First of all, a very belated THANK YOU for all the love and support you have provided to me during one of the most challenging journeys of my life. Although my heart told me that I needed this adventure, the realty of that decision did not hit me until I arrived here in San Francisco on August 4th 1999! You do not want to know what my phone bill was the first month and many of you were the recipients of my crymg jags!! I kept saying that maybe this is a mid-life crisis and I should turn back now, but we all know the mind of a marathon runner.... "asses and elbows" and no quitting until you get to the finish line....where are those candy hearts when you need them.

Anyway, once I decided that I had to listen to my heart and there was no turninig.back, I hit the ground running in search for a job. So what does a low tech retired insurance salesperson do in the dot.com capital of the world and who has just learned to send an email to her friends?? And I could not continue in the non-profit world in this city that rents out bedrooms for $1100 per month. My first "Heart Break Hill". God this is going to be tougher than I thought! I soon discovered the YMCA which became my home away from home as I pounded the streets, jumping buses, grabbing trains in search for the answer.

In the meantime, I was able to get a part time job at Talbots. Here I arm in San Francisco working for a company based in Hingham...not a good thing for someone who is suffering Boston withdrawal. I am not sure who made out in the deal as paycheck went right back to the company. There is NO better way for a woman to ease pain than to sbop...so my pocketbook is empty, but I look like a Million bucks!! But not all is lost as this was probably the best networking 1 was able to do. Surely I was eager to bring the customers clothes in the dressing room and although. my.manager was NOT happy, I would hold these people hostage in the room until my interview process was done. This is where my insurance skills kicked in. So now I have these ideas and as I was taking my spinning class at the Y, it came to me..Hospitality!! I am living in a city with over 5000 hotels surely I can convince someone that if I could sell insurance for 20 years that selling rooms would be a piece of cake. Well, not that easy, but after lots of calls and lots of interviews, I got my lucky break. The Kimpton Group which is a very well known group of boutique hotels here in the West Coast (and soon to be East) hired me as a sales manager for the Cart'angh~t Hotel ;O~.Union... Sqyiare..and so four months to the date of arri arrival, I am employed and can now afford 10 buycoffee!! YEAH!!

I have to say this has been a wonderful experience, but a challenging one. It just is not easy to teach an "Old Dog New Tricks" , but I am allowing this time to learn as much as I can as I think I am getting closer to what I want to be when I grow up. (Rob....be thankful you did not have to run through this job transition with me.!!!) I am now convinced that I was directed in the hotel path by the spirits of the Parkway Running Club so that we could be reunited all along the West Coast. We own some of the most beautiful hotels in the West and have just recently purchased Whistlers Resort in BC, Vancover...anyone for a ski trip??? In addition, our restaurants are the best in the city....have I convinced you yet....and the running is just incredible...and tattoos and piercing...you name it...we have it here and I can get you discounts!! I would just love to share these with you all and so much of this challenge for me is not being able to do that now. You are a tough group to leave behind.

As most of you know I had an incredible experience in New Zealand..here I am in the porta john line in Hamilton and I spot the American flag and our one and only John Govoni..it doesn't get any better to be reunited with John, Dorothy and Walter and to cross the finish line with my friends from Boston to ring in New Millennium! An experience I will never forget!

This has been a good experience for me and one I do not regret, but I do miss all of you and my family and Boston and New England so I do seemyself coming back at some point. I will continue to explore more here, earn this industry and I will know when it is time to return

I have done some great road races here and have joined a woman's Tri Cub at the Y so I am training for a sprint event in San Jose in June. The biking here is just beautiful and each time I ride over the Golden Gate Bride, I get filfed with emotion as there is just nothing more beautiful.

I am so grateful for the experiences I am having here and I know as a result of this I will be a better person and God knows what ideas I will bring home with me. Don't worry, I am NOT into piercing...but those tattoos look tempting!!

All kidding aside, it goes without saying there is not a day that goes by that I do not think of you all My refrigerator is covered with Parkway Running Club memorabilia and I cannot tell you how much strengthl draw from all of your smiling faces everyday. I am confinually reminded of Cindy's reading at my party Community means strength that joins our strength to do the work that needs to be done. Arms to hold when we falter. A circie of healing. A circle of riends..somewhere a circle of hands will open to receive us, eyes will light up as we enter, voices will celebrate with us whereever we come into our own power"....you are my community!!

So, I hope to see you here, but if that is not possible, I hope to get home in July for another fix. Once again, Congratulations to all the Boston finishers and the incredible results from the Santa Scamper..it looks like we are on to something big!! Please keep me in your prayers as I continue on this journey of discovery and adventure. I miss you all LOTS!

Love to you all,
Scooter
35 Sussex Street
San Francisco, CA 94131
Email dianesmithevents@)aol.com