ProBiz Partners Blog

I’ve been in Spain for a month now, and although I consider updating my blog an important part of my business when I’m here, I haven’t had time to breathe — much less write a blog post.

I know there are a zillion different websites and books that preach the importance of BALANCE in your life. If you work too much and play too little, there are coaches out the wazoo that are there to help you see the error of your ways. Interestingly enough, though, very few people teach you how to AVOID getting in that pickle in the first place. But who needs a coach when you´ve got an entire country to point out what an idiot you are. Spain doesn’t fool around. It smacks you in the face with the best fish you’ve ever tasted in your life and reminds you that life is NOT all about work!

When I started ProBiz Partners, and later Boomer Babe Web Marketing, I didn’t plan to grow big. In fact, I intentionally kept a picture in head of NO employees (read “no contractors”) and no complications. I wanted to make good money, have a few great clients, and have a wonderful life. “y PUNTO” (PERIOD!). But in the past two months I suddenly find myself working 12 hours a day. I didn’t plan this. I didn’t ask for it — although some would argue that point.

When I’m working in Spain the imbalance that I’ve developed comes into super sharp focus. Friends invite me to lunch, and I bite my tongue and accept. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I don’t want to go. It’s that I DO want to go — but my standard response these days is “Sorry, I don’t have time — I have to work.” So I slap electrical tape over the mouth of that little pest in my head and smile and say “Sure, I’ll meet you for lunch. When and where?” Ah, but then the complications arise….

The next day, at 2:30 (of course we were scheduled to meet at 2:00pm, but we’re on Spanish time), I show up at one of my favorite places. Helios is a teeny little bar/restaurant perched on a short outcrop of rock overlooking the Mediterranean and sporting a breathtaking view of Dénia. The sun is shining, the sea is dotted with white sails, the wine is incredible, the food is….. STOP IT! WAKE UP! I’m supposed to be w o r k i n g!!!!! I am SO sunk! I surrender to the rapid-fire, high-volume Spanish companions and just know that I will pay the price later.

Unfortunately, I conveniently forgot just how long Spaniards like to hang out. When an American says “I’m going for a long lunch,” you know that they’ll be back in a couple of hours. But a Spaniard? Get out the sleeping bags, you’re here for the duration. I couldn’t make this up if I tried. At 8:45 PM I finally slipped the key into the lock and glared angrily at my computer. A SIX hour lunch — and I still had work to do.

Let’s just say I’m working on a new business plan…

In keeping with the Spanish tradition of lazy Sundays, I’m being a bum. Instead of writing a new blog, check out the one that I just posted on our Boomer Babe Web Marketing blog.

Hopefully it will give you a laugh. And maybe even a little food for thought.

Now get out there and do NOTHING today!

We interrupt this important (planned) tech tools blog post to bring you the much-more-important announcement of a new arrival in our family. Mr. Hudson Sailor Milligan was born on Friday morning, May 11th, at 12:13am. Numerologists would have a field day with that one. 11 - 12 - 13. Anyway, he is, like all Milligan children, a Gerber baby. He was gorgeous at birth, and just gets cuter every day. I’ll stop gushing now and share a couple of pictures. You can call me Granny! (gulp)

Tech tips coming this week. If I can focus…

Beside my desk there is a little piece of paper that says “Every dreamer knows that it is entirely possible to be homesick for a place you’ve never been to, perhaps more homesick than for familiar ground.” Judith Thurman

The life of a dreamer brings unexpected pleasures — no, JOYS — that are so rich and amazing that you sometimes have to wonder how you got here, and why in the world you are so incredibly, amazingly, lucky. Today was one of those days. Today my life touched the lives of people from 6 different countries. And not just in a trivial way. I got to spend hours with people who are artists, engineers, architects, and composers. And they all have incredibly different cultures and different stories to tell.

I first met my great friend, Beatriz Gomez, who is a wonderful artist, when I was teaching English as a Second Language. Beatriz and I became good friends and, through her, I have had the privilege of meeting amazing people from all over the world. Beatriz’ husband, Ugljesa, is Serbian. Ugljesa is a wonderful architect and artist, and an amazing person. Today, for his family, is their saint’s day. Saint George, to be precise. Uglesza explained that in Serbia each family has a traditional saint’s day, and it is celebrated with friends and family. There are traditional foods and everyone simply enjoys each others’ company. Ugljesa and Beatriz invited Al (my husband) and me to join them with other friends and family to celebrate their saint’s day. We had no idea what was in store for us.

When we arrived, Ugljesa explained the tradition of saint’s day, and described some of the food for us. Then he served us wine and turned us loose to get to know each other. By the end of the entirely-too-short four hours, we had visited with people from Serbia, Venezuela, Peru, Mexico, Argentina, and the US. Al and I spent quite a long time listening to the fascinating stories of Luis Jorge Gonzalez, who turns out to be a “celebrated Argentine composer.” He even had me singing and clapping along with him as he tried to help me understand just how EASY it is to compose music. Umm… sure….

The food! Oh, MAN, the FOOD! The large dining room table was so heavily loaded with food that you couldn’t see the beautiful Venezuelan wood. We had handmade traditional Serbian bread, a dish much like baklava made with spinach and nuts, and there were a number of non-traditional treats as well. Crepes with an amazing turkey dish, a mushroom dish that melted in your mouth…. I could go on and on. A spread fit for Julia Childs. I looked around me and saw these rooms filled with incredible, interesting people enjoying amazing food and communicating in 3 different languages. I still have goose bumps.

Maybe it’s because I grew up in Spearman, Texas, a little spot in the road where nobody ever did anything more exciting than run their tractor off into a ditch. Or maybe it’s because I always dreamed of learning another language and experiencing other cultures. I don’t know what it is, but I know that I love my life. I love the people that are in it. I love the work that I do, and I love love LOVE the opportunities that I have to experience the world outside my little town and to feel homesick for places that I have never been. You don’t have to be a traveler to experience the world. As the Muppets sing “… with an open mind and a grateful heart…”

When my first granddaughter was born, I was a ripe old 42 years old. Jordan, weighing in at just under 2 pounds, was the most fragile and incredibly beautiful baby girl I had ever seen, and I knew that this little fighter would change my life.

Spending countless hours at the hospital, working full-time, going to school full-time, spending time with our youngest son (who still lived at home), and still finding time for my husband, taught me all kinds of lessons. Most importantly, I had to grasp that I wasn’t 24 anymore, Toto! The rules had changed while I wasn’t paying attention. But I sure as h@$$ wasn’t a typical Granny either! I’d be damned if I was going to retire so that I could babysit and do some occasional volunteer work. Quick Disclaimer: Grandparents who do those things of their own accord, and not out of guilt or a desire to do nothing more exciting than sit in a rocking chair, have my respect and admiration. It’s just not me.

Jordan made me realize that I had two clear choices within the boundaries of the culture that I live in. I could cut back on my work, babysit Jordan, and forget my dream of completing my Bachelors’ degree. Or I could swim upstream; I could be the best Granny I knew how to be, and still follow my dreams. For me, there was never any real choice.

Today I find myself living a life that is shocking to some, and apparently encouraging to others. Because my choices are not always conventional, I have been mentioned in a few blogs, and just yesterday I was featured in Laura Allen’s post “Business without borders” in The Virtual Wire. The most important thing to me, though, is that I follow what author Paulo Coelho calls my “personal legend.” In one of my favorite books, “The Alchemist,” Coelho (roughly translated) writes, “When you follow your personal legend, all the universe conspires to assist you.”

My dream of learning another language, experiencing another culture, living every single day of my life, and — just maybe — encouraging others to follow their dreams, is my personal legend. Still trying to grasp it, but it is very, very real, and I am very, very grateful!!