Am I phone jinxed or am I just a spaz? Isn’t that a fun debate? I ask myself that question each time I stare at a water-logged or cracked cell phone that has died in my care! The latest incident was about a week ago when I thought I safely placed it on my fireplace mantle only to watch helplessly as it pummeled and smashed its face on the tile below. I carefully scooped up my little techo-bundle and turned it over to reluctantly peek at its shattered face staring sadly back at me. I had done it again! I killed another phone!

Oddly though, this time instead of racing for a replacement phone, I tried to use it for a time before I called the phone insurance company. Why didn’t I just retire it and get a new one? Well, the likely reasons are that subconsciously I was hoping I could restore it to its original shape and wish away the damage I had done, and that I just didn’t want to face the jeers of friends when they found out that my dead phone-body count had now climbed to 7! Regardless, after many lacerations on my fingers from grazing the cracked glass on the front of the device, I gave in and called to claim my replacement. The call went something like this: “Mam, is this about your August claim?”, the confused woman asked. “Uh, no, this is a new claim.”, I sheepishly had to admit. And then, the admonishment came with a sting, “Mam, this will be the last claim you can make; you have reached your limit.” UGH! I did it again! I reached my limit within another calendar year! No more replacements for me! Somehow as we spoke I envisioned her staring at my picture on a bulletin board with a red circle and line through it! I am sure she knew who I was!

So, as I sit by the front door and wait for my new-but actually refurbished phone to arrive, I have a lot of time for introspection. Do I have some kind of voodoo curse following from me phone to phone? I did use a cell phone once when I was in a voodoo shop in New Orleans so maybe it is possible. Or, is the phone death toll more a reflection of my crazy life? I run in a hurried pace everywhere I go and the law of averages has to catch up at some point and make me stop in my tracks. Apparently, that law for me just happens to reside in a 3″ x 5″, handheld device! Every phone death is a reminder to me to just slow down! That being said, I guess I have answered my original question and I have to go with the spaz label, and the sad lessons learned when you are one. I would call and tell you all about it but, well…you know…that’s not possible at the moment!

For nearly a year now, I have been running my own multimedia approach to entertainment, with my daily internet show, my weekly radio show, my club membership, and my charitable outreach for women and children-all under the umbrella of the Shawn Ireland Show (S.I.S.). And although the days run beyond 18 hours on average, I am happy in my choice. The truth is the choice wasn’t entirely mine (a story I will blog about in a couple of weeks in the hope of helping others forced into a similar situation). Sometimes in life though, the path we are led to is a hidden Blessing we don’t recognize until we take the steps to navigate. I am so proud and grateful for the many men and women, and clients and professional acquaintences who have supported me as my path continues to widen. I am especially proud of the good work we have been able to do-not only through the entertainment piece of “The Shawn Ireland Show”, but the charitable works as well.
One of my proudest programs to date is “Beauty’s on the Inside”, the self-esteem program for middle school girls. It is making a difference and I am so energized by the support and appreciation from the girls and school adminisitrators. Kids need armed with the tools to feel protected and confident and this is one small way we can help make a difference.
So thank you all for your support as we close in on our first year!
Shawn
**Please watch the latest story from FOX 28′s Good Day Columbus on “Beauty’s On The Inside”\”Beauty\’s On The Inside\”

Holding Tightly For A Few More Years!

Like many of you, my home has been engaged in the preparation of back to school. It’s a surreal time for many, a peculiar blend of trepidation meets excitement. When Graham, now 19, and Cydney, now 14, were little it was like preparing them for a trip away. It was hectic and harried! There were things to buy, routines to rehearse, and contact information to supply. Now though, all of that “Mom help me”, has been replaced with “Mom I’m going to go do this and I will get that”. I am just not the cog in the wheel that makes this back-to-school machine work anymore. I have to admit it; I am a bit melancholy!
A friend of mine sent me a text today and it said. “Congrats! You have one in college and one in high school! You’re almost done!” I looked at that and really let it sink in deeply. She was right! I am almost done! In four years-assuming neither of them runs away to join the circus-I will have a son in his chosen career and a daughter graduating from high school. For all intents and purposes, I will be a loner…or as my friend said “done”! Well that STINKS! I spent all this time waiting for their independence only to now wish I could slow the wheels of progress and have them ask for a lift somewhere or tell me they are bored being at home with MOM!

 I know it is a “rite of passage”, and every other cliche imaginable. But, if there is any advice I can extol upon you, then it would be that no matter how much they scream and argue in the mornings, or hate the lunch you packed, or whine because  the shirt they wanted is still in the laundry, etc. Take it all in! It is over so quickly and then you will be “done” too. Don’t get me wrong, I intend to let the next chapter of my life springboard me to other types of happiness, but down deep I will miss the back-to-school mayhem.  SIGH! Continuing education anyone? Or does anyone know when the circus comes to town?

When I started my daily show for women, The Shawn Ireland Show, I did it with the notion that I can help women find their voices and entertain them along the way as well. For the most part, women in leadership roles have embraced my passion and pledge and have joined me in building what I aim to make a strong platform for women helping women at every turn. Still, much to my amazement, there are also women who aren’t working to lift other women up, and in fact do the complete opposite. There have been a few-and I emphasize just a few-who are wolves in sheeps clothing. I am baffled by this. My feeling is that we need to look out for one another. If we can’t find the common voice that we share as nurturing, caring women, then we are doing our gender a disservice.
I love my male friends and colleagues. I am not anti-man and never will be. I do though have a soft spot for the underdogs and unfortunately statics show that typically decribes women.
So, ladies who listen to The Shawn Ireland Show Podcast, and The Shawn Ireland Show Syndicated radio, and who visit www.ShawnIrelandShow.com, I appreciate you and thank you and I am here for you. I hope you can help to convince women to embrace what makes them special and that means being their nurturing, caring, best selves! Are you that woman?

Even if you have never experienced a “Red Light Camera” at an intersection, you may at least be aware that they exist. They are syncronized snapshots that capture a picture of your vehicle if it- just so happens-to cross through an intersection at the same  time  the traffic light switches from yellow to red. I always thought it was a clever little device until it snapped a picture of me!

 I was driving downtown after a charity event and trying to figure out which way to go, when suddenly I was blinded by a bright flash! After I realized that we were not being invaded by aliens, I had a sinking feeling and dollar signs ran through my head! I realized I had not eeked through on the yellow/red switch in time and was captured on one of those intersection cameras! What? I was careful I thought! No one was around. I was in the clear-RIGHT?

esWell, the story was tucked away and forgotten. Then, the proof came in the mail. There in all it’s glory, even in the dark of night, was a gallery of pictures of my car in three beauty shots. There was no denying it was my car because the license plate was blown up and magnified to NASA specifications! So, I now face a $95.00 fine and a slap on the hand. But, I have to admit, I am impressed with the technology! We still can’t get a true picture of  Bigfoot, but by gosh my car can get snapped in a split second at an  intersection with laser-point clarity. The whole experience makes me wonder if I can save money on my daughter’s senior pictures in a few years and just send her with a big smile through the intersection a few times? Hey-it’s just a thought!

Are you one of those semi-manic people like me? I swear I was born with a senseless sense of urgency! My mother said I came into this world in a horrible snowstorm and was a determined little nipper from the get go. In fact, my parents brought me home from the hospital and placed my gelatinous body on the couch and I sat straight up like I had something important to say or somewhere else I needed to be instead. I truly think I have a predisposed nature to always be at the ready. As proof, a friend stopped by today to help me with some aspects of my business and just watched as I ran from room to room, juggling “to do’s”  like a court jester. Finally, in the third hour of working, she stopped me and said, “Do you do this everyday? I’m exhausted and it’s not even noon!” I guess I have a senseless sense of urgency. I know, I know, it doesn’t make much sense does it? I’ll have to figure it out another time; I have things to get to!

I must say I have had a charmed, traffic-free existence most of my adult life. Working the radio early morning hours for as long as I did meant dodging the commuter headache nearly every single day. Well, here comes the headache because I am a part of the migrating majority now! These days I am typically on the road when most others are at least a few times a week, and have found myself driving into a world of fascination and disgust!

These vehicles that we spend a big slice of our lives enveloped in are now an extension of rooms in our house. They are bathrooms, dens, kitchens, and more! We have turned what were mere modes of transportation into mini-biospheres; they are fishbowls where life inside goes on with oblivion while people outside stare in amazement.

For me, the discovery is relatively new. I have always been aware of the cellphone-attached drivers (and admit to being one), and then there are the makeup appliers (yeah-guilty), but there are new discoveries I have made and to be honest, I really never wanted to be Balboa on this “New World” excursion!

I recently crawled along in my compact SUV during a confusing parade of brake lights and short sprints for what was at least a 40 minute spell on a morning commute. Next to me was a construction truck of some sort matching my efforts wheel for wheel. Now remember, this was a tandem drive we were taking and he was well aware he had company in the lane beside him as he headed to his destination. Despite my presence, this man spent a good portion of his drive with his finger crammed up his nose in some brain-tickling maneuver! I was horrified and amazed all at the same time. He knew I was there, but in the confines of his truck’s cab he felt totally content to explore the furthest regions of his sinuses.

Is this what I have been missing all these years? Is this what I have to look forward to more of in the future? If this is what people do -and much worse than that I am sure-I am considering a life of teleconferences and Skypeing to get my business accomplished. I’m not sure I have the stomach for this thing called “the commute”!

Owning my own business, which for all intense and purposes  is a home-based one, has been an interesting lesson in embracing less structure in my typically structured, buttoned-up world. My days are never the same, which I like. Still, sometimes I find myself wondering how I am still in my pj’s at 11 AM and I am staring at a mountain of work and not a handful of hair product as in days gone by! My how my life has changed!

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love creating the daily broadcast The Shawn Ireland Show! I love the S.I.S. Club’s growing popularity and potential! I especially love the work The S.I.S. Club Care Corps will be able to accomplish with philanthropy and grant making through the Columbus Foundation! Already, the “Beauty’s on the Inside’ program for 8th grade girls is being requested all over Central Ohio! I am so touched by the excitement generated so far.

Here’s the deal though, for 27 years in radio I knew my routine. I awoke around 3:30 AM-showered-changed-coffee-out the door to be the voice that came through the radio for people first thing in the morning in their homes and on their way to work. I was usually home by noon, was the welcoming mom around 3 PM, and except for occasional evening appearances I made a 10:30 bedtime! Now, WOW!  Where did structured robot Shawn Ireland go? I am getting older and supposed to be set in my ways right? Truth be told, I love the unpredictability of it all. I never know what emails I will wake to, what the finished recorded product will be for the show theme of that particular day, and when my day will finally end! It is a labor of love for sure, but it has forced me into an observation; even when I was in labor with my kids, that never went more than 14 hours at its longest stretch! Granted, this seems MUCH less painful! I think I’ll stay the course!

Hello, I am Shawn Ireland and I am living in shame.  I, for the first time in memory (as fragmented as THAT is), never got around to sending out Christmas cards this year. I wanted to, I really did! I hate the fact that I wasn’t able to write a quick note to friends and family! I really have no idea where the time went! Granted, I was starting a new business…but it still doesn’t justify the fact that I could sit down and watch the “Survivor” winner  get announced, but I couldn’t muster up the same enthusiasm for an annual tradition. I hate this feeling of guilt! I am tormented by my shame each day as I walk to the mailbox and see more greetings in all shapes and sizes from all over the country eagerly awaiting my letter opener. I swear their glad tidings mock me!  Others took the time and effort, and I failed. I am haunted by my ineptitude. I am a go-getter…a responsible person…so, what went wrong this year?

Hey, wait a minute! It just dawned on me! I didn’t completely drop the proverbial snowball! I am writing one right here on the world wide web! This will reach far more people than my old-fashioned attempt could possibly ever touch. So, to those of you whom I owe a card and to those of you whom I don’t, here goes my Christmas Blog Card:

The kids are great! Graham is a freshman in college and loving it-Cydney is an 8th grader and loving her teenager status a lot more than I am! The dogs are spoiled to bits–even rivaling the kids if that is possible! I have a new business called The Shawn Ireland Show (S.I.S.,) that is an easy “click-and-play” way to hear my daily exploits when you want @ www.shawnirelandshow.com. I have a Club membership with over 525 women in the S.I.S. Club, and a charity component to raise money for women’s and children’s charities called The S.I.S. Club Care Corps. I work 6 in the morning until midnight each day and never wish it away. I love my boss…SHE…seems fair and gives me equal pay for equal work! She really gets me!

The rest of the extended family is healthy and Blessed and hoping you are too.

Please forgive my last minute, electronic card, and know next year I hope to have the hardwork payoff and we are all gathering at my neighbor-Oprah’s-house for a BBQ this time of year. OK, maybe not. At the very least I’ll skip the ”Survivor” finale and write a pile of cards!

Happy Holidays!

Love,

Shawn

I am always a a loss this time of year. Inevitably, I have that scene in the crowded mall parking lot where someone steals the parking space I have patiently been waiting in line to get. Patiently, with blinker on, line of cars behind me, I sit waiting for someone to back out only to have a car zip around the corner and snag it right out from under me! I beep, I sit, I stare, and YES, I even roll down the window to ask why they ignored my blinker and stole my spot (I even consider describing the person and the car on The Shawn Ireland Show the next day–of course I wouldn’t though!). But, as though I am transparent, the guilty party, shrugs, and walks off!
I don’t get it…I really don’t! It wasn’t a Black Friday Sale! It wasn’t Christmas Eve and the stores were closing! How does someone in their rude peanut-sized, compassionless brain think it is OK to do that to other people? Oh wait, I just answered my own question. That saved me a $135 call to a therapist! No wonder they call it retail therapy!

Does this happen to you? How do you handle it? Let me know…I could use your tips!

The Grinch Who Stole My Parking Space!