I was reading this post by Penelope Trunk about three questions she hates to get.

The last one (You ask me a question that requires more than two paragraphs.) has struck me not because I have trouble explaining my failings...

Like my favorite Jackson Brown line goes...
Don't confront me with my failures
I had not forgotten them
but that I had just come from a meeting which hadn't gone quite like I expected and I was trying to figure out why. I spent a few minutes trying to boil down what happened into a sentence.

This meeting didn't go well solely because of me. Because I thought I had to be involved in every conversation and that I had something interesting to say in every discussion within it.

After the meeting was over, a very kind friend and I were analyzing what happened and he told me in the kindest way that I shouldn't have called the meeting since it wasn't in my realm of concern. And that people might have been uncomfortable because I was the one asking questions about the lack of QA coverage etc.

My initial response was that I saw a need, a vacuum and thought that for the good of the team and the product I needed to raise the issue, but the truth is... I didn't trust enough that everyone was going to do their job and so I wanted to be there to guide them, step by step.

So now I have to have a little talk with myself about how to make my concerns outside my immediate realm expressed in more constructive was rather than that constant mother-view of the world. It's not my job to make sure everyone eats their vegetables, but it is ok to make the suggestion, right?

This weekend I was at a friend's house and their adorable daughter asked me if she could have some ice cream that I was dishing. My response was "can I Please have some ice cream?". It was reflex, and everyone thought it was funny, but in a very mild way it was inappropriate.

So, yes, you may have some ice cream, and QA will be fine.

Wow

This is a breathtaking article about class and the American elite University system.

http://www.theamericanscholar.org/su08/elite-deresiewicz.html

Riddle/Joke

J asked me this riddle the other day...

"You are in a room with four walls, a ceiling and a door that is locked,
how do you get out?"

I didn't know so I guess with "you use a key?"

"No Mom! You only have a PIANO!"

I laughed so much at the mistelling that I had to ask for the answer another day.

"You try all the keys"

oh!

P went in for his 4 year old check up yesterday. Before he was aware that three shots were coming (and the yelling started) the Dr. and I were discussing all the appropriate things that P should be learning at this age.

Stranger Danger
Check

Home phone number and address
Check

Where to go if there is a fire
Check

Don't touch or take any medicine unless you get it from M&D, even if it looks like yummy candy
Check

Gun Safety - don't touch it or pick it up or even pretend to shoot it
...

WHAT!

I contained my moral outrage while he was mentioning this and did not inform him that we don't have any sorts of firearms in the house. Ryan didn't even want to get a Star Wars blaster for J no matter how much he begged.

Then I realized that J & P may actually need some knowledge about guns because they will go to someone else's house, and they may not have trigger locks or gun safes. And this is Texas, so it could be anyone's house, even that ultra-liberal college professor that lives in the back yard. You never know.

So, we will be adding a new scary no-no to the list.

I love this picture

I have been scanning more pictures lately. I raided my mom's closet and found some great shots...

This is my all time favorite from the collection:

While this picture says a lot... Who thought satin was a good choice for a cheerleading costume? How did I get my hair to be so perfectly flipped in Singapore's 100% humidity? The team was called the Packers, which I didn't even realize at the time was an NFL football team, I just thought it was a really stupid name for a team. And who thought Yellow and Green was a good combination?

But that's not my favorite part...it's on the back.

This picture must have been at my Grandma Swanson's originally. In her handwriting is written:











She has written my brother's name and then scratched it out and put mine... as if there was some question at to which GENDER this grandchild was.