Kid and Caboodle

I managed to get out of working this weekend — a rarity! — because of house guests. Nevertheless, I ended up being incredibly busy!

Aside from doing the weekly grocery shopping, straightening up the house, and cooking dinner for eight people Saturday, I also:

• Updated the AAJA-D.C. home page Friday night, including doing some design work.
  
• Showed my mother-in-law this morning how to register a Webkinz toy so she can play with A.J. and me.
  
• Reviewed A.J.’s progress on his book report, which is due at the end of this month.
  
• Finished and e-filed my 2010 federal and state taxes today. (For the first time since college, I don’t owe anything – amazing!)
  
• Took my mother-in-law to the art supply store and the mall, where I bought A.J. a new sweatshirt, a pair of jeans, and some Easter stuff. My mother-in-law and I also did a little shopping for ourselves (hee hee!).
  
• Cooked dinner for five people tonight.

Now I’m trying to finish writing up the minutes of a meeting the AAJA-D.C. board had last weekend and prepare A.J.’s school bag for tomorrow morning. I also need to edit a travel essay my dad sent me a few weeks ago, put together a newsletter listing upcoming AAJA-D.C. events, and do more work on the AAJA-D.C. page, but that’s not happening tonight.

Who was it who said “nature abhors a vacuum”? I seem to have a knack for always finding things to keep me busy!

Today Chris and I had an unexpected free day. Since A.J.’s school system has had so many snow days this winter, school officials decided to have the kids go to a full day of school today instead of observing the Presidents’ Day holiday as originally scheduled. Since Chris and I are both government employees, we got the day off. Appropriately, we decided to go to Ford’s Theatre, where President Lincoln was shot in 1865. Strangely enough, today was the first visit to Ford’s Theatre for either of us despite the years we have each lived in the D.C. area.

Here are a few pictures from our visit:

The sign for Ford's Theatre

This is the gun John Wilkes Booth used to kill President Lincoln in 1865. Note how it is set in the case to point at the drawing of Lincoln -- creepy!

A close-up view of the gun used to kill President Lincoln

A view of the stage and a replica of the box in which President Lincoln was sitting the night he was shot

A close-up view of where President Lincoln was sitting in Ford's Theatre the night he was shot

For some reason, rainy days inspire creative fits in me. Here’s a haiku I came up with during my walk from the subway station to the office:

Red, green, blue and white
Umbrellas bloom like flowers
Welcoming the rain.

This weekend is very unusual for us; we have absolutely nothing scheduled except for A.J.’s taekwondo class from this morning. I decided to take the opportunity today to go to a craft show where my cousin Tina (of KittyKatKards), was exhibiting her homemade origami cards. Of course I bought some — I had to support the family! (But really, they are very creative, as you can see below.)

Some of my cousin Tina's homemade cards

After I got back from the craft show, I played a game on the computer for a while, then sat on the futon in the sunroom to sort through a backlog of mail and … fell asleep!

What a relaxing day!

I don’t know if I’m fighting a cold, or I’m just mentally drained from last week’s nonsense with my work ID (I got my original badge back on Friday — yay!) and other office drama, but I have not wanted to do anything resembling work this weekend. This weekend has been very abnormal anyway; A.J. did not attend his Saturday classes due to a prior commitment, and we had house guests.

I did manage to do a few loads of dirty dishes and bake a pan of vegan blueberry muffins that passed my carnivorous family’s taste test, though. I also filled two bags full of clothes A.J. has outgrown and did a little work advertising an upcoming happy hour for AAJA-D.C. So, I haven’t been entirely idle. But I definitely don’t feel as energetic as I usually am. Hopefully things will look up tomorrow, after a little extra sleep tonight.

The past few weeks have been unusually busy at work and at home, and I think it’s getting to me. I haven’t done any personal blogging for awhile, and I’m overdue in responding to e-mail messages, which is very unusual for me. Apparently my parents have noticed my social absence, too; last weekend they actually called to make sure I was ok — something they haven’t done in ages.

At least I was organized enough to send my brother a present in time for his birthday, and I did send him an e-mail message yesterday wishing him a good day, so I’m not completely behind. But I still haven’t gotten around to sending two of my godkids their Christmas gifts because I haven’t been able to get to the post office, nor have I responded to a stack of holiday letters. I have a bunch of photos I took during a visit to the zoo with friends several weeks ago that I still haven’t downloaded or e-mailed. In general, I’ve been neglecting a lot of social obligations, and I’m starting to feel very guilty.

I’m taking the day off Monday. That will make work pile up at the office, but I really need some time to think and get things back under control at home. I don’t want this chaos to continue; it’s stressful.

I’m enjoying a few hours of time to myself this morning because Chris volunteered to take A.J. to his Saturday classes in return for my packing away the Christmas ornaments. Deal! So, while Chris is braving the cold and driving around town, I’m lingering over breakfast before tackling the tree and other housework. Hopefully I’ll have enough spare time to finish off a few blog entries for work and another site, too.

Good husband!

Christmas dinner this afternoon consisted of:

• turkey (cooked by Chris’ mother, Dee, and stepdad, Mike)
  
• ham (from Giant, arranged by me)
  
• deviled eggs (made by Dee)
  
• bacon-wrapped scallops (from Giant, prepared by me)
  
• broccoli-cheese casserole (made by me)
  
• carrot-raisin salad (made by Dee)
  
• tossed green salad of spinach, bell peppers and cucumbers (assembled by me)
  
• fruit salad of blueberries, bananas, an apple, clementines, oranges and fruit cocktail in syrup (assembled by Dee)
  
• stuffing (made by me)
  
• gravy (made by Dee and Mike)
  
• cranberry sauce (removed from can by me)
  
• pumpkin-nut cake (made by Chris’ sister, Jennifer)
  
• leftover chocolate mousse birthday cake (from Costco)
  
• cookies (made by Jennifer)

We had 10 people at dinner: Chris, A.J., and I; my parents; Chris’ dad; Chris’ mom and stepdad; and Chris’ sister and her boyfriend. I had to ask my parents to bring a folding table and chairs so everyone could sit down for dinner, and we had to scramble to get enough plates and cutlery! I think this is the most I’ve ever hosted for Christmas, but I think it turned out well. The large amounts of alcohol at dinner didn’t hurt, either!

Looks like we’re not going anywhere for a while. We’ve gotten several inches of snow already, and the storm is expected to continue until this evening. This is the view of the cul-de-sac at 10:15 this morning:

View from the front porch

Since all of A.J.’s Saturday classes were cancelled today due to the weather, I had time to make moderately elaborate breakfasts for everyone this morning. Here is A.J.’s:

A.J.'s breakfast: sausage links, pancakes and blueberries

This is Chris’ breakfast:

Chris' breakfast: clementine segments, breakfast burritos and blueberries

A.J. is enjoying the unexpected break. He’s still in his pajamas at 10:30 in the morning, playing video games:

A.J. in the sunroom

As for me, I think I’ll have a cup of tea and read a book.

I’ve been spending much of the afternoon going through piles of paper throughout the house.  In doing so, I found the following list of tips from an office newsletter:

Successfully Managing the Work/Life Juggling Act

If you have a family, managing work and life can be challenging — and often unpredictable.

Consider the following tips to help you successfully manage the work/life juggling act:

• Make time for fun and relaxation. When you add more leisure to your life, you’ll become a healthier and more effective employee and parent.

• Build and use support systems. People with strong support systems tend to be healthier, happier and better able to tolerate stress.

• Forget perfection. While it’s admirable to put your best efforts into your work and parenting responsibilities, it’s simply impossible to be perfect at everything you do.

• Take care of yourself. It’s easy to focus on your responsibilities to your partner, children and employer and forget about taking care of yourself.

• Be happy. Studies show that happy individuals are successful across different areas, including marriage, friendship, income, work performance, and health.

I’m not exactly sure how one can will oneself to “be happy” — does this newsletter mean “try to think positive”? But otherwise, these tips seem pretty sound.

Hmm, wonder what else I’ll find as I continue decluttering the house ….