Typo, I had the same problem as your mom - after almost a solid year of watching MSNBC for three hours a night, I was so burned out with outrage overload I had to stop watching any of it. I don't even enjoy The Daily Show anymore. I have enough residual anger to deal with, I don't need an anger infusion every day!

bonny, I have both cats on PetPlan, and I've been happy with them so far. They're affordable and their plans are good. I always thought, I've got some savings, I can afford a trip to the vet, then Leo racked up over $1000 in three days and I decided pet insurance would be a good idea!

Oh my goddess, I'm gonna vomit. I finally just emailed my biological sister. For the first time ever.

I wish you peace and joy with this. It's enormous. I have this mental image of two women touching hands then hugging. It would be so sweet if your contact with your sister went like that - metaphorically in email if not in person.

Selfishly, I want the little guy's influence on my mental health in my life for as long as possible, and so far, so good. He does not have cataracts, I give him a supplement with joint support even though he does not have joint pain, his muscle mass is good and he has great energy.

Daniel and I feel something similar with Harvey. I think perhaps it is more intense for Daniel. I was there when Harvey was born, so I have more years with him, and more of a whole life-span perspective on his life. Every time he climbs into my arms for a snuggle, I put some effort into soaking up the moment, putting away thoughts of the past, or fears for the future. I know I've bragged on his chasing his tail up on that eight inch wide ledge by the stairs (pretty spry for a 12 year old cat, eh?) He used to do that every once in a while, but since I came home from the hospital, he has been doing that at least twice a day. I swear he's doing it to make me laugh, keep my spirits up.

I might not totally suck at this supervisor thing

Unsurprising. You rock.

I agree.

Travel~ma for Cass and meara.

Any thoughts?

Jon Stewart's speech from the Rally to Restore Sanity?

It's hard because the world seems more polarized than ever and really ugly to me.

Oh my goddess, I'm gonna vomit. I finally just emailed my biological sister. For the first time ever.

That took courage, and I wish the best possible outcome!

I've never quite figured out why kids' glasses don't just come in twos.

We have weirdly doubled insurance that makes 2 pairs reasonably cheap, so we're going to get a second pair, but it will take a little time since everyone needed glasses and our HSA is almost empty at the moment. Nick got glasses, though! We were able to add him to our insurance. It was awesome to be able to do that for him.

Aims, I hope it goes well, least stress, best outcome.

Aims, i wish you the best.

and Scrappy, I'm glad you did apologizes and so glad the person was able to take it as intended.

It never occurred to me to be freaked out by a sinus infection. Until now.

Me either! Which probiotic are you taking? Since I did a round of sulfa drugs for an ear infection, I've been taking Align, and the only difference I can tell is, um, stuff I don't like to talk about. I'm thinking a different probiotic might be worth a try.

If I may pimp probiotics again, the Pearls (both regular and IC) have been consistently good for me. Align didn't thrill me, and Florastor works well (it tends to dial my sugar cravings way down) but is WAY expensive.

Unrelatedly, it is REALLY HARD to be supportive of a friend whose girlfriend just broke up with him, when what he needs right now is a sympathetic ear and someone who recognizes that he's in pain, when all I want to say is "You are SO MUCH BETTER OFF without her." He's still in the needs-immediate-emotional-pain-relief stage, and I'm all, "Woo! She's gone!"

She was always nasty to him in front of other people, contradicting everything he said (stupid stuff, too, like how recently he had eaten salmon) and telling him he was dumb for not knowing things. I mean, DAMN. I cannot abide couples who are nasty/insult/mean to each other in public. (And if they do it in private, well, they probably still have a problem, but doing it in public just compounds the problem with an egregious lack of respect.) And she's told him over and over -- to the point where he agrees with it and even said it to me tonight -- that 100% of the problems in the relationship were his fault.

Yeah, uh, no. And I'm not saying that because he's my friend; I'm saying it because that's not true any time you have more than one person interacting with each other. More than one person means fault is spread around.

Anyway. I am blunt and given to Action! and Solve Things! and I'm really bad at sitting and listening to him say how much he loves her and misses her and "messed up real bad and screwed up the relationship." All I want to do is punch her in the neck for being a bitch.

I'm less Commiserating Friend and more Avenging Friend.

Nick got glasses, though! We were able to add him to our insurance. It was awesome to be able to do that for him.

Yay, Obamacare! We're lucky since we only have two people who need glasses (since my lasik). But Liv will most likely need them in the future. Owen's is only very mildly near-sighted--he just has a lazy eye they're trying to correct.

I'm less Commiserating Friend and more Avenging Friend.

Avenging Friend is an important role. Possibly more important. It's better for the next stage.

That's a big step, Aimee. Good for you for taking it.

Steph, I've been in that position before. I've been in both those positions before. You can always offer him sympathy for the way heartbreak hurts and refuse to agree with any of his "what did I do to deserve this?" stuff.