Tumwater, WA

Everyday I receive emails about the latest and greatest schemes, plans and products that will skyrocket my business and income. Today was no different. I received an email that promised if I purchased this lead-generating program, I would be able to make $1 million in one year. Wow! That’s amazing! For just $399, I could get the keys to this secret program! Sounds tempting, doesn’t it?!

But this magical program for $399 is not going to make anyone successful, except for the guy offering the program!

My secret to success is to work on improving myself. I know we’ve all heard this before, but it’s true. If you can improve yourself, you will definitely improve your business. This takes a little more work than purchasing a miracle program, but it is far more effective.

I’ve been working on improving my communication skills, and a couple of years ago, I joined Toastmasters International. Today, I am the President of Stately Speakers, a Toastmasters club that meets for an hour every week in Tumwater, WA.

What is Toastmasters?
Toastmasters is a club where you can practice your speaking skills. It is not a class nor is it taught by instructors – it is a group of like-minded folks who want to improve their verbal communication skills. You write and present speeches in front of the club audience, you practice speaking on your feet through an exercise called Table Topics, and you also take on different roles in the meeting to further improve your listening, time-management, and evaluation skills along with your grammar and vocabulary.

Why join Toastmasters?
I joined because I initially was frustrated that my clients were not understanding me, weren’t prepared for the real estate process, and they ended up disappointed. I thought I had explained everything but apparently I wasn’t communicating effectively. With a tagline of Francine Viola, In Tune with your Real Estate Needs, I better have excellent communication skills!

Toastmasters has provided me the skills and the practice to relate to my clients at a higher level, where there are few miscommunications. My clients are happier, more involved, don’t feel so helpless, and have become my strongest advocates.

Real estate is a complex field, and communication is so critical to what we do for our clients. As Realtors, improving our communication skills should be our top priority.

When you tackle improving yourself, whether it is through more education, eating more vegetables, practicing yoga, whatever - you are guaranteed to do a better job and improve your business.

So save yourself the $399, invest in improving yourself, and watch your business take off!

I invite anyone in the Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater cities of Washington to come as a guest to our Stately Speakers meeting held every Thursday. I hope to see you there!

Tumwater Falls Park is one of my favorite places to go this time of year, since the salmon coming up the Deschutes River to spawn can be viewed up close (close enough to get splashed!). Once the salmon make their journey in thru Budd Inlet, across Capitol Lake, and up the Deschutes River with its fish ladders for a little assist, they are brought into big tanks. The salmon are counted and eggs are harvested - and those splashing, jumping fish give an up close & personal look at this amazing life cycle.

Tumwater Falls Park also has trails along the river where you can admire the waterfall (it might splash you just a little too if there's a breeze blowing the mist your direction).

And if the kids get tired of watching leaping salmon & waterfalls, Tumwater Falls Park has concrete boats where they can imagine themselves steering along the waterway, or jumping off the little plank extending from one of the boats (walk that plank, Matey!!).

My trip to the Tumwater Falls Park this week with my 4 year old granddaughter included another little nature learning experience when we found a fuzzy caterpillar. Once she got brave enough to touch it, she fell in love with its soft, tickly body, and I wasn't sure we would successfully leave the park without a new pet in tow! But once she had enough time to study it as it crawled up one of the boats and onto a leaf, we successfully moved it over near a tree where it wouldn't accidentally get stepped on.

Time to head home after a fun afternoon at Tumwater Falls Park with the salmon, the waterfall, the play boats - and a new little fuzzy caterpillar friend!

Tumwater Falls Park, Tumwater WA, this time of year is a really special place to visit - the path along the river is always beautiful and the waterfall itself is too. But this time of year you get the added excitement of seeing the salmon that have come up the Deschutes river to spawn.

It always just boggles my mind that salmon can do this - what a long trek they make from ocean, up through Capitol Lake, then up the Deschutes River.

The fish ladders assist them up the river - but jumping up the steps of the ladder is no piece of cake either! Often you can see several salmon swirling around in the water at the foot of the fish ladders, resting up for the effort.

Once they are funneled through the gate and up the final set of fish ladder steps, they are gathered into these holding tanks of water where they can be counted and the females stripped of eggs.

Seeing them glide along with only a fin showing makes you think of sharks beneath the surface (cue the "Jaws" music!!) - then splash! A leap out of the water and the children watching all laugh with delight. The fish are plenty close enough to splash the onlookers a bit as well!

Salmon time in Washington! One of my favorite seasonal treats to go see! And Tumwater Falls Park is one of the best viewing places in town.

Deschutes Animal Clinic in Tumwater, WA has been in business since 1943, caring for animals from small to large. They have been our family vet of choice since the mid-1970's, and I trust them totally with the care of our dogs and cats. The six vets on staff are knowledgeable and keep up to date on all the latest diagnostic and treatment research. The clinic is open Monday thru Saturday, and they are equipped to do x-rays, ultrasound, blood work etc for diagnosing your pet; surgery when needed; dental work; even boarding while you are on vacation.

Their location near the airport in Tumwater is not close to our house - not at all. But the care our animals have always gotten there is so awesome that the extra mileage is well worth it for our peace of mind, and the professional, thorough care our pets receive.

Above and beyond their professionalism though is the loving care they always give our pets - and us. Going to the vet is probably not a really favorite outing for most dogs and cats, but ours are always greeted by name by everyone from the front counter staff, the vet techs and the vets themselves. It is clear that everyone who works at Deschutes Animal Clinic is also a pet lover - they have some clinic cats that roam the front counter or curl up in their cat bed right on the counter. And when that sorrowful day comes and one of your pets gets a distressing diagnosis, the vets and staff have tears in their eyes right along with you.

We recently lost our 12 year old dog to a sudden ruptured tumor that turned into a deadly emergency within a span of just hours. The gentle care Murphy got, and the tears they shared with us - and even a card we received several days later - these little "above and beyond" bits of caring are why we are loyal, loyal fans of Deschutes Animal Clinic! Now if we can just convince them to open a branch closer to our house!