Quick follow-up post...a couple of people expressed interest in having a record of the whole crazy night. I actually put a pdf together with comments from the various threads for my parents so they could read the whole thing from start to finish (I included a page explaining the board a bit so they wouldn't be totally lost, and I admit to censoring all the fucks with some ****). They enjoyed it very much, for the record! Anyway, if anyone was serious about wanting a copy, email me and I'll send it to you.

As requested, I will also post a "my side of the story" account of the night/morning in Bitches in a little bit.

I can't tell you how much this has all meant to me. Your love has overwhelmed me, and I want to (but probably should not since I've barely graded a thing this weekend!) email each and every one of you back with my thanks. I can't wait to see many of you in Seattle so I can give you HUGE HUGS!

It appears that mom is down to her final days. She is semi-comatose, but she is not in pain and she appears peaceful.

I just want to thank everyone for sending health~ma to her over the years. I'm just wishing her an easy, peaceful passing.

Mom passed away early this morning. The kids and I are hanging in there. Even though we knew this was coming, it never makes the reality much easier.

Thanks again for all the support.

Mom has a biopsy scheduled for tomorrow morning for a mysterious lump. Results wont be in until Wednesday. Please focus some Don't-worry-stay-calm ~ma for her and Dad changing over to It's-nothing-to-worry-about ~ma by Wednesday. Thanks.

((Austin))

...this is so totally trivial that I'm blushing, but could I possibly trouble you for some Everything-okay-ma with regard to my accommodation and my cat? Because I just brought the cat back from the vet's and there was a guy in the lift who was all "animals aren't allowed here! you can't have that cat! Do the office know about the cat? Somebody might complain!" in a very I'm-going-to-complain kind of way.

And - it's not a secret cat. My landlord knows, I was totally up-front and specific with my contract with him, and the porters know, and the cleaners know, and he's not a secret cat ...but it's entirely plausible that he's also not, technically, supposed to be here, because this is Thailand, and laws are more kind of guidelines. But if this dickhead decides to make trouble for me, I may find myself needing to find a new apartment (or get rid of the cat, but obviously that's not on the cards).

Do. Not. Want.

When I picked up Mr Peabody tonight at 10 from the friend who was keeping him, he had a hugely swollen absess on his face. So after 8 hours of driving, I'm waiting in an emergency vet for him to come out of surgery. Some dog-ma and coping ma would be appreciated.

A follow-up: Thanks for your good thoughts. We are home. Mr. Peabody is sporting a drain and a bright blue Elizabethan color, which has already proven to be useless, since he can reach his face with his back leg. I have a large vet bill.

Mr Peabody, as you may remember, is a rescue dog whom someone poured lighter fluid on and lit. This abscess, like one that happened earlier on the other side of his scar, came from a mass of hair and tissue formed at the end of the scar. May that son of a bitch with the lighter fluid burn in hell.

If there is any spare job~ma available I could really use it. I just applied for a job that I think would be a good fit, and after 6 mos. of unemployment I am so ready to have a job!

so, anything you can spare, thanks!

Thanks for the kind words. Turns out it wasn't nothing, but I am thinking the ~ma must have helped because she was given a choice in treatment options. Just in the information gathering stages now, so I release the ~ma for now to go work some other magic.

So this isn't official yet, but it's looking like Drew and I will be tying the knot in Hawaii sometime around New Year's and throwing a heckuva party in LA during MLK Jr. (or possibly Presidents' Day) weekend. Given that we met here and Drew proposed here, we're going to be inviting those on b.org who'd like to make the trek. Add that to all our other friends and family and basically my entire school and the entire LA theatre community, and it's going to be quite the shindig. More details to follow as we figure them out!