Gretchen 2.0: [Just Over] A Year Later

"Any given moment can change your life, you just have to be there"

-Curly Girl Greeting Card from Lake Wanaka, NZ

"Everybody needs a change, a chance to check out the new

But you're the only one who sees the changes you take yourself through."

-Stevie Wonder

It's hard to believe it was more than 12 months ago when I made my first post to the blog. Since I got back from my last trip a month ago, I've had a lot of time to reflect on what the year meant to me. It's hard to sum up in words, but there are times when something will happen and I'll think, "This is what Gretchen 2.0 is all about!" For example, in the picture at the top - I'm in a helicopter on top of Fox Glacier in New Zealand. My friends have given me the front seat for the ride down, and I've just realized what a fantastic view I'm going to get.

Tomorrow, I'm starting a new chapter as I begin my new job. While I could keep hanging out for longer and be happy, I know there is a time to move on and now seems like the right place.

Rather than philosophize on the blog (something I try to avoid), I made a list of everything I did this year. I'm sure I left a few things out, so apologies to anyone who got slighted inadvertently. A lot of my blog readers were involved in these things, and to all of you I say a big THANKS! Let's do it again soon.

• Things I did during Gretchen 2.0, in no particular order:
  
  Rode my bike through a rubber plantation in Vietnam in the pouring rain
  Visited a sheep station in New Zealand
  Learned to ride the bus around Austin and Sydney
  Got to know my neighbors
  Spearheaded a vicious animal hearing which never happened
  Worked with my homeless neighbors in downtown Austin
  Wrote a book
  Bought new clubs and worked on my golf game
  Worked out a LOT…
  Visited with friends I hadn’t seen in years
  Hiked in the Smokies with my dad
  Went to Vegas three times!
  Got Neil married off
  Snorkeled in Bali and contracted a skin rash
  Visited Botanical gardens in Singapore, Adelaide and Sydney
  Saw the Sydney Opera House for the first time
  Rode in a helicopter over a glacier and landed on top of it
  Saw Milford Sound from the air and from the ground
  Visited the tomb of Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi
  Bought too many purses to count in Thailand and Vietnam
  Cleaned up my own yard for the fall
  Went to Thai cooking school and learned to make Thai food
  Took a cooking class in Vietnam
  Saw the hotel where my dad was based out of when he was a journalist in Vietnam
  Stayed in a hotel on top of the tallest building in Bangkok
  Saw rainbows in Austin, Thailand and New Zealand
  Said goodbye to my loyal cat and longtime friend, Hugh
  Had too many massages to count
  Helped my sister move into her house in Portland, OR
  Fixed Lory’s thermostat
  Helped Susan and Pablo move into their first official home in the US
  Helped Andrea bail out her backyard after a thunderstorm tested the drainage system
  Met some koalas from afar but did not cuddle with any of them
  Fed kangaroos and saw a joey in its mothers’ pouch
  Lived in the same clothes for 2 days when my bags got lost on the way to Fiji
  Saw John Mayer and Maroon 5 concerts
  Made great Australian friends sho I know will be lifelong
• Wore lots of sunscreen (thanks Valerie!)
  Tasted wine all over Australia and New Zealand
  Sat on a beach in Fiji and contemplated my navel
  Tried possum jerky and whitebait in New Zealand (yuk)
  Realized my mom is my best friend
  Went to church in Austin and Australia
  Running on Sunday mornings with Eric, Eddie, Valerie and the gang
  Had a psychic reading
• Lived in the Gluskoter’s house in Singapore for 10 days and made myself into a local
  Took my mom to Asia for the first time
  Rode the Star Ferry in Hong Kong and went to the top of Victoria Peak
  Lived on my own for a week in Bondi Beach – bringing up average age on Bondi Road
  Attended and even co-hosted some of Fifi’s fabulous parties
  Three trips to LaGrange, TX starting with the Gretchen 2.0 kickoff party
• Rode in a tuk tuk through Siem Reap Cambodia
  Saw the sunset over Angkor Wat
  Stomped grapes in Milton, Australia
  Walked across the Sydney Harbor Bridge
  Walked along the Sydney coastal beach path
  Walked with Sheila along Marginal Way in Ogonquit, Maine
  Ate lunch at Stonewall Kitchens in Maine
  Learned how to say “hello” in Fijian (Bula!)
• Skiied in Breckenridge in mid-April
  

I still plan to keep the blog up to tell about my adventures, it may not get updated quite as much, but I know you'll understand...

The Gretchen 2.0 Kickoff Party

Well, it's been over a week since

the Gretchen 2.0 Kickoff party, and I guess most of us have recovered. It was a great day in LaGrange, TX and I could not be more grateful to everyone who came out. A very big thanks to Mike and Corey, our hosts, and Mike's aunt Bonnie Farmer for all they did to get ready. Thanks also to Sharon and Susan for all the hard work setting up, sending the invitations and getting food and drinks! There are many, many more people to thank for all the contributions and gifts, too many to list.

It turned out to be beautiful day in LaGrange, but before the party we were not sure the weather was going to cooperate. In fact, at 3AM that morning there was a storm unlike any I have ever experienced in Texas, at least in the past year. We were pretty sure that if the party went on, we might miss it because we we were going to be blown away by a tornado. In fact, LaGrange received almost 4 inches of rain that night vs. Austin and Bastrop which got less than 1-1/2 inches. We awoke in the morning relieved to see the tent standing, but unfortunately it was surrounded by some water activity resembling the Mekong Delta. I was pretty sure people would be mud wrestling by the end of the day - which was either going to be a hoot or a bad visual. But after 4 trips to LaGrange Tractor and Feed, and about 20 bags of wood chips, the sun hit the ground and it was all almost dry by afternoon.

The party also included the latest tour stop for the band, The Gretchen Miller Project, formerly known as Five Married Guys and a Single Guy. They are Andrew Bowins, Dean Kline, Vance Morton, Marco Pena, Lee Sellers and Mary Kay Hyde. Greg Kettler was the Roadie of the Day, and we could not have pulled it off without him. The band allowed rogue singers to join them onstage, which I do not think helped in getting future gigs, though Nina Pena and the young Pearsons are showing promise.

There are a lot more pictures of the party, and you can see them and post yours at gretchen2dot0.dell.shutterfly.com.

I'm starting to think about topics for future posts. I know from my Blog Mentoring Session with Richard Binhammer that I need to post regularly, at least once a week. Upcoming posts will include "Planning your Southeast Asia Trip Using Discount Websites" and "How to Be Very Busy Doing Nothing At All." Please post yours!