Many people say to me, “I want a more meaningful career. I’ve been doing this job for years and I think I need to make some changes.” It takes tremendous courage and commitment to live our life and career authentically.

What is your vision of a career you’d love? What difference would you make in the lives of those you touch? What is the legacy you want to leave behind? Some more deeper questions to ask yourself are: What is the hunger I am here to feed? Where is the pain I can ease? What is the teaching I am called to do? Where is the building I have the tools to accomplish? More »

After a long hiatus, Record-Eagle.com is once again accepting reader-submitted photography. And, we’ve got all-new photos and a slick new gallery to house them all. Check it out at http://photos.record-eagle.com and read on to see how your can submit your own photos. More »

A quick note to Webcam fans to let you know I was up on the roof of the Holiday Inn today. Our friends at Chain O’ Lakes Internet needed to change some settings and install a new antenna. While we were up there, I also pointed the camera little more to the right, to show more of the Bay. More »

Quick, while you have the thought, grab your pruners and check out any trees or shrubs in your garden. Now, while buds/leaves are still thinking about popping, is the time to snip away branches which rub, or are dead, and to eliminate whiskers emerging from the bases of the plants. This increases their ’sigh value,’ not to mention their health. If this task hasn’t been done in some time, I’ll bet there’ll be a considerable heap of sticks to clear away. A shave and a haircut for smaller trees and shrubs is often neglected by busy gardeners, who focus more on beds and flowers.

Do your garden beds feel like iron? Is it hard to insert your spade? Do the daylilies living there look desperate? If they’re too close together they’ll want digging up and dividing. More »

News outlets have been awash lately with stories about the ongoing substantial increase in food costs. We all know the cost of feeding ourselves has shot up exponentially. While there is very little we can do to change the market dictated prices for food, there is a great deal we can do to make things stretch our money.

Many of us have little cost saving measures that we have practiced for years. This is where the blogging community can help. With most of the nation possessing some sort of internet access, we can pool our cost saving ideas and help each other out. Blogs are a great forum for the exchange of such tips. More »

Have you heard about LinkedIn? You really need to check it out if you are a professional! A few months ago I started using this free tool and am excited at what it has offered! My clients have told me stories of connecting with key people!

LinkedIn is an online network of more than 20 million experienced professionals from around the world, representing 150 industries. I like that LinkedIn doesn’t send emails or spam mail! It is similar to FaceBook, except it is a professional site.

Why use LinkedIn? Through your network you can: More »

Some seniors struggle financially while trying to age in place. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) recently advised senior homeowners to proceed with caution before using reverse mortgages to access their home equity. The group warned that a reverse loan — meaning that a bank makes payments to a homeowner instead of the homeowner making payments to a bank — can be a risky financial move. More »

Hello Record-Eagle readers,

TEAM MIKE has had a difficult few weeks in discussions with an unsettlingly large number of clients who are all struggling to keep their homes.

Please, if you are overburdened with your house payments and seriously struggling to keep up, or you owe considerably more than what you think your home is actually worth, contact us. Please. Or contact whomever you feel comfortable talking to about what is obviously not a very pleasant subject.

There are things that can be done to help, or even solve, the difficult situations way too many of us are facing right now. More »

Okay, okay, so I am adjusting to being back in my Stateside “home.” It’s amazing how the little things jump up and make me realize that I am in northern Michigan and not southern France.

The wind: I must say that recent windy days have brought back some memories of the Mistral, and that is one thing I do not miss about Provence. Crashing and banging of lawn chairs, doors, windows and shutters are easy to live without! At least here the wind is not as incessant as the Mistral. More »

Pennsylvania artist Jesse Riesmeyer sent me an email. Would I include a gallery opening on the Community Calendar page of Torch Lake Views? Ohboyohboy, I thought. I’ve hit the bigtime in online journalism now. I’m getting press releases from states that are not Michigan. Of course I investigated immediately.

It turns out that Jesse’s friends Rachel and Jeff Krino are opening Tributaries Contemporary Gallery on Saturday, April 26, from 4-7 pm, and you’re invited to the festivities. More »