My bride friend likes detail work. I do not, although the results were super damn cute.

She spent many, many, many evenings sweating the rest of those things out, though.

Paging hivemind parents, particularly Cashmere - Frisco just flushed a Sally (from Cars) matchbox car down the toilet. How do I know if I need a plumber?

(I was getting the tongs after he dropped it in - while Ellie was trying to poop - but he flushed it before I could get there. THey are now both pretty upset.)

I'm getting stressed out about finishing my dissertation. I was just stuck with writer's block today -- I kept sitting down, looking at my outline, looking up some sources for what I wanted to write about, and just freezing. I got out about a paragraph. None of the ways that I could think of to phrase anything sounded right. I know that part of the problem is that I need to fix my outline -- there are some parts that need way more details before I can start actually writing. I'll see how it goes once I've got my outline better.

I have already decided that I am going to find a couple of local gardeners at a farmer's market in June and tell them "Ok, on the morning of 9/25, I'll show up with $100. What can you give me for that that will be blooming in your gardens?" Then I am going to stick them in green wine bottles and various vases hawked from friends and put them by a stack of hardcovers tied with ribbons and a simple pillar candle in a vase. I'll whack off a pretty arrangement a half hour before, wrap a damp hankie around the ends and wind it all up with wide ribbon.

Those will be gorgeous flowers.

Erin, when my sister got married we bought flowers from a farmer's market (safflowers and something else) for her bouquet and they were beautiful. Just to reinforce that that plan absolutely works.

THey are now both pretty upset.

Why is Ellie upset? Was it her matchbox car?

I'm afraid I've got nothin' on the plumbing front. If things stop going away upon flushing I call the landlord. If everything keeps moving I don't. But I'm not the one who pays for pipe replacement, so I haven't pondered potential long-term problems extensively.

Ellie was upset because Frisco dropped the car in while she was pooping - she always leaves the door open, etc. but she was incensed that he dropped the car in while she was sitting on the toilet. Frisco was upset about the loss of his car, but I think he was also embarrassed.

There's a lot of purple flowers blooming in September, so I am completely happy with chance.

And boy, draining those wine bottles between now and September will be a freakin' CHORE, I tell ya. OK, we have enough now, BUT THE LABELS! MUST! MATCH! No, they don't. And won't. I just want some wine. Hee. I think I just MIGHT be buying some wine with an eye towards awesome labels, though.

Stephanie, I got nothing as far as the plumbing thing goes. Good luck with that; sounds very, very annoying.

Hil, remind yourself that writing doesn't need to be linear. You can work on tiny sections and then puzzle out flow later. I often found with academic writing, working from the middle outwards was more useful; I usually sketched out a crap intro, and then ended working on body ideas in sections, then going back to mostly rewrite the intro and transitions.

At my brother's first wedding they bought some of the roses from Wal Mart (they were really pretty) and my xSIL wanted queen's ann lace (I think) and no one had any. Mom ended up finding them on the side of the road and she and her best friend dug some up and then cut off what they needed.

Er, I'd be pissed if I were Ellie too. The moral of the story appears to be "Pooping = Closed door."

I have no qualms about peeing in front of people, but as far as pooping goes, I would really rather pretend I don't possess an alimentary canal. It's the Virgo in me.