Thanks! He's from a broken home...Our friends got divorced and she moved to Florida and can't have pets and he is, well, he's a hot mess and can barely take care of himself and since I have a love of beagle mixes, he is now our young pup. He and Ollie seem to be liking each other. A bit of grumbling from Ollie because Dexter tried to get some love from me when Ollie was already at my legs, but no snapping.

And Dexter tried to play with im doing the downward dog, butt in the air, hoppy thing and Ollie just blandly looked at him as if to say, "Dude. I am old and do not play. I slounge. Let me tell you of it."

I'm hoping Dex doesn't miss his sister dog too much. Hopefully, having Ollie will help that.

He's a cutie, Aims! That's really great you guys were able to take him in.

Yay for new buffista pets! They're adorable!

Good luck tonight, P-C.

We went out to dinner with TCG's dad and stepmom tonight. So yummy!

Chet is a beauty, and Dexter is totes adorbs.

Date four - definite success. Met his visiting friends, they cooked amazing food that's probably the healthiest stuff I've eaten in a while - pesto and quinoa and beets and mushrooms and feta and kale and boiled shrimp. Gonna need a nickname for him, I think. I told him that the awesomeness of his friends spoke highly of him, and he said he'd have to meet mine. So, uh, Nora? Got someone I'd like you to meet.

There are, not red flags exactly, but a couple of things about him I'm observing with interest. His alcohol consumption is the biggest thing. And I do wish he didn't smoke, though I'm certainly not going to harass him about it. I *hate* militant ex-smokers, and it doesn't do any good anyway.

There was more making out, which was fun. He takes direction pretty well.

All in all, promising. I think I'm past my freakout stage - I am frankly not used to mutual interest at comparable levels. It's actually an odd experience for me.

Skipping, because I need you advice.

A friend I have from another board might be missing. She was supposed to arrive from Indianapolis to a concert in Chicago this/last night (depends on your time zone, for me it's last night), but the friends who bought her the ticket never heard from her. We all checked for calls and social networks messages/communication, and it seems like the last time she's been in touch with anyone was June 29.

While she's been offline every now and then for few weeks because of workload, not answering her calls/messages and missing a show someone else bought her ticket for without saying something is not like her. Very not like her. She's a very responsible person.

We've tried to contact her in any way possible. She's not in the obituaries. We can't get through to family members. I have an address from three years ago, and we seriously considering ask the police to stop by that address to see if she's there (is that a reasonable plan?).

Anyone here has saner, better ideas? We are very worried about her.

Edit: A friend just heard from her, so she's alive. We're trying to figure out further details.

Thank you all.

Oh, Shir, that is very scary-sounding. I know you can file missing persons reports with the police after 24 hours, but I don't know if it needs to be family or if friends can file one, too. Someone with more knowledge on that will have to advise you.

If no one's heard from her for over a month, asking the police to check on her sounds like a reasonable precaution. I hope it proves to be nothing serious.

I have some new photos of Ryan. [link] So what's our little boy been up to?

His cousin had a birthday party: [link] She's about three months younger than Ryan. It was held at the quality establishment, Monkey Mania: [link]

Said cousin's grandparents (Biyi's uncle and his wife) have been in town, and we went out to lunch with them today: [link] Led to a photo op outside: [link] Personal opinion: Ryan was exceptionally photogenic today. Some highlights:

Smiles all round: [link]
Happy chappy: [link]
With Mei Mei's grandparents: [link]

Said grandparents are returning to China on Thursday, with Mei Mei. She'll attend primary school in Shanghai, the goal being to improve her Chinese. I couldn't imagine doing this with Ryan; but the school in which she's enrolled sounds pretty seriously kick-ass. She'll be in a class of twenty children, with three teachers, one of whom is a native English-speaker (it offers a bilingual education). That's for kindergarten.

Ryan is such a handsome boy! And Mei Mei is pretty darling too. I love how proud you are of him.

When we were in Hawaii there was a long conversation with Cody's aunts and uncles about whether or not our generation of parents are more permissive. I said I didn't think so, at least not necessarily, because I tend to model a lot of my parenting on how I was raised. I wasn't hit or spanked, or at least if I was it was rarely enough that I don't remember a single incident. And believe me, the no spanking thing is what they meant when they said we were more permissive because then they went into long memories of being beaten with belts and hiding from their fathers and such. But to me, the big difference in how we are raising kids now is the much more active and involved role the fathers play, fathers really invested in raising their kids and being a good father to them. Tons of those dads here on this board. And I think that's all win.

But to me, the big difference in how we are raising kids now is the much more active and involved role the fathers play, fathers really invested in raising their kids and being a good father to them.

Yeah, I definitely spend much more time with Emmett and Matilda than my dad did with me. And my dad was a pretty involved dad for his time - he coached my Little League team for two years, and we learned to Scuba dive together and stuff like that.

And just from my generation of friends who are parents, and all the dads I know from coaching Little League myself, it's a widespread attitude. I know several fathers whose entire lives really revolve around parenting. Not in a creepy stage-manage their kids every move way. But just that's their focus. I know one father who created and ran his own business primarily so that he'd have more time with his kids.

So there's definitely been a huge cultural shift around that. Not coincidentally this revolution came rolling in with Feminism in the early 70s.

A friend just heard from her, so she's alive. We're trying to figure out further details.

Thank you all.