God or the universe or a higher power - whatever you believe - continues to amaze me by giving me the messages that I need to hear. I was at the doctor's office having minor surgery on my scalp to take care of some basal cell skin cancer. (Please, everyone, don't forget your sunscreen!) Nothing serious, but it took nine hours for them to go in nine times to get it all out.

I was feeling pretty sorry for myself during this process when I got a call from a dear friend in Chicago. He told me he was having BRAIN SURGERY that week to remove a tumor the size of an orange. Wow! What a way to get perspective. I was worrying about a little scrape on my head while my friend was going to have a surgeon cut into his brain! I'm absolutely thrilled to report that Michael is doing very well; he went home just three days after an 8-hour procedure.

And now that he is out of the woods and has a great prognosis for the future, I have thought a lot about this major dose of perspective. As tough as we may think we have it, there is always someone - a friend, a family member - who is going through something much more difficult. It's a reminder to me to get outside myself and focus on others more.

You've probably had a dose of perspective recently. I hope it has helped you to remember to count your blessings, too.

Our spa babe is esthetician Peggy Choate, nominated and elected because, according to her Team Leader, Heather Glenn, "She is an awesome team player" And, Heather adds: "Oh My Gosh! She's hilarious. She cracks us up on a daily basis."

Her sense of humor isn't Peggy's only fine-tuned sense. She is so enthusiastic about environmental concerns that she helped start TallGrass's recycling program. "It was the way I was brought up," she says. "My family was depression-era and they did not waste a thing."

That sentiment of environmental responsibility carries over into her respect for the Aveda Corporation. Peggy knows a lot about Aveda and its mission to protect the earth. She was in the very first graduating class of Denver's Aveda Institute. "I like the way Aveda does everything to make the earth more habitable," she says.

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Friend us on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter! The links are on our website at TallGrassSpa.com. (Bannerview: link here) See our photos of last month's Transitions 09 fashion show. Why was that deer visiting our patio the other day? And, check out our upcoming blog when we reminisce about the founding days of TallGrass. It's an inspiring story of transformation.

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