Kid and Caboodle » housework

Routines

Peggy Hu — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 03:05:51 +0000

It’s funny how much I use routines to anchor myself in time. I’ve been confused much of this afternoon about what day it is because we’ve been doing our normal Sunday routines; Chris did the laundry, I was on call for work, and A.J. did his homework. It almost feels like tomorrow is an extra day off!

Home Alone

Peggy Hu — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 14:58:48 +0000

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!

The Work/Life Juggling Act

Peggy Hu — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 21:21:47 +0000

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 ….

I Can’t Open It!

Peggy Hu — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 14:17:00 +0000

You know that companies’ mania for packaging things has gotten out of hand when people start writing articles on how to remove plastic shells from products without getting hurt:

How to open clamshell packaging
http://green.yahoo.com/blog/the_conscious_consumer/88/how-to-open-clamshell-packaging.html

(I would have never thought of using a rotary can opener ….)

Think Positive – Days 28, 29 and 30

Peggy Hu — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 01:34:00 +0000

This is the last official “think positive” post I’ll be making. This 30-day experiment to find at least one good thing to write about each day has been interesting, but I don’t think it has made a permanent change in my outlook on life. I think it is a healthy attitude to try to find something good in everything, but I also think it is important to acknowledge when things really are beyond saving.

Last weekend was enjoyable. Attended a birthday party for the daughter of a friend on Saturday and got to socialize with some of my college friends. It was nice talking to people who appreciate my personality quirks rather than judging me for them and who understand the challenges of balancing work, family and personal obligations. Saturday I also had dinner with several family members and friends who are part of a football pool. It was very nice to see them; we don’t get together nearly often enough. On Sunday, my husband and his stepfather went boating while my mother-in-law, A.J. and I went to an arts-and-crafts store. We had a grand time going through the bead section — even A.J. picked out several things he liked. One of these days I really should take a beading class …. I think I do fine stringing together artistic combinations of beads, but I don’t know how to finish things off yet.

While I have been figuring out how to do beadwork, my husband has been working on model rockets. He had a frustrating time with some spray paint last week because he couldn’t really control it. So, on Sunday I also bought him some enamel paint and some detail brushes. Things are starting to come together! We’ll be visiting some friends in Charlottesville next weekend. Not sure if the rockets will be ready to launch by then, but it is interesting to see the progress he is making.

Right now I am multitasking. In addition to writing this blog entry, I have been cooking tomorrow night’s dinner (oven barbequed chicken) and doing laundry. I also need to do some writing and editing, but I think I’ll leave that for tomorrow night. It’s late.

Think Positive – Days 13 and 14 (Socializing and Doing Housework)

Peggy Hu — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 22:16:00 +0000

Last night we got to socialize with some friends we haven’t seen since New Year’s. Usually they are very busy working or dancing. We gave them some things we had picked up for them in Taiwan and sat around with drinks in our sunroom chatting about the highlights of the trip and trying some Taiwanese snacks. It was very pleasant — we had all the windows open but didn’t have to deal with bugs. I think the sunroom is definitely our favorite room in our house these days!

This evening I’m supposed to get together with another friend. She moved to the other side of the country last year to pursue a new career. Now she is back in town for a few days making the rounds of her friends in the D.C. area. The plan is for me to pick her up from the Metro this evening after she is done visiting some friends in Maryland and for her to stay with me tonight. Tomorrow we had originally planned to go downtown to attend the Cherry Blossom Festival. We may revise our plans depending on the weather, though. Tomorrow evening she will be staying with yet another friend in Virginia.

Today I have been spending much of the day doing housework. Unearthed two important files that had been lost on my desk. Also washed dishes, did laundry, cleaned off the counters and the dining room table, and went grocery shopping. My husband did a lot of work outside the house — he purchased and planted some bushes in the front yard, took out a dead tree and a dead bush from the side of the house, and tied up another tree that was falling over. Hopefully this year we’ll finally have a nice yard.

Our son has spent most of the day playing a video game and riding his bike. But, then, he’s only 5.