Good Mystery Series

I cannot believe it's already the end of February. The new year is already flying by and I often feel mired in quicksand. One consolation is discovering a terrific mystery series by Dana Cameron. The series features a female protagonist, Emma Fielding, who is an East Coast professor and anthropologist with a strong sideline interest in forensics. No matter where she goes, the bodies turn up in due course. The characters, relationships and dialog are smart and engaging. Get thee to the bookstore!

Sardines: The Latest for Kids

I love the Gastrokid blog. Why not, I say? I have kids and I love food. Sometimes, they love food too. When they do, life is truly an adventure.

This post on sardines for kids touched me (just click the title here to go there). I loved sardines as a kid and I love them today. However, I have not shared the fishy little morsels with my offspring. The Gastrokid guys give me inspiration. The penguin angle (eat the whole fish!) just might work.

Uber-List

I can't figure out how to do umlauts on my keyboard for a properly presented "uber-list" but the intention is there. Mama Says Om, a mommy blog site I follow, presented the uber-list concept for 2007 resolutions/goals--call them what you will. I was inspired by what I read there. Without further ado, here is my "uber-list" for 2007:

1. CRAFT: Experiment with crafting . . . felt stuffed animals, maybe knitting, maybe cooking differently
2. CRAFT: When I figure out what it is that I can and want to do, do it--at least monthly
3. CRAFT: Read more about crafting and creating
4: CREATIVITY: Read six books on creativity over the next year
5. CREATIVITY: Keep a paper journal (Moleskine) to facilitate the creative journey
6. CREATIVITY: Make everyday life a bit more creative and inspiring
7. CREATIVITY: Take more photographs
8. CREATIVITY: Take a drawing class
9. CREATIVITY: Add more music to my life
10. FAMILY: Play more
11. FAMILY: Listen better
12. FAMILY: Raise my voice less
13. FAMILY: Celebrate more
14. FOOD: One new recipe per week
15. FOOD: Six great restaurants per year
16. FOOD: Six new regional cuisine explorations
17. FOOD: Cook with the kids more
18. FOOD: Read at least six food books this year
19. FOOD: Shop farmer's markets at least once a month (as available)
20. FOOD: Introduce new artisanal products to the family
21. FOOD: Build personal favorite lists . . . olive oil, oysters, cheeses
22. FRIENDS: Re-connect with old ones--one a month minimum
23. FRIENDS: Make new ones--one a month minimum
24. HEALTH: Get caught up with doctor visits
25. HEALTH: Get caught up with dentist visits
26. HEALTH: Drop weight
27. HEALTH: Find an exercise form I like and get to it
28. HOME: Maintain clean, organized common closets
29. HOME: Quarterly donations of old/unused stuff
30. HOME: Monthly progress toward at clearing clutter
31. HOME: Introduce touchstones of comfort
32. HOME: Introduce six green habits over the year
33. HOME: Grow stuff . . . herbs, vegetables, fruit
34. HOME: Improve and enjoy outdoor spaces
35. HOME: Paint as appropriate
36. HOME: Organize kids closets
37. HOME: Find a solution for incoming mail
38. HOME: Bills, documents . . . on time, all the time
39. LOVE: Surprise hubby with insightful gifts
40. LOVE: Date night on a to-be-established frequency.
41. MIND: Take a writing class
42. MIND: Chronicle books read this year
43. MIND: Ensure mix of topics in reading
44. MIND: Take a poetry class
45. MIND: Make progress reading the great books series
46. MIND: Include notes on reading and learning in journal
47. MIND: Make progress learning Latin
48. MIND: Make progress learning one other language
49. MIND: Establish calendar and attend lectures
50. MIND: Actively view art (galleries, museums)
51. PROJECTS: Identify six projects for the next year
52. PROJECTS: Record progress on projects
53. PROJECTS: Do something with scrapbooking/memory recording
54. PROJECTS: Make progress on CLSC readings
55. TRAVEL: One major vacation
56. TRAVEL: Explore the Bay Area (home)
57. TRAVEL: Add creativity/adventure to business travel
58: TRAVEL: Continue armchair travel (reading)
59. WRITING: Blog weekly
60. WRITING: Take a writing class
61. WRITING: Send at least one piece out for publication
62. WRITING: Send at least one letter per month to an author
63. WRITING: Work with the kids on storytelling and book making
64. WRITING: Start and keep a paper journal
65. WRITING: Write poetry

Okay. Sixty-five seems like a good number. I probably have about half as many items again on the professional side of my life. As the next few days and weeks go by, I assume more items will show up since I am now actively thinking about what I want to do in the next year. I will add them to the "uber-list" and also find a way to track and post progress. This exercise has been fun and gotten me pretty excited about the year ahead. If I'm successful, I will end the year with a very different set of experiences and learning.

Happy New Year!

Welcome, welcome 2007! I'm still nowhere close to 100% on the health front; the year-end flu has well and truly laid me low. However, I remain a firm optimist about the year ahead. No doubt, the new year will be filled will challenges on both the work and home fronts. However, nothing can top the embrace of my dear husband or terrific children; the exuberant Lab lick also brings joy.

I'm thinking today a great deal about resolutions for this year. I'm caught on the horns of a dilemma. Should my resolutions be bold, "stretch goals" per the popular phrase? Should my resolutions be more moderate, e.g., taking vitamins, reading and writing something every day? Perhaps resolutions are best not made exactly on January 1st. My bias right now is for the moderate resolution: tend to health, of the body, mind and spirit; be kinder to those around me; indulge more in the simple joys as my children experience them.

I clearly need to think and reflect a bit more. Meanwhile, there's laundry to fold in preparation for re-entry tomorrow and dinner to consider in a few hours. Aha, another opportunity for a new year resolution: to eat more healthfully!

The bottom line is that I will do a set of new years resolutions. Those promises will likely be more moderate than not. I'll keep them short and post them here, as well as in the paper journal I'm starting.

"The longest journey begins with a single step," said Lao-Tzu. I am not at all sure where the journey will lead in 2007. However, I can begn to mark those individual steps to greater goals. Perhaps just getting comfortable with the single step is a worthy first step into the new year.

Cheers!

Crash!

I remember much earlier in my career--and my life--that the pace of life slowed as we neared the holidays. I submit that those days are long past. It seems like the goal now is to cram as much as possible into the days before the holidays.

I admit I fell prey to the momentum as well. Yesterday, my entire team flew to LA for a workshop with our ad agency on new media. It was a terrific session and we all learned a great deal. However, I arrived home coughing and feeling a bit under the weather.

This afternoon, my cough progressed to a fever, leaving me drained and my family no-shows at a holiday party.

For the next week, I will blissfully put work behind me and focus on home, my husband and kids, and my own interests. I need to be vigiliant that down time doesn't become jammed with priorities and activities, even personal ones. I need follow the example of my children and just play sometimes.

I guess our bodies tell us what our minds refuse to acknowledge. Everybody needs a rest now and then.

May your holidays be filled with peace.

Time Flies

When did mid-December happen? My parents arrived for a ten day visit. Work got a bit crazy. Ohlone and Friends Nursery School ended for the year. THE YEAR! Cousins came to connect. Hubby and parents took off for the airport together this morning at an outrageously early hour for a business trip and home, respectively. I am left cuddling little beings who are part of a suddenly quiet household.

Time passes so quickly: Chanukah, Christmas (yes, we're interfaith) and on to New Years. My son wants to celebrate Winter Solstice, too. I think the key is to jump in, celebrate, and go with the flow at this season. Creating space and peace in the midst of all of this activity is critical. So here's to peace, now and in the year ahead.

To Done, Or A New Beginning

Today is the end of November. This is the end of NaBloPoMo. I have posted dutifully. I have, admitedly, engaged in navel-gazing. I have noticed things more deeply about my life. Importantly, for the first time in my life, I have kept (a form of a) journal for a month. Huzzah! NaBloPoMo has compelled me to write.

What happens after today? I keep writing. I want to break out that Moleskine; okay, I want to open the many Moleskines that I own, one by glorious one, and fill them with words, drawings and photographs. I also want to keep this blog going, as often as I can . . .perhaps even daily.

Words are flowing. They may not be profound but at least words are flowing. They can flow onto a screen, a page or wherever. It's not the product, it's the process. That's what we say about the kids' art projects. Why not mine too?

Succumbing . . . to a Cold

I do believe that I am catching my first cold of the season. I woke up sneezing this morning. I began to notice that weird tickle at the back of my throat. Symptoms quickly abated with a rather large cup of coffee this morning. Now that night has fallen, the stuffiness and tickle are increasingly in evidence. It's clearly time for massive vitamin C doses.

On a broader and different note, it's amazing what trying to blog daily leads you to write about. I find myself asking "what happened today," "what am I noticing," "where has my perspective changed." This writing is, by no means profound. However, it is the stuff of life. I've never had the discipline to keep a journal. With this NaBloPoMo experience, I believe I can transfer the discipline to paper. Will I write about different things? Almost certainly. This space, after all, is quite public. It invites exploration, to a degree. What goes into my pristine black Moleskine is all mine.

Admittedly, I rather like the daily blogging too. It feels rather like shouting into a canyon; you get the satisfaction of expressing yourself but never know who might hear.

Back to the Routine

On this second day after the Thanksgiving holiday, it strikes me how quickly we return to routine. Shower, pack lunches, drive to work, immerse self in work, return home, dinner, kid snuggling and reading . . . it is the stuff of life. I'm thankful to see the sun rise over San Francisco Bay. I'm less thankful for traffic. Warm hugs and kisses from my babies buoy my days. Curling up next to my husband and enjoying a book at bedtime send me happily into slumber. It is a routine. Importantly, it is a life, taken one day at a time. Do I want to do, see and experience more? Absolutely. It's a good challenge as the year turns, to experience a little bit more, be a bit more present each day. It's about taking the routine to the next level.

Re-entry

After a relaxing holiday weekend, today marked re-entry. I returned to unanswered emails, phone calls, and unpacked lunch boxes. I woke up grimacing but by noon had pretty much embraced the day. The Thanksgiving weekend didn't prove as productive as I had hoped. However, it did offfer a chance to unwind with my wee ones and catch up on a few (fewer than i would have liked) chores around the house.

Four weeks and I get another chance. I'll never trade kid-time for chore-time. I just need to be a little more productive and motivated in those non-kid times. Sometimes being responsible has little to recommend it . . . at the time.

A Quiet Day

Today is the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We've spent the day picking up, following up on open tasks, generally puttering about. Mark is displaying his characteristic enthusiasm, going so far as to climb up on the roof to clean the skylights. Admittedly, it made a difference; thank you, Dear!

Days like today feel strange. It feels slothful to read, to curl up under the comforter and daydream. Yet, with our crazy lives, days like today are needed and justified.

Ah well, off to find some dinner of the non-turkey variety.

The Day After

Yesterday we enjoyed a tasty, happy feast with my cousins. As a result of getting home past our collective bedtimes, the whole family slept in this morning. Much kd snuggling ensued this morning, to my delight. Today proved to be a quiet day, getting my car serviced, accompanying Graham on a playdate, enjoying left over turkey and stuffing. Lauren is a bit under the weather but will survive. We avoided the shopping hordes today. Everywhere parking lots were jam packed. We'll gear up for the coming holidays, no doubt, but at our own choosing. It felt good not to consume madly this day.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! It's really impossible to say that enough, isn't it?

The turkey is on the rotisserie. The oyster stuffing is in the oven. Mark is frolicking (an understatement) with freshly bathed kids. In a couple of hours, we'll be off to my cousins, Brian and Liz, to celebrate the holiday with their two kids and many more holiday treats.

At this very moment, parallel celebrations are taking place. My parents and Liz's parents are gathering in Decatur, Illinois to celebrate the holiday as they've done for decades. We carry on the tradition on the Left Coast but with a strong bias for Northern California cuisine. Mark's family is gathering in New Jersey for the holiday. Many, many Greenbergs and even more opinions make the holiday there.

Thankful? More than I could ever express. My kids, great husband, curiousity and comfort level in life--indeed, I am blessed. There is so very much for which to be thankful.

Best wishes for a fantastic holiday!

A Little One on One Time

I am a mom and a full time marketing professional. It's often tough to balance the two. However, today I had hours of delicious one on one time with my five year old son, Graham. At one level, we did functional stuff. We visited Whole Foods to pick up elements of the Thanksgiving feast. Next came a trip to a fabric store to pick up supplies to make our own stuffed animals this weekend. (Wherever that notion came from is beyond my comprehension, but I plowed ahead anyway.) We shared a sushi lunch. While his sister was off to a playdate, we visited the bookstore. The car talk was awesome. Holding hands proved magical. I can still feel the warm hugs.

I love spending time with both my children. Given that they're 18 months apart, I quickly default to the role of referee. It's a pleasure to sit down with each of them, look into their eyes and connect.

Don't feel left out, my dear Lauren. It's a long weekend. Trust me, Mommy has a master plan!

What Do You Mean, You Sold My Turkey?!

I admit I'm a huge fan of Whole Foods. I love that you can pretty much taste anything in the store, which is great for my kids. No question that Whole Foods products are largely organic and healthful. Their sense of community and customer service is outstanding.

Today, the fine folks at Whole Foods called to say they were out of the variety of turkey that I ordered for Thanksgiving. I ordered a Diestel American Heritage Bronze turkey. Apparently, the turkeys (literally) flew and my name was lower on the list of lucky ones this year. Lesson learned; a week's notice is not enough to ensure your bird of choice.

Thomas, the Holiday Table representative, called and talked me calmly through the results of the turkey tastings Whole Foods held for customers and team. He recommended a fresh Diestel Natural bird, noted its juiciness, confirmed its availability in my preferred weight, and confirmed the order. Thanksgiving disaster averted.

Thank you, Whole Foods, for being proactive, well informed, and devoted to making your customers happy. I would have love the American Heritage Bronze. I'll still have a great fresh turkey. Next year, I'll shop earlier.

A Random Kind of Day

Today is Monday of a holiday week. I am focused on . . . the holiday, of course. We're off to my cousin's Thursday to celebrate Thanksgiving as our parents have done for decades. However, I'll lay odds that we'll have better food. I'll provide the oyster dressing (what my family calls stuffing), kicked up a bit with double the quantity of oysters, ciabatta bread, and fresh herbs. We're also bringing the bird; Mark will put the rotisserie to good use bringing our American Heritage Bronze turkey to its best possible state. What won't be different between the generations is the love and connection we share at this special time of year.

On more mundane notes, there is business work to be done and I'm doing it. The car gets serviced over the holiday. Graham's classmates are requesting a playdate. We have some major closet cleaning ahead of us.

At any given time, it feels there are about a billion choices, options, and pieces of stimulus. I'm hoping a bit of focus, exhaustive lists, and good planning will see us though.

Simple Pleasures: A Math Book

We had our first parent-teacher consultation this past week. Adrienne, Graham's Kindergarten teacher, is a seasoned pro. She asked us to come prepared to come with three examples of where Graham shines and our wish for him for the year. Unbeknownst to us, she asked him to supply answers to the same questions. Much to our surprise we were directionally in sync.

On the wish, we were in different orbits. We wished Graham would develop a love of learning this year. He wished for his own math book. Today, I drove off to Lakeshore Learning and got him his very own math book, in addition to several other items. He settled down at the kitchen table and began to practice his numbers immediately. The little guys said "thank you so much, Mama. I LOVE this math book. I enjoy doing math." When it comes to encouraging that love of learning, his wish is my command.

The Punch List

When I took the kids to swimming lessons this morning, Mark drove off for a morning of work at Lauren's pre-school, the Friends Nursery School in Palo Alto. This is a parent participation school. Given that we're two working parents, we're doing our best to meet those work commitments early and proactively. Lauren is thriving at Friends.

He came home with a great idea: the punch list. It seems that good folks at Friends write down everything need by room. They tape those lists up and, when parents come to work, they place their initials by the task and get after it. We walked our home this afternoon making the Delman punch list. We noted the things we wanted to do, regardless of the time horizon. The list will be a living one. Mark is off right now checking out alternatives to our various (and somewhat despised) blinds.

The magic here is that we have all of our visible projects in a common place, not in our heads, and ready for action.

Simple Pleasures: Thai Food

By Friday, we are, as a family, toast. The long week ended, kids and parents alike deflate on Fridays, the end to a (usually) long week. In such a spent state, cooking (normally a family passion) falls by the wayside. We are left staring at take-out menus with longing. We're fortunate to have the excellent Ming's for Chinese a mere five minutes away. We've been known to slum it with pizza. Tonight, Mark had the foresight to grab Thai on his way home.

Deep fried squid, peppery duck, pad thai, spicy spring rolls and vegetable-studded fried rice graced our table and woke up our tastebuds tonight.

Thank heaven for simple pleasures, like Thai carry-out.

First Parent-Teacher Conference

Talk about an anxiety ridden event. Today was my first parent teacher conference. In true new-California-involved-parent style, I and my husband both attended. Professionals that we are, we arrived with duplicate copies of our son's "shining" moments and wishes for his first year in school.

What a great way to start the day. Graham's Ohlone kindergarten teacher, Adrienne Brimer, is first class. She addressed literacy and math competency, all within the context of a larger vision of learning. We learned the value of play. We understood how core skills were key but not something to obsess over. Mixed classes (e.g., k/1 and teacher continuity) allow for individual growth over a larger span of time.

We spoke about what (we thought) turned our son on (when he "shined"). Unbeknowst to us, he answered the same set of questions. Bottom line: his needs are simpler and more directly met than ours. Okay, got it! We can fully meet the needs of the little guy.

This dialog is so very special. This is the first objective input on our son's learning progress. I am thankful that the input was focused on skill building, on progress, on real learning, rather than on some abstract concept of assessment or what is appropriate.

Here's to a good night's sleep for an anxious Mom.