Saturday, February 7, 2009
Cleaning
My goal today was to finish organizing and cleaning the office. While I made good progress, I noticed something that makes no sense. Why is it that when you clean, you always make a bigger mess than when you started? Since I'm watching a basketball game now, I probably won't get a bunch more done tonight. Hopefully though, I will manage to get everything done by the end of the weekend. I cannot wait until everything is where it should be and I don't have to worry about cleaning after work.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Valentines Day
I've noticed a new trend watching commercials and observing people in stores. Valentines Day as a child was filling out cards for the entire class, getting chalky heart candies, and decorating boxes to hold the cards you get from you classmates. I don't remember parents getting their kids anything. In my entire elementary school, I don't think one person ever got a special card from parents much less a present.
Hallmark has a commercial for a Hannah Montana recordable Valentine's Day card. In it, the mom had given the card to her young daughter. Really? At the supermarket yesterday, I noticed several parents buying Valentines Day cards that were definitely for kids along with $50 gift cards to Toys 'R Us. Again, really? Since when did this holiday become one where it's another gift grab by kids? Do toy manufacturers need another holiday to commercialize? Is Christmas, Easter, and Halloween no longer enough?
Hallmark has a commercial for a Hannah Montana recordable Valentine's Day card. In it, the mom had given the card to her young daughter. Really? At the supermarket yesterday, I noticed several parents buying Valentines Day cards that were definitely for kids along with $50 gift cards to Toys 'R Us. Again, really? Since when did this holiday become one where it's another gift grab by kids? Do toy manufacturers need another holiday to commercialize? Is Christmas, Easter, and Halloween no longer enough?
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Nerves
I've been doing presentations for various classes all my life, and only since grad school have I started to get this nervous about presentations. I'm totally prepared for this, and I know the material better than anyone, but I my hands won't quit shaking and I am so incredibly nervous. What is up with this?!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Time in a Day
There doesn't seem to be enough hours in a day. By the time I get home, I probably have a good two hours of actual productivity before I'm completely wiped out. I never get a chance to get everything I want done finished. I did manage to make dinner last night for both yesterday and today, so at least that's one less thing I have to worry about tonight. Now, I just have to put away a mountain of clean laundry. I really miss having someone come and clean the apartment. I know Jeremy and I have discussed hiring a cleaning service again, but we have to get the place somewhat organized before then. This weekend, Jeremy has an event he wants to attend that I am completely uninterested in, so he'll be out of the house for several hours. Plus, my presentation for work is this week, so I no longer have to worry about working on that. I think I'll take the weekend off from work and finally finish the projects around the house. Well, at least that will be the goal.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Saving for the Future
Recently, I have been keeping up with journals and blogs of several families who have either lost children to cancer or are in the middle of battling cancer. Many of these kids won't stand a chance. They go through the pains of treatment (chemo, radiation, bone marrow transplants) only to go into remission and then relapse.
While there is no way to prevent childhood cancer, I have been wondering how I would respond in a situation like this. I'm not going to be the neurotic mother who thinks that her child has every disease known to man. I wouldn't go to the doctor obsessively to get tested for the possibility of cancer. I do think though that I am going to be somewhat proactive.
One particular blog started me thinking about cord blood banking. This little girl was diagnosed with AML, and because she was adopted, her immediate family did not provide an adequate match for her to receive a bone marrow transplant. Because she was adopted from China and her parents were of minority decent, the chances of finding her a match was even slimmer. Even though they did manage to track down her birth parents, it was became impossible to continue the process because she relapsed before they could type her siblings. I know the issue of stem cells are a hot button issue, but in our case it would make a lot of sense. Jeremy and I would have an inter-racial child. If anything were to happen, we would have to rely solely on the generosity of other donors in order to find a match. Even then, the probability would be slim. We discussed the possibility of banking cord blood, and even though it is expensive, it would be something that I'm willing to save up for now. Since we're not planning children anytime soon, we'll have plenty of time to save up money to do this even though payment plans are available. Even if it were never used, we would at least be working in every way to give our kids every advantage we could.
While there is no way to prevent childhood cancer, I have been wondering how I would respond in a situation like this. I'm not going to be the neurotic mother who thinks that her child has every disease known to man. I wouldn't go to the doctor obsessively to get tested for the possibility of cancer. I do think though that I am going to be somewhat proactive.
One particular blog started me thinking about cord blood banking. This little girl was diagnosed with AML, and because she was adopted, her immediate family did not provide an adequate match for her to receive a bone marrow transplant. Because she was adopted from China and her parents were of minority decent, the chances of finding her a match was even slimmer. Even though they did manage to track down her birth parents, it was became impossible to continue the process because she relapsed before they could type her siblings. I know the issue of stem cells are a hot button issue, but in our case it would make a lot of sense. Jeremy and I would have an inter-racial child. If anything were to happen, we would have to rely solely on the generosity of other donors in order to find a match. Even then, the probability would be slim. We discussed the possibility of banking cord blood, and even though it is expensive, it would be something that I'm willing to save up for now. Since we're not planning children anytime soon, we'll have plenty of time to save up money to do this even though payment plans are available. Even if it were never used, we would at least be working in every way to give our kids every advantage we could.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Patience
I suppose this post, rather than about being patient, is more about my growing impatience. I've noticed recently that the littlest things tend to set me off. Things that usually wouldn't faze me because I don't care will now send me into a tizzy that lasts several hours if not several days.
Case in point, I was told about a basketball coach being fired after his team beat out the opponent 100-0. When I first heard about the story, I was under the impression that the other team had girls who were disabled in some way. I was more upset that the game was scheduled if that had been the case. However, as it turns out with some more careful researching, these girls went to a special school because they have learning disabilities. Now, I know there are plenty of pro-athletes with ADHD or dyslexia making their academic lives more difficult. However, just because you have a learning disability does not mean you are incapable of playing sports. I understand the outrage was due to sportmanship, but the girls on the losing team took it in stride and didn't whine about it. Instead the administrators on the winning team now feel like this somehow reflects badly on them.
This is only one of several instances where I've climbed up on my soapbox and ranted and raved, and I'm getting hit from all sides. It's not only news stories that are getting me riled up. I told Jeremy that I was praying for patience and he told me that in doing so, God would really test me and my resolve. So far, I've failed that miserably. I understand that the world doesn't revolve around me and I don't create the rules. I try to take a deep breath when I hear something that I know will irritate me, but so far, the measures I am taking are not working.
I suppose part of the problem is I care about the issues that get me worked up. My sister said these were the things I'm passionate about, but it goes deeper than that. I look around and this isn't the society that I would want my kids to grow up in. More than that, this isn't the place I want any kids to grow up in, but since I don't make the rules up and I can't expect everyone else to change, I can only work on myself. I will have to keep striving to be more patient and have faith that it will eventually happen.
Case in point, I was told about a basketball coach being fired after his team beat out the opponent 100-0. When I first heard about the story, I was under the impression that the other team had girls who were disabled in some way. I was more upset that the game was scheduled if that had been the case. However, as it turns out with some more careful researching, these girls went to a special school because they have learning disabilities. Now, I know there are plenty of pro-athletes with ADHD or dyslexia making their academic lives more difficult. However, just because you have a learning disability does not mean you are incapable of playing sports. I understand the outrage was due to sportmanship, but the girls on the losing team took it in stride and didn't whine about it. Instead the administrators on the winning team now feel like this somehow reflects badly on them.
This is only one of several instances where I've climbed up on my soapbox and ranted and raved, and I'm getting hit from all sides. It's not only news stories that are getting me riled up. I told Jeremy that I was praying for patience and he told me that in doing so, God would really test me and my resolve. So far, I've failed that miserably. I understand that the world doesn't revolve around me and I don't create the rules. I try to take a deep breath when I hear something that I know will irritate me, but so far, the measures I am taking are not working.
I suppose part of the problem is I care about the issues that get me worked up. My sister said these were the things I'm passionate about, but it goes deeper than that. I look around and this isn't the society that I would want my kids to grow up in. More than that, this isn't the place I want any kids to grow up in, but since I don't make the rules up and I can't expect everyone else to change, I can only work on myself. I will have to keep striving to be more patient and have faith that it will eventually happen.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
The Big Game
This is the first year we're not watching this game with a bunch of friends, but we're still having a blast. Not as much food, but we have chips and dip and other yumminess. It'll be a great game.
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