My City’s Better Than Your City
Business site Kiplinger.com just named Houston the No. 1 city to live, work and play. We’re getting some well-deserved national recognition! Forbes, in 2006, recognized Houston as one of the best places for businesses and careers.
Things I like about Houston:
Brilliant Idea No. 1
Keep a piano in a workspace near the cubicles in your department. At 2 p.m., when everyone is post-lunch dragging and trying to keep their face from crashing into the keyboard, have someone play a little ditty.
Everyone loves a good piano riff. I think listening to a Counting Crows song this morning inspired me.
How to Win People with The 30-Second Rule
As you may know, I spent Memorial Day weekend visiting family in Oklahoma. I love scanning bookshelves at houses we visit and usually get a chance to skim through a book or two.
John Maxwell’s 25 Ways to Win with People shares the secret of The 30-Second Rule. If you don’t get a chance to read the book, read about The 30-Second Rule in the July 26 post on this page.
No Asians Allowed: Immigration Yesterday and Today
“No city has been changed as fundamentally, as irreversibly, as Houston…No city has benefited more from immigration,” Rice University Prof. Stephen Klineberg says about Houston. You have to watch his speech about Houston and what he says about immigrants both legal and illegal.
As far as I know, there were no Malayalees in the United States before the 1960s. The laws below shed some light on the reason why. Read the rest of this entry »
Kerala – God’s Own Country (And Mine)
I thoroughly, seriously love Kerala. Rubber trees. Mangoes. The muthy men selling the tastiest fish on their bikes on the road next to your house. The smoky fires from burning leaves or cooking in chimneys. Palm trees that grow like grass. The unrelenting sounds of insects and animals at night outside your bedroom. The power going out inevitably and unpredictably. Some of the most educated, diasporic people on earth.
Things everyone knows about Kerala (and you should too): Read the rest of this entry »
Hundreds of Miles Away
For the next three days, my husband and I will be hundreds of miles away from each other.
For the first time since we’ve been husband and wife.
Sajan will be in Cancun at our friend Sheil’s bachelor party. Since my family happens to be going to Oklahoma to see relatives, I thought I’d hop along with them. One thing Sajan and I decided upon getting married was to not live two separate lives. To travel together, drive to church together, just have fun together. Of course, personal time with friends is in that mix, too.
At this fresh time in our marriage, we spend a lot of time together (as we should) and honestly enjoy it. It’s like having a sleepover with your best friend every day.
No Time to Cook and Other Lies.
Cooking is something I enjoy but not something I’ve had to do on a regular basis. Until now. This week we’ve had fajitas and fettucine.
How do moms never run out of great things to make? I’m racking my brain to figure out new recipes. Pasta, chicken thighs and stir fry are my standard ingredients. Marsha got me this Betty Crocker cooking book, which will be a good muse.
This Bitten blog may be another source for recipes that keep things interesting. The author says fewer and fewer people are cooking these days. Either they don’t have time, or they didn’t grow up in families that cook. Now there are so many convenient quick fixes for meals.
Will something precious be lost with fewer home-cooked meals in families? Do quick fixes make meals less nutritious?
There’s something to be said about the unique flavor in a home-cooked meal and that one irreplaceable ingredient: Love.
Confessions of a Lame-O
I have a confession to make. The other day, I left my office and went to a secluded flight of stairs and jogged up and down in my high-heel boots. I had been sitting at my desk for hours and could feel my rear end begin to merge with my chair. It was time to burn some calories.
What do you do at your office to get some time away from the computer? How do you burn some extra calories those eight hours?
How to Change Your Name Pt. 2
Today something special came in the mail.
It was addressed to Sheena T Abraham.
My social security card! It took only five days for the new card to arrive. Impressive. In related news, it was time for a name change and address change on my driver’s license, so this morning I drove to Department of Public Safety on Gessner with my marriage license. I was in and out in 45 minutes. But that is one unpleasant place, I must say. Needs customer service rehab.
My work e-mail signature now reads Sheena Oommen Abraham to help transition to the new name.
Living (It Up) On a Budget
So how are your finances?
If your answer is “fairly shaky” or “very shaky,” you’re like two out of every five people, a recent study showed.
Everyone’s worried about money. Before Sajan and I married, we had to sit and talk about our views on spending. We try to merge our good habits and get rid of the bad ones.
The other day, we bought one of those pokey receipt spikes to help track our spending. Until then, we threw receipts on a designated spot on the floor. (Not something I would recommend.) At least once a week I review the receipts and enter the numbers into a spreadsheet with different categories. Read the rest of this entry »
