Unless you live in the South, don’t assume you know anything about the South, because you do not.  I didn’t, until I moved to Atlanta, and had most of my assumptions blown up.  For one thing, most of the people who live here were not born here, or anywhere in the South.  There are a lot of Northeasterners in the South. They could have moved back any time, but they didn’t, and that should tell you something.  You can get real New York bagels and pizza in Atlanta (if you know where to go). The summers aren’t much worse than any summer in the Northeast or Midwest, and the winters are a whole lot milder.  And it has the best fried chicken on the planet.

I always thought my favorite job was one I held for a Big Corporation in the marketing department.  I was there a long time, I was well paid, I had great benefits.  I had autonomy and the ability to make my own decisions about how the work was done.  I was able to use creativity, and I worked with a lot of stellar people.  I was happy to get up and go to work on Monday morning.  I didn’t realize until I didn’t have that job anymore that I was also constantly stressed, frazzled, had little work/life balance, and was always  waiting for the ax to fall.  One day it did, and once I got over the shock, it was like a headache going away.  Now my job is to to be my own boss, and I really like this job a lot better.

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I didn’t have to go anywhere today, so it was a Sweats Day for me.  I really love those days, because along with the sweats comes messy hair and no makeup as well.  And slippers.  It doesn’t mean I’m not working, I am working very hard.  It just means I’m not working in front of anybody today, so I can wear what I like and what makes me comfortable.  I think productivity and employee satisfaction in Big Business might improve if everybody could have sweats day at the office, but the it sure would look bizarre and funky.  You have to hope no clients show up.

I am the Queen of Soup.  It’s a fact, it’s undisputed, everyone agrees.  There is no-one who can make soup like I make soup.  We just had soup for dinner tonight. But the Queen has a confession to make.  Usually my  soup is just bits and pieces out of the fridge, before they go bad. Garbage soup.  The leftover chicken, the wilting celery, the dregs of vegetables from past dinners.  The secret is the herbs, the spices and the secret ingredient:  the love.  Without the love, it’s just flavored water.  With the love, it’s a hot, steaming, satisfying bowl of really good soup.