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STRUCK BY LIGHTNING

1/29/2016

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It
isn’t always easy being the girl in the band.  In fact, it isn’t always easy being the girl!  This week I heard yet another statistic making its way across the media about how women over 50 have a better chance of being struck by lightning than they do at getting a better job.  This reminded me of “the better chance of a woman getting struck by lightning as they do of getting married after 38” one that went around a few years back.
​
It is starting to feel like these statisticians (probably NOT women) are just trying to keep a good girl down!  Besides not appreciating the Debbie Downer tone of the whole thing, I have some questions on this one.

             Can we get some specifics?
What is a better job? More money? More satisfaction?  My new job’s pay was a little under what I had been making at my last job, but the chance to try new things and make a career change to something I really enjoy, makes it a “ better job.”  The commute is killer, but nothing is perfect.  And guess what?  It has not even crossed my mind that this is “the best” job or even “the last job”.  What I am doing didn’t even exist when I entered the workforce bagging fries at McDonald’s. Why would I think there isn’t something else cool out there I might end up doing before I finally end up in a rocking chair instead of rocking out on stage?

           Who works at getting hit by lightning?
Getting hit by lightning is the opposite of winning the lottery, but they both have to do with that elusive thing called luck.  One is bad, the other is good, but neither one has anything to do with hard work, passion and heart.  Yes, standing around waiting for something to hit you or your numbers to come in, are a one in trillion, but going out and making something happen, takes those lovely odds and puts them right where they belong- in the porcelain facility.

           Why are these lightning facts mostly about women?
I always wonder why these “struck by lightning” stats only get applied to men when we start talking about winning the lottery.  Ever notice that?  How come we never hear a man has a better chance of being struck by lightning than he does of ever dating a super model?  I will tell you why.  Because most men would never believe it!  They go through live thinking the world is there for the taking, something we as women, sometimes forget.

Without getting too specific about my birthday, I have been struck by lightning.  More than once, if I count all the times someone told me I would never run my own band, buy my own house, get a decent job without a college degree.  The list goes on and on.

So next time you hear one of those media things that makes your stomach get a pit in it, look up in the sky.  The lightning is on the way.




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LIFE LESSONS FROM BUILDING THE PERFECT DOG HOUSE

1/15/2016

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​Sitting on the wonderful deck that the D-Man and I spent most of 2015 constructing one beautiful SoCal Sunday morning in October, I realized Samantha’s dog house had seen better days.  An understatement.  It was in about as good of shape as Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign.  With the upcoming holidays, money was going to be an issue, but El Nino was on its way and I had a flash back to the first rainy season I had Samantha.  She did not like the dog house she had inherited from my previous dog. (Too small of a door.  She does not like confined spaces.)  I came home many a night after a gig to a wet and muddy dog.  She had taken to digging a mud hole by the side of the house and taking refuge there during rainstorms.  Nothing says fun like coming home after being up for almost 24 hours and washing a 90 pound dog with a hose.
At this point, the new dog house was looking more like a necessity than a luxury item.  But how?
That’s when a crazy idea popped into my head.  I would build it myself.  What follows is a few life lessons I learned from building the perfect dog house.
SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO JUST DO IT
I did not want another project before Christmas.  Truth be told, I wasn’t sure I wanted another project before self- driving cars became readily available.  The D-Man had declared himself retired from DYI after the deck experience, so this one was all on me.  Let’s also remember my building experience before the deck was…oh yeah, pretty much nothing. With no real budget, I assembled leftover materials from the deck project and decided to go for it.  
MAKE A PLAN
I had several deck boards left over from the deck, so I decided they would be the basis.  I also had a piece of the old deck that the current dilapidated house was sitting on, so that became the base.
I Googled mid-century modern dog houses, found some inspiration pictures and drew up a plan. Yes, a plan! Complete with dimensions and how many boards I would need. Something, believe it or not, we had not really done with the deck. Which may be why, instead of five months, the project took two weekends.
YES YOU CAN
Less than twelve months ago, this project would have never crossed my mind.   I hate assembling things.  What made me think I could build something from scratch?
Check out the photos on my Home Ideas page.  Built for less than $80.00 in new materials and using up many things I already had in the garage,   I come home every night to a clean and dry pup, no matter what the weather is.
So what does 2016 have in store?  Do you have some things you really need to tackle, but think there is no way you can deal?  Really? Check out Samantha’s mid-century dream, built and designed by someone who couldn’t put a cd holder together.  Then get back to me.
 

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