grammar can be fun

I'm sitting at The Mission Motif, the furniture and home accessories store where I work part time. Surely, Bob and John are insane to allow me to bring my active 9-month old baby to work here amidst the candles, glass vases, wicker baskets, etc. Two childless men have no idea what it means for a place to be kid-proofed, but then again, until recently, neither did I. I've managed to get Margaret to sleep in her sling, and I'm going to leave her there rather than put her down and risk waking her up. This way she'll definitely nap, and I get the opportunity to improve my one-handed typing skills.

Word of the day that should not be allowed to be a word: disorientate. I'm sure I heard Margaret Thatcher use it during last week's funeral for Ronald Reagan (as if there is another one this week?). I think someone should remind the former Prime Minister that "disorient" is a fine word without the extra, unnecessary syllable.

If you told me when I was in college that I would become a grammar Nazi, I'd have hit you with my shoe (no idle threat, since I used to wear big construction-style boots).