How many times had she rescued it? She'd lost count. It seemed that every year since she'd gotten it, it had dwindled down to nothing and she'd had to give it a serious haircut to get it going again. It would, almost overnight, grow lush and full only to start dwindling and drooping again with no warning. How often she had looked at it, remembering, or drawing comfort from its upright eager vines that never seemed to quit. Poor Charlie, she thought. How many more times can I hack away at you like this and expect you to live? To dry your car, you can use a chamois cloth or a towel but make sure that it is clean when you use it. Or else, you would only be marring the cleaning job that you just finished.

The first thing you need to do is keep your emotions in check. This means, don't try to cry, shout, swear, whine, moan, or groan your way into getting what you want. This simply won't work. Act like a mature adult and try to keep your emotions contained, no matter how loud the other person might get. site It's no secret that Jay Leno beat out David Letterman when it was time for NBC to replace the retiring Johnny Carson in 1992. But, did you know since the six foot tall comedian started hosting "The Tonight Show" that he rarely takes a day off? One of his many cars can most always be seen parked in his reserved "#1" parking place at the NBC Studio in Burbank. And, on top of doing the show, Jay Leno still manages to perform more than 150 standup comedy gigs a year. I listened to what Jake had to say and asked a few questions of my own. I was totally shocked when I heard the dirt about what goes on behind the scenes of the show. I picked Jakes' brain a bit with some off the wall questions I have always had about the show and he threw in some things I never would have had a clue took place on the set. I thought I would make this fun and share some true or false questions that lie behind all the media hype of ABC's number one family show. I had just started on another beer when someone dropped a few coins in the juke box. The music was bad country. To my utter disgust the first song that played was that "I want to stick a boot up your butt" super-patriotic, ultra-jingoist thing by the guy in the buy truck new commercials. The people around me began to sing along loudly. I'd never been in a fraternity in college and only had one brother, so I never had to prove much in my lifetime. No initiation rights, crazy acts of bravado. Not even tested in war or proven to be a man. Sure, I've had some success in business, but sitting in that truck with a man like Harvey just brought all those male hormones to the front burner. Hot or mild. Just what kind of chile man was I to become? My husband's best friend Jake is the lead contractor for a large construction company on the outskirts of Detroit, Michigan. Last year his firm was granted permission to build a brand new home Extreme Makeover Home Edition in Armada, Michigan. Remember: be prepared, have an agenda and keep focused on the discussion at hand. Involve everyone from partners to associates to staff and keep an open mind to marketing ideas, plans and needs. But most of all... make it a true priority to institute those strategies when the retreat ends.