Friday Feature: Drink Your Milk!

I'm a Starbucks regular. Some might call me an addict. My drink of choice is an iced chai tea latte, and, with few exceptions, I get it every time I go to a Starbucks, varying only the size of the drink and, occasionally, the milk I choose. Knowing that the drink is high in sugar, I tend to order it with nonfat milk in some sort of treat karma balancing act, but articles like this one from Next Avenue are making me rethink my choice.

I first switched to nonfat milk in my twenties, and so I feel positively decadent ordering my drink with its default 2% milk. I even trip over the order (I can order it with nonfat milk in one long, Starbucks-savvy, string of attributes) and, when I order it with 2%, I stun the baristas who know my drink order by heart. And ordering it with whole milk? Unthinkable.

But, as it turns out, I might be doing myself a disservice. The difference in sugar is negligible from one kind to another, and, since the milk is probably the only thing in the drink that's good for me, splurging on 2% might not be such a big splurge after all.

Who knew?

6 Questions from the Porch Swing for Lisa Lawmaster Hess

Freepik

Yesterday was a busy day -- so busy, in fact, that this post got neglected. So today, I'm having a seat on my own porch swing. I've finished interviewing my characters (but if I left out someone you'd like to hear from, please leave me a comment and I'll invite him or her to stop by), and so I thought I'd try my hand at my own questions.

Where will we find you when you’re not here on the blog?

Lisa: Teaching, planning to teach, grading papers, writing an article or novel, organizing something or, if I must, doing something to (literally) keep my house in order.

What’s something we’d be surprised to know about you?

Lisa: Friends know this, but readers might find it surprising that I love to tap dance. I'm very rusty, but it was one kind of dancing that I could pick up as an adult without feeling self-conscious. I keep thinking I'll get back to it, but I'm not sure my old feet can take it anymore.

What are your thoughts on children?

Lisa: Pro :-) It's funny, but I was always surprised that I ended up in education, because I was never one of those people who grew up with a natural affinity for kids -- the ones who knew that motherhood and teaching were life goals from the time they were just kids themselves. I developed that affinity over time and over years of having amazing students of all ages, and, of course, after becoming a mother myself. 

What regrets do you have?

Lisa: Not practicing the piano more. I suppose that's easy enough to change, but had I done so sooner, I might be as good at playing the piano as I'd like to be.

Whom do you admire? 

Lisa: My parents. They've been the loves of one another's lives for 56 years, and both of them are  smart and sharp. They taught me to work hard, be strong, kind and respectful and anything I've accomplished I've accomplished because of the foundation -- and soft landing spot -- they gave me. 

Who's your favorite character?
Lisa: That's like asking a parent who her favorite child is! I love all of my characters for different reasons. Except maybe Jim. And Carmella. She's just mean.

Sweet Silence?

Ali Spagnola

Last winter, as the college visits began to wane, replaced by FAFSAs and a college to-do list, I found myself projecting to the time when my daughter would be happily ensconced at college. A good antidote to the recurring nag-ignore cycle in which we sometimes found ourselves between acceptances and the move itself, it reminded me that though her imminent departure made me sad, there might actually be some things to look forward to.

Last night, as I was settling on today's topic for this blog, I came across a draft of that post. The timing was perfect, because this week, we're preparing to head north for Parents' Weekend, seeing her for the first time since we dropped her off in August. 

I think it's safe to say she's settled in well. Surprisingly, so have we.

The list of things I wouldn't miss was short -- one item in fact. It was the music. Unfailingly loud and always peaking when I was trying to concentrate, its sudden bursts could shake the thoughts right out of my head. Don't get me wrong -- I like music, and my daughter and I actually like some of the same stuff. It's just that I work better in quiet, and a blast of any sound when I'm trying to think is generally unwelcome, especially now that I've reached the age where wispy threads of thought unravel at twice the speed in which they form. 

I wondered, however, if this was a case of being careful what I wished for -- if the lack of music would make the house too quiet.

It didn't.

There is one sound I miss, though. The sound of her voice. I miss talking to her and hearing her laugh. Texts are wonderful, and I'm profoundly aware of how fortunate I am to be parenting a young adult in a time when communication is so fast and so easy. But those same teens have developed an aversion to phone calls, and so actual conversations -- the ones where I get to hear what's going on in her life -- are infrequent. And greatly missed. 

And so, not surprisingly, that's what I'm most looking forward to this weekend. Just talking. Laughing. Spending time with her. 

I have a feeling the weekend will go much too quickly, and, when we return home again, the house will seem much too quiet.

At least until Thanksgiving.

Millennials, Boredom, Employment and Solutions

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One night last week, my husband and I were talking about the things that keep people happy at work, and, therefore at work in their current position instead of pursuing another one. I recalled a meeting I'd had as a new hire in education back in the late 1980s, a meeting where the building administrator had told us we were educating kids who would look at jobs differently than we had. These kids, he said, would hold an average of six jobs over the span of their professional careers.

Things have changed since then, and the pendulum has most definitely not swung back. According to Ryan Holmes, CEO at Hootsuite, Millennials change jobs about once every 2 1/2 years -- and that's just during the first ten years after college. This information, coupled with a desire to keep good employees, spurred Holmes to create a program that would keep valued employees right where he wanted them: with his company.

As a non-Millennial who shares the key trait Holmes writes about and based his program on, I found the idea fascinating. I hope my daughter, a member of Generation Z, will share that trait as well, and will use it to find her place not only in the workforce, but as a human being as well.

Curious? That's a good sign. Check out Holmes' article on LinkedIn.

6 Questions from the Porch Swing for Mary Kate Fitzpatrick

Photo: WorldArtsMe

Mary Kate Fitzpatrick, mother to Anna and Todd (and Brady, who's always off-screen) is one of the few characters who is actually friends with both Marita and Angel in Casting the First Stone.

Where will we find you when you’re not on the page of the book we’re reading?

Mary Kate: If I'm not working or cleaning or grocery shopping, I'm probably driving a child somewhere, or going to a school or church event. We keep busy. 

What’s something we’d be surprised to know about you?

Mary Kate: I'm not a full-time homemaker/at-home mom. I started working part time as an administrative assistant when Anna went to kindergarten, and, when we moved here, I started looking for work as soon as the kids were settled in. I really enjoy balancing my life outside the home with my life at home.

What are your thoughts on children?

Mary Kate: They're wonderful, but also wonderfully infuriating, and their pain is my pain. When we first moved from Chicago, Anna had a really rough time of it, and I spent a lot of time praying that she'd find her place, but also wondering if we'd made a huge mistake. I was so happy when she found Charli. Charli put the smile back on my daughter's face.

What regrets do you have?

Mary Kate: If you'd asked me that right after we moved, I'd have immediately told you I regretted uprooting my kids and bringing them to a new place, no matter how good Neil's job was. Fortunately, things improved.

Whom do you admire? 

Mary Kate: Lukas. He does a great job of getting the kids excited about church. He's part kid, part grown-up, and he knows when to bring out each of those aspects. That was one of the things that made him the best candidate for this position.

You're friends with Marita, but you and Angel go way back. Do you ever feel a conflict of interest there?
Mary Kate: Not really. They're both great people, and I know first hand what a great mom Marita is. I'm pretty picky about the adults who influence my kids, and I trust both of those ladies. If anything, I think I'm able to see both sides of things -- all three sides, if you count Charli's side. And I do.

Gone Visiting

Name Tags & Badges

Last week, fellow author Carole Brown was kind enough to feature me on her blog. I've done a bit of blog hopping to share my books, but Carole's first question was one I'd never been asked before!

To read her interview with me, click here. While you're on her site, check out her books!

The Battle of Planning and Flexibility

Peggy Marco via Pixabay

My desire to be productive is interfering with my productivity.

Like most people, I wear many hats. Consequently, my head spins with the possibility of all the things I could be doing at any given moment.

I write. Not just blogs, but articles and books, too, and in order to keep doing that, I promote my work and seek new writing and publishing opportunities.

I teach. Outside of class, I do research and planning so that when I show up for class, I'm armed with something besides a bunch of empty PowerPoint slides and a smile. Oh yeah -- and I grade papers, too.

I sell Thirty-One Gifts. Running any kind of a business, whether it's direct sales or an entrepreneurial endeavor, requires time and attention.

Oh, and then there are those pesky household obligations like cooking and laundry and organizing and keeping the house from devolving into chaos. Kind of.

I know I'm not alone. Still, I find it ironic.

It's a tenet of time management -- and life, too -- that saying "yes" to one thing means saying "no" to another -- or a bunch of others. And so, being productive in one area inevitably means being unproductive in another.

All around me, projects call out. Succumbing to the siren call of my desk means ignoring the laundry.  Cooking dinner means not grading papers. Spending time on social media, whether for business or pleasure, means not spending time elsewhere in face-to-face contact.

It's a dilemma. And a frustration. I want to do it all.

And so planning and flexibility co-exist, sometimes peacefully, sometimes duking it out in a most unsightly manner. Sometimes these fights are amusing, but usually, they're annoying. Sometimes, they're almost physically painful, coming at the cost of sleep and peace of mind.

StevePB via Pixabay

I'm not sure what the answer is. Scale back? Maybe. But I like all of the things on my list, and would be sorry to see any of them go. Writing has already nudged out theatre, for the most part. A full course load this semester has wiped out leisure reading. The empty nest has reduced my laundry load, but hasn't added any additional hours to the day.

So, I'll keep making lists, trying to satisfy both planning and flexibility and trying to get as close to doing it all as I can.

Let's hope planning and flexibility don't plan a sneak attack.