I snuck away for a little writing adventure, and honestly? It was exactly what my soul needed. Picture this: brick streets that feel like they’ve been walked on for generations, lined with small businesses that are actually thriving. Every shop had its own charm, and every shopkeeper treated me like an old friend.
Strolling around safe and peaceful. I wandered slowly, letting myself get distracted by random bits of public art tucked around corners like little surprises.
I bought some treasures at the Local Art Store and the Independent Bookstore and the. Started my coffee stop crawl ….
And actually made a lot of progress on my book 📚
Writing ✍️ Forte Cabanas Broad street cafe ClosedFull of CrepeClosed KilwimsClosed for the seasonTosi Chocolate ShopThe Market
Forte Coffee – hot chocolate and sticker 🌈 🏳️⚧️ took it to go and listened to the waves 🌊 of Lake Michigan
Cabanas – ice cream and more – black coffee so it felt like a sin with all the cows on the wall & ice cream around 🐄
Broadstreet Cafe – bagel sandwich and Carmel macchiato, stopped to work on my book and sat in an old church pew – full of retired old men so you know the food is good and the prices are right 🥯
Açaí – closed
Full of Crepe – hot apple cider with cinnamon sugar 🍎 🍏
Brookie’s cafe – closed
Peppermint ice cream at Kilwims & fudge to take home 🍦
Copper Pot (is only open in the summer)
Had to finish the rest of Tuesday 🙂 it was raining so I watched a Christmas movie by the fireplace and dozed off but then headed out with my umbrella to Tosi, there were a lot of great breakfast choices, but I wasn’t that hungry so I settled on taking home a squirrel cookie for my loves. 🐿️
The Chocolate Cafe – I had to get the hot chocolate (also lots of good breakfast options), I’m coming back for grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch 🍫
The Market – I was expecting like a Starbucks inside a grocery store but this place was much cooler!! 🎄
I hope you are happy together forever. And I hope forever doesn’t sound like long enough 💕.
I love you with my whole heart. My wedding day advice for you is to just stop for at least one deep breath today and look around the room, because everyone here loves you!
I hope your life together turns question marks into exclamation points. ⁉️I hope you dream so big (personally and professionally) it scares you. I know your brilliant brain, strong legs and giant heart will be able to carry you to achieve anything you can possibly imagine.
See all your problems as puzzles. Life is a puzzle, not a problem. You’re both so smart, fit together nicely and together you’ll be able to solve any puzzle you come across.
And Michael …. You know I love you! And I always will your whole life!! With my whole heart ❤️
I started in the 1900s, before Google, before laptops and cellphones were passed out at work, before A.I. …
It’s been my longest relationship. I have been an Abbott employee longer than I have been Cheryl Baillie and longer than I have been Cheryl Keegan.
There were no cell phones, you had to physically call your boss and let them know you’d be late or sick. And when there was a snow day at school there was a phone tree for teachers and it was announced on the radio or tv news. Just as you got your grad school homework done on your home desktop, the printer loudly printing what is due the next day, and finally got baby to sleep, the phone would ring, all the lights would go on, and we’d have to find the packet of paper and the next 3 teachers on the list to call.
There were no laptops. Which meant you could never work from home, you had to check out an overhead projector and laptop to run a one-hour meeting. And print slides on transparency paper ahead of time and pray you didn’t have a typo when presenting a PowerPoint.
I’d only check my email on breaks. I’d spend my day in the lab working. And for lunch or my 10-minute break I’d catch up on my email on a desktop computer. which meant no schedule changes, urgent emails, last minute meetings.
I was hourly, so if I was late to work it was a big deal. There were so many (52 for the first kid and 47 for the second) times they’d wake up with an ear infection, I’d take them to sick call, fill the antibiotics Rx, dose them with Tylenol because they weren’t contagious (but they had a fever) and take them to daycare praying I’d get through at least a little work before daycare called, so I wouldn’t lose my job.
And benefits…I got 5 2/3 pay sick weeks for maternity leave, $25 check for my first profit sharing (and 25% increase for 4 years), one week of vacation for the first 5 years, no work from home days for the first 15 years ….
There have been so many efficiencies since I started, and now that I’m promoted to manager I feel the pressure to keep being infinitely more & more efficient. We are humans and it’s not something that is logarithmic. Change takes time to adapt to. But the pace at which humans need to adapt is in the workforce is quickening.
When I started at $9/hr I needed a second job to pay my bills. I finally made a six figure salary in 2022 (25 years after I started).
I went to grad school (twice), but I think that really only taught me that learning is a lifelong adventure. And those study habits carry me through today when I’m in my 5th division and I have to keep learning and relearning.
I ran the women’s leadership group for 5 years, was on a board or directors for little league non profit for 10 years. Sold my blood, sold my urine, worked overtime, weekends, nights, holidays, different timezones …
Today, I can’t get my work done during work. I’m constantly spending 11-12 hour days in the office (after a 45+ minute commute) and weekends to do the strategic thinking. When I wanted to be a manager I’d thought it’d be development, mentoring and strategic thinking for part of my workday. Instead it’s supporting my team through the daily fire drills launching a software that doesn’t meet our needs, and taking my work home each night and every weekend, just to keep my head above water.
Not only leading people through these changes but adapting to it myself. no wonder why there is an increase in anxiety and mental illness. The pace at which work, politics and life moves is ever-increasing.
So walk in the woods. Meditate. Nap. Write on your paper calendar. Slow down!
From 📖 The Art of Stillness
It’s been my longest relationship, and the world is so big and there is so much opportunity. Gotta go see what else is out there!
Teachers work 176 days a year. I work 260 (plus most weekends). Teachers work 67% of the days I do. Plus 4-6 hrs a day less than me ….
Feel like a ghost in my own life. No one can reach out to me for advice or help…. I’m always working.
I want to be the one who makes dinner for my neighbor who broke their foot.
Who isn’t always 20 min late to 7pm dinner with friends because of “work”.
Who says “what a relaxing vacation day, I only have to call into these 4 meetings…. “
I want a gentle life filled with rest, ease, peace and joy. ❤️🩹 ☮️
Indiana DunesDunes☀️ 🌊 7 hrs in the car 🚘 Dow Gardens 🌺 🍂Canopy Walk Hugged a tree 🌳 Writing Time HikingTridge Hot tub Outdoor dinner 🍷
I don’t think I could’ve created a more beautiful drive all of these beautiful delicious, breathtaking fall forests, rivers, Barns, corn, farms, cows, small towns, coffee, shops, and nice people along the way…
Our nest may be quiet, but love echoes louder than ever, my heart has stretch marks…. It wraps all the way around Lake Michigan 🌊
I’d rather think of myself as a bird launcher, than an “empty nester”.
what a gift this time is. 🎁
How amazing we were able to have a motherhood.
How blessed were we to be there for all of their milestones with front row seats to experience the world through fresh eyes filled with wonder and awe. 🌎 🌍 🌏
Their childhood was my motherhood, and what an extraordinary chapter it was. I savored every moment, even the hard ones, because being their mom has been the most meaningful experience I could ever hope for. It wasn’t always easy, it was challenging and exhausting at times, but it was the most rewarding adventure, and I wouldn’t trade a single second of it.
But…ladies, I think our pink is coming back!
Celebrate! turn your quiet house into a sanctuary or personal Air BnB. 🏖️
Come home to yourself. 💕
Graduate to the next chapter 🧑🎓
My own childhood was the eldest daughter and caretaker. Not really a sibling per se.
I’ve been doing all the invisible work of keeping a household running, forms filled out, dogs fed, outfits planned, maintenance scheduled, presents purchased, parties planned …
Here is a permission slip from the universe to Return to Myself
Connect, self care, solitude, ease, joy, gentleness … ☀️
What a gift a quiet house is, to think, to breathe, to just BE
Human BEing
BE KIND
BE BRAVE
BE CURIOUS
How can we contribute to the community and world beyond our family?
What are your dreams? Will they change just you, or will they change the world?
🦋 what if we don’t need to quit our jobs, retire or pack up and move to a new city, what if we can grow wings right where we are? 🦋
After you feel all the feels, open the door, and let possibility inside. 🍀
Embrace all the extra room in your mind now, learn Italian, go for a bike ride, learn how to play guitar or crochet, memorize all the bird songs in your backyard.
If you feel an emptiness in your heart or your schedule, reclaim it!
The Lefty Writer 