A friend sent me this link, and I’d like to share it with you — it takes a few minutes to run, but I think it’s super lovely. And it says better than I ever could what I would like to say to YOU, this morning 🙂
The next set of Bond Girl Personal Development Cards!
Hey grrrls!
Did you enjoy the Valentine’s Day cards that we did? Here is a link to the next set in the series. We plan to ultimately have a boxed set of all the cards for sale. But these are free for you to print out (instructions are on the printout). I’m very excited by these!
BTW, do NOT FORGET that we have our first fEmpowerment Coaching Teleseminar on Monday the 17th, at 7:00 PST. If you did not receive the information, email me at doubleohsandy[at]yahoo[com], or call and leave a message for me at +1 (206) 350-3537 and I will send you the dial-in information. If you are reading this after the 17th, the seminar will be recorded, so I can send you a CD if you like, after the fact.
To enjoy the card, click this link, below!
E-Book PDF: Open in New Window | Download (0.0KB)
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We’ve Got Pictures! One Grrl’s Decluttering Before and After
Hey grrrls!
I am REALLY excited to post this! I just received “before and after” photographs from a Bond Grrl who read my book, and took Chapter 1 to heart! This is the sort of thing that TOTALLY keeps me going! Any of ya’ll out there reading the blog, or listening to the podcasts, that want to call or send these sorts of “testimonials,” please please do. It just makes my day, week, month! Send to doubleohsandy[at]yahoo[dot]com (has to be written that was so nasty spammers don’t steal the address) or call me at
SO, here is ABG (Anonymous Bond Grrl)’s “before” photo. Note that you can see the bed (behind the pile of stuff) and the lamp (in the right corner of the photo). ABG said that she had been just piling up stuff for years in a not-so-big house — and she was inspired to dig “out from under.” So take a look at what she was dealing with….
AND, here is ABG’s after!
I know, “Get Out!” huh? How jazzed am I? Love to make a difference!
To all Moms out there!
Sent to me by one of my Baby Bond Grrrls — love this — the bottom (that “send this to everyone you know”) even made me laugh because of the REASON you should send it on — so I kept it in. Enjoy! (PS: I bolded my favorite part 🙂 )
POSITION: Mother, Mom , Mama, Mommy, Momma, Ma Mami, Mamita,Mammy, Mamacita
JOB DESCRIPTION: Long term, team players needed, for challenging permanent work in an often chaotic environment. Candidates must possess excellent communication and organizational skills and be willing to work variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends and frequent 24 hour shifts on call. Some overnight travel required, including trips to primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in far away cities. Travel expenses not reimbursed. Extensive courier duties also required.
RESPONSIBILITIES: The rest of your life. Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily, until someone needs $5. Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly. Also, must possess the physical stamina of a pack mule and be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat in case, this time, the screams from the backyard are not someone just crying wolf. Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges, such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets and stuck zippers. Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and coordinate production of multiple homework projects. Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings for clients of all ages and mental outlooks. Must be willing to be indispensable one minute, an embarrassment the next. Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a half million cheap, plastic toys, and battery operated devices. Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. Must assume final, complete accountability for the quality of the end product. Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and janitorial work throughout the facility.
POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT & PROMOTION:
Virtually none. Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills, so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you.
WAGES AND COMPENSATION: Get this! You pay them! Offering frequent raises and bonuses. A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because of the assumption that college will help them become financially independent. When you die, you give them whatever is left. The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.
BENEFITS: While no health or dental insurance, no pension, no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and no stock options are offered; this job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth and free hugs for life if you play y our cards right.
Forward this on to all the Moms you know, in appreciation for everything they do on a daily basis, and let them know they are appreciated. Plus, being a mother, I’m too tired to type everyone’s name
Do you know Glam?
I just read a super article on Getting to Know your Goddess Within on Glam. It sure sounds like unleashing your inner Bond Girl — perhaps we’re unleashing our Bond Goddesses? 🙂
You can read about this on the link above, but the gist of it is:
1. Get to know yourself inside. As they state (who does THIS sound like? 🙂 ), it’s great to do spa visits and the link, but if you work on your inside first, that “inner glow” can’t leave you.
2. Write it Down. See, it’s not just me who suggests that Journal 🙂 As they state, if you write it down, you’re “locking in” thankfulness for the awesome Goddess Grrl that is You!
3. Discover Yourself. I like this section — it states that you really need to understand what your Goddess is like at her Core. To me, this is like naming your Bond Girl. Who is she? How can you bring her out? Once you have her Named, you can ask yourself “What would [her name] do in this situation?” It allows you to slowly integrate that Inner Grrl into your “real” life, and incorporate her until you don’t even have to ask what “She” would do in a situation any more — because that’s just how you act!
4. Trust your Intuition, and give Thanks for where you are. Enough said 🙂
5. Be True to Yourself — and Treat your Body like a Temple. As the article says, as women get older, they seem to care less what “other people think.” I am finding that myself. Today, concentrate on what you’re feeling inside — and whether your actions are really coming from your core, values, etc. — or whether these actions are in response to what some other person “might think.” As I’ve talked about in the book, time to get rid of the “shoulds” in your life, and be true to your passion!
Go check out the article — it was a great validation of our work here!
View From The Bay — makeup brushes
We have a show here in San Francisco called View From The Bay. I love it — it comes on after Oprah, and it’s a great, local, can-do show that gives you all sorts of great little tricks, cooking tips, and the like. Spencer and Janelle (I get to call them by their first names because they are in MY living room, right? 🙂 ) are really super hosts. I love Janelle especially — she will pretty much do anything, and always has a smile on her face.
I’m a little behind in episodes, but this past weekend, I tried to catch up on VFTB and Oprah. VFTB had an episode on cleaning out your makeup brushes. Their makeup/fashion host, Audrey Mansfield, shows you how to clean your makeup brushes — and to Janelle’s horror, has grabbed a few of Janelle’s makeup brushes, and has Janelle clean them on camera. Janelle asserts that she cleans them “every week,” but Audrey asserts that everyone should really do this every DAY.
HELL-OO……I had NO IDEA that I should be cleaning out my makeup brushes. And I’m a “bacteria fanatic” (I’m constantly throwing my sponges, etc. into the dishwasher, using and washing tons of towels to keep things clean, etc.) — and it NEVER occurred to me to clean my makeup brushes. As I watched Janelle’s water turn a not-so-pretty shade of brown, I slinked off to the bathroom, sudsed up a bowl, and started cleaning MY brushes. (As you can see from the clip, they actually have a very easy method that you can use — just put a little shampoo into a bowl and swish them around and spread the brush out with your fingers to get the makeup out). Oh…my…LORD! Ick ick ick! I turned the water TOTALLY dark brown, started over, brown again…started over…
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaugh!!!! So I’m sharin’ this with you, Bond Grrls — maybe ya’ll all knew this already and it was just me, but if not, CLEAN your MAKEUP brushes! They are full of dead skin, bacteria, and just i-i-ick. I have a new routine now — thanks to View From The Bay.
But… I kinda wish I hadn’t known. GEE, and I was wondering why I get clogged pores?!
Podcast 8: Spring has Sprung! Sweep out the Old, Bring in New Life-Affirming Rituals!
This podcast is about this wonderful period from Winter-to-Spring. It’s a great time to look at your life, and see what is going to need a little… you guessed it!… Spring Cleaning.
I also received some Listener Feedback on our Listener Feedback line — I love it! Please call, keep me company! 🙂 This was from Clementine (her Bond Grrrrl name) on the Yankee portion of the East Coast somewhere. Her Mom has a GREAT method of sorting through all the bits of personal “stuff” that we all gather each year, and Clementine shared. Kudos to her and to her Mom, a Bond Grrrrrrrrrl family!
Finally, I talk a bit about bringing Ritual into your life this year. Rituals are so wonderful, and they are very much a part of the human culture. It could be thanking your teeth as you brush them, a Grace at every meal that you really pay attention to, or something of your own. If you have your own Rituals or make up one that you love, please share!
xoxoxo Solitaire
P.S.: So now, my James has to figure out how to post the Podcast. It seems highly likely (as, since you can see, we are on a new server and “such” now) that it’s not going to be pretty. I better go and shake a martini or three! 🙂
If you have comments on this episode, call the Listener Comment Voicemail at +1 (206) 350-3537, e-mail doubleohsandy [at] yahoo [dot] com or leave a comment below.
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How To Stay Young
I got this today from a friend — I am SO BEHIND on blogging… I have all sorts of notes, scraps of paper, and things to say… Oy. But this came in and I thought it was fun, so thought I’d share. It had very cute visuals with it…but if I try to get them in too, I will never post it, so…never mind 🙂
1. Try everything twice. On Madam’s (of Whelan’s and Madam) tombstone she wanted this epitaph: Tried everything twice…loved it both times!
2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down
(keep this in mind if you are one of those grouches).
3. Keep learning: Learn more about computers, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain get idle. “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop.” And the devil’s name is Alzheimer’s!
4. Enjoy the simple things.
5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath. And if you have a friend who makes you laugh, spend lots and lots of time with that person.
6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person who is with you your entire life is you. Lost time can never be found. LIVE while you are alive.
7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it’s family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.
8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it.
If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.
9. Don’t take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county,
or a foreign country, but NOT to where the guilt is.
10. Tell the people you love that you love them at every opportunity.
11. Forgive now those who made you cry. You might not get a second time.
12. Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.
The inCREDible squeaking chair!!
I just finished Podcast 8, and am editing it a bit… and holy cats, I have the squeakiest chair!!
I do know what’s up with this. My James had to borrow our studio set-up, because he’s working from home and had a conference call. This means he gets to sit at the fancy schmancy setup (with headphones and all), since, hey, he’s making $ and I’m making… a podcast 🙂 The beauty of our setup, though, is that I can take my laptop, another set of headphones, and head into another room (the breakfast room), and just keep going.
(We all know what it’s like when we finally start something — we want to keep at it, and not quit. Because we were gone on holiday for a bit over a week, I am behind on podcasting, and wanted to get the track laid down today.)
So, I’m in the breakfast room I’m on a wicker chair. Say no more, right? Yeah. What a doofus! You can hear the chair quietly creaking the entire time. (There is also one point where my dog sneezes. See if you can catch it.)
What the heck… I’m not going to do it over, but I thought I’d letcha know that the squeaky, creaky sound is NOT my bones and joints (I deal in the podcast with starting up my exercise regime again, so that is not so far fetched) — it be the chair.
Skinny Songs — You gotta check these out!
I guess I’ve been an ostrich for the past few months, because I just found out about this CD, and in Googling the gal who did the CD, she’s been on Martha Stewart, Oprah, etc.
So maybe you already know about this, but if NOT, check out the Skinny Songs CD– click here, it will take you right to it!!
The gal who did this was a business woman turning 50, who realized that 25 or so pounds 
had “crept onto” her body since she turned 30. So she set out to write some songs (and have them professionally produced) that would motivate her to lose this weight. They are FUN!
I just ordered this shirt off her site. It was WAY too expensive, but it made me laugh so hard I couldn’t help it. As you can see, it’s a black tank, and across the bootyback, it says “Does This Shirt Make My Butt Look Too Small?” HADTA have it!