{{{Aims}}} I know that feeling. I feel like I can make things so difficult for TCG sometimes. Especially times like now when I am so worn out from a busy weekend. There are days when I honestly don't know why he wants to marry me.

We went for 2 because we were both from larger families and wanted that familiar experience. If I didn't work and I had been younger when I started I may have had more, but only so many hours in the day. DH and I are very close to our siblings so we wanted that for our children.

{{Trudy}} Life transitions not so much fun.

Nice to hear you progressing so well with the move, Hil.

Lots of health~ma for amyth's brother.

{{Aims}} Parenting the parents totally frustrating and complicated.

Yay Hil for the new house and car!

Aims, that sounds tough.

I found it exceedingly rough to be the older sibling of a kid with issues (I wasn't issue-free, but his were more severe, and parents triage). I wouldn't risk putting my kid through that.

I wouldn't say my siblings were *typical*, or issue-FREE, but...yeah. :) And as the eldest, while they could drive me up a WALL, it was also very useful (and remains useful!) to have them to deflect parental attention at times. Much as my four year old self didn't get that and was all "WANT ATTENTION! NEW BABY EEEVIL!"

Depression is hard for those who suffer it and those around them. When I read your description of things I recognized stuff I have done in the past. I've learned a lot from therapy but sometimes the depressed person needs a shock to the system. Something that puts a stick into the spokes of their cycle. And they're able to pop their head above the cycle they're in and look around and see how what they're doing isn't working for them and is driving away those they love. Hard to know what is going to be that stick for a particular person, though. I know what has worked for me in the past is being around someone who has some of the same behavioral traits I do. I find myself reacting to them and then I realize "Ulp. I do that too. Oh shit, is this what it feels like to people around me?"

erikaj, it turns out I was remembering the Musical Instrument Museum: [link]

Aims, I hope that whatever you decide to do won't be too stressful for you.

I'm writing up a short article for work on different global health indicators for the past 30 years. (My org is in it's 30th year, so we're doing a number of retrospectives.) Maternal, neonatal, and child mortality figures have all improved dramatically (cut nearly in half in the last two cases). But malaria rates have been going up like whoa the whole time. And then there's HIV, which hardly anyone had heard of in 1980.

Yay for new car and moving-in, Hil! Your comment upthread about the driving test having a question about horse-drawn carriages made me smile, because last summer I was driving Mom around Lancaster County after we visited my stepsister who lives there. It was a Monday afternoon, and I had to keep my eyes on the backroads we were on while driving from Bird-in-Hand back to the tollway, since I didn't want to come over a hill and suddenly come upon a carriage.

It was made harder by the fact that it was apparently wash day and so many houses and farms had laundry drying out on lines strung from the house's second floor to the telephone line (in the country) or stretched across their front porches (in town). Mom and I were having fun noting the difference between Mennonite houses (brighter clothes) and Amish (mostly black/navy).

{{}} for Aims, Steph, Spidra, and everyone else who needs/wants them. Stop raining on everyone's parade, life!!!

Ok, I know someone here will remember...what was the third thing on the "Countdown" List of Things To Say So that Fox can Never use the tape? I've got Macris(as in Andrea) and Malmedy...what was the other one?

Loofah!

Now, why did I not remember that? It's the easiest one.( I think I thought they were all gonna be m's.) I asked because, according to Jez, he's picking on Jennifer Aniston now.