Monthly Archives for November 2010

Thanksgiving 2010

Last Thanksgiving I woke up with the flu.  This Thanksgiving started out in a very similar manner, although luckily it didn’t leave me bedridden for a week like last year.

I woke up with a headache, which happens when I sleep in a funny position – usually because there’s a small person sleeping next to me.  We were headed to my brother & sister-in-law’s in Maine, so I got up early to whip up the dessert I had promised to bring and procrastinated on making.  By 7:30 a.m. the kids were already fighting over what movie they were going to watch on the way to Maine, and that continued for the next 3 hours.  Add in the multiple times I asked them to do each task (get dressed, eat breakfast, brush teeth, pick up crap), and my headache turned into a whopper.

At 10:15 the kids were in the car and we were packing up the last few things, and they started physically beating each other, crying, screeching, and whining.  What about?  About which F-ing movie they were going to watch!  AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!

By then  my head was absolutely KILLING me, but we got in the car anyway.  I put in my earplugs and tried to will the headache away, but it got worse and I started feeling nauseous – it had become a migraine.  I was really in a bad way but nobody in the car was taking me seriously until I puked into a zip-lock bag.  While I was yakking, it vaguely registered that Aliya was alarmed, Norah was covering her ears, and Adlani was yelling, “YEAH!  I TRANSFORMED INTO ANOTHER POKEMON!” while playing Nintendo DS.

We stopped at a rest area and I staggered inside, and then we continued on our merry way.  I dozed off and woke up ready for more action – luckily there was an empty cracker box and a leaky bag handy.  Then more dozing and finally we arrived at Josh & Rachael’s, where I stayed in the (cold) car and slept the migraine away until it was time to eat. Amazingly, I felt almost back to normal when Aliya woke me up – I think I had slept for an hour and a half or so.

From then on, it was a great day.  The food was unbelievable, the baby was adorable, and the kids didn’t break anything.  I’m sure it was a loud and hectic afternoon for our hosts and Grandma Katie and Papa John, but I had a lovely time.  The kids passed out almost as soon as we got in the car to come home, and they successfully transferred to bed without getting a second wind.


Ben is headed out early tomorrow morning for a few Black Friday deals…we drove through Shoppers World to see what the lines were like, and at 9 p.m. there were people lined up at Best Buy and Toys-R-Us, including a woman with a very unhappy baby.  I can’t imagine what deal would be good enough for me to sit on the freezing cold sidewalk with my screaming 1-year-old, but to each his (her) own.

Here are some photos from today…please note that the baby did not actually ingest any beer, even though she really wanted to.  I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Stick to the Goat at Hand

That’s my new mantra…”Stick to the goat at hand.”  It comes from this article on Oprah.com, and you’ll have to read it to understand why I’m using it several times daily to remind myself not to multitask.

I guess I thought that multitasking was a necessity for me, and since I did it so much I must be really good at it.  Well, with all of the recent brain-study (thanks to my public speaking coach), I started to pay attention to what happens when I think I’m multitasking.

Yesterday I was in a meeting with two people and another one on a speaker phone.  Whenever there were a few moments that the conversation didn’t involve me, I found myself drawn to my phone so I could check my email.  If you had asked me before, I’d tell you that I was able to listen to what was being said and simultaneously skim my email, but what actually happened was that I checked out of the conversation for the few moments I spent on my email.  It happens to me all the time when I’m reading…I start thinking about something else and I realize that I haven’t absorbed anything in the last 4 paragraphs.

I thought I was driven only by the pressure of being overbooked and the desire to be as productive as possible, but according to the goat article, it’s my brain’s fault (again):

“It’s what we all know as multitasking—trying to pay attention to numerous things simultaneously. We claim to do so in the name of efficiency, but some scientists now think the real attraction to multitasking has a lot to do with dopamine, a feel-good neurochemical released when we’re stimulated by new things (say, an unread e-mail message). As Adam Gazzaley, MD, PhD, assistant professor of neurology, physiology, and psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, explains, “We’re all novelty junkies”—and multitasking, especially the electric kind, is a great way to get a fix.”

I think I may be a dopamine addict.

Admitting you have a problem is the first step, right?  As part of my ongoing self-improvement initiative, I’m going to attempt to stop multitasking – at least the kind that tries to use your brain for two different things.  I still think I can load the dishwasher and talk on the phone, or fold laundry and listen to a conference call.  But other than that, I’m going to stick to the goat at hand.

P.S.  Here’s a good post about multitasking from the Harvard Business Review’s blog.

Zulily

My mom sent me a link for this website (http://www.zulily.com/invite/lgreene153) a few weeks ago and they have REALLY cute and unique stuff for kids, babies, and moms.  Each day there are a bunch of different items available at a discount, and if you sign up to receive their “daily deals” email using the link above, $10 goes into my account!

If you see something you like on a daily deal, snap it up, because there is a limited quantity of each item available.  I bought a couple of Christmas presents today so I guess I’ve officially started my shopping.

All I Want for Christmas…

Dear Santa,

I have been very good this year.  I have done at least 10 loads of laundry each week, filled out almost all required school forms, facilitated Norah’s thyroid removal, worked more than full time, kept the house clean enough to avoid rodent infestation, sent the kids to school daily with all of their private parts covered, packed lunches and snacks as required, participated in various PTO events, donated to charity, performed my wifely duties, and paid most of the bills on time.  I have thought long and hard about what I would like for Christmas, and while a new macro lens is near the top of my list, there is only one thing I REALLY want…one life-changing thing that would make my world nearly perfect.

I would like my family to listen to what I say, and respond appropriately the first time.  That’s it – that’s all I want.  I want to say, “Don’t do that!” and see someone freeze mid-action.  I want instructions to be followed the first time…underwear picked up, food eaten, arguments ended, seatbelts buckled, basic hygiene tasks completed, eyes closed and lights out.  I want to be heard.  That’s all.

If you can’t grant me this Christmas wish, would you please bring me a bullhorn?  Merry Christmas.

Love, Lori

Mom’s Music

I made a very important discovery a few weeks ago – one that will change the morning drop-off forever.  Every morning we get in the car and the kids immediately want the radio on – KISS 108.  Then they complain that there’s too much talking, they’re not playing the songs they want to hear, continuously ask to hear their favorites (they don’t get that I can’t control the radio), and eventually they ask me to turn on the iPod.  That’s when the real fighting begins…they each want to hear specific songs, including a Christmas song about a cat who dies out in the cold but saves a mouse in the process.  What a depressing way to start the day.

Finally, one day I just decided to play my own music.  I hadn’t focused in on the fact that I had done away with listening to music in the car because I use that as some of my “thinking time.”  That’s when I plan upcoming meetings, think about what’s on my to-do list, and pre-write blog posts.  Well, I’m obviously not getting any of that done during morning drop-off, and I think it’s time to get back to sharing the ride with my favorite artists…Susan Tedeschi, the Dixie Chicks, Eva Cassidy, Bonnie Raitt…basically whatever I can sing to.  My parents must have figured this out too, because I still know the words to every John Denver song, and have memorized the Carpenters Greatest Hits, Joni Mitchell – Blue, and Hey Jude (the album) by the Beatles.

In addition to helping me relax, turning on my music means that nobody is fighting over which song is played next, asking me to turn it up or down, or wanting to know what it means to brush your teeth with a bottle of Jack.  If there’s anything going on in the back seat I just turn the music up loud and avoid looking in the rear-view mirror.  I think the kids are actually starting to like my music, and I’m sure they like to hear me singing rather than yelling or crying.  It’s a win-win.

Speaking of music, I ran across this singer on YouTube last weekend – Lisa Scinta.  She has recorded a whole bunch of covers and some originals in her bathroom, and has millions of views on YouTube.  I think she has a GREAT voice, and coincidentally, she is the daughter of Joe Scinta, who is a member of a musical act called The Scintas.  We used to go see the Scintas multiple times every summer when we were in Alexandria Bay.  They were fabulous – I just loved them.  Give Lisa a listen and cross your fingers that more traditional (and lucrative) fame and fortune will come her way.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLsT86nbAVQ&fs=1&hl=en_US]