back-to-work « WordPress.com Tag Feed

My week at a glance, luck and me

italywithgrace — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 21:51:16 +0000

Monday started out with me stepping into a very large dog mess, and I know that is a very ungraceful thing to write about and I can assure you it is even more ungraceful to step in, but that’s how my week started off, with me stepping in dog doo at exactly 8.35 on a Monday morning. The good thing is I live in Italy, which basically means that I had just stepped in good luck. (I’m not kidding Italians have told me this since I very first day I got to this country) Looking down at my brown boot it’s not the first thing that comes to mind. Then I notice not far ahead is a very large puddle. Tuesday my boss leaves for the Bahama’s for vacation, leaving me to do what I do best. Pretend to be the boss. Things run smoothly all week. I am too tired to go out for dinner on Tuesday night though, and at the last minute I get a call and our dinner gets canceled. Lucky. Wednesday I call my one of my biggest prospective clients, again, after she has already told me she is not interested and ask her if I can come and do a presentation. She says no. She has already seen it, I showed her before, she is not interested. Then she calls me back and says yes. Thursday I go to my presentation and after only 7 months of being back to work, I manage to make our prospective client, our client. Very Lucky. I walk out feeling on top of the world, I call my husband and ask him if I can invite him for a drink.

Later while we are drinking prosecco (which is an Italian sparkling white wine) I am excitedly telling my husband about my day, he listens to me carefully, letting me bask in my glory and celebrating with me..
I look at him and think my luck started long before Monday..

Thursday Mashup (3/21/13)

doomsy — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 19:55:41 +0000

Last Monday marked the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision of Gideon v. Wainright in which the High Court ruled unanimously that the Constitution requires the states to provide defense attorneys to criminal defendants charged with serious offenses who cannot afford lawyers themselves (this was the basis for the great TV movie called “Gideon’s Trumpet” starring Henry Fonda – here).

As noted here, though…

The issue is by no means settled. In his recent New York Times editorial “The Right to Counsel: Badly Battered at 50,” Lincoln Caplan contends that “After 50 years, the promise of Gideon v. Wainwright is mocked more of than fulfilled,” at times because of the lack of funding for public defender offices, in other cases due to incompetent counsel. He concludes, “There is no shortage of lawyers to do this work. What stands in the way is an undemocratic, deep-seated lack of political will.”

Indeed – as noted here, Georgia shifted the burden of providing counsel to its 159 counties; this was an issue in particular for capital murder cases involving the death penalty (don’t know if it was an issue here or not) – apparently Georgia is responsible for more executions than any state except Texas (I think that’s what the author meant to say instead of “Houston”). And it’s not much better in the “Sunshine State” (here); New York State has issues also as noted here (lest anyone think I intend to pick on “red” states only).

And from here…

The Supreme Court has carved out other exceptions to the right to counsel after an arrest. It has allowed law enforcement officials to have ex parte contacts with defendants to determine whether the defendant is in fact represented by counsel (sic). It has also allowed ex parte communications that are made with the consent of defendant’s counsel; those made pursuant to discovery procedures, such as subpoenas; communications in the course of a criminal investigation; communications necessary to protect the life or safety of another person; and those made by a represented person, so long as the person has knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waived the right to have counsel present. These exceptions apply to all persons, regardless of whether they can afford their own attorney.

And as noted here…

No one wants to pay for more public defenders. Or, better put, few people in political power care enough about the gross injustices being done to poor people to spend more money trying to ensure they receive adequate representation. “Inadequate funding is the primary source of the systemic failure in indigent defense programs nationwide,” concluded Harvard Law School student David A. Simon in a thoughtful law review piece published a few years ago. “Of the more than $146.5 billion spent annually on criminal justice, over half is allocated to support the police officers and prosecutors who investigate and prosecute cases, while only about two to three percent goes toward indigent defense.”

(Criminal justice experts Stephen B. Bright and Sia M. Sanneh) don’t just blame lawmakers. “Many judges tolerate or welcome inadequate representation because it allows them to process many cases in a short time,” they write. And the problem is made worse, they contend, because the “Supreme Court has refused to require competent representation, instead adopting a standard of ‘effective counsel’ that hides and perpetuates deficient representation.” Not only that, Simon adds, but the justices have “neglected to specify which level of government — federal, state or local — must serve as the guarantor” of the right to counsel nor the “method by which states should administer their public defender programs.” No one is responsible, in other words, because everyone is in charge.

Let us hope that this HBO documentary, due to air this summer, helps to shed some more light on this travesty.

Further, I give you the latest from the fake outrage factory here (ZOMG! There goes that Marxist preh-zee-dint of ours again)…

Yesterday during the White House daily press briefing, Press Secretary Jay Carney was asked by “just a blogger” if President Obama planned to cut back on his lavish vacations and travel at a time when the country is hurting economically. Carney’s answer wasn’t “no,” but rather a long drawn out “Obama is focused on jobs.”

…

This question came just one week after it was revealed the Obama’s are living at a cost of $1.4 billion per year.

This is an attempt to re-spin the finding here from last year that the Obama White House spent $1.4 billion on vacations, which was totally ridiculous when it was first pronounced for the reasons noted here (actually, Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs did an even better job of dispensing with this nonsense here).

Memo to clownhall.com…the purse strings of the federal government rest with the House of Representatives. Neither you nor your wingnut brethren have any right whatsoever to complain about the effects of the sequester, particularly when Obama and the Senate Democrats have been proposing alternatives that don’t totally screw over many more people than necessary in this country and leave the “pay no price, bear no burden” bunch untouched as usual.

Meanwhile, Man Tan Boehner, that sleazy weasel Eric Cantor, Mr.-Puppy-Dog-Eyes-With-The-Shiv and the rest of the Repug “young guns” (with Mikey the Beloved pledging his supine acceptance) are bound and determined to shove austerity down our throats whether we like it or not, all to make Congressional Democrats and Number 44 look as bad as they can.

Next, BoBo of the New York Times is back, as noted from here…

There is a statue outside the Federal Trade Commission of a powerful, rambunctious horse being reined in by an extremely muscular man. This used to be a metaphor for liberalism. The horse was capitalism. The man was government, which was needed sometimes to restrain capitalism’s excesses.

Today, liberalism seems to have changed. Today, many progressives seem to believe that government is the horse, the source of growth, job creation and prosperity. Capitalism is just a feeding trough that government can use to fuel its expansion.

For an example of this new worldview, look at the budget produced by the Congressional Progressive Caucus last week. These Democrats try to boost economic growth with a gigantic $2.1 trillion increase in government spending — including a $450 billion public works initiative, a similar-size infrastructure program and $179 billion so states, too, can hire more government workers.

Oh yes, how dare those baaad, dastardly Dems try to hire more “government workers” (police, fire, teachers – you know, those lazy, gold-bricking swine…snark). And of course, David Brooks won’t tell us that the U.S. House Repugs and their economic warfare on said workers (as part of the austerity I noted earlier) is one of the biggest drags against our economic recovery (here).

Oh, and BoBo also tells us the following about taxes (Brooks is responding to Back to Work, the plan of the Progressive Democratic Caucus, which would indeed raise the top-end rate to 49 percent – for anyone making $1 billion or more – I’ll acknowledge that there could be a “bite” when you calculate state and local taxes with it, but I’m sorry, I don’t see that as a “game changer”; maybe try to factor in a tax credit for these folks when we return to prosperity? Just a thought…)…

Now, of course, there have been times, like, say, the Eisenhower administration, when top tax rates were very high. But the total tax burden was lower since so few people paid the top rate and there were so many ways to avoid it. Government was smaller.

And high earners aren’t avoiding taxes now? Really?

And Brooks also trots out the “higher taxes will cause me to work less” argument, supported by former Bushie Greg Mankiw among others – I think it is important to consider this in response, mainly that such thinking is counter-intuitive to human nature (wouldn’t you want to work more to make up lost earnings?) – also, deferring taxation this way might end up putting more of a burden on your kids if you’re a parent.

As noted here, though, BoBo has been wrong about income inequality for years (and as noted here, Brooks once blamed women for it – nice). And for good measure, he once defended the “one percent” here (Matt Yglesias responds also here – h/t Jay Ackroyd at Eschaton).

In conclusion, I just wanted to note that I did a search for “unemployed” or any variation thereof in Brooks’s column, and I came up empty, which isn’t surprising I know (love to see how Brooks would do having to work one or two “McJobs” in an effort to make up for his cushy pundit paycheck and related perks).

And never to be outdone when it comes to self-righteous indignation, the Murdoch Street Journal whines as follows here (about Medicare Advantage, which, quite rightly, is being targeted for a budget cut)…

The tragedy is that Medicare Advantage architecture is far from perfect and HHS could save money if it wanted to, in particular by targeting the private fee-for-service plans that mimic all of traditional Medicare’s dysfunctions except with an element of private profit. But that approach conflicts with the Administration’s political goal of strangling Medicare Advantage in the crib.

(Conservatives just love to punctuate their literary flourishes with violent imagery, don’t they?)

As noted here…

Medicare Advantage was started under President George W. Bush, and the idea was that competition among the private insurers would reduce costs. But in recent years the plans have actually cost more than traditional Medicare. So the health care law scales back the payments to private insurers.

And as noted here…

Private insurance plans under Medicare Advantage are often able to attract healthier Medicare beneficiaries by offering cheap — but bare-bones — health plans. When those healthier seniors encounter a medical problem that’s too extensive for their private coverage, they switch over to the more generous traditional Medicare program in order to take advantage of its more expansive benefits. That in turn, raises spending in the traditional Medicare pool…

And just go ahead and call me a filthy, unkempt liberal blogger, but based on this poll from last December, I would say that most of those people polled want traditional Medicare to be left alone (despite all of its “dysfunctions,” something the Repugs would do well to get through their thick heads in light of this).

Finally, Irrational Spew Online bloviates as follows here…

Elizabeth Warren was slated to be the first head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Senate Republicans stopped her confirmation, so now she is leading the charge to confirm Richard Cordray to that office.

But nobody should be the head of this monstrous Dodd-Frankenstein by-product. The structure and powers of the CFPB, as created by Congress, put it outside our constitutional system. Most significantly, Congress allotted the bureau an independent source of revenue, guaranteed its insulation from legislative or executive oversight, and gave it the power to define and punish “abusive” practices.

Actually, this tells us that the CFPB can have its rules vetoed by something called the FSOC, and no other regulator is subject to this kind of a check (so much for operating “outside our constitutional system”). Also, this tells us how Warren has called out the Repugs on their BS over Cordray in particular and the CFPB and Dodd-Frank in general.

And as noted here (in the matter of supposed “insulation from legislative or executive oversight”)…

“Since his first confirmation hearing in September 2011, Director Cordray has appeared before this Committee more than any other financial regulator,” said (South Dakota Democratic U.S. Senator Tim) Johnson. “During that time, he has proved to be a strong leader of the CFPB. He has completed many of the rules required by Wall Street Reform, including a well-received final [Qualified Mortgage] rule. He listens, and has crafted strong rules that take into account all sides of an issue. He has laid the groundwork for nonbank regulation. He has brought to light the financial challenges faced by students, elderly Americans, servicemembers and their families. He has taken important enforcement actions against banks that took advantage of customers. So I ask my colleagues, what more can Richard Cordray do to deserve an up-or-down vote? I hope we can finally put aside politics and move forward with Richard Cordray’s confirmation.” – Consumerist, 3/19/13

The Daily Kos post tells us that the U.S. Senate Banking Committee approved the nomination of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The vote was 12-10 along party lines. Every Democrat supported him. Every Republican opposed him.

As mad as I get at the Dems at times, I get even madder at people who say they’re the same as Republicans. The latter bunch just wants to keep fleecing us, fighting unending wars for little or no purpose, fouling the environment at will, sitting on their collective hands while austerity tries to wreck our fledgling recovery, allowing weapons of death to continue flooding every school, movie theater, and gathering place of any kind in this country, and continually trying to demonize the opposition party instead of working with them on behalf of the best interests of the majority of the people of this nation (oh, but they’re “pro-life,” aren’t they? Not if you’re actually born, they’re not).

And unless you’re rich, if you know all this and still support these fools, frauds and charlatans (at least on the national level anyway – I’ve encountered precious few good Republicans on the local level, though not recently), then I have no tolerance for your point of view.

Your willful ignorance continues to be the ruin of this country. Heckuva job!

Shopping Spree!

TheELMLife — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 19:06:50 +0000

A little over a month ago a put together a back-to-work to-do list because I am returning to the off

Maddox: Month Three

ellebeauregard — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 17:32:03 +0000

Maddox turns 3 months old!

February brought with it a whole new set of challenges, experiences and a whole new family dynamic. I went back to work and Maddox went to daycare on an all-day basis for the first time. The first two weeks of February, I worked Tuesday through Thursday, 7AM-3:30PM. The third week, Maddox got a fever and a cold. So while I was scheduled to begin working full time that week, I was only able to make it into work for a day and a half as Josh and I took turns caring for a sick Maddox. Josh got a taste of what it was like to be home all day, alone with the baby, and I got a taste of what it would be like to try to juggle my work-identity with my new mom-identity. Tensions were high for a couple of days, but as Maddox recovered, Josh and I learned that we could handle this.

As stressful as the juggling act was (is) it was nice to go back to work. In a lot of ways, work suddenly felt like a vacation from the job I had been doing more-than-full time for the last three months. It felt great to use critical thinking again, and in my breaks from my work tasks, I was even able to catch up on some personal emails I hadn’t been able to reply to while at home. Using the commute time on the bus to write also felt great and was a much needed creative outlet that I had sincerely missed. All that said, it was still hard to be away from Maddox all day, and difficult to know I was missing hours and hours of his life each week. It took time to adjust my expectations and learn what to expect from daycare, and time for Maddox to fall into a new comfortable routine. By the end of the 3^rd month, however, Maddox could sleep in the bassinet in our bedroom on his own (without someone having to be in the room with him!) And so began a new evening routine:

5:30PM Lauren picks Maddox up from daycare

Maddox falls asleep in his highchair for the first time

Btwn 5:30 and 6PM Josh gets home from work

Btwn 6:30 and 7PM Dinner at the table with Maddox. (He enjoys his highchair time!)

Btwn 7 and 7:30 Bedtime for Maddox

Pajamas (or “Palamas” as I’ve begun calling them.)

Milks in the bedroom.

Maddox falls to sleep, and I lay him in his bassinet.

Until 9PM Josh and Lauren spend some much needed time together, usually watching TV or working on our laptops.

9PM Lauren quietly slips into bed and Josh studies for his CPA exam until 11 or midnight.

Midnight: Maddox wakes up for a diaper change and feeding

3AM: Maddox wakes up for another feeding

4:45AM: Lauren wakes up and gets ready for work

5:15AM: Lauren gets Maddox up for one last feeding.

5:45AM: Lauren leaves for work.

7AM: Josh and Maddox wake up. Josh gets ready for work.

7:30AM: Josh takes Maddox to daycare.

The best part of all about going back to work, is that the short time Josh and Maddox get to spend together in the morning has done wonders. Josh is a more confident Dad and Maddox knows his dad better now, trusting that Dad knows what he needs. Maddox lights up when Josh comes into the room. To Maddox, Dad = fun! I can’t help but smile as I watch the two of them together.

There's nothing lazy about being on income assistance

KLS — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 00:41:48 +0000

Being on income assistance is exhausting. To even apply for it, there’s endless amounts of pap

Haikus 19/03/13

joetwo — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 11:00:01 +0000

Sleet falls from the sky
Cold, wet and miserable
An Irish welcome
#
A man on the bus
Earphones in singing like mad
Being mad’s easy
#
Now I’m back to work
After a week pretending
What damage was done?

Office space

northernspacesblog — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 21:56:40 +0000

This weekend I sent away my CV and a job application for the first time in… quite many years. To me it seems completely absurd that someone would actually hire me, when I can’t even remember to put the bins out on a Wednesday. I have university degrees coming out of my ears, and I did have a career once, but, well, then life happens. A child gets diagnosed with a complex disability, then two more children appear (how? why so many!) and suddenly it’s seven years later and there are mushrooms growing inside your car and you can’t figure out how to do online banking (brain, come back! All is forgiven!).

Inspired by a trawl on Pinterest for gorgeous work spaces, I am already planning my office wardrobe. I am convinced my new career is going to happen in a place like these..

Photos via Bolig Pluss, Cherry Blossom World, Design O Form, French By Design

Obviously, new job will be in something like this

Unbearable

Everybody Hates Me 😞😞

Dewayne Barnett — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 12:49:51 +0000

Good morning guys, someone sent me the picture below the other day and I immediately thought I had t

Hardly any time to grieve

diaryofawidower — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 07:25:01 +0000

THURSDAY, March 18 – Overwhelmed. Totally overwhelmed. It’s all getting on top of me and I’m ready to collapse. There’s so much to do while at the same time I’m longing for the moment when I can resume my life. Start with a clean slate. That’s all nonsense, I know – starting with a clean slate, but that’s what I want.

So tired and yet so energetic. And so happy together with the children, so full of hope, so optimistic. Still, sometimes it feels as if I have nowhere to turn. I want to be super dad, Superman, super lover and super employee, preferably all at once while, in reality, I barely have time to grieve for Jennifer.

There’s a tiny voice inside me that keeps shouting: ‘Call it a day, Overdiek, take a time-out.’ but it’s beyond me. I can’t manage to listen to that voice and it feels as if I’ll sink and drown if I don’t take action. There’s so much to do and so little time for self-reflection, so little time to think about what has actually happened to Jennifer, to me, to us.

This all seems so contradictory, since things are actually improving or maybe that’s just what I tell myself. Aren’t they just words to use when people ask me how I’m doing and I reply ‘Better and better’. Since,in reality there’s nothing but chaos inside my head and in front of me I see the ‘To-Do List – Urgent’.

My job is slowly but surely making more and more demands on me. What it boils down to is that I don’t have the energy to do everything. Emergency scenarios pop into my head. Should I call in sick? Is it an option to apply for paternity leave? Or should I simply establish priorities and stop whining?

My life and that of the boys continues as usual; but, what, indeed, is ‘usual’ when you no longer have your life under control? As far as my work is concerned, it is my fervent wish to get back to functioning at my old level. There are so many challenges ahead of me and so many fun things waiting for me, but I’m not up to it. I’m simply not up to it.

Back to work

crazybunny66 — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 21:05:46 +0000

picture credit

After having been off for a fortnight with neck problems. Apparenly, my neck is years ahead of me, I can still hear it grinding when I turn my head, it still hurts if I make a sudden movement 😖

Still, I don’t want to go back to work tomorrow, I dread it!!

New #Workfare Bill is a desperate attempt to circumvent law and democracy. #BoycottWorkfare #JSA #ESA #DWP

A4e2A&E — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 11:58:21 +0000

Yesterday the Government introduced a new workfare bill to retroactively change workfare legislation judged unlawful by the High Court, so that it has always complied with the court ruling, even though for two years it did not. Its aim? To avoid paying back the JSA money it unlawfully stopped when people were ‘sanctioned’ on its workfare schemes. That the government would try to avoid paying was expected. What no one expected was how it plans to do so.

In its arguments to justify withholding social security people are due – an average of about £500 per person, £130 million pounds in total – the DWP has stated that:

“If the Department cannot make these retrospective changes, then further reductions in benefits might be required in order to find the money to repay the sanctions”

In short, if the government is made to obey the high court’s ruling, it will inflict collective punishment on those who can least afford it by finding £130 million pounds more in new cuts from the welfare
budget. Shockingly this is supported by Labour. Yet again the poorest will be made to pay for the mistakes of the powerful.

Iain Duncan Smith wants to ride rough shod over the law to continue his reign of incompetence, arrogance and punitive policies at the DWP. In a move which can only be interpreted as a desperate attempt to circumvent law and democracy, the second reading; committee stage; and third readingare all scheduled for one day: this Tuesday. Rather than face the consequences for his failing and unlawful schemes, he wants to rob £130m from people who should never have been sanctioned to start with.

The DWP argue that:

“A retrospective transfer of public money to this group of claimants would represent poor value to the taxpayer and will not help those unemployed enter employment… It is vital that in the present context of austerity measures the public purse is protected from such claims which could cost up to £130 million…”

This means that as of today YMCA, the Salvation Army and others are not only involved in profiting from workfare, they are now involved in implementing a policy in which the government threatens the poorest with collective punishment on a vast scale. Workfare is being used as an excuse to potentially introduce £130 million of additional benefits cuts by the back door. Those involved are propping up a government policy which clearly states that it will use collective punishment by lowering benefit payments to everyone.

Those sanctioned were on placements at the likes of the Salvation Army and the YMCA. Let them and other workfare providers know what you think.

Take part in our week of action beginning this Monday.

Source - Boycott Workfare

Maddox: Month Two

ellebeauregard — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 22:08:12 +0000

Maddox on his 2-month birthday

At two months old, life got much more interesting. Josh returned to work full time in January, having been off work in November, then working short weeks for all of December. At the same time, Maddox developed the ability to smile and coo, which he did with increasing command and frequency as the month progressed. He enjoyed lying under his Ocean-themed play gym, staring at the baubbles above him and kicking at the rattle by his feet. He liked to share conversation, making various adorable noises, waiting for me to reply, and then “talking” again. I found that taking care of Maddox all day suddenly felt much less exhausting once he became interactive. Suddenly, I was being rewarded during diaper changes by smiles, coos and squeals, and if felt so incredible to watch him develop new skills. That being said, some days were harder than others. We were still not out of the P.U.R.P.L.E crying phase, but the episodes of inconsolable crying were growing less common, even if it didn’t always feel that way.

Maddox, all smiles with Tama

It was around two months old that we discovered the true beauty of the Moby Wrap and Bjorn. Maddox was at his most peaceful when snuggled up against me or Josh—he even napped when being worn! And so a daily routine developed without effort (I’ve never been a big proponent of strict schedules for babies, but this one sort of happened on its own. That said, this is VERY general—it was rarely this predictable or perfect):

Maddox, peaking out from over the top of the Moby wrap. So cuddly.

Wake up around 7AM

Eat, play,diapers, etc.

9 or 10AM: Naptime. For this nap, I sometimes ran errands (as he would sleep in the car from time to time) or would wear him in the Moby while I got some things done around the house.

Awake again by noon

Eat, play, diapers, etc. (Sometimes we would run errands in this time slot, though usually not.)

3PM: Nap again in the Moby or in my arms.

4PM: Wake up, eat, play, cry for a while.

7PM: Back in the Moby or Bjorn.

Josh and I eat dinner: whoever was wearing Maddox stood while they ate. We generally watched some TV while we ate and Maddox slept.

9PM: remove from Moby/Bjorn; diaper, sleepsack, milk, bed.

Maddox would not sleep in his bassinet unless someone was in the room with him, so I took up the practice of going to bed at 9PM. It was good—I got enough sleep that way, and so did he. It meant Josh and I didn’t get much alone time, but the predictability was welcomed.

This whole month, I was keenly aware that the date at which I would have to go back to work was just around the corner. Sometimes I looked forward to it, eager to return to something similar to my old life. Other days (those days when Maddox was a delight!) I dreaded the idea of leaving him at daycare, though I loved the daycare we had found for him. We did three “trial” days at daycare this month, three hours each day. I cried and cried leading up to that first trial day, but each time it got a little easier. The first day, I went and had my hair done—I was distracted the whole time but it felt nice to do something just for me. The second day, Josh and I had lunch (sushi!) and spent some time together, which was wonderful. The third day, we cleaned the condo in preparation of my return to work, just two weeks away.

When the day finally came that I returned to work (just a couple days shy of Maddox’s 3-month birthday) I felt prepared—at least as prepared as I possibly could. It was hard to leave him, but wonderful to re-enter the adult world. It was strange the way that work suddenly felt like a vacation.

Post Russia

doe. — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 16:07:30 +0000

Chances are if you are my friend on FB, you will notice I went to Russia. St Petersburg was AWESOME. Took a cruise from the Helsinki side of the Baltic Sea to the St Petersburg side of the Baltic Sea. I was not the biggest fan of the actual ship experience, I didn’t sleep at all on the ship and I unlike my fellow artists did not totally appreciate the entertainment situation. It was weird, and it was the kind of weird everyone else could enjoy but me. Que sera sera! I will post some more Russia pics soon, but I wanted to post some work that I have actually started since receiving some inspiration via Russia and Helsinki, we stopped at the Kiasma Contemporary Art Museum on the way back and it helped get me back in the game.

53/364

hollylottie — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 07:40:17 +0000

Back to work today.

Yesterday after my little moaning spell of about 2 hours, I decided I was being a baby. So I got up, I made myself eat some toast, I washed up, I had a shower and I tidied my room. And you know what? My headache went. It completely went for the rest of the day.

So today I’m back to work. I have a headache right now, to be fair, but I’ve taken paracetamol and I’m just not going to let it get to me. Well, unless it gets really bad…

It’s freezing by the way. No one told me this while I was cooped up in my room.

trying to get back to work...

susie carranza studio — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 22:51:01 +0000

since lawrence’s dad (my father-in-law) passed away life seems to have…stalled. it’s already going to be one month that we lost him (on the 15th) yet it still seems unreal.

so…this week i’m making a conscious effort to do something creative (art therapy?) so i’ve been going through our packed boxes looking for my art supplies. so far, not bad: found my boxes of acrylic paints and my box of wood pieces, so i can hopefully have new work to share really soon.

yesterday, my creative endeavor was to photograph textures found outside. i enjoyed it; it was a very warm day, and i’d been sort of hibernating inside lately. i liked all the textures i found around my parents’ yard (i even included Canela, our dog).

i was hoping this would spark some idea or light a fire in my artistic brain…

…and it did. it gave me the itch to work on some mixed media pieces. i’ll be starting with the large green heart in the photo below (seems like i painted it eons ago, with watered down lime green acrylic paint).

i have been busy listing sets of cards in my Etsy shop – each set includes 3 greeting cards, blank inside, with images of my original artwork on the cover. take a look and let me know what you think! Below is the “Flowers” set; click my shop link below to see the other sets…

https://www.etsy.com/shop/asucarr

’til next time…

Guest blogging at Your Monthly Periodical

Christie Silver — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 19:06:11 +0000

The lovely ladies over at Your Monthly Periodical asked me to write about something that’s imp

Catching Up and Standing Strong

thejourneyofmyhealing — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 18:39:54 +0000

So much has happened in such a short time and the post I started writing is now so out of date, I had to start over. To catch up our folks playing at home, on Feb 27th I turned 48. The day before my birthday, I received a call from my manager that she was posting my job and I would no longer be on her team. On Friday, through a true and honest to goodness miracle in the corporate realm, my doctor released me, my therapist agreed and HR made my boss take down the posting and give me my job back. Monday March 4th, I went back to work after 15 weeks being at home.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about stepping out of my comfort zone, my cave of despair really, and attending a bowling event and how I gained strength from that small step in that noisy crowded place. How I knew I had to do it so I wouldn’t lose my children.
The Monday before my birthday, I sent a text to a lady who runs a place called The Healing Rooms. I wrote about going last year. It is inter-faith, and they are gentle and respectful. But I knew I needed an answer and I couldn’t find it within myself. Little did I know what would be happening that week and how stepping out once more, finding I did have some fight left in me, helped me to get myself back to work, to stand up and take my job back.

I received the prayers and blessings from that small little meeting. I was told by the lady who was assigned to sit and talk with me and to pray with me that I was wearing a coat that did not belong to me and it was too heavy and didn’t fit. That I was shrouded in a veil of suffering and darkness, but that I had to be the one to let them go. I shared afterwards with her that I had been home battling a dark depression and filled with anxiety and fear. She said anyone who looked at me could tell that.
That resonated with me. I didn’t want to have that fearful animal, depressed person look!

The next day, I started feeling stronger in my mind and my body. I pushed myself to do things that would have had me running in fear. My first day back at the office, I wore red and my boots that go over the knee and make me feel like I’m a superhero.

My 2nd day at work, my boss called me to catch up and began to tell me everything wrong with me and the complaints she had received. I was very caught off guard, but sat up straight and asked for examples – there were none. I thanked her for the feed back and surprised myself by not breaking down into a puddle or going on a scavenger hunt for chocolate. I enjoyed a peaceful evening drawing. The next day, I contacted everyone that is on my team and gave them a personal apology for actions by me that offended or caused a negative vibe. They all looked at me with a dropped jaw. Not 1 person out of 15 knew what I was talking about. I felt stronger again.

As I have progressed into week 2 of back to work, this woman has come to me 3 times to accuse and attack me. And all 3 times, I’ve stood my ground and she has been proven wrong.

I am still healing. I am still dealing with wounds on my soul. But I feel so much stronger than I was just a few short weeks ago. I feel the hope inside me. I can see daylight. I know not everyday I will be Wonder Woman, but I can still wear shiny bracelets.

I know what happened in the past. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future. But I refuse to give up my sanity and I refuse to give up my dignity and I absolutely refuse to give up! I am not afraid of the future. The grocery store is another matter all together.

We are all stronger, because we are not alone. Don’t feel that you are, I will stand with you and I will hold your hand.

Day Fifty-Nine...

livinglifeinyour20s — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 14:07:01 +0000

Today was very uneventful so finding something to take a picture of because far more of a challenge! I go through Bank everyday and change for work so what better to snap a picture of on such a dull day!

Workfare statement by IDS (not)

D Rosier — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 17:22:09 +0000

From Sheffield Now Then Magazine

Growing Up Too Fast

livelaughlovemom — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 11:31:43 +0000

Since the moment I found out I was pregnant and began telling people, I feel as though over and over people have told me to treasure every moment because they grow way too fast, and before you know it….. it’s their first day of daycare!

At eight months, my little man has several teeth (and is a drooling monster as the rest begin to come in), is a crawling and babbling machine! He has just started pulling himself up and trying to take steps, and is sleeping at the bottom of his crib with no sleep sack! We’ve fed him from the table, and he feeds himself his own bottle. I look at him, and while I can recall the way he looked at every stage, I can’t help thinking my little man looks like a little boy now. His features are becoming more defined and he finally has a head full of hair.

I’m excited by how much Eric has grown, because at every stage he becomes more interactive. The feeling when you open the door after a long exhausting day of work, and the light of your life glows with happiness and crawls to you, is priceless and almost worth going back to work. (I said almost!). It’s also terrifying, because this means he is growing up and I cannot believe that eight months ago we were just preparing ourselves for a newborn, constant exhaustion and unexplainable love. Life is completely different and beautiful in unexpected ways.

Today is going to be a hard day for mommy. I’m up early preparing his diaper bag and large pile of documents for his daycare provider, and reflecting on how fast this day came. I’m prepared for bringing him to daycare, I just cannot prepare myself for that feeling of turning your back on your baby being cared for by a stranger. I keep telling myself that he won’t even notice I’m gone, and that we’re doing this because it is the best for him. At the same time, I just want to be the person who spends all day every day with him. It is at this moment I’m jealous of all the women who have the ability to be a stay-at-home mom.

At least today is a short day – only six hours, and he will be coming to my store before heading home with Daddy. I’m planning lots of hugs and cuddles this morning, and tomorrow it will be just the two of us!

The real-fake mommy's day

littlemrsjohnson — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 08:52:16 +0000

Yesterday. Only in the United Kingdom. Mothering Sunday. Got it?

No? Me either.
I fetched Monkey from Nursery on Friday and was presented with a pink card with green paint splotches. Hands. Six month old baby hands. Dear Mummy…

I’m a mummy? The only way that looks good is if you slap a yummy in front of it. Yummy mummy. Luke would agree. Mummy the milk machine is yummy. Ha!

In my head I’m a mamma not a mum and Mother’s Day is in May not March. But I have a little British baba by birth and a London post code so Mothering Sunday it is.

And boy oh boy was it a goodie!
Slept in until 10:30AM. Woke to this.

Opened gifts of jewellery and ate pancakes.

My boys did good.

And then Monkeyface and I did a big grocery shop together and I couldn’t resist picking up some of these.

Always a sucker for anything in retro 50′s packaging.

And after singing my baby to sleep with the repeated words Goya Goya Goya to the tune of sighing (don’t ask) I purchased this online, as part of my back to work and out of maternity clothes campaign.

Making it an all round amaze balls Mothering Sunday.

Can’t wait to see what the real Mother’s Day brings

Hi-Ho

fishhookanni — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 02:54:50 +0000

On the first day of the Pisces New Moon, I am melancholy. Today marks the ending of my maternity lea

Back to Work . . . Again

Annette — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 23:05:01 +0000

“Work is against human nature. The proof is that it makes us tired.” Michel Tournier So

Death works from nine to five

diaryofawidower — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 08:39:30 +0000

March 10 – It’s just a routine day and yet, time and again, I’m reminded of my personal tragedy to the point where people are beginning to notice.

Just before the start of a big meeting, I see a colleague heading in my direction. He saunters at first, but then firmly sets course in my direction. Then comes the question: ‘And how are you doing now?’ Well meant, of course, but clearly the wrong moment, with people all around us. I hear myself saying something about spring being just around the corner. My heart contracts.

It’s even worse when a colleague describes to a small group of people how he suddenly had to race home because his wife had fallen off a ladder and had been taken to the hospital by ambulance. No details were spared: wounds, blood, bandages, and the shock of it all. I continued to listen, but I felt the tears welling up, saw Jenn lying there. At first they said everything was going to be all right. The colleague looks at me despairingly, then he comes over and we hug briefly. No problem.

In the corridor I chat with two staff members about foreign correspondents and their expense accounts. I speak from experience. One of them remarks that in the United States it was different for me because I was married to an American. Time suddenly stands still, but then he chatters on and I let the moment pass. The other shuffles his feet uncomfortably. He lost a family member last year. We don’t dare to look at each other, but we are gripped by the same emotions.

I stop briefly to greet a colleague whose wife recently gave birth to a stillborn child. The funeral has just taken place. It’s a case of ‘a sorrow shared is a sorrow halved’, and we talk briefly. As a widower, I’m permitted to inquire, but I catch myself asking well-meaning questions which I myself might consider inappropriate. Or am I seeing ghosts?

Later that afternoon there’s a meeting, devoted to cross-media journalism, which had been repeatedly postponed and now even has a new chairman. His question was logical: ‘What exactly is the purpose of this meeting?’ I immediately explain that the death of my wife Jennifer is the reason that we are only now able to get together and that was that. Sometimes it’s better not to beat around the bush.

A normal meeting, but with death sitting in. Over four months later.