sockgirl

(x-posted from my Wordpress blog
For some reason today, I feel hung over. Headache, lethargy, everything. But since I had zero alcohol last night, it doesn't make sense. The only thing I can figure out is that it's habit from being out. Or it could just be lack of sleep (my wake-up call went off at 5:30am. I went to sleep at 1am. Paul let me sleep until 8am, but STILL)

We've been having Family Time Weekend. Well, except for my junket out to Bootie last night, and that was after Ben went to sleep. We've done the grocery shopping, started tidying and de-cluttering the house, and now we're working on cleaning out our cars. We are TURNING AROUND BEN'S CARSEATS this weekend, so we may as well get out all the Ben-generated dried food & grime while we're at it.

Oh, and we are celebrating several Ben related milestones this weekend as well. Ben can...:

- eat his own cut-up food off a plate (he's eating an all-natural turkey hot dog, with chopped tomato and pickles on the side right now for lunch)
- stand for at least seven seconds on his own
- walk while holding onto only ONE HAND
- mimic words closely
- follow along with "Thomas the Tank Engine" plot lines, interjecting "uh-oh!" when appropriate

In short, Ben is really becoming a toddler, not a baby. He's a tiny boy! And he is no longer the wee-est baby in his immediate surroundings! We have joined the legions of people who shop before 10am, because we've all already been up for five hours with our children, and in doing so, we see lots of babies now SMALLER then Ben. He used to be one of the littlest guys wherever we went; now, he's bigger. Actually, he's both older AND taller than many babies we see. I took him to the playground on Friday, and he was taller than the 14 month old girl that he was parallel playing with.

Oh, and now, the Tiny Boy Summer Vacation Countdown:

- 18 days until Grandma & Grandpa get in from Pittsburgh to visit! YAY FREE CHILDCARE!
- 25 days until we go to Victoria!
- 46 days until we return to Savannah!
- 61 days until we have our very first day at DISNEYLAND with Cool Aunt Naf (and possibly Aunt Forestry Kate!)

• 09:15 #Delta may have red coat agents...but their computer systems need serious work #

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• 12:37 RT: We’re giving away a free airline ticket today! FOLLOW @Orbitz & RT this msg to be eligible to win bit.ly/bVSuU #

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• 12:56 Highly offended by Sandra Bullock's character in "The Proposal", who shares my last name and country of origin: tinyurl.com/nmtwmc #

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• 05:13 Facebook updates their policy on user names! Hooray! bit.ly/9BGb9 #
• 12:41 mollifying myself with coffee at Peets after losing chance to walk by Entourage filming at Coffee Bean on SoBev #

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• 07:18 new Facebook page policy for business pages = totally shortsighted. I started a group to protest: tinyurl.com/facebookpagepolicyfail #

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• 08:36 I find it ironic to be tweeting about social media becoming just Twitter and Facebook 3adiy.th8.us #
• 08:55 @mashable I’d like to attend #140conf as a VIP because I am pioneering new ways to integrate Twitter into everything my clients are doing #
• 09:15 Last earthquake, I WANTED to tweet it...but I had to think of my six-week old son, and take cover for us both. tinyurl.com/q3dutj #
• 20:06 New posts about NYC are up: Yelp review on the Sheraton Midtown (tinyurl.com/sheratonnyc) and a blog post: tinyurl.com/m68vwp #

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• 07:42 new post on bing FAIL up at:jilliantate.com/2009/06/01/bing-partial-results-fail/ bing fails to own organic search results on itself #
• 08:22 I'm game for the Day in
  the Cloud on June 24th, join me: www.dayinthecloud.com #dayinthecloud #

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• 14:59 trying to summarize Google Wave - best description is "conversations in a cloud" #googlewave #
• 15:02 @mashable RT HootSuite 2.0: Get More Twitter Tabs, Columns and Stats [100 FREE Invites] - bit.ly/oQDNb #

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• 06:11 DonorsChoose.org tells me that I have helped 65 students with 600 hours of learning by donating towards new textbooks & a new classroom Mac #
• 06:12 is there actually a chance to #rejectprop8? #
• 09:20 Moved blog over to Wordpress - www.jilliantate.com. Blogger import having issues. Case study on Wikipedia best practices coming soon. #
• 10:26 I totally can't wait to see the state Supreme Court opinions that resulted in this decision #FAILifornia #rejectprop8 #
• 11:59 Nothing news here, but a solid summary : Business Case For Social Media (Revised 2009... tinyurl.com/d7kuru. #
• 12:57 fantastic roundup of top Internet video memes from @mashable: bit.ly/izadS
  So many memories! #

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Today is Memorial Day, 2009. It is now five years since I rolled down the 5 into Los Angeles.

Seeing as how that is a milestone of sorts, I've decided to roll this journal over to Wordpress to celebrate this five year anniversary. Does anyone seriously look at LJ anymore? Yes? No?

I made this decision because:

1) On my organic search results, I would MUCH rather a Wordpress blog come up. It's easier to tweak the look & feel, add a Twitter feed, and generally make it look more professional
2) I'm concerned that the shady Russians who own LJ now are going to drop the site.

Entries will still import over to my Facebook page as notes. But, as they say, all good things...

(YES, that's a ST:TNG reference)

If you do want me to keep double-posting to this blog, I'll keep it up for a while. Leave me a comment if so. Otherwise, you can RSS me over at sekhmetrix.wordpress.com

And kiss them for me, I may be delayed.

-Jillian

• 20:23 New post up: bit.ly/Skhg5
  . I expect lambasting for using Wikipedia for PR/SEO purposes #

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• 09:09 Dear Australia Incident Alerts: Your use of the #fire tag for ACTUAL FIRES is RUINING this meme: tinyurl.com/pq62xd #

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• 13:21 when it comes to building a facebook fan base for your brand, interaction = traction #
• 18:51 is "fuck this ----, its on fire" this year's "i'm in your ---"? #fire #

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I love that the White House has a Flickr photostream. This one is particularly adorable & awesome on many levels.

Also, this Onion video about a dorm fire is extremely hilarious:


Police Slog Through 40,000 Insipid Party Pics To Find Cause Of Dorm Fire

The Twitter stream is also amusing

I'm home sick today and can't figure out if I feel like falling over and passing out because of the cold or because I haven't had any coffee yet. Let's find out when this caffeine hits my bloodstream.

• 04:53 Finishing up work before leaving for Pittsburgh for Mothers Day weekend #

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• 08:05 @Flavorpill - Seattle, because my favorite breakfast spot, tourist trap farmer's market, and goth club are all in that city. #LTVabsinthe #
• 13:01 ha. judge judy vs congressperson bachman: tinyurl.com/c8vybo #

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We are now feeding Ben pureed versions of whatever I am cooking for dinner - with mixed results. He loved the slow-cooker chicken & peas I made last night. I basically put a chicken in the slow cooker with some seasonings, and left it all day, and then pureed some of the thigh and back meat with defrosted frozen peas and chicken broth. That was a big hit. Surprisingly, not so much the pureed pot roast from earlier in the week: bison brisket with potatoes and the vegetables from the slow cooker. Ben ate some of it, but maybe the new tastes and textures threw him off. Paul thought it was delicious though, so at least SOMEONE likes my cooking.

This is proof of what an absent-minded professor type I am: I have been driving around with expired tags on my car for THREE MONTHS.

In fact, I couldn't even remember if I PAID the registration on my car. I checked mint.com to see if the transaction was listed, and it was, so I guess I did...and then I put the sticker in my purse to put on my car, and forgot. Same thing I do almost every year.

I have now printed off the form to send to the DMV requesting a new sticker for my car. I've been trying for the last few years to get over my natural absent-mindedness. At least, I made the effort to get a new sticker this time. I think a few years ago, I would have forgotten and done nothing about it until I was pulled over for having expired car registration.

Which also reminds me - I should PROBABLY have proof of insurance in my car as well. My insurance card in my wallet expired in October.

How do I manage to exist in the real world? Seriously!

I'm hanging out in the Westin St Francis lobby right now, killing a few more minutes before I go down to SFO to catch my plane back to LAX. Being all resourceful & eco-friendly, I'm actually planning to take BART from the Powell St station down to the airport. It's there, it's just as fast as a cab in rush hour traffic, and I know how to get around on it.

The St Francis is the sort of hotel I'd never normally stay in. It's gorgeous and historic and high class, but it's also expensive. And if I, personally, am spending that kind of money with a Starwood brand, I'm a W type of girl. I like the boutique-y, newer hotels, where there are spa-type bath products and trendy decor and downtempo playing in the lobby. But this was the LAST ROOM IN SAN FRANCISCO, apparently, due to the multiple tradeshows happening this week. And the travel coordinator at work still picked it up at a reasonable price, so, here I am, gazing at all the gilded trim and marble floors and crystal chandeliers in the lobby.

AD:Tech has been a couple days of a lot of walking. I have been working the floor - or just plain working - all day today. I walked around to look for and talk to new technology providers and vendors, and then I took a couple hours to sit at the back of the Moscone Center West and catch up on email and deliverables. I've had meetings and meals with vendors constantly since I got here yesterday morning, and by now, I'm almost talked out. Last night, we went for dinner with a vendor, and then hit a couple of parties at hotels. A small group of us stopped by a small party thrown by another vendor at the Palace Hotel, had a couple open-bar drinks, and then went down to the W to listen to the fairly decent DJ there and see the hotel lobby fill up with trendy tradeshow goers. I got back to the hotel around 11pm, and, since I hadn't slept at all Monday night, I barely managed to take out my contacts before passing out from exhaustion.

And it was tough being inside working all day when it was freaking GORGEOUS in San Francisco today! I walked outside this morning into a perfect, soft, 70F day, and wanted to just go walk around in the park or by the Bay or something. I settled for a quick walk through Union Square on my way to Moscone Center this morning instead. Yesterday, it was 85F outside IN THE CITY. It was L.A. hot! It was ridiculous! I shudder to think how hot it would have been in L.A...or, for that matter, in East Bay. Now, it's back to normal: slightly cloudy, cold wind off the Pacific. April in the City.

It's probably time for me to head back to L.A., back to my chunk of a baby, and my husband, and work tomorrow. I miss my men - especially my tiny one. I actually like travelling, except for the whole being away from my baby thing. I will get home, and Mr. Ben will be fast asleep, and I will have to wait to see him in the morning for his usual feeding & cuddle time in bed. But I'm still so glad to be going back to my tiny family. Time to head for BART.