I skinned my knee and spilled some coffee, but landed with coffee cup clutched upright and unbroken in my upraised hand. Like a caffienated, bloody-but-unbowed Lady Liberty.

I love this image. LOVE it.

"The flowers are STILL standing!" (Yes, Ghostbusters was on cable yesterday.)

For Hec and Jz.

Pho soup. Go Pho noodle soup. For respiratory illness (or preventionn of catching same from sick kid) first rate Pho is chicken soup to the nth. Uhh .. unless the hot and sour soup is closer.

I find chicken Tom Yum soup to be great when I have a cold/flu.

How much does it cost to take the bar?

Since I've been writing these checks this week...

$850 for the bar
$110 for the ethics exam
$2800 for the bar prep course that you almost have to take

Costs vary by state. I think CA and NY might be the most expensive.

There is no question of my Prairie Muffin-ness. Hell no. Too stubborn and foul-mouthed and Faith-worshipping, rather than faith-worshipping. I'm with Emmett. Love vanilla cola, although I have to say I like the Pepsi one a bit more. Hey, how's everyone!

nd use the Oil of Olay in-shower lotion without running ot of hot water!

This sounds interesting. What is it? Is it really moisturizing, or is it, like, bodywash? My dry skin is makign me craaaaaazy.

I don't particularly feel like giving my bosses a form with info on my depression and anxiety or the treatment of sam

Dude, that's way sketchy. I'm hoping as I catch up, people will have had better suggestions for you than I do. (Oh, good. I see stapling and taping are the way of the day)

Also fun is when the Sims are so lonely that the Social Bunny drops from the sky to play with you. They give you hugs.

Aww! I want the Social Bunny to hug me!!

I played bridge in college and it was so much fun. I picked up a book and sporadically try to teach my husband and another couple to play

I didn't know anyone of my generation played bridge! It's something I think I'd really enjoy, but I never really learned how to bid (though I did learn how to play a hand, at least vaguely OK--my parents needed a fourth with my grandmother, and it's similar enough to euchre)

All the money talk...eek. My problem is I never know where my cash goes, but it goes to purchases that are too little or numerous to write down. The other problem, I think, is buying lunch. I spend WAY too much money buying lunch. But bringing my lunch is so much work. And no fun.

Big!Boss and Wife had been on vacation for the past month (in Arizona),

Dude. A MONTH of vacation? I"m jealous.

I skinned my knee and spilled some coffee, but landed with coffee cup clutched upright and unbroken in my upraised hand.

Damn Erin, you're good.

Well, take into consideration that with TWO MA's, my starting pay range is 28-33K, tops, in Missouri.

Y'know, there's a LOT of teaching jobs in the DC area. And they pay better than that.

I didn't know anyone of my generation played bridge!

I play! Or, at least, I did play, six years ago. I'm not sure I totally remember how anymore. (My AP Calculus teacher taught us how to play in the month or so of classes that we had after the AP exam.)

Big!Boss and Wife had been on vacation for the past month (in Arizona),

Dude. A MONTH of vacation? I"m jealous.

I know, right? But in the 10 years I've been there, they've never taken more than a week off at a time, and sometimes not even that. And bear in mind they're both past retirement age, and I'd say they deserve some enforced R&R. (I'm aware you weren't disagreeing with that idea; I'm just furthering the conversation.)

That's especially sucky that it seems to be turning out so badly. Have you heard any more about how he's doing?

Have you heard any more about how he's doing?

No, but his daughter (who also works for the company) flew out to St. Louis, where he's in the hospital, over the weekend. She'll be back tomorrow, so I'm hoping for better news then.