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Do you know how you turn the windshield wipers on when you mean to put the car in gear?
For the past 24 hours that's what I've been doing when putting the car in gear. It's a rental car while my real car Cadillac's getting repaired.
While parked and minding her ( yes, it's a woman - named Glory B) own business in a city garage in Norfolk, some idiot ran over Glory B's front bumper! Left black rubber marks all over her and knocked off the front license plate! And poked a hole in the bumper! I never did find the plate or any note saying who'd done the dastardly deed on her.
Yesterday I left Glory at the car hospital for plastic surgery. Geico (my
insurance company) provided a rental with a gear shift on the center console and wipers on the column. That's where Glory's gear shift is so you can see my dilemma.
That little rental has the cleanest windshield in town.
Glory's well now and back on the streets with no signs of her surgery. Customer service and repair were wonderfully quick using Geico's express service. It's a finely tuned process - very easy with lots of customer contact.
Imagine a face lift complete in 30 hours! If only a plastic surgeon could do as well for me.
WOW!
It's been too long since the last post. The website tells the tale of busyness with WOW! It was a one day conference with speakers that gave more than a day's worth of info.
I've always stayed away from things that had lots of parts to them. Details aren't my strong suit. Never did puzzles as a kid since I didn't like them. They had too many pieces.
So what do I do? Put on a conference that's more like a double wedding! All of the sponsors were most generous and supportive as I bumbled my way along. The speakers were ever so generous with their time and talent. Attendees were upset that they couldn't get to hear everyone.
When you do these things, the hope is that everyone has a good time and makes connections that help them and their business. All 55 had a great day.
I did some things that were unusual - like have a chaplain open and close us with prayer. I sure prayed a lot putting it together and it was only natural to have a 'sure fired' prayer there.
One guest said that she never knew the importance of attire in business. She was raised to know that if was clean and fit, it was wearable. Another guest said she didn't want to have a heart attack from stress - that runs in her family - so she was quitting her job promptly.
You see the range of influence from WOW! - the World of Working Women! It was WOW!
I've always stayed away from things that had lots of parts to them. Details aren't my strong suit. Never did puzzles as a kid since I didn't like them. They had too many pieces.
So what do I do? Put on a conference that's more like a double wedding! All of the sponsors were most generous and supportive as I bumbled my way along. The speakers were ever so generous with their time and talent. Attendees were upset that they couldn't get to hear everyone.
When you do these things, the hope is that everyone has a good time and makes connections that help them and their business. All 55 had a great day.
I did some things that were unusual - like have a chaplain open and close us with prayer. I sure prayed a lot putting it together and it was only natural to have a 'sure fired' prayer there.
One guest said that she never knew the importance of attire in business. She was raised to know that if was clean and fit, it was wearable. Another guest said she didn't want to have a heart attack from stress - that runs in her family - so she was quitting her job promptly.
You see the range of influence from WOW! - the World of Working Women! It was WOW!
A giant THANK YOU
Happy New Year
2008 is too close and I’m still enjoying the holiday. Many parties to go to, friends to talk to for the seasonal catch up and a flurry of busyness to complete those works in progress before 2007 ends fill these last days.
Let me take the time to say THANK YOU for your support for the Smart Woman’s Club. Your notes, calls and thoughts bring me great happiness and excitement. I so appreciate the time you take from your busy day to let me know what’s going on. Please keep it up.
For you may 2008 to be the best year you’ve ever had. Although it’s inevitable that curves will come your way my wish is that they turn into rainbows like this one seen over the Atlantic Ocean.
2008 is too close and I’m still enjoying the holiday. Many parties to go to, friends to talk to for the seasonal catch up and a flurry of busyness to complete those works in progress before 2007 ends fill these last days.
Let me take the time to say THANK YOU for your support for the Smart Woman’s Club. Your notes, calls and thoughts bring me great happiness and excitement. I so appreciate the time you take from your busy day to let me know what’s going on. Please keep it up.
For you may 2008 to be the best year you’ve ever had. Although it’s inevitable that curves will come your way my wish is that they turn into rainbows like this one seen over the Atlantic Ocean.
It followed one of those violent summer thunder storms. You know the kind that are sudden downpours and send you for the closest cover and drenched anyway.
Storms, curves and the like are always followed by calm, well deserved and appreciated.
You are most appreciated.
WHAT A WEEK THAT WAS!
This past week (Sept 2- 8) was probably the most amazing week I’ve experienced in this journey called life.
Sunday, Sept. 2 was my birthday …a BIG one. At a picnic I was presented with a cake with “Happy Birthday Smokie” in blue on white icing. It was also adorned with BIG blue roses and the usual green leaves. That was a first on a white cake with blue roses! That was followed by the Happy Birthday song which sounded more like a funeral dirge. All the hugs and laughs told me I was very much alive!
My friend Babs took me to dinner. We don’t talk or see each other like we used to. It was really special to be with her and talk girl talk. It was a reminder that friends are most important.
On Thursday night I passed Haagen Dazs on the way to a meeting. You know what happened. During the meeting Haagen Dazs was on my mind. I couldn’t wait for the meeting to end and get an ice cream cone. The meeting finally ended. Would you believe that the ice cream store was closed?!
Not to be foiled on the way home I took the route that passed Baskin-Robins. My mouth is really watering now. As I approached the store I noticed the store and sign weren’t lit up. It’s about 9:15 pm and prime time for it to be open. “Guess I’m not supposed to get ice cream tonight” I say sadly. Then I notice flashing blue lights and many police cars around the store. Something was amiss for sure.
On the 11 PM news I learned why. The store had been robbed and the robber was shot!
This is the spooky part. If I hadn’t spent time moaning about Haagen Dazs being closed with friends, I’d probably could’ve been at the Baskin Robins store about robbery time. I say Thank God for small favors like delays.
On Friday to celebrate my birthday my daughter Kat took me to see Hairspray. It’s pure entertainment and a real toe tapper. It’s set in the 60’s, about the time I was in high school. The funny old cars were too familiar. The music I knew intimately. I even tried to have big hair and certainly used more than my share of super duper sticky hair spray to hold my straight locks as big as possible.
In one scene Nicole Kidman is putting on a hot pink brocade dress with a matching coat. It was really fancy. Actually it was beautiful.
I wore a dress exactly like it to lots of debutante parties my second year of college! And my daughter wore it on Halloween some years later!
Yes indeed, what a week it was.
Sunday, Sept. 2 was my birthday …a BIG one. At a picnic I was presented with a cake with “Happy Birthday Smokie” in blue on white icing. It was also adorned with BIG blue roses and the usual green leaves. That was a first on a white cake with blue roses! That was followed by the Happy Birthday song which sounded more like a funeral dirge. All the hugs and laughs told me I was very much alive!
My friend Babs took me to dinner. We don’t talk or see each other like we used to. It was really special to be with her and talk girl talk. It was a reminder that friends are most important.
On Thursday night I passed Haagen Dazs on the way to a meeting. You know what happened. During the meeting Haagen Dazs was on my mind. I couldn’t wait for the meeting to end and get an ice cream cone. The meeting finally ended. Would you believe that the ice cream store was closed?!
Not to be foiled on the way home I took the route that passed Baskin-Robins. My mouth is really watering now. As I approached the store I noticed the store and sign weren’t lit up. It’s about 9:15 pm and prime time for it to be open. “Guess I’m not supposed to get ice cream tonight” I say sadly. Then I notice flashing blue lights and many police cars around the store. Something was amiss for sure.
On the 11 PM news I learned why. The store had been robbed and the robber was shot!
This is the spooky part. If I hadn’t spent time moaning about Haagen Dazs being closed with friends, I’d probably could’ve been at the Baskin Robins store about robbery time. I say Thank God for small favors like delays.
On Friday to celebrate my birthday my daughter Kat took me to see Hairspray. It’s pure entertainment and a real toe tapper. It’s set in the 60’s, about the time I was in high school. The funny old cars were too familiar. The music I knew intimately. I even tried to have big hair and certainly used more than my share of super duper sticky hair spray to hold my straight locks as big as possible.
In one scene Nicole Kidman is putting on a hot pink brocade dress with a matching coat. It was really fancy. Actually it was beautiful.
I wore a dress exactly like it to lots of debutante parties my second year of college! And my daughter wore it on Halloween some years later!
Yes indeed, what a week it was.
Labor Day without labor
Labor Day weekend is closer than I want. It's the last hoorah of the summer ... that time when life is different.
Summer's my favorite season. It's about a freedom ... from routines like school and endless networking events and meetings that fill the calendar. There's a lightness in the air - even in scorching heat. Foods are different - fresh vegetables right out of the garden, veggie stands on street corners, hard crabs to pick on newspapers. Scorching heat means wearing fewer clothes. Pass a swimming pool and listen to the squeals of children as they jump and splash in the water.
You can probably find me at my 'waterfront' office ... up to my waist in the pool with my work papers spread on the deck. You get the idea how much I love summer.
Summer's end is near for this year with Labor Day.
Labor Day is strictly American. The federal government started it in 1882 from a desire the Central Labor Union had for a day off for the "working man". It wasn't too long ago that most businesses were closed that day, even gas stations and theatres.
Now it's business as usual. Sales are everywhere. Back to school shopping and new back packs fill carts. Family and friends gather to play, relax, travel, and have their last fling before getting back to fall and its routine.
Labor sounds arduous, hard, and downright unpleasant. Labor Day is coming.
So here's an idea. Being open minded is a trait of smart women so read on.
What would a laborless Labor Day look like? Is it even possible? The things we do because we love to do them can take labor right out of the picture. Here are some radical thoughts on a laborless Labor Day.
The blackberry gets left on the desk. Do for a whole day what brings you pleasure and makes your heart sing. Plant yourself in a cozy chair and read that book you bought too long ago. Take the easel in the pasture and paint all day. Spend the day with friends and family. Go to a place you haven't been before. Talk to friends you've been meaning to call.
With your open mind what would your laborless Labor Day look like?
The Smart Woman's Club would love to celebrate your laborless Labor Day with our members. Just let me know your comments, plans and ideas on a Labor Day without labor. Send them to smokie@smartwomansclub.com or put them on here on our blog.
Smart women make smart choices. Have a fun, safe Labor Day holiday.
Summer's my favorite season. It's about a freedom ... from routines like school and endless networking events and meetings that fill the calendar. There's a lightness in the air - even in scorching heat. Foods are different - fresh vegetables right out of the garden, veggie stands on street corners, hard crabs to pick on newspapers. Scorching heat means wearing fewer clothes. Pass a swimming pool and listen to the squeals of children as they jump and splash in the water.
You can probably find me at my 'waterfront' office ... up to my waist in the pool with my work papers spread on the deck. You get the idea how much I love summer.
Summer's end is near for this year with Labor Day.
Labor Day is strictly American. The federal government started it in 1882 from a desire the Central Labor Union had for a day off for the "working man". It wasn't too long ago that most businesses were closed that day, even gas stations and theatres.
Now it's business as usual. Sales are everywhere. Back to school shopping and new back packs fill carts. Family and friends gather to play, relax, travel, and have their last fling before getting back to fall and its routine.
Labor sounds arduous, hard, and downright unpleasant. Labor Day is coming.
So here's an idea. Being open minded is a trait of smart women so read on.
What would a laborless Labor Day look like? Is it even possible? The things we do because we love to do them can take labor right out of the picture. Here are some radical thoughts on a laborless Labor Day.
The blackberry gets left on the desk. Do for a whole day what brings you pleasure and makes your heart sing. Plant yourself in a cozy chair and read that book you bought too long ago. Take the easel in the pasture and paint all day. Spend the day with friends and family. Go to a place you haven't been before. Talk to friends you've been meaning to call.
With your open mind what would your laborless Labor Day look like?
The Smart Woman's Club would love to celebrate your laborless Labor Day with our members. Just let me know your comments, plans and ideas on a Labor Day without labor. Send them to smokie@smartwomansclub.com or put them on here on our blog.
Smart women make smart choices. Have a fun, safe Labor Day holiday.
There was news.
Last night there was news that brought back memories.
When I was in college at VCU, all the pictures of China were dreamy. There was always a haze over everything, making it a magical place that maybe Disney created. The mountains were tall with a river curving through them and a moon hanging romantically at just the right place. It was a mystical place like no other.
Those pictures flooded my memory as I looked at artists' renderings of the same mystical scenes when I was in China in 2005. On the small cruise ship going down the Yanghtze River every view from the windows and top deck was covered with that same filmy haze. It was like wearing foggy lenses. For 3 days I went down the river, passing ferries, coal barges and funny looking boats. Modern cities loomed on the top of ridges, replacing the villages where people lived for generations. Locks near the Three Gorges Dam, an engineering marvel, facilitated getting to the next port.
I felt like I was in one of those filmy pictures! Being a romantic at heart, it did look dreamy and romantic. The truth is that it was anything but dreamy and romantic. It was air pollution!
The water itself was green and looked good to my untrained eye. Knowing that the air was dirty and knowing that there are few, if any, environmental controls on businesses there, I guessed the river was probably dirty, too.
The news last night was about the Yahngtze River. My ears perked up only to hear more news. The river is so dirty that it is deemed to cause cancer! Cancerous was the word used.
How can something that looks so romantic be so toxic? It is the source of water for tons of people! The news made me sad.
When I was in college at VCU, all the pictures of China were dreamy. There was always a haze over everything, making it a magical place that maybe Disney created. The mountains were tall with a river curving through them and a moon hanging romantically at just the right place. It was a mystical place like no other.
Those pictures flooded my memory as I looked at artists' renderings of the same mystical scenes when I was in China in 2005. On the small cruise ship going down the Yanghtze River every view from the windows and top deck was covered with that same filmy haze. It was like wearing foggy lenses. For 3 days I went down the river, passing ferries, coal barges and funny looking boats. Modern cities loomed on the top of ridges, replacing the villages where people lived for generations. Locks near the Three Gorges Dam, an engineering marvel, facilitated getting to the next port.
I felt like I was in one of those filmy pictures! Being a romantic at heart, it did look dreamy and romantic. The truth is that it was anything but dreamy and romantic. It was air pollution!
The water itself was green and looked good to my untrained eye. Knowing that the air was dirty and knowing that there are few, if any, environmental controls on businesses there, I guessed the river was probably dirty, too.
The news last night was about the Yahngtze River. My ears perked up only to hear more news. The river is so dirty that it is deemed to cause cancer! Cancerous was the word used.
How can something that looks so romantic be so toxic? It is the source of water for tons of people! The news made me sad.
An extreme makeover requires a new mirror!
Today is a really big day. A big project is complete and ready for prime time! Find it at http://thewomaninthemirror.com.
Over a year ago I accepted a challenge to write about the woman in the mirror... who, not what, I saw when I looked in the mirror. It sounded easy. Have you ever looked at your reflection to see more than your hair color or to put on your makeup? To see your soul, your essence?
I have to tell you that the unplucked eyebrows, chin hairs and facial creases were all I saw for several months. Certainly room for a makeover there. Just a few thoughts were jotted down lest I forget them and nothing else came. Then I saw what was possible on the web and I knew where the project could go. But I needed to finish writing the woman in the mirror.
One sleepless night I gave in to nudgings from above. Literally I sat in front of a mirror with pen and paper to write what came, not expecting much. And I was in a huff to get it over with, too, so I could go back to bed. Would you believe that one glance at my bitchy reflection and the words came so quickly that I couldn't write fast enough. The woman in the mirror took over. She showed up fully and totally engaged as if to say "Honey, I'm in charge. Get over your huff." And the project took on its own life, much to my surprise.
Morgan Sobel wrote the music with an acoustic guitar after reading the words. Photos taken on travels were selected to fit the text and music. The flash movie was done!
And now it's on the web, bringing a respite to harried women. It's your private movie, your mini vacation to restore you and your soul. It's there to remind you that you are a magnificent creature, doing fabulous things. And you're not alone. There is always a presence bigger than you to help.
Go to http://www.thewomaninthemirror.com for your extreme makeover. Remember your girl firends. They want a makeover too so pass the link to them.
Today is really a big day. The Woman in the Mirror has arrived.
Over a year ago I accepted a challenge to write about the woman in the mirror... who, not what, I saw when I looked in the mirror. It sounded easy. Have you ever looked at your reflection to see more than your hair color or to put on your makeup? To see your soul, your essence?
I have to tell you that the unplucked eyebrows, chin hairs and facial creases were all I saw for several months. Certainly room for a makeover there. Just a few thoughts were jotted down lest I forget them and nothing else came. Then I saw what was possible on the web and I knew where the project could go. But I needed to finish writing the woman in the mirror.
One sleepless night I gave in to nudgings from above. Literally I sat in front of a mirror with pen and paper to write what came, not expecting much. And I was in a huff to get it over with, too, so I could go back to bed. Would you believe that one glance at my bitchy reflection and the words came so quickly that I couldn't write fast enough. The woman in the mirror took over. She showed up fully and totally engaged as if to say "Honey, I'm in charge. Get over your huff." And the project took on its own life, much to my surprise.
Morgan Sobel wrote the music with an acoustic guitar after reading the words. Photos taken on travels were selected to fit the text and music. The flash movie was done!
And now it's on the web, bringing a respite to harried women. It's your private movie, your mini vacation to restore you and your soul. It's there to remind you that you are a magnificent creature, doing fabulous things. And you're not alone. There is always a presence bigger than you to help.
Go to http://www.thewomaninthemirror.com for your extreme makeover. Remember your girl firends. They want a makeover too so pass the link to them.
Today is really a big day. The Woman in the Mirror has arrived.
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