In computer science we have the concept of a background process or job. It's some task that a computer performs while simultaneously doing other potentially more important things. This ability to do tasks "in the background" is what enables our government's super computers to win the war in Iraq while at the same time keep illegal aliens out of the country.

Our brains have a similar ability. It's trivial for most of us to, for example, instruct our legs to walk, while simultaneously chewing the hell out of a potentially distracting piece of Juicy Fruit gum. Mmmmmm, Juicy Fruit.

Doing one thing in the background isn't too hard, but this week I'm juggling more than I can handle. With Hank out of the house on her Vegas "business" trip, all of a sudden there are a zillion things about Daisy and our daily lives that I need to track. At any point in time I need to be aware of:

• Where's Daisy?!?!
• Do I have her allergy medicine nearby?
• Is she wearing sunscreen?
• Is she dressed right for the weather?
• How many minutes left until school starts, or ends, or until dinner, or bedtime,
• Is she keeping up on her homework?
• What am I going to feed her?
• etc

By 7:35 in the morning I'm already mentally exhausted from ensuring that everything on the pre-school checklist is under control. I'm not used to cooking her breakfast while brushing her hair and thinking about what snacks to pack in her lunchbox. I feel like I'm always one moment of distraction away from squeezing sunscreen onto her bagel. $10 says she'd have an allergic reaction to it too.

Anyway, I'm just venting. I'm sure that many people are much more busy than me, but most of them probably aren't as lazy as I am. That's what really kills me. Where's my lazing time? Apparently it's at 10:16pm.

On a how-do-you-like-them-apples note, Hank called tonight. She's out dancing, and probably not even chewing gum at the same time.