I'm forever watching animated icons...

So I'm doing all this invoicing because we have a lot of accounts that expire in January and February. Last year when I did this, there were four steps each time: determine proper fees, number of users, and recipient for invoice. Create invoice in Word. Create invoice in QuickBooks. Put line item in Excel. (Then, Repeat 137 times.) (Auxiliary steps: Take valium. Bang head against wall.)

This year, with the NEW IMPROVED version of QuickBooks, I just do the heavy mental lifting, create the invoice in QuickBooks, EMAIL IT DIRECTLY FROM QUICKBOOKS, and proceed. (I'm going to do all my spreadsheeting at the end.) So it's going a lot faster. Rejoicing! I often find myself waiting for the invoice to be emailed, and for my entertainment, QB provides an animation of a little CPU and monitor (that's me) with a cord and spooky green bubbles in three sizes boobling across this cord toward a GREAT BIG CPU. (This symbolizes QuickBooks, I guess, or maybe just The Internet. Yes I'm a scientist.) So I don't know how long it took to program this animation, but you know. Is it more entertaining than a blank pop-up, or just a beige bar filling with little colored bars denoting progress? Yes. Do I appreciate this utterly meaningless little animation in my day? Yes.

My friend's due date for her second child is today. But the baby shows no signs of wanting to emerge. (Probably heard about Bush getting reelect--oh dear. Did I say that out loud? Down, bitter liberal!) So because she's going to be fabulously intelligent as well as adorable and charming, and there's no point in delaying a meeting with such a person, I want all of us to focus our magical thinking* on the baby being born soon. And if you need a particular date to focus on, make it this Sunday December 12, because the mother said she'd like that day.

*For more information on "magical thinking," see the essay "Magical Thinking" in the book of the same name by Augusten Burroughs, copyright 2004. (And while you're there, read the other bits because they will make you laugh.)