I wish that is what I'd been doing all along this cancer journey. But instead, I ignored my own advice and since February 2012 have haphazardly posted content to Instagram, Pinterest, CaringBridge, Google+, Path, text messages, Google docs, LinkedIn, Jesus Calling bookmarks, YouTube, YouVersion bookmarks, blog comments, emails to myself, Facebook & Twitter. Now it's biting me in my behind. There's no single place to go to get the whole picture.

This picture is a screenshot of what Google returns as first page search results for "Lorelei Decker cancer." These search results go for many pages. And there's nothing chronological about them. The obsessive-compulsive part of my nature that wants to view the journey chronologically.  If, all along, I'd been following my own advice and posting first here to my blog I'd have exactly what I desire. 

Therefore, I repent.  Let's see if I can wrangle in my disorganized social media addiction into something that resembles a plan for communication going forward.

And then maybe I'll go backward to recreate the timeline in an organized fashion.  I wonder if this is what it feels like to begin writing a book. Kind of like a virtual scrapbook. Yes, a virtual cancer journey scrapbook is my new mission.

Just so it doesn't go to waste, here's what I wrote before I had to revise it:

On the morning of January 28, 2012 I kissed my healthy 17 year old daughter Lorelei on her forehead as she left for a busy Friday of her senior year of high school. And on February 9, 2012 I kissed this same sweet girl on the forehead as the nurse accessed the port in her chest to infuse her first dose of chemotherapy to kill the cancer that might otherwise kill her. Nothing can adequately describe the chaos and emotion of the eleven days between these.

• Saturday Jan 28: Annoying cough. Visit to the after hours medical clinic for some cough medicine.  Chest x-ray. Seeing the doctor’s concerned face as he says the words “large mass” and “tumor.” CT scan at the hospital emergency room. The words “11 centimeter conglomeration of lymph nodes that likely indicate lymphoma” and biopsy. A question from Lorelei “So, Lymphoma. Does that mean I have cancer?” Frantic request for prayer posted to facebook. Flood of responses from caring friends.
• Sunday: Church praying over Lorelei even before the biopsy and final diagnosis.
• Monday: Appointment with surgeon who said it would be better to see a thoracic surgeon for biopsy.
• Tuesday: Appointment with thoracic surgeon at 11:00am (arranged via a friend on facebook) who could see Lorelei was having a difficult time breathing so he scheduled her for immediate surgery (mediastinoscopy) at 4:00 that afternoon. Surgeon emerging from the OR late that night with the report of Nodular Sclerosing Hodgkin’s Lymphoma; “the kind of lymphoma one would want delivered to them on a plate” if one had to receive some kind of lymphoma on a plate. Relief. Then panic. Who to hire as an oncologist? How does a parent do that?  At 17, Lorelei is not a child but also not an adult. Who will address her future fertility questions? Will we have time to freeze her eggs?
• Wednesday: Lorelei asks first “Mom, am I going to lose my hair?” followed by “Mom, will I ever be able to have a baby?” Call Oncologists all day and get discouraged because the one we think we really want won’t take her cuz she’s under 18.  Finish the day feeling defeated without a plan. Fall asleep crying but afraid to let Lorelei see mom fall apart.
• Thursday Feb 2: Wake up and read Jesus Calling and feel like God is speaking directly to me. Spirits lifted energy renewed. Get a call from the thoracic surgeon that they’ve miraculously arranged for the oncologist we want to actually see Lorelei even though she’s too young. The oncologist’s nurse had already been praying for Lorelei (goes to our church) and didn’t know this young patient they had previously rejected was the same girl. When the surgeon shared her name the oncologist set an appointment to see her the next day!  
• Friday: Meet with oncologist. Learn both chemo and radiation are likely but we still need to stage the cancer. No matter what she will need ABVD treatment and she’s going to lose her hair. 80 to 85% odds to beat this. Resist thinking about the 15 to 20% who don’t.
• Saturday: Shop for wigs.
• Sunday: Worship a wonderful God who has reminded us that every detail of this journey is on His mind.
• Monday: Meet with fertility doctor to get script for putting Lorelei in to menopause since there’s no time to freeze eggs. Endure the financial pain of learning that insurance won’t cover the $900 medication she’ll need each month for the next year but decide to trust God to handle that detail. Prepare for battle with insurance company.
• Tuesday: Surgery again to implant port.  Pulmonary function tests.
• Wednesday: Echocardiogram and PET scan. Bone Marrow Biopsy.
• Thursday Feb 9: Meet with oncologist. Cancer has not spread to belly and is not in her bone marrow; Stage 2 officially. Start chemo!

Yes, indeed, her battle is indeed "Bigger than Basketball."  Thank you to the NBA for promoting the story of this truly inspiring 17 year old.   And thank you to Make-A-Wish of Oklahoma for making it all possible in the first place.

It's been such a blessing to watch how wonderful Coach Scott Brooks and his entire coaching staff have been with Lorelei.  They took her in and treated her like one of their own.  For this one day she was not just "Lorelei with Cancer" but "Lorelei, Coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder."  It was also quite fun to watch the Thunder as they quickly learned that Lorelei knew her stuff.

Today, after only five rounds of chemotherapy, she had a pulmonary function test and it revealed that she is operating at 135% of normal lung capacity!  Pretty good evidence that those tumors are shrinking.

Tell me that is not a miracle. 

And next week (on April 24) she gets to use those super-sized lungs to coach her Oklahoma City Thunder basketball team to victory over the Sacramento Kings which is what she wished for when Make-A-Wish asked her to wish for anything she wanted. She's likely the Thunder's biggest fan.

I like to think that God knew all along she'd need that extra lung capacity to yell at Perk.

  

Confession: I’ve been feeling a bit sad/jealous to be stuck in OKC during Lorelei's senior year Spring Break reading facebook posts of what feels like everyone else from afar having the time of their lives.

Then God puts this in my face:

Jesus Calling today: "I shower blessings on you daily, but sometimes you don’t perceive them. When your mind is stuck on a negative focus, you see neither Me nor My gifts."

I'm sorry God.

• Thank you Jesus for the cancer that you use to draw us to our knees and that gives us the opportunity to glorify You so others can know Your love too.
• Thank you for the availability of wonderful medical treatment.
• Thank you for providing financial means to pay for medical treatment.
• Thank you for my job.
• Thank you for that car with 165,000 miles on it that worked well enough to transport me safely to work today.
• Thank you for providing protection and refreshment for all of our friends and loved ones who are traveling right now.
• Thank you for rain.
• Thank you for fun memories of Spring Breaks from the past (The photo in this post is from a 1999 trip to Six Flags over Texas.)
• Thank you that we survived Y2K (and finally finished off the last can of tuna from the stash.)
• Thank you for people who write fun books like The Hunger Games and for those who make them into movies that we can look forward to seeing after a long day of chemo.
• Thank you for a husband who laughs at me when I hide under a blanket and scream at the TV during an episode of “Walking Dead.”
• Thank you that we have enough food to make it necessary to exert self control or diet or exercise.
• Thank you for allowing me to live in a country where true religious persecution is a foreign concept.
• Thank you that I don’t have a headache today.
• Thank you that Hannah can be here in between Baylor and WashU to help mother her baby sister.
• Thank you that Lorelei will be healed by the time our sons leave this year to serve in Afghanistan and that they will be here to support her through the journey.
• Thank you for reminding me that there is much more to this life than happiness; that Joy is possible even when happiness is fleeting.

One of the reasons I’ve been good at what I do is that I am so passionate about our work and the company. These guys I work with are amazing. I’ve always felt like what I did mattered (or would matter in 100 years.) But my passion bucket (at least for internet related things) has been drained lately.

I asked God to fill it back up.

Yesterday, after having been asleep for a few short hours, I was awakened at 2:00am. Wide awake. Tried to go back to sleep for 45 minutes before I gave up and decided to pursue what might be God trying to speak to me during the wee quiet hours. So, I opened up my iPhone (turning down the brightness hoping not to disturb Kevin) and went to my Jesus Calling app. I normally read this first thing in the morning and it usually feels like God is talking to me directly and specifically. (I don’t know how He does it, but I’m so glad He does.) So was the case yesterday morning. Here’s what I posted to facebook around 3:10am:

'Can't sleep. So much on my mind. So many voices. Decided to take an "early peek" at today's Jesus Calling entry:

"The voices of the world are a cacophony of chaos, pulling you this way and that. Don’t listen to those voices; challenge themwith My Word. Learn to take minibreaks from the world, finding a place to be still in My Presence and listen to My voice."

Okay Lord. I'm listening.'

It was Lorelei’s. Her very first. I’d given her authorship rights but she’d never used them. Until now.

Here’s what she said:

“Today I was still for a moment in prayer. I thought of those around me fighting many different battles and I quickly became overwhelmed. I cannot heal those around me. I cannot mend marriages and I have no power to bring peace in a time of loss. I become uneasy and anxious. But I'm beginning to realize that there is a beauty here. The Lord can heal those around me. He can mend marriages and He can bring peace. The beauty is that the Lord can do these things and DOES do these things so that I do not have to and so that I don't have to feel overwhelmed when I can't.

As I travel along in this journey, I daily learn to praise the Lord that my life is entirely and eternally in His hands; completely out of my control. Besides, how much greater are His plans than mine, than ours? Once we realize this, that this isn't something people say just to ease the blow of a cancer diagnosis or of a car wreck or a lost job, we receive peace, we receive joy.

Through realizing my weaknesses, I become stronger. Cliche. True. I realize my weakness, place complete trust in the Lord and breathe. I think that maybe all the while I remain in this human body my first instinct will be anxiety each time I re-realize how out of control I am. My prayer is that I, and those around me, will remember to praise God when we are out of control. Thank Him that He is in control, and decide to place our trust in the One who created us and loves each one of us so dearly.”

I don’t know if any of you has ever experienced the privilege of being ministered to by your own children. I know I have.

Lorelei reminded me that God is intimately acquainted with the tiny (and big) details of every one of our lives. And that when we feel out of control it is actually a blessing because we can more easily see that He indeed is in control. Any control I think I have is merely an illusion.  None of us can guarantee we even have one more hour on this earth.  Or that we'll have a job tomorrow.  Or that our spouse will remain faithful.  Or that our home will survive a tornado. Once we fully understand that we are powerless, we are finally able to see the big picture and fully let God work through us.  Likewise, I am powerless to fill my own passion bucket.

So, I’d have to trust God to fill it back up. I don’t have any real control over my life. Even my ability to do my job well comes from Him.

The alarm goes off at 5:30. I haven’t slept since 2:00am. I guzzle a few cups of coffee and head on in to work since I have a morning appointment.

The appointment was with a woman whose foundation needed a website in advance of a big event on April 26. And they are considering my company because we’ve built a website platform that allows a professional website to be created very quickly and includes e-commerce built right in to the CMS.

I think, “Big deal. You want to sell something on the internet. “

But then she told me more.

You’ve probably heard or seen something about Kony 2012. Who hasn’t? So tragic is the plight of the many young women who have been raped and mutilated by his godless regime. Once these women escape they have nowhere to go. Their families (what’s left of them) won’t take them back and they have no marketable job skills, no way to provide for themselves. So, Sister Rosemary takes them in. She teaches them a trade. One of the trades has been to make purses out of pop-tops. Here’s a link to an article on CNN about it.

The website we might build will provide more awareness and even an avenue to send additional funds to St. Monica's Girls' Tailoring Center in Uganda.

That matters.

And I can already feel my passion bucket filling up!

She has stage 2 Hodgkin's Lymphoma and will undergo 6 months of chemotherapy and one month of radiation before she leaves for college in the fall.  

I've been in such a fog this past month that I've not made time to prepare a detailed blog but I plan to change that this week.  Likely I will create a CaringBridge account and post the details here.

Thank you for praying for Lorelei.

Anyway, this post is about my two Yorkies.  My kids think I love the dogs more than them.  Sometimes I let the kids think this is true.  Sometimes it might actually be true!  They are definitely a blessing in my life.  Which is crazy.  Because they are also one of my greatest annoyances.   Ironic.  Just like human babies.

Ellie and Georgie are sisters from the same litter.  They are four years old now and pretty set in their ways.   According to Cesar Millan WE ARE DOING EVERYTHING WRONG!  These dogs even have their own facebook pages.  Here's Georgie.  Here's Ellie.

Georgie is a diva who demands constant attention.  If you pet her, you better be prepared to keep doing it.  And if you leave the house for a minute, be prepared to be barked at as if you'd been gone for days.  Georgie is fat and pliable and wonderful to cuddle.  But if you are a 180 pound Mastiff beware.  Georgie has little dog syndrome and will attack you for no reason.  She also seems to think you don't exist when she can't see you.  (We say she's as few fries short of a happy meal.)  See video below to prove it.  

Ellie is wiry and lean.  She's always pacing.  She's super smart--learns tricks way easier than Georgie but she's afraid of everything.  Ellie is even afraid of the ripples that water makes when you lick it in the bowl--it's so scary to her that she'll go all day without drinking and then beg to drink from your human cup when you sit down at night.  Apparently the human cup shields her eyes so she can't see the scary ripples.  This not-drinking-water issue has recently caused her to have urological issues.  It was a recent visit to the animal hospital that led our veterinarian to prescribe Ellie Xanax for her anxieties.  (She simply cannot go all day without drinking.)  We filled the specially compounded beef flavored Xanax prescription at Flourish Pharmacy for $38.00 and are hoping it begins to work. 

But, unfortunately, Ellie has a new phobia we just discovered today.  We recently re-tiled one of our bathrooms.  Until now, all the floors in our home have been light colored.  But this is a deep chocolate brown.  And Ellie won't walk on it.  View the video below to see her phobia in action.  We have no idea why she refuses to enter this room.

I wanted to download the video playing on this page (http://icebrrg.com/public/video.aspx) so it could be included in a PowerPoint presentation that would not have web access.  Since the video was only available on the web I was unable to get a local copy of it...until...my dear Matt Sanders showed me this way.

• In Safari, paste or type the link to the page that displays the video you want to download. In this case you'd paste http://icebrrg.com/public/video.aspx

• Click Play (the triangle in the middle of the video...I know "duh", but I'm not assuming anything)

• Go up to your Safari menu in the top left corner and select "Window"Then under the Window tab select "Activity" like this:

• Clicking Activity will open a window that looks like this:

• In the list of files you'll look over on the right side for the biggest file you can find. Most are sized in KB but the one you want will probably be measured in MB. In this case the file is 3.0 MB. When you find it just double click on it and the file will automatically begin to download to your local computer.

We are gathering a crew of family and friends for a road trip to Lawton, Oklahoma to witness our very own PFC Dustin Decker graduate from U.S. Army Basic Combat Training.   Graduation ceremonies for the 1st Battalion - 79th Field Artillery (1-79 FA Charlie Battery), U.S. Army, Fort Sill, will be held Friday, September 24 at 1:00pm (that's 13:00 as Dustin would call it now) in the Sheridan Theatre. 

(See attached map)

Directions from Oklahoma City:
Route: Take I-44 to Lawton, OK and take the “Key Gate” exit. Go thru main gate traveling west on Sheridan Road.

Parking Pass: Place printed parking pass on dash and present your picture identification (driver’s license).

Cell Phone Use: **** Driver cannot use cell phone while driving on base unless using a hands free device*****

Continue west on Sheridan road after passing thru main gate. Sheridan road will curve and then go south. Sheridan Theatre will be on your right or West Side.

Each battalion should have a sign similar to this one to help direct you to the Sheridan Theatre.  Dustin is in - C Battery 1/79th FA

Doors open at 12:45 pm.   I would arrive early. There is no limit on the number of people who can come to the graduation so plan on fighting with the family and friends of 200 or so soldiers to get a seat. (When we went to Miles Holladay’s graduation there was standing room only.)

Photos: It is permissible to photograph and videotape activities, however this permission does not extend to the rest of Fort Sill. While photography is allowed of ceremonies and family or social events, unrestricted videotaping and photography by the public on the installation is prohibited. Photography is also allowed of historical exhibits at the Fort Sill Museum, including those which are outdoors, but not of nearby family quarters and office buildings. You are welcome to bring a camera to the graduation, but please exercise caution and do not point it in the direction of installation facilities, buildings, and military equipment which are not part of the graduation activities.

Leave us a note to let us know if you plan to attend so we'll be sure to look for you!  Since Putnam City Schools are out this day we hope several of Dustin's younger friends will join us.

Even though my Panthers didn't come out on top in the Battle of the Expressway last night, I was extremely proud of how well Bradley Ross played and gave his all for his team. This video can be accessed from his website at http://www.brad-ross.com/brad-ross-sacks-pco-qb-during-battle-of-the-expressway or you can view the video right here via youtube.

This is the first movie I ever made with iMovie so please don't judge me! In this movie I have compiled all the video and still photos we took at Miles Holladay's Army Basic Combat Training Graduation on August 19, 2010 at Fort Leonard Wood.

The slow motion clip in the middle was taken when Miles was marching in formation from the graduation hall to Dragoon Park--he was not supposed to divert his gaze or smile but he did both when he saw Lorelei Decker.

I used Metallica's "...And Justice For All" as the background soundtrack because it is Miles' favorite.  In some places it was a bit eerie how perfectly the music lined up with the images in the video.  (Notice the music during the display of the lovely woman with the bleached blond mullet--she is in the foreground of the shot where I was trying to picture Hannah, Gretchen and Lorelei standing against the wall for the ceremony.)

There were 266 Soldiers who graduated.  They were divided amongst four platoons.  Miles' platoon was the 2nd platoon.  Miles will begin AIT at Fort Leonard Wood next week.  His MOS is 88M (Transportation.)  He and Dustin joined the Army on the same day as battle buddies and had hoped to go through all of this together but Dustin's injury caused a delay for him.  Dustin is grateful for Miles who led the way through Basic Combat Training and shared invaluable advice with him.

Dustin and Miles will overlap for about 1.5 weeks at Fort Leonard Wood during their AIT.  Then, once both have returned to Oklahoma they will serve monthly Army National Guard Duty together.

The video was loaded to YouTube in two formats: HD and mobile.  Here's the HD link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-GodHgKgIQ. 

Here is the mobile version link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9E3q8oUot0

Here is the mobile version embedded:

Here is the HD version embedded:

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

Family and Friends,

Attached is the week 4 newsletter. For those who thought they missed last week, there was no week 3 newsletter, due to me being on paternity leave. Therefore, this one includes week 3 and 4.

Sincerely,
CPT Brett Ketchum
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

Dear Family Members and Friends,

Weeks three and four have come to a close and the Soldiers of Charlie Battery have completed their first phase in Basic Training. Red phase has come to an end and the Soldier move into White phase where they are extended a few more privileges. One of the changes is that the Drill Sergeants now implement student leadership. Soldiers are given the opportunity to develop their leadership skills by being placed in positions over their peers, which proves to be one of the more difficult leadership situation.
Most of the last two weeks have been spent in more in depth training on their individual rifles. After adjusting the sights to make sure they were aligned properly, the battery conducted ranges to enhance their shooting skills. The learned how to engage targets at different ranges, how to acquire a pop-up target and engage quickly, and how to transition from one target to the next when multiple targets appear.

With their skills acquired the Soldiers then had the opportunity to qualify with their rifle. The qualification range is a 300 meter long range with targets that pop-up between 50-300 meters. Soldiers must actively scan their lanes in order to acquire their targets, take proper aim, and accurately place a round into the target before it falls back behind it’s berm. In order to qualify Soldiers had to hit a minimum or 23 out of the 40 targets. For those who hit 30 or more they were given the honor of being Sharpshooters. For the very few who hit 36 or more they could proudly call themselves Experts with the M16/M4 rifle.

Along with shooting their rifles, the Soldiers were trained on how to use a rifle if the enemy got close enough to engage in hand to hand combat. After the basic moves were taught, the Soldiers were allowed to harness the true warrior spirit in bouts against one another using pugil sticks instead of actual rifles.

Following rifle marksmanship, the Battery conducted the first obstacle course during Basic Training. The Combat Conditioning Course is designed to allow the Soldiers to test the limits of their physical ability as they negotiate the 17 obstacles on the course. The obstacles include climbing ropes, a horizontal latter, climbing over walls, rope bridges, low crawls, and gate runs. The platoons were timed on the course and the fastest platoon time was awarded the CCC streamer.

The weeks ended with a brief introduction into Advanced Rifle Marksmanship, which will be the main focus next week. Now that the basics have been taught, the Soldier will truly learn what the M16/M4 rifle can do.

Sincerely,

Brett Ketchum
CPT, FA
Commanding

Download the PowerPoint for these weeks

Since I started posting these newsletters from Fort Sill, I will continue to post them each week for those of you who want to follow along and be praying for Dustin according to his current challenges.

In true "Unclassified" Army fashion I am unable to detect in any of these photos (in the attached powerpoint) if any of these soldiers is actually my Soldier Dustin Decker.

Here is what Captain Ketchum wrote:

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

Family and Friends,

Greetings from Charlie Battery. The Soldiers have now completed their second week of training. This week we were able to get outside and conduct more realistic training. The schedule will really pick up from here on out, so you can expect the Soldiers to remain busy. Thank you for the support you have been giving them through this time. Attached is the Week 2 Newsletter.

Sincerely,
CPT Brett Ketchum

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

Just got an email from CPT Brett Ketchum at Fort Sill.  This document was attached.  I guess the Army likes PowerPoint.  Click on the link above this picture to download it.

On Monday July 12 I released my baby boy into Uncle Sam's care.  He's one step closer to fulfilling what he believes is God's calling on his life to serve his country and fellow soldiers on the front lines in Afghanistan. 

Driving up to the gate at RTI is when it really began to hit me.  (Dustin was in driving his girlfriend's car in front of me.)

We were yet unaware of the change in his orders.  We thought he'd be shipping out to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri but instead he received orders to report to Fort Sill in Oklahoma.  (This is actually good news to us since it increases the likelihood we might be able to see him during brief visitation hours after he gets out of "Red Phase.")  He'll complete his AIT at Fort Leonard Wood and will hopefully get to see his best friend Miles Holladay some time during that overlap.
 
None of us was crying until Samantha lost it (and so did we as we watched Dustin tenderly console her.)  Every one of us had tears in our eyes--even Dustin.  (The last time I remember seeing Dustin with tears in his eyes was when I mercilessly beat him at Monopoly when he was only five years old.)

Dustin was able to pack every personal possession he could carry into this single back pack from which he would live over the next four months.

Everyone asks me if I'm "okay" with all of this (as his mother.)  I have to be.  God loaned this precious baby boy into our care for a while.  All along his father and I have prayed that we would be used by Him to prepare this young man for service in His Kingdom.  We trust God who holds our son in His loving hands--the very God in whom Dustin has placed his own trust.  We claim Psalm 91 for Dustin:

Psalm 91

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

3 Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence.

4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,

6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.

8 You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.

9 If you make the Most High your dwelling— even the Lord, who is my refuge—

10 then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;

12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

14 “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.

16 With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

I've always been a proponent of a website's utilizing breadcrumbs for clear navigation.  Drop down and Fly-out menus drive me crazy and frustrate me often as tests of manual dexterity (which I frequently fail.)  So when Site Reference recently cited that the use of breadcrumbs can actually help in SEO efforts, I was excited to read the article.   Here it is for your reference.

Here is the link to Scott's follow up article: http://blog.newsok.com/highschoolsports/2010/06/10/catching-up-with-pc-norths-dustin-decker/

I've always told my clients to take full advantage of the opportunity to provide a description with each page of their website within our CMS.  Usually I show them that this exact description is what Google will display as the middle two lines of a result on their search engine results page (SERP.)   For example, if one searches for "Content Management System" in Google one gets a SERP like this.

The third organic result listed for this search (under the wikipedia results) is LightCMS (which is a product of my company.)  The listing looks like this:

The middle two lines here are pulled from the description (which you can view if you select to view the page source.)

In this image I just did a partial screen capture.  The full description included all of this: 

meta name="description" content="LightCMS is a web based content management system for designers and ad agencies. 100% branded web 2.0 content management system. content management systems are also known as cms."

The fourth listing on the SERP was for Drupal.  It looked like this:

Those middle two lines don't communicate a complete thought to the potential visitor.  In viewing the source code for that page it is evident that there is no meta description to give Google a clue as to what text to display.  So Google just did it's best job in selecting text to display.

Okay, so that's how it works in Google.  How does facebook use the metatag description of a page when someone posts a link to their profile?

When there is no description metatag to reference on the hyperlinked page it appears facebook just displays the first paragraph text it runs across on that link.  But, if the hyperlinked page contains a description metatag then it appears that facebook will display that.  For example, I posted this link:

http://www.elementfusion.com/2010-giveaway-one-finalists

When I first posted this link to facebook the page did not have a description metatag.  So facebook just grabbed our "Complete the simple form to the right..." text and displayed it next to the only image they could find on the page. 

But that was certainly not a good description of what someone would find if they followed the link.  So, I added a description metatag to the page (because Element Fusion is kind enough to trust me with an administrator role in the CMS.) 

Then I deleted my previous post on facebook and posted the exact same link again.  This time the description text is what facebook displayed:

So, there you have it.  The moral of the story is to be sure to add a description metatag to any page you intend to promote on the web, especially if you plan to link to that page from facebook.

This article ran in the Oklahoman on October 9, 2009.  Here is a link: http://newsok.com/friday-night-lights-when-duty-calls-pc-norths-dustin-decker-ready-to-serve/article/3407449

Dustin plays football for the Putnam City North Panthers. He is starting left tackle. One of his dreams was to be elected as a captain of the team his senior year. The saturday these elections were held was a Guard drill weekend and he had to miss that practice. He may not have been elected even if he'd been there, but he was definitely not elected to the captain leadership role. He was disappointed but just considered it a small sacrifice to make for service to his country.

Here is Dustin's Twitter post about that: http://twitter.com/DustinDecker/status/4021350523

The photo was taken by Richard T. Clifton. (http://rtcdigitalimages.com/) and is posted on Richard's Facebook page here in full color.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=644665&id=1468927857&ref=nf

Richard T. Clifton (http://rtcdigitalimages.com/) took this photo.  Here's a link to the color photo on his facebook page:  http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=644666&id=1468927857&ref=nf#/photo.php?pid=644665&id=1468927857&ref=nf

Jenni Carlson wrote a story about Dustin that ran in the Sports section of the Oklahoman on October 9, 2009.  Here's the link: http://newsok.com/friday-night-lights-when-duty-calls-pc-norths-dustin-decker-ready-to-serve/article/3407449

      I would tune in and listen intently for that silver Tundra to pull into the garage and the strong framed man maneuver around his Harley on his way in. The creaks of the 1930's house got closer and closer until finally, my grandpa, beer belly and all, was home. I could never help but laugh seeing him with his full gray beard, looking like a mountain man, knowing he was a good looking boy in his prime. But that was years ago. The years when it wasn't so bad to have a stash of jack in the cabinet and a little vodka tucked away in the freezer, and they were long gone.

      I'll forever remember the little things about him. How he always sat in the same place at the little round dinner table. How he wanted just one slice of lime in his coke. How he breathed through his nose when he contemplated something. How we shared a love for Cheetos. I'll forever remember the rides he gave us on the back of his Kawasaki, so proud of his little grandchildren. My grandpa was the most brilliant man I knew. He knew things that others couldn't understand in a lifetime; little secrets between him and God. And the one thing I'll never understand is how someone so smart could do something so selfishly stupid.

      I remember the day like I'm still living it. It was a Sunday. That weekend my church had held a retreat and my faith was stronger than ever. Rachel, Nathan (my youth pastor) and I sang an amazing trio that morning, and after church I was innocently content. I remember looking for my parents, as someone grabbed my hand and said “Lorelei, I need you to come with me.” in a voice like a doctor, who knew something the patient didn't. Seconds later I found myself amongst a crowd of people, throwing me glances of pity. They knew. I saw my mom. She was crying, relying simply on the wall to hold her up. I thought to myself “God, no. Don't do this.” as she told me “Ponka killed himself..”

      I never knew. I never knew that my beloved grandpa wasn't who everyone let me think he was. I never knew that the joke was on me. Of course the bottles in the back of the fridge only really stayed in the back when I was there. How could I have been so naive?

      That moment, the moment by the wall, was mine. At that moment I felt like the world was personally attacking me, but I wasn't going to let that take me down. I was stronger than that. That was the moment when my faith became my own. Just me and God. That day was the day that I decided that no matter what anyone tells me, no matter what makes up my genes, that won't define me. So what, it runs in my genes to be an alcoholic, so does depression, bi-polar disorder, cancer and heart attacks, but that doesn't stop me. My God is bigger. My God is stronger, and I'm along for the ride.

I called ATT but the call dropped after I went through the million prompts entering my phone number, last 4 of my social, etc..

So, I called from a land line.  (Thank goodness I still have one.)  The ATT rep said it was a Device Problem and I should call Apple.

I called the Apple Store at Penn Square to make an appt but they were "booked solid" for four days and could not make an appt.  They suggested I walk in and wait on "stand by."  Yeah, I'm going to do that. 

I did a full system restore on my phone.  I re-seated the SIM card.  I turned the phone off for 30 seconds and then back on.  No luck.

I continued to tolerate the problem and relied on text and email instead of the phone as much as possible.

This morning I made a phone call to a VERY high profile person and the phone dropped the call (as always.)  I was so embarrassed but at least it sprang me into action.

I called the Penn Square Apple store  (405) 767-9393 and spoke with Lauren who said all of their staff has been having the same problem.  It is only here in Oklahoma.  She gave me the number to the ATT Tier 2 support 1-888-892-9760 option 1 and told me to call them.  She warned me that not all of the ATT support techs are aware of the issue and that I should insist they pay attention.

I called ATT and spoke with Jeannie Haney who was very nice and admitted that she had been telling people with this problem that it was a device problem for quite a while.  She said only yesterday did she become aware that it was an ATT problem and that the problem is actually only in OKC.

She called my iPhone and while we were speaking I ceased to be able to hear her.

Finally I have a valid support ticket.  She texted me to tell me that my case has been sent to Engineers.

If you are having the same problem please call ATT and don't let them tell you it is a device problem.

We have to get this fixed.

And I WILL get a refund.  If not, I will get out of my contract with ATT and jailbreak these phones to a new network.

I have a client who is trying to understand how to offer video from their website.  I have recommended they offer video through a streaming service that will convert their video to Flash and make it available on the web so they can embed it on their website.

Here is the video as it has been uploaded to YouTube:  (It was 43.5MB on my computer before I uploaded it to YouTube.)

Here is the video as it has been uploaded to Blip.tv:  (I don't know why it is showing "sideways" when I loaded it directly to Blip in the same manner as I loaded it to YouTube and it was vertical on my computer.  Plus, it took ten times as long to load to Blip than it took to load to YouTube.)

And here is a video that has been attached to this post as a quicktime file:  (Since this CMS allows a maximum file size of 20MB to be loaded to the site, I have loaded a different (smaller) video.

The truth is, Dustin preached his first sermon 14 years ago tomorrow when he was 3 1/2.  That was the worst day in my life.  I had just been served divorce papers from my estranged husband and I was nothing more than a puddle of self pity on the floor of my living room watching the TV coverage of the Oklahoma City Bombing and wondering if I really wanted to live any more.

Dustin couldn't understand why I was such a mess.  And as much as I loved my four small children, I couldn't seem to pull myself up by my own bootstraps.  I was crying all the time.  Bubba (as we called Dustin back then) came up to me and put his fat little arms around me to console me and get my attention.  Then he asked the saddest question I've ever heard.  "Mommy, If I go to live with Grandma do you think Daddy might come home?"

That sweet little three year old future man thought that he was the reason his father had left.

And his words sank in deep.  It was as if Bubba had opened his mouth and God had spoken. There are reasons God hates divorce.  It is a lie from the pit of hell that a child can come through a divorce unharmed.  It rocks their worlds and forever affects their image of God.  And I knew 100% at that time that Kevin and I were gravely outside of the will of God.  The conviction hung heavy on my back.  A burden I could not carry.

I was exactly where God wanted me to be at that moment.  Broken.

Then the TV reporter announced a story that was not related to the Oklahoma City Bombing.  This was the first piece of non-bombing news I had heard in 4 days.  Three thirteen year old boys had been killed in Duncan, Oklahoma in an oilfield accident. 

It was like God tapped me on my shoulder.  "Andrea, get up.  Those moms have lost their sons.  You still have yours.  Get up and pray for those moms instead of feeling sorry for yoursef."

So I did.  I began praying.  And the very act of praying is what began to heal my broken heart and lift me out of that pit of self pity and despair.   Read the rest of that story: http://www.andreadecker.com/my-checkers-story

Three weeks later Kevin came home.  Dustin, with his chubby little limbs, his buzz cut blond hair, and his huge heart ran to his father.  "Daddy, I knew you'd come home, I knew you'd come home!" 

And I've pondered that in my heart for fourteen years.

Dustin believes he is preaching his first sermon tonight.  But I know the truth.