I'm Speaking At The Women's Expo

Guess what? I will be speaking at the Women’s Expo in just 3 weeks! I'll be sharing how to have tough talks with confidence and ease. Yes, you can do it, too! 

I would love one of my media friends to come to video my session, who's available for an hour or so?

Want to attend? I have a couple of tickets... :)

Dave here, Let Me Tell You About Kathy...

I just wanted to give a public shout out to my wife, Kathy Partak She is always saying complimentary things about me and rarely am I on Facebook so I wanted to return the gesture.

She has always been there for Mason and I and done good wifely and motherly things for the two of us but I really noticed the other day that she is really busting her derriere helping others selling and buying their homes. Kathy doesn't want to be a top producer but wants to have her clients feel good about their transactions. She goes way beyond what usual realtors do. She tells her clients that they "get her". Getting "her" means that they deal with Kathy from start to finish and they are not fawned off to other processors that most realtors in big firms will do. She is also always available no matter the time of day or where she is at. Many a time, dinner or vacations go on a temporary hold while she helps her clients and her laptop is with her whenever we travel. The great thing is that she gets a lot of her business from referrals which means she did a good enough job that her past clients are willing to recommend her.

I know this may sound like an endorsement or ad for Kathy, and it is not meant to be, but hey, as they always told us in business, "ask for the sale". She helped me get through to retirement when at times I wanted to just quit. I am glad she got me to the finish line. Now it's my time to support her and her passion. To her, it's a passion and not a job and that makes all the difference.

Thanks Kathy for all you are doing for us.

Sunset On The Lake

Dave planned a sunset trip on the lake tonight. Ladies, I have to say, I make no secret about how lucky I feel to have a guy like Dave who makes grand romantic gestures like the one tonight. It's his love language. My parents were not happily married but they stayed married until the days they both died. I didn't see affection between them, in fact, I saw the opposite. To think that I could grow up thinking that true, happy love was just created by writers on television and then marry a guy who proves me wrong even today, almost 20 years later, well it's really a gift that I sometimes don't feel worthy of. I've said it many times, I'm not sure what I did to deserve him and the way he loves me, but I am so glad he's mine and this is our life. To my single girlfriends, don't settle, if he wants to be with you, he will make time, he will go out of his way, and he will travel long distances just to have coffee with you. I promise, this I know. Thank you David​ for the most magical evening tonight. Even the mosquitos didn't spoil it!

Nothing But Jam!

Dave and Mason are at Pacificon

 and I had big plans to hunker down and write. I sat down and I had nothing, not one thought or idea that was worthwhile. Of course, I had a topic planned, but when it was time to clickety-click-click-click, nothing! So instead I made jam, LOTS of jam. I made Cherry Fig Christmas jam, Spicy Plum & Fig jam, Cherry Amaretto jam, Strawberry Jalapeno jam, and Strawberry Jalapeno barbeque sauce. And I still have fruit I need to process! This photo is just a small fraction of what I made.

I really want to write this weekend before the boys get home so send me lots of inspiration to make that happen. Please?

The Great Hack on Netflix

Who has seen “The Great Hack” on Netflix? Was I not talking about this with Common Core in 2015? Certainly the data collection with common core in our schools is on a smaller scale, but the sale of personal data be it adults or children should come with full consent and permission. 

Currently, we do not have rights to our personal data unless one has never been online. If you have purchased something or participated on any social media platform, your data has been collected, if even on a minimal level. If you’ve seen the documentary, I’d love to hear your thoughts and discuss. It"s difficult to wrap my head around. Part of me wants to get off social media altogether (if even just on principle alone) while the other part thinks, the damage is already done, what does it matter? I think it does matter, but I’m not sure a handful of us boycotting social media will change anything. Too many people are addicted to their phones and social media, in fact, I’m seeing that even my kid has more “virtual” friends than friends IRL (in real life for those of you who do not speak text-hand). I just read a quote that said, “The cost of doing nothing is greater than the cost of doing something and failing.” It stopped me in my tracks not only in the context of voting or boycotting something but in investments, planning for retirement, teaching our children to speak and do for themselves, the list goes on. 

Something will happen that will force our hands. Far too many of our daily processes and payments are online so I don’t see us going back to a time without this technology, even American currency is being considered cumbersome and obsolete by some businesses, but maybe? Then the question was posed, can we truly be manipulated or do the majority not care if their data is made public? One may not care if their data is public domain, but the fact remains, we can and are being manipulated, even many who are highly educated. The human psyche is far too complex to be funneled down into simple A or B categories. If you have not seen this film, check it out, the more we know the easier it may be to take action. 

More Lake! More Summer! More Friends!

Remember my post about not being ready for summer to end? Well, I meant it! LOL! I'm still soaking up the sunshine (lots of sunscreen!) and love the time when our friends come out on the boat with us. Of course, lots of people say they want to join us but can never seem to make it work when we put the invite out to them. It's okay, the people who really want to come, make it work. It's interesting that some people would never imagine asking us if they can come while others will text us regularly asking what the boat schedule is for the week.

Dave has a hard time telling people they can't come, but I don't. It's just that there are times we have plans to be on the boat with a specific group of people and they expect that they will have time with us without the company of someone they don't know. I just let those people know, we already have plans with others but we'll be sure to make it happen another time. I think I'm just too old to play games and have to worry about keeping quiet or being careful that someone who wanted go didn't get to, and then they see that we were out with someone else and might be upset that we told them not this time. It makes me laugh, it's our boat, we do not need to be emotionally wrangled by an acquaintance. In any case, it's 100% true that 95% of the people who say they really want to go, don't really want to go. They like the idea of going more than actually doing it. For those who actually come with us, it's so super fun! We might bust out the big floaties, or a tube or one who wants to wakeboard or wake surf can partake in those as well. For me, I prefer to just float and bob! I know we have another month or two but schedules get busy so we end up spending less time on the boat and lake.

This & That

There were a couple of other things that were special last weekend while we were in Southern California, one of them was that Dave participated in a salsa making contest at the OC Fair and took second place! It was live on stage and he made us proud! LOL! Okay, it's not some epic thing, but I love that he participated. What was especially funny is how many people thought I meant a Salsa Dancing contest! 



The other thing that was great was that Mason and I took another photo on the beach being "Open" to all the universe has to offer. This one is being compared to last year so the difference is subtle, but you can see that Mason has officially passed me and is absolutely taller than I am. It's okay, I knew it was coming but in the 10 years that we've been doing this, it's super cool to see 2009 compared to 2019. 





This week was busy, I had lots of adventures in real estate. I am working with a family who has an uncanny knack of wanting to see properties that go beyond the north 40! We have been through national forest land, off-road for more than 5 miles, and one property was not only off-road, but it was way up a hill. I could swear I heard banjos when we looked at the last one! Sunday was a l-o-n-g day! We looked at a property that was what felt like at the end of the earth, and then 4 more not so "far out!" I got home in time to get Dave to work as we are currently sharing one vehicle and then to put this lovely little “SOLD” sign on my property closing this week. Next, I got groceries, and then home to grab Mason to go with me back to where Dave is working so he could walk home with me since it was then after dark. The bonus was that we walked the dogs tonight. Work is still not done but I’m tired so, sweet dreams!