How can an introvert thrive at work?
I have been at a great job for six months and have just had my second employee review. What came up is that my boss thinks I need to be more confident and assertive and forge better relationships with my colleagues. I am finding myself getting more introverted as I get older (pretty sure I was never this bad in school) and I have trouble initiating conversations with people. Do any homies have advice for dealing with being the introvert in the workplace?
How taking a “nose work” class got my dog to finally accept my new partner as a pack leader
My boyfriend moved into my house almost a year ago. Today he’s my fiancé, and soon he will be my husband. Somehow, though, the most exciting new title he recently earned seems to be that of pack leader with my three dogs.
It turns out my parents really weren’t that bad
We choose our best and happiest pictures to populate our photo albums. Flipping through my baby scrapbook, you will witness my father’s disgruntled smile and my mother’s listless eyes. Most memories I have of my childhood resemble an under-developed Polaroid, with faded smiles and red eyes, in which no one is saying cheese. Mum and dad were raised in devout Catholic families. They met young and quickly vowed their eternal love to God and each other, and like good Catholic progeny, attempted to raise as many kids as they could. My parents were not well suited for matrimony, nor for procreation, at least not the way I remembered them before I became a parent.
Offbeat Home & Life: new family, new header, new Tugboat (…wait, what?)
Holy shit, you guys. It’s a big day for site news. We’re welcome another editor (and readers!) to the site, adding a new character to the header, and talking about Tugboat Yards (it’ll make sense in a second…)
Offbeat Families won’t be publishing new posts, but our archive will stay online FOREVER (and we’ll still be on Facebook)
While we are ceasing daily publishing on Offbeat Families, the site and community will live on. Here’s how…
What I learned about disaster planning and response during the Colorado floods
A flash flood warning compelled me to abandon my Boulder home late in the evening. I returned home four days later to find that the Colorado floodwaters had missed my home by a matter of fourteen inches. In the in-between time, I was grateful for my disaster planning and also learned how to be more prepared in the future.
8 ways to help you deal when the time isn’t right to have a baby
It was never going to happen to me like it did with those parents who hit the one-year mark, watch their little baby toddle around and say, “Oh… I want another one!” After a terrible pregnancy that ended in an emergency C-section, I decided I was done for good. Or at the very least a good looooong time. I wrote myself letters throughout the pregnancy to remind myself that YES it was that bad, the same way I kept track of the (still ongoing) night wakings, issues with breastfeeding. Finances have been kept under strict supervision, and baby expenditures can be easily totalled.
Do I have to surrender my backyard to the spiders?
Our lovely Portland, Oregon backyard has transformed into a spidery wonderland during the past year. Spiders are awesome and super important for the environment, but we need our personal space! What can I do to de-spider the back yard, short of spraying with pesticides?