Monthly Archives: February 2008

What a Way to Start the Day

5:00Am this morning the phone rings.  I answer it, no one there.  I turn over, it rings again.  I realize from the caller ID that it’s a GA call.  Uh oh.  I answer it. It was one of my dad’s neighbors.  My dad was just taken to the hospital.  Needless to say, there was nothing I could do since it would be hours until anyone would be able to give me an answer.

I finally, 2 hours later, fall asleep after my mind is spinning and spinning in every which direction.  First attempt, he’s still in ER and hasn’t been admitted.  The operator transfers me, the ER gal transfers me and after 2 or so minutes of ringing, I hang up and start again.  This time I get a gal in ER and she tells me that he’s being admitted and he’s okay, but she can’t tell me more over the phone.  I explain that I’m in CA and there’s no other option but to do it over the phone.  She double-checks and finds out that he’s admitted upstairs.  I get transfered.

The 3rd floor nurses station answers and transfers me to his room.  He sounds fine (though it’s a very fuzzy connection).  Turns out he had a neurological stroke of sorts that took place in the part of his brain that controls balance.  He doesn’t know much more as he hasn’t yet seen a doctor.  So I have to call back towards the end of the day to see if we can get any answers.

What a horrible way to wake up.  And what a horrible feeling.  It’s not like I can just pick up and head over there (I tried a while back to get a last minute flight for my maternal grandfather’s funeral and it was over $1000).  Toss all this in with the waves of guilt for not being able to take care of him (or in his case, throw money at his problems that still wouldn’t fix anything – long story) and I’m just all in a funk.  Is it any wonder that I have a migraine coming on?

I’ve Been a Very Busy Gal

That’s not exactly a surprise, I know.  Hell, I’ve been posting about my busyness for the past couple of weeks now.  Thing is, I’m thrilled.  Again, not a surprise, I know.

Today I met with yet another future blogger for lunch – though I think she’ll be more of an occasional topic, than an actual blogger (if that makes sense).  Much like Elizabeth Gilbert of Eat, Pray Love fame, she too wrote a book about her personal journey to find answers.  So I’m now the proud owner of a copy of her book and I’ve secured one to giveaway on the site to correspond with our future interview.

I also heard back from two other people interested in blogging for the site.  Whew, who knew this would all come together so easily.  I mean hell, when we originally set the blog up, we asked our own membership to write for us and that was like pulling teeth.  This is SO much easier – and much more fun!  I’ve also been in contact with yet another author to interview to discuss her current projec.  At this rate, I’ll be ready to reach out to mainstream authors in no time 😉

And speaking of books, I think I might have mentioned that I’m involved with Elle magazine to read three fiction books and review them for their May Reader’s edition.  I thought this would be fun.  First, I’m so glad that I started with the Jennifer Weiner.  Even though it had a slower start than I’d have preferred, it was good.  Really good.

Now, I’m reading Wit’s End by Karen Joy Fowler (of The Jane Austin Book Club fame) and I can’t get in to it for the life of me.   I’m half way through and I’m just hoping and praying that it gets better.  If this was something I was reading on my own, I’d have given up already.  It’s so sad, but the best parts to me, are the ones that discuss how the movie, Lost Boys was filmed in the same town (Santa Cruz) or the brief mentions of the online and blog communities.  Otherwise, it so doesn’t do it for me.  I’m actually thinking of leaving it and going on to our third book Meg Wolitzer’s The Ten Year Nap (since I have to have all write-ups completed by the 18th).  Hopefully this one will grab me and I can have a little fun with it.

And of course, while in Borders today, I just had to poke around. They didn’t have the book I wanted on social networking (mail order only) and I needed at least a $5 purchase to cover my parking.  I decided to peruse the cookbook section and yes, I came home with yet another cookbook.  This time I picked up Everyday Food’s Great Food Fast.  I enjoyed the recipes in the magazine so I thought the book would be fun (I’m one of those weirdos that reads cookbooks more than I cook from cookbooks).  I love how it’s broken down by seasons and it tells  how how long it takes to make something.  Very helpful.  While I pretty much have all the time in the world to cook, the hubby doesn’t quite come home at a regularly scheduled time, so I tend to still shoot for easy and quick meals.  It could be a keeper – all hell, I know it’s a keeper, but it could actually be a cookbook that I cook from.

So tomorrow, believe it or not, I have the whole day to myself.  Well, almost to myself.  I do need to take the dog to the vet for his rabies shot.  But that’s it.  I’m thinking that I might run over to Kohls to see if I can find new bathroom floor mats or something fun.  Oh and I’d like to pick up a chalk line leveler thingie.  I’ve been meaning to hang some shelves in the bathroom for nearly a year now, but I’m the worst when it comes to using a level (even a laser one).  So I figure with a chalk line level, I can make little cross-sections so I know exactly where to drill the whole.   It sounds like a good idea.

Okay, enough rambling.  I’ve got a cookbook and two and a half books to be reading!

Getting to Know You…

…Getting to know all about you…

I’m considering myself tagged (‘cuz I wanted to play along).  I saw this over at Bella’s Beyond the Map and thought it would be fun to share some lists of fours.

Enjoy!

Four Favorite Movies:

  1. Valley Girl
  2. The Sweetest Thing
  3. The Sound of Music
  4. Somewhere in Time

Four Places I’ve Lived

  1. Albuquerque, NM: My first big move, completely on my own.  I was jobless, friendless and homeless.  It was scary, but still empowering and I wouldn’t have changed a thing about the move.
  2. Kennesaw, GA:  I actually enjoyed living here, though I hated the actual house (and didn’t so much enjoy living with my dad).  I lived so close to my work (various jobs) and school. Plus it really was close enough to Atlanta to be fun.
  3. Peachtree City, GA:  Moved here from Jersey and what a shock.  Talk about living in the boonies – yet probably just as close to Atlanta as Kennesaw was.  Scary money out there as well.  But hey, I got to drive a golf cart everywhere!!
  4. Bound Brook, NJ:  I have very few memories here as I only lived here briefly while my mom had custody of us.  For some odd reason, I went to Catholic school and my older brother went to the public school across the street.  Very odd.

Four Shows I Watch:

  1. Lost – yeah baby!  Need I say more?
  2. The Hills – what can I say, I’m a sucker for that LC and the Speidi insanity.
  3. Grey’s Anatomy – can’t decide if I love it more for the storylines, the music or the McHotness.
  4. Entourage – but we don’t have HBO, so we have to wait and watch on DVD *sigh*

Four People who Email Me:

  1. My best friend and former roomie, Julia
  2. The hubster
  3. Matt, my closest friend from high school
  4. Jen with Ladies Who Launch since she led our Incubator and still keeps in touch

Four Favorite Eats:

  1. Chocolate
  2. Pizza
  3. Salad
  4. Cheese

Four Places I’d Rather Be:

  1. Shopping with Julia
  2. Visiting Joanna in Spain
  3. Mendocino with the hubster
  4. Hanging out in a warm climate with plenty of water around

Four Things to Look Forward To:

  1. Jim & Cheryll’s visit later this month
  2. My Birth-a-Versary in early May
  3. Our first trip to Europe (this year dammit!)
  4. Matt’s wedding in early June

If you want to play along – come on, all the cool kids are doing it – considered yourself tagged.

The Energy is Shifting

I can feel it.  And no, I’m not talking about Super Tuesday (though I’m sure things are shifting there as well).  I mean things in my own life.

I’ve always been a spiritual person.  I’ve always believed (and have said it over and over) that things happen for a reason – even if we may not be able to see that reason at the time.  Looking back, I can now see how starting up my site has brought me to be the person that I am today.  And the good news, I’m really loving the energy.

I’ve been putting it out to the Universe that I’m looking for some bloggers to write on my site (in exchange for the free advertising/link back to their own site).  I’ve had great email response.  Quite a few women are interested and I already have three posts ready to go!  I met with one of my new bloggers today over coffee and much chitchat.  Just sitting down and talking with me, getting a feel for what I’m looking for and she already thinks that she has four other bloggers for me – including an advice columnist!!  How cool is all that?!?!

So yeah, the energy all around me is most definitely shifting.  And in a good way.

Now I just need to sit myself down and finish up the one post I was writing myself about online tools.  Come on girl, no more excuses!

Got a Few Minutes?

A friend of a friend is in a short story competition over on Amazon.  Her first chapter is up for review.  Why not take a minute and read it (14 pages) and drop her a comment?  It’s off to a great start!

Full disclosure:  I’m hoping to get her to blog some of her dating advice for me.  So the more we show her some love, the more she might be inclined to share her expertise over on my site.

Be Careful What You Wish For

A while back I’d been wondering to myself how I could defrost our small, stand-alone freezer (more than once). Well, on Thursday, it died a sudden (and stinky) death. I just now finally got around to emptying the thing.  We must be throwing out at least $100 or more of food (yes, tons of meat).  Talk about wasting stuff.

Now I need to contact a repair guy to see if it’s cost-effective to fix it, or to just run down to Costco to buy a new one.  This time though, I’m going to keep a list on the side of the freezer to keep track of what’s in there.  I totally forgot some of the stuff that we had in there and could’ve eaten – turkey burgers, lasagna, chili, stew, leftover roast – all vacuum sealed.

*sigh*

Our words and thoughts are very powerful.  So be careful what you wish for (or think out loud).  I guess this means that I can clean up over by the cat’s litter box and feeding tower since I can finally get in there now.  Oh joy.

Freezer Mishap

Yes We Can!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjXyqcx-mYY&rel=1]

We knew about this while it was still in the works (notice Herbie at the end), but I see that it’s just now starting to make the blog rounds. I’m not the most politically active gal on the block, but I do pretty much keep up on things. Seeing this video for the first time the other night, I have to say, I think it’s mighty powerful.

And yet again, Will.I.Am has done an amazing job in organizing the entertainment industry together for a cause. He’s a cool ass guy and knows how to get folks involved!

Madder and Madder, Hotter and Hotter

We had our last Ladies Who Launch Incubator yesterday.  It was quiet nice. Amy Swift was there to talk about what LWL can do for us now that we’re out of the incubator program.  She also encouraged me to lead some “round tables” on utilizing internet-based services to increase one’s online visibility.  I’m pretty psyched about that as 1) I feel like I have something that I’m knowledgeable about and love to share with people and 2) I have a way to jumpstart providing services and earing some big bucks (lol – gotta think positively!!)

The biggest part of yesterday’s gathering was to share our vision.  You know, that thing that I kept putting off and putting off?  Well, I finished it and I loved how it read. My only complaint with it, was that since I chose to write it as an “about her” kind of article, I wasn’t able to say “and she is rolling in the dough!” It just felt out of place. But I’m going to edit my own copy so it says something like that.  Again, just for that whole if you put it out there, it will come, belief.

After we shared our visions, we gave everyone a gift.  On one hand I thought this was a bit odd.  On the other hand, I get the meaning behind it…it’s all about affirming success and giving freely so you’ll be open to receive.  I had to keep reminding myself of that when I was considering what to get everyone.  I decided to go with some feng shui goodies…a three-legged frog that brings success in business, a Chinese coin for the frog’s mouth, and a jade charm to represent happiness (as money can’t buy happiness).  I presented it in a Chinese take-out box with a fortune cookie to go along.  Too bad the dog thought it was all for him and he devoured two of the boxes to eat the damn cookies.  I guess he needed some good fortune more than my friends.

In return I received some handmade soap and body butter (her new business), a new deck of cards for readings (this was a pleasant surprise to say the least), a Julia Sweeny DVD, a cool necklace representing the keys to success and happiness, and a beautiful poem.  I wanted to share the poem since it was so fitting with some of the crap I’ve been going through lately. I just loved it…

 And of course I am afraid, because
The transformation of silence into
Language and action is an act of
Self-revelation, and that always seems
Fraught with danger.  But my daughter,
When I told her of our topic and my
Difficulty with it, said, “Tell them
About how you’re never really a whole
Person if you remain silent, because
There’s always that one little piece
Inside you that wants to be spoken out,
And if you keep ignoring it, it gets
Madder and madder and hotter and
Hotter, and if you don’t speak it out one
Day it will just up and punch you in
The mouth from the inside

– Audre Lorde

Not too Bad

I managed to pull it together and actually get some shit done today. Go me!

I’ve been wanting to create a vision board for the past couple of weeks now, but I’ve never really been able to commit to it. Or maybe I just didn’t have that creative vibe going on. Well, I still did exactly get a vision board/map up and running, but I did go through a bunch of magazines and cut out a bunch of empowering words and phrases. I figure that’s enough for now. Now I just need to figure out how to glue things onto the papers (told you I wasn’t feeling all that creative).

I did realize though that right now, I think I want to focus on my sites’ blog and doing some digital coaching (which I’ve discussed here before). I figure that right now, it motivates and excites me (that’s a HUGE plus) and let’s me kind of ease back into lifestyle coaching. Who knows, maybe I’ll try my book that folks having been lecturing on being inside of me since I was around eight – yes, the reading today mentioned the book yet again! Either way, it will give me a bit of a break from all the recent drama and let me build my self-confidence back up again (how humilitating to admit that).

This of course, is part of the reason that I’ve yet to write out my business vision – or so I seem tell myself. It’s amazing how we can let fear get in our way some times. I mean, I know that deep down, I’m good at what I do. I also know that I can succeed at anything I put my mind to. But for some reason, I just don’t seem to want to commit to writing this vision. Don’t get me wrong, the perfectionist in me won’t let me not do it (it’s a homework assignment after all). So until then, I’ll see how much longer I can procrastinate here with my little ‘ol blog.

Or maybe I’ll tidy around my desk for a bit first. Really, there’s only so long that someone can be expected to function well while being over-run by cases of wine and stacks of magazines needing to be filed. That should buy me a few minutes. I’ve already [finally] gotten out of my PJs (yet another embarrassing tidbit to share), taken out the trash and dropped the crushed boxes (from behind my chair) off in the recycling bin. Oh and I need to dig out the warranty papers for our freezer and deal with all that before our house starts to stink something fierce.

Crap, I need to get some fruit for the fruit salad yet too!

I’ll get to my Vision, I promise…

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ETA:  It’s now 7:07 and I am finished!! The office is cleaner, my gifties are all done, and my LWL homework is finished.  I have a Vision all written up and dammit if I don’t rock my own socks off!  😉