1. Yes, apply, but only if the world of grad-program admin is small enough in your neck of the woods that word would not get around that he was looking at other jobs.

Are you me? If you live in New York, we should be friends. And we'll avoid team sports! :)

I don't know if this counts as happy, but I hope it helps. I've been trying to teach my toddler how to draw or color (or at least not eat the crayon), and she managed to plunk a crayon on a piece of paper, this week, and make a line or two. I was so thrilled that I exclaimed, "Oh, good job!!", and she veered up,…

Congratulations! :) My suggestion is "Doc Martin"—I think it's on Netflix. It has a few squeamish parts, FYI, but it's funny and a no-brainer, usually, and the scenery (Cornwall) is transporting, which you really need with a newborn.

Yes! I didn't know today was her birthday. :) So much of the Ramona books are emblazoned on my brain—entire pages, really. I love your comment about her characters admiring her.

You win. You win EVERYTHING.

Neil Young owns Lionel Trains?! I can't decide what aspect of this story is the best.

When I heard this, this morning, I called my mother, who liked their stuff 10 years ago, and has complained ever since that they alienated their base, and she said, "I TOLD YOU SO."

I'm starting to think their designers are depressed. The last couple of catalogs have been blaaaaaaaaah. "Dolman-sleeved black tunic with burnout touches. Wear with old sneakers while carrying that dead bouquet to the trash. Or whatever."

Is it The Happiness Project? http://www.gretchenrubin.com/books/the-happ… (I haven't read it, but it sounds roughly similar.)

Thanks. Yes, my version was "wanting to jump in front of a bus." Glad it only took a week for your house!

I know... It's like she knows what's coming. ;) We used to put her down almost asleep, but that was when she was really small—since then, she's put herself to sleep. But maybe she's just not sleepy at bedtime anymore. I don't think cosleeping's weird—have tons of friends who've done it, and they and their kids are…

Oh, also—just realized, since I wrote about peppermint oil: mice HATE it! We started placing Q-tips doused in peppermint oil around our place, and it helped, although you have to refresh them every week or so. Mice also hate bleach, so I started hosing down our kitchen (where they were coming from), or at least the…

I'm so sorry. :( It's totally ok to realize that you don't like your field! Is your current part-time job in the healthcare field? It's rough when you're working on gaining experience, but everything seems to require more than what you have. But soon you'll have that experience, right? Meanwhile, can you talk to your…

I don't have many tips (except a bath/shower with lavender or peppermint essential oil; good short-term, not very helpful long-term, but calming, at least?), but I'm right there with you on the mouse issue. :( It's incredibly stressful—I think it compounds all the other stressors in life by a ridiculous factor. Keep…

Check their site for the reviews—sometimes people say, Hey, these weren't as good as the ones you made 20-30 years ago!, which may or may not be helpful... Sometimes places like Moosejaw or Sierra Trading Post have deep discounts on Sorrels—those are slightly better for snow, at least.

I know reading about toddler sleep habits is a total buzzkill (or just zzzzzzzzzzzzz), but if any Jezeparents want to weigh in, I could use the help. :( 15-month-old started screaming at bedtime—more precisely, exactly when I say, "Good night," and lower her into the crib. She's still on two naps. Everything was…

Likewise, Bette Midler.

I'm rarely around here, these days, but I've caught more than one of your posts about L. and the raw deal that she's dealt you (Forgive me if I'm misstating/overstating/understating things), and you're doing the right thing by cutting her out of your life. Her presence in your class seems like an immense conflict of…

An "Aladdin" joke and Shirley Jackson? On the main page?!