http://spotlightnews.com/blogs SUSAN S. CHEUNG (known to many as Shifay--Chinese middle name.) Welcome to my world. I'm a resident from across the pond who lives in the Capital District. For 13 years, I was all about my career and being successful. Becoming a mother twice in my mid- to late-30s made me take stock. Now my life is a hectic whirl of being a stay-at-home mom of two young children. I face the challenges of being a woman, an older mother, a non-American and a short person! Fortunately, I'm rescued from making too many faux pas by my coffee group (my mates)-- a great bunch of women in different situations of life. We meet in the guise of drinking coffee, but really it's about keeping our sanity intact. My blog is my take on the daily issues that affect us. My aim is to shine a light on the everyday things we take for granted. Come and be part of my coffee group and join in the conversations. POSTSCRIPT: As of JULY 2008, after eight years in Guilderland, we've relocated to Nashville, Tenn., to experience Grand Ole Opry, southern hospitality and my husband’s exciting new job. Read my "Coffee Mates" posts in 2009 on acclimating to southern culture. en-us 60 Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:18:31 -0800 Coffee Mates I hate autumn -- that is until now. Autumn was the dreaded finale to glorious summer days and a preview to the long months of winter. It was as if I skipped the season http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1257315511 http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1257315511 Sun, 25 Oct 2009 07:28:25 -0700 Coffee Mates You know the moment when words from a poem or a song match your mood, or they are the catalyst for some personal observations? Well, it happened to me again in my car on my http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1256480905 http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1256480905 Wed, 07 Oct 2009 03:24:18 -0700 Coffee Mates Do you know the song “Soak up the Sun” by Sheryl Crow? I heard it again on the radio and two lines set off bells in my head – one of those “light bulb” moments. The words http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1254954258 http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1254954258 Fri, 02 Oct 2009 07:03:14 -0700 Coffee Mates October 2nd is my birthday. LetÂ’s just say IÂ’m 21, again. I share my birthday with a number of luminaries, among them Sting (one of my favorite performers) and Mahatma Gandhi http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1254535394 http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1254535394 Tue, 29 Sep 2009 09:21:21 -0700 Coffee Mates My latest blog (09/17/09) on inviting friends over for dinner struck a nerve with many people. And, in the interest of keeping alive the custom of dining at home with friends, http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1254284481 http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1254284481 Thu, 17 Sep 2009 09:36:35 -0700 Coffee Mates ItÂ’s been a while since IÂ’ve updated my blog. Thanks to friends and readers of Spotlight for asking how weÂ’re settling in down south. I can report my husband is doing http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1253248595 http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1253248595 Sun, 17 May 2009 11:38:22 -0700 Coffee Mates IÂ’m sitting with my coffee in a rare moment of silence reflecting back on all that has happened over a fast and furious week. I always give thanks for the precious moments http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1242628702 http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1242628702 Mon, 20 Apr 2009 02:02:08 -0700 Coffee Mates IÂ’ve joined Twitter and have been playing around with it. IÂ’m enjoying “tweeting” as itÂ’s quick, easy and fun. You find out what people are doing in 140 characters at a http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1240261328 http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1240261328 Tue, 24 Mar 2009 11:36:50 -0700 Coffee Mates I wrote the following piece in January, but didnÂ’t post it up. I just sat with it and let the words be. My mood has lifted since I wrote it. I donÂ’t feel like IÂ’m http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1237919810 http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1237919810 Tue, 24 Feb 2009 08:17:18 -0800 Coffee Mates I call myself a British-Chinese New Yorker learning to be a southerner. Confused? Well, my parents are from Hong Kong. I was born and raised in England. I moved to America http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1235492238 http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1235492238 Wed, 31 Dec 2008 06:56:42 -0800 Coffee Mates New Year's Eve, 2008, a time to reflect back on the year and look forward as we ring in the new. We say goodnight to a tough, brutal year economically and usher in an http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1230778602 http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1230778602 Mon, 13 Oct 2008 10:18:49 -0700 Coffee Mates I had another scare. I had an MRI and was told IÂ’d have to have surgery because of a blockage in the renal artery to my right kidney, which was probably the cause of my recent http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1223918329 http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1223918329 Fri, 19 Sep 2008 06:01:20 -0700 Coffee Mates Three things made me pause this week. Money Makes the World Go Around. Reading the papers, I paused to absorb the depth of U.S. economic gloom and, as economic markets are http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1221872480 http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1221872480 Sat, 13 Sep 2008 10:22:33 -0700 Coffee Mates On September 11, 2008, I was part of a roundtable discussion on the topic of "Women in the Campaign" organized by the Tennessean – the big daily newspaper in Nashville. http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1221369753 http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1221369753 Mon, 08 Sep 2008 01:45:30 -0700 Coffee Mates In case you missed my interview with Debbie Alan of On the Home Stretch, a live daily internet radio talk show on Sept 5th, 2008, here it is again. I hope you enjoy the http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1220906730 http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1220906730 Sun, 31 Aug 2008 10:15:31 -0700 Coffee Mates Dear friends, Exciting News!! For those of you who follow my "Coffee Mates" blog, you may be interested to know that I will be a guest on a live daily internet radio http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1220246131 http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1220246131 Sat, 30 Aug 2008 07:38:26 -0700 Coffee Mates IÂ’m battling my arch nemesis, strep throat. Whenever IÂ’m run down, my throat is my first line of defense. It probably stands to reason as I love to talk! In fact, the whole http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1220107106 http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1220107106 Wed, 20 Aug 2008 01:17:17 -0700 Coffee Mates WeÂ’re six weeks into living in Nashville, Tenn. – actually Brentwood, a suburb of Nashville – and still unpacking boxes; now, very slowly as IÂ’m completely absorbed by the http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1219263437 http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1219263437 Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:02:06 -0700 Coffee Mates Relocations are stressful, but hundreds of thousands of people take the plunge every year. By SUSAN S. CHEUNG Published in Spotlight Newspapers Lifestyles in the http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1218132126 http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1218132126 Mon, 07 Jul 2008 10:28:36 -0700 Coffee Mates Published in the Spotlight Newspapers Lifestyles in the Spotlight July 2, 2008 Page 13 Trends & Technology Susan S. Cheung As a parent, I canÂ’t bury my head in the http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1215451716 http://spotlightnews.com/blogs/coffeemates/view_blog.php?blog_id=1215451716