JULY

We’ve all heard of the phrase “Poker Face” and usually what comes to mind is the ability to keep your facial expressions as neutral as possible, while trying to hide the real emotional expressions being felt inside yourself. Nobody should be able to read your thoughts or know your next hand.

Well , try putting on your game face when everything in you is about to explode in emotion! It’s an accomplishment for someone like me, but I’ve learned to do it…..over the phone anyway.

Sooooooooo, the other day (you know, not today, and not a day in the future, but one of the days from the past), I get this call from …..DUN.. DUN.. DUN….a COLLECTOR! It wasn’t for me (surely you knew that) but none the less, they were looking to collect from a “family member”.

The conversation went something like this:

Collector: “Is this (so & so)?”

JAG: “Who’s calling?”

Collector: This is (such & such) is this (so & so)?

JAG: (putting on my game face) “What can I do for you?”

Collector: “You have a debt that we are trying to collect , can you tell me how you intend to pay for this?”

JAG: “Sir, we are in the middle of a murder investigation here , and have to investigate everyone, where are you at this moment?”

Collector: “ I’m calling from Texas and I need your social security number?”

JAG: “Texas uh?” “And your trying to collect a debt?” How is that you have any knowledge of this debt?

Collector: “ I’m from (such & such) collection agency.”

JAG: “What is your name?”

Collector: “George”

JAG: “Well George, do you have a last name?”

Collector: “I’m not suppose to give that information to you.”

JAG: “Well George, you do realize that this is an attempt to collect information for a recent murder here, this is an investigation and I need for you to answer all of my questions thoroughly?”

Collector: “Ummmmmmmmm, I don’t know, what you want, I mean …I don’t understand.”

JAG: “What don’t you understand , I need your last name and social security number.”

Collector: “ I’m not giving that to someone …I don’t even know who I’m talking too.”

JAG: “My point exactly” and I hung up!

I'm getting ready for summer and making sure that I don't spend all these beautiful sunny days in Western New York in the air conditioned basement! So the plan is something like this:

• Check the WNYWOMEN.COM calendar for all the COOL events that take place in WNY.

• Make time to get outside and enjoy those events.

• Be sure to be prepared to have a safe and enjoyable summer.

That's not too much to ask of oneself now is it?  Read over the July articles and learn in our Health & Inspiration about keeping your skin safe in the sun.  What products are really safe and what sunscren has an SPF of 15 or higher  for protection against both UVA and UVB rays.

Each year there are more than one million new skin cancers in the U.S., more than all other cancers combined, and the incidence rate is increasing by about 5% per year.  One in five Americans and one in three Caucasians will develop skin cancer in their lifetime.  The good news is that skin cancers can be easily treated. According to Roswell Park Cancer Institute tip sheet over 90% can be cured and, if detected early, nearly 100% can be cured.

There are several different types of skin cancer: the three main types are basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma.  The most dangerous type is melanoma as it can spread throughout the body, making it more difficult to treat.  About 60,000 melanomas will be diagnosed this year, resulting in about 8,000 deaths.

Sooooooo, I'm headed on vacation this weekend for a hopefully wonderful 4th of July at my Uncle's farm. This is not just any farm, it is acres and acres of landscaped beauty with trails for four wheeling, and hayrides with a river running through the property. We usually play horseshoes and bocci ball, fish, play cards, and of coarse the pig roast, we eat and eat and eat all weekend long.

But it's the exercise and the outdoor air that makes it good for you. The company is the best! Anyway, as we celebrate this summer and it's holidays, we all need to pay attention to our skins safety in the burning sun's rays.  So that's why I took the time to get my tan in a bottle.  I have no problem buying my tan and/or paying for it to be sprayed on, and apparently this is the way many women are choosing to go about getting their tans this summer.

So, when you see me at the picnic this July 4th, don't be surprised when I show up beautifully golden and tell everyone...

"Oh thank you, I just returned from a month in the Caribbean"

It May be June, but I'm still reaping in May's sunshine! The Chamber of Commerce of the Tonawandas hosted their first Women's Expo & Boutique on Saturday May 22 at The Tonawanda Castle in Tonawanda, New York.  The event was attended by people from many cities around the Western New York region with major sponsorship of DeGraff Memorial Hospital.

WNYWOMEN.COM had a booth at this event, so I can personally attest to the enjoyment of the people that attended this show.  The elegance of The Tonawanda Castle lend itself to the atmosphere that Chamber Director Joyce Santiago and her Expo committee strived to achieve with great success!

There was shopping and public information, make-up, hair and nails being done. There was fresh coffee, fashion shows, and even Tops Friendly Markets Cooking Classes presented by Regional Cooking School Manager: Grace Hanusin. Something for everyone, booths were filled with conversations and exchange.

"This is exactly what we needed, something in this area for women!" commented one visitor to my booth, and the Town of Tonawanda Chamber delivered!

If you missed this years Women's Expo & Boutique, be sure not to miss the next. What a unique way to celebrate the end of Spring and return of Summer, with endless adventures!

JAG

"'Tis like the birthday of the world,

When earth was born in bloom;

The light is made of many dyes,

The air is all perfume:

There's crimson buds, and white and blue,

The very rainbow showers

Have turned to blossoms where they fell,

And sown the earth with flowers."

-   Thomas Hood

Yes! May is a wonderful time of year, the trees have leaves and the flowers are blooming. One of my favorite things to do is to go hunting for morel mushrooms.  These babies like to hide and the hunt is better than any antique hunt, because the challenge is much harder than looking through antique shops, garage or estate sales for that "something special".

Nothing is more special than finding morel mushrooms, except cooking them up in lots of butter and eating them, if you have the luck of finding them.  Morel mushroom hunters keep their hunting spots a secret. There are mushroom clubs out there in this USA, and these hunters- like myself, spend many hours walking the woodlands for those precious few.  It's truly a sport.

So where do I begin, usually on a trip to upper Michigan back in the woods.  You have to have some knowledge of when and where to look, and that's something you need to learn on your own, and it takes practice.

Secrets........lot's of secrets are involved in morel mushroom hunting.

I usually collect a few relatives and then the excitement begins. We get dressed for walking through rough areas of the woods and creeks. (small hint)  This year I headed up to Michigan a few weeks too early, even though there was talk that morels where already found after a couple rainy days. (another hint)

Well my hunt this year was a bit unusual.  I had waited until I returned to Western New York to head out since everyone in Michigan convinced me that it was too early in the season for my visit in April. So being it's just the beginning of May, and we are expected to get some rain this weekend, I just couldn't control the temptation to get out and HUNT......Hunt ...hunt.

Since I'm back home, I couldn't collect my relatives to go with me, they all reside in Michigan. So I actually attempted this years hunt alone.  Believe me when I tell you....don't ever leave me alone! (sung to the Beatles)

I ACTUALLY didn't find any morel's .......but my hunt lead me to finding a few "caps" and I just wanted to share them with all of you!  I hope you know I do have Morals!  I just couldn't help the thrill of the hunt.

Okay..okay, it’s like this:  I just can’t seem to get that break.  Now that everybody knows that my office is in my home basement, I may as well let you in on where I’ve been in the last month.  Yes, I did try to convince you that it’s all well and good to work from home.  I confessed I work from “downstairs”.

Now I must tell you what happened several weeks back as I was working diligently at my desk, I had to go to the ……well you know…….the…….I had to go number 1.  Conveniently, I only have to walk around a few corners to…..well you know….the “powder room”.    So as luck would have it, I found water flowing like a happy river all over the place.

Yes, after the Plumber came and investigated, the problem moved to our front yard.  We had a broken sewer pipe about ten feet down!  If my son had still been three years old, I know I would have had to drag him away from the window as he would have wanted to watch the big trucks dig up one quarter of my front lawn.  But since he’s now 21 years old, he was outside next to the two men that dug a hole half way to Hell.  That was amusing in itself.

The purpose of my sharing this story is that I would like to demonstrate how I have learned to cope with the problems that seem to find me, even when I hide in my basement most of my days. There just doesn’t seem to be a way to escape or hide from the kind of luck I seem to have lately.

A month later, my carpets and floors have been replaced and the painting and moldings are almost done. The offices are very nearly put back together, maybe even more organized than before the flood, (A sign of the good that comes from bad.)  But most of all, I’ve learned that even when everything around you seems to be going wrong……….well you know………when ……well………

You just need to know how to relax and make the best of it. So I’m back!

Recently while working on the development of a new design with my Web Master “Evad” for wnywomen.com, he made a statement to me that set me off on another adventure.
First of all you really need to know how talented “Evad” is with teaching web content and design via telephone.  The experience has taught me more in the past couple months then I have understood in the past twelve years of ownership!  All thanks to Web Master “Evad”,( whom has displayed talents far beyond these abilities), as I will introduce you to in another article soon.
Getting back to this adventure....one day while speaking with “Evad” about my excitement with the knowledge I was gathering at our weekly afternoon telephone meetings, he commented; “All this from a girl in her basement.”   Those words sent me contemplating exactly what it is like to work from my basement.
From recent readings, many more people today are working from home.  Having worked many years in an Executive Suite, I moved the business into my home due to a family illness several years back.  The difference between having worked from an Executive Center to my basement has been a positive move.
Sure there isn’t as much sunshine, but nobody knows that I have the luxury of showing up to work in my PJ’s, ( sort of like that Michael Jackson syndrome ) and the extra exercise of running up and down the staircase day and (if I CHOOSE ) night to get to my office.  There are many other benefits to working at home and I don’t think I’ll be moving anytime soon back to an office suite, as I have become very comfortable with my daily naps that I get to sneak in on those days when I really need them.
So all things considering, I have decided to embrace “Evad’s” statement “All this from a girl in her basement” and start a column that I will sponsor for wnywomen.com.   The column will cover topics on anything and everything interesting to a woman.  But I needed a character to run this column… and that’s where “Evad’s” statement came in.  Even though I don’t consider myself a “girl”, I’m more or less at the age where I would be called a “woman”.  But a “woman in her basement.” just doesn’t hit the mark.
So, let me introduce my latest Key Panelist:   COMING SOON TO WNYWOMEN.COM…… JAG in her basement !