It’s my birthday today, and OMG! I am turning 45!! Normally I won’t make it a big deal nor we celebrate with big feast (is the husband reading??), but half way into my life journey — yes I plan to live to 90 years old so I can see and be entertained by my grandchildren, what do I want for this special day?

Funny enough that sometime last week I got call from a company interested in my background and experience, asked if I would consider to role that has potential to grow, and well, you know those rosy things they tell you before bringing you on board.  It would be great if this happened years ago when I was really looking for jobs, I wrote it here and here; unfortunately the commute plus long hours in the office (minimum required 7am~7pm) plus the “being told what to do” for about $75K turned me off.  There is no way I am willing to trade half of my time just to fit into other people’s schedule, not even for money.

So what do I want? A title may.  Look at friends my age, Managing Director, Partner, or Chief Strategist, all sorts make me feel good.  Well, come to think about it, I do have some of these glamorous titles;

CEO = Control Education Office

I am responsible for my girls’ education, both academically and socially.  I need to know what they learn in regular day school, in Chinese school, in various sports and activities, without over scheduling or write them off because they are not performing well, or not showing talents.  I need to know the causes lead to results to worry less.

CFO = Control Feedings Officer

I am responsible for everything my family eat, I may not go out of my way to buy all organic but I am definitely conscious and pay close attention to what I buy (and hubby cooks) to put on the table.  To keep on top of being healthy, I need to know the nutrients and nutrition well to worry less. 

CMO = Control Media Officer

I am responsible for my girls’ media encounter experiences, including TV shows, movies and internet.  They only watch the shows I approved and my ears are always up for what’s been said in the conversation, I absolutely go to movies with them so we can discuss afterwards, I setup Gmail accounts AND the passwords for them so I can lurk when I sensed odd situations.  When it comes to internet gaming/surfing, we are VERY clear that (1) don’t give out parents email addresses unless you have permissions, (2) no downloading unless one of parents agrees, (3) never ever chat with people you don’t know in real life online, unless ahem, you are on social media.  Some of these rules may seem stringent and certainly will change when the girls get older, but for now I need to get it in their heads early to worry less. 

Yes, I am a Control-Freak, and not ashamed to admit it; I don’t thing there’s anything wrong if all I want to have control is for my family’s well being and protect them in this society.  Without my family, I am nothing.

You think I have it?  Do I have it all?  While I am working on it, I am also buying some cool stuff from Roots Canada, because it’s 25% off + free shipping and the cyber-weekend sale ends on my birthday.

ps–I am not affiliated with Roots Canada (although I wish!), they simply have good stuff!!

So how does he spoil us?  Let’s start with me, the old lady in this house.  When there were just two of us, he would plan trips at least twice a year, we have travelled from East Coast to West Coast, from Canada, US to Europe and Asia.  When I first got pregnant, he insisted we had cleaning lady on regular basis not only to help out with chores but also to give me some breaks, then I got pregnant again (too much rest) until now, I’m still not 100% back on those chores.

When I was downsized and I told him, I want a more professional-looking picture to put on my social networking sites to build my personal brand, he took this photo;

and when I told him I want to participate in Dove Print Campaign casting by Jigsaw Casting, he took this one.

I am always beautiful in his eyes.

He is next to none when it comes to the girls, always makes them feel loved and cherished.  It used to hurt a little (o.k. I’ll admit, a lot) hearing the girls fought tirelessly whose turn is it to have Daddy’s attentions, or for the most recent examples, who gets to sit with Daddy on those exciting rides; but now I just lay back and enjoy watching the amazing bonds between them, thinking to myself — “I must have done something extra ordinary and burnt some expensive well made incenses in my previous life to deserve such a wonderful life partner.” 

Having spent more half of our lives together (we’d known each other since we were 20), he once joked that he only wanted to live until he is 65 years old because there is too much work,  and I almost had a heart attack!  Well, because after all, I still need to eat when I am older than 65, so don’t think I’ll let him off the hook that easily.

Gifts giving is not a big thing in our family, we celebrate birthdays and holidays by creating memories, either vacations, some family tradition routines or even new experience we try together.  Somehow, I think he is destined to be here in Canada since his birthday falls around Father’s day, otherwise it would have been in August in Taiwan, then we can’t really say Happy Birthday on Father’s Day, Daddy !

(p.s. : more pictures will follow when we have our cake tradition on Sunday and a trip to Ottawa / Montreal soon)

No doubt 2009 has proven to be challenged for many, especially those unemployed, I for one is included.  Fortunately I have a very supportive husband, who pulls all the weight the whole year while I don’t have regular income, and still being the best daddy.  That is why I nominated him (Vincent Chang) as one of the five “Dads We Love 2009″ in Today’s Parent magazine, right, he is kind of a celebrity in our eyes.

I am also blessed to have two healthy, beautiful girls that I can ever ask for, they are so loving and compassionate to throw an amazing surprise birthday for me.

While not working full time this year, it’s actually quite a busy year for me.  I got to work with few clients helping them with strategic intelligence needs, from data gathering to research analysis to information optimization.  When possible, I attended average 2~3 webinars every week,  topics with broad interests from information/content/knowledge management, to social media building, to how to communicate effectively.   I also managed to obtain some certificates in my fields, including;

• IOA (Information Organization & Access), I am actually an AIIM IOA Practitioner !
• Legal Research on the Web, understand the resources for legal research
• Information Professional as Educator, being an advocate educate information seekers/users the  importance of information and WIIFM
• Records Management Fundamentals, how to identify records and manage them

All of these opportunities which I cherished wholeheartedly, allow me to hone my social media skills; most importantly, to reassure my passion both personally and professionally.   Many people have said that, social media changes their lives, I couldn’t agree more.  It brings people together and closer, through it I have met some amazing people and I’ve had some wonderful experiences, I have all of you to thank for.

I can hear the fireworks now, 2009 was good and 2010 is going to be great.