Garden of Words

Car Found. Sadly Repairable.

This is not a photo of our recently stolen -- and recovered -- car. We just wish it were.

Actually, I think Nikole and I both are relieved that the Jeep was recovered undriveable but apparently repairable. While her jewelry design business is gearing back up and I have had a few successful gigs with my new firm, we're really not in the position to buy a new car, or organic peanut butter.

We're still waiting on the skinny from the police about where the car was discovered, and how long the shoot-out between the officers and the gang of criminals lasted. The insurance company will swing by the impound lot tomorrow and issue their judgment on the damage -- broken window, ruined steering column, generally trashed inside.

And we're trading the too-small for my lanky frame rental car in for something with more heft.

The Baby Factory: Accompanied by the Lovely Scout Niblett

An unedited video montage of Thea with a little soundtrack by one of my favorite out-of-tune English singers, Scout Niblett.

Watch the Daylight Fade

The end of our late Sunday afternoon walk, pulling the stroller to keep the sun out of a fussy baby's eyes.

Memories, of the Way We Were

Does anyone remember when Rilo was the star of these pages? Fortunately, dogs don't have good long-term memory; I'm hoping she doesn't remember.

The Baby Factory: A Windy Day

Actually, it wasn't really breezy until the end of our walk. We started our walk with Princess Pot Roast having great fun pulling her hat off and throwing it every which way.

The Baby Factory: Bang on the Drum

Nikole bought Thea a drum/maraca/tambourine combo for her birthday, which we obviously forgot because we were so eager to expose her to some genuine noise producing instruments. The battery-operated symphonic duck just doesn't hold her attention these days.

Weekend with Friends

 

It seems like forever since we've a) been outside, and b) spent time with friends. To do both simultaneously this weekend was pretty wonderful. We should have nice weather around here more often...

After recovering from the late morning discovery that Nikole's Jeep had been stolen, we slung Thea into her carrier and headed out for an afternoon walk. It was in the 60s, after all. We wound our way through Bellvue, and found ourselves (somewhat deliberately) at the new house of our friends Richard and Elaine, who recently swam across the river and settled in Northside. We caught Richard sanding down an old porch glider.

Rilo ran laps around the yard with their dog Dewey, while we sat and drank Fresco -- the beverage of champions -- in their backyard.

Sunday morning, we headed across the river to see our friends Sharon and Robert. They fixed brunch at their house, and we sat outside on their deck and ate. Scrumptious stuff.

After eating, we made our way down to crowded Reedy Creek for a walk along the James River. Thea promptly fell asleep, and got her nap for the afternoon -- all 30 minutes of it.

We capped off the gorgeous weekend with one more walk -- this time with Thea in a stroller and Rilo on her leash -- around Bellevue. Thanks, Mother Nature!

Recess in the Recession: Website Designs

I am pleased as punch with the new draft design of the Floricane LLC website. Top Dead Center Designs took my feedback -- delivered late Friday morning -- and delivered a site that really sings to me. It should be live by the end of February, but you can click the image above for a clearer look at how it's shaping up.

Recess in the Recession: A Full Week of Work

This week was the fullest week of work I've had since I officially launched my new business at the beginning of January.

It started with an opportunity to do some contract work with another consultant, who'd done work for my team while I was at Luck Stone. Dave had a Fortune 500 client in lovely Appleton, Wisconsin, whose 60 person marketing team was beginning to use a style assessment tool known as Insights Discovery -- Dave and I both have worked with Insights Discovery for years, and he felt having a second facilitator with such a large group would be a good idea. We talked about the work on Monday.

On Tuesday, I sent out an Evite to almost 400 people -- friends and relatives; former colleagues from the Times-Dispatch and VCU and Circuit City and Luck Stone; business friends and contacts; other consultants. The invitation was to a cocktail party on March 5 formally launching Floricane LLC, thanking those gathered for all of their support, and explaining what exactly my new business is all about.

As soon as I sent the Evite out, I began to mentally wrestle with whether Wisconsin was the right decision -- it was scheduled two days before 200-300 people were going to be gathering for the business launch. And the day after the third session in a significant Chamber of Commerce program I'm facilitating.

But the clock didn't wait for me to ponder. I had work happening.

Wednesday, I headed over to the Virginia Museum to talk to a few folks there about that institution's strategic opportunities -- essentially, how to simultaneously move the needle on cutural change within the museum; respect the aspects of the existing museum culture that have helped it succeed; and engage the external community in new ways. The Sigmoid Curve was a helpful point of reference in the discussion.

I also pulled out of the Wisconsin gig on Wednesday.

Thursday was slammed. Thea woke us early, and then I raced out to Short Pump for an all-day facilitation session with 30 employees of a statewide nonprofit organization. Already exhausted, I dashed to my car at 3:20 and raced to Hopewell for a 4:10 appointment with another nonprofit to interview for a year-long piece of work. The four-person panel had already interviewed five other consultants or consulting firms by the time I sat down, so all of us were a bit tired.

The interview went great. From my side of the table, the best aspect of it was that their questions (24 very focused, intentional questions) really pushed me to think through some aspects of my business -- what it was, and what it wasn't.

Friday, I finished a batch of copy for my website, sent an assessment out to the 30 folks in Thursday's session, wrote thank you notes to the interview panel and -- before I could even mail them -- found out that I made the cut, and woud be going on to a final interview.

Recess in the Recession: Flowers

The week before last, I had my first paid piece of work -- facilitating a two hour management meeting for a local nonprofit. When I came home, my wife had placed a bouquet of flowers on the table with a note that read, "Congratulations on today. I am so proud of you. I love you so much." I was in such a hurry for us to get out of the house for our first significant date night since Thea was born that I didn't even notice them! But once I slowed down, and she pointed them out, I appreciated them immensely.