Checking in from my second mid-day Thursday in the Coffee Shop while Spousal Unit hung out with the Gadlet.

He really enjoys the time with her, it is so great. But today his first comment when he came home at noon was “did you mean to dress to match your daughter?” I looked down, and realized that we were both wearing white shirts, grey sweaters, blue jeans, and dark shoes. While my shoes don’t have sweet little pink flowers on them, we were remarkably matched. I hope this isn’t the start of the mommy-and-me demented matchy-match disease, which is ably documented in the Hanna Andersson catalog. Soon, we’ll look like this:



Shudder.

Anyway, I got a lot accomplished today while drinking my skinny mocha (why do they always ask if you want whipped cream? I think the word “SKINNY” when you order conveys a certain anxiety about the calories and fat you are about to consume, thereby implying “hell no, don’t tempt me with your evil whipped cream, please.” But they always ask anyway. But I digress…) I think that only having 2 hours or so at a stretch is really, really good for my work ethic. When you’ve got a seemingly infinite amount of time looming before you, it doesn’t seem so critical to haul ass through your work. If I’m really honest with myself, I suspect now that I spent about half of my working time farting around – looking at websites, checking the news, reading and commenting on blogs, sending emails, searching for random stuff like “pregnant nausea help” or “babylegs knitting pattern” or “dissertation anxiety” – instead of actually working. But now I know I’ve got 2 hours before SU has to be back at work. That means I have to get as much as possible accomplished. And, it turns out, I’m actually getting a lot accomplished.

Today, I worked through revisions on about 20 pages. Granted, it the section that was in pretty good shape already, but still I feel pretty good about getting through all those pages. I’ve now completed the revisions. But, I realized this time through the chapter, the conclusion sucks. I’m truly terrible at conclusions and always have been. When I get to the end of a chapter, I’m like, OK. There it is. I’m done. I mean, really, didn’t I just say it all? Weren’t you reading the last 50 or 60 pages? If so, you know what I mean so these three terse sentences ought to do it. And that is what my conclusions all look like. I realized today, though that this is becoming a bit of a problem. And that this chapter, which is all about the lead up to the passage of one critical piece of legislation, ends without actually discussing the passage of that legislation. Stupid. I’m really a little stunned that I didn’t do this. It seems so obvious. Anyway, it does give me a great way to end the chapter and to write a new conclusion. Why I didn’t think of this before, I have no clue. But, I’m glad I saw it now.

Basically, though, I still think I can meet my self-imposed Nov. 15th deadline. Cool, huh?

Later Evening Update from the World of Cloth Diapers:

I sunnily went along for the past few days LOVING the cloth diaper experience. Then, the Gadlet remembered to poop. Oh. My. God. Not since the shitty bath have I seen such mess. Essentially, the diaper might not have been there at all. It was like putting a Kleenex on Niagra Falls and hoping to stop the deluge. Man. Spousal Unit gagged. I thought he was going to faint. Again. But, since he installed said diaper, I wasn't very sympathetic. After this whole experience I'm a little less thrilled with the cloth-diaper thing, but I've got a plan for dealing with it. My plan is to ensure that she’s in the disposables for every time she poops. Good plan, huh?

Good thing she's adorable and learning to chuckle.