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Loosely Speaking
MAY 19, 2014
I can do a fair amount of home repairs, as long as there’s no plumbing, electricity, or leveling required. I like to think that my projects are well conceived, but sometimes brutishly executed. I’m ok with that.
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Loosely Speaking
SEPTEMBER 26, 2014
Clearly, if you are in dire straits, a scream might be good. I can now report that screaming combined with maniacal laughing and tears can be incredibly cathartic.
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Loosely Speaking
OCTOBER 6, 2014
So my mom said she doesn’t wear this sweater bought on out road trip to Orcas 10 years ago. Weird. The one we got color me didn’t work out either. She says she wishes it was a cardigan.
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Loosely Speaking
OCTOBER 25, 2014
There were a lot of changes in latitude in our family this year. Between March and October, my dad-in-law, my husband and I, and two of my sons moved to new addresses. There was a lot of hauling, caterwauling, and aching.
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Loosely Speaking
FEBRUARY 13, 2015
I woke up from my antihistamine-fueled dreams today with this song playing in my head. In fact, I was never a Styx fan.
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Loosely Speaking
MARCH 3, 2015
During our 2015 Oscar party, my DDIL and I both infamously voted for the “Lego Movie” as the winner in the best song category. No matter that I didn’t know that song because I forgot to watch “Lego.
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Loosely Speaking
MARCH 6, 2015
I recently heard a podcast segment which reminded me that we aren’t JUST knitters or crocheters. We are all primarily something else, professionally or personally.
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Loosely Speaking
MARCH 10, 2015
I owe everything I am to her. I am inspired by her wisdom, intelligence and strength and draw on those qualities daily. She is hilarious and spontaneous: who wouldn’t want to hang out with her?
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APRIL 15, 2015
All I can say is, Prescott gives Chicago a run for the money in the moniker “The Windy City.” It’s dry, on top of windy, meaning we are rapidly approaching the day when we are on high alert for wildfires.
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Loosely Speaking
APRIL 22, 2015
Since it’s breezy to outright windy here throughout springtime, I’m realizing that we really could do with a clothesline. Between our endless sunshine and air movement, our clothes would dry in no time.
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Loosely Speaking
DECEMBER 31, 2012
Right here in public I am vowing to finish at LEAST 6 of my works in progress before starting any new knitting in 2013. Some of the pieces I have to choose from in narrowing down to six are delightful. I haven’t lost interest, I just needed something different to do at the time. Here are a few of those in-the-works pieces I’ll attempt to complete: Panoramic Shawl , by one of my favorite designers, Hannah Fettig, in beautiful blue organic merino from Swans Island.
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Loosely Speaking
SEPTEMBER 26, 2012
Or crocheting, or spinning, or dyeing, or weaving. To me, all are better when done outside, and especially while camping or sitting next to water. There are oodles of “Knitting Camps,” retreats combined with instruction, really, where you pre-register and attend classes. Some are in rustic accommodations while others are at hotels or even swank Inns in beautiful island settings.
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Loosely Speaking
SEPTEMBER 25, 2012
After 17 years, it’s time for another career move. I don’t know whether it will be lateral or vertical, but I’m calling it my second retirement. (The first was when I left the classroom in 1995). I’m keeping a couple of clients and taking time to figure out if I am really going to be retired or if I’ll just be looking for a different way to make a living.
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Loosely Speaking
MARCH 22, 2012
In which our son walks out of the clubhouse for the last time, and we begin life after baseball. Many famous athletes have written eloquently about the first day after a career in professional sports ends, so you can go to Amazon to get books on the topic if you want to know more about their experiences. As the weeks go by, we’ll find out first hand what it’s like not to have a son stepping up to the plate on Opening Day.
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Loosely Speaking
MARCH 2, 2012
Andrew was 13. He and I returned home from his birthday weekend in Phoenix to find it in our driveway. A garnet 1994 SR5 5-speed Toyota 4-Runner. The first new car I’d ever owned, purchased that weekend by my husband-to-be as our new family car. I freaked out. It took me at least six months to relax and begin to enjoy it, and then the fun began.
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Loosely Speaking
FEBRUARY 15, 2012
Does Barbie have ANY place in the life of a modern, grown up woman? I know that when I got MY Barbie in 1960, I didn’t see her as an unrealistic role model for myself in the future. All I knew was that I was the luckiest seven year on earth since my Barbie had the best wardrobe ever, made by my Gramma and my Mom. Yesterday I learned that one of our little grandgirls got a Barbie for her birthday.
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Loosely Speaking
FEBRUARY 10, 2012
This very mild Northern Arizona winter means there’s a lot of green everywhere already. That converts to sneezing. Often. Never mind that February is usually pink and red. To commemorate this very green and sneezy month, here are two green projects just off my needles. Toasty mitts in Bugga! Colorway is “Black Witch Moth.” “Toasty” and the corresponding version called “Toast” were designed by Leslie Friend.
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FEBRUARY 7, 2012
Whether your professional collaborations consist of committee work with peers, or you steer all your company operations via a team that’s spread throughout the globe, in this century many of us have occasion to work with people who aren’t in our same zipcode or timezone. We have the technology and need to communicate across distance. Some among us have formalized our “virtual teams” and this approach to work has become routine.
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Loosely Speaking
JANUARY 26, 2012
Overlook railing at Gilbert Riparian Preserve. One of the coolest gifts my parents ever gave me was my first camera, a Polaroid Swinger. (If you haven’t heard of the Swinger , all you need to do is watch this commercial to know when it was popular!). I appear stiff and lifeless, some might say ridiculous, in photos, but absolutely love making pictures.
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Loosely Speaking
JANUARY 23, 2012
Solopreneurs must periodically hone skills and tools, and even retrofit their service offerings. These changes can be driven by new skills and interests, technology advances, and client needs. My friend Christy has been on this journey for the past four years when she went from hard-driving real estate professional to dedicated mom and homemaker. She manages to create a loving (and immaculate) home, which is both inviting and stylish.
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Loosely Speaking
JANUARY 12, 2012
Spa Cloths in Katia Jamaica, crocheted. I am up to my ears in brown yarn, and therefore brown knitted items. For several months prior to November, I did the same thing with olive and lime green. I formerly had dark brown hair but these days it is decidedly un-brown. I own one brown garment (and zero green togs) so I can’t understand why I keep picking up random skeins everywhere in assorted shades of BROWN, my least favorite color of all.
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OCTOBER 26, 2011
Season 2/Episode 16 Program Notes. Scroll to the bottom of this post to listen to the episode now, or find AZVAs at the iTunes store. . . Subscribe to AZVAs Connections Newsletter and get notified when a new episode is published. . Discussion/Announcements/Tips: Tara checks in from a conference, so we Skype-chatted about where to find quality, affordable continuing education.
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Loosely Speaking
SEPTEMBER 29, 2011
I need to take moment for a personal aside to my mom, who’s had a heck of a spring and summer… Mom, to prepare for next spring color, I planted a bed of Shirley Poppies in your honor. I’ve always loved the crepe paper poppies for sale on Veteran’s Day, but never realized they were based on the same flower. The inside of the seed packet says, “This packet is dedicated to those men and women who fought for the allies during the two World Wars.” Just goes to show
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Loosely Speaking
AUGUST 30, 2011
Who doesn’t multi-task these days? In running your business, it’s either a gift you’re born with, or a demand you’ll have to delegate to an assistant. You may even be multi-tasking in areas you’ve never tackled before. While you may have hired many household tasks done in the past, more of us are repairing leaky faucets, landscaping, altering & mending our clothes, or even cleaning our own homes.
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AUGUST 27, 2011
Activities like sewing and knitting keep my design eye in tune. By spending some time daily on those pursuits, I believe I am keeping my instincts sharp. Then, when a client asks me to create a new web ad for them, I can tap into a creative process that I can rely on. I usually begin by sketching out my design idea (whether for a web site, knitted or sewn project) and playing around with images (or fibers, needles, fabric and thread) for awhile.
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Loosely Speaking
AUGUST 25, 2011
For 17 years I’ve been married to a wonderful man. Along with the marriage came some bonus kids, a house with no mortgage and innumerable other gifts. The yang to that yin is that we live next door to a very dilapidated, smelly mobile home. About ten years ago it was hauled away, only to be replaced the next day with one of similar characteristics.
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AUGUST 25, 2011
I used to be a teacher; now I am a virtual professional. I used to be a runner and a backpacker; now I am a gramma who hikes a lot, camps in a popup camper rather than on the ground, and rides my bike with my grandkids. I used to sew most of my clothes. Now I teach my grand kids how to hem and embellish their jeans. This bike seat cover used to be my friend Susy’s sweater.
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AUGUST 16, 2011
Like most families, ours experiences a concentration of annual family milestones, from mid-August through late October. The preparation is similar to the holiday rush that is Christmas for our clan. Some are marked with a card or phone call, while others require gifts, purchased and or handmade. In case the cards/gifts/phone calls/skype chats don’t arrive on schedule, or before there are more additions to the family calendar, here are felicitations for you one and all, in the order of app
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AUGUST 11, 2011
Most knitters strive for a balance within our works-in-progress (“WIPs&# ). This may reflect degree of difficulty or ease of transport, an important gift deadline… things like that. A large blanket which exceeds its project bag’s capacity, for example, has to stay at home. A pair of socks or a scarf, in particular those whose stitch patterns are easily memorized, gets to go out on errands, road trips and airplane rides.
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Loosely Speaking
AUGUST 10, 2011
It was Fall 2009, and these guys had all just finished up their short season stint and Fall Instructs with the Angels. All four were selected in the Major League Amateur Draft in June of that summer. Jon Karcich, Dillon Baird, Casey Haerther and Garrett Richards (the guy with a circle around his head and the arrow) were enjoying a couple of days of R&R with a quick stop at our house here in Prescott Arizona.
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AUGUST 6, 2011
Season 2/Episode 15 Program Notes. Scroll to the bottom of this page and click on the “AZVAs the Podcast&# link to listen to the episode now. iPod users can find the episode in the podcast directory at the iTunes Store. Here’s that link ! . You can subscribe to our newsletter VA Connections here: Contents of this episode: Discussion/Announcements/Tips: The subtitle of this episode is “Putting life into your business,&# since we think that’s a part of how you create a dre
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Loosely Speaking
MAY 22, 2011
Season 2/Episode 14 Program Notes. Scroll to the bottom of this page and click on the “AZVAs the Podcast&# link to listen to the episode now. iPod users can find the episode in the podcast directory at the iTunes Store. Here’s that link ! You can subscribe to our newsletter VA Connections here: Contents of this episode: Discussion/Announcements/Tips: Tara and Katie discuss tips for creative and effective use of social media.
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MAY 15, 2011
Or, “Live from the ‘Land of Lincoln.’ Here the lawns are already lush and green, you can hear a cardinal (the bird!) singing while sipping your morning coffee, and mold grows like it has been lovingly cultivated. The sun is a huge red ball at dawn as seen through the permanent scrim of humidity. The people here are kind and generous, and I am the one with the accent.
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MAY 3, 2011
Staying on top of social media and podcasting has been my focus for the past couple of years. Today I took a look at my Firefox bookmarks and was shocked at how outdated (therefore useless!) they have become. Ditto my blog reader program files. So, before your next scheduled backup, take a trip down memory lane and do a little spring cleaning: weed out those old favorites!
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APRIL 25, 2011
Season 2/Episode 13 Program Notes. Scroll to the bottom of this page and click on the “AZVAs the Podcast&# link to listen to the episode now. iPod users can find the episode in the podcast directory at the iTunes Store. Here’s that link ! Contents of this episode: Discussion/Announcements/Tips: Tara and Katie chat about ways to find client in tourism and hospitality, whether you are a small business owner (building contractors, for example) or virtual assistant.
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Loosely Speaking
APRIL 6, 2011
Even though the big three (Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn) have been around for more than a few years, conventions and best practices for their use still seems like a hot topic. Every where I turn lately, there are classes, webinars and live chats on the subject. My AZVAs colleague and I are no exception, as we’re planning our May 2011 podcast around the topic and are even offering a course of our own on May 24.
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MARCH 29, 2011
If you haven’t explored social networking yet (and from what I hear you’re not alone if you haven’t), there are plenty of classes to help you get up to speed. What if you have tried it but can’t figure out what exactly to do with your new Twitter or FB accounts once you open them? Maybe you just need a little inspiration. Here are some success stories that span various industries, from equine dentistry to paper manufacturing: Mashable’s “ Social Media Business
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Loosely Speaking
MARCH 18, 2011
READER WARNING: If you don’t care about baseball, skip this post, one of my periodic updates on our son’s progress through the Los Angeles Angels organization. I may have imagined such a night, but I couldn’t have scripted it any better than it happened. It’s true that you just can’t make this stuff up. We got a call the night before Dillon was asked to report to the major league game in case they needed a back up 1B player.
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MARCH 16, 2011
Everybody is using one or more of the social networks these days. It’s crazy how much information exists on how to use them, why, where, etc. What are the most creatively brilliant uses of these networks, either that you yourself have experienced, or that you have observed? Let’s call them “WOW’s&# and let’s talk about them here.
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Loosely Speaking
MARCH 14, 2011
Season 2/Episode 12 Program Notes. Scroll to the bottom of this page and click on the “AZVAs the Podcast&# link to listen to the episode now. iPod users can find the episode in the podcast directory at the iTunes Store. Here’s that link ! Contents of this episode: Discussion/Announcements/Tips: Tara and Katie give real tips on exactly where to look to find work opportunities within entertainment and sports fields.
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Loosely Speaking
MARCH 9, 2011
Happy Birthday, Mom. I love you this much: a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck.
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Loosely Speaking
FEBRUARY 25, 2011
Finally, baseball begins tomorrow for the Angels, and I’ll be there rain or shine. After a delightful winter spent doing repair projects and painting with hubby at a property we have listed for sale, I’ve mostly worn the same paint-encrusted duds five days a week. I look forward to scrubbing the primer off my hands and fingernails, changing clothes and getting out of town for a couple of days.
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FEBRUARY 3, 2011
Season 2/Episode 11 Program Notes. Scroll to the bottom of this page and click on the “AZVAs the Podcast&# link to listen to the episode now. iPod users can find the episode in the podcast directory at the iTunes Store. Here’s that link ! A portion of this episode was recorded live at Olde World Bagels & Market (here’s their Facebook page ) in Prescott Arizona.
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Loosely Speaking
FEBRUARY 1, 2011
Just wrapped up our first AZVAs “REAL TALK&# conference call , and it made me realize two things: I needed to dust off and update the Calendar of Events for Solopreneurs elsewhere on Loosely Speaking to reflect all that’s in store for 2011. I want to organize a second AZVAs retreat for those of you in the Southwest! I can’t attend every event I want to annually since there are so many to choose from.
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