ZigZagStraight

Fellowship of the ....

2009-12-08T16:02:00.000-08:00

Ring. Right.

Wasn't it all about traveling together (even though sometimes the friends were apart on different paths)?

Wasn't it all about being right in the middle of something completely scarey and unpredictable--life-threatening even--and trusting the cause was greater than the sacrifice?

Wasn't it terrible, cold, disappointing, discouraging, a drag, and exhilirating, inspiring, engaging, and perfect all at the same time?

I am aware as I zig and zag on my own adventure that others in my fellowship are enduring something I am not. Even though we are together we may be apart. I am sensing the danger and helpless to prevent it.

Nevertheless, we are pressing on...together...

Surfing

2009-11-13T22:15:00.000-08:00

In a previous chapter of my life when appointments with people populated my planner...I coined a phrase for myself: surfing the chaos.

There seemed to arise every so often--a day, a week, a month--times when the line between peace and panic would fade and catastrophic chaos loomed. During those times, I grabbed my board and caught the wave.

Those on the shore watching the activity were amazed; it looked so smooth and graceful and choreographed on the surface!

"How does she do it"? They would ask outloud to no one in particular.

The answer is: I had no idea. All I knew to do when faced with those circumstances was stay on the board and hang on through the curl of the wave, mist in my face, roar of the ocean, threat of imminent peril crashing overhead.

In the end it was almost always exhilirating. Sometimes it was dibilitating. Fairly often it was excruiating. But, what other choice was there?

I don't know if it's El Nino, the Mayan Calendar, or the Harvest Moon...but, it's been one of those weeks. Midterms, lectures, office hours. Budgets, evals, baby showers. The lines in my forehead and shadows under my eyes give me away: sleep has been sweet but all too short recently.

My life's current chapter has a different theme, but the predictably random nature of the chaos wave has not changed.

Surfs Up!

Grab your board...

Occupational Therapy for All (forthcoming)!

2009-11-02T16:01:00.000-08:00

Hey, ZigZag fans near and far--

I got some good news on Thursday; AOTA (American Occupational Therapy Association) is publishing a collection of stories about therapy...and a submission I sent to them earlier this year will be included in their finished work!

This is exciting on multiplie levels: Wylie's story gets a wider audience, understanding and awareness regarding Asperger-related issues will increase, and the fabric of my writing career has one more thread of credibility stitched into it.

Once the particulars are finalized, I'll be sure to pass along the link and info.

Next writing project: final draft of my GIS/teaching research paper sent off to Journal of Economic Education (before Christmas)!

Thank you to all ZigZag readers for encouraging me to this point.

Later in September

2009-10-27T19:06:00.000-07:00

American Vice: Mapping the 7 Deadly Sins

2009-09-04T09:46:00.001-07:00

American Vice: Mapping the 7 Deadly Sins

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Life Transformation

2009-09-02T11:03:00.001-07:00

Want to fill your bucket? Watch this amazing work by Robbie Carlson capturing real life change here.

Buckets, Brains, and Drains

2009-08-20T12:29:00.000-07:00

My church, the church I also work for part-time, SGCF, sent me to The Leadership Summit for the second time. What a smart investment. It is--without a doubt--the most powerful conference I've attended in the last 10 years. The collaboration of brilliant leaders from within and outside the church domain is unprecedented.

Lots of big brains.

The list goes on and on. All of these hosted by Bill Hybels, one of my mentors in faith.

What a privilege to attend.

Hybels confessed the downturn in the economy has created another full-time job for most leaders: how to navigate through this new reality. And, in his humble way, he also confessed his natural response to all of this was to work harder. In his own words, he said the life he was living was not sustainable. He had to make adjustments.

He drew a bucket on a paper. It's so simple. All of us have a bucket that holds our sense of peace and well-being. When the level is full or nearly so, we can lead, work, love, give and perform at our potential. However, the very act of doing these things drains the bucket. Add to this the people that we all must deal with that also have a "draining" effect on our energy, and you very quickly can begin to see the levels of peace, fullness, satisfaction drain away.

We have to re-fuel. We have to renew. We have to proactively take responsibility for the filling of our own bucket. For those of us who follow after God, this necessarily involves time with Him, with scripture, prayer, and truth. And, of course, it could involve engaging in more of the activities that are energy boosters (exercise, hobbies, time with family, etc.) and adequately monitoring the energy drains.

This is just one simple, but profound "take-away". More to follow; my bucket is spilling over.

All Over the Map

2009-07-09T08:03:00.000-07:00

The next few weeks are "full".

Our WILDlife Family Camp kick-starts Friday up at The Oaks in Lake Hughes, CA

Upon returning home Sunday afternoon, Tim and I take off for San Diego so I can attend my first ever User Conference with ESRI the 12th through the 15th. My presentation slides are here

Got to go to Disneyland for my birthday next week to get my gift card

Campbell has a swim meet in Hemet the following weekend

SGCF has another event planned for 4th-6th graders on the 22nd...it will be "cosmic"

Prep work for a new course (to me) at CSUSB should begin later this month: Econ 335 "Tools of Economic Analysis". I'll be teaching one of my favs as well "Economics of Sport"

Anticipating some new contacts after my GIS presentation which will hopefully lead to some more productive research in this area and a finalized paper submission before school begins

That's just a snapshot. I know your summer is full of jam-packed-action, too. It's a good thing we're all on vacation???

Finish Well

2009-07-07T14:44:00.000-07:00

One of the lessons (if not the most important one) I'm learning from the death of my father-in-law is the importance of finishing well. Those who knew Bud well were not blind to the obvious blunders and areas in his life where he had fallen short and missed the mark. But, many--far more--beheld a man pressing forward, forgetting what was behind, reaching out for the prize--the upward call of Christ. This was captured poignantly by the dark-haired 6th grade boy who got up to speak at Bud's memorial. Trembling and scared, this little man expressed beautifully the importance Bud's example. He spoke of Mr. Ray's ability to tell the stories of the bible well. In particular, he recalled the story of Easter. Because of Bud's passion for Christ and his commitment to teaching Sunday School week after week, this boy came to Christ and has unlimited potential in the kingdom of God. His testimony obliterates any notion that somehow there is a scale of justice where our sins, our mistakes, the trash of our lives (of Bud's life), are somehow weighed against the trivial "good" things we think we do. If there is such a scale, no one "not even one" would prove righteous. Instead, this boy's testimony reveals what it means--for any of us who call ourselves Christians--to be redeemed. Only Christ can take the trash, the blunders, the mistakes, the missed marks and transform them into something...wonderful. Something purposeful. Something eternal. The sooner we grasp this lesson, the sooner we can all get on with finishing well.
Philippians 3:13

Perspectives

2009-06-26T10:07:00.000-07:00

Success.

Fulfillment.

Ambition.

Dreams.

Words we attach particular meaning to.

Each requires perspective.

Yesterday, on the way to swim practice with the boys, the merits of swimming and practicing more during the summer were being discussed. The main idea being: the more you swim, the better you swim. The boys, however, being 11 years old and inclined to just a bit of summer-time laziness took issue with the main idea. Using their keen logical minds one of them said:

"so, if I swim four days a week I'll be as good as Michael Phelps?"

I replied with something equally logical but parental:

"Not every great swimmer is an Olympian like Michael Phelps. There are far more great swimmers than there are Olympic swimmers".

We went back and forth. Finally, we did agree if you want to be a better swimmer it will most likely involve more swim practice. And, four or five more years of swim practice would make them both better swimmers.

Since Campbell just posted some much improved times at his last meet, it must have inspired Wylie to prophesy the following:

"Well, in five years Campbell can be an Olympican (pronounced o-limp-i-can) and I can be working at McDonalds with my best friend, Thomas".

Success.

Fulfillment.

Dreams.

Ambition.

Words we attach a particular meaning to....

Perspectives.

Every Mile a Smile?

2009-06-02T01:12:00.000-07:00

(This is a finisher's story I wrote for the San Diego Rock N Roll Marathon website--)

This was my first marathon. Just before entering Hwy. 163, I thought it might be my last. I've been training for about six months--following a modified schedule I found in John Bingham's book "Marathoning for Mortals". A life-long recreational jogger, I truly embraced the challenge of the longer runs and found the training was becoming satisfying on its own. The race was the catalyst that got me on the running journey.

Although I was not running for a specific cause, I picked up an idea from an article about former Presidential Candidate, Mike Huckabee. He completed several marathons by dedicating every mile to a special person. I adopted this into a personal theme "every mile is a smile". and even laminated a card with the names of my special people. In this way, the race became more than just a personal quest, it had taken on a life of its own and all the people who knew about it in my life were becoming invested with me.

About a month ago, after an 18 miler, I injured my i.t. band. I did everything I read about to treat it, resting as much as possible while still trying to train. In spite of all the rest, icing, elevation, stretching and focus on form, I was persistently having trouble with my left leg after long runs.

Consequently, I showed up at the starting line in San Diego knowing there was a strong possibility the left band could flare again. I began the race conservatively, certainly working on a negative split (about 13:20 overall pace). Just before we left the city-streets to enter 163, the i.t. band started "barking". Another mile or so and it was obviously not going to subside.
I was faced with a decision right then and there in the middle of that highway: 1) quit or 2) press on and see if I could finish. I found that if I changed up my run/walk breaks, I actually could make steady progress for stretches of time with pain below my "threshold". I adapted my race-day strategy from "work on a negative split" to "work on putting one foot in front of the other".

Obviously, I lagged behind the pace group I had optimistically hoped to follow. Still, after about 16 miles it became obvious to me that I was in no danger of missing the time cut-offs, so all was not lost.

By mile 21 I knew I was going to finish no matter what. My left leg was stiffening and my right foot was suffering from the unplanned additional walking, but for me that mile marker was a true point of no return. (Strangely enough, the laminated card with my special names/miles got lost when I grabbed my last gel pack! But, I knew who the last miles were for and that strengthened my resolve to leave nothing on reserve). I was all in.

Mile 25 to the finish I'll never forget. I saw people struggling to stay upright. I saw a lady just ahead of me who had to be in her 80s going strong and at the same time I saw a young college kid drop to the curb on my left. This last mile was no respecter of persons. When I felt the stabbing pain in my left knee more severely than any other time on the course I said outloud to no one in particular and to God: "Please, I just want to finish strong". And, right then a marine at the entrance to the depot looked me in the eye and said "you're going to make it, runner".
A half-a-mile more and I saw my husband, kids, and friends waving to me and shouting out in pride. Through the tunnel on the other side I saw the Rock n Roll logo and I swear the pain went away for the last few steps across the finish line.

One day later, I'm icing my knee and wincing through stretches. I've got a blister under my toenail, and all across the back of my right heel from the adapted walk/run technique I defaulted to on mile 10. I know I'll have to figure out a better way to run to avoid the i.t. band problem. There's work I'll have to do to fully recover.

However, Bingham wrote in his book that somewhere on the course what you believe about yourself will equal what is true about yourself. Somewhere around mile 10 I decided to keep going even though it hurt; at mile 21 I believed I would finish. At mile 26.2 I experienced the truth.

It was all worth it.

Living Museum Comes Alive!

2009-05-26T09:47:00.001-07:00

Here's just a few shots from the Living Museum at Calimesa Elementary School May 21, 2009!

General George S. Patton gives a briefing to his Grammy SB and father, Lt. Col. Tim Harris

Davy Crockett: ready to secure life, liberty, and property!

Clara Barton (Miranda) has been a classmate of Wylie's since the 3rd grade. She is precious! So smart and stands maybe 4 foot 6inches tall.

Davy and Dad strike a pose. Grammy in the background! What an awesome day for the 5th graders!

Living Museum Updates

2009-05-07T23:05:00.000-07:00

The boys have been hard at work on their display boards and "dolls" for the Living Museum later this month:

The actual Living Museum Tours are Thursday, May 31st 9:30 to 11:30 at Calimesa Elementary School. I guarantee you it will be a good time!

Mother May I?

2009-05-06T13:31:00.000-07:00

For many reasons, this month of May is extreme for me.

Two courses at CSU are underway and three courses at U of R have begun. For college professor types, this number of courses would be commonly called an "overload".

M-W-F mornings I'm on campus at CSU; every other Monday night and every Tuesday and Thursday night for the next six weeks I am on campus at U of R.

Combine that with my part-time work for SGCF, being a wife/mom, wannabe marathoner and you get an extreme month.

I knew it would be like this. But, knowing it would be and being in it are two different things.

This Sunday is Mother's Day...

If you were playing the childhood game...what would you ask?

Right now, I'd ask for the little charm Hermoine had in Harry Potter where she could go back and forth in time....

Mother May I?

Courage

2009-04-28T00:23:00.000-07:00

One of the fun things I get to do (occasionally) at my church is teach! Last Sunday my message was "Esther: Courage". Here's the link if you want to listen in....

The Living Museum

2009-04-16T10:58:00.001-07:00

The boys are in classes with teachers who team teach science and social studies. This works nicely for a mom of twins: at least there are not twice the assignments! Coming up in the next month is a social studies assignment called "The Living Museum" where the boys will select a person to "play", research them, put together a display board and then "become" this person for the museum.

This is right up both Campbell and Wylie's alley...

These are the two personalities the boys have chosen:

General George S. Patton

and...

that would be Davie Crockett.

So, test your knowledge of Cam and Wise....

which one picked which man?

We will post the progress of their research as the assignment unfolds...

Two for the Road

2009-04-08T15:45:00.000-07:00

Some are inspired to clean during this season. Others to fall in love.

Not I.

I was inspired to facilitate the mastery of that all-important life skill: riding a bicycle.

Ladies and Gentlemen...I give you....

Two for the Road

Spring Breakers

2009-04-05T19:27:00.000-07:00

The Harris kids are on spring break!

So far they have:

swam in the pool at the Mission Inn
taken Tim's "unofficial" tour of the Mission Inn
sat in President Taft's chair (all three of them at the same time)
hiked to the top of Mt. Rubidoux
visited the Riverside Natural History Museum
sat in our hot tub
watched Monsters v. Aliens
played catch
played basketball
hunted for bugs
found bugs
lost bugs
watched movies
played video games

Week #2 begins tomorrow...

Diary of...a not-so-whimpy-Kid

2009-03-25T09:31:00.001-07:00

There is a book series out for elementary kids called Diary of a Whimpy Kid that is cute and very readable. Wylie has been engrossed and was close to finishing it yesterday. This birthed the following exchange:

Wylie: "Mom, I want to do a scrapbook of my life--you know--with pictures and stuff".

Me: "Ok, I have a scrapbook upstairs--I think--that you can use". I replied to him as I was tidying up dishes in the kitchen and getting ready to sit down for the first time on Tuesday to relax a little.

Wylie: "Can you get it now?"

I realized, resistence was futile.

A reformed Creative Memories addict, of course I had scrapbooks upstairs he could use (along with 100s of dollars of other scrapbooking "stuff" that I had to have and haven't used in over 3 years....) Finally, I found a scrapbook I purchased for the boys hoping one day they might want to make their own book. See? How prophetic I was???

Once I got out the materials and supplies, Wylie began his "diary" in earnest. He worked on layouts, cutting pictures, writing narratives, drawing pictures, recalling trips, holidays, school mates....he was "focused". I had to cut him off at 9:30!

Here's five things I love about this recent development:

Wylie was inspired by something he read

Wylie wanted to create something using his own imagination and ability

Wylie drew pictures and wrote sentences for something other than required homework assignments

Wylie used scissors (a hat tip to his years of Occupational Therapy) without complaining

Wylie did not play a video game or watch a show on Tuesday after swim--he literally, read a book, listened to music, and "scrapped" until bedtime....

Ladies and Gentlemen....it's the dawn of a new CTI era....

Stay tuned (and pass those die-cuts over here.....)

No Cowboy UP!

2009-03-13T10:05:00.001-07:00

So, this very cool cowboy/rodeo champion, Ty Murray, is on Dancing With the Stars this season (although, it has to be said...not for long....). During his introductory video history it showed him riding bulls and all the other stuff rodeo dudes do. Wylie has seen his share of rodeo dudes bite it on "Destroyed in Seconds" and other such shows on Discovery channel.

This morning, on the way to school, I asked Wylie if he thought he might want to ride in a rodeo someday....

"Not me! Those guys get smashed by bulls and need a lot of surgeries for like....spine removal, brain-mushing, and amnesia".

I'll take that as a no. Especially the spine removal part...

Scarecrow? Lion? Tin-Man?

2009-03-10T16:33:00.000-07:00

Wylie is smitten with our "Wicked" soundtrack. Today he asked (on our way home from school where most interesting questions arise) which character would you be in The Wizard of Oz and/or Wicked?

I think it's a great question.

Wylie says he would for sure be the Tin-Man (a.k.a. Bach in Wicked).

So, which character would you be???

Except for the Nose Thing

2009-03-09T22:22:00.000-07:00

Wylie put in a purchase-order request for "Pinochio"...the latest edition of this timeless tale from Disney. In justifying his request he said, unequivocally, "I'm just like him; well, except for the nose thing".

How can I refuse a real boy?

In other Harris kid news...

Campbell had the best swim meet of his young life! He posted improved times in all events and even took first in two heats. He earned some solid points toward his trophy. Wylie gave his all on the breast and free. Though he was DQed on the breast for a late second hand touch (you've got to touch the wall with two hands simultaneously), he took the criticism with respect and announced afterwards "what do you expect--it's Redlands, I always get DQed at Redlands".

Mortal Marathon Training Update: finished a 10 mile run last Saturday at Hangar 24 (my husband is a fan) and felt great throughout. Even tried a chocolate gel pack for my nutrition! This weekend it is a 12 mile run...where will I go? What will I see?

More later this week...

Quotable Wylie

2009-02-24T00:41:00.000-08:00

2009 sees me trying to be a good example for my children ( in earnest) with respect to overall health--in particular nutrition and exercise. It's no secret I am training for the San Diego Rock n Roll marathon in May; it's also no secret I am a recovering Diet Dr. Pepper addict. At my worst, I probably was five or six cans a day. And, it wasn't just diet stuff in the house. I'd have real Coke sometimes, too. So, the kids (and especially Wylie) had access to soda more than was probably optimal.

I gave it up in January.

I'm not completely caffeine free (I will take a drag off a coke or coffee occasionally and buy one when out for a meal), but I have ceased buying diet sodafor myself or any soda with caffiene for the house. Only 7 UP and root beer for Campbell.

This met with some unhappy protests, but has basically been adapted to by everyone at the Harris Ranch.

Today, though, here comes Wylie:

"Boy, this living without caffeine stuff is really driving me crazy".

My (now) 11 year old boy is coping with his withdrawls just fine. I'll continue to update on our quest for the best in 2009....stay tuned!

He Said He Said

2009-02-10T20:22:00.000-08:00

Everyone in the Yucaipa Valley experienced the fairly extreme weather on Monday. Today's clear skies were a sharp contrast to yesterday's damp, grey, wet, winter, rain-sleet-snow-mix. The differences were not lost on both my sons.

We did not swim yesterday due to the weather. With all the combined family activities last week, the boys were only at the pool one afternoon (as opposed to 3 workouts generally).

Today, we were on our way up to the pool. I'll leave it to you to figure out which he said what en route:
He said: "Boy, I hope we do breast stroke today".

The other he said: "Boy, I hope I don't freeze my butt off today".

I laughed all the way up the hill...

Rain Running

2009-02-09T11:33:00.000-08:00

Southern Californians are generally ill-prepared for inclement weather of any kind. Take rain for example...

This weekend, I drove down to San Diego with some of our brilliant team from SGCF to attend a Children's Ministry Conference. It had been raining off-an-on the day we went down. We counted six accidents on the 15 South. Then, on the way home, two more accidents.

I have a cautious streak that's pretty wide, so I slow down in the rain. And, I'm not inclined to run in the serious rain. 1) I don't have sufficient rain gear and 2) I really don't want to slip, fall, pull something, twist something or otherwise injure myself.

So, today I ran on the treadmill at Reps For Life (a local gym I joined in January to help compliment my marathon training). My workout assignment was just 45 minutes of running at about 60% of my maximum heart rate. In other words, an easy run where I could "theoretically" hold a conversation.

This "rain running" caused me to think about a few things...

1) since I was in control of the incline and speed on the treadmill, I had a sense of command over my environment and my body--that was cool for the first 15 minutes, and very boring for the last 30 minutes

2) even though I was running a good pace for me, the extremely fit gal 4 treadmills over was totally going for some kind of record and I couldn't help but occasionally see her in my peripheral vision and get that jealousy vibe

3) just when I imagined I was finishing mile 26 in my race and the endorphins were pumping and Paul Coleman Trio was singing me to victory...I hit my ear-buds with my hand and dropped my entire ipod on the floor which resulted in me having to do the "straddle" on the machine--it completely broke my rhythm and gave gold-medal gal a big advantage

4) all-in-all, I prefer running outside. I think we are made to enjoy a little bit of uncertainty, to travel while we exert ourselves (versus "standing still" on the mill), to feel the wind in your face and wonder whether you can make it home instead of plodding along...knowing you can hit the stop button anytime

Rain, rain...go away.