The discussion about crying at work is still going on by e-mail and in my notes page. It seems I touched a nerve. Thanks to all of you who�ve responded. As I mentioned to zuzu yesterday (and I owe you a response -- it probably won't be until this afternoon), this is exactly why I love writing here. I can spout off about things half-cocked and get called on them. It has made me a more careful thinker and a more careful writer, at least insofar as that�s possible in my self-allotted 15-minutes a day for diaryland. If I could figure out how to thank all of you in my dissertation acknowledgements without blowing my cover, I would surely do it.

I will be cutting short my 15 minutes today, because I am in the usual mad panic before travel. I leave early Thursday morning for my conference. Before then I need to shave a paragraph from my paper, make copies for my panel, label my DVDs (which always takes me a year, because the program is so unwieldy � if any of you know of a labeling template or software that works with Mac OSX and makes editing quick and easy, I would love to know what it is!), finish and send two job applications, send a round of emails to my committee, do laundry, pack, and write some special notes for AJ. I also need to prepare for our Thanksgiving trip to my mom and dad�s. I�ll be back on Sunday and then we�ll turn around and leave either Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning. I�ll then have another round of job aps due shortly after our return.

I�m ready for a nap just thinking about it.

But first I get to take AJ to the gym to play with some of his school friends. It�s cold and blustery today and it�s supposed to snow tomorrow, so it is the perfect day to run around like a maniac indoors. I will, no doubt, have to have a difficult discussion with AJ first about how John Tiger Cat cannot come with us.

John Tiger Cat is a new addition to AJ�s life. On Sunday, we went to a workshop to make this stuffed animal at our local library. He�s a burly, stripy tiger cat with white paws and a surly game face with a zipper up the back to let us put the stuffing in. He is dressed in a football uniform, with silver knee-pads. The pants, which lace up the front �like real football players!� (says AJ), have an unfortunate tendency to ride up around John Tiger Cat�s thighs. With the silver pads, it has the unfortunate result of looking like a pair of hot pants, which makes John Tiger Cat look a bit like a refugee from the gay pride parade. But John Tiger Cat goes everywhere with AJ now. He went to school yesterday for show and tell. He sleeps with AJ. He had his own chair at the breakfast table. AJ�s never been one for stuffed animals, save his beloved caterpillar and rub-a-tubby fish, toys since babyhood. But John Tiger Cat (woe betide he or she who calls him simply John!) is something special. It actually makes me feel better about leaving him for a few days knowing he has a new friend to keep in company. Even if said friend�s pants have a tail hole.

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