Sheeeee's Back with Wheelchair Wisdom!

Hi. I can't even tip-toe yet, so let's not refer to today's effort as my first step forward, but... Amen - I was able to lose the wheelchair a few days ago and my right foot sees some light at the end of the blow-up cast, so things are definitely improving for me and the family.

The situation was a bad break - (no pun intended!). To be honest, I was a bit discouraged. My Virgin HealthMiles GoZone Step Journey and this Blog were going so well and then wham! But that's life gang and the message is: No matter what happens, we really are supposed to get up, dust ourselves off, and move forward as soon as the foot or situation allows.

This little Blog took a rest too... My laptop was in the IT shop at work and sitting at my roll-top desk was not an option. I tried reviewing e-mails for a mere ten minutes on several occasions and the toes would start rebelling-by-swelling, so I decided not to return to this important task until it was good for my foot to do so!! You see - My beautiful right foot has led me to great destinations all my life, so I knew I owed it to her to take the lead on this journey-to-full-recovery.

I've been through bigger medical "situations" through the decades, but this event takes the cake in inconvenience! Please trust me - I'm not complaining! At age 51, I'm just grateful I did not break a hip during that embarrassing fall AND that I did not need surgery! Also, I'm ecstatic that I had been on my Virgin HealthMiles Step program since January 2nd because it positioned me to physically and mentally battle back more effectively.

Aside from the nasty sprains to my right ankle and knee, my poor 5th Metatarsal bone which sits between the little toe and the ankle suffered two breaks. But I was very lucky because there was no damage to the Tarsal Metatarsal Joint or the Metatarsal Phalangeal Joint. My foot specialist explained that damage to either of these joints would have required immediate surgery.

Compliance to a "no-weight baring" order from a doctor is hard work for anyone with a broken foot. Without TishTrek, I'm convinced I would have had to crawl around the house. The weight loss through TishTrek and the increase in my upper body strength made this recovery easier; and both factors have mitigated physical risk to my good leg & foot everytime I've been required to propel myself forward on them. "TishTrek - My 51/51 Challenge" enhanced my ability to navigate on crutches like a champion and gave me physical power over my condition which I would not otherwise have had.

So here I am! I can't step yet, but I'm back at my Blog Station treating broken bones like the character-builders that they are! I'm all set to roar again through my keyboard, so listen up:

I'm working through my third week of recovery. Harry and I strategically placed one wheelchair upstairs and one downstairs to make it easy for me to sit with my foot elevated anywhere inside or outside of our house, (one was a loaner from our Uncle Charlie; and the other - a loaner from the Pt. Pleasant Elks). My thanks to all for a set up that really helped me operate with ease when no one could be home to assist me during the first two weeks.

Ten days ago, I was in one of those wheelchairs executing my Jersey City recruiting responsibilities from my Pt. Pleasant Home Office when something remarkable happened. I was actually feeling a tad disconnected from the masses and a little overwhelmed & confined by this "broken bone thing" when out of nowhere - the phone rang.

A wonderful high caliber person was on the other line inviting me to walk with her to lead and inspire others on an important journey. To my amazement, it didn't matter to her or anyone that my feet were not working. I was the only one focused on how I'd execute any new journey with a broken foot.

I was reminded that a situation out of our control can appear as some awful low point in circumstance or a high-end challenge for the record books and often it's neither of those things.

I'm now convinced that much needed moments of rest are arranged for us (whether we're prepared for them or not...) so we have enough time to think before we take a detour or fork in the road. With this in mind, I'm very grateful for the gift that granted me "pause" as my foot healed.

I'll let you know more later in the week... :)


Best regards,
Everybody's Cousin Tish
Score: 15/51

Quote of the Day: "Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars!"
- Casey Kasem

Did you hear about the Lady on the "Step Journey" who broke her foot?!!

Forget the step, step, step...

Okay, I haven't written since Monday! Well?? Did you hear the one about the woman who went on a Virgin Healthmiles Step Journey and broke her foot?!

OMG - I can't even make this up! I broke my right foot on Wednesday morning and... I wasn't even excercising!! Two breaks in one bone!! Okay Aunt Nonnie - I FINALLY hear you! I should take up swimming??!!

What happened? Arghhhh... Two football stars, "My Adam" (Bobertz) from Wesley College and Pt. Plesant's own Matt Purro from Kean University moved 900 pounds of furniture for me and Harry on Saturday and I kept yelling, "Oh, be careful my boys!" "I'll take the drawers out of the dressers so they're not too heavy for you... Don't hurt yourself! etc." Can someone send a text message My Boys and let them know that their faithful spotter actually broke her foot and sprained her ankle and knee while putting the sheets on the *&&^#@ BED they moved!!!!

My Kate returns home for Spring Break on Monday, March 15th and I was putting a dust ruffle on her bed (of course - everyone pulls the queen-size mattress off, applies ruffle, then stands on box spring in bare feet and PJ's to pull heavy mattress back into position!) Oh good gosh - the weight of the mattress in that position was too much for me! It pulled me forward so hard - that I fell forward on one foot. I was more than two feet off the ground, so when I hit the floor, my right foot turned completely inward and rolled under me. I was KO'd! The pain was so bad that I blacked out. Then, I woke up quickly and screamed my head off like the wife being chased by Glenn Close with that knife in the movie Fatal Attraction.

I literally crawled up the steps into the kitchen where my phones were and as I was trying to control my hyperventilated & hysterical state, a beloved Cousin Anne sent a text message... "The 911 Lady in our Family" - was at my door in ten minutes and we were off to the hospital in the Anne-Mobile!

This journey - TishTrek - my 51/51 Challenge - is not over! I'm not giving up! I'm not giving in! I can still win! I'll just make the next 6 weeks all about upper-body strength!

Oh and here's the kicker for those of you who can still kick: When Kate called home from The Ohio State University to check up on me, can you believe she told me she never liked that dust ruffle in the first place?! Oh my gosh - my response, it's CURTAINS for you honey! Yes - in fact - Cousin Karen is going to turn that dust ruffle into a window treatment! And me? I'm never making a bed again!

Best regards,
Everybody's Cousin Tish
Score: 18/51

Quote of the Day: ~ "Lots of people limit their possibilities by giving up easily. Never tell yourself this is too much for me. It's no use. I can't go on. If you do you're licked, and by your own thinking too. Keep believing and keep on keeping on." ~ Norman Vincent Peale (Easy for Norman to say when he has a leg to stand on!)

Mom: You do what @ your Day Job??!!

Okay - I know no one really cares about what we all do at our "Day Job", but I was thinking that a snapshot of what I do at work might just help others understand why it's so tough for a working mom like me to find time to exercise!

I source, recruit, identify, qualify and acquire talent for companies to ensure that they can accomplish their business goals. Over the last 27 years, I've enjoyed doing this job for some of the greatest global financial services & technology firms on the planet. I've also executed this work on behalf of Big Pharma and in the Travel & Entertainment industry, (Chef's International, Inc. - aka: @ Jack Baker's Lobster Shanty!). I never get bored because the open positions and business objectives are never the same.

My career in Human Resources & Global Staffing began by accident when I agreed to take a leave of absence from Rutger's University to manage the opening of a few restaurants up-and-down the East Coast for my childhood employer - who taught me the transferable value of great customer service during that impressionable decade between ages 14 & 24. I began in the laundry room cleaning kitchen whites, towels and tablecloths and ended my career with them as a General Manager of their crown jewel and most profitable unit. I made sure that the commitment to customer service that I learned there followed me to ensure I would be a high caliber business partner and a productive corporate citizen throughout my career. To this day, I owe a great deal of my success to Jack Baker and other executives in my life who demanded much, but taught me more... including the importance of operating with excellence all along the way!

In the past 27 months, I've closed 145 positions for SunGard Financial Systems which included: Some of the best Sell-Side & Buy-Side Sales Professionals in the business; a Chief Executive Officer & a number of SVP's for the Trading Segment; Associate Corporate Counsel; Sr. Attorneys, Compliance Experts & Branch Managers for our Assent Broker-Dealer. I single-handedly back-filled the entire Equity Finance Group, (Stock Loan Dept); and hired Financial Engineers, IT professionals at all levels, Chief Risk Officers for several SunGard Segments; several key positions reporting directly to SunGard's New Chief Info Security Officer, (Segment Security Officers & Global Security Officers), as well as Marketing & Finance professionals at every level.

I've had the privilege to source, identify and hire the top analyst who now reports directly to SunGard CEO, Cris Conde; and other top notch business analysts who report directly to SunGard's Strategic Global Account Mgmt Team. I hired all the talent (both back office and front office) it took to launch SunGard Trading's NEW entry into the following Lines of Business: Liquidity Services - May, 2008; Correspondent Clearing Operations - June, 2008; UK-based Assent Broker Dealer to service clients across Continental Europe - December, 2009; Alternative Trading Services to compete with primary exchanges like NASDAQ & NYSE and Regional ECNs such as BEX, TRAC - January, 2010.

For the launch of our Market Map Market Data Terminal Business - I work closely with the international executives who lead this business and so far... I closed the first ten sales/ sales support professionals who are currently launching this effort in the U.S. so SunGard can compete head-to-head with the Thomson Reuters & Bloomberg terminal businesses.

We expanded our market offerings to Continental Europe & the Asia Pacific Region in Buy/Sell-Side Compliance, (Protegent); Pre/Post Analytics in the Options & Futures Markets, (MicroHedge); and in Commodities, (Kiodex & BondOne); then in December 2009 - we merged Kiodex with our Houston-based Energy Businesses (Entegrate, ZaiNet and other solutions) and both businesses now support each others expansion in new and emerging markets. The global component to my job makes me always feel like I'm working way beyond the Jersey City, NJ city limits and that is exciting to me!

Finally, I helped manage the integration of talent for two mergers & acquisitions which included ICE in Q3 2009 and GL Trade in (Q4 2008 - ongoing) which literally transformed SunGard Trading from a U.S.-centric entity to a global leader executing our impressive long-term "Wheel Strategy" which will propel us to become "the leading neutral provider of transaction services for global equity and options markets!" After the GL acquisition, I hired most of the Channel Sales Execs who now sell GL products to repeat SunGard clients across our U.S.-based Financial Systems Segments.

Here is a partial list of the varied companies I've been accountable to under the SunGard Financial Systems umbrella: Brass, Assent, GL Trade, Kiodex, ICE, Protegent, Engard, Loanet, Aztec, MicroHedge, ICE, InTrader, Global Phase 3, Stream, Wall Street Concepts, WealthStation, Martini, GMI, FAME, FRONT ARENA, INVEST ONE, BankWare, Investier, AvantGard, iWorks, etc. Having worked in all these varied businesses, I've learned so much about how our clients execute their businesses in this 21st Century. What I can tell you - for sure - is that it's very interesting work, but it doesn't leave me much time to exercise!! Trust me - my mind is doing jumping-jacks every single day and I know that is a good thing, but the exercise I need from the neck down just ain't happening on that schedule I planned. I know I have to try harder. How do you people do it out there? Help.

Finally, I often operate as the Executive Recruiter who executes much of the Executive Hiring for senior positions tied to SunGard's Corporate Headquarters in Wayne, PA, (I've filled newly created enterprise-wide positions for the Offices of the Chief Corporate Counsel, CFO, Human Resources, Information Security; as well as the President & Chief Customer Officer @ SunGard Higher Ed and for the Chief Procurement Officer @ Availability Services). The time issue has everything to do with making myself available when employment candidates have time to speak with me, which very often can be any hour in the evening or on weekends. I suppose I could learn to interview folks while I jog on the treadmill, but I already sprained my whole right side (and broke a rib - ha!) getting thrown from that monster-of-a-machine when I wasn't concentrating, so... maybe not.

Okay - sometime others complain about me being "busy"... but I have to admit that it is very satisfying to know that I have contributed to the success of companies everytime I've reached my goals. My Kate graduates from The Ohio State University on Sunday, June 13th and my prayer for her is that she can find a work-life balance in a career that inspires her.

But ha - here's the surprise: Wait till she finds out that it's the work-life balance thing that requires the most work! :)

Best regards,
Everybody's Cousin Tish
Score: 18/51 (Yes - I'm two up this week, but no need to call in the Riot Squad, (the one that laughs - that is!) because I'm back on the beam... If this journey was easy, I wouldn't be blogging my head off for gosh sakes!)

Quote of the Day: "If a child finds emotional comfort in food or drink, then inspire them to work outside of food chains and restaurants. It could save their life." - Observations from The Jersey Shore, Kate's Mom.

Admit What You've Lost & Live With The Cost

Step, step, step... Kate will be home for Spring Break soon and she really wants to go see the Broadway Musical entitled, "Next to Normal." I just looked it up on Google and it's about a mom's intense struggle with bipolar disorder.** Hey wait a minute, I resemble that remark! Do you think Kate is sending a message?

Let's see, here are a couple of lines from a song in this play:

"Let There Be Light"

Let there be light
Now at last let there be light
We've been living in the dark for far too long
An endless night.

Let there be light
Sun and moon a million beams
Let it shake me shake me from these dreams
And wake me to what's real
Let us begin to heal
Let there be light.

Wow - I think I'll go get those tickets for Kate and me today.


Best regards,
Everyone's Cousin Tish
Score: 20/51

Quote of the Day: - "Next to Normal"; Song - Catch Me, I'm Falling

"Make up your mind to live stronger now
Make up your mind let the truth be revealed
Admit what you've lost and live with the cost
At times it does hurt to be healed..."

**From Google:

Next to Normal is a musical with book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey and music by Tom Kitt. Its story concerns a mother who struggles with worsening bipolar disorder and the effect that her illness has on her family. The play also addresses such issues as grieving a loss, suicide, drug abuse, ethics in modern psychiatry, and suburban life.

Next to Normal received several workshop performances before it debuted off-Broadway in 2008, winning the Outer Critics' Circle Award for Outstanding Score and receiving nominations for Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Actress (Alice Ripley) and Outstanding Score. It then played at the Arena Stage in Arlington, Virginia from November 2008 to January 2009 and is scheduled to open on Broadway in April 2009.

"Don't Do As I Did; Just Don't Smoke."

Okay - call the Diet Police! I cheated on Monday... It was my first "David Letterman Stouffer's Mac-and-Cheese Moment" since December 23rd. In the end, it didn't even taste that good. And - oh my gosh - Scott got home early from Show Choir practice and caught me in the act!! I felt like that kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar!

So I ask you, why did I do that? I'm telling you, it was that familiar desperate reach for comfort food after an exhausting day and some very bad news. When I get exhausted, my will power heads straight for the hills. How about all of you?

Do I actually need a big neon sign on that bright orange box with a warning label that reads, "This kind of repeat behavior has a good chance of putting you in Jersey Shore Medical Center where doctors will break open your chest cavity while they put you on the heart-lung machine so your heart can keep a beat with the help of technology while they clear your clogged arteries. Your arteries will be filled with bad cholesterol from this Mac-and-Cheese you have sent through your system for 30 years?!" Gosh - logic tells us one thing; emotions beat to a drum that will take us off that cliff whenever we're not careful!

Sometimes I think about my own Mom's quest to find peaceful quiet moments during stressful times... She never sought comfort in food, but she grew up in a Salutatory Age of Smoking - meaning smoking was welcomed as an acceptable & fashionable habit which was picked up by lots of teenagers & young adults in the 1940's, 1950's and beyond. In those times, this act was greeted as some kind of tribal right-of-passage that everyone went through on their way to adulthood. And okay - let's join the chorus... Big Tobacco's marketing and advertising campaigns were the best Madison Avenue had to offer in those days! Yes - even that hunk - 'The Marlboro Man' - died of cancer.

Some people could stop the habit on a dime; for others - like Mom - they'd engage in a lifetime-of-trying and they still could not quit. My hazel-blue eyes were fixated on her throughout my elementary school years and I mostly saw the strongest and smartest woman I had ever known. By 8th grade, Mom had all of us convinced that we could become President of the United States if we put our minds to it. Eight kids make for a lot of mouths and egos to feed, but she found time to be everyone else's rock too - a special person so many turned to & called on for help - and I mean "everyone" including friend, stranger and foe alike! If you knew the teens who turned to the embrace and warmth of my parents for help between the 1960's and the 1980's or counted how many actaully lived in our home - your definition of "selfless" would be altered forever.

The term "selfless" would stay with Mom until the day she died. In the early years, it never dawned on me that perhaps she never left enough time or energy for herself... How did she do it, I started wondering when my own kids arrived? At times, could it be that exhaustion and bad news impacted the quality of her life too?

What I do know is that she waged a 35 year valiant & silent battle that was really no ones business until now. I remember her wearing the nicotine patches, literally smoking pipes and cigars, attending hypnosis & smoking cessation courses with her friend Jude at Ocean County College, chewing that special gum, and submersing entire cartons of cigarettes in wastebaskets of water to banish the tangible temptation from our house.

In our living room on Lincoln Avenue, she was ahead of her time as she exercised-for-endorphins to the greatest hits of Herb Albert & the Tijuana Brass before there were ever aerobic classes in any neighborhood, (Scott - that's where my love affair with brass instruments started!!). She walked on the beaches in Pt. Pleasant with the best of friends like Barbara Fioretti, Joan Spiegle and her sister, Mary; cleaned our house like a fiend to eliminate the smell of smoke, (I'm talking wall washing & windows open in winter here gang!), etc... I never put these efforts into one paragraph before, but the reality screams that my mother tried very hard so it was no wonder she would warn everyone to simply steer clear of this deadly habit that is so hard for many people to break.

As I anxiously waited for her to survive through multiple vascular surgeries of the leg, neck and beyond, followed by quadruple open heart surgery and abdominal aortic surgery, the painful message regarding nicotine could not be more clear. In an unbelieveable moment, she requested I drive her straight to the 7-11 for cigarettes as the first stop from heart surgery to home. I didn't want to; and I knew others would have made a different decision, but I did it. Mom was sitting in my car with a heart-shaped pillow protecting the giant incision up-and-down her chest and she was suffering. My gosh - It had been hard enough to watch her in this struggle with herself when she was strong, so pushing back when she was physically weak was not an option.

After I purchased those cigarettes, I began to cry because it felt as if the razor-sharp scalpels used to save her life had just etched a message in my gut that I knew one day I would write to honor her and how hard she tried: "Don't do as I did; just don't smoke!"


Best regards,
Everybody's Cousin Tish
Score: 20/51

Quote of the Day: "Where there is a will, there is a way."
- The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms

A Nashville Send-Off Celebration Like No Other!

We interrupt this Blog for an IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!

The Point Pleasant Show Choir and Madrigal Singers have conquered the Lincoln Center Jazz Festival in NYC, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, the Boston Music Festival with three Superior Awards and the hearts of music lovers everywhere… Ladies & Gentlemen, the next stop is Nashville, Tennessee where they will compete in the nationally known Heritage Music Festival!!


Life will be a Cabaret on Saturday, April 10th as proud parents & fans transform Jenkinson’s Boardwalk into a remarkable Supper Club Experience to support these gifted world-class performers and their incredible teacher as they head into this national competition!

Location: 401 Ocean Avenue & Central Ave - Boardwalk Bar, Grill & Arcade!
Time: 6:00 P.M. – 9:00 P.M. – Jenkinsons welcomes all after 9 p.m.
Date: Saturday, April 10th – the Saturday following Easter Sunday
Donation: $20 Adult – includes hot buffet, 2 beverages– soda, draft beer or wine.
$5 Child (12 & under) AND we hand you back $5.00 in QUARTERS!
Children can explore Jenkinson’s Aquarium, Rides or Arcade!
Plus: Door Prizes, Cash Bar, Free Lot Parking, Brick Oven Pizza Tasting!

A “Gathering Post” with a view of the Atlantic Ocean is open on second floor!!

While you dine on chicken, pasta and assorted items cooked to perfection, these SENSATIONAL competitive artists from Pt. Pleasant Borough High School will literally sing their hearts out for their Nashville supper!

This Showcase-of-Excellence also includes a program of contemporary music performed by The Key West Crabs - Patrick & Joanna! And - the drum roll please! We also have a Special Guest Star…

In a salute to the ceremony and tradition that is the Grande Ole Oprey, Pt. Pleasants’ own 85 year old Patriarch – John ‘Tis’ Himself Conaghan - will perform on his hand carved instruments. Join this remarkable “Master of the Fiddle” as he honors these kids with a Nashville Send-Off Celebration like no other!

100% of all ticket sales go directly to the Pt. Pleasant Borough Show Choir, so all donations/checks must be made payable to the group. Tickets will be available at the door or you can mail ticket requests with your check (payable to PPB Show Choir) & include your phone# to: Tish Ferguson, Mad Mamma Supper Club Chairperson @ 2404 Maria Place Pt. Pleasant, NJ 08742 OR Call Hotline @ (732)714-8483 to reserve your tickets now. We promise you will clap your hands and stomp your feet all the way home!!!!

Who has time to step when you're planning something like this! Love to all!

Everybody's Cousin Tish
Score for the Show Choir - Join Us!