profound thoughts - NOT

I woke up with profound thoughts and I thought, "Excellent - I will share these on my blog and won't everyone be madly impressed!"

Then Ocean came to stay for today and tomorrow and chaos ensued and the only thought I have left is, "I wonder if they'll settle down enough so that I can have a nap after lunch?"

Hey - I'll take any thoughts I can get at this point. Fur is flying everywhere.

On another note - if you love good books, buy The Paris Wife - one of the best I've read in a long time. It's a biographical novel of Hemingway's first wife. Lyrically written. Worth every penny you spend on it.

Okay - that's it for today. Need to take the dogs for a long hike this afternoon and somehow must also fit in watching American Idol on YouTube - pretty profound, huh?

The Mother Project

Writing my mother's story - an interesting experience. She has told us bits and pieces over the years but it paints a very different picture when I put it all together.

I feel that I should be looking for explanations as I listen and then, write - why she is the way she is and why she feels the way she does. And I'm not doing that. I'm paying attention to the story - and I'm writing it to make it cohesive and interesting. So far so good. We're just getting to the good stuff now.

It's a shame I didn't do this with my father. But even if I could have, Willi wasn't a talker. Heidi is the talker. With any luck she'll have enough stories about my father that I'll be able to flesh out some of those details.

I remember asking my father about the war - the tiniest items were all I could ever get from him. I think it's those war years that interest me most - and, yes, we're getting there.

Spring

It's spring!

Frogs are croaking at dusk!

Birds are singing in the dawn.

Stinging nettles are on the attack.

Horses are shedding their blankets

I have shed my toque

I switched from flannel back to 800 thread count cotton sheets.

Summer vacation actually is feeling like a possibility.

And I am contemplating spring X-country at Mount Washington - contemplating and anticipating. Have you seen the hunky (older) men who hang out in the Nordic Lodge?

The Slow Road

I'm taking the slow road. For once in my life (and trust me, it's about time) I am not rushing into a relationship - nor am I compromising and hurrying things along just because "he" wants to.

I have found a special man. I like him - a lot. We share so much including the most important thing of all - shared values.

We had a lovely day: a vigorous hike, a good meal, terrific conversation - but am I ready for the intimacy of a sleepover? Not now. Not yet. This time I am listening to me - the real inner part and I'm expressing the honesty of what I feel.

How wonderful is this man? He is willing to engage - to talk, to learn, to listen - and to agree to see what develops.

Chaos

The chaos is currently contained to my deck - but for how much longer?

J. dropped Ocean off about an hour ago. So far I have kept them amused with marrow bones. They're just about done.

Soon I will have to open the door - and that means two whirling dervishes exploding into the house. The best strategy is surrender. It's going to be crazy. So be it.

I plan to take them to Cable Bay this afternoon where they can run like mad for almost two hours - then a five-hour hike tomorrow morning before returning Ocean home.

Whew!

Oh - did I mention that the man is coming on the hike - and that we're having dinner afterwards? I didn't? How remiss of me!

Snowshoeing

I can check another one off my bucket list. Today I went snowshoeing for the first time - complete with friends and dogs - and a good time was had by all, especially by the dogs and J and I. In fact, we were so enthusiastic that we decided to get to those end of season sales and buy snowshoes!

Good exercise? You bet - going uphill on snowshoes gets the heat pumping double and triple time.

Next - cross-country skiing.

First Impressions

I have a news flash for every business person out there. Here's the deal: every person counts. Every contact you make counts. A contact can help your business or not - the choice is yours.

Let me explain. I can't count the number of times I set up an interview and call at the set time and the person just isn't there. In other words - I got stood up. Not even a phone call to let me know there has to be a change of plans.

But it doesn't matter, right? I'm just the reporter.

Yup - I am just the reporter and the next time someone in my surprisingly large network asks me where he or she should go to buy widgets, do you think I'm going to recommend the widget maker that stood me up? Even if he is  a great widget maker, I won't do it. And not because I'm trying to get revenge. It's because I know that the way I do one thing is how I do everything.

I know that the person who isn't courteous enough to be there on time with me, won't keep his word with customers either. I know that the person who won't call me to tell me he has to postpone, won't call his customers either.

It's called poor service and I won't send a contact to a widget maker with poor service.

I'm just surprised how many of those "poor service" businesses there are out there. If they're not doing as well as they would like to, they may want to point the finger at their own noses and ask why?