mmmm, pie.

One of my friends is having a party on Saturday. I'd been looking forward to it, but she just told me that 30 people are coming, and their apartment isn't very big, and I'm not that good with crowds in tight spaces in the best of circumstances, but with the way I've been feeling lately, I'm not sure I want to go. But I really don't want to get into a pattern of "I'm not going because there will be too many people," because I know that, once I start doing that, it's really difficult to stop avoiding stuff.

Eh. Does she really know 30 people are coming? Likely a lot of them won't show up, Hil. You know how people are.

You can always go, and just "stop by"

You can always go, and just "stop by"

Yeah, I was thinking about that, but it's a 15-minute walk to the metro, and I don't really know the neighborhood that well, so that kind of seems like too much bother for just stopping by. And right now, I'm not really sure if I actually think that's too far to walk at night, or if I'm just trying to find excuses.

make your self a deal. you will go , but there is no need to stay for more than half an hour.

and Brenda is right, susan. I hadn't really noticed, but you are much more likely to Know now when you are over reacting. - and that change - really is in the last 9-10 months. and you have handled some situations well - like recognizing that the mom's group was wrong - before it got to the point of you being really upset.

horray Thomash! what will you be doing, will you be a cabana boy?

I post before I saw what you wrote about the distance - but really - I think you need to go - if you think you are hideing, you probbably are.

Yipee, Thomash! That's wonderful news!

And congratulations to amyparker!

The snot monster needs to terrorize someone other than Nicole, and the itch beast should make someone besides Sail want to scratch.

Susan, you're doing the right things, and that's the right path to be on. So you vent/freak/worry here; it's no big deal. Just another coping mechanism, and one that many of us use. Oh, and tell Dylan that AmyLiz's website looks phenomenal. He did a terrific job.

vw has always been smart and witty, and anyone who contradicts me can kiss my ass.

Yeah, I know. I'm doing a few vaguely social things tomorrow in somewhat smaller groups, so I think I'll see how well I do with those, then decide whether I'll be able to handle a party.

One of my co-workers, Karla, said that her and her husband were given a new washer by her mother and needed to get rid of the old one. Since mine has a broken timer, I volunteered to take their old one off their hands.

My other co-worker Jean volunteered to drive me in her pickup to get it tonight. I'll install it this weekend.

Sadly the drain hose broke off in the process, but it's really cheap, so no problem.

New Maytag "legacy" washer, top load: $599

New hose part for 1994 Maytag A112: $5.99

Satisfaction of recycling: Priceless.

like recognizing that the mom's group was wrong - before it got to the point of you being really upset.

Well, I don't know about that particular case. I did kinda storm out in a huff, my last time there.

The ones I'm proud of are of going through all the Thanksgiving and Christmas travel without freaking out at an airport once, even though we occasionally had problems with boarding passes and just generally figuring out how to manage flying with a baby. Also that on the Regency group I just joined, I felt all condescended to by someone telling me stuff I already knew, and was able to pull back and say, "Self, you delurked this week. C doesn't yet know how much research you've done, how intelligent you are, and how much you care about getting things right. She will eventually learn if you keep posting. However, if you fly off the handle, her first impression of you will be of what a bitch you are. So bite your tongue." And it wasn't easy, but I did it.

now that is the right price for a washer.