This morning I woke up with words running thru my head. The tail end of my dream involved me reading a poem out loud. What I heard was the end of that poem, but even though I was reading it, it wasn’t totally my voice.

What remains is:

To live we must be forgiving

and giving is for us to give,

and the reason for living is loving

and the reason for love is to live.

Pretty cool.

Math teachers are not all bad

A few months back after receiving a report card for one of our high school age students I wrote a note about homework and asked what it is really for. I got some phone calls and emails in reply and had a few days of back and forth emails with the instructor who had given our daughter an F and then placed the comment ,” Child has an exceptional understanding of material /homework not turned in regularly.” I never got the result I had hoped for but today I have a different story,

When someone does something wonderful they should be honored!
We all know there bad teachers, mediocre teachers, teachers that are just doing there time, teachers that as students you dreaded and every now and then there is that teacher that helps change your life forever! The teacher that is there for her students even after the bell rings! Liberty High Schools Math teacher Angie Kruzich is one of those exceptional instructors. I wonder how my life would be different if I had been blessed with such a wonderful role model and exceptional math teacher when I was in school!

When you have a kid that likes to learn but just can’t seem to get the homework in the difference in the grade can be an F instead of what should be an easy A. These silly letters of the alphabet can make a huge difference in how a child thinks and feels about themselves. In middle school and high school we are judged by our peers our instructors, our parents and parents’ friends, and often our friends by what type of student we are. The difference in a 1.8 and a 4.00 grade point average is huge. It is even huger when you are looking at colleges and even huger when you look at how if can cause kids to work at the level that is expected of them and not the level they are capable of.

I take my hat off to Liberty High schools Math teacher Angie Kruzich; she dared go where few others before her have dared to go! Angie does not clock out as soon as the bell rings. She does just the opposite. Angie stays at school and offers kids the opportunity to stay after school with her one day a week to be a part of homework club! When our daughter started staying after school one day a week her math grade went from and F to a B- in just a matter of a few weeks. This helped with the previous negative attitude towards her homework and turned it into something fun. Mrs., Kruzich goes out of her way to make sure parents know what the math grade is throughout the semester she sends parents updates and makes it easy for us as parents to follow up.

I would like to thank Angie Kruzich for doing an exceptional job. Our daughter calls her the teacher who keeps her on task! I call her a teacher who cares and is truly an inspiration to others, Angie is a role model that inspires and works to motivate kids and looks outside the box for solutions!

Thank you Angie Kruzich!

Sincerely,

Cynthia Freese

Issaquah, WA

Who in the Hell was King Palmer

Who in the Hell was King Palmer? Friend, joker,inventor,entrepreneur,father,lover, spouse,brother, grandfather,protector,and provider.Born in Tacoma,Washington on January 3, 1944.
King believed in living life, working hard but most importantly taking time to have fun. King wanted to remind us all that when we get to the pearly gates we will be asked by our maker if we have enjoyed the life we were given. He said his reply would be YES! On October 23, 2009 King did his last wheelie all the way to heaven.
(I am sure he enjoyed not having to wear a helmet on his last ride!)

grandma is now just a memory

Yesterday, on June 17th my sister Tammi called me to let my know my grandma Twila had passed in her sleep. We had been waiting for her to pass for a few months. I have so many memories of time and talks with her that she feels even closer now. It's like she has moved and now lives with me. I am glad I told her how much I loved her and how much she met to me. She always encouraged me to do new things and always made me feel so loved and important. I am so thankful that she was my grandma.

LOGIN Leaches

LOGIN Leaches

Now heading towards year 4 LOGIN is considered by those who attended to be a huge success. We have been successful in bringing together C-level people from around the world that develop games that are played online, mix in quality speakers and relevant sponsors , devoted adviser's and great volunteers and you have a recipe for success. This success isn't something that happened magically. It took a lot of people working together and devoting hundreds if hours , it required community support , and a lot of hard by Peter . LOGIN is called the best industry event by all those who attend. Sure we have had our share of problems but over all the event is a successful event. Please don't get that mixed up with being profitable!

After the event each year we give ourselves a week to cope with the post conference funk and then its back to work on planing the next years event. This year I made a big mistake. I started contacting people whose business cards I had collected at the conference. That might not be thought of as a mistake but that is only the first part. I asked if they had a good LOGIN experience and after the call I would add them to my address book , or invite them to join me on linked in.
The mistake was when I contacted a gentleman who gave me his card and I noticed he hadn't registered for the event. His title, Vice President Content / Entertainment Practice. The company he was with did not seem to be a small struggling company quite the opposite. When he told me he had enjoyed the parties I told him that the parties were for attendees only and that he should have bought a day pass or I would have been happy to sell him a party pass. I told him that since he attended I would like to send him a credit card authorization form or give him our address where he could mail us a check to make good for at the very least he should purchase a day pass. His reply was, " whats it to you if I didn't pay?" "There is no way in hell I am paying for an event where I just went to the parties and held meetings? " This response knocked me off balance and put me on the defense. When I told him that in my eyes gate crashers at LOGIN are not only stealing from me but they are stealing from all the attendees he got a bit pissed. He then sent me quick email telling me that his company attorneys have his meeting schedule along with a written letter from the Marriott that the Lobby areas are common areas and that he could be there if he wanted to be. How does one do this in less than 5 minutes? Was he bluffing , was it done in advance? All these questions racing through my mind. I sent an email back and said you win! I am dropping this, have a nice day.

Red flag for Asshole! He in advance had a letter from the Marriott about where he could be? I wonder??

But, I had his business card which to me met he was at our party which was clearing marked private party. So I told Mister whats it to you , what I thought and regretfully said I would like to post his name on the LOGIN web page along with a few others that were only pretending to be an attendee.

Mister what's it to you, wasn't the only LOGIN leach, there were a few others one was a CEO who had recently announced raising millions of dollars. One guy had the nerve to come down to our exhibit area and when I asked him if he was going to register he said no I am just here for a meeting? WTF! Why do some people think they are entitled to getting everything for free? Are they legends in there own minds? After pouring myself into an event each year and ending up in the red I feel like I have a right to take people stealing from me personally.

Was the guy I called on the phone just pissed because he got caught? I looked at his Linked in profile and it clearly said he was attending LOGIN. Is this the new way to do business? What about the CEO who was hanging out in the LOBBY just feet from our party, or the guy who told me he lost his name badge and 20 minutes later I saw someone else with the name badge on. Are these these the types of people we want to do business with? It seems to me that if these folks value the quality of the attendees that we bring together that should support the event instead of act as a LOGIN leach. We are not a company with deep pockets and a huge staff. We are Peter , Paul , James, Joe, John, Erik, Steve , Scott ,Brandon, Rich, and me, all working hard to do something really cool for an industry we love.

Sure there are a lot of conferences and they are expensive. We work hard to make sure our event offers the best quality and the best attendees. We understand that times are tough and people are struggling and they can't afford to attend all these conferences. We are happy to help people out! Our volunteers ranged from CEO's to students some helping before during or after the event so that they could earn a complimentary pass.

Maybe I should not take things so personally, maybe Mister whats it to you, was right when he emailed one of my friends and said, "So now you bring up an interesting point. Compromise might have been achievable, as I am always in favor of helping one out. However, Cynthia needs to go to business school to learn how to approach people and have professional discussions, with C-levels from companies. Her approach and tact; has been nothing short of unprofessional, inappropriate and downright offensive. Therefore, all hope of a compromise has subsequently been lost."

I honestly think if Mister what's it to you, registered for LOGIN 2010 I would prefer to send him a refund and tell him to stay home. Sure it might be immature and unprofessional but I find stealing to also be unethical , unprofessional, and insulting.

Please tell me if I am over reacting! Should I just be happy he booked at the conference hotel? Do you want to do business with Mister whats it to you?

Traditions

When we moved back to Washington State Peter and I started a tradition of meeting each Wednesday for Lunch at a wonderful little Greek place in downtown Issaquah. It is a quite and cozy restaurant with , great food and wonderful service and its the perfect setting for intimate conversations or a nice place to sit and chat with friends. We considered this place as our own private restaurant. When we are at Tantalus we are young lovers. Tantalus was our secret and we only went there together. Each Wednesday Dale greeted us the same way with a huge smile and offering us our table which was located up a couple stairs with a nice window and a bit out of the way from the rest of the lunch crowd.

May 25 , 2006 our anniversary fell on a Wednesday and I new what I wanted to get Peter for a gift but I had been too busy to get to the store to pick it up. I figured since the store was next door to where we have lunch I could leave early and grab the gift, have it wrapped just before meeting Peter for lunch.

Revolution Art Gallery is a place that sells art by local artist a lot of the art is created from recycled products , its a great place to find one of a kind gifts and lets you support a local artist. One of the artists that is featured at the gallery makes fantastic clocks out of corrugated cardboard they have personality and charm. There were two clocks that had been on display for awhile but they were a bit pricey for cardboard. One of the clocks seemed to really fit my personality and the other one seemed more like Peter. After thinking about it I really wanted to give Peter the clock that seemed to represented myself. It's a small square clock about 6 inches tall and by 6inches wide. The different colors of cardboard that make the sides have a unique design and around the face of the clock there are old postage stamps. The stamps all have something to do with various types of air travel from hot air balloons, airplanes , space travel , blimps, all things I really love. So it seemed like the perfect gift to share with they guy I love. So I went ahead and spent $125 on a cardboard clock had it gift wrapped and told the clerk I was meeting my husband for lunch and was giving him the clock as an anniversary gift. I left the store and headed to our private meeting place.

Little did I know that as I was walking around the front of the building Peter was coming around the building from the back side. We were later told that we were only about 30 seconds apart. He too had a mission as he had also seen the clock with the air travel stamps and thought it would be a perfect gift. When he got into the store to purchase the clock it it was gone. He saw the other small clock that instead of stamps of airplanes and reference to air travel this clock had had music notes positioned creatively around the face. As a lover of music he decided he would purchase this clock and share with me something that he really loves. He bought the clock had it gift wrapped and told the sales clerk he was meeting his wife for lunch and would be giving her the clock as an anniversary gift. He then rushed off to our meeting place.

What we both found out later was the clerk at the art shop was really wishing that see new where we were having lunch. worried that we would want to return one of the clocks she called the owned of the store to share what had transpired over the past ten minutes. Both the clerk and the owner agreed that when we returned we could have a refund on one of the clocks.

Who in there right mind would want two cardboard clocks at a $125 each? The owner and the clerk where sure that once the gifts where opened we wouldn't want to keep 2 6ich square cardboard clocks for a total of $250. The owner told the clerk that it t would be okay to do a refund. So the clerk sat at the store and waited for our lunch to end to see if we would be back.


Once Peter arrived at the secret meeting place we ordered our lunch and traded gifts. We laughed when we saw what we each had picked out for the other. Peter and I shared our stories about how we had both just purchased them. Our waiter Dale was amazed as he looked at the almost identical one of a kind clocks that we had placed on the widow sill. He said, " you too think a lot a like you are meant to be together. " We had a hard time not laughing every time we glanced at our gifts.

After lunch we walked back to the gallery and as soon as the clerk saw us she told us she had called the owner and had permission to return one of the clocks. She couldn't believe that the clocks had sat in the store untouched for over 6 months and then purchased the same day. We explained that we were not there to return our gifts just to tell her it was pretty funny and to thank her for her part of making our anniversary memorable as it was obviously not easy for to keep a straight face when she was selling the 2nd clock.

The clocks are kept in each of our offices and each time I look at the time I remember a special day that was full of love and silliness.

Cold Masks

It’s been a rough few weeks at our house. Hosting a sick house guest, then playing nursemaid to a sick husband and now our youngest daughter stayed home from school. With a runny nose, sore throat, cough and mild aches and pains she came down stairs this morning and said, “I think I have what dad had.” I told her to go back to bed and I called the school to have her excused. Around 10 AM she got up to take some cold medicine and asked me, “Why don’t people in the United States use cold masks when they are sick to help keep from spreading germs?” Good question, I had always figured it was for vanity reasons. Then she shared with me that in other countries it is considered to be polite to wear a mask to keep from spreading germs and that if she had a mask she could have roughed it out and attended school today. Am I a bad parent for not thinking of stocking the house with cold masks? I honestly can’t imagine being in high school and wearing a cold mask to classes it seems so uncool. I am obviously more shallow than my 16 year old! It’s nice to know she stayed home to keep from spreading germs but now I am wondering why cold masks are not catching on in the US? To avoid the risk of losing class credits many students go to school sick. To avoid the loss of income many responsible adults go to work sick. Do we need designer masks or just reminders that the masks are to keep from spreading germs not to protect us from catching them? Is it selfishness or is it vanity that keeps us from protecting others or is it something completely different?

Cynthia Freese
Issaquah