Kid and Caboodle » friends

Chaos

Peggy Hu — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 03:43:57 +0000

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.

Giving Thanks

Peggy Hu — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:59:57 +0000

Last night I read an essay by David Hochman in which he describes his efforts to stop his “reflexive complaining” and instead find something — no matter how small — for which to be thankful every day for a month. I tried a 30-day “Think Positive” experiment like this about a year and a half ago; perhaps it’s time to take up the habit again. Rather than trying to write every day, though, I think I will just write once a week.

On this first “Thankful Thursday,” I have many, many things that are going well in my life. I have a great family and fantastic friends. Everyone in my immediate family is in good health; my parents, who are in their 70s, are on a trip spanning East Asia and Latin America right now. I have a job I know how to do well that pays me a lot of money and provides great health insurance, gobs of vacation time and sick leave, and intellectual stimulation. Four days a week I work in a sunny corner of the office building that, due to its location, gives me a measure of privacy despite being a cubicle. On Thursdays I get to work from the comfort of my home.

Today, specifically, I am thankful that my sister-in-law has volunteered to host our family for Thanksgiving, thus providing us with a great meal without my having to clean the house or cook anything! (I am bringing homemade chocolate chip-banana bread, though.)

Thanksgiving Dinner 2009: white meat turkey, broccoli salad, green beans, corn pudding, carrot salad, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, dark meat turkey, ham, deviled eggs

Overlapping Worlds

Peggy Hu — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 04:04:00 +0000

Haven’t written any Kid and Caboodle posts in a long time, mostly because I’ve been spending so much time “microblogging” on Twitter and Facebook that general observations and ideas aren’t usually staying in my head long enough to simmer and turn into something interesting. I’ve also been contributing to a blog for work since the end of April, so I’ve had a creative outlet for the longer pieces I can produce. I’m still trying to decide how much of a division I want between my personal and professional lives; should I keep Twitter mainly for professional material and Facebook for personal stuff? I’m not sure it is even possible at this point to separate the two worlds since I have family members, friends and co-workers in both networks. How do others manage this balance, I wonder?

It’s Party Time!

Peggy Hu — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 02:31:00 +0000

The last few weeks we’ve been going to or hosting a lot of social gatherings. Starting with A.J.’s birthday party November 23, then moving to two family gatherings over the Thanksgiving weekend, a black-tie shindig celebrating this year’s winners of the President’s Quality Award, and today’s holiday potluck party for the D.C. chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association, Chris and I have been very busy. This Friday we also have a holiday party for A.J.’s tae kwon do school, then I have a bunch of office Christmas parties, then a family Christmas gathering, then New Year’s. Whew!

Family Portraits

Peggy Hu — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 03:13:00 +0000

This afternoon I spent a few hours outside with my son and two of my neighbor’s kids. At one point all three boys were busy drawing chalk pictures in the middle of the cul-de-sac. One of my neighbor’s kids, who is about 8, drew a picture of himself and his parents. “How cute,” I thought at first. Then he wrote at the top, “I miss my dad. I love my mom and dad.”

When I asked him about the note, he said that for the next two weeks his father would be away on a long business trip … again.

My neighbor’s other son, who is around 4, then also drew a picture of their father.

Not to be outdone, my son wrote, “I love Dad.” Then he drew a picture of me and wrote, “You (referring to my husband) love Mom.” Note that he didn’t write, “I love Mom.” Hmm.

Counting down the days

Peggy Hu — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 01:01:00 +0000

September 2 will soon be here. That’s the day A.J. will start at his new school; he will be going to his current school only 11 more times. What a strange, sad feeling. I feel as though we are about to lose a family friend.

A Saturday Afternoon in the Park with Friends

Peggy Hu — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 01:18:00 +0000

Took advantage of the fantastic weather we had today and spent all afternoon with friends at a local park. Grilled tons of food — steak, beef burgers, Boca burgers (vegetarian patties), kielbasa and hot dogs — and snacked on everything from dumplings, chips, potato salad, multigrain bread and zucchini bread to watermelon, three types of fresh berries and grapes. After stuffing ourselves, we packed up and enjoyed the rest of the facilities. The park has a lot of large fields where one can play frisbee or tag, as well as volleyball courts, miniature golf, a carousel, a train ride, a large lake where one can rent rowboats or feed waterfowl, hiking trails, an ice cream parlor and of course tons of playground equipment. All the kids seemed to be having a grand time, and I daresay the adults did, too!

Networking

Peggy Hu — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 01:15:00 +0000

Attended a training session today by Shel Holtz on social media networks. I am mildly dazed by all the different tools that are out there. I thought I was doing fairly well by having a personal Web page, a blog and a Facebook presence, but apparently I should also explore Twitter, Second Life, digg, de.lici.ous and other software.

I think I’ll call it a night instead.

A warning about Facebook applications

Peggy Hu — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 11:07:00 +0000

A friend of mine on Facebook posted this Washington Post article about Facebook applications:

A Flashy Facebook Page, at a Cost to Privacy
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/11/AR2008061103759.html

It’s something to keep in mind, but I’m not overly concerned.

Editing

Peggy Hu — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 03:04:00 +0000

A friend asked me tonight to review the first chapter of a book she has completed and plans to try publishing soon. She asked me to be brutally honest, and … I was. I can see an easy fix for the main plot problem I pointed out, but I don’t know how much rewriting she wants to do since she already has finished the book. Hopefully she’s still willing to talk to me at this point to hear my suggestion!