When you're as short as I am, slipping your way up to the front row is a piece of cake. What a great set they played!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
INXS -VMWorld 2010
Are Moms Allowed to be Sick?
In addition to the tshirts, backpacks and other swag that I got from VMWorld in San Francisco last week, I also brought back with me a nasty little bug that has taken me out of commission since last Friday. So no Labor Day BBQ for me - I was filling prescriptions at Kaiser and trying to keep from coughing up a lung.
In a rare event, I even had to call in sick the past two days. I mean, we're talking about a person with over 80 days of sick leave on the books and who gained an immune system up in Fairbanks, Alaska. Part of me wanted to just curl up in bed after a swig of potent cold medicine, but the other part of me has a seldom-confessed fear: what if they can do without me at work? I had to worry about that for about all of two hours before the "I know you're out sick but can you..." emails started flying in on my iPhone.
Luckily, I have a great staff that I can delegate almost all the day-to-day issues to and I think it's just as important to show you can build an organization like that as it is that you yourself are indispensable. However, the parent part is harder to offload when one is a single parent. Dropping kid off at school, taking the other one to orthodontist appointment, grocery shopping... This list goes on and on.
What impressed me these last few days is how my kids stepped up. They knew I was under the weather so the little things they normally bug me with seemed to disappear. My daughter was fetching me water and checking up on me. The dishwasher got emptied. Cats were fed. People went to bed on time and woke up on time. "Stuff" got done.
Sometimes it feels like I'm just barely keeping all the balls in the air between the juggling I do as a mom and a working professional. There's not many days where it feels *easy*. This week though, has proven I'm doing better than I give myself credit for. I could be proud of myself - but I'm more proud of my children.
In a rare event, I even had to call in sick the past two days. I mean, we're talking about a person with over 80 days of sick leave on the books and who gained an immune system up in Fairbanks, Alaska. Part of me wanted to just curl up in bed after a swig of potent cold medicine, but the other part of me has a seldom-confessed fear: what if they can do without me at work? I had to worry about that for about all of two hours before the "I know you're out sick but can you..." emails started flying in on my iPhone.
Luckily, I have a great staff that I can delegate almost all the day-to-day issues to and I think it's just as important to show you can build an organization like that as it is that you yourself are indispensable. However, the parent part is harder to offload when one is a single parent. Dropping kid off at school, taking the other one to orthodontist appointment, grocery shopping... This list goes on and on.
What impressed me these last few days is how my kids stepped up. They knew I was under the weather so the little things they normally bug me with seemed to disappear. My daughter was fetching me water and checking up on me. The dishwasher got emptied. Cats were fed. People went to bed on time and woke up on time. "Stuff" got done.
Sometimes it feels like I'm just barely keeping all the balls in the air between the juggling I do as a mom and a working professional. There's not many days where it feels *easy*. This week though, has proven I'm doing better than I give myself credit for. I could be proud of myself - but I'm more proud of my children.
Friday, September 3, 2010
A Girl Can Dream, Can't She?
I mentioned in a previous post how my dream pre-marriage, kids, work, etc was to live in a big city. Well, I spent the last three days in San Francisco for a tech conference and had such an enjoyable time and all those yearning came rushing back. I just love the VIBE of San Francisco. It's such an eclectic city, a mixture of cultures and styles - how can you not just want to immerse yourself in it?
My friend and I were walking down Market and I quipped that if I ran away to the big city, would she make sure my kids were fed? She laughed and agreed that San Fran was great city - until the next big earthquake hits and everything is in the Bay. I thought about that - about trade-offs people make to live where they do, work where they do. Costs, convenience, etc. It was just so obvious to me that living in this city was worth the risk. Why? Because you'd be LIVING, not just existing. Not just in a holding pattern. Would l rather have five years of life in San Fran vs. thirty in a quiet, little Central Valley hamlet? In a heartbeat, friend!
My friend and I were walking down Market and I quipped that if I ran away to the big city, would she make sure my kids were fed? She laughed and agreed that San Fran was great city - until the next big earthquake hits and everything is in the Bay. I thought about that - about trade-offs people make to live where they do, work where they do. Costs, convenience, etc. It was just so obvious to me that living in this city was worth the risk. Why? Because you'd be LIVING, not just existing. Not just in a holding pattern. Would l rather have five years of life in San Fran vs. thirty in a quiet, little Central Valley hamlet? In a heartbeat, friend!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Forget California Dreaming...
...We're Hawaii bound! For the first time in YEARS, I'm taking my kids on a family vacation. What is super cool (but a little intimidating) is that I've never had the opportunity to make all the decisions before - where to go, where to stay, how much to spend. Pushing that "purchase" button last week had me sweating a bit (what happens if I get hit by a bus before we leave? Should I have bought insurance, etc. etc.)
But I bit the bullet and booked it. I've found that having something to look forward to helps me get through the tough days and Lord knows I need a break from the daily working grind! Plus, there's a side affect to the vacation planning that I'm really happy to see: my kids are seeing this as an investment in *them*. Most of my previous vacations were solo: this time it's US. Before I get all misty-eyed, I do realize they will probably drive me nuts before, during and after this vacation - - but that's okay. We've needed a National Lampoon's Vacation and laughs for a while, and now we're getting one :)
But I bit the bullet and booked it. I've found that having something to look forward to helps me get through the tough days and Lord knows I need a break from the daily working grind! Plus, there's a side affect to the vacation planning that I'm really happy to see: my kids are seeing this as an investment in *them*. Most of my previous vacations were solo: this time it's US. Before I get all misty-eyed, I do realize they will probably drive me nuts before, during and after this vacation - - but that's okay. We've needed a National Lampoon's Vacation and laughs for a while, and now we're getting one :)Monday, August 2, 2010
Zoom Lens
When I was seventeen, my dream was to be a photojournalist in New York City. I had my whole life planned out: the fact that I would never get married, but that I would have one child in my late thirties (a boy, with a cool name like Max or something else with an "x" or "z" in the name) and that I would always, always follow my dreams.
A mere two years later, I was married with my first child on the way. What the hell happened? Oh sure, everyone my age was either getting married or surviving the first year of college, but how did I deviate so drastically from THE PLAN? I had started off well - I was enrolled in a P-J degree program at the state university, and was meeting new people, finding my way in what I thought was the adult world.
Twenty years later it's easy to look back in hindsight and point out where I made choices that impacted my life and changed the Plan. It's harder to face the "why" I made those choices, because it requires admitting that I really was just a dumb kid without a clue in the world.
I ended up with three kids - not one. And there are no "x" or "z" in their names. I never got snap pictures of a major news event, but I have a lot of experience taking football pictures at Pop Warner games. While I sometimes regret parts of the path I took, I recognize that all those steps bring me to where I am today. Scars and all - they are what make me... ME.
So now, as my oldest child heads out into the real world, I pray that I did a decent enough job as a mother, and later as a single-parent. If there's one thing I wish I could give my children, it's the ability to continue to follow their dreams, even as life unfolds around them.
A mere two years later, I was married with my first child on the way. What the hell happened? Oh sure, everyone my age was either getting married or surviving the first year of college, but how did I deviate so drastically from THE PLAN? I had started off well - I was enrolled in a P-J degree program at the state university, and was meeting new people, finding my way in what I thought was the adult world.
Twenty years later it's easy to look back in hindsight and point out where I made choices that impacted my life and changed the Plan. It's harder to face the "why" I made those choices, because it requires admitting that I really was just a dumb kid without a clue in the world.
I ended up with three kids - not one. And there are no "x" or "z" in their names. I never got snap pictures of a major news event, but I have a lot of experience taking football pictures at Pop Warner games. While I sometimes regret parts of the path I took, I recognize that all those steps bring me to where I am today. Scars and all - they are what make me... ME.
So now, as my oldest child heads out into the real world, I pray that I did a decent enough job as a mother, and later as a single-parent. If there's one thing I wish I could give my children, it's the ability to continue to follow their dreams, even as life unfolds around them.
