It takes a long time to become a good Queen. I often think about Queen Elizabeth II; how young she was when given so much responsibility. I admired her British sensibility, bringing calm thoughtfulness to her important decision making.
If you buy your flags from Flag and Banner, chances are you’ve talked to this guy, Kirk (or Captain Kirk as we like to call him – unless I’m mad at him and then I call him Kirk the Jerk!). He is our senior salesman and, like me, he loves games.
As “Queen Mother” of my big family and the boss of 50ish employees, I make a lot of decisions and have lots of people (my family and staff) make decisions that affect me.
Men can’t pick up. I’m not talking about picking up girls, games, or friends that need a ride home from the bar; I’m talking about stuff around the house.
January is always a slow month in the flag business, and today’s snowstorm in Arkansas isn’t helping sales. We were expecting 5–7 inches of snow, but it looks more like 10–12 inches, in my front yard!
Lacking formal college training in business, I attended numerous AIDC seminars and SBA workshops to learn and grow. At one such seminar, the speaker made a statement that has stuck with me ever since: “If your business isn’t changing every 10 years, expect to be out of business in another 10.”
March marks the two-year anniversary of the Covid pandemic. I’m torn between writing about the past two years of Covid’s grief, relief and yes, even joy, or about the rise of cults during our societal turmoil. Maybe they go together.
In preparing for my UIYB interview with Cole Rodgers, I read his book, School of Man. In this self-help book, Cole talks about man’s human frailties, and I am reminded of my own. He speaks of man’s struggles with communication and of their male falsehoods and self-imposed masks. Though it may be easier for women to admit their weaknesses, I am not sure that makes dealing with them any easier. To be human is to suffer on some level. Luckily, with age comes the recognizable warning signs and learned wisdom to deal with the devil speak.
It is hard to believe, in this day and age, that small men with big egos are still willing and able to wage war on innocent women and children. If you could get through his carefully narrated propaganda campaign, you might argue he is doing this for his country, if his countrymen weren’t protesting in the streets.
This is an unexpected trick I stumbled upon that has added some pizazz to my marriage and that I’ve shared with a few friends. Surprising to all of us, it works. (And, no, I am not talking about anything sexual.)
Sometimes I feel like I am shouting (my metaphor for writing) into the wind. Therefore, when I get a reply of any kind on my blog, I like it. It is nice to know people are reading my weekly posts, even if the knowing is sometimes coming from a not-so-nice comment or an unsubscribe.
How much can one really manifest through the power of positive thinking? According to all the self-help books I read, it is a lot.
As I once said, “writing a weekly blog is both burdensome and cathartic.”
As I sit in the Miami international airport awaiting my nonstop flight (yes American has a Saturday non-stop flight) to home, I think back over my past 3 weeks in Miami (cathartic).
Our first week as the new proprietors of Freedom Flag Company, now…
Never one to miss an opportunity, I said “Yes” when my MeTV representative called and asked if I wanted to throw out the first pitch at Dickey-Stephens Ballpark.


