Tag: communication
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How to Have a Crappy Conversation
This week brought an interesting theme. Two of my colleagues – and me – all found ourselves in a universally dreaded situation. We had to have crappy conversations. And they Stressed. Us. Out. (Nooooo sleeping here.) Colleague #1? He had to tell his somewhat-non-performing staff member who really loved working from home…that he would no…
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The Boomerang Effect
A recent work trip found me networking with two women I hadn’t met before. It didn’t take long before I noticed a pattern pop up. Let’s see if you catch it. Woman #1: Whew, it’s so great to be here because I thought I might not make it. My daughter just had her wisdom teeth…
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Digging Out of the Talking-Trap
I fell into a trap recently. A talking-trap. A guy-who-wouldn’t-stop-talking-to-me-no-matter-what-I-did trap. It happened while Hubbie and I were vacationing in a rented RV up in the wine country. It turns out the small-ish living space inside the RV had nothing on the teensy space outside of it. Case and point? Here’s a photo of our…
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The Truth About Your Stuck-ness
So…you may have missed it, but we recently passed through another holiday. Groundhog Day. It’s a funny little holiday with a funny little tradition, involving – some might say – a funny little animal. While most of us don’t get too caught up in Groundhog Day, many of us do remember the famous Groundhog Day…
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Your Critical Choice for the New Year
Well, the days leading into this fine new year had a bit of an unexpected flavor. I present to you two different scenarios, and invite you to figure out which one is true. Scenario #1 Just as we were getting down to the holiday, I pushed my body to the point where I caught a…
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When Frustration Hits…Ask Yourself This
Recently I found myself engaging in an annoying pattern of behavior. In just the past two weeks there have been several instances when I’ve tried to open a package of some kind. Once it was a hotel bar of soap. Once it was a packet of Vitamin C. Once it was a bag of airplane…
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How to Lighten Your REAL Load
Today finds me writing my blog not from my home state of California…but from my original home state of New York. How do I know I’m in the Empire State? The stores are filled with this… …and the guys wear hats like this (and smile like this)… The thing that brought me to the east…
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Life Lessons from the Buffet Line
There’s a special place in my heart for a special place near my house. Hubbie and I visit it regularly…as in, at least once a week. It’s that awesome. It’s Souplantation. And it makes me Souper happy. If you don’t know Souplantation (also known as Sweet Tomatoes in certain areas), it’s one of those soup/salad/lots-of-other-stuff…
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Why Looking Bad Can Be Good
Over the last few months I seemed to have a problem when it came to running down hills. I kept falling down. I stumbled all over the place. With absolutely no grace. If you’ve ever experienced this kind of trend, you know it can get pretty old. It all began last year, when I decided…
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8 Things to Do (and Not Do) When Things Go Foul
So, it’s been a foul week. Things just haven’t gone as planned…unexpected tax bills and gross flu symptoms and canceled projects and back-pain that’s led to sleepless nights. They’ve all happened this week. The kicker? My beloved Jeep, the topic of more than a few recent posts, sent a signal that its own foul-ness might…
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What’s in your Mystery Basket?
Truth time. I’ve got a little obsession. And I know I’m not alone on this one. It combines some of my very favorite things: riveting drama, diverse personalities…and food. It’s the television show Chopped. And I looooooove it. In fact, I record it regularly so I can watch it every morning as I prep for…
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The Truth About Life’s Bumps
So, my beloved ’99 Jeep died recently. Long-time blog followers will understand the implications of this tragedy. They’ll also know that this is not our first, shall we say, incident. (Behold…this photo from last year’s mildly embarrassing post). This time around (which was totally not my fault by the way), the story goes a bit differently. I…