I feel like slippers are a slightly weird (warm) gift in August

Huh, I'm almost always barefoot (SoCal), so I only associate them with emotional warmth. But you probably have a point. Well, I'm just throwing out suggestions (because I'm a Helper, not Avoiding Work. Nope, that's not it at all.)

ita's about to join MIB

Difference between ita and me? She makes this look good.

Turns out Xyla is a Greek name meaning "Of the wooded land".

Of course, I learned this via someone correcting her father who said he believed it was a made up name. Hilarious.

someone correcting her father who said he believed it was a made up name

My nephew has a daughter named Azlyn (but doesn't play scrabble that I'm aware of). He said he knew a girl in HS with the name, but they changed the spelling, so I'm pretty sure it's a corruption of the Irish name Aisling.

I'm pretty sure in this case it just means it was the mom's pick.

Are they pronouncing it Hi-la? I need my Greek speaking uncle here to help me a bit, but the X at the beginning should sound like an H, I think.

Then again, we mispronounce my K's Greek name on purpose, so don't listen to me.

Oh, where's Sox: speaking of our Greek speaking uncle. When K saw him this time she said, "He looks like Grandpa but he talks a lot more."

It's why a xylophone has wooden keys (xylophone = "wood-voice").

Cool. I have learned something new today so I can goof off the rest of the day.

I was just informed that criticizing anything that Israel has done, ever, means that I support Hamas and want Israel to be destroyed. I need to stop discussing this stuff with my relatives.

Background: pretty much at work by myself now until new boss starts. Lots of watering all week to do to keep new plants alive, thousands of dollars worth of material. Office work is also crazy as I'm still doing the DoH's job. Declared on Tuesday that I would finally be able to start focusing on housekeeping.

Today's scenario: a half an hour from completing first housekeeping, which is a very public space that every visitor sees. Coworker comes over, says nothing about how much better it looks, instead she gives me a *warning* (her words) that ED is going to ask (tell) me to clean my office. I get a bit huffy, and she says that I am not allowed to be offended. Because I receive compliments from the ED all the time, I therefore have no right to be offended at a criticism of the state of my office, which is staff-only.

I actually got really upset, because I find it not only overwhelming that I'm trying to prioritize the billion necessary things needing doing to keep the grounds looking good and alive, but I'm slowly already, on my own initiative, trying to clean up things that have been neglected in preparation for new boss and also because it needs doing and I finally have the time and I'm basically being told that I am a giant slob and an embarrassment (this is my over-sensitive self reading into things, I know, but it's what I hear when shit like this is said to me. Not "hey, this looks great" but "what you just accomplished is irrelevant because there is something else that should have been done right now".

But the part that really upset me was being told emphatically that I had no right to have a knee-jerk reaction of being upset at a perceived criticism, especially since I got compliments in other areas.

Lady, the reason that I get those compliments is because I don't waste my time cleaning my office.

I do have a list of priorities, thank you very much, and they are the correct ones.

Also, if she'd let the ED, in his own flaky time, convey his request, the office, which is on my immediate to-do list, would have already been cleaned, or I'm sure that it would have been phrased much less ominously and wouldn't have gotten my hackles up.

It reminded me of when I was in the Army, in the kitchen with a swept pile of debris at my feet. I was bending over with a dustpan when my shift sergeant, in all seriousness, told me that I'd better not forget to sweep up the floor.

I can't discuss it with anyone either, Hil. I have FB friends that are passionate about the issue on both sides. And I can't even feel comfortable discussing it with friends either since I don't want to be forced to be 100% blindly loyal to their position. It has become really tense, to put it mildly. And I'm not even talking about people who live in the region!!