i don't sing at birthdays I pedaled my Schwinn Autocycle along the gravel road beside the Waterman's south pasture. The rutted road rattled the front fender almost enough to drown out my rendition of Gloria in Excelsis Deo. Almost, but not quite. Four of Charlie Waterman's cows standing by the fence-line mooed in tune to my song. I switched to Christ the Lord Is Risen Today near the intersection of the gravel and paved roads. Two lanky, flop-eared, black-and-tan hounds crawled out from under the front porch and added their howls in accompaniment. They ...continued...

To get these posts out every night is quite an ordeal. The cold saps battery power so quickly you can watch the meter tick away. Every piece of electronics needs to be warmed against the body to restore power, then used quickly. We generally collaborate on our posts then, just before dinner, we will hook up all the various devices and start the long process of uploading our posts. I have to admit it is a pain, but something we both look forward to every night in our tent. I believe Mike is going to write about the noise we heard last night so I won't go into great detail, but I will tel ...continued...

I had an interesting event while out looking for the horses. First I went up by the pond to see if they'd gone that way. A spring on the topside makes a large mud puddle that's in the path. I thought I saw a large rock, but then it moved. Ha. A large snapping turtle more like it. So I pulled up next to it to get a better look. Then it crawled underneath the 4-wheeler. I didn't want to run over it, so thought I'd just wait until it crawled back out the other side. Well of course it can't be that simple. Turbo saw it and decided to bark at it. And then it decided right there ...continued...

Our only source of water yesterday was saturated with salt crystals so we had to drink salty water all day. Had four dog team leaders fired today by Maher. Sadly he is running out of qualified candidates, unless of course me and mike qualify. Mike and I tried the good cop bad cop method with the dogs. I would treat Ersus with kindness and respect ( one of the fired leaders) Mike would speak sternly at him. After 2 seconds of Mikes technique Ersus cowered away and peed on the spot. My favorite of the dogs is Stephy. A huge dog with a good temperament. Stephy traveled with me on the helico ...continued...

We made it. Hardest thing I have ever done in my life by a long shot. The four of us were reached the Pole in record time for a two degree dog sled team. Overall about 200 miles (lots of east and west). We pushed hard at the end and went 48 hours with an hour sleep. Our guides deserve the glory. Rock stars of human beings. Mark and I spent a lot of time talking about things on the trail. There are hundreds of hours of time to reflect. I hope this post is not too sappy but its from the heart. Both Mark and I talked about this alot. We both agree. As we stood at the North Pole and thoug ...continued...

On a beutiful sunny day in March 1978, my husband, Charlie Gordon, left the RAF and we returned with two young daughters to his home town on the Northumberland coast, dominated by a large caravan site, local people so nice and friendly. The sun would soon go behind the gather storm clouds &nb ...continued...

The catfish in my photo weighed over (100) pounds and was at least 40 years old. (I didn¹t catch it but I know who did and they let me borrow the big fish for this picture.) When you¹re having a bad day think of this big Blue Cat¹s degree of dullness. Day after day searching for food hoping not to find a hook attached, only able to see an inch or so in front of your face and about all to look forward too would be periodic mating. I¹m not even sure how much fun that would be considering you couldn¹t see the stranger you¹re hooking up with and ...continued...

The first principal standard of the CLAS standards states one will provide effective and respectful care that is quality. Diverse cultural health beliefs and the language necessary will be used for communication needs. Standards for cultural competence for occupational therapist are very similar. I found principal standard that speaks to effective communication skills, listening carefully and language –oriented with recruiting translators. These two statements are similar to me, because they are providing a statement that says they will offer quali ...continued...

Pregnancy is a blissful time. When pregnant with baby number three the blissfulness of it all just runs right through you. Today May 10th, 2006 my son was born. Although it was an emergency c-section he was brought into this world screaming and purple after being almost strangled to death by the umbilical cord. I had my son. My family was ecstatic and my dad was the proudest Papa in the world. Things were hard but I never gave up and always tried to do what was best for my family. I did the best I could with what I had to work with. Around three months old we started noticing freckles all over ...continued...

It was already New Year and I tried to find him... But there is no sign of him... I tried to cover my tears with a smile just to celebrate my New Year with a smile... I talk to my cousin and tell her that I will find him so that I can greet him and kiss him like we always do... But I found nothing so I go to bed early and cry without hesitation... I feel that I was been betrayed... He dont tell me where he going and I dont know also where he have been... I cried until I get tired of crying and I found myself sleeping... I woke up early in the morning and decided to fix myself and go ...continued...

I would like to become an occupational therapist and I was able to locate the American Occupational Therapy Association's (AOTA) Code of Ethics and compared them to the CLAS standards. The standards that the AOTA sets are very similar to the CLAS standards. This makes a lot of sense as the CLAS standards are set by the US government as standards that should be followed in all healthcare interactions. Both the AOTA and CLAS standards make quality care the principle standard. The principle CLAS standard states that healthcare providers should “provi ...continued...

The Walk "Dad, can you wait for me to take your walk?" My seven year-old son was looking up at me expectantly. His eyebrows were arched over his brown eyes and his close cropped hair was sticking up in three different directions. "Can ya, Dad? Just fifteen minutes." I looked away from my e-mail and smiled at Eric. "Sure, but hurry up and get ...continued...

I have commitment and relationship problems because when I was little my parents would make fun of me for liking boys and say I was too young to like anyone. As I grew older the thoughts scarred my mind and now at 20 I have yet to have a boyfriend. My sister has a boyfriend of 2 years and every time I talk to a guy my parents tell me its a waste of time and that I don't need anyone... Now I'm stuck telling myself that. I don't even know what "love" feels like, or what being a girlfriend is like. I am just the lone runner trying to reach the goals of a champion, and ...continued...

Updates have been a tad delayed recently due to some crazy schedules experienced once we reached the pole. To be honest, the pole was literally just another point in the snow just like all the millions of other points we passed by the last few weeks. Due to the drifting ice and natural wobble of the earth, the point is very fleeting on any GPS, you have to chase the drift and wobble to remain on it. But for a moment, we were able to walk around the planet and experience every time zone. In a matter of moments I was in the past, present and future, the quickest pe ...continued...

My life is consumed with the care and feeding of an older generation. It is my love and my passion. Only recently did it hit me how great the loss will be when the “Silent” generation is gone and the “Boomers” take on the role of the Old and Wise. I wonder if my generation will be able to carry on, to follow in the foot steps of a generation that blindly followed their leaders into war for love of their great country, a generation that produced ideas like the North Platte Nebraska Canteen. The Canteen was a stop ...continued...