Mornings just aren't the same without vw.

They wrap your head in gauze. Hee! I'm gonna be quite the sight!

Just extend your arms, shuffle and mutter "brains." No one will even notice.

I have to wear a button-down shirt, because I won't be able to get anything over my head. I don't know that I have four days' worth of button-down shirts!

I'm babysitting a 5 year old today. Here's a few of the thiings he has said to me so far: "I wish I was still a baby so I could drink milk from my mommy" and "Your toilet sounds weird when I flush it and it's annoying to me." He's a very good kid but I wish there was another adult here to laugh with me.

Hee. Someone brought their small child to work today, and I overheard her monologue in the ladies room. "You could be a cat-mouse and brown and squishy and and and I could be a skunk-cat and have a pretty white stripe and claws and and and then there could be a spider and we could squish it and and and . . . "

The mom, "Uh-huh . . . Uh-huh . . . Yep . . . Uh-huh."

Yay, Anne!

Stephanie, he sounds so cute!

vw, I really, really am enjoying the mental images of the expressions on peoples' faces as you go in to work with the gauze on your head. But I really, really, really want to see a video of you shambling along muttering, "braaaaaaaiiiiiiiiins". I'm so supportive, I know.

On his way out the door this morning, Daniel began filking, "I'd like to introduce to you, the one and only Britney Spears" (Sgt. Pepper's). I believe this calls for extreme measures.

WS, make him watch the Sergeant Pepper's movie. Making him skip the good parts (like the Earth, Wind, and Fire segment) is optional.

I knew there were a couple things I forgot:

Yay for Driving-endowed K-Bug!

Yay for Signing Goddess WindSparrow!

And, dang, flea, 5 months already? Pregnancy~ma and general well-wishes to you.

The big news is that my temp to perm job officially goes permanent this coming Monday.

Rock on!

Where's my morning crew?

I was posting from the internet machine at the embassy, while trying to find software that will translate Greek documents into English. Turns out there's not a big commercial need for that.

Someone brought their small child to work today

At my work too. And by "small" I mean 3 months. This is another way working at an embassy is different, I guess. We all bring our babies into the embassy for shots, and then the parent with the baby (okay, the mother, extremely male officer corps here) goes to visit the officer and brings the baby, and they go to lunch or something. Heck, I did this last week and apparently dropped Mal's pacifier, as Robert was walking by the ambassador's conference room and noticed it sitting on the cellphone tray.

So this happened today, but while the mom and baby were upstairs in daddy's office, the elevator went out. They couldn't get the stroller down all the many flights of marble stairs, or chose not to, so we had a baby in the office all afternoon. A miserable, post-shot baby.

OK, I'm just not skilled enough for a comprehensive recap of good wishes and/or hugs - how do you all do that? So... from this morning, I've got:

Congratulations, Anne!

Welcome back, vw!

Cute kids, always good. (unhappy ones, not so much.)

For my part...

I need to report here, because there's no place else that I can think of where the fine nuances of it would be appreciated as well, that I am feeling VERY piratey today. Sort of a paisley piratey, but piratey nonetheless.

From treatments, my hair started to go, so I had it buzzed down really short (surprisingly untraumatic, I'm happy to report), and today I'm wearing a scarf in what I think is a stylishly piratey manner. And I've got these gold half moon/hoop earrings on to add to the effect.

So, a hearty "Arrrrrrr, mateys," to you all. With an added "Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum."

Congrats, Anne!

I am feeling VERY piratey today

Get on and avast with you and your bad self!