I've had people ask me if I'm G&N's mom or grandmom before. I mean, I know that I have aged and that the median age of a parent in my 'hood is like 20, but still MEAN.

I never, ever assume anyone is a parent or pregnant.

Or assume they are more pregnant than they are, after (when I was working retail in my twenties) I asked a woman who wasn't fat, just wow, out there preggo, "Looks like you're almost ready to have that baby!" and she kind of death-glared me and gritted out "I. AM. 3. And a half. MONTHS!"

I slunk away in abject shame. (But, my god, I hope she was having twins or I can't even imagine how miserable she would be at full-term. She looked 8 months pregnant. Poor lady. I'm sorry!)

Lots and lots of heart~ma to your dad, Sue.

And damn, Kat, that is really Not On. You are so not remotely a grandmom (also, Noah in particular looks exactly like the few pictures I've seen of you at his age, but I guess there's no way for a random stranger on the street to know that).

Heart-ma for your dad, Sue.

I never, ever assume anyone is a parent or pregnant.

On the other hand, I do always assume they're dating whoever they're standing next to.

I just don't tell them.

Happy birthday to the twins, Kat! How was the party?

Sue, I hope everything is trivial for your father.

Thanks guys. Trying not to stress, but it's hard. Especially being at a distance.

People are rude and clueless asking you all if you're grandmas.

Sue, best wishes for your dad.

ita, the party was fun. Sort of insane, but insane in the way I make things insane. [link] is a set of pictures. I look like hell. AND I'm wearing the same tshirt I wore on the day I gave birth.

One of the moms of one of N's classmates is actually my OBs nurse. She pushed me, in a wheelchair, to the hospital on the day the kids were born.

Wow, the nuclear safety issues in Japan seem to have had a huge effect on the German elections, with Merkel's party taking big losses and the Greens making huge gains. Odd how much natural disasters can shape the electorate but Katrina completely destroyed Bush's credibility.

Interesting numbers. I didn't realize this about France:

In fact, the crisis confirmed Germans’ deep angst, exaggerated or not, regarding anything nuclear. A quarter of Germany’s electricity is generated by nuclear power, relatively small in comparison to other countries. In France, it is more than 75 percent; in Slovakia, 53 percent; in Belgium, 51 percent; and in Ukraine, 48 percent, according to the European Nuclear Society, one of the largest lobbying groups for nuclear science, research and industry in Europe.

Sue, heart-ma for your dad.

the highlights on the jacket look ridiculous to me. They have a golden tone. It works for consistency across the palette, barely, but this is the confusing part, where I put in information that's not part of the reference pics I'm using.

Would it look less ridiculous to you if you kept the hue, but reduced the saturation? Stepping closer to white with the highlights? Maybe closer to white with some transparency would work for you?

France committed almost completely to nuclear power in the '70s, after the OPEC oil embargo, determined not to be a hostage to volatile oil prices. It reprocesses fuel and sells quite a bit of power to the rest of Europe.

Years ago, they served wine with lunch in plant restaurants.