Kid and Caboodle

I managed to get out of working this weekend — a rarity! — because of house guests. Nevertheless, I ended up being incredibly busy!

Aside from doing the weekly grocery shopping, straightening up the house, and cooking dinner for eight people Saturday, I also:

• Updated the AAJA-D.C. home page Friday night, including doing some design work.
  
• Showed my mother-in-law this morning how to register a Webkinz toy so she can play with A.J. and me.
  
• Reviewed A.J.’s progress on his book report, which is due at the end of this month.
  
• Finished and e-filed my 2010 federal and state taxes today. (For the first time since college, I don’t owe anything – amazing!)
  
• Took my mother-in-law to the art supply store and the mall, where I bought A.J. a new sweatshirt, a pair of jeans, and some Easter stuff. My mother-in-law and I also did a little shopping for ourselves (hee hee!).
  
• Cooked dinner for five people tonight.

Now I’m trying to finish writing up the minutes of a meeting the AAJA-D.C. board had last weekend and prepare A.J.’s school bag for tomorrow morning. I also need to edit a travel essay my dad sent me a few weeks ago, put together a newsletter listing upcoming AAJA-D.C. events, and do more work on the AAJA-D.C. page, but that’s not happening tonight.

Who was it who said “nature abhors a vacuum”? I seem to have a knack for always finding things to keep me busy!

Yesterday Chris and I went downtown to the Rally to Restore Sanity/Keep Fear Alive, organized by Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart of the Daily Show and Stephen Colbert of the Colbert Report. I was surprised and very encouraged to see how many other people were there. I think CBS has estimated there were roughly 215,000 people at the rally, many with great signs. Here were some I saw:

Go, moderates!

Some of the things taxes pay for

More things taxes pay for

The guest performances were great — Father Guido Sarducci gave an entertaining “benediction,” the Mythbusters did some crowd experiments, Yusuf (better known as Cat Stevens) and Ozzy Osborne had a musical battle, and much more. But my favorite part was Jon Stewart’s closing speech, which you can watch below:

Incidentally, we did have A.J. with us, but he basically played with his DSi and ate snacks throughout the whole rally. Ah well; at least he was well-behaved. Perhaps he’ll appreciate these events more when he’s older.

This weekend is very unusual for us; we have absolutely nothing scheduled except for A.J.’s taekwondo class from this morning. I decided to take the opportunity today to go to a craft show where my cousin Tina (of KittyKatKards), was exhibiting her homemade origami cards. Of course I bought some — I had to support the family! (But really, they are very creative, as you can see below.)

Some of my cousin Tina's homemade cards

After I got back from the craft show, I played a game on the computer for a while, then sat on the futon in the sunroom to sort through a backlog of mail and … fell asleep!

What a relaxing day!

I have no idea who the original Sally Foster was/is, but I really hate having to help A.J. sell her stuff every fall to raise money for the school. There is only so much wrapping paper and candy a person can handle! This year’s fundraising campaign is even more obnoxious because people are being asked to buy $20 gift cards rather than getting items directly. How many items do you think cost exactly $10 or $20 so someone can use up all the money in a gift card? That’s right — zero. Very clever.

In addition to this gift card campaign, the school is asking kids to sell “Hallmark Entertainment” books of coupons for local stores and restaurants. Each book costs $30. I suppose if you eat out a lot — and remember to carry your coupons with you — it’s a good deal. Personally, I’m not a coupon-clipping kind of person.

I’m not much of a fundraising one, either. Life was so much simpler before A.J. started public school ….

I recently received a political flyer in the mail from the AFL-CIO that says “If you don’t want your job to go here (map of Shanghai, China) … Don’t let [political candidate] go here (map of Washington, D.C.)”

Clever ad, but I work for the U.S. Department of State. If my job moved to Shanghai, I would consider it a fun opportunity.

For some reason, the Foggy Bottom Metro station is a popular place for people advocating political causes. Yesterday afternoon, one group set up a large sign labeled “Obamacare,” with a picture of President Obama marked up to look like Hitler. I found this offensive, but did my best to ignore the protesters, averting my eyes and refusing to take the pamphlets they tried to hand me. Everyone has the right to free speech, I believe, although I don’t have to listen to what is being said.

As I was busy dodging outstretched arms, I noticed a woman with a cane. Rather than ignoring the protesters as I did, she walked up to one of them and began to scold him, and he started to argue back. As I got on the escalator down to the subway, I heard their voices getting louder and louder. Suddenly I heard a “thwack!” followed by a loud yelp.

I’m not entirely sure what happened, but I think that woman got the last word.

Chris, A.J. and I went to see my friend/neighbor/former boss perform with his garage band at a local restaurant tonight. It was good music for a great cause, but it was a little disconcerting to see how many of my coworkers also were there. These days with LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter I can’t help having my work and personal lives blend on the Internet, but it was a little weird to have it happen in real life as well. Also, I’ve been out of the office for the last six days and will still be out for the next three, so seeing so many of my coworkers tonight felt rather like stopping in the office while in the middle of vacation. Eh.

I have no idea how this person found my blog to ask me to participate in a survey, but she looks like a legitimate researcher. She seems to need more people, so if you’re a female blogger and want to participate, I post the full text of her note below:

I’m a mom, a blogger, and a Ph.D. student, and I need your help. I’m doing a study about why women blog, and you have been selected at random to participate in a short survey about what motivates you to blog and what you get out of blogging.

Here is the link: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/231228/women-bloggers

Thanks in advance for your help. Feel free to contact me at gmmasull@syr.edu if you have any questions.

Gina Chen
Ph.D. student
S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications
Syracuse University

Public Service Announcement: Text YELE to 501501 to contribute $5 to disaster relief efforts in Haiti thru the Wyclef Jean Foundation (charge will appear on your phone bill) or HAITI to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross efforts.

More info from America.gov (a State Department Web site):
President Obama Urges Americans to Donate Assistance for Haiti