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New Beginnings Archives - All The Single Girlfriends

Happy 2013 .. On Your Terms

Jan 1, 2013 by

Happy 2013 .. On Your Terms

The 2012 Holiday Season for this Single Girlfriends is one of profound gratitude. My second breast biopsy came back negative. That is despite the fact that breast/colon cancer tends to cluster in families and that it does in my family. My eyes are okay. My teeth, at least the ones which matter, are keeps, for the current time. I also have learned to make friends, something I initially got the hang of in the Single Girlfriends. As we Baby Boomers used to say in our youth, “My dance card is full.” People are coming into my life, rather than my chasing them. Toby Bloomberg helped make this possible. Thanks, Toby. In addition, my business is going along fine. I have reconfigured it from the focus on social media (no $, big glut) back to my...

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Happy 2013 .. On Your Terms

Jan 1, 2013 by

Happy 2013 .. On Your Terms

As 2013 opens its door to us we stand on the threshold of seemingly unlimited possibilities. However, as  I watch the rain drops fall (and think thank goodness it’s not snowing in Atlanta!)  it seems like I’ve been given a small gift to begin the new year. With the gray clouds overhead today I don’t feel a need to go and do. There will be time to think about that  in the 364 days to come. Today is for taking a small breath, to listen to the quiet, to be satisfied with the now without the pressure of achieving goals. There will be time to think about that in the 364 days to come. Happiness comes in unexpected ways. Today it’s a rain drop. Tomorrow it might be something that drives career success or the nurturing of...

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Top 5 Advices for Marketing Newbies...

Jun 11, 2012 by

Top 5 Advices for Marketing Newbies

A cousin who calls me Obi Wan (I know, I know) and is about to join the marketing world asked me this:  “What are your top 5 advices for a marketing newbie?” The question made me recall my own Marketing Jedi-In-Training days.  Those were not happy days.  At all.  My memory recounts endless tears, utter confusion and an almost paralyzing fear that I was really born devoid of a brain. Back then (Sigh! This sentence beginning always makes me feel as old as Yoda), marketing was the career of the desperate.  When you’re a fresh college graduate and jobless, you take a marketing job until something better and serious comes along.  Like accountancy. And so it was that I found myself signing that first employment contract with much relief.  Never mind that I have...

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Hiding In A Huge Way

Jun 4, 2012 by

Hiding In A Huge Way

Big Question: Why did I think gaining weight would be protective? I’m just coming up to one month post-bariatric surgery.  There are still lots of questions going through my mind.  The first couple of weeks were fairly easy, I was on an extremely restricted diet and the weight just melted off. Now I’m supposed to begin eating a more “normal” diet, but I’m not sure what normal is.  My past portion size was my real downfall.  I was not much of a junk eater, though I did love my potato chips.  I really did not over indulge in snack-type foods.  What I did do was eat huge amounts of healthy food.  Healthy or not, super sizing leads to super sizes. So I’ve decided that I really need to look at my relationship to food. ...

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Week One: Success!

May 14, 2012 by

Week One: Success!

Well, I’ve made it through my first week. Actually, it was a week last Friday since I had my lap band procedure.  The first couple of day I felt great, even energized.  Then reality set in.  As I moved into what is called the Full Liquid Diet, I found that my tolerance for pre-made protein shakes, ones I’d had no problem with prior to surgery, really upset my stomach. After nearly 4 days of  living on green tea, I thought it best to call the doctor and ask if it was normal to feel so: 1, achy in the stomach; and 2, still be running to the loo with little warning of what was to come.  They assured me that all would be fine, to stop using the Atkins shakes and switch to a...

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It’s A New Day!

Apr 23, 2012 by

It’s A New Day!

This weekend has been a reawakening of my life. Friday, I had my lap-band surgery and all went really well.  Now the real work begins.  Truth be told, I’ve been holding back on so many emotions.  I feel like I have to say good-bye to old friends like pasta, bread and fried food.  But then that makes me wonder about why I would have thought them my friends. My friends would not hurt me or look to console me in a way that would threaten my health.  My friends would support me and help me make good choices.  So now I have to delve into the world of my food addiction and try to understand exactly what the attraction was/is all about. I think of it as my 12 step program to health.  First…admit...

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Five Days and Counting

Apr 16, 2012 by

Five Days and Counting

In five days my life changes.  No, not the bit 6-0 just yet, that will happen soon enough. I’m talking about my bariatric surgery.  On Friday, April 20th at 8:45 am, my life is going to add a new tool to its arsenal.  I’m excited and nervous at the same time. I’ve been wrestling with my emotions since making this decision.  I thought I’d blog about it on a weekly basis, but what I really did was sort of let work take over my life and push this reality onto the proverbial “back burner.”  Not to push the food analogies too far, but it’s simmered and now is ready to be ingested. So down to reality…all sort of things are running through my mind.  Will I ever eat bread again?  What about a cocktail?...

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Table Set For One

Apr 10, 2012 by

Table Set For One

I didn’t always live alone. I grew up in a home with a mom, dad and sister. Then there were college roommates, the boyfriend, after college roommates and now of course Max .. do you count your dog? In between there was living alone .. which can be quite wonderful and no more lonely than living with people. Last week I said good bye to a special roommate, my nephew Scott. Scott moved in with me and Max last March when his job took him from Boston to Atlanta. I must admit I had a few concerns about sharing a house with a 21-year old. However, more often than not, life takes you down roads unexpected. The year with Scott was a delight.  It was fun sharing day-to-day living, watching the Food Network, playing...

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Failure + Girlfriends = New Directions at Age 66...

Feb 14, 2012 by

Failure + Girlfriends = New Directions at Age 66

The meme of our time is failure.  In fact, the folks at the HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW are all worried about Mark Zuckerberg’s leadership at Facebook since he hasn’t as yet failed and therefore not proved he has what it takes to come back Well, I got really lucky there.  In 2003, I lost it all, ranging from my executive communications boutique to my mind.  Nine years later, sure, I agree it was the best thing that happened to me. At the very least the fear of failure is gone.  That in itself breaks us open to using our talent instead of blindly following some rules we grabbed onto chasing success.  And that in itself is a lot. But it wasn’t enough to help me move out of hiding out inside myself.  The missing piece...

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Encore!

Feb 9, 2012 by

Encore!

Now that the New Year is over a month old I am finally getting myself grounded enough to share what’s happening in my life again. I have started what some call an ‘Encore Career.’ Check out the website that supports the concept. I am the Executive Director of the Northwest Center for Creative Aging (NWCCA).  As our intro says, “We help adults find their purpose and live into their potential as they age. We enrich lives by creating conversations, fostering connections and serving as an educational resource. Our philosophy addresses the whole person – mind, body and spirit – with a range of programs committed to creative aging. We welcome people of all ages and stages.” I wasn’t looking for a new job and it happened in the same way that other jobs and experiences have happened...

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How I Can’t Lose What I Don’t Want...

Jan 11, 2012 by

How I Can’t Lose What I Don’t Want

“Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.”  Kris Kristofferson, “Me and Bobby McGee“ Here we are again, at the start of a new year.  Last year at this time, I was contemplating quitting my corporate job to find my way in the world of being an entrepreneur.  Self-determination and freedom to grow the creative part of myself beckoned.  Terror tried to bar the way, but it lost its power to imprison me when Dave died.  Sorry, Terror.  You have to come up with something scarier than a balance sheet to stop me now. This year I can easily count what I’ve gained.  I got a rough and tumble education in the ways of small businesses.  I made a whole new community’s worth of friends.  I learned to read a balance sheet, plan...

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Cracking The Code

Jan 5, 2012 by

Cracking The Code

I was thinking about what I was going to write about for my first week of 2012 article. I was going to do a fitness article but my recent great find in Louisville, Still Spinnin, this kick-ass, rocking spin studio, is closed until January 2nd. And I will be doing a skiing article about my Indiana ski adventure later in the week.  So, I decided that this article is all about gratitude, abundance and my constant strive to get things done on my timetable, but I’ve never been able to get that to work in my favor, so I’ve decided to give up the ghost on that one. There are a few things I don’t believe in. I don’t believe in regrets – we make choices and life is all about living with those choices...

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