How to Drive Me Crazy ...

I haven't posted in a nigh a week because it's production time for a major contract publishing gig, and we're running late. I think the latest I've gotten in to work any morning this past week was 6:00 a.m. and (except for Tuesday and Thursday), I don't think I've left until 6:30 p.m. or 7:00 p.m. On Tuesday, I had to be home at noon, of course, so I actually left for work around 2:30 a.m.; on Thursday, Evelin was home because of spring break, so she let me stay late that day. I ended up leaving at 1:00 p.m., quite frustrated by the lack of progress on things, but it was really nice having an afternoon with the three of us. The weather was overcast, but decent, and we took a little walk around the neighborhood. (And I only had to deal with a few project e-mails/phone calls during the time we were in the house.)

Okay, with apologies to Dooce, when it's 6:30 p.m. and you are over a week late with materials for said project (even if you are the client) don't babble on about getting me something "this afternoon." It was barely afternoon still when you told me the same thing at 5:00 p.m. and now it is well into the evening and you're going to say "this afternoon" when you're talking about sending me something from home later? And by the end of the conversation you're saying it may not be until sometime on Saturday? Much screaming and cursing could be heard from my office by 6:45 p.m. last night.

Today, I was thinking I'd have something to work on (because the printer was expecting materials on Monday), but there's been no activity in my e-mail in box (except the usual tons of spam, of course). Sigh.

Other Things

Celeste: I know Celeste is much more into her mother these days than her father. I have to work to get a good smile from her, but Evelin just needs to walk into the room. And when they went to the video store yesterday (Finding Neverland, very good), Celeste apparently couldn't figure out what I was doing on the other side of the counter: She kept staring some guy with dark hair, glasses and a beard who needed a haircut. Again, sigh.

This morning we all went to REI and picked up an REI Piggyback child backpack carrier. We'd passed along the BabyBjörn a while ago, and I'm just not comfortable with the sling, so I've been wanting somesort of backpack carrier for a little while now, and with spring and summer coming up, it'll make going hiking a lot easier for all of us.

We tried both the Piggyback and a Kelty model in the store, walking around a bit. Celeste didn't like getting strapped into either of them, but she stopped complaining as soon as the pack was on my back and we were walking around. The Kelty had better adjustments for raising her up in the seat, but the Piggyback was more comfortable for me and had a more secure strapping system for her. It also was easier to get Celeste in and out of.

Best of all, since I found my 2003 REI dividend while cleaning up my desk a few weeks back, we got that $1.58 off the price and a 20% discount, which more than made up for the fact that the sunshade/rainhood was sold separately for the Piggyback. Maybe next weekend the weather will be conducive to a short hike ...

Diet Coke: I drink way too much of the stuff (usually two 20-ounce bottles a day, but there are some days, especially when the sleep deprivation reaches a critical threshold, that I need more), so you'd think I'd have won a couple of 1-liter bottles by now. After all, supposedly 1 in 12 will win, according to the little green caps that signify the current contest/promotion. Well, since those bottles started appearing during the second week of February, I have won exactly two 1-liter bottles. And the first one was on Wednesday of this past week. I won a second one this morning. Either I'm finally hitting a lucky patch with these things or the promotion is about to end and 7-Eleven will no longer accept the caps ...

Cooking: Not much to report on the kitchen front. On Tuesday, I was craving corn and ended up making a corn soufflé for dinner (along with Boca Bratwurst and some beans and onions). Celeste was getting a little fussy while that was going on, but she was very interested in watching me whip the egg whites. I was blending a Martha Stewart recipe with one from Deborah Madison, and it turned out okay; I think I should have kept more of the kernels whole, however, and maybe put in more cheddar.