August, 2007

I am so eager to welcome the month of August, that I don't mind the jumble of this week. Yesterday I gave my notice at Starbucks. There are several reasons for my deciding to leave, significant only to me. Suffice to say, that to preserve my joy factor, I need to hang up my apron.

It was significant also yesterday in that it marks my second year at this one address in San Diego! Since my arrival here in 2001, I have moved my residence or my office a total of 11 times. So to have been able to stay here is no small feat. Not that I escaped the packing gypsy completely because instead, I had to box up and move my mother's belongings and furnishings last month . Ah well, this time there were no moving vans involved so I claim that as an improvement.

For me, this week heralds in the beginning of my personal new year. It has always been my predilection to wish friends a Happy Personal New Year when their birthdays roll around. This time, I taking my own advice because I can certainly use a new year. This has been a helluva year that I am ready to leave to the record books. Not to say that there weren't highlights to this year-- my trip to Washington, D.C., the conference at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, and the sweetest of all, getting engaged to Don. But for the most part, this has been a rough and tumble year filled with heartbreak, challenge and change. Can anyone spell coritsol?

As a Leo, I have usually begun my celebrations by now feeling the giddy onset of birthday hijinks. Instead, I am quite reflective of where I am in the scheme of things and taking quite a contemplative look at L I F E. Is this what maturity is all about? Or have the events this year given me a different perspective by tempering my approach? With three days till my birthday and 113 days till my wedding, I have ample fodder for which to seek the deeper meaning of L I F E , wouldn't you agree?

This is quite a powerful cycle of time. Transitions abound and although I have not taken martial arts, I feel I have tai chi'd my way through life very well navigating the twists and turns and deflecting the negativity with positive actions away from the opposition.

When I called my mother today and she asked what was new, I told her I was leaving the Starbucks job. She was not surprised and said "Nope, that job was not for you, it was not your cup of tea." My mom made a joke and she didn't even know it. I laughed and when we hung up, I cried. I am going to miss her. I don't know if she will remember that it is my birthday on Sunday, but I am glad she chose to hang around a little longer --that way my new year starts out a whole lot better.