Ahahaha! I needed that.

Now that I'm calmer, I have no idea how the parents of kids who actually disappear deal. I only had 2 hours of worry slowly building to near panic. And it has taken me 3 hours to not feel like I'm vibrating out of my skin.

I want to hug/strangle him.

I have never been brave enough to attempt home made pasta. I should suck it up and try, but I don't have any tools or even a tutor.

Yay! Ok, Vortex, what do you use to knead and cut? And what do you like about it?

I usually knead by hand, because I make it one portion at a time. I use my kitchenaid attachment to roll and cut the pasta.

My mother got maybe 2 uninterrupted, 4 total hours of sleep for maybe 2 years of my brother not showing up when he was supposed to and went grey at the temples and lost a scary amount of weight (she's 5'2" and was hovering under 90lbs at one point, which was not good for her.)

I really want that Kitchenaid pasta maker, but I`m supposed to be eating less pasta. I`ve been working on making egg noodles by hand, because those don`t have to be pretty. The last batch was pretty good. I don`t think I have a good feel for what makes a good dough consistency.

Is the attachment easy for one person to handle long strands? That's what I keep running into with the handcrank, I feel like I need three hands. Partially because the clamp won't fit my counter, probably, but the Kitchenaid attachment definitely wouldn't have that problem.

I first started making pasta because the price differential between eggs and flour and dried pasta made a significant difference in my minuscule food budget. I used an empty wine bottle as a rolling pin and cut the noodles with a cheapy knife I never sharpened, and everything I made was too thick and wide and floury, but pretty delicious. Getting a machine was such a step up, I feel kind of bad for coveting the Kitchenaid stuff.

Very glad CJ turned up safely!

I met some humans with similar interests tonight. We had a good time. I plan to meet up with them again in a couple weeks. Hopefully I'll remember their names.

Trudy:

>I think mine is less extensive than yours. They're only doing two toes on each foot.

I got the big and littlest toes on each foot done. Wonder if I still have photos...

Suzi, I'm so glad he's home and safe.

Teenagers are not easy.

I wish the folks in Washington had to spend 6 months on regular people insurance and maybe they would get a clue.

I think their salaries and their health coverage should match the median salaries and coverage of the population.

My dear, darling child decided at lunch today to see if he could join the cast of Guys and Dolls

Ugh. That show is so not worth causing you that much worry.

I got the big and littlest toes on each foot done. Wonder if I still have photos...

Hmm... I'm doing the big and second-littlest. We should talk!