I cannot get going on this day. Theoretically, I should be doing some work as well as trying to sneak in writing a paper for school (this is my plan over the rest of the week.) I just can't get going at ALL.

I mentioned there is a dengue epidemic here at the moment.

Eeeek! A family friend in Singapore had that! Stay healthy y'all!

Good luck vw!

I was practicing Hungarian last night. I have "yes" and "no" down. Am getting pretty good with "Welcome!" (though that's more usefull for me to recognize than to be able to say) and "Pleased to meet you!" Working on "Hello" "Goodbye" and "My Name is" There are a couple of other words and phrases I'm going to have to look up. I spent bedtime last night reading and listening to the BBC in Hungarian to get used to what words sound like.

Poor Nora!

I should be doing schoolwork, but I'm basically not. Mostly, I'm e-mailing with my brother and cousin, playing here, writing a piece on Boston drivers for my new blog, and writing my not-very-anonymous mid-semester evaluation for one of my classes.

Well, that's annoying. It appears that the class I was planning on taking next semsester is not being offered.

That's very annoying.

And I'm right there with you in the Not Getting Going Department. I can't figure out which way to make coffee. Do I make a pot or do I make a cup? The dithering makes me think I need a pot, but I think I got a little too much caffeine too fast yesterday and that derailed me for a bit, don't want to repeat.

Pot! Go with pot!

OK!

Laga, what everyone said. An apology would be nice, but I'd bet he feels he's done that already anyway. And how much faith would you put in it if you got it? Also, the bit that's worrying me is that I feel like you've got this idea buried in there that you can somehow crack through and make him not an asshole.

You can't. You can possibly make him a politer asshole, or an asshole not-in-your-immediate-vicinity. But that's probably about all you have the power to do here. And either of those would be a big improvement, so if you can, I'd try to stay focused on that and on your sister, rather than for him to suddenly become someone he clearly is not.

Not here, but just had to quote this:

Neither my family members' spouse nor most of my family members are people I would spend time with if I weren't related to them. I avoid them if possible and drink when it's not.

Also, I just found out via email that my dad QUIT SMOKING! You have no idea what a big deal this is. The guy has been smoking for 45+ years and swore he couldn't quit (and got super defensive if you asked him anything about it), and he's been smoke free for two months! He said he went from the patch to jelly beans (which cracks me up), and he's also quit drinking beer since it's such a trigger for him (!!). I'm floored and unbelievably happy.

Also, this:

Also, the bit that's worrying me is that I feel like you've got this idea buried in there that you can somehow crack through and make him not an asshole.

You can't. You can possibly make him a politer asshole, or an asshole not-in-your-immediate-vicinity. But that's probably about all you have the power to do here. And either of those would be a big improvement, so if you can, I'd try to stay focused on that and on your sister, rather than for him to suddenly become someone he clearly is not.

Brenda is wise. This is exactly what I wanted to say but couldn't figure out how to articulate.

Daisy Jane = smart. Thank you for making my mind up for me!

Brenda is also smart with the saying what I could not quite figure out how to.