Dress Code

It seems that upper management is considering permitting us to wear flip-flops thong sandals in the office as well as professional shorts on Mon/Thur/Fri days that we are least likely to run into MGA members.

OK - there is some controversy surrounding the difference between a thong sandal and a flip-flop. However, when are shorts (no matter how professional) appropriate for the office?

Are men going to be permitted to wear the shorts too? Like these guys on Wall Street. Hah.

Session = Giving Birth

The Maryland legislative session starts the second Wednesday in January of each year and runs for 90 consecutive days (if we are lucky).

The session of '09 was my 8th session with the Maryland General Assembly. Every day someone asks the question, "How's session going?" Ok - I've decided that session is like giving birth... seriously. How's it going? It's tough (and those are very polite terms)!

There is always lots of anticipation for session. Session starts of slow and uncomfortable. Then, the work of session builds and builds until it is synonymous with very hard labor (as we are laboring at work, quite literally). The work builds to a very intense and painful process and comes in waves and then comes faster and harder and it is stressful and YOU JUST DON'T THINK THAT YOU CAN TAKE ONE MORE MINUTE OF IT!!!!!!! At that point, managers start cheering you on to "keep up the pace" and only XX more time until.. it will all... be over. And then... it is over... just like that. And there a few loose ends to tidy up (no pun intended): the writing, reviewing, editing, and printing of the 90 Day Report (kinda like delivering a placenta). You can't prepare for the next baby session. Each session is a bit different. You never know what you're gonna get until it gets here.

After the printing of the 90 Day Report, life goes back to normal (a 9-5 schedule starts to feel like part-time work). You forget how painful session was. And, you do it again next year.

In my spare time this session, what little there was of it, I was supposed to be taking grad school courses. I played with my kids, laughed with my husband, and blogged instead. Sorry mom. But, it was what I needed to get through it.

Anyways, I thought that I would give you a small glimpse of what the last 90 days have been like for me. For those of you with children, you know it wasn't pretty.

Also, I want to say thank you for a few things that really helped this last week.

Thanks to my family for sticking by me and for all of your help and support. Thanks to my dearest hubby for making me a surprise birthday cake and for staying up to share it with me.

Thanks to my mommy for bringing me a delicious lunch and making my favorite cookies to share with my coworkers friends.

Thanks to all my coworkers for being so great through session and during my birthday week (tee hee hee - more on that later). We are all in this together and it is a wild ride every year. While session is very tough, it has been a blessing and a privilege to work for the Maryland General Assembly and with so many smart and fun people - a home away from home.

Gone.

So, session is over. Life, as I once knew it to be, is fine and dandy once again. "oh - hello normalcy - I didn't recognize you - where in the heck have you been?"

I had planned to take a field trip, per say, (during my break - because I actually get to step away from my desk for a break during the interim) over to the House of Delegates Office Building today. Why? To take pictures of the art work that has been hanging on the wall for three whole months now. Walls and walls lined with awesome artwork made from (drum roll please) recycled products. Ah yes - lets all do the trash-to-treasure dance!! jiggle, jiggle

Guess what I saw when I reached the top of the stairs...

and looked down the hall?


Answer: NOTHING - NOTHING - GONE - ALL GONE - THE ART WORK IS GONE!!!!


Geez! They wasted no time taking down the art work. Really - it was dynamite... you would have loved it.

On the way back I spotted this cute Oriole (he's fake. cute, but fake). That counts for something, right?

(Grocery) Green Tip of the Day

So, since I can't blog about turning trash into treasure (see above - sigh) then I will ask you to go to your local farmer's market this weekend. My local farmer's market is open on Saturday mornings. It opened two weekend ago. I haven't been yet because... well, we all know where I hang out on Saturday mornings. I am going to make a conscious effort to go tomorrow. I've never been to a farmer's market before and I am excited to see what the buzz is about, find some fresh produce, and reduce my carbon footprint on the Earth. Do I need to bring cash or do they have credit card machines? When is the best time of year to find fresh produce at the farmer's market? AH, wish me luck.

I thought that I looked cute (revisited)

Good news! Remember the reaction to my new shirt? Well, I wore the shirt again today. I was in the work kitchen and a female co-worker told me that I look "slim and trim" and asked if I am planning to have more children. Ha!

Of course, I had to tell her the story of my shirt and the last reaction that I got when I wore this shirt.

Of course, a younger male co-worker was also in the kitchen and he was silently shaking his head. Yes, even he knew that the original remark was off key.


Another work update: This week, so far, has not been near as bad as last week was. I made it home just as DH was putting Bro in his crib. So, I got to rock Bro to sleep and sing him some lullabies before he asked, via pointing, to be put back in his crib. Yep - he would rather be in his crib than in the arms of his singing mother.

Donuts

Every Friday of the legislative session, someone from our office brings in donuts. Today was my day to bring them in - all 4 dozen of them.

I prepared my family to be ready for me to leave early in the morning, so that I could get the donuts for work. They insisted that I bring donuts for them too, which meant that I had to go out into the world and get the dounts and bring them back and then head back out into the world for the second time (at the crack of dawn).

I did as I was told. I got up bright and early, as the whole house was asleep. I got ready for work and walked to my local Dunkin' Donut shop. Yes, I walked; if I cut through the woods behind my house, I can get there and back in no time.

I bought the donuts and used a 50% off coupon (thanks Mom and Dad) from my coupon book - the highlight of my morning. Plus, I grabbed a vanilla latte for DH and myself.

On a side note, I know that we are in an economic downturn and that businesses are closing everywhere - including Starbucks. Well, two (not one, but two) Dunkin' Donuts have opened up in my neighborhood within the past year. And, judging from the crowd at the donut store this morning, America REALLY does run on Dunkin'. How many people can one Dunkin' Donut store hold at 6:30 in the morning? Apparently, a lot.

I crept back into the house - everyone still sleeping. I woke up my DH and told him that I had coffee and donuts waiting for him downstairs. He smiled. "Really?" he asked. Really! Then, I woke up little Lu and she was excited too. DH eats the cruellers and Lulu grabbed the glazed; I thought she would have grabbed the one with pink icing and sprinkles. Who knew?

I took the rest to work. Yum!


By the way, which coffee do you think is better Dunkin or Starbucks? I am NOT a Starbucks snob, but it is the preferred coffee store within walking distance to my office. The other coffee shop is less than clean. I only get the regular coffee - no yummy mochas for me (except for today) - so, it isn't that expensive. Confession: I don't even go to the coffee shop that often anymore; saving my $$ for the kids, ya know. Still, I was shocked to see that Dunkin is the preferred coffee.

more Breast Cancer Awareness

Check out the happenings at work. Yes, those are bras and NO I don’t work at a lingerie store.

It’s a great day to be a State employee. The American Cancer Society circled the Governor’s mansion with bras to demonstrate the need the protect funding (but I am not exactly certain what the funding is for). Nonetheless, the event made for some great pic opportunities.

Here are my favorites!


Thurgood Marshall watches over the bras.




A policeman guards the collection.

Bras... here and there and everywhere.

"I think we're not in Kanses anymore, Toto."

And this doozy, not part of the day's pics, submitted by a co-worker.

Don't forget to schedule your annual breast cancer screening.

Toodles!

The Last One

Those of us with good manners adhere to the rule of the "last one." That is, we never take the "last one" of any food product. As you strut past the tray of crab cakes at the annual summer fiesta, you look to see how many are left and wouldn't be caught taking "the last one." Even at home, you have a few pretzels left in the snack bag, the last bit of milk in the jug, and the one reeses peanut butter cup in the candy bowl... from LAST HALLOWEEN! Why? Because you, being so kind, don't want to take "the last one" and you have trained your family that good manners are to leave "the last one" for someone else.

I know that you all do this.

The rule of the "last one" plays out daily at the office. There is always one mint left in the jar, one cookie on the plate, or, in this case, one piece of cake left in the box (see pic). Are you kidding me? How hilarious is this picture?

This is the problem. Stick with me here. When you take the second to last one, you are, in fact, taking the "last one." Why? Because nobody is going to get to eat anymore now that the second to last one is gone. For example, in this picture I helped myself to someone took the second to last piece of cake. This bite piece that you see pictured will be thrown away at the end of the day. Or, as in MY case, I will wait until the end of the day (when most of my co-workers have left) and secretly scavage it for myself before tossing the box in the trash... not wanting to be caught eating the "last one" as well as the second to last one.

Do you see my point? The point is that NOW I can't even eat the second to last one because then I am, in essence, eating the last bite because nobody is going to eat the "last one."

Don't believe me? Try it out. Keep eating the second to last one... at holiday parties, at office parties, and at home (depending on your housemates) and see what happens. The "last one" just sits there and rots! If you try this then leave us all a comment on how it worked out.