Oh juliana-- I'm so sorry.

My mother started lying about our ages because she was lying so heavily about hers-- part of the midlife crisis where post-divorce not only was she dating every single guy and some married ones who asked, she was finding them younger and younger.

Yes, my mother hates it when I tell people how old I am, they will extrapolate.

Jesus, Juliana! That's awful!

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However - YAY Jilli! And YAY Tom!

dances dance of joy

I don't think I ever said it, Fay, but when you first announced you were going into teaching, I was almost perfectly split between "OMG MISS FAY WILL BE THE BEST TEACHER EVER!" and "... you mean, the kind with CHILDREN?" And, let's make it clear, this was not a bad thing in my twisted head.

Heh. I can have layers!

Seriously - I don't want to get cocky, because I've only seen half the parents of my kids so far, but the whole "my child is really happy in your class! They look forward to school!" thing was a recurring theme. So that's nice! (And the not-swearing-all-the-motherfucking-time and not-being-all-about-the-big-gay-porn sort of kicks in with my kid-dar, and then gets switched off as soon as the kids have exited the building.)

GC, I've kept my eyes peeled for HK toilet paper since you mentioned it last, but haven't seen any so far. However, I do have a small HK pile of random objects that will possibly be mailed to you some time in the next decade.

That's dreadful, Juliana.

I think Vortex will look in her 20s for years to come.

I have pretty much escaped wrinkles, except for the frown lines between my eyebrows and some lines around my mouth. I credit my vampiric avoidance of the sun and my oily skin, which does sometimes leave me with that totally unfair combination of pimples and wrinkles.

I gots lotsa wrinkles. I am smearing various emolients on my skin every night now, as the elderly do.

Oh, juliana, I'm so sorry. I remember that night, how everyone in the neighborhood just glowed when you walked by, and how that guy in particular looked all big and fierce but just gave you such a joyful, laughing bear hug. I'm so very sorry.

Juliana, I'm so sorry.

Laura I saw that, it's a curcuit judge so I guess it will be challenged to the state supreme court. But the judge ruled it was unfair to the children waiting to be adopted, so hopefully that will help the ruling stand.

I gots lotsa wrinkles. I am smearing various emolients on my skin every night now, as the elderly do.

All the more reason for you to concentrate your apartment search in San Francisco -- all the fog and gloom chasing away the nasty skin-eating orb. Especially, it must be said, if you choose our neighborhood or the one immediately east of us (inner Sunset -- don't look out past 19th Ave., though; it may be blissfully foggy out that way, but it's also the boonies).

Not that JZ's hinting or anything...

I used to live in the Sunset; I liked it. I'm a big-time nester, though, so Oakland is probably going to win out. For my budget, I can have an awesome 2-bedroom in a deco building that allows dogs. Or I can have a whole house out in Consuela's very cool hood.

In SF, my budget buys me about 1/3 of the place. The Peninsula is almost as bad.

We'll see. I really do love the City. It's nice not having it be an urgent move and being able to take my time to find something great.