Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Lean In - Part 1

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Greg bought me Lean In when it came out since I had expressed an interest in reading it. I finally finished it over the weekend (after getting distracted in the middle by Hunger Games and Game of Thrones). I thought it was a good read and pulled out some quotes/parts of the book that resonated with me. Since there were quite a few quotes I wanted to highlight, I'm splitting this post up into several days.


On everyone having their definition of success/happiness (p. 10):
This book makes the case for leaning in, for being ambitious in any pursuit. And while I believe that increasing the number of women in positions of power is a necessary element of true equality, I do not believe that there is one definition of success or happiness. Not all women want careers. Not all women want children. Not all women want both. I would never advocate that we should all have the same objectives.

On how women see things as a meritocracy, but that's not how things really work (p. 63):
Women are also more reluctant to apply for promotions even when deserved, often believing that good job performance will naturally lead to rewards.8 Carol Frohlinger and Deborah Kolb, founds of Negotiating Women, Inc., describe this as the "Tiara Syndrome," where women "expect that if they keep doing their job well someone will notice them and place a tiara on their head."9 In a perfect meritocracy, tiaras would be doled out to the deserving, but I have yet to see one floating around an office.

On transparent and truthful communication (p. 77-78) - I feel like this is so true, that people are afraid of being mean and therefore are afraid to tell the truth, because sometimes the truth hurts:
Authentic communication is not always easy, but it is the basis for successful relationships at home and real effectiveness at work. Yet people constantly back away from honest to protect themselves and others. This reticence causes and perpetuates all kinds of problems: uncomfortable issues that never get addressed, resentment that builds, unfit managers who get promoted rather than fired, and on and on. Often these situations don't improve because no one tells anyone what is really happening. We are so rarely brave enough to tell the truth . . . Being honest in the workplace is especially difficult.

On how "truth" is relative to an individual's point of view (p. 79):
I learned from Fred that effective communication starts with the understanding that there is my point of view (my truth) and someone else's point of view (his truth). Rarely is there one absolute truth, so people who believe that they speak the truth are very silencing of others. When we recognize that we can see things only from our own perspective, we can share our views in a nonthreatening way.

On bringing our "whole" selves to work (p. 89) - I'm sure I could do a better job of this since when people first meet me at work, they think I'm really serious. They realize I'm not always that serious once they get to know me better (hopefully):
An all-business approach is not always good business . . . It has been an evolution, but I am now a true believer in bringing our whole selves to work. I no longer think people have a professional self for Mondays through Fridays and a real self for the rest of the time . . . Instead of putting on some kind of fake "all-work persona," I think we benefit from expressing out truth, talking about personal situations, and acknowledging that professional decisions are often emotionally driven.

See also:
Lean In - Part 2
Lean In - Part 3

Monday, April 29, 2013

Party in the House, 3:15 AM

After about a month of a relatively smooth transition to the big girl bed, Evie has discovered that she can get out of her bed and her room whenever she wants. Last Thursday night, I put her down to bed about 7:30, and for the next hour, she proceed to get up and get out of her room, like, 5 times. Finally, around 8:30, she fell asleep for good.

Greg came home from a work event late that night, so he went and slept on the couch downstairs in the basement. 3:15 am rolls around, Evie comes out of her room and follows one of the cats down into the basement, ready to party and play.

She got even more excited when she realized that Greg was down there, which she didn't realize at first since it was dark. She then made her way back upstairs, woke me up so she could get milk, then half an hour later, we put her back down to bed. Only she didn't want to go to bed and started to cry, so Greg kept her company and slept next to her in her big girl bed until about 5:45 in the morning when Evie got up and came to me asking for milk, all the while Greg was still asleep in her big girl bed.

Friday night wasn't as bad. It took a few tries (and cries) to get her to fall asleep without coming out of her room, but then she seemed to sleep through the night with no middle-of-the-night party sessions. It's almost like we have to re-sleep train her, but in her big girl bed instead of the crib. Saturday night she spent with Greg's parents, who reported that she was an angel. Finally, Sunday night she seemed to go down without any trouble (like we were used to before). Hopefully those couple of nights were exceptions to the norm!

A few picures I took of Evie after a nap one weekend:

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Sunday, April 28, 2013

Evie, Meme-style

While editing photos of Evie for another post, I came across this picture of Evie with a hilarious expression, which I then just had to make meme-style.

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Oh tear. Someday, Evie will think this is nerdy/lame/embarrassing. And then someday later than that, Evie will think this is funny, like when she has her own kids.

Friday, April 26, 2013

Silhouette Bridal Shower Card

I finished up a card earlier in the week for a bridal shower next month - a high school friend of ours is getting married later in the year. This time, I won't be what I felt like was a lumbering cow, as a result of being 9 months pregnant (like I was when another high school friend of ours, BFF of this friend, had her bridal shower two years ago) - hooray!

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Hexagon patterned paper: My Mind's Eye
Mini grid patterned paper and washi tape: Teresa Collins
Silhouette patterned paper: Carta Bella
Sentiment stamp: Papertrey Ink



I'm off to read more of Lean In, which I started when it came out, but then I got sidetracked for a bit by Hunger Games and Game of Thrones.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Feedly

I've used Google Reader for about six years to keep up on blogs (mostly craft ones). When Google announced they were getting rid of Reader, I was like, Khaaaaaaaaaaaaan. I spent the first few days after the announcement researching Reader alternatives. There were many of them (including Feedly), but since the end date was several months away in the summer, I tabled it for later.

After seeing several bloggers I follow recommend Feedly as a good Reader alternative, I switched over this past weekend. Feedly takes Google credentials and synchronizes with Reader, so it was a super easy switch. It's like, Can you click a button? Great! You're in.

The question I had after I started poking around was: What will happen to the blogs I subscribe to after Google Reader is no more? It's nice and all that it syncs now, but Reader is also still around right now.
Answer: On July first (07/01/2013) Google Reader will be shutting down but your data from your Google Reader account will be copied in feedly (feed subscriptions and categories).

Sold!

Here are a couple of screenshots of my Feedly. It's pretty similar to the look of Google Reader, so it's a fairly easy transition.

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Some initial comments/thoughts after using it for a few days (caveat - it's possible I just haven't figure out all the functionality yet):
  • On the mobile too, the left/right swipe to make one v. many posts read/unread is kind of sensitive. I have more than once accidentally made all posts unread rather than a single post just because my finger lingered a little too long.
  • In the Chrome version, the "keep unread" is at the top of the post next to the title. I'd prefer that it be at the bottom because I often don't decide whether or not to revisit it later by keeping it unread until I reach the end. I'd like a button to keep posts unread in the mobile version too.
  • It's not as big a deal on the mobile version since I can swipe left/right to move between posts, but in the Chrome version, I haven't found a way to navigate posts with up/down arrows like I could with Reader. I like my posts sorted from newest to oldest and then read posts from the bottom-up. When I get to the bottom of a post, I have to scroll back up to the top of the post to read the newer post above it, which is more inconvenient than being to navigate with up/down arrows. First world problem, I know.

Monday, April 22, 2013

Baby Boy Cards

To go along with the baby quilts I made for a couple of co-workers, I made a couple baby cards the night before the baby shower.

Blue washi tape background, kind of like this "Our Beach Life" layout by Corrie Jones:
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Orange washi tape background:
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Friday, April 19, 2013

3x3 Baby Quilt with Border

A couple of co-workers are having babies a week apart, so they got a joint baby shower at work. I made a couple of little baby quilts to give as gifts, which I think turned out pretty well for this novice quilter/sewer.

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The pieces actually lined up! I didn't have wonky uneven edges! I think part of my challenge before had to do with mixing different fabric types. Minky fabric is a bear to sew with cotton fabrics, since minky fabric stretches more going through the sewing machine than the cotton.

Next sewing project: quilt for Greg.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Daycare Nap Time

Greg visited Evie in daycare during the day last Friday and took this picture of her while they were still napping. She's the one with the blue quilted blanket and pink leggings. So funny and cute!

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Me: Was she asleep? Do they put the blanket over her head like that or does she do that herself?
Greg: Herself and yes, she's asleep. Also, that is Alijah next to her.

Alijah is Evie's little friend at daycare who she is seemingly thick as thieves with.

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