Happy 4th of July!

In my spare time, I enjoy crafting – crosstitch, scrapbooking, card making and drawing. In honor of our independence, I made a few cards for friends and family…

Enjoy your July 4th!

Who’s your Mentor?

Today I attended an event at The Center Club in Baltimore, MD as part of a local business professionals roundtable. Dr. Kirwan, chancellor of the University System of Maryland was the featured speaker. He discussed his path to success from Lexington, KY to College Park, MD and his newest challenge as the chancellor as well as the goals of higher education in the state of Maryland.

At one point we got on the path of needing better focus at the primary education level to support the goals of higher education. I noted that teachers in days of olde had a bigger influence on students than teachers of today. (That’s my perception…) I rattled off the top a few teachers that really influenced me, but it got me to thinking on my way home… Who has been a pivotal role model in my life? Have I told them about the impact these people have had on who I am today?

It was a decent car ride, so I started going down my list. The answer is that I have more role models who have shaped who I am than I have given credit to.

[getting up on my soapbox]
Here’s my proclamation to the world about my role models:

1. My mother.
Okay, so this is a pretty easy one to guess. I talk about my mother all the time to anyone who will listen. She didn’t have the easiest path in life and managed to come out on top personally and professionally – more than she gives herself credit for. No matter the challenge, she has always been able to take an idea and turn it into magic and those watching never see her miss a beat. I’ve learned everything from her.. I’d hate to imagine the person I would be today if she hadn’t touched my life at all. To have her for my whole life has been a blessing.

2. My grandfather.
Mom’s side of the family has a good influence on me! John Raymond Yorskey, otherwise known as granddad in my world. He worked his whole life so that my mother and her family wouldn’t have to ever go without. Unfortunately, that work ethic also meant that he missed out on watching my mother explore and grow. I was born shortly after the love of his life, his wife Ora, passed away. I think I became an escape from dealing with the passing of my grandmother. As I began to grow, I was the daughter he wished he was able to play with, teach, watch, laugh with and share tears. I spent as much time as I could with him – he helped my spirit soar. He taught me how to ride a bike, and anyone who knew him knows he did so while spouting with a few curse words. He was there when I scraped my knee learning how to roller skate (on our roughly paved driveway). He taught me how to cast a fishing line, watch the sun set and listen for the song of life. Yep, he’s a special one.

3. Mrs. Hepburn.
My 1st grade teacher at Huntingtown Elementary School. She is perhaps one of the first and only people to truly believe in me throughout my education. She had a special glimmer about her. I learned how to hold a pencil and write from her. My first spanish lesson was given by her – the morning song we sang every day. I didn’t realize her impact until a few years later when I was asked to speak at her retirement dinner. I was a short and stubby 3rd grader who had to have the staff at Herrington Harbour bring a box for me to stand on so I could reach the microphone at the podium. My first public speech – my favorite teacher of ALL time was retiring and I was speaking in front of 100 or so of her peers. No pressure. I don’t remember a lick of what I said, I was nervous as hell. Up until she died, I stayed in touch with her (her husband ended up teaching me 9th grade biology) and we talked about her retirement just about every time. Around Mother’s Day in 1st grade, we had a project which we were to give to our mothers. The mother of one of my friends and classmates (Sheila) died and Mrs. Hepburn asked me to help Sheila make something special for her mother. ME. Of all the people, she chose me. I learned how to care for other people from Mrs. Hepburn. How to laugh, and to know that no matter how goofy someone may be, they are still a person and reminds me to get to know people – especially the goofy ones.

4. Nanny.
My father’s mother, Myrtle Roberts, had a rough path. She was this petite, spirited, creative, kind, hard worker of a person who could do no wrong to a single soul. She was abused, often went without so others could have something, worked the farm well into her 70’s, and always stuffed a few dollar bills in my pocket when mom wasn’t looking. She taught me that the imagination should never be ignored, to hold tight to dreams and make them happen. We always said that when I turned old enough, we were going to buy a red convertible and drive it all the way to Vegas on old Route 66. Our hair would fly in the wind and we’d only pack what we needed. Then we’d bet everything playing blackjack while sipping scotch. Sadly, I never got to have that trip with her.
She learned how to read when I was a kid, yet somehow ran the farm and cash registers at the family store. She was the single person who kept the family farm running for decades. We used to ride ponies together, clean out the chicken coop, feed the hogs, and lay in the tobacco fields talking about our dreams. What a great soul. I dearly miss her.

5. Mrs. Austin.
10th grade English would have been impossible without her understanding. From her I learned that some obstacles are harder for some people than others and to have patience when faced with an obstacle. There’s always a way around an obstacle. I have a reading disability and could not read the tiny print in the dozens of books required, like The Odyssey. She would give me extra time to read the books because I had to have the print enlarged by way of photo copies (thank you mom) and have someone read it with me. My eyes jump around the page, so reading long stories is next to impossible. I had to have someone read it out loud with me so I could hear the story, which let me comprehend the story. Lots of late nights with momma.
Anyways, Mrs. Austin understood that and helped me through reading that year. She helped protect me from the terrible things would say about me. I think of her as helping give me my armour.

6. Mrs. Gross.
She taught me to play oboe. Well. When no one had the patience to help me learn the oboe, she did. I spent many nights where every dog in the county howled at the sound of my screeching on the double reed. From her I learned to dismiss what others may say. Who cares, anyways? Sour comments by others meant nothing – only I knew how hard I worked and what my potential could be. And potential it was. Thanks to her golden hand, I went on to become quite the talented oboist and played with a number of big time orchestras, even cutting my own record. Little miss insecure went from zero to amazing with her help.

7. Megan Casey.
At my former job, which feels like a million years ago, I was fortunate enough to have Megan as my boss for a short while. She was one of the people who turned me on to coaching and how it is a tool to help me get ahead in the business world. She taught me how to deal with people in the business world. When to talk, when to shut up, how to say it, and when to go with the flow. She was the first business person who came into my life and inspired me. I wish we stayed in touch more often..

8. Mary Ellen Thieroff.
Along with my mother, she’s an ongoing mentor for me. Mary Ellen offered me the opportunity where I am now and has helped me dial in what it is that I am supposed to do in this world and how I can impact the business community. She has helped me find tools to improve my skill set, has taught me the meaning of boss/friendship, and one of the few people in my life who puts as much passion forward as I do. She probably does it better. That’s why she’s my mentor! No matter where we end up in life, I’d love to keep her close so that I can continue to learn and grow from all that she has to offer. She’s a smart, talented, creative person who has created her own path. For that I am grateful as she helps me with mine.

There you have it. I don’t thank any of these people enough. Those that have passed, I try to express my gratitude as often as possible and hope they can hear me from high above.
THANK YOU!
THANK YOU!
THANK YOU all!

And that is GOOD STUFF!

Who are your mentors? Influencials? Role models?
What makes them your mentor?

“Do you replace windshields?”

As part of playing on a team, I’ve picked up a few showroom shifts each week throughout our region. It’s actually quite productive and entertaining…

Today has been no different. I wouldn’t normally post conversations, but because this one is so close to home and my story about my windshield replacement experience, I had to share.

Her: “Hi, I have a commercial van and it needs repair.”
Me: “Okay”
Her: “The windshield is broken, and since you do windows, I thought you would do windshields, too”
Me: “I’m sorry, we don’t offer windshield products.”
Her: “Okay, thank you. Do you by any chance know anyone that does?”
Me: [laughter] “I can tell you who NOT to call… “
Her: [laughter] “Okay, I’ll just keep looking”
Me: “You may want to try the yellow pages… look under windshield replacement”
Her: “OH great! Thanks!”
Me: “Have a good day”

Ode to Momma

I don’t know who started it first – mom or me, but somewhere along the way, “Mom” became “ma” and “momma” in dialog. Calling her “mom” just doesn’t fit. It’s probably because I see her as so much more than a mom. I see her as my rock, my mentor, my wine buddy, and most of all, my best friend. With a simple phone call, my world is brighter because of her. She always starts off with “HeeeEEEEYYYY there baby girl, it’s your momma callin’” .. something about it gets me every time.

I never really know what to get her for Mother’s Day. She, like many moms I’m sure, always tells me not to get her anything. Seriously? In my mature years now, I wouldn’t dream of not getting SOMETHING for her. Sometimes it’s simply a card with treasured words, or my latest attempt at a craft. When the green stuff allows, I try to do something special for her.

This year it didn’t take me long to figure out what to get her. (You’ll have to wait until she gets the gift before I tell you what it is!) That’s the easy part. The hard part is how to do what’s right and include my brother, 3000 miles away. This year we worked together to send her something totally adorable. She called me in tears today when she got this in the mail from John, my brother.

It wasn’t just about the flowers or the totally cute gardening bag… it was the fact that he wanted to do something special and I could help him. Note: Up until about 12 months ago, hell would have frozen over before John and I did something together like this. I had no idea that what started off as an object that she’d love would turn into something so much larger. That’s what mom’s do, though.

Just in case you haven’t gotten on the ball yet, do something special for your mom, and it doesn’t have to be about the object… as long as it’s something from the heart and family, that’s all most mom’s want.

Ideas for mom:

• Bake her sugar cookies with letter cookie cutters that spell out "MOM" and don't forget to make them cute! The more artistic, the better!
• Go to the garden center and buy a few flowers, then plant them. If she doesn't have a garden, start one with her. Maybe it's a memorial garden for a family member.
• Give her 1 month of a cleaning service for the home - try to go with a green company using green products!
• A framed storyboard of the cool things you and your mom have done together. Moms love this stuff and show it off every chance they get.
• What I got my mom for mothers day (Coming soon, I hope - USPS don't let me down this time!)
• If your mom or grandmother is enjoying watching you from above, then get together with your siblings, family, or close friends and tell stories about mom and grandma until you all laugh and cry. It's good for the soul!

Any other suggestions?

To my Momma: I love ya! I have no idea what I would do without having had you help me pave my pathway and what you continue to do to keep me smilin’!

And that’s GOOD STUFF!

PS – Out of curiosity, do you call your mother something other than “mom”?
I’d love to hear your story…

The Fruits of Sugarloaf

I found Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard about a year ago when looking for wine festivals. I ended up on a list for all wineries to contact about volunteer opportunities at events. One of the first wineries to contact me was SMV. This past fall I worked the Maryland Wine Festival as a SMV volunteer and received a free bottle of wine as a thank you.

Since last fall, I’ve volunteered for several different SMV events and wine festivals – it’s becoming something my mom and I do together. It’s a great way for us to share something we love, enjoy the events for free, and spend precious time together.

Through volunteering with SMV, I’ve gotten to know the whole SMV family well and try to attend their vineyard events. This past weekend they held a French Celebration in the Vineyard, unveiling their new Revolutionary Rose wine.

SMV is just a few miles away from the base of Sugarloaf Mountain, so you can imagine the vineyard view is amazing – the mountain is in the distance. The farm is hilly with plots of vines neatly organized throughout the terrain. The processing room is state of the art, tucked between two old barns that house the barrels and tasting rooms. In the same area, a beautiful patio with lots of picnic tables and cafe tables allow all visitors to sip SMV wines among the beauty of the countryside. You can bring your dogs and play in the grass, or bring a blanket and have a picnic with a bottle of your choice of wine and a pre-packed lunch.

This past Saturday, I headed up to SMV for the french fiesta. The drive in the beautiful weather was so peaceful. I had the windows down, sunroof open, and just let my hair blow in the wind. When I got to SMV, I went straight to the bar and picked up a glass of sangria, made with their new Revolutionary Rose, peaches, raspberries, and strawberries. YUM! I plopped down in the grass and read my latest book, “Creative Living” by Wilferd A. Peterson. Every now and then I looked up to watch the dogs prance around, the toddlers stumble down the small grassy slopes as they practiced walking, and tables filled with people laughing, telling stories, and just enjoying life.

What a great day. I still smile when I think about it.

Sitting in the vineyard is truly one of life’s simple pleasures for me. Whether I am pouring and sharing what I love about wine or sipping it from a blanket in the grass, I am happy.

And that, is GOOD STUFF.

- Katie

Salute to the Bay

Last night I attended Green Drinks in Baltimore, which was held at Little Havana. What a great night!

This is the first time I attended Green Drinks, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I had heard the Maryland Chapter of ASLA would also be there and hoped that I would bump into a customer I used to work with.

Once Christine, a co-worker, showed up, we moved through the crowd, mingling with real estate agents, non-profit economic developers, solar energy suppliers, landscape architects and others representing green products. Let me tell ya – Little Havana has one heck of a happy hour, which was made so much more fun with the Green Drinks group.

While there, we wrote letters to Lisa Jackson at the EPA urging the need to take action to help save our precious watershed TODAY.

For once, I felt like I actually did something to make a difference on Earth Day. Sure, I am always conscious of the environment and each year I try to change at least one habit that reduces my carbon footprint. But, I am only one person and I don’t really rally to get others to do the same. Earth Day 2009, me and about 60 other people in Baltimore and countless people throughout MD, DC and VA made a difference as a collective group. Salute to the Chesapeake Bay!

What is the one habit you plan to change this year to reduce your environmental impact? I’d love to hear your stories…

-Katie

Purpose of Life

“I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be honorable, to be compassionate. It is, after all, to matter: to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all.”
– Leo Rosten

Enrichment

“The be-all and end-all of life should not be to get rich, but to enrich the world.”

– Bertie Charles Forbes

“It’s glued on, not screwed on”

As some of you may know, I had a major crack in my windshield for nearly a year. I had it replaced a few weeks ago, only for the molding that goes around the windshield to bubble up a day later.

Here is my latest conversation with the company about getting the molding fixed around my windshield.

ME:  Hi, I had my windshield replaced a week or so ago and am getting back in touch now that it has stopped raining because the molding around the windshield is warped and over the weekend one of the pieces flew off while I was driving on Rt 32.

THEM:  Well, the ‘warranty’ doesn’t cover the molding coming off because they don’t replace that part.

ME:  Well you have to take the molding off to replace the windshield and it was not properly replaced. This is your responsibility to fix since you were the last one to touch it.

THEM:  The molding is screwed on, it should not have come off.

ME: It’s glued on, not screwed on. He went on about how he knows the car ya ya ya and that it’s screwed on, no glue is used.

ME:  Look, I replaced the molding a year ago because it came unglued and flew off. You simply did not glue it back on after replacing the windshield. A few days after my windshield was replaced, I was able to lift the whole thing up and I called and told you about it then. But then it rained, and no one wanted to come out in the rain to LOOK at it. (I didn’t even ask him to fix it, just look at the part they needed to order and set a date to have it fixed)

THEM: Well, I’ll have to come out when it’s not raining to look at it, then if it’s what I think it is, we’ll have to special order it and come back to screw it in.

ME: Okay, well then I’d love to be with you to see where you screw the molding in, because I’ve never heard of such a thing in my life. It’s the molding that sits on top of the windshield and is in 4 pieces that goes around the windshield. It’s glued in.

THEM: I know, but we don’t replace it.

ME: I understand what you are saying, but you were the last one to GLUE it or SCREW it or whatever it is that you did or did not do so that it sits on top of the windshield.

THEM: We can try to come out tomorrow.

It’s probably going to rain AGAIN.

Nevermind the fact that it leaked the first few days I had the new windshield!

This is just simply comedic to me at this point.

Find a Way

Last week I had the joyous opportunity to hear Merril Hoge, ESPN football analyst and former Steelers starter. I must admit, I had never hear of Merril, so my expectations were wide open. Boy, what a shock I was in for…

As an accomplished football player, Merril Hoge started his journey as a young boy idolizing Walter Manning. In order to learn how to play football, Hoge would watch videos and read about various conditioning techniques and how Manning would train for games.

Find a Way

After Hoge watched his first football game, he knew that he wanted to be a football player. At the age of 12, he came up with a process that would lead him to be one of the most talented football players of all time. The process was simple; he simply found a way to make football part of him.

First, he made a sign with “Find a Way” on it and posted it to his walls. It was ingrained in his head. The “Find a Way” process goes a little like this:

• Assess the current situation
• Create an action plan
• Execute the plan
• Constantly re-evaluate the situation to find ways to improve

This isn’t rocket science. Sure, we’ve all heard this before…but are you a famous NFL player or ESPN analyst?

He was able to go from the average kid to playing as a starter for the Pittsburg Steelers using his “Find a Way” motto and a little help from his Steelers coach. One day, coach caught Hoge out of a play and blew the whistle. As a result, coach told Hoge he was not on the team to be a common football player; he was there to be an uncommon football player. Hoge went on to play 7 seasons with the Steelers.

Day of Destiny

On February 14, 2003 Hoge was diagnosed with cancer. His doctor explained what treatment would be like and that there was no guarantee it would work. Later that day, Hoge shared the news with his family. After his daughter heard the news, she whispered in his ear, “Daddy, you just have to find a way.” I had the chills when I heard this! My heart dropped and the hairs on my arm perked up.

Treatment was challenging, as most chemotherapy patients will tell you. Guess what Hoge did… he came up with a plan to deal with the cancer treatments. He was able to reduce the resting period from 21 days to 5 days, all the while working at ESPN during the 6 month treatment process. Amazing, right? Hearing his treatment story brings back course memories of my treatments, albeit mine were nothing compared to what he went through.

Why this story?

I shared this story because we all need to be reminded that in order to be great, we must be uncommon. The only way to achieve greatness is with a plan. Stick to the plan 1440 minutes of each day, 365 days each year, year after year. The other reason I shared this story is because it is so easy to get stuck on us and forget that others in the world have bigger mountains to climb and wider rivers to cross.

I will no longer wonder who Merril Hoge is. He left a lasting impression on me unlike others. While I barely know him, I feel like I have a connection with him. He reminded me that I have the potential to be great, and no matter what the challenge is, I have the tools to overcome it.

No matter what the situation, remember the “Find a Way” plan and make the decision to be uncommon today.

-Katie Roberts