virtualmom

What gift are you giving yourself this holiday season?

2009-12-05T12:46:07-05:00

Good Question.

What I have been giving myself lately is less judgement. I have been more accepting of myself and not as harsh as usual. As a result, I feel calmer and better about myself. Possibly I might even get more done. What exactly I mean by this, is that I have in the past gotten down on myself when I don't accomplish everything that I want to. Now, if I waste an hour or so, I don't fret about it--somehow that 'down' time actually is needed and in the long runs helps. So now I don't think of it as wasted time --instead I think of it as part of the longer process. Maybe that is what it is, I am allowing more time for the process to happen. Which feels right!

It is a good gift indeed!

I (HEART) NY public library

2009-12-05T12:36:59-05:00

For two years now I have been getting my books through the NYPL and I feel great about it. I actually read more now than before I started using the library regularly. The reason for that is because I am cheap. I never liked to spend money on books for myself. I could justify buying books for the kids when they were younger but I felt like spending on books that I would only use once, was a waste of money. This attitude ultimately resulted in my reading less than I would have liked.

It was only when I started taking books out from the library that I started to enjoy reading. Being cheap, I love that I can read for free too(it really adds to my enjoyment). For the last week or two I have not had a book near my nightstand and I missed having a book to escape into. This morning I got an email from the library saying that Richard Russo's That Old Cape Magic was waiting for me. I got so excited and rushed up to The Jefferson Market Library to get it. How simple yet how great is that? It is rainy out and La. took S. to her futsal game and L. is out at the basketball courts, so I am going to delve right into it!

BTW: The book is a mid-life man questioning his parents failed marraige, his own troubled own, and life in general. Hmmmm. Sounds familiar.

No Male Full Frontals: Colin Firth Plays A Single (Gay) Man

2009-12-01T09:12:53-05:00

There has been some talk as to why the poster for A Single Man shows Colin Firth lying down next to Julianne Moore. It is completely misleading and from this poster the audience might assume that movie is about a love affair between a man and a woman. Completely Wrong! This movie is about a gay man. So why that trailer???

Tom Ford(of Gucci fame) directed this movie that Harvey Weinstein paid $2 million for the rights to. It has Ford's signature all over it, gorgeous model like actors, all of whom are attracted to Colin Firth's character, a suicidal English professor. It seemed like every man tried to pick him up. The movie is based on the book of the same name by Christopher Isherwood.

Fans of the movie love the feel, the music, the sets, and the costumes --all very well done.

There were plenty of body shots from every angle possible except for from the lower front!

How We Are Doing

2009-11-27T23:55:56-05:00

It was nice to have a brief chat earlier today with a dad who I haven't seen in about a year and a half. He reminded me of our last conversation, which was about the demise of Bear Stearn and then he asked me how we were doing.

I thought I would write about how we are doing. The recession has been tough on many people, us included. La. is not making money like the good old days. My business (or businesses) are still not bringing in the dough as I had anticipated( though I am still very hopeful and will forge ahead in my endeavors). We lost a bunch of savings and since we no longer own an apartment we still have to tackle our age old issue which is: where to reside. This issue has been persistent for La. and I, a chronic problem for us, haunting (at least me) for decades. It is not an easy issue to have hanging over your head day in and day out, and when we owned our apartment I had thought we had moved onward and past this. But we are no longer real estate owners. I don't like being in my mid-40's without a permanent home. Just me-- I know other people don't consider this a problem. I want stability.

In any case, living with little income has been a drag. Fortunately we had/have savings that we have been dipping into it! But nobody likes to dip into savings and certainly not what we had planned. But the bigger world changed around us --which changed our personal world and 'the plan' had to be adjusted!

Money issues are known as the single biggest stress on relationships! I can now attest to the truth of this statement. La. and I had our issues before going into this recession and our issues have only been illuminated from such. We are struggling with each other, yet somehow surviving.

Our family's spending has decreased which is a good thing. Spending and consuming is quite easy to forego, something I never indulged too much in anyway. I have witnessed that a bunch of friends are doing the same. On my mom's soccer team, several teammates have been laid off. At my co-op workspace, many of the women business owners are struggling to keep afloat. Freelance work is harder to get in these times. Seems like everyone has been hit.

I hope this entry is not too personal and that I don't come off sounding ungrateful. Adjusting to this new reality has just been difficult at times and I felt like sharing.

Kids Helped Out

2009-11-27T12:15:35-05:00

Yesterday the kids helped me and we made a Thanksgiving Day dinner for us and Larry's brother and our niece who was in for the long weekend from her senior year at Syracuse. It was a lot of work and the meal -in terms of taste- came out just fair(practice practice practice!) nevertheless I enjoyed the day spent in the kitchen. Can't deny I would have liked to have been in Chicago at Mary's house with a slew of family around. But the expense of the travel is just too burdensome right now.

Still grateful and wish to see the extended family soon.

George Clooney! Up In The Air

2009-11-27T12:09:57-05:00

Last week I saw Men Who Stare At Goats and this week I saw a preview of George Clooney's newest movie, Up In The Air. I liked this one better. Jason Reitman, of JUNO fame,directed. It is about a guy who travels all of the time because of his job firing people for bosses who can't do the dirty work themselves. He likes to

be away from home--he likes isolating himself. The movie speaks about loneliness and lack of attachment. These topics resonate with me so I liked the film. Don't get me wrong here--the film is not perfect by any stretch, for instance I could have done without the many aerial scenes showing how much he travels --too many minutes wasted on this.

I am curious how the movie will do commercially, I don't think it is a blockbuster. It is known that Clooney films do not make much money--even though he is wildly popular.

Read this morning in the NYTs that Reitman started this project a few years back when the economy was doing well. He changed plans when the economy tanked and in scenes where people are being fired, he hired real people who were fired and let them air their grievances. The words and thoughts that came out of their mouths were things he never would have thought about writing for the characters which in the end gave the scenes more authenticity.

Last Delivery of the Earth's Bounty

2009-11-18T09:05:14-05:00

So Beautiful!

Yesterday was our last delivery of fresh produce for the year! Potatoes, Beets, Kale, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Carrots, Garlic, Italian Parsley, and 3 stalks of my favorite, BRUSSEL SPROUTS!

I took the photo because the veggies are truly gorgeous.

As the 2009 season of organic farm deliveries comes to an end here is a summary of the good/bad elements of joining a CSA

Good:

Supporting a local NY state Farmer
Delivery of veggies I would not try on my own
Veggies taste delicious
Eating by Season-you learn a lot this way

Bad:

Crop delivery dependent on weather
2009: Late Blight Disease wiped out TOMATOES!
Pay for weeks you are out of town(5 this year)
Way too many POTATOES!

So, there is the bad with the Good--but the GOOD completely outweigh the bad. I am a CSA-er for life. Join your local CSA next season!

Can't wait for next June!

PORN FOR WOMEN: Thank you PINE SOL

2009-11-14T12:57:25-05:00

The book Porn for Women was a HUGE HIT. It really captures what women desire! The authors found out that there was a study done asking women of all ages 'what really, really makes you hot'? The universal answer: beautiful PG photos of hunky men cooking, listening, asking for directions, accompanied by steamy captions: "I love a clean house!" or "As long as I have two legs to walk on, you'll never take out the trash."

The SMART advertising agency behind Pine Sol picked up on this!!! They realized that their consumers are WOMEN and appealed to our senses to sell their product!!!! I LOVE IT! KUDOS to Pine Sol.

Advertisers: BRING IT ON!!!

Thought Leadership

2009-11-14T11:43:09-05:00

Thought Leadership was another theme that we touched upon in the Op/Ed Workshop I attended last week. Thought Leadership emanates from sources such as the Op/Ed pages and trickles down various roads reaching different audiences. Women's POV's/thoughts still lag behind mens POVs. We just do not get our thoughts out there enough. In recent years there has been an explosion of WOMEN BLOGGERS but the thoughts don't make it to the OP/EDS! Why not? We need to try harder to get placement there. It's OK to have our thoughts and even be wrong --publicly- but let's get out there, let's be heard!

With the invent of the blogosphere more and more women are voicing their opinions--we just need them to do so on a national platform!

So-Have an Opinion, Voice it, Stand Your Ground, Be Proud of Your Opinion and Promote Your Thoughts! You might be surprised by the outcome!

I had a Fantasy Business Day Today

2009-11-11T18:48:19-05:00

Today was a great day! I put an ad on a popular email list that aired today and orders were streaming in ALL DAY! Isn't that a fantasy for a business owner? How fun is it to see orders just coming in, I mean I wish that everyday in the future can and will be like today. I guess I can try to make this my goal. I would be so loving life if everyday orders just came in!!!

I guess this is what you would call the results of good PR and/or advertising? I have a good product but people just need to know about my vases. What happened today was better than having a salesman, I think. Definitely just as powerful if not more.

What is the lesson here--I've got to understand the lesson so I can have more days like today!!!