Never a Dull Moment

My 28-Day Blogging Challenge Wrap-Up [day 28]

It is done. The 28-day blogging challenge I began on May 3rd is now complete. Who knew it would take more than 28 calendar days?! That wasn't my intention, but for me, it was more about the journey of doing it than about meeting a particular date.

I can relate to this picture of Laura Dern in Jurassic Park. It's at the end of a serious running scene where she's telling herself to run: "Go, Tamara, go! Blog, Dull, blog!"

Thank you to everyone who joined me on this journey, who read from the sidelines, provided feedback and shared my posts with others.

The top 5 posts

Just in case you're wondering, the top 5 posts during this 28-day challenge were:

So I Like the Book of Job. Don't You? [day 27]

I belong to a Christian women's leadership group that meets each Wednesday. This group is intentionally designed to not be a typical women's Bible study, but rather a group that challenges us and develops us further as missional leaders in our community.

Each week, Cindy Patterson, the executive pastor of the group, always has a question for us to answer that not only helps others in the group get to know you better and understand where you're at in your spiritual walk—but it also forces you to articulate what you believe.

The Freaks at Life at the Ridge [day 25]

Today's post is just a friendly shout-out to my "freaky" friends at Life at the Ridge. Yup, that's them in the picture above - and you'll see the Fearless "Freaky" leader below.

But before I tell you why these people are freaks, let me tell you what Life at the Ridge is. It's just a friendly community of Christ followers that meets every Sunday AM at Rosa Parks Elementary School in Redmond Ridge (Redmond, WA). We gather each week to sing, pray, and learn together - and keep up with the goings-on in each of our lives.

The Life at the Ridge community is not all that big in size, but what it lacks in numbers, it makes up with some "freaky" characteristics. Read on and you'll understand my "term of endearment."

Total Engagement: A Brief Book Review [day 24]

"...on average many [game] players are physically healthier, work harder, make better grades, earn higher salaries, and are more socially connected than those who play less or not at all." Total Engagement, p. 13

I have always been intrigued with the notion that one's work should be challenging, and at the same time: fun. Seriously fun. So, of course, this book by Byron Reeves and J. Leighton Read caught my attention: Total Engagement: Using Games and Virtual Worlds to Change the Way People Work and Businesses Compete.

The book successfully fueled my "fun notion" with compelling business cases and research showing that gaming is not just for high school boys anymore. [Or grown-up kids such as myself.] If businesses want to compete successfully in today's culture, then we will have to overcome our taboo feelings of "playing games" at work.

I could easily write a paper around this book, but I want to keep this brief - so I'll just share three ideas from the book:

A New Semper Vita Blog is Born [day 23]

Hey folks! I'm back to finish off this 28-day blogging challenge. It's clearly taken more than 28 calendar days to complete, but hey, we'll get there. We're really close. And guess what? I've already got my post-challenge schedule sorted out. Life is indeed good.

What I've been up to

In a word or two, I've been heads down working on Semper Vita "stuff." There were a few weeks there when our developer and I were working 14-18 hours a day without a break. I'm looking forward to getting back to a "real job" so that I don't have to work so hard. This volunteer work is for the birds. Just kidding, my friends! I LOVE what I'm currently doing!

Time-Out on My 28-Day Blogging Challenge

Is it Friday already? Where has the week gone? And where are my blog posts for days 23, 24 and 25? GASP!

Buy Snapple's New Flavors and Support Two Charities [day 22]

Grab your shopping list and write these items down: Snapple Diet Trop-A-Rocka Tea and Snapple Compassionberry Tea. Read on to learn why.

Bret won! But so did Holly.

Some of you may recall that last week I wrote about Celebrity Apprentice: Holly or Bret? - as a setup for last night's final show of the season. The show was live in NYC, and Mr. Donald Trump waited until the very last minute of the 2-hour show to announce his next celebrity apprentice: Bret Michaels!

But both Bret and Holly walked away winners. (And I'll tell you why in the next section.)

A Rapper Video: "Here's a headline: You must choose" [day 21]

I am going to let this video speak for itself. One of my elementary school teachers emailed it to me this week. Thank you, Mrs. Strickland! It features Tamara Lowe - sort of dig her first name - doing some white girl, middle class rap at Christ Fellowship church. Okay, that's a bit of an oxymoron, but hey. Enjoy!

Is Google TV What I've Been Waiting For? [day 20]

I bought my primary TV from Costco in 2000. It's a 32" Philip Magnavox, and for the most part, it has served me well. I have it hooked up to my JVC A/V receiver and DVD player, and with my digital cable subscription, I can't complain.

But as any media/technophile will tell you, this setup is so yesterday. Where's the LCD, plasma and HD? I am clearly not "keeping up with the Joneses" or my family and friends, as they continue to upgrade to the latest media technology. 

I have thought a bit - but really not a lot - about when I'd take the plunge and upgrade. And it may be sooner than I thought.

About You: Fred Schapelhouman [day 19]

It's Friday, and that's when I like to focus on some of the awesome people I know. Today, it's Fred Schapelhouman, founder and president of CFO Plus, Inc. He's also the husband of my very good friend, Henriët (whom I've also written about here and here).

Back in the day, we shared a wall

I met Fred back in 2001 at Aris Corporation (four years before I met Henriët). He moved into the CFO's corner office, which was right in the middle of Aris' Geek Headquarters. He managed the corporate finances and I managed the team responsible for our corporate data, applications and website.

Fred was instrumental that year in the acquisition of Aris by Ciber, Inc. Given that I was employee #9 at Aris and had helped build the company for 11 years, this was a bittersweet experience for me. I worked with Fred a lot during this time, as my team was responsible for transitioning Aris' applications and data to Ciber.