I Have Sexy Underwear

Last night Minh went and played poker with Tai's friend's dad and a bunch of his friends (see if you can follow that!) Anyway, while he sitting in an unheated basement losing $40, Tai was asleep and I had the place to myself.

Naturally, I spent my time cleaning out my sock and underwear drawers.

What? Yeah, I don't know what came over me. It's not a task I particularly enjoy, nor one that I had on my mental "to do" list. I'm not even sure how it happened. Suddenly, there I was sorting through mountains of underwear, all of which is BT and some of which is from the previous millenium. Not kidding.

But, shoved behind the pile of "everyday wear" and underneath a jumble of maternity underwear, I actually found some nice stuff. You know, the kind of stuff you wear before you get pregnant.

So now the maternity underwear and nursing bras are all safely tucked away for "next time." And my underwear drawer now resembles the drawer of a younger, sexier, me. Now I just need to find occasion to wear some of it. :)

It Must be the New Shoes...

Look at him go!

A Net Gain of 6 Words

Everyone knows that your salary is proportional to the number of words in your job title, right? That's why I've decided to trade in the pithy title of "Research Manager" for my new and improved identity of "Assistant Director of Institutional Research and Educational Assessment".

Yeah, that's right, eight words. Count 'em.

Unfortunately, my husband (who, by the way, thinks I have an unnatural propensity for abbreviating things) has taken to condensing my new title into the acronym ADIREA, which sounds kinda like "a diarrhea" when pronounced. Lovely.

So yes, in case you have not heard, I'm starting a new job in March. If my "here's my new email address" message somehow did not get to you, drop me a line and I'll let you know how to get in touch with me from now on.

The Nudist

Most of you know that our cat Nibbles is transgendered (post-op). But what you may not know...what we ourselves did not know until recently... is that Smudge identifies as a nudist.

We woke up one morning and he was naked. OK, that happens. Probably a by-product of some energetic wrestling with Nibbles overnight. So we put his collar back on and went about our business. Mere hours later he was naked again. "Hmmmph," I thought, as I examined the collar. "Is it broken? Is it bothering him -- too tight? too lose?" We put it back on him again. He took it off again.

This little dance continued for 2 or 3 days until we gave up. I think it's been about a week now that he's been prancing around the house absolutely naked. And I swear I detect a little more of a spring in his step.

I haven't completely given up yet though. I intend to buy him a shiny NEW collar and see if that does the trick. I wonder if he might just be sick of yellow (it's so last season) and craving a new look for himself. But if that doesn't work we may have to give in and accept his new lifestyle.

The Power Mullet is Gone

Tai had his first haricut this past Saturday. The power mullet is no more (except for the lock we have stashed in his baby book).



He did really well sitting still for the haircut and, for the most part, it looks pretty good. The only thing we really take issue with is the lack of sideburns. The overzealous hairdresser buzzed them clean off with her clippers and now Minh says that Tai looks a bit like Billy Bob Thornton in Slingblade (see pictures below). Maybe we can enter him in a Look Alike contest and make some cash off of this situation?

Goodbye, Hogwarts

After about seven months of re-reading the entire Harry Potter series, I have finally finished the seventh and final book. I've been immersed in that little world for so long now that I'm a bit sad to have finished--especially knowing there are no future installments to look forward to. But there are still two more movies to anxiously await.

Impressively, I managed to survive all these months without hearing any spoilers, unless you count the graffiti on the Mount Holyoke sidewalks that said, "Voldemort Lives" and "Harry Dies". But I didn't put too much stock in the Sidewalk Literary Critic, as I've seen cartoon penises drawn on these same sidewalks.

I won't spoil the ending here, in case there could possibly be anyone out there further behind the rest of the world than me. I will say that I am proud to have correctly predicted two major pieces of the story and pleasantly surprised that JK Rowling had a couple tricks up her sleeve that I never would have seen coming.

The very end was a bit disappointing, but that's to be expected. It must have been very difficult to wrap up a seven book series, and I think she did pretty well.

I'm Getting Too Much Work Done

Tai is starting to wean. For right now, that means he's nursing in the morning and at bedtime, but not throughout the day. So I no longer have to tote my pump to work and sit in a back room three times a day to get him milk to bring to daycare. And I no longer get to sit in a back room three times a day and read magazines for 15 minutes at a stretch.

I miss those little breaks.

Without those 15-minute interruptions I'm getting far too much work done this week. Maybe I should pretend I still need to pump and just go take a little cat nap back there once in a while. Or maybe I should take up smoking so I can take cigarette breaks. Actually, since it's about 5 degrees out today, outdoor breaks have little appeal.

So, here I sit. No pending home-purchase to fret over. No wedding to plan. No baby on the way. And no pumping breaks. What am I supposed to do? Work all day? Maybe Minh is right -- it's time to renovate the house.