5 pink tents

This weekend, my mother-in-law gave my daughter 5 pink tents to have a future proposed sleepover. The tents were from last yrs' 3-day walk and her friends knew my m-in-law had a granddaughter. So they decided it would be cute to give us the tents for this sleepover purpose.  My m-in-law dropped off the tents to E and she was so happy, already planning out who she was going to invite. I jokingly said "oh we can drop one off downtown", she replied quickly and mentioned her friend didn't want to see the pink tents downtown. Oh, I bit my lip hard, shut-up and left the room.

This has gotten me thinking about these tents and the homeless everytime I see them and they are still sitting on my living room floor. There is a huge homeless population in San Diego. Do we help them or ignore them? As a human being, I think the answer is to help, but obviously to many the answer is to ignore.  I would like to be helped if I were in that situation, it really isn't hard anymore to lose it all. I am now strongly considering volunteering for a homeless organization with or without the 5 pink tents in hand. What do I have to lose? I still have a roof over my head.

Lots of places and things to do

Lots of places and things to do this month, but still not working (another post, another time).  Another birthday passed by...the big 34, I think next yr. is a milestone, maybe I will actually have a birthday dinner with friends or something more than this yr. I am actually enjoying my time with the family, not so stressed out, rushing everywhere, trying to be everyone to everbody all at once. These are my top Sept. thoughts:

TEXAS
I went to Texas last week for a beautiful wedding, didn't actually set a foot in Dallas, but was about ten miles away, maybe next time. Observations:  Everyone spoke in a twang accent. If I had stayed there a bit longer, I might of even picked it up. Loved the La Madeleine Restaurant, never thought I would listen to beginner french lessons in a Texas bathroom. Another thing that grabbed me was a bbq restaurant called Red, Hot and Blue that we went to served "pitchers" individually as their glasses. 32oz of sweetness is what they called it, plus you get free refills if you wanted. I guess they do say everything is bigger in Texas.

KATHY 
Last nt., I saw Kathy Griffin Live. Her Balls of Steel tour, she mentioned tweets as twats, and had a lot of celebrity dirt stories. I think you either love her or just are plain offended. She is great in my eyes, so what if she is so wrong. Her topics last nt: Oprah, Whitney, Britney, Jon and Kate, Barbara Walters, Miley Cyrus, Palin Party, Paula, a bit on the Kanye/Taylor fiasco..and other stuff to bad to say aloud. My thoughts on her routine:  Someone has to bad mouth the celebs- why not it be her? Laughter is the best medicine they say, I got a great dose last night. The end.

FRIENDS
Old and new friends...I have my two oldest friends still around, 21 yrs. of growing up together, thick and thin. Not so hard to believe we stuck together for so long.. I wouldn't have it any other way, I love we share our differences, similarities, struggles and our achievements together. I just have to say if it weren't for them I would never have met my husband, had two wonderful kids or have fallen in love with San Diego.  I have also found new friends both in the former workplace and most recently by twittering (great cocktail party). I just have to say I have met the greatest people, everyone has a story to tell, some great ideas, many experiences good and bad. Can't wait to see the friendships grow and bloom. My thoughts on this: I never know where anything takes me anymore. May my experiences give me a great journey till Oct.

How am I

I am doing, still not "working" (I am working just not with a paycheck). I am now contemplating my definition of a "paycheck" (don't get me wrong, one of those would be nice). I want to enrich myself and work in a place that helps me grow as a person. I am not sure if one exists right now. As long as I can afford my long-term pursuits, I will keep growing as a person. My short-term pursuits have got me life knowledge but nothing sustainable for me to grow on. My enjoyments, learning more on social media and the change that is bringing to the marketing/advertising world. The old way was to advertise pay traditional media like newspapers, radio, television and magazines to get the word out either by selling product or service out and letting consumers come to you, a great one-way conversation. The new way- listening to consumers/friends/family, letting them know that you are out there and giving something to them to engage each other and talk about your product/service/life. This makes for a exponential buzz factor, transparency and real-time conversation with your audience. I am still learning technologies, there are much to be learned and new ones created everyday. That is the beauty of the industry right now, it is evolving, never a dull moment and as long as I am engaged, I will keep my ear to the ground and sponge the knowledge up. There are many groundbreaking leaders out there right now, I consider them inspiring and helpful to me. Knowledge really is a powerful thing. I hope to continue soak it up.