the state of things

This morning was the second time I've messed up because of oversleeping. I wrongly have assumed that w/ child oversleeping would be an impossibility and haven't used an alarm clock in eons. The first time I missed one of my follow-up appointments with by OBGYN. This morning I was supposed to watch a new friend's son while she and her husband went to the hospital with her daughter for an outpatient surgical procedure. It was a meeting of unfortunate circumstances--I went to bed late last night; Simone was really fussy; I was really tired; Ezer was up but went out to buy a can of paint when they came by. It is sooo my bad. And I feel worse about it because I'm just getting to know the woman--we just had coffee for the first time on Friday. I know the husband a bit from our parents group at church (he's currently a stay-at-home dad). I thought about taking a cab over there to either watch the baby there or bring him back and had even called another friend to see if she would watch Simone. It was all very complicated. And I thought that perhaps I was doing this more for me than for them (assuaging my guilt versus really being helpful). I ended up not going. Fortunately, the couple are pretty relaxed and seem to be okay w/ things saying they would call if they ended up needing to stay at the hospital longer than they thought. Again, I was cognizant about praying that the baby would be good and that everything would go smoothly so they wouldn't need me--because IT'S NOT ABOUT ME. I can see how there is a temptation in wanting redemption of some kind. To make everything all right quickly.

I read an interesting article on Asian American and Obama--how they, particularly older ones, have voted for Clinton in greater numbers (even more so than Hispanic voters) and the possible reasons--experience, positive business growth during the Bill years, better policies, and also potential racism. I definitely have heard negative sentiments expressed about black people from Asians, particularly my parents generation and older. It doesn't seem to make a difference whether they are Christian Asians or not.

One of the last big things I wanted to get for our new place was a rug for Simone's room. We planned on using Amex points to save $$ and it took a couple tries to get the gift cards because they didn't come before we changed addresses. I ordered it last week only to immediately afterwards open my e-mail and see that there was the exact rug I wanted on ebay. I'd saved a search for it but the right size had never come up. I debated whether to keep my order or cancel it in hopes of getting it cheaper. I thought I would kick myself if I didn't try to get a deal so I canceled it. But then it went up in price so quickly that it would have been more than we would have outlaid in cash so the next day I re-ordered it. Yep, I certainly don't do things the easy way. **It's the green one. Her curtains are green, walls yellow, and her lamp shade is pink.

I watched the Oscars last night but had only seen two of the Best Picture nominees--No Country for Old Men and Juno. E and I finally saw Juno last week (thanks, Ang, for babysitting!) and both liked it. I thought it was cute (in a good, non-patronizing way) but didn't see in it the movie making skill I observed in NC. I've got Michael Clayton on my Netflix queue and eventually want to see There Will Be Blood (though I worry it will feel overlong) and don't really have an interest in seeing Atonement (didn't love the book and hasn't blown away my friends who have seen it). One that I'm intrigued by is The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Anyone seen it?

Saturday morning I felt good about putting together a sample departmental report for the PhD survey to show my supervisors before going ahead and producing one for each of 30 departments. I budgeted for them to take 3 hours each. This one definitely took longer than that but here's hoping everything will be speedy now that I have a template.

I didn't find my camera battery at church. :(

E was painting the bathroom went an air bubble appeared. E peeled it off only to discover it kept coming off--sort of kind of like that stuff they use to attach inserts into magazines. Now the bathroom is worse off than a redhead with a bad August sunburn. The new counter and sink that were installed on Friday are really nice though.

I went to the two-Sunday orientation and training session to become a mentor through a ministry at our church. The next step is to fill out the application and get interviewed. I've held off before now because E's clinic is the main referral source, he's a supervisor for the ministry, etc. But I think it can work out--he's agreed to have Simone time every Saturday am, there are now two additional supervisors, etc. Mentoring appeals to me for several reasons. I like to work with young people, particularly one-on-one. Also, I think as the oldest child I always wished for someone older than me to take me under their wing and rarely got that.

Is it just me or is Simone napping less than she used to?