Yearly Archives:: 2013

Dear Sugar. . . You Make It So Much Better!

September 25th, 2013
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Cheryl Strayed is one of my favorite authors.  I discovered her when I received her New York Times best seller, Wild, as a present this past Christmas.  From the first page, I was all in and couldn’t stop reading and definitely didn’t want her journey in Wild to end.

I was totally drawn into every aspect of her memoir and in reading Wild, came to respect the amount of introspection and hard work she put herself through to bring that compelling story out of herself.

No other writer that I know of delivers the goods about life and … Read More

A Pope of Hope

September 23rd, 2013
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From Southern Maryland to Northern Virginia, everywhere I went this past weekend people were talking about Pope Francis and his  recent groundbreaking remarks about the state of the Catholic Church. Pope Francis, you are a healing breath of fresh air and you arrived on the global scene just when we needed to listen your joyous and merciful outlook on life!! It was amazing to me that people spontaneously brought it up in conversation no matter what else was previously being talked about.  I find religion is sometimes discussed at social events but not very often.  And in Washington, DC, rarely… Read More

Can You Hug Too Much?

September 20th, 2013
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Hugs……They’re so healing!We hug when we see someone we really like and haven’t seen in a while; we hug when it’s time to say good-bye. We hug to show we care; we hug to let the other person know we are on their team. We hug to send a special message to another person that they are not alone.  They have a friend; someone who cares what happens to them. We hug to comfort.  We hug to love. We hug because we are human and part of a larger community. We are here to hug.  Each other.  All the time.… Read More

Never Look Away

September 19th, 2013
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When you consider the amount of emotional baggage we all carry around with us, it is amazing that we find love. Wounded though our hearts may be, we cannot fight the attraction and pull of another person who catches our fancy. Maybe you have been lucky and found love more than once. I found love with a small l a few times, but found love with a capital L only once.  It’s an amazing, powerful, crazy thing this love emotion that takes us over and keeps us going and truly defines our lives.  It is not to be treated lightly,… Read More

Your Green Zone

September 18th, 2013
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When I find myself getting close to sensory overload, I seek out quiet places to sit, to refresh and chill out. After Monday’s tragic shooting and killing of 13 people in the Washington Navy Yard, I truly needed a break from being bombarded with images and information.  Sitting in nature helps bring my focus back to what is important to me about the big picture of life. As I notice and enjoy what is around me, I remind myself that I can’t change the fact that highly stressful events happen, but I can change how I interpret and respond to… Read More

Washington DC Navy Yard Shootings

September 17th, 2013
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There was something about the first email news alert that came into my work computer yesterday morning at 9:01 a.m. “Reports of an active shooter at Navy Yard area.  Avoid that area.” I don’t know if it was the time of day, the location of the shooter or the fact that it was a Monday that made me stare at the email and think, “This is bad.”  Unsure of what parts of the city my colleagues planned to go for meetings or appointments, I immediately forwarded the Navy Yard email to everyone in my office. The “active shooter” the email… Read More

Be More Awesome!

September 16th, 2013
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I’m usually pretty good at motivating myself but this morning I needed Kid President to give me a good kick in the butt to push me out the door. Kid President.  Just looking at his cute little face makes me want to smile. But he’s more than a cute face. Kid President Kid President says this video is for teachers and students but really it’s for all of us. We all have it going on.  Brains.  Ideas.  Energy.  Emotions.  Work Ethic.  Sense of Humor. We just need to believe it.  No matter what is going on today in your life,… Read More

A Touching Moment at CVS

September 13th, 2013
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I was in the CVS near my office a few days, popping in to buy something for an officemate. I was buying only one item so I stood in the self-checkout line. But then the regular line opened up.  A young African American woman behind the cash register waved for me to come on over to her register so I did. As she scanned my CVS discount card and my purchase, her eyes looked at the pearl necklace I had on.  Since her hands were full, she tilted her head in my direction. “I like your pearl necklace.” “Thank you! … Read More

George Carlin’s Observations

September 12th, 2013
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Every day is an opportunity, right? I try to keep this simple but positive thought with me as much as possible even if I am having a really sh#*tty day. I try to learn some useful lesson from the incredible number of mistakes I constantly make and then I push myself to move on to the next thing. That’s why a new day is so great.  We all get to try and do it all over again and maybe this time even try it a different way. A new day means I have the opportunity of 24 new hours in… Read More