[link]

hee.

Steph, I agree with everybody else. Blood where it shouldn't be is scary, and you deserve in-person reassurance that it's not serious.

But things are going REALLY well.

That is excellent fucking news, Erin. I'm so glad for you.

Is your ass still shiny and smooth?

Hi, Erin!

Here's what I finally decided to post:

I know I fed this topic by expressing my opinion of Mel Gibson and his work yesterday, and I'm still a relatively new member, so I may be stepping out of bounds here, but I hope we can avoid a major discussion of present-day politics on this loop. It's nice to have a few places that are free of the political polarization so rampant in America over the past 5-10 years. And I'm speaking as a person of strong political opinions who pays close attention to the news and reads several political blogs regularly. I'm already handicapping potential '08 candidates from both parties and trying to decide who will get my support, for whatever it's worth, from my own party.

But I think I'm still gun-shy after witnessing two of my brothers have a shouting match at the dinner table *the day after our father's funeral* this summer about the current war--on the pro-war side my ex-Army brother, on the anti side my ex-Marine brother whose son is serving in Baghdad with the National Guard even now, and serving honorably despite his personal opposition to the war because he's a soldier and that's what soldiers do. It was ugly, and all of us witnessing it, despite having strong opinions of our own, were just doing our best to get them to stop it, calm down, and stop upsetting our mom.

Anyway, one of the reasons I'm writing about the Peninsular War rather than the Iraq War, besides being a historical fiction writer to my core, is that I can create characters who remind me of my nephew--men of courage, intelligence, and honor--without having to deal with the politics of what got them into harm's way and whether or not it was the right thing to do.

When are the in laws going to be selling the house?

Soon. We would like to be out of the apartment no later than March, and by January is preferable. If we find something now, we'll ask for closing in 60-90 days. The good thing for the in-laws is that their house is in an up-and-coming 'burb of DC, and any depression in the housing market here is always small because of the transient nature of the city and the sheer numbers of people who have steady federal government jobs.

Hey, it's Erin and Jen! Yay!

Hi, Suzi! How are you feeling?

Beautifully said, Susan.

You buy a housre because you need a home. It is only a problem to buy when high when you know you will need to sell. ( IBM people 80's, CT that was bad)

Susan - good on you on rying to avoid the flame. I 'd learn that war is not a good thing and should be avoid from my father , who was in the navy.

So glad to hear the teaching is going well,Erin.

yay for making it through the nigh Juliana!

DH and I are both expecting to hear a no on the job that he is supposed to hear about today - but we are both really hoping there is yes.

well rock on, Maria. I hope the arrangement is good for all... I know that would be tough for me, but I know that you're close to both sides of the family, which is great.

job~ma for Matt and beth

job~ma job~ma job~ma

Maria - I'm feeling human again, still coughing a bit, but my voice is back.

DH has a job interview on Monday.