Decorating Diaries: The Big Orange Wall

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My friend asked me to do my best "Vanna" impersonationCheck out my beautiful piece of art!

Ever since March of 2010 when I painted our hallway orange , Blair and I have faced daily the big, blank orange wall that is directly outside our bedroom. We have trucked in thousands of dollars of art, holding each piece up to the wall, looking for that perfect fit. 

Nothing worked. The problem is that it's a BIG wall, but we can't hang anything with big images because there's no way to back up enough to get an overall view. I don't like fussy, little busy art so we just left the wall blank, resolving each January that this would be the year we finally got serious and put up the collage of family photographs we kept saying we would. 

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Ask Yourself, "How Do People Experience Me?"

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I'm reading the Wall Street Journal yesterday and almost the entire MarketPlace section is devoted to an article on "The XX Factor: What's Holding Women Back?" 
It's an interesting read, broken into numerous subsections. One of the subsections offers a Tool Kit for society and individuals on how to encourage more/better participation by women in the economy. Under the header Personal Strategies: Tools for the Individual, one of the recommendations is that women do Self-Assessments.
"Regularly consider, 'How do people experience me? Am I a game changer and value creator who builds trusting relationships?'"
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Why I Never Get Anything Done

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I woke up this morning ready to hit the ground running (not actually running, but writing) and then looked at today's schedule:

5:30 am - Go over to Mom's house and water cats and feed plants. No wait, reverse that. It's still early. 

7 am - Leave for Greensboro

8 am - doctor's appointment

10:45 am - chiropractic appointment

12:15 pm - Bodypump

1:45 - pick Mom up from airport and return her to Mayodan and two cats that will be out of their minds happy to see her

2:45 pm - Bank and errands

3:15 pm - Hopefully driving back into Greensboro to pick up Lucy and bring her home. 

As I tell my writing students, there is always time to write in each day, you just have to claim it. I'm dragging my laptop to every locale and will spend the day working in 10 minute splurts in waiting rooms, airport lounges, and cat clinics. 

It sounds like I'm whining, but actually I love it. Happy Monday!

Merle Norman To The Rescue: A Sole Sister Makeover?

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A scene from the winning cheer: We Be Cruisin' In The 'Boro!" This past Sunday I teamed up with 7 of the Sole Sisters to run the ALS Amazing Race sponsored through The Club of Greensboro. We divided into two teams of four and--along with 11 other teams--used clues to race around Greensboro and complete tasks. 

My friend Christie summed the day up best in her FB post:

We have dove in pools, rode tricycles, pushed wheelchairs blindfolded playing hockey, answered 10 hard travel questions, we were blindfolded and had to guess flavors of gelato, recited "proper names" of English desserts, surveyed a boutique for red belts, struck a pose at photo studio, ran on treadmills and jumped rope, bowled underhanded backwards for a strike, and fished around in a pool of noodles, oatmeal and sardines -we chanted a cheer that led us to victory (thanks to Cindy Barbour). For what?? To WIN the Amazing Race and raise awareness for ALS-one of the most memorable days we've ever had. We did it girls !

Although the day was filled with laughter--maybe even mocking while Christie and I cursed the tricycles--one moment stands out. 

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