"formal" shorts is an oxymoron. By their very nature, shorts are casual. I don't care of they are made of mink (and thers no doubt in my mind that someone has tried that)', shorts cannot be formal

Parenting has been hard, wearying, smelly, boring and occasionally nauseating before, but we've totally been able to roll with it. Lately, though, it's just been the kind of no fun that drains your very soul, and I personally am utterly damned if I know what's prompting it or how to turn it around; I just know I'm fried, and it's actually fun to come in to work each morning. Working for a pure diva of a surgeon in a dysfunctional department--fun, and more restful than home! How wrong is that?

Jess is wise. It'll change soon enough.

I'm in a not-having-fun-as-a-parent stage myself. It seems like all I ever do is chase them down to make sure they have everything done--homework, teeth brushed, hair combed and have their gloves and hats. I swear I spend 10% of every day looking for shoes. And when I make a nice dinner I get lots of "I don't like that!" It's grueling and frustrating and makes you feel unappreciated.

Okay, I would like every Buffista (boys included) who wears dress shorts to 'fess up.

Well, I have linen shorts that come to 2 inches above the knee that I've worn to a summer outdoor party in the "nice" part of town. But I don't think of them as "dress" shorts because, like Vortex said, shorts are by their nature casual. I do think of them as my "best" shorts, for the fanciest of the backyard BBQs. Where the beer is in bottles.

But an actual summer outdoor party that called for dressing nicely? Yeah, no shorts. I have sundresses for that.

It's short shorts with tights and boots for fall that baffles me. So wrong.

So, the department went to Dave&Busters today for a lunch buffet and fun&games. The buffet was pretty good. The games were fairly old and worn and not too impressive. I spent most of my time playing pool instead.

They held drawings for prizes every half-hour or so. My name was called in the second group, and I got to choose a number between one and twenty-four. I chose seventeen, and won an iPad2. Thanks, Nilly!

It's short shorts with tights and boots for fall that baffles me. So wrong.

I had a co-worker who thought of herself as fashion-forward (about 10 years younger than me), who wore almost-knee-length shorts...and HEELS. Hand to god. I do remember seeing it in fashion magazines about that time, but I assumed it was one of those things that stayed on the runway.

Jess is wise. It'll change soon enough.

I think you mean Jesse. (I would have put in my parenting two cents, but I put the kids to bed by myself tonight (DH is in screening season HELL this week) and so I have no brain to put words together.)

(I do have wine, though, so who know, I may get really talkative in about half an hour or so.)

NICE!

eta: that was to dcp, but sure, Jess too!

It's short shorts with tights and boots for fall that baffles me.

Man, one of my favorite outfits in high school was black tights with jean shorts (not that short, but cutoff jeans nonetheless) and either a peasant-y pintucked and embroidered blousy shirt in green or a worn light blue oxford over a black tank. And boots. Chunky boots.

I've discovered I have exactly one pair of jeans that I can't walk out of. Out of 5. Oops. Need to remedy that.

Amy I saw that today when I drove by campus. I had to do a double take because the girl's coat was almost the same length as her shorts so at first it looked like she wasn't wearing any pants.