leapin' lizards

Everyone should have a friend in their life that makes you do the things you said you'd do. My friend's name is Debi and she is either a curse or a goddess.

We met about 10 (holy crap, 10!) years ago at my first job out of college. She was the corporate trainer and about 10 years older than me. I was the new marketing wench and full of myself. We hit it off somehow. I don't even remember how, or why, but we've been friends ever since. We both left that company long before it was sold to some multi-national conglomerate. But we stayed friends, calling and emailing from time to time. She was in my wedding to Dear Hubby and I was in hers. I did the flower arrangements for her wedding, too. For a while there, we lost touch. Not for any reason, just the regular busy-ness of life.

Then about three years ago, we started back up like no time had elapsed. She had heard about this thing on Oprah about women who formed "goal groups." These were groups of women who got together monthly to... you guessed it... set goals and hold each other accountable to them. They'd offer help, suggestions and moral support. She asked if I wanted to join. I said why not and there it began.

We're the remaining members of that group that once numbered 8. She started a job with a school district a few years ago and they needed a graphic designer. She knew from the goals group that I wanted to start my own business. She needed some work done and called me. It was her idea to start when I did. If I hadn't started working for her school, I would probably left that dream sitting on the 'what if' shelf for a few more years.

One thing led to another, and I figured that if I was going to have a little 1099 income, I'd might as well have a lot of it. The taxes are a bitch and not worth the time when it's just a little 1099 income. Believe me. I'd done that before and we paid through the nose.

Now I'm turning the tables on her mischievous ways. She has this dream to be a motivational speaker. I'm not letting her not do it, either. Several (um, like 12) months ago, she became a licensed facilitator for Suzanne Falter-Barnes' "How Much Joy" workshops. The big binder came in the mail and there it sat, in her office, for months. Every now and then I'd ask her how it was going. Same as always, she'd reply. I'd finally had enough. The woman MADE me start my company. She deserved what she got.

A few months ago I told her, I'm really tired of hearing you talk about doing these workshops but never doing them. (We're the kind of friends that can say that and get away with it.) So here's what I'm going to do. We're going to team up and do them together. We'll set a date. We'll find a location. We'll market it. We'll do it together. How does that sound? (It wasn't really a question.)

That was what she needed. So here we are. On January 28, we'll present our first "How Much Joy Can You Stand?" workshop at the Tallyn's Reach Library in Aurora. It's for people who have a dream that's sitting on the 'what if' shelf, gathering dust. It's open to men and women from anywhere, with any dream they'd like to pursue but aren't. (like leading workshops)

We're charging $60 for a three-hour workshop. The marketeer in me is offering an "internet special" of $50 to anyone who mentions the code "daphne" in their registration. You can email me at howmuchjoy@gmail.com for specifics. There's a little homework involved before the workshop, but you'll thank me for it.