Neeka ate my coat...

Not my fault lady...

She ate the pockets inside AND out, the zipper and into the coat itself.  My favorite Lands End coat...

It is partially HotRod's fault.  Because of him I became complacent...I started to leave treats in my jeans pockets again, and then my coat pockets.  I left food out on the counter or even open on the floor and he wouldn't so much as look at it. 

Flash forward 4 years and Miss Neeka is back home.  She is NOT HotRod.  She is Gracie all over again and it took me a scoche too long to realize that fact.  Plus she is so long she can reach farther back on the counter than Gracie ever dreamed.  

Last night I was so tired when I reached home that I forgot to hang up my coat.  I put it right there...next to the sofa...where she eats her bones on a towel.  I know what you are saying...PICK IT UP PICK IT UP PICK IT UP...but I didn't.  At least Gracie had the good taste to only eat pockets from the inside and never ruined the outside...

Thank You Sir, May I have another?

I woke up late this morning...VERY late in fact and had to call the boss since we had to be on a 9:00 AM conference call.  And then my morning got worse and I said very bad words...

I found the coat, a hot pad, my old Road ID bracelet, the knife I used to spread peanut butter last night, and a tube of crushed garlic on the sofa.  How in the world did she get the garlic I asked myself?  It was in the fridge, right?  Great!  She can will things out of the closed fridge now.   

I turned around and there they were - very alarmed looks on their faces in response to my shouting of said bad words...and more importantly their breakfast was late.

So what coat did I wear today you ask?  The coat she chewed before she left the first time...the zipper is also chewed, but not all the way and the pockets only on the inside....

Can you name a time when you were absolutely certain...

That you would be successful...beyond the shadow of a doubt?  I can.

In High School (and Junior College) track I ran sprints and relays.  In those relays there were several girls from other local High Schools that I just KNEW I could beat no matter how big their head start turned out to be.  The feeling of reeling them in one stride at a time is heady stuff.  That certainty brings about physiological changes which make you relax and breath more slowly, and that is what makes you run faster.  It makes me feel more confident just thinking about it - and I always get a big smile on my face. 

I am striving for that certainty in my middle aged life.  More confidence means more success in business and in my personal life.  I am working to make that feeling a habit - anchoring it to daily situations.  I LIKE that feeling and I want more of it all the time.

Hitting the finish line first aint half bad either.

Just Win Baby!

I have a different take on the athletes who use performance enhancing drugs to win at all costs.  There is a reason for it and that reason is because Americans will accept nothing less than perfection & winning or you are thrown aside for the next up and comer who may just get you that Super Bowl Ring or Olympic gold medal.  At the Olympics it is considered a failure to get a silver or even the dreaded bronze.  Seriously?  2nd best in the World is a failure? 



Me back in the day 1978 - that feeling of winning is intoxicating



Very few of our beloved athletes are perfect specimens who can win without fail throughout their careers, and in this day and age if you aren't using PED you can't compete because most everyone else is.  I am not saying it is right - just that it is a fact of life.  We have Junior High School kids already taking these drugs to get to the next rung up the sports hero ladder.  Often with their parents OK because they want their kid to be the hero so they can lord it over all their friends.  So what if it can kill you?  We'll think about that in the future.

For now Just Win Baby and when we catch you we will tear you and your reputation to shreds and everybody will be saying how you let us down, how you defrauded us, you should pay and pay BIG for your sins.  Give back your wins, your trophies, your sponsorship money.  These are the same people who wanted those wins regardless of the consequences - but you are not suppose to get caught damn you!  How could you do this to us?

Young kids (mostly boys) are watched from the time they are in elementary school to see if they have some glimmer of athletic potential.  Not in academics because we don't care about that.  T-Ball, Little League, Select Clubs, High School, College, Pro.  Do you wonder why they act like they can get away with anything they please?  It is because we show them it is OK if they are star athletes.  They get passed through school even when they can't read, spell, or socialize well with others.  They are not held to the same rules as the rest of us.  How many times can one athlete get caught with drugs before they are suspended?  If past incidents are any indication they may never get suspended...we need them for that next game, that playoff, that season. 

I sat in my parent’s living room in 1978 listening to two kids from a rival town trying to recruit my parents to move the family to their town so my brother could play on their High School Basketball Team.  WTF!  I was amazed and just sat there with my jaw on the floor.  There were incentives for my Dad regarding job and moving expenses and of course said brother would be a starter on their team.  Thankfully my parents listened politely and said Thanks, but No Thanks.  Did I mention that my brother was only a Sophomore in High School at the time?

We make examples of a few athletes while allowing the rest of them to get off scott free - unless the drugs give them cancer or they kill someone in their roid rage. 

Why were we so hard on Roger Clemens and now Lance Armstrong, but not so much on other players/riders from their era?  Oh yeah because he lied.  Given the same set of circumstances most people would do the exact same thing.  You wouldn't give up your friends and be labeled a snitch.  You too would lie until you no longer could and then you would face that music, that ripping and shredding, that horrible embarrassing music. Nothing is off limits with every sports reporter, entertainment reporter, political reporter, pretty much laying your life bare and calling you every imaginable and even some not so imaginable things 24/7 for weeks or months.  If we take away their awards who do we pass them down to?  I would hazard a guess that those guys were using too.

I know all of the rationalizations and reasons to vilify our Athletes/Politicians/Entertainers who make the mistake of getting caught, and I don't agree with them.  They are just people who can do something really well and the rest of us get all wound up in the excitement of it all. 

We need to take a look at WHY we put them up on those pedestals and then why we yank them back down.

Orange & Black Attack ATTACK...

Why in the world would I have this High School Cheer running through my head when I woke up this morning?  It wasn't even a cheer from my High School!  It belongs/belonged to the Monroe WA High School Bearcats whose colors are funnily enough orange & black.

Orange & Black Attack ATTACK
Orange & Black Attack ATTACK
Who Attack? We Attack
Orange & Black Attack ATTACK!

I think there must be something seriously wrong with my brain to come up with this in the wee hours of the morning...

We did have a little cheer of our own for them...something about the bear kitty boys, but alas that is another story.

Pouring My Morning Coffee...

I have had the same nagging question in my head every morning for quite some time now when I pour myself a cup of coffee...

Does the coffee stay hotter if you:

Pour a little milk at the bottom of the cup and then pour the hot coffee in...

OR

Pour the coffee into the mug and then pour in a little milk...

My hypothesis is as follows:  The coffee stays hotter if you pour the coffee in first and then the cold milk. 

What say you?

It's A Hopper Thing...

Anyone who has spent time around one of us Hoppers will know this truth to be self evident.  We often break out into song or quote a line from a movie - and you will have NO idea what happened or why.  It's just us...it's how we roll. 



Most of us...missing Jerry, who wasn't born yet, and Dad who always took the pictures.

 For instance ask Diane Salts about the time I started to sing great big gobs of greasy grimy gopher guts at a race meet.  Even I don't remember what prompted that one, but it was a real show stopper.

Or I will say "I can remember lots of things" and my sister will yet out..."16 Candles!"  This is one of my favorites as everyone was forgetting Sam's Birthday and that has happened to me more than once.

We all seem to have this odd character trait and everyone plays along.   When someone blurts out a piece of dialog it could be from a movie, song, TV show, '60s cartoon show, basically just about anything and the others are suppose to tell you where it comes from.  It's a fun Hopper Family Game that can be played anywhere and needs no props...just an agile mind that holds on to trivia and minutiae like a huge sponge.

If my sister said "El Kabong" or "Size Of A Camel" everyone would know she was quoting Quick Draw McGraw.  Or should Jeff say "Beware the Monkey" we know that is from the Chinese Calendar for Tigers - Jeff is a Tiger as you may have deduced.  See below

The Year of the Tiger Is there a creature on the planet more magnificent than the Tiger. We think not, and that’s not even our sign. On our Chinese restaurant menu today, here’s how they describe the Tiger: If you were born in the years 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986 or 1998, you’re a Tiger. Tiger people are aggressive, courageous, candid and sensitive. Look to the Horse and Dog for happiness. Beware of the Monkey.

Well...you get the picture. So next time this happens to you do NOT fret...this is just a Hopper Thing and you will soon be returned to your regular programming.

Run, Sue, Run...

I finally got tired of "wishing" I could still run...So I laced up my new ASICs and started back on the Runner's World Beginners 5k workout.  It takes you from -0- to running a 5k in 8 weeks. I completed this workout in 2010 and was able to run a few 5k's before I tripped over my dogs and needed to have my 3rd knee surgery...

How sweet it would be to run like this again! 



Finish of the 4 x 100 meter Relay at Everett Community College 1979



So, two years later I start again.  I know I will never sprint like in that photo above (notice we won!)...but I should be able to jog a few miles.  My real goal is to run a half marathon, but that was my goal last time and look where it got me...I nearly died trying. Ha! 

Before my first 5k in 2010, Bellingham Bay Marathon - a few pounds heavier and 30 years later...