Holly Ann Fisher

For Christmas, Santa brought me a Flip Video Camera, an awesome little device that makes uploading videos to the Web super easy. Here we are playing around with the new device on Christmas morning (totally ignore my just-out-of-bed look and focus on that adorable baby).

Our babies: Mocha, Belle and Katherine.
And Katherine says, “Should I be on all fours for this photo?”

As I was cleaning out my 2008 calendar, I came across some notes I took during a presentation about having fun a work given by Mike Veeck, author of “Fun is Good” and part owner of the Charleston RiverDogs minor league baseball team.

Just thought I would share his tips about how to infuse the workplace with fun (which should be pretty easy for me these days since I work at home).

1. Hire passionate people.
2. Have fun – laughter improves everything.
3. Values (write down four one-word values for your company).
4. Teamwork – build a team you can be proud of.
5. Generosity of spirit – mentor someone.
6. Creativity (have creative meetings in the morning; but keep meetings to an hour or less).
7. Customer service (write your top 25 customers a hand-written note).
8. Give back to the community in which you live.

Additional tidbits of wisdom:
* People want to be empowered to make decisions.
* How we deal with success and failure on a day-to-day basis is the defining moment for how we handle business and people.
* How we approach change defines our business.
* The No. 1 employee morale gift: unexpected time off.

A recent article in Newsweek discussed how reporters were trying to draw comparisons between Jackie Kennedy Onassis and soon-to-be First Lady Michelle Obama. The article points out how different the two women really are and showcases the inane attempts by the media to connect the dots, particularly in terms of fashion.

Obama has pledged to focus on complex social issues, such as support for military families, once she gets to the White House. Still, most of her recent headlines have been about her clothes, such as the mixed reviews she drew for her election-night Narciso Rodriguez number.

Seriously? This woman has a master’s degree and a law career and we’re talking about her clothes? I have yet to read anything about Barack Obama’s ties or suit selections.

Let’s move beyond looking at women as little more than Barbie dolls. The First Lady will be representing one of the most powerful countries in the world as more than just a fashion accessory to the President. How about reviewing and critiquing her policies, thoughts and strategies rather than her choice of handbags and dresses?

I know, I know, the title of this posting leaves you scratching your head. What could we possibly learn from men? (ha, ha to my male readers). Well, we moms could learn a couple techniques for squelching our mommy guilt.

If you’ve never experienced mommy guilt, then you a) Don’t have children or b) Don’t have children. At some point or another, all moms feel guilty about something – feeding Child a Happy Meal; putting Child in playpen or swing for the fourth time in one day; not reading enough to Child … and the list goes on.

Here’s a particularly interesting article from American Baby magazine targeted at new moms and how to cure five new mom guilty feelings. But what I found most interesting is the “Father Knows Best” tips.

We can learn a thing or two from dads about kicking the guilt habit. Granted, it’s easier for them because they don’t have the societal expectations that we moms do. If a man changes a diaper, he’s a hero. But, for whatever the reason, fathers have got their thinking right. Here are three good manly lessons.

Dads don’t try to do it all. “Men don’t expect to work full time and be the primary caretaker to their kids, a great cook, sexy for their spouse, and a good friend,” Rosenberg says. Yet women do.

Dads don’t feel guilty about taking time for themselves. Does your husband think twice about heading out to the gym? Enough said.

Dads don’t blame themselves for everything (er, anything). Your child didn’t bite the other toddler at the playground because you didn’t breastfeed him or you fed him too much sugar. Kids act out, and they get hurt…just because they’re kids.

Excellent.

Last week I scored a new freelancing gig: updating a company blog about making your office more green. I’m posting twice a week and my first post goes up tomorrow. Check it out here. You also can be a fan of this blog on Facebook and follow updates on Twitter.

Over the last year, I’ve written several stories about the green movement, including stories about green building and profiles of businesses that are offering green products/services. It’s become an interest of mine, so I’m looking forward to writing about how companies are going green.

One catch to the blog, it’s technically based in San Diego so many of my postings should be related to San Diego. I love San Diego and wish the company that hired me would bring out for a meeting!

Check out the blog and follow me on Twitter and Facebook!

In July, I mentioned in this post that I had contributed a chapter to a textbook called “Understanding Media Convergence.” Well, last week I received my copy in the mail. So exciting! Journalism students everywhere will be falling asleep to my words – what a thrill! You can read more about the book here.

Hey, Check it out – I was profiled on The Organizing Mama blog as the MomMinute. While you’re at it, nose around the Web site – lots of cool stuff there.

Plenty of businesses are offering specials related to Election Day. Check out this story about how offering freebies for voting is a violation of the law. As the story points out, “Leave it to the law to spoil all the fun.”

Most businesses figured out a way to get around the law by offering general Election Day specials and not requiring people to actually show their “I Voted” sticker.

Truly, how many people are motivated solely to vote based on getting free coffee from Starbucks or free ice cream from Ben & Jerry’s? I’d like to think people are voting because it’s their duty as U.S. citizens, but, I guess, whatever works … I am, by the way, going to Starbucks this afternoon for my free coffee (but I would have voted anyway!) 🙂

I’ll be the first to admit motherhood has been so hard for me. The last nine months since my daughter was born have been pretty tough. But this weekend I had a great time hanging out with Katherine. It was a much-needed reminder that she is a precious part of my life.

On Saturday, we ran to Wal-Mart and then stopped at the new Petco so Katherine could check out the birds and other creatures. Later that day, Clint and I took her to the Coastal Carolina Fair (in the South, fairs come late in the year so you don’t die from summer heat and humidity). We walked all through the animal barn, with Katherine squealing at the sight of piglets, chickens and cows. She even had the chance to pet a rabbit. And by pet, I mean grab a fistful of fluffly fur and pull. (Eek! Don’t think the bunny can win many prizes missing a clump of fur! Sorry to the nice man who tried to let a baby pet a rabbit.)

Even on Sunday, we went to church, took an afternoon walk through the neighborhood and just hung out. It was a quiet, fuss-free weekend.

I tried to soak it in so I could summon those memories on a day when Katherine is sick, teething or just in a general grumpy baby mood. Or maybe I’ll think back to that trip to the fair when she gives me a 14-year-old, “Whatever, Mom! I’m going to the mall.”

Clemson University football coach Tommy Bowden was fired last week, but will get paid $3.5 million. And yet, thousands of people around the country don’t have jobs and are in danger of losing their homes. I think we might have a problem with priorities in this country.

I just saw this article from the Wall Street Journal about how to figure out if you might be on the layoff list. Definitely I saw some of these five signs (cutbacks, work slows down) at my previous company, but truly didn’t think I’d find myself packing up my family photos and personalized notepads.

Then I read the list of “Tips for keeping your job:”
– Make yourself irreplaceable.
– Be very clear about what your responsibilities are, and make sure you are meeting them.
– Pick up additional responsibilities.
– Make sure your supervisors and colleagues are aware of your capabilities.
– Continue to build your skills.
– Look for opportunities at your company and elsewhere.
– Don’t seem paranoid or anxious.
– Keep working at your current output.

Hmmm, check, check, check, check, check, check, check and check.

I guess sometimes you just don’t have any control of a situation.

When the CEO and vice president of your company call you in for a meeting at five minutes before 5 p.m. you have to know it’s not good news. Yesterday, I was laid off from my job as an editor with a local business publication.

The company had been making several cutbacks in operational areas, and yesterday the cutbacks hit the staff. My position was eliminated, thus, I was eliminated. It was as if someone had punched me in the stomach.

I had been with the company longer than anyone in our editorial department. I’d tried to be a good and loyal employee, doing everything that was asked of me – and then some. But, I guess when you’re competing with the bottom line, it always wins.

Now, I have to pull myself together and regroup. I’m trying very hard to believe this is part of some master plan God has for me. Still, it’s tough. I may give myself a few days to mourn this chapter of my life, and then I’ll try to figure out what’s next. Maybe I can do some freelance work while I see what other opportunities are out there. I have a couple of book ideas I’ve been kicking around so maybe now’s the time to work on those.

I guess I’ll have to see what doors open for me.

This weekend we took Katherine to Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia. Clint and I love animal-themed attractions (zoos, Sea World), so we thought we’d start Katherine early. I think she had a good time, although at this age it’s tough for her to really know what she’s seeing. And the animals needed to be close and moving for her to zero in on them.

But she did get up close and personal with a giraffe, cow, goat, fish and llama. I suspect she thought most of those were just large dogs since she’s used to seeing Belle and Mocha every day. But she seems to be a real animal lover and always enjoys an outing in the stoller.

Riverbanks Zoo was nice. It’s not particularly large (although most zoos seem small after being to the San Diego Zoo), but had all the required zoo creatures and was just the right size for an almost-8-month-old and her parents.

Enjoy the photos ….

What is this thing?