New York, New York....

This is a picture of the view I had when I was in NY last weekend. A bunch of us from Maine left Friday for Boston where we connected with other "Bostonians" for a bus ride to New York! For the next 6 1/2 months of my life I am in training with Landmark Education to complete the Spring Introduction Leadership Program!!!! YEAH!

For 3 1/2 years, I have been "hiding out", always being a "NO"! for participating in this program! All I can say is that the stars and the moons aligned and it finally became clear to me that this is the future I am living into. I applied for the program and got accepted this past fall. So, for FIVE months, I've been living a life like that of a Senior in Highschool.....knowing full well that when March 17th arrived, that my life was going to radically alter (like it does when you go off to college). Believe me, I have been kicking a screaming the entire way..."I don't want to....blah, blah, blah". Ha, ha, ha!

Getting back to New York....what an outrageous time! I got to be with almost 400 people from all over the world....Australia, Germany, Russia, Jamaica, Montreal, Poland. All of these people up to BIG things in life. It was the most AMAZING weekend! In that classroom, I felt like NOTHING in life could stop me. The energy was profound. We spent an entire day introducing ourselves which to me, created "community". LOVED IT! That weekend, I created a "game"....creating LOVE and APPRECIATION to be PRESENT for ALL CHILDREN; the TRANSFORMATION of parents and their relationship to their children; the POSSIBILITY of continuously making a difference in the lives of children. Not even being a parent myself, can you get my unconditional love for all children? :-)

So everyone! WATCH OUT...T-mad is out to causing BIG things in the lives of children and empowering others to transform their relationships to children! :-)

Peace & love!

The Angel that touched my life...

Miss Jossilyn mailed us this card after our office made a donation to the family. I have never met this child and only know her through Miss Kelly (hygienist that I work with). I was so touched and moved by her positive energy in the face of her cancer. Only 9 years old and this child was BIGGER than I have known any child to be at that age. Reading her Journal was so inspiring. Never being stopped by the fact that she was fighting Leukemia. Every day was a gift to her. Every moment was lived by her. She had what I have been training for 3 1/2 years to achieve....living in the moment. We don't know that we have ten years from now, we only have NOW, this MINUTE to live a life of choice.

Miss Jossilyn passed away on March 21, 2007 after a long battle with Leukemia. I had the honor and privilege to say goodbye to an angel that touched my life.

Bahama Mama's

Bon Voyage Miami, Welcome Bahamas!

This was Geniza and I as the boat was leaving the dock!

Geniza's friend, Nancy, was an added pleasure to our cruise! Before we got on the boat, Nancy took us to see Manny (a 93 year old man). To share with you a little bit of Nancy's added fun....when we went to see Manny in the retirement condo that he lives in, the three of us are all standing outside of what Nancy THOUGHT was his condo door. She is banging, saying "Manny, it's Nancy"...when he is not coming to the door, Nancy's pounding becomes rapid and with worry, she screams, "Manny, are you alright"? She then realizes that we might be on the wrong floor and decides to call him. We were off by one floor. Geniza and I nearly wet ourselves laughing and re-creating what Nancy did that we thought was so funny. Well, that's just a piece of her entertainment throughout the trip! :-) So, Manny, 93 and nearly blind was SOOOO excited to have us as guests, that he prepared lunch and had drinks waiting. He was so generous and fun to be around. I had such a wonderful time listening to his stories of times passed. If it wasn't for the cruise, I could have spent a DAY listening to him. THANKS MANNY for our bon voyage lunch!

Before we could do much of anything, we had to muster to the top of the boat for life saving instructions! Nize and I thought we would be one step ahead of the game (after not really listening to the Captain's instructions) and put on our life saving vests! We laughed so hard as we approached the central hallway for the stairs and saw that we were the only people wearing our vests! Hey, nothing like being prepared!

The one most important part of a cruise is the people that you dine with throughout the cruise. You spend every night at dinner with them and it can really make or break a good dinner conversation. Well, Nancy could probably tell the story better than me as she told it SEVERAL times during our cruise (he, he, he). We got to our assigned dinner table. We had already placed our order for drinks, eating bread and waiting to place our order when we saw a group of older women walk in towards our table. They immediately went to the head waiter and spoke to him. The next thing we know, we are asked to move. Apparently our table had been "overbooked" and we had been sent a card to our room stating that our dinning table had been changed. Well, let's just say that it was the BEST gift to our group. We had such an incredible time---fun, laughing until your sides hurt and your cheeks so sore! Jeff, Pipo (AKA Peter) and Leo were such a gift to us. I even got to be on assignment while I was away, handling a covert operation for one of the guys! Of course Leo and I were friends at first sight with our love for drama! Ha, ha, ha!
This was a round of shots that the waiters were giving out at dinner! We decided that we would add a little fun in the way we drank them! We are all pretty sure that we had one of the funnest tables in the dinning room!

Then, after dinner, we created the opportunity to do something other than the typical "pose" for the photographer on the cruise! She took a couple of nice photos and then offered to take some with our cameras! We thought that was very kind and generous, considering they sell the prints that professionally take for $20.00 a photo! You cannot see in this photo but Leo (my left) is sporting silver shoes! Of course I am the one that noticed! He had it well put together in the area of fashion!

I actually got to take my OWN picture of this sign! We spent one day at Coco Cay! It's basically a beach! The cruise lines own it and use it during their tours. There were a few "tourist" shacks! I found a hat that was cute! They also offer snorkling and jet skiing! The one thing that I will tell you is to bring a good underwater camera!!!! I have some picutres of underwater sea life! One of them came out really great, showing some detail coloring on one of the fish!

This was the view of the boat from Coco Cay! I also couldn't resist taking a picture of the mermaid fountain that sits at one of the points on the beach!

This is what most of Coco Cay looks like! Designed for beach bums! I told Geniza to pack her tanning goggles to use on the beach. She decided that she would put them on and fluff her hair out around the elastic! Nancy and I busted out laughing. We decided we would get a photo shoot of her and I sporting them on the beach! She opted out but took one of me! FUNNY! But hey....it saves on tan lines...K!


Here are some of the most BEAUTIFUL shots of the sea life!








ATLANTIS HERE WE COME!!!

This guy wouldn't stop begging me for a picture so I had to take one! He, he, he! We took the "water" taxi from Nassau to Paradise Island. If anyone travels again, take the taxi, K! We had to wait fifteen mintues for them to cram in one more tourist and then by the time it was all said and done, 1/2 hour of our day disappeared! The taxi ride is ten minutes

This is one of the blown glass artwork pieces inside the Casino! I wasn't sure if I would get my camera taken away from me when I wanted a snap shot of that beauty! Casion Services said NOTHING! :-)
This is the view at the resort. Nize was lucky to have her boss Phil give us passes for the day! SWEET! That saved us some cold hard cash! The picture below is the view as we are leaving....going back to Miami. :-(

You would NEVER guess who took this picture of us and the guys....someone from my hometown! Tammy H. was on board the entire cruise and I never once bumped into her! What a small, small world! Geniza and I decided that we loved the glasses that the cocktails were served in. So, we bought a few rounds and then asked the guy if we could just buy the glasses. He told us that it was the same price with or without the mixed drink! Well, guys what....we both had enough to each have a set of SIX and Nancy made out with FOUR!!!! You do the math! Three of them, they guys drank!

What a WONDERFUL time! Thank you Nize for including me in your trip and to Jeff, Peter and Leo....YOU ARE THE BEST! We would never have had that much fun at dinner without your presence! Thank you for adding such wonderful memories to our trip!

Peace & Love

The Sweetest Gift!

For all of you following the fundraiser on Camryn, this is a gift that she gave me! My friend Jaime gave it to me and I just sobbed. I really got present to the difference that I make in the lives of children... in that moment.

There are days that it's so easy to go "numb"....to be distracted by my own thoughts...the things I need to get done or the things I still need to do. There are things that I do that are just "who I am" so when I'm being "me", I don't often realize the memories I am making for others or the impact that I have on others lives. I'm just doing what I'm doing and I don't expect anything in return. :-)

So thank you Miss Camryn, for reminding me to take time to be present and in the moment.

Old Man Winter...

Here is a view from the front porch! WOW! It's a beauty of a blizzard! We're expecting 12" to 14" today! It's nice to be safe here at home. I decided to sleep in and not go to the gym....which has had me re-doing my "to do" list. All the errands that I was going to do today will have to be done tomorrow. What can you do!

So here's my handsome guy digging for treats in the midst of a blizzard! Nothing stops Bailey from being outside...even in the worst weather! I took him for a walk and then we came back to shovel off the deck. He chased treats while I did all the work. Then, he looks up at me as if to say, "Are you done yet". Today he decided not to make "doggy angels". I think all of his efforts went to running after scooby snacks.

How can you resist that face? What a love! Right now, he's upstairs chillin' like a villian! Tuckered out from all that hard work!