Ding! Woot! Grats!

Posted by Donna on June 24, 2009

24 June 2009

It took only 19 days, 18 hours, and approximately 53 minutes of game time for me to reach another goal. Yes, today I reached Level 80, the maximum level to be achieved in the game of World of Warcraft.

Here are some pics of my character. Her name is Adelis. She is a Night Elf Druid (meaning she can change into a bear, cat, cheetah, porpoise, and hawk).

Now you might wonder, what my plans are for the game. Many, if not most, people think reaching Level 80 is where the fun begins. For me, I think the fun is pretty much over.

Although I have enjoyed the journey and the distraction of this game, it might be time to find a new direction to focus my energies. These last few levels have been a chore and just something to get done so that I could say that I reached Level 80.

Who knows what my next fun distraction will be. Who knows when I will identify it for myself. But whatever it is, whenever it becomes part of my life, I’m sure that I’ll enjoy it as much as I did World of Warcraft.

Adelis has been a big part of my life for the past 18 months or so (that’s about how long I’ve been playing this character in real time). If I were to have another daughter I would name her Adelis. But since that isn’t in my game plan (nor is a puppy or a kitty)… I may have to settle on naming a fish for her.

Hugs,

–Donna

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Did You Ever Wonder. . .

Posted by Donna on June 21, 2009

21 June 2009

First, let me point out a few things. . .

• I just finished my work week which means I worked three 12-hour night shifts (6 p.m. til 6 a.m.).
• I only got about 4 hours of sleep each day.
• We were short-staffed all week which means I did a lot more work than I usually do.

So if I need justification for the totally random question I’m about to ask, those are it. As you probably know from your own experiences, the mind plays strange games when you’re really really really tired.

But before I ask this question (can you feel the anticipation building? You want to know what bizarre direction my mind went in this morning, don’t you?) let me offer some background.

It’s a rainy Sunday morning. I was driving home from work. My normal route takes me past a farm. Today, like most days, there were cows in the field. There was a Mama cow with her little baby standing apart from the rest of the herd.

So here goes. . .

“What do cows think when it rains?”

Yup. That’s my question for the day.

I mean, they’re standing in the field, minding their own business, and suddenly it starts to drizzle rain on them. Do they move to get out of its way? Do they think, “Hmmmm, what is that wet stuff that’s dripping off my eyelashes?”

What did that Mama cow tell her baby when the baby says, “Mama, I think there’s something wrong with my eyes. There are lines coming out of the sky and poking me in the eyeball!”

Do cows even notice that they are getting wet? Do they think, “Boy, this is refreshing!”? or do they think “Oh bother, we’re all going to smell like wet dogs again.”?

I don’t know what cows think, but I bet they don’t think about how the rain will affect their hairdo or fuss that they’ll be stuck inside all day. I bet they don’t think that all their plans are ruined and that they should have paid to have the canvas tents erected after all.

I’m fairly certain these big, beautiful, brown-eyed beasts of. . . well, er. . . dinner think something mildly profound when it starts to rain.

Perhaps something as self-empowering and enlightened as “Moo.”

What do you think cows think when it rains? I’d love to know!

Hugs,

–Donna

P.S. Happy Father’s Day!

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How to Re-register so You Can Make Comments

Posted by Donna on June 19, 2009

19 June 2009

Thanks, Lisa, for bringing an overlooked setting to my attention! Lisa wrote to find out how she could re-register for my blog so that she can post comments.

I scoured the various options and settings in my account and found the one that was not checked when it should have been. Oops!

I checked the box and hopefully it will work for you now.

Here’s what to do…

At the bottom of an entry, there is a place to add your comment. Click that link. You should be taken to a log in page. If you haven’t already registered, click on the “register” link to set up your account. Follow those instructions and you should be all set.

Thanks, Lisa, for being a faithful reader and friend!

Hugs,

–Donna

P.S. Happy Birthday, Izzy!

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Twenty-four Years. What’s Next?

Posted by Donna on

16 June 2009

Happy Anniversary, Gerry & Donna (yes, me!)

It’s hard to believe Gerry and I been married 24 years. Who wudda thunk it all those years ago when we met as young airmen in Germany. Yet here we are… with two adult children (yikes! When did that happen?) and us.

Now we begin the journey of rediscovering who we are as individuals and as a couple. It’s kind of scary but very exciting!

I’ve been thinking about this pending transition for several years. For those of you who know me well, you know I’m a planner. I’m always looking forward to see where I want to be, what I want to be doing, and who I want to be doing it with.

Twenty-four years.

We’ve seen a lot of changes in our world over that period of time.

We’ve witnessed a lot of human tragedies.

The Challenger shuttle disaster. I’d only recently joined Gerry at Robins AFB, Georgia. We’d been married six months but spent the first five months thousands of miles apart. Gerry always loved the space program. He got me excited and interested in it. The Challenger disaster happened the day after Gerry’s birthday.

The Columbine High School massacre. What parent didn’t hesitate to send their children to school from that point forward? What employee didn’t wonder if they worked side-by-side with a person capable of committing the same act of destruction in their workplace?

September 11, 2001… a day that needs no explanation. A date like December 7, 1941. It will live in infamy and it changed our nation’s mindset and future.

In the past 24 years we’ve also witnessed many human triumphs. (Although I do admit I’m grateful not to include “putting a man on the moon” in my list.)

We saw the “personal computer on everyone’s desktop” vision come to fruition. We saw the Berlin Wall come tumbling down (after visiting it in person while we were stationed in Germany). We saw the launching of the Hubble telescope and continue to enjoy the images it sends back to us earthlings.

Yes, the world is a different place now than it was when we married. As a friend recently pointed out… it was a time when MTV actually played music videos.

We started out just the two of us. Then we bought a house in Centerville, Georgia. We started a family. We moved back to New England and had another baby. We moved to Maine and, thank goodness, had no more babies!

And here we’ve been for the last 17 years. As much as we complain about six months of winter, Maine is home. Not sure if I could ever actually leave it. Hmmmm… maybe… but that’s not a decision to be made today.

Today’s decision revolves around where we want to eat (Bailey’s Seafood Restaurant… okay, the radio advertisement suckered me in… I just had to experience it!), and how far we want to walk up Old Orchard Beach.

Twenty-four years… more than half my lifetime (no comments, Earl!)…

I think we still have some great adventures ahead of us.

Hugs,

–Donna

P.S. Happy birthday, Earl!!

P.P.S. I wrote the above entry on our actual anniversary but failed to publish it. It was reading a bit “heavy” for such an occasion. So I did a bit of editing and think it’s now acceptable for your viewing pleasure. 8-D

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Fitness & Friendship

Posted by Donna on June 14, 2009

14 June 2009

Bummer.

I actually remembered to drive to the gym after work this morning. Unfortunately the parking lot was empty; the building dark. I pulled into the parking lot; drove against the one way arrow (I’m such a rebel); and parked in front of the door.

The posted hours were as I thought: Open Saturday & Sunday 6:00 AM

Where was everyone? It was 6:05 a.m.

Just as I started to pull into a parking space, thinking the person who opens the gym was just late, the headline on a handwritten sign on the door caught my attention: Summer hours.

Yup. The gym opens at 7 a.m. on weekends now. Oh bother.

Oh well. What can you do?

Just glanced at my perpetual calendar and I see that three years ago today my daughter graduated from high school. Her class, like Sean’s, also graduated on a Wednesday night. Hard to believe it’s been three years already.

I’ve noticed that the older I get, the faster I get old.

Today’s friendship quote is thought-provoking:

“Two may talk together under the same roof for many years, yet never really meet; and two others at first speech are old friends.”
~ Mary Catherwood Mackinac and Lake Stories

Hugs,

–Donna

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But I Couldn’t Help It!

Posted by Donna on

14 June 2009

Someone at work last night commented that he couldn’t make a comment on the entry about my son’s graduation. Perhaps that’s a good thing, though, because he wanted to scold me for making fun of the neighbor kid.

It occurred to me that when I deleted and then reinstalled my blogging software that all the user registrations would have been wiped out, too. Oops!

So for those of you that may have tried to make a comment and couldn’t, or tried to log in but couldn’t–that’s the reason. Your *account* has been deleted. So you’ll just need to re-register. I do apologize for the inconvenience.

But writing this entry reminds me that I need to make a backup of this site so that if things go wacky on me again, I’ll have my own backup to restore. As one of my friends at the guard unit reminded me, “Never trust the Cloud.”

For you non-techies out there, “the Cloud” is the Internet and all the complex stuff that makes it work.

Sorry to make you do some extra work (I’m familiar with the cardio workout we get from pressing these computer keys) but I really couldn’t help it.

I desperately needed to update my blogging software and the only way to do that (because I hadn’t stayed current with the updates) was to delete everything and start fresh.

That’s my story and I’m sticking with it.

Hugs,

–Donna

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Two Down… Zero to Go

Posted by Donna on June 11, 2009

11 June 2009

It is done.

My role as mother to school children has been fulfilled. Septembers will never be the same.

Yes, last night Sean and 137 classmates completed their high school journey in a very nice ceremony at Merrill Auditorium in Portland.

Some highlights of the evening…

While the students were marching onto the stage, Beth spotted a neighbor and former classmate of her’s sitting across the balcony from us. Sean was already on stage and standing there while the rest of the class marched in. Beth texted some funny (but not appropriate to share here) notes to Sean about it. We could tell by his reaction that he was getting the notes, but he was good and didn’t pull the phone from his pocket. Beth and I made continued to make whispered disparaging remarks about her classmate. It was wrong, but it was also fun.

Next, the honor essayist couldn’t find his speech at the lectern. Turns out the school’s principal had it. Oops. Wouldn’t be so bad if this had happened only once, but it happened later in the evening too. It was pretty funny.

About half way through the ceremony Beth got a text message from one of her former teachers. The “where’s Waldo” search began as we tried to spot the teacher in the audience. We were sitting in the balcony and behind the the teachers’ section so it’s wasn’t an easy thing to do. Beth finally recognized the back of her teacher’s head though and visual contact was established. The texting continued and it was funny to see the teacher (notice I’m not divulging any names!) reading the note, showing it to her teacher neighbors, and responding.

After the ceremony, we met Sean outside. Luckily the rain had stopped. We snapped a few pictures, took possession of his cap, gown and diploma, and said goodbye. He headed off for Project Graduation–an all night supervised party at the Bath YMCA.

He got home at around 5 a.m. and after talking with Gerry for a few minutes, crawled in to bed. I haven’t seen him yet, but I probably will sometime this afternoon.

So now I have no more school-aged children. Someone asked me how I feel about that. I can sum it up on one word: FREEDOM!!

But it is also bittersweet… here is my

Top 10 List of Things I’ll Miss, Yet Will Be Glad I Don’t Have to Do Anymore

1. Attend Parent/Teacher conferences in November
2. Attend the open house in September
3. Shop for school clothes
4. Call Ms. LaViolet in the attendance office when Sean will be absent or wants/needs to be released early
5. Defend the stupid politically correct rules of the school system
6. Be aware of “No School” days due to teacher workshops, snow days, vacations, etc.
7. Fill out a packet of emergency data and insurance forms in September
8. Listen to Mr. Gousse (the principal) speak at every school event
9. Check the online grading system for updates
10. Feel guilty for not helping on fundraising committees

Two things I will truly miss are:

1. Hearing the period-by-period replays that Sean gave me after school each day. I got to know his teachers, his classmates, and more about him as he shared the drama, comedy, and tragedies of daily life in high school.

2. Seeing the creations of his imagination whether in his writing assignments, artwork or retelling of his day.

Yes, both of my children are adults now. They may live at home, but they are their own people with their own dreams, needs, and values.

Now it’s time for Gerry and I to enjoy and discover a new focus for ourselves as individuals and as a couple.

It’s a journey we’ve been warming up for… we’ve been pacing around the starting line waiting for someone to say, “On your mark… get set… go!”

Last night, as Sean moved the tassel from the right side of his cap to the left… the flag was dropped and a new race started.

Congratulations Class of 2009. May you always enjoy the journey as much as the destination.

Hugs,

–Donna

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What a Weekend!

Posted by Donna on June 9, 2009

9 June 2009

Is it Monday already? What? It’s Tuesday? What do you mean it’s Tuesday?!

The weekend truly just flew by for me. Here’s a brief recap…

It was an Air National Guard drill weekend and I got to do some fun stuff, cool stuff, and ouchie stuff.

On Saturday I did my fitness test in the morning. I passed, but not with a score that I’m super proud of… 82.25 (out of 100 points). BUT… considering I’d had a killer cold/cough for a couple of weeks prior to my test, I’ll try not to whine about it.

What does the test include you ask? Four things…

1) Abdominal measurement – Possible 30 points. I gained a few pounds this year and (warning… TMI ahead… was experiencing some bloating) so I didn’t max this out this year. 8-(

2) Push ups in one minute – Possible 10 points. Okay, I didn’t practice these. I’d hoped my time at the gym would help for this, but since I didn’t go to the gym while I was sick… well, I only did 12 / 18 needed.

3) Sit ups in one minute – Possible 10 points. I did 26 / 34 needed. Disappointing but acceptable (for TMI reasons mentioned above)

4) 1.5 mile run – Possible 50 points. My time was 15:06. Last year it was 13:14. It’s hard to run when you can’t breathe so I hadn’t run for the previous 3+ weeks. It showed in my time. HOWEVER… when I enlisted last year, being able to run the 1.5 in 15 minutes was my goal. So… I’m not gonna whine about it (too much).

Overall I’m glad to have the test done. I could have put it off because it wasn’t due til October. But it’s one of those requirements that is nice to just get out of the way.

So the PT test was the fun thing I got to do on Saturday. It wasn’t all fun and it might push the limits of what fun is or what is fun… but I’ll call it fun.

Next, I got to build a loopback connector for a piece of equipment. This meant I got to play… er… work with wire cutters, wire strippers, a crimping tool (not what women use on their hair), and cabling pins (not sure what the correct technical term for these are. Basically they are little pointed caps you put over the end of a wire. Then you crimp it securely in place). It was something I haven’t done before and very cool.

As my trainer for the day said, “This is what tech control is all about! Using tools and making cables.”

We had a cookout on Saturday for lunch and were released early. This was a post-exercise (a training exercise for the mission… not post-fitness test) celebration. Had some excellent bratwurst and chocolate cake with sickie sweet frosting. Yum yum

On Sunday I attended a train the trainer type class. It lasted all day and was pretty informative. Now, once I’m qualified on a task I can show someone else how to do it and document that I showed him/her. Since I’m the last person getting trained, it may be a while before I can actually train someone, but it will also help me know what’s what as I get trained.

The “ouchie” part of the weekend was discovering that I needed to get a Hepatitis A shot. Of course, discovering I needed the shot was not nearly as painful as getting the shot. And getting the shot was not nearly as painful as waking up Monday morning after having gotten the shot.

I crawled out of bed shortly after 6 a.m. I was ready to get to the pool. Unfortunately, my left arm was pretty sore. I decided to go anyway.

Yeah… I won’t say that decision was a mistake, but I will say that I must have looked pretty ridiculous. Just call me the one-armed swimmer. My right arm would take a regular stroke, my left arm would drag through the water. It was pretty uncomfortable.

I typically have a hard enough time swimming in a straight line… but with one wing broken, well, use your imagination. It will probably be pretty close to the reality.

Today the arm is feeling a bit better. I have full range of motion with just a twinge of pain.

And that’s the latest in my life. What’s new (or the same) with you?

Hugs,

–Donna

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Working out the Kinks

Posted by Donna on June 5, 2009

5 June 2009

The other day I made big changes to my blog and website. Of course I thought I’d taken care of the major things before going live, but well… not everything was done that needed to be done. Oops.

**Side note: I’ve noticed that “oops” seems to be my new favorite word. I’m going to take that as an indication that I’m stepping out of my comfort zone and trying new things and not that I’ve become more incompetent at the old things. (I’d appreciate it if you let me continue to live in and enjoy my delusional state.) **

So anyway…

Out with the old (because I didn’t know how to keep the old) and in with the new.

There are just a couple of posts that you’ve missed (unless I didn’t correctly solve the e-mail notification issue that I forgot to change when I made the changes… in which case, you aren’t reading this anyway) so you may want to stop by the actual website to check out the changes and latest mishaps in my life.

Here’s the link: www.donnadoyon.com

Hopefully you’ll actually receive this e-mail. Otherwise I might be posting this note again tomorrow… and the day after that… and the day… well, eventually I’ll figure it out.

And if I don’t… well… er… oops.

Hugs,

–Donna

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How Well Do You Know Me?

Posted by Donna on

5 June 2009

I was bored one day and created the following quiz for Facebook. Let’s see how well you know me!

1)       What do I do better than I can cook?
a)      Clean house
b)      Kiss
c)      Mow the lawn
d)      Everything

2)      Where is my tattoo located?
a)      Left shoulder
b)      Left arm
c)      Right Ankle
d)      Donna doesn’t have a tattoo

3)      What is my middle name?
a)      Lea
b)      Sue
c)      Marie
d)      Lynn

4)      Which reality TV game show do I NOT watch?
a)      American Idol
b)      America’s Next Top Model
c)      Survivor
d)      The Biggest Loser

5)      What would I like to be when I  grow up?
a)      Singer
b)      Lawyer
c)      Motivational Speaker
d)      Engineer

6)      What is my favorite type of exercise?
a)      Team sports (soccer, softball, basketball, etc.)
b)      Triathlon (cycling, swimming, running)
c)      Weight training
d)      Donna doesn’t exercise regularly

7)      Which computer game do I play most?
a)      World of Warcraft
b)      Solitaire/Freecell
c)      Guild Wars
d)      Everquest

8)      Which organization do I belong to?
a)      Lions Club
b)      Toastmasters
c)      Rotary Club
d)      Parent Teacher Association

9)      Which is my favorite place to eat a steak dinner?
a)      Texas Roadhouse
b)      Outback Steakhouse
c)      Bugaboo Creak Steak House
d)      Longhorn Steakhouse

10)      Which is my favorite Panera Bread bagel?
a)      Asiago cheese
b)      Blueberry
c)      Chocolate Chip
d)      Cinnamon Crunch

** Scroll down **

*

*

*

*

Answers:

1. B

2. D

3. A

4. D

5. C

6. B

7. A

8. B

9. C

10. A

So… how’d you do?

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