Note to Self

• Next time someone asks you to analyze something, survey someone, or summarize anything, even if they’re willing to pay you, the answer is NO.  Or perhaps, "Sure, I’ll do that first thing in 2007."
• Vacations, last time we checked, were supposed to be LESS stressful than daily life.
• Sometimes you can jump through hoops to get dialup in a rather remote mountain resort town, spending hours fiddling and giving your credit card number to various ISPs, and then the motel next door turns on its wireless modem, and you know, you’re all set.  I’m just saying.  Now how do I get rid of this stupid Juno speedband thing?
• Do NOT, no matter how close it is to naptime, and no matter that Terry (partner of Sara) carried Toby on her HIP the whole way and back the day before, do NOT attempt to carry your 30-lb son on your shoulders for a mile on a primitive trail through the woods.  Unless of course you enjoy holding your head at a quizzical angle and wincing in pain every time you have to move.  Because—NEWSFLASH—Terry is WAY tougher than you.  Like, duh.
• When you screw up the increases on your unpronounceable shawl (remember how I said it was so soothing and easy because I didn’t have to worry about increases?  Yeah, well, it wasn’t so much that I didn’t have to worry about increases as that I didn’t read the pattern), do not attempt to drop stitches down 12 rows to fix it, because you’re talking a lot of increases there and there is SO not enough slack to make them with, and when you realize this, don’t continue to press on, making the world’s tightest little yarn-overs as if it’s all going to come out in blocking even though you know way better than that, because when you’ve worked those rock-hard little stitches with not enough yarn, when you’ve spent four hours fiddling with this cursed mistake, you will hold it back, look at it with your head cocked at a quizzical angle (well, that’s actually because you can’t move your neck, but you know what I mean), and you will say to yourself, “self, you have to rip this back out, what the hell were you thinking?”  And you will have no answer.  We’ve had this conversation before.
• Finally, don’t take too long of a blogging break from the late report you’re working on, on vacation, for work (and don't tell me not to work on vacation, because people with three jobs and only 24 hours of child care don't get vacations, don't worry, it won't always be this way), because your partner, who is being a terribly good sport, will be back with the kids from the lake before you know it, and if you haven’t accomplished anything, you’re going to feel crappy and she will be unimpressed.

Also…oh, wait.  Right.  Okay, back to work…I mean vacation…oh, something.

Comments

[Sneaksleep]

I'm so sorry to hear about the shawl. Several of my friends seem to have been running out of yarn for their projects lately.

As for the work-on-vacation-taking-much-longer-than-anticipated, I feel your pain. I just spent 90% of my weekend working on a free translation for a friend. A friend to who "a couple pages" actually means 20.

But you deserved your blogging break, and your humble readers certainly are grateful!

[Deb]

Well, as long as it's all a learning experience...

[Juno]

I dunno. I always enjoy the rage of stupidity - when I did something wrong, I knew it was wrong, and I did it anyway because I was too lazy to do it over, and now I gots to do it again but moreso, and with the annoyance. It's kind of cleansing, in a way.

[Steph]

Suddenly my day is seeming a lot less frenzied.

Hope it all improves.

[Laurie]

I disagree with Juno. I hate the double waste of time. Hope your neck feels better soon. You don't need that to provide focus for your life. Just sayin'.

[Jenny in NC]

But most times when you're at work, you don't have everyone with you. It makes a bit of a difference, you see. My non-vacation last week was so unrelaxing that I ended up on antibiotics for mastitis. (argh) Eventually the old body just tells you to step off, and suddenly you find that you can't move your neck right, darnit.

But even if you can't control that, you can certainly bend that darn shawl to you will! You go, girl.

[Katy]

Oh, what a lovely vacation! :)
Seriously, hope it gets better. And that you can move your neck soon. And that more yarn magically appears in the same way that the wireless Internet connection did.

[Stacie]

Sounds like you might end up needing a vacation from your vacation! :)

[amysue]

Hope life defrazzles for us all soon. The kids head back to school tomorrow and while my "part" time job is going to be pretty overwhelming for the month of September-I am almost looking forward to nonsibling rivalry type frazzleness.

[Carole]

Hi there,
This is my first comment so you don't know me but anyway. . . I am very excited about Lee Ann being lent a wheel and Laurie tells me that you deserve the accolades. So. Consider yourself accoladed. It's a very great and generous thing you guys are doing and I just wanted to tell you so.
Hope the rest of your vacation is actually a vacation.

[Heidi]

Well, I can certainly identify with the first one...

Hope things calm down and that you feel better soon, and that vacation turns more vacationey.

[JoVE]

Oh dear (as my friend's then 3 year old boy said when he fell rather hard with one leg on either side of the back of a little wooden chair). sounds crappy. Hope it is better soon.

I'd repeat number one every day for a week or so, just to get used to the sound of it. :-)