I have heard of people substituting apple sauce for fat in baked goods. I don't know if that appeals to you at all.

Bless you! Yes, I've heard that too - and one CAN buy apple sauce in several of the shops here, but unsweetened apple sauce is not available. Which makes it a bit pointless in the cutting-down-fat-and-or-sugar stakes. I'm hoping that canned pumpkin will work, or possibly fat-free yogurt - I bought Betty Crocker Brownie mix last night, and plan to mix it with diet coke and cinnamon and powdered coffee, and maybe some porridge oats, and pop the mixture into paper bun-cases to make a low fat chocolatey treat. And freeze most of them. And then I think maybe French Vanilla cake mix with canned pumpkin and some spices, and maybe grated carrots, to make a sort of low fat carrot cake type thing. Which could be iced with Fat Free Philadelphia and lemon and Sugar Substitute. Maybe.

Um. Sorry, I'm making myself hungry here.

Anyway, in the ongoing saga of me and the computer, the four of us who've found ourselves freshly uncomputered have migrated to the library, where there are many computers. 'Course, we no longer have access to our MS Outlook Express Inboxes, so any important messages had better be hand delivered, but I'm good with that.

And next week? Looks like I'm being moved to a new job. No longer will I be a sub, but instead I'll be the Resources Teacher - which means I'll be taking over from the lady who's doing that job currently (and who's going to be moving to teach Grade 5, since the Grade 5 teacher has left); it basically consists of teaching wee groups of 1-4 kids from Grades 3-5 who need extra support with what they're doing in class. I think it should be pretty good, and I'll have my own classroom and computer, which is nice too. I'm looking forward to being able to plan my days and knowing what I'm doing, and it'll be nice having some kind of continuity - but I'll miss what I'm doing now, funnily enough.

I'm so glad that the Head asked me to help her with something that I felt I could say yes to. I really didn't want to be put in the position of having to refuse (which I would have done for the Grade 5 class) and thus causing bad blood, type of thing.

PCOS...it's "completely treatable."

I'd love to know more about this. I was eventually diagnosed with PCOS, after more blood tests and 'ooh, we don't really know' than you could shake a stick at. And they said there was sod all they could do about it. Happily my hair stopped falling out before I had to resort to wearing a wig (but I bought one, and it was looking depressingly close), and it's gradually thickened up to maybe 3/4 of its original hairbrush-breaking thickness, which is fantastic. Whether this was down to the Chinese Medicines that my mother's GP-cum-alternative therapist prescribed, or just my body doing its thing, I have no idea.

Hi, Cashmere!

Hey, Trudy. {{{Hugs}}}

And they said there was sod all they could do about it.

Well, it looks like they mostly treat the symptoms...there's not a "cure" for it. If I find out more, I'll definitely share it with you. I'm glad your hair is growing back, though. My problem is more having hair in places I don't want it. Ah, the joys of life.

And, congrats on the new job, Fay!

Oh, and yay for sj! Much apartment ~ma.

What vw said about yays for everyone!

It is morning, and it is snowing. But I don't have class today, so that's an up. vw, how's your day looking?

Hey, SA! My day's looking ok. Off to work in a minute. Then dinner with Nora and studying. Not too bad...

But I don't have class today, so that's an up.

I'm jealous. I'm disinterested in going to work today.

Yesterday afternoon when I was walking Emmett around in the neighborhood (he finally got better from his cold) and it was so pretty in San Francisco. And warm. It was in the 70s yesterday.

My problem is more having hair in places I don't want it. Ah, the joys of life.

Ah, yes. Well, of course, I do have a fine and manly beard and moustache these days.

Thanks, Trudy. I'm very well, actually. Getting back to normal feeling. It's taken longer this time. I was actually more sore with Liv than with O, because things had to go quicker with the birth--short story is that they had to use the vacuum extractor on her because she was so high up and didn't want to come down the birth canal. Then her heart rate started dropping (we found out the cord was around her neck). So I had to push without contractions, resulting in a tear and some other stuff that made the recovery a little more painful.

Ooof, you poor sweetie. I've never been more sore anywhere on my bod, than after Ben's birth, and the vacuum extractor. The nurses got stingy with the ice pads at the end, and if I hadn't been so sore, I'd have kicked 'em. His heartrate dropped too (although not, as far as I know, because of the cord--just because of the difficult labor--Chris had the cord wrapped around, though).

How is Olivia sleeping for you? Are you getting anything that feel like sleep?

I'm disinterested in going to work today.

Well, I'm still stuck at work, so...

I do have a fine and manly beard and moustache these days.

I've always found hirsute women attractive.

(Okay, not really.)

Ah, yes. Well, of course, I do have a fine and manly beard and moustache these days.

I've just got the lovely moustache...and boy do I love it! Also, hair around my navel, which is just weird.

Val, I was never definitively diagnosed, but they were pretty sure (mostly for future reference, if I had fertility problems). They put me on birth control as treatment. Regulates the hormones or whatever.