This year, the top three finishers in the Scripps National Spelling Bee were girls!  Congratulations to Katharine Close of Spring Lake, NJ -- first girl since 1999 to win the spelling bee title, and the first New Jerseyean, ever!  Second place went to Finola Mei Hwa Hackett, from Canada, and in third place was Saryn Hooks, from Taylorsville, NC.  I had great fun watching the finals of the spelling bee -- shown live on network television, another first.  I have to admit that I had no idea most of those words could be found in the dictionary.  For several of them, even after they gave the definition (which, in some cases, was a paragraph long), I still had no idea what the word meant.  The children that competed, studied long and hard for this event.  For many of the words this included learning rules, such as if a word has a Hawaiian origin, there is a standard way it would be spelled.  What can we learn from this?  Don't be afraid to look things up -- if you're not sure how to spell a word, check the dictionary.  There are even on-line versions available, such as Merriam-Webster On-line.  But don't forget, never rely on your computer's spell check program!

At the recent NJAWBO State Conference, I was lucky enough to hear Aldonna R. Ambler, The Growth Strategist^TM, speak about growing your business.  Here are four ideas from her list of 21 Ways to Grow:

• Promotion of existing products to existing customers and/or markets.
• Promotion of existing products to new markets.
• Promotion of new products to existing customers and/or markets.
• Promotion of new products to new markets.

On the foot pads in my old kayak it says "the journey matters!"  How true that is.  Almost all of my kayak trips involve putting in, paddling around, and returning to the same spot to get out.  Sounds pretty boring, doesn't it?  Only if all that matters is the destination.  There's so much to look at along the way.  This past week on Lake Tioroti the Mountain Laurels were in full bloom, a Great Blue Heron flew by, a hawk was circling overhead, dragonflies were flitting about, and the water lilies were getting ready to bloom.  And just being out on the water can be so relaxing.  Isn't this really what life is all about?  Don't be in such a hurry to get where you're going that you ignore all that is going on around you.  Make sure that you take the time to enjoy the journey -- the destination will always be there waiting for you.

And if you are journeying by car this summer, here is a list (from Woman's Day magazine) of what to have in the emergency road kit in your car's trunk:  jumper cables, fix-a-flat tire repair sealant, extra fluids (a quart of oil, a gallon of water, and a gallon of wiper fluid), flashlights and batteries, flares, a first aid kit, maps, and jack and tire irons (and don't forget the spare tire!)