Kara will not be getting handcuffs, not even magician ones. She has let the bunny out of house arrest and has turned the pipe cleaner cuffs into a tiara.

I heart Kara.

GC, your neice and nephew are just beautiful.

I finished almost all of the rest of my Christmas errands done yesterday, which is good because today I woke up with awful cramps and don't want to do anything. I am looking for the motivation to bake cookies and brownies. Maybe another cup of tea will help me find it.

Happy Solstice, everyone. I know I can't wait to get the orb back...

Happy Solstice.

Also?

brenda, I keep trying to wait 'til we're in the same thread at the same time, but it's not happening. Congrats on your new job!!!

Thanks, Cindy! I'm gearing up to go give notice today. Not looking forward to that conversation.

Good luck, brenda!

Thanks, Cindy! I'm gearing up to go give notice today. Not looking forward to that conversation.

I hope it goes well for you. And hey, people leave jobs all the time. It's not like they had you on a seven figure exclusive contract.

I do (selfishly) hope that before you leave, you find someone on the inside who keeps us up to date on the latest craxy.

It was raining in Chicago, but now it's just damp - and still unseasonably warm. Sorta' like a somewhat cooler version of a San Francisco winter.

OTOH (weather has an 'other hand'?) we might get snow on Christmas.

I'm gearing up to go give notice today. Not looking forward to that conversation.

Are you going to do the "Giving Notice" dance?

(weather has an 'other hand'?)

New England weather is all hands. Hands! In new places! Having once visited Chicago in February, I'm going to go out on a limb and say the same is true, there.

Blessed Solstice. Yay, light back!

I've actually noticed the days getting longer, by inches.

I've kept up, with the toddlers and the Fusstilda and the cute and the glayvin. May I just say that all are unutterably cute, and parents are incredibly patient and wise and good. The one thing a parent forgets, as one's children grow into school age and teenage and eventually off to college, is how un.cease.ing the demand for attention and for action is, with babies and toddlers. Especially toddlers. Truly one should have to train, and possibly pass PT tests, before having kids. I salute each of you.

Um. Last-minute Christmas erranding, DH is tapping his foot as I type. Onward. Upward. Forward. Exthelthior!

Ooh, last four words for Brenda, too! Good luck. And did I say congratulations?