I Run These Towns

Forty years ago today, at 8:17 a.m. on August 29, 1978, I ended the hostile takeover of my mom's womb towards the end of what has been described as a very hot summer. Please note, however, that Google tells me it was only 81 degrees on the day of my birthday. Maybe that feels hotter where you're carrying around a nearly nine pound baby? What I believe to be my earliest photo with my parents and sister.  I can't recall a lot about those early years, but rumor has it I haven't stopped moving since I was born. It's unfathomable to me that I am 40 years old. I was thinking earlier this week that it's been 22 years since I graduated from high school and 18 years since I graduated from college. I still don't feel like I'm a grown up despite four decades on this earth. I have moments when I'm in an important meeting at work, and I look around and think wow, I'm actually in a position to make decisions. I have a child. I'm old enough to have re

I've never made any plans about my career. Everything has happened quite by accident. I went to law school because I needed health insurance. Seriously. I was accepted to both law school and grad school, and I was very sick with what we now know is Crohn's. I had to stay in school to stay on my parents' health insurance, so law school it was.  I responded to a classified ad in the newspaper, and the Mayor of Norfolk, Virginia hired me as his Executive Assistant for my first grown up job after law school. I randomly moved to Michigan 13 years ago because my then-boyfriend was from there. I ditched the guy, stayed in Michigan, met my husband, built a life, and have had a pretty great career ever since. I didn't grow up thinking I'd work in local government. Answering that classified ad solidified my fate, and I've worked in or with communities ever since.  Two years ago I had a professional turning point, and I wasn't sure what my next steps would be. Whil

Let's be real - I'm not good at vacationing or relaxing. One of the reasons my husband and I have always traveled so often is that if I'm away from home there's at least a chance that I will take a little break. There are no errands to run, chores to do, or events to attend. This year has challenged everything I thought I knew about life balance, and I thought I was sort of getting the hang of it. Let me rephrase: I have been getting better. In January I was in the office for several hours on each weekend day. I had my phone attached to my hand like an additional appendage during non-office hours. I sometimes wondered what I'd gotten myself into. Would the pace ever become less insane?  My husband predicted it would take six months to settle into a rhythm. He was right. By the time summer arrived I began to relax a little. While I still work a lot of hours and it varies depending on what's happening, I can sit my phone down for a while on the weekend without f