As I spoke to you last time we had had a family emergency right at the beginning of our busy summer guest season here at Swan Gate.
Once the news of my father in laws broken leg sunk in, tears and disbelief set in. Now we all know that his femur would have snapped if he had been alone, with his family or if he had been out and about. It didn't happen because my mother in law came to the US for a summer visit.
After a long conversation with my father in law in the hospital, we sent our guests off to bed while my spouse and I started to navigate the logistics that it would take to get two seats on the next available flight back out of the US. This is not such an easy task since 9-11!
The first available was some three days later and even then people would have to be put in place to carry this load until immediate family arrived back in country.
Every day lots and lots of phone calls made to the brothers living here in the US and all of the family back at home to try to arrange for the proper care and getting the right people in place to assure success. Not to mention the guests who would have to stay here and me to try and be a hostess while remaining calm during all of this mess.
So my husband and I talked the logistics over and shooed the hovering crowd out of the library so we could think and plan with focus and quiet and put a plan together which we could both carry out thousands of miles apart and still maintain so sense of calm and vacation for those who were our house guests.
Next time Lift Off, Jet Lag and Relief.
Filed under Women In Business by 
I am sure some of you wondered; "huh….what has happened to Janice?" Well, I can tell you, L – I- F- E!
As I have intimated many times before my husband and I are very successful because we have always had a plan and worked the plan. When our lives have hit a pot hole or we have had some type of challenge not of our own making we have come full stop and then re-evaluated our plan and revised and tweaked it and then moved right on.
I am a firm believer that God has a plan and no matter what we try to do to go in another direction, He keeps us on the lit path He has for us if we seek Him.
Summertime is a very, very busy entertaining time for our home. I have come to the conclusion that I should just close shop from Memorial Day until Mid-August. That is the time frame when our lives are very busy and complicated with logistics of guests and events.
Our family has several standing summer events that take place every year and have been on the calendar for a decade and always before we have tried to just work and fit everybody in. No More.
Many of our family members travel from abroad and the trip is arduous at best for a young person but for those 50+, 70+ and 80+ it is draining. Any added delay due to strikes (which are common in Europe) make the trip even worse.
This year that very scenario happened. A travel delay and while in the air we got word that my 95 year old father in law's femur snapped while he was shuffling around his home.
Our guests arrived hours late and then a long drive home and then we had to tell them this news which sent every one into a tail spin.
What a logistical mess!
How did we handle this crisis so many thousands of miles away?
Next time…..calm heads….late nights and freedom to fly.
Filed under Personal by
When you read the title of this post, what comes to mind?
Come Alive!
How do you come alive?
I want to challenge you this weekend to do one thing that makes you come alive.
If you are married, ask your spouse and then together and do what ever it is that makes your spouse come alive. I would encourage you to observe how you spouse changes when he/she is in the process of getting that fulfillment. Take in the joy and pleasure that you observe right in front of you.
If you have a family around you do the same thing and becomes a great observer of how others get fulfilled by doing something that makes them COME ALIVE!
Now, here's the challenge for you. In order for you spouse, your children, your friends, extended family, co workers etc. to live a balanced life and YOU too; we each must experience that activity of coming alive on a regular basis. What is that frequency for each person that you love and care about?
Give each of those loved ones the freedom to be fulfilled daily, weekly, monthly, yearly and you will be amazed at the dropping of stress in your own life.
Filed under Feedom by