Kid and Caboodle

The forecasters say we’re going to get around 18 inches of snow tomorrow. If true, we’re probably going to have to cancel Chris’ birthday party on Sunday. It’s too early to tell how much will stick, but we’re already getting some of the white stuff. Chris, A.J. and I might end up with some prolonged family time this weekend ….

(Think positive, think positive ….)

I’ve been spending much of the afternoon going through piles of paper throughout the house.  In doing so, I found the following list of tips from an office newsletter:

Successfully Managing the Work/Life Juggling Act

If you have a family, managing work and life can be challenging — and often unpredictable.

Consider the following tips to help you successfully manage the work/life juggling act:

• Make time for fun and relaxation. When you add more leisure to your life, you’ll become a healthier and more effective employee and parent.

• Build and use support systems. People with strong support systems tend to be healthier, happier and better able to tolerate stress.

• Forget perfection. While it’s admirable to put your best efforts into your work and parenting responsibilities, it’s simply impossible to be perfect at everything you do.

• Take care of yourself. It’s easy to focus on your responsibilities to your partner, children and employer and forget about taking care of yourself.

• Be happy. Studies show that happy individuals are successful across different areas, including marriage, friendship, income, work performance, and health.

I’m not exactly sure how one can will oneself to “be happy” — does this newsletter mean “try to think positive”? But otherwise, these tips seem pretty sound.

Hmm, wonder what else I’ll find as I continue decluttering the house ….

Thank goodness for microwaves!  In my capacity as short-order cook this morning, I prepared A.J. sausage links and pancakes, with a glass of orange juice on the side.  I also made Chris breakfast burritos — scrambled eggs, melted cheese and salsa wrapped in tortillas.  As for me, I enjoyed smoked salmon and spinach on croissants.  Now for a cup of hot chocolate ….

breakfast burritos

I did it: I went out to the mall today. I didn’t really want to join in the Black Friday madness, but once again A.J. has outgrown all his slacks. I did delay my expedition until mid-afternoon, though, which is probably why I didn’t really find shops any busier than usual. While I was at the mall, I also bought A.J. some new sweatshirts (again, he has outgrown all the ones he had last year) and bought my husband two pairs of running shorts. I also found a purple cardigan for myself to replace one that was damaged when it was accidentally run through the washing machine. So, all in all, it was a productive trip. I think I’m going to try to stick to online shopping the rest of the calendar year, though!

Replacement purple cardigan

Last night I read an essay by David Hochman in which he describes his efforts to stop his “reflexive complaining” and instead find something — no matter how small — for which to be thankful every day for a month. I tried a 30-day “Think Positive” experiment like this about a year and a half ago; perhaps it’s time to take up the habit again. Rather than trying to write every day, though, I think I will just write once a week.

On this first “Thankful Thursday,” I have many, many things that are going well in my life. I have a great family and fantastic friends. Everyone in my immediate family is in good health; my parents, who are in their 70s, are on a trip spanning East Asia and Latin America right now. I have a job I know how to do well that pays me a lot of money and provides great health insurance, gobs of vacation time and sick leave, and intellectual stimulation. Four days a week I work in a sunny corner of the office building that, due to its location, gives me a measure of privacy despite being a cubicle. On Thursdays I get to work from the comfort of my home.

Today, specifically, I am thankful that my sister-in-law has volunteered to host our family for Thanksgiving, thus providing us with a great meal without my having to clean the house or cook anything! (I am bringing homemade chocolate chip-banana bread, though.)

Thanksgiving Dinner 2009: white meat turkey, broccoli salad, green beans, corn pudding, carrot salad, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, dark meat turkey, ham, deviled eggs

A.J. turned 7 years old today. We’re celebrating with pizza, ice cream and cake left over from his party last Sunday. Yum!

Haven’t written any Kid and Caboodle posts in a long time, mostly because I’ve been spending so much time “microblogging” on Twitter and Facebook that general observations and ideas aren’t usually staying in my head long enough to simmer and turn into something interesting. I’ve also been contributing to a blog for work since the end of April, so I’ve had a creative outlet for the longer pieces I can produce. I’m still trying to decide how much of a division I want between my personal and professional lives; should I keep Twitter mainly for professional material and Facebook for personal stuff?  I’m not sure it is even possible at this point to separate the two worlds since I have family members, friends and co-workers in both networks. How do others manage this balance, I wonder?

Mother’s Day 2009

A.J. (top left, on the deck), my mother (at right) and I

This morning my son decided to surprise my husband with a present.  He got up early, went downstairs to get a can of my husband’s favorite soda, then started cutting up paper to wrap it. Partway through, the scissors slipped and cut him slightly on the leg. According to my husband, our son yelled, but did not cry, and seemed just as upset about having to abandon his project as he was about getting hurt. My husband assured him that the present was our son’s thoughtfulness as much as it was the soda. And for me, our son’s actions were a gift as well.

Here is my version of this meme.

1. My nickname is Pegasus. I got this nickname because of the Buddy Holly song “Peggy Sue,” the science fiction show Dr. Who, and the children’s author Dr. Seuss.
2. I am allergic to artificial food coloring (dyes). This means I can’t have most sodas, children’s cereal, candy or frosting, and I have to be careful with processed foods and over-the-counter medicines.
3. I don’t like coffee. I like the smell of coffee, but not the taste.
4. I am terrible with plants; among the ones I have managed to kill are jade plants, a potted chrysanthemum, a miniature pine tree, marigolds grown from seed, an aloe and a cactus. Please don’t ever give me a plant unless you don’t care if it dies.
5. My favorite season is autumn. One of the reasons I like autumn is that I don’t feel guilty about seeing dead or dying plants anywhere.
6. I hate loud noises such as fireworks, thunder, gunshots and popping balloons.
7. I once took a course in belly dancing.
8. I used to take ballet.
9. I have studied karate.
10. I am now several pounds heavier than when I studied belly dancing, ballet and karate.
11. I did not learn to swim until I was 12.
12. I learned to ice-skate at the age of 5.
13. I was born in Buffalo, New York. My family left the city after the Blizzard of 1976, when Buffalo was hit with 14 feet of snow. That’s 14 FEET, not inches.
14. During a student exchange program one summer I lived on a farm in Wales. I realized that I was definitely not cut out to be a farm girl when I tried to help my host father bale some fleece and broke out in hives all over my arms.
15. My first summer job was as a clerk-typist with the U.S. Army Garrison, Okinawa, Japan. It was a lot easier for me than working on a farm.
16. My first language was Taiwanese, a Chinese dialect, but I cannot remember a time when I did not know English. In addition to Taiwanese and English, I know some French, Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese, Welsh, Hebrew and sign language.
17. I play the piano.
18. I used to play the flute. Then I got braces and couldn’t play properly, so I quit.
19. My favorite colors are red and purple. These unintentionally were my wedding colors; red is the traditional color for Chinese weddings, and the only colors that looked good on all four of my attendants were purple and dark green. Since I didn’t want my reception to look like a Christmas party, I went with purple dresses.
20. My parents have been married for nearly 43 years. I hope my husband and I will eventually match, if not beat, their record.
21. I have a younger brother. He lives a lot farther away than I like, but he seems happy.
22. I have 14 first cousins on my father’s side. Most of them live in the United States.
23. I have approximately 12 first cousins on my mother’s side, but I’m not sure. Most of them live in Taiwan.
24. Although I wear glasses, one of my eyes has 20/20 vision. I tried wearing a single contact lens once, but couldn’t get the hang of essentially poking myself in the eye to see properly.
25. I don’t participate in chain letters. I may share a recipe, mail a kid a pack of stickers, or answer a bunch of random questions, but I won’tcontinue the chain. Chain letters stop with me, so don’t ever send me one unless you want it broken.