Hi Work and Family members,

You probably only think about traffic lights when they are not working. Can you imagine life without them?

*Garrett Morgan Inventor of The Traffic Light*
Dr. Charles R. Drew and Garret Morgan gave America inventions that changed the world. Sarah Boone made the task of ironing easier. Black history is American history.
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art49351.asp

See the Work & Family February calendar.
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art12336.asp

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Did you miss last week’s article?

*On the Job - Feeling Job Burnout?*
If you feel you are on the verge of stressing too much because of your job, take a step back. You might be facing burnout.
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art32207.asp

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Also, remembering that February is Library Lovers’ month, step outside of your comfort zone and read something different. Read Sandra Cisneros’ novels about Latin American culture, “The House on Mango Street” and “Woman Hollering Creek”, both are wonderful novels. Tony Hillerman has a great mystery series about Navaho Tribal Police officers Lt. Joe Leaphorn (retired) and Sgt Jim Chee. Chee does not do a lot of smiling, but he really is a good guy, and a darned good cop. In “The Wedding” by Dorothy West, West writes about a middleclass African American family vacationing in their home on Martha’s Vineyard while trying to plan a wedding that is causing much conflict.

And, finally, if you are looking for a little romance read Francis Ray’s romance novels about the ’Grayson’ family, where mother continues to prove that she does know best. For more information, browse Ray’s web site. http://www.francisray.com/bio.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Quotes for Inspiration *

On race and ethnicity:

In our life there is a single color, as on an artist’s palette, which provides the
meaning of life and art. It is the color of love. — Marc Chagall, Artist

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Who Am I Mom?*

I heard this on television recently and loved the idea. I paraphrase this story as told by Joel Osteen.

Every night before her young child fell asleep, the mother would tell him, “you are my Superman, my Buzz Lightyear, etc. She would go through a litany of cartoon characters known for their bravery and courage. The child would lie in bed and smile. One night after a busy day, the mother simply put the child to bed. Later she heard her boy calling out to her, she asks “what is it son?” The child answered, “You didn’t tell me who I was.”

The motto? If you don’t tell your child who he is--somebody else will.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Our new forum question is “What Can You Do Without? I do not have two of the ’sacreds’, no microwave oven and no cable television. Sometimes I miss both but later realize that I love using my kitchen stove. When I go away, I have access to cable television and spend a lot of time clicking quickly through a maze of reality shows and seeing more skin than I care to. I do love the cooking shows though. (smiling).

How about you, what can you or do you, do without? Visit our forum and let us know.

Visit workandfamily.bellaonline.com for more content. In addition, to participate in online discussions, visit the Work & Family community forum. http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=166

As always, feel free to send this and other Work & Family articles to family and friends.

Be careful, be safe,

Vannie Ryanes, Work & Family Editor
http://workandfamily.bellaonline.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Work & Family Newsletter Archive
http://www.bellaonline.com/newsletter/workandfamily

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another’s desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together. —Erma Bombeck
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Work & Family site is just one of hundreds of informative sites at BellaOnline.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~