What a Day

Actually, it wasn't such a bad day.

This morning Guy and I met with a potential nanny share, and I think Guy and I were both uncomfortable with the fact that the couple is obviously far wealthier than we are. House was gi-nourmous, in Rockridge (richy-rich) and filled with the kind of dark wood matching furniture that you know cost a fortune. We both got the impression that despite the woman's claims that she was flexible, etc, she really wasn't. She was kind of a tweaker - when we arrived she had just finished jogging and her daughter was asleep, and there was this sort of weird panic she emitted, as if our arrival had disrupted whatever her usual routine is when she finishes jogging and her daughter is still asleep. In any case, they're both lawyers and obviously worried that some day one of them may be in a position of promenence where having a nany paid under the table is a liability, because they are paying taxes on what they pay the nanny. Me? I seriousy doubt that anything I do in my future will be adversely affected by anything resembling Nannygate, so let's keep it as cheap as possible, folks!

Afterwards we went to breakfast. Well, yes, ultimately we ate breakfast. Berch needed a nap so we parked away from the breakfast spot with the hopes that he'd go down on the walk. Once we got to the place we were greeted by a sign I am sure I've seen a thousand times: No strollers allowed. Which led us to go to a crepe place where we both ordered Eggs New Orleans (poached over crabcakes and english muffins and spicy Hollandaise). Except that the english muffins were untoasted and the crabcakes were microwaved, not fried. I mean, does anyone eat untoasted english muffins? In any case, we learned both of our lessons: the crepe place sucks and having a baby in a stroller will severely limit our breakfast options moving forward.

And then, Guy and I spent a few hours painting the dining room. It's a gorgeous shade of pale orange, which may sound awful, perhaps, but looks great. The Bean once again acommodated us by napping 2 more times after we returned home and being an all-around good sport as he played with his gymini. I've started propping him up in a sitting position so he can start building up all those torso muscles, so when he work from the second nap I got him all set up in the living room then went back to painting. I looked back in and there he was, sprawled face down, not moving. I rushed over, fearing the worst, only to find him perfectly content where he fell over, staring at Texas. Bad Mommy.

And on that note, I'm out.

I need a shower

One thing I have discovered over the past four months is my greater tolerance for my own body odor. Without a job or even a specific thing I need to look decent for each day, I sometimes find I am on day 3 or 4 without a shower. And let me tell you something, folks, it's been HOT here lately. And I've been doing yard work and painting the dining room, so all of this combined means ... well, it's not good.

So today was another day of scattered attentions - I am determined to strip the hinges and doorknob plate of the front door back down to the brass, so every few days I slather on that nasty Jasco stuff and wire brush it, make sure I gather up all of the corrosive pieces scattered about, and then... move on to some other project. Today I bought the paint for the dining room, but managed only to prime the one wall I painted before Guy and I decided the color we chose was hideous. I called it salmon, but he very accurately called it, "Remember that Crayola Crayon called 'Flesh'? It's like that." In any case, after priming I moved on to folding the clothes that have once again remained cleaned but folded for three days now.

Hey, the Bean is up. I think a lot of entries will end this way.

The germination of a cult

So this is what I wrote 13 months ago:

So ends the first work week. To say the least, it was underwhelming and has only more firmly convinced me that I need to find a new job, and perhaps even a new career. We'll see. At the moment I want to try and learn to post pictures here.


That was the second and last post of a blog I started right after I was married. Since then, my entire life has been slapped upside the head and I am going to attempt to readjust. This evening, it's exceptionally hot for the Bay Area and to make matters worse, I am covered in the unsettling sweat of a person who drank too much last night. In any case, that post above? Kind of funny, as I was laid off 2 months ago, right in the middle of maternity leave. So, in fact, I AM trying to find a new job, albeit under vastly different circumstances, like, now when I calculate salary I should just deduct $20K from the total, because if I want to work I need to have Berch in childcare. Which costs. A lot.