Awards, articles and generational differences

It's been a busy couple months, besides the whole growing a baby thing. I received the National Urban League's Western Region Member of the Year award for my volunteer work with the Seattle Urban League Young Professionals (SULYP).

Our chapter also received the Western Region Chapter of Excellence Award based on our leadership development, community impact, membership development, fund development and communications, and our President Felicia Kline received the Western Region Heineken USA Rising Star award for her policy paper on the importance and effectiveness of the Community Reinvestment Act. A local community paper the Seattle Medium had a story about it here.

The awards were given out at the National Urban League's conference in St. Louis in July, which I missed (too late in the pregnancy to fly). But here's a shot of me, SULPY's founding president, SULYP's current president, Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle President and CEO James Kelly, former SULYP Secretary, and Education Committee Chair at last year's conference in Atlanta, which was incredibly informative.

In late July, I learned I'd had an article published in Urban Influence Magazine (the National Urban League's magazine) about the digital divide in the Black community. I believe there was a 400 word limit, so it's no comprehensive piece, but I think it came out fine. Click image for larger version.
And finally, in August, I was one of the eight women featured in a Seattle Times article for their Gender F section that focuses on women's issues. You can read the full article here and the other related articles on the Seattle Times' Gender F website.

Talking across the gap

Generations chat about stereotypes, cluelessness and cleavage

In the article, writer Michelle Goodman talked with women from several different generations about how they relate to each other in the workplace. Michelle is a longtime freelance writer who has a great book and website (both called The Anti 9 to 5 Guide) about how to transition to part-time, flextime, at-home, outdoor, overseas, nonprofit, or self-employed work so you can build the life you want without spending all your time chained to a cubicle. Read more here: http://www.anti9to5guide.com/

It was fascinating to be part of the discussion and hear about how the work world has changed for many of the women who've been at it a while, as well as hearing from the younger ladies about how their approach to work is so different from earlier generations - even mine.

The most experienced woman in the group talked about the days of having to wear a full girdle, conservative skirt suit, hosiery and pumps every day when she started out, even though she worked in a construction-related industry.

In contrast, some of the younger women said they feel it's okay to express themselves through their attire, even in a sexy way, because "it's just clothes and just who we are." My comments on that are in the article.

Even though I'm glad I (and Hillary) helped get the word 'cleavage' in a headline in a major daily paper, frankly, I think the pendulum has swung too far to the "flaunt what ya' got" side where daytime/workplace clothing is concerned.

In their defense, one of the young women on the panel said, "But look at Sex in the City! They dress cute but sexy." Yeah, they're also on premium cable after 9 p.m., not sitting across a conference table in a position of authority or across a service counter in a workplace. I think some young women don't get that there's a time and a place for certain fashions.

Case in point, this month's Cosmo Magazine's Fashion section with the headline: The Heat Is On - These low-cut, barely buttoned clothes are racy enough to grab any guy's attention. So true: they are racy and attention-grabbing. And I might consider sporting the white micro cardigan, bra, shorts and six inch platforms the next time I'm poolside on the Riviera with my hubby. But not when I head to the office, where no one should be wearing clothing that requires waxing any body part between their knees and neck. This goes double for you guys.

Fellowship-filled Fourth of July

J. and I had the pleasure of hosting three of the six European Memorial Marshall Fellows for the Fourth of July along with Spring 2007 American Marshall Fellow Heather from Seattle.

Here we are after dinner... pregnancy

And all of us again with Heather's friend Nate in the picture on the left. We had a great time getting to know each other, talking about European institutions versus the American versions, and the unique experiences they had already had in their travels around the U.S.

Such as the church two of them visited in the south that was celebrating military veterans on the Sunday they attended services. In addition to the Marine-turned-pastor who gave the sermon, several Marines rappeled from the ceiling of the sanctuary during the services!

"This is very different from churches in Europe," one of the EMMF's said, still surprised by the event even in the retelling.

"Uh, that's very differnt from most churches here in the U.S.," I clarified.

They were all as smart and accomplished as the other fellows I've met to date, although they of course had the added skill of speaking multiple languages. They each spoke at least three to four, which reminded us Americans in the room how much of a disadvantage we're at on the international stage due to the typical American educational system's approach of not teaching foreign language until middle or high school.

Linguistic regrets notwithstanding, it was a wonderful evening and I hope they enjoyed a typical American fourth with a fairly typical American couple as much as we enjoyed them.

Doggie doings all weekend long

These days during my pregnancy, I find my energy levels veering from energizer bunny to desperately in need of a nap. Last weekend was an energized one, despite having managed to catch a cold.

I'm usually very diligent about handwashing, slathering on antibacterial gel and not touching doorknobs, handrails and other often-handled surfaces, so colds for me a very rare. Like once every year or 18 months. So having one in the summer while I'm pregnant was both surprising and annoying. Mainly because not only did it cut into my enjoyment of the incredible Seattle summer weather, but I also couldn't take my usual pharmacoeia to make the effects more managable.

A consultant nurse with my doctor's office said Tylenol was the only safe medicine for me at this point and suggested I take "hot liquids, spicy soups, and hot juices" to soothe my sore throat. Um, it's 80 degrees out, so the thought of hot juice would make me gag if my throat didn't already hurt. So I had to just tough it out cold turkey.

Plugged nose and sore throat notwithstanding, I at least had energy, so I decided to get out and enjoy the sun with the dog, use anti-bacterial like crazy, and steer clear of touching anything so as not to spread my cold germs around.

After picking up the pooch at my folks' house and a fun breakfast with an old co-worker in West Seattle, I headed to Seattle's North Beacon Hill area for a Meetup with other Pit Bull owners.
Here's Isis looking super attentive because she thinks I'm going to throw her ball any minute now. Note the dog that looks like her twin to the right. That dog's owner confirmed that there are many dogs with the same look around the area. Not sure who's breeding them, but they all have awesome temperaments, although his girl was a year or two younger than Isis and bigger. She also wasn't quite as dog-friendly as the others and was apparently prone to running giddily off into the woods for hours at a stretch, so her owner opted to keep her on leash even though we met in one of Seattle's many off-leash dog parks.

Here's me, the belly, and a still-attentive Isis. She did great, despite the 80+ degree heat. She'd romp with the other dogs a bit, chase the ball a bit, then lay in the shade a bit. Dark dogs and hot days are usually not the best combo, but there was plenty of water and shade and she was a great breed ambassador.

The next day, we hit the Fremont Sunday Market where I needed to pick up a ring to temporarily replace my wedding band which I've grown too big to fit. I have been wearing my engagement ring and band on a necklace. Now I can at least wear some semblance of a band.

With J. busy for the day, Isis played sidekick again and lounged in the shade of each stand I perused and willingly submitted to lots of petting by passersby who found her glossy coat and laid back demeanor irresistable.

The only activities that marred the sunny lovefest were two (!) separate West Highland Terriers who attacked Isis - once as she lay at my feet just inside a booth, and again as we walked up the sidewalk towards our car. One minute all's quiet and we're minding our own business, the next the Westies are lunging and snarling at the end of their leashes. Only one of the owners apologized. In both cases, Isis returned the growling and barking favor, which of course looks a lot more menacing coming from a 58 pound pitbull than a 2o pound Westie.

According to the Wikipedia, Westies are known as "big dogs in a little body" because of their "bold temperament." These could have become "hurt dogs in little bodies" if I wasn't so quick to take control of the situation and rein Isis back in, and if she had a more aggressive temperament.

In each case, I pulled her back into a sit then calmly walked her away from the situation while the Westie owners continued wrestling with the barking, snarling ball's of white fur at the end of their leashes.

Because of Isis's breed, she is held to a higher standard of behavior, as am I as her owner. Going after another dog the way the Westies did to her would be absolutely unacceptable and would likely result in police being called to the scene. Unfortunately, I've found that many small dogs are allowed by their owners to engage in behavior that would not be tolerated in a larger breed from the menacing barking and lunging to jumping up.

It's unfair to all dog owners and especially to those whose well-managed and well-behaved dogs that may be kept out of events or venues because of someone's past experience with one of the not-so-well-behaved ones. All I can do is make sure I'm doing everything I can to make sure Isis and I are ambassadors for her breed. So far, it seems to be working out, despite incidents like that.

PS - Isn't it ironic that we spent Saturday with several other pitbulls in a somewhat confined space with no problems but just a day later had two less than stellar episodes with so-called "family friendly companion dogs"? See: that's why I'm sticking with pitbulls. Those little dogs are like walking around with loaded guns. Hee hee! :-)

Power tool packin' mama (to be)

A co-worker mentioned today that she was mildly dismayed when her 2 1/2 year old daughter recently declared, "I'm a girl. I'm not a boy. Boys fix fire engines." This despite having a very adept mom who in fact handles most of their household repairs, many of which in fact come at the hands of her tool-challenged husband. "How does this gender stuff get ingrained so early?" she asked slightly incredulously.

I don't know, but I hope our child will see that girls can fix fire engines or anything else, if they put their mind to it. To that end, I'm documenting for posterity my own power tool packin' ways so the bundle-to-be will see that even in-utero, she and her mom were comfortable fixin' broke stuff.

Case in point: our carport light went out last week and we hadn't made time to get it fixed. I did manage to pick up a replacement, but that was about it. After more than a week of putting off the task, fumbling with my key in the dark and not wanting to wait any longer, I took advantage of the 75 degree evening to do some home improvement, pregnancy and all. It took one light, one drill, four drill bits of increasing size (I kept underestimating the size of the screw and expander), two screwdrivers, one pen for marking holes, and one hour of my time. But we've got light, I didn't incur any injuries, and I'm feeling pretty pleased with the result. Guess those high school auto mechanics and woodworking classes are still paying dividends. My child-to-be will either be mildly amused by this memento or use it as proof that I've been a very capable but total dork for a very long time.

28 Weeks

Chugging right along. This is me at the 28 week mark of my pregnancy, in a lovely trapeze cut A-line frock from my friend's shop Missi Lu in Seattle's Madison Valley neighborhood. A-line's are of course great for hiding a multitude of figure features from which one might want to deflect attention. But it's hard to hide the belly at this point. Hard to believe I've still got almost three months to go and this is when women supposedly gain most of their weight. If that's the case for me too, this dress may look like it shrunk in the dryer by the time September rolls around.