I'm struggling with finding enough time for myself these days. In the hustle and bustle of life in the nation's capital, I find that I become quickly and all-too-easily stretched too thin. I've written before about how I want it all. I want to excel in the workplace and pour my time and energy into learning as much as I can during and outside of work hours. There is only so much time one can spend listening to and analyzing the news. I want to have a family. There. I said it. The idea of being one part of a whole with somebody, being so strong together that we can conquer the world. I want someone who believes in me so deeply that to him, I have no limits. And I want to reciprocate that belief in him. I get to hang out with a little 9-month old baby at softball on Thursdays, and it's giving me the itch. What's it like to shift around life things to accommodate the arrival of a cute little pants-pooper? But I also want to be by myself. I want to be free to have a crazy schedule and not try to work it around someone else's. I want to go for a swim at 7pm, not get home until 930pm, eat dinner at 10pm, shower at 10:45pm, and curl up into bed by midnight and not think anything of it except pleased for not having spent the night in front of the TV. I want to have a 2-hour long phone call with my mom followed immediately thereafter by a 1-hour long phone call with my best friend and not have anyone else's day halted because of it. I want to spend half of a Saturday in a coffee shop with a book, a journal, a pen, some note cards and stamps, and time to contemplate life. I still want to prove to myself that I am capable of making a ton of money and supporting my life goals and my family. But I want more to just do something that feels right. I want to keep working on enjoying the little pieces of life's beauty that are all around me all the time. I want to make wishes on dandelions and eyelashes. I want to stop to watch the sun set and to smell the roses. I want to volunteer my time because I can't volunteer my money. I want to help people. I want to love people. I want to be loved by people.
The funny thing about life is that we can't have it all. So where do I compromise? Looks like I need to take myself out to coffee on a Saturday morning to contemplate this...
love always,
E
Friday, June 27, 2014
Friday, June 20, 2014
The G. Michael Perry Memorial Softball Tournament for Special Olympics Wyoming
I just posted on Facebook about something near and dear to me, and then I thought "Hey! I have a blog! Maybe my 4 readers will want to know about this, too!" So here's a little bit about what the
Mike Perry Tournament is and why it's important, not only to me but for
the Special Olympians in Wyoming...
For those of you who haven't known me long, when I was a sophomore in high school, my dad passed away. He'd undergone a heart transplant in 1990, and I got a bonus 11 years with him because of that. He was my little league coach for our all-girls team The Angels (none of us throw like girls and we all play harder than you). If I wasn't careful, I'd get cornered on the couch with him and a HUGE baseball encyclopedia, listening to him elaborate for hours on the stats of the Greats.
I also am lucky to have two incredible siblings. My older sister, Allison, has Down Syndrome. She was also coached by the one and only Mike Perry, and she also doesn't throw like a girl . After we moved to Wyoming in 1999, she had the opportunity to get involved in Special Olympics Wyoming. Not only has she worked for them as their Receptionist/Office Assistant for over 10 years(!) but she is an athlete as well, competing in bowling, swimming, basketball, and, until the early 2000's, softball. My dad coached the Special Olympics softball team and got a huge kick of the tenacity, skill, and enthusiasm of the players.
Due to budgetary restrictions, SOW dropped softball from its program. This left a gaping hole in the sports schedule for athletes. From May until October, there are no opportunities to practice sports and be active.
So, in 2008, I founded the first G. Michael Perry Memorial Tournament for Special Olympics Wyoming. Teams from all over the state practice all summer for a one-day tournament in August. The tournament is double-elimination style and includes individual skills competition for those players for whom team play isn't ideal. People from the community volunteer their time as umpires, scorekeepers, BBQers (mmmm the hot dogs!), and cheerleaders. Families get to cheer on their players. Teammates get to encourage one another. But most importantly, these athletes are moving, competing, and having fun.
My description of this event does not do justice to the feeling in the air on the day of the tournament. The GMP might seem like a small thing, but it is a great thing.
It costs approximately $2,000 to host the tournament each year. The Perry Family hosts the event, and relies on the generosity of sponsors and donors like you. Whatever is not covered by donations comes out-of-pocket from yours truly It's uncomfortable for me to ask you all to give to an event you don't directly benefit from and that you might not ever get to be a part of (unless you're in Casper, and then WE NEED VOLUNTEERS!). I understand how much money $20 can be, and that it's just not possible sometimes to give to everyone who asks.
So here's what I'm asking from you: If you can and would donate by either purchasing a t-shirt or by making a donation on the FirstGiving page, please do! If you cannot, please leave a comment or email me with encouraging words for our athletes. I'd like to print that in this year's bulletin so that they can see that people all over the country are cheering for them! Time and encouragement are equally as important as money.
Thanks for reading my charity manifesto! The tournament is on August 23, 2014 this year! The links are below:
https://www.booster.com/mikeperry2014
http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/playball/mikeperry
T-shirts are on sale only through Sunday, June 22, but the FirstGiving page will be open until the day of the tournament.
Love always,
E
For those of you who haven't known me long, when I was a sophomore in high school, my dad passed away. He'd undergone a heart transplant in 1990, and I got a bonus 11 years with him because of that. He was my little league coach for our all-girls team The Angels (none of us throw like girls and we all play harder than you). If I wasn't careful, I'd get cornered on the couch with him and a HUGE baseball encyclopedia, listening to him elaborate for hours on the stats of the Greats.
I also am lucky to have two incredible siblings. My older sister, Allison, has Down Syndrome. She was also coached by the one and only Mike Perry, and she also doesn't throw like a girl . After we moved to Wyoming in 1999, she had the opportunity to get involved in Special Olympics Wyoming. Not only has she worked for them as their Receptionist/Office Assistant for over 10 years(!) but she is an athlete as well, competing in bowling, swimming, basketball, and, until the early 2000's, softball. My dad coached the Special Olympics softball team and got a huge kick of the tenacity, skill, and enthusiasm of the players.
Due to budgetary restrictions, SOW dropped softball from its program. This left a gaping hole in the sports schedule for athletes. From May until October, there are no opportunities to practice sports and be active.
So, in 2008, I founded the first G. Michael Perry Memorial Tournament for Special Olympics Wyoming. Teams from all over the state practice all summer for a one-day tournament in August. The tournament is double-elimination style and includes individual skills competition for those players for whom team play isn't ideal. People from the community volunteer their time as umpires, scorekeepers, BBQers (mmmm the hot dogs!), and cheerleaders. Families get to cheer on their players. Teammates get to encourage one another. But most importantly, these athletes are moving, competing, and having fun.
My description of this event does not do justice to the feeling in the air on the day of the tournament. The GMP might seem like a small thing, but it is a great thing.
It costs approximately $2,000 to host the tournament each year. The Perry Family hosts the event, and relies on the generosity of sponsors and donors like you. Whatever is not covered by donations comes out-of-pocket from yours truly It's uncomfortable for me to ask you all to give to an event you don't directly benefit from and that you might not ever get to be a part of (unless you're in Casper, and then WE NEED VOLUNTEERS!). I understand how much money $20 can be, and that it's just not possible sometimes to give to everyone who asks.
So here's what I'm asking from you: If you can and would donate by either purchasing a t-shirt or by making a donation on the FirstGiving page, please do! If you cannot, please leave a comment or email me with encouraging words for our athletes. I'd like to print that in this year's bulletin so that they can see that people all over the country are cheering for them! Time and encouragement are equally as important as money.
Thanks for reading my charity manifesto! The tournament is on August 23, 2014 this year! The links are below:
https://www.booster.com/mikeperry2014
http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/playball/mikeperry
T-shirts are on sale only through Sunday, June 22, but the FirstGiving page will be open until the day of the tournament.
Love always,
E
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Around the World
Another travel adventure is right around the corner for me. I can barely wait for sand between my toes, sun on my skin, and the sound of the ocean roaring like a jet engine. As I was busying myself with preparations recently, which amounts to doing laundry and checking my airline reservation online a hundred times over, I saw that I have 119, 625 lifetime miles flown on United Airlines alone. I've had a frequent flier account with them since I was a wee baby, you see. Curious, I googled how many miles the circumference of the Earth is at the Equator. It's information like that, that I think I should somehow know, but the internet had my back on this one. Approximately 25,000 miles around the Earth. I've flown enough, on one airline alone, to have made nearly 5 journeys around the world! Then I think about adding Delta, Lufthansa, US Airways, Continental, Ryanair, Air France, Southwest... you name it, and all of a sudden I am stunned. And so grateful. There is no gift in the world that is more valuable than experiencing the world around us, and it's a gift that not many people get to have. I feel rich.
Thursday, May 8, 2014
iPhone note, on saying goodbye
Do you ever have moments when your mind is processing the world poetically? When every movement, word, feeling around you might as well be in iambic pentameter. Sometimes I get like this, and I always think to myself, "I need to be writing down my thoughts." But then I rarely do. And the moment is passed. It's good to do something. To bake, to sing, to dance, to write, to draw... no matter if the product is terrible. I think practicing creativity helps to nurture the human condition, even if no one sees it and no money is made from it. Actually, especially if that's so. A start and a finish. Movement. Feeling. Expression.
Tuesday night a few of us said "see ya later" to a friend who is moving to the other side of the world. Goodbye's are always strange. I found myself walking home in a whirlwind of poetry. Laying in bed later on, determined to write something-- anything-- down, but too tired to turn on the lights and take to paper, I grabbed my iPhone and started typ-typing away. This is the result.
Tuesday night a few of us said "see ya later" to a friend who is moving to the other side of the world. Goodbye's are always strange. I found myself walking home in a whirlwind of poetry. Laying in bed later on, determined to write something-- anything-- down, but too tired to turn on the lights and take to paper, I grabbed my iPhone and started typ-typing away. This is the result.
Bittersweet because had you all not said your goodbyes to other people in far off places, you'd have never met each other. The conversation over pizza and the beer and wine, which has to be drunken or tossed before tomorrow morning, seems to flow the best it's ever flowed. You learn more about one another, and becoming acquainted was never so effortless. No one wants to be the one to finally get up to go, because she knows the others will follow suit. First throwing out the paper plates, then accepting your offer of taking the tiki torches home, and finally slipping the shoes on and exchanging hugs. That hug means goodbye for an indefinite amount of time, but definitely a long amount of time. You give me your blue colander. It's my favorite color. I give you a five dollar bill. Thanks for the pizza. We all gradually migrate into the hallway and wish you safe travels, and then it's out into the warm, spring night. Each our own direction. And life's carrying on just as it was in this place.
I didn't say it was good. I said it was important. <3 br="">
Thursday, March 13, 2014
On Great People
A common denominator in my life is that I have always been blessed to have strong, smart, supportive, loving, charismatic, patient, and kind people in it. And these people are not just one or two of those traits. Oh no, these people somehow have all of those qualities. How is it that my life is filled with such people in such a challenging world? It is no doubt the existence of such people that has gotten me to where I am and where I'm going.
This morning, I met a dear friend of mine from high school at Dulles International Airport. He was flying back home to the Wild West from Afghanistan. A former Marine, a loving husband, a non-discriminating purple-nurple giver, a good son and brother, a video game fanatic, and a kind, thoughtful man. I had not seen him for nearly two years. He now has a beard that would put almost anyone's beard to shame. To hug him hello, to chat with him over coffee (and a morning brewski for him), to hear about his life, his family... everything, brought immeasurable amounts of joy to my week. That first hug connected me with my roots and reminded me that I have good people all across the world with whom I've crossed paths and formed relationships of friendship and respect. That is a nice feeling.
Sometimes I buy a particular brand of tea (Yogi) when I feel like I have more money to spend than I actually do. I like this tea because it comes with little saying on the tag at the end of the string on each tea bag. I know that that is an illogical reason to buy anything, but I like it. Marketing win for Yogi. Anyway, my teabag said, "Your greatness is not what you have, it's what you give." Isn't that the truth? I might not have a whole lot in the way of worldly possessions or financial sums, but I have a rich life. I know great people who give ten times as much of themselves than I do. And these people come in all shapes, sizes, colors, ages...
They are amazing. You are amazing.
I feel so loved, and that is a great thing.
This morning, I met a dear friend of mine from high school at Dulles International Airport. He was flying back home to the Wild West from Afghanistan. A former Marine, a loving husband, a non-discriminating purple-nurple giver, a good son and brother, a video game fanatic, and a kind, thoughtful man. I had not seen him for nearly two years. He now has a beard that would put almost anyone's beard to shame. To hug him hello, to chat with him over coffee (and a morning brewski for him), to hear about his life, his family... everything, brought immeasurable amounts of joy to my week. That first hug connected me with my roots and reminded me that I have good people all across the world with whom I've crossed paths and formed relationships of friendship and respect. That is a nice feeling.
Sometimes I buy a particular brand of tea (Yogi) when I feel like I have more money to spend than I actually do. I like this tea because it comes with little saying on the tag at the end of the string on each tea bag. I know that that is an illogical reason to buy anything, but I like it. Marketing win for Yogi. Anyway, my teabag said, "Your greatness is not what you have, it's what you give." Isn't that the truth? I might not have a whole lot in the way of worldly possessions or financial sums, but I have a rich life. I know great people who give ten times as much of themselves than I do. And these people come in all shapes, sizes, colors, ages...
They are amazing. You are amazing.
I feel so loved, and that is a great thing.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Giddyup!
Hi, it's me again.
It's high time that I re-attempt to jot down more about the world as I see it. With a plethora of goings-on right now, I certainly have enough thoughts to keep this little blog filled. The real question is whether or not I'll force myself to make the time to write. That's always the tricky part.
Life is good right now. That is not to say that life is easy, but it certainly is good. Today is my momma's birthday, and there is so much about her to celebrate that I don't even know where to begin. Oh, what a gift this lady is to the world! Never in my life have I met another human being who has such capacity and will for patience, kindness, encouragement, and love. She is my role model. And since she's also probably the only reader of this blog, I will say: Happy birthday, Mom. I love you.
To everybody else: Today I wish you happiness and healing. Whatever is going in your life, may you find things that make you happy to your core and things that bring you peace and comfort.
Love always,
E
It's high time that I re-attempt to jot down more about the world as I see it. With a plethora of goings-on right now, I certainly have enough thoughts to keep this little blog filled. The real question is whether or not I'll force myself to make the time to write. That's always the tricky part.
Life is good right now. That is not to say that life is easy, but it certainly is good. Today is my momma's birthday, and there is so much about her to celebrate that I don't even know where to begin. Oh, what a gift this lady is to the world! Never in my life have I met another human being who has such capacity and will for patience, kindness, encouragement, and love. She is my role model. And since she's also probably the only reader of this blog, I will say: Happy birthday, Mom. I love you.
To everybody else: Today I wish you happiness and healing. Whatever is going in your life, may you find things that make you happy to your core and things that bring you peace and comfort.
Love always,
E
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