Yes, I am one of the crazy ones

At the marketing seminar I attended last month, there was a lot of inspirational talk about making a difference and changing the world.

We were instructed to network during meal breaks and to sit with someone new when we returned to the seminar room after meal breaks.

I met a lot of very bright, amazing people, including Simon from the Bay Area who has a new product to make cars operate more efficiently and eco-friendly, David and Bruce from Spokane and Phoenix (respectively) who among other things educate people on the importance of investing in precious metals, Louis from Montreal who teaches presentation skills to professionals, as well as Julie and Tracy from the Victoria, British Columbia area who publish books (that's Julie) and manage vacation rentals (Tracy's business) - these two women have developed a Joint Venture to offer a writer's retreat at Tracy's rental property in Peru.

I showed samples of Pass It On Plates to everyone I met and worked on my elevator speech - the 30 second description of what the plates are and what they do. Nearly everyone told me the same thing, suggesting that I take a very particular approach with them - an approach I had first started with as I was developing the plates.

The problem back then was that I was not thinking big enough.

On the last day, all 500 seminar attendees wrote out their marketing plans, then we broke into groups to go over each others' plans and offer "consulting services" to each other to fine-tune those plans. My "Marketing Partners" and I came up with a plan that takes my simple idea and turns it out on a massive scale. I can't reveal what that is today, because some of the legal and tax details are still being worked out, but it's big.

Really big.

While I was there, Laurie B posted a video on her blog.

It gave me goosebumps. My dearest friends use the same adjectives to describe me.

Are you one of the Crazy ones?

The big idea from this crazy one may just change the world.

Watch and see.

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I think they're creating more work for themselves...

I need to ship out some Original Pass It On Plates but ran out of my extra large USPS flat rate shipping boxes.

"No problem," I thought, "I'll just go back to the Post Office and pick up another bundle of boxes."

Long story short, these boxes have become a special order item only, and the only way I can get more is by ordering a bundle of 10 from USPS.com. So I went online, set up an account, and ordered my boxes. When the order was completed, I received this message:

All free shipping supply items are shipped via Parcel Post within 2 Business Days and should be received within 7-10 Business Days.

What??

Since I have an odd way of looking at things, this message really made me laugh.

Parcel Post, really?

Seven to ten business days, are you kidding?

It just seems silly that they would ship my order to me when they can just throw some on the mail truck and drop them off.

Huh.

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Just desperate

Yeah, we bought a condo and move this week.

It's just across the parking lot from where we live, so not a bad move - maybe a quarter mile - but the tornado twins (Mr. Pass It On Plates and our darling daughter) have so much miscellaneous clutter that I will not move for them... and they won't clean up despite all my nagging.

And I'm good at nagging. Well, apparently too good at nagging because they're good at ignorning.

It's nagging karma, I guess.

In the living room we have a large 10 foot wide by 6 foot high bookcase packed full of books. I calculated that we need about 28 paper boxes (the kind offices get reams of paper in) to pack up the bookcase.

Last weekend I worked on packing books and used up the last of the book boxes. With only a few large boxes left, I started packing up some other stuff when I realized I needed some bags. Not just any bags; I needed the gigantic blue bags you can only get at Ikea.

Plus, we were out of olive oil.

Yes, this is how my mind works. Some days it's amazing I can get anything done!

I mentioned the need for bags and oil to Mr. Pass It On Plates and he stared at me. I know he was thinking, "Sheesh Woman, you're just desperate to get out of packing."

I stared back at him and thought, "Man, I'm just desperate to get back up to the city."

I invited him to go with me on my errand for ridiculous necessities but he declined. The Seahawks were playing the Rams and they needed his support. Somehow he's got me convinced that his watching football on tv helps his team win, but I'm not sure of the science behind that. Besides, he's a Vikings fan, so there's no proof he was any help to the Seahawks in the first place.

Anyway, I grabbed the kiddo, hopped in the car and drove up to Ikea (only an hour away - hey, my car gets great mileage!) to buy 6 shopping bags for about a buck each. While in Ikea I examined the kitchens, living room layouts, closets, and the office. *Sigh* Pass It On Plates needs that office with the white cupboards, the big table, and the spacious computer desk...

Then Mr. Pass It On Plates sent me a text: "When you go to TJ's, get some black olive Tapanade."

Uh huh. "See, you needed me to come up here," I replied.

After we explored all the dream kitchens and dream offices at Ikea we headed out of the city back down to So-Lame Salem, stopping at Trader Joe's to get some decent olive oil and tapenade. They have no Italians or Greeks out here in Oregon, so decent groceries are hard to find in the regular stores. I'm not Italian or Greek, but I would be if I could be. $25 and several other grocery items later I left Trader Joe's at closing time with a ton of empty, flattened boxes.

They were just the perfect size for packing up the rest of the books.

See? I knew what I was doing.

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Vote now!!

Denise Clenney, of Denise Clenney's Changing Designs has entered a contest at Charming Sam's blog.

Her assignment was to take the image of the formerly lovely lady shown at the left of the above picture, and incorporate it into a new piece of art. Now honestly, all the entries in this contest are very creative and well done. And yes, since Denise is one of my (invisible) friends (that's what I call all my online friends) I'm probably biased. But please go take a look at the contest entries and I'm betting that you'll probably agree that Denise's entry is the most striking, poignant yet funny entry in the group.

Ok, stop dilly-dallying! Go over there and vote!
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1. We're Moving!2. Get to know me3. Mpls food

Pass It On Plates has grown and will soon have its own dedicated studio space! We bought a condo and I'll be busy over the next couple of weeks with moving, cleaning up the apartment, getting rid of misc via Craig's List, and getting settled in the new place. While I'm gone, I'll publish a few personal posts about myself and my family so you can get to know me better.

I usually have so many things to talk about that I don't take the time to invite you in to my home to meet the family. Now's your chance.

Brace yourself.

For starters, we have lived in Oregon for only a few years. Before that, we lived in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis-St Paul) for over a dozen years. Our lives out here in the Pacific Northwest are flavored by a Midwestern perspective. We're still impressed by the snow-covered mountains visible from our neighborhood... in the middle of July. We can't get enough of the ocean. Every winter day that we can wear sandals and shorts with our fleece jacket (most any winter day) is deeply appreciated. The absence of mosquitos ... well I don't have to explain how happy we are about that.

On the other hand, being foodies, we miss Minneapolis food. Until just this year we couldn't define Mpls food, and it's still surprising when we realize that the signature dishes of that Scandinavian town are Italian and BBQ. Go figure. (I'll explain Al Capone's Italian influence on the city later.)

Here's a picture of a restaurant we miss: Famous Dave's BBQ.

This particular one is located at Calhoun Square in Uptown Mpls, a hip and upscale shopping mall. This restaurant has a "train" that passes overhead. Ok, it's just sound and theatrical effects, but it makes the atmosphere as good as the food.

Here is Rachel and the rack of ribs that we shared last time we were at Dave's. This was taken in 2006.

Yeah, it's been that long.

... now if only Dave's would open a location here in Oregon...