Tag Archives: friendship

Shifting

05 Sunday Aug 2012

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Last night I had a really cool flash of inspiration – a catchy title for today’s post.  Now of course I have zero idea what it was so it’ll be “shifting” for now unless something more awesome pops into my head.

It feels like AGES since my last post…but nope, sure enough it’s been a week just like my usual routine.  Which I adore, by the way…fivenineteen’s been such a great outlet and solace for me – and hopefully some entertaining reading for those of you who stumble in here by accident or follow along (thank you and thank you, by the way!!).  I love the slower pace of Sunday…time to mentally recharge, refresh, dream and wonder.

And for the past near week my gut has been both whispering and shouting at me that it’s time to make some changes (no, it’s not the voices in my head).  Starting with hockey.  The game that has changed my life these past nine years – my God, 1/5 of my life!  I’m going to take a sabbatical after our summer season playoffs wrap up – which could be as soon as tonight if we don’t win our game.  I have so many memories of all these years of hockey I could ramble on forever about it (and I have occasionally in here I’m sure). 

Know that feeling when you KNOW what you need to do and then talk about it…and you can’t help but be so happy and excited because it’s the right decision and you sound so goddamn authentic?  I had a great chat at the rink with my team Captain last Monday…and it felt so wonderful to tell him!  I have a ton of respect for him too – he’s fairly young (24) but far beyond his years in leadership and organization.  Hockey is a big time commitment and big financial committment too – believe me, I would never spend as much time or money as I have on hockey if it was not worthwhile to me. 

9 years.  NINE – OK, well almost nine, as it was some time in September or October 2003 that I suited up in brand new hockey gear and took to the ice, joining an adult beginner hockey clinic on a total random whim!  I had absolutely NO idea how much fun I would have, the amazing people I’d meet along the way, and all the crazy experiences of late nights and weird hours (11pm faceoffs on Sunday nights…in the dead of winter?  That soon became ‘normal’ for me.)  The charity games, benefitting our local Ronald McDonald House.  The off the chain tourneys in Vegas…fantastic!  And I had no idea I’d still be doing this all these years!

Along with so many fabulous memories, what hockey has provided for me is the incredible benefit of Sunday night exercise.  I used to stress out on Sunday nights, restless and squirmy on my couch watching TV, or sometimes having dinner at my folks’ house.  I’d stress out about stuff coming up at work mostly.  Skating my ass off Sunday nights broke that spell – so freeing and joyous!  When I’m on the ice nothing else matters.  And getting great exercise with great people, along with the bright lights and cold air at the rink…just an amazing experience.

Now I’m going to continue this glorious tradition of Sunday night exercise…back at my gym!  Which I have not set foot in in…probably a year and a half.  Ridiculous, right?  It’s like flushing money down the toilet every month.  And I’m going to take the money I normally budget for hockey league fees and get back to working out with a personal trainer.  I contacted B, and we’re going to meet later this week to talk about my goals and put together a plan!  I’m so excited!  B trained me for a few months 3 years ago, and I had to pull the plug when my work contract ended. 

That all seems like a long time ago…I was out of work but still in the gym every other day, training for my very first 5K.  And just trying to keep mentally sane through the unemployment.  I was so grateful for hockey during those months too, as I always knew when it was Sunday (because that was usually our game night).  Unemployment was awful in so many ways…and not knowing what day it was when I woke up was bizarre.

So now I will focus on improving my physical fitness.  Nine years ago I was, well, nine years younger and probably 30 pounds slimmer.  I was also skating 3 or 4 times a week, dropping in on various practices and scrimmages.  How the hell did I have the time and energy for that?  Nowadays, skating once a week is about all I can manage, and that’s definitely not enough to maintain fitness or improve my game.  Life is different for me now – I’m busier in different ways, I’m probably not as energetic and it’s harder for me to get home from work and springboard back out the door to a weeknight practice or scrimmage.

Working out at the gym with B will help me tackle the groan of middle age weight gain and improve my muscle tone.  My core is not anywhere near as strong as it used to be – my back hurts if I’m on the ice too long during a shift.  My abs and upper body need work, and I’d sure love to find more of my waistline again!  The plan is to work out with him twice a week, and then work out on my own on those all so important Sunday nights.  Maybe it’s time to get back in the pool or try yoga?

Yes, I guess my life really HAS changed a lot in nine years!  Seven different jobs (I do contracting/consulting work), new friendships, a few romantic relationships, a few 5Ks, the launch of this blog in 2009 and a totally new stretch starting my Silpada jewelry business.  I’m definitely not a slacker!

And yesterday I took a look at the clutter here in the home office.  This room pretty much looks like it’s barfed, as everything from the 3rd bedroom is moved in here while L and I finish up the popcorn ceiling scraping work.  Ugh.  Books piled up everywhere.  It suddenly dawned on me that a lot of these books have been just sitting in my bookcase (and now on the floor) UNREAD!  I haven’t opened a lot of them in 15 or more years…and probably never will!  So I jumped out of my chair and grabbed a few grocery bags.  Voila…35 books off to Goodwill – hurray!!  It’s still cluttered in here, sadly, but at least I made a small dent in it.

Tonight I will head to the rink with a smile…it’s our first playoff game and given it’s single-elimination playoffs, it might be my last time on the ice for a while if we lose.  Whatever happens is what was meant to happen…and either way I’m so excited about the rest of summer and fall and my plans…new adventures await!

Packin’ (for) Heat!

29 Sunday Jul 2012

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There’s nothing like a 5-day weather forecast for highs in the 100s / lows in the 80s – plus humidity and the heat index – to strike terror in a Seattle girl.  Aiiieeee…those lows are higher than the highs we’ve had this summer so far!  What the hell do I pack?  Will I melt or combust??

I spent 5 wonderful days in Kansas City, MO and am still riding the high!  The high of a fabulous Silpada Designs National Conference…my first ever!  And first time visiting KC!

Silpada is hand-crafted .925 sterling silver jewelry – the highest grade of sterling silver.  There are nearly 33,000 representatives all over the USA, Canada and the UK!  I’m so proud to be one myself – it will be two years this November since I took the plunge!  I fell in love with the jewelry at a party a friend hosted nearly 7 years ago and am beyond impressed.  Everything from the quality of the product (nothing is plated and there is NO nickel in the jewelry), the unique designs, the lifetime warranty and the support provided by corporate offices…I hit the jackpot signing up!

And now I was off to KC to experience the high energy of National Conference for the first time with nearly 5000 fellow reps!  But first…quelles horreurs…what the hell to pack?  We had the agenda and suggested dress code for each day…most was business casual with one night a more formal night.  Sounds great, but how do you try to dress for that in blasting hot heat?  And when your wardrobe is, well, lacking a few ‘nicer’ items because most you can’t fit into anymore?  Thankfully I had great advice from my local team – we meet once a month and it’s so much fun!  They all said not to stress about it too much…just go with comfortable.

OK, that sounds good, but there was a teeny part of me that wanted to be impossibly chic and fresh – cute sundresses and sandals and all that.  So one night after work I headed to Nordstrom at Bellevue Square.  And I realized how long it’s been since I’ve gone CLOTHES shopping.  I spend my money on shoes, boots and handbags (and jewelry of course!).  My clothes are mostly J. Crew clearance, given I work in an uber-casual environment. I wanted something fresh with a little more pizzazz for this trip, but I had an awful time finding things I liked that fit me.  I learned right then and there that the larger you get in size, the fewer choices you have in clothes and you risk looking frumpy.  I would rather walk around naked than wear frumpy clothes!  Hell, when I’m 80 – Lord willing I live that long – I will NEVER be frumpy!  I even choked back tears in the dressing room a couple of times.  Maybe THIS was the in-your-face that I needed to vow to get back in shape and drop some poundage.

So I ended up with a couple of pairs of pants (one khaki, one black) some loose-fitting black leggings, a purple gingham checked shirt (which I didn’t bring to conference but is pretty cute), two layering tank tops – one in white, one in light khaki – a lightweight sweater which would be good for the plane ride and a couple of t-shirts.  I tried on countless sundresses that didn’t fit quite right, and while I found a cute maxi dress it would have needed a LOT of alterations (and hemming) which I didn’t have time for.  I went home $500 poorer and frustrated.  I STILL didn’t feel like I had the ‘right’ stuff I wanted to bring on this trip.  But this was reality and the body I have to dress today.

Once I got packed and on the plane, I stopped stressing about my clothes.  I knew there would be an opportunity to do a little shopping during the convention, so maybe I could find something there?  Turns out I didn’t have much time to shop, other than a quick ‘drive by’ through the booths they had (soooo cute). I grabbed a small wristlet for going out (no need to lug a purse around).

I was also a little nervous about traveling with a large amount of jewelry, because that’s not something I typically do.  I knew to pack it in my carry on (NOT in checked baggage – never never), but it still felt odd to me.  But, I trusted the advice of my fellow reps and purchased a cute ‘jewelry roll,’ which is a tri-fold soft cloth case with TONS of zippers and pockets for packing up jewelry.  It fits great in your carry on, they said!

Then there was the problem of the carry-on.  As in I COULD NOT FIND MY CARRY ON.  This was probably a day or two before I left…I swore it was on a closet shelf where it’s been for years.  It’s a cute, black nylon Nine West messenger style bag…and it’s GONE!  I even looked in my garage.  How could it be gone? I’d NEVER consciously decide to get rid of something like this!!

Well, thank goodness for a spare laptop bag!  My current consulting firm provides us each with a laptop bag…I use a larger Tumi briefcase for work that I’ve had for years because it has built-in padding for cradling my laptop.  I knew that smaller laptop bag would be PERFECT for a carry on…and yay, no need to pack a laptop in it for this trip!  It held my jewelry roll and catalogues great and was not too heavy or bulky!  Love it!

I also knew to bring an extra Ziploc bag for airport security.  Once I arrived at Sea-Tac I removed the jewelry I was wearing and placed it in a Ziploc bag and placed it in my purse.  That way I wouldn’t be “that girl” holding up security, having to remove jewelry right then and there in the walk-through screening.  This is a GREAT tip, by the way, for anyone who likes to wear a lot of bling!  [I was at the airport by 5am and the line for security snaked for what seemed like MILES.]  Once I got through security I simply put my jewelry (and shoes) back on and was good to go!

I had a two-hour layover in Denver…thankfully it whizzed by quickly.  When I arrived in KC I prayed my luggage would not get lost (whew, it didn’t) and checked in to wait for the shuttle to my hotel!  My roommate (and business sponsor) was already in KC and our texts were flying back and forth!

How wonderful to discover my shuttle-mates were all fellow Silpada reps!  Most of us were attending for the first time…THIS is what was so special and bonding about conference…it’s easy to spot a fellow rep in her fabulous jewelry…and just walk up and start talking with her! 

Thursday:  travel time to KC via Denver!  I was so excited to finally arrive…that 4:30am shuttle pickup at home was a distant memory and my adrenaline kicked in hard.  It was late afternoon when I arrived and after what seemed like eternity I finally got to the hotel, checked in and got back in a shuttle to the convention center.   There was a continuous flow of (free) shuttles every day for us to hop on to get to and from the convention center from our hotels.  So nice and convenient not having to rent a car or grab a cab every time!

I got registered, got my name tag and a beautiful sterling silver charm (check out the pic at the top of this post)!  It’s a gorgeous “15” design, as this year is the 15th anniversary of Silpada’s founding!  On the back it’s engraved with “keep the party going,” this year’s convention theme!  I actually wore it as a pendant, as it’s a bit large on a charm bracelet.

After what seemed like ages, I finally found L (my business sponsor) and a couple of others of our team in a large area that was set aside for supply shopping!  Calculators, post it notes, new yearly planners, pens, t-shirts…so much fun!  They also had a photo booth set up to get a headshot to include on your website.  I was sure I looked a wired & tired mess so I skipped that.

A few of us headed out to the Power & Light district to check out the scene and live music!  True confession…I’m not into country music but hey, when in Rome right?  The P&L district is full of shops, restaurants and bars and has a central, open area perfect for live music and dancing.  And it’s super easy to spot fellow Silpada reps out and about…we’re all decked out in our jewelry…and so happy to be doing what we do! 

My God it was hot that night…105 degrees (41 C) and a little humid.  Thankfully I’d worn one of my new tank tops under the sweater I wore on the plane.  Off goes the sweater and it ties around my shoulders…great music, friends and a couple cocktails and we were doing just fine.

Friday:  we grabbed a quick breakfast in the convention center (breakfast and lunch was provided each day…wonderful!) and headed into the main arena for opening general sessions.  Bill Rancic kicked us off as our keynote speaker…I just adore him and now love him even more!!  He spoke for about an hour with fantastic motivation and advice for us fellow entrepreneurs!

We then had the choice of 3 different training sessions.  What I liked about this was that each of the 3 repeated itself twice, and there was plenty of room in each area for seating.  No need to pre-register…we each had a booklet of which sessions were offered each day and sat down as a team to figure out which ones we each wanted to go to.  Some we did as a group and for others we chose to divide and conquer so we could share what we learned!  I also liked that we each had a pre-printed booklet of each sessions talking points, so even if we couldn’t attend everything we still had the scoop! 

THEN…a pizza party for dinner with our team – cute matching t-shirts too – and time for NEW JEWELRY PREVIEW!!  Oh my goodness what a moment this is!  Every year in July a new Silpada catalogue is unveiled…and lots of new jewelry too!  All 5000 of us packed into the convention center and were treated to a beautiful fashion show with models showing off the new jewels – gorgeous!  And by the time they were done we were whipped into a frenzy!

It’s a STAMPEDE of jewelry reps running to the jewels!  And this is unbelievable…they set up 30 huge tables, EACH with the entire new catalogue’s jewels displayed, all for us to touch and try on!!  That’s about 450 pieces of jewelry per table…this is truly THE biggest jewelry party in the WORLD!  This is one of the new bracelets and is absolutely incredible…and not too heavy!   It’s solid .925 sterling silver, handcrafted and is $199.  Want to find out more about this piece?  Please message me! 

What do you do after ooh’ing and ahhh’ing over all the new jewels?  Grab your packet of (free) new catalogues, your Sharpies or post-its, get a cocktail and have a seat on the convention room floor with your team. Lots of pages to pour over!! 

Saturday:  More training sessions and closing general sessions in the main arena.  I have so many notes to type up…my notepad is chock full of my chicken scratching! 

Was this the morning L and I spent FORTY MINUTES waiting in line for Starbucks?  I think it was.  Just agonizing.  Thankfully we’d allowed enough time but WOW that Starbucks near the convention center could kick it up a notch or two, especially with huge events like ours.  Although I noticed the pace was a tad slower in general from what I’m used to.  Everyone was extremely friendly and welcoming to us…is this that famous midwestern hospitality?  Not that people in Seattle are rude, it’s just a different vibe and not as laid back.  In fact, my first night heading to the convention center I was the only one on the shuttle, and my shuttle driver even took a few extra minutes to drive around and show me some key points of interest in KC before dropping me off at the convention center!  Too funny…and nice. 

Saturday was awards night, and time to get a little more dressed up!  Here’s where I’m glad I didn’t pack a nice dress…I went with my new, loose black leggings, bling-y flat sandals and a sequined J. Crew tank top with a white tank layered under it (it’s a little low-cut).  By the time I met up with the rest of our team in the convention center, they already had a mini bar set up…big tumblers of vodka tonics!  I cracked up…are these award ceremonies THAT bad?  Everything’s been so amazing! 

When I found out that the awards would go on for THREE HOURS, I knew why we mixed a few tonics.  After about an hour we ditched and headed back to the Power and Light district for some dancing!

This time instead of a live country artist it was a DJ on main stage blasting 80s and 90s music.  I’m SO glad we decided to go dancing…earlier the talk was we’d go to karaoke (which I absolutely cannot stand either doing or listening to, heh).  We grabbed food at the Dubliner and headed up to one of the dance clubs.

There were easily 2 or 3 bachelor and bachelorette parties going on that night…love it!  And perfect for a bunch of 30-40 something bling-loving ladies to mix it up with them on the dance floor!  Awesome.

I was even sort of getting used to the hot weather.  Emphasis on sort of.  We ended up back outside where the DJ was cranking out music and dancing around on the pavement.  Somehow I ended up in the arms of a very handsome cowboy – and a great dancer too.  Man, how long has it been since I got twirled around like that?  Too funny.  My sweaty feet were a little slippery in my sandals but I did alright.

I also met a few more reps too…we exchanged business cards and hoped to meet up the next day for our tour of corporate offices!  I figured OK that sounds great, but with so many of us it’s hard to plan sometimes!

My roommate L headed back to the room early, as she had an insane shuttle pick up time…something like 3:00am.  At that point it’s not even worth going to sleep!  She was catching a standby flight home and had to get up early to start waiting.  The rest of us grabbed a cab later…poor cabbie got an earful of 3 sheets to the wind jewelry reps who needed to bust a move after being on a structured schedule for a few days! 

Somehow I slept well and woke up with no hangover.  Does the hot weather make me sweat out all that booze?  Ha. 

Sunday:  it was weird waking up that morning with L already long gone.  Many people were flying home that day, but for me there was still much to do…starting with a tour of Silpada’s world headquarters!

A short shuttle ride away is the town of Lenexa, KS.  We crowded the streets in KC, piling into shuttles as we did every morning.  When I finally got onto one…oops…it was already full!  I turned around and got in line for the next one.  Lo and behold I ran into ME, one of the reps I’d met out dancing the night before!  What are the chances?  It was totally meant to be…she and I hung out the entire time for the tour and just really hit it off! 

I’m so impressed with the corporate offices and nearby huge distribution center…overall the campus sits on 29.5 acres!  Everything is beautiful and immaculate.  I was also impressed to learn about the bar coding and order processing…they process 20,000 orders a day, with capacity for double that!  And the warehouse workers only work a day shift…there’s no swing or graveyard!  How’s that for quality of life!!  Wow.

The corporate tour was the last official event for conference…I was brimming with so much energy, excitement and empowerment!  I’m not alone in doing this business…I’ve got a huge network of Silpada sisters who are doing exactly what I’m doing (or trying to do) in growing my business!

Now I was on my own…had to figure out for myself what to do to keep entertained!  I had the rest of Sunday and a good chunk of Monday still in town!

I walked over to the Westin Hotel (there are a few skybridges linking the various hotels) and ended up at Brasserie.  An early dinner sounded good!  I chose chicken prepared with asparagus, crab, artichoke and tarragon.  Delicious!  I came back later to my hotel room, freshened up a bit and wandered back down to one of the restaurants to see if I knew anyone…or could spot any fellow reps in their jewelry who were still around! 

Amazingly, I ran into D.  D and I are a part of a huge, private Facebook group just for Silpada reps….there’s over 3700 of us in it and growing.  And she and I are Facebook friends too…and there she was!  I couldn’t believe it!! We ended up hanging out that entire evening, and I went with her upstairs to keep her company while she finished packing. 

I just love these types of days where you have zero idea what you’re going to do, and the most wonderful, random things happen!

Monday:  I grabbed a coffee and bagel and finished packing.  Checked out of the hotel and had them hold my suitcase and carry-on…I needed to do some shopping, and had a little time to kill as my flight didn’t leave till that afternoon.

So I grabbed a cab and headed for the Country Club Plaza!  WOW this place is stunning.  I’m so in awe of outdoor shopping destinations, for in Seattle they are not the most popular way to be set up for obvious reasons!  I’m glad I got there when I did, before it got too hot (but boy it was cookin’) and that I was there during a not so busy time (Monday morning).  Damn, I burned my fingers on the ATM buttons outside!  Youch.

I knew I needed to keep my last purchases small as my suitcase and carry-on were already packed full.  I ended up with some new MAC makeup and some wonderful green tea-scented solid perfume from L’Occitane.  I’ve never had solid perfume before and thought this was a great idea…it comes in a round tin just like lip balm…and no spilling or breakage in your purse!

And my flight home…was a non-stop on Alaska Airlines.  Would you believe we arrived a half hour early?  I guess the jet stream is so far north from where it normally is that we had nothing in our way as we flew west!  And my suitcase was one of the first ones handed off in baggage claim!  Hooray!  Off to the shuttle I went, excited to be home a little earlier than I planned.

Well, I guess it all evens out in the end.  Turns out our shuttle driver was doing his VERY FIRST RUN after his classroom training. He had a mentor riding shotgun with him.  It was awful.  It was like I was spying on someone taking their driver’s test and I felt dirty.  God, it was painful…the guy acted like he never had driven in his life and I’d put him around late 50s or so in age! 

I am SO inspired and energized about Silpada now more than ever!  I KNOW I’ve hit the jackpot representing this amazing product and cherish the friendships I’ve made at conference!!

If you’re interested in learning more about the jewelry or why I have “the best part-time job in the world” as a rep please message me!

At Long Last…We Meet! And other Weekend Highlights.

15 Sunday Jul 2012

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I was reminded threefold – yes THREEFOLD – this weekend about how much I adore time with old and new friends enjoying great food, drink and conversation together!  It just doesn’t get any better than THAT!  Anytime year ’round is wonderful, but there’s something about the laid back summer vibe that makes it even more special. Even without a lot of summer vacation (at least for me; as a consultant I’m paid for hours worked so paid vacations are non-existent), this was just the triple dose I needed to make it FEEL like a vacation, AND to catapult me into this (short) workweek and my upcoming trip to Kansas City, MO later this week.  That trip still seems like a dream to me as it’s been in the planning for several months.  Now it’s just a few “sleeps” away!

It kicked off Friday night with my dear friend T.  We toasted the end of the workweek and a rather tough summer so far on her part (her Grandmother’s passing and all involved with arrangements before and after and travel back and forth and all that) at Wildfin, a casual spot we’ve enjoyed in the past for lunch. Friday night was sunny so that meant sitting outside…ahhh…dinner al fresco!

Saturday was a fantastic BBQ at P’s house.  P is a former co-worker I worked with – loosely at the same company – 4-5 years ago, for barely one year (my entire business unit got dissolved, long story, so I went as quickly as I arrived pretty much).  She’s one of those rare, treasured former co-workers who has become a great friend, for far longer than any time we even worked together at the same company!  I credit her for igniting my passion for running (which is sadly dormant right now but will re-awaken), photography and travel!  She’s off to Ecuador and the Galapagos in just a few weeks with another mutual friend of ours!  Her menu was delicious halibut steaks fresh from Alaska, sautéed sliced potatoes, fresh salsas for dipping chips and veggies, an incredible ceviche mirrored after one she enjoyed on one of her recent trips to Belize, and some hard-core Sangria provided by a few of her other guests who are quite the connoisseurs – love it! And numerous other yummy munchies and drinks.  Oh, and did I mention the desserts?  After a slice of tiramisu and some raspberry frozen yogurt I was beyond full.  YUM.

It was one of those afternoons you just never wanted to end.  Laughing, eating, drinking, watching the dogs run around and play in the yard…and wondering what the weather is going to do next (this is Seattle-area summer, after all).  Thankfully the weather was terrific.  And P’s house is just perfect for entertaining.

I barely slept that night, despite a full belly of great food and some butt-kicking Sangria that required me to pop a Motrin before going to bed, ha ha.

Today (Sunday) I drove down to Lacey, WA, just a short hour or so from my house.  I met up with a friend I’ve been chatting with online for years but have never met in person.  And oh man, this is a long story so buckle up.

A little over 6 years ago I was bored at work and did a random online search about a handbag I was considering purchasing.  What popped up was a myriad of results…a little overwhelming.  And then, one of them caught my eye – it was a link to an online discussion forum..about purses and handbags!

I clicked on that link and my life has not been the same since. Since May 2006.  Seriously.  What I’d clicked on, unbeknownst to me at the time, was how this online discussion forum was designed. I’d never seen one before in my life. And…it was all about – mostly – handbag shopping!  What people liked and didn’t like!  Sorted by handbag designer!  With pictures!  I was immediately hooked and became obsessed.

What’s also spun out of this online forum are other subforums devoted to just about any other lifestyle issue:  tv shows, movies, makeup, other shopping, relationship issues, family issues, celebrity style, raising kids, jewelry…and on and on.  And behold…a HOCKEY subforum too!

That’s right…there’s a subforum on that site that’s devoted to hockey chitchat…what a delicious slice of the universe this is!  Well, at least for me – and a few other thousand women – it is.  Where else can I browse for pictures of fabulous handbags, shoes and sunglass, read about the latest makeup trends and immediately shift over into chitchat about the NHL draft, for example?  Or the playoffs? 

For some reason last year, the hockey subforum chat group got a little snarky.  I don’t remember all the details, but some wackaloon came in during the playoffs and pretty much shit on everything we’d all been discussing for ages.  OK, I realize there are fair weather fans out there, but puhleeze.  There is an etiquette out there for online chit chatting, for real, which said person clearly had no clue about.  And there were 82 games in the regular NHL season prior to the Stanley Cup playoffs, hello???  So don’t come in a-poo pooing in on things.  Just saying.

Anyway, after one too many shittings-upon, one of the women in the group posted a rant (maybe on Facebook, can’t remember), saying something like “haters are hatin’ on my Happy Hockey Island.”

What a stroke of genius!  Within a day or so we had a spin-off online chat forum with invitation-only access set up just for the 10 or so of us who were frequent posters in that hockey subforum. Something completely separate and different. Thankfully we had a resident expert/guru who knew how to do this!

And…the rest is history.  NOW we have our own little separate subforum of goodness!  I still post and chat occasionally on the original forum, but the core of my online viewing and posting has now shifted to this happy hockey island.  I love these girls so much I can’t even stand it.  They’ve been with me through hell and back and me for them as well.

And after all these many years, I finally got to meet one of the women from this spinoff group this afternoon!  What a thrill it is to meet someone online and just see how much the same they are in real life as compared to their online ‘presence’ and ‘voice.’  I LOVE that.  After years of online chatting and posting and whatnot…to be greeted with a huge HUG in real life is priceless!

We had an amazing lunch at the Budd Bay Cafe in Olympia, WA.  Wonderful clam chowder and salads, plus a nice boardwalk area overlooking the port, the farmer’s market and the state capitol just a few blocks away.  As a lifelong Washington State resident this was even more special for me, as I’d not spent much time in Olympia or Lacey.

After lunch we walked long the boardwalk – Percival Landing, all endlessly fascinating to me as a tourist in my somewhat-local region!  Typically the Olympia/Lacey area is what I blast through on the freeway on my way out to the Washington State Coast.  This was a rare, delicious opportunity to experience it close up, with my dear online friend and her husband.

I’m so touched and happy at how wonderful that meetup was.  And yet not surprised either. K was exactly in real life as she is online, and meeting her husband and Mom was just a fantastic bonus.  I smile and know this is not the last time we will all meet up again.

Behold, the power of the internet!

Adventurous Weekend Waiting

01 Sunday Jul 2012

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I bet I’m not the only one who sometimes gets a little anxious or jumpy – impatient even – while waiting for something.  Or someone.  I’m a mostly good-natured person, but I find my patience continues to wane the older I get.  Hmmm, I wonder how I’m going to behave when I’m elderly…Lord willing I live that long.

On Saturday I forced myself out of bed a little earlier than usual.  I’m heading out of town for a few days later this week (woohoo…road trip!) and I knew my car was overdue for an oil change.  I also had a spa appointment later that afternoon – hmmm, maintenance time for both my car and me, too funny!  I knew I needed to get the oil change out of the way first thing, otherwise there was a slight danger I’d procrastinate getting it done yet again.  I know very little about cars but I DO know ya gotta change the oil regularly.   Thankfully I use synthetic oil so I only need to change the oil twice a year.

Now, if there ever was an evil vortex where time slows to a painful crawl, it’s at Jiffy Lube.  And no offense to the nice people who work there, for they are very friendly and personable and do their best to get customers taken care of quickly, but for me I’d rather scrub my bathroom floor 10 times with a toothbrush.  I just DREAD waiting for my car to be serviced.  I feel like a complete sitting duck stuck in a frozen moment of time.  And for a while now they have had these windshield repair guys who “piggy back” and inspect each car’s windshield while it’s getting serviced.  I think they are sub-leasers or something like that.  So not only do I have to sit and wait for my car to be serviced, but I now have some other dude trying to sell me on getting the tiny rock dings and chips in my windshield replaced.  It just feels creepy and weird to me.

Typically I bring a magazine from home to pass the time, as the reading material provided is usually not very appealing to me.  This time I’d forgotten, even though I put the latest Marie Claire right smack on my dining room table near my purse so I wouldn’t forget.  Oh well…thank goodness we have phones, right?  I checked out stuff on Facebook, texted a few friends and even immersed myself in some email newsletter reading.  For the last couple of years I’ve been reading and dabbling a little in learning about Arctic/circumpolar issues – climate change, the indigenous peoples, environmental issues…just a tiny taste to intrigue me and dream of a future trip to Svalbard.  I read through the latest University of the Arctic newsletter and mentally escaped from the dreary orange and brown Jiffy Lube waiting room.

Before I knew it, my car was ready to roll!  I’m so glad I saved those newsletters in my email – I’d considered canceling my subscription as I never seem to have time to read them but I definitely won’t now!  I got the car radiator flushed and filled too – they said it was overdue per my car’s guidelines and I figured OK what the hell, couldn’t hurt.  My car is a champ at 13 years old and I know it’s going to continue to need a lot of care to get the most out of it for as long as it’s worth spending the money to do so.  And I remember one of my brothers (the one I bought this car from) telling me, “Take good care of your equipment and it will take good care of you.”  Makes sense!

I called L out of the blue yesterday, probably while out on the road running errands.  I have a new Bluetooth headset so I’ve been calling people a lot from the road to get feedback on the audio quality and volume as I get used to it.  So far I’m very impressed.  And it even announces when I have a new text message and will read it to me!  How cool is this?  I hadn’t heard from L in a while and I figured he was probably super busy with work – which is great!  Turns out he was on business in Chicago and was planning to fly back the next day (today) and asked if I would pick him up at the airport.  We planned on grabbing lunch somewhere and just getting caught up.

Evil time-slows-to-a-painful-crawl-vortex Exhibit B:  The Sea-Tac airport cell phone parking lot.   My God, if there ever was a sign of how times have changed with air travel, this is one of them.  I’m old enough to remember my folks driving me to the airport just to go watch airplanes take off and land – no kidding!  So fun!  And when air travel meant dressing up.  Even my youngest brother at around age 5 was in a suit and adorable little clip-on tie when we’d go visit relatives on the east coast or on family vacations.  This was the late 1970s, by the way!

The last time I was in the cell phone parking lot was…oh man…over a year ago when I was picking up the guy I was dating at the time after he’d been in Australia for two weeks.  What a difference a year and some makes!!  Now here I was – with that issue of Marie Claire I’d forgotten to bring along for the oil change – waiting for my guy BFF’s flight to arrive.  If you have not yet read my post about L and me and how we got reconnected after a gap of several years you really do need to check it out here.

Every woman needs a wonderful, straight male friend in her life.  L is gold to me.  He opens up and shares the most mind-blowing and amazing things about who he is and what’s going on with his life and his passions, dreams and goals.  I feel so honored to be a safe place for him to be able to open up like that.  I know how different men and women are…as women, we thrive on deep, emotional connections and revealing a lot with each other right away.  With men it’s very different…the warrior is wired to instinctively conceal, not reveal.  ‘Tis true!

One of the things I love about L is how so spontaneous he is.  He helps me lighten up (I tend to be a planner and envy those who just fly by the seat of their pants).  When he asked if I was hungry I said YES and we talked about where to grab a late lunch as I sped us back up the freeway toward Seattle.  As I was parking my car he noticed my extremely dusty dashboard and playfully wrote “dust me, bitch” and his name.  Hilarious!  OK, OK, I get the point…the car dashboard is dusty!

We ended up at the Hale’s Ales Pub in Seattle.  It’s right in between the Fremont and Ballard neighborhoods.  And WOW, the memories here run deep.  I’d not been to this place since probably the late 1990s.  I was living in the Magnolia neighborhood and working downtown, commuting by bus.  Oh how I miss those days sometimes.  Anyway, a lot of my co-workers became pretty tight friends back then, and we were always hungry for a new spot to go out to eat and drink.  We pretty much LIVED at Hale’s once we discovered it.  And now fast forward 15+ years, here I was with L.  It was just how I remembered it!

And I must have been hungrier than I thought…L chose a Reuben sandwich with Jo Jo’s, and I had a small cup of smoked salmon clam chowder (LOVE this stuff – L grabbed an extra spoon and tried some too), a burger and a small Caesar salad.  Polished off with a damn good Bloody Mary for me and a Holsch beer for L.  I sure won’t need a full dinner tonight!

L told me all about his Chicago trip – seeing his parents, client visits, potential new business, etc.  He also wants to get back to work scraping the popcorn ceiling in my townhouse – a hellacious, messy, laborious project if there ever was.  He’s a saint for helping me.  He wants to get back in the gym regularly and even asked me, “so when are you going to get back in shape, fivenineteen?  You’re a beautiful woman.”  I blushed and said thank you. Just to put this in context, L and I first met about 8 years ago when I was, well, 8 years younger and about 35 lbs slimmer, after a 6-month journey of lots of walking to drop weight.  Long story, but life goes on and the pounds creep up.  Playing hockey once a week does not do the trick for me.

Maybe I’ll make a vow to myself to start hitting the gym again this summer while it’s their slower season.  Oh wait…it IS summer…it’s July 1!  No more excuses.

Bedroom Grinning

10 Sunday Jun 2012

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I was thinking about calling this post “Grinning in the Bedroom.”  But that might be a little misleading.  Although I AM grinning in this bedroom too but not for the reasons you might think. 

Now, why does a picture like this make me smile?  Let me count the ways!  It’s PROGRESS.  It’s ACTION.  It’s IMPROVEMENT…and it’s a sign of what’s to come.

A few months ago L and I started this messiest of messy home improvement projects call Scraping Off a Very Heavily Painted-Over Popcorn Ceiling.  It was Super Bowl Sunday actually when we kicked off – no pun intended.  I really wanted to do the fun stuff first like repaint a few walls I was getting sick of here in the townhouse and replace the old doors, but L wisely said no, we need to scrape, sand and repaint the ceilings first.  Man, he was right. 

Back in early February, June seemed a long ways off.  We figured sure, we’ll be done with the upstairs by June.  Now, blink the eyes and it’s MID JUNE.  We have made progress though not as much as I’d hoped.  We’ve learned so much about this process…the guinea pig room was my master bedroom and open dual-sink vanity area.  The largest of the 3 bedrooms upstairs and THE most personal, sacred place for me.  So it was painful cutting our teeth in there, it took far longer than we thought and it’s not yet finished – the ceiling is scraped and sanded but not yet primed and repainted.  Living with displaced clutter has grinded (ground?) my nerves but I’m a lot more used to it now.

The 3rd bedroom has been a dormant mess for, sadly, nearly 10 years.  It was going to be a guest bedroom but ended up being a dumping place for things I didn’t know what to do with…and was too lazy to tote down to the garage (which has yet to have some decent shelving added…Le Sigh that’s another thing on the list).  This weekend it was time to clean it out and scrape the ceiling.

L came over Friday evening.  I made quinoa chowder (find the recipe in my post here…I diced up a chicken breast, sautéed it and added it to the soup to make it a little heartier) and we just relaxed and watched TV.  It felt good having him over.  I’m feeling in a much better place these days.  Work is super busy, but I’m relieved my assignment will be extended into the fall.  I’ve got some fun summer plans on tap, I feel happy that L and I are great friends and he wants us to stay friends forever.  The home improvement work is messy and moving slowly but I trust that he will keep helping me until we finish.  I know it’s going to look great when we’re done.  By 10pm we were both tired and crashed.  He took over the living room couch, M’s dog by his side on the floor and I headed upstairs. 

The next morning I fueled us up with a big breakfast…bacon, scrambled eggs with Tabasco and toasted bagels with cream cheese.  And lots of coffee of course.  We finished the last part of the 3rd bedroom clutter…moving the books off the tall bookshelf and lying the bookcase on its side against the wall, ready to wrap in protective drop cloths.  Ideally we would have moved it completely out of the room but there was nowhere convenient to put it.  My upstairs hallway is pretty narrow, and the other room up here – my home office – now has boxes and stacks of books added to the rest of the clutter already in there.  It’s starting to look like it’s auditioning for an episode of Hoarders.  Scary.  Breathe, breathe…it’s temporary.  This is how I continually remind myself it’s going to get finished and all of this mess will be back in order.  I DO NOT live like this. And I giggled when I realized how pristine the carpet in the 3rd bedroom is.  It’s hardly been walked on in years.  The only routine action it gets is when my house cleaners vacuum what they can every month.

Now if you are considering attempting a ceiling scraping project like this, remember that you cannot have too many plastic drop cloths.  It’s essential to not only cover the floor with them, but also to tape drop cloths along the top edges of the walls to catch the ceiling debris as it comes down.  It’s a pain in the ass taping drop cloths along the top edges of the walls but if you do you will avoid a lot of mess with dust clinging to the walls as it comes down.  You can see a strip of leftover painter’s tape in the picture actually.

Compared to the large master bedroom and vanity area, this room was a breeze.  It’s a lot smaller – it’s too small to hold a queen-sized bed if you would also want two decent night stands to give you an idea of the size.  We started at the section where the window is, so we could take down that wall drop cloth first to get some ventilation.  For those of you just tuning in, L and I are doing the old “spray and scrape” method of taking down the popcorn ceiling.  I use a garden sprayer to spray small patches of the ceiling, let it sit for a few minutes, and L scrapes away.  We found a cool-looking tool designed for this purpose that attaches onto an extension pole awhile back.  Sadly, it’s too flimsy to do the job.  My ceilings are heavily painted over with thick, flat, matte white paint so a couple of good putty knives are what L uses while standing on a step stool.  One knife is 6″ wide and the other 3″ wide.  It’s tempting to get something even wider to cover more surface area more quickly, however the risk is if the ceiling is not perfectly flat you run the risk of gouging it with the tool edges.  So far no problems there.

We’re also learning about the fine line between getting the ceiling damp enough so the scraping is relatively easy, versus getting the ceiling too wet and risking mold later.  Another reason why good room ventilation is essential.  Thankfully the weather has been somewhat decent this weekend.  I’ll be keeping the window ajar for the next few days.  I can already see how a lot of the wetter patches have dried.

Now that the ceiling is scraped we’ll need to sand it down like we did in the master bedroom, but I’m already thrilled with how it looks.  This room is going to transform…I’m not 100% sure how yet but it will.  See that small patch of paint?  That’s a Benjamin Moore paint in Sioux Falls.  It’s a glorious bluish green and I can’t WAIT to paint!  I love color and I can’t wait to get rid of that horrible, flat white paint.  The ceiling will be painted off white, however, not colored.  

L thinks I should make that 3rd bedroom my home office and make the (larger) bedroom where I’m sitting here – my current home office – as the guest bedroom.  Interesting idea!  I could definitely put a queen-sized bed in this home office which would be a lot more comfortable for guests.   I know L likes smaller, cozier spaces to work in, while I thrive in more open spaces.  This could be a fun way to change things up.  Technologically it could be a problem now that I think of it…that 3rd bedroom does not have any phone jacks or cable hookup.  Gotta love older (32 year old) homes that are not pre-wired for technology like homes are today.  Hmmm.

So while I tend to get frustrated when I see the long road ahead in getting this townhouse updated and the shell game of having to move crap between rooms to clear them out for the ceiling work, I remember how great a place it is.  The floor plan is kickass.  I remember when I was ready to start looking to buy a place and made a list of my priorities for my realtor.  She found everything I was looking for at the top of my list…3 bedrooms and townhouse style!   And a huge 2-car garage!  They just don’t make them like this anymore.   Sometimes I wish I’d purchased a newer home that didn’t need so much updating.  Carpet, countertops, window treatments, flooring, appliances…but I know that newer places have problems too.  Guess it’s all part of the journey of homeownership.

For now, I grin…progress and wonderful Man Help thanks to my guy BFF!!

Turning the Page

03 Sunday Jun 2012

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It’s late Sunday afternoon and I’m sitting here reflecting back upon the amazing bookends of this weekend.  A Goodbye on Friday and a Welcome Back today.  Dear friends of mine going on or returning from odysseys.  So much to think about.

D’s pulling up stakes and moving to Austin, TX this week.  A few friends got together at Grand Cru, a wine bar in Bellevue, WA for happy hour, munchies and celebrating her new career chapter.  Every time I go – which is I think all of 2 or 3 times actually – the ambiance and vibe is very warm and relaxed, not pretentious.  LOVE that.  And Friday it was time to toast D and wish her well on her new job and move.  She’s been pursuing this position for quite some time, and the interview process has been exhaustive.  But every time she’d tell me how it was going I just knew.  I just knew she’d get it.  It just felt like and seemed like the Universe would make it happen.  And SHE would make it happen – both with hard work and with the unique combination of passion and effortlessness that it’s just going to happen as it’s supposed to.  Sometimes you just know.

I’ve only known D a few months now – we got acquainted last October in one of my more random weekend encounters in recent memory.  The story is here.  I know there are no accidents in life.  D’s been such a treasured friend – one of my newest – and it’s the type of friendship that while it’s new there is a deep, intuitive understanding of one another.  Sometimes you just resonate with certain people.  What a gift that is.  D’s been such a joy and inspiration.  Selfishly it’s hard to say goodbye as she gets ready to move halfway across the country.  But I couldn’t be happier for her.  She deserves every happiness.  She and Austin will get along amazingly.

And today I met up with P for a fantastic late lunch.  The kind where “all of a sudden” it’s 3:00 after enjoying great food and company.  We went to Desert Fire, a southwest-style restaurant in Redmond Town Center.  It’s funny how I hardly ever shop there (or eat out there, maybe once or twice a year at most, even though it’s not far from where I live or work).  And then I remember why…oh yeah…an ex-boyfriend worked in one of the stores there.  OK, that relationship’s been kaput for 5 years now, but I guess old habits prevail.   I savored the fish tacos and a few glasses of good old plain iced tea.

P’s just returned from an incredible 3-week journey to Alaska… traveling both by the Alaska Marine Highway (a ferry system) and driving with her two beloved dogs.  This trip was not only to visit family, but to experience the incredible beauty and ruggedness of Alaska for herself.  And take a well-deserved vacation.

Tangent time:  P and I worked together very briefly about 5 years ago.  And “worked together” is probably a bit of a stretch.  We were at the same company, in somewhat similar roles but in very different business units which did not have a lot of overlap.  My entire business unit got downsized within a year of me coming on board; P meanwhile remains a seasoned veteran.  I remember as a newbie there scratching my head and wondering how to connect with others in the company who had a similar job title as I.  I scrubbed the company directory and just started emailing people, introducing myself.  And so that was how I met P.  P is one of those rare types where we’ve stayed in contact far longer than anytime we were at the same company together.  And I’m so glad to have her as a friend. 

So back on track here…P’s blog documents much of this trip in both her stories and her photography.  [It’s a great resource for travel planning and preparation too, by the way and for many travel destinations beyond Alaska].   And the additional stories she shared today at lunch reflecting upon the trip and how she feels reflecting back upon the whole experience, well, I just listened joyously, wide-eyed and soaked it all in.  It’s a privilege to know P, to be her friend and her confidante as she thinks about her own journey ahead and shares her dreams, struggles, hopes and passions.  What’s next, where to live, career, successes, joys and ups and down.  LIFE, really.  It’s such an honor when someone opens up about so much to you, don’t you think?  Really, it’s a gift to be cherished.

So here are two great friends of mine, turning two very big (and different) pages in their lives.  What does it mean?  What’s going to happen?  The answers to these questions are unknown, but I DO know everything will unfold in their favor.

I feel so blessed today…to have the friendship of such incredible women in my life.  The gift of time together with great friends, great food and great conversation…THIS is the trio of joys that strums my strings. 

And I’m so happy to have experienced this TWICE in one weekend.  Cheers!

The Good Earthquake…continued

13 Sunday May 2012

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Last week was a happy whirlwind.  I’m astonished at how much of a catapult/slingshot/echo… not sure what I’m going to call it – has boing’d into my life the last two weeks. 

And I remember part of that was blogging last Saturday rather than Sunday.  L and I had planned on doing more of the home renovation projects in here that day, but later in the day he said that would not work out and we’d have to reschedule.  OK, no biggy.  I thought of the blank slate of Sunday ahead of me and wondered what I would do.  So many options.

Sunday morning I was dozing on and off.  It was 9:30am, 10:00am and I kept drifting back off to sleep.  The sunshine was streaming through the blinds and I knew I’d just be wasting the day if I didn’t get up soon.

Then I heard a knock at the front door downstairs.  I sat upright and wondered who it was.  I figured it was my neighbor, as I still owe him the latter half of what I paid him and his brother to power wash and re-stain my back deck.  Ummm, OK I sleep nude most of the time except in the coldest of winter (TMI, sorry) so I quickly grabbed a t-shirt and sweats and went downstairs still in a semi-fog.  Before I could get to the peephole I asked “who is it?”  It was L!!

I opened the door slightly and smiled.  I’m sure I looked a sleepy mess and whatnot.  My mind was spinning…did we agree to do the home project work today after all and I dreamt that we canceled?  His friend M’s dog was poking her nose through the doorway.  I think I mumbled and smiled…”…how are you?” 

And then the question from him that made me giggle.  “…are you alone?”  BAHAHAHA that cracked me up.  Gotta hand it to the guy giving me credit that there might be a possibility that I wouldn’t be.  That’s fodder for another post I suppose.  No, I am not dating anyone right now, Le Sigh.

So he and the dog came bouncing in and I asked if he wanted coffee.  Oh no, he said, he’d already had about 5 shots of espresso and was doing just fine…he sure was wide awake alright. He just thought it would be fun to go for a walk and just hang out and watch hockey playoffs later.  OK! 

I got showered an dressed and we headed down the street to Juanita Beach Park.  This park was purchased by the city of Kirkland from the County and was all torn up in renovations for a good year or so.  Now it’s reopened and better than ever.  I love the semi-circle boardwalk that goes far out onto the lake and back.  I drank in the sunshine, the smells, the voices of everyone around me, the beautiful green trees and the rippling blue water of Lake Washington.  THIS is the great Pacific Northwest at its finest. 

Later we cooked up a pizza and watched a little hockey.  This whole Sunday recap may not seem like a super big deal to many, but for me it sure was.  It’s extremely rare for people to show up on my doorstep spontaneously on a Sunday morning, just wanting to hang out!  Usually it’s planned a day prior or so!  I cherish my weekend sleep more than anything.  L knows this and I’m glad he showed up when he did and not much earlier!

Then another hectic workweek and lots of busy (and fun!) icing on top almost every evening:

Actually, no, wait.  Monday was a bye/breather for me.  I had a Silpada jewelry team meeting that night and just needed to decompress and chill instead.  I love the team and the jewelry we represent – I was just feeling dragged down and sluggish and needed to just have some alone time and chill.

Tuesday:  one of my brothers turned 40!  How did a YOUNGER brother of mine get to be 40??  We met up at our folks’ house for a spectacular meal of (raw) oysters for appetizers and later some glorious barbecued salmon.  Yes, everyone, I adore raw oysters.  Don’t even need cocktail sauce here.  Just a small fork and bottoms up!  YUM.

Wednesday:  And now for something completely different – for the first time in my nearly 45 (gulp) years on earth…I went to the movies by myself!  Come with me on this journey, for it’s likely going to ring odd with a lot of you who do this all the time or are movie buffs.  First of all, going to the movies (in a theatre) is wayyyyy down on my list of things I like to do.  I’m sure I miss out on a lot of great films; when I learn of the Golden Globe and Oscar nominations every year I MIGHT have seen one or two of the films, heh.  It’s just not my thing.  I’m VERY much an eat/drink/conversation type of person when I go out (or stay in!).  Sitting in a dark theatre for two hours makes me restless.  And on a first date?  Well, if the guy suggests going to the movies…ummm…well, that’s not my first choice.  I’d rather go out and socialize with him before sitting next to someone I barely know in a theatre.  Just seems odd to me.   The last time I was in a movie theatre was 2008.  I know, try not to laugh.  I saw Slumdog Millionaire and also Sex and the City.  That’s the first SATC, by the way; I saw the 2nd one on HBO the other day and it was truly an insult to fans of the series everywhere.  Glad I saved my money.

Anyway, fast forward to 2012 and I had my pick:  The Hunger Games!  I’d purchased a ticket online ahead of time and set my sights on Lincoln Square Cinemas in downtown Bellevue. I figured I could do a little shopping or grab a drink and munchies prior.

I got into Bellevue and walked around Lincoln Square.  I was absolutely SHOCKED how empty the buildings were.  True, it was around dinner hour, but still.  This is a densely packed urban-suburban city and Lincoln Square is right in its heart!  Weird.  Usually when I’m here it’s a Friday night or a weekend and it’s a packed scene.  So strange seeing it so empty. 

About a half hour prior to the movie start, I rode the escalators up to the theatre and got a small bag of $6 popcorn. Ooops…make that $6.02 with sales tax.  And silly me, I’d brought a very small black clutch so I wouldn’t have to lug my large purse from work with me into the theatre.  And I left my debit card in the big purse which was down in my car in the parking garage.  All I had was $6 cash.  I smiled at the popcorn girl sheepishly…can you float me two cents?  Sure, no problem.  I felt so silly but grateful.

I purposely got to the theatre a little earlier.  Years ago I remember going with my ex to this theatre and arriving literally 5 minutes before the movie started (punctuality was not a strong point).  And he’d get so pissed that there were no decent seats left.  Well DUH already!

I walked into the theatre (each seats around 200), peeked my head around the corner and there it was. 

Empty, and dark with just a little light classical music playing in the background.  I was the first one there!  I giggled and was a little shocked too.  So I walked in, sat down and had a moment.  Here I was in a large theatre right smack in the middle of downtown Bellevue…alone!  How surreal.  I absent-mindedly munched on my popcorn in the dark and relaxed into my seat.  Had not had that much solitude in weeks.

Turns out there were only about 10 of us in the theatre total – guess the movie has been out a little while and it was midweek. I LOVED the Hunger Games.  (No spoilers in here, don’t worry).  I will say that I’m VERY glad I read the book first, for it has so much more detail that you could not possibly incorporate into a movie.  The casting was amazing and the plot is – thankfully – spot on with the book.  And I also learned (actually CONFIRMED) that, while I’m glad I went out on a limb and tried something different, nope, I don’t like going to the movies by myself.  Aha.

Thursday:  I met my dear friend T for an early birthday dinner celebration at the Flat Iron Grill in Issaquah.  Now THIS is a superb evening out in Gilman Village.  Very warm, great service and fantastic food….with a wonderful friend!  We enjoyed a couple of cocktails…T picked out a beautiful steak and I went with the Paella, complete with clams and some sausage too.  Delicious!  And of course some gourmet French vanilla ice cream and a small creme brulee for dessert. 

Friday:   L came over in the evening so we could get started on the home renovation work again the next morning.  I made shrimp with roasted jalapenos and pancetta over linguine…oops, actually the deli had sliced up prosciutto instead of pancetta and I did not take a moment to double-check.  But it still tasted great.  And it’s a very light and healthy dish – no cream sauces.

By 10pm I was exhausted.  L crashed on the couch and I drifted upstairs to sleep.

Saturday: I woke up around 6:30am hearing the gentle thud of my front door closing.  True confession:  I had a split second “oh no” go through my body as awhile back L had left in the morning instead of doing the work in the townhouse here.  [Long story but it’s all good now].  I got up, walked downstairs and smiled.  His laptop and stuff were all still here.  I smiled more and started making coffee.  He’d just popped out for a bit to grab a coffee and fresh fruit is all.  I later made us scrambled eggs with Tabasco and toasted some bagels and we talked more about our plan of attack for the day.  How was I up so early in the morning, and so refreshed-feeling?  On a Saturday??  I was ready for us to get started but L thought we should wait until at least 9:00am given I share a common wall with my neighbor.  Oh my goodness…it was already (only!) 8:00am!!  So THIS is what it’s like when you get your ass out of bed early!!

We finished scraping and sanding down the master bedroom ceiling and vanity so it’s ready for a few coats of primer and later some paint.  For those of you just tuning in, my townhouse has that horrific popcorn ceiling nearly everywhere save for the bathrooms and kitchen.  L and I had found a tool online that has a scraper attached and you can attach an extension pole onto it like you would for a paint roll.  But UGH, no such luck.  The tool blade is too flimsy and too dull, as my ceiling is unfortunately covered with a thick coat of white paint.  So we resorted back to the 6″ joint knife (looks like a putty knife), which is harder on the back as you can’t attach an extension pole to it. 

So we’ve finished the largest room upstairs.  Next weekend (maybe Sunday) is the attack on one of the guest bedrooms.  While it’s messy, ugly work, I am hopeful the rest of the upstairs will go faster as we’ve learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t with the drop cloth taping/draping and how much/how little to do at a time.  Plus the remaining rooms and hallway are a lot smaller.

Later in the day I went to his house and he made dinner – a wonderful stir fry with green beans, onions and peppers and a spinach salad – delicious!  And watched hockey, of course.  New York Rangers are onto the East Division Finals…starting tomorrow!

I truly appreciate L’s help – it’s not the most fun way to spend a sunny weekend day but the results are going to be great.  My ceiling already seems taller and it’s yet to get primed and painted!!  Yay for Man Help!!

And yay for another Routine Shaken week!!

Routine…shaken

05 Saturday May 2012

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And I’m not saying like in a James Bond-ish “shaken, not stirred” way.  I mean shook hard down to the CORE.  Shifts that are still internally shifting.  I don’t know where, when or how all the pieces are going to land and that’s OK.  I’m just enjoying the process as they float, flutter and spin all around me. 

Here it is Saturday and I’m blogging.  Typically the past nearly 3 years this has been a wonderful Sunday ritual for me (and hopefully also for the handful of you who tune in here regularly or stumble in here accidentally…thanks!!)   I’m sitting here typing and part of me mentally is in an “OK it’s Sunday” mode.  But I’m smiling inside knowing I have one more delicious day of the weekend to savor.  To replenish myself.  Refill my tanks.

I feel like a different person than when I last posted in here.  And hmmm…I might make more of those green onion “pancakes” I posted a couple of weeks ago come to think of it.

Other than a very small handful of mental vacations, I’ve posted in here like clockwork on Sundays.  It’s a wonderful ritual and I look forward to it.  It’s “me” time that I get to share with others, but I don’t write here like anyone will read it if that makes sense.  Just self-expression, musings and lately a few food recipes too.  Last weekend was jam-packed and I knew I would not be home until late Sunday evening.  I figured oh, no biggy, I’ll be home around 8 or 8:30pm and just do a quick blog post and get to sleep.  Obviously that didn’t happen.

Last Sunday I came home feeling on the brink of a transformation.  A shift…a…damn, I don’t even know how to describe it.  So I guess I’ll just explain what I did and what happened…and what has happened since.

I shook up my routine and went to a weekend-long transformational workshop.  I can’t tell you how so out of my element something like that is for me.  Two days, 10am to 7pm.  Two precious weekend days.  I giggled when I learned the time the workshops started.  True confession:  I’m barely even AWAKE at 10am on Saturdays and Sundays.  So to be in these workshops I’d have to be awake, showered, dressed, awake (yes, repeated intentionally) for a 40 minute drive to the workshop location.  I also don’t consider myself very “workshoppy.”  BUT, my dear friend T recommended it so strongly, so I knew it would be great.  And boy was it ever. 

The workshop is for women and is about understanding (and celebrating) men and their behavior.  Yep, ’tis true!  Now, many people have asked me what I learned and what it was like.  Details, please!  Honestly that is not what I’m going to write about in here.  I did take lots of notes and have them safely stashed on the laptop here.  But I don’t want to go on and on about the workshop content.  I truly think it would be a disservice writing about it in here.  First of all, I’ve just been exposed to the material and am just learning and applying it myself.  Also, the workshop experience is led by a seasoned instructor and includes several steps we as women needed to commit to doing before we could even proceed further in the workshop.  If we weren’t willing to, we’d be able to leave early and get a full refund on our tuition.  (No one did, by the way).  But I will share a couple nuggets that are really at the core and foundation of the workshop content:

What if men are responding to women?  And…when we as women get upset, confused or frustrated when men do something we don’t understand or don’t like, we need to ask ourselves…what if there’s a good reason for it?  Seeing things I’ve seen all my life now in a different perspective (an illumination really) is phenomenal. 

The workshop was such an incredible experience that I was emotionally drained (and filled too actually at the same time) when I got home Sunday night.  I celebrated and just went home giddy and tingling…full of so many “aha” moments as things popped and clicked for me over the weekend.  I met amazing women too.  Lots of great bonding and I hope to see them again at future workshops.  But I came home so exhausted too.  And I knew the week ahead would be a busy one.  Lots going on at work.  Was I ready to face the week?  Ready or not, it happened!

Monday: After work I went over to my parents’ house for dinner.  This is definitely not something I normally do on a Monday night.  But, they were heading out of town the next day and my Mom wanted to borrow one of my books to read on their trip.  And she wanted to see some of my new jewelry collection as well.  After dinner, Dad went to go watch TV and Mom and I played with jewelry.  I’d quickly put together a few trays of what I thought she might like the night before.  Keep in mind I represent a wonderful line of sterling silver jewelry.  And my Mom prefers gold.  So, I had to really think through what I would bring to show her.  I picked out pieces that have a lot of warmer-toned semi precious stones, brass and pearl detail.  I also showed her our latest charms and brought my (sterling silver) charm bracelet loaded up with charms and showed her how the bracelet can attach onto a matching charm necklace with a couple of double-lobster clasps.  I thought this would just be a random thing she might think was interesting or amusing and I also wanted to ‘practice’ doing this for my future jewelry parties with friends. 

What happened next blew my mind.  My Mom got so excited, left the room and returned with a small pouch.  Inside was a sterling silver charm bracelet she had not worn in decades.  She explained that she is at an age where she is not comfortable drawing attention to her hands.  She prefers necklaces over bracelets or attention-grabbing rings.  Now thanks to the charm necklace and the double-lobster clasps she can wear her vintage charm bracelet around her neck in a modern way…in a way that makes her happy and comfortable!  And THIS was the giant underscore/exclamation point on one thing we learn in our training as jewelry reps:  don’t ever pre-judge anyone when sharing more about the jewelry or the business opportunity to represent the jewelry.  And yet I had (subconsciously) pre-judged my own Mom!  I assumed that since she prefers gold jewelry she would have zero interest in a sterling silver necklace.  Boy was I mistaken!!

Tuesday:  What a small world!  My youngest brother is now the sales account manager for the company where I am currently consulting!  Meaning, the place where I work is a client of his!  He flew up here to come to the campus to get his access cardkey and laptop set up.  How joyful it was to see him, introduce him to my manager and co-workers and have lunch.  We are quite close despite being nearly 8 years apart and such different lives.  He got married right out of college and he and his wife have 3 kids under age 9…and I am single with no kids.  Boy, I adore my nephews and niece!  So it was wonderful reconnecting with my brother and seeing him discover where I work – his new client – for the first time.  Glorious.

And I came home after work and the damn laptop here was at a crawl pace.  I rebooted it several times and my Start menu was all jacked up.  Arrrghh!!  I figured I probably had a computer virus or some other nightmare.  After about an hour on the phone with the nice people at Dell (yep, I’m a hard-core PC gal…no Macs here) I had a new registry cleaner/virus protection program installed.  And got rid of the old one.  And it’s like I have a new laptop.  Amazing improved performance!!

Wednesday:  After another very hectic day at work I went to my co-worker K’s house for dinner.  We used to share a large office – she’s since moved to a different group at our company and I miss working with her immensely.  Over the past few months working together we became friends and discovered we both have a passion for cooking!  She made a wonderful dinner in her new tagine and I brought the wine!  I got to meet her 3 kids (her husband was out of town on business) and share a seat at their dinner table.  K has girlfriends over for dinner all the time while her husband is away.  It’s really important for her to show her kids that while she loves being a wife and being their Mom, she’s also a friend to many.  After dinner the kids went to do homework and K and I talked.  And “all of a sudden” it was 10:30pm.  I cherish those conversations immensely.

When I got home I realized I had not gone to my mailbox in a few days.  Voila…there was my NEW PASSPORT!!  Oh, the possibilities.  If I had been there when the postman delivered it I would have hugged him.

Thursday:  Yet another hectic day at work (do we detect a pattern here folks?) and afterwards I headed into the city to meet L (my guy BFF) at a sports bar to watch hockey.  Years ago when he and I had decided that we were better off as friends than dating we had gone to this place a couple of times.  What a trip coming back to this place after 6-7 years.  The last time he and I were here it was before the no-smoking regulation went into effect in bars in the state of Washington here.  I remember the smoke hanging 4 feet from the ceiling it was so thick.  A much more pleasant experience this time around with no smoke.  And, the Stanley Cup playoffs go on…and I have no team to cheer for.  When Vancouver and Pittsburgh (my two favorite teams) each got eliminated in the first round, I was stunned.  And with no “plan C” on my radar to cheer for because I didn’t think I’d need one so soon.  And I still don’t have one.  I never get tired of watching the playoffs but it’s weird not having a favorite picked out.  And I’m totally bummed that the Canucks are out.  I’d hoped with my new passport to drive up with L and catch a game at a Vancouver sports bar.  Never in my wildest dreams did I think they’d be out so soon.  New passport…alas, too late for this Canucks season.

Friday:  Ah, fabulous Friday.  My whole work team is head down buried in WORK.  We are a great team and work wonderfully well together – one of the healthiest groups I’ve had the pleasure to consult with ever – but boy we are feeling the burn. We’re tired.  I see it in everyone’s eyes.  Voices.  Mannerisms.  We will get through everything we need to and support one another.

So after this wonderful week I was so ready to just go home and CRASH.  And sleep for days and not give a shit.  I left work probably two hours later than I usually do.  And I figured the commute would not take too long given it was after peak time. 

About halfway home (I commute on mostly two-lane surface streets between two suburbs) I turned a corner and traffic was at a dead stop at a major intersection.  With a long, long line of cars just waiting.  What was going on?  The stoplight was out!  UGH.  I painfully crawled through two major intersections with no functioning stoplight.  I thought I was slowly dying.  I just wanted to get HOME!

I just am confounded at how much LIFE got crammed into this past week.  It was like a slingshot after that weekend workshop…my perspectives are shifting…everything is shifting.  New things happened BAM BAM BAM every evening this week.  THIS is what happens when you shake up your routine.

So what’s next?  I don’t know but whatever it is is going to be extraordinary.  And why am I blogging on Saturday?  Well, L and I had planned on doing more popcorn ceiling scraping here in the townhouse tomorrow.  But it turns out he has a lot of work and a deadline so we have to reschedule.  What will I do tomorrow instead?  Probably sleep…well not all day.

And next Wednesday I’m going to see The Hunger Games.  After work.  By myself.  THIS is another Shake in my routine.  And lots more to follow.

Sleeping in Anticipation

15 Sunday Apr 2012

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I seem to write a lot about sleeping in here.  Part of that is because my usual blogging day here, Sunday, is synonymous with SLEEP.  Sleeping in.  Glorious, glorious sleep.  Without a sound sleep I’m a wreck…well, usually I can get through on caffeine and adrenaline and fake it the next day, but the next night – WHAMMO.  Gotta get those zzzzs.   And weekends are essential to recharge.

When I was in college, the first class of the day was not calculus, art history or philosophy but choir my freshman, sophomore and junior years.  At 8am, sharp.  And I could have been up late studying or partying until 3am the night prior yet bounced out of bed no problem on just a few hours sleep, ready to sing!  What an incredible way to start the day.  Truly energized me.  And where in hell did I find all that energy to get through college life on 5 or 6 hours of sleep a night (or less)?  Oh – duh – I was 19.

Spring seems to finally be springing around here.  I can open the townhouse windows for some fresh air and not worry about freezing to death or rain coming in, and even went to work a couple of times last week without a coat.  Ooops, we had rain later in the afternoon but it didn’t matter.  Here in the Seattle area we don’t let a little rain ruin our day.

I met D for a walk yesterday…back to Juanita Bay Park in Kirkland for another look at the protected wetlands along Lake Washington like we did a few weeks ago.  The view of the lake shore from the boardwalk is endlessly fascinating…every time we visit something is different.  Yesterday it was clear spring had sprung – birds were chirping loudly all around us in the trees and turtles covered the logs floating just under the lake surface.  I felt the sun radiating down and through me and was glad I had plopped on a light running cap and some sunscreen before heading out.  A couple of hard-core photographers were out with their impressive cameras. Huge, long lenses on tripods all wrapped in camouflage fabric.  That’s when you know it’s good…even the pros are out!  We chatted briefly with them and they pointed out a bald eagle high up in a tree.  Wow my distance vision is not so great, but as I focused more I could see a white head far, far up.

We walked on, determined to get a good workout.  Time for some hills!  And the West of Market neighborhood in Kirkland delivers.  Along with some steep, winding hills you get major real estate eye candy.  Beautiful homes with fantastic views of the lake.  Most all of the older summer home cabins have long been torn down and replaced with modern homes, but there are still a couple of adorable holdouts.  This is the neighborhood where you can get wonderfully lost, almost in a dizzy, dreamlike state, just blocks from the anchor of Market Street.  I love it.

I went over to L’s last night to watch hockey and hang out.  Sausage hot dogs with the works, chips and a couple of beers with my guy BFF.  Love it.  And yes, L is a huge Chicago Blackhawks fan and the Stanley Cup Playoffs are under way.  So I had to be silly and annoying and arrive at his house in a Vancouver Canucks t-shirt. ‘Cause those are my boys!! The Vancouver/Chicago rivalry is just a few years old but rumbling up into something fierce.  And it just won’t be the playoffs without a Vancouver/Chicago matchup again this year.  It just won’t.  Last night it was Chicago and Phoenix.  Chicago won in OT.  This is gonna be an intense series alright!

So…anticipation.  I woke up today with a smile on my face and wondered.  Spring is coming…and there’s so much to look forward to.  Hockey – the Canucks gotta win it tonight in LA or they are going to be painfully behind in a best of 7 series.  Losing those first two games at home?  Pathetic, boys…play your game already!!  And even more hockey – I’ve got a late playoff game tonight in my own league.  Double elimination and we’ve already lost one.  So let’s bring it, team!! 

I thought about my job and how in a few weeks I’ll know for sure if my consulting engagement will be extended out further into the summer and early fall.  Right now I’m mobilizing, for officially I’m wrapping up end of June by design.  Keeping my network up to date and soon it will be time to refresh my resume.  This group has been one of the strongest and healthiest teams I’ve ever worked shoulder to shoulder with.  And if my time with them is winding down, well, the bar is set high and this will be a tough act to follow.  But so many new doors will open!

Later this month I’m going to attend a 2 day workshop on understanding men and their behavior.  My friend T raved about it and I can’t wait!  Stay tuned for more posts on that. 

I’m going to embark on a 5-day cleanse of sorts, with a pack of meal-replacement shakes, snack bars and vitamin supplements I purchased last month at a seminar my new friend M lead.  I have an extra pack of the meal-replacement mix (yummy French vanilla and gluten-free) and I’ve tried a few times mixing up a glass for a breakfast or lunch replacement.  But something in me has been reluctant to do the 5-day cleanse.  I think about all of the food recipes I’ve posted in here…can I do a 3 liquid meals a day for 5 days straight?  I love the textures and flavors of food.  This cleanse means 5 days of chocolate, strawberry and vanilla beverages in steady rotation.  And yet it’s only FIVE DAYS.  What am I waiting for?  In early 2010 I kicked a nasty, 25-year Diet Coke addiction cold turkey with zero problems.  So I can do this too, right?

Ahhh…I know what the blocker is.  I’m worried about my energy level.  M did comment that energy levels can temporarily drop with some people as their body resets with the low glycemic beverages.  I’m worried I’ll be lethargic and not able to skate my best for my team.  So there it is…I’ll start the cleanse after my own team’s playoffs are done.

And maybe it’s time to get back to regular exercising again.  Skating once a week does not do it.  D and I want to get out on walks more often and maybe that’s the motivation I need – doing this with a friend – to get me back in shape and feeling more like myself when I look in the mirror.  My body does respond well to regular, brisk walking.  And I’m in dire need of some new spring and summer clothes and would love to feel more comfortable shopping like I did when I was slimmer a few years ago.  The times when you know your size and you know it’s going to fit and look well.  Someday I’ll be back there again. 

I finally got my damn passport in the mail for renewal.  So funny how the procedures change decade to decade.  Don’t laugh, but I got new pictures taken 7 or 8 months ago.  MONTHS.  And I’ve either been too busy or too frustrated trying to find the forms to fill out.  I have to laugh at myself because I’m pretty resourceful finding things online.  Somehow the passport renewal was a stumper.  BUT I cracked the code, filled out the forms, mailed in my check and old passport and we’re on our way.

Nothing like a fresh, new passport to open a whole world (no pun intended) of anticipation.

Finding Strengths

08 Sunday Apr 2012

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I thought STRENGTH would be a great topic to blog about this weekend, given we have both Passover AND Easter right smack on the same weekend.  How often does that happen?  I bet an online search could figure that out in a few minutes.

…but OK, back on track here.  Let’s try not to do a wackadoodle tangent too soon shall we?

I gotta hand it to my friend D for recommending not one but TWO great books to me.  She’s a bold, joyous and wonderful soul, not really caring that I tell her quite often that I’m not an avid book reader.  I’m just not.  After being on a computer all day I like to escape with some silly TV or maybe some magazine reading or catalogue browsing.  I know, not the best brain cell exercising.  Maybe D just knows deep down I’m going be curious and want to read what she recommends anyway.  She’s right!

So here we go.  What are YOUR strengths?  Pick up StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath and get ready to find out.  Buckle up, because this is not your typical book.

Why not?  Well, the first 30 of the 175 pages are the required reading.  The rest of the book reviews themes – 34 talents most common in human behavior that are indicative of success.  When you are done with the questionnaire within this book you’ll know your top 5 of these 34 that are uniquely YOU. 

The idea is to focus on what’s RIGHT with people, rather than fixing our weaknesses.  “People have several times more potential for growth when they invest energy in developing their strengths instead of correcting their deficiencies,” writes Rath.  He calls doing otherwise “The path of MOST resistance.” 

Rath goes on to explain how most learning programs focus on helping us become what we are NOT.  Do you suck at numbers?  Spend time in that area and get a degree already.  Are you not very empathetic?  You’ll get sent to a course designed to make you more of an empathetic type.  He goes on to explain how we even make icons of people who struggle to overcome a lack of natural talent.  Anyone remember the early 1990s film Rudy?  I never saw it myself, but Rath uses it as a glorious Exhibit A.  Rudy Ruetigger was a groundskeeper at Notre Dame.  At 5′ 6″ and 165 lbs he wasn’t the type physically to play college football, but he had big ‘heart.’  He worked tirelessly to gain admission to Notre Dame.  Rejected three times in the process.  He joined the practice football team.  Took a beating daily in practices for years but never got to join his team on the sidelines.  

Finally he is allowed to suit up for the last game of his senior year. In the last moments of the game, with a Notre Dame win comfortably guaranteed, his teammates lobby the coach to put him in.  Rudy goes in for a single play…and tackles the opposing team’s quarterback.

Of course Rudy becomes an instant hero – the fans cheer his name and carry him off the field.  He’s invited to meet President Clinton, Colin Powell and the legendary Joe Montana.  Says Rath:  “While Rudy’s perseverance is admirable, in the end, he played a few seconds of college football and made a single tackle…after thousands of hours of practicing.” 

Hope no one is upset about the spoiler here.  After all, this movie’s been out nearly 20 years!  And it’s a true story too.

“You can be anything you want to be.”  Can we?  Rath suggests on the contrary that…

You cannot be anything you want to be, but you CAN be a lot more of who you already are.

Are you intrigued?  So was I.  And, a tad relieved I didn’t have to read the entire book – true confession.  What also was different about this book is that there’s an important, sealed insert which has a unique access key to the StrengthsFinder website.  You’ll create an account on that website and then start the questionnaire.

What the questionnaire does is capture your instinctual, first in your head responses.  You only have 20 seconds to respond to each item.  Now, there are no questions about your education or degree or anything you would typically put on a resume.  You won’t be asked about your skills, like writing software code, driving a truck or selling a product.  Your questionnaire results will identify your innate talents, which are less likely to change over time.  These talents (themes) each come with a few examples of what they “sound like,” ideas for action to further capitalize upon them, and recommendations on working more effectively with those with that particular theme or talent (where it’s not necessarily one of yours).  This is a highly recommended exercise for work teams to gain a deeper understanding of one another, hence the “working with” suggestions too.

And, allow me to share my top 5!  I smiled as I read through these, as I really do think they are ME.

Woo:  People who are especially talented in the Woo theme love the challenge of meeting new people and winning them over.  They derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection with another person.

Communication:  People who are especially talented in the Communication theme generally find it easy to put their thoughts into words.  They are good conversationalists and presenters.

Positivity:  People who are especially talented in the Positivity theme have an enthusiasm that is contagious.  They are upbeat and can get others excited about what they are going to do.

Arranger:  People who are especially talented in the Arranger theme can organize, but they also have a flexibility that compliments this ability.  They like to figure out how all of the pieces and resources can be arranged for maximum productivity.

Achiever:  People who are especially talented in the Achiever theme have a great deal of stamina and work hard.  They take great satisfaction from being busy and productive.

Oh, and what was that black object doing on the cover of this book at the top of this post?  That’s a rock I found on a window sill in my guest bedroom…part of a collection I purchased as part of a hearth candle display.  I found it yesterday as I wandered into that bedroom and smiled looking down at my neighbor and his brother who have been wonderful getting my back deck power washed and re-stained in anticipation of spring and summer.  I clenched the rock in my hands and smiled.  And then, I opened my hand and look at the word etched on it.

STRENGTH.