the result is Catherine Parr.
You are practical, intelligent and not afraid to stand up for what you truly believe. You are Catherine Parr, Henry VIII's 6th and final wife who survived him. Catherine was a tactful wife and companion who could not resist provoking Henry with arguments on theology-- a dangerous business in the 16th century. She managed to dodge arrest by Henry's "thought police" and outlived him."

This is what Luminarium Encyclopedia on my Google Search said: (it also said that her first name has been spelled with both a C and a K, depending...)

"Queen Katherine Parr was the only one of Henry VIII's wives to have survived him. She also has the questionable distinction of being England's most-married Queen. All who knew her praised her for her learning, her character, her godliness, gentleness and charity. She had great talent as a writer, and had she lived two hundred years later, she may have been a formidable presence. Yet perhaps her most lasting legacy was her shaping and nurturing of the learning and character of the little girl who would bring England to another Golden Age: the girl who would become Queen Elizabeth I. " -Luminarium Encyclopedia

I guess from what I have read of all his wives, that I'm happy that I am like Catherine Parr! (AND, she outlived him!)

What Temperament Am I?

So...this is the result of the quiz I took to see "What Kind of Temperament Are You?"
--- According to the Facebook test results I have a sanguine personality. The dictionary describes sanguine as
confident and optimistic. Facebook describes me as:

"Like a butterfly you flit from idea to idea and from project to project. You have so many interests it is hard to know which one to focus on and you have so many people you enjoy you have a hard time deciding who you should spend time with and where you should go. Your creativity and diversity are a gift to everyone you know, although some may perceive you as scattered and Unpredictable rather than the real you that is diverse and flexible. An affirmation for you would be: I am... A bright star A butterfly A creation of my own A pioneer Unique Adaptable Loved by many."

Well, the part about having many interests and hard to know which to focus on, and fliting from idea to idea, and project to project...I have to admit this does sound like me, and I think I am diverse and flexible, even though some look at me as scattered and unpredictable...hey this is all true! And, I would like to think that I am a gift to everyone I know, only my friends can tell me if that is correct. Isn't it amazing how some of these tests really do "hit the nail on the head!"

Almost a Month Already!

I can't believe almost a month has gone by since I've written. It has been another busy, hectic month at the job, so I'm exhausted when I get home and don't get much of anything done. I WANT to blog, but I don't get to it.

Let's see, the two most exciting things that have happened this month is:

SPRING IS HERE - Our Northland is Green again...and it's beautiful (see post below)

FIRST GALA - I attended my very first "GALA". I am not a "GALA" person (read about it in my post below)

FURLOGED....

I get a 4 day holiday weekend, so I want to catch up on my blog. I need this time off of my job, I came back from vacation overloaded with work, I feel like I will never get caught up. I have been working late most every evening, and I don't get paid for it, so I know I shouldn't be doing it. But, what can I say... I am a dedicated worker and can't seem to get away from being that way. It's going to be hard for me not to think of work, but I'm going to try. With the job market and unemployment what it is these days, I am thankful to have a job!

I don't think I've mentioned this, but in March we got the news that our organization would be giving us employees 4 furloged days between March 1st and Aug. 31st (end of our fiscal year) to help with our financial picture. I'm sure you've heard the word "furloged" more than once these days - it means, of course, time OFF WITHOUT pay. We are very thankful that they did not give us an across the board pay cut, or lay more of us off, and they were very smart in giving us FRIDAY's before holidays. Our first one was Good Friday before Easter, this one is our second, and then we get one before 4th of July and Labor Day. So, this makes for nice long weekends, which are appreciated by us all. (We are trying not to think about it being one more day that we won't get work done from our work load).

We are not the only ones sacrificing - our top leadership team (CEO, etc) for our Midwest Division, American Cancer Society, has taken a 5 % across the board pay cut from their salaries.

The Green Has Arrived Finally!

The GREEN has finally arrived in Duluth. About two weeks ago, buds starting coming out and by this week, everything is now green. It looks so beautiful here...so much nicer... the green alone has boosted the spirits of all of us that live here. We have had a few nice warm days intermixed with some very cool days, but on most of the cool days the sun has been shining so that has been great! We've already started the days where the temps are warmer over the hill than downtown. One day this week I left downtown and it was 54 degrees, and when I got home it was 88 degrees up here! What a difference. Also, a few days where we heard it was in the 90's 2 1/2 hours south of us in the cities, and it was in the 50's here...that was depressing news.

Our First Gala - An Evening of Hope

Our First "Evening of Hope" Gala

Our Income Staff for the Duluth Office of The American Cancer Society put together it's first "Gala" event, held on May 7th. Brenda had this put into her portfolio in July when she was hired. She jumped right in and started planning right away. It was a real challenge, as Duluth is not like the metro area. Attending Black tie formal galas is not something Duluthians do. Correction, I guess there are people in Duluth that are well heeled enough or social enough that do attend these events, we just have never felt that we knew too many of these people. We felt that a gala might be "risky". However, when push came to shove, we were willing to try it.

Brenda found the right committee, and they planned such a beautiful event that even those of us that aren't "well heeled" wanted to attend! We were "told" we needed to charge $75.00/ our instinct was to charge $50, but we went with the $75. We put up a web site, and put the word out. Sent "Save the Date" cards to those we thought would consider attending, two months before the invitations went out, and we begged some free advertising from one of the radio stations. The manager of The Radisson Hotel came on board early on, wanting to help with the mission of raising funds for Breast Cancer. The end result was the most beautiful event we could have even imagined. It was:

"An Evening of Hope" - The mission was raising funds for Breast Cancer

The theme was all PINK, for Breast Cancer. It was held at the Radisson, starting in the Great Hall with social hour of appetizers, cash bar, PINK Martini's and a great "The Cure is in the Bag" silent auction. We had 120 enjoy the evening. The dinner was held at the TOP of the HARBOR, with the transition from the Great Hall to the top, in a manner that was commented as a smooth transition by many. The Top of the Harbor Restaurant was decorated, candlelight, including dining music by Billy Barnard's group. Elegant dining, with a 4 course meal, including filet that melted in your mouth, and pink strawberry mouse for dessert. The fun continued on with "Keys for a Cure" a chance to win a beautiful watch worth $1495, and "Mystery Boxes", that was fun for everyone.

I have worked many events put on by our staff. When I realized that there was plenty of help, I decided I wanted to go to this as a guest, a paying attendee. I am so glad that I did, it was a wonderful evening, and so rewarding to see the work that they all did come to fruitation. I sat at a table with all women there without partners, and we had so much fun. I only knew two of them, but by the end of the evening I knew them all! And, by the way, I shopped at the auction and got two lovely felted purses, one was an original hand made by our own Duluthian Patti Salo-Downs. Great evening.

The event was a success, we heard many comments from people saying they will be back next year, and "we'll be the first to sign up". This was our first ANNUAL... and the committee already met this week, to start planning for next year's "Evening of Hope"....watch for it! It was financially successful, we netted for Breast Cancer Research, over $17,000!!! Hurray. Great job to Brenda and her committee. A special thank you to co/chair Bridgett Markwood!!! Also, to our 5 talented UMD interns who were instrumental in making the event a success. They worked hard for months, and were amazing!

***If you dine at the Top of the Harbor, please mention to them that you appreciate the support they gave to The American Cancer Society. Also, if you shop at Cashwise Liquors, they were also most generous. Thank them also. The food at the Top of the Harbor was wonderful. I told the manager that we often think of dining there when we have company in town, but that's the only time we think to...he said, yes, that's with most of the people here in town. SO...next time you want to have an elegant dining evening or a lunch, do remember about our asset here in Duluth that we have...the revolving restaurant and the top of the Radisson. What a view they have. The prices are not skyhigh either. Don't just save the experience for when you have company from out of town! ENJOY it yourself!!! Anytime!