This post was actually written last week just after I first saw Recipes From A Life online for the first time. Thank you for reading...
I can’t leave the soft neutral cocoon of my hotel room. I’m paralyzed. I’m on the 16th floor with an over the top mountain view. I’m afraid that if I leave this space, the bubble will burst. I’m not ready for the real world. I don’t have a new plan.
I’ve written and talked ad nauseum about plans and goals and dreams and how integral they are to the fiber of your being. As you know, my biggest goal over the last five years has been ‘The Book’. As you also now know, ‘The Book’ went live online for sale and I went unlive and into shock. I can’t leave my room without a new plan. The wind is out of my sails and I have no breath.
Last night after seeing Recipes From A Life online for the first time, I sat in the princess chair in front of my floor to ceiling window and watched the mountains change color with the setting sun. I ordered room service. I took a really long scalding bath in the huge contoured bathtub with a double amount of lavender and eucalyptus bath salts. I got cozy in the bed surrounded by a dozen pillows and watched American Idol AND all its commercials from one comfortable position without moving. Without breathing. I operated the automatic drape and sheer drape control from my bedside buttons opening and closing them in rhythm. Open the drape. Open the sheer. Mountains still there. Close the sheer. Close the drape. I wouldn’t let turn down service come in because I was afraid that they would bring the outside world in with them. Missed out on the exquisite pillow chocolates because of that. Is this shock?
I can’t leave this womb like hotel room without another big dream. Sure, I have lots of little plans. Get a new car. (A green convertible Porsche to be exact.) Move to a house surrounded by trees. Spend more time with my nieces and nephews. Buy myself flowers. Take myself out on dates. But what is the bigger plan? Work on a flat stomach? Building things and biking somewhere seem to be taken.
Lou was in a 4 day national shooting competition last summer. He was ready. Equipment working the way it needed to and his mental state was prepared. Then he went out on day one and won the events of that day. Day two, he fell apart. His goal was to win. Once he won and got the heavy wall plaque, he lost it. It was tough for him to realize that he didn’t have a back up goal or alternate plan. He lost sleep, chastised himself and gutted it up the rest of the competition doing well but not nearly as well as he could have. Well wasn’t okay because he has the natural ability and the want to be of superior, national championship caliber.
What is your back up plan? How are you going to get out of the comfortable hotel room? You have a plan in place to grow your business. You have a working and flexible business plan on paper and in place. Are you prepared with a plan ‘B’? Do you have in the recesses of your brain a back up goal? Your kids may not want your business. Your partner may not want to buy your portion when the agreed upon time comes. Your landlord may change his mind about leasing you the space next door that you were planning on using for your expansion. What are you going to do now? Lock yourself up in paralysis? What are you going to do to replace the wind in your sails and keep moving along course and on task?
My suitcase is packed. My little pieces of paper with notes on them have all been consolidated. The flowers from my mobile room service table are wilting. My email inboxes are clear and clean. Time for me to get a grip and take a breath. The walk from my room through the lobby to the taxi stand and my ride to the airport is a very long and tedious one. My goal is to have a new plan in place by the time I get there.
Showing posts with label Tate Publishing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tate Publishing. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
My Cemetary Garden
The mound over my ‘Other One’ Momma, Frances’ grave is totally misshapen as a result of the dysfunctional weather we have been having the last month or so. Where just a few months ago it was a new smooth hump, today it was hills and valleys. Perfect for me to cover with the massive amount of flowers I purchased this morning at Hobby Lobby. I covered the miniature hills and valleys with a vast array of colorful plastic blossoms, spread out my blanket as close to my cemetery garden as possible and settled in for a long deep conversation.
Tomorrow is my Frances’ birthday. I’ve been with her for each of her last 17 birthdays. It is very appropriate that her birthday would make Valentine’s Day a two day holiday for us. In the beginning we would go out to dinner and/or the theatre to celebrate. In the middle, birthday celebrations were at a varied assortment of assisted living homes. In the end, there were a couple of birthdays in nondescript rehabilitation homes and dreadful hospital rooms. Regardless of where, the festivities always included flowers and a Dairy Queen Blizzard. No one loves either as much as we did. Together. I haven’t had a Blizzard since she passed. Just wouldn’t taste the same.
The hole in my heart that was created when my Frances went to the other side is both unbelievable and unbearable. The only thing soothing it is knowing that she is at peace with the one and only love of her life, her husband Paul. They only regret is that I didn’t make the years I had with her even more valuable and phenomenal memories even more phenomenal.
I want you to stop. Stop what you are working on and take a moment to look around you and breathe. Give yourself a new chunk of time. Right now. If you can spare five minutes, take it. If you can spare five hours, please take them. Go to someone you adore and shower them with flowers. Not just because it is Valentine’s Day. Do it because it will feed your soul and theirs. Do it because this life is so short and the relationships we treasure are more important than an extra Spring afternoon working your business. I promise you that you will return to tasks at hand feeling refreshed, energized and with a new perspective on priorities. Your business isn’t going to go anywhere if you are gone for a small chunk of time. What you are dealing with in this moment will still be here in the next.
My chat with Frances today was amazing and I expected nothing less. She answered my questions with the candor and honesty she has always used with me. The plastic garden I planted swayed in the breeze and showered me with her unconditional love. My wish for you is a relationship with an ‘Other One’ Momma of your own and an afternoon to shower each other with attention.
Tomorrow is my Frances’ birthday. I’ve been with her for each of her last 17 birthdays. It is very appropriate that her birthday would make Valentine’s Day a two day holiday for us. In the beginning we would go out to dinner and/or the theatre to celebrate. In the middle, birthday celebrations were at a varied assortment of assisted living homes. In the end, there were a couple of birthdays in nondescript rehabilitation homes and dreadful hospital rooms. Regardless of where, the festivities always included flowers and a Dairy Queen Blizzard. No one loves either as much as we did. Together. I haven’t had a Blizzard since she passed. Just wouldn’t taste the same.
The hole in my heart that was created when my Frances went to the other side is both unbelievable and unbearable. The only thing soothing it is knowing that she is at peace with the one and only love of her life, her husband Paul. They only regret is that I didn’t make the years I had with her even more valuable and phenomenal memories even more phenomenal.
I want you to stop. Stop what you are working on and take a moment to look around you and breathe. Give yourself a new chunk of time. Right now. If you can spare five minutes, take it. If you can spare five hours, please take them. Go to someone you adore and shower them with flowers. Not just because it is Valentine’s Day. Do it because it will feed your soul and theirs. Do it because this life is so short and the relationships we treasure are more important than an extra Spring afternoon working your business. I promise you that you will return to tasks at hand feeling refreshed, energized and with a new perspective on priorities. Your business isn’t going to go anywhere if you are gone for a small chunk of time. What you are dealing with in this moment will still be here in the next.
My chat with Frances today was amazing and I expected nothing less. She answered my questions with the candor and honesty she has always used with me. The plastic garden I planted swayed in the breeze and showered me with her unconditional love. My wish for you is a relationship with an ‘Other One’ Momma of your own and an afternoon to shower each other with attention.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Stamina and Guts-Straight From the CIA?
I don’t dig my birthday. I could tell you all the reasons why but that is not the point of this story. I just need to tell you that my parents call me every year on my birthday. It is usually the only day of the year that I talk to my Mother. I do talk to my Dad a little more than that-his birthday, Christmas and Father’s Day usually. Last week on my ‘lucky’ day, when they called to sing Happy Birthday, I happened to be driving and answered the phone. They sang together and then we actually chatted for 10 minutes or so. They asked after my children which is a very big deal and asked after my book, also a very big deal. After we hung up, I had plenty of windshield time to contemplate our communication; plenty of time to think about how my parents, my Dad especially, affected my professional life.
This past weekend Lou and I went to the IMAX Theater to see ‘Hubble’ in 3D. Settling into our seats, my thoughts went straight back to my Dad and the still fresh birthday conversation. My Dad is an amazing man. He was deeply educated at MIT and holds many patents, namely for the gyroscope. He founded Sperry Gyroscope and we found out just a few years ago, he was recruited by the CIA during his Sperry days and spent the rest of his career with them working in an extremely high level and highly secretive position. His professional career is still kept very tight lipped. Every now and then one of my siblings will hear a story and pass it on. We discuss in amazement and wonder. My Dad is somewhere beyond brilliant. He is the one who taught me determination and guts. From him I learned stamina and intestinal fortitude. I remember asking him once how he got up and made it to work every single day when I knew there were days when he probably needed to just hide. How he could get on that airplane and prepare to be gone from his family for an extended period of time. He told me that he did what he needed to do. I have said that same phrase myself many, many times over the years.
The ‘Hubble’ documentary was rather fascinating and I mentioned to Lou afterwards how I couldn’t help but have my Dad and his space involvement on my mind. One year on my birthday, my parents didn’t call. During this time we were lead to believe that Dad was designing payloads for the Space Shuttle, working for NASA. I wasn’t too worried about them not calling because there was a shuttle currently in space and I figured he was covered up with the mission. The shuttle was having trouble getting back to ground needing to finish a project and wait for weather to clear. Still a week after my birthday and no call, no news. Instead in the mail from Dad is a one page piece of paper with a New York times article taped to it. The article and picture are talking about how much, W. G. McArthur, my Dad, enjoyed his shuttle trip and his exciting first space walk. In my Dad’s barely legible handwriting on the same paper is a note: What a great ride. Can’t wait to tell you all about it. –Dad
No wonder he didn’t call on my birthday! My Dad was on the freaking space shuttle orbiting the earth and strolling in no man’s land! I called my parent’s house in Aspen, no answer. I called their house in California, left a message. I flipped that he didn’t tell any of us so that we could be watching him this whole time. I flipped because my kids could have been talking about Grandpa being in space at school! I called my siblings-all who received the same ‘letter’ and we were all flipping.
At this time we had no idea that our Dad was enmeshed in the CIA and could keep a secret better than anyone as obviously his whole life was a secret. He waited days and then finally called us one at a time. He wasn’t on the shuttle; he was ‘just’ in the control room. It was a total coincidence that one of the shuttle astronauts had his same exact name. Apparently they joked constantly, my Dad in the control room and his clone in space living out my Dad’s dream of being an astronaut.
So here I am many years later, celebrating yet another birthday and thinking about my Dad and his example of high-test life and career dedication. There are plenty of stories surrounding my Dad. How he ended up at MIT instead of honoring Canada’s request that he be on their Olympic Team, both summer and winter. How he accepted his job with the CIA. How he fostered determination and grit in his five wildly self-sufficient children. How his work ethic is evident in all of us. His story just may need to be told.
May you have a ‘Dad’ in your life to set the example of doing it and getting it done when you least want to. The example of being brilliant in what you do because that is what you have chosen. That you can take everything you learn and funnel it into being an entrepreneur who isn’t afraid to take risks and perform under pressure. May you take control of your business and learn from all the examples of success in your path.
I think this may have been a good birthday. Recipies From A Life: Essential Ingredients for Your Business Success. I may owe it to my Dad.
This past weekend Lou and I went to the IMAX Theater to see ‘Hubble’ in 3D. Settling into our seats, my thoughts went straight back to my Dad and the still fresh birthday conversation. My Dad is an amazing man. He was deeply educated at MIT and holds many patents, namely for the gyroscope. He founded Sperry Gyroscope and we found out just a few years ago, he was recruited by the CIA during his Sperry days and spent the rest of his career with them working in an extremely high level and highly secretive position. His professional career is still kept very tight lipped. Every now and then one of my siblings will hear a story and pass it on. We discuss in amazement and wonder. My Dad is somewhere beyond brilliant. He is the one who taught me determination and guts. From him I learned stamina and intestinal fortitude. I remember asking him once how he got up and made it to work every single day when I knew there were days when he probably needed to just hide. How he could get on that airplane and prepare to be gone from his family for an extended period of time. He told me that he did what he needed to do. I have said that same phrase myself many, many times over the years.
The ‘Hubble’ documentary was rather fascinating and I mentioned to Lou afterwards how I couldn’t help but have my Dad and his space involvement on my mind. One year on my birthday, my parents didn’t call. During this time we were lead to believe that Dad was designing payloads for the Space Shuttle, working for NASA. I wasn’t too worried about them not calling because there was a shuttle currently in space and I figured he was covered up with the mission. The shuttle was having trouble getting back to ground needing to finish a project and wait for weather to clear. Still a week after my birthday and no call, no news. Instead in the mail from Dad is a one page piece of paper with a New York times article taped to it. The article and picture are talking about how much, W. G. McArthur, my Dad, enjoyed his shuttle trip and his exciting first space walk. In my Dad’s barely legible handwriting on the same paper is a note: What a great ride. Can’t wait to tell you all about it. –Dad
No wonder he didn’t call on my birthday! My Dad was on the freaking space shuttle orbiting the earth and strolling in no man’s land! I called my parent’s house in Aspen, no answer. I called their house in California, left a message. I flipped that he didn’t tell any of us so that we could be watching him this whole time. I flipped because my kids could have been talking about Grandpa being in space at school! I called my siblings-all who received the same ‘letter’ and we were all flipping.
At this time we had no idea that our Dad was enmeshed in the CIA and could keep a secret better than anyone as obviously his whole life was a secret. He waited days and then finally called us one at a time. He wasn’t on the shuttle; he was ‘just’ in the control room. It was a total coincidence that one of the shuttle astronauts had his same exact name. Apparently they joked constantly, my Dad in the control room and his clone in space living out my Dad’s dream of being an astronaut.
So here I am many years later, celebrating yet another birthday and thinking about my Dad and his example of high-test life and career dedication. There are plenty of stories surrounding my Dad. How he ended up at MIT instead of honoring Canada’s request that he be on their Olympic Team, both summer and winter. How he accepted his job with the CIA. How he fostered determination and grit in his five wildly self-sufficient children. How his work ethic is evident in all of us. His story just may need to be told.
May you have a ‘Dad’ in your life to set the example of doing it and getting it done when you least want to. The example of being brilliant in what you do because that is what you have chosen. That you can take everything you learn and funnel it into being an entrepreneur who isn’t afraid to take risks and perform under pressure. May you take control of your business and learn from all the examples of success in your path.
I think this may have been a good birthday. Recipies From A Life: Essential Ingredients for Your Business Success. I may owe it to my Dad.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Small Hotel Today-Hotel With A View, Tomorrow!
I find myself hiding away in a small cramped hotel room in hot and humid Houston. Lacking my GPS, I really have no idea where I am. This is a good thing. I have a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach as I wrap up my work day and hunker down to spend time concentrating on the last edits I will be able to make to the book. This feeling is definitely a new one. Not good. Not bad. If I stop to think about it I am directed to the power of my own intention. The intention I had to write my story and to help as many small business owners who would possibly listen to what they can do to fulfill their dream of real success.
Recipes From A Life is a reality. That is the feeling in the pit of my stomach. This is really happening. Despite the odds. In spite of the people who told me I couldn’t do it or would probably never really do it, I am really going to be one of the 2% who actually publish a book.
I’ve been dreaming about ‘my’ flock; about the people that I am going to be able to help. Dreaming about the weight I am going to take off of their shoulders. Dreaming about the power I am going to help them realize. I am going to tell people that they can indeed enjoy their business and that running it doesn’t need to be a 24/7 exhausting mess. I am going to be able to tell entrepreneurs far and wide what they need to do to run their business in a manner that will work for them and show them how to do it. I am going to teach them how to manage their business from the inside out so that they can enjoy all the other aspects of their lives that are important to them.
I was lucky enough to speak to an association in Corpus last week. Only about 100 people but each one of them was fabulous. It was a very engaging ‘speech’ on the differences between managing and leading and I had a great time. The group was interactive, the best kind and what I wish for as a speaker. Afterwards, the leader gave me a gift and more than one participant wanted to take their picture with me. I am not a picture taker and was quite uncomfortable. In thinking about this event later as I thanked God for the opportunity, I realized something. They wanted to take my picture because I made an impression. I offered a nugget of information that they wanted to remember with a photo. Wow.
I promise myself that I am going to spend more time hiding away in small hotel rooms enjoying the process of this book journey. I promise to enjoy and savor every moment until its birth in just a few months. Then I am going to sign copies and speak. Sign more copies and speak some more. I am going to tend to the flock with everything I have in me and then some. Then when it is all said and done, I am going to escape to bigger and more wonderful hotel rooms in fabulous faraway places!
Recipes From A Life: Essential Ingredients for Your Small Business
Recipes From A Life is a reality. That is the feeling in the pit of my stomach. This is really happening. Despite the odds. In spite of the people who told me I couldn’t do it or would probably never really do it, I am really going to be one of the 2% who actually publish a book.
I’ve been dreaming about ‘my’ flock; about the people that I am going to be able to help. Dreaming about the weight I am going to take off of their shoulders. Dreaming about the power I am going to help them realize. I am going to tell people that they can indeed enjoy their business and that running it doesn’t need to be a 24/7 exhausting mess. I am going to be able to tell entrepreneurs far and wide what they need to do to run their business in a manner that will work for them and show them how to do it. I am going to teach them how to manage their business from the inside out so that they can enjoy all the other aspects of their lives that are important to them.
I was lucky enough to speak to an association in Corpus last week. Only about 100 people but each one of them was fabulous. It was a very engaging ‘speech’ on the differences between managing and leading and I had a great time. The group was interactive, the best kind and what I wish for as a speaker. Afterwards, the leader gave me a gift and more than one participant wanted to take their picture with me. I am not a picture taker and was quite uncomfortable. In thinking about this event later as I thanked God for the opportunity, I realized something. They wanted to take my picture because I made an impression. I offered a nugget of information that they wanted to remember with a photo. Wow.
I promise myself that I am going to spend more time hiding away in small hotel rooms enjoying the process of this book journey. I promise to enjoy and savor every moment until its birth in just a few months. Then I am going to sign copies and speak. Sign more copies and speak some more. I am going to tend to the flock with everything I have in me and then some. Then when it is all said and done, I am going to escape to bigger and more wonderful hotel rooms in fabulous faraway places!
Recipes From A Life: Essential Ingredients for Your Small Business
Sunday, September 26, 2010
The Power in a Mani/Pedi
I managed to disappear into a manicure and a pedicure yesterday. Middle of a Saturday afternoon, after a long and satisfying workout, I decided that I needed to not only treat myself but that I needed to be quiet. No phone, no computer, no one in the chairs next to me. It was only me and the little girl who has been massaging and beautifying my feet for years now. While she knows me and my daughter by name, she doesn’t make, encourage or force conversation. I am allowed to disappear into whatever my mind chooses. My own kind of mediation.
Of course my thoughts started with the list of errands I needed to finish before I started another hectic work week on the road. Workout, dry cleaning, box to the Goodwill from the trunk because it was in my suitcase space, grocery store, gas… I realized that I can run these errands without thought or concentration because I have been going to the same places to satisfy the same needs for many years. Dan at Foundation for my car, Adam at the dry cleaner, Julie for my nails, Zona at the Dr’s office... In my quiet, I realized more deeply than ever that I have an amazing personal group of supporting businesses that I both trust and adore.
Week Seven in the book is all about the supporting people and businesses that your business needs to be connected to in order to be ultimately successful. Now, only as I contemplate moving across this country, alone, did the power of my own personal connections dawn on me. I can drive to Church without thinking, park in the same area and sit in the same seat as I have for years. I know my Whole Foods and Sprouts like the back of my hands. I find it interesting that while I know how powerful business connections must be, I would only now be impacted by the power of our personal ‘business’ connections. I am saddened to think that I may have taken them for granted.
Not too long ago, I started a mission to hand write a thank you note every day. Some days I miss and some days I write several. I love snail mail and sending post cards when I am on vacation is one of my very favorite things to do. I love showing gratitude and want to show appreciation as much as I can. I am going to challenge myself to write a thank you note this week to everyone on my personal support team. I challenge you to do the same.
Next set of edits on the book are due this week and I am quite ready to immerse myself back into rewording, rewiting and rethinking my original thoughts and words. I am excited to read Editor Emily’s notes and play with her revisions. It will also be interesting for me to reread Week Seven now that I have this new perspective. Business and personal connections=professional and personal success.
Want to keep updated on book progress? Annmarie is now on Facebook.
Of course my thoughts started with the list of errands I needed to finish before I started another hectic work week on the road. Workout, dry cleaning, box to the Goodwill from the trunk because it was in my suitcase space, grocery store, gas… I realized that I can run these errands without thought or concentration because I have been going to the same places to satisfy the same needs for many years. Dan at Foundation for my car, Adam at the dry cleaner, Julie for my nails, Zona at the Dr’s office... In my quiet, I realized more deeply than ever that I have an amazing personal group of supporting businesses that I both trust and adore.
Week Seven in the book is all about the supporting people and businesses that your business needs to be connected to in order to be ultimately successful. Now, only as I contemplate moving across this country, alone, did the power of my own personal connections dawn on me. I can drive to Church without thinking, park in the same area and sit in the same seat as I have for years. I know my Whole Foods and Sprouts like the back of my hands. I find it interesting that while I know how powerful business connections must be, I would only now be impacted by the power of our personal ‘business’ connections. I am saddened to think that I may have taken them for granted.
Not too long ago, I started a mission to hand write a thank you note every day. Some days I miss and some days I write several. I love snail mail and sending post cards when I am on vacation is one of my very favorite things to do. I love showing gratitude and want to show appreciation as much as I can. I am going to challenge myself to write a thank you note this week to everyone on my personal support team. I challenge you to do the same.
Next set of edits on the book are due this week and I am quite ready to immerse myself back into rewording, rewiting and rethinking my original thoughts and words. I am excited to read Editor Emily’s notes and play with her revisions. It will also be interesting for me to reread Week Seven now that I have this new perspective. Business and personal connections=professional and personal success.
Want to keep updated on book progress? Annmarie is now on Facebook.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
In Love With the Trash Man
The trash man took the chairs. Didn’t think he would, but he did. They were beautiful chairs, once. They went with the perfect round wood dining room table. They were high backed, cushioned all over and covered in a fabulous golden hued fabric. I remember when I first bought the perfect round wood dining room table with the six stunningly beautiful and super comfortable chairs.
The kids and I were in the green house. Our home. I was entertaining more than ever and the three of us were very happy. Our house was perfect. Every inch of it bore our signature and everything that had been redone from the mantel over the fireplace to the faux finishing on the stair banister was done with love and care. It was the small and manageable home with the perfect for entertaining square dining room that called out for the perfect round wood dining table. One of my favorite stores at the time was Storehouse and they had not only the perfect table but the ability to order the perfect chairs to go with it.
They took almost two months to arrive and it was well worth the wait. That perfect table and chair set was the foundation of our house. We entertained on it constantly. We had dinner party after dinner party after dinner party. We loved on our table and chairs and in return they brought us many unforgettable memories.
Then we went through the crash and had to move into an apartment that didn’t have enough room for the perfect wood dining table and perfectly cushioned set of golden fabric chairs. Regrettably, they had to live in the garage. We managed two amazing dinner parties. In the garage. With the China and the stemware. Just wasn’t the same though.
Then we moved into a house with a dining room. But things were never the same again. One of the chairs broke. It was sad. I was sad. Then another of the chairs broke. It was almost like they were saying something. Life was different. Life wasn’t okay. Then another chair broke. Three chairs just don’t make a dinner party.
Lia is off at college by now and Casey has one foot out the door. Entertaining in on hold. Life is on hold. Breathing is on hold. The perfect round wood table with the three lonely chairs is barely hanging on to its memories. I think we are barely holding on to our memories. Memories from the green house with the perfectly square dining room, six cushioned chairs and the canopy of trees.
We all move, yet again, and Lia doesn’t have a dining room table. She doesn’t need the three remaining chairs so we split up the set. The table looks perfect in her new home like it might have enough energy to generate some new memories. Casey doesn’t need a table or chairs in his new dining room; he has the ping pong table. What would a group of guys need a dining room table complete with memories for anyway? I moved into a house that already had a dining room table and a dining room that doesn’t fit round any way.
The three broken chairs stopped in the garage. They’ve been looked at and can’t be fixed. They are finished. Goodwill wouldn’t take them because they were broken. The Salvation Army wouldn’t take then either. The garbage man was my last hope to put them and my memories out of their misery. They left with him this morning.
I read an article a while back that has stayed with me. It was about a woman who was happiest when all her belongings fit in her car. She treasured the time when she had no ‘stuff’. Throughout this last move the story of this woman has energized me into getting rid of stuff. I don’t want any baggage. Material or emotional. No more stuff. While I have too much to fit in my little green car, I have a heck of a lot less than I did just a month ago. When the garbage man took the broken chairs, I felt huge relief that I had just disposed of some ‘stuff’. Material and emotional baggage drove off down the street.
Of course, everything I do these days has some correlation to publication of the book and some relation to owning a small business. (We are in the middle of conceptual editing right now!) How many small businesses are full of broken chairs? How many small businesses have too much stuff? How many spend too much time on making things pretty instead of taking care of the things that need to be taken care of or too much time spending money on the things that are just unnecessary window dressing? How many spend time decorating the waiting room instead of spending time and money on getting customers in the front door?
Was I the only one who heard a recent statistic regarding storage units and how they are our fastest growing industry? That there is one storage unit for every 10 households? What is the deal with the ‘stuff’? Doesn’t make us any richer. Doesn’t make us any happier. Probably won’t make your business any more successful. Having dinner parties on the old and scarred table with the six mismatched chairs I have now are going to make me as many unforgettable memories as my perfect round wood table with the beautiful cushioned chairs ever did.
Thank you, Mr. Trash Man. I may fit it all in my little car yet.
The kids and I were in the green house. Our home. I was entertaining more than ever and the three of us were very happy. Our house was perfect. Every inch of it bore our signature and everything that had been redone from the mantel over the fireplace to the faux finishing on the stair banister was done with love and care. It was the small and manageable home with the perfect for entertaining square dining room that called out for the perfect round wood dining table. One of my favorite stores at the time was Storehouse and they had not only the perfect table but the ability to order the perfect chairs to go with it.
They took almost two months to arrive and it was well worth the wait. That perfect table and chair set was the foundation of our house. We entertained on it constantly. We had dinner party after dinner party after dinner party. We loved on our table and chairs and in return they brought us many unforgettable memories.
Then we went through the crash and had to move into an apartment that didn’t have enough room for the perfect wood dining table and perfectly cushioned set of golden fabric chairs. Regrettably, they had to live in the garage. We managed two amazing dinner parties. In the garage. With the China and the stemware. Just wasn’t the same though.
Then we moved into a house with a dining room. But things were never the same again. One of the chairs broke. It was sad. I was sad. Then another of the chairs broke. It was almost like they were saying something. Life was different. Life wasn’t okay. Then another chair broke. Three chairs just don’t make a dinner party.
Lia is off at college by now and Casey has one foot out the door. Entertaining in on hold. Life is on hold. Breathing is on hold. The perfect round wood table with the three lonely chairs is barely hanging on to its memories. I think we are barely holding on to our memories. Memories from the green house with the perfectly square dining room, six cushioned chairs and the canopy of trees.
We all move, yet again, and Lia doesn’t have a dining room table. She doesn’t need the three remaining chairs so we split up the set. The table looks perfect in her new home like it might have enough energy to generate some new memories. Casey doesn’t need a table or chairs in his new dining room; he has the ping pong table. What would a group of guys need a dining room table complete with memories for anyway? I moved into a house that already had a dining room table and a dining room that doesn’t fit round any way.
The three broken chairs stopped in the garage. They’ve been looked at and can’t be fixed. They are finished. Goodwill wouldn’t take them because they were broken. The Salvation Army wouldn’t take then either. The garbage man was my last hope to put them and my memories out of their misery. They left with him this morning.
I read an article a while back that has stayed with me. It was about a woman who was happiest when all her belongings fit in her car. She treasured the time when she had no ‘stuff’. Throughout this last move the story of this woman has energized me into getting rid of stuff. I don’t want any baggage. Material or emotional. No more stuff. While I have too much to fit in my little green car, I have a heck of a lot less than I did just a month ago. When the garbage man took the broken chairs, I felt huge relief that I had just disposed of some ‘stuff’. Material and emotional baggage drove off down the street.
Of course, everything I do these days has some correlation to publication of the book and some relation to owning a small business. (We are in the middle of conceptual editing right now!) How many small businesses are full of broken chairs? How many small businesses have too much stuff? How many spend too much time on making things pretty instead of taking care of the things that need to be taken care of or too much time spending money on the things that are just unnecessary window dressing? How many spend time decorating the waiting room instead of spending time and money on getting customers in the front door?
Was I the only one who heard a recent statistic regarding storage units and how they are our fastest growing industry? That there is one storage unit for every 10 households? What is the deal with the ‘stuff’? Doesn’t make us any richer. Doesn’t make us any happier. Probably won’t make your business any more successful. Having dinner parties on the old and scarred table with the six mismatched chairs I have now are going to make me as many unforgettable memories as my perfect round wood table with the beautiful cushioned chairs ever did.
Thank you, Mr. Trash Man. I may fit it all in my little car yet.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Decisions, Decisions, Decisions
Next phase, conceptual editing. Tate Publishing and my editor are going to want me to make decisions. They don’t know that I am not making decisions right now. Not making big decisions and not making little decisions. I think that I won’t be able to make any decisions until at least Halloween when I know the Texas temperatures have cooled and my children and I are all safely settled into our new homes. No decision making is going to be possible until the leaves are turning up north and the weather permits me to drive with the lid down on my car. No decisions will be made until cool and stiff breezes have cleared my head of the consequences of all the decisions I have had to make over the last 18 years. 18 years, exactly. I have decision making exhaustion.
As a small business owner and single Mom, decision making demands have been a constant and almost unbearable part of my world. In order to survive, I had to make large and small decisions. I made terrible decisions and I made great decisions. Some were made after extensive deliberation and some were made on the spot. I have been held accountable for every single decision I was forced to make. Many carry huge regret while others are still heralded as the best decisions I ever made. Some will affect me for the rest of my life and I can hardly bare to think about them and their far reaching effects. Others were but a moment on my big screen.
In the beginning, I made all my decisions on my own. I didn’t trust very many people at all and was, frankly, running exhausted and scared. Business growing, small children, mortgage, expensive divorce(s), you get the picture. I just did what I felt I had to do because at that moment in time I didn’t trust anyone. I find this interesting now because looking back, that was during a time when I trusted myself least of all. Yet, I still forced myself to make all my own decisions without counsel. What terrible decisions I made and what an ugly person I was to be around as I was making some of them.
My business grew and my children grew and the dynamics of my life changed. Instead of needing to be so hands on with both my business and my children, I noticed that I was able to use my brain power a little bit more often than my physical power. I was learning from my mistakes. I was training employees to do the tasks that in the past only I had completed. Consequently, I was able to concentrate on the cerebral side of my company. I learned the hard way that in order to really see progress and success, I needed to empower people around me. I needed to learn how to trust and depend on my employees and business associates. That meant giving some control to my banker, CPA, web man and insurance man. That meant giving some power and even a key to the employees working in the evenings.
That meant realizing that my company could grow even bigger and stronger if I didn’t need to do everything myself. That meant that I didn’t have to make ALL the decisions. Could I pick up the pieces if a bad decision was made when I wasn’t on watch? Absolutely. I learned what an amazing feeling it is to give some power away and watch it flourish and blossom. How great it felt to watch an employee stand taller and sound more decisive and strong when they were given the ability to come up with a plan without asking any questions.
I am realizing now all these years later and as the book is getting closer and closer to release date, that I want to give the decisions away again. I want small business owners all over the globe to know that they don’t need to make all of their decisions all by themselves. That they may not be the experts in every single area of their business and they just might need to place trust and power in others. In order to make the right decisions, they might not need to be the decision maker. They might need to empower those around them to take charge.
In order to make the right decisions right now, I need to not be my decision maker. In exhaustion, I want to give my decisions away to someone else. Tell me where to be, when to be there and even what I should be wearing. It’s too hot outside for me to decide.
As a small business owner and single Mom, decision making demands have been a constant and almost unbearable part of my world. In order to survive, I had to make large and small decisions. I made terrible decisions and I made great decisions. Some were made after extensive deliberation and some were made on the spot. I have been held accountable for every single decision I was forced to make. Many carry huge regret while others are still heralded as the best decisions I ever made. Some will affect me for the rest of my life and I can hardly bare to think about them and their far reaching effects. Others were but a moment on my big screen.
In the beginning, I made all my decisions on my own. I didn’t trust very many people at all and was, frankly, running exhausted and scared. Business growing, small children, mortgage, expensive divorce(s), you get the picture. I just did what I felt I had to do because at that moment in time I didn’t trust anyone. I find this interesting now because looking back, that was during a time when I trusted myself least of all. Yet, I still forced myself to make all my own decisions without counsel. What terrible decisions I made and what an ugly person I was to be around as I was making some of them.
My business grew and my children grew and the dynamics of my life changed. Instead of needing to be so hands on with both my business and my children, I noticed that I was able to use my brain power a little bit more often than my physical power. I was learning from my mistakes. I was training employees to do the tasks that in the past only I had completed. Consequently, I was able to concentrate on the cerebral side of my company. I learned the hard way that in order to really see progress and success, I needed to empower people around me. I needed to learn how to trust and depend on my employees and business associates. That meant giving some control to my banker, CPA, web man and insurance man. That meant giving some power and even a key to the employees working in the evenings.
That meant realizing that my company could grow even bigger and stronger if I didn’t need to do everything myself. That meant that I didn’t have to make ALL the decisions. Could I pick up the pieces if a bad decision was made when I wasn’t on watch? Absolutely. I learned what an amazing feeling it is to give some power away and watch it flourish and blossom. How great it felt to watch an employee stand taller and sound more decisive and strong when they were given the ability to come up with a plan without asking any questions.
I am realizing now all these years later and as the book is getting closer and closer to release date, that I want to give the decisions away again. I want small business owners all over the globe to know that they don’t need to make all of their decisions all by themselves. That they may not be the experts in every single area of their business and they just might need to place trust and power in others. In order to make the right decisions, they might not need to be the decision maker. They might need to empower those around them to take charge.
In order to make the right decisions right now, I need to not be my decision maker. In exhaustion, I want to give my decisions away to someone else. Tell me where to be, when to be there and even what I should be wearing. It’s too hot outside for me to decide.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
12 Days of Silence-Yes, 12!
Two years ago right now I was submitting my application to attend a silent retreat in an Ashram in Northeast Texas. Twelve days with zero talking, very light vegan food and lots of sitting in the lotus position. No phones, no hairdryers, no makeup, no radio, no TV, no electrical anything. No reading. Nothing but you and your soul. Nothing but space, time and quiet to dig really deep. Painfully and necessarily deep. Everyone in my world thought I was bonkers to have committed myself to such a ‘holiday’. The thought that someone as out-spoken and seemingly extroverted as I could never go away for almost two weeks and not say a word was unthinkable.
To me, the idea of silence was a dreamy.
I don’t think a lot of the people in my world know me very well. Extroverts get their stimulation from the people around them. They energize themselves by feeding off of the people, personalities and events in their circle. Introverts are energized by their internal being. I am an introvert. I know how to, can and prefer to energize myself. I am happy to keep myself company. While I just adore being around others, I don’t need to be surrounded in order to be peaceful and content. I don’t have to jump up to answer the phone each time it rings in case I might be missing something going on outside my space. Most of the time I would prefer my phone not ring at all.
My favorite dinner party is the small group of 4 or 6 around a round table where meaningful conversation including all guests can take place. I am not comfortable in the large party where the room needs to be worked and everyone greeted. To an introvert like me, the large party where I might not already know everyone requires me to ‘put my personality on’. To an extrovert, a large party is stimulating and exciting. It takes me days to gear myself up for a large event and hours after to calm down. To an extravert, a large event can unfold on the spur of the moment and they are thrilled.
Have my circumstances forced me to be an extrovert? Absolutely. Does this exhaust me? Absolutely. Am I exhausted by life right now? Yes. Am I anxious to get to my authentic self? Yes. I am anxious to slow down. Settle in. Eliminate drama. Have meaningful conversations with people who matter to me.
Tate has asked me to be quiet. Specifically, ‘the month of July will be a quiet month’, while we work on your manuscript. The universe is unfolding before me and it is making itself known through Tate. I know they are working on the book and they have asked me to be quiet.
I have been begging to be quiet for a long, long time.
Once final manuscripts are submitted to production, Tate makes it very clear that no changes should be made. Apparently, most people tend to want to tweak and revise what they have written and unfortunately, if they make changes they are not usually for the better. This was a relief to hear. I thought, my manuscript is out of my hands after working, fretting and praying on it for so long. I could leave it be and know that the process had begun. I will admit that I am fretting a little bit now. I’ve made a few omissions in my writing and I am worried.
I have not instructed my small business owners to take any quiet time. While I ask them to work hard to define their ‘time’ and the ‘time’ they will take to do specific things for their business, I have not asked them to take any time for themselves. I have not asked them to be silent. If we do not get silent, how can we evaluate our actions?
We spend so much time on Plan A, enacting Plan A, throwing ourselves into Plan A, fighting to make Plan A ‘the’ plan. What if we don’t take any quiet time and come up with a Plan B? If Plan A just isn’t what the universe has ordered, there has got to be a calmly calculated Plan B waiting in the wings. How are we going to see the whole picture if we don’t take any quiet time? How are we going to be successful if we don’t get silent?
How can we honor ourselves and the position we have in the world if we don’t take time to be introspective?
I didn’t make it to my retreat. Lia had just gone off to college and I couldn’t bring myself to be away from Casey or away from the phone in case Lia needed me during her first critical weeks away. Not going was the right decision and I didn’t have any trouble making it. As a very blessed and happy Momma it would have been selfish of me to leave during that time of transition. But I just haven’t been able to get the idea of 12 days of silence in that remote location out of my mind. I think about it, dream about it and crave it, constantly.
Silent Retreat-Plan B. Plan A has run its course.
To me, the idea of silence was a dreamy.
I don’t think a lot of the people in my world know me very well. Extroverts get their stimulation from the people around them. They energize themselves by feeding off of the people, personalities and events in their circle. Introverts are energized by their internal being. I am an introvert. I know how to, can and prefer to energize myself. I am happy to keep myself company. While I just adore being around others, I don’t need to be surrounded in order to be peaceful and content. I don’t have to jump up to answer the phone each time it rings in case I might be missing something going on outside my space. Most of the time I would prefer my phone not ring at all.
My favorite dinner party is the small group of 4 or 6 around a round table where meaningful conversation including all guests can take place. I am not comfortable in the large party where the room needs to be worked and everyone greeted. To an introvert like me, the large party where I might not already know everyone requires me to ‘put my personality on’. To an extrovert, a large party is stimulating and exciting. It takes me days to gear myself up for a large event and hours after to calm down. To an extravert, a large event can unfold on the spur of the moment and they are thrilled.
Have my circumstances forced me to be an extrovert? Absolutely. Does this exhaust me? Absolutely. Am I exhausted by life right now? Yes. Am I anxious to get to my authentic self? Yes. I am anxious to slow down. Settle in. Eliminate drama. Have meaningful conversations with people who matter to me.
Tate has asked me to be quiet. Specifically, ‘the month of July will be a quiet month’, while we work on your manuscript. The universe is unfolding before me and it is making itself known through Tate. I know they are working on the book and they have asked me to be quiet.
I have been begging to be quiet for a long, long time.
Once final manuscripts are submitted to production, Tate makes it very clear that no changes should be made. Apparently, most people tend to want to tweak and revise what they have written and unfortunately, if they make changes they are not usually for the better. This was a relief to hear. I thought, my manuscript is out of my hands after working, fretting and praying on it for so long. I could leave it be and know that the process had begun. I will admit that I am fretting a little bit now. I’ve made a few omissions in my writing and I am worried.
I have not instructed my small business owners to take any quiet time. While I ask them to work hard to define their ‘time’ and the ‘time’ they will take to do specific things for their business, I have not asked them to take any time for themselves. I have not asked them to be silent. If we do not get silent, how can we evaluate our actions?
We spend so much time on Plan A, enacting Plan A, throwing ourselves into Plan A, fighting to make Plan A ‘the’ plan. What if we don’t take any quiet time and come up with a Plan B? If Plan A just isn’t what the universe has ordered, there has got to be a calmly calculated Plan B waiting in the wings. How are we going to see the whole picture if we don’t take any quiet time? How are we going to be successful if we don’t get silent?
How can we honor ourselves and the position we have in the world if we don’t take time to be introspective?
I didn’t make it to my retreat. Lia had just gone off to college and I couldn’t bring myself to be away from Casey or away from the phone in case Lia needed me during her first critical weeks away. Not going was the right decision and I didn’t have any trouble making it. As a very blessed and happy Momma it would have been selfish of me to leave during that time of transition. But I just haven’t been able to get the idea of 12 days of silence in that remote location out of my mind. I think about it, dream about it and crave it, constantly.
Silent Retreat-Plan B. Plan A has run its course.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Hot Momma on the Edge
I am hot. I am tired. I am cranky and I am so done with the whole anticipation, it’s Christmas Eve in June idea. What in the world was I thinking? Ugh. Casey has graduated. My ‘other-one’ Momma, Frances, has been safely put to rest. I’ve put 1620 more miles on my car. It has been in the 90’s+ every day for as long as I can remember and I’m done with it. Time for Tate to help me get the show on the road. I need a new plan, some new direction and an AC that will work for me reliably.
Last Thursday was a particularly horrendous day. I don’t do this Texas heat very well at all. (read: UNDERSTATEMENT) Unfortunately, I had to drive 4 hours for a work function that was a disaster. A team of us ended up cooking and showing food to a customer in an UN air-conditioned warehouse because one of the team members is an idiot. (Yes, I did say that.) After over 2 ½ hours in the UN air-conditioned warehouse, not only was I feeling extremely ill, my patience was worn completely out, my smile totally melted off of my face and my demeanor that of a woman in terminal menopause. The icing on the cake was when we were finally finished, the customer hugged me and he was as sweaty as I. Delightful. Yes, sweaty. Sweat running down my back, soaking my drawers and traveling down to my knees was not ladylike ‘glistening’. It was downright unladylike disgusting.
Took me all Thursday night to calm down and get my core temperature cool again, laying crossways over my hotel room bed, naked, before I would undertake the drive back south on Friday. At this time, I would really like Mr. Hotel Chain Man Owner to explain to me why and how all hotels seem to have this new gimmick of turning OFF the AC in their guest rooms in the middle of the night? All of them seem to do it. Do they really, I mean really, think none of their guests are going to wake up in the middle of the night and notice that the AC in their room has magically turned off so the hotel could save a few pennies? Seriously.
Sorry, I digressed. Friday morning I am up at 4:, in the car by 5: and on the way south to the office to work for 7 hours, give or take, depending on who has a personality in the office and who doesn’t. Three hour dive to the office. AC on full blast. 90 degrees outside already but my car is good and I can do this. Besides, I am totally excited because my Lia is bringing 22 of her Aggie Fish Camp friends to my house for dinner and I GET TO COOK for all of them AND they are all going to hug my neck and call me MOMMA!! I am beyond excited. Get to work. Work, work, meet, work, meet, work, run, run, run, out the door and another hour in the car and home! I am finally here!!!
And my AC is broken and it is 88 degrees inside. Felt like 2 million degrees and I had walked into hell. The butter I had left out on the counter to soften to make my famous Garlic Cheese Bread with is totally MELTED. Not just soft, melted liquid. Which would lead me to believe that the AC had been broken for all the days that I had been away. It is 4:pm and I have 22+ people that I have never met, who are going to hug me and call me Momma, coming for dinner in just under 3 hours. This makes the nightmare of the dinner party I had with no silverware seem like a distant chuckle at this time. (I didn’t mind my cardinal rule and set the table the night before. I left it to last forgetting that I had taken all the silverware from home to the big kitchen to use with an event so when I went to set the table, after some of my guests had started to arrive, I had zero silverware. It really was hilarious now that I think of it. We like shared large serving pieces to eat with. Big huge knives. Toothpicks. Now I am laughing! It WAS funny!)
Call the office. Please fix the AC now. Unfortunately, this is not the first time my AC has gone out in the last month or so. You would have thought they would have fixed it the first, second or even third time, but no, why bother finding out what the real problem is. I’m cooking, baking, sweating and trying to come up with a plan B. We are having dinner here because of the pool. There is a beautiful clubhouse by the pool but it closes at 7: and they will not let me use it. Even though the broken AC is their fault and they are not fixing it, the office has no intention of helping me come up with a plan B. They are not nice people. They are supposed to be giving me a Wonderful Living Experience. Kiss my a__.
6:30 pm. Supposedly the AC is fixed. It’s down to 84 degrees and yes, it will take a couple of hours to cool further.
7:00 pm. Food is ready and I am a wreak. Big wreak. 89 degrees and I am calling the office, again, for one last time. The Big AC fix it man is on the way. I get in the shower praying for cold water. Hah. Who am I kidding? Throw on the little dress with No bra and No drawers because I am crying now I am so hot. I want to just die.
No AC man.
7:30 Kids start showing up! Every single one of them hugging me, calling me Momma and thanking me for having them. 88 degrees and No bra and NO drawers and I am hugging, hugging, hugging. Praise God for Lou showing up with the Vodka and Tonic and fresh Limes!
No AC man.
8:30 pm. Kids are in and out, eating, laughing, talking. We have the doors open to let the cool 85 degree nighttime air in to cool the place off.
Still no AC man.
10:20 pm. AC man is supposedly on the way. Again. Kitchen is clean and I have an opportunity to go shower again and sleep elsewhere but no, I am instructed to wait for the AC man.
11:45 pm. No AC man. I make one final phone call. I wasn’t nice.
Bottom line, I am done with the whole anticipation gig. I am ready for the show to hit the road. I am ready to put the next set of plans in place. I am ready to revisit my goals and challenges. Ummmm, I am ready to rewrite the business plan! I am done with being hot and cranky. I am done with people who say they are going to show and they don’t. I am ready to plan the book signing road tour. I am ready….
Dear Tate Publishing:
Please call me, now. It’s time to get the show on the road. All these small business owners out there who are dying to get out of the heat need to hear from me!
Sincerely,
Annmarie!
Aka: AMCQ (Annmare the Cooking Queen)
2:00 pm Saturday afternoon. THE NEXT DAY! AC man showed up.
Last Thursday was a particularly horrendous day. I don’t do this Texas heat very well at all. (read: UNDERSTATEMENT) Unfortunately, I had to drive 4 hours for a work function that was a disaster. A team of us ended up cooking and showing food to a customer in an UN air-conditioned warehouse because one of the team members is an idiot. (Yes, I did say that.) After over 2 ½ hours in the UN air-conditioned warehouse, not only was I feeling extremely ill, my patience was worn completely out, my smile totally melted off of my face and my demeanor that of a woman in terminal menopause. The icing on the cake was when we were finally finished, the customer hugged me and he was as sweaty as I. Delightful. Yes, sweaty. Sweat running down my back, soaking my drawers and traveling down to my knees was not ladylike ‘glistening’. It was downright unladylike disgusting.
Took me all Thursday night to calm down and get my core temperature cool again, laying crossways over my hotel room bed, naked, before I would undertake the drive back south on Friday. At this time, I would really like Mr. Hotel Chain Man Owner to explain to me why and how all hotels seem to have this new gimmick of turning OFF the AC in their guest rooms in the middle of the night? All of them seem to do it. Do they really, I mean really, think none of their guests are going to wake up in the middle of the night and notice that the AC in their room has magically turned off so the hotel could save a few pennies? Seriously.
Sorry, I digressed. Friday morning I am up at 4:, in the car by 5: and on the way south to the office to work for 7 hours, give or take, depending on who has a personality in the office and who doesn’t. Three hour dive to the office. AC on full blast. 90 degrees outside already but my car is good and I can do this. Besides, I am totally excited because my Lia is bringing 22 of her Aggie Fish Camp friends to my house for dinner and I GET TO COOK for all of them AND they are all going to hug my neck and call me MOMMA!! I am beyond excited. Get to work. Work, work, meet, work, meet, work, run, run, run, out the door and another hour in the car and home! I am finally here!!!
And my AC is broken and it is 88 degrees inside. Felt like 2 million degrees and I had walked into hell. The butter I had left out on the counter to soften to make my famous Garlic Cheese Bread with is totally MELTED. Not just soft, melted liquid. Which would lead me to believe that the AC had been broken for all the days that I had been away. It is 4:pm and I have 22+ people that I have never met, who are going to hug me and call me Momma, coming for dinner in just under 3 hours. This makes the nightmare of the dinner party I had with no silverware seem like a distant chuckle at this time. (I didn’t mind my cardinal rule and set the table the night before. I left it to last forgetting that I had taken all the silverware from home to the big kitchen to use with an event so when I went to set the table, after some of my guests had started to arrive, I had zero silverware. It really was hilarious now that I think of it. We like shared large serving pieces to eat with. Big huge knives. Toothpicks. Now I am laughing! It WAS funny!)
Call the office. Please fix the AC now. Unfortunately, this is not the first time my AC has gone out in the last month or so. You would have thought they would have fixed it the first, second or even third time, but no, why bother finding out what the real problem is. I’m cooking, baking, sweating and trying to come up with a plan B. We are having dinner here because of the pool. There is a beautiful clubhouse by the pool but it closes at 7: and they will not let me use it. Even though the broken AC is their fault and they are not fixing it, the office has no intention of helping me come up with a plan B. They are not nice people. They are supposed to be giving me a Wonderful Living Experience. Kiss my a__.
6:30 pm. Supposedly the AC is fixed. It’s down to 84 degrees and yes, it will take a couple of hours to cool further.
7:00 pm. Food is ready and I am a wreak. Big wreak. 89 degrees and I am calling the office, again, for one last time. The Big AC fix it man is on the way. I get in the shower praying for cold water. Hah. Who am I kidding? Throw on the little dress with No bra and No drawers because I am crying now I am so hot. I want to just die.
No AC man.
7:30 Kids start showing up! Every single one of them hugging me, calling me Momma and thanking me for having them. 88 degrees and No bra and NO drawers and I am hugging, hugging, hugging. Praise God for Lou showing up with the Vodka and Tonic and fresh Limes!
No AC man.
8:30 pm. Kids are in and out, eating, laughing, talking. We have the doors open to let the cool 85 degree nighttime air in to cool the place off.
Still no AC man.
10:20 pm. AC man is supposedly on the way. Again. Kitchen is clean and I have an opportunity to go shower again and sleep elsewhere but no, I am instructed to wait for the AC man.
11:45 pm. No AC man. I make one final phone call. I wasn’t nice.
Bottom line, I am done with the whole anticipation gig. I am ready for the show to hit the road. I am ready to put the next set of plans in place. I am ready to revisit my goals and challenges. Ummmm, I am ready to rewrite the business plan! I am done with being hot and cranky. I am done with people who say they are going to show and they don’t. I am ready to plan the book signing road tour. I am ready….
Dear Tate Publishing:
Please call me, now. It’s time to get the show on the road. All these small business owners out there who are dying to get out of the heat need to hear from me!
Sincerely,
Annmarie!
Aka: AMCQ (Annmare the Cooking Queen)
2:00 pm Saturday afternoon. THE NEXT DAY! AC man showed up.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Firm Timeline? Yeah, Right
Yes, I am a kid and it IS Christmas Eve! Sadly, I’d forgotten the Christmas Eve feeling of anticipation a long, long time ago. Now, it’s back and it is the best feeling ever, ever, ever. Kind of like a feeling of young love and lust and… This is most yummy! I know this is quite good and I relish living in this moment. How did I capture Christmas Eve in June? All it took was communication from Tate regarding what to expect from my conceptual editing process. It is here! My time is just around the corner and I can’t wait.
Here is an excerpt: Your Conceptual Editor will be a highly trained professional who works every day with the elements of literature—things like logic, flow, and engagement in nonfiction. He/she is an objective reader who will be both your toughest critic and your closest ally.
You can expect Conceptual Editing to be the most difficult and most rewarding part of the publishing process. It will take time, patience, and hard work from both author and editor.
My toughest critic and my closest ally! Most difficult and most rewarding! Time, patience and hard work! Yes, this is my holiday. I am ready to learn! I am ready for adventure! I am going to keep this feeling of Christmas in my bones for a long, long time. I am going to be rewarded for waiting patiently. For breathing deeply and managing my day to day while waiting. Besides, my new friend Ruth was reading my palm recently and she told me that I was in a time of transition, that I had power in my patience and that in the end, my book was going to be amazing and that I was going to reap success because I was going to empower so many others to thier own success.
I have chosen to believe and envision every single thing that my palm had to tell me!
Meantime, I have been working on my own PR campaign and taping notes all over my vision board. Front and center are my road trip locations! I have been talking about taking a road trip forever and now have the power to finally begin visualizing it. My goal is to get in the car and circle this country visiting all the people I adore and who I call my ‘other one’ families. I’ve now decided that yes, my road trip IS going to be a reality and I am going to be signing books in every single location! I am going to be cooking amazing food in everyone’s kitchens and we are going to visit and talk and share. (drinking really great wine!) This makes me very, very happy!
Along with my little PR campaign, I allowed my friend Gerald to prod me into finally starting a Twitter account. I did it! I’ve told Casey that I am going to be the queen of social networking and of course, he thought that was a hilarious joke. Don’t notice that he has a Twitter account… http://twitter.com/RecipesFrmALife
In closing, Tate tells me that my editing timeline is firm. A firm timeline? Doesn’t get any better than a firm time line! My palm tells me so! Merry Christmas in June!
Here is an excerpt: Your Conceptual Editor will be a highly trained professional who works every day with the elements of literature—things like logic, flow, and engagement in nonfiction. He/she is an objective reader who will be both your toughest critic and your closest ally.
You can expect Conceptual Editing to be the most difficult and most rewarding part of the publishing process. It will take time, patience, and hard work from both author and editor.
My toughest critic and my closest ally! Most difficult and most rewarding! Time, patience and hard work! Yes, this is my holiday. I am ready to learn! I am ready for adventure! I am going to keep this feeling of Christmas in my bones for a long, long time. I am going to be rewarded for waiting patiently. For breathing deeply and managing my day to day while waiting. Besides, my new friend Ruth was reading my palm recently and she told me that I was in a time of transition, that I had power in my patience and that in the end, my book was going to be amazing and that I was going to reap success because I was going to empower so many others to thier own success.
I have chosen to believe and envision every single thing that my palm had to tell me!
Meantime, I have been working on my own PR campaign and taping notes all over my vision board. Front and center are my road trip locations! I have been talking about taking a road trip forever and now have the power to finally begin visualizing it. My goal is to get in the car and circle this country visiting all the people I adore and who I call my ‘other one’ families. I’ve now decided that yes, my road trip IS going to be a reality and I am going to be signing books in every single location! I am going to be cooking amazing food in everyone’s kitchens and we are going to visit and talk and share. (drinking really great wine!) This makes me very, very happy!
Along with my little PR campaign, I allowed my friend Gerald to prod me into finally starting a Twitter account. I did it! I’ve told Casey that I am going to be the queen of social networking and of course, he thought that was a hilarious joke. Don’t notice that he has a Twitter account… http://twitter.com/RecipesFrmALife
In closing, Tate tells me that my editing timeline is firm. A firm timeline? Doesn’t get any better than a firm time line! My palm tells me so! Merry Christmas in June!
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Hurricane Brownies
Those who know me know that I am absolutely not a procrastinator but boy, oh, boy, I have been procrastinating finishing the Author Outline pages that the Dolphin had asked me to complete. Don’t know what pushed me off the edge, but I finally finished and submitted them today. All questions answered including where I think my book should be displayed in a bookstore. I wanted to say right inside the front door, duh. But I was respectful and realistic and didn’t! I did say that I could see it in every airport terminal bookstore in the whole wide world though! I also answered who my audience was going to be and what I wanted people to take away from my book and more and more.
I’ve also now read the Tate Marketing guidelines. Now, that was exciting! All these directions on book-signings and paraphernalia like bookmarks and post cards and posters and t-shirts. On and on! They suggest that I have my first book signing in the town that I live in and have a minimum of 30 of my own guests in attendance. I am going to have to bribe everyone with Hurricane Brownies!
I still have the message from the keynote speaker from Tyler’s graduation running around in my head. One of his points was to do more than average people do. He talked about how average people just survive not necessarily succeeding. In order to succeed in life one must exceed expectation. I promise that I am going to do more than average with this book. I am going to exceed expectation by doing everything that I need to do going above and beyond with each task that Tate gives me. No more procrastination!
I’ve also now read the Tate Marketing guidelines. Now, that was exciting! All these directions on book-signings and paraphernalia like bookmarks and post cards and posters and t-shirts. On and on! They suggest that I have my first book signing in the town that I live in and have a minimum of 30 of my own guests in attendance. I am going to have to bribe everyone with Hurricane Brownies!
I still have the message from the keynote speaker from Tyler’s graduation running around in my head. One of his points was to do more than average people do. He talked about how average people just survive not necessarily succeeding. In order to succeed in life one must exceed expectation. I promise that I am going to do more than average with this book. I am going to exceed expectation by doing everything that I need to do going above and beyond with each task that Tate gives me. No more procrastination!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
News From The Dolphin!
The email begins…’Just to prepare you now, the book business is not known for its ‘quickness’. My lesson in patience has officially begun!
While I was at Tate, Rachel, the formatting goddess, let me know that I would be hearing from Dave Dolphin on Friday regarding my production schedule. As anticipated, I heard from the Dolphin on Friday. How I love how these people follow-up! They have done everything they have committed to doing. They do business the way I do business. An ideal match.
I feel like I have just opened the door to a learning curve like no-other I have experienced before. From the day I allowed myself to be managed when I visited Tate to the Dolphin email warning me that the publishing industry is not known for its ‘quickness’. I have always been the one to make things happen and to make them happen NOW. Now, I am going to sit back, do what I am told and let the process unfold before me. The Dolphin even says, “Many authors have commented that God used this time in their lives to teach them patience. But remember good things some to those who wait and this can be a very exciting time in your life.” Understatement!
I feel pregnant! The book is there and I need to just let it incubate. I am just going to have faith that it IS going to come out! Production will officially begin in July and apparently at this time I will be assigned a team consisting of many players including an editor, cover designer and layout artist. Apparently the first month will be copyediting and I already feel sorry for whoever will be assigned this task! They will be dealing with technical/grammatical issues and obviously, spending quite a bit of time deciding which of my exclamation points to save and which to discard.
Of course, the Dolphin gave me homework. I need to complete two Author Outline pages. Lots of questions such as, ‘What is the goal of your book’ and ‘Who do you see as your target audience’ and ‘where does your book fit in a bookstore’. I look forward to stopping and taking the time to answer these questions. The more time I spend on them in answering, the better idea they will have of placing me with the best conceptual editor match. This editor, I cannot wait to meet! They will be the person who will take my words and make them real!
I was lucky enough to be in Nashville last weekend for my Florida Nephew’s college graduation. It was a fabulous weekend with the actual graduation being one of the highlights. The commencement speaker was talking straight to me like my pastor at home normally does. He talked about his Seven Steps to Success with the first being to Dream Big. (Yes, I took notes!) I have been dreaming big about how I am going to help so many small business owners all over the whole wide world to be successful in spite of themselves! Teaching them from my experiences how to manage themselves within their businesses. With my news from the Dolphin, I really think I can begin my lesson in patience and realize that my dreaming big is paying off!
(On an off note, my personal goal is to have 500 followers to this blog by the time I am in print. Have you clicked follow? Who do you know would like to be following…)
While I was at Tate, Rachel, the formatting goddess, let me know that I would be hearing from Dave Dolphin on Friday regarding my production schedule. As anticipated, I heard from the Dolphin on Friday. How I love how these people follow-up! They have done everything they have committed to doing. They do business the way I do business. An ideal match.
I feel like I have just opened the door to a learning curve like no-other I have experienced before. From the day I allowed myself to be managed when I visited Tate to the Dolphin email warning me that the publishing industry is not known for its ‘quickness’. I have always been the one to make things happen and to make them happen NOW. Now, I am going to sit back, do what I am told and let the process unfold before me. The Dolphin even says, “Many authors have commented that God used this time in their lives to teach them patience. But remember good things some to those who wait and this can be a very exciting time in your life.” Understatement!
I feel pregnant! The book is there and I need to just let it incubate. I am just going to have faith that it IS going to come out! Production will officially begin in July and apparently at this time I will be assigned a team consisting of many players including an editor, cover designer and layout artist. Apparently the first month will be copyediting and I already feel sorry for whoever will be assigned this task! They will be dealing with technical/grammatical issues and obviously, spending quite a bit of time deciding which of my exclamation points to save and which to discard.
Of course, the Dolphin gave me homework. I need to complete two Author Outline pages. Lots of questions such as, ‘What is the goal of your book’ and ‘Who do you see as your target audience’ and ‘where does your book fit in a bookstore’. I look forward to stopping and taking the time to answer these questions. The more time I spend on them in answering, the better idea they will have of placing me with the best conceptual editor match. This editor, I cannot wait to meet! They will be the person who will take my words and make them real!
I was lucky enough to be in Nashville last weekend for my Florida Nephew’s college graduation. It was a fabulous weekend with the actual graduation being one of the highlights. The commencement speaker was talking straight to me like my pastor at home normally does. He talked about his Seven Steps to Success with the first being to Dream Big. (Yes, I took notes!) I have been dreaming big about how I am going to help so many small business owners all over the whole wide world to be successful in spite of themselves! Teaching them from my experiences how to manage themselves within their businesses. With my news from the Dolphin, I really think I can begin my lesson in patience and realize that my dreaming big is paying off!
(On an off note, my personal goal is to have 500 followers to this blog by the time I am in print. Have you clicked follow? Who do you know would like to be following…)
Thursday, May 6, 2010
All About the Sign!
As you know, I am a very visual person. You can tell me anything and I get it. Show me, however and I am all over it. This being said, yes, I am thrilled about the opportunity to sign a contract with Tate Publishing. Tate who now had in their hands my new baby, The Book. I decided that I couldn't move forward unless I saw Tate in person. I needed to meet the people who were going to work with me to birth my dream.
Off to Oklahoma I go. I used to live in Tulsa and I loved it there. It was a very happy time in my life and I clearly remember the stunning seasons. I used to travel from Tulsa to Oklahoma City to do some freelance work way back when and loved it. You will love this: The last time I was in Oklahoma City was when I traveled up on a whim to audition for Martha Stewart Apprentice. Martha's spin off from Donald Trumps Apprentice series. Yes, there is a story there!
I was going to be in Dallas and made arrangements with Tate to travel to Mustang, OK to visit, have a tour and meet everyone and anyone who would take the time to talk to me. Excited. I was excited!
My best friend, my GPS, took me straight to the front door and the sign. 'Welcome Author-Annmarie McArthur' They spelled my name right! They put out a sign! Just for ME! I know they have a million authors and I am sure they have many that visit all the time. But frankly, I don't care. They put out a sign, just for me with my name on it and they spelled it right!
I didn't start out Annmarie. I'll tell you now that I started out Ann Marie. There are a zillion Ann's in the world and my parents always called me Ann-Marie. While you meet many Ann's in a lifetime, you sure don't meet many if any, Ann-Maries. Because I am totally a one of a kind and I get that I am a one of a kind and got it a long time ago that I am a one of a kind, many, many years ago, I went to court and became Annmarie! One of the best decisions I ever made. I love my name!
I digress. My visit to Tate was very interesting. I was managed. Managed like I am not used to being managed. Tate managed me. They told me what I needed to be told. Introduced me to the people that I needed to meet. Showed me what I needed to see. Glently walked me along when I was staying too long in one spot and talking too much. They MANAGED me and I loved every moment. Everyone there was young. Organized. Focused. Obviously talented. Wow! I am now part of their family!
Before I knew it I was walked out the door and to my car; With a Tate mug and a Tate pen. I loved Tate and I am going to love Tate and I am going to work with Tate. I understand that a book like mine is a first for them. They haven't taken on a project geared towards empowering small business owners before! I am the first. One of a kind!
My next communication from them will be my production schedule. I can't wait to hear! They got my name right and they put it on the sign. I have no doubt that they will do everything else right also. We are going to help alot of people manage themselves to success!
Off to Oklahoma I go. I used to live in Tulsa and I loved it there. It was a very happy time in my life and I clearly remember the stunning seasons. I used to travel from Tulsa to Oklahoma City to do some freelance work way back when and loved it. You will love this: The last time I was in Oklahoma City was when I traveled up on a whim to audition for Martha Stewart Apprentice. Martha's spin off from Donald Trumps Apprentice series. Yes, there is a story there!
I was going to be in Dallas and made arrangements with Tate to travel to Mustang, OK to visit, have a tour and meet everyone and anyone who would take the time to talk to me. Excited. I was excited!
My best friend, my GPS, took me straight to the front door and the sign. 'Welcome Author-Annmarie McArthur' They spelled my name right! They put out a sign! Just for ME! I know they have a million authors and I am sure they have many that visit all the time. But frankly, I don't care. They put out a sign, just for me with my name on it and they spelled it right!
I didn't start out Annmarie. I'll tell you now that I started out Ann Marie. There are a zillion Ann's in the world and my parents always called me Ann-Marie. While you meet many Ann's in a lifetime, you sure don't meet many if any, Ann-Maries. Because I am totally a one of a kind and I get that I am a one of a kind and got it a long time ago that I am a one of a kind, many, many years ago, I went to court and became Annmarie! One of the best decisions I ever made. I love my name!
I digress. My visit to Tate was very interesting. I was managed. Managed like I am not used to being managed. Tate managed me. They told me what I needed to be told. Introduced me to the people that I needed to meet. Showed me what I needed to see. Glently walked me along when I was staying too long in one spot and talking too much. They MANAGED me and I loved every moment. Everyone there was young. Organized. Focused. Obviously talented. Wow! I am now part of their family!
Before I knew it I was walked out the door and to my car; With a Tate mug and a Tate pen. I loved Tate and I am going to love Tate and I am going to work with Tate. I understand that a book like mine is a first for them. They haven't taken on a project geared towards empowering small business owners before! I am the first. One of a kind!
My next communication from them will be my production schedule. I can't wait to hear! They got my name right and they put it on the sign. I have no doubt that they will do everything else right also. We are going to help alot of people manage themselves to success!
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