New England-istas: I am in CT visiting my parents this week. I was toying with the idea of traveling north one evening to meet up with those of you who are free for dinner. I can't go all the way to Boston, but I could do Worcester...? Or something within an hour or so? Let me know in F2F.

Okay, Raleigh-area peeps, looks like I am flying the kiddo in Tuesday 8/14.

Anyone able to pick me up from the airport at a certain time, put me up, wanna hang and let me crash on their couch, maybe give me a ride to the port the next day?

Let me know ASAP what times would be good for arrival/departure and whose interested, if anyone, so I can boook ASAP. I'd LOVE to see more Buffistas and I've never been to NC!

Dan said I could stay 2 nights if I wanted, so that's an option. I am very neat and tidy, and allergic to no animals (that I know of.)

Profile addy good, and cell number there too.

I have some new photos of Ryan. [link] So what's our little boy been up to?

His cousin had a birthday party: [link] She's about three months younger than Ryan. It was held at the quality establishment, Monkey Mania: [link]

Said cousin's grandparents (Biyi's uncle and his wife) have been in town, and we went out to lunch with them today: [link] Led to a photo op outside: [link] Personal opinion: Ryan was exceptionally photogenic today. Some highlights:

Smiles all round: [link]
Happy chappy: [link]
With Mei Mei's grandparents: [link]

Yay! After six weeks of recuperation, my mom is well enough that I won't need to be staying overnights to help her transfer Dad in and out of his wheelchair. She's basically back to 100%, though still being careful.

I have a new piece up at Hilobrow as part of their Kirk Your Enthusiasm series.

Read here as I explore "The Enterprise Incident" and address the important issue of why it's so important for James T. Kirk to be a prankish dick at times. Also, sexy Romulan Commanders and Spock's sexy finger dance.

Please to Like on Facebook if you're inclined, or even better toss in a comment, as these things (somehow) magically turn into revenue stream for my fine online publisher.

Sigh. Could we have some "Switch come home" ~~ ma, please? He escaped at some point yesterday without us realizing it until Joe saw him outside this morning. But, idiot cat that he is, he ran away when Joe tried to grab him. I did just see some of his fur on the two-doors-down neighbor's fence, so hopefully he isn't going far.

Anyway, I want my baby giant kitty home.

HE'S BACK!

When Joe got home, he let the dogs out in the backyard and thought, "Hey - I'll follow the dogs!" and sure enough, they led him right to Switch! So he is home and cowering in the basement once again. Dumb giant baby kitty!

Thanks for all the ~ma!!

We had to put our fluffy girlkitty to sleep today. Goodbye, Trinian.

My Mom died peacefully last night. She'd had a really good day on Thursday, with my aunt & cousin & SiL and niece visiting and getting a takeout dinner with her, so they were making jokes and she was definitely wrapped in familial love, but according to the home health aides she just faded away all through Friday.

She made it to 90, which meant a lot to her, too. When last we spoke about her dying, she said she'd prefer just not to wake up one morning.

I can't begin to say how lucky I feel that we had her around as long as we did, with the various health crises she'd overcome over the past 20 years, that she was in full possession of her mind and able to enjoy life. She got to see her grandkids (all but the 16yo) in college or graduated, to know that I'd come through my unemployment and was getting real work again, that my brothers were healthy and her daughters-in-law were a joy.

At the moment I'm surprisingly dry-eyed, mostly from shock I suppose. We knew it was coming, but Mom had pulled back from the brink a couple times (stubborn is a family trait) so we could hope that we'd get a little more time. As they say, it's always sudden.

Job offer has been signed; I start work on Monday.