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        <title>Just draw the line and step over it... - Ronda Matson - Ramblings</title>
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            <title>For My Georgia</title>
            <link>http://rondamatson.com/ramblings.html#39</link>
            <description><![CDATA[<p>For once, I&rsquo;m glad it&rsquo;s raining.&nbsp; The day is a mirror of my sadness as I consider the world without Georgia in it.&nbsp;</p><br /><p>&ldquo;I met her on my lonesome day.&rdquo; &nbsp;It&rsquo;s so true.&nbsp;</p><br /><p>A week after yet another brain surgery operation, in the Fall of 2006, I met Georgia Allen.&nbsp; I was missing half of my hair &amp; had covered my baldness &amp; stitches with Erin&rsquo;s wide knit American flag headband.&nbsp; Somehow, I felt stronger with it on.&nbsp; I was determined that the guitar-picking nails of my right hand would not be lost like my hair, like so many dreams I once had, in a blink.&nbsp; I knew that I didn&rsquo;t have the fine motor ability at that point to save them, so I braved potential embarrassment &amp; went to the salon.&nbsp; I didn&rsquo;t talk to anyone or look at anyone.&nbsp; It was a perfect misery.&nbsp; Suddenly, there was Georgia&mdash;and she was talking to me!&nbsp; Her energy and (eventually) her love of music came at me full force.&nbsp; Georgia, hailing from the great state of Alabama, showed me pictures of herself with the members of the band&hellip; ALABAMA!&nbsp; Amazing.&nbsp; I noticed her NASCAR coffee mug &amp; commented on it.&nbsp; She turned to pictures of herself with famous race car drivers&hellip;</p><br /><p>Georgia was a treasure.&nbsp; She turned my lonesome day &amp; many days after that into something wonderful.&nbsp; My outlook that first day became hopeful again, almost in an instant.&nbsp; I was able to see &ldquo;beyond the rainbow in my head.&rdquo;&nbsp; Yes, I was once again starting all over, fighting my way back, but I knew I could do it.&nbsp;</p><br /><p>I hope there is someone like Georgia in your world.&nbsp; For some people, as with my dear grandmother, Catherine, 82 years of a wonderful life seems not nearly long enough.&nbsp; &nbsp;But, this I know:&nbsp; &ldquo;In a world that might not care, close your eyes.&nbsp; She&rsquo;ll be right there.&rdquo;</p><br /><p><span style="font-family: book antiqua,palatino,serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><em>Peace~</em></span></span><span style="font-family: book antiqua,palatino,serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">&nbsp;</span></span></p><br /><p><br /><object width="500" height="405" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/1JLkMJ6zij0&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><br /><param name="data" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1JLkMJ6zij0&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&border=1" /><br /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><br /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><br /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1JLkMJ6zij0&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&border=1" /><br /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><br /></object><br /></p>]]></description>
            <guid>http://rondamatson.com/ramblings.html#39</guid>
            <pubDate>Mon, 29 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
            <source url="http://rondamatson.com/ramblings.html">Just draw the line and step over it... - Ronda Matson - Ramblings</source>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title>The Power of the Page</title>
            <link>http://rondamatson.com/ramblings.html#36</link>
            <description><![CDATA[<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;">I swim with the Megabytes!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Communicating in the computer age is a little like jumping into the darkest ocean miles from shore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Something brushes against me, but just for an instant. It&rsquo;s a little scary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn&hellip; All the fishes are out there, some co-existing, some swallowing up the little ones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>There is Ronda Matson &ldquo;the person&rdquo; &amp; there is Ronda Matson &ldquo;the page&rdquo; on Facebook.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Some folks dislike Facebook, but I find it intriguing, a friendly kind of fish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It connects Ronda &ldquo;the person&rdquo; to old high school &amp; college friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It allows me to send quick messages<em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> I know they&rsquo;ll get</em> to any one of my four children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I can have fun with old pictures. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span></span></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;">&nbsp;</span></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ronda &ldquo;the page&rdquo; is a different animal (as my father would say) &amp; I think the potential is exciting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It provides a Fan Space, a room for impressions of the music, thoughts, discussions, relevant photos &amp; videos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It shows the faces of the wonderful people who offer their support, who lift me up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Sometimes, it&rsquo;s fun to swim with the Megabytes!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>One face at a time, I continue to discover&mdash;and appreciate&mdash;the power of the page. </span></span></p><br /><p>&nbsp;</p>]]></description>
            <guid>http://rondamatson.com/ramblings.html#36</guid>
            <pubDate>Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800</pubDate>
            <source url="http://rondamatson.com/ramblings.html">Just draw the line and step over it... - Ronda Matson - Ramblings</source>
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        <item>
            <title>Make Swiss Cheese</title>
            <link>http://rondamatson.com/ramblings.html#35</link>
            <description><![CDATA[<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;">At first glance, this topic appears to have little to do with music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>However, faced (as I am) with the daunting task of making up so much lost ground, especially in the area of communication, &ldquo;Swiss cheese&rdquo; is a theory that might come in handy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span></span></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;">&nbsp;</span></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;">I learned The Swiss Cheese Theory in 1987.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It&rsquo;s simple:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>When the job is too big, poke holes in it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The notion made perfect sense, but every cell in my body rebelled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The concept went against my nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I liked to start a thing and see it to the end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>If I couldn&rsquo;t finish a project, it was likely that I wouldn&rsquo;t even begin it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>&ldquo;My nature&rdquo; served me well after the birth of my first baby.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Time passed &amp; there was another baby.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>More time passed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Uh oh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Another baby.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I started to worry &amp; I think I blinked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Suddenly, I was mother of four &amp; working outside the home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The job was BIG.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span></span></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;">&nbsp;</span></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;">In the end, I would have been lost without images of Swiss cheese.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>If there were 12 drawers to clean, I would clean 3 &amp; force myself to be happy about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Over time, I actually WAS happy about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span></span></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;">&nbsp;</span></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;">So, here I go again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I&rsquo;ll poke holes in Project Communication.</span></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;">&nbsp;</span></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">I&rsquo;ll make Swiss cheese!</span></em></strong><strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></strong></span></p>]]></description>
            <guid>http://rondamatson.com/ramblings.html#35</guid>
            <pubDate>Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800</pubDate>
            <source url="http://rondamatson.com/ramblings.html">Just draw the line and step over it... - Ronda Matson - Ramblings</source>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title>Ramblings One</title>
            <link>http://rondamatson.com/ramblings.html#33</link>
            <description><![CDATA[<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Maybe you have this problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>If the job is too big, sometimes I ignore it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span></span></span></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;">&nbsp;</span></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Jump onto the merry-go-round of real life and there&rsquo;s often no time for the big job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Heaven forbid there&rsquo;s more than one!&nbsp;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>Forget it...<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>At the moment, the task of communication weighs heavily on me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Everything, literally <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">everything, </em>fell from my plate.&nbsp; There was (and is) far too much I&rsquo;d like to say, to explain, to offer, to share&hellip; and so, I haven&rsquo;t done it at all.</span></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;">&nbsp;</span></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;">What&rsquo;s more, I don&rsquo;t like the word &ldquo;blog.&rdquo;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I really don&rsquo;t want to be a &ldquo;blogger.&rdquo;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The word doesn&rsquo;t sound good or look good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>&ldquo;News&rdquo; is okay, but the news can be pretty long-winded where Ronda is concerned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Without making any solid promises regarding consistency of effort, I will attempt to offer my thoughts in...&nbsp;a ramble!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>That seems fitting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Welcome to Ronda&rsquo;s Ramblings~</span></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;">&nbsp;</span></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I hope you&rsquo;ll check back often!</span></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;">&nbsp;</span></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Peace~</span></span></p>]]></description>
            <guid>http://rondamatson.com/ramblings.html#33</guid>
            <pubDate>Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
            <source url="http://rondamatson.com/ramblings.html">Just draw the line and step over it... - Ronda Matson - Ramblings</source>
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