Take II for Meaningful Connections

Greetings, friends. Greetings, friends. Hello, Cadre. I'm here. Speak. Wonder is on the air. I wanted you to see my festive fireplace and reposition myself a little better. If nothing else, on today's Cadre, take two. I have ambiance. Junk food junkie. Hello, welcome. Ambiance, meaning you can hear the crackling of the fireplace because guess what, it's YouTube and there's no music to it. Just the crackling sound of logs. And once in a while they even fall down, you know, like a real fire. Yes, Good afternoon.

And then on my singing device, I have some nice quiet Christmas music. I think the first thing I'm going to lead with today in Harbor Pilots is this beef stick. Gracie. Yeah. Gracie's drinking water because guess what, Gracie, my corgi. Come here, Grace. Come here. Sit. Can you sit? And actually she ate my favorite ones, which are venison. My absolute favorite. Yes. The singing device is spelled A L E X A. I don't want to say it because then she'll respond and start speaking to me during my live.

Yeah, that's who I use for my singing, my music. Nine of these. Nine. She tore into them. I thought I had them secured in this. It's kind of like a soft sided picnic basket. And I put it in my pantry, but the cupboard was slightly open and that little girl, that little 22 pound corgi with attitude was able to grab a package out of that basket and tear into it while I was away. So I think I'm in for a little bit of a long ride because digestively speaking, she's gonna have a hard time. This is take two.

I don't know if you were with me for take one. My usual time, 11 o' clock Eastern. I was sitting in my daughter's car in the parking lot of Target thinking that I didn't have WI fi, when in fact I did. So I gave y' all like a five minute recitation. This is the full length. Welcome to a on the Cadre. Actually, I am needy. That came from a conversation I was having with my walking partner, Rose. These days, due to the icy weather, snowy conditions outdoors, we are no longer walking outdoors. The sidewalks are not safe.

But we are walking in the mall and we, we walk and talk and talk and walk. And that just keeps you going, keeps all your cells fired up, keeps your brain active. And we, we do several rounds around the mall and they open it up specifically and exclusively for walkers at 7am so that's pretty cool. We can get in there and not Be tempted to shop and just stay track and focused and walk all the corridors. We got to talking just the other day while we were walking about being needy, and Rose said, you know, why do people sometimes say not to sound needy, but can I ask you a favor?

Or I don't want to come across as needy? And I got thinking. We are needy. We need one another desperately. And I don't know why we try to put our chin in the wind and go it alone and be survivors and not be needy. Because I need you. I need the Cadre. I come here often for encouragement. Yeah, she definitely had her Christmas feast early talking about Gracie and the beef sticks. I'm sure I'll have a report on that next time we talk. I think being needy doesn't have to be negative. I think being needy means being connected.

I have a daughter who moved last summer to Nevada, not far from Vegas, and I miss her dreadfully. She's a grownup person. She's over 30 and has her own life. I give her that. I give her plenty of clearance for that, and I understand it, and I would never try to control where she lives. But staying connected is more difficult when you have miles in between. I thought today I might focus on a list that I collaborated with, with a friend. Her name's Robin. She also has a longdistance kiddo. And while this applies to our adult children, it might apply to somebody, you know, who's Maybe a friend who moved away, maybe a family member who took a job, and they're clear across country.

And, you know, I mean, let's be real. Sometimes geographically, people are close by, but they're still distant. And it's appropriate, I think, to stay connected appropriately, in a way that's not invasive, but in a way that says, the door to my heart is still open. I am a Cadre contributor. I'm not a psychologist or a psychiatrist, not a counselor, but I've been in counseling, and I am under a counselor actively now. Once a month now, I meet with her on Zoom. She's fabulous. And I want to use one of her quotes.

She has the. The best quot that I write down. She said, you know, How did she put it? You know, I thought I had this memorized. She said, there are some people that you don't want to let in the door in their muddy boots because they'll track mud everywhere. And what she meant by that was, you know, it's worth it. I'm gonna go get my journal. Enjoy the fire. Here it is. Is. Well, she says, don't show up for people who treat you like an option. There's some truth there. And that's not meanness. That's just trying to figure things out and decide where your boundaries are going to be.

Here it is. This is it. Stop handing out emotional house keys to people who only track mud everywhere they go. And you know who those people are. Yeah, you know who they are. Boundaries, but also connections. It is a tricky tightrope we walk. So my daughter, who lives in Nevada, I came up with a kind of a custom list, and this may apply. Oh, audio and visual pausing. I've had that happen while I watch others. The Witness. How can I become a contributor? I'm going to hook you up. I'm going to see if I can put you in touch with Luke or JC the words don't match my lips.

Yeah, the sound is off. I've noticed that. I don't know if this. This is atmospheric in the winter. If this is a glitch with technology. Video is paused. I want to hear you. Okay, so great. Now my fireplace quit so that it can run an advertisement. I think we have the fire on. Again, I apologize, but I do have strong WI fi. I have all four bars as far as cell service, and I checked all the markers inside all the witness. That's paused. I'm gonna forge ahead, and I'm hoping you guys, even with the unmatching lips, I hope you can catch it on the replay.

Would you do. Would you do me that favor? That honor? Try me on the replay. Lips might not match. Video good. No sound. I didn't tune into Alex, but I didn't realize that. No sound. No sound. I could stop it and come back in. I'm gonna come back. Hang on. I'm gonna come back with the list. This will be my third appearance in one day on the Cadre. I hope I don't get booted. Wait two minutes. Sa. Sa.