The only constant is change! Have determined that my lifestyle must change with this new job. The change of income is drastic.My goal is to be debt free! Painful but,I must change my living conditions. If I cut back on living expenses can get this paid off fast. Don't owe a lot of money but we all know it is better to be free! Whoo Hoo...OK I said it out loud. maybe this will make me feel better.

Enter the first in a strange cast of this Midlife reality show..

Mr. Frugal... He is a dear friend of mine who is restoring an "old home" he prefers "historic  "built in 1886. The fact it is falling to pieces makes it qualify as old!  He has a masters degree in  finance . Served his 60 years on earth as a professor and an avid motorcycle/airplane specialist. At present he writes for magazines on "mechanical stuff" and is the most published writer on aviation in the world. A Very talented person who has a lot to offer the world.

Have you ever watched the Beauty and the Geek? Some people are so opposite that they are good for each other.  For example,I don't have a clue about combustible gas engines ,all I know is they blow up.Guess what? He is now using a good moisturizer. NO, there is no romance here so don't even go there. One of my best friends for that reason.

Decided to trade my cute trendy apartment for a storage unit and the upstairs complete with ghosts. More on the ghosts later, what a culture shock this is ! It is a hour drive to Beauty Land everyday and the snow makes it worse...He keeps the house at 45 degrees but now have it up to 60! My hair will freeze ,so lets be realistic here... OK, I will quit my whining..LOL

Have determined that some people are just hoarders. Nope not me. Mr. Frugal. He keeps everything,in piles and boxes. Is this an Illness? Who keeps egg cartons for months, thinking one day there will be a use for them?What about clothes with a receipt attached from 1976? Oh please ,just throw the crap out!

 It was painful for him. Now, I know that some people reading this will consider me heartless and non understanding.I am not the queen of hearts, Left his head intact  and just threw out everything he would let me get my hands on! .  Bye Bye to Goodwill you go:) OMG what an undertaking this is going to be.....

As the world collapses around you, the skills from the past come into play. We all have our share of jobs from the "What was I thinking era"? I walked away with no income or ideas in sight. Just a good dose of faith and headache meds!

 Right out of high school my "tour of duty "in cosmetics started. Five years of manning a counter will give you veteran status. You know the ins and out of what will work, latest contraptions,and creams to revitalize youth. Do $780 face creams really make a difference? Can youth be rekindled in the eyes of a fading economy? 

The multiple  jars of creams, gels and colors have taken over my life at times. Let me make this clear, having friends in the industry  and samples  are the only reason for not falling into cosmetic addiction.Rehab is hard because you are always one cream from finding the fountain of youth.Ok, I  had 127 nail polishes,but keep in mind, someone had more. This is what we call beauty denial...

Take one guess where I applied for a job? You got it. The cosmetic counter at a  "luxury retailer".  You have heard the name many times and the thoughts of dollar bills leaving your bank account appear . My passion for making other people beautiful rekindled and new gig appeared! One that I have truly loved and enjoyed.

Working in cosmetics is  live reality show on a regular basis. Let the "Whining "Begin LOL If you are looking for beauty tips will share a few along the way.!  Oh, Don't forget your eye cream tonight:)

The English Guesthouse Angel

The English Guesthouse Angel

My speaking schedule was booked far in advance. The last leg of my travels landed me in the Tallahassee Florida area for two weeks straight.This was following a stint in Stanford Ct and the Maury Povich Show experience!More on this later LOL

Never in the history have I stayed in a bed and breakfast.Why? I only sleep a few hours each night and work on the computer at odd hours.Due to events in the city there were not hotels available.

The English Guestouse came to be my home for the next few weeks.Starbucks was close , and I needed quiet time to reflect on life, years on the road and plans for the future. God always gives you what you need when it is needed. He placed me here for grounding.

The English Guesthouse http://littleenglishguesthouse.com/ owned by Tracey Cochran.

Tracey over the next two weeks gave me wonderful advice on life. She herself had been in a job for many years and opened a guesthouse. I can't explain the bond we had over that period. Maybe she was an Angel sent to help me on the path!I want to start a program for youth in Indiana and she had a background in nonprofits.Her knowledge was a gift from above.

My father is buried in a small town south of Tallahassee, I made a trip to his grave and knew this would be the last for many years. Wonder what he would have thought about me speaking at his high school? Walking down the same halls he had over 50 years earlier. When he passed away, I was a swimwear designer and had not started speaking to youth. Know he would be proud. I talked about the grandkids and updated him on everyone. Kissed the gravestone and said goodbye.Cancer kills not only the people who have it but the dreams of all family .


The last school was hard. No more speeches or lunchroom visits. Not forever,but for now.This has been my passion for so long and know that changes are in the air. I walked away with no future job in place and faith knowing a new adventure is waiting.

Tracey kept in touch and sent me a wonderful letter when I came home. Here is a quote of good advice for anyone facing change.You have been working and experiencing life for what your real purpose is.....


"take a hot bath and go to bed early and start your rest and relaxation, it may take a couple of weeks/months to truly de-stress from the lifestyle you’ve been living. And cry if you want to! Mourning is ok to last through the night because the joy comes in the morning! That’s when you realize that you’ve taken control of your life and you’re about to step out on the grandest adventure of your life! Doing what you’ve been “in training” to do for the last 14 years! Gaining the skills, the talents, the self-confidence and the contacts – God’s had you in Training Camp and you didn’t even know it! "

Angels come in all forms.

This blog is a little piece of me on a new adventure. The story of a change of life,a total change of life.I have decided to keep a blog to look back and see what this year holds.Wonder at the end if this will sound more like an episode of Sex and the City or The Exocist? I bet there will be a little Samantha in this somewhere!

Two movies have inspired me,Eat Love Pray and Up In The Air . Both exhibit a life of adventure and the desire for change. Working on the road for full time for 11 years made me lose reality. To all the road warriors out there I salute you! My job is to inspire people to be their best. I have worked with over five hundred schools and organizations. Guess the life and balance section was not going to apply to me.Have a dream and plan for a program in Indianapolis to work with at risk youth.


In the movie up in the Air George Clooney had it down. I can recite menus of all chain restaurants. Life consists of eating out three times a day, living in hotels, and testing every rental car imaginable. Evenings include Ghost Hunters,Housewife's of Orange County, Project Runway and American Idol. Simple things in life had passed me by. Please don't laugh, but I had no idea what a Blue Ray DVD was,it had been years since I set foot in a movie store.

Corporate travel is a pain in the butt! I managed to get body scanned and pat down searched at least once a week. You will never convince me they don't pick attractive people to search.Never once did I see them scan a 400 pound person. I am sure they have, just never saw it.Made a game of guess who they are going to scan and wish I had that luck betting on football!

Over the years ,I have been in two near crashes and one terrorist air hold, the pilot refused to fly. Major Painful travel day the famous."flying with no liquids day". Security tossed an entire brand new bottle of Channel #5 and all my cosmetics. I shared a bottle of Champagne with some just marrieds who had the bottle for the honeymoon.It was the good stuff.

Note to Self.... Never fly looking ugly. This was the one morning I had no makeup and a ponytail. The local news interviewed people with horror stories,yep, I qualified with a Total makeup/beauty stuff toss out. Not my finest news feature! A salesperson in Bath and Body Works remembered me from the story and supplied goodies. All was great until they lost my luggage on the trip home.It arrived three days later.

My flights on the day of change were early with a layover in Detroit. Today faced another security breech and off the cliff I went....Into the land of boo hoo sobbing tears. After flying around for one hour waiting for clearance to land, another two security checks, and a five hour layover ,Major breakdown time. I called a friend in tears and decided to leave my chairman's status miles and hotel points in search of a normal life and expanded passion.


Oh, I have come to a tattooed conclusion or maybe confession for that matter . Yes, I was on the top of my career and falling down the spiral of shame(major BURNOUT) was not on my list. Life has a way of saying, wait "Miss THING "lets see how you handle this. Slap, Slap and here I am.Time to wipe the tears of both joy and sadness, put my Victoria secret panties on and deal with this.