Who does she think she is...?

a biography or two and some data

Kate grew up in a large family in West Texas; spent some time in college learning how to be really young; had most of the traditional dreams of her generation; home, children, and the knight on the white horse. She grew up deeply religious, but not very spiritual.

She fell into banking when they were still family owned and survived most of the changes as banks grew into giant corporations. Until she couldn’t anymore.

She has owned a great bookstore, graduated from Coach University and practiced personal coaching for a few years, and finally retired at the early age of 57. Though she has always been interested in matters philosophical, these years are bringing wider reading, a more open mind, and a growing confidence in the Omnicronishness of life as she lives it.

Or there is this version:

Kate grew up in a large loving extended family, fatherless by divorce when that was rare. She is a product of her time, her religious history, her (usually much older) friends, and her varied, and not always traditional education. She thinks she knows all about the School of Hard Knocks, but her life has been pretty easy. She was never afraid to delve into the psychological/emotional depths, is proud of the journey and of the adult she is becoming; she does still enjoy a bit of existential angst from time to time, though.

She has written and/or 'journaled' for years, and began blogging back in the days when she was creating a coaching business. Now she blogs for fun, for clarity of mind, and for exploring the ideas that sprout from the writings of others.

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You won't need a resume, because I'm not applying for anything. I can DO anything I set my mind to do.

Jobs I've held include, in no particular order:

• child care/babysitting
• waitress (before there were 'servers')
• telephone switchboard operator
• hairdresser (very short-lived)
• law office receptionist
• car hop
• actor
• resident manager of half-way house for alcoholic women - the 1st one in Texas
• retail clerk - bookstore
• grocery checker (before scanners and produce code numbers)
• cashier
• gas pumper
• sculptor
• janitor (that's Maintenance Engineer to you!)
• deli manager
• donut maker
• maid
• bookstore owner/operator
• sign painter (wasn't very good at this one)
• proof operator
• bank teller, teller supervisor, asst. to manager
• commercial loan clerk
• personal coach
• speaker
• business coach (limited to one business - HMHC)
• caterer - once; but I love to cook and do it for folks all the time

Things that Interest me include, but are not limited to:

• Music, listening/singing along/making it
• Reading: light mysteries, some sci-fi (esp. Heinlein), spiritual stuff
• Tai Chi - might even teach some day
• Cooking and cooking TV shows
• Writing/blogging
• Judge shows - until the judge decides that Ratings warrant screaming/laughing at people
• Coaching
• Bass guitar
• Computers - this, of course, is a love/hate relationship
• Gardening - less so now that my hips complain
• Perfecting retirement without being retiring
• Toddlers - the ones who can talk. Never had kids of my own, but love to borrow the little ones now & then
• Hugging - another thing I teach - not many folks are really good at it
• Opening my mind more
• Broadening my perspective
• Hiking/walking
• Being the best me possible and reaching higher

Things to which I aspire include:

• OmniCroneishness
• The Dixie Hens (working title of my band)
• Increasing consciousness in living
• Conscious death
• Being present in the moment in more & more moments :)

Items from My Life List include:

• Ride in a hot-air balloon
• Sing backup with the Harletts behind Bette (or someone similar)
• Have my ‘colors’ done.
• See my nephew ‘live’ in a big production
• Get a walk-on in my nephew’s big production and get ‘discovered’
• Learn Thai and other Asian cooking methods
• Lose 50 lbs.   Oh, fuck that!
• Go to a week long meditation retreat. Pema Chodron = 1^st choice
• Have someone else clean the house once a week.
• Find the perfect haircut for me.
• Become fluent in Spanish (live in Spain/Mexico/Texas coast)
• Sell this house and get out of Ruidoso!
• Get Joel a condo on the beach (beginning to look like a possibility Sept.'10)
• Figure out what to wear: natural, mandarin collars, flattering, soft—then get a bunch of them in nice colors
• Not care whether I lose 50 lbs or not.
• Visit the Grand Canyon & other great parks & places in America
• Take percussion lessons
• Form a small band/combo so I can sing whenever I want to
• Meet Laura Y (Happened Aug. '09. She used to hold the lease on a corner of my heart; now she holds the deed.)
• Really get it about what the %$&* I’m doing here
• Own another motorcycle
• Get over myself
• Visit New England when the leaves are turning
• Take whistling lessons

And for the really looonnngg version, try this (written for my website when I was coaching fulltime): This was created Nov. 2005

Oh, boy! This page is where I get to talk about myself. It will be MY spin, of course, but it’s a great story. If you are the "nuts and bolts" kind of person (or have a cake in the oven), skip to the end for my resume-type info and my education. Otherwise, sit back (with a cup of coffee or a glass of wine) and find out how I came to be this way.

 

I was born in the Texas panhandle in 1947. I say that because I am proud of my age: I worked hard to get here and expect to keep going (like that pink bunny in the commercials). I am the oldest of 3 kids and also the oldest of my 14 cousins. I still like to think of myself as a redhead, though my hair really turned brown fairly early. (Thank goodness for chemistry.) These days I’m content that I still have hair and will consider it a blessing if it ever turns beautiful, shiny silver. That's not likely either; my Dad's hair is still dark... sigh...

 

I grew up in a solid family just like so many. Every single person I’m related to (and nearly everyone I’ve ever met) has spent her/his life doing and being the very best she/he knew how. I’ve been blessed that way. Haven’t you, really? I think this is less true, now, than it used to be; and I wonder how today’s kids will really get along. (Like we all do, I suppose; just deal with your baggage and get on with it...)

Mom had to work when a lot of other mothers didn’t so I got to be queen of cooking. I still enjoy it a lot and spend some time at FoodTV now and then. What fun. Of course, I did the obligatory babysitting as I grew up, and always had a great time when helping and serving at my grandmother’s dinner parties.

 

High school was just something I got through. I wasn’t really a nerd, but I didn’t fit right with the popular gang, so I focused my attention on my church experience. It was during these years that my passion for vocal music developed. (Also a crush on my high school choir director.) I was reared in a fairly fundamental Christian church and taught Sunday school for years. I started helping in kindergarten classes when I was twelve. As I grew older, so did my classes.

 

I spent 9 months in a beauty college after high school, and then 5 semesters at a Christian university. My family was pushing elementary education, but I got distracted by the Theater Department. I was never quite the same after that. I learned some cool things about performance under pressure and thinking on your feet. But I didn’t really believe that there was a career for me in the entertainment industry, so I floundered for a while.

 

In the mid 70’s I got a job in a large bank and began a career that spanned almost two decades with one or two small sidesteps. I started out in the Proof department operating  an encoding machine and ended many years (and several banks) later as assistant to the bank manager.

 

During one of the sidesteps, I landed in southern New Mexico as an apprentice to a sculptor and discovered a talent for three-dimensional work. I did portraits in bronze and began to dream about a way of life that did not include corporations. I couldn’t pull it off back then (in the early 80’s) because I didn’t understand how (or have the confidence necessary) to market myself. Fine Art is a tough field. To keep food on the table during those three years, I cleaned houses, pumped gas, rolled donuts, and painted signs.

 

And so - back to banking.

 

I stayed in New Mexico, though, and in the late 90’s learned about coaching and the infant industry that was developing. At last! Something I could do well that would keep me out of the corporate environment and provide a better living.

 

One of the greatest things about my coach training was that it provided class work that showed me how to pull together various life experiences and my education so that I could clearly see my strengths & discover ‘my passion’. As a result of that, and my work with clients since, I have come to understand many things about myself, about life, about expectations, and legacies, and living life-by-default. Now I have a clear vision about the next 30 (or so) years of my life and the real ways in which I can live, and give back.