Friday, January 29, 2010

Do unto others...

I have always lived by the saying "Do unto others as you'll have done to you" *. In fact, in high school we were asked by our english teacher to create a folder to hold all our work in. We were to decorate it in a very specific way. And on the inside left cover we were to write our favorite quote. I wrote that.

So it seems like on a daily basis I am constantly surprised when people are downright mean. Usually for selfish and egotistical reasons to boot. Take today. An e-mail was sent earlier in the week asking me to send some backup for a transaction that happened in December. Backup that is distributed to a large group of people before the transaction occurs. I had a lot going on and missed the original e-mail. Today the person followed up. One of the people copied on the e-mail, and a recipient of the original backup that was distributed back in December felt the need to reply and point out that it was ME that needed to send the backup and SHE was not responsible. Really? She could have just as easily sent the backup that was distributed to her back in December, but she wanted to make me look (and feel) bad for not replying right away earlier this week.

It's days like this that I wish I could just crawl into a hole and not deal with people at ALL when I want to.

* Interesting fact, this actually is derived from a bible verse:
Matthew 7:12: So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

I will leave you with another of my favorite quotes. This one I had attributed to Stephen Grellet, but when I did a little research, it turns out no one knows where it came from and there are hundreds of variations of it, so I'm not really sure who said it first! I have it written in calligraphy from when I took a calligraphy class back in elementary school.

I shall pass through this world but once.
Any good that I can do,
Any kindness I can show,
Let me do it now and not defer it.
For I shall not pass this way again.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Scheduling time to relax

I need to do this.
I had a mom's club meeting last night and we are reading a book called "The Coffee Mom's Devotional". Our chapter this week was about finding time to relax. And someone said something very poignant. We make lists of all the "to-do's" in our life, but do we include "relax" in that list? I certainly don't. I have 100 million things I have to get done, but that does not include relaxing.

If I take the time to relax, I feel guilty about it. But if I *schedule* the time to relax and get away, I don't. See a theme here? I received a gift certificate from Mike to Glen Ivy Spa for Christmas. I still haven't scheduled a time to go. Part of this is because I'm still nursing and going to a spa with my pump does not sound relaxing. The other part is that I feel guilty for wanting to spend time away from the kids. I already spend 8 hours a day at work, 5 days a week. Do I really want to spend another day on a weekend away from them? But sometimes I have to or I'll go crazy.

Friday, January 22, 2010

For my next trick...

So I've been stressing about Amanda's birthday party for weeks now. Ever since the invites went out. Stressing about the weather, stressing about getting the house clean in time, stressing about what food to buy/order, stressing about the cake (which I don't even have yet!).

Then about 2 weeks ago I found out an old friend from high school will be in town, so I decided to do dinner with 4 girlfriends after the party.

Then last night I decided to add a refinance into the mix. Rates have been getting progressively lower, and last night they hit our mark for making a refinance worthwhile.

Meanwhile Mike sits on the couch and plays Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. For hours. And he wants to go see Avatar in IMAX 3D for our anniversary next weekend. Which necessitates getting a sitter and making the arrangements.

Yes, I'll be happy when January is over.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Happy 3rd Birthday Amanda!

Happy 3rd Birthday Baby Girl!

Amanda turned 3 today. She is beginning to understand what a birthday is, which is so much fun. I sent homemade Blueberry muffins with her to daycare on Friday. It would have been cupcakes, but last time I did that, I'm not sure the teacher gave them to the kids (because sugar makes 3-year-olds hyper and they have lunch directly before nap). So muffins it was. She was excited to tell me when I picked her up that the teacher put a candle in hers and she got to blow it out. How nice is that?

Today she got a homemade oatmeal-raisin cookie after dinner and some pudding. Pictures to come.

She is also very excited for her birthday party next weekend (the 23rd). I was going to have it today, but Grandma & Grandpa were on a cruise to the Panama Canal. So I postponed the party so they could be there. Good thing too, because it started raining today and we're supposed to be pounded by something like 5 storms in 5 days. I'm still crossing my fingers it lets up before next Saturday because I have FORTY* people coming. And I cannot fit 40 people inside my house. This is a strictly outdoors affair! We're renting a bounce house, and I'll have play-doh for the kids to play with. We also have a swing set and trampoline always in the backyard to play on. Should be fun :)

* this includes 14 kids, 3 of which are infants and I'm not sure should count, but I counted them anyways.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Farmer's Markets

Anyone notice the sudden emergence of Farmer's Markets recently? Maybe it's just a California thing. I remember when the farmer's market started up on the block across the street from my work. I believe it was 2002. We were so excited. Fresh fruit and veggies at a reasonable price. And other vendors started coming too, selling jewelry and homemade cookies... you name it, they probably had someone selling it. I bought toe rings there a few years back. She fitted them for me, and I wore them all day. Came home that night and tried to take them off after a hot shower... ya, never wear closed, non-adjustable toe rings in the shower. My toe swelled. The rings stayed the same size. My toe turned red. My toe turned purple. I finally had to get some wire cutters out and cut the rings off. Fun times. That was the end of my attempt to make my toes pretty.

Meanwhile, there are at least 3 farmer's markets within walking distance of my house on Saturdays now. THREE! I've visited two of them and was sorely disappointed. The one by my work on Thursdays continues to be my source for fresh produce. And lunch. Yummmm Hawaiian chicken!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Hair

I am hating my hair right now. It's time for a change. I have had basically the same haircut since just before I took my current job. It's been almost 8 years. EIGHT years!! The problem is I have very thick, wavy hair that doesn't turn out the way most of those short pixie cuts are meant to be. So I just don't know what to do with it.

Today of all days I would really like short hair too. The A/C went down at our office. I'm on the 36th floor and heat rises. You would think being the middle of WINTER, it wouldn't be a problem. Instead we are smoldering in close to 90 degree heat. Fun.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

I must be getting old

Today I got a call from an auditor at work. I get a call from this nice woman at the beginning of every year. The first call I get from her every year, we catch up. And it's really interesting to see the progression. She started calling me before I was married. The next year I was getting married and changing my name. A few years later she was getting married and changing her name. And so on... anyway in the phone call today we found out we both had children this year (her first, my second). I found it really interesting that we both have 1) stayed with the same company for so many years and 2) been able to stay in contact and follow each other's lives through basically the same progression of life.

There have been so many people in my life that have sort of drifted in, and drifted out again. Facebook has been awesome at allowing me to find these people again, but I find it fascinating to see what "stage" in life people are in. At my age, most of my peers are getting married or having babies. But there are some that are not quite there yet. And there are those that are far past that too.

Another interesting tidbit is I found a LONG lost friend on facebook this week. She was my absolute bestest friend in high school. With her by my side, I experienced my first kiss, my first boyfriend, and all the laughter and giggles that teenage girls do at that age. I really feel like her and I were kindred spirits. We didn't attend the same high school but would get together every weekend, often playing tennis (our favorite sport) at the local park and meeting up with boys our very strict parents wouldn't allow us to see on a normal basis. Somehow we drifted apart in college (not surprising since we went to completely different places). I thought about her often though, and I have tried many times over the years to search her out. I had pretty much given up ever finding her again when out of the blue, there she was on facebook! I sent her a message and I guess I have gotten used to people and their iphone technology so when she didn't respond almost immediately, my first thought was "What did I do to make her mad at me?!" (that gives you an idea of how my mind works!). But last night she finally replied, and happily she was excited to find me too. She is rather busy becoming a doctor, but we are planning on getting together soon and catching up. I absolutely cannot wait and am looking forward to it with bated breath.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Christmas fun!

Amanda got a Princess play tent from Santa and a bike from Grandma & Grandpa this year. When she came downstairs (we stayed at my parent's house), she found them waiting for her.



She chose to play in the tent first :)



My mom always puts scratchers in our stockings and we're lucky if one of them wins us another ticket. This year Mike won $25. Here he is proudly displaying his winning scratcher.



After all the presents were opened, we began cleaning up and making breakfast. Amanda decided to play Candyland with one of my sister's dogs.



I think this was a couple days after Christmas, but it's cute anyway :) Some Daddy love. The cat climbed on first, then Amanda. I had to use the restroom, so I handed over Kevin and took a pic of them all when I came back.


New Years Resolutions

I don't usually buy in to this whole resolution thing, but I'm feeling pensive and inspired today, so here goes...

1. Blog more!
I do this about once a year. I randomly stumble onto someone's blog that inspires me and makes me think "I can do that!". So I resolve to try again this year to put more in this blog than just pictures. I don't think anyone's really reading anymore, but hey, I can document these things for my own enjoyment, right? Most people are my friends on facebook now, and I post pictures there, so this blog is sort of changing with the times.

2. Be more honest
No I don't just mean don't lie ;) I mean more honest with my feelings. I tend to react emotionally to my surroundings, rather than sitting back, analyzing, calculating and deciding how I should or want to react. I want to work on this, especially my patience.

3. Work on becoming a "Woman of Grace"
Earlier in 2009 I joined a mom's group at our Church. In all honesty I joined for two reasons: 1) It meets in the evening after work, which works well for me, and 2) It was marketed as a group for moms with kids under 6 so I thought it was more of a social-network-kind-of-group. It took me until the 3rd meeting to realize it was a bible study. Which at first horrified me. I have never been a bible-thumping, shove-it-in-your-face religious nut. I like to quietly worship in my own way. But I really think God was calling me to this, because by the time I realized my mistake, I had formed friendships. And I was enjoying myself. We started reading a book called "Becoming a Woman of Grace". Each chapter is short, easy, and leads you directly to passages that get the point across for that lesson. And I began learning! But boy I learned that am I not a woman of grace. So, I am resolved to work on that this year.

4. Be more generous
The last year has been trying on a lot of people. We personally know several people who lost jobs or almost lost jobs, etc. Both Mike and I also face the (although small) possibility of layoffs at both our jobs this coming year. But I refuse to be negative, and feel that we should share some of our good fortune with others less fortunate. We usually try to give money to several charities during the year, but I often give Mike a hard time about how much to give. When I really reflect about that though, I have to ask why? I think it stems from the fact that Mike often resists spending money on us. And sometimes that irritates me, but really there are so many people who are more deserving than us. Material things are just that, and we have so much love in our house, do we really need so much material? The true answer is no. So I am resolving to be more humble and generous this year.