Desperately trying to figure out what my big birthday surprise was, I guessed all sorts of random things. Camping, midnight sea kayaking, a simple night out of town, dinner and drinks in the city, aerobic cooking, wine tasting (Pinot country perhaps?). What I never seriously considered was the reality.

The night before (Saturday night), Niki and I had enjoyed dinner at Saucebox, one of my favorite spots in downtown Portland. We’d had amazing cocktails, like the Green Dragon and Crush. This was followed by a leisurely walk through a city suffering somewhat from heat stroke. Thankfully, the Green Dragon carried me through with ease.

At some point during dinner, Niki had finally filled me in on the adventure. We were booked to SKYDIVE the next morning. Oh, that’s why she said I couldn’t be hungover… I thought maybe she just didn’t like me being cranky.

When we arrived on site Sunday morning, about 45-50 minutes south of Portland in Molalla, I began going through the paperwork. Death. Death. Death. May cause injury and death. Death. Dying.

Well, it’s good to put things in perspective, I suppose. I was still ready to go. Then I got to the part about not having alcohol for the last 12 hours and I had to look at my watch and think carefully. Phew. Just made it. It sure was a good think Niki told me as early as she did or I might have been asked to push back my jump a few hours.

Finally it was our turn: Load 12. Up we went in the Caravan. I was so happy just to be in the plane, let alone to have the opportunity to jump out. Does that sound crazy? Probably. But Niki, Kevin (our friend who had helped Niki plot the whole thing), and the rest of the crew in the plane were all about the jump.

We climbed steadily to 13,000 feet. The door opened. People started jumping out the door and disappearing from view. There went Kevin. There went Niki. Then it was my turn. I was going tandem too. Kirk, my jumpmaster, said we’d sit at the edge of the door and he would count to three and we would jump. The thing is, when we got to the door, Kirk may have been sitting in the plane, but the only thing keeping me from anywhere near the plane was the fact that I was strapped to Kirk. There was nothing of my body touching the plane. I was hanging out in limbo waiting for him to jump. Indescribable. Finally we were out.

And the freefall was spectacular.

Niki was having a blast too.

Amazing! For anyone in the Northwest interested in going, I highly recommend Skydive Oregon. They run a first class operation and I would do it again in a heartbeat–even the really fast heartbeat moments.

I am so glad I wasn’t hungover, that I was totally fresh and alert, awake to every moment. It was beautiful and breathtaking and exhilarating. Of course there was adrenaline. There was also a lot of love.

I could actually make out vineyards below (though not really in this photo). Although I must confess I wasn’t particularly focused on vineyards. I was soaking it all in. The grandness of it. The patterns on the ground were fascinating. The perspective on the Earth, on life, and even on gravity, were a wonderful addition to my life experience.

We got the death part out of the way with the initial paperwork. After that it was all about big living. Life is seriously fun! What a way to celebrate.

This is my thank you post for the best birthday present I’ve ever received. And someday I’ll do it again — and do it all by myself. Perhaps someday I’ll also be able to return the favor.

Load 12

Originally uploaded by arootvik

Waiting is the hard part. I knew what the birthday “surprise” was by this point, but now we had to wait to get to 13,000 feet.

What a long way up. So I checked out the scenery, taking note of the patchwork style earth below, trying to keep track of the landing zone.

Every day should be this much fun!

[image from www.chihulyatthedeyoung.org/]

What do Dale Chihuly and Walla Walla wine have in common? Well, besides the obvious “glass” connection–wine is bottled in glass, usually drunk out of glass, Chihuly makes art out of glass. And now… the Walla Walla Valley Wine Alliance is the official wine sponser of “Chihuly at the de Young” in San Francisco.

[www.chihuly.com]

Chihuly was the featured artist at the 2000 Napa Valley Wine Auction where he was asked to represent “Kaleidoscope 2000.” The theme was to reflect the role of glass in winemaking. The work he did for this event only served to further establish Chihuly’s place as a National Living Treasure.

I am always amazed by his work. Unearthly and yet entirely organic. Paradoxical.

So I’m proud that Walla Walla wine is supporting this awe inspiring exhibit, and I encourage anyone who can to go see it. From Idaho to London to Israel, Chihuly is not to be missed. And while you’re at it, check out the wine from Walla Walla.

Chihuly’s work with the wine industry continues as he works on some projects with local winemakers, including Dunham Cellars, meaning there’s more to come.

Enjoy.

So I missed the storm warning. It wasn’t until windows were rattling, trees were falling, my shed roof was blowing away, and the power had gone out that I found out there was a “weather alert”. I am sure many of you have heard of the exciting happenings here in Walla Walla on Friday, January 4. For those of you who haven’t, I’m sure there are YouTube videos by now. In fact, I know there are. Here’s one from the Union Bulletin.

But I think it was the following weekend that the storm really hit me. Business meetings gone awry. Strange dreams. And I woke up on this Monday morning to go to work, couldn’t find the key to the office, so made arrangements for someone else to unlock the building by 7:30 a.m. (when I am scheduled to arrive), then my car battery was dead AND I had a flat tire.

I think the afternoon of nailing a tarp over the gaping hole in my shed roof, balancing precariously on crossbeams in wind gusts up to 80 mph, and spending about 40 hours without power was actually easier to deal with than the chaos of these last two days.

After sharing a bottle of Dusted Valley wine in a rather dusty and cold valley, I feel better. But it’s been a 14 hour work day and I am ready for the storm to subside. So thanks to Chad and Corey at Dusted Valley for their wonderful wine, a much needed reprieve from the craziness of a mid-January Monday.

I raise a glass to calm weather — inside and out.

My grandfather was a good man. Smart. Successful. Loving. He moved to Dillingham, Alaska in the 1950s to run the small hospital. From there he started his own medical practice which he ran until he retired after his 80th birthday. Everyone knew him as Doc Libby. So what was he right about?

I read a blog post today about the most common mistakes made by entrepeneurs. Nitromarketing.com has just started the post series. Today was about avoiding future spending and remembering taxes.

Future spending is defined as spending based on what you expect to make in the Future rather than present reality. “But I have to focus on my goals!” you say. And I don’t disagree, but I think it is such a common mistake for people in all areas of life, not just entrepeneurs, to spend based on what we want to make, what we hope to make, rather than our actual financial status. For those who believe in the law of attraction and positive thinking, I want to point out that no one said to throw caution to the wind and do whatever you feel like with no action focused on reaching your goals. Just because I want to live the life of financial abundance does not mean I can sit back on the sofa and buy whatever I want and fairly expect that the universe will pay for it. I have to take action to reach my goals. My grandpa always said to practice. Practice takes focus. Focus strengthens energy. And with practice I become better… at whatever I am practicing.

Grandpa also warned me about taxes. I know he helped out his own children when they miscalculated what they’d have to pay early in their adult lives. His advice to me was the same as to them. Don’t wait until the end of the year. Steadily put money aside for taxes so that at tax time you don’t have to stress about how you’re going to pay them. He said to expect the unexpected. That applies to taxes as well as future spending. Things change. That is a guarantee. And at our commercial fishing camp, working on a Honda three-wheeler with my grandpa, I realized he might know a thing or two about it. We hadn’t expected to need a new sparkplug and fuel line, but here we were, fixing the machine instead of mending nets and racking pull lines. But it was all okay. Grandpa had made sure he had enough time for those “unexpected” tasks, like teaching me about mechanics, future spending, and taxes.

For the full post from Nitromarketing.com, visit: The 13 Top Financial Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make

What a great site! Thanks to friends for stumbling upon this blog.
Are You Afraid to Dream? – Fearless Dreams

It’s so important to dream our own dreams, be willing to explore what it is that we truly want, to dream big, and also to care about the dreams of others. A good reminder for me. That’s all.

So I’ve been doing Simpleology 101. I came across it through a long chain of unusual events, the kind of thing that no longer surprises me. For anyone who is not familiar with Simpleology: The Simple Science of Getting What You Want, it is a fantastic program. Mark Joyner is really onto something here. As an educator myself, I’m particulary impressed by his methods. And the great thing is, it’s free! No, I’m not paid a cent for mentioning it on this blog. I just think it’s cool. And Simpleology has helped me to feel more focused, be more productive, and feel better about my life.

There’s a funny thing that happens with word of mouth marketing. If it’s forced, people just don’t really buy it. I remember. Fresh out of high school I worked for a company that swore it wasn’t MLM, but it was so close it’s not worth differentiating. (I’m sure people who knew me then are gasping as they read that sentence.) I got involved through a well-meaning family member. There is this strange pressure to tell everyone you know, hoping they’ll get involved and you’ll reap the rewards. I’ll tell you right now, that is the furthest thing from my mind. I remember losing friends who felt betrayed, pressured, awkward. And that sucked.

Disclaimer: By mentioning Simpleology I get nothing. Zip. Zilch. It affects my financial wellbeing not at all if you visit the site or not, and I recommend it nonetheless.

And for those of you folks interested in marketing and business, I’ve found Mark Joyner to be an invaluable resource. Actually, he’s the expert coach on the first episode of The Next Internet Millionaire. But back on his own site, he’s doing this cool 12 month program right now. (One time only!) It seems like corporate espionage. I call it genius. It almost feels like cheating. He and a “student” (head of a multi-million dollar company) are broadcasting their live training sessions over the course of a year. They call it Word of Mouth Transformation. It’s pretty cool getting to listen in on the private tutoring/consultation sessions. Don’t they say if you want to make it big, look at what the top dogs are doing and copy them? Well, maybe not everyone gives that advice, but I think it makes sense. My parents may have encouraged me to get a job with a good company, be safe, get benefits. I’d rather feel passionate about what I’m doing and follow in some bigger footsteps. How about you?

So for the day to day inspiration and focus, I appreciate Simpleology. The coolest part is, it’s absolutely free. And I swear, there are no hooks — at least none that I’ve found. For those of you interested (and I know my friends might be ready for me to stop talking about it, but I’m just so excited) check out www.simpleology.com and sign up for 101. It will change your life. In a good way.