I'm Walking On Sunshine And It's Time to Feel Good

I don't feel particularly respected at work. Half the time you could just eliminate "particularly" from that last sentence and it would be accurate. Hell, at least a quarter of the time beyond that you could actually say I feel rather disrespected at work! What I do, because it doesn't actively bring money through the door, isn't valued by most at our company. I and the other admin folk have actually been termed "pie eaters" (as opposed to the professional staff who were called "pie makers").

I work for a planning and engineering consulting firm. I review contracts - which means I read them from a legal perspective, basically an inhouse paralegal kind of thing. (I was a legal assistant for over a decade.) I negotiate language with our clients to try to protect our interests.

We're a small firm and are usually subcontractors to larger firms that contract with state agencies, etc.. We bill our client, our client bills the state, the state pays our client, then our client pays us. Unfortunately, our clients sometimes sit on our bills rather than sending them upstream promptly; sometimes they don't even look at them for months. So, I crafted a bit of language that I try to negotiate into all our contracts that requires them to review our bills promptly and then submit them to the state promptly.

Most of our clients fight including the language. It can be an uphill battle for sure. But, tonight, I I was reviewing a contract between one of our clients and the state tonight. The client had negotiated my language into their contract with the state. You know you've written some good stuff when someone steals it for their own use.

A little respect is nice... even if it comes from a client and you wouldn't even know it unless you stumbled on it. I did stumble on it and - hey - I know it's a small thing but I'm flattered!

Dog Poop

May I vent rather crudely? Um, yeah, it's my blog, I suppose I can, huh?

GDMF SOBs that don't clean up after their dogs in public!! May they be doomed to spending an hour each day cleaning that poop out of all the little crevices in toddler shoes and clothing as well as car seats both bench and child. And then may they slip and land face first in some other person's dog's leavings.

An Overheard Dinnertable Conversation

J: Were you good today?
Katie: I'll be good tomorrow.
J: But were you good today?
K (reluctantly): No.
J: Why weren't you good today?
K: Because I'm going to be good tomorrow.
J: Why weren't you good today?
K (firmly): I don't want to talk about that.
J: Why weren't you good today, Katie?
K: (silence)
Me (from the couch where I'm feeding the baby): Because she 'hates Mommy'.
J: Why do you hate Mommy?
K (cheerfully): Because I like you better!
J: Because you like me better?
K: Uh-huh.
J: Why do you like me better?
K: Because you're not mean to me.
J: What did Mommy do to make you mad?
K: (mumbles something unintelligible)
J: What did Mommy do to make you mad?
K (indignantly): She told me to go back upstairs!
J (ever so reasonably): But Katie, you were supposed to be upstairs.
K: Hmph!

My Name is Katie and I'm a 4 Year Old Insomniac

Ok, so she's not really an insomniac, per se, in that it's not that she can't sleep, it's that she won't sleep.

It's affecting her sister's ability to sleep (Katie plays and dances and so forth instead of sleeping), it's affecting her behavior (much poorer when she doesn't get enough sleep).

She has a CD player with a quiet lullaby CD. She has a water bottle next to her bed. We have a regular bedtime routine. We don't let her stay up; she gets scolded/yelled at/etc. if we catch her playing/dancing/etc. instead of lying quietly in bed.

Any ideas??