I joke about how I work in my pajamas all the time, but actually it’s not a joke. I’m a sloth. Sorry. Also, I have very comfortable pajamas.
So this morning I sent the kids and Otto on their merry way, and sat down (in my jammies) to start working, and I was about a paragraph into my first project of the day when KABLAM! something, um, blew up outside. And everything in my house turned off! And the answering machine started clicking and beeping, which Otto tells me in device parlance means MY! BACKUP! BATTERIES! ARE! DYING!
I am not an electrical expert, or anything, but it seemed bad.
After calling Otto (because he promised to love, honor, and FIX EVERYTHING), I called the power company. And they said, “Ayup. Something happened over there. We’re not sure what, yet.” And given the GOBS OF CONFIDENCE that instilled in me, I immediately hopped in my car and drove to my nearest coffee shop.
Where I am now working. In my pajamas. In public! Except only sort of, because I am still in my car. Shhhhhh, do not tell.
Anyway.
I guess my doctor reads my blog, because after yesterday’s post she called me from wherever she is on vacation to apologize for “the mix-up.” She explained that mammograms are “fairly useless” in young women with dense breasts (so, um, why am I having them, then?) and MRIs are better at seeing things, but ultrasounds are best for determining WHAT they saw on the MRI. I guess. So while I am not exactly feeling warm and fuzzy, I did appreciate that she seemed embarrassed about the way the flow of information had gone and was taking the time to contact me, herself.
But what I ACTUALLY wanted to tell you about today was the magicians who came to my house yesterday.
Long ago and far away (last June) I moved over 1000 miles with a whole lot of STUFF, which I paid thousands of dollars to have a “professional” moving company relocate for me. They were “professional” in the sense that ALMOST all of my belongings arrived, and some of them weren’t even broken! However, they did manage to lose just a few little things, like the brackets that hold the mirror onto my dresser, and they also managed to scuff, ding or dirty about half of my furniture.
[Which is why Otto has been informed that there are now two options available to us: Either he drags my cold, lifeless corpse from the current house (because I will live there until I die), or we can move at some point, but we have to burn everything we own and start over. I’m sorry, I know that may seem extreme, but the choices are clear. (Choose wisely, grasshopper!)]
Anyway, if you are SUPER EXCELLENT at math, you will realize that I moved at the end of June and it has now been over FIVE MONTHS since that time, and you might assume that the moving company has already set things to rights, because perhaps you have never dealt with a service company who charges large piles of money. I filled out my paperwork as directed and then I waited. And waited. And waited some more. And then I started making phone calls, and OOPS! They’d LOST MY FILE! Sorry! And then they found (?) it, and then I waited, and FINALLY someone called me up and said “Hi, I’m from Suchandsuch Restoration Services, we’d like to come take a look at your damaged furniture.”
So this pair of nice people came to my house and walked around and fingered the scratches in the entertainment center and the scuffs on my dresser and clucked their tongues at my poor battered desk, which really looked like it had possibly fallen off the back of the truck in transit. They wrote a lot of stuff down and thanked me and left.
Well. Yesterday they came back to FIX everything!
I would like to suggest that in the future they wear little hats and pointy shoes, because these were not people, these were MAGICAL ELVES in disguise.
Do you know the scene in Toy Story II where the doll restorer guy takes out this ENORMOUS case of paints and brushes and tools and painstakingly restores Woody to his former glory? These people DID THAT TO MY HOUSE. They sanded and refinished and drew with teeny tiny expensive crayons to match the wood grain and they built new brackets to attach my mirror and they took apart half my desk and put it back together again so that it actually, you know, stood up STRAIGHT, and then they went to Home Depot and bought me some pretty new drawer pulls (since one of mine was destroyed by the movers) which were about ten times more expensive than the originals.
Everything they touched now looks better than new.
So please, understand that I am THRILLED, but I do have a couple of (minor) complaints.
First of all, they were supposed to come at 10:30 and showed up at 9:45. I was home so it wasn’t a big deal, but I was—you guessed it—still in my pajamas. (I ended up pointing them towards the desk and telling them “gimme 10 minutes” and they worked on that while I showered and got dressed.) I did feel a little weird showering while there were strangers in my house, but I would’ve felt weirder hanging out with them in my jammies. I think.
Secondly, the woman in this pair was very chatty. Now, I don’t mind chatty. Lord knows I’m a talker, myself. (I know, you are SHOCKED.) But apparently she can talk while she works, because her work involves sanding and painting and such. I, however, cannot hold a conversation and write at the same time. And so every time I would nod and smile and GO BACK TO MY COMPUTER AND LOOK LIKE I WAS CONCENTRATING REALLY HARD hoping that she would take the clue and stop talking. But she never did. And I didn’t want to be rude while she was making my stuff all pretty again. So I didn’t get very much done.
Also, she admired some pictures of the kids as she removed the photos from the entertainment center, then asked some fairly normal/nice questions about them (how old are they, etc.) which was fine, and then as I was once again trying to get back to work, she busts out with, “So, are you and your new husband going to have more kids?”
Maybe it’s a little leftover indignation from the infertility days, but honestly, I think asking someone about their procreation plans is akin to asking them their favorite sexual position. In other words, isn’t that a pretty personal and inappropriate question?
I tried to laugh it off, and gave her my standard answer (the factory’s closed and we’re delighted with the two we have), but I was still sort of annoyed.
Then again, that may be what I get for answering the door in my pajamas. Maybe that just screams, “We’re pals now! Ask me anything!”
Perhaps I should start getting dressed a little earlier in the day.
I guess I should drive home and see if the power’s back. And then maybe I’ll take a shower and put some clothes on.
I work in a university so pajamas in public is practically a uniform. My favorite was last week when I saw a young woman wearing very saggy pink flannel pajamas, pink flip flops and sporting absolutely perfect hair and make-up. Priorities baby, it’s all about priorities.
Around here, moms in pajamas is kind of a fashion statement.
Hope they get the electrical fixed FAST.
nod and smile and GO BACK TO MY COMPUTER AND LOOK LIKE I WAS CONCENTRATING REALLY HARD hoping that she would take the clue and stop talking.
ARGH! I was just discussing this with my 7yo yesterday. “You need to say, ‘Excuse me, Mom.” and then WAIT until I look AT YOU before you start tellig me stuff.”
You seem to have some serious pajama issues. I think you need to see someone about that. :)
One of my husband’s coworkers (happy father of two hellions) asked us the dreaded “When are you going to have kids?” question every freakin’ time he saw us together. I was so fed up with him. One day at lunch, he was sitting in the booth across from us with some other guys (one being our PASTOR!) and asked us again. I looked him dead in the eye and said, “Nine months from tonight.” He turned seven shades of red and never asked us that question again. (Luckily our Pastor laughed.)
Well, if being in your pajamas gives people the right to ask awkward and personal questions, you better be careful since you are currently sitting in your pajamas in public (even if you’re in your car)! :)
I’m with Megan, it is astounding the number of young women I see daily on campus in their pj’s. When I was in school I might have thrown on last night’s smoke infested bar clothes, but I would never have gone to campus in my pajamas.
I want to live where Donna does.
I do think it’s rude to ask about family planning, but I am lacking the chip that stops me from asking that. I’m just. so. curious. I can’t stop myself.
I got a package deal when I began dating my husband–his boys were 20 months and 5 years old. We all moved in together 4 months later when he got primary custody.
I was constantly asked when we I was going to have a child of OUR own. This was particularly galling because I considered the boys to be “OUR own.” They weren’t fake practice kids. That didn’t let up until we finally got pregnant with our daughter, back in 2000.
Now people make “knowing” comments on the age gap between our middle son (13) and our daughter (6). As in “that must have been quite the surprise” or “you finally got your girl.” Yeah.
Am I the only one with The Who’s “Goin’ Mobile” now firmly lodged in my head?…
Oh, how I hate when people ask me the “when?” question. My husband and I dated for 6 years before getting married. Once we got married, we waited 6 more years to have a baby. But every day between the wedding and the birth announcement someone would ask the dreaded question. I started telling them, that every time they asked, we would stop having sex for a month. Eventually they shut up. That is, until they started in on the “When you are having another?”
I don’t think it matters the age or number of children or whatever. People are going to be rude. When we homeschooled, people asked when we were going to have another child (we have three), like there was something wrong with us. When non-homeschool families ask how many kids I have I say “Only three” and they get all bug eyed with “ONLY??” What the heck? We have the number of kids that’s right for our family. If we didn’t have any, my husband and I would still be a family. To get all biblical on you, when God gave Adam Eve, He then said creation was excellent in every way. They were complete in every way, all by themselves. No NEED for kids to be a family.
Ew. Did I just rant? Sorry.
I’m from farm people where it’s not really a good idea to cavort in the corrals in jammies. So I was surprised to see how many people showed up at the post office thusly attired. I thought it was the visual for the fact that I worked in a bedroom community. As for the questions, I’m fairly socially stunted myself (see from statement), but even I know that procreation questions to strangers is simply not PC. Really!
oh come on…you and I both know that the factory shut down has NOTHING to do with having more kids…*grin* My factory is totally screwed and I have four. *giggle snort*
So watch out…when you are filling out documents and forms about broken things…cause you never know when an I 600 might find its way into the mix and a year later BAM! You are the mother of a Korean baby!
I’m just sayin’.
Ok, call me ignorant, but I honestly had no idea that it was “too personal” to ask people if they are planning on having kids. I though it was just a normal topic of conversation. I ask that question all the time and am now sitting here wondering if I have offended pretty much every person I have ever met.
Crap.
Dressed? Before noon? Naaaaaaaaaahhh….
I used to be a bit more diplomatic with the answer to that annoying baby question. You know, saying things like “when the time is right.” or “we’re really happy right now, so we’ll see when it happens.”
But now, now I answer with “Yeah, try never because I have a body that does not want to have children apparently, despite trying really hard- and yes that means loads of sex- we have come up with nothing in the seven years we’ve been married.” Often they will then ask if we’ve had tests done. This makes me want to smack them upside their nosy heads.
I understand that people are curious. However, it’s painful when you can’t have the children (hell, I’d settle for child at this point) that you so desperately want.
So instead I love my friends baby like he was my own. She’s been a great friend who understands and lets me snuggle her boy anytime I want.
So to all you askers of that damn question…KNOCK IT OFF!
I gave up on trying to get out of my PJs in a timely fashion and started buying PJs that can pass as “active wear”. That way people just assume they came by while I was doing yoga or something.
I’m in my pajamas right now.
Heh.
I sleep in my workout clothes. That way no one knows my secret of staying in my jammies all day long sometimes.
So… what IS your favorite sexual position?? ;)
I think it’s probably just that those darned Southerners are a brite cheery bunch and probably didn’t even know that she was wading into too personal territory.
Meh, I don’t think it’s that rude to ask a generalized question about having kids/ more kids. For me, it’s the folks that tell you WHAT to do that are irritating, especially when they don’t know jack about you.
People are crazy. I’ve had a couple of people ask me when I was going to have the next one, and if the “Occupied” sign on my lavatory door isn’t showing loud and proud, I don’t know what would.
Before you go through the trouble of driving back home; call your house. If your machine picks up you’re good to go!
It’s a toucy subject. My cousin, who has nine lovely kids, is told by complete strangers, “You know, they found out what causes that….” like it’s hysterically funny. Strangers have asked me why I have only one child. I figure they deserve to see me get teary and hear that I had several miscarriages, and that my daughter was born extremely prematurely and nearly died, thank you very much for asking. Next time, why not give me a nice paper cut and pour lemon juice on it? (for my fellow “Princess Bride” fans)
Since my husband and I have five children we get the opposite question quite frequently. The “are you done?” question. Which is really just the sort of polite (as if there was a polite way to ask a stranger about their sex life) way of saying “Dear God woman. What the hell is wrong with you? You aren’t having any more kids are you?”
Ruth Wells: NOT ANYMORE you’re not!! Thanks. Oh well, if you’ve gotta get an earworm at least it’s a good song and not something like the Oscar Meyer weiner ditty.
As for the magic elves, would you send them my way? I’m sure my husband would appreciate it as my nagging and whining would magically stop.
I like Jenni’s idea about getting active wear that can act as pj’s too. But I’d really miss the fleece and flannel.
I can understand asking a woman if she’s going to have more kids when the youngest is three or younger, but when your youngest is seven, that’s a bit strange. Chatty Woman might have some unresolved issues!
We waited 13 years of marriage before we got around to ours, and people always ask when we’ll have another. I think it’s just a way people make conversation, but I can’t help thinking – jeez, I’m almost 44, I ain’t gonna push it! (NOT that there’s anything wrong with that)
I don’t have pajamas. That way, I HAVE to get dressed right away.
I can’t stand the “are you going to have more” or “are you done yet” questions. My family practitioner asked recently if we were going to have anymore and when I said, “I don’t know,” she LAUGHED. “You don’t know?!?” She said. Ummmm I know she’s a doc and everything, but we can’t ALWAYS plan everything, nor do some of us want to. Heck, I’m the poster child for mind-changing. I went from wanting none to (happily) having four in a row.
If I already left this comment on an earlier “when are you going to have kids?” post, forgive me, but it still cracks me up so I must repeat.
My former aunt-in-law finally stopped asking me the dreaded question when I replied, quite seriously, “We cannot have children,” then looked very sad. “Why not,” she asked in a low and concerned voice. “Because Steve’s dick fell off,” I replied solemnly.
I got the idea from a blurb in Reader’s Digest Magazine. I had no idea that magazine was so hip. And this was 20 years ago!
Yes, “are you planning on having more kids” is an inappropriate question that EVERYONE asks anyway. People who think this is okay must realize that the person you’ve asked may have just suffered a miscarriage earlier in the week, and the question feels like you’ve just struck her. Or, as a slightly happier possibility, she’s newly pregnant and doesn’t want to tell anyone and you’ve created an awkward situation.
I’ve tried to get people off my back by saying that we can’t have any more children for health reasons (which is sort of true depending upon which of my doctors you talk to), but it doesn’t work!
And Susan, that is so odd that your doc laughed when you said you didn’t know. It isn’t like deciding whether to have a second cup of coffee!
Yup, a touchy subject with me. I feel better now! ;)
I don’t have anything relevant to say – but I love your writing, and your readers and their comments are great too! Found you thru In the Trenches.
Thanks Sara. Now I’m an Oscar Meyer Weiner.
BLEH, I hate the kids question. If you have one or two, ppl wanna know when you’re having more. If you have three or more, people think it’s fine to ask “don’t you know what causes that?” And if you have none, no one thinks twice about the fact that maybe you can’t, or choose not to, or have other reasons.
There is neverhate loathe having it asked, because if folks feel no compunction about asking if you’re having more/ done having them/ whatever, they certainly have no shame in asking follow up questions… which makes things even more awkward.
I work from home too and I finally got around to taking a shower about 30 minutes ago…I think it’s the most productive thing I’ve done all day, lol
I am in my sweatpants/jammies. Better than yesterday when I was in my robe. The title of this post made me visualize jammies with little cars, trains and planes on them. MOBILE!
People ask us the kid question too. For a long time I palmed them off with, “Well, we’re gonna see how the kitten turns out first.” Now I say, “Well, the cat is turning out to be a really nice person, so we’ll see!”
Sometimes I say, “That’s up to God, who hasn’t let me in on the plan yet.” Never referencing the darling little Pill that is definitely part of God’s plan right now!
Of course, if I’m feeling snippy, I just look over my glasses sharply at them and answer, “We’re still practicing.” Takes ’em a while, sometimes, to realize that OMG I JUST REFERENCED SEX O HELP!
That one is especially good for church. :-)
Mir you need to get some yoga pants. Most days unless I am leaving the house for more than a half hr I am a yoga pants and a tee shirt girl. Right now it is even worse because the tee shirt is of the “I am going to clean using bleach today and I don’t want anything but my grout to turn white” variety.
But technically I am dressed. I love technicalities.
OMG I laughed at the “dick fell off” response! I’ll have to remember that one! Strangely, we don’t get any family size questions here in Mexico – it just isn’t something that people feel the need to ask you about.
Don’t worry; pj’s are cool. Kids wear them to school all the time! (well, the pants anyway. You’re not wearing a teddy, re you??)
Wow. That’s all I can say. Wow.
I wonder if that woman is one of my in-laws. When we first moved to Texas, we stayed with my husband’s aunt for two months. She told me one evening, “If you ever get pregnant again, I don’t want to hear about it until after the baby is born. We were so worried about you the last time!” (Little did she know that I was, oh, a month or so along ALREADY. I kept my mouth shut. *lol*)
Whoa. I hope it didn’t hurt when Steve’s dick fell off.
Living In Sin sure keeps the kid issue off the table. (Especially after 20 years of sin-livin’; the expiration date on my eggs is iminent.) This obviously won’t work for you married types, though.
My boyfriend and I have been together for 5 years now and we get asked that question once a week. And the same people will ask the question of us differently. They ask him why he hasn’t asked me yet (better scoop her up!) and reassure me that it’s great that we’re waiting so long. Cause clearly as the woman, I’m just waiting around for him to pop the question.
This fall, we went to 4 weddings in 6 weeks, and my approach to “So, don’t you guys want a wedding soon?” was to inform them that I’m having a drink every time I get asked that question and what number they were. Then I’d walk off and get a drink. At the last wedding, the mother of the bride laughed her head off and did a tequila shot with me.
I’m not even married and people ask stuff like that!! To make it even worse, I’m not even DATING and people ask me “when am I going to find a guy, get married and have babies”. Pleh. This is when I get to make THEM feel uncomfortable and tell them about the neurological/physical (read medical) reasons why babies are not an option for me.
When I get to bring it up, I have no problems talking about it. When asked, I get defensive. Go figure.
And if you have boys, you get “so, when are you going for the girl?”
You guys make me want to run out and buy cute jammies. Or at least a new sarong for warm jammie-less nights.
You lost me at “Ayup.” Mir, I love you and all, but ain’t no one in this state saying anything like “Ayup.” Even at the power company. You obviously mistook “Yeah” for “Ayup,” which might seem like an innocent error, but it isn’t. It clearly identifies you as Not From Around Here.
Did you know that some dude was arrested for stealing bandwidth from someplace? Yeah. I read that while I was up where they say “Ayup” in September. Stealing bandwidth.