On Family

Family is Numero Uno in our house (and that includes close friends who we consider family.)  Need someone to ride shotgun on the 10hr trip to Atlanta from NYC in a U-Haul with your family's entire belongings?  Sign us up!  $800 for last minute air tix for a funeral?  We don't even bat an eyelash.  Two days of coast-to-coast travel for 6hrs at a baby shower?  We're so there!

My MIL was in hospital last week and my family quickly moved into place to back each other up.  My Beloved stayed with her, then my SIL, then me, while my BIL kept the house running smoothly back home and took care of all the arrangements to make sure my SIL still got to celebrate her 39th birthday (again!).  My MIL is home now and, fortunately, this was not a magenta-level emergency (on the color wheel of terrorism/national disaster rainbow).  The feeling is like one of those silly group team-building exercises where everyone stands in a circle facing the person to their left and sits back onto the legs of the person on their right...

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This reminds me of a time* when we went hiking in some back woods in PA with My Beloved and Actor Friend.  We were bushwacking up a very steep hillside full of scree, mud, and debris when Actor Friend started to slide back down.  It all happened very fast.  My Beloved was in the lead, with Actor Friend behind him and me trailing.  "Fishboy!" Actor Friend said - not shouting, but in a serious tone.  Without hesitating or even turning his head, My Beloved shot his arm back and locked hands with Actor Friend, saving him.  Actor Friend recovered his footing and we all kept climbing, like it was just the most natural thing to reach out and save a friend without pause.  Which, of course, it is.

Isn't that the best feeling to know someone has got your back?

* Update:  Apparently, according to My Beloved, I was not actually there and they were fishing in a creek bed.  They'd ridden their bikes to the creek and were climbing back to the road after fishing, hauling the bikes, when Actor Friend started to fall.  Neither of us has an infallible memory, although mine is a much less reliable witness, so who can say if I was present or not.  Regardless, it doesn't detract from the point.  Which is: family rocks!

LMAO

Shows  you how much I know: this Monday morning I walked into work to discover a humongous prayer plant dead in a forgotten corner of the cube farm.  Oh yeah.  I'm an invested worker!

On the Importance of Houseplants

A houseplant is something no one consciously notices unless it is in bloom.

Think of a professional office space you've recently visited.  It could be where you work, a doctor's office, the mall.  Try to recall if you saw any plants in the foyer, atrium, or common areas.  Now, think of the executives in your company and their office space.  Which offices have plants?

Plants are barometers of professionalism and employee engagement with the company.  The presence of plants in the common spaces of an office show attention to detail and a value in company image.  Any company would do well to make sure 1) they are not artificial and 2) in good health with no browning leaves.  Think of the message either of those would send?!

Plants on a worker's desk are a barometer of that person's outlook.  Adding plants to your workspace improves your own mood and unconsciously makes others around you feel more comfortable.   But plants are something that need tending.  Well-cared for plants in a personal workspace show that you are engaged in the big picture and outlook of the company, and also aware that small daily gestures contribute to the larger goal.  Moreover, a plant in bloom sends a message to the company executives:  you are invested in your own success.  You have an eye to the big picture and are invested in the company's well-being (i.e. having plants on your desk to make it a peaceful environment), but will do what it takes to make sure you profit from it, too (i.e. you water and fertilize said plants to make pretty flowers for you to look at all day long).

What are you doing to bloom where you are planted?