This week we have our most volatile couple go at each other over a hug! Also, winter flowers brighten up some lives, friendship at work is a risky rope to tread and quality family time is what you need to keep yourself sane. Read on…

The couple who were looking for a love nest is now warmly settled. Rick has finally agreed to Kaitlin’s choice and they moved in this month in their new pad. Being the most unusual and unpredictable couple around, their peace and love were not long-lived. Regular readers of my newsletters know how Rick is! He couldn’t stop himself from being friendly with his new neighbors. Of course, being a sort of a chic magnet, he got friends with this girl next door, who was anything remotely close to the stereotype we attach with this idiom!

But his luck ran out soon, as it always does! Kaitlin was returning from her morning jog when she saw Rick passing the newspaper to this girl and the girl hugging him! Rick had to spend the next three days trying to convince Kaitlin that it was just another hug, “a friendly hug”! He went on to define for Kaitlin what the different types of hugs are and how it was not really anything to do with what Kaitlin was thinking it was! Over drinks Rick was heard to lament, “It was so bad that I feel doubtful about the hug myself!”

Eleanor and Frank have accomplished another feat! Their garden of roses is ready to be pruned. Thanks to Frank’s knowledge of gardening, things are much better than when Eleanor did it all by herself. With her garden looking like a dream, there’s an unusual request coming in for a bunch of her exquisite roses. Rachael, whom Eleanor is rather fond of because of her no nonsense attitude has made an earnest appeal to Eleanor to let her have a wonderful bunch of these wonderful creations.

Eleanor did not know about her relationship with Charlie. Eleanor never ventured to ask Rachael. Eleanor was all too happy to offer her a bunch. When Rachael thanked her for them in a tone that could only belong to a soul in love, Eleanor understood the story behind it. Eleanor asked me if there was anything and when I confirmed that it was so, Eleanor offered Rachael to come over and pick what Rachael wanted to have! Now that’s what makes Eleanor the most popular person around!

We all have our own definitions of what we think of friendship in the context of the workplace. While I’m very good pals with my co-workers like Donna and Steve, the same cannot be said about everyone in the office. There are some people who are just professional contacts. Some are just associates. Ryan, our crazy tech guy, has very clear cut demarcations about friendship at the workplace. He doesn’t hangout with his team or his peers after work. He has his reasons.

In his previous office, Ryan was great friends with his co-worker, so much so that he talked about his boss and other important matters to this guy. Ryan had no clue that all along this guy was repeating his words verbatim to Ryan’s senior, who happened to play golf with Ryan’s confidant. This put Ryan into a big spot of bother. Life became so hard for him that he had to quit. There’s an example to be learnt from Ryan’s life. It’s better not to open your heart out to office folks unless you are very sure of the person and his/her intentions.

As Kate struggles to keep a balance between her work and personal life, she’s getting torn when the time comes for her to visit her family back in Iowa. Kate also has this long distance relationship with Henry who’s still trying to get himself transferred to New York. With more work on her shoulders, Kate’s family time is fast drying up. A distraught Kate looked to Megan to help her out with managing her time. Megan, being a sensible woman, immediately took charge. Megan drew up a time table for her to balance things out.

This taught me an important lesson. So many times we get caught up in the work that we do and expect our families to understand. Sure, they do. But sometimes things just have to roll and you got to make an effort. And more importantly, you need to find time for yourself as well. There’s no point in dividing your time equally between work and family. You need time of your own to think things out and connect with yourself. All you guys out there must take out time to be with yourself. That will bring down your stress levels significantly.

Here’s a cool family quote by Evan Esar for you this week: “Family: A social unit where the father is concerned with parking space, the children with outer space, and the mother with closet space.” Interesting, eh?