Another boring personal update!

The baby has a cold, and is producing more snot than his body can possibly hold by volume. This morning he wiped his hand through the crust on his nose, rubbed his eye, and stuck his paw in my mouth, so I'm sure I shan't hold out for long myself. In fact, I just sneezed. Awesome. He's got a temp of 100.5°F, which means he can't go to daycare today, but he seems perfectly happy, playing and almost-crawling around, just a little more tired than usual.

Also, Himself called from India last night to say his project is in crisis and he needs 4 or 5 more days there to help fix it, so more solo parenting for me. Which is okay, really; now that the baby's sleeping through the night and better at entertaining himself, solo parenting isn't as exhausting as it used to be. Too bad we'll both be sick, though, or I could have people over.

It's going to be a long weekend, is what I'm saying.

ETA: Apropos of nothing, oh my god, check out this man's paintings. The most weirdly compelling ... not social commentary per se, but wow. He's captured some of the zeitgeist, for sure.

Portland, OR Nov. 1-5

Bulletins from the conference: I started this in the locker room of the hotel gym, when I had left yet another session early to pump breastmilk, and I'm only just now finishing it, having been home for two full days. Having sessions ten minutes apart certainly made for a lively and varied conference, but it was tough to reconcile with the need to pump. I ended up looking horribly unprofessional because I either arrived late or left early for half my sessions; I resigned myself to the rather mercenary technique of only sitting through full sessions when the presenters were people from organizations where I have been focusing my job search.

The conference on the whole was wonderful, and I was glad I went. I had to use vacation time and my own funds to attend, as the topic is not immediately applicable to my current project and we don't have the extra funds in any case. But I made wonderful contacts with people all over the nation, including some at the aforementioned potential employers, went to some truly fascinating sessions that had direct bearing on my freelance projects, and had the pleasure of meeting interesting, friendly people who can talk knowledgeably about this thing we all do, something of which working at home has deprived me for far too long. Worth it, definitely.

I had hoped to do a little more relaxing than I managed, but what I did manage was truly amazingly wonderful. I had dinner with friend KR Thursday, fun but unfortunately sober due to a work meltdown on several fronts that happened at 5 and took until 3 a.m. to fix. And the Nonlinear Family and I had excellent Thai take-in and drinks on Saturday night, once the conference was over.

Sunday was my first day without either baby or work, and it was perfect - I slept in (8:00! Woo!) and then pumped and showered and packed and met my good friend KP for breakfast. KP was Himself's and my "furniture friend" when we lived in Santa Cruz - the friend who is so easy to be with and comfortable that she's never a "guest." I miss her horribly, and it was great to see her again. In the afternoon I thrift-shopped for baby clothes, finished my holiday shopping (except for a gift for A! Who is impossible!), saw my friend J and her charming daughter, and checked myself into an airport hotel. My Nonlinear Hosts were totally excellent, and I loved staying with them and spending time with them, but Sunday night I wanted to retreat without feeling rude - and I love hotel rooms. I puttered about packing while I drew a long hot bath, ate crackers in bed, drank beer in the tub, and fell asleep with a sci-fi novel. Bliss.

I slept on the plane and came home to a clean house and a delightful family and even pot roast in the fridge for dinner. I have the best life ever. And I think I might be over last month's plague of bitchiness, though time will tell. Hallelujah!