2013 & Resolutions: Out With the OLD Ideas

Going out on a limb, here, assuming the majority of readers have, how many of you made New Year's Resolutions and what are they? 

As you probably know by now, I have not made resolutions. I haven't made any since I was in high school, when I learned most women made diet resolutions (this was the 80's, it was about dieting, not health!) and most of those broke them. It kind of stuck on me that if I didn't make them, I'd not break them.

Fast forward back to now (I know, an oxymoron): where has not making the resolutions gotten me? While it's true I've not broken my promises, I have also not really moved forward much. YIKES! Yet... it's the truth. 

If one aspires to nothing in order not to fail, one fails. 

I've failed. I've failed myself (and deprived all of you of my good works!).

My resolution this year is to make daily resolutions (AKA daily to-do lists). I want to write a page a day; I want to work on the YouTube account; I want to write and share my blogs; I want to train the cheerleaders to be the best personally they can be; I want the cheerleaders to win competitions; I want to have my business organized; I want to locate more missing children; I want to solve unsolved mysteries; I want to earn money; I want to secure my future. And I want to be in shape.

By year's end, I will have at least 365 posts on various websites and blogs, 365 pages written, a grant written, and $365 dollars left over after paying all the fees associated with TrueCrime.co.

Happy new year to all and blessings and success upon each one of us.

Last year's Waialua High School Bulldog's Varsity Cheer Team at OIA competion-Coach Ann Dellatan

MISSING! 3 Year Old Alexander George Dunn-Ariz

Alexander "Alex" "Baby" George Dunn-Ariz

Alex has been missing since June 21, 2012, from Hawaii (Oahu). He was last seen with 58-year-old Gary Masaharu Ariz, an employee at the Mililani Ross Dress for Less. 

Age: 3-year-old

Height: 27 Inches

Weight: 27 pounds

Hair: Dark brown

Eyes: Dark brown

If you've seen either of them, heard ANYTHING, or know of their whereabouts, please contact your local police, comment here, or send Teraisa a private message ASAP. 

Police report #12-232-367

Please share with your family and friends. Someone knows someone who knows someone who heard what happened...

Mentally Physical, Five Minutes at a Time

"Mom," he asked, in exasperation more than curiosity, "how do you keep running so well?"

His mother jogged in place. "You have to make all your physical challenges into mental challenges.  You put your lungs inside your mind, and think your way around the path. The same way that you have to make your mental challenges into physical challenges. When you're doing your homework--when you do your homework--just imagine that you're riding your bike, and you just have to push your way through."

~The King in the Window, by Adam Gopnik

The past two weeks have been physically horrendous. My lungs have felt as if they're on fire and an elephant is stepping on my chest, yet it's the medicine I use that keeps me awake even longer than usual.  If I nap, it generally takes two to three hours to fall asleep for one hour, and that's if no one comes in after a while.

When I get up, I feel nothing but guilt. Here's the thing, each day I rise, loving the day, wanting and needing to do so much, having a focused list. When I physically get out of bed, I am wheezing and hurting and exhausted (as I'm lucky to get four hours of interrupted sleep at one time) and everything is thrown back on the burner.

It's a vicious cycle, you know?  Such wasted time.

Luckily, I'm a reader, this keeps my mind structurally busy.  Writers must always read, otherwise, how can they know what readers want?  I rarely read fiction, but the past three years, I've been reading whatever my kids are reading. I love having the commonness and dialog.  

Ironically, the chose some great books, without knowing they've actually met the writers at a publishers' function or a writing conference I've been in, making us have a few more things to talk about.

After the Twilight series, Venice got into Glass and all the Ellen Hopkins' books.  She and I had a laugh when I told her she may have met her through our "Darcy," of the former Northern Nevada Family Magazine (don't ask!).  Oh, how I miss those days, before I was sick.

But that's the way it goes.  I read from The King in the Window about the lungs and making it mental, and though I know it's not in my mind, I love it.  And likewise, I love making the mental into a physical challenge.

You know how I said I was unable to concentrate clearly, unless I was reading? No?  Who cares, it's still true. Anyway, by putting what I need to do mentally, more or less, into a physical challenge, I see the beauty.  Combine this with my five minutes throughout the day, and even the worst days can be more productive.

My primary focus with true crime at the moment, is for sure Lue Vang and Sue Russell's Missing Mondays, which I was working on before Lue went missing. Lue, as you might remember, is a 17 year old from Carson City, Nevada, who has been missing since April 29, 2011.  There's a chance he's headed toward Seattle, but this is not a sure thing.  Wherever you are, keep your eyes open and spread the word.

To work on these cases (and the True Crime Fanatic website), I merely have to take five minutes at a time and instead of thinking of it as researching, asking questions, etc., I'll think of it as five minutes until I can rest again. Five minutes of staying busy, on task.

As for all the other work, well, my lungs are in pain and talking is not really such an option, so if it can't be done via text and email, it's just not happening.

Mother's Day - Missing Teen, Lue Vang

Happy Mother's Day to all you work-from-home mama's!  I'm wishing you the best, and as mothers, I'm wishing us all a profitable and joyous business to keep us happy, satisfied, and paid up on all our bills.

To celebrate Mother's Day, won't you please help just one mother have a reason to celebrate?

Lue Vang, a 17 year old Carson City High School student, has been missing from Nevada since last week, April 29, 2011.  He was last seen early in the morning.  Using his family's 1995 blue Honda Prelude, he took his computer and a few other possessions with him, and it's possible he headed to, or is in Seattle, Washington.

If you've seen Lue Vang and/or the Honda Prelude, license plate 321VPP - Nevada, please call your local authorities, the Carson City, Nevada, Sheriff's Office at 775-887-2011, Neng Vang at 651-308-6885 or Debbie Thao at 651-955-2667.

Thank you for your help, and... Happy Mother's Day.

And What Has 5 Minutes Done for You Lately?

I challenged you, and myself, to see what five minutes can do for you. Has it helped?  Does it work for you? Can it work for you?

For me, it's helped me get letters into the mail, email potential hostesses for At Home America, I've written a "filler," and though I've finished half of my script thanks to the 5 minute rule, it's going to help me start it OVER because I goofed.

Today, it's written this short piece.  Come on, you have five minutes to spare, even if you are trapped in Christmas shopping lines. Take out your smart phone and write something, call a client, search for a missing child.  Smart phone on your wish list?  No problem, a napkin, gum wrapper, receipt, anything can work.  Write a list, write a thank you note, write your dreams and goals.  Five minutes can make a difference.