President Obama and I at the State Department Yesterday...

Compelling title for today's blog entry, no? Did it peak your interest? While the sentence is technically true, one might get the wrong impression...

You see, while it is true that President Obama and I were at the State Department yesterday, he was there to visit the new Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, while i was standing on the sidewalk with several of my colleagues and Dept. of State staff trying to catch a glimpse of him as he arrived for his meeting.

Fortunately we were all able to catch a glimpse of President Obama! And of course, it was thrilling!! His second day on the job and his first meeting with the Secretary of State on her first day on the job at the State Department. Too cool! 

It may sound corny, but small things like that make living and working in the D.C. area worth it!  

The Inauguration of President Obama

On Tuesday, January 20th, we witnessed the 44th President of the United States take the oath of office.  It was an amazing experience! Over 1+million people were there to watch the passing of the torch -- not only to the first African American President, but more importantly to a man that has inspired the hope and trust of a nation to solve unprecedented complex economic and political challenges confronting our nation.

The temperature was in the lower 20s (the windchill made it in the teens).  We wore four layers of clothing to stay warm.  To get to the Mall in Washington D.C., we walked from our home in Arlington, across the Roosevelt bridge (below).... 

To the Lincoln Memorial...

And from the Lincoln Memorial....

To the World War II Memorial...

and from there we stood with hundreds of thousands of other Americans from all over the United States and the globe watching the peaceful transition of power.  

Truism of the week

"Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints."

I like to read this quote every once in awhile because it makes me think about all the wonderful people, "true friends", that have left footprints in my life, that have been valuable sounding boards, that have been a source of inspiration, that have taken adventures with me, that have made me look at myself in the mirror, that have helped me to evolve, that know me inside and out and celebrate me, that have in short, shaped me into the person that i am today. 

I do not speak with many of my true friends every day or every month and some i have not spoken with in over a year, but yet they are my true friends. They are the kind of friendships that do not change despite the passing of time and living long distances apart.  They are the kind of people who you can see or talk to after a  long period of time and pick-up right where you left off.  They are easy to be with because they are apart of you.  When you see them it feels like going home i suspect because in part, they helped construct you and you them. 

It also makes me realize how many "friends" we have that are really just acquaintances and while acquaintances are nice things to have, they do not leave lasting imprints.  They come and they go. They ebb and they flow.  They wax and then wane...

Friday Confessions

In an effort to get me blogging more (recall one of my New Years Resolutions), i thought i might try a "weekly installment" of something that would enable me to overcome writers block and hopefully be enticing to readers. If you will recall, I started -- but failed to follow-up on -- "my favorite quote of the week" installment. So i am going to try to jump start another series called "Friday Confessions".   

In the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit upfront that this idea is totally NOT original.  In fact, it is a total rip-off from a friend of a friend's blog, www.thebigpieceofcake.com. If she ever reads this, i hope she realizes what my grandmother -- and a lot of other people -- have said, namely that "copying is a high form of flattery."

Anyway, so here we go.  What do i have to confess? 

1) I have way too many shoes. I am talking about Imelda Marquez number of shoes (sans the gold and diamonds). In fact, i have shoes that i have NEVER worn. I keep them nonetheless because i am determined to wear them!! However, some of these new/never worn shoes aren't "my style" (whatever that means) now. Nonetheless, i am determined to wear them because i loathe wasting money. I also have a hard time getting rid of old shoes. In fact, some of the shoes i have, i have had for 15 years! And i haven't worn them in at least 5 years! Why do i keep them? Because i hate to throw anything away and haven't given them away. Perhaps another New Years resolution will be to give away my old shoes in good condition!

2) Similar to number one, i have too many clothes, including clothes that i have never worn. Clothes i have never worn, include cute little impractical dresses i bought prior to having children. I look at them now and wonder, what was i thinking? However, i still have them and need to give them away or consign them! The rest of the clothes include clothes that i just can't part with, including the business suit i first wore to my first job interview out of graduate school and can still squeeze into! 

3) I am a Feng Shui junky.  Don't laugh! My friends and some family members tell me i am some what of an expert in it.  Of course, they don't exactly call it Feng Shui, but that is what it is.  Anyway, Feng Shui -- as you may know, is the ability to organize any space -- indoor/outdoor, bedroom, bathroom, basement, etc... so that it is functional, "breathe-able" (i.e. the space is clutter free), and visually appealing.  I think it is something akin to what a Landscape Architect does for outdoor spaces and Interior Designers do for indoor spaces sans the expense.  Anyway, a lot of people have this instinct or skill so that would make me one of many.  

Do you have any confessions you would like to share? Please do tell!!!

Is "three" the new "two"?

A good friend of mine is a wonderful mother of two beautiful boys and is contemplating having a third child. She has been thinking about it for awhile and has some reservations which i am quick to remind her is TOTALLY NORMAL!! I mean having one child, let alone three, is serious business...especially in this day and age.  

Anyway, the discussion made me start thinking about having kids all over again...not that i want a third child, but the decision making process we went through in deciding if and when to have children and how many.  I waited as long as i could (or should) to have children and would have waited longer if i could have, but i decided that i should have then before i turned 40.  (Incidentally, I know many women over 40 who have had healthy children.)  Fortunately, we were blessed to have two healthy children: a boy and a girl.

I never assumed that i would have another child after the first one.  However, after i had the first one, i realized that i wanted to have a second.  A friend of mine described it to me this way. "The first baby you have for yourself and the second baby is for the first child." I totally agree with that sentiment. I can't imagine growing up without my brother and sisters -- especially my twin sister and my older brother who i am very close to.  Another friend described having two children this way: "One is an heir, the second is a spare." The reality of this comment is a bit overwhelming to discuss, but you get the point.

So the interesting thing to contemplate is why have three? For moms with two boys or two girls, it is a chance to try for a girl or a boy, but of course the chances remain 50/50 so getting  one more boy or girl should be equally as desirable.  Certainly more children is more resources, work, and less free time, but i am reminded by what another friend of mine said: "Having children is an investment for the future." You will be glad to have them when you are older. They will be a potential source for grandchildren (god willing) and a pleasure to enjoy when they are older! I have also heard several people say that "three" is the new "two".    I assume it means that more people are having three children instead of two, but i don't know many people with three+ kids. 

Working Mothers: Part II

Last week i received an email from a colleague effectively asking me to apply for a job that is my "dream job". It is the kind of job that i've wanted since college and that everyone in my graduate school wanted to get, including me. It is the kind of job that only one in a million people can get.  (Okay so the odds may not be that skewed, but you get the idea.)  The pay! The prestige! The travel to such exotic locations such as Dubai, Mumbai, Namibia, and Zambia!  It's the sort of job that you quickly realize -- once you start working -- that you can't get until you have years and years of experience. 

So after working 15+ years in my field, it suddenly dawned on me that i now fall into that coveted category (for better or for worse) of having "years and years of experience".  I immediately began strategizing on how i would interview for the job.  I would interview them! They would be so lucky to get me! The interview would be a synch! Should i tell my boss? Could i convince some of my colleagues to go with me? The world was opening up to me! I was about to arrive!

Then the reality started to sink in.  Would my life not be my own? Would i still be able to telecommute on Fridays? Would i still be able to have one day a week off?  Would i have to travel to all of those exotic locations all the time? 

Then the reality really started to sink in.  I don't want to work 18/7! I don't want to travel abroad all the time! I don't want to always have to work 5 days a week and never take vacation! I want to be home with my little children and my husband! I want to take my son to and pick him up from school.  I want to eat dinner with them.  I want to be able to put my daughter to bed.  I want to play Blokus with my son and husband after dinner!!

Is it the case for moms with careers that we can't have it all or is it that in fact, we can have it all, just not at the same time? Does something always have to give?  And if we give something up, can we ever get it back? And if we can get it back, is it still the same?  So many questions.  I'm not sure if there any "right" or "wrong" answers... 

Book Clubbing

One of my friends recently invited me to become a part of her book club. Since my spare time is lacking these days, i hesitated to commit, but then ultimately accepted the invite as my past participation in book clubs has always been positive --- for many different reasons. 

The first book club i joined was in Greenwich, Connecticut and consisted of a group of about 10 women.  I went to the first meeting of the group which was actually started by the woman who helped to create the Oprah Winfrey book club.  Anyway, the group of women were really diverse and very FLEXIBLE. In fact, we had a rule that you didn't have to actually read the book to participate in the book club!  (Most of us did read the books most of the time.)  

When we moved from New York to D.C. in 1999, i decided to start another book club with some friends and co-workers premised on the same rules (e.g. you didn't have to read the book to come to the meetings).  The book club was nice, but it didn't compare to my CT book club and after we had our son and moved to Virginia, it sort of lost steam.   

So my "new" book club is set to be a very different experience. First, it isn't so "new".  In fact, the group was started about ten years ago and thus, has a very long history and well established routine and rhythm.  So the only thing that is "new" about the group is me and reportedly the last two "new" members didn't last long...!! 

Any apprehension i may have had about joining the group went away after my first meeting. The group consists of six rather diverse and dynamic women.  Each of them was very engaging and had something compelling to say.  In fact, we talked nonstop about the book (Dreams of My Father by Barack Obama) for almost 2 hours! Afterwords, we had a "Christmas Cookie Exchange" -- a longstanding tradition of the group whereby each member bakes/exchanges 1/2 dozen cookies for/with each book club member.  Great stuff!  

Happy New Year 2009!

It's the beginning of a New Year and with it the opportunity to make some New Years resolutions. Do you have any? Please share some! 

Here are a few of mine:

1) write on my blog more frequently! haha (at least a few days a week)

2) be a "better" person, wife, mother, friend, sister, daughter, co-worker etc...

3) try to spend more time on my hobbies (e.g. horseback riding, painting, photography)

4) be more patient