What’s Change and Furry Friends Got to Do With It?

I was awakened this morning with a feeling that someone was staring at me. Someone WAS staring at me— my impatient Pug, “Miles”. I opened my eyes to see Miles sitting on my chest. Apparently, his internal clock knows that it is at least 150 minutes past his usual time to eat breakfast and be let out. See, Miles is counting on me to serve all his needs. Since I was the only person in the house this week, he is dependent solely on me to serve him food and let him out. Ten years ago, waking up to this overweight furry ball on my chest would be, at the very least, an annoying way to start my day. Not to mention the two cats that are crammed under the covers next to me, radiating way too much heat. Times have changed. Today, I found this incident to be amusing and enjoyable.Continue reading

Girlfriend, are you the Real Deal?

I work with women that want to make a positive change in their lives. Early into our work, we will have a conversation about being in touch with their “authentic self”. They look at me, confused by this statement. They often ask, “How do I become in touch with my authentic self and what does that even mean?” Just for the record, living as your authentic self requires you to know who you truly are and living your life accordingly. In other words, it’s being faithful to the values, skills and gifts that were given to you and utilizing them on a daily basis.Continue reading

Men-Can’t live with them…..

I was talking to a new friend the other day, and the conversation lead to the men in our lives and our relationships. My girlfriend asked me how long I had been married to my current husband. The reason I use the adjective current is because a fortuneteller told me years ago that I would have three husbands, fame and fortune during my lifetime. Maybe this woman reading my fortune was telepathically reading the next person in line, because all three of these so-called predictions seem a little far-fetched. Frankly, my man was miffed about the prediction since he assumes the other two men I will marry will be the ones that get to benefit from my fame and fortune. Apparently, he has not seen evidence of this prediction yet.Continue reading

I Get By With a Little Help From My Girlfriends

No matter how much we love men, we would be lost without our girlfriends. They play such an important role in our lives. They pick us up off the floor when things go bust in a relationship, they listen to us when our kids are driving us crazy and they support us through those great and disastrous times in our careers. Some friendships are very close, like sisters, while others never really share deep feelings. Some friendships are nurtured through our hobbies or interests, and some grow from spending time together at important moments of our lives. Many friendships begin in our childhood, high school or college years and many more form through our hours spent in the workplace. Some friendships are based on a shared value system, and feel comfortable because the friends have so much in common, while others are based on chemistry. Two girlfriends may appear to have very little in common on the surface, but they could have an emotional connection that brings them together. The constant in all these different friendships is that they all must grow and some do change over time.Continue reading

Have you ever seen a Mompetition?

While exercising at the gym last week, I caught a segment on the Today Show about Mompetition. What’s a Mompetition, you say? Well, I am sure you have seen this phenomenon before— you just didn’t have a name to attach to it. Have you ever seen a mom bragging about her child’s athletic prowess and another mother joining in to compete? Or have you ever heard two moms gloating over which gifted class their very special child has been placed in? If you are lucky enough to have survived the college application process with a child, you have certainly seen this marvel take place. In conversation, each mother tries to “one up” the last one with the exceptional Universities that her child is applying to, all the time oblivious to how other women are feeling. I take that back, she could be very aware of how other women are feeling— I have seen this Mompetition get downright ugly and spiral out of control. Continue reading