Jars, congratulations! And yay for Tiny Jingles, Strix!

Hi, all. I'm pretty lurky here, mostly because I have zero time at work to even look at email most of the time. And my job has devolved into permanent stress and on-my-feet-ness, which is really draining.

It's a little startling to realize I'm coming up on two years since the big Eviction-Separation-StartingOver that was Jan. 2015. My life is not at all easier now than it was then, but it's so, so much better to be living it on my terms. The kids are good, Franny the dog is a huge love, and I'm trying to discipline myself into writing again. Couldn't ask for much more, except maybe some local friends to go to the movies with or whatever, and I'm working on that.

What sj said about interactions being different here than elsewhere is very much true -- I just said in an email to Bev this morning that the intimacy of this place is very special. It's always like coming home to that rambling but comfortable house where everyone is usually cozily tucked into random nooks and corners, talking, but gets together in the big ballroom once in a while to get crazy and tackle-hug. I miss it.

Fred: That is quite a year. Enjoy your vacation!

Jars: Congratulations, Mama! So very exciting!

Yeah, pretty much barely lurker status here. FB has kind of killed my board activity as I keep up with so many B.orgers there. I do miss the board, though. We are still in NC and really loving it (despite HB2 and Trump nonsense). My youngest (3) started preschool in Aug (sob) and my oldest (6) is now in first grade. Having some difficulty accepting that I have no babies and no more will be coming. Also enjoying watching my babies become actual people with interests and talents and annoyances (lol). DW is in a local band and really loves it. I started a new job and it's a good fit with a great group of people. It's a good life.

{{{Buffistae}}}

Yay lurkers! Stick around! We love to see your pixels!

We are still in NC and really loving it (despite HB2 and Trump nonsense).

Let me express my gratitude that you are DW are contributing to the blue tint I see in NC these days.

Ha! A good friend told me as we were leaving California, "You go turn that purple state blue!" Doing our damndest! I will say that Raleigh is super progressive. We've made lots of liberal friends and have been warmly embraced by our community as a two-mom family. I hear Charlotte and Asheville are the same. It's the rural areas you have to look out for...

Jars! Wow, that is so exciting!

A fully sober 2016 is wonderful, Strix! I'm so happy for you.

It's so great to hear from all of you that are not here so much, especially when you can say that the big changes are working out.

It's always the rural areas you have to watch out for.

It's always like coming home to that rambling but comfortable house where everyone is usually cozily tucked into random nooks and corners, talking, but gets together in the big ballroom once in a while to get crazy and tackle-hug. I miss it.

Very well said. If I weren't on my phone I would COMM it.

So good to hear everyone's news. Congrats to Jars and DH. Strix, why have we not seen this kitten? Pics, or Tiny Jingles didn't happen. juliana, I have got to get back out to SF and see y'all, I must meet Peanut!

I am here more than I have been, largely because my boss has told me I can't be on FB at all during my work day. So I delete the app from my phone every Sunday and reinstall it every Weds, because I am weak. But I'm also sneaky and need to vent and talk to folks during the day (colleagues are mostly Honduran y no hablo español), so here I am!

How I am wil have to wait, break is ending.

It's always like coming home to that rambling but comfortable house where everyone is usually cozily tucked into random nooks and corners, talking, but gets together in the big ballroom once in a while to get crazy and tackle-hug. I miss it.

Agree that it should be in COMM and so it shall be.

Hello family! I'm sad what brought me back but it feels good to be in this warm comfy place again.

We're still in Eastern PA trying to save up enough to head to the PNW where friends and family are begging us to come join them.

Hi everyone! I am also mostly lurkery these days; I feel like if I did post regularly, it would just be a whole lot of my-kid-said-this or my-kid-is-driving-me-crazy. But now that I type that out it seems kind of silly, because I love reading those kinds of posts from other people, so I don't really know why I feel shy about it. Anyway, I still read the board every day and it's still home to me.

I'm still living in Nashville with M and our two daughters, now 15 months and 4.5 years old. It's a good life, and a full one. We both work full-time, and in fact, the recent convo in Bitches (I think?) has finally convinced me that we should just go ahead and hire someone to clean the house, because keeping up with it ourselves is draining and stressful and guilt-inducing, and if we can afford to bring someone in once a month to save us from ourselves, that is a good use of our money. (Take that, inner Puritans!)

We are lucky enough to both have summers off, so this summer we spent three weeks visiting my family in Massachusetts, including a week on Cape Cod. We also just recently got back from a weekend in Philadelphia visiting cousins. (Buffistae in both places, I hope future visits will offer opportunities to connect and see you guys!) As our kids get older, I find that I'm really focusing on keeping up family ties, so we do a fair amount of traveling. There's a good chance, by the way, that we (or at least Rose and I?) will try to visit my brother in LA sometime in March. I'd love to try to see some LAistas while we're there!

I'm still working as a school librarian, a job I love. My school is a K-12 private school, and the big question for us right now is whether to send Rose to my school or to a public school next year. She's currently in a public pre-K program that has been really great, but I don't know much about our neighborhood elementary school yet. Pros and cons either way, but the question has really got me thinking about whether I want to be in a private school long-term, or whether I would try to move to a public school at some point.

This is probably a long enough post by now! Congrats to Jars and Boston Guy, and also to Strix -- I'm so happy to hear about how well you're doing. Lovely to see everyone's names and pixels!

Chiming in as a semi-lurker. My presence on the board is peripitetic: now you see me, now you don't. It's a failing of being on too many media platforms and not being able to keep up on all of them! So, it's nice to have a place where I can come and say hi in case I'm not posting in the same places as present and absent Buffistae. Hi!!!! It's good to see so many familiar pixel-font-faces! Squishes and hugs to those that accepts them, respectful excieted flappy hands at those that prefer a larger personal bubble.