Pimp my office and rock my world

As part of my promotion, I'm moving into an office. "Move" seems an overstatement: it's 9 steps from my current cubicle. I consider my workspace to be wherever my computer is, whether it's at home, outside, in a cube or within four walls. 

While having four walls and a door is nice, it means I actually have to consider aesthetics of the space, something that's not as much of an issue in a cube. I am no design guru. If it were up to me, furniture would only be moved for vacuuming, then moved back to its original spot. My husband is the antithesis of that approach. About every other month, I come home to find the living and dining room furniture completely rearranged. 

"It needed a change," he'll say. As if the ottomon tripped him on his way on and pleaded, "Dude! Enough. If I have to look at the end table by the couch one more day, I can't be held responsible for what happens!" 

J. was hoping that the woman he married would bring a breezy, effortlessly elegant approach to interior design to the family home. Instead he got me, a woman who had temporary stick on accordion paper window shades in a previous home office for two years. We took them down when we moved. As I remind him, I got other skills to pay the bills.

So in addition to learning my new job and deliverables, I'm trying to decide the best configuration for my new space, which at one time was inhabited by a 6' 6" former co-worker. Thus, the desks are up on eight inch risers, making me look like a kid at the grownup table for Thanksgiving, even with the chair raised as high as possible. Even if it went higher, my feet would then be dangling, which you know, inspires about as much confidence in staff and co-workers as coming to the office in pigtails and OshKosh overalls.

Vern Yip: design super star

An office manager is checking on whether the risers come off, but in the meantime, I'm slowly moving files and other items into a space that for now looks like a TSA interrogation room. Clearly, some office pimpin' is needed. I so  wish Vern Yip would come do it. And my house. I love his crisp, modern, uncluttered design approach with great pops of color.

At the very least, I'm going to get a green plant for the space. Maybe bamboo: those always seem hearty and low-maintenance. According to Healthy and Green Living, we should strive to bring the outdoors in as "one way to begin bonding with life." One suggested example? 

* Stones, rocks, pebbles. Placed in bowls or in a ring around a vase, heaped in a small cairn or put singly in a special place of honor, the infinite variety and solid beauty of stones add grounding and stability to our homes.

I may try that, but it turns out Ava has been doing this on her own in our carport using rocks from our driveway. It looks as if she's buried a small animal next to our door and stacked rocks up to keep the miniature scavengers away. When I ask her why, she simply says, "Because I like them." I guess you bond with life easily when you're still rather new to it.

Eye spy

Me and my Granny, age 99 in March 2006

Unlike my grandmother, who lived to 100, didn't wear glasses and could still spot a dropped sewing needle on the floor across a room, I had undiagnosed vision problems as a kid and didn’t get glasses until I was 10 or 11. My teachers thought I sat in the front row because I was eager. Who am I kidding: I was eager. But I also couldn't see if I sat farther back.

My two best friends had glasses, so when I asked for some, my folks thought I just wanted them  because my friends had them. Riiight. Because all the COOL kids are rocking prescription glasses with extra thick lenses. Hawtie alert!

It turned out that I’m VERY nearsighted: 20/650 uncorrected. Meaning if I knock my glasses off the night table, I have to get on my knees and feel around for them on the floor. Not. Pretty. On the upside, in every apartment and house where I've lived, I can walk around unimpeded in the dark. See: "The perks of nearsightedness," said Ms. Glass Half-Full.

Still, I was annoyed (caution: first world complaint ahead) to wake up a couple days ago and discover a screw missing from my glasses, leaving me with one missing ear hook. Fortunately, I still had a previous pair with a weaker prescription to tide me over until I can get mine repaired or upgraded. But it reminded me that there are organizations that collect old glasses for those who don't have the luxury of first world complaining about things like missing eyeglass screws.

If you have a pair of old glasses taking up space, consider donating them to organizations that help those who can't afford them. It's environmentally friendly and a way to put your extraneous items to good use.

Also, if you have kids, get their eyes checked early. Sometimes kids are incorrectly diagnosed with learning disabilities when they really have vision problems.

Judging by Ava and Dylan's ability to see me unwrapping a piece of gum from the other side of the house, I'm guessing they got my grandmother's eye genes.

New gig, new challenges

On the heels of news that the Employment Index in U.S. Climbs to Highest Level in Two Years as reported by Bloomberg Business Week, I'm happy to report that I too am moving up in employment to a new position overseeing customer service for a branch of local government. Lots of low-hanging fruit, right?

I've met with my new team, who are all experienced in community outreach and helping residents get involved with their government, so that is a huge plus.

I'm still getting up to speed in the new role but I'm looking forward to the opportunities. It seems well-suited to my background in communications and social media, my interest in open government and Gov 2.0, and my customer-centric approach to public service.

I'll see how the work-life-balance adjusts over the coming weeks and months. Dylan's a month away from the one year mark, which means no more pumping during the day for me, just nursing evenings and weekends as needed. That means no more bottle washing, packing and transporting every day, making getting prepped for each day a little easier.

Conversely, he seems poised to walk/run/climb any day now, so we'll need to spend some time nailing down everything under three feet in the house.

Ava has started complaining about her brother's increasing mobility and interest in her things and everything that she was just about to play with or was playing with yesterday, with "DYL-an! I am so FLUS-trated! No! Uh-uh! No touch!"

But most of the time she's the loving big sister with him, instantly launching into Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star at the first sign of his distress, which amazingly distracts and soothes him.

So work and life are going well. I'll keep you posted on balance.

11 month old romantic

Dylan's giving out kisses these days when prompted. We'll work on fixing the drooly, open mouth part. On a separate note, his other top tooth and another bottom broke through on Friday. He's been an eating machine with 1 1/2 teeth. He'll be T2 with four!

Ava spots some shoe bling

At the Nordstom half yearly sale, Ava homes in on some major bunion bling. It's a madhouse down here and I turned around to make sure she was still close by and found her transfixed like this. This is a kid who would wear her white dress shoes with the sequin embellishment every day if she could. I see lots of haggling over clothing in our future.