The Menagerie

Nothing to see here, move along...

This is just another one of those random catch-up posts, because I am tired and unable to think of anything witty, brilliant, or even just ranting. 

• The baby is really standing and cruising - nothing is safe.  She's like a ferret with opposable thumbs and tool-making abilities. Baby-proofing is much harder than ferret-proofing.
• I am really, insanely busy this week.  I'm appearing in a courthouse I've never even been to before on a type of motion I've never argued before (orally, anyway - I've done a lot with this type of motion in briefing). 
• I had a really weird dream this morning after Matthew and Peach went to work, about an evil witch who turned into a raw chicken (a la Foster's), hid in a walk-in cooler, and had to be disemboweled or else great evil would be visited on me specifically and the world in general.  I think this counts as a nightmare, because I really hate working with raw chicken.  I woke up and thought, "WTF?"
• My face broke out over the weekend - like it hasn't since I was 17.  You know, when I was HALF this age?  Annoying.
• I made vegetarian chili today.  No raw chicken here.
• I listened to General Petreus today while running.  Apt.
• We can really see Peach's tooth coming in.
• Grape Tylenol really does taste better than Cherry Tylenol.  Just ask Peach. 
• If another person tries to tell me that vaccinations cause autism, I.Will.Scream.

Today

• I should find out if I'll have a niece or nephew in September;
• I am doing the work I love best: a response to a summary judgment motion in a child sex abuse case;
• I realize how weird that last one must look, but allow me to say that it's nice to be completely sure I'm working for the "right" side and to make very technical legal arguments;
• I am feeling incredibly blessed, even though
  • It's gray and dreary outside;
  • I am really tired;
  • I have a migraine; and
  • Peach is cutting a tooth (the first - finally);
• I would like to be painting squares of green chalkboard paint (clearance at Freddies - $4!) in the computer room;
• I need to buy bubbles to desensitize the Peach;
• I am listening to my iPod while I work;
• I weigh 4 pounds less than I did last week; and
• I am running out of things to list. 

Back to work!

My weekly check-in

In the exciting world of Menagerie-land, here's what's going on:

• I took Friday off, then worked the weekend - bright and sunny topics: restraining orders and sex abuse.  Sex and death, death and sex.  Gotta love human nature...or not.
• Peach is getting very impatient with her limited mobility, and is learning to pull up. She can't crawl yet -- she still rocks, but sometimes moves a hand up -- but rolls around and scoots (backwards).  She still prefers standing up, although she's a long, long way from having the balance to stand unsupported.
• It's nice to have her (mostly) well - back to being a very sweet, sunny kid.  Although by 'mostly' I mean "she's well but we're fighting atopic dermatitis (OK, eczema) on her cheeks and a persistent runny nose." But she's cheerful and all the lotion applications have made my hands nice and soft.
• Trick of the day: a Cheerio started to go down the wrong way, and when I went up to pat her on the back (which I know is not the right response, but it was my lizard brain reacting), she spewed partially digested "Chicken with Apples" on my arm.  But it smelled appley, so all was not lost. 
• I have gone from "minimally qualified" to "among the best qualified" to "scheduled for a job interview" at the federal agency I've applied to.  Fingers crossed!!!
• The great de-clutter of the house continues.  I took a big step and weeded out a bunch of refrigerator magnets and moved all of the rest to the side of the refrigerator, leaving the front completely clear.  This sounds goofy, I know, but it was a huge step for me.  For years, every gift within the family came with magnets - it was just what we did.   Seriously - weeding out the closet?  Easy.  Weeding out magnets?  Surprisingly hard, even though they're just visual chaos - who sees them after the first few times?  I don't.  Anyway, the stark refrigerator was very hard for Matthew to get used to - he's still a bit wary of it.  I also got most of the appliances off my counter, which has made cooking vastly more enjoyable! I have lots of counter space, and it's nice to finally get to use it.
• The rest of the house is coming along nicely, although my plan to weed down to only two bookcases is stalled at four big bookcases and two small ones.  And to think this is significantly down from before!  I keep saying, "But I might need it for reference someday...."  I am trying to remember that just because they aren't on my shelf doesn't mean I can't, say, get them at the library. 
• We are trying to pay more attention to Norris, who has been woefully neglected in the past months.  I have gone so far as to schedule an Outlook (well, Entourage) item in my calendar to remind me to get on the floor and play with him at least once a day.  Yes, I feel guilty.
• I started a blog for Peach posts only (I think you can probably guess which one it is in the blogroll).  It's on our own server, and I'm using Wordpress.  I will probably end up moving this blog to our own server, too, once we get the DNS issues sorted out. 
• My natural bedtime has shifted from 12 AM to 9:30 PM, so that means I'm already an hour past my bedtime.  G'night.   

It's those little things

Breaking away from a motion for partial summary judgment to vent:

Do you have any idea how freakin' hard it is to find a pair of red leggings, size 12 months?  I thought with Val's day just wrapped up, it might not be so bad.  But jeez! 

Peach has a number of cute, short-sleeved dresses (many of which are care of law school friend Nikki), which I prefer to put her in for daycare because it tends to be quite warm there -- and it's simple enough to pull off a sweater and/or leggings if she gets overheated.  The ease of changing -- also nice.  I hate snaps. 

I love one of her dresses -- soft jersey material, empire waisted, and blue with red flowers -- but it is impossible to find leggings for.  Black?  For little girls?  Good luck.  Blue? Matching shades is impossible with this particular dress.  And red?  Also impossible.  White is just a disaster waiting to happen. 

I may just have to splurge and get a couple of pairs of Baby Legs.   

***
In other news, the eclipse was visible here.  Yes, actually, this is HUGE news.  Not the most beautiful lunar eclipse I've ever seen, but it's the first darn eclipse I've seen since moving to Oregon 9 years ago.  Every other time, it's been bloody cloudy.  A friend gave us a telescope when we moved here -- and I could only think that it was a cruel, cruel joke on her part.  To go from living in the mountains where we could see the Milky Way from our deck to Washington County, Oregon, where we're lucky to see a dozen stars on a clear night -- it was something of a let down. 

***
The Peach is still sick, coughing in the other room.  Got to run and check on her.

Quick and dirty catch up

Tired.  Headache.  Thankfully not sick.  A day behind on returning phone calls and emails. 

Peach started daycare (I can't keep calling it "school" in conversation, so I'm giving it up for good) full time today - I'd just gotten used to having her gone two days each week, and now it's up to five!  I was thinking we'd be waiting another 20 months for the bump up to full time. 

It's very strange, and I keep having to stop myself from listening to see if she's crying.  By all reports, she's enjoying daycare, and according to the notes sent home today, she "explored oats" by playing inside a container full of oats.  It's great for me to read the daily reports (including when she wet/pooped, ate, and how much), and it's nice for Matthew, because Peach is just down the hall from his office. 

She's feeling fine, but still has a cough  I have a humidifier in her room (which joins the air purifier), which is also helping. 

Did I mention that she's now 19 pounds 7 oz? I put her in 12 month outfits (Carter's) and 12-18 months in Old Navy.  Crazy, that. 

I'm still doing contract work and still looking for a full-time job.  I do have to say that it's much less stressful looking for a job with 2.5 years experience as a lawyer than it would have been with zero experience as a lawyer...but it's still looking for a job, which is never that much fun. 

Random trivia to fill the rest of the space: I have been decluttering my house, from my desks (I have two) to my living room to my bedroom to my refrigerator.  It helps.  I have been cooking at home quite a bit.  I've become a coupon queen in my quest for cheaper formula and diapers.  I am excited that we are only a couple of weeks away from Peach being able to have the marginally less expensive 9-24 month formula. 

Falling asleep at the keyboard, so that's all for now.

Present and accounted for

I'm fine.  Tired, overwhelmed, and feeling a little beaten, but I'm fine.  (Did I mention tired?)  The infection turned out to be no big deal (no MRSA here!) and is almost completely gone now.  I just wish I averaged more than 3-4 hours of sleep a night!  (Not the Peach's fault -- she's slept through the night on her own since September 1 -- but my trying to "balance" work, home, and baby.  And laundry, because she's projectile vomiting on an average of once a day - usually all over me.)

The Peach is teething and is about 200% crankier now than she used to be.  (Heck, I would be, too.)  She's still a great baby, just a lot needier - at a time when I've had some tight deadlines.  Yesterday was insane -- she was on her blanket, I was working on a big project that I'd (uncharacteristically) waited until the last minute to do, and every few minutes she needed to be held.   Great face time with my daughter, but I can't believe how many times I started and stopped what I was doing.  Somehow I managed to get everything done by 1 AM, and my neighbor graciously offered to drop my documents off on his way to work (a huge boon for me, considering I was not looking forward to dealing with traffic in the wind and rain, then finding parking near the courthouse, then schlepping Peach with me to drop this stuff off -- oh, what a nightmare.)

Now I just have to get a pile of other documents done by 1:30 this afternoon - and maybe I'll finally get some time to play with my Christmas present - a Palm Treo 700 wx.  I am really looking forward to getting organized with this - ah, to only have one calendar! It sounds so easy!

And she's awake again...

Like so many threads

It's been a mellow week, despite having braved Washington Square on Friday for the Peach's first formal pictures. My mother is visiting, and has had some great baby time despite the teething and post-flu vaccine misery.  I have gotten next to nothing done, aside from making kick-ass whole wheat pumpkin biscotti, pot roast, and roast chicken.  OK, I did a little volunteering and a very little amount of work, but it was not the productive work-fest that I was hoping for.  My contract assignments have dried up and I have not been in the mood to listen to the CD of myself at oral arguments in April, in anticipation for responding for a petition for review.  A number of projects were "put on hold-able" over the last week, and that was what has happened, because of the visit. I am itching to work again.

The Friday pediatrician appointment brought updates: 16 pounds, 12 oz; 26 inches; and a massive noggin.  (It was in centimeters, but equates to 70th percentile.)  Basically, she's grown only a bit in the last couple of months (an inch and change) but has put on four plus pounds, rounding her out to 70th percentile all the way around.  She is a big kid.  By way of contrast, I pulled out my baby book and discovered that when I was one year old (not six months!) I weighed 18 pounds and was 30 inches tall.  OK, so maybe I was just a small kid.  But it does amaze me when I look at her and she looks more like my brothers did when they were a year.  I have to keep reminding myself that she's only 6 months, and I shouldn't be disappointed that she isn't crawling yet!

This isn't just competitive thinking  The pediatrician chastised us for the flatness of the Peach's head in the back (and this with frequent tummy time, lots of time sitting in my lap or Matthew's lap, and sleeping in our bed with its memory foam padding).  I'm hoping she figures out how to lift that tummy soon  and grows a bit more hair in the back, so the flat head isn't quite as obvious.

My mother swears she is trying to kiss back when I kiss her, so that it quite the consolation.  :) 

Catching up, randomly

1. There is a huge, important, ultra-cool possibility on the horizon...but I'm too superstitious to talk about it yet.  No, not a job, not quite.
2. Yes, this is from the person who uploaded this post last year. 
3. I went to two stores over three days with the sole purpose of purchasing Diaper Genie refills.
4. I forgot the Diaper Genie refills both times.
5. Thankfully, we have two Diaper Genies.
6. I read Marilyn Robinson's Gilead. I enjoyed it, but some parts of it didn't ring quite true.    (The narrator is a Congregational minister and I am a Congregational minister's daughter.)   The comment I made to my father was, "For a Congregationalist, he quoted the Bible too damn much."  Full disclosure: Marilyn Robinson attended my father's church in Northampton, Mass.   I'm pretty sure my father didn't quote the Bible that much - he's a Niebuhr guy.
7. We stayed in our pajamas all Thanksgiving day and enjoyed a low key meal, a la Mark Bittman. 
8. Although convinced I'm 10 years too old for Facebook, I'm still enjoying it. 
9. After nearly 15 years of marriage, Matthew and I have finally sorted out the laundry/cooking tasks.  He's the laundry guy, and I'm the cooking gal. 
10. Laura, the law librarian for Washington County, gave me a promising new cookbook today.  How is that for timing?
11. The only thing I purchased on Black Friday was a coffee.
12. I found a CD of photos from 2000-2001 - we were both so thin! Damn you, law school!
13. Slowly, oh so slowly, the house is becoming organized again. 

Knackered

I am exhausted and I hurt.  The exhausted is because in addition to everything else that's been going on, I have been preparing for a trial Wednesday, the last court appearance pending from the last client I took before finding out I was pregnant and I stopped taking on new clients.   Tonight it finally settled, and we just have to put the agreement on the record tomorrow.

It'd be kind of nice to take a day off, but I have too much else to do -- and I already took most of Saturday off to do things around the house.  I even made a pot roast and re-cleaned the downstairs carpet, about as domestic as I get these days.  (Note to self: do not give the dog Iams dog food, even if it's too late to get the good stuff at New Seasons.)   I may not have much free time in the near future, anyway, because I heard from a third party that I may be having to oppose a petition for review by the Oregon Supreme Court in my appellate case - Wednesday is the cut-off date for the other party to petition (or ask for an extension) so at least I'll know soon.  I get 14 days after that to file a response.   I did learn that the brief colors are much prettier for the petition and response (yellow and orange) than they are in the court of appeals (blue and red).   Whoo. 

Somehow I've aged to about 50, or at least it feels like it. Sure, there's the blood pressure, but my shoulder has gotten worse (the rotator cuff thing) and my jaw is aching so much I can barely open my mouth (I clench it when I'm sleeping when I'm under stress).  My left knee feels like its burning or tearing whenever I kneel down, and since I often play with the baby on the floor on her quilt, that's quite a bit.   

I want more than anything to start running again, but I think I need to find some energy first.   

The Peach is into trying not to sleep right now, and squealing at such high frequencies that I swear I can see the sound she makes.  I am learning the skill of putting her down and giving her 10 minutes to settle down before checking on her.  It goes against my grain to a) allow crying or b) listen to crying, but it seems to be working.   Thankfully I don't have to do it much, maybe once every few days.

I think there was something I was going to deliberately blog about, but frankly, I can't remember what it is.  Maybe the fact I finally watched an episode of "Little People Big World" -- the first I've seen -- and saw a friend's kid in the episode, only a few hours after I saw his mother in the law library.  How random is that?

Chinese curse

The last time Matthew called me and started off with, "I don't want you to worry, but..." he went on to tell me that a colleague had been shot.*  (In fact, the colleague's body was in the parking lot at the time he arrived at the facility.) 

Today it was, "I don't want you to worry, but they've found a suspicious package (or vehicle or both) near the Doubletree, where they're conducting the dirty bomb drill." 

*And yes, this was when he was a health administrator with the US Postal Service.  Yes, I know all the jokes about the flag flying half-mast at the USPS.

Informal Poll

Chatting with my sister this morning, she mentioned a statistic she read in a magazine: 82% of people (er, women) iron their sheets.

I can't imagine this is correct, or if it is, that it's true among a different demographic than mine (say, in the 65 and up demo).  I was raised "properly" - and  while I technically know sheets "should" be ironed, I never take the time.  Who HAS that kind of time?  And how often do they change their sheets?!

So my question to you all - do you iron your sheets?  (Or pay someone to do it?) 

Excuses, Excuses

I've been neglecting you.  I'm sorry.  I wish I had something interesting to say about where I've been and what I've been up to, but I don't.  I work, I take care of Eden, and my free time is spent clearing out the den as we turn it into a nursery.  Slowly but surely, I'm de-cluttering the house.  This is nice for organization, but makes for very dull blogging.  Let's see...well, I read Ann Patchett's Truth and Beauty one afternoon, then got back to the tasks at hand.  Good times, right?

The Peach is thriving. And she and Norris continue to bond: I had to run into Portland on a work thing, suddenly,yesterday.  This meant getting her up, dressed, fed and myself showered and ready to go in a very short space of time, then driving into the city, going into an office, working there (with her in her stroller or on a blanket on the office floor), then we went to Starbucks, back into the 'burbs, to the bank, to Target -- and she melted down in the car on the way home.  (Do I blame her?  Not at all.  I probably would have melted down much earlier, had it been my crisis.)

Anyway, she was hysterical by the time I rushed her upstairs and started changing her.  She was wet and tired and hungry and didn't know what to do with herself.  She did the tomato-face-tongue-flapping screaming while I changed her, and then I heard something else. 

Norris was howling.  Baying-at-the-moon sort of howling.  In the 9 years he's been with us, he had only howled once before, a lonely howl at the window right after we moved to Oregon from Nevada - in 1999.  Just the one, and as much as we tried to get him to repeat it, he wouldn't.

But for the Peach, he howled over and over and over again, mournfully and repeatedly, until the diaper change was over and she calmed down.  Then he parked himself outside the baby gate leading to the den-cum-nursery and stood watch until the feeding session was over.

Very odd. 

Wrong numbers

We've used voice-over-ip technology for years now, and for the most part it does very well.  It's portable, inexpensive, and usually not much of a hassle. 

Somewhere in the last year, Matthew switched from Vonage to Voip, though, and we've had nothing but annoyances ever since.  The Voip people have screwed up my business line (twice) and recently there have been odd service things going on -- calls will go directly to voicemail without ringing, some odd clicks on the line (hello, NSA?) and yesterday, for several hours, I would get a dial tone, dial numbers, and then...nothing.  When people called us, they'd get no rings, just...nothing.   I sent Matthew a text message yesterday afternoon that just said, "I hate voip."

This morning it got really strange, though.  I received a call from the Coffee Creek Correctional facility -- staff, not an inmate, thankfully -- about why I called them yesterday.  "I didn't," I said.  The woman replied curtly, "Everything is logged here.  Someone there called us."  I replied, "Look, I'm an attorney.  I know what Coffee Creek is.  And believe me, I didn't call you." 

She hung up on me, but it makes me wonder what exactly happened with my phone number while I wasn't getting calls yesterday.  Creepy. 

We are so switching back to Vonage. 

Crickets chirping

That's the sound effect on Eden's swing right now, and it's also pretty indicative of the last couple of days.  We've had our little triumphs and disappointments, but mostly it's nose-to-the-grindstone.

In the triumphs category:

• Eden started sleeping through the night (to the tune of 10:30 PM-6 AM) as of September 1.  I was afraid to say much about it until I was sure it was for real. (Last night was more 10:30 to 4, unfortunately.)
• I finally found a home for our old piano via Craigslist. 

In the disappointments category:

• A trial that was previously set over twice was set over a third time, primarily because the other party is a flake and didn't contact her lawyer for months.  It's a simple case and should have resolved simply, but it's dragged on since November.
• The piano won't get picked up until early next week.
• The house is a disaster. 

In the vaguely interesting category:

• I signed up for LawLink - a sort of MySpace for lawyers (bar number required).  It's very new, and I'm hoping it will get a little more sophisticated in time (it's very new). It seems like a decent way to keep in touch with my non-blogging attorney friends. 
• I will be hanging out at the law library most of this weekend, working.   

Wednesday timekiller

Wall Words.  Credit to my sister Sarah, who mentioned it this morning.  She was right -- I love it. 

Saturday Randomness

Too tired to come up with a better post, so I give you some random information about me -- the sort of thing you'd learn if you talked to me at a party.  If I had time or energy to go to parties. And if you wanted to talk to me.  In any event:

1. In December, I'll have been married for 15 years.
2. I skipped first grade and I never finished high school.
3. I have a Batman collection -- not so many of the comic books (though I have those, too) but original comic book page pen-and-ink drawings, posters, plates, epiphany cake figurines (from France), that sort of thing.  I have no idea what I'm going to do with it all.  I became interested back in the day with Batman: The Animated Series, which is IMHO probably the best way to introduce kids to noir. 
4. In the last week, I pared myself down to 25 pairs of shoes.  It's part of massive purge of the unnecessary in the house. 
5. The shows I watch as soon as they're TiVo'd these days: House, Eureka, and Mystery!.
6. I did not name my daughter after Eden Theological Seminary (although my first childhood memories were formed there).
7. Some kids play "house."  Another seminary kid and I played "bury," where one of us would lie down on the floor and cover up with a blanket, while the other kid would pretend to read a few words over the body.  Then we'd switch places. 
8. I just sang the preamble to the constitution to Eden, and she grinned at me.  Let's hear it for Schoolhouse Rock.
9. I may love reading etiquette books, but I put my elbows on the table sometimes.  (And I was flummoxed by the butter fork at the University Club.)
10. I went to law school so that I could read and write for a living.
11. Eleven is my lucky number, because my birthday is March 11.  And I think lucky numbers ought to be prime numbers.

Pop Quiz

Which event do you think makes me happier?

a) Winning trial*?

b) Ed sleeping through the night**?

*This would be a bigger deal if the opposing party had bothered to show up. However, my client was still thrilled to have it all wrapped up.
**If we count sleeping from 11:30 through 5:30 as sleeping through the night.  I do, as it's actually more sleep than I got last night. 

Lovely weekend & True Confession

Not exciting on the grand scale of things, but we had fun.  We took Ed out to eat (twice) and while not at fancy restaurants, it was still kind of cool to act "normal."  We went to two shops (Target and Segal's), and I even found a diaper bag I loved (!!) on clearance (!!!) at Segal's. 

I wish I were independently wealthy -- I'd have Ju-Ju-Be diaper bags to match all of my outfits.  This bag (the "Be Smart" Sienna Swirl pattern) was perfect, because my lazy-woman's solution to the black-or-brown handbag and briefcase dilemma was to go red  for both -- which, while it doesn't match black or brown, it passes as a solution to both.  (And no one in Oregon seems to care, even if the Southern half of me knows I'm faking.)  So...my one criterion for a diaper bag was that it had to have red in it.  And it does!

Yes, I think about these things.  Your point being...? 

And I slept.  Until almost 11 AM on Saturday, then a long nap Saturday evening, then a good six hours (mostly straight through) until Sunday at 8.  This worked out because of our schedule (see below).

The bad part of the weekend was that Ed was a tad on the fussy side. Not crying outrageously, but just fussy and needing to be held constantly.  This is fine, except at 1 AM.  Fortunately, our night plan -- Shelley-on-shift-until 1 AM and Matthew-on-shift-afterwards -- seems to be working out, at least when Matthew goes to bed early.  It works less perfectly when Matthew doesn't -- he ends up exhausted.  This really only means I pick up one or two feedings of my own in the late evening and Matthew picks up one or two in the early morning.

Matthew feeding, you ask?  That means...? 

Why, yes, it's time to come out of the closet.  No, we're not breastfeeding; we did at first, but....  Cue the Birkenstock-and-sling-toting lynch mob -- I'm THAT bad mother.  Induced labor with lots of pain meds,
disposable diapers, and now this -- formula. 

But although I find myself still apologetic on occasion (we did plan on breastfeeding), we have a good reason not to.  See, the description on the blood pressure medication I now have to take (yes, it's still outrageously high) says one can either discontinue breast feeding or discontinue medication.  Since I personally think I'd make a much better mother to a bottle-fed infant if I didn't have a stroke than I would make to a breast-fed infant after a stroke, I have no trouble justifying my choice.  Just a bit of guilt, now and then, but that's the way it is. (BF is also not compatible with my asthma or migraine meds.)

So there.  I'd love to stay and talk about it more, but I have a bottle to heat up.

Shameless? Yes. (And other random bits of new motherhood)

Tuesday afternoon I went to the courthouse for ex parte (there's no way in heaven I could get to 8:30 ex parte right now).  I went armed with baby photos to show the court employees who had asked to see Ed (I finally got my photo printer set up for the first time in two years!), and liberally showed her off to anyone who showed the slightest interest...

...including the judge at ex parte.  And then his JA and clerk.  And another attorney waiting for ex parte. 

Yeah, I am becoming THAT new mother.   Apologies in advance for any of you who happen to run into me in person.

In other news, Ed has outgrown most of her preemie outfits and is wearing regular newborn outfits!  They're all a bit baggy on her, but that's not going to go away no matter how big she gets -- she's a long, slender baby (albeit one with fat reserves now, thank god).  She's so alert when she's awake and has much better head control now than she did even a few days ago.  She verbalizes a lot (the kid sometimes sounds like a slipping fan belt, which keeps cracking us up) but doesn't cry much (knock wood), except to let us know when she's hungry/needs a diaper change. 

Today I feel pretty good.  While my mother visited, she took parts of the night shifts (and one entire night) and we were able to sleep better than we had in a while.  Last night we were back to the old routine, feeding at 11:30, up at 3 AM and then at 6 -- our 4 hour schedule sometimes falls apart at night.  The amusing bit was when we fell asleep after the 3 AM feeding with the light on -- and it stayed on for a couple of hours. 

We're managing to balance child care pretty well right now.  Matthew is working part-time, going into his office in the mornings from 7:30-11:30, then coming home.  That gives me time to work in the afternoon while they either nap or game together (he now has a system for crooking her in his arm, which works well except when she kicks the space bar on his keyboard).  Sometimes I get a bit done in the morning (today a client call right after feeding her -- she did make some droll sounds in the background, but hey, I was upfront with all my clients about working from home to take care of her), too. 

OK...I have about an hour to shower before she's up again to eat.  Ciao!

7 Random Things

Because I was tagged by Alesia:

1. My earliest memory is of playing on the floor of the archives at Eden Theological Seminary, where my father had a fellowship as archivist. The most comforting smell in the world for me is a mixture of cool, dry, air-conditioned air and old books. 

2. I met my husband when I was 18 and he was 29.  It sounds so scandalous now, but when you know it's right, you know.  We've been together 16 years. 

3.  I'm the oldest of four children, and I have memories of changing cloth diapers and of diaper pails and diaper services.  This is why my daughter has disposables.  Bad for the environment, but good for my sanity.   Mea culpa.

4.  I dropped (OK, tested) out of high school after my junior year.  I was young and hated it (I turned 16 in March of my junior year) and just started taking college classes.  I was the goth girl in black who listened to Bauhaus and Skinny Puppy, who had pink hair in the AP US History yearbook photo. 

5.  I've never met any in-laws.  Matthew's mother died before I met him.  No, I take that back -- I did know his adopted (step)father, but it was only after he'd had a stroke and become globally aphasic.

6.  I'm allergic to tree nuts and seeds.

7.  I signed a request for a set over on a trial while I was in the delivery room last week. 

Anyone else want to play in the comments?