1+ I am who I meet. we are who we meet. “I was supposed to start a new job downtown but now ,I’m working from home”, ” I don’t go out anywhere there are crowds”, ” I was supposed to take this great trip”, ” I was really looking forward to taking this class at the library”…. and so it goes in 2020. From the mundane to the grand, plans made, plans changed, plans canceled. […]
1+ It is hard to explain what it is like raising market animals in the suburbs. On one hand it is a great way to educate a population that is very disconnected from where their food comes from, but on the other hand you are a target for all who disagree with using animals as food. The vegan and vegetarian population is much more abundant in suburban and urban areas. There are a few factors […]
0 Several months ago I moved into my first apartment. It is me (girl), another girl and a guy roommate. We each began to unpack and out came each of our little knick-knacks we’ve collected over our lives. The living room was soon filled with excitingly scented candles, uniquely patterned throw pillows and our collective bookshelf lined with all genres imaginable. As amateur roommates do, we all were doing little things to help each other. […]
2+ I was blessed to marry into a multicultural family, the members taught me new perspectives on life, including helpful habits, hobbies and healthful living. Below is a list of simple life lessons my Mother-in-Law passed on that makes me smile to read. ‘Ouma Juffie’ was her nickname, which translates to ‘Grandma Teacher’ in Afrikaans, she was a teacher by trade and was loved by many children in Potchefstrom, South Africa. Simple life lessons I […]
1+ For the first ~12 years of being a parent, I was spread too thin. working full time, doing my best to raise 3 kids, pretending to make healthy meals, trying to keep my house orderly, attempting to stay on top of scheduling the appropriate classes to properly engage my children, trying to be a good spouse, squeezing in time to see friends, etc. During those years, I identified with being a healthy person, but […]
0 Hiding inside an effective project manager is a verb that is often not discussed… calendaring. In my first year working with Gretchen of Hartke Designs, I noticed that she takes her schedule very seriously. As a vendor partner, managing and satisfying multiple clients and projects at a given time, her time must be shared effectively. We were discussing a client deadline approaching in three months. She requested for us to open our calendars to […]
0 Some learnings are like a quick slap in the face. They sting for a brief moment and are strong enough to remember for a while. I was home from college for a holiday weekend. We were at a family friend’s house and I was telling a story to Marie. The story is irrelevant but it included “my boyfriend”. Whoa! Marie interrupted to say “He does not belong to you. Never refer to people with […]
0 It’s embarrassing how obvious it is but… Early in my career, I was staffed on a project to organize 500 people to move from a downtown office to a suburban office. Hold on… I was a programmer and a database administrator, and now I was asked to get everyone organized. It sounded so simple and beneath me. So ok, I can do it. I was told to inventory the details of all firm-owned electronics […]
2+ In the house across the street lived two delightful people… about 50 years older than me. Hopefully you are lucky enough to know older people like this… you know the ones, that prepare themselves for the outside world. They put on a full outfit often accompanied by a nice hat. Dr. Kavka was a well-respected and well-published doctor. From a resume perspective, he was top notch! Around this time I had been searching for […]
1+ I grew up in a suburb of Mumbai, India. In a country where there is always someone with a lot less than you, I know we didn’t have a lot, but at the same time, I never knew I was missing anything. In fact, looking back, I think I had everything I could possibly need. It’s largely down to my folks – who taught me to sing and fitted a piano into a flat […]