My Balance Now

Before I moved closer to work, I had an hour drive to and from work.  I re-read my 2012 post that went into depth about how I balanced work/life and thought I’d update it.  Sometimes I can’t believe I endured this commute for so long.

1.  What’s your work schedule?

Before: I got up at 5:15 to 5:45 to get to work on time.  I got home by 5:30-6 pm., usually exhausted with an aching back.

Now: I get up around 6:25 and get to work on time.  I often have time for breakfast and light stretching/exercise!  My drive is 30 minutes tops (usually faster in the mornings when fewer people are on the road).  I get home by 5pm. Sometimes I even hit the gym or go to the park with the kids.  According to co-workers, I’m also less grumpy in the morning!

2. How do you handle childcare?

Before: Part-time nanny, freelancing husband with flexible schedule and more time at home.

Now: Still part-time nanny on occasion who does light housecleaning, plus A LOT of help from my mom.  My husband’s schedule and travel has picked up, which leaves me taking more time off for doctor appointments, illness and such. Pre-school pick-up is a pain to manage.

3. What do you find best about your current set-up?

I love my shorter commute which has resulted in more energy and quality time with spouse, self and kids!  I love getting more help from my mom since she is amazingly good and flexible with her schedule.

4. What advice would you give to other moms about the juggle?

It’s not really about working or not. It’s really about flexiblity. Even within the restraints of a traditional 9 to 5 job, I know I’m fortunate that my boss is understanding about childcare issues as long as I manage to meet deadlines.

I still stand by my love of online shopping: Order as much as you can online.

And I’ve converted to the dark side — smartphone with tons of apps. It’s the only way I can keep track of my emails and shopping lists. My husband and I communicate quickly via text, emails and shared shopping lists, too.

I’ve been taking some vacation days to do a mommy-and-me class with my kids on weekday mornings. It’s shorten my work hours which is nice on a mental level BUT also forces me to eat at my desk some days to get all my work done.  I love using that time to  learn and play with my kids alongside mostly stay-at-home moms or grandparents.  This alleviates a lot of mommy guilt because I have more hours with my kids overall and don’t have to cram all the fun stuff on weekends.

5. Do you think the juggle is harder for women than men?

Yes.  I’m actually guilt-free and good at ignoring snippy comments but I do spend more time cleaning the house and thinking/planning kid-friendly activities.

Feel free to chime in with details about how other women (and men) handle the work/life juggling act!

What The Most Successful People Do At Work

I’m in the middle of reading Laura Vanderkam’s new e-Book “What the Most Successful People Do At Work“, a series that follows two previous e-books about what successful people do before breakfast and on weekends. All of these short books are meant to be quick, informative reads. I think they’re all very enjoyable and most people can get good tips from them. Because work is so busy right now, it’s taking me much longer to read this! For now, I will say that I was struck by the example of a successful children’s book illustrator in Chapter 1, as I expected the successful people profiles to hail from the corporate world. I wasn’t sure if I could relate but considering that there are tons of small business owners, entrepreneurs, freelancers out there AND the fact that in many ways, in the current work world, we’re all freelancers that need to plan and prove our worth daily, I think the illustrator can be a good example for all of us. Right now the main take-away I’m getting is the importance of planning the day and your workload. I enjoy taking on bigger projects that require thought and strategic planning but it seems like most of my workday is taken up by immediate needs (and emails!).

Anyway, I would recommend this book. You can buy it yourself today and you’ll probably finish it before I do!

Recycling Is A Pain (But I Do It)

If you can make one change a year, I would add recycling a hard-to-recycle item on your list. We’ve struggled with this over the years as we didn’t have curbside recycling for many years, and we still often forget what is or isn’t recyclable.  However, in recognition of Earth Day, I thought I would share some new and old (recycled!) environmentally-friendly tips:

How to recycle even if you can’t get to a facility.  A simple, good idea if I do say so myself!

Recycling AAA batteries!  In addition to Jiffy Lube, I found a nearby hardware store that accepts household batteries. I feel so much better  doing this than dumping this toxic item into the trash.

Who knew you can recycle paint? Apparently in California, you can drop off used household paint at participating retailers like Sherwin-Williams, Vista Paint, Super Hardware (Mission Ace), Dunn Edwards and more.

I still can’t figure out a consistent way to recycle expired medications or Brita filters…

Of course, just as important as recycling is buying and using less stuff in the first place!

How are you doing in terms of recycling? Can someone explain to me how Recyclebank makes profits?

Mindless Magazines

I recently got free magazine subscriptions to InStyle and Redbook. While InStyle has always been light on content, I thought Redbook offered more “insightful” articles about relationships, marriage and life in general.  At least that’s what I remember from skimming through Redbook in doctors’ offices.  Anyway, the issue I got was a revamped Redbook with a beaming Lauren Conrad, bold fonts and bright, happy graphics and tons of images.  There was definitely an attempt to be more interactive as in encouraging you to scan a code to see videos or go online.  In many ways, it was mimicking a website or blog.  And it read like a very light-weight fashion blog, too.  InStyle also seemed more graphic and image-heavy than in the past.

I get it. Magazines are competing with the online experience on tablets, websites, social media and blogs.  It’s fair to assume your readership, or potential new readers, have very short attention spans.  Still I find it sad that both of these magazines have become so shallow (especially Redbook, now a sad imitation of Lucky and Teen Vogue) that it’s not worth keeping for a second glance.

What are your thoughts of lifestyle or glossy women’s magazines?

The World Is Divided…

I have lots of posts in my head but work is keeping me too busy to write anything substantial, so here’s a random list….or some causes of world divides:

• Democrat vs. Republicans — I know I’m leaving out Independents, Green Party, etc.
• Rolling Stone or Beatles – Gen-Y or younger would deem both bands as ancient!
• Prince vs. Michael Jackson
• People who like to try new foods or People who don’t
• People who like spicy foods and People who don’t like spicy foods
• Team Edward or Team Jacob
• Dog people vs. Cat People (not sure where horse people fall in this… and I’m not even going to include people who hate animals!)
• Macs vs. PCs
• People who like to travel abroad or People prefer to stay home
• Star Wars vs. Star Trek
• Book readers/lovers vs. Non-readers
• Wuthering Heights vs. Jane Eyre (or neither, you prefer Jane Austen?)
• People on Facebook or People who are not
• People who tweet and People who don’t
• Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera

What other opposing sides can you think of? Which “side” are you on?

Frugal Substitutes: The Master Chart

The idea of finding frugal substitutes for expensive wants turned from a comment, courtesy of reader and commenter Debbie M, to a full-fledged post at grumpy rumblings.

Here’s the excerpt from that comment, and I’m called out to name my list of frugal substitutes, an idea inspired by the book “Your Money or Your Life.”

Debbie M says:

“And then there’s also strategizing about what makes you happy. If you want to feel pampered, do you need to visit a tropical island? Or would you be just as happy with an in-town spa or fancy hotel, a massage, a facial, or, in my case, fresh-out-of-the-oven chocolate chip cookies and a good book?”

…And maybe oilandgarlic can share a list of Frugal Substitutes! We can always use more of those!”

And I said:

“I’ve been meaning to respond with my frugal substitutes but I could probably do a whole post. The gist of it is that I try to figure out WHY I want the big indulgence. Am I stressed? Do I want to try something new? In the past, I would assume that the best way to satisfy my want is a spa day or travel. Now I realize that I can satisfy that need for pampering in multiple and often cheaper ways. I could do a at-home facial. I could buy flowers and put a slice of lemon in my water. I can put on relaxing music. I could convince my husband to give me a massage.”

So without further ado, here’s my handy dandy chart (sort of tongue-in-cheek), and please feel free to share your own frugal substitutes:

Can Someone Who Hasn’t Taken A Real Vacation In Years Not Have ANY Vacation Time?

I apologize for the long title for this post but I’m really puzzled how come I have zero vacation time left when I haven’t gone on a “real” out-of-town vacation in years? I’m not panicking since I will continue to accumulate hours and should accrue enough for some time off during the summer.

I know that I took a day off here and there last summer and around the holidays. Sad to say, except for one beach excursion, I don’t remember what I did on those vacation days.  I guess this is a reminder that rather than picking a random Friday and then see what’s happening around town, I should find a fun activity first and then schedule my vacation time around that event.  Otherwise, I’ll end up staying home and only taking the kids to the park if I’m extra motivated.  Apparently staycations don’t work that well for me, unless I plan in advance.

The good news is that I did plan my upcoming time off so at least I’ll remember what I did with those vacation days!

Are you planning your summer vacation already?  Anyone going on big trips?