The strange thing about the HVAC in this place. No ductwork to either bathroom or kitchen. And the bedroom doesn't have both in and out ducts. But the living room has dropped 3 degrees in less than an hour, and humidity much better (sorry, no RH meter at home). Nice to see the Galileo Thermometer finally getting a globe floating again.

You know the fam will hate the idea of a blog if they ever learn about it, right?

Probably. It will start out private.

i'm doing it while keeping in mind that i may one day make it public. that's why i wanted a more mild title. i found that my actual journal where i am "uncensored" just fuels anger and resentment so i wanted a blog to temper my expression of all this. i get too emotional and i wanted to be forced to take a step back and a potentially public audience will do that.

I am kind of proud of myself, because despite battling a panic attack most of the day I managed to do a number of things I needed to, and didn't cave to the desire to curl up into the fetal position and watch Nikita all day. I made dinner, and my lunch for tomorrow, and did a bunch of dishes, and took out the trash and recycling, and walked Frankie, and scooped the litter pans, and did a bit of tidying, and updated my budget software, and put away (last week's) clean clothes, etc.

So yay me. It only took half a Xanax.

Much ~ma to your brother and FSIL, P-C. Good advice already given, nothing I can add except for her to remember that none of this crap is actually about her at all.

She's going to be writing a blog about her experiences. I gave her the title: Sari-Crossed Lovers.

Brilliant! Give us the link if she makes it public, will you?

Glad Strix is okay! That was a tense moment of catch-up reading.

smonster, you know, just because Z is still on OKC and "looking around" doesn't mean he doesn't like you, or even LIKE like you. The relationship is still very new; if I remember correctly, you two are still in the hanging-out stage and haven't officially decided to be dating yet. He doesn't yet have a committment to you that he needs to be honoring. (One of the reasons I quit dating was that like you I get real invested real fast, and then I get hurt. I think you're brave to still be "out there" and trying. Me, I'm gonna die a bitter old spinster.)

Glad your dad is doing better, omnis!

My sister has been here all weekend - just left a little while ago - and we got my office and my kitchen totally organized like a BOSS. Bags of trash out, bags of stuff to Goodwill, little pile of stuff to sell, shelves put up, pictures hung, furniture moved, front porch cleaned, new umbrella installed on patio, AND finally finished painting the upstairs bathroom. Damn, that feels good. I wish I could have done it on my own, but I was so overwhelmed I didn't even know where to start.

Zen, glad you got all that done! Truly impressive. No shame in needing help, says the girl who still can't believe Beverly was kind enough to drive 1.5 hrs each way to do her dishes.

Also, yes, I was worrying for nothing. Z just texted me that he's home and do I want to hang out soon? Looks like dinner Tuesday, maybe a movie. Also, am aware of irony that if he looked at my profile as I do his, he'd see how often I'm on OKC. Duh.

Zen, can you and your sister visit my place?

High point of my weekend: Touching and talking to Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) without being arrested. Him calling my cousin and me "lovelies".

Low point: Being booed by the panel audience when I asked if, with the new generation of Harry Potter fans and film makers, if he could see the franchise getting rebooted.

Also, am aware of irony that if he looked at my profile as I do his, he'd see how often I'm on OKC. Duh.

Ahahaha, I was wondering about this.

Hope things on the Zmayhem front are calmer tonight.

Blogged my ass off about all the stuff I've been doing. Time for bed!

Panel audience, in my considered opinion, are assheads.

Thanks, all, for the continued good vibes. Matilda has a new med, an amoxicillin suspension that's even gooier and gloppier, but (though still gross) is merely disgusting, rather than redolent of Satanic sphincter. And she took her first dose all by herself, albeit tearfully and with much complaining, so that's another total win. Plus, it's only 1 tsp twice a day instead of 2 tsp thrice. I pinky-promised her a Merida doll with a bow and arrow (for the doll, not her) if she makes it through the week without giving up or flipping out, and this seems so far to be highly motivating.

While picking up the new med (available only at one pharmacy, downtown) we also stopped at Old Navy to spend the rest of my birthday gift card on school clothes (scored an excellent Wonder Woman shirt) and a handful of spare change at Ross on a new backpack. She dithered over several princessy and Dora-y ones, then homed in on a black and pink number with "Pretty In Pink" faux-graffiti'd across the front and a skull and crossbones with pink jeweled eye sockets, and cooed, "Ooh, spooky! Jilli would love this one!"

Jilli has mentioned that small kids tend to look at her and think, "Oh, a real live cartoon character!" She's not wrong. Except that Matilda clearly thinks, "Oh, a real live cartoon character and fashion guru!"

Also, completely random report: on walking to the first pharmacy through a residential neighborhood full of condos for sale, I discovered that there is a realtor in San Francisco named Lydia Dietz. At first that seemed like an awfully pedestrian career choice for Lydia, but then it occurred to me that possibly she's made it her life's mission to join quirky and beloved homes with exactly the right owners, and protect those homes from pretentious asshats bent on gutting them, destroying their legacies and pissing off all their ghosts. Or possibly she's just bent on making sure no ghost ever has reason to call on Beetle... that guy, ever again. Actually, kind of a noble mission.