Yeehaw for the G-Pa

This was today:

I find that it explains the emotions and events of today on multiple levels. 1) It was joy-filled, 2)It was interesting, 3) It was fulfilling, 4)It was a good mixture of things.

Seen above are skinny peanut butter banana muffins. Not bad, not bad at all.

So today was:

1) Joy-filled. I started off this morning to find out that my grandfather had made it through surgery successfully (THANK YOU GOD!). I got a call from my dad right before we were leaving, so the timing was ideal. Mike (Lauren's cousin) and I were headed to listen to a talk on the Euro Crisis by Nobel Laureate Robert Mundell. The talk was really interesting, supported by the cuppabrew I treated us to before we went in, and our seats were great. You had to RSVP for it, but Mike had found out about it after the RSVP closed. I told him to tag along and see if there was a chance they might let him in. When we arrived, a lady who was helping organize the event asked me if I was a student--I responded that I was a teacher at MPI and she took Mike and I to second row seats without ever asking a name. Sweet.

2) Interesting. The talk that Mundell gave was good, and conversation with Mike was enlightening. It turns out he's learned a lot from an interesting life story and is completely open to sharing his challenges and what he's learned from this. I learned a lot and took a lot of thoughts to simmer on.

3) Fulfilling. For lunch today, Mike and I followed the lecture with the Beijing dumpling place near work. We had a bok choy and mushroom dish, a chicken dish similar to sweet and sour stuff at home, and dumplings of some kind. We ordered by pointing to pictures, which entertained the waitress and other customers because they were on the wall. Mike shared more advice and listened really well. Time with Cora and Poppy went well this afternoon, and Mike guest lectured in my business class. He gave the students a lot of savvy advice he'd learned from communicating around the world. One point I really like were his 4 basics of communication: 1)Listen, 2)Ask, 3)Acknowledge, 4)Share. So many of us are quick to tell our opinions, but slow to listen even when we hear. Remembering LAAS really helps.

4) A good mixture of things. Well the muffins themselves have peanut butter, egg whites, applesauce, bananas, brown sugar, flour, and butter in them, the day had a variety of well, but plenty of which included smiles. Interestingly enough, I was talking to a friend today about the struggles of dealing with a loss and I was able to reflect on my recent emotions about the risks of losing my grandfather. I praise God again that my grandfather made it through, and I also praise God that I was able to turn that situation around so quickly for positive and hopefully help someone else out.

Thanks again to everyone for the support and prayers. Today was a great day, and I give the glory to the one that gave me another day to live and amazing people to love.