PractiGal

A new credential

Have I mentioned that I'm working on my degree in engineering?...

Networking

I'm fairly social by nature and consider myself to be pretty competent at making connections. Though it's painfully obvious now that I haven't taken the time to build up an important network for myself.

My business networking skills are decent. I stay in touch with a lot of former colleagues and am well plugged in to my professional world. Of course this is a good thing, and it comes in handy when I need to bring in some money.

I'm not bad at social networking either. Not as good as a salesperson would be, but not bad for me. I take the initiative to set up get-togethers and lunches now and then, and for the most part I feel connected to friends.

And then there's the Mom world. Where I'm struggling to find my footing. You'd think after nearly 4 years of motherhood I'd be plugged in to some sort of Mom support. But I'm not. Of course that's due to my own situation and lack of planning. Up until recently, I've been pretty busy working, and I shared child-care responsibilities with my husband. But things have changed. I'm working less, my husband's working more and has numerous other commitments he's responsible for. So, essentially, I'm running the home scene, 24/7, for the first time. My inexperience and ineptitude at doing this are really smacking me in the face!

Realizing that I need to line up some Mom support, I decided to check out some Mom groups. The first one I tried was a bust. It was advertised at my gym, but no one showed up. Not even the leader!

The second one I tried (with my friend) was pretty good. Advertised as a group for women who are "sequencing," (that makes me chuckle) there were a variety of women -- at-home Moms, in-the-workforce Moms, and somewhere in-between Moms (like me) who work out of their homes in some capacity. I will visit this group again and try some of their activities for Moms and kids. Of course it takes time to build connections, and I'm getting a late start.

In the meantime, my house is messy and dirty. The holidays are upon us. And I'm feeling in like I'm in over my head.

The upside, of course, is that I'm spending more time with my delightful growing boy, which I wouldn't trade for anything.

Thankful

Can you believe it's Thanksgiving-time in the U.S.? I can't!

No, I haven't fallen off the planet... just busy being Mom. I've been spending a lot more time with my little boy lately, and a lot less time at the computer! I am thankful for that.

I'm thankful for my husband's new job, too. And for good health.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Peeve

I have this pet peeve. I'm sure I have several, actually. But this one really puts a bee in my bonnet.

Today after story-time at the public library, my son played in the children's area while I gathered books, videos, and music to borrow. This is our usual routine. When he can, my son likes to have a turn on the computer. Even though he plays computer games at home, I think he thinks it's special to sit at the child-size table at the library and play there. So that's where we were when I couldn't help but overhear the kvetching.

The librarian took a phone call which obviously stirred something in her. Upon hanging up, she proceeded to talk with her colleague (in a non-library-voice, mind you), about this, that, and the other thing. And how she's not going to put up with it any more. There was talk of funding, and volunteers, and blah, blah, blah. And there was lots of head-shaking.

Call me old-fashioned, but I think it's incredibly unprofessional to bitch about your service job in front of your customers -- in this case, the library patrons. Namely me. I was within 10 feet of this bitch-fest.

Is it just me? Or is anyone else bothered by those in service occupations who complain about their jobs in front of their customers? Isn't that what the back room is for? Or lunch outings? I've sure been to many a bitch-fest lunch -- no where near those who fund my paycheck.

I don't get it. Obviously everyone has things they don't like about their jobs. But people have jobs to fill a need, which is paid for by some sort of consumer.

Is it so hard to be a professional? Isn't this common sense?

The aftermath

Another Halloween has come & gone. It is insanity in our neighborhood.

In just under 2 hours, we had about 150 trick-or-treaters. Of course if you do the math, that works out to about one a minute. It's great to see the neighbor kids we know, and then there are the others. The ones who are trucked out to comb our quiet suburban street. The street is lined with cars and vans. I have no problem with the kids coming. But the adults? Who are supposedly collecting for the other kid at home? Oh, and we had our first-ever pregnant woman trick-or-treating for her unborn baby last night. Yes, I'm serious.

We turned our lights off at 8pm; otherwise they'd have kept coming.

Of course we'll keep doing it since we have a little boy who's VERY into it now. Can't say that I'm so into it anymore!

What's it like in your neighborhood?