so, gwyneth has given birth to a baby boy. i must say i was a bit apprehensive about the name of this one. would she continue along the food group line? would she explore beyond fruit, maybe consider some delectable vegetable choices?

nope. she's gone biblical on us. in any case, while discussing the names that apple will probably go by when she gets old enough to learn what a real apple is (tony votes for alison, i think she'll be attracted to blythe), tony suddenly stopped dead and looked at me.

t: you know how we were stuck on choosing a name for a boy, if we had one?
s: (suspiciously) yes....??
t: [pauses]
s: (half-hopefully) you thought of one?!
t: yes.
[pause]
s: well?
t: (looks at me seriously for dramatic effect) how about RUTABAGA!
s: [disbelief]
t: IT'S SO GWYNETH!

Labels: too funny

i have a really bad habit of mulling over things that are bothering me constantly - it's like i can't leave a problem alone because i KNOW there's a solution, i just can't seem to bloody find it right away. and i'm convinced if i keep thinking about the problem from different angles that i will eventually figure it out.

but my current problem is one that can't really be fixed until i am able to get out of the place i'm working in (ah ha, some of you are thinking; you know what i'm talking about because you've been there before) so i've made a new rule: when i'm not at work, i'm not allowed to think about work. or rather the problem at work. it's a lot harder to do than i originally thought, but i'm happy to practise A LOT about not thinking about the problem at work when i'm not at work.

so the things i am allowed to think about when i'm not at work are:
dance.
books.
films.
The World.
friends.
family.
painting.
the Dance Coalition. (sigh).

and that's it folks. NO WORK THOUGHTS ALLOWED. i think i need to get that phrase tattooed to my forehead though. cuz it's going to take a LOT of practise.

Labels: challenges, transitions

i'm still working through the comments of one of dooce's posts, about getting kids to sleep. i remember when i had tons of trouble getting a 2 year old to nap; and oddly, probably because i wasn't his mother, i let him cry it out (CIO) and it worked (altho man did he ever have lungs. i had to go out in the backyard a few times because i couldn't handle listening to him any longer! i didn't want him to hear me cry either (i was exhausted b/c i was still in school at the time)). one other time, when i had to put a 1 year old to nap (again a boy, different family) he was crying so much that i just went into his room and scratched his spine softly until he went to sleep. for some reason it worked. i don't know, maybe i instinctively knew that the two kids needed different things? perhaps it helped that they weren't biologically MY kids, you know. it's damn hard looking after children though. they push you to the limit like no other human beings i know (and this, i'm saying, after one of the most difficult weeks in my life i've had to survive as a manager!!!) touch wood it doesn't get worse.

Labels: controversy