Friday Finds: On Grandparents, Hard Conversations, And The Powers Of Pumpkin Spice

My grandma, in her 80's, in one of her Tempo Tappers costumes.

My grandma, or g'ma, as she wrote it, was a huge force in my life. If you look up the definition of sparkle-magic, her face is probably right next to it. She lived to 99 and I miss her a lot. So I was delighted to stumble upon The Grand Parent Effect — an entire website devoted to the importance of grandparents and their stories. 
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How inspiring is Mirna Valerio?! So much, is how much. She's a runner and writes the blog Fat Girl Running, "a blog about being an active larger girl in a thinner world via the individual yet universal sport of running." Seriously, she's awesome. Run, Mirna, run!
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Hard conversations are ... hard. This post talks about the first step in having better difficult talks — start with heart, then focus on outcomes instead of being right or getting your way. And this post gives a good run down of how NOT to apologize to someone (like the ever popular, I'm sorry if I offended you). And maybe this post from Psychology Today on five words to avoid when fighting could save you from having to apologize in the first place. 
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From the New York Times op-ed piece Rising to Your Level of Misery at Work...
"People generally have a “bliss zone,” a window of creative work and responsibility to match their skills and passions. But then the problems start. Those who love being part of teams and creative processes are promoted to management. Happy engineers become stressed-out supervisors. Writers find themselves in charge of other writers and haranguing them over deadlines." So, what to do? Adopt a service mindset. And drink less. 
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Pumpkin spice mania is upon us. Why is it such a powerful pull for some people? Scarcity and emotion based connections, according to this article, which goes on to suggest we can learn from this and create these savored moments in other areas in our lives.