thanks again 'fistas! At the potentially horrible training meeting today, spork was present, but - after the first five minutes when we were all elbows - unnecessary. Many times, I employed the good advice and wisdom that I found here - plus I was laughing to myself the whole time. y'all rock.

oh, and I spiked her coffee. {well, I thought about it, at least}

I spiked her coffee

Should have spiked your own.

Ya gotta do what works with some people. I'm just saying.

KB! ::tacklehug:: I missed you when you posted last. Is your hair still long and flowy?

KB!!!!!!! [tacklehug]

Refreshing my email won't make people magically appear to buy my furniture and fridge, right?

KATIE!!!!! It was so good to see you over the weekend!!!

I am home. Have yet to unpack. Trying to recover from SF fun and crawfish boil yesterday.

Thank you sooooo much to all my SFista hosts. I think everybody at the bar was sick to death of hearing about y'all. It was all "juliana this" and "Matilda that" "Did I mention brunch?" If it hadn't been for the huge party at the bar, I would have been sorely tempted to turn around and get right back on a plane.

Mr. Jane has been informed that he needs to plan a vacation so I can take him out there.

Sparky, my hair has remained constant and the ponytail still runs down my back. I do sometimes fantasize about having it cut short, thinking it would be easier.

Suzi's hospitality is awesome, and a good time was had by all who attended. I got to hold Matilda and let her play with my necklace, and I have been proudly telling everyone it is now covered with authentic baby drool.

Is it wrong that the medical discussion is reminding me of Dr. Cox saying he "has to sit here and be Dr. Give-A-Crap, but you are what you eat and you just ate a big fat guy." I think it may be a blessing for everyone my mathematical shortcomings kept me out of medicine.

Katie, she loved that necklace. And obviously felt extremely comfortable and content with its wearer, too.

So, DJ, see you again this weekend, right? Right?

...whimper.

I read once that cancer used to be this thing you never talked about. Like, say, around the year 1900, if someone had cancer, their relatives would sometimes keep them up in the attic and keep it a secret.

More recently than 1900, even -- the 1939 Bette Davis film Dark Victory uses that as a plot point: she has some awful but unspecified fatal disease about which her doctor, with her family's collusion, refuses to tell her. She finds out anyway, goes wild with despair and grief, and (whitefonted in case there's anyone anywhere who hasn't seen this and has any interest in doing so, though spoilage might actually help as the plot is rather irritating and lack of spoilage may lead to furious yelling at the TV) eventually settles down to marry the doctor and live out the rest of her days, all 90 or whatever of them, in domestic bliss. She's certainly presented as a brave (if uncomfortably non-ladylike) soul for facing her death so forthrightly, but there's no indication that anyone -- performers, writer, director, any character but herself -- thinks there's anything ethically hinky about the doctor's decision.

AmyLiz, I want to read more about your great-grandmother too.