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.