It wasn’t your typical Friday afternoon, but then again, this is Sedona. 

Five of us went out for high tea on the opening day of Alice in Wonderland and treated ourselves to amazing teas, tarts, sandwiches (and a little face/hand-painting). We all need fun days like this!

Sometimes you just have to go where the wind takes you. This Sedona hot-air balloon was aiming to land miles away but apparently got blown down my street. Fortunately it made a very neat landing in front of a school, to the delight of the children there I’m sure.

photo credit fotomossa

This question has been sitting on my desk for a few weeks now, scribbled down in haste when I first saw it. I know a gem of a message when I see one, and this reminder has sure come in handy.

I got a new laptop last weekend, which was the good news. The bad? Well, my programs got transferred but my email addresses didn’t seem to come with them. You know that moment when you first feel the horror of something monumental going wrong? I kept clicking on my address book again and again, as if I expected the addresses to magically re-appear after the 5th click.

Well, they didn’t and the voice in my head started screaming “Ohmygodhowdidthishappen?I’mgoingtodie.” And then I happened to glance at my note: What’s perfect about the problem? I can’t say that after seeing it I immediately jumped up and went into problem-solving mode. But the screaming voice quieted down enough to consider the possibility that there might be something positive hidden in the seeming disaster.

Long story short: After talking with my husband and daughter, I understood that I had transferred an older version of the email program and that it might very well be outdated in a short amount of time. But if I purchased the newest version and re-entered only my most current addresses I would have not only a better, updated program, but a much more efficient and effective address list to work with.

It does make sense to look at problems as opportunities. And life being what it is, I should probably enlarge my note, frame it and hang it in front of my nose.

I don’t know how many of my readers have attempted to reach me through my Contact Page, but it’s been brought to my attention that spammers have rendered it non-functional. Fortunately some folks attempted to follow-up through phone calls so that I was made aware of what had happened and the page should be  working correctly again in a few days. I apologize if it seemed as though I wasn’t responding to anyone’s email. Please try again next week. Thanks!

Interested in memoir and story-telling?

I’ve been enjoying Writing About Your Life: A Journey Into The Past, written by one of the masters, William Zinsser (On Writing Well). He weaves his own life stories into advice on how to write clearly and effectively and the transitions are seamless. Thanks, Colleen, for the recommendation!

Very interesting weather we’re having but it seems that all’s well that ends well.

And that’s enough winter for me.

Photo credit Tut99

We’re getting California’s major rainstorms now and keeping an eye on the potential flooding of Oak Creek. Hope it’s not too bad what with the construction of the new bridge there.

I’m glad I was able to get out earlier this week with my friend, Cynthia, and have lunch at The Jazz Bouquet. What a unique concept for a shop — tea, flowers and jazz! On this particular Tuesday afternoon, they served a lunch of sugar snap pea soup with parmesan cream garnish, carrot and goat cheese sandwich with green olive tapenade, a choice of teas, and a chocolate truffle. Along with lunch came a concert by Eric Miller, a very talented local jazz musician.

Now I plan to comfortably hunker down and wait out the storm…

If you’re looking for some new, life-affirming DVDs to help raise your spirits during the grey days, I’d like to recommend Infinity and The Shift. They’ll make you think, and feel good.

My friend Nancy Whitney-Reiter has written another information-packed book (Do What You Love) on the art and science of achieving success — the kind of success that’s “not of a summit you reach after a lifetime of climbing, but a feeling you experience daily when you’re doing what you love.” Utilizing interviews compiled during a seven-year study on successful career change, along with her own experiences, Nancy has demonstrated that change is something to be embraced, not feared, and that the journey toward your dream job is the road you’re truly supposed to be traveling.

This is an excellent book on the subject, and one that I was pleased to have been asked to contribute to.