Quickly

Allow me to bust out my inner Valley Girl...

O-M-G did all my photo links REALLY just become broken on here? Now I have to go back and fix nearly all of them?

GAH!
Vent over. :P

Workplace reflections

This may sound completely cheesy, but I have to admit, one of the fun parts of working in a retail/sales job is seeing the excitement you can bring to someone's face. Sometimes people say to us who work in sales, "Oh my gosh, how do you do it? How can you handle upset customers all day?" It is always upset customers... Although at times that may feel like a big portion of it!  However, some days you just get those customers you really enjoyed working with, and when I get the moment of handing over their new phone, the look on their face is priceless.  The first customer I helped today purchased an iPhone, and when all was said and done, the minute I handed him his new phone, his eyes lit up. I mean, I can't blame him... Going from a crummy Android to an iPhone, who wouldn't be excited?! Haha, sorry Android lovers.  In moments like that, you can't help but smile and feel proud of yourself for assisting someone and making their day.  Those moments help me get through the crummy, frustrating moments.  After working in sales for so long, I think we can get a bit jaded by helping customers, but seeing that moment of excitement in someones face can really light up my own day.

One thing in retail I've noticed, nothing is ever really the same.  Each person who comes through your store is different and has their own story.  Each day you get a glimpse at the world outside yourself.  We hear stories of sadness, excitement, craziness, and of course the unfortunate anger. While the angry people may just completely throw your day for a loop, the good ones (usually) outweigh the bad. Maybe it is that social interaction you see with everyone day in and day out.  You have a product they need, and they chose to come to your store instead of using some online robot. Despite all the technology out there, even in a cell phone store, there is that moment you have to reach out and rely on each other to communicate your needs. Putting aside the occasional crazies that pass through, when you just think about the positive interaction you just experienced with someone one may realize how much we all still need each other to survive.  Granted buying a cell phone isn't survival, but that precious moment of exchange between humans, the laughter you each enjoyed, the smiles shared, there is a deep human need for those things.  If we just step back for a moment and think of those little things we experience in our jobs, those smiles of satisfaction, it makes a seemingly typical job suddenly a bit more important.

I know, some people are probably looking over this going, "Are you kidding me? It's sales, get over yourself!" Shoot, I know I even have my days that I may reread this and think "Oh shut up," but come on, in order to keep things interesting in your life and in work, you have to think outside the box, outside the negative, and look beyond the basic interaction.  At times we all need to take a step back and reflect upon our seemingly mundane day.

Happy 4th Birthday, AJ!

My little baby turned four yesterday! Doesn't that just sound so much older? Not as bad as when my Elijah turned 5, but still... It makes me realize my lil babies are growing up! He's such a character now too... He is a total ham for the camera and just full of life.  I forsee him being the class clown in the future.

It's so interesting to see how two children, from the same parents, same gene pool, are so different! Of course they have some similarities between them, but also some great differences too. Elijah has a tendency to be more serious and so much more focused, whereas AJ just loves to make people laugh and will do anything goofy to get the laugh out of you.

As for his birthday, we had a wonderful weekend.  He had a blast and of course got spoiled rotten with toys!  He loved his dino theme... And brag moment, I'm so proud of the way the dinosaur cake turned out.  I made a chocolate cake and icing, followed by crushing Chips Ahoy cookies in the food processor to make "dirt."  Then I placed some dinosaur skeletons/fossils under the dirt and dinosaurs on top. Whoohoo for a successful party!


AJ put on his own four.. that's why it is backwards. We fixed it before we sang to him. Haha!

 

Gender stereotypes

I've started a sort of game with myself lately... Test the gender stereotypes is what I like to call it. The more I tell people my son is in dance, the more I get the question, "What does your husband think of that?"

Perhaps because I have grown up with dance and more of the fine arts, it never phased me to question what men think of dancers.  Of course I've seen Billy Elliot and figured there are still some "cave men" out there living under a rock, but do people really question males in dance?  Yesterday I told a couple people about my son in dance, and how he just loves it. Patrick doesn't think anything of it. In fact, he loves that his son dances.  Maybe it is that both he and I are more in touch with the arts. He used to break dance, he is in artist; I danced, did some theatre, and lived for the stage.  Also, we both had some time of playing musical instruments.  It's fairly obvious we are both more inclined to the fine arts.  So in January this year when Elijah expressed his interest in dance after seeing his mama do a little living room performance on new laminate floors, we were both thrilled.

When people started asking me, "What does your husand think? My husband would not go for it!" I tell them he loves that his son dances.  It's a beautifull art, a wonderful skill, hard work, much discipline, and a wonderful form of expression.  What surprises me more is when some women tell me their husbands would never go for that.  I wonder, how is it okay that a young girl can play soccer and that is perfectly acceptable, but if a young boy wants to dance ballet, suddenly it is strange?  You know, back in the day it was primarily men who performed anyway.    During Shakespeare's plays, it was unheard of for women to act in the plays, even for the women's roles!! Yet somehow this gender shift took place where men can only dance hip hop/pop? Who is going to play Romeo or Prince Siegfried or Prince Charming for the classic ballet performances?  Who has ever looked at Gregory Hines or Sammy Davis Jr and thought they were somehow less of a man because they dance? Does anyone hear the name Balanchine and think, "What a fool." Heck no! You probably hear these names and think of great success.

Yesterday I told Patrick about my new "game," and he found it so comical.  He asked me, "Are some men still thinking it is the 19th century?"  Gosh even back then, ballet was probably more acceptable for men than some guys think now! To me, anyone who has to question the manhood of a male dancer has obviously never danced themselves.  I can guarantee you the male dancers you find on stage are twice as strong as Joe-Schmo on the street. I find it amazing, how far society can come with gender stereotypes, and yet how stagnant some are. Is it acceptable for girls to pick up a baseball bat but unacceptable for a boy to pick up a doll? Some embrace the girl who can play sports, they give her the high fives and the "Girl power!" roar, but where are the props for the boy who helps cook, or feeds the baby doll?  Really, as far as gender stereotypes have come for women, where is the progress for men?

I'm just incredibly grateful I have a man to help raise my sons without these silly gender stereotypes.  I see no problem with a boy who has the passion for dance, just like his parents.  I think the problem lies in other men who are insecure with their own manhood, and they are the ones who need to be questioning their masculinity.

Thoughts?

P.S. On a side note, this is my first time trying a blog post on my tablet with a bluetooth keyboard... So if this post is full of errors, please forgive me! ;)

She's alive!!!

That's what most of my friends told me when I suddenly made a post on Facebook a couple weeks ago.  I've been MIA for quite some time.

Seriously, I have got to get better at this whole time management thing. OK, I'm not horrible with it, but I'm not great.  The things that are crucial I can handle, you know, like getting to work or appointments on time!  The rest of life though... I'm sort of clueless.  Where does a working mom find time to do other things?  Where do you find time to work out, or to write, or to craft?  I haven't blogged since May. MAY!  That's just unheard of for me. I'm struggling to find this balance of work, family, friends, fun, life.

Perhaps I should be more specific.  I find time to do a lot of things.  Thank goodness for supportive family next door, it is easy for Patrick and I to head out with friends for happy hour or just to hang out (thanks Mom & Dad!).  I have my days off so I can take Elijah to dance class, which I love. What I am constantly struggling is finding time to write, exercise, or cook!  I go in waves with my little menu planning.  I'll be good about it for a week or two, then something comes up and I completely run out of time!  I suppose this is the story of our lives, right?  I need to set some goals and a plan of action to get these things done when I'm not exhausted.  For instance, I found out a gym right up the street from my work is opening up in October.  If you sign up now, you get discounted prices.  I can get an unlimited gym membership for $9 and an extra $5 will get me unlimited classes. $14 for unlimited membership? Yes, please!  I realized a huge struggle of finding time to work out at home is by the time I drive the 30-40 minutes home, I'm already relaxed and exhausted. Come on, after you have been sitting in a car for 30+ minutes after being at work for 9 hours, do you really want to work out at 9:30 at night?  Not really.  My body is all relaxed by that point!  So, gym membership it is.  I'm pretty excited about it!

Oh and of course my great dilemma of finding the balance to write... here is my (hopeful) solution: invest in a Bluetooth keyboard.  Carrying my laptop back and forth is cumbersome. However, if I can carry my tablet and Bluetooth keyboard, that should work.  My other idea is to start taking some time at Starbucks before or after work, or even during my lunch.  What is it about coffee shops and creative inspiration?  Maybe it's all the java that gets our minds working.

Maybe there's an app that will remind me or help me schedule times for all these things?  You know, there seems to be an app for everything!

Now I have my alarm clock app telling me it's time to get ready for work!

Preparing for 5

Oh my heavens, where did five years go?

When did my little Elijah Anthony go from this...


to this...?


On Saturday I had a little "photo shoot" with him to get a nice photo for his fifth birthday invitations.  Every year, I stare at the photos in awe wondering... where'd my baby go?!  I know it isn't going to get any better.

My young noble sire has requested a knights theme birthday party.  We are going to do knights and princesses.  I'm totally giddy over the party.  Not only does five seem like such a huge deal, but this is going to be so much fun to plan. I'm already having a ball.  Patrick is designing the invitations, and I'm putting all my ideas on one board on the wonderful Pinterest. (Thank you, Pinterest!)

Graduation thoughts

I received my degree in January.  As exciting as it was, I'm thrilled I decided to do the actual commencement ceremony.  Originally, the only reason I did this was to make my mom happy.  Now I'm glad she made me because it felt so darn good walking across that stage in the cap and gown!  There really is something to walking across that stage and shaking hands with the head of your college as you take your degree.  Joseph Campbell wrote extensively on the importance of rituals and how it transforms a person.  We need rituals in our lives push us to the next stage of life.  I can see, no, feel, the importance in the commencement ceremony/ritual.  Having already had my degree for five months, I thought it would just be some typical walk across the stage, but I really was beaming that I received some acknowledgement from a crowd.  I didn't care if only six people in the crowd knew who I was, but gosh darn-it every person in that center knew MARLANA WEBER graduated with her Bachelor's Degree!  You may not know my story or anything about me, but I did it, and you know it!  Afterwards, I swear I was standing taller and felt a little smarter.  I feel initiated into some deluxe group of the college educated.

It really is inspiring to see those higher-ups give their fancy speeches.  Maybe now that we are educated people, we can sit and appreciate what these people are saying to us.  Maybe it's because we just spent the last 2-4 years of our lives working towards this degree, and we sit there and think "You darn well have something good to say to me!"  Perhaps they realize this is a huge milestone in our lives, and as anyone crossing that threshold in our life's journey realizes it may be terrifying and therefore are trying to give us some words to encourage us on our next steps.  I felt the pride when our President explained how great of a school National University really is: second best non profit school in California, twelfth in the nation.  I found comfort hearing Ben Stein, our guest speaker, tell us how important it is to never stop learning, and that it is our own hard work and determination, all of which we just displayed, that will get us through the hard times our society faces now.  Now that we have our degrees, nobody can take away what we learned -- EVER!  Better yet, we have this amazing knowledge and can share that with the world.  Whether it is in our own personal world, or if we become world leaders one day, we have this amazing gift of knowledge to share.  It makes me realize, I don't want to stop learning, and just because I have my degree doesn't mean I need to stop learning either. The world is filled with opportunities for us to grow and learn, and to share that with others.   We don't have to go back to college to learn, necessarily, there are plenty of ways we can learn each day.  This may sound cliche, but we really are the future!

The world needs us. When I look around and see so many people who have just thrown their hands up, while, at times, I can't blame them, I also realize that's not what our society needs right now.  What we need is a hero, and we are all heroes.  Each and every once of us faces a challenge every day; we face big challenges many times in our lives.  Every time we conquer that challenge, we learn something; we cross the threshold and have new knowledge, a boon, to share the with the world (or at least those around us).  That makes us a hero in our own right!  You are probably looking at me like I'm crazy now, thinking, "Marlana, I am not some super hero who saved the world."  Yet, you are!  Any accomplishment you celebrate is something big to you, and conquering that changes you.  In Campbell's theory, that makes you a hero.  You cross a threshold, you conquer what needed to be conquered, you return a hero, and now, most importantly, it is time for you to share that with those around you.

Who knew how much that first class in my English program would transform me? As hesitant as I was, I stepped back into the world of school.  I was excited and nervous all in the same breath.  This Myth, Metaphor, and Symbol class really taught me not just about myths, but about life.  I am sure God has his ways of knowing how to teach us, and by learning about The Hero's Adventure in my first class, it opened my eyes to understanding the importance of our struggles, how we must fight those things that hold us back, and when we do, we emerge a transformed person.  Step by step, those triumphs make us who we are.  When facing challenges during my classes, I could think back to Joseph Campbell's teachings and know this is just one challenge in my adventure. If I can just get to my inner strength, my physical strength, my mental strength, and pull all my resources, it will pay off.

I'm proud to say, it did.  I'm here.  I'm proof.  I made it through!

Basically, we have crossed that threshold, we need to take pride in our accomplishments, and from Campbell's perspective, it is time to step up and be the heroes we have become.

"The modern hero, the modern individual who dares to heed the call and seek the mansion of that presence with whom it is our whole destiny to be atoned, cannot, indeed must not, wait for his community to cast off its slough of pride, fear, rationalized avarice, and sanctified misunderstanding. 'Live,' Nietzsche says, 'as though the day were here.'" 

- Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces

ONWARD!

M

Thanks to all my "supernatural aid" ... I couldn't have done it without you: Patrick, Mom, Dad, Elijah, AJ, Christy, and of course all my professors and teachers.

Making adjustments

I'm not sure when it happened that I went from a daily writer to a once-a-month-er.  Full on ridiculous, I keep telling myself. There is so much I want to say, I want to write, and yet I come home and cannot seem to work up the motivation to do it.  What I find funny is how over the last nine months of working full time, all these little things you used to routinely do slowly slip away from you. Before I know it, I'm out of habit with many things and I look around and think, "What the hell happened?"

Some examples:
Writing (or blogging) on a regular basis
Reading often
Cooking everything

I can't figure out if I'm being lazy or if I'm truly realizing time constraints.  Last time I wrote was a month ago, I finally finished a book a few days ago, and just tonight was the first time in a while I really took time to make some food.

What I need to do is set up a schedule.  Perhaps if I mark on my calendar days to write, days to reading, day to plan my meals, days to exercise, then maybe I won't feel so overwhelmed with the idea of accomplishing ALL these tasks in one night?

Don't get me wrong, I love working. I enjoy my job and I love having full time hours.  It feels good to be part of the work force and to help my family. What I'm still learning is how to balance that time with all the other things I want to do.  One thing I will say, is I won't necessarily blame it on "no time."  That always feels like such a lame excuse. You can make time for anything if you really want, the trick is learning how to make time. Life is this constant balancing act and I'm just trying to find my place in it all!

That being said, I dedicated this afternoon to planning meals for the week. I don't just mean writing down a menu plan.  Believe me, I've tried that before and when I hit a day that I'm closing the store and know I won't be home until 9 o'clock, preparing dinner for the family is out of the question. The kids are already in bed! That idea flopped fast for my working-mom-self. In the past I preached about preparing meals in advance. Today was that day! I'm so proud I planned a weeks worth of meals.


Complete with date tags


And instructions for my hubby to cook the meal.

Everything is already made and ready to go. All he has to do is pop it in the oven/crockpot/stove, whatever.

I used the "Food Planner" app for my Android Tablet (you can find it in the Google Play Store, and iPhone users, they have plenty in the App Store as well).  I put the meal on the day of the week, put the recipe in there, and then added the items I needed to the grocery list. In case you are wondering, yes, I did carry around my tablet as my grocery list. Only me... I know. Haha.

Once I came home, I got to work and started going meal by meal, stored it, put a label on, badabing badaboom on to the next one.

And if you are curious, here's the menu plan for the next week:
Today: Homemade Pizza
Friday 5/11: Enchiladas
Saturday 5/12: Herb & Butter chicken
Sunday 5/13: Roast beef & gravy
Monday 5/14: My graduation party -- bbq in San Diego! woowoo!
Tuesday 5/15: Homemade spaghetti
Wednesday 5/16: Chicken Parmesan

If I get real savvy, I'll start posting the recipes and photos as well.  However, one step at a time, one step at at time. Remember "What About Bob?" -- baby steps!

At this point, I'm dedicating Thursdays to "meal day." Wednesday I'll plan the meal with my food planner app, then Thursday I'll actual prepare the meals.  As for the rest of the days... I'll somehow start working in there reading and writing.  Maybe I can take some mornings to sit back and read before work, and then evenings to write?  We'll see, we'll see!

Now, if you will excuse me, I'm going to collapse into the couch with my feet propped up and enjoy that my meals are done for the next week!

Finally... an update

I can't tell you where March went or what I was doing that prevented me from keeping up. It was one of those months that time flew by and each night I thought, "I should write," yet, I didn't.  All well, it doesn't do any good to dwell on it!

Last month wasn't overly eventful.  On the 31st, Elijah and I went to Valley Performing Arts Center in Northridge to see the Los Angeles Ballet perform Swan Lake. It was beautiful and we had so much fun. I took a PTO day so he and I could leave early enough for dinner and then to go see the show. We went to a very nice Italian restaurant. The food was delicious.  Elijah is incredibly picky, but he ordered spaghetti and inhaled the food! I had an amazing lasagna that was cooked to perfection.

Last week, Elijah had to have surgery to get ear tubes again.  I'm so proud of how brave he was.  I had to get up at 4:45 in the morning and he and I left around 5:15AM for his 6:30 check in time (the place is about an hour away).  Luckily, he was the first one for surgery.  The doctor is wonderful and the staff at the surgery center couldn't have been better.  The nurses made him feel very comfortable and so did the anesthesiologist.  After his sedation medicine, his anesthesiologist asked, "Are you drunk off chocolate milk?" It made me laugh!  Elijah didn't even cry when the rolled him back.  Of course the procedure is quick, barely 15 minutes, and they let me come back to see him before he even woke up from his anesthesia.  He was tired a lot of the day and rested a bit, but by the next day he was back to himself.

Finally, I got my hair styled last week.  The biggest change was some cute highlights, but I did trim it a bit and got side bangs and more layers. I've never done highlights and I've never done the side bang.  I LOVE it.  I didn't realize how much I can love my hair!

All that said, I'll post a few pictures, and update more about our Easter day later because I am exhausted.

Swan Lake













My diploma came!!!




























It was drizzling during the intermission, so what does a young dancer and a former dancer do? Go dancing in the rain of course!

Project 365; Feb 24 - Apr 7; Photo heavy

I'm behind sharing my photos from Project 365. You know what happens when you don't do things like post the photos on your blog to keep you on top of it...? You forget. Gah! Luckily, it was only a couple days I missed. I managed to still scrounge up a photo or two at least each day - all but three that is. I've replaced the photos I missed with "intermission" photos. Haha.

Edit: somehow the links became broken -- here is a link to the P365 album:
https://picasaweb.google.com/mlhweber/Project365?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCKOOjM_529zRcQ&feat=directlink