Oh, don't even enter the "achievements pale in comparison to my parents'" competition, bud. You'll lose. You'll lose big.

Mainly because you've become highly successful in a field that many people don't really even think about and success in which relies largely on other people's recognition of your success.

Whereas some of us just, er, sit around a lot. Watching scifi shows and playing computer games. Oh, and drinking, when we can drag our lazy assess off the couch to track down alcohol.

Could you tell that there was glitter in the package I sent?

Oh, yeah. It was fun, for me and the cats. :) I liked it a lot.

Ginger, your squirrel-in-bosom story helped cap a night of Bizarre Yet Amusing Accidents with my ex-MiL last night. You may rest assured that you have reached the Hall of Fame of such anecdotes, safely ensconced next to: The Popcorn That Popped Up the Nose; The Man In A Motorized Wheelchair Who Fell Asleep During the Lecture; The Woman Whose Nose Was Caught In the Subway Doors; The Cautionary Tale of The Teenage Girl, The Curling Iron and The Eyelash Curler; My Friend Diana and The Perils of Flirting With Your Long Hair Near the Pudding Bowl And the Hand Mixer, and, the ultimate - The Affectionate Cat, The Antiquated Gas Stoves in Queens, The Fireball, The Tub and The New Roomate.

Which brought to mind the true story which I had missed until this last week which finalized the No Long Scarves for Me EVER Rule. Ack.

And Aimee, you have the patience of a saint the the MoH just blows my mind. It's times like this that I am actually glad that neither me nor any of my friends are rich (although, I would certainly be ok with being a bit less poor).

Oh, don't even enter the "achievements pale in comparison to my parents'" competition, bud. You'll lose. You'll lose big.

I have totally crushed my parents' achievements! Ha! Emmett, however, looks well capable of leaving me in the dust.

Whereas some of us just, er, sit around a lot. Watching scifi shows and playing computer games. Oh, and drinking, when we can drag our lazy assess off the couch to track down alcohol.

How does this not make you a great human being.

I have my own family success issues. Okay, I know I actually make a pretty good living, but compared to other people in my family I am an utter loser.

Oh, don't even enter the "achievements pale in comparison to my parents'" competition, bud. You'll lose. You'll lose big.

Oh no, I totally understand that I've been very fortunate and had good success in my field. I actually think that part of the reason for that is that I felt topping my father was so far out of reach I didn't even try, and as a result I found success along my own path.

I will never live up to my parents' accomplishments, and that's due to both my lack of ambition and the fact that they carefully provided so much infrastructure that I'd need to be a freaking genius to achieve the delta they both did from where they started.

I bless them for the latter and blame me for the former.

I think we should all have slacker parents. Or, like, they could just lie to us. That would be good, right? Your kid says, "So what did you major in?" and you'd say, "Oh, gee, mostly Sleeping Through Class, I think. Really, they just graduated me to get rid of me," and hide your multiple doctorates behind your back and only tell your grandchildren about them.

Okay, I know I actually make a pretty good living, but compared to other people in my family I am an utter loser.

Other people in your family don't have a space ship in their back yard.

How does this not make you a great human being.

Fair enough. No matter how good their medieval theology or corporate law or institutional networks knowledge, my family will never know the scifi trivia I do.