I look forward to buying discounted chocolate on Feb 15

Ooh yes, this. That, and buying discounted socks & tights with hearts on them. (I like hearts, esp. pink ones.) And heart-shaped bakeware.

My local organic grocery had a special on Chocolove bars before the holiday, bless them.

The dark chocolate with cherries and chili is really, really tasty. It's worth saving space in my daily calorie allotment, for sure.

3 lbs down, by the way. I guess the food log really does help.

It's nothing-ma to your kitty, ChiKat.

Living with a person who sneers at "Hallmark holidays" means Valentine's Day passes without a mention, and he repels my attempts to observe it with mushy cards, flowers, and candy from me to him, too. He's awesome in other respects, though, so I let that slide. And really? Valentine's Day is really the eve of my tri-annual favorite holiday: Half-Price Candy Day!

All best luck with your testing, Laura. That sounds like an endurance test as much as anything.

I learned not to pull away from claws and teeth by living with cats. Monty whosit, who wrote Horse Whisperer, speaks of horses as being "into pressure" animals, which means they lean into a bite or claws, using their weight to pressure a break in the hold, then they move away, hopefully quickly and out of range, rather than pulling and causing more tearing. It makes sense once you think it through.

It's fascinating to me how much of the mammal remains under the veneer of sociology, how we exhibit the same body language, and while caught up in verbal communication have ignored physical cues, at least consciously. Subconsciously the reactions are all there. Cal Lightman and crew make a living recognizing those physical cues. I think if we took a moment and paid attention, we'd find other mammals much more understandable. They're talking all the time. We just don't listen.

Sorry. Hobby horse. Stabling now.

Also, they randomly re-"cast" the dog after the first few episodes, and that's just jarring.

They're completely different dogs! It's ridiculous! Heh.

They're talking all the time. We just don't listen.

True that.

It was crazy that they recast the dog on VM without a word...as if fans wouldn't notice. But I still loved "Take Backup."

Aw, now I want to rewatch VM s1.

I made it to work. That alone is a victory. I'm prepping for the training that starts tomorrow. Debating whether I should do an icebreaker of some kind - they all know each other, pretty much, but I don't know them.

If it's not a big group, it's always good to go around saying names and such. And you can add in something like, "What is your favorite pairing of fictional character and inanimate object?"

that assumes they read. "who is your favorite artist" could be interesting to see whether they go for musicians or visual artists.

ION, i just had a really insane conversation with a caller. She said her neighbor had (earlier) threatened her with an axe. I asked for a description, and she said it was about 5" in diameter and circular. My puzzled questions started focusing on the weapon in question b/ that doesn't sound like any "axe" i've ever seen. Then she said "i think they call it a jackhammer" and my head hit the desk.

that assumes they read.

Or watch TV or movies!

"who is your favorite artist" could be interesting to see whether they go for musicians or visual artists

Ooh, tricky.

Then she said "i think they call it a jackhammer" and my head hit the desk.

Maybe it's like how some people refer to their guitar as an axe.

Pizza cutter?