Popping in to say we are home and exhausted and now have to get hyper baby to sleep. Wheee.

More tomorrow.

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Welcome home, Aimee.

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Welcome home, Aimee!

Libkitty, the new hair is fabulous on you! You look much lighter of spirit, and more carefree.

(((PC))) You got some fantastic advice here today. I will just say briefly that DH had to make the same sort of decision, and his parents made it impossible for him to do it gracefully. It was their way or no way. He couldn't continue to be treated like their adolescent child, and said so. The bad news is, they disowned him. They didn't speak for seven years. It was completely their decision, and once they'd made it, he never attempted to make reconnection, because to them it would have been total capitulation. Seven summers later, they contacted him. There was a brief period of catch-up, no lingering recrimination, and henceforward they treated him as their adult son.

I hope things go more smoothly than that for you. But sometimes you have to be willing and strong enough to stand up for yourself. What they do is up to them. I wish you all wisdom, patience and courage with this situation.

vw, I'm so glad today was a good birthday for you. You really deserve it, you know.

Cass, I'm so sorry about the meltdown. But a vacuum ultimately is a small price to pay for an epiphany. I'm glad things are a little calmer for you now.

Andi, a new climate and new surroundings do mean you have to re-learn all the cues and prompts. I'm sorry about the wet wash.

Deena! How incredibly sweet that Kara was assisting you up the stairs. There's a big, kind heart under that incredibly cute exterior. And having had similar conversations experiences with both offspring, I wholeheartedly concur with your reaction to Nick's comment.

I meant to wish beth an easy time with her new meds. May they give you and your doctor the results you need.

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ach ... it was a nasty day wasn't it.

so we saw a show On TIVO that we recorded for no reason we could remember. It is on BRAVO . Dan Finnerty and the Dan Band. Dh was vaguely ( well more than vaguely) apalled.

Regular Guy sings Girl songs.

DH said campy. I say a step above - I'd use the word Fun. The web site doesn't quite capture them. Vidoes and audio in extras.

[link]

now I am horrifying Matt by relistening to I want to Rock you hard this Christmas.

It is good to laugh

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PC, I just caught up on all of this.

I feel for you.

Also, I think your partents are being manipulative in very inappropriate ways. From what you are describing they are setting things up in such a way to be deliberately hurtful to you and to give you no options. To me this is not a loving way to handle a child. I'm very sorry that this is happening to you. You have had very good advice from the collected folks here. The only thing I have to add at the moment is how I see the actions of your parents. Those kinds of manipulations are underhanded a dirty. Your father played a guilt trip, come home or you are forcing him to bring the whole family to you. No, that's not the way that it work. He may CHOOSE to bring the whole family to you, but you are not forcing that action.

Okay, I've got more that I could say, but I'll stop here. If you'd like more of my opinion, or just some support, contact me here on in IM.

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Deena was here!!!

Nick, happily playing his guitar suddenly looks up at me and says, "I bet being a jazz musician would make you a better lover."

Not enough shudder in the world.

It really doesn't help that I think he's right. It really doesn't. Oh god, I am never having kids.

Wait. Why? I think he's right, too. Jazz is sexy.

He tried to say that was a universal you and had no bearing on the personal you, but it was too late.

Oh. You thought he meant you you, Deena? I totally thought he meant himself/one, since he was playing the guitar. Of course, now I'm putting my dh and me in that scenario and I'm seeing an awful lot of teasing of dh if he said that to me, like, "Not tonight, dear. What do I look like--Duke Ellington," or something.

On the other hand, I've stopped the sobbing for the moment. I feel like this could be a good thing.

Oh, Cass. Can you get insist-y at your office about getting some AC in there? Working in a hot office all day isn't good for the coping skills, no matter what is going on with you, sweetie. I'm also not sure it is legal.

libkitty, your hair looks wonderful!!!

Hi, ND.

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Hey Cindy.

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How's the maus?

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I'm with Cindy - is it the 'thinking about Nick having teh sex' that's the squick, or is it 'Nick thinking about [Deena] having teh sex'? 'Cause I think he made a good point. But he's not my kid. (And, Jesus, I hava a bit of a visceral Cliche Irish Father response about my wee sister having a sex life, and she's 22.)

PC, babe, so sorry about your situation. Lots of good suggestions here, and I have to agree that for the moment getting a McJob will help you with the shrinking bank balance and the parent sitch, and it looks good on the CV, even if it's nothing to do with your career goals - it shows that you're not sitting on your arse, you're working hard.

I am totally with JZ on the awe about you being able to line up 9 months' rent ahead of time. Fucking hell. Dude.

Meanwhile, re: the parentage thing - I know it's not quite the same, but I think I kind of get your parents' context for all this, and you have my sympathy. My Egyptian friends live with family or spouses - and once they're living with spouses, it's in the same building as their family. My whole living-in-another-country deal, with the not-pining-for-my-parents thing just boggles their minds, because it's so cold and alien, from their perspective. But I love my family more than anything else in the world, and I'm more grateful for them than I am for anything else in the world, and I'd take a bullet for them, and they're my greatest blessing. But I don't have to prove this by living on their doorstep. They'll always be in my heart, whether I live next door or on another continent. It's much easier for me to be my own person when I'm not with them.

...er, that said, I'm off to the airport in a couple of hours to fly home to the UK, where I'm going to spend a couple of weeks with them. I'm going via Milan. Hopefully none of my planes, buses or trains will be bombed.

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Hi Fay!

How's the maus?

Not bad. Have to run into the Glendale offices in the morning to finish running some backups, then it looks like both of my current projects with The Maus are essentially wrapped. I'm working on a few theatre projects for the next bit. Pre-Production work for A Christmas Carol this week, then work on a new design for a theatre here in Burbank after that with a trip up to Ojai to be the production manager for the Ojai Playwrights Conference.

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