Aw, Nora, please send greetings back. So great to meet her.

And in either case, I'd rather let the mother and father to be to decide upon this very personal call, not to a bunch of holier-than-thou strangers who won't lift a finger to make a quality of life better, but their own.

Word. I have no problem privileging the existing life of the mother over the potential life of the child.

vw, that was a great gift--glad he is pleased.

Steve got an iPhone today and just called me "with his first call". I LOVE that he gets that I love that little kind of sentimental gesture (he hasn't always *gotten* that about me). Also, he didn't have his number changed to Boston! He says, "it would be too much of a pain to change it back when I move back to the Bay Area."

All still very abstract, but still.

vw, that was a great gift--glad he is pleased.

I have to say that it TOTALLY cracks me up that I just bought a former pastor/headmaster of the Christian school where I work a bottle of scotch. SO not the Christian schools I grew up in! I will *never* tell my mother that that was what I got him as a going away gift. She would be absolutely mortified.

Steve got an iPhone today and just called me "with his first call". I LOVE that he gets that I love that little kind of sentimental gesture (he hasn't always *gotten* that about me). Also, he didn't have his number changed to Boston! He says, "it would be too much of a pain to change it back when I move back to the Bay Area."

That is all too adorable for words.

I have to say that it TOTALLY cracks me up that I just bought a former pastor/headmaster of the Christian school where I work a bottle of scotch. SO not the Christian schools I grew up in! I will *never* tell my mother that that was what I got him as a going away gift. She would be absolutely mortified.

Ha! I am glad you wrote this, because it's what I was thinking! Go you and your scotch-drinking pastors!!

Actually, I am thinking a lot about my aunt Sharon's impending visit. I mean, she visits my cousin Cynthia in Toronto and surely Cyn and Rob drink wine and beer while she's there (Aunt Sharon is the missionary)? I am going to have to call Cyn and ask. I don't think I need to scour my bookshelves to get rid of any offensive books. Hmmmmm. But I am delaying putting my new bumper dealie on until after she visits. *That* would make her uncomfortable, and I don't want to do that. But, it's awesome. It's the Jesus fish with "n chips" on the inside. I might never put it on the car, but I do love it.

Mm, Macallan. Our friends (L and her husband M) came over to the house after dinner and M brought his bottle of 30 year old Laphroig to pour a goodbye toast which was delicious and a very touching gesture (he LOVES that bottle.)

In related news, I am so tired and want to go home and curl up in bed with the cats. Sadly, I will be packing instead.

Nora, your friends are going to miss you sooooo much. But I look forward to hearing the tales of how New Orleans is embracing you.

Go you and your scotch-drinking pastors!!

I actually had to double-check with my direct boss to find out of he's serious when he says that he wants me to stop and pick up a bottle of scotch while I'm out. I've been planning on buying him a bottle for the end of the year for a while, but I would have been really embarrassed if it was a joke all along.

It's the Jesus fish with "n chips" on the inside. I might never put it on the car, but I do love it.

Ha! I kind of love that too. That's very kind of you see what she might find offensive. Says a lot about you...

Nora, are you and Tom still working? When are you done? I can't believe you haven't pulled an "I'm OUTTA here!" yet.

Yeah, we're still working. My last day is Thursday the 6th and Tom's is Friday the 7th.

I learned today that going on a gluten-free diet can cause actual physical withdrawal, because the gluten protein interacts with opioid receptors, and taking that away makes the opioid receptors feel like they aren't getting their morphine any more!

This explains my muscle aches and unremitting exhaustion. It's weird but also cool -- the human body sees bread as a drug in some people!

Trying GF pasta for dinner tonight. It's a well-recommended brand (and SHOULD be good, considering how $$$ it is; gluten-free is not cheap if you're trying to replace gluten-y foods, though I have to say, Whole Paycheck makes some outstanding GF rolls they label as hamburger buns, but that work as a dinner roll and otherwise random breadstuff, AND god damn they make fucking AMAZING GF scones).

(Well, THAT was a rambly parenthetical.)