Heh Lady–What’s your handicap?

Hello Dear Ones. Welcome back and it’s so wonderful to be back! After much prompting, my New Year’s Resolution was to reignite and significantly expand the blog  to include all things for the 50+ woman in helping you get unstuck:

Life, Career & Business, Home, Fashion, Style & Travel

( Yes, people get stuck in Travel too).

We are also excited to share that we’ve already had great interest from advertisers and sponsors and welcome any additional ideas you might have! And please feel free to message me or comment on where you get stuck, we’d love to help! So while the web designers do their thaaaaang, I thought I’d bring you up to speed on this end.  Buckle your seat belts folks, ’cause what hasn’t changed is more like it!  

Re -Charged:   Okay, so it started off as 1 year off and then morphed into 5+ years . It has been a wonderful learning experience for me to just “be” and uncover that I am not my business, not my degrees, and not the state I live in. Truth be told, while having my company acquired by a public company was an extraordinary  (and sometimes painful more on that later) life event, it happened so fast that that the ground quaked. And in perfect “Patty” fashion, I decided I would sell my house, move to a warmer climate Arizona, leave my friends and family and  well….change everything. And change it was. When I moved to Arizona, often the first question  from others was:

What’s your handicap?

 Not: What do you do for a living?

Coming from Minnesota, a highly professional community, that was well ~shocking.  And then the look—you mean you actually worrrrked???????  I’ve since learned that I am my biggest handicap at times and that questions like those are innocent enough. Nevertheless,  it was a great eye opener and reminder that yes, our job/business doesn’t define us. Neither does your handicap ,BTW!  

Re-Married: Met a  dashing fella in my neighborhood named Clarke (Clarke  with an “e;  more on how we met later) who was widowed with  6 amazingly kind and accomplished children  and  12 beautiful grandkids. We married after 2 years and like every newly blended family, we are all learning. While I would never attempt to be these children’s Mom (and no-one ever could duplicate the amazing woman that she was), my goal is to be the best role model I can be and love them all unconditionally. I have always prayed to have children and  it’s clear that the good Lord has blessed me  abundantly. And did I mention that the little ones call me Patty-Cakes???

Here we are at our surprise wedding ceremony. We changed into this get-up in  the dirtiest 4 X4 bathroom ever with the wonderful and talented stylist Scarlett Iaccino https://www.facebook.com/stephanieiaccino?fref=ts.  (Dress by http://www.ReemAcra.com)

Here are our 12 adorable Grandchildren: Paige, Ryan, Emily, Colin, Ben, Ellie, Tristan, Jackson, Owen, Everleigh, Gwyneth & Grace.   Here are Clarke’s 6 beautiful children: Helen, Clarke, Sarah, Chris, David & Taylor: And one more for good measure with grand-daughter Ellie (Dress by http://www.carolinaherrera.com) : Rescued: Thanks to The America Cavalier Rescue Foundation (https://cavalierrescuetrust.org) and his loving Foster Mom Holly, we adopted a senior doggy named Colonel Bailey. We call him #theC olonel  for short and, like any rescue owner will tell you, he has rescued his owners over and over again.  I keep asking myself why I didn’t get a dog sooner in life. ‘We registered him as  a service animal at http://www.nsarco.com/emotional-support-animal.html  and are take him everywhere with us in his little red service vest . He is quite the chic-magnet!

#Thecolonel hanging on the couch: #TheColonel partaking in our wedding dinner: #TheColonel having a rough day walking but still on the go:   Re-engaged: As we all know, if you’re an adult and get sick one places on your shortlist to go for treatment is Minnesota. The same is true for children!

Thanks to my business mentor/client Kevin Roberg, I was elected to  the Board of Directors of a game changing pediatric hospital:  Children’s Hospital & Clinics of Minnesota, http://www.childrensmn.org. 

If you’ve heard me speak before, I  often joke that after being a lawyer  and then spending 15+ years running my company that placed lawyers , I’m winning my soul back now !   In all seriousness, author Gordon Hinckley was right when he said: “The happiest people I know are those who lose themselves in the service of others. …. “.  

You’ll be hearing lots more on the blog about this game changing hospital. Currently Clarke & I are supporting 2 pet projects there:

1. The world’s first Pain & Palliative Care Clinic for Children featured here: http://mspmag.com/Out-And-About/Articles/Features/Horst-Rechelbacher-s-Legacy

http://www.childrensmn.org/blog/kidshealth/2015/01/childrens-pain-and-palliative-care-clinic-opens-new-doors/

2. The burgeoning Neurosciences Clinic recently featured on the TV show, The Doctors:

http://www.thedoctorstv.com/articles/1042-young-boy-battles-brain-tumor http://www.childrensmn.org/news-and-events/newsroom/latest-news/childrens-hospitals-and-clinics-of-minnesota-unveils-new-neuroscience-unit-for-epilepsy-and-neurosurgery-patients

Many folks get scared off by the word philanthropy thinking that they have to give millions. In the age of free social media, crowdfunding and the like, there is always so much you can do to help.  Not everyone is cut out for volunteering so I encourage you to  step back and look at your professional skills, and ask what you have to offer.

Thanks for indulging me in this update. And always remember…You’re Never Stuck!

With love, Patty Comeford Adams

 

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