Summer's almost over!

Last I wrote, summer had just begun, and if I don't get this written soon, summer will be absolutely over before I write again! It seemed to stretch out endlessly in front of me back in early July, when the school closed for three weeks as they do every July. Students head to all points east, west, north and south. Faculty go on vacation, as do most of the staff. There's a small but might band of Facilities folks who transform the campus with long awaited construction projects and maintenance - including replacing equipment of all sorts. I was the recipient of one of their projects this year. I got an office! Or I should say, my office got a wall and a door! Used to have to walk through my office to get to my colleague's office. I had absolutely no privacy, and she felt like she had to sneak out of her office to not disturb me. So the talented Facilities folks took down a hallway door, opened up the drywall, put up new dry wall and a new door and voila! We both have our own doors and I have space to hold coaching conversations in complete privacy.

This special consideration for me is just one of many things that have happened to make me realize how much I'm appreciated and cared for. We bought a defunct restaurant across the street from the campus and while they're trying to decide exactly what to do with it, they've offered it up to me as a Training Center for all the classes I'll be teaching in the months ahead. Found furniture in that cavernous attic of ours. Painted walls, put up new shades, found projector and screen for my PowerPoint presentations, buying a water cooler - since we're not exactly sure the water is potable - and getting me a Blackberry so I can be in touch while I'm "off-campus." Today, we had our second State of the Institute address and while the President was talking about the work we're doing to evolve the culture and build our leadership competencies - he mentioned my name twice! Both times he was extolling my virtues and encouraging managers to contact me to help with organization improvement efforts. I couldn't feel more wanted or appreciated. What a wonderful feeling to get up every morning with so many wonderful things to do and so much positive feedback for my work, and for what I bring. After the address, we were treated to a wonderful BarBQ (ribs, chicken, salmon, brisket and ALL the fixings) followed by CIA bingo (daubers and all) and dessert. What a hoot. I smiled all afternoon thinking of how much fun everyone had. Goodness gracious, pinch me!

Spent lovely days with family and friends this summer - in Detroit, in Florida for Laura and Gallo's wedding, and in Stratford, Ontario watching incredible theatre. Sisters' Weekend at Black Lake was special - beautiful weather, fun shopping, Mexican train dominoes, pinochle, and movies. When I went to Little Italy in the Bronx in June, I bought some frozen, unbaked sfogliatelle - an incredible flaky pastry with a light cheese filling. I carried them to Detroit in a small cooler to take North for Sisters. They were absolutely the best ever - hot out of the oven - oh my!! So, those pounds I've been keeping at bay since January have finally found me. Over the summer I gained 5 pounds and I'm struggling to get rid of them. I just let myself eat whatever I darn well pleased and I'm paying for it! I kept kidding myself saying it was all fresh fruits and vegetables - hah! Last weekend was the Hudson Valley Food and Wine Festival. Unless you count wine as a fruit, I guess there has been a little more to it. Oh, and that milk shake at the Dutchess County Fair.... The 4H kids milk the cow and turn around and make fresh milk shakes. How could I pass that up - dairy sensitivity be damned! To top it off, I won the raffle at the Rhinebeck Farmers Market last week - $300 in gift certificates, $10 at each of the 30 vendors at the market. Guess I'll be stocking the freezer and pantry at that rate! Venison, wine, fish, lamb, cheese, honey - not to mention the pasta, pastries, mushrooms, and every summer fruit and vegetable grown for miles around. Good Lord, I'm doomed. Although, I did find out today I've been chosen to participate with that personal trainer again. I'm definitely going to take advantage of that!!

I took a week-long Chinese water color class in July - long awaited and anticipated. The first day went pretty well - learned some techniques and experimented, turning out some interesting specimens. I felt good at the end of the day - eagerly awaiting the rest of the week. Day Two was totally different. Started out OK - we used the thinnest brush to trace minute details of several large fish. I'm a good tracer so that part was easy. But when we started to put color on the paper, I became completely lost. The instruction was just over my head and when you're not doing it right, mixing colors together can turn everything brown. I was so discouraged, and Day Three didn't bring any relief. We added "underwater" features to the picture - out of nowhere little fish, jelly fish, seaweed, coral was supposed to appear. I kept staring at the space expecting something to jump out at me but it never happened.

We left at noon and I thought I'd made a mistake by taking the class. The afternoon, however, provided needed relief. At the conference center, Wednesday afternoons were set aside to experience the different workshops being offered - you could choose two. So I set off for the Zen and the Art of Seeing (a drawing workshop) and a Gospel Choir workshop. In retrospect, that afternoon was the most fun I had all week. I absolutely LOVED singing Gospel. I love to sing loud (even if I'm not all that great) and they love it when you sing Gospel loud. Sing it, sister! Clapping and swaying, I just let myself go. Great way to get rid of frustration too. Maybe I need to find a Gospel choir to join.... The drawing workshop was amazing actually. It taught me to really SEE what I was looking at, down to the minutest detail. Characteristics showed up that I would ordinarily have completely overlooked. I was drawing a pine bough and when I finished I realized that I had drawn an exact and I mean exact replica, and it really was effortless. It was just a matter of opening up my eyes. It was so peaceful an experience as well. I left feeling calm and rested, and ready to go back to painting the next day.

Unfortunately that peaceful feeling didn't last long. The next project for Days 4 and 5 was tracing again, but on different paper and using different paints. This time it was elephants and the jungle was supposed to appear around the elephants. Don't paint the elephants, paint the space around the elephants. Don't paint the mud on the elephants, paint the space around the mud. Don't paint the grass, paint the space.... Yeah, right. So my elephants were "stylized" - that's code for, she doesn't have a clue what she's doing with those colors. I really wanted to learn something that week, and what I learned was - I don't have a very good "beginner's mind" as we say in meditation practice. I wanted to be good, and I couldn't be good, so I got frustrated. The more frustrated I got, the less fun the whole experience was. I couldn't seem to figure out how to relax and go with it. BUT, I'm not giving up. This Thursday I start a 6-session beginners water color class in Red Hook at a local artists' studio. I want to paint. I feel like I have something that needs to be expressed through water color. I have no idea why I feel that way, but I do. I think it's a left-brain, right-brain thing. There's so much going on inside my head that wants out! And darn it, I have a million dollars worth of supplies that I need to use up. Ha-Ha. Not exactly a million, but you get my drift. I have the drafting table and a new chair. I have all the acoutrements of a painter. Now I just need to learn what to do with them all. Wish me luck!

Part of the reason you haven't heard from me this summer is that I've been spending so much spare time on Match.com. But that's another story. Maybe tomorrow.

I also had a wonderful visit with some dear friends from Michigan, and I'll tell you about that too. I miss you all.

Ciao for now,
love,
Genz