Random Connect Points:
Reba's Stories

(Just a daily stream of consciousness writing exercises to sharpen my mind for my first 30 days without a daily work routine. I'm sharing publicly to stay accountable to myself.) Day 1 - January 3 Day one of retirement. New world order. Trying to start an exercise of writing 200 words daily. Maybe a theme of lessons learned today. Some may be too personal to publish here and they'll stay in my journal. Others will end up here. It's ok not to have a plan. It's ok to sleep in a bit. It's ok not to get anything on the to do list done. It's ok to feel a little shaky about this new adventure. It’s ok to feel a sense of gratification from kind notes from people who say I’ve touched their lives. It's ok just to "be" for a while. I did accomplish setting up the dual computer monitors and didn't flip out when I realized I've screwed up my google contacts. Nothing a trip to the Best Buy geek squad won't be able to fix, I feel certain. A

This is what 35 years of professional life looks like Who knew that hundreds of papers in file folders, thousands of emails and digital documents, scads of photos, and boxes filled with old thank you notes could have conjured up the emotions I recently experienced as I started packing up 35 years of stuff as I prepare to retire on Jan. 2. I wasn't expecting the rush of memories that came from opening a book of quotes from my first job writing speeches for a Congressman or skimming through files of planning documents that set out the vision for big projects that ultimately became successful. As I sat on my office floor sorting through so much of this, I was overcome by the magnitude of gratitude I have for the crooked path of work experiences I’ve accumulated over the past 35 years and the countless co-workers, bosses, colleagues, professional friends and (yes, even) foes who have taught me so much. I’ve attempted to sort out some of these lessons here: Always be kind.

Thailand. Not exactly on my travel bucket list. I’m more of a European travel bucket list kind of gal. But when my childhood friend Libby moved to Bangkok back in the spring, I said “I'm in.”   Going over Thanksgiving would minimize the amount of time I’d have to take off, but still allow me to be there long enough to justify the 24+ hour journey to get there.   I  bought the ticket months ago almost on a whim. Normally, I’m a big travel planner. I like to research an itinerary, evaluate the options available of what to do, and have a sense of how things will play out before I ever leave home. Knowing Libby would know the lay of the land, fortunately my inner planning genie agreed to take a little rest. It’s a good thing, because I got so overwhelmed by looking at options of what we could do, I kind of shut down… history, art, food, religion, outdoors, wildlife, beaches  … so much to consider. But that’s the beauty of visiting someone who lives there. So here’s to Lib

House concert: (hous KON-sert) - A gathering of friends and neighbors in an intimate home setting to celebrate and support local musicians. 2017 house concert OK … so I kind of made up that definition, but that does describe the concept. The tradition of house concerts goes back generations to Appalachian traditions. A performer en route between gigs may have had an open night to play at a host’s home along the way in exchange for a good meal and place to lay his head. The host would charge a small ticket price with proceeds going to the performer. In the modern twist on a house concert, guests pay a small admission fee and bring a snack to share, their own adult beverages and chairs. Get tickets here .   So that’s what’s going on October 26 – a house concert featuring the fabulous Danielle Howle . If you aren’t familiar with Danielle’s work, you need to be! Friend her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @DanielleHowleMusic and Insta @dmfhowle. I’ve loved Danielle’s mu

How does anyone ever know when it’s time? Time for anything. Time for change. Time to slow down. Time to speed up. Time to make a decision. Time to wait. I recently knew it was time to make a decision on buying a new car when circumstances forced it – my car died on the interstate and repair was far more expensive than the car was worth. Now I’m mulling over when it will be time to get a new dog. When my beloved Golden Retriever, Dixie, died back in January, the first thing people often asked was when would I be getting another dog.  At that point, I thought it would never be time to get a new dog. My heart yearned for Dixie, not just another dog. But as my heart started to heal, I came to the realization that my life just wasn’t complete without a dog. Only catch was I had to get to the place where wanting to have a dog outweighed just wanting my Dixie back. It took time for me to want to even touch a dog. About six weeks after Dixie died, my friend Eleanor’s two dogs