Monday...and it's not raining

Unbelievable, it's a beautiful sunny, warm November day in Chicago.

Couple things I'm thinking about today. One my golf game. I actually scored a 92 yesterday at Indian Boundary Golf Course. My drive, since my lesson a few months ago, has been amazingly consistent and long (200+ yards), and yesterday it was unbelievable!! My second shot needs work, is terribly inconsistent and frustrating, along with my pitching which is at times brilliant and other times horrific. So work will need to continue next spring. But I am encouraged. I must say that fall golf is so nice. The weather was perfect yesterday in the mid 60's.

Two is the fact that although I make fun of it often, I am getting older. Getting back at tennis has made this very obvious. Lots of aches and pains that I hadn't previously experienced. What is it about an ex-jock (long ago ex-jock especially) that makes you think you can always play anything you did before with no repercussions. It's just not true. All complaining aside, it's still fun to play and it's great exercise, which all and all helps with this damn Weight Watchers program(more on that later). I've also learned that turning the seat warmer on in the car on the way to and from helps my back emmensely, everyone should know that. After experiencing that I may never have a car without them.

Three, Weight Watchers, yes I'm losing weight (5 lbs. so far). BUT, I'm constantly hungry and wanting things I shouldn't have. And crabby about it. Last week I ate entirely too much chicken and had to have some red meat yesterday. The chicken thing was just an anomaly but none the less, it was annoying.

So I splurged last night and had a small fillet, sauteed mushrooms and baked potato (with ONE pad of butter, thank you very much) for dinner, with a lovely glass of LaForge Pinot Noir. It was marvelous. In fact, Diana would probably say that I enjoyed it all too much. It is also amazing how much you can enjoy and savor ONE glass of wine when you are counting WW points. This is a really good side benefit. It was a perfect dinner after a perfect round of golf.

Four, I'm so glad tomorrow is election day, as much as I want Barrack to win I am SO tired of hearing all the nonsense. Let's just get it over with.

That's it for this gloriously sunny Monday, hope everyone is enjoying the day in whatever way they can. Remember, life is short, have some fun.

Rainy Monday...Again

It's been awhile. Oddly enough I didn't think anyone was paying attention. I've been busy living life which has all been good. As I go through new experiences I often think of topics that would be great to expound about in my blog - but then I move onto something else and never get back to it. I would guess this is typical.

Some of the things I've been thinking about (not in any particular order): Frank Lloyd Wright and his dramas, pumpkins, Fall, attending church, health insurance, the election, ACS Strides for the Cure, Mad Men, West Wing, my friends, gluten free diets, weight watchers, media consultancy rates, fund raisers, life insurance, bad cat behavior, beer, reviews/pitches, the new Chicago Tribune, cleaning, winter clothes, blogs, Christmas, NYC at Thanksgiving and painting (both watercolor and acyrlic).

No wonder I'm exhausted. I won't pontificate on all these fun topics. But I would like to say that I have been learning a lot about Frank Lloyd Wright. We went to Taliesin in Spring Green, WI a couple of weekends ago and I was fascinated with the stories about the multiple fires there and Wright's insistence to rebuild. So I'm reading two books about it one fictional, Loving Frank and one historical, Death in a Prairie House. I won't ruin the story for anyone else but needless to say there's murder, intrigue and romance everything one would expect from a great story.

We had traveled to Taliesin West (in Scottsdale, AZ) last Christmas which kinda started the whole journey into all things Wright. We also visited Oak Park a couple of weekends ago to continue to FLW education. Our next anticipated stop will be the Robie House on the South side.

We'll continue our journey next spring with a trip to Running Waters in Pennsylvannia.

Anyway...oddly enough when I was out to lunch with a perspective client we got to talking about architecture. Who knew? I am firmly convinced that art vis a vis architecture or anything else creative will continue to be more closely intertwined in my life moving forward and all I can say is; that's cool.

Other recent highlights have been my being invited to a party with folks from my ex-job (awkward wording but what else do I call it? suggestions would be appreciated). I was the special guest and those of you who really know me, know how much I like to be "special". I had a great time seeing and talking to everyone that was there. I loved hearing the stories, and couldn't help but be glad that I was no longer an active participant. As usual there were lots of news and lots of changes so the world keeps on spinning as I long suspected.

Other big news - yes Weight Watchers is back. It's now been a week, I've lost 3 pounds and have plenty more to go. I'm begrudgingly doing this so I can enjoy the holidays, have fun and not weigh a ton. So it's back to counting the points and weighing/measuring the food. Fun times.

Now I'm thinking about the holidays and our trips, which is fun. We're planning on home made gifts this year - kind of expanding on our cookie gifts from last year. We're considering making pickles, marinating mushrooms and/or olives, or olive oil infusions. So it's fun to look for the recipes and the containers (at least right now).

As far as the other things go, I'll ramble more on that later in the week.

What's with Monday and Raining?

Maybe it's to help the folks that have to go to a job feel better about the weekend ending. Probably just coincidence.

Although it's now raining I must say the day has been very good. I met a friend from the business for lunch and manicures at the Four Seasons. I must say it was nice to take advantage of this media whore perk, even though my days as a media whore are over, or at least somewhat limited.

I find the more that I talk to people about why I left and what I'm doing now and how different my life is now that I seriously wonder how I could have stayed in the role for as long as I did.

Knowing that everything happens in it's own good time answers that question.

My new found time has allowed me to spend an inordinate amount of time watching CNN, CNBC, etc. This country is in a frightening time (understatement I know). It's amazing that the Republican zombie's continue to tout their nonsense. I'm looking forward to the debate tonight I'm hoping that Obama can make a solid case for change and really position himself the clear and only choice.

Third Week of Freedom

Hard to believe this is the start of the third week sans "job". All is well. This past weekend was a golf weekend, I must say that my game is getting better. My drive is pretty solid, my p wedge and 9 have been on fire but my putting continues to suck. Which of course does wonders for my score. On in one or two and then 3 putting, argh. Still work to do. We'll be heading to Geneva National on Friday which is a beautiful course in WI.

The weekend was fun and quick as usual, in between golfing we went sailing with Norm and Mario, perfect weather, perfect company it was a terrific evening. Diana and I made tapas and sangria, which all turned out delicious. The evening ending of chocolate cake, strawberries and red wine finished it off just right.

Lots of talk about finances. The country is in a shambles and everyone is understandably worried. Mario wants to plan a fundraiser for Obama, so I'm thinking that will be my contribution for this election. Between the four of us we should be able to get at least 100 folks interested in attending.

Cubs finally clinched the division championship on Saturday as well, which is fun. Looks like October planning will be done around the baseball schedule.

This week I'm planning on really doing nothing, yes it is odd that I have to "plan" to do nothing.
I'm only working on planning some events this morning and I have a call with Wiz this afternoon. We'll see if that will lead to something I will want to do over the next 3 months. Other than that I'm going to focus on something totally different. Wish me luck.

Still thinking...

about how best to spend my time. I'm keeping busy trying to keep a good mix of "down" time and "work" time. It's a delicate balance. I'm still having a difficult time adjusting to this. Now that I don't have a million things to do, one or two seem difficult or at least seem to always come down to gee I really need to do this now. Or I really need to leave to do that now. I'm only hoping I'll get better at it.

I will say that I have quickly adapted to not getting up and going to work. I still wake up the same time. Instead of scurrying to get to work I read the paper, still have my tea and try to figure out what the hell I'm going to do on any given day.

The good news is that I'm still flexible so if I do have a plan or something to do and something else comes up I can still quickly adjust. This is a trait I think I would like and need to keep. Makes it a lot easier on all.

To that point, I was late to my lunch with Nancy today. We just got off to a late start this morning leaving for downtown and well I was a little late. None the less, it was great to see Nancy and spend some quality time together. I must admit that it makes me sad that I didn't have more time to spend with the people I liked at work, while I was there. There was always so much to do that I couldn't even stop by and say hi. Now in retrospect, this seems ridiculous, I wish I would have. So now that I have the time I intend to spend some time with those folks and be sure they know how important they were to me at Starcom and that I want to continue to be friends.

I continue to be surprised at how the things that still happen at work do not phase me any more. Which means there has been a total separation, which is good. I'm sure that's only because I spent so much time pondering leaving so when it became reality I was ready, really ready.

This does not mean that I don't miss the place, in some weird twisted way I do. I just don't miss the rat race, the hamster wheel, all the nonsense that needed to occur everyday. I miss the people, my friends who were in the trenches with me. I miss supporting them and providing assistance and coaching. But the funny thing is, I'm still doing it, in some cases for people still there, but now more often for others; friends, people I'm meeting etc. So I know my skills will not be wasted or forgotten. More on that later.

I'm waiting to hear back from the Obama Pride contact. So we'll see what that brings. I talked to Diana's Mom who is actively involved in the McCain campaign ( I know, I know...but I still believe EVERYONE has there right to choose which side to be on, even if it's different than mine). And she said to start locally so I think I'll check out the alderman's office and see what they have to say.

We had a wonderful time at the Met Club's Charity Classic last night. It was nice to have Norman, Mario and Mary Ann join us. The highlight of the night was definitely tasting the 1961 Lafite-Rothchild. I'm glad we all got a taste -what an experience. It was quite the dramatic endeavor with Marcus the sommelier carefully watching to be sure that it was opened properly and of course properly decanted. The room was all a buzz. They just weren't sure what the results would be. So we were all pleasantly surprised to discover the wine was just wonderful.

The event was well attended with over 700 folks and I'm sure raised a lot of money for the various causes.

I did run into a gal that I met at a networking event a few months back (when we were pursuing the chocolate business, that's a whole other story for later). She was delighted to hear that I had left Starcom and might be available to help her with some media work, so we agreed to meet for lunch in a few weeks.

I'm also thinking about getting involved on the Wine Committee at the club. I know I have a lot to learn about wine and think I could learn alot from the committee and Marcus. I also think my business background could help the group as well.

So many things to consider. The only real "work" committment I have right now is teaching the media course at Roosevelt for the Spring semester in January.

I want to end this post by saying that I continue to be surprised and delighted that my friends have supported my early "retirement" whole heartedly. This brings me nothing but pure joy and a reminder that I am blessed to be surrounded by people who love and support me. I cherish that feeling everyday and thank them all for their kind words and thoughts.

Rainy Days and Monday's Always Get Me Down

Yet another day of rain. Seems like a good day to finally finish "The Practice" marathon, 7 more to go. I'm looking forward to finishing them up and getting back to West Wing.

I continue to be surprised, angered, agitated by the media's interest in Sarah Palin. When will the campaign get back to discussing the issues. Adding Sarah Palin to the ticket has sidetracked the campaign. I fear if this continues the country will undoubtedly be stuck with 4 more years of Republican madness and more rights abused.

I'm calling the Obama Pride office tomorrow morning to see what I can do to get involved.

People must vote, more people must register we cannot let this election go away quietly.

On a more humorous note, the opening Palin/Clinton bit on SNL last night was hilarious. Tina Fey did a spot on performance as Palin. Unfortunately, the rest of the show sucked as usual. I felt sorry for poor Michael Phelps. Although he's one hellava swimmer he's not exactly a friend of the camera or comfortable in front of it. It was painful to watch.

More importantly, as I fill my days with endless chores and non-sense, I need to carve out time for me. Seems simple enough but has turned out to be hard for me to do. I keep filling the days with things that somehow come up. Tomorrow I'm going to try to harness my energy and focus, if even for only part of the day. It's kinda like when you know you have a major project to do at work and you keep going back to the easy ones instead of starting the big one. And since I have no deadline looming I can make all kinds of excuses. So I'm going to make some mini-deadlines tomorrow and see where I net out. I created a to do list today for tomorrow so I should be off to a good start.

But for today...more non-sense, more Practice's and of course Da Bears. Go Devin Go!

Friday

Although my day is not jammed pack as I was accustomed to the time continues to speed by. It's already Friday.

I met Sean, a former student, at Hopleaf yesterday evening. We had an interesting conversation. I fear I dominated the conversation but ultimately I think we both would agree we had a pleasant visit and will more than likely stay in touch. I admittedly may not be the best individual to seek career guidance from at this stage in the game. But I'm happy to listen and lend support regardless.

Met Ed for lunch today. I'm planning on getting involved in the Obama campaign. The choice of Sarah Palin for McCain's running mate was enough to make me realize how close this country is to going completely back in time. I want to help register voters and give them more information about exactly who they are voting for, it's so important.

Ed suggested the group Obama Pride, so I'll be contacting them and we'll see where it all goes. Ed has aspirations of being a delegate for the 2012 election. I've often thought of that myself. Let's start with baby steps.

I've had a eye on this Hurricane Ike as well. This continues to be a busy hurricane season. I'm keeping all the folks in TX in my thoughts and prayers.

I can't believe it's already Thursday

Just so everyone knows, time goes fast whether you're "working" or not. Tuesday after spending the day figuring at how to set up my new laptop and Blackberry, well let's be honest Diana did most of the figuring, I decided to take her (my new IT department) out for a mini German pub crawl.

I love fall, it's my favorite season in Chicago, and my fine German heritage cannot deny the beauty of Oktoberfest in any shape or form. We sampled the Spaten and Stiegl Oktoberfest brews. Both were excellent. We later shared a robust meal of veal roast, spaetzle and red cabbage at the Lashet Inn, German restaurant on Irving. The joint was jumping amazingly crowded for a Tuesday night. The food did not disappoint. Stick to your ribs home cooking at it's finest. They also had pretzels as large as a serving plate imported from Munich. We did not try it this time, but the table of guys right next to us gobbled it up post haste. It looked warm and yummy, we'll try it next time.
We also saddly watched the Cubbies there who couldn't seem to hold on to a win. The entire fan base is already thinking the worse.

Wednesday was Tax guy day. I needed to face the truth on selling a house and capital gains. Not fun. So I'll be getting him all the paperwork today and wait to see how much I'll owe Uncle Sam.
I still feel more than fortunate that the house and lot sold when they did and we ended up getting just 3% less than the listing price.

After dropping Diana at work around lunch time I came back home and decided to make a dinner picnic for us. This is something we had often talked about but never did so I figured why not. I made parmesan chicken tenders, homemade macaroni salad and a mixed greens salad.
I chilled a bottle of Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc and we were good to go.

We had a lovely time eating, sipping and watching an amazingly fit man kite sail on Lake Michigan. It was so quiet and peaceful, only a few people on the beach. Just listening to the sounds of the water and the wind and watching an amazing sunset. Life is good.

I'm meeting Sean, a student from my Roosevelt class this evening for a cocktail. I'm sure the day will speed by they all seem to. I must admit that not having the routine in place is slightly daunting and challenging, but I am hoping to soon get the hang of it.

Everyday I try to learn something new and enjoy myself, two good goals.

I do miss the constant swarm of people at work, I thought I wouldn't, but I do. It's still the first week away so I'm still not sure what will replace that. But I know something will, that's the exciting part.

Second day out of the race...

This is only my second day off the treadmill. Finally getting around to setting up a blog. Day one yesterday, was definitely an ease out of the race. It started with attending the Swing for the Kids, Off the Street Club event. The day started out hopeful on the weather front, but quickly deteriorated after only two holes. At first it was a light rain, then the more stubborn driving rain set in. I must admit that my golf partner for the day, Anne, was extremely resilient and wanted to carry on despite the rain. We completed 7 holes and managed to stay even in the worst golf weather I have ever experienced. Only the sound of the long siren got us off the course (and one lightening strike we heard).

I must say it reminded me of my first live Super Bowl experience. I had the opportunity to go on many media boondoggles during my career, but the Super Bowl was definitely one of the best. To experience the Chicago Bears (despite the loss) at the Super Bowl is one I'll cherish for the rest of my life. Back to the comparison... well of course the Super Bowl was in Miami and rained from start to finish. I had the luxury of sharing the experience with my good friend and colleague Val. Although we were with quite a few folks in our group, I believe we were the only two thoroughly enjoying ourselves despite the rain. We cheered and cheered for the Bears even when all the odds were stacked against us (little did we know this would become a common theme). It was also on this day that I started my football crush on Devon Hester (still in mad crush with him).
That was a fun day.

Anyway, back to yesterday. After dragging our wet selves back to the clubhouse we got to mix and mingle with the other golfers. It was nice to see folks I hadn't seen in a while as well as those I see regularly. There were still a few who hadn't heard the news of my resignation. So there was lots of congratulating and well wishing. Great way to start the new journey.

I don't know yet if I'll be updating this daily. Oddly enough the time seems to continue to go just as fast whether you're at a job or not. The marked difference is not having to worry about work or anything to do with it. Including the 150+ emails I was accustomed to viewing everyday. I don't miss that.

Stay tuned.