0 Katy and I were pregnant with our first children at the same time. While at her baby shower, her older sister, Carolyn Lumia, shared “Having a baby is like a bomb blows up in your house for 3 months.” The older women laughed and passionately agreed. Katy and I laughed. You know that nervous laugh when you think you understand the joke but others are laughing harder so you aren’t really sure you fully […]
1+ Early in my marriage, our social circle was based on my husband’s friends. That was new to me as I was used to being with my friends. After a few years I got up the courage to do dinner with the wives. We lovingly called this our support group. At one of our mom support group dinners, Maria uncomfortably shared a story about her son who often pretended to be a cat. She asked […]
0 Inspired by someone who’s words I ‘met’, and thought this the perfect place to share. Lynn Petrak, a freelance columnist, wrote an article published recently in the Pioneer Press. Titled, “Are hand held devices crushing conversation”, Ms Petrak likened the cause and effect to the quote of my day, ‘video killed the radio star’. She comments on the observations that while she, a master of small talk and finding common threads with strangers through […]
1+ It took me a long time, but I eventually realized that being a “Perfectionist” at work is impossible, as there is ALWAYS something else I can do to make things better. My brain works in a way that I have to outline every step of the project before I am comfortable enough to begin. There’s nothing worse than starting something when I don’t have everything ready to finish it. Someone finally got me […]
0 A few years ago, I was driving my grandson to Pre-School. We would always arrive early. Punctuality is the Politeness of Kings. That was actually the quip under my picture in the High School Yearbook. Can you believe that? After three years, they did not have one nice thing to say about me except, “Ya, well, the bastard was on time.” But am I bitter after 55 years? Does a bear hibernate? So, since […]
1+ This morning I went to McDonalds as I do each morning. As I was filling my Diet Coke at the drink bar, a little Korean boy walked to the bar. He was about 2 foot 7 and could not reach the straws. He stood there with his hand stretched up as far as it could, but there was no chance. I guess most people would have said, “Hi there, little boy. Do you need […]
0 I went to get a haircut today, and that always reminds me of my Dad. My Dad was 96 when he died, and the last couple of those years he was blind, in a wheelchair and living in a nursing home. But no matter his situation or how he felt, if I asked him how he was, he always said, “I count my blessings.” He had a black, cordless phone with extra-large push buttons […]
3+ There’s a wonderful advice columnist I follow by the name of Dan Savage. In his advice column and Podcast Dan responds to questions about relationships (some aren’t very PG – beware if that offends you) sent to him by his readers and listeners. One of the things I admire about Dan is his ability to boil down to simple terms the complex thoughts and emotional processes we all go through – processes that drive […]
1+ The first time I traveled with Kevin for work, we went to Dallas to facilitate a half-day learning solution to 200 people. We flew early morning the day before to prepare the room, verify technology and practice our facilitation. The point is we had tons of work to do. When we arrived at the hotel, I was ready to jump into gear. Kevin said to get settled in my room and we would meet […]
2+ While onboarding to The Regis Company, I was shadowing my boss to meet existing clients. Entering the first client building, Kevin asked Dave, the security guard, about his golf game. At the second client, the front desk receptionist greeted him by name. He approached the desk and asked Megan about her family. He talked with Megan before filling out the registration paperwork. In each of these instances, it only took about ~45 seconds. During this […]