Update on Life

1. So the other day I was working at Banana when I noticed this darling little black girl and her mother come into the store. I said hello to the mom and was about to say hi to the curly headed beauty when I heard her say, "I like your ring." I replied, "Well thank you!" And the next thing she says is "I like the bling-bling on there!" I guess bling-bling means diamond in her vocabulary. The mom laughed kind of embarrassed-like, but I thought it was the cutest thing!

2. On Monday and Tuesday this week I spoke at two different Rotary clubs in the South Bend area. I talked about the trends in autobiography and memoir in our country, the benefits people are finding in writing their life history, and a few things that make a life history something others will want to read.

It's my third time doing it, and I found that I'm not even nervous at all! I always sit next to the club president at the front-most table for lunch, and then they introduce me, and I take about 20-25 minutes, including Q&A. I give a handout with all my contact information, and then I hope people will want to talk to me afterward. Monday's meeting was particularly successful that way. Practically everyone wanted to tell me a family or life story after I talked. It was great. All in all, I've added 20 people to my email list, gotten three people to request a consultation, and had another three people offer to refer me to someone they think will be interested in working with me.

Public speaking is one thing (like music and Alaina) that will definitely make you feel alive!

3. We're trying to figure out how to get out west for Christmas without busting the bank... Nat, how bad do you think it would be to drive it in December??

Anyway, we love and miss you all!