charming gardener

Wednesday, 13 August 2008

Sinead comes to GlasVegas

Willow Tea Rooms, with the Charles Rennie Mackintosh chairs

The Apartment for lunch with the Edinburgh gang and the rainy day castle

Wednesday, 6 August 2008

living on purpose- the workshop review

Well, I officially have a Co Active Lead under my belt. And it felt great. Our workshop on Saturday was well populated with friends and families of Hanna and my smiling face of Miri in the crowd, and we even attracted about 4 'real' people from the regular world.

Everything abut it -- the design leading up, the organizing the particles and the running the workshop felt natural, easy and grand. I truly felt like I was having a peak experience at the front of the room. Sure, we have things we would tweak in the content if we did it again. But the real meat of Hanna & I creating from other and connecting and 100/100 felt terrific and safe and possible.

The space (thank you Miri!) at the Quarry Arts Center in Madison was ideal -- a clean, cool yoga space with good lighting and a smooth feel. And all the yogic paraphernalia for comfort - blankets, bolsters, and bare feet, setting the scene for relaxed and easy.

I fell in love with co active leadership on my very first coaching course in 2004. They way the leaders hold the space, the leaders being so organic and easy, the learning complete with lots of space for things to show up. It is a way of being with yourself, your co leader and your group that is full and sets off sparks.

And I feel a sense of stretch and learning and leaning in. It feels good and strong and hugely fulfilling.

I have so much to learn -- I am just tasting the very teeny tip of the spoon. The banquet is vast and abundant and I am hungry.

Tuesday, 5 August 2008

midwestern highlights (sorry about the poppyseed, G)

Wednesday, 30 July 2008

how the other half lives

I am en route to Madison, Wisconsin for my In Between project with Hanna and I am lucky enough to have been treated to many many Northwest miles by my brother Mike to arrive on Business Class.

You know... behind the curtain.

I like to BE in different places. I just don't always like the getting there. I like to be comfortable. Room. Space. Air. More probably than most folk. So long haul flights typically leave me a bit debilitated and wrong for a few days upon arrival to my destination.

And today. Today was (is) different. For instance, I am typing this from the DTW World Perks Lounge. Never before have I crossed the threshold of the exclusive clubs. They have all sorts of snacks and free drinks -- booze too - and plugs for various electronics and lots of staff looking after you. Lots of places to sit and look out the window as you eat cheese n crackers. WOW.

And my flight getting from Amsterdam to Detroit. WOW. Yes, nice food (3 courses, a snack and lots of "anytime" foods you can help yourself to) but more amazingly, the SEATS. Recline. Feet up. 90% horizontal. And they make the seatbelts longer so you can Turn On Your Side while you are nearly lying down. It almost felt like real Sleep!

I am sold.

Seriously. I am 2 flights in and in my 15th hour since I left my house at 4:10 a.m. and I feel perky and pampered.

Why must we suffer so in the back?

And how can I insure that all my travel hence forth is done in this manner?

The humanity of it all. To be treated with such civility and comfort. It think it may be a new value I am uncovering.

Now off to the cookies before I turn into a pumpkin and have to return to the cheap seats.

Friday, 18 July 2008

my summer

all I really feel like doing

reading
cooking
eating
sleeping
watching TV

things I will really need now

several sized good umbrellas
several hooded waterproof jackets in varying weights
to learn to dress for the weather, not the season (just because it is July doesn't mean you won't wear boots)
restraint in the vast array of shopping here, awakening my inner consumer
to enjoy the late setting sun of British summertime now as I sense how dark and gloomy it will be when it sets at 3:30 pm

bi-annual hair

the work of Louis Sissorhands at West End's Clair Frances salon.

Tuesday, 8 July 2008

top things I like about our new house

American sized dishwasher
rooms to roam
new real oak heavy furniture (which I don't think we will ever be able to move)
fully fledged office
new ceramic kitchen sink
official en suite guest bedroom
apple green recliner chairs
5 minute walk to Grassroots Organic
kitchen table in the kitchen
Mark home for lunch on occasion

Thursday, 3 July 2008

Living on purpose- the workshop!

I am thrilled to be doing my first workshop... in part and parcel with my Co Active Leadership program!

I am going to Alma Mater Madison in August to give a 1/2 day workshop on Living Your Purpose with my co-leader coach Hanna Cooper from Minneapolis.

The workshop is going to be cool -- it is all about connecting to one's own bigger picture. I totally believe in it and do this with my clients regularly. AND, it is also an excellent chance to practice the good stuff I am learning at Leadership.

So if you know anyone in the Madison area- tell one tell all!

card carrying

And, what always makes me feel like a local whenever I move to a new city -- I got a library card!

The Mitchell Library is one of the largest public reference libraries in Europe. And is 3 blocks from our house!

Tuesday, 1 July 2008

more rooms (dedicated to Andy!) (and KQ!)

Sunday, 29 June 2008

ta-da!

Friday, 27 June 2008

the bathroom that never ends

And Mark wearing my Leadership t-shirt:

I can do more than I thought and I need everyone to help me.

fresh paint "avon" making all the difference

bit of sunshine in the kitchen

view from the TV room

view from the office

view from the kitchen

doesn't it make you want to move?

a wardrobe in the making

one week in Glasvegas

I finally had a small break in the home-making department to venture out for provisions, air and for some sanity.

And I was pleasantly rewarded with lots of commerce nearby which will keep us in organic foods, halal meats, coffee, petrol, and the occasional throw pillow. Most importantly, Lupe Pinto's Mexican Deli, where I can get vegetarian refried black beans, real tortilla chips (as opposed to Doritos) black beans in a can, fresh guacamole, margarita mixings, dirty rice and all manner of BBQ hot sauces and other imported American items like Nutter Butters and Fluff and Welches Grape Jelly .

And each shop offers friendly folk. Seriously is putting the midwest in some competition for open smiles and pleasantness. The phrase I hear more than any other is No Bother. Although it is pronounced more like Nae Borra. (I sense an entire blog entry on Glaswegian vernacular in the works)

So Mark has not been able to take this last week off to fully dig deep into moving, unpacking and creating, I have been left largely to my own devices. And it has kinda sucked. And today held the first light at the end of the tunnel.

A home is in the making.

Thursday, 26 June 2008

driving away

I type slowly because my hands are rendered useless to grip or move after this week of usage. I really admire and sympathize with people who work with their hands day in and day out. Sheesh. And yesterday we went back to 10A to clean top to bottom. 12 hours worth! I am bleary.

And in our exhaustion and accomplishment, as we drove away in the Enterprise hired small commercial van in the beautiful Edinburgh darkening sky, I said good bye to our wee flat and to our current life. And was sad. I need to go back today for the walk through with the estate agent, but for most purposed, our tenancy is over. I haven't left a place that I was so unfinished with in a long time.

I know Glasgow will bring us new adventures. I know we will have fun and discover and are moving to the next stage of our lives.

And our 2 years in our charmed Edinburgh will always be special. And I will always count it as a home.

Saturday, 21 June 2008

crabby and here

We made it.

The place is giant. It will be grand when we are done.

The movers were slick and they were sweet. Huffed and puffed all our gear up the 2 flights of stairs with nary a complaint. Zillions of boxes, chairs, bikes (3!), couch, futon, etc. They carried it all in and carted away the empties I could zip though while they were still here.

And then they left.

The nerve. After all that TLC with the packing and the moving, we are now faced with the cruel reality of trying to piece it all together here with 90% of our furniture not yet here, and wardrobes to build and a bathroom to finish.

And so many millions of boxes.

Mark is a total trooper and is relentlessly hard working and can do in his approach.

He is in his element of constructing and creating and pounding and sawing and figuring things out. I am 100% out of my element. I can hold things and paint and help but I have not only 0 skills in the DIY dept, I am bored beyond tears by it and want to run away. Fast. And tell me when it is done.

So I am a little crabby. And a lot tired. And waiting until it is my turn. Beauty and order can only happen after the creation is done. And until then, I am trying to exercise patience. And failing.

Thursday, 19 June 2008

packing it in

So, 3 nice dudes from Clockwork Movers are here taking all my sorted, dusted and sifted through items and putting them all in boxes at rapid speed. This is the first time we have had anyone pack for us and I must say -- I like it. They also are they taking packed/labelled boxes directly to the truck.

Tidy.

And meanwhile, I am a bit at a loss of what to do. At the end of the day, the only things left in the flat will be our bed/TV and the bits of furniture we are donating. It is a much preferred method of moving so far. I have had to do all my ruthless sorting ahead of time, but honestly, this is rocks. It was quite a steal to have them do it, and they include all the packing materials, so heck!

Tomorrow morning, sharpish, the lads will come back with the lorry (i am so british) 95% loaded and take the remaining lot to the truck and move it all to the 2nd floor (hear them groan when I told them this) to the new west end Bish bosh.

Mark & I are getting a wee commercial van for the week - to take us and our most vital things like passports and clean undies to Glasgow and for the week for all the getting RID of the packing and the infinite trips to B&Q (home depot equivalent) . So far, I count 5 trips to B&Q already. And we have had the keys 2 weeks. And no car. Which comes in handy when one moves, by the by.

So while I may not be ready to say good bye to Edinburgh, I am ready to create our next home. Beauty and order. Paint colours and pillows. Food and rest. Calm and love.

And I will keep Eburgh and several of its key inhabitants I have grown to love as my second home here. So going to going to be A OK.

I am very aware that watching TV whilst the guys pack and lift and shift our stuff would be wrong.

Yet, for today, my work here is done.

Monday, 16 June 2008

controlled chaos

I have too many things in my brain. I have started an entry in my head about 15 times and have gotten distracted.

And now my hands ache after an entire weekend at the new flat doing hard labour like tiling and grouting and lifting and shifting.

So here are my random and meandering fleeting thoughts.

I am not 100% ready to say good bye to Edinburgh
I am about 60% ready
I have 4 days to get ready
Packers come Thurs and movers Friday
Our new place is really going to be cool
It still smells like smoke
Our home now doesn't. It smells like home
Not having a car is really a pain in the behind when moving
Mark is a really hard worker and knows a lot about house stuff
He never complains
I complain a lot if I have to do too many hard things and then I get into it
I am an excellent tile grouter
My hands ache. My nails are split.
We painted our bathroom wall raspberry. We have white tiles (and a few black ones)
It looks cool
Cornices and 12 feet ceilings really make hiring a painter expensive
I forget how disruptive moving is and it rather paralyzes me
I know more about plumbing a bathroom sink that I ever imagined
Living on the 2nd floor is going to sometimes be annoying
We have nice new neighbours below us
Mark can walk to the new place in 6 minutes from work
It takes him 120 now on the train(s)
Getting rid of cardboard boxes is a pain
Glasgow has a lot to explore
And really cheap and cheerful Chinese delivery
I have many schedules and project folders and moving detritus
We have a great couple moving into our Eburgh flat which makes me very happy
And, what I keep making Mark say to me, Everything Is Going To Be Ok
I have to pack now

Friday, 6 June 2008

a confession

I am outing myself.

I saw the Sex and the City movie last night.

And I cried a little.

I kinda hate myself for it.

Shhhhhh.

La Dolce Vita

I am up waaaaaay too early.

And I am awfully excited by my life just now.

Let me count the ways. Warning, I include capital letters to convey enthusiasm.

Picking up keys for our NEWLY PURCHASED KICK ASS FLAT in Glasgow tomorrow. Yes. And I am going to be a homeowner. This is a whole entry on its own.
Creating in-between project with Hanna in MADISON!! Yes. Another home. Where my 40 year old self can revisit my 19 year old self. And Tom n Miri. And hopefully G and LW and Mom and Dad.
Divine intervention and GENEROUS BROTHER Mike helping me out with flights. Yes. And we all need help and I am grateful in receiving.
Gratifying CLIENTS continue to come who I love and am enriched in working with. Yes. And I am contributing financially doing something I love.
New tenants to our beloved Edinburgh flat are a FANTASTIC American girl from MN and her English beau, making this transition so much easier knowing our wee home will be loved. Yes. And an unexpected harmonic convergence.

Yes I am pretty much gratitude soaked and in awe of the beauty and relief of now.

Friday, 30 May 2008

I just find this funny

Sex in the Who Cares City

Seriously.

The movie.

The incessant reruns.

The 'count down' to the movie premiere.

The talk.

The fashion.

The obsession of the dresses.

The plot.

The actresses.

The characters.

Am I the only one who now watches the old episodes cringing? Why did I think these were interesting, much less riveting story lines? All the characters are one demential. The plots are mildly entertaining but seem written mostly to titillate. At the time, it was a bit new to have women characters so up front about sex and relationships. And that was cool. But I resented them all being painted as a shoe slutty man eaters. It gives woman kind a bad name. But fine. The show had its place on the coveted HBO Sunday line up. Especially in my house.

But now it seems the world has missed them SO much. I say- really? Were you gone? Or are we just so hard up for film that we are ready to drudge up a barely old TV show to reclaim it?

SATC- thanks for the memories on the Sunday nights. And for making me occasionally nod in agreement or understanding. But really, I moved on when you did and just can't muster up any enthusiasm for you now. Carrie. Big. Miranda. Charlotte. Samantha. I left you in New York suspended in time and that is actually where I'd like you to stay.

Thursday, 29 May 2008

getting started for Glasgow

Click here to check out
The Glasgow Life Club meet up!

Start your engines. I am going to training in July and will look to set her up for September! Starting a Life Club is also going to be my Leadership project, so am going to give it really my all. I am excited! Also thrilled to be in good company with Lex and Lister as my colleagues!