As of now, I am in control here...
The other day I had the honor/thrill/terror of running my first "Alexander Haig-I-am-in-control-here" style meeting.  Well, that's what it felt like.  Put in a position of having to call people together and make some announcements (none of which were cataclysmic) all I could keep thinking of was poor General Haig, his attention to duty and the way he's been remembered for seeming over eager to step up.  Hey, I was just doing as directed.  And now people are turning to me as if I actually know what I'm doing, when in reality I think I would be happier folding song sheets and sealing envelopes. 

To amp up the twitchiness, there were also phone problems that made me feel like I had been sucked into The President's Analyst.  [Dr. Schaefer:  You know, one thing I learned from my patients... they all hate the phone company. It's interesting; even the stock holders of the phone company hate the phone company!
Kropotkin:  I know. Bedouins hate the phone company. Matter of fact, I've never been in a country where everybody didn't hate the phone company.]  The phone company does not want to speak with you.  When you finally find a number on their website, there are intense machinations involved in speaking with a human being.  Ask me about calling 411.  I dare you.

I spent much of the day texting on my old phone and found that under pressure I have more than a little trouble with the technique of pressing buttons 1, 2 or 3 times.  This is not working well and I've decided to jump to an iPhone.  The iPod touch has been all I really needed - along with the old phone for minimal calls and texts. But if I'm ever stuck 'doing the Haig' again, I cannot do it on a numeric keyboard.  Talk about stresses that translate into eye twitches.  [That and today's trip to Wal-Mart.  I will say nothing about the children walking all over the store squeaking those Angry Birds dog toys.  They have rendered me nearly catatonic.]

Time to pull it together for tomorrow.  Three day week; that is five days of stuff crammed into three days.  I am lucky to have the girls at home pulling Thanksgiving dinner together.  Very lucky.  They know the drill - better than I do.  With all the tensions in our house of late, perhaps this would be a good year to skip the Proust questionnaire cards.  If not skip, at least cull the most incendiary...you know, like "what annoys you the most about the person across the table from you?"  There is one place I can be in control.