Neighborly

A friend and former colleague of mine has opened her own business: Internal Solutions of the Midwest. She offers counseling, life coaching, and family mediation as well as reiki, an holistic therapy. It's an interesting mix of services that call upon her training in counseling, seminary, and spiritual healing. She and another business held an open house today, and I dropped by to register for a door prize, enjoy the catered treats, and visit and be neighborly. She has made a lot of improvements to the space that she is renting for her business (and that she took over from a tattoo parlor--quite a shift in the type of services provided!), and she is building her clientele and becoming "known," so I'm hoping for a successful 2009 for her and her new business.

Our neighbors Chuck and Reba had an office Christmas party (his) to attend this evening, so we had their kids over to play and eat supper at our house. When it was time to pick up the kids, Chuck and Reba agreed to come in for a while, have some drinks and snacks, and visit. They left the car running on the driveway (Chuck: "Gas is cheap now") and ended up staying for several hours! Fortunately there was still some fuel in the gas tank; otherwise, they would have had to walk home (they live just across the street from our next-door neighbors). I lit a fire in the fireplace, and the kids stayed out of sight, out of mind downstairs, so we enjoyed our conversation and beverages in the living room.