Tim is now 90+ days sober, which is an accomplishment.  He's a lot smarter and more grounded, now, which is something I've never seen from him.  He makes me proud.  He waited on us at Applebee's (which, the restaurant chain obviously has tried to make improvements since I ate food there this time that didn't entirely completely suck) and did a good job.  My parents say he has had a number of days where he's pulled in more than $100 in tips.

Other than that, the weekend was really pretty tame, or as tame as transporting four dogs five hours to visit a couple dozen family members can be.

Amy started her new job today.  Since I am normally the one driving to the zoo, she really didn't know for sure how to get there.  Mostly, I think it was her nerves that caught up with her.  She called me this morning panicked and lost in some other part of Akron, and I talked her through getting back to the zoo.  I haven't heard anything more from her, so I'm assuming she got over the hump of the bad-worker-cliche of showing up late the first day and still has a job.  Just getting a job there and pursuing her dream, even if it's in the "mail room" makes me incredibly proud of her.

Now, I am in my office and I am nearly out of things to do to avoid working.  It's the same song-and-dance every time I come back from a long weekend.  Usually, though, that means I clean my office after a break, which this time it desperately needed.  I will be getting to work soon, though I have to go harass Jim for more comments on a paper I'm writing.  (Plus, as my dissertation topic is evolving in directions I never before thought possible, I will likely have to make a change to my committee soon... something I'm ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIED to do, because of the bridge-burning and career-path-changing implications... but you didn't hear it here....)

I would say that I need to "grow a pair," but that would implicate that people without testicles are unable to be assertive, while I am evidence that the two (testicles and assertiveness) don't go together. 

I need to quit being a damn chicken.