Posts Tagged ‘family’
Mobile Office: One of the Masses
November 6th, 2010 | 
Author: 
Lower Level ~ All Set Up
Awe is the tone. You’re pretty lucky when you get to explore Great Things.
When The Masses Mobilize
Our ski club hosts a fund raising auction annually and as one small cog in the machine, there is the unique view from the inside that makes me take breath in pause.
It was conceived by dedicated volunteers, coordinated by dedicated volunteers & orchestrated by dedicated volunteers.
Grama's Goodie Basket
The mass cooperation & shared vision are inspiring! With no special training, but through learning from year to year, the plans have been honed, details all accounted for, crews mobilized in advance and careful preparations minded.
- * Meetings: Committees, sub-committees, systems
- * Delegation: Work crews, item collection, floor crew
- * Coordination: Groups, locations, training, processing
<– To the left is my favorite donation item ever. My mother-in-law baked & baked & baked (I was a small contributor of gingerbread cookies, biscotti & shortbread).
Many Thanks to the Purchaser!
It was the only item of it’s kind with 420 cookies & 7 loaves! & at last glance was commanding over $150! Soul Sight Services donated a Good Vibrations CD Set, but this basket donation was *Way Better! Thanks Mom! 
The evolution of this event began as a pub event and maybe raised $20,000… upgraded to an art gallery for a few years that upped the ante… and expanded to it’s current version including 550 attendees & over $110,000 in auction item donations.
I’ve been witness to this evolution and am impressed by every aspect of it. It is truly Great.
Not being privy to the finer points, but being close enough to know the level of attention to detail that it has to take to create such an amazing Gala only increases my Awe. www.skinasa.org
What have You been a part of that was Truly Great?
Mobile Office: Up North
On the Border
It was the first time in over 1.5 years that I’ve been without phone or internet! *gasp* ~ AND, I lost my identity (literally).
Disconnect Internet ~ Reconnect Nature
It was high time to ground into the world differently & this opportunity couldn’t be missed! I went to see my brother and saw a whole lot more:
- The aurora borealis: we searched each night and came up lucky on the last night!
- A different pace, perspective & part of Canada
- The view from a kayak including: bald eagle, deer & raven
Great Slave Lake
This was a quick dash up to the Northwest Territories for the weekend that really changed the pace at the mobile office and started with 14 hours of driving (each way).
In hindsight I’m finding it pretty funny about ‘my identity.’ This is great! You can read all kinds of crazy energy interpretations into it: I left my wallet in a town called High Level that was my last stop prior to arrival. I had no money, ID, etc. as well as no phone, no internet… in short everything that I currently have to self-identify was gone. Isn’t that the best way to enter into newness? With a blank slate? I love the Universe!
Checking out a retired vessel now landlocked.
.
Aside from some prep work, the work done was more:
- meditative & contemplative
- unwinding & supportive
- exploratory, assessing and eye-opening.
It is so easy to have tunnel vision when you focus on goals, tasks & aims and it is pretty important to also have some distance & space. Without that:
- nuances will be missed
- angles will be overlooked and
- excitement is lost
Coming back from a town with a population of 2,000 is also a bit disorienting when stepping back into an area where I’m surrounded by about a million folks. It’s an interesting sensation to plug back in!
By the way, my wallet was turned in where I left it & all of the contents were intact.
Happy Mother’s Day
This reminds me a lot of Earth Day… however as we honor those who brought us into being it is interesting to reflect on our ancestry as well as our legacy.
What improvements can we make on what went before and also lay a good foundation for those who come after us to make improvements again on our work?
Before
During
After
Today, I am laying a cookie foundation…
It might not seem like anything profound, but it’s time with my youngest cooking and time with my oldest eating.
New recipe: Oatmeal, almond, flax with dark chocolate! YUM!
Mobile office Pano
On the left is the view from the ‘mobile office’ last weekend.
The ‘green dot’ is my son who was racing and the ‘blue pants’ are the older one on his right. It was the end of a beautiful and successful day.
Although my email nightmare was over (blocks, bounces, broken links) from earlier in the week, I found myself without internet at this location. *gasp*
So, I prepped email / letters / scripts and used my phone for desperate communications.
Luckily the next day, guest services told me that the best wireless connection was in the deli where I was forced to spend the next several hours drinking tea and doing as much online stuff as I could muster before I ran out of battery power. Yum, Chai!
In this picture to the right you can see the lift on the left and the racing run is on the right. I hiked up to the finish corral to see the last run of the day. In the picture below, he is the top figure behind the red fence. The race is over and he’s just in a safety arena coming down after a good run.
I can honestly say I’d forgotten how ‘mountainous’ the mountains are. You would think that went without saying, but it’s different hiking up and down multiple flights of stairs and through the snow to get to any destination. I’d actually forgotten how much I *love* that! It took me a long time to understand ‘going to the gym’ when we first moved to Calgary & revisiting the hills was positively therapeutic!
I can also honestly say I’ve gotten soft. On top of that, I suspect I’m developing a weird reputation… I mean, beyond ‘normal weird’ for me, among the other parents who don’t carry their computers around everywhere… Have I become a geek?
Mobile Office
The Mobile Office
The “Mobile Office” at Mt Norquay on Dec 23 / 09 waiting for my oldest son to get his ski instructor certification. His original testing day was canceled earlier in December due to cold weather. He now has his coaching, instructing and will get his park certification in February.
I’m working on audios, answering emails and making calls. I’m go glad I found a plug to keep me ‘empowered.’ I’m behind on my self imposed schedule, but it’ll all get done.
Family arriving this day also for the holiday season. Busier than usual having good times!
