the tell

 i'm a terrible liar. even when i'm not actively lying, but just trying not to disclose something. my boss trapped me this afternoon and expertly manipulated me to the point where i couldn't keep the embarrassed smile off my face.

either things are really good at the moment, or he's pacifying me until such time as i can be replaced. it's impossible to know which. but if i take him at face value, then all of my unhappiness boils down to a combination of on-call stress, mismatched expectations and miscommunications. apparently everyone views my work as critically important, and appreciates its expensive.

yesterday was a long day that wasn't terrible, today was also long but included some good achievements. and both days, i've been improving at taking things one task at a time. overall, i'm doing okay.

gd's been struggling (physically) more than usual lately, i hope her next treatment has a significant impact.

mr smear made me super proud this evening - after dinner we did some of his homework together, and he did remarkably well.

my head's all over the place but... it's okay. my body, on the other hand... aside from my neck and back acting up a bit lately, i've got a couple of skin concerns (i made light of it yesterday, but mr smear with a complete lack of irony woke up this morning and told me "dad, you've definitely got cancer"). we'll see what the doctors have to say, i guess.