My Mini Obsession With the Royal Wedding

Raise your hand if you are tired of hearing about wars, terrorism, and natural disasters that make the tornado from the Wizard of Oz look like a nursery ryhme. Hence..my obsession with the Royal Wedding perhaps. These things don't come around everyday or even once a year like major sporting events. When my husband asked me why in the world I cared about the Royal Wedding I was quick to throw out the word Astros and I think he understood. My daughter asked me yesterday if I were invited would I go and get a new dress and have my nails done? I said of course, beaming as if I really was on the guest list and I think she understood. She said, "Aww...so Prince William can really say to his wife that she's his Princess." We had our girlie moment and giggled about it. Maybe it also has something to do with wanting to see a happy ending to a fairy tale that began a long time ago for a Princess named Diana. I like to think of it as a legacy fairy tale. We can witness a moment in time where her legacy smiles under the sun and will continue to move forward on their own journey. Maybe it's because the last time someone watched a Royal Wedding was when a six year old little girl watched it with her mother on July 29th 1981 with her feet dangling from the couch as she sat in amazement thinking that before her eyes was a real life Cinderella.
I don't know what the future holds for William and Kate. I'm just thrilled that they opened up their moment in time for the rest of us to see. When someone asks..Where were you when...I can reply, I was in my pajamas sipping tea and eating cucumber sandwiches at 4 a.m. watching the Royal Wedding. I hope their day is blessed! "God Save the Queen!"

He Had me at Woof Woof!

Do you ever have that feeling...that hunch that something just isn't like it's supposed to be even if you're told otherwise? Ya know what they say..always go with your gut instinct. Well, I've just been punk'd but I sort of already knew I had been. Awhile back we thought it would be nice to add one last dog to our family and have a friend for Rueger our 55 pound Australian Shepherd/Border Collie. Rueger is a very energetic but very intelligent dog. His breed is for herding so why would we expect him to be none other than energetic? He loves.. loves the dog park and plays with all of the dogs out there which affirmed the desire to get another dog. On my first attempt at the pet adoption agency I really wanted an older dog but was informed that a puppy would be best to introduce to an older dog based on the territorial reasons. I left and thought about it some more. The next week...I'm determined to get a puppy and show back up to the adoption agency with Bryant in tow. All my life...I've had bigger dogs but I really wanted that little dog to carry around like the one Reese Witherspoon has in "Legally Blonde." So, I passed all the charts on the cages that said will be 50lbs or more. We made it to this little cage at the bottom of the row. It was full of little chihuahas and I believed it because that's what the chart said and they all looked small enough. Well, there was this one in the corner that looked a little bigger than the litter but, I just thought maybe it was just the biggest one of the group but still no doubt it will not get to be bigger than 20lbs. Bryant and I did the meet and greet and fell in love with him. He was the one! Interestingly, his paperwork couldn't be found. What they printed out had the wrong information on it other than him being a blonde dog. Oddly, he was the only one out of the litter that had been neutered. I had a funny feeling but still wanted the dog. We took him home that day and whenever anyone asked what kind of dog he was I said chihuaha mix..(well, that's what the paperwork said). I got the same looks and laughs..."Looks a little big to be a chihuaha." Ok, fine...so, he's Clifford the chihuaha...he's mine..and I love him..so it doesn't matter. The Vet came into the exam room and immediately asked me if I had been told he was a chihuaha as he laughed. I said yes I had but I had sensed that he was put into the wrong cage during handling by someone else all along. Well, no doubt, he is definitely not a chihuaha mix but a labrador mix and will most likely be over 20 lbs. More like 40 lbs or so. So, my heart just sank a little thinking it might not be the lap dog I've always wanted but it's too late now because he has my heart. At least my gut feeling was put to rest. Such is life...we may not always get what we think we are getting but isn't it funny how sometimes it turns out better than what we thought we wanted anyway? Dare to embrace the blessings of unexpected outcomes from our expectations.

No Time for Door Mat Volunteering

Leadership...not a word to take lightly. Leadership trickles up..it doesn't trickle down I'm afraid. Roles that get the wheels turning start out in small organizations and generally filter in throughout the bigger ones. I was reading an excerpt the other day about volunteerism and why there is such a huge drop in volunteering. The following I'm paraphrasing from the book "The New Breed" until after reason number 7. If we were honest about why we don't volunteer this would really be the top seven reasons why and not because "we just don't have the time." 1. The volunteer leader that doesn't know how to lead 2. No feedback from leadership on how the volunteer was doing 3. The feeling that the volunteer doesn't feel like they are making a difference 4. Lack of professionalism 5. Lack of Communication ( in my opinion this should be number one) 6. Too much time in wasted unproductive meetings 7. No flexibility in scheduling in volunteer opportunities. This all being noted I just want to affirm the reasons above coming from someone that has volunteered many hours and days in different organizations and I can say that the most successful ones have leaders that know how to communicate and follow through. When I sit here and look at these reasons I can also fit that into why people would leave their jobs. Replace the word volunteer and fill in employee and there you have it. I'm frankly at a point in my life where I can just not afford to volunteer or work for any organization that has leadership that cannot communicate effectively. My life has to run like clock work these days with the exceptional unexpected quirks along the way that life will throw my way but I have to pick up, tweak it, and move on. So, without effective communication, a plan, and clear expectations.. three strikes and I'm out. I think I'm being generous on the three strikes though but that's just because I like to also give the benefit of the doubt. "The world is hugged by the faithful arms of volunteers" When good volunteers are lost it's like losing two good arms.