Yay, d! That's a great time, I think!

Happy unpacking, omnis.

And after that I just said "please don't include me on your political e-mail list any longer. There is a long way to go before the election, and I don't want something as simple as an un-researched, out-of-context forwarded e-mail to cause anger and bad feelings among family members who love each other.

Well said, Tep.

I had to tell my family something similar when I was down on a recent trip. Basically told them that we just weren't going to talk politics so I could continue to like them. I mean, I will honestly talk with them but they'd gone off on a disturbing bend that day and it was at point where we shut up and kept things friendly or ... the other option.

My dad's family horrified me with talking politics yesterday. I could see my parents crawling out of their skins right along with me, but we were vastly outnumbered.

One of my relatives just forwarded me an email about how anti-semitic modern Germany is. I wasn't even able to read all the way through before I got too annoyed to constructively respond.

Hello, dears.

Drew, love, my thoughts are with you and your family. I wish you strength.

Connie, I hope the reunion goes better than you think it will. I heard somewhere that the reason family really knows how to push our buttons is that they installed them! I'm so sorry you're going through this right now.

Annabel is v. cute and thoughtful.

o_a, dude, I am with you on the unpacking. amyth and I have been here a month and it's shaping up, but slowly. Oy.

meara, glad you had a good time w/ the girl.

Just popped in to catch up, really. May or may not be on later.

Happiness is putting yourself in the hands of a Nordstrom's bra fitter.

I've been wearing some of my old maternity/nursing bras for several weeks, after the last of my favorite but now discontinued bras gave up the ghost. I spent a week or so trying to find some hidden stash of the discontinued style somewhere online, and this is the first time I've had a good chance to get to a mall since I gave up.

The Nordstrom's lady kept apologizing for not having a larger selection in my size and telling me if I came back next weekend during the anniversary sale there would be more. I said I might come back the weekend after that, but I'd be at a writers conference next weekend and needed a better bra right away so I could go try on clothes for said conference. And we eventually found one that worked so well that I think I look five years younger and ten pounds lighter.

I think I found a good outfit to wear to the conference award ceremony. It's business casual, but since contest finalists are apparently called up on stage, I sorta wanted something new and flattering. So I shopped with the mindset I talked about here a few months ago--what does the writer I want to be, the kind of person I think I am on the inside, look like on the outside?

I ended up with a very sheer, very detailed (lots of pleats, sort of a self-fabric dickey panel) blouse worn over a camisole, both in black. It was the last thing I tried on, because I thought it was too busy to be flattering to my body type. But the details fall at just the right places to make me look all hourglassy, and the fact it's black keeps all the detailing from looking too foofy and girly for me. So I'm happy. And I feel pretty. And I've got at least three pairs of pants it could work with.

I'm starting to remember why I used to love to shop...

ION, the garden on the deck off our bedroom, with a glimpse of the view beyond. I love reading out there on cool summer evenings: [link]

Annabel planted the carrots: [link]

Squinty smile: [link]

d, was that one of the Danskin triathlons? My daughter participated in one here in Wisconsin. She and a couple coworkers did it as a relay. Alexia did the 20k bike. She's all stoked to do another, now.

But the details fall at just the right places to make me look all hourglassy, and the fact it's black keeps all the detailing from looking too foofy and girly for me.

I bet with the new bra, it's KILLER.

Also? Annabel is too cute, and she has such shiny shiny hair! Is it thick? It looks like it's crazy thick.

No jury would convict if I killed the neighbors right now, right? I'm back in LA for the night. I'm picking up my car and driving back to San Diego in the morning to save on rental car costs. The neighbors up here are having a party tonight. They have a band that's been playing for over an hour and my whole house is shaking from it. Also? It's mostly ranchera and mariachi music. I think they've just switched to a DJ. I'm ready to go get a chainsaw and see how many I can kill.