Summer comes in and out of my life like a whirlwind. I can never fit in all the things I have to do and all the things I want to do, but I always end summer feeling like I’ve been through a tornado. Figuratively speaking, since Spokane doesn’t have tornadoes. Thankfully.

It’s been a while since I’ve done a random post, and I thought I’d start off October with some fun.

— My parents celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary last weekend, and I collaborated with my dad and younger brother to surprise our mom with a slideshow of photos of our parents (and us) over the past 30+ years. It was a total hit and I’m so glad I don’t have to keep a secret from my mom anymore! I don’t do so well with keep secrets from my family.

— Women: Stop Apologizing for Making Money. A friend forwarded this piece to me last week, and it really hit me in the gut. Women aren’t supposed to make lots of money, we’re not supposed to be successful at business. That’s the narrative you’ll find in mainstream media, and that’s what women are (subconsciously?) told all their lives. But I don’t want to be a struggling artist. I want to be a powerful, strong, business owner. Over the past year, I’ve tried to take myself out of the mindset of “this is a hobby that I happen to make money from” and put myself in the mindset of “this is a thriving business that provides for you and your family”. And, I have to tell you, it’s not easy. I’m working on building my business woman confidence, at taking compliments, and at being a #girlboss, even though I hate that term. Why does it matter that I’m a girl and a boss? And as a freelancer/solo-entrepreneur, the only one I’m bossing around is me. Because, you guys know my cat doesn’t listen to a word I say.

— This mashup of movie dance scenes set to Uptown Funk has more or less made my day week month. It’s made me laugh on the rough days, and I can’t keep this to myself any longer. If you click the closed caption (CC) button at the bottom, it’ll tell you the movies. You’re welcome.

— If on a Summer’s Day a Travel to Ladakh Should Pass. I really enjoyed this piece, which I’ve read almost a half dozen times since Pam shared it, and it had me itching to buy a plane ticket to India, to fall off the grid for a few days, and just remove myself from all the distractions. The author, Ranbir Singh, has a book coming out in March, and I’m looking forward to reading it.

— We’re working on our house — yes, still — and I’m getting that feeling that I’m down in the trenches this week. As with all things in life, this is taking more time, energy, and money that we’d planned. However, I think we’ve crested the midpoint of our, now huge, project and we’re on our way to the end. It’s starting to come together, and I’m sick of renovating. Hopefully by the time I feel like doing work on the house again, our bank account will have recovered too. 🙂

— And now, a sad note. As I’m writing this, yet another school shooting happens. It pops up in my newsfeed, along with a myriad of anger of the lack of changes in gun control, the fact that, since Sandy Hook, there has been an average of one school shooting per week. Per week. And I’m reminded of the final answer of my 10Q last week, in which we were asked to make a six word prediction for 2016. My answer? I will change, the world won’t. Because I will change. As a person, as a business owner, as a member of my community, I will continue to grow and change and give. But it feels like the world isn’t changing. There are still shootings and refugees and pain and wars. And while the technology we have now means we can broadcast the refugees live as they trek to a (hopefully) better life, we – as a community, as a state, as a nation, as a world – don’t seem to be doing anything to alleviate the pain and suffering. So excuse the cynicism, but I don’t see the world changing as a whole, unless we can spark a grassroots change.

To lighten up all that heaviness, I leave you with this sweet and touching moment between Lizz & her dad. I’ve been working on this beautiful wedding this week, and it makes me feel better to know that my contribution to society, while not huge, is one of joy and beauty – not suffering and pain.