Monthly Shot

I don't know how much longer I am going to let my hair grow.  It is long enough to cut off and donate now--it would leave what is left very short.  Christmas might be the right time to do the whacking.  We will see.

My hair hasn't been this long since I was 20.  It is different and ok.  Five minutes in the morning to put it up and go but 50 minutes to dry it.  That is a pain.

My Sister

Today is my much older sister's birthday.  I have to use every opportunity to rub that in because:

A.  She is much older
B. We are getting so old that there may not be that much time to rub it in.

My sister is talented, beautiful and crazy as all get out.  It runs in the family through my mom.  Fortunately we have different fathers so I don't have the crazy from that gene pool, and I think it might have an unexplored deep end.

I have been rescanning photos--rescanning because I lost 1000's of scanned photo's by being an asshole and not backing up appropriately--but it is not that bad.  I am loving looking at all the family again, the faces, the cars, the clothes, the smiles and some memories.

It is all good.

Happy Birthday, old one.  You are still awesome.

Perspective

August is a quiet month for me this year.  I have my own business as an executive coach and learning and development consultant.  I LOVE what I do.

A big project 'crashed' this month so I am home--this means no money coming in and no client work.  This could not have happened at a more inopportune time.  At first, I was upset but started to look at all the positives that could come of this:

1. I finally can get to the gym/walk every day.  Travelling takes it toll on my workouts.
2. I will have better control over what I eat.  No client sponsored lunches and dinners.  These tend to be heavy on the kind of food that is delicious and devastating.
3. I can get done with my business what I never have time for like finally getting a website up and networking with people that I have wanted to reconnect with for a very long time.
4. Projects will get done, systems will get up graded and some good books will be read
5. Gleeful obsessiveness with the Olympics will happen.

So, while this means a hit for me financially in the immediate, in the long run it has the potential for better projects and I can feel on top of my business.

This is all in what I tell myself--this can be a bad month or a good one.  I think it will be good.

Nana

Today was my Nana's birthday.

She was wonderful.  Kind, beautiful, Canadian, loving.  All the things you want a Nana to be.  She could not cook worth a damn but her refrigerator was always filled with Dr. Pepper and Squirt.  She also had a candy drawer in the dining room that was stocked with Abba Zappa's and other childhood delights.  When my parents were divorcing and afterwards I spent a lot of time with Nana.  Oh, so, lucky.

I love everything about this photo of her and me.  It is a Polaroid, and I think my grandfather was the photographer.  It was when Polaroid's were new to the consumer -- it looks like he didn't swipe the developer all the way across the photo.  It adds to the movement of where we are looking, out to the Pacific Ocean in San Clemente.  Now there are all kinds of app's to get this very feel and this is the real thing.  Don't you love the bucket?

Love, love.  Happy Birthday, Nana.

Boleto

Boleto by Alyson Hagy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A beautifully written book.  It is part Cormac McCarthy, part Hemingway and all Alyson Hagy's own style.  I picked this up at a bookstore because it was signed, knowing nothing about the author or story.  Rewarded for judging a book by its cover.

The story takes place in Wyoming, California and Texas and is the sparse story of a young cowboy learning to make his way in the world.  Not an easy thing while family issues and work make it harder. His love for his horses,  his family, and kindness make him an interesting character faced with anything but kindess.   The plot moves quickly, a few parts that have no end and over all well worth reading.

Highly recommended.

August Musings

August is a quiet month for me. I have my own business as an executive coach and consultant and I LOVE what I do. 

A big project 'crashed' this month so I am home--that means no money coming in and no client work. At first, I was really upset but started to look at all the positives that could come of this: 

1) I finally can get to the gym or walk every day. Traveling takes it toll on my workouts. 
2) I will have better control over my food in take. No client sponsored lunches and dinners! 
3) I can get done with my business what I never have time for--finally getting the website up, and networking with people that I haven't talked to in a very long time. 
4) Projects will get done--the updating of my systems, and getting some really good books read. 
5) Gleeful obsessiveness with the Olympics :-) 

So, while this means a hit for me financially in the immediate, long term it has the potential for better projects and I will feel good about what I have accomplished. 

This is all in what I tell myself and I say it is going to be good.