- Birthdays continued with Tom’s and Riso’s parties
- Playdates with Domingo and Tom and a trip to Sky Zone with Theo
- Winter weather and illness has kept basketball and soccer pretty disrupted
- Chess! “Cheating at chess with Zachary Dammann”
- Hotcho stand again
- Playing chess with Theo at the YMCA
- Zach got a dog-like, squishy toy, Dexter, and he’s enjoying taking care of him.
- We introduced him to typing tutorials/games - need to find a better option since the ones we tried didn’t save his progress
Zach's Words and Music
- Brutal spelled broodle
- Tried out a book club with Domingo
- Zach talked about the two girls who have a crush on each other in Spy School just like he would a boy/girl love interest! <3
- Reading: Harry Potter, Garfield, Bad Kitty, Cat Ninja, some Minecraft
Zach at school
Not feeling like there is much to report about school…
Zach’s health
- Missed four days of school for a stomach bug (early Jan) and then a low fever + cold.
- Between days off for snow, illness, and the normal days off school, there have hardly been any 5-day weeks. Sigh
- Swollen finger from picking his nails…again! He did not have to go to the doctor this time and get antibiotics!
Sleep Update
- Nights are getting shorter and we’re getting up earlier
- Bedtime is closer to 8:30pm now
- We helped Lindy and family and Mary and family
- Zach chose and wrote his Valentine’s
- I’m really working on growth with chess. It is hard and I am a sore loser. Zach is also a sore loser. Losing 12 - 34 at basketball. Woah! I am that way too. Frank suggested playing both sides together or concentrating on one piece at a time - explore the bishop or Queen or rook
- Cora had my back! She told Zach that “Cleaning is a part of life,” and reminded him when he fussed about brushing his teeth, that she has to “brush her teeth and her hair every day.” Zach is very affronted by the things he has to do EVERY. DAY. (including having breakfast with me. Sniff.)
Family Fun
- The rest of our two-day weekend to Canaan Valley
- Dinner at the Cheesecake Factory
- We played Harry Potter Clue and Ticket to Ride
- We watched Ghostbusters and Indiana Jones
- We went to see Migration
- Family dinner at Ted’s Bulletin
- We had hoped to go on a family trip in late Jan when Zach was off school and on President’s Day weekend, but the weather did not cooperate, and/or someone was sick!
Susan and Zach
- Played 9 Arches and had a day that included: a cafe (we love them), daredevil (hiking in the snow), playing football in the snow (clown)
- Walking to school some with Cora and Adina at times
- Zach and I went to St. Matthew’s Church; Zach enjoyed it, and Angela, Zach’s former daycare director, and her daughter, who was in Zach’s class, attend!
- Bella and the Bulldogs with Zach made me laugh
- Down to the mall to the Portrait Gallery and Zaytinya. One of our fave exhibits had moved on. 🙁
- Skiing at Canaan twice + Bryce, Massanutten, and Blue Knob
- Sky Zone
- Pokemon Battle
Frank & Susan
- Walks
- Tried for a repeat of our successful date night, but Frank was sick, and I got nauseous playing the video game because he was managing the controller solo this time.
- Time with the Uber Ladies at the Portrait Gallery and Zaytinya
- Calls with Paige
- Calls with Mom and Dad
- Video chats and breakfast at Bakery Tatte with Auntie Em
- Check-ins with Liesl
- Walks with Mary
- Supporting Bettie on her health journeys
- Call with Amy Madsen
- Connected with Cordi and Michelle
- Messaged with Jolene
- Afternoon with Emily and Andrew who are expecting their baby girl in June!
- Enjoyed seeing the soccer families here and there
- Chat with Siga
- Chats with Elieen at Tom’s birthday party and at the Zach/Domingo book club play date
Good Food
- Zaytinya twice in Feb!
- Bakery Tatte goodies
- Meals from Lake Anne Coffee House
- Zingerman’s bread
- Tahini maple cookies
- Chinese feast, included peanut noodles made delicious with additions of chili sauce and tamari
- Eileen and Nacho’s and then my own breakfast burrito - yum!
- Rachel’s family's Valentine sugar cookies
Health Corner
- We got checked for lice in Jan
- Went to see the new GYN at Saville and liked her a lot
- I caught the cold in Feb
Personal
Fun
- Cross-country skiing at Whitegrass!
- Hanging art at LAES
- Shunise, my therapist, makes me laugh
- Art and Science of Happiness course work - lessons 5-8
- Good Inside membership - took the re-parenting class + joined a podcast club
- Beautiful snowy walks
- Pushing myself with drawing trees and drawing in general + Rubik’s cube
- Running into young men at CVS, the young man who backed into me, and also the young man working at the Dulles Sportsplex, who apologized that my birthday party wasn’t happening even though it was me who got the day wrong!
- More dreams lately, not sure it’s a good thing
- Pulled together a Black History timeline to include major world events and family connections
- Having to think about and nail down summer plans in January.
- A young man backed into me/we backed into each other in a parking lot. He was very respectful and polite.
- Just generally an emotional net negative month, and that's normal and okay
Watching
- High on the Hog (2 episodes)
- Watched Love on the Spectrum, but I did not like it, despite raves by my DEIB peeps
- Blackish
- History Channel on the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921
- Some History Channel episodes on the Underground Railroad
Reading
- Finished South to America by Imani Perry
- The Year of Living Danishly
- We All Want Impossible Things
Listening
- Adam Grant (your brain on art!); Simon Sinek; Coaching for Leaders; Geeks, Geezers, and Googlization
- The Art and Science of Happiness - Talks about how important the knowledge is about romantic love so that you can avoid starting down a path with someone you work with that you are attracted to. The key is to avoid the start of “passionate love” and the cascade of emotions that have you acting like an addict. 25% of people have a relationship at work where one of the people is married.
- Listened to Arthur Brooks interviewed by WebMD, and the connection of health to happiness is that if you invest in health it increases your chances of being less unhappy, and being less unhappy gives you more time to focus on the pillars of happiness: faith, family, friends, and work with purpose.
Professional Fun and Not So Fun
Fun
- 5 years at GoCanvas - the longest I’ve every worked anywhere!
- Chat with Jessica Pisano on LinkedIn around my work anniversary
- Loving LinkedIn curation
- Loving collaboration with Athena on Cultural Awareness and Belonging Culture sessions
- Raise and a bonus
- People over Perks community from Leapsome
- Talked with Amy about whether nonprofits would pay for culture audits and recommendations and discussed with Eileen that it might be good to work with board members in companies that value culture as a way in…
- Joining Pinnacle’s Customer Advisory Board
Not So Fun
- As we move into 2024, it’s weird again with more M&A and reorganizations.
- Wondering about a possible need to move on. It doesn't feel authentic to stay, AND I need good health insurance, and I am a culture carrier.
What’s on my mind/Insights
- Love the ideas of how we all need to take care of each other. It’s the Nagoski sisters, Simon Sinek, and Zach Mercurio. Take care of yourselves; take care of each other.
- Reviewing my Annual Goals weekly which keeps me in tune with the four pillars: family, friends, faith, and work with purpose
- Concept of Acknowledge, Validate, Permit
- Lots of tough emotions these past 5 weeks. These emotions are normal and accepting them is uncomfortable and an act of growth!
- Art and Science of Happiness meditation on the fear of career failure. Meditated for 18 minutes for ~7 days on questions like: I feel my skills slipping away. People feel sorry for me (related to what I do for work).
- Susan David and emotional intelligence: 1. In every hard choice there is loss 2. Think of the choices as different but equal, not better or worse 3. Make the choice in line with your values. Which choice will get you closer to who you want to be?
- Good Inside: I notice I’m crying; my body is signaling something to me, and I want to listen!
- PRISM - Prospection, Resilience, Innovation, Social Connection, and Meaning/Mattering
