Dim Sum

If you have been following my blog you know that my life is pretty hectic.  Is full of work, school, dance classes, wrestling practices, Zumba, and whatever else life throws my way. Our schedule changes constantly.  I already have an email that the days of wrestling has been changed for the next two weeks. My husband and I make our game plan and run with it.   

This weekend was different, but fun. Nice that we didn't have a tournament or party to go to. My husband and sister-in-law took Lincoln to see Monster Trucks at Ford Field. Ava and I went to see Jack and the Giant Slayer. Sometimes I find that it is nice to separate the kids and give them one on one attention.

We ended our weekend with dim sum at East Lake Restaurant. This is a Chinese brunch. Having dim sum is another tradition in my family. This meal is family time. I don't mean just my immediate family. When we go I ALWAYS go with my parents, bring my kids, and sometimes my Po-po (grandmother) comes too. This time I brought my sister-in-law and friends of my parents went too. I have only gone to dim sum without my dad once.  It just seems wrong not to have him there.   

Dim sum is MOUTHWATERING bite sized DELICIOUSNESS. You are seated and they provide you with a card. Carts go by, you order if you want something from the cart and they mark it on your card. The carts go around during the entire meal. Tea is also served. We have gone to great lengths to get good dim sum. When I was younger we used to go to Canada.

I like that the meal is immediate. As soon as you sit down you can start ordering. The thought never crossed my mind to get forks until my sister-in-law asked for one. That was never an option for me when I was growing up. there are pictures of me attempting to eat with chop sticks in a high chair. My poor kids are subject to the same thing, but they manage to eat (and eat well). My daughter probably ate three orders of hakau (shrimp in a rice wrapper) herself.

The definition of dim sum is "to touch the heart." To me it truly does. It is a happy time when we get to have a meal as a family and enjoy each other. We don't do this nearly enough, but when we do it is a delicious meal and a great time. 

Dart Through the Week

My mission is to get through the week. So many things to get done this week ( two dance classes, one wrestling practice, two  Zumba classes, getting our taxes done, and going to Lincoln's tournament). It's our home tournament so we are helping. My hubby and I have been car pooling all week because his car died.  I must admit that I liked it. My "personal limousine service." I found that it's nice to have a chance to talk in the morning and spend a few minutes together. Arron would drive and I could  also use my iPad, catch a catnap, and talk on the phone.  Arron learned  this week that the reason I never answer my phone after work is because I'm talking to my mom on the phone. Hehe. It was also nice to have him drop me off and pick me up at the door. On Tuesday he showed up with a sugar free Red Bull and a snack. So lucky to be me.

We didn't expect to be without a car all of the sudden. Finding a car in a short period of time is not fun.  Guess I'm lucky that Arron has been researching the Dodge Dart since last year. On Friday Arron went on a mission to find a car.  Boy was I surprised when he ended up with a...Dodge Dart.  I have be excited for him.  It's his first new car.

We finally have another car and I go to leave for the store and I can't because I can't find my keys. Then I remember that Lincoln was playing with my keys this morning. He made a comment that it wasn't easy to get the keys off of the ring so that he could play with them.  I explained that keys are not to be played with. In the morning I went to leave and forgot about the keys because Arron told me to take the Dart. I am lucky that my mother-in-law  was over in the evening so I could take her car grocery shopping.  I call my sister-in-law that night and she tells me that  the keys are on the top shelf in the bathroom.  Now I would not put the keys on the top shelf. I can't reach it without getting on a stool. Although, a four-year-old standing on the counter can easily reach the shelf.

There is always something going on in the Berger household. All I can do is accept it and hope for the best. We are going to get through the week one way or another. Good thing we have lots of  family to help out and kids to keep it "interesting."

Olympic Hopeful

I am proud to admit that I was an Olympic hopeful (in judo). by the age of 16 I was on the Olympic track. My dad no longer put me in low level tournaments. Competing across the company and sometimes outside of the U.S. was normal.  I did judo five to six days a week and did conditioning seven days a week. Sometimes I would condition two times a day depending on my schedule and if I was cutting weight.

I missed out on a lot of things, but I gained a lot to.  I had many life experiences that others don't get to have. My friends went to college...I moved to the Olympic Training Center. I trained with some of the best athletes and met some great people. I will always cherish the memories of my training. It was hard, but it was fun. I know the dedication and time demands it takes to pursue this type of track. 

It was devastating to hear that the International Olympic Committee is removing wrestling as an Olympic event. To me wrestling is the definition of a traditional Olympic sport. "Wrestling was among the first sports in those ancient Games; wrestling was also included at the start of the modern Olympics, in 1896 (Irving, 2013)." The New York Times article, How Wrestling Lost the Olympics, goes on to discuss if wrestling is not an Olympic sport then will it impact high school and college school wrestling programs in the United States? I'm sure that it will.

Wrestling as had a long  history with the Olympics. I am optimistic knowing that this decision can be appealed. There has already been a large movement to "Keep Wrestling in the Olympics." They invite people to sign petitions, like and follow pages on both Facebook and Twitter. They also have an official website. Amazing how inclined people are with social media. I received a tweet which directed me to a French site to sign their petition to keep wrestling in the Olympics.  I hope that their Olympic dreams can live on.

Irving, John. (2013). How Wrestling Lost the Olympics. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/16/opinion/how-wrestling-lost-the-olympics.html

Chinese New Year Celebration

Over time my family has grown.  My cousins and  I grew up, we got married and we had kids.  Some live out of state or a few hours away.  Over the years we have spent less and less time together; even during the holidays.  Chinese New Year is fortunately a holiday which I think we will ALWAYS spend together. This is a time when we all PLAN to be together.

All of us pack in to a house. This year we had to eat in three separate rooms. As we arrived my aunts and uncle were still cooking. Another aunt and I started serving food to everyone else.  We had a choice of corn chowder and fungus soup. Following the soup, rice was served and the meal began.

This year was a little fun because we brought my husband's sister who has never had  a traditional Chinese meal.  I explained to her many of the Chinese New Year traditions. There will be clementines and red eggs which symbolize good luck. I let her know how the meal would run and that it was likely that one or two people would serve everyone because it is easier with the amount of space we have.  I let her know what everything was that was being served and what things I thought she may not eat (she dislikes ham so I told her to stay away from anything with ham.) I also made sure that she had a fork.  There was a time when only chopsticks and bowls were served.  My kids were subject to a chopstick only meal. They did pretty good.

My cousin, Steve, was hiding the lap xuong (Chinese sausage), from his sister, Heather, for almost the entire meal.  He had it in front of him, but was blocking it with a larger bowl. She had no idea it was there until Steve's wife moved the larger bowl. Then his sister swept in and grabbed the sausage.  It's a family favorite. My kids ate all of the Chinese sausage at our table.

To say the least, we had some mouth-watering food that we do not get to have all of the time.  This is sometimes unappealing to the eye, but amazing for the taste buds. It is so nice to get together with my family, enjoy a DELICIOUS meal, reminisce about old memories and take the time to catch up. 

Positivity Breeds Positivity

This week I'll continue my discussion of being positive. DeliveringHappiness recently tweeted "What do you value most in your workplace? Is it your co-workers? Your job? Or something else? #WorkHappy" For me, simply being nice and keeping a positive work environment makes all of the difference.  

This week I was giving a new hire orientation and decided to show the FISH video before.  I was pleasantly surprised by the message that was conveyed. The film is about a fish market and the way that their employees stay positive.  They are dedicated to the Fish Philosophy.  It goes on to discuss how being positive makes their work more enjoyable and how they are able to create a relationship and communicate with consumers with their actions. One employee says, "I CHOOSE TO BE POSITIVE." This really is a great statement. You can choose to be optimistic or you can opt not to be. Seeing the glass as half full seems to be like the right choice to me.  The way I look at it, the glass might spill a little bit, but it never tips over and you can ALWAYS fill it back up.  

                                                                                                                                                                           

I think starting an employment relationship with this type of message is the right step to take.  Keeping the message going is the key. We have been planning the calendar of events for this year and have included events where the company gives to employees (luncheons, special events, turkeys) and other events (No Child LeftBehind, United Way and BetheMatch). I feel that giving to employees and showing them how the company supports giving back to the community and inviting them to participate sends an encouraging message.

I would really like to expand our level of positivity through "random acts of happiness." This is something else I recently saw Delivering Happiness do. They handed out balloons on the street to random strangers.  Amazing that such a small thing could put a smile on people's faces and bring them joy. 

I would like to pass out happy face stickers to employees. Just something fun to keep work light and fun. What's your idea?

Over the past few weeks I have been exposing myself to positive people on Twitter. Their optimism and actions have inspired me. I look to be inspired and find things that make me happy every day. I find these things with quotes, pictures, music and other stories.  My goal is to pass on some of my happiness and hopefully it will motivate someone else to be positive.  I hope someone inspires you today! 

Think Positive, Be Positive, Live Positive

Of all of the things I have learned during my life, one of the most important lessons is being positive.  Being positive impacts every aspect of your life every day.  To me, attitude is everything.  They way you feel and how you portray yourself to others has an impact at work, with professional connections, at home, with your friends, your children, family members, complete strangers, etc.

At a very young age I learned to redirect my energy through judo. It started at judo and eventually I could use exercise to deal with negative energy. At the end of a hard workout I feel WONDERFUL. It's like I am able to restart from a better place. Being healthy is one thing. A peer of mine, Dan Capizzo, discusses how important it is to keep the mind trained. Living at the Olympic Training Center and training with elite athletes really taught me how to use my mind and body together and my recovery from stressful situations (i.e. training for high level tournaments, pursuing Olympic dreams) became almost instantaneous.

Being a positive force takes time and dedication. It started with  USA judo and exercise and eventually became a way of life for me.  For over ten years I worked at a job that was high stress.  I found myself dreading going to work. I stumbled upon a book, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People."  With so much in common with the book I started to apply it into my daily life.  Next, I attended a Society for Human Resources Management Conference.  Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos, was a presenter.  He gave an inspiring speech with such honesty. He talked about his journey through life, work, and events he sponsored for Delivering Happiness.  On the plane home from the conference I was reading his book, Delivering Happiness, and since then I've been a supporter of constant happiness since. It's odd that one encounter gave me the motivation to change. My change was getting a new job.  I moved to a company where I have no stress. Removing one stressor allowed me to find happiness everywhere else. 

I try to approach EVERYDAY with a positive attitude. If my day starts going astray I will literally say "this is not going to happen (red cape on)," I try to refocus my energy and keep going as positively as possible.  I've found that if you let things go downhill the slide is quick and not an enjoyable ride. If my day isn't the best I follow it with a great workout. Sometimes it is on the treadmill, sometimes it's at Zumba. I was lucky to find a way to redirect my negativity to positivity.  I hope you have been able to find this too. 

Family Unit

I have two children. Ava is six and Lincoln is four.  Since being graced into parenthood I have learned how different my children are. Ava is a girly girl and Lincoln (we call him Linc) is a rough and tumble little boy.  I've learned that having a family is a balancing act. First you are caring for an additional person who relies on you for their EVERY need. Adding another child into the game plan was truly a balancing act.  For me, it was a matter of timing so that I could tend to both children. As the kids have gotten older they have become involved in activities which keep us busy at least six days a week.  Ava has Catechism, Pom and Ballet. Linc wrestles two days a week and we have a tournament each weekend...AND the puppy has training at Petsmart.

 It is hard enough meeting the demands of this schedule....then it changes(red cape and tiara are ready for action). It is not uncommon for Linc's wrestling club to change the practice days. Kids get sick and other things come up.  Having children made me realize that it really does take a "village of people." to raise them.  My husband and I both work full time, I have school, and I HAVE to work out (not only for health reasons, but to clear my mind).  Between the two of us we often cannot meet the demands of these activities.  Many of them start before we get out of work.  This is when we turn to "TEAM BERGER!" 

Team Berger: Mom, Dad, Ava, Linc, Grandma, Dzia Dzia, Aunt Heather, Gong-Gong, Po-Po, & many stand ins

Grandma picks up the kids from school and day care, feeds them dinner, takes them to dance, and waits for me to arrive. Aunt Heather drops the kids off at school in the morning. We call in reinforcements when the kids are sick, there is no school or there are snow days.

I must admit that my husband and I are fortunate to have a family that is so willing to help out WHENEVER we need them.  It is nice to know that we can "call in a favor."  Our support system allows us to get the kids where they need to be and they don't miss out on the fun things life has to offer. To our "team unit," THANK YOU! 

Mission: Unexpected Adventure Castaway Bay

In the past I found myself caught up in the monotony of day-to-day life (i.e. get up too early, get the laundry done, get lunches made, work too hard, go shopping for necessities, make dinner, more chores, go to sleep late, repeat).  I would pass up on going out with friends and eventually found myself repeating the same week over and over.

Recently, I made a conscious decision that I would see my friends more, have more play dates, be more patient with my kids and ENJOY the time we share together.  Sometimes it's hard to let the dishes go unwashed, but the reward is so much more.  Do I want to say that I missed watching my kids having the ultimate nerf gun fight because I was  busy doing household tasks? I think not.

I just realized the other day that Monday is considered a holiday at my work and I get the day off. AWESOME!!!  As soon as I bring this to my sister-in-laws attention she says we need to go on an adventure (red cape on). First we were going to go to Frankenmuth and then we decided on Castaway Bay. I love having my hair styled and putting on great makeup.  I left the beauty parlor (and tiara) at home, but brought my waterproof Maybeline eye liner and mascara. We did not tell the kids.  In fact, we did not tell the kids until we arrived.  After a long wrestling tournament that day, both kids slept the entire ride.  They were so excited.  I asked Ava if we should go on adventures more often.  She told me, "THIS IS A GREAT IDEA!"

It was so nice to stay in an 82 degree climate.  We went in the wave pool, ran in the kid zone, rode the roller coaster, went down the slides, and enjoyed the hot tub.  I must admit that the outdoor hot tub is  AMAZING. To be able to look up into the sky and see the moon on a dark night and to be able to see it snow while you sit in a steamy luxury is pretty incredible. We tried to end our trip in the hot tub, but the kids did not want to go.  Aunt Heather volunteered for mommy to go down the slide one more time and we would leave. Boy is the water COLD after lounging in the hot tub. 

If you had a chance to go on adventure where would you go and what would you do? A day of rest and relaxation with my family  is just what the doctor ordered. Time to forget about laundry, cleaning and errands. It was a nice way to break from reality for a day. I would highly recommend this or an voyage of your creation. 

Emily Berger (aka Girl on a Mission 615) in a nutshell

I am an only child raised by two loving and supporting parents.  From a young age I was DRIVEN. It started with gymnastics, dance and eventually at the age of 12 I was dragged to judo by my father.  It was love at first fight.  After high school I moved to the Olympic Training Center and trained with USA Judo. Eventually I moved back to Michigan and started my career in Human Resources.  After finding my job I aligned my classes with work and received my Bachelor's degree from Walsh College. I married my high school sweetheart and we have two beautiful children; one diva, one maniac (who is so charming he melts your heart). 

To solidify myself professionally I became a Profession in Human Resources (PHR) and a Certified Workers Compensation Professional (CWCP).  After over 10 years with the same company I took a leap of faith and found a new job. My new job allowed me to rediscover myself and truly ENJOY life. My life has always been dedicated to keeping a positive state of mind.  Recent changes have allowed me to have minimal stress.  At the same time I have found happiness both personally and professionally.

Throughout my life I have ALWAYS had a goal (i.e. get a degree, earn a certification, enjoy time with my kids, not to stress over the small stuff, etc.).  I've learned to keep an open mind and that there are multiple solutions to every problem. Please join me on my journey as I put on my superhero cape and tiara to navigate roadblocks and create solution while enjoying every step of the way.