busy

I'm busy, don't bug me. I have over 100 of pics like these to give my personal touch.

I'm just saying

OK...this has come to my attention in a few different situations where the phrase "I'm just saying" has become a popular "catch all". I'm seeing it among my 9 year old kid's group (including her) and then I saw it in a youtube "vlog" and I am of the mind that the phrase "ain't doin' it for me". I don't know what it is about the phrase that is bugging me but I think it feels lazy. This might be like the "ya know?" of my generation. Here is what I think when someone says "I'm just saying"...Either: You don't need to tell me what you just said, I heard you when you SAID IT. OR Well then "just say it" already!

What are the other modern day slang that bugs you? I'm just ASKING.

Drawing a blank

So....how ya doin'?

Me, I'm good. I've finished my travel hangover from last week. I usually spend a few days after a long trip kind of in a daze where I don't really do much of anything. Then I snap out of it. My niece and nephew are here and we've been busy doing "things". It rained yesterday which was much needed. My husband is nearly finished laying a patio which I haven't been 100% supportive of. I am a believer that some things are better 'paid for' and designing and laying a patio is one of them. I think it looks great and I am proud of him, but I do wish we could have had some design advice just to figure out some of the nuances....but it still will be lovely.

What else?

I've got a million books I want to read and somehow never make the time to read them. I am halfway through a few and that is totally not like me to be reading several books at a time. In some ways its nice to break the mold and in other ways, it feels like nothing is complete. I'm feeling that way about some things right now...so I think the word for this summer will be "completion". I want to finish some key books. I want to finish my coaching certificate. I want my HOUSE TO BE CLEAN AND TIDY (I'm not sure that is something that can be 'completed'...it is more continuous). In this week I want to get through the photos from my 6 sessions I did in DC.

Oh yeah...on Friday I leave for a weekend of fun and connection with Martha Beck peeps. It is a convention in Chicago and it will be with 200 of my closest friends (not). You may notice some weird 'unidentified occurrence' in the general vicinity of our hotel...it is the powers of our tribe, we'll be doing magic I'm sure...mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha.

Well, since I sat down with nothing specific to say...I just said what came first to my mind...and that is "all she wrote".

Gratitude X 10

1. Sleeping in my own bed


2. Cooler day


3. Fitness


4. Kids at play


5. Reading (but which to read first)


6. Being with like minds


7. One on Ones with friends


8. My graceful teenage niece Liz


9. My amazingly smart nephew Jack


10. Family....extended too!

I love a parade....

NOT!

I don't know why but I just don't like parades. The heat, the people, the whiny kids, the just "ok" acts are some of the reasons. Sometimes I wonder if I had some sort of 'bad parade experience' when I was a kid and have blocked it. So today in our hometown, a parade and festival happened and I agreed to participate (while all the while begrudging in my head). So...what happened next I believe was a result of my negativity...I brought it on myself. Two sets of families set out on our bikes to head to and be in the parade. We have guests so we played musical bikes and made it work. My husband decided that he had to 'tune' one of the bikes before we left (please note that my husband isn't 'a bike tuner' by trade). I notice that my niece (on the recently tuned bike) was going extremely slow (and she is an athlete). I traded bikes with her to find that somehow the tuning went awry and the bike would only accelerate as much as one physical turn of the pedals would go (hard to explain because I'm not a mechanical engineer). I pedaled on making very slow progress, sweating, and missing the parade (everyone else sped happily along and were in the parade).

I also kind of don't like festivals because its hot, the people, whiny kids, junk handed out, more whining about the heat and the 'second mortgage' you have to put on your house to afford everything. I soldiered on just the same but have resolved that maybe next year...I'll pass.

Escaping

Today I had the good fortune to spend a full day with Pam Slim in a workshop about her new book Escape from Cubicle Nation. This woman is fabulous at what she does and has inspired me to start really focusing on what I want to offer, how I want to offer it, how big I want to be etc. I recommend this book to people who either are physically 'in cubicles'...or if you just might be feeling trapped with your thoughts about where you want to be in your life. She is both practical and inspirational which is a wonderful mix. I have read half of her book and now have a desire to read more. One thing that I found fascinating was that she asked us to pick one simple act that we would do soon that would forward our business...and she had the rider that it should be fun...when the word fun was added I got 'stuck'. I'm wondering if I'm complicating my definition of 'fun' because there are a lot of things I enjoy doing immensely but when I think of the word fun I'm thinking merrry-go-rounds and cotton candy....but I suspect what I enjoy is an equal fun-ness with different packaging. Now that I've changed my perspective, I know that what I'll do is coach more people...that is fun to me, and in fact my plate is getting full for next week, so I can deliver on my promise. What do you need to escape from?....I recommend Pam's book and I also recommend talking with someone about it...and I am willing and able!

Something in nothing

Yesterday I was speaking with a fellow coach and I was discussing my teeter totter of thoughts about what I want to do once I'm certified. Part of me wants to make it easy on myself and figure out how to latch onto someone else's star and be a resource and part of me wants to do something independent as an entrepreneur. My thoughts are that I wonder if I am reaching for the first to take the easy way out and risking 'going big'. When I think that thought, I feel 'nothing', neither excited nor disappointed. I asked my friend/coach if the 'nothing' feeling was telling me something and before she could answer, I knew the answer...yes. I think the nothing is a sign that I need to delve deeper and find where I will feel 'feelings' about my decisions. The feelings will be the guide or "compass" for knowing whether I'm onto something or not and those feelings should feel either exhilarating, scary (in a good way), scary (in a bad way), or just plain ICKY (to name a few feelings). The void of feeling, I believe, is a hint that I perhaps either don't want that, or am not clear on what I want right now and need to be like Sherlock Holmes to find the 'passionate' bits about what I want to be when I grow up...oh wait...I'm grown up...so maybe its what do I want to BE?