Today was one of those days when I shoulda just stayed in bed. Between locking myself out of the house, having the firemen (ok so two were really cute) break in my front door, getting our counter offer rejected and putting our house under contract for a song, and finding out my dog has a staph infection, today was one of those days when you wonder --- jeeze does this happen to other people. Now mind you kona should be fine, the house is FINALLY under contract and I may actually get to go home to the southwest for a visit, I will finally get that new screen door I have wanted since I moved in, and the baby was fine, it was just one of those days that leave you emotionally and physically exhausted. Exhausted seems to be a theme in my life.

I have happened to notice that rather benign things have become quite divisive in today's society. For all the talk shows and talking heads and social networking tools out there, people tend to engage less and communicate more. Mind you, critical theory and the studying of communication (or lack there of) between disparate groups were the crux of my research, and I know this shades my view of humanity as a social scientist, but jeeze when did it become OK to attack someone's character because (for all honesty) you didn't like what they were doing.

Today we went to Union Station to check out a state car. A friend of ours owns one and is giving us a ride up to philly. The car is beautiful, with walnut walls, three sleeping quarters, a kitchen, a dinning room, and a salon. I am really excited. I know Bea won't remember this trip but we will have pictures. I hope to be able to give her more opportunities like this. When we lived in Colorado, weekend trips happened every weekend. I miss having the time to do quick and cheap weekend trips. Don't get me wrong there are great things about DC, but I miss our weekends in Utah, New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado. I hope we will be able to move back.

Unless you are Laura Bush, you probably have noticed that the US is, kinda, in the toilet. Now, I pick on Laura Bush, because after 8 years as the president's wife she hasn't aged a bit. I mean even W looks older; like the stress of the position is getting to him. But the Mrs., I swear, looks better. How can this be? Is she not paying attention? The debt is outstanding. The economy is in the toilet. Science is now optional in K-12 schools. Health care and a good paying job is an unattainable dream. I just don't get it. As the mother of the country shouldn't she care? Shouldn't this bother her? Shouldn't she want to change it? I dunno, as a mother of a 7mos old, I am scared to death of the legacy that I am leaving my daughter.

Perhaps you may have noticed that I have been offline. To be honest, things have been crazy here, and we needed to regroup. To me, regrouping means focusing and cutting back. So, I have been focusing on family. I must admit, I (we) needed the time. I am now ready to add items. The item I am adding back is work. I am looking for work. The thing is, for the first time in my life, I am looking for work on my terms. I am looking for contract work. Fun, interesting and enjoyable work, I can do from home. So if you are looking to hire a Stay at Home Mom with a Ph.D. to help with research, curriculum design and training, and science communication, give me a call. I would love to help YOU look good.