Nicole Basaraba would make a fantastic Samsung Global Blogger for the London Olympics 2012. Please read the details below and give her your vote and pass this message along. She’s a super young woman, talented blogger and would be perfect for the task! GO NICOLE!
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Getting back on track …
Full disclosure: I have to admit taking a week to breathe, away from writing and social media, was truly a gift. I’m so glad I gave it to myself.
Having finally written the ending to my next novel … even though we all know novels are never really *finished* … it was time to re-focus on all those other parts of my life that I felt had been just a tad neglected recently.
I spent a lot of time having leisurely chats and lunches with friends and family, golfing, hosting a dinner party, catching up on blogs, watching fabulous tennis from the ATP tour (the French Open, from Paris, is on right now, OF COURSE, I’m watching!!!) taking in the spring concert and amazing art exhibit at the school our 11 and 13-year-old granddaughters attend, and spending the weekend with The Adorables (our two youngest grandchildren, ages 3 and 4) while their parents had a wee break. My “Huh … ???” moment on the weekend was when Kate, only recently turned 3, asked, “Nana, am I your BFF?” I didn’t think Dora The Explorer talked about stuff like that!
I also went to see “Cavalia’s ODYSSEO” with my DH, one of our wonderful daughters and her equally wonderful husband and our granddaughters mentioned above. It was spectacular! Cirque Du Soleil with horses and remarkable special effects! Take a look at the video in this link. If the show comes to your area, be sure to catch it.
AND I READ! Talk about joy and bliss! Books, magazines, newspapers, words written by other people. It was wonderful to read without feeling pressed to get back to my writing. In the past six months, it has become increasingly difficult to focus on anything but my own words … self-absorbed would be an apt description. *hanging head at the memory*
Writers do what they do for the love of it, there is no simpler explanation. Unfortunately, along with meeting our writing goals come challenges, research, deadlines and before long the task takes over our life. The additional demands of social media … well, let’s not even get into that here … Kate MacNicol recently shared a fabulous post about that issue.
It’s often difficult to find the balance between your writing/professional/day-job life, whatever it is you do, and everything else. The good news is that most of us recognize this and do take steps to make amends at some point. If you feel your life has been unbalanced lately, take a tip from me and give yourself the same gift I did. Take a week to breathe … you’ll be glad you did.
Before I dive back into editing, revising, getting published and also working on a new exciting project with fellow author Susan Sommers (more on that coming soon…), I also have a couple of overdue *thank you* words to mention.
Thank you to Indie Reader Discovery Awards 2012 for making The Bridge Club a Finalist in the General Fiction category and to the National Indie Excellence Awards for 2012 where The Bridge Club was a Finalist in the Women’s Issues category.
Several weeks ago, writer/blogger Emmie Mears very kindly bestowed upon me The Beautiful Blogger award
and I kept putting off acknowledging this honour because I was waiting until I had enough time to fill out the requirements. I’m supposed to tell you seven things you don’t already know about me … and I will … just not now. I do want to thank Emmie and encourage you to read her always thought-provoking, informative and entertaining blog. She is young, talented, hard-working, and full of hopes and dreams which I know she is going to make come true. I have a lot of time for Emmie.
I’m also sending a belated thank you to writer/blogger Lesann Berry who awarded me the Smart 
Cookie Biscuit designation. I’m not sure how she knew but I suspect this award has something to do with the number of cookies I’d been eating while I was writing! So thanks, Lesann, and I want you to know I have now cut sugar out of my diet. Honest! Don’t miss her posts. Check out this poster from her blog. This will tell you precisely the type of person she is. Awesome.
The list I could give you of amazing bloggers simply boggles my mind and I’m determined to make more of an effort to share those names each week. Watch for them and feel free to share your own links. Many of them are on my Blog Roll in the left column here, just a click away!
Do you ever give yourself the gift of a break from your job, routines, and demands? What works for you? You know we all want to hear about it and you might just encourage someone else to do the same.
Taking a week to breathe …
I’ve been taking a bit of a break this week to celebrate typing the words “The End” on the last page of the manuscript of my next novel. Wooohoooo! Yippeeeee! … ahem … sorry for the momentary loss of control …
For those writers in the crowd, you know what I mean. There’s a bittersweet feeling when we begin to cut our ties with the characters and settings that have possessed and taken over been a big part of our lives since the first word of the story was written. If you aren’t a writer, there have no doubt been similar projects that occupied your time and mind until you finally dragged your sorry a**across crossed that finish line.
This week I have a lot of catching up to do. First of all I have to show my ever-supportive husband I remember how to have a long, focused conversation with him. We even went to a movie this afternoon and I made it all the way through without being distracted 50% of the time. I need to have a few GNOs and answer a backlog of voicemail messages. I have a lot of blogs to read and support to return to my superfantabulous peers in the online writing community. There’s a long list of social stuff to plan and enjoy. I may even start cooking again! Most of all, it’s time to celebrate … for at least a week or two … before the editing and revisions begin.
Ahhhhh – the joys of being a writer! I’ll get back to my normal blogging next week. Thanks for understanding!
How do you recognize the completion of a project? Do you take time off before diving into the next challenge? What’s your favourite way to celebrate? Do you quietly put your head down and sleep for a few days or do you kick up your heels?
And now for your viewing pleasure, check these out:
Jenny Hansen shares important health reminders for every woman.
Jane Friedman and the pros and cons of an author platform
Meet the Downsizing Divas!
A few weeks ago I had a great evening at a dinner/meeting hosted by Anne Day’s Company of Women. These business-oriented functions are super networking opportunities attended by dynamic women and conversations are animated and informative. There’s never a dull moment and this time I met a couple of true Divas!
You know I love to tell other people’s stories and today I want to introduce you to the fabulous ladies of Downsizing Diva. 
Now don’t they look like women it would be fun to hang out with? Energetic, always smiling and fun-loving, they run a business that offers a tremendous service. I was delighted to have them pay us a visit here and Karen took some time to answer a few questions.
How did you and Gail first meet? Was this a personal friendship that became a business partnership?
Gail and I first met at a Professional Organizers in Canada (POC) meeting when Gail was starting her business and I had been in business for just over a year. We quickly discovered we shared similar values and wanted to help the same people, that would be seniors, organize, downsize and move.
For about six years, we were friendly-competitors sharing resources, ideas and sometime projects. Over this time, we became friends and, this time at a POC Conference in Vancouver, we decided to become business partners.
The next thing we knew we were approached and asked to think about franchising our business! The rest, as they say, is history. Our learning curve is not a curve at all – it’s straight-up! We love what we do and we do it all with care, compassion and, sometimes, comedy!
The name of your company, Downsizing Diva, is fabulous. What is the origin of the business?
We love the name too! Years ago, while working with a colleague who called herself “the organizing goddess”, we were moving a large number of items through a rather up-scale condo lobby. The Property Manager, wondering why we were not using the loading dock, stopped us with the question, “Who do you think you are?”
Of course, Pat responded with “I am the Organizing Goddess” and then, it was my turn! Not to be outdone, I pulled myself up to full height and answered, “And, I am the Downsizing Diva!” Lots of laughs ensued and a new company name was born!
Are most of your clients in the “seniors” demographic or do you find you are helping younger people as the condo craze explodes?
Gail and I are pioneers in the “senior move management business” and, over the years, we realize how important the “downsizing” component is to any move. We all have too much stuff and our job is to help our clients take only the items they want, use and need when they move to a new home.
We know that there are lots of people who could use the services of Downsizing Diva, and we also know the people we enjoy helping the most!
Historically, our clients tended to NEED our services, but recently, we are finding a whole new group of clients who WANT our services. Either way, we are committed to helping our clients go from overwhelmed to overjoyed when they contemplate their upcoming move.
What is the most rewarding aspect of your work?
The most rewarding aspect of the work we do is having the opportunity to help people
every single day. We are proud to say we do our work WITH our clients, not TO them because we understand the emotional rollercoaster involved with preparing for a move. We take time to listen to the stories while continuing to move forward on the sorting, downsizing and packing part of the process.
Sometimes, at the end of a move we realize that our clients don’t have anyone to help them with some of the day-to-day stuff – banking, bill-paying, shopping… That’s why we created “Diva-at-your-Service” to continue to help.
We like to say, we treat our clients like family…and we mean that in the nicest way!
With the aging of our population, a business like yours that offers such important assistance can only continue to grow. Is this something you would recommend to others to pursue?
Would we recommend this “senior move management” business to others? In a heartbeat!
We love what we do and we have decided to franchise our business so we can help even more people! We’ve developed a recognizable brand, a successful business model and wonderful, supportive network of Divas – it’s a dream come true! Think you’ve got what it takes to be a Downsizing Diva…give us a call! We love to talk!
You, Gail and Gerine have such winning personalities. What would you recommend to others who are contemplating offering services such as yours?
Our recommendation is…follow your passion and be authentic! That’s it, in a nutshell!
We know we can teach people how to “downsize and organize”, but what we can’t do is teach anyone to LOVE working with senior clients. You either do, or you don’t
Fortunately we do…we love our clients, we love doing what we do and we mean it when we say, we love what we do…and it shows!
What’s not to like about that???
To add to their list of talents, these two Divas are authors as well!
They’ve written the essential book on moving and you can easily order it directly from their website by clicking right here.
Do you have Downsizing Divas in your neighbourhood? We’re very glad to have them in ours! What sort of networking groups do you belong to, as a writer or for other reasons?
