Babies take up lots of time.

So do toddlers. Baby is a year old, so uh, a toddler I guess. Ze has an adorable little chuckle and has just in the last week started taking steps on hir own unprompted. (Ze has been doing it prompted for a few weeks, just 3-4 steps.) We have been building a few things with pvc pipe, and Baby likes to play with the short pieces of pipe, connectors, and fun noodles pieces we are using to cover the pipe. Ze fits them together and takes them apart, and puts them all in a box. Ze just walked me into the bedroom, where ze wanted to nurse, then ze stared at the ceiling for a few minutes before closing hir eyes and going to sleep.

Hi! Still here? So I haven't been blogging because babies. Uh Toddlers? And also major work kerfuffle. Or perhaps clusterfuck would be a more appropriate term. Without going into details, let us say that I discovered a huge ass problem because I was totally screwed by it. This problem was a choice made by other people, and it affected everyone. I reported the problem and normal problem-solving skills were inadequate, so a group of people decided to take up super problem-solving skills. The problem is now being solved, but too late for me to benefit from it. So I am screwed but everyone else should be okay. Also a friend died. And that sucks. There have been good things happening too, and my to-do list for scholarship and professional service is too long (which is a good thing even though it is difficult). But I can do it. But I haven't felt like blogging because so much that has been going on hasn't been the kind of stuff I wanted to write about. And I've been exhausted. How does one manage time with a young child?