Work Overload and Genetic Fatalism

I want to apologize now for any complaining I've done in the past about being too busy at work.  Or too bored, for that matter.  Either way, I had no idea what "busy" meant.  Nobody does "busy" like the US Senate.  Yesterday I stood on my feet and wrote memos and took notes and made folders and ran bills and amendments around like a crazy person for 10 straight hours.  And I was the first person in my office to leave (I've never been so grateful for class).

And all so a bill to rewrite No Child Left Behind could go to committee markup the next day so it could not pass.

You're welcome, tax payers.

While I would love to talk about all the things that made my life hellish yesterday, this is in fact the highest level of detail I can go into.  Maybe I'll come back and edit this post after everything goes public.  Suffice it to say, if I didn't hate Senate Republicans before, I sure do now.

A huge part of my job for the past few weeks in preparing for this markup process has been to get intimately familiar with the old NCLB and the '65 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (NCLB's predecessor).  In an interesting (and nerdy) parallel, I've also been watching Ken Burns' new documentary Prohibition on PBS, and it seemed like that particular amendment went through a checklist of bad legislative traits.

• Good intentions, not well thought-out
• No plan for implementation
• Overly strict and unrealistic goals
• Started off with broad public support, but no one wanted those standards actually applied to them
• Huge demands placed on states with little to no funds for support
• Stifled public debate, in part because of its good intentions

Sound familiar?  It did to me.

As for somewhere I've been recently, we hosted another seasonal brunch this past Sunday at our house.  It was lovely, and we had a great turnout and amazing food.  I stole a recipe for sweet potato hummus from my aunt and one for pumpkin rice pudding from a friend from undergrad who writes that blog.  Don't spend too much time looking around that blog though...the degree to which her whole life is put together and adorable will depress you.  Anyway, I made both of those things, along with a loaf of french bread to accompany my roommate's Bacon Bourbon Jam, and it was a hit.

So now for the genetic fatalism.

We decided, before this brunch started, that we were determined to have a minimum amount of leftovers after this shindig.  So we bought ziploc baggies and and containers in advance to hand out to guests as they left, with the idea that they could load up on some leftovers and reduce our burden.  People were annoyingly resistent.  I took it upon myself to be the pusher.

"That bag is hardly full."

"You barely ate anything!  You'll starve on the way home."

"This is how you repay us for hosting you."

"Who doesn't need a few scones for the road?"

If someone had brought me a shawl and some orthopedic shoes, I would have officially become my Jewish grandmother.  It's a good thing nobody in the room owed me a phone call.