Being a Girl/Mom/Wife at work

Tonight, I made cookies for my co-worker's birthday -- I'll bring them to the office tomorrow. I enjoy making cookies, even though I always burn them, dammit. But I'm looking forward to sharing my gingerbread camels. (He just came back from a trip to Mecca. They're camels. Get it?)

What's a drag is that at the last moment, I'm wondering whether it's a good idea to bring them to work. Do I really want to seem so girly? Even more dangerous: so motherly?

And then I turn to Huffington Post for my late-night political candy and see this: Michelle Obama Wears Big, Bold Necklace To Ted Kennedy Birthday Concert.

I just imagine how that highly intelligent, supremely accomplished woman must feel having her necklaces analyzed. (Which necklace do you prefer? Answer our poll!) Seriously, even on the White House Web site, you find a line like this: "Michelle got one great thing out of working for a corporate law firm-that's where she met her husband, Barack. "

What to do? I dunno. Do you? At least we're in good company.

Lilly's Day!

Obama signed his first bill into law today. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, rejected by our last administration, relaxes the statute of limitations on workers’ rights to sue in pay discrimination. Ms. Ledbetter found out at the end of her career at Goodyear that she had been consistently paid less than male employees in the same and even lesser positions. The Supreme Court (love them!) determined the statue of limitations in this case ended 180 days after her first paycheck -- the incident of discrimination. Apparently, she should have discovered this pay disparity in the first six months of her new job. (By the way, do you know if you make more or less than the person sitting in the cubicle next to you?)

I'm seriously swooning over Obama. And it's a good reminder to all of us: You can clip coupons, you can find cheaper gas, you can go without dinner at a restaurant. But voting is free, and a little political action can really change your bottom line.