Yup. I am typing from my own wake, it's true.

My roommate and I just talked for, like, three hours solid. More. Man, I really got lucky. I hope she finds a job and sticks around past December.

Good wishes aren't a finite resource, and no one's keeping score.

Can we get this carved in a really pretty marble, maybe, or a nice pink granite, and have it mounted as a lintel over the door? A touchstone going out or coming in. Just as a reminder of its truth.

Maria, what they all said.

Barb, I'm sorry it didn't work out.

smonster, I'm having so much fun reading your adventures in your new home.

And I apologize for being thin on the ground lately. Couldn't be helped, but I'll try to be more vocal. Or, postal--no wait.

Fucking hell. The conference starts today, and I just woke up with unbelieveable pain in my hip. I must have rolled over on it badly during the night or something. I can barely walk across the hotel room, let alone getting to all the talks I want to go to.

I checked my schedule, and the first thing that I really want to go to is at 1 -- there were some talks in the morning that looked interesting, but I don't have to see them. I took half a Vicodin, and I'll try seeing if I can get this worked out by lunch time. The hotel has a whirlpool, and that might help, but I'm not sure if I can bend enough to get into a bathing suit.

Hil, does the conference have affordances for people who need help getting places?

I don't know. What I really need today is a walker, but I don't have one. I do have crutches and a cane in my car, and the crutches will probably help some. The combination of Vicodin and a hot bath have helped a bit. I've also got my TENS unit with me, and I'll try that for a little while, and then I'll see if I can get into a bathing suit to go to the whirlpool.

Attaching TENS pads to my back is tricky, but I managed it. This is helping a lot.

Good wishes, like love, are an infinitely renewable resource. I don't always come in and post ~ma for people, but I'm wishing it.

I'm extra-aware of how I appear to be coming off here, because I haven't been as active over the past few years

Once a Buffista, always a Buffista. We're kinda like Hotel California, only not as creepy, and with less stellar guitar work. So much ~ma to you and your DH, and his mom.

Hil, I hope your pain is manageable today and you get to everything that is important to you. Also, was that amazing bookstore in Columbus the Book Loft, in German Village?

Yikes, Hil. I hope relief is quick. Is it possible that there is a pharmacy close by that would deliver a walker? The hotel might know.

{{Maria}} Strength to you and yours. All the science facts in the world won't keep people from freaking out. Extra doses of calming~ma send to DH and his mother.

I am in the group of people that gets quiet when in turmoil. Super quiet, burying myself in work, out of touch with the world and myself. Blah. The past couple months or so I have been under huge business stress and huge offspring stress which means I have buried myself.

Being in Otter Lake for the summer has helped calm me somewhat, but still having a time of it. The short version is that I kicked firstborn son out the day I left for NY. It has only been 3 weeks, but it feels like 3 years. There is much more to the story but it comes down to him continuing to be 100% wrong repeatedly and me being 100% right, but I am totally not willing or able to deal with it anymore. At this point I have turned the situation into a workable arrangement where I send him a newsy email every day or so and he does the same. I am careful to absolutely offer no advice or criticism of his life. I sent a condolence when his favorite football player retired. I let him know how his grandparents are doing and how projects are going here in Otter Lake. It is tough to watch him driving steadily toward the cliff, but he is only going to learn his lessons on his own. Have I mentioned that being a parent sucks?

It is tough to watch him driving steadily toward the cliff, but he is only going to learn his lessons on his own.

Oh, Laura. This just sucks for everyone. I'm sorry.

Maria, I'm just glad that this place can help you in any small way. I hope you can accept the gift without worrying about your worthiness for it.

Still home with the bronchitis etc. Cleaning lady is here, which is slightly unsettling. First cleaning lady we've had down here, it was a Living Social deal. Maybe we can eventually get someone in a couple times a month.