Mirror in the Bathroom

It's cold and dreary and wet and all the leaves are falling and my uterus hurts. I hate celebrating my womanhood.

• I dropped off Chutney for a bath today. He took one step outside and looked at me like I was nuts. Sort of like "Mint honey, do you realize how cold it is??"

Yes, he's now a 62 pound puppy.

• I've been having some very interesting conversations lately. The majority of the girls I knew from grade school have chosen to be stay-at-home moms. They are all in their early 30's and most have 2 children. I think being a stay-at-home parent is the hardest job in the whole world. That being said, I have never had the desire to quit my job and stay home full time. I took this job because it allows me massive amounts of flexibility and although it is common to see me up at 11pm working on stuff, I've never feel left out of my kid's lives. Today my one friend made me feel bad that I don't keep the Girl home with me. I wish I felt more guilty about working but the truth is I don't. However if it's ever becomes possible I would cut down to part time in a heartbeat.
• Then there's the other argument. I recently spoke to my mentor and found out that one of the papers I helped him with has been accepted for publication. Dr B took this oppurtunity to lecture me about how I'm selling myself short in my current position and how I should return to acedemia. Acedemia is definitely intelectually stimulating but I'm not in a position where I can deal with grants and funding and long hours of writing and rewriting. The mortgage aint gonna pay itself.
• D called this morning to tell me there's a rainbow outside. After some recent rough patches we've been communicating so much better with each other. I was 23 when we first met and I thought I had all the answers. It's only now I realize that I didn't even know half the questions.
• Lots of talk recently both in and out of blogland about marriage and relationships. If I was forced at gunpoint to offer advice I would summarize as follows:

1. Don't be a drama queen: That goes for you AND your partner. Life is hard enough and marriage aint exactly a picnic all the time so the last thing you need is additional drama when things don't go exactly as planned.

2. Learn to let go: Even if you snap at each other, deal with it and then move on.

3. Pick your battles: I've asked D a million times (conservative estimate) to soak the dishes he puts in the sink. There's nothing worse than trying to wash off dry crusty oatmeal that's been sitting in a bowl for 3 hours. Sometimes he does. Sometimes he doesn't.

4. Variety is the spice of life: Um... not gonna say much about this except you should try to evolve in all areas of your life. *readjusts her halo*