That's a bummer, Plei.

On Saturday we went ovr to a friends' place for bbq. Their duaghter (soon to be 2) was fascinated with my keys and spent a lot of time playing with them. At some point, I realized my car key wasn't on the ring any more (it's broken, it comes off all the time). No big deal, DH drove and I have a spare at home.

When we left, we found my car key stuck in the outside lock of the driver's side door. No idea how it got there.

Erin, that's so wonderful! I'm so happy for you.

The Jobma is strong in this day.

No kidding! I need to get my stuff out there today!

Plei, I cannot count on all my nor Mr. H's digits the times we have done really dumb things with our keys (fridge, washing machine, front door, car unlocked, car locked, laundry basket, exactly where they're supposed to be but I was too stupid to look there) and we don't even have a fussy baby. We is just sumtimes dum.

Fred, did it eventually work out between you and your folks?

It is not a condition of your intelligence, but your circumstances. This is what parenting is like with a young baby.

This would have more weight if I hadn't spent my pre-Lily years needing a LoJack on my damned keys.

The big difference is that, post-Lily, I can't just shrug and see it another day, so little fuck-ups feel bigger.

I lose my keys all the time. I spent 5 mins today trying to figure out where I left them. I need to put a dish on the tv or something.

Insomnia sucks. I am melting. But, Teacup Guy will be here in 3 1/2 hours!

{{{vw}}} I am so sorry you are going through this. It is not you; the system sucks. It makes me so mad.

Happy Anniversary to connie and her DH!

Congratulations, Erin!!!

{{{Plei}}}

Aw, Plei, that sucks. But the first time through, I thought the baby was locked in the car, so I was really relieved by the ending. Particularly as it's been so awful hot here and I always project so I assumed it was roasting hot there and I was getting all worried...

It was quite a nail-biter of a story from my seat. Then I realized that the car seat was not yet in the car, and all was more clear.

Yay, Erin! That sounds like an awesome fit for you. And happy anniversary to connie and DH.

Also, thanks for the congrats, everyone.

Are you happy with the offer?

Very happy -- the dollar figure is a few thousand over what I was hoping for, the benefits are good, I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy the work, and the people I'll be working with all seem very cool. My only reservation is that the commute is a little long, but nothing's perfect.

Just as you shouldn't let your parents force you to do a PhD, you shouldn't let them prevent you from doing one, if you want it. Otherwise they're still controlling you.

What ita and Plei said.

To give you an example from my own life -- for my mom, financial success basically means you win at life. And she believes the best way to become financially successful is to own your own business. And she really can't understand why that isn't my goal, too.

So I let her talk, because I know it comes from a good place. And if someday I *do* end up opening an editorial agency (or whatever), I won't do it to make her happy, and I won't see it as an "I told you so." I'll do it because it makes sense for me. So if in five years you decide a Ph.D. makes sense for you, go for it.

If I have 3 writing samples, 2 of which have been published, one of those won an award, and one is a paper that with a little tweaking would be an awesome example of my mad skilz, is it ok to tweak?

I wouldn't tweak, but all of my samples are published so I don't really know what protocol is on unpublished work.

But the first time through, I thought the baby was locked in the car, so I was really relieved by the ending.

Me too! I'm so happy there was not a baked Lilybean, but I'm sorry Plei had to miss the movie.

Erin, I'm so fucking woo-hoo! for you.