As Promised

Ok, I said last week I had lots to share and here's one thing. I attended our company's year end conference in Atlanta weekend before last. I always dread going to these things for a number of reasons but without fail I usually enjoy them once I go. This time we were surprised by finding out that Randy Jackson of American Idol has designed a line of frames and our company will be selling them exclusively for the first few months they are out. It helps that American Idol will start its new season in January. At our banquet we got another big surprise and that was that Randy was actually there to meet us. He was very gracious and went to each table and shook everyone's hand and talked to each of us for a moment or two. There was probably over 400 people there.

So.....in January, if you are an American Idol fan, pay attention to Randy's glasses because those are the very same frames we are selling. It was all very
exciting.



I also wanted to mention the last meeting we had.

It touched me in ways I could never really explain and for many reasons.


First of all, it was unlike anything I've ever witnessed before. Another reason is that if you knew me well or spent any amount of time around me, you'd know I have a "thing" for the country of Africa. And yet another reason I was blown away is because of the message it brought to me.


We all met up in a big room the last hour and as we filed in, we heard music, drums really. When we entered, up on stage in beautiful African garb were 5 people playing drums. And in each of our seats were beautiful hand carved, traditional African drums, all different in size and design. They were beautiful! As we filed in, the musicians kept right on playing and smiling. As we sat down it was only natural for most of us to start pounding on our own drums.

After we were all seated, the only lady in the group put her drum down and jumped up and started dancing. Before long she was communicating with us only with her hands. Without a word from her this huge group of people followed each beat she gave us in unison and before long we were actually making music.

It is their purpose to show a group of people what can be accomplished if they listen to each other and support one another. If you click here you can read about them and even hear the music we heard when we first saw them.

I really, really wanted to keep one of those drums! Great stress relievers you see and fun too! Not to mention how beautiful each one was.

It was great to meet Randy Jackson but this impressed me so much more. I wish everyone could experience it! I hope maybe I can bring back to my own store some of the energy and unity that this experience gave me.