Adulting - my way!

Hello to my faithful readers:

Tomorrow will make exactly one month since my last day at Twitter!  Wow - what a difference a few weeks makes.  I've spent a lot of time this week focusing my energies on quite a few things.  Here's the listicle of the top 10 things I did while 'adulting' this week:

1) Wrapping up all of my doctors visits so that I can take full advantage of the money I had left in my FSA account (almost $900).  The good news is that I'm healthy (though there was a slight scare with one of my breasts, which turned out to be nothing) and now I have new glasses on the way soon!  I will say the Cigna FSA process is a pain in the ar$e and very confusing.

2) I also finally transferred everything from my old Macbook Pro to my new one, wiped the old one and sent it to be sold for more money than I thought I'd ever get for it (I bought it in 2009).  This involved 2 appointments at the Genius bar to get things all resolved, but it was worth it.

3) I finally ended my #SocialMediaDiet (though I haven't added any of the apps back on my iPhone or iPad yet), so far I'm just limiting myself to desktop access.   One thing I recognize is that I will need to be cautious because honestly - I enjoyed the bubble of the past couple of weeks.  My anxiety went down because I wasn't seeing all of the news stories that made me angry!  

4) Ladies That UX LA hosted a financial seminar on budget and salary negotiation and I attended it (even though it meant schlepping all the way downtown).  It was excellent and I realized that I need to re-frame financial planning as an extension of my creative process because of the talk by Claudia McGowan.

5) I had a referral from one of my former Twitter colleagues for a potential freelance project that I might pickup this week!  It's for a company that really resonates with where my head is, which is philanthropy and making a positive impact on the world I'm living in, especially because everything seems so uncertain with our new President Elect making all sorts of diplomatic gaffes this week.  

6) Paypal encouraged me to participate in #GivingTuesday (so I did)

7) I finally found chairs that should work well with the new counter height table I ordered for the little nook in my kitchen.  I'm excited that the table will arrive tomorrow and the chairs should arrive by Tuesday!!!

8)  I've finally found a group of women in tech that I can connect with here in Los Angeles.  This week I reached out to a group that I'd been a member of for about a month and the reception was warm!

9)  I bought some Affirmator cards on a whim at World Market and they've inspired me way more than I thought they would... the way they work is that you're supposed to shuffle the cards, spread them all out and ask (God, The Universe, whatever higher power you believe in) to help you choose the card you're supposed to read for that day.  I pulled 'bonus' cards on Thursday (Abundance) and Friday (Perseverance) and the messages on them felt like just what I needed to see to keep me going!

10) I attended the Preserve LA meeting for the westside today to hear more about their Neighborhood Integrity Initiative.  Essentially they are a collective that want to help pass laws that will help keep the developer and city council/planning relationships here in LA on the up and up.

This issue is important to me because I've noticed some seriously horrendous developments cropping up all over the city.  Take for example this multi-unit apartment complex that has popped up on the corner of my street.

It looks NOTHING like the rest of the buildings on the block, though somehow it got a pass from the LA City Council and City Planning commission.

So this is 'adulting' for me now, which means actively being involved in my community both professionally and personally (I never did that at all in NYC), taking better care of my mental and physical health, plus focusing on becoming comfortable with the financial planning process for myself!

Thanks for stopping by to read my blog and I'll do my best to write more often.

Mwuah,

Georgia Peach

Taking a break

Hello to my faithful readers:

Wow - I've been 'funemployed' now for about 3 full weeks and for the first 2 weeks I was busier than I've ever been.  This past week for the week of Thanksgiving - I decided to make the conscious effort to dial back my 'busybody' syndrome.  I had a conversation last week after church with a couple who had both taken time off from corporate life.  It was in chatting with them that I was encouraged to
truly take a break by dialing back my social media activity, which meant deleting and blocking my access to Facebook, Instagram and (gasp) Twitter!!!

The results - though I feel a little less informed on all things Trump - my anxiety levels have gone down tremendously.  I'm taken the week to read a little more - I finally finished reading a sweeping and expansive love story - About The Night by Anat Talshir.  I've been reading it for a while now and in my opinion it's long, but beautifully written.

Having the down time this week also gave me the time to watch a few more TV and movies that I haven't had a chance to check out before now -- my recommendations from this week are: Eye In The Sky, Trumbo, Paranoid (though there are some weird tonal issues with this show, but overall it was worth the time watching) and The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975.

This week has made me realize that I have a lot of history to learn and perhaps lots to unlearn.  I am thankful that I have this time to spend on the education of Gleana as well as some relaxation and restoration.  My little shadow, Ginger has been my best cuddle buddy throughout it all - even the horror of realizing we still have a President-elect Trump to contend with.

I'm also using this time to seek direction about the next steps for me.  There is a big change coming and I'm preparing myself.

Mwuah,

Georgia Peach

Saying goodbye

Hello my faithful readers:

It has been quite sometime since I've written a post here lots has changed for me -

• I moved out of NYC to LA for a great job in 2015...
• Decided to move on from that job just a couple of weeks go... 
• Adopted an adorable chiweenie named Ginger... 
• Bought a car (I love driving)...
• I woke up...

I say all of that to say that 2016 has been a challenging year for upset and loss (we lost David Bowie, Prince, Gwen Ifill and many others this year).  We also recently elected Donald Trump as Pres. of the USA in one of the nastiest elections I've ever seen.  We've also seen lots of black men and women get killed by the police.  It's been tough for me personally emotionally and I haven't written anything on my blog in a while.  I promise that I will finally write more now that I have more time... I'm still processing and unpacking how I feel.  It's a lot.

I didn't talk much about it at the time, but I lost my grandmother, Lucy Albritton in April. Because life was busy, I didn't really get much time to grieve. This loss was huge and in some ways I'm still dealing with the effects of not being able to talk to her and get reassurance that everything will be alright...  I did want to share with you the words I said at her funeral on April 9, 2016.  This is a rough approximation because I made a few edits to it... maybe it will touch some of you.

Today we come together to celebrate the life of my grandmother Lucy “Lulu” Albritton.  For those that don’t know me – I’m Gleana Albritton, the eldest daughter of one of Lulu’s three sons, El Douglas Albritton, Jr. (or Boot as she would lovingly call him).  Today I want to share with you the great impact Lulu had on my life learned from watching her over the years.

First and most importantly, Lulu taught me all about how important it was for me to have my own relationship with God.  She modeled her faith for me by showing how important it was to bless others through service.  Lulu always made sure to help so many in the community and her circle of friends by running food giveaway and social programs for the elderly, even as recently as a couple of years ago.   She kept doing it until she no longer could.  Lulu always encouraged me to pray (almost every conversation ended with her telling me this) and if she felt like I needed it, she would always guide me to a scripture.   I believe Lulu learned these same lessons as a young girl by watching her grandmother back in Talbotton, GA and I’m grateful that she passed this on to me.   So if you don’t remember anything else from this celebration, I hope I can encourage someone here today to develop their own relationship with God.

Lulu was also a master storyteller – on any given Sunday I remember sitting around and laughing with the family as she regaled us with her stories.  She loved to tell stories about family most of all and I learned so much about my dad and his siblings by just sitting there and listening.  The tales would get bigger and bigger each and every time she told them.  She loved to tell the story about the time we took a trip to visit my aunt Charlotte (Aunt Peachy to me) ito Macon on the greyhound bus.  It was on this trip that we made a stop and the way she told it – I asked her to buy some candy for me and that I wanted to save some of it for my Aunt Peach.  We got back on the bus and continued on down the road and I asked for my candy.  She asked me – “What about you saving it for Peachy? “ and according to Lulu, I replied “I ain’t studdin Peachy.” It was through these countless re-tellings of the stories – you saw just how much she loved her family and friends so remember to pass along your family stories too. 

Most importantly for me, my grandmother encouraged me to be brave. It was because of her encouragement that I believed I could do anything I put my mind to…she was my champion and always had an encouraging word for me whether it was related to my move to NYC, my travels (she would always tell me to watch out, because there was so much going on), she always said she was proud of me and that she knew I would survive because I was smart.  She always spoke a word of life and encouragement to me and I know she did this for countless others.

Lulu made such an impact on me and I hope that I can make her proud by continuing her legacy through my relationship with God, becoming a better storyteller and encouraging others to be brave.  Thank you for coming out to help our family to celebrate the life of Lucy “Lulu” Albritton today.  May God bless and keep you all.   

Mwuah,

Georgia Peach