Meet the woman who kick-started the Georgia Trail Summit: Tracie Sanchez

A blog for Rails to Trails Conservancy March 2014

All my life, I’ve been riding bikes, hiking mountains, paddling rivers and seeking those activities every place I visit on the planet. Being on a trail makes for wonderful escapes, new adventures and challenges, new friends, maintained health, fresh air and increased botanical knowledge.  And great photo albums.
            Earning my Masters of Public Administration late in life allowed me to focus on which public policy I wanted to champion.  Clearly, alternative transportation solutions which often include recreation are my passion.  For me, active living is all about the intersection of health and mobility.  Trails offer both.  So with a background in graphic design (first career), leadership development (second career), public transportation policy, and some spare time during the job search, I reached out to all the trail gurus I knew in Georgia.  

Public data from traillink.com revealed there were 82 trail and greenway projects proposed or underway in Georgia.  I was familiar with many of them simply because I sought them out where I lived and across communities where I served as a mobility manager for a regional commission. Occasionally I heard about a few others while attending Smart Growth conferences, Transportation Camp, the Georgia Bike Summit and transit/mobility workshops. But something was missing.  No one knew about anyone else’s project or seemed to be sharing lessons learned.  Why wasn’t there an easy opportunity to convene this important community of trail experts statewide?  There was so much to learn from each other.

One snow day last year during the National Bike Summit in DC, I hoofed it over to the RTC office to see what I could learn.  RTC Development Director Kelly Pack inspired me with great advice, “Round everyone up and hold a summit.”  So in April 2013 I pitched the idea and have been recruiting and collaborating with numerous trail, greenway and blueway partners ever since, designing and planning the inaugural Georgia Trail Summit.  We got our start with a generous $5,000 donation from MillionMile Greenway and raised an additional $8,000 in sponsorships in six months, attracting 30+ trail groups to also endorse the idea. 
                It’s been an amazing team effort.  Join us for this timely conversation April 11 and 12 in Athens.

Tracie Sanchez, MPA, Trail Champion
“I love the outdoors, so I go out in it.”

season's greetings 2013 - rolling proactively towards utopia

Tweed Ride social

well folks, it must be time for a holiday letter if you have torn out yet another "S" page in your address books trying to enter my latest mailing address. So first things first, here is the new address followed by my annual update (and i may have skipped a few years).

tracie sanchez & jeff roetger
2320 ava place
decatur, ga 30033

so all my chapters are merry these days and I've been rolling proactively towards utopia. I spent 4 months of 2013 plotting, planning, and implementing escape from griffin. while the downtown was quaint, and the neighbors i met were awesome, the rural transportation team was not a good fit. the senior folks i served were appreciative and the community absolutely embraced some bike/ped advocacy; but the old guard office i found myself in, led by a lecherous old gent, was not one to be tolerated. my one-year 'assignment' there was timed to end with the grant cycle and achieved the main goal, a good entry on my resume.

CB packs his bags

spring arrived and the moving truck was full and ready to roll to decatur. charlie brown knew the way to jeff's so we scooted up there permanently and ended the 4 years of long distance weekend travels. in fact, this summer we had to find reasons to turn the key in the subaru and often didn't. mind you this is the roomier, newer, sleeker l.l. bean subaru forester that we traded the old sport in for in february. that trade required a leap of faith and a full spectrum of transportation to buy and retrieve the beauty we found on craigslist in orlando. we used marta subway to civic ctr, megabus to orlando, fl; walked around downtown, rented bikes for the farmers market, spent one overnight at a cute b&b with a flordia dmv visit on a monday and we were on the road home.
meanwhile, the career move was a leap of faith as well, my resume was now chock full of transportation policy and program management, but no jobs in bike/ped advocacy or alternative transportation solutions were open and willing in decatur/atlanta, so i just leapt and settled into decatur with jeff. i took care of all my errands, new vets, new docs, paperwork to complete a move and biked about downtown decatur (2.5 miles from our neighborhood), took yoga, and lounged in the hammock. it was may and it was grand. but it was short, 10 days later i interviewed for and got the program coordinator position in active living at the decatur recreation center, where i now spend my part time days. in my spare time, i'm coordinating georgia's inaugural trail summit with a bunch of great organizations and statewide support. more on that possible future career here: georgia trail summit 2014.

Walk With a Doc

in the interim, the active living work is great and i have a blank slate to create programs to keep folks moving. i had no idea that the words 'active living' first uttered to me in grad school in 2009 by my advisor, would turn out to be the continued focus of my path and lead me here. currently i've started a successful weekly walking program for seniors, retirees, boomers, and folks with free daytime hours. its a national chapter of Walk With a Doc and our hybrid allows any specialist to lead the walk. We walk weekly on Wed @11am from the rec ctr and head out across town in one of 8 city walking routes ranging from 1 to 4 miles. We walk, talk, stretch, and make new friends. It's been awesome and turns out to be a breeding ground for other new class ideas. i invite folks who want to teach new stuff to walk with us and drum up some interest. meanwhile the city manager is giving me props for all the innovation and new programming. honestly, i just start the conversation, open the door, and they show up. i'm sticking around for a full year before i ask for more but i can see full time work WITH benefits on the horizon with the city of decatur. perfect.

crazy fun rec center staff

meanwhile, i joined millions in testing the obamacare system and after the kerfuffle, signed up quite easily to a policy that is less $100/month at KP and offers the female, holistic, alternative, doc of my dreams, located downtown in a bikeable/walkable location from home/work. i simply cannot complain. love #ACA.
jeff continues to manage a group of hard working men at phillips landscape and tolerates me bugging him to try to land more urban design projects as decatur booms with restaurants and chef's who want gardens on the premises in compact and perhaps portable spaces. he tests things out on our yard and this spring i shared an album, 'we live in a garden' and indeed we do. its so lovely and charlie brown is very happy in his big yard up on a hill. the chipmunks, rabbits, and dog walkers keep his days full of fence running.

my champion!

meanwhile jeff is running his best; we both embraced and loved our 50th years and he knocked out a few triathlons, trail runs, and his best time at the thanksgiving half marathon ever 1:50:40. i bike to work daily (a 5-mile round trip thru neighborhoods with one gnarly major arterial crossing) and after leading the weekly walk with a doc for 3 months, i worked my way up to even more. i now do boot camp 2x/week with city teachers and we are rocking it.
"fit at 50" is the short version of our story this year and we plan to keep it up. we are working out, starting new traditions for holidays, gaining back all that weekend commute time, planning big & far getaways (once full time works rolls my way) and occasionally sitting around in our pjs on a grey rainy day like today.
hope to hear how your 2013 was and catch up with you all. so please, if you will, update that "S" page once again, unless it's all tapped out and in that case feel free to use the "R" page as we do these days with Roe-chez. it works for us.
peace and joy,
tracie, jeff, and charlie brown

half way through a new year

well mine have different start dates and the last few have started/ended in spring. i left athens in spring, made a pitstop in griffin for a year, left there in spring, and landed in decatur at the rec center in spring.
so its 6 months in to working part time, getting fit, coordinating programs to keep folks moving, mostly seniors and baby boomers. its all good. i could use benefits, insurance and a bit more salary, but that will likely come. so i've finally landed in the decatur bubble and i dont have to leave it much. plus i have orange umbrellas to use!
indeed i bike to work daily, and if i venture outside the 4-square mile area its likely only to an event organized by either the atlanta bicycle coalition, atlanta botanical garden, or an athens event.
so far so good i say. i'll let ya know what the next 6 months brings...

new business cards to get me hooked up good in ATL/Decatur

i used to design these all the time and print them real quick like, a sheet of 10 for a conference, a few for interviews etc. but nowadays vistaprint.com (in the netherlands for goodness sakes) still manages to do it more cheaply, quickly and with more current design styles than i can. so i give.

Premium Business Cards by Vistaprint

latest app to tell your story with one click

vizify, it's the newest tool i've come across to put all of your desired online presences into one engine and viewable with one click. and i've tried a few. some make it easier than others, this one is real easy and so far i like it best. see this particular tool is about you finding me, and ME finding me, all of the me that i put out there too, over the years, the trends, etc. in one place. and the email signature link is cool and visual.

See my vizify bio!


facebook
early on, under the website field on facebook, i put all the links of all the sites i might want someone to land upon when googling me or checking me out for a job search.

blogspot
wait, even earlier on, i added my links ( on me) as well as friends to the list in the sidebar of my blog, this blog, and waited for hits. and then i created 2 other blogs here. oh, that reminds me there was this brief era where facebook made it easy to sync a blog into their 'notes' feature and mine was. now they killed that. so i'll be reposting this there later.

flavors
then, later i synced them all with flavors.me and designed a background and a few layouts and waited for it to load and mostly had fun with the colors and themes. had fun with naming the buttons but that's about it.

tumblr
after my friend ginny moved to ANOTHER country, i figured i'd better learn tumblr b/c she used it as well as a few others, but it was the only way initially that she was willing to converse with all of us about the new adventure. too complicated,  navigates poorly (like stoopid flickr) and i just couldnt hang, lemme see if i even remember the log in b/c its NOT a link i've included anywhere.

vizify
lately, i came across, or stumbled upon (no, i dont use it) vizify and the easy link they offered for signatures in email which then make it easy for folks to land on it. it also syncs with the latest social media sites that everyone uses: twitter, facebook, instagram, four square, linkedin, etc. the set up was quick, choose a color, and look at it. done. so for now i'm going with vizify as the pointer to the online me. and they give you neat little badges, links, or signatures already designed for you. pop 'em in and your done! i just did up top.

the signs are all there...

...if only we were in solid economic times that allowed one the luxury of moving on quickly or easily to an organization with better leadership. you see, that's the curse, having worked in leadership development for 8 years, i truly value, look for, and insist on good leadership. now, i will say that i searched for those values during the job search and addressed it directly in my interview so as to be proactive with my goal of integrity, transparency and respect. however, one still misses things even with the help of google.

now 6 months in, the wool has been peeled back and i see clearly that my thoughtful mentor and director, is one of a kind and unfortunately not representative of the remaining organization and its executive director. oddly enough, while writing this our HR rep came in, as he does weekly, to check in and i was very honest and told him i prefer quality leadership and transparency and instead feel like we have mistrust, low morale, and a climate of secrecy and exclusion. our executive director is crass (to say the least), and has had his hand slapped in the past for being so and worse. nothing has changed, other than he is now being monitored and google searchable (ick).

so the signs are all there...and i will depart this organization within a year due to its abysmal lack of leadership. how long before i do, is just a matter of how soon the next right job for me comes along. i am looking. and meanwhile i am still learning, both about a new sector of the transportation industry for me, and about how absolutely important it is to match your value set with a potential employer. the things that matter to you always will and you must put them front line in making life decisions...or you will find yourself making them again. thanks institute for leadership advancement for all the great coaching.

too happy for a mid-life crisis...so i'm calling it mid-life nostalgia

yep, this year is a milestone birthday. doesnt feel like 50 but then again how am i supposed to know what it feels like. and so far no urges to chuck it all, buy a red sports car, have an affair, or hotel surf in vegas. nope, i'm good. a little euro travel every now and then wouldnt hurt, but i'm good. what i have noticed though as i approach the big 5.0 is how nostalgic this spring summer has been. side note, i also moved which could have triggered this somehow.
at the beach this month, while walking on the beach at sunset, i recalled the teenage years of showering after sunnin at the beach all day and puttin on my crisp whites to show off my tan and having my hair defrizzed, (for like a second), and swooning over some summer boy crush and hopin my folks would let me stay out late at the boardwalk.
most evenings around dinner time this summer, i've craved beanie weenie, koolaid, watermelon, cukes & tomatoes all salted up, and other 1970s food items that were mainstays in our home in summer.
fireflies in the yard, arent simply nostalgic but sitting out in front of a brick ranch watchin neighbor kids catch them in mason jars is, and having a neighborly street where folks are all out talking is.
the ranch house i rented, even has a formal sitting room and dining room layout and for the first time in like a decade i have a dining room table set up, my grandmother's no doubt. somehow i even found myself ironing tonight on an ironing board! plus the ranch layout is just like the east point house i grew up in. with a pull down staircase to the attic.

update:
neighbor just came over with a coke float right at sundown b/c all the kids at her house were having one. they win the prize for neighborly for sure!

southern hospitality lessons...and trust me some need it

well i'm the one griping so i guess i'll be the first to offer to give some lessons. i'm born and bred here but i dont usually call myself much of a southerner what with the 3 times i've moved away FOR GOOD and then come back and all. but regardless of my transient nature, i have manners, i value hospitality and feel i was raised to offer it, accept it, and recognize a need/lack of it. being new in town is a no brainer, need situation. surprise to me though (silly girl), not everybody agrees. and clearly folks in griffin are divided.

clue #1
new in town, first day at work: no offers to go to lunch, or dinner, or bbq, or the park, or the gym, or anywhere at all, ever. not the first day, week, or month. subsequent invites initiated by me, completely ignored.

clue #2
when chatting about settling in and finding everything, no one mentions where to grocery shop, and when i erroneously name one store as old and outdated, no one says, oh by the way, they totally remodeled EVERY location of THAT store and are now THE store in town to go to. nope, just silence.

clue#3
when noting at closing time on inclement weather days, that i dont need a ride (since i commute by bike), that i'll just wait it out and if it doesnt pass, i'll take a taxi home. no one, not one mentions, oh by the way, we dont have taxis here. nice.

clue#4
my lovely neighbor couple, who i suspect have less than i do, given an early forced retirement due to mill closings in town is the one ray of sunlight and hospitality. she constantly checks on me and offers me breakfast, checks on my dog, and brings me leftovers. now that's what i'm talkin about!
no seriously, its not about free food, its about caring about folks, bein friendly, knowing what position they are in and offering to help kindly and politely. to just ignore folks after you've lured them here for a job and you know they've moved away from everything and everyone they know AINT RIGHT i tell ya. it just aint.

clue#5
this fall when some tenants move out of our downtown office building the office dictator notes that they will soon move me downstairs so I can be on the ground floor, ALONE, without windows, or social interaction. HELLO?! you people are off the charts rude, and unthinking. not just inhospitable, but clueless. ms. manners can i get a witness?

there is one exception to this behavior: bossman brings in free friday breakfast for all, most every week; granted its rarely healthy and its always fast food, but still, its a nice gesture. and i have to add that there are 2 coworkers who are very friendly and come by to chat to see how things are going, and one of them just transferred to another job in the community, so we're down to one.

here's what i would have done and will when a new person joins the organization. first day: invite them to lunch, nearby and walk, so as to point out other spots in town. if they are moving there solo and i know they live alone...first weekend festival: let them know i'm going and happy to meet them there, or pick them up. exchange mobiles to text later. a few months in: ask if they want to join a zumba class with me, or art studio, or meet at the track for walk after work. when they ask for recommendations for doctors or services in town, share that info. and if is a new neighbor, greet them a few days after they've settled in. i'm not little debbie and i dont bake but i'd introduce myself and offer to be of help if they need any.

i'm sure there's more but i've just been steaming about those above and needed to record them. hopefully this is the end of the offenses. and i'm not saying go get all betty busy body on folks, but at least offer. no one offered. and its been 4 months.

there. all better. off my chest and now i'm off to walk my dog and make friends. :)

yoga, an english pub, cafes, and art classes

griffin is shaping up y'all! out and about recently i've discovered a few more things that makes life enjoyable in one's little bubble. jeff brings a article from the AJC of a brit in town who is brewing real english ales, bitters etc...in Griffin! i walk across the street one day at lunch and find a yoga, bliss studio where the owner offers and prefers the exact style of yoga i prefer: power vinyasa flow. on my lunch hour yesterday i strolled down the street a few blocks and stopped in to bette's health food center and found the herbs/vitamins i was looking for and met the massage therapist on staff. and the stache studio, which looked crazy inviting as i was peering thru the windows, turns out to have a great set of painting classes. and the city of griffin just announced summer movies in the park at the little lunch greenspace i've been frequenting. and all these folks have a facebook page too. i'm pretty sure i'm gonna like it here...and i'll go ahead and fix up the guest room b/c y'all are gonna wanna visit. i predict.

YOGA
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Blissjunky-Mind-Soul-Bodywork/128477107171922

ENGLISH PUB
https://www.facebook.com/eagleandlion

CUPCAKES
https://www.facebook.com/the.maplover#!/alycakesga

ART STUDIO
https://www.facebook.com/stachestudio

MOVIES IN THE PARK
http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=d5589dd9b6835d0637733f15b&id=370966cc3e

and today i had lunch at Aly's Cakes, just a basic tuna sandwich with chips & a pickle and she says dont forget to pick out your free cupcake before you leave! omg. mocha cappuccino please. and thank you.

i'm a sucker for cafes and bungalows with porches

so, as of today, griffin has captured my attention way more than peachtree city, senoia, moreland or newnan. imagine. well it boils down to cafes and porches for me. perhaps a few more things, but primarily those. every day i walk out the door to lunch and stroll til i find something. so far for lunch, downtown walkable griffin offers

• mill town gourmet cafe (sidewalk tables)
• slices pizzeria (great pie)
• safehouse coffee (hipster central)
• angelo's mediterranean (go greek here)
• 6th street pier (evenings only, will try soon)
• bank street cafe (with 'french girl on a bike' mural on the grand entry hall)
• hollywood hills pub (might wait for an escort on this one)
• janah cafe (folks say they use odd 'seasoning', cant wait to try)
• and if you really need it KFC or Firehouse Subs

Dear griffin, i am home. Thank you. also on walkabout i discover murals EVERYwhere (i'll document those soon), the local ballet company dance studio, working theatre company, sewing centers, boutiques, lawyers, doctors, realtors, and such. there are no parking meters, all the crosswalks have stripes and walk buttons, and you get to hear a train or two every day. today i picked up brochures about the 2 upcoming productions in downtown theatre spaces, formerly the opera house.

Culcha too, one can stroll to the post office at lunch or run other errands. many folks jump in cars...but not sure why yet and not curious at all. i've also found a greenspace park with stage and secret courtyard for picnics. next weekend, they host the doc holiday beer fest in the park and perhaps i'll learn about huckleberries.
a few blocks from downtown, one can pull in for an oil change, unannounced and chat with the service tech about where to bike around town. then one can roll over to the local bike shop and pick up new wheels, accessories or scoop about local outings. i'll be working with lee and sara for sure to get folks out of their cars in this area.
many of the houses have porches and are of an era i love, so we're just waiting for it to all come together with a nearby bungalow that CB and I can walk from in the evenings and I can bike to/from work daily. i think its possible.

a flurry of firsts

so today was my first day on the new job, first time selling a house, first time leaving CB in the country dog daycare (aunt connie's), first time DRIVING to work 45 minutes, first time working in a library/closet, and first time watching trains at lunch. yes, its a bunch of adjustments and a time of highs/lows but its all for the good. of this i remind myself daily.

no alarm needed this morning as the dogs wake up at 730am, but it started with me getting dressed from my aunt's guest room, running the dog gauntlet to get thru the gate(CB, Belle, Lea, Bailey, Angel, Radar), walking thru the woods to mom's house, getting in my car and heading out...wait, the car is covered in pollen, quick hose off with mom's well-placed driveway hose and heck, my water glass is empty, might as well fill it up too (yep thats how we do it in georgia).

on the road driving east in the morning, didnt i say never do that? well, hopefully once i land in PTC, the drive will be south in the a.m. so yea, a quick stop at frazier's texaco to clean the windshield was in order, then on to griffin on hwy 16 literally from a few yards past my mom & connie's property. one road, no turns, no traffic jams, time to even fidget with radio stations. surprise there are a few in range down here. roll into town and park on main street USA at my new office. no meters, no maids, no nothing, just white lines. coffee shop across and down the block.

a lunchtime foray reveals train jam at a R/R park a block away, a pretty brick courtyard reuse by the preservation office, a couple of cafes, tons of cars/trucks lined up going somewhere important, and me walking the cobblestones looking for, hey i found it, the small in-town theatre on the green park, completely unused. i have a feeling i'll have it to myself most days. tomorrow i try the mill town cafe.

more tomorrow. oh and yes, my office is a former library/closet...gonna need a little fixin up help. thinking curtain rod and sheers, art on shelves, bright colors. major artery forming here as the ramp up to the bridge over the RR tracks runs between the two brick buildings

Fine dining, or at least interesting and local
dashed to Athens over the weekend to mow the grass and gather up stuff...now have plants and art on the way to the office library. lunch finds last week are: the salads and desserts are awesome at mill town cafe. great find. pizza at angelos, not so much, pizza at Slices, superb. back to angelo's for greek tho later this week. and of course coffee and masada bakery scones/muffins at safehouse anytime. how can i possibly complain when i now have 4 places to avoid the meat & three lunch option. and one day for dinner ill try 6th Street Pier and maybe even find a dinner option!

things are looking up in griffin and there is a cute bungalow just over from downtown with my name on it...if only i can talk them into a fenced option for CB.

week 2...

mobility manager for the 3 rivers regional commission

that's right, it has finally all come together. i'll be moving from athens very soon and relocating in griffin to help improve transit delivery to rural georgia. its a great pilot opportunity for the state and a chance to lead. this shouldnt surprise any of you who tolerate my many posts on transportation solutions here on facebook. for those who have hidden me, well, surprise!
charlie brown and i are searching for a cute little bungalow walking distance from downtown griffin. so if any of you have been waiting for just the right moment to rent your little spalding county getaway, here we are. meanwhile ours is for sale or rent here in athens and jeff has the yard looking extra spiffy. sure wish the cloner of houses would appear and just plop what i have down in g-town.
lately, we've been feeling like peachtree city might be the perfect lifestyle for us so we could end up there too.
so this all goes down april 1 and we've already found the local coffee shop, met the bike shop owners and biked around the hood. somehow i'm actually closer to where jeff lives, still in decatur for now, so that's nice. he'll work on getting his house ready for market and see if there are any interesting landscaping gigs down peachtree city way. if you know of any, holla.
so, that's my whirlwind news and its gonna be fun to jump into something new. for those of you who don't love and worship maps as i do, griffin is south of ATL on the I-75 corridor, not as far down as Macon though.
as usual, i'm wired so find me here, email, or text.
trace
'griffin, great and growing'
p.s. i just found a brochure on what my job is...http://www.unitedweride.gov/Mobility_Management_Brochure.pdf

a tale of two cities

valentines day is coming up and i wanna spend it with my sweetheart...which we can do the weekend prior or the weekend after sure...but not easily the day of. why? because we live in two different cities, about 60+ miles apart. now granted, the national average shows that the longest, and in my opinion ridiculous, commute is in the ATL at 66 miles daily, one way. wow.

now, while i would never arrange my life with such a daily commute to work in mind, and never have to date, i would absolutely support transportation solutions for folks who do have to travel that far for work. a commuter rail train from birmingham to atlanta to athens and on to augusta is one option, a high speed rail running between major cities like charlotte, chattanooga, atlanta, macon, savannah is another. right now the only thing i see leaving athens daily for atlanta is groome airport van shuttle and WINGS or whatever they call the small regional airflight vendor nowadays.
but alas, we don't have those commuter options and our state might not succeed in convincing voters to support a special transportation tax this summer as a first-step sort of manner to help get them. and the fed might slash any "non-asphalt creating" transportation funding across the nation unilaterally anyway. "if it aint a road, and preferably a wide one with lots of lanes and bridges, we dont want it and we aint gonna fund it b/c the nation don't need it."

well let me tell you something state/fed legislators, georgia has a wide road, with lots of lanes, 23 to be exact, and bridges, and it runs smack thru the heart of downtown ATL and is the most dreaded, congested, ugly piece of road money can buy. dressing it up with lexus lanes doesn't work, painting pretty bridges doesn't work, flanking it with entertaining billboards doesn't work, it stinks and it sucks the life out of commuters who have to get to work in ATL by car. nobody here likes it, in fact its god awful as southeners say.
so i don't reckon i'll spend my valentines day, commuting during rush hour, fighting that crowd to spend a lovely dinner with my wonderful partner. no we'll just chat on the phone and make plans for what city we can move to where infrastructure has kept up with population and the built environment supports a pleasant way of life, a lovely commute, and easy dinners out on a weeknight.

sorry sweetheart, that community is NOT Atlanta or towns adjacent to it.

love you, smooch!

flavors of me...all in one place

emailed a commenter on a story i read that i really liked and she wrote back with encouraging words...then i clicked her signature info and found this clever see it all in one click site that she was using to direct folks easily to her info. those of you who still arent over or are still fretting over the sharing of info freely, just stop reading here. so flavors.me turned out to be easy to use and set up and voila!
me:
http://flavors.me/themaplover

listening...and keepin up

holiday week arrives at work, campus is quiet and i'm bored...or so i think. then i remember i have a ton of blogs to read, advocacy to catch up on, NACTO design to study, solutions to suggest to the npos i support, and of course, always, travel to plan. whew, good thing i had that second cup of coffee.
so let's see the DC.streets.blog.org i read today reminds me that we can be really creative and innovative in solving transportation solutions. imagine me, looking for work in ATL in the throes of a transportation era and being innovative with the old boys. well, this is gonna be fun and i'm sure some witty blogging will come from it at the least.
if anyone is reading, i'm ready to get started. today i read how to run a transit tax campaign, how to listen to folks, and you all know i walk the talk (thank you for not hiding my feed yet).
so, in the words of my favorite halloween character to date, spit spot now, on ye go.
let's get rollin Atlanta!

hormonal imbalance, oh boy, here we go

Your profile vs. women your age

(based on over one million profiles to date)

Your health assessment

• Your symptoms rank in the moderate category, (altho i ranked all mild).
• The demands you place on your body are moderate.
• By comparison, the support that you give yourself is substantial (thank you).

What your assessment means

Moderate symptoms mean you are in the throes of hormonal imbalance. Hormonal imbalance can affect women of any age, although it is most common in women over 35 as they enter perimenopause or transition through menopause. Depending on the woman, this can mean months or several years of symptoms. Moderate symptoms in younger women are usually predictive of a more difficult perimenopause further down the road. It's important to listen to your body now and respond with the support it needs.

Women with moderate symptoms who do nothing to restore their hormonal balance usually progress to more frequent and severe symptoms. You can take back your health and restore your hormonal balance naturally and without drugs, alleviating your symptoms. (To learn how, see your personalized recommendations below).
Moderate demands mean that the burden on your body is about the same as what most women experience — more than it was designed to handle! In today's fast-paced world, women are mothers, caretakers, professionals, volunteers and more, at the same time our bodies are bombarded by chemicals, endocrine disruptors, and environmental toxins. Some of the demands you experience are not within your control, but it's important to minimize those that are. In the meantime, you need to give your body extra support to counter these demands. Minimizing demands and increasing support play a key role in achieving and maintaining hormonal balance.
Substantial support confirms that you are giving your body a lot of the support it needs to be balanced and healthy. Congratulations on the high level of support you are giving yourself! Unfortunately even women who try their hardest to make healthy choices can sometimes suffer from hormonal imbalance. If you're experiencing symptoms, you may need to take a closer look at the demands you are placing on your body. If you've done everything you can to reduce those demands, you may benefit from a consultation with one of our Nurse Educators to discuss further steps you can take to promote your hormonal health.

What you can do today

• Enjoy the benefits of the Personal Program, risk-free.
  Women with symptoms just like yours have found real relief and peace of mind from our Personal Program for Hormonal Imbalance. We offer targeted nutritional support that promotes hormonal balance, detailed lifestyle and diet guidance that fits you and the way you live, along with access to individualized support from our team of Wellness Coaches.
  
• Discover more about what causes your symptoms and find effective, natural solutions.
  Our website is a wealth of information collected over 25 years experiences at our clinic and our ongoing research. Explore our knowledge and uncover the underlying causes of your specific symptoms now.
  
• Talk with our advisors in Portland, Maine.
  Call us toll-free at 1-800-914-2049. Speak to a caring woman who understands your concerns about hormonal health, and who understands what you’re going through. We have answers to all the questions running through your mind and have helped thousands of women find relief. Our Advisors are available to listen and help — seven days a week, 8:30 am - 8:30 pm EST.
  

Our assessment of your profile

Most likely you've been feeling ''not yourself'' for awhile. The good news is you can turn it around, naturally and without drugs. We recommend you do a few simple things to balance your hormones and keep them in balance. To start, you should be taking a medical-grade multivitamin designed for women every day, as well as additional calcium/magnesium and essential fatty acid supplement. You may also benefit from phytotherapy, the therapeutic use of plants and herbs, to naturally coax your body into hormonal balance.

We also recommend some basic dietary changes such as minimizing simple carbohydrates, sugar and processed foods, and increasing your consumption of vegetables, fruit, and healthy sources of fats and protein. In addition, try to find an exercise program you enjoy and consider learning some basic stress reduction techniques. The women that we see in the clinic see steady improvements in the way that they feel when they follow these suggestions. These simple steps can make a world of difference in improving your physical and emotional well-being now - and keep you from having more serious problems in the future.

If these changes seem like a lot, remember that we're here to help! It's okay if you don't make every change at once. Try to focus on a few that seem most accessible to you, and as you start to feel a difference you will have the motivation to continue making improvements. We're confident that with a little guidance and determination you can feel better than you thought possible.

We're here for you.

Every woman is unique. That's why we help you personalize your Program to your needs. And every woman deserves answers that work for her. We are available by phone or e-mail whenever you have a question or problem. That's how we're changing women's health – one woman at a time.
Yours in health,

september comes along, and all is fine

seriously, it doesnt cool off in Georgia til late september. why do you think i waited so long to come out from day one? i've always hated the heat and no matter where i've lived or how much time i've 'acclimatized' here in Georgia...it doesnt stick. i still hate it. i'm talkin oppressed, lethargic, grumpy. ick. no use for it at all. i'll do anything to leave the state in july / august and find a way to every year.
but enough of all that, its october now and the outdoors is delicious. birthday week began with a shout out to buck and then consisted of a quick visit from dear friend Rena from DC/Philly, followed by spa day with mom and connie, dining out, and girly stuff. next a beer & film festival under the stars with 5 great ole friends, a gig at chateau elan, party on ponce and serenades by shawn mullins and the indigo girls. we continued with a drive to the mountains w/alex and charlie brown to cheer jeff on at a triathlon, pick up some apples, peach cider and cherry jam at a farm in ellijay. oh, and pumpkins too!
just like i planned it, ahhh, i love september. don't you?

maplover without a GPS

mozilla offers to map your life, well make that your online life in firefox...and i do spend a fair amount of time there so i went for it. take the survey. http://mzl.la/nYFbhc

growth

if you're paying attention, there is some little nugget of goodness in every day. sometimes the nugget is so surprising, when you first see it, you didnt know you needed it, you werent looking for it, you blink twice that you even thunk it...yet its there and it frees up a whole passel of stuff holding back other nuggets.
decoded? i think i dont need to hate my ex anymore. i'm good. i'm okay letting it all go, 17 years later. i can even let myself recall why i liked him. and THAT hasnt happened once, not for a second in all this time.
trigger? not sure except a donna the buffalo song brought it on. and now i recall his face or persona running through a recent dream or two. meaning? all good. my life is good, i'm deliriously happy with the man i deserve, career is changing for the good, and well i just dont have anything i need to hate on anymore. sure i'm in debt, and can't find the dream job, but that's all small stuff. and i just dont need to carry it around anymore.
i learned a lot, got tougher, found my inner b@!tch, coasted thru several great chapters of life, dodged a few, and now i have it all. so yes, i'm lettin all that wounded, shocked, disbelief go too. it happens and i wasnt the first or the last. but it wasnt my doin and i aint carrying it around no more. whew. finally. wonder if i should lift his burdens too?

happy trails on father's day

dad,
well i didnt get anything in the mail, as usual, but i did want to write this note and tell you happy father's day and how great it was to reconnect this past year in MD/DC and GA. DC was so fun because it was just us adults (well and charlie brown) which i enjoy quite a bit. i just dont really do the kids thing, never have, never probably will. i mean i think i'm a pretty good aunt an all, but thats plenty enough of a taste for me. i enjoy adults way more.
another reason graduation was such a great weekend for me, i was on cloud nine for quite a while afterwards. only the daunting job search can put a damper on it from time to time. but it was most fun because you were here and we just spent real time cooking, eating, and shopping. the things that folks probably do often with their parents if they live with them or in the same town as them. but not something we have ever gotten to do tremendous amounts of, so i value that highly. i even pointed out to chris in some of connie's photos, hey look, its you and your mom and dad in the same photo...got one of those? i think not. so how great is that that we do now. great i say.
and lastly, honestly i enjoyed that it was a day dedicated just to me, not anyone else's soap opera. just me. i dont feel like i ever demanded that before and yet i deserved it. so thanks for making me the focus.
i know this wasnt the only time we got to visit over the years, its just the most recent. i also recollect fondly some california days together where we just went to arts/wine festivals, grilled out, or biked around foster city. funny how the simple things in life really are the best moments. so i hope you have a simple, yet great, moment for father's day, devoted to just you, and know that i love you.
dearest,
little rosanna rosannadanna