How Are We Doing?

Current Status... It's hard to get a solid grip on how I feel about the new administration. There's no doubt in my mind that Michelle Obama is doing a great job. She's role modeling healthy living and family values like crazy. What's not to like about her? She's funny and she takes no back seat to her presidential hubby. Mr. O., I think, is still finding his footing. There was a part of his campaign where he seemed to tire of all the insanity and withdraw from it. And Maureen Dowd sermonized in her column that he should gather himself and come out fighting, be tougher. And he did. Now he needs to do that again. Be a little tougher and get the American people more involved in their own salvation.

Lately I'm thinking... that, well, nothing lasts forever. I try to understand that this also means that new doors open. But how comfortable it is to put your eggs in one basket, settle into some lifestyle you think will last forever. Real openness to change is hard, but probably a much better survival strategy.

This is really interesting... We hadn't been out to eat more than once this year till last night. Because of Restaurant Week, we got to go somewhere really nice for a fixed price. It felt great to treat ourselves, and I thought of it as a belated birthday dinner. Arugula salad, duckling and carrot cake. A nice glass of Pinot Noir. These mini-vacations are a real treat. Something to look forward to after working so hard to "stay in the game," keep the money coming in.

Currently watching... little red buds on the tips of the maple branches. Brown nodes on the forsythia that will turn to bright yellow blooms. The white snowdrops still quietly blooming. The crocus, only yellow this year, but cheery. And indoors, my cyclamen outrageously pink and lush. The wintering-over geraniums have been blooming red and white all winter and are eager to get back outside. Sara, an outdoor cat for four years, is having to adapt to the indoor life, but she's like Steve McQueen in The Great Escape. She tries again and again to get out. The warmer the day, the more she plots her escape.

The Soapbox: Now that the Equinox has arrived, the days are longer than the nights. It's easier to be hopeful than in the dark chill of winter. Just beneath the crust, we are eager to push off the soil that's buried us and poke our heads out into a new cycle of growth. This energy cannot be denied. We will begin to grow again, and soon.

Recommendations:
Gentle coaching through life transitions: WomeninTransitionCoach.
Guidance through mortgage modification, loan refinance, foreclosure, bankruptcy: SenecaDebtAssistance.
Customized Listening (Build your own radio station online--easily): Pandora.com

The Uncertainty Principle

Current Status... Four consecutive positive days in the stock market is a lot like spring -- She giveth and she taketh away. Rain and clouds for three days, sunshine and birdsong the next three, and all the while crocuses and snowdrops are foretelling better times, the threat of a great March blizzard remains. The uncertainty of Spring.

Lately I'm thinking... The most important thing is to be open to whatever good news there is. For instance, even if there are many months of unemployment and business failures to go, upturns in the stocks or the retail sector are signs of the Spring to come. It may be late this year, but it will arrive.

This is really interesting... Being open to good news can sometimes save the day. Worried that my editorial work was slowing ominously, I noticed that three days' running, I was saved by some serendipitous, last-minute assignment. Okay, I can't see a booming future yet, but I can see, if I look, a strong base and enough work to get me through.

Currently watching... For awhile we watched My Name Is Earl, fascinated by the combination of trailer trash and karma. The characters are hysterically lovable and absolutely unforgettable. I love the selfish Joy -- Oh, snap! she says when her nasty plots fall flat. Stuart loves Lost; I don't watch because I can't make that kind of time commitment to TV. But I do faithfully watch Veronica Mars, teen detective. Why an aging Boomer would love a show about high school I have no idea, but I find it addictive. So much for high brows.

The Soapbox: Look for opportunity in challenge. Be grateful for friends, co-workers and family. Send out positive thoughts: I can use your energy...and you have my hope for the world: May we learn simplicity again.

Recommendations: Life coaching with Madeleine: womenintransitioncoach.com
Loan modification services with Dennis: Seneca Debt Assistance (1-888-808-1342)
Best internet radio: Pandora.com

Don't Worry, Be Happy, That's All!

Current Status... The DJIA slid to 6800 today. Good-bye retirement nest egg(s). So long, home equity. Hello, you-better-love your-job because you're-going-to-be-doing-it a) till you drop or b) till they drop you. So, this is a great opportunity to talk about loving one's job. Better be doing what we love, 'cause we're not goin' anywhere. Just like that, the labor market went from bullish to brutal. Crowds at job fairs. Brotha, can ya' spare a dime-a-dozen for resumes? How to start loving your gig if you don't already? Be grateful you have one. Be grateful if you have benefits. Be engaged. How can you help your business do well enough to keep you? Smile at your co-workers: positive energy put out by you will make its way back to you, and you'll all need it. Focus on your work: single-task. Get involved. Get it done. That will keep you from dwelling on your 401(k) or other retirement plan.

Lately I'm thinking... How lucky I am to have found the job I have. How lucky I am to be valued and, I think, needed there. How great that Stuart and I have travel plans: Tulsa end of April, Vermont in July, Hawaii or Dominican Republic in January '10. Cheapie-vacation plans all, they help to keep the heebie-jeebies away.

This is really interesting... Loving my job. Sometimes I do: when I'm engaged in writing or editing something. Less so when I'm only proofreading. Then I face identiy issues: What, after all those high scores and degrees, only a proofreader?! That's profoundly humiliating. So, I make my job as good as I can, I engage with it and with the people there, who are really a great group. And I think, what else can I do to ensure myself? Do I want to freelance online? Not really. Lately I've been thinking of writing a serialized novel online. I can't see how that could ensure financial security, but it could make me happier I guess.

Currently watching... All kinds of detective shows on DVD. It's soothing to watch things be "sorted" (as they say on the British teley). Everything explained, sorted, put back in place. Emotions confronted -- for the most part -- at least the more important ones. Grieving process at least begun. Help on the way. Community back to "normal." All very soothing, yes.

OH! And LISTENING to PANDORA radio ONLINE. This gets a big, bold recommendation! Go to Pandora.com and create your own radio station, free. Instant record library! The more you tweak it, the better it gets! I have classic jazz, Celtic, electronic, minimalist, Chopin and more on my station. Love it!

The Soapbox... Choose hope. Look for the opportunity in challenge. Be grateful for what you have. I'm talking to myself here, but help me out. Your positive energy keeps me going, as I hope mine lifts you as well.

For superb coaching through a transition in your life: Womenintransitioncoach.com
For help getting out from under mortgage payments you can no longer afford, call toll free: 1-888-808-1342.