Filing dos and don'ts...

For those of you who ever wonder, those of you who never were exposed to the complicated world of filing, those of you who have never come across a filing cabinet or a filing system, and those of you who, like me, find yourselves in the midst of a filing disaster that threatens to intrude in your thoughts when you wake up at 3 a.m. for until the disaster is under control. Please note, this is just a guide. Your can create your own system. And, as you'll see, just having everything in alpha order is not enough.

DO file things by functional area (advisory board, events, programs, reports, whatever).
DO order your functional areas in alpha order.
DO file things in alpha order within each area.
DO group separate larger areas to compartmentalize (administrative v. programs v. personal)

DON'T just create a jumbled mess by putting everything under the moon in alpha order. And here's the why of this blog. The following list is a random, very small sample of files found under alphabetical order in a drawer that shall not be disclosed. Individual and company names have been changed to protect the unsuspecting victims. Asterisks denote actual file names (not making it up).

C -
Carnegie Mellon
Cornwell, Sam
Credit Reports
...
F -
Fantastic Sam's
Foundstone
Financial Investment Ideas
Fitzgerald, Ella
Fortune 500
Fun Stuff *
...
G -
Gandolfini, John
General Electric
Good Ideas *
Green, James
Green Peace

Also found was a file for Jokes, two files for the same program under different letters, and several duplicate files for companies for which files already exist - which, by the way, were just sitting in the same office.

Eek!!!

Kids say the darnest things...

We were at a little dinner at Katarina's daycare, an end-of-year get together for her classroom, when Larissa spotted one of the pregnant teachers. 

"Mommy, did Tiffany really want a baby? Or did she just get one?" She asked.

Katarina, in all her three-year-old wisdom, replied "She got married to her husband, then she got skinny, then she got fat with her baby."

Rock anywhere?

LGBT Curriculum in K-5

The news today announced that the Alameda County board of education has approved the teaching about homosexuality in grades K-5 as part of an attempt to curb bullying. Whether this is a good move or not is not the point of this quick blog. I'd rather focus on the irony of the situation.

During the heated campaign around Prop 8 in California, supporters of the proposition used several arguments that in a previous blog I highlighted as unfounded. The irony today is that one of those tactics was to denounce the fact that, should Prop 8 fail, our schools would be teaching young children about homosexual relationships. There was outcry from all sorts of groups. My friends and I engaged in heated debate around this. Yet I venture to say that not that many people actually tried to find out if such an accusation had any foundation in reality.

Well, my friends, it did not. And today, after Prop 8 not only has passed, but has been ratified by the California Supreme Court, a district in Northern California has approved one of the very things supporters of 8 so emphatically used as a reason to pass Prop 8.

What do they have to say now?

Remember: check the facts.

Kids...

Most of you know that I talk to my girls in Spanish mostly (lately, English has been creeping in, against my better judgment). From the day they were born, this has been something I've been determined to give to them.

My hope? That they will learn the language, of course. I figured eventually they'll take it in school, and one day I'll send them off to grandma for a summer of full immersion.

My frustration? That they never speak in Spanish to me. Why would they?? Try as I may, it ain't happening.

My rewards? Not many. There was Larissa at 11 months saying "agua" as her first word ever (go figure). There is Katarina throwing a word here and there, mixed into a sentence of fluent English. There's the girls praying in Spanish with me at bedtime. There is the girls learning how to tell Jim his butt is big in Spanish, and enjoying it immensely (hey, I gotta find the way to get them talking, right? A mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do...)

The same thing is happening with German, by the way... Larissa is in Saturday German School, and Jim and I could swear she's not learning a thing, not a peep, nada, zilch, zero. The teacher says differently, however, so we keep at it and will be enrolling Katarina come September.

And here's the kicker. The reason that tells me I must persist, and the fact that will keep me going. And yet another window into the little person that is my oldest daughter.

I went to pick up Larissa from school yesterday. On our way out, we run into one of the custodians. He stopped and started talking in Spanish to her (my friend! How are you? See you Monday, right? etc.) Larissa just nodded, which seemed totally in character to me.

He looked at me and said, in Spanish:
"She speaks Spanish."
"She understands it..." I replied, smiling, and hoping, as I usually do.
"No, she speaks it too."
I looked at him, puzzled. Maybe Larissa was saying a word here and there. "What do you mean?" I asked.
"She comes over with two of her friends, and they talk to me in Spanish. They tell me 'here's my friend Tony, how are you, etc.' She speaks Spanish!"

I was elated. I was frustrated. I wanted to hug her. I wanted to strangle her. I opted for smiling at Tony and thanking him for the best news he could have delivered and wishing him a great weekend.

As we walked to the car, I asked her. "Do you talk to him in Spanish?" The little brat smiled sheepishly, avoided my eyes, and said "Si."

Ugh.

About highlights...

No, we're not talking hair, at least not right now...

I was recently asked what were the high points in my life... Graduating from college? Absolutely. The day I married my husband? Definitely. The births of my two girls? Most certainly. Those are given milestones.

I, however, thought about it and after a split second went in the opposite direction - yeah, I know, who would've thought... 

I looked back, and considering the question, thought of the lowest points in my life, and they became my answer. Why, you ask? Because it is the lowest points in our lives that teach us some of the most valuable lessons.

I have certainly learned from the happy times - the reward of achieving a goal, the satisfaction of doing something special, the lessons of marrying and living with the man who walks by my side, and the absolute purity of the love I have for my two children. 

But the lessons that have largely molded me into who I am today are the ones that have come from adversity.

Learning that the love of my early adult life had finally decided to take a chance with someone, and learning that someone wasn't me after 20 months of an intense, emotional, platonic relationship and profound friendship, taught me that I can build my life after devastating heartbreak.

Leaving medical school after intense study and a race to get admitted to a highly competitive program taught me that I'm stronger than I think I am.

Having to uproot my life, leave my country, my friends, and the comfort of my mother's arms taught me that I can rebuild my life from the lowest point, where hope rarely visits.

Giving up on the dream of becoming a doctor - a dream born when I was 11 years old - taught me that sometimes the path you think you are destined to follow isn't the path you are meant to follow.

Watching my best friend go through the horrendous pain of losing a child taught me about the depths of friendship, compassion, and the power of faith. 

Every experience took a little from me and replaced it with something else. We become who we are through the lessons we learn in life; and through the most difficult times and the choices we make, we emerge a new person.

So, when you think of the highlights in your life, think also of the low points and the hardships you've overcome that have made you who you are today.