I'd Rather Be Reading

 Well. See above blog post of a couple of week ago. How fun! I was heading to Jerome, AZ, for my 2nd Annual Lew Wilson Remembrance Trip. I promised to write about a few topics, including travel and Millie. It never occurred to me that those things would merge, in a very scary way. There I was, sitting in a patient room at my vet's office, awaiting word about...but I'm getting ahead of myself.  Friday, July 18th     The plan was to meet a friend for lunch, make a quick shopping stop, then home. Dinner that night with my friend/pup-sitter, George, after which I planned to slip out, leaving Millie in his capable hands (with his dog, Snowy) for the weekend.  Things did not happen the way I planned it.  I got back from lunch around 3pm or so. Millie was not herself. To be more specific, her breathing was a bit labored, and she was looking at me like she was...scared, maybe. Or worried. Or asking me to help her.  I called George and asked him to come over, t...

T hus, it begins: my new blog. I know, I know, we've been down this "Look, my new blog!" road before. My bad. But now that I'm retired (!), I'll stick with it more. Promise. What will you find here? Oh, stuff and nonsense. Meanderings and musings. Whatnot. Photos I'll take with the new camera I just bought like an optimistic dummy. Thoughts and crumbs and flotsam and jetsam. Poems - won't that be a shocker!  But first, I have to reacquaint myself to this thing called a blog. Posting an entry is all well and good, but I want to include photos and links and stuff like that.  You know - bloggy things. I figure it will include lots about Millie, travels I've planned (Vegas in October!), new creativity goals I have or may uncover or just do and foist upon unsuspecting readers. For now, stay tuned for my first official post as a newly retired Blogger Lady: my 2nd Annual Lew Wilson Remembrance Trip, to Jerome, AZ , next weekend. 

The first of October is probably an auspicious day for many people, for a variety of reasons. For me, October 1, 2019, is the day I was unceremoniously dumped from my Dream Job working for the Santa Barbara Downtown Organization. I worked for this organization for more than 6 years, but it was a large part of my life for more than two decades, as a downtown business member (with Borders), as a volunteer, and eventually in 1999, as a member of the Board of Directors. Downtown Santa Barbara as a location was part of my life, living/working/dining/entertainment, since I moved there in 1995. To be “unceremoniously dumped” by this organization was a huge punch in the gut. But since I clearly survived that stunning and life-changing day, I owe a debt of gratitude to so many people. My first call after I left the office that day, Millie in tow, was to Maggie Campbell – she of the clear-headed, no-nonsense advice, and my friend and mentor. My first text, moments later, was to Hattie Husbands...

Before I dive too deep into this blog post, two things:  *   Yes, it really has been nearly 7 years since my last post. Shame on me. *   But oddly, my last post is a nice intro to my next post…because once again, I’ve jumped into a big change. So: Managing Change, Once More with Feeling. I’ve moved. Packed up the condo, sold it, moved to Arizona. And that is the “in a nutshell” version. The full-on version, well, that will take a few more posts to get through the entire story. But let’s start with that last blog post. It was indeed my “dream job,” Marketing & Communications Director of Downtown Santa Barbara.  Working in an office I loved, I was suffused with a sense of pride, of history, and of pure joy, knowing I was working with great small businesses, non-profits, cultural venues and other members of the business improvement district. As the daughter of a small business owner, I appreciate and support small businesses wholehe...

In my years as a Borders Manager Trainer, I trained many new or newly promoted managers in a variety of management-related segments. But my favorite segment was "Managing Change." This topic included, as you can imagine, the importance of change in an organization (such as your Borders store), how to help your staff with change, WHY change is good, etc. I had stories and anecdotes and real-life examples and visual aids, all to help get across my message in my 90 minute segment: Change is Good and Here's Why. And at the beginning of every one of my "Managing Change" segments, the opening sentence out of my mouth was, without fail: "I'll admit it. I hate change. Hate it." "But," I continued, "I get it. I understand why change is important and necessary and I know how to make it bearable, and I've accepted many changes in my life. But I hate change."   And now, my life is changing in one of those big Life ...

Remember the 2002 horror movie The Ring ? Scary as hell, starring Naomi Watts? I watched it at about 2:00 AM one morning, all alone, scared shitless - but I could not look away. When my bathroom sink recently became too clogged to drain quickly, I expertly pulled out the plug and unearthed this: Well, it looked like this, or at least like this hair. Yeah...gross. Despite throwing up a little bit in my mouth, I got rid of this clump of nastiness and tried to put the plug back in its hole and move on. But it didn't work. I twisted and turned the plug, certain something would work, something would catch, eventually. I've pulled many a plug out to clean out many a drain and I know how it works. I finally got a mini flashlight to find the little thing that connects the plug to the whatever - the thing that makes it work . But it wasn't there - nothing to fit in the hole in the plug was visible. Damn. So I figured I could live with it for a while, then s...