My in-laws are great about finding cool gifts for us. This is one of the items they brought back from their recent trip to Naples. Sweet. Thank you!
Beauty
Every have one of those days when you just seem to notice the details of life more than usual? I am having one of those days today, even though I stayed home due to not feeling too well.
When I finally felt good enough to get myself out of bed, went outside for some fresh air and couldn’t help but to snap a few pictures.
The way the sun hit the Japanese Maple and the rhododendron was simply beautiful.
As I was taking it all in, the background noise caught my attention.
We have a nest in the bird house directly across from the Maple tree and the baby birds have hatched. The mother must be exhausted from feeding those hungry babies. All they do is cheep, cheep, cheep when the momma flies in the hole to feed them.
Seeing the mamma bird try to keep up with the needs of her babies reminds me of a time last spring when I tried to nurse a baby bird back to health after it had fallen out of its nest. You can read the saga here.
Today has been a beautiful day, even if I’m not feeling 100%.
Leaves
Conversation Between Old Women
My friend Tracy sent this picture to me today with the caption “Haven’t pulled the trigger yet. How cute”.
I got the text while walking around downtown Cleveland with my sunglasses on – NOT my prescription glasses. (You need that piece of info to understand the texting conversation that came next). Here’s our conversation after:
Me: Sweet. You can have ours!!
T: Oh no. Why? Did Polly eat your shoes?
T: Polly? Stupid iPhone
(Note: our dog is Lilly – that’s what she meant to type, but she couldn’t see the keys)
Me: We haven’t had good luck with bunny rabbits.
T: Rabbits? Matt is sitting with puppies.
Me: Laughing. Thought they were rabbits. Guess I should put on my glasses!!
We’re getting old. Thanks for the laugh, T
My Replacement
Attending a simulcast today of the 2012 Chick-fil-A Leadercast. The first speaker has not only caught my attention, but has caused me to think back to when I began my career at the chamber.
Andy Stanley is talking about choices.
He talked about a story he read about the company Intel. At a point when they were stuck and not growing like they had been, the CEO turned to his number 2 guy and said “If we got kicked out and a new board brought in a new CEO, what do you think they would do?”
Back in 2004, when I first became President of the chamber, I was excited. I had all these ideas on how to improve the chamber. I evaluated EVERYTHING we did. I was fresh. I was motivated. I was new.
Fast forward. Eight years have gone by. I still love my job. I still have ideas. But I’m not new and fresh.
BUT by asking the question “What would my replacement do?” when making decisions, I can be fresh all the time. That question is a great motivator. It is also a great reminder that everyone is replaceable. There are many others out there who would love to have your job, no matter what your occupation, so appreciate it and do your best, all the time.
“Fundamentally Transforming America” via the Keystone Decision
I haven’t posted a rant in a while on the subject of politics, so I’m past due.
This isn’t breaking news. In fact, it was sent me about a month ago.
I really can’t stand people who lie. Especially those who have been elected to represent me, like the President of the United States.
The link below is to a clip on a Canadian talk show regarding Obama’s decision to block the Keystone Pipeline. It is worth your time to watch.
Thanks for sending this along Shawn.
Hoarder
Ok. I’m now worried about myself. I am packing up my office for the big move in a few weeks and started on my credenza today. I found not one, not two, or even three, but FIVE empty jars from Screen Machine Industries. Five. Speechless.
The part you don’t know is that they were filled with M & M’s and given to me as gifts on my many visits out to Screen Machine.
But to keep five empty jars. . .come on Cheri. Jeez.
Good news is that I found some old music CD’s that contained some great tunes which helped the packing go a little easier.
Ok. Back to packing. Blah!
Repeat After Me
I want you to say this aloud:
I AM SMART
I AM KIND
I AM IMPORTANT
Now repeat.
And one more time. Repeat.
I finally watched The Help last night. I really enjoyed it. There were so many lessons intertwined in that movie. But one of the ones that struck me was this scene, which was repeated over and over again throughout the movie:
Although this was told to a child repeatedly, I think we can all benefit from saying this to ourselves everyday. Sometimes when life gets tough, you need to believe in yourself.
You are important.
Remember that. Always.
My Own Honey-Do-List
I took the day off work today because we had been gone all weekend and didn’t get home until early this morning. I really didn’t have my day planned out, except for laundry and taking all three kids to the dentist to get their teeth cleaned.
By the time I got up, unpacked my suitcase and got a shower it was about 11:00 a.m. I did a few things around the house and got everyone lunch. Then my middle daughter said she need to print something out for a school project, but she didn’t want to use our computer – she only wanted to use her laptop, but it wasn’t connected to a printer. She reminded me that I had bought her a printer two Christmas’s ago which hasn’t been connected because I forgot to get the USB cord when I bought it. Ouch. Two years ago. I don’t have any excuse at all for that one. So I decided that I would hook up her printer today. And then she reminded me that I still haven’t gotten her a new cable for her TV (the old one got chewed down to bare wires by her rabbit). So I told her I would pick up a new cable when I picked up her printer cable today.
Our conversation was overheard by my oldest daughter who chimed in, “you still haven’t hung those pictures in my room either”. Grrrr. And of course, the man who was sitting back enjoying the dialog, my husband, says “well girls, she hasn’t fixed two pair of my pants which have been laying on the stool in our bedroom since I don’t know when”. My, my, my.
So instead of having a relaxing day like my friend Tracy told me to do, I ended up with my own honey-do list created by my family.
I’m pleased to report that I have successfully completed all the items on the list except the pants thing, which I am going to tackle right after I post this.
I am contemplating making each family member a honey-do-list of their own, since they all ganged up on me today.
The Journey Home
After a weekend of dance competition in Toledo, we began the journey home around 10:00 p.m. last night. I was in the driver’s seat. Had a three-hour drive ahead.
When I stopped for gas, I had to take this picture. It is my view of the back seat from the driver’s seat. Silly girls.
I didn’t mind the drive home. Everyone was asleep and it was pretty peaceful in the car. I found two great radio stations to listen to. Up north I found a station that just played “new music” and found a couple of interesting tunes I now like. Just outside of Findlay it became fuzzy, so I switched it to an “oldies” station. It makes me laugh when I hear songs from the 70′s on a station that plays “oldies but goodies”.
I listened to some great songs and was able to sing without waking anyone up. Here is one of the first songs that came on that I dearly love.
Enjoy and have a great day!
