End of the year thoughts

It's hard to believe that another year has come and gone. I am thankful for my friends and family, and for good health. I am also lucky that I have a job that challenges me and enables me to help small businesses around the country, as well as other places in the world. I recently was in the U.K. speaking at a conference connected to the office products industry. It was great to see long-standing business friends there as well as get a chance to meet new people. The problems and challenges that businesses have here in the U.S. are similar to that in the U.K. The resellers I met were very appreciative and were very eager to learn what they could about the marketing and other business best practices from here. The company Spicers, was holding their big customer customer event, and it was interesting to see how the manufacturers displayed their booths at the show. I learned some things that we can use at our shows here. I hope the economy improves and that we all have a more prosperous 2012!

Sunday night after Thanksgiving

It has been an interesting Thanksgiving weekend. Visits with family and friends, and the loss of two friends in an car accident. That weighs heavy on me as I write this. We put up the outdoor Christmas lights today - not too many - because it was nice out. I still think it is weird to put them up while it is still November. We used to put them up about two weeks before Christmas, but that often means putting them up in snow and cold. Now I cave in to neighborhood convention and get the outside lights up Thanksgiving weekend. We still wait to put our inside Christmas tree up until about two weeks before the holiday. I really do like the Christmas holiday season. I like snow, I like the cold, I like the memories the season conjures up. Watching old movies (especially White Christmas!) takes me back to being a kid, but also gives me a sense of being grounded. When we lived in Atlanta, I missed the winter season and the gray dismal days. Strange. Some people get the winter blues, but not me. I like winter and all it brings. It helps to have a warm house, not have to worry about where my next meal comes from, and a good job.

Work begins again tomorrow, five more days until the weekend. I was named one of six top women marketers in the office products industry by a British web site over the past weekend. A dubious honor at best. On to the work week!