Rude or Respectful. Which Audience Member are You?

When someone is given the task of standing before an audience to give a presentation, the appropriate and courteous thing to do would be to pay attention -- or at the very least, acknowledge them by making eye contact.  Would you ever dream of sitting during a presentation and pulling out a book to read or your smart phone to play games?  Would you blatantly close your eyes to take a nap or put your earphones in to listen to your iPod?  I think most of us would agree that being a respectful listener is most appropriate.

Yet as my family took several trips this past summer, and as the in-flight crew was giving their safety demonstrations (5-6 minutes, maybe), the aforementioned bad behavior is exactly what I saw.

As a former airline employee, it has always bugged me when passengers completely ignore the flight attendants during their safety presentation.  I know, I know.  You might argue their spiel is a waste of time, and that information is on that card in the seat pocket in front of you anyway.

If the cabin suddenly loses pressure, are you going to be the calm one that pulls the card from the seat pocket in front of you and reads about how the oxygen masks work or how to inflate the flotation device in the 3 minutes you have left before you pass out?

You might contend that you travel so much and have heard it so many times, you do not need to hear it again.  However many times you have heard it, the flight crew is STILL under FAA regulations to make their spiel and the courteous thing to do is to put down our books, take out our ear buds, and give them our full attention.

I don't know if you've ever had to give a presentation in front of a group before, but it is a little unnerving when no one seems to give a flying fart about what you have to say.  Respect, people.  "Just a little bit."  Not to mention it takes like 5-6 minutes of our time.  In the grand scheme of things, that isn't very much.

I worked for Delta for nearly 8 years, and what can I say?  I'm still loyal.  We flew Delta quite a bit this summer, and I have to say I love their latest in-flight safety videos.  I'm sure their marketing gurus pitched these in response to, "How can we get the attention of the passengers during the safety announcements?"  Very clever and I applaud Delta for their ingenuity.

While I think these are brilliant, I challenge you, dear passengers, to show a little courtesy and respect the next time you fly the "friendly skies."

Now - for your viewing pleasure, a few of my favorites...

Doing the Right Thing

Doing the right thing -- sometimes it can be hard.  Sometimes lines don't seem so black and white, and many times they aren't.  As a parent -- and especially as a parent of teenagers, it's really all you can do to teach them good morals and hope they remember what you've taught them since they are not likely to be under your supervision at all times.

My oldest, Keenan is 17.  He is a senior this year and as the school year started last Fall he asked if he could take a road trip with a few of his buddies over Spring Break.  I know that he's just a few short months away from "freedom", however I just didn't like the idea of the road trip.  Lots of things could happen; they could break down in the middle of nowhere, they could run out of money, and of course you never know if they'll run into other sorts of trouble.

While I know I can't protect him from everything for the rest of his life, I do want to be able to do what I can while he's still a minor.  I told him no, but that he could instead take the School-Sponsored/Chaperoned trip to California.  In the name of Science, they would go to Wild Animal Park, Seaworld, Knotsberry Farm, California Adventures, Disneyland, and possibly swimming with the Dolphins should there be time.   This was a great compromise and he and a bunch of his friends had soon signed up and began paying their installments.

Fast Forward.

He just returned from his California Spring-Break trip yesterday and told me about an encounter he had at one of the hotels. This particular Hotel had a swimming pool and a workout room with a huge picture window overlooking the pool.  One night he, a buddy, another classmate and a foreign exchange student from school were in the workout room.  An older man with an accent, poked his head in and tells the kids he's got beer and weed in his room and would they like to come join him for some "fun"?  Keenan's buddy was shocked and sort of shook his head 'no' while Keenan calmly replied, "Nah...  I don't drink or do drugs, but thanks anyway."   The man said something to the effect of, "Well, I'm from Canada, so it's inevitable I do these things."  (Whatever THAT's supposed to mean.)  To Keenan's surprise, the other guy and the exchange student agreed to follow this guy to his room.

Keenan could see through the window that the man had approached several other of his classmates in the pool area, offering them the same "fun".  Some followed. Most did not.

I'm not sure how many minutes passed by, but it was enough time for a myriad of thoughts to quickly pass through Keenan's mind.  Why would a GROWN MAN be inviting a bunch of High School kids to his room?  That just doesn't seem right; what is he getting out of it?  The legal drinking age in [the exchange student's] country is 16 and they have a "non-enforcement" policy on weed, so it's likely this particular exchange student has tried both back home.  However, she isn't at home.  She is in a completely different country and has just entered the room of a completely strange man in a completely new town.  And while Keenan thought those kids were foolish to follow that guy, because if they got caught it could mean suspension from school, the deciding factor was this.  If I do nothing and something bad ends up happening to them, I will feel awful; especially about the girl.

So, Keenan and his buddy went back to their room, grabbed a few of their other guy friends and headed down to the Canadian's room.  Keenan wasn't exactly sure what he would say to convince them to leave, but he felt he had to say something.  He didn't want to come across as self-righteous or anything either, because even if his intentions are good, teenagers don't always have rational thinking and not all of them might see it his way.  

He knocked on the door of the room and the buzzed Canadian opened it and invited them in.  Keenan saw the girl and a handful of other classmates.  Standing in the doorway he suddenly announced the chaperones were getting ready to make their "room checks" and that they should all head back to their rooms quickly.  (Even though it wasn't curfew yet, the chaperones had a habit of doing "room checks" 20-30 minutes early each night, just to see where everyone was, who was at the pool or the game room, etc.)

Perhaps there was a student there who thought Keenan was ruining their party.  But I would bet there may have been one or two in the room that were hoping for an excuse to leave, which Keenan provided.  I am glad he did the right thing and felt the need to "help" some of his peers get out of a bad situation.  It's not always easy to say no to something that's being offered right in front of you, and curiosity may even be enough enticement.

I feel very blessed that Keenan is confidant in his own skin and that he has enough integrity to say "no" even in the midst of his peers.

Way to go, Son!  You sure know how to make a mama proud!

My Visit to the Upper Northwest

I alluded to my visit to the Oregon/Washington last month. For my FB friendsies -- this is probably a repeat. But, to offset my stressful week of finals, I wanted to focus on something happy. Traveling makes me happy. Traveling to visit my besties makes me even happier.

Sidebar: If a web-log is "blog" for short, and a video log is a vlog, then is a pictoral log a Plog? Just sayin'.

Without further adieu, my plog... tee hee.

First stop after arriving at the Portland Airport? Crossing the bridge over into Washington, north of Vancouver and into Castle Rock with lunch somewhere along the way. It rained that afternoon but I didn't care. I just liked how green it was. Made me a little homesick.

Day 2: Seaside, Oregon.

Such a cute little coastal town. Lots of ways to get around the boardwalk here. :)

Ok -- we HAD to stop for one of these... Elephant Ears!!! Yummo!


Yeah - huge. I could barely finish mine and thankfully it was the only deep fried anything I ate the entire time.

The boardwalk crosses over a little river too. Darling.

Nice sunset. It was a gorgeous day.
Here is me & the Professor - looking a little bit wind-blown. Bleh.

The cool wet sand between my toes was actually very soothing.

A view of the hotel strip from the ocean...

I loved this. I call it "Seagull Crossing". tee hee.

Day 3: We went back over to the Washington side, up the coast and into Long Beach.
Lots of cute little shops there too!

Oh look, right next to the enormous statue of a clam and a giant size frying pan is the Long Beach Branch of First American Title (the company for which I work). Maybe it's time to ask for a transfer? hehe.

These "kites" were attached to vehicles and all over the beach.

Me being silly in one of the shops.

Lots of crab legs would wash up on shore. Guess the seagulls already picked them over! lol.

We saw this beach front home. Somebody must really love light houses.

We drove all of the way up the coast, up the peninsula to Oysterville.



Bet you'll never guess what they had there...

OYSTERS! These are actually mounds of empty shells. They are usually ground and sold in gravel mixes.

Oyster Beds.

Day 4, Mount St Helens.
You can see that front "hole" where the eruption took a huge chunk from the mountain.

And on day 5 I came home. That's it. Guess it's time to pull the "Plog" //groans// he he.

Happy Thanksgiving!

There is so much to be Thankful for all year round, and especially this time of year. I'm not going to list everything here, but I do want to say I am thankful for my family. I am thankful for my cousins who invited me to spend Thanksgiving with them, and I am thankful for my parents who love and support me, and I am thankful for my kids who are patient with me while I am working and going to school.

May you all have a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving with your loved ones!

Be Safe

Today I am heading to the Northeastern corner of Wyoming. If the weather is good, it should only take 10 hours... "only". Bad news is I can't find my iPod! I cannot imagine traveling that far without it. Boo!

If you are traveling for the holidays like I am, please be safe!

Anyone Home???

In case you missed it, I went home last weekend. While there I visited with family and a couple of friends. My Father's family is Amish.

Let me just get this part out of the way now: Yes. I did take pics of some of my cousin's children. Yes, the Amish are against having their pics taken (graven imagery). But some Amish (like many of my cousins) don't mind if the kids are in a pic once in a while because 1) they are not yet baptized and therefore held by a different standard. 2) because it is ME asking :)

Anyway...so back to the post. My aunt asked me if it felt good to "be home". I said, "yes". Then she said, "Well, you probably feel at home in UT though now. Since you lived there for so long by now." Actually, I had to correct her and tell her that Indiana still felt like home. I asked a few other friends, since they moved away from home, if they feel like they are home now or when they go back to visit? I was surprised at how many feel at home just because they are in the company of loved ones. Perhaps because things were not "settled" for me in my home for well over ten years... perhaps that is why I did not feel "at home".

And while it is true that I have loved ones here, there are only a handful compared to the number of people back home who love me and support me. I hope that one day, when I *do* feel settled (whenever that may be) then, I will feel at home.

So what about you? If you live somewhere far from where you grew up, do you feel at home now? What do you think makes someone feel "at home" in their current town or city?

And now, for your viewing pleasure... my cousins, when I went to visit back "home".

My uncle Leo makes his own rugs and then sells them...

Trip Down Memory Lane: Summer Vacations & Road Trips

I remember when I was 3 years old we went to visit grandparents in Tennessee. It was my first fishing trip; the first vacation I remember. (My older sister on the left, Me on the right.)

Growing up, we pretty much always had summer vacations. I remember my parents starting in the winter to plan out our summer vacation. I remember my dad would bring home brochures, and they would discuss and decide and then announce to the 7 of us the plan. My father's top dresser drawer was ALWAYS full of brochures of places he wanted to go. Don't know if it still is, now that we have the Internet, but it was quite the collection back then. Sometimes our vacation was visiting relatives in Tennessee or going fishing in the U.P. of Michigan. And sometimes it was a "big deal" like visiting Canada and Niagara Falls. Most of the time, though, money was tight for our family of nine, so our summer getaway was simply a weekend of camping. I have fond memories of Turkey Run State Park as well as other camping trips. And of course, no matter where we went, we always traveled by car.

"I don't always enjoy roadtrips NOW because..." (CONs)

• I hate being the only adult driver.
• I hate driving in bad weather
• I hate trying to stay awake, or worse, having to take a "cat-nap" at a truck stop. (too vulnerable)
• Sometimes the kids get restless and get on each other's (or my) nerves
• With kids we have to make more pit-stops along the way, thus adding a little more time here or there.
• It is a reminder that I no longer work for the airlines, therefore giving up my free-flight benefits.
• I worry if my vehicle will make it, or if I breakdown in the middle of nowhere.
• As a single mom, I feel a little more vulnerable while traveling or camping.

"But...I also like Road Trips because..." (PRO's)

• They bring back memories from when I was little.
• I love seeing new places along the way.
• I enjoy "scenery".
• I get to eat junk-food to keep me awake!
• I like the "bonding" with the kids...(even though now they watch dvd's and have ipods, etc).
• I like planning my routes, and gauging my time and feel a sense of accomplishment when I am "making good time".
• I have a great sense of direction and rarely miss a turn. So, I guess I feel like it's something I'm "good" at.
• It feels like an adventure, and I love adventure.
• I know that there is another adventure waiting for me when I get "there".

How about you? Do you enjoy roadtrips? What are YOUR pro's & con's?

Aloha!

Today is the end of our Bloggy Spring Break and I've saved the best for last!

My favorite of all favorite trips has got to be my visits to the islands. It's where I went to college. It's where I spent Thanksgivings and Christmases - my "home away from home". I had the best roommates any "haole" girl could ask for! (shout-out to my roommies!!!) And our friendships are still alive and well!

I went back (without the kids) to Hawaii almost ten years later and forgot how much I missed it until I was there. It was October of '03 and the entire time I kept thinking, "Oh, the kids would love this" or "the kids would love that." So, when we got home I started planning our Spring Break trip for 4 mos. later in March of 2004. (These pics will be a culmination of both trips.)

So much to do, so little time, so many islands to choose from... seriously. Here is my opinion, for what it's worth.

Maui - Commercialized and pricey but Romantic Honeymoon type stuff
Oahu - Commercialized, Touristy - Family OR Romantic - has everything
"Big Island" - Mostly Residential, though the Volcanoes rock! (literally)
Kauai - the most B.E.A.U.TI.FUL of all. luscious flowers. beautiful scenery... but it is a smaller island, so not as much to keep the kiddies entertained
Molokai - well, er, um...it is Hawaii, so it is gorgeous, but er... um... 'Twas once a leper colony, so, um.... 'nuff said.

Ok - again those are just my opinions. Since we went for a long weekend and I wanted to take my kids to the "touristy things" we did Oahu. Oahu is known as "The Gathering Place".

We stayed at the Ocean Resort Hotel in Waikiki for a few reasons.

1) we got a good deal (it was "off-peak") 2) it had a kitchenette in the room so we could eat breakfast and lunch el cheapo and then go someplace nice for din-din. 3) it had a great view of the ocean and 4) was within walking distance to the beach. I'd recommend it to anyone.
Oh - and by the way, these pics are from my scrapbook, so excuse some of the borders. Anyway, the first thing we did was become beach bums for the first two days. Seriously. Because you just can't go to Hawaii and not hang out on the beach. We saw some pretty cool stuff though.
Check out what we saw this tourist making... pretty cool, eh?

My kids loved the beach and the ocean. It was this family trip in which my daughter became obsessed with collecting seashells. That was 5 years ago, and she still loves collecting them and talks about that trip to this day.

The boys loved their goggles - y'know for looking under water in case sharks were nearby and stuff.

So - when in Waikiki, this is the place to go shopping. All sorts of trinkets here. But - watch out for pick-pockets.

I love this little coastal town. Ah... Laie... such memories. It's where I went to school. I hung out with friends. Had a few dates on the beaches... 'nuff said... suffice it to say, seeing this along side the road was nostalgic for me.
While attending school at BYU-Hawaii, like most students, I worked at the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC, for Short). Most students that work here are on some sort of work-study program. I was a dishwasher, a backstage crew member and I even sold "pineapple delights" during intermission of the night show. So, of course we had to spend an entire day at the PCC. It also happened to be the week of their 40th anniversary celebration - so lots of "Extras".

Here we are watching a show in the Samoan Village. As it turns out, our good friend "Cap" (far right) whom we know from school some 10+ , a-hem, years ago is now the chief of the Samoan Village. It was fun to watch him perform and work the crowd. He recognized us and then called me out of the audience to drink some coconut milk. This was right after he opened it with his bare hands and a small stone, of course. He's also famous for being the fastest "human" to climb a coconut tree with his bare feet. (He was on some TV show a few year ago in which they raced him against some chimp... the chimp won. Sorry, Cap.)

Later we enjoyed the Ali'i Luau, complete with all sorts of Hawaiian Specialties. This was after the preparation of the smoked pig was revealed, of course.

The evening was topped off with the night show. Tons of music, dancing, and drums. It really made me feel the "Aloha Spirit." I miss it just thinking about it. If I didn't think posting my entire scrapbook, complete with sound bytes wouldn't somehow be as boring as a modern-day "slide show" I'd probably do it. hehehe.

Okay - so I can hardly stand to eat canned pineapple after eating like the best pineapple ever from here...

While you are here visiting the Dole plantation, you can also sample fresh pineapple juice...hmmm. They also sell yummy pineapple sundaes. Don't knock 'em till you've tried 'em. Seriously. If interested, they have a little train that can take you out to the fields too.

One thing you have to do while in Oahu is go to the Swap-Meet. It's basically a flea market. It's at the Aloha Stadium. Great prices. The best priced lava-lava (sarong) I ever bought was from here! ($10!!!)

Here are the kiddies after a long windy day shopping their guts out for their souvenirs! Notice the Hawaiian cap on LittleDuckling's head, the floral "bracelet" on PrettyPrettyPrincess, and FunnyMan got some sort of "voo-doo" mask to hang on his bedroom wall. Super-cool!


The last day of our trip, we drove around the island and did our own little "Circle Island Tour". One of the stops was Haunama Bay State Park, looking down at all of the beach combers and snorkelers. We also stopped along the highway at watched the famous "blowhole" - where the waves crash through the rocks and resemble a whale's blow-hole. Don't know why we didn't take a pic of that... doh!... oh wait - we did take a pic. Just found it... but too lazy to edit a certain someone outta of the pic to whom I'm no longer legally and lawfully wedded to. Hey - it's my blog and I'll post what I want to! ;)This little quote is in the scrapbook of our trip, so I thought it'd be perfect to end our little Bloggy Spring Break adventure!

Hope you enjoyed crossing the ocean with me. Aloha!