Time flies when it’s the third full week of June and one has two customers going live with one’s modules July 1st, including the customer that had been dragging its collective feet for a year and a half and gave no clue that they would announce a go live date with only three weeks notice. So yeah, I’ve been spending a lot of time at work these days. It hasn’t been too bad, though, since a lot of that time was spent on one particularly challenging task, which gave me many opportunities to gleefully rub my hands together and chortle to myself as I worked out each tricky bit. (I do try to celebrate thus only when no one is looking, and so far none of my coworkers are giving me the “are you crazy?” eye, but maybe they’re being careful to be subtle about it so as not to disturb my delicate mental state any further.)

I didn’t, however, have to work this weekend–things haven’t reached quite that level of busy-ness. Instead, I ran around all weekend getting stuff done that I’d neglected during the week, except when I was running around seeing people I’d neglected longer than that. The absolute highlight of the weekend was meeting Jen’s daughter Li. She was sleeping when I arrived, so Jen and I had a bit of time for grown-up conversation. (Sophie the dog got a bit of undivided attention, too–she’s a sweetie.) Li woke up while Jen was showing me how well the quilt went with the other colors in the baby’s room and M. brought her down the hall. Understandably, she appeared a bit concerned about the stranger in her room who had not been in the house when she fell asleep, but soon enough she decided I was okay and waved hello.

Then the main event began–it was playtime. Now, I read Jen’s journal, so knew Li was high energy, but still I was unprepared for the reality. Wow. She runs, she jumps, she bounces–this is not an Eeyore kid like I was; she’s definitely Tigger-riffic–she giggles, and she includes everyone in the fun. We got to play ball–I loved that Li was equally delighted whether the ball was caught or bounced off someone’s face (these were very soft balls–no toddlers were harmed in the making of this entry). We got to build things per Li’s direction with a construction system I would no doubt know the name of if I spent more time with the under-three set. We assisted Li with her accessories; there was a necklace to be put on and taken off and put on and taken off, and slippers to be donned and doffed. I really coveted those slippers, which had multi-colored lights that flashed when she walked–my mornings would be happier if those came in my size.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay for the whole post-nap segment of the Li show, which is probably just as well, because I’m not sure I have the kind of stamina required to keep up. Good on Jen and M. for managing so well. They have a delightful daughter who I hope to spend more time with soon–though I may need to break out the Monster Power energy drink first.