A Bulleted List

Things that happened last week:

• I made a huge mistake at work, and spent from 8:00pm to midnight on Monday night fixing it.

There were no lasting effects, and it's a good thing I caught the mistake in time, but it was still miserable. I blame it on sleep deprivation.

• Along with a roomful of Members and staff, I sang “Happy Birthday” to the Speaker of the House.

While some people were brave enough to sing happy birthday to "dear Nancy," I sang to "Madam Speaker." When we finished, she told us we sucked.

She said it nicely, though. Something along the lines of, “You all are not in your finest voice this afternoon.” We did, in fact, suck. Our rendition sounded much more like a dirge than it should have. Afterwards the Speaker rewarded our horrible singing with fancy chocolates.

• I spent over two hours trying to persuade a new Member to vote yes.

I walked out the meeting ranting, “She was a ‘Leaning Yes.’ If we have to spend two hours with every ‘Leaning Yes,’ what the hell are we going to have to do for the ‘Undecideds’?!?” At least the Congresswoman voted the right way.

(Oh, and apparently new Members are no longer called “Freshmen.” They’re called the “Majority Makers.” That’s incredibly hokey, but makes me happy just the same.)

• I ate dinners prepared by my mother-in-law, after which the kitchen miraculously cleaned itself.

Okay, my mother-in-law cleaned it. God, it was nice to have a servant visiting grandmother, and I'm sad to see her leave.

• Lula has begun to smile.

Real smiles, not just gas.

Okay, sometimes it's gas.