Quiet Week

It was a quiet week on the blog for two reasons: we were all sick (yes, again) and the SD card broke, so I haven't been able to take pictures of Lovejoy-Fordham 365's little star, LB Mary who is looking well-scrubbed and cheerful in the photo above.

And, as is usual on a Saturday night, I'm realizing I did not get enough work done today, and so I will have plenty of pressure for tomorrow and the rest of the week, especially with the mock interview on Friday. More people have told me that they're coming, which only adds to my nerves especially as I've been so busy dissertating and teaching that I haven't had much time to think about my teaching demo. If I have a sloppy demo in Washington, the sloppy demo can stay in Washington and I'll come back to CA. If I have one at UCR, the bad demo and I will have to co-exist together.

Though I did do a couple of things for the interviews today. First, I had lunch with Leona, who gave me some great tips for my interview, and then I headed to the mall--one of my least favorite places to go, especially on the weekend--to buy a new suit. The last time I had to wear a suit was for my qualifying exams, which were about 2 and 1/2 years ago. I was also pregnant then. Not too pregnant, but I did weigh more than I do at the moment. The last time I wore a suit before that was in Japan which was about eight years ago. I don't wear suits often, but I think I'll have the "pregnancy" suit taken in. I was never completely crazy about it--good cut, but this weird, dark gray material.

So today I'm shopping for a fierce new power suit, and who do I see at Macy's but Paris Hilton, dressed all in pink, looking blond and shiny and uber-cheerful! I'm not a big Paris Hilton fan--actually I don't think I've ever spent much time thinking about her one way or the other--and so I didn't actually realize it was her until the salesclerk told me the store was so busy because Paris Hilton was there promoting her new perfume (I must be getting old. I complained to the salesclerk about how crowded the store was. Wow.) Then, I saw PH again when I was leaving. She was getting into an Escalade surrounded by bodyguards. She had changed into a sweater and jeans and was still looking very, very smiley but also uber-exhausted and kind of old. I guess it's hard to perform all the time. I hope she's at home in bed now (which is where I'm about to be), and I hope a bit of her magic, celebrity charm brings me some good luck for my interviews.