Good morning! I am in a good mood today, I am not sure why. It might be because I am wearing a saucy new outfit!

~ma to Maria, DF, and his mom and entire family.

Saucy new outfit, huh? Well, now, it's not fair to tease us like that!

well, it's a pair of khaki-colored pedal pushers, that come right below the knee (so they're almost like shorts, but I can wear them to work!) and a sleeveless red blouse. I feel emboldened by the sleeveless-ness; I hate my flabby upper arms SO MUCH but wearing this, I feel free of my upper arm insecurity!

Also, this is the week before vacation, we leave on Friday! Wheee!

good luck at work today, vw! Glad you are looking forward to it.

It sounds lovely, Nora! And yay for vacation.

Thanks for the luck. I'll probably need it. I went in for a few hours on Friday, because Big!Boss called me claiming an emergency...and supposedly I was the only one that knew how to deal with it. I think it was at least partially her trying to just get me back in the office to get my feet wet again. Whatever it was, it worked, and now I'm not as anxious about going back. I think it will work out.

I'm only going to work three hours a day this week instead of four. So, I'm kind of easing my way back in.

I think I'm also a little less anxious, 'cause I came up with a plan yesterday for fall. I've been panicking about whether or not I'll be able to stay there and do school AND work, considering how *not* well that went this summer. I think part of that was just adjusting to working again, so I don't think the fall will be as bad. But, I also think I'm going to talk to them about only working four days a week for three hours (so only 12 hours a week, rather than 15), so I still get one day off during the week. That really seems to help me. So, it feels good to have a back-up plan that doesn't include quitting. It's like compromising with myself.

Palm Springs. 120 degrees. No, that's not a typo. 120 degrees today. Freakin' INSANE.

Compared with third consecutive day of heat advisory in DC. Meara, you lose weather-wise either way.

Vibing for your future MiL, Maria.

Nora, go on with your saucy-outfit-wearing self! Have a great day.

Daniel observed this morning that the cats weren't nagging me to wake up and feed them. He figured he'd better take my pulse to make sure I still had one. After ascertaining that I was, indeed, still alive, he queried the possibility that I had already gotten up to feed them. Upon finding that this vital task had not been performed, yet the cats were behaving with uncharacteristic forebearance, he generously offered to feed them himself, seeing as the cats must be sensing how tired I was. Harvey was unwilling to leave my side to take advantage of the Daniel-opened food. Dunno whether that was loyalty and concern on Harvey's part, or if it never occurred to him that it was really food for him that Daniel had opened. I finally hauled my tushie down the stairs, and Harvey consented to go with me. But every time I hesitated (to see if he would go on without me) he paused too.

Weird cat.

So, it feels good to have a back-up plan that doesn't include quitting. It's like compromising with myself.

Excellent! I think having a day off during the week will really help you out in the long run.

Yeah, me too. It gives me the weekend to chill, and then a day during the week to run errands when it's not so crazy busy.

Gronk.

My maternal grandmother (the one who taught me how to knit) has taken a major turn for the worse. She's been ill for years, with several bouts of almost dying followed by recovery once the whole fractious clan has been gathered. This time, though, it seems like the real deal, with an infection that's not responding to antibiotics.

I'm not sure how I'm feeling about this. My mom is shaken by seeing the woman who was "so strong she could do anything" being so frail and helpless, but at the same time, she's ready for this to be over. As for me, I was close to my grandmother maybe fifteen years ago, but she's changed so much since then (and not for the better) that it feels like the woman I knew died years ago.

Then there are all the other issues that are going to follow, such as what's going to happen to my mentally handicapped aunt and uncle (still living at home) and my wheelchair bound grandfather. Chances are, whatever it is, my mom's going to have to deal with it, since she's the one everyone else in the family goes running to whenever there's something unpleasant to deal with.

So sorry, Anne. Wishing you and your mom strength.