DOINGS:
We had a great Christmas in NH at Keith's parents' place. AC made many of our gifts, including Kitchen-Aid covers for Kim and Mom, round and straight knitting needles cases for Kim (still in progress), and calendars for the grandparents/uncle/auntie (through Sony ImageStation). Keith and Alana were sick, and unfortunately, one of us gave the violent stomach flu that we thought we'd just recovered from to Keith's Mom... We spent several hours in the middle of the day at the emergency room with Alana (second time in the emergency room, both times out of town. This time, it was the right arm. Last time it was the left...) She was sitting in the middle of my parents' living room, rolled onto her arm, and started crying...perhaps a dislocated shoulder. I manipulated it gently, and felt her shoulder 'POP'. X-rays showed nothing, and emergency room docs said to just watch her. She has started using it more and more over subsequent days, so we think it is OK.

ALANA STUFF:
On our annual post-Xmas trip to the Dartmouth Book Store, Alana looked down the stairway at Keith, who was browsing and lagging behind, and called "Honey? Huhhhney?" Keith's just happy that AC doesn't call him something even more cutesie !

She's talking up a storm now, in both Taiwanese and English. She copies everything, and loves to get other people involved (watching her drag all of her grandparents' generation onto their feet to do "Itsy-Bitsy-Spider" or "Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes" is hysterical...she's not happy until everyone's participating--COMPLETELY and CORRECTLY. I anticipate trouble...)

SIMPLIFYING:
Monday, while taking two breaks from what turned into an all-nighter work session (about 20 hours, but very productive), Keith re-organized the tupperware and one of the kitchen gadget drawers. Doesn't sound exciting, but the stuff fits better, you can see everything when you open the drawers, and we recycled a bunch of lids that don't have corresponding containers. Simplify, simplify! We also cleaned out some kitchen gadgets that we never use, putting them away for the town yardsale when it comes next year.

After meeting with Ford & Robyn on Tuesday, Keith also picked up some shelving at Home Depot and came home and installed it in one of the hobby room closets. Much better for our crafty stuff!

ANNOYANCES:
Last night Keith waited for three hours on the Mass Pike on his way back from a trip to NY--there was a head-on between two 18-wheelers when one of them swerved to avoid a cow on the highway. Crazy stuff. He did some work in the car while sitting there.

Our Christmas calendars look great (very good printouts), though they screwed up our order TWICE, and we're still waiting for the right calendars for Keith's family.

READING:
The E-Myth, by Michael E. Gerber (boy, do I see myself in this book...recommended as a whack on the head to help think about what's important in your small business)

Guns, Germs, and Steel (recommended to me by Ziploc. It's fascinating...gives a compelling argument that environmental factors were much more important than any genetic factors regarding which cultures were conquerors and which were conquerees. World history in a nutshell.)

David McCarter's VB Tips and Tricks (some good shortcuts for projects we're working on at the office)

(on tape, recent road trips) The Professor and the Madman (sad and fascinating story behind aspects of creation of the Oxford English Dictionary)

(on tape, recent road trips) The Comfort Trap (Talks about learning how to stretch beyond your comfort zone to get where you want to go. Several approaches presented, pretty good set of ideas to motivate yourself when you need to surmount a psychological obstacle).

(on tape, recent road trips) The Moral Intelligence of Children by Robert Coles (He argues that parents influence their children's behavior, and that kids are very smart at detecting when it's genuine as opposed to when it's all a facade...I don't think I learned anything about child-rearing, but definitely agree with the premise).

(on tape, recent road trips) Change Your Life In 30 Days by Ronda McIntyre (seems a good approach...I listen to these self-help and pop psychology ones as much to think about helping keep employees motivated as to keep myself motivated. Not sure it works, but there's often a nugget that's useful).