Aw, Hec, you're my hero. That's so fantastic. I still owe you fic or something, don't I? Some Quinn and Strange/H:LOTS?

Oops.

Hee. Not your fault you're this popular.

We don't count as people!

The correct answer, btw, is "hardly anyone Australian, darling."

Yeah...it's not like we'll be hanging out in some restaurant in Melbourne pointing and laughing... I would like to visit but I'd bring my party manners, I swear.

It was a red-letter day at work today, yessiree. One icky thing, one potentially good thing.

Icky: I was changing the diaper of a newborn when one of Dad's friends walked in. He'd seen me before in the corridor and made a show of saying hello in a very flirtatious way. When he noticed that it was me changing the baby, he said, gesturing to his drink, "My turn next! I'm going to need a diapering after this, ma'am."

Um. Yeah, definitely one of the grossest come-on lines I've ever had anyone use on me.

Potentially good: Remember my tale, many months ago, of Much Younger Co-worker? I still work with him, he's still awfully cute, I still get all blushy when I talk to him, he still gets all blushy when he talks to me, and although he's never mentioned her to me, I though he had a girlfriend. I'd pretty much tabled any attraction long ago as something that couldn't be acted upon and have simply enjoyed the eye candy.

Now, usually, MYC-w works only on weekends, and only during the day, but this week I've seen him every day I've been at work. He's covering for another unit coordinator who's on vacation; today, he worked the same shift I did (3pm - 11pm). I think it's the first time we've ever been scheduled to leave the building at the same time.

Around 5pm, I wander over to Labor & Delivery to see what's going on there and to see how many new patients we can expect on the postpartum unit. MYC-w is there and we exchange blush-y pleasantries. Then he says, "You look different." I ask him how. He says, "I don't know. You just look... You have an aura about you." He pauses and then says, shyly, "You look really good."

Well. Knock me down with a feather. This is the first time he's ever said anything of the sort; we've always been flirty but only in a very subtextual way. He's never addressed the blush-y part of our conversations.

The rest of our conversation is pretty normal, and at some point he says something to me about being really tired and not being able to wait until he could get home and have a beer. I concur.

About a half-hour before it's time to leave, I screw up my courage and wander back over to Labor & Delivery, thinking that if we're both going to go to our separate homes and have a beer, we may as well go to a bar and have a beer together. So I say something about how I was thinking about stopping at a bar on my way home to have that beer but that I wasn't really sure I wanted to sit there by myself, and did he want to come with me? I said I knew he was really tired and might want to just go home, and that was totally fine, but I figured I'd check anyway.

He said, "Yeah, I think at this point I'm so beat that I should probably just go home." I said OK and started to walk away when he said, all quiet and shy, "But, um, maybe we could, um, y'know, do it some other time? Soon?"

I say "I'd like that," and walk away with a shit-eating grin on my face.

Veeeeery interesting.

Ooooh. Intrigue.

Speaking of diapers....

BERLIN (Reuters) - An "electronic nappy" used to monitor wetness sparked a bomb alert in a German post office when it arrived in a parcel ticking suspiciously, police in the southwestern city of Heilbronn said Thursday.

"They suspected it was a bomb so they put the package into an empty room and called the police," said a police spokesman. "It was supposed to respond to wetness with bleeping sounds but this one ticked."

Two squad cars rushed to the scene and immediately contacted the sender. Police gave the all clear after they contacted the woman who told them the intercepted package contained only a malfunctioning diaper.

OOoh, Jen. Yay for going back and asking. Whoo!

Awwwing along with everyone else over your Oz-like statement, bt. And adding my vowels to theirs.

No pre-school butterflies, sj. You've done school before. You'll be fine.

Pretty shiny Lisah hair with the pretty red streaks! And a gorgeous head of curls on Sail. You look like you've had two weeks' vacation in the after picture, love.

Feel-better-soon vibes to Hil and meara and Em and Mal.

Safe journeys wished to Anne and Susan, peace and healing at the end of them, and safe journeys back home.

I've never quite caught up enough to post for the last couple of days, so I hope I've not overlooked anybody.

I'd like to be the Nine of Pentacles, if I may. I may borrow one of Kenny Parker's smaller raptors to complete my pose.

Also, I forget who took the shot, so if anybody remembers, I'm looking for the picture of Nilly and me at Golden Gate park last year at Nillyfest San Francisco. If anybody has it, or can tell me who has it, please let me know. And thanks.

ETA: Oh! Heather, congrats on the job! And uh-oh on the hair. Glad it was no worse. I hope you get to take the course(s) you want to, as well.

Jen, did I mention that I talked about you when I was in L&D, chatting with the nurses who were doing their OB training?

You'd have totally fit in.

Veeeeery interesting.

Woo-hoo!