Setting boundaries and saying no is not easy but if I want to create the amazing programs I see in my mind's eye I have to focus on my two biggest passions - My family and my Gift Box writings and workshops. I need to keep those my priorities, no matter what others want from me. And do it with grace and kindness! This is no easy task as I have many interests, connections, a large clan and enjoy being social and creative. But I have only so many days, years left and if I wan

"We can't do everything, and what we can do, we can't do perfectly, but that's okay. All we need to do is make a beginning, right here, right now. If we just do that, it will make all the difference in the world." Regina Brett What will you do to make a difference? Today? Tomorrow? Next Month? Next Year?

I enjoy Maria Shriver's Sunday Paper. It is online and arrives every Sunday morning in my inbox. One of the more recent ones focused on what is it you, me Maria, really want to do and are passionate about. Name only 2 things. This is difficult for me as I have interests and passions that scatter me in many directions. I think that is the point of the focus exercise! As this writing/question arrived I am also figuring out how to be an active participant in a program I sign

Hello, I am rejoining the world after two months commuting everyday to be with Bob who was in UCSF hospital following a two day back surgery that turned into a week in ICU and more hospital time. I spent September commuting to Stanford for a three week visit to Stanford hospital as Bob underwent and recovered from heart surgery. That is 7 months of being the partner, support, medical advocate, lover, friend, organizer, medical expert. None of this was in the wedding vows wh

"This is today! What will tomorrow bring? Life arrives and departs on its own schedule, not ours; it's time to travel light, and be ready to go wherever it takes us." Meg Wolfe I have spent the last two months in hospitals with Bob, the patient. His back surgeries - yes, 2 - were successful and rehab went well. Now he is home. Unable to do the ususal things we take for granted like bending over to put on his shoes, twisting to grab a book, lifting a gr

Writing Blogs, sharing ideas is creative and fun for me. However, it is so one sided and sometimes I don't even know if I am just chatting away with the elves living in the bookcase. (my mother told us they were there and to be aware!) Recently I received this feedback and my spirits soared. How refreshing to know someone finds the Gift Box as useful as I intended, the forms as helpful as they were planned to be, the ideas helpful in having our conversations with our loved on

Writing Blogs, sharing ideas is creative and fun for me. However, it is so one sided and sometimes I don't even know if I am just chatting away with the elves living in the bookcase. (my mother told us they were there and to be aware!) Recently I received this feedback and my spirits soared. How refreshing to know someone finds the Gift Box as useful as I intended, the forms as helpful as they were planned to be, the ideas helpful in having our conversations with our loved