Sunday, February 23, 2014

Our Shoppe Gallery



While celebrating our weekends, and in the spirit of our global collaboration and community of support, we are featuring our personal art as 'Vision to Verb' notecards. 

Our hope is that they'll inspire you to join with us in our support of KIVA - empowering people around the world with start-up business loans.




Thursday, February 13, 2014

Between You, Me and the Lamppost




And, borrowing another good phrase, don’t you just love it when you’re surprised by joy!

A couple of weeks ago, back in January, Astrid surprised the heck out of me when she unfurled a well-formed brain fart to trade in our 4-year-old car for a new one. 

In 2010 we had purchased out-right our Granny Towanda (above), 3 months after I moved to Dutchland.  Her Granny-Smith-Apple green, melded with Towanda from Fried Green Tomatoes, was a perfect match for us ladies of a certain age, we thought.  Astrid treated her with kid gloves every single day and praised the ground she drove on.  I never saw anyone take better care of a car.

So when at 48K km (30K miles) Astrid unfurled her plan, I was startled.  Somehow I assumed Granny Towanda (GT) was just getting started.  Maybe by American standards, yes, but by Dutch standards?  No.  (Remember “200 years vs. 200 miles?”)  Apparently 50K km is the magic number over which you don’t drive if you want a good trade-in deal on a small car. 

And so a bit bemused, I sat back and watched the story unfold.  One week after hatching her plan, we talked shop with Pedro over a new car.  He had sold us GT and knew Astrid well enough to see the good deal he was getting, especially since Daihatsu was no longer selling our car in Europe.  It was a win-win…and a week later we picked up our “new” silverleaf Škoda Citigo, a 6500 km demo we couldn’t refuse.  It was like Christmas a month late, which I never saw coming.

But that’s not the surprise I’m talking about!

Remember when I mentioned last post how the Dutch turn the year when January comes…and how I wanted to turn it upside down to rattle my cage?  Hoping all the bad stuff would slide right out and leave room for new energy!

Well, it’s mid-February and the revolution has begun!  Call it an intention, call it a mantra, call it my word for the year.  But in the same way I go to bed at night and wake up in the morning with thank-you on my lips, I have now added “…and WHO?!”  Thank you…and WHO?   Who can I reach out to today?!  Who can I love, help, build up, encourage, comfort, praise?!  Who can I surprise by joy?!

Not to sound corny but…IT’S WORKING!  I’m not thinking about me, myself and I all the time now,   which was the point.  My focus is more outward than inward.

Between you, me and the lamppost…I’m calling this my 2014 personal REVOLUTION.  It’s like I’m on a war path.  GET OUT OF MY WAY, Ginnie.  I’m way too old to not “get it” and still young enough to change.  Thoughts become actions, you know, and actions become a way of life.  And they have the power to surprise the heck out of us! 

¡Viva la Revolución!  Viva the JOY!