(Note: While I am in Uganda, the Chanhassen Villager is running some of my favorite travel-related columns. This column was originally published on April 14, 2005.) I learned a lot of interesting things last week. One is that if you spent just sixty seconds in front of each work of art in the Louvre, it would take you over six months to see it all. I also learned that in addition to being beautifully lit up at night, the Eiffel Tower puts on a grand [...]
I was out of town for a few days last week, even though I couldn’t really afford the time away. But that was the point. The trip was a 3-day Writers Retreat in Hinckley, with uninterrupted time for the kind of writing that most of us can’t find time to do in our regular and overly-busy lives. There were 15 women at the retreat, all with different types of businesses, and different types of projects they wanted to work on. We spent most of each [...]
“If anybody offers you sambusa, take it.” That’s one piece of advice that was given to me recently regarding my upcoming trip to Uganda. I’m going to be there for several weeks, and I’ve been collecting information from friends – and friends of friends – who have been there themselves or who have family members who have spent time in Uganda or other African countries. It’s been a fascinating and wonderful experience in so many ways. As someone who has done very little international traveling, [...]
The theme of one of our recent Toastmasters meetings was “The Secret Ingredient.” The person who was serving as the Toastmaster that day was someone who loves to cook, and whenever she gives a speech or responds to a question on the subject of food, I always find my mouth watering just listening to her. Throughout the meeting, she made references to her grandmother, who always included a secret ingredient in her cooking. No matter what type of food she was preparing, Grandma gave it [...]
The column "Find Your Buried Treasure" appears weekly in the Chanhassen (MN) Villager. This column was published on July 28, 2011. My husband and I went up north last weekend. Except we had to drive south to get there. We spent the weekend with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, who live in the Chicago area but recently bought a cabin at Fox Lake, which is about a two-hour drive north from their house. From ours, it’s a six-hour drive in the other direction. It was a great weekend, and other than the time we spent riding out the storms....
The column "Find Your Buried Treasure" appears weekly in the Chanhassen (MN) Villager. This column was published on July 21, 2011. “Discover the Diamond Within.” That was the theme of the TELI – the Toastmasters Education & Leadership Institute – that took place last Saturday. Because the theme was so closely aligned with my passion for helping people find their buried treasure, I had applied – and was accepted – to be one of the presenters. The program I did wasn’t my usual message about finding the gifts, skills, talents and traits that we often don’t recognize in ourselves. Instead it was about taking a lump of coal – as Superman used to do back in the 1950s TV series – and turning THAT into a diamond.
The column "Find Your Buried Treasure" appears weekly in the Chanhassen (MN) Villager. This column was published on July 14, 2011. I’ve always been fascinated by the story of King Solomon, and by his wisdom – in those Biblical times before DNA testing was available – in determining who was the real mother of a baby that two women were fighting over....
The column "Find Your Buried Treasure" appears weekly in the Chanhassen (MN) Villager. This column was published on July 7, 2011. It’s no secret to anyone who knows me personally – or to regular readers of my column or other writings – that two of the things I’m most passionate about are Toastmasters and Dream Coaching. And as naïve and idealistic as this may sound, I truly believe that the world would be a much better place if every person in it spent some time taking part in Toastmasters meetings and working with a Dream Coach....
The column "Find Your Buried Treasure" appears weekly in the Chanhassen (MN) Villager. This column was published on June 30, 2011. Our family’s 4th of July celebration will be pretty traditional. Our son will come over for a visit. In the morning, we’ll stake out our favorite spot for watching the parade, and later on we’ll enjoy the parade and the other festivities taking place in town. At night, we’ll watch some of the many area fireworks....
The column "Find Your Buried Treasure" appears weekly in the Chanhassen (MN) Villager. This column was published on June 23, 2011. I had a crazy and challenging day not long ago. It was a Tuesday, and I had a coaching call first thing in the morning with a client who lives out of state. We usually do video sessions via Skype, but for some reason we couldn’t get a connection and had to do our call the old-fashioned way – by phone. This wasn’t a [...]