Poor Jane Eyre

(I’m having book chat with myself because Jenn’s on the Barnaked Ladies cruise and we’re between books anyway.) I can’t believe what a good story this is already. So quickly into the story Jane sees a ghost. A real, actual ghost. At least I think so. But I’m not really sure and that’s part of what keeps me reading. And what a sad, sad life she has. How mean her aunt and cousins are! Even the household help. So I’m excited that it looks like she’s getting out. But her aunt already sort of poisoned that guy from the school against her. I really like how she told-off her aunt right before she left. Thought it was interesting when she told the doctor that she would rather stay with her mean aunt than entertain the notion of going to live with really, really poor relatives. Interesting choice. Can’t wait to see what happens next. I should try to get to bed early so I don’t stay up so late reading. Last night when I forced myself to put the book down it was nearly midnight. But... new episode of “House” tonight. Hmm...

Nanny-nanny, foo-foo!

I'm an M&M girl. I grew up in Hackettstown, NJ where nearly every M&M consumed in the US is born. My college education was largely funded by my mom's job at M&M, and my first professional experience was working as an intern in that office (my first cube, actually).

And so when I heard this news and this related story, I could not supress a snide, jeering Nelson laugh.

Silly humans. Cubes are for ice.

An office cube is the anti-BDO; the BDO of the bizarro world.




Seriously? Why? Who designed this and why? Who thought this was a good idea? Who thought this kind of environment would aid in productivity, morale, anything positive?

The Hostess Sets the Tone of the Party

This is my new life philosophy.

I’ve tested it in several theoretical (and a few real) scenarios and it always applies.

If, in every situation, I just imagine myself as the hostess trying to set a friendly, happy, comfortable tone for my guests, every thing in life gets better/easier. Seriously. Try it.

At the grocery store. Walking down the street. At the gas station. Chatting with the postman. In traffic. Folding laundry. Drudgery becomes festive; the mundane becomes colorful. It's sort of amazing.

I think I've stumbled onto something really powerful. Think it demands a trendy self-help book. Could I work this up into several thousand words? I bet I could. I bet you all could help.


Oh. And P.S: Way to go Hillary.

Our Winter Garden

Got SOOO many good Christmas gifts this year. Life is Good jammies from my niece; an insanely cozy new robe from Will; cheese from Wisconsin. Overall, an embarrassment of riches.

But my sister, the wanna-be-scientist and best-teacher-ever-because-everything-genuinely-excites-her, got Will and I an aeroponic garden. And in 4 short days, we have tomato sprouts. Look how cute they are:






This is the brand of our garden: AeroGarden.

A good thing about today

It actually wasn’t too bad.

Today was the first full day of work after a leisurely break between Christmas and New Year’s and I was dreading it. (And then there was the whole “no longer my own boss” thing.) Not bad. Happy little surprise.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Once upon a time, there was a little girl whose daddy wisely told her, “find something you love and figure out how to make a living doing it.” Thanks to her mommy, the girl was a lover of language and so she decided on a career playing with words and ideas.

After many years working at corporations (often inside stuffy buildings with windows that never opened), she went out on her own into the lovely world of freelance writing. This was a very happy time indeed. The girl worked only with people she liked, on projects she found interesting, and - perhaps most important - from an office right inside her home with plenty of windows that open.

Then one day an interesting thing happened and she decided to join a nice little company. She could still work mostly from her home and mostly on projects she found interesting. But she was no longer working for herself. And if felt good and odd at the same time.

It’s January 1 and I’m officially no longer my own boss.