The little things...

I was just reading an article on CNN.com about business-y stuff (I'm so technical, I know), and I read the following: "This trend – the emergence of smaller specialty sites – is expected to continue this year. In other words, there's a lot more to the Web than Google and Yahoo!" It reminded me of something that has bothered me for awhile, but I've never vocalized about Yahoo! Why! Do! They! Need! The! Exclamation! Point! You can't put it in the middle of a sentence, because then it looks like you don't know the basic rules of punctuation, and when my eye gets to it on the screen, they sort of cross a bit, trying to figure out why the sentence structure is so weird until I remember that it is Yahoo! who is weird (see what I mean about the eyes? Mine totally crossed just writing that grammatical drivel). And if you move the Yahoo! to the end, it looks like you are being way too enthusiastic. And sometimes that is entirely inappropriate. "The online site with the worst earnings this period was Yahoo!" You see? And I won't even get into the awful grammar behind trying to make Yahoo! possess something, because some things, like "Yahoo!'s" should NEVER be thrown against someone's hapless eyes.

Another problematic name: eBay. Little e, big fucking B, small ay. At least here you can assume that the "e" stands for something, and that it is a cute marketing thing. Like electronic. But electronic Bay? How the hell can a Bay be electronic? You see, it just makes no sense.

You can definitely tell that it is Friday from the randomness of my thoughts. At least you can expect that sort of thing in a blog, as opposed to the workplace, where your senior editor may look at you like you're insane for suddenly turning around and spouting off a rant about Yahoo! and eBay. Hypothetically speaking, of course.

Onto something of more consequence, my sister's husband has gotten his new assignment (he's in the military), and *drumroll*... they are moving to Florida! They'll be within a few hours of me for the first time in almost 6 years, and I can't wait. That means that I can be near for the kids' birthdays, holidays, or just a weekend with the family. I've been bouncing around for two days because of this development. YAY! And who wouldn't want to be near cuties like this?

Meet Christopher:


Stephanie:


And Anthony: (who really is a little boy, despite his amazing resemblance to an elf)


Christopher, the oldest, is 6 years old. Because of that, he thinks he is master of all that is cool and smart. Case in point: He dressed as Darth Vader for Halloween, but the picture I'd seen of him had him in an Anakin Skywalker outfit that he'd gotten for his birthday. So when he told me he'd dressed as Darth Vader and I told him I thought he was Anakin, he gave a world-weary sigh, as if exasperated with my stupidity, and said "No, Tia. They're the SAME PERSON. Don't you know anything?" Cheeky little brat. But I love him anyway (or because). Anyway, I talked to him on the phone yesterday and he only wants to hear knock knock jokes. Unfortunately I can only remember the banana/orange one. Can you readers help me out? Pretty please?

In other news, I actually get to leave work at a reasonable hour now, as opposed to marathon 10-12 hour days. I feel so spoiled, because I now get home by 7ish and have at least 4 whole hours to spend with Dan and STILL get a full night's sleep for the next day. I've cooked real meals and gone for walks and to the gym all after work -- something that has felt impossible for a couple of months. Having a normal work schedule is something I've missed.

So all in all, with the promise of my sister's family moving much closer and being able to spend real time with Dan, it has been a good week.