Meh.

I don't usually gripe about work, mostly because work doesn't give me a lot to gripe about. Today, though... was a little rough. I'll just say you know it's a bad day when opposing counsel is more pleasant to deal with than your with coworkers. (Only some coworkers, thankfully--not all.)

It could be just me. I seem to be having an off day. We ordered pizza tonight, but there was something wrong with the dough that made it narsty and too chewy.

Night's fixin' to get better, though. Had a bowl of that new Edy's Slow Churn ice cream, and NSAH and I are watching his Arrested Development Season 2 DVDs (a present from his kickass wife).

Things that interest me, my mom, and no one else

NSAH read me the following from his Sports Illustrated just now: "Marty Barrett now develops real estate in Las Vegas."



I would track down Marty if I had time. I wonder if Neel would stalk him on my behalf.

Edited to add: I love David Ortiz and Coco Crisp. That's 12 in a row.

Why I love my commenters

I have Sitemeter, which can tell me how people arrive at this blog. Usually the Google or Yahoo searches involve pregnancy, and what pregnant women may and may not eat or drink. But every now and then someone comes here via a different kind of search.

When I went to Sitemeter today, I saw that someone had found my blog searching "I'm sorry your mom blew up." Definitely made my day.

Nothing wrong with dress-up

For those (mostly anonymous) commenters who criticized this post of mine by asserting that there's nothing wrong with girls playing dress-up, let me assure you: I agree. And here's proof: I thought this article in today's Post magazine was a nice example of the right way to encourage and help girls play dress-up. The picture accompanying the article shows that none of the girls were baring skin inappropriately. The girls did have makeup applied, but the women in charge told them the makeup was to "enhance your beauty; you girls are all naturally beautiful, okay?" And each of the girls was given an award based not at all on looks. Most importantly, the dress-up party occurred not in the vast expanses of a mall, where all manner of passersby can watch 5-year-olds showing off their midriffs, but in the birthday girl's home.

So, no, nothing wrong with simply playing dress-up. Today as we were sitting on the couch, my boy looked at me and said, "Make me pretty." I knew what he meant: he wanted me to drape his blanket over his head like it was long hair. I did so, and also I told him he's always pretty, no matter what he's wearing. Seriously, I can't get over how gorgeous he is. And, yes, I know I'm biased, but still. Pretty, pretty boy. (He's watching England-Ecuador with his daddy as I draft this post right now.)

Random wonderful Saturday

I think this is the first Saturday in 3 weeks where I didn't take the boy to the movies first thing in the morning. I am trying to take it easy, so I figured we'd just run a few errands. We went to the bank to get "money and cookies," according to AB. And money and cookies we got. (Well, I skipped the cookie.) Then we went to the mall to get him some new sneakers. I had a mall gift card left over from Christmas with a fair amount on it, so I didn't mind going to Stride Rite (I usually get good deals at Kohl's or Payless). He was very good and let the nice young lady measure both feet, and then he tried on two pairs of shoes. This was the first time we've ever done this. Usually, I just buy two pairs of shoes in different sizes and take back the ones that don't fit well. But he was very cooperative, and he thought it was hilarious that the sales lady and I were actually encouraging him to run around the store, so we could see him move in the shoes. And when the second pair of shoes didn't feel right to him, he simply said, "These are too tight." So we bought the first pair. (Of course, they are white and will be asphalt black by the end of the week, but whatever.)

Then we went to the makeup store (where I hate going, because usually the salespeople are stuffy and unhelpful). I kept a close eye on AB to make sure he didn't touch any of the open samples. Mostly he just grooved to the dance beat in the background. We only needed to be in there for 5 minutes, since I was only going in for one thing.

He was so good, I decided to take him by the toy store on the way out. There was a HUGE Cars display at the front of the store, and he was so happy he started jumping around. I bought him one small toy from the movie, and some more dinosaurs. Some were repeats, but we've now added Apatosaurus, Ceratosaurus, and Euoplocephalus to our collection. I can see your eyes glaze over at the mere mention of their names...

Stopped briefly at my mom's to let her dogs out, and then had lunch at Whole Foods. AB would live on tomatoes if I'd let him. I also convinced him to eat some cucumbers, croutons, red and green peppers, broccoli, and black olives. I gave him some of the salami from my Italian pasta salad, but he didn't like it. "Too spicy" was his verdict. Meh, more for me.

He also took a good nap when we got home, letting me check my work email and catch up on blogs. After he woke up and we were playing in the living room, I decided to see if there were any sports on TV. I was lucky enough to stumble into the start of the 10th inning of the Phillies-Sox game. Saw the Phillies retired without a run, and then the Sox were up. As soon as David Ortiz came up to the plate, I thought, "This is it." Sure enough, he smacked the game-winning home run. I was screaming, and AB started screaming, too: "Go Papi, go Papi!" He especially loved how the whole team was waiting for Papi as he crossed the plate, and they all started hugging and jumping up and down. The hugging and the jumping make the whole game worthwhile, apparently. So we both screamed "Go Sox, go Papi" for a while before I turned off the TV. AB actually had us renact the hugging and jumping up and down at home plate. My boy, the sports fan with heart. Gotta love it. And when his daddy came home, I told him to tell his daddy who won the game we watched, thinking he'd say "Red Sox." Nope. "Papi won, daddy!" I still think he and Baby Blue are a match made in heaven. I just have to teach him to say, "Duh Yankees TUPID."

(Today was a good potty day, too. No accidents... although for one particular potty sit, he managed to get more outside the potty than inside the potty. But that's what paper towels and Clorox wipes are for, right?)

The power of suggestion

A couple of days ago, I read this post over at Halloweenlover's place. May I direct your attention to the second paragraph. Have you read it? OK.

Tonight at the grocery store I bought a jar of these. And oh, are they good.

I maintain that I've always been susceptible to food suggestions and that it's not the pregnancy. Advertisers love me. I can eat a complete dinner but then see an ad on TV for fried chicken, and I will think, "That looks good, I could go for some of that." Honestly, it's a miracle I'm not 500 pounds.

(a tiny query)

Why is the Post giving so much space to Linda Hirshman to write an "oh, woe is me, why does everyone hate me" piece about the responses (mostly found within the blogosphere) to an article she wrote for another periodical?

A big thank you to NSAH

Thanks for giving AB so many "flying" rides. Thanks for being the first to reward him with a Gummi bear whenever he uses the potty. Thanks for calming him down when he's upset. Thanks for giving him a goodnight hug and kiss every night when we put him to bed. Thanks for staying on top of all the daycare stuff. Thanks for taking good care of Small Dog. And thanks for doing so much around the house so that when I am home and the boy is awake, I can spend most of my time playing with him.

Happy Father's Day!

AFI's 100 Years 100 Cheers

AFI has released its list of the 100 most inspirational movies, and I'm watching the special on it on CBS right now. I've bolded the movies I've seen, and underlined the ones I love. I have issues with the rankings (Twelve Angry Men and Glory should be in the top 10), but I think they've got a lot of great movies on this list. (My mom just called and mentioned that she voted--she's an AFI member--so now we're bitching about Glory not being in the top 10. I love her.)

1. IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE
2. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
3. SCHINDLER'S LIST
4. ROCKY
5. MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON
6. E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL
7. THE GRAPES OF WRATH
8. BREAKING AWAY
9. MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET
10. SAVING PRIVATE RYAN
11. THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES
12. APOLLO 13
13. HOOSIERS
14. THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI
15. THE MIRACLE WORKER
16. NORMA RAE
17. ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST
18. THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK
19. THE RIGHT STUFF
20. PHILADELPHIA
21. IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT
22. THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES
23. THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION
24. NATIONAL VELVET
25. SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS
26. THE WIZARD OF OZ
27. HIGH NOON
28. FIELD OF DREAMS
29. GANDHI
30. LAWRENCE OF ARABIA
31. GLORY
32. CASABLANCA
33. CITY LIGHTS
34. ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN
35. GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER
36. ON THE WATERFRONT
37. FORREST GUMP
38. PINOCCHIO
39. STAR WARS
40. MRS. MINIVER
41. THE SOUND OF MUSIC
42. 12 ANGRY MEN
43. GONE WITH THE WIND
44. SPARTACUS
45. ON GOLDEN POND
46. LILIES OF THE FIELD
47. 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
48. THE AFRICAN QUEEN
49. MEET JOHN DOE
50. SEABISCUIT
51. THE COLOR PURPLE
52. DEAD POET'S SOCIETY
53. SHANE
54. RUDY
55. THE DEFIANT ONES
56. BEN-HUR
57. SERGEANT YORK
58. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND
59. DANCES WITH WOLVES
60. THE KILLING FIELDS (I really, really need to see this movie.)
61. SOUNDER
62. BRAVEHEART
63. RAIN MAN
64. THE BLACK STALLION
65. A RAISIN IN THE SUN
66. SILKWOOD
67. THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL
68. AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN
69. THE SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS
70. COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER
71. COOL HAND LUKE
72. DARK VICTORY
73. ERIN BROCKOVICH
74. GUNGA DIN
75. THE VERDICT
76. BIRDMAN OF ALCATRAZ
77. DRIVING MISS DAISY
78. THELMA & LOUISE
79. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
80. BABE
81. BOYS TOWN
82. FIDDLER ON THE ROOF
83. MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN
84. SERPICO
85. WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT
86. STAND AND DELIVER
87. WORKING GIRL
88. YANKEE DOODLE DANDY
89. HAROLD AND MAUDE
90. HOTEL RWANDA (I really, really need to see this, too. Cheadle rules.)
91. THE PAPER CHASE Blech, inspirational how?
92. FAME
93. A BEAUTIFUL MIND
94. CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS
95. PLACES IN THE HEART
96. SEARCHING FOR BOBBY FISCHER (This should be in the top 50, at least.)
97. MADAME CURIE
98. THE KARATE KID
99. RAY
100. CHARIOTS OF FIRE

NSAH asked, "Where's Better Off Dead?" I've thought about it, and I agree that that is a very inspirational movie. At least as inspirational as The Karate Kid.

Get me a beer and a smoke while I hop on this bull

Nutso Ranter, my good friend and attorney/mother-in-arms, pointed me to this story in today's New York Times. Because she thinks it's fun to make my head explode, apparently.

"Just like it's risky to smoke during pregnancy, it's risky not to breast-feed after," said Suzanne Haynes, senior scientific adviser to the Office on Women's Health in the Department of Health and Human Services.

It's also risky to drive a car (there are more car accidents than airplane crashes, don't you know) and wear high heels (sprained and twisted ankles, not to mention the spine-assaulting results of years in those uncomfortable shoes). Women: don't go back to work after the birth of your child -- stay at home and breastfeed!

I also love how HHS is now equating sucking in carcinogens with giving your baby a bottle of formula.

A two-year national breast-feeding awareness campaign that culminated this spring ran television announcements showing a pregnant woman clutching her belly as she was thrown off a mechanical bull during ladies' night at a bar — and compared the behavior to failing to breast-feed.

"You wouldn't take risks before your baby's born," the advertisement says. "Why start after?"

Well, I guess my mechanical-bull-riding days are over. I had such high hopes of winning $100 later this month.

Dr. Haynes, of the Health and Human Services Department, said, "Our message is that breast milk is the gold standard, and anything less than that is inferior."

Inferior, maybe. But that doesn't mean it's the same as feeding your child rhino droppings or battery acid.

Don't misunderstand me. I know that "breast is best," and I am in favor of the government and various health organizations encouraging breastfeeding. But promoting breastfeeding with scare tactics and misinformation, while never actually providing women with the assistance they may need is both pointless and cruel. As Nutso Ranter ranted to me: "There's already enough guilt surrounding this, without making Moms feel like they're giving their baby crack-cocaine every time they open the formula. And it just doesn't recognize the reality of most working-moms situations. Lots of people in this country are lucky to get 6 weeks off ... frequently unpaid... so many of them HAVE to go back to work after only a few weeks. I can just imagine the reaction of some assembly-line employer, or Walmart, when the employee says she needs 4 30-minute breaks a day so she can go pump."

What's the take-away message of these ads for women like that? Will Tom Harkin come and breastfeed their babies for them?

I killed your father

Which Princess Bride Character are You?
this quiz was made by mysti

And, in honor of Liz:

Which Rocky Horror Character are You?

You are *Janet*! O.K so you may start off rather lame but you come into your own at the end. You are pretty and very funny to watch. You look good in your underwear and you get it on with both Frank and Rocky. Yay!
Take this quiz!

Woke up, got out of bed, dragged a comb across my head

Been meaning to do GeekyMom's sleep meme for more than a week now. I think it's fitting that I do it now, at 9:30 on a Saturday, when it's all I can do to keep my eyes open. Seriously, I'm beat.

1. Do you use an alarm clock to wake up? Yes. And it's so old, it used to be my mom's. We're talking mid-'80s, if not older. It has no tape player, no CD player, no nothing.
2. What time does your alarm go off? 7:00.
3. What sound does it make? Some radio station.
4. Do you hit the snooze button? How many times? Hell yes, but only once.
5. If you have a partner, do they have a separate alarm? Nope, we just use mine.
6. Does your partner get up at the same time, earlier or later? As I said, we both use my alarm, but I get out of bed and shower, and only then does he get out of bed (if our lazy, snuggly Small Dog will let him leave the bed).
7. Is your clock set ahead? If so, by how much? I think it's behind one minute. Our cable box shows the accurate time, and my clock is just barely off.
8. What's the first thing you do when you get up? Shower, then get dressed for work, then go wake up AB.
9. Do you eat breakfast? If so, what? When I'm not pregnant, no. I'm a coffee-only person, usually. But nowadays if I don't eat, I'll feel woozy and/or sick. So I usually have a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios, Kashi Go Lean Crunch, or oatmeal.
10. How long does it take you to get ready? The showering, getting myself dressed and feeding myself doesn't take long--maybe half an hour. But throw in getting the boy ready, and it adds more time. We usually leave the house about an hour after I get out of the bed.
11. On the weekends, what time do you get up? Generally whenever AB starts making noises from his room. Sometimes that's not till 8:30, but it's usually between 7:30 and 8.
12. Do you lounge or do you jump into action? Once I've hit the shower, it's go, go, go. I'm fairly certain this annoys my family.
13. In an ideal world, what time would you get up? Probably 8:30.
14. How many hours of sleep do you typically get? 7 or 7 and a half.
15. How many hours of sleep do you want to get? I really operate so much better on at least 8 hours. For a little while, I was going to bed at 11 and waking up at 7. I need to start doing that again.

Very superstitious

I wasn't superstitious at all for the first 11 years of my life. Then I became a Red Sox fan.

It started with not saying anything like "we could win this game" about any of my softball or soccer games. Then it moved to knocking on wood if someone hypothesized that something good was going to happen. By the time I was applying to colleges, I would get really upset whenever people would say, "Oh, of course you'll get into [Dream School]." Ack! I plugged my ears and knocked on wood and told them never to say that again. Same thing when I was studying for the bar exam. "Oh, of course you'll pass." Ack! Shut it!

So I'm not going to make any prognostications about AB's potty skills. I'll just say that things have gone quite well. I'm talking multiple #1s and two #2s (once at school, once at home). It'll be a long road, I know. But in all honesty, so far so good.

Knock on wood, and keep your fingers crossed.

Escalator morons

I had to go to the mall the other day, and while there I encountered not 1 but 2 escalator morons. The first was a middle-aged guy who was talking to his friend. I was walking behind them, not too closely but close enough that they should have been aware of my presence. Guy #1 got on the escalator, which was only wide enough for one person to ride per step. I continued to walk toward the base of the escalator, assuming that Guy #2 would hop right on and keep talking to his friend. Guy #2, however, placed both hands on the slow-moving handrails and kept his feet firmly on the grate in front of the moving steps. As I waited impatiently behind him, he eventually picked up his damned fool feet and got on the actual escalator steps. I had been half a nanosecond away from coughing very loudly, hoping I'd shame and/or scare the shit out of him. Alas, there was no need. So I silently seethed behind him on the way up.

The second escalator moron was one of the few adults who still seem to be apprehensive about the scary-moving-stairs. Again, she knew I was behind her, and we both drew near the top of the escalator. She came to a complete stop a step or two ahead of me at the top of the escalator, as I kept moving toward it. Rather than just getting on, she tentatively stuck out her foot, waiting for THREE steps to go by before she finally, gingerly stepped aboard. Meanwhile, I'm standing there looking over her shoulder wondering why it's MY day to encounter the escalator morons. Happily, she had no similar trepidation getting off the escalator, so we avoided what would have been a nasty, painful crash.

If you don't know how to use the escalator, you should be required to use the elevator.

Also, go Sox.

You really don't want to click this link...

Oh, Jesus Christ.

And if I hear the term "activist courts" one more time, I'm going to go nuclear. Oh, wait, I'm sorry. Nuke-u-lar.

The Post's new legal blog has more to say on this here.

50,000

Is it fitting or just funny that my 50,000th site visit came from someone searching for "I am going to hell"?

'e's 'enery the Eighth, 'e is....

And I am apparently the "Flanders Mare" (as seen at GeekyMom):

Anna of Cleves got the royal shaft. She came all the way to England to become the fourth wife of Henry VIII. Once married to Anna, he refused to consummate the marriage, and called her the "Flanders Mare". Talk about a burn, considering that by this time, Henry was the fattest man in England and had a rotting syphilis sore on his leg.

Anna was miffed, but she was too sensible to let it ruin her fun. She was given an annulment and a fat yearly allowance, and she threw extravagant parties and dined on delicacies for the rest of her life.





Which of Henry VIII's wives are you?
this quiz was made by Lori Fury

When blogging takes over your dreams

Last night, I had a dream that, while I was in the federal courthouse, I received a fax from Halloweenlover. In the fax, HL informed me and others at my firm that her work schedule was currently light and so she was offering to cover court dates for anyone who was swamped. I immediately thought, "Great! Thank God! HL can cover my court dates this week. She rules."

I was still bathed in relief as I woke up this morning. Then a few things dawned on me. The first being that I was not at the federal courthouse recently, and even if I had been there, it's not like I get faxes sent to me there. The second being that HL does not work for the same folks I do. The third being that, even if she did, she's about 450 miles up the road.

The funniest thing about the dream didn't even occur to me till this afternoon, when I was chuckling about the dream again and suddenly remembered that, in my dream, the fax was from Halloweenlover, not [Halloweenlover's real name].