My Lucky Charm

Last night I attended the monthly WomanSage Salon. The topic was "De-Clutter Your Life," which I found very attractive because my life is incredibly cluttered right now. My environments - external and internal - are overflowing with stuff, from dishes and paper to worry and stress.

The speaker, Penny Lambright of Clutter Cleaners, was brilliant - attractive, funny, caring, prepared - and her talk was filled with excellent tips. She gave us great handouts too. When I arrived at the salon, someone told me I looked frazzled. I told her I was indeed frazzled. As Penny talked, I gradually became unfrazzled - and it wasn't just the wine. It was the camaraderie of the women in attendance, the information sharing, the good mood.

My own mood lifted even more when my friend, Karen, bought raffle tickets for a round-trip ticket to fly anywhere in the Southwest Airlines system and then gave the tickets to me! She said she couldn't use a plane ticket but wanted me to have the raffle tickets as a gift.

Karen, affectionately known as "KK," is my "lucky charm" because she is the person who encouraged me to finish my book. She's a well-known author of books about caregiving for senior loved ones. I've written about her before in this blog. She is also the person who taught me to play penny slot machines when I go to casinos. She told me how to bet. I began following her instructions during my birthday trip to Pechanga in 2008. I have to admit that I've had very good luck since then.

When KK rubbed her hands on the five raffle tickets and handed them to me, I had a feeling we were going to win. And when the emcee called out "213," sure enough, it was one of the tickets in my hand. My lucky charm had come through again. Thank you, Karen!

Today the world looks brighter than it did yesterday afternoon. It's been a little over two months since Mom and Arline died. Gary and I are coming to grips with our grief. Gary's CAPS (Certified Aging in Place Specialist) consulting business is coming together to augment his construction work (which has been hit hard by the economic downturn). Mom's dog, Bailey, is happy at Silverado Senior Living-Newport Mesa and the dogs and cats in our home are much more relaxed. WomanSage is implementing a powerful new business plan and bringing on more Board members to help with the philanthropic work we do. The new Silverado web site (www.silveradosenior.com) is getting lots of hits. And now I have an airline ticket to play with - maybe to bring my niece, Lindsey, down from Seattle for a visit, or go visit her.

Life is always good - but it does help to have girlfriends when things get a bit out of control, especially one who is a lucky charm!