Advice please: When I cooked TJ greens in the crockpot, I somehow managed to include a piece of the bag they came in. It was unmelted, and the print was not faded, so I presume the toxins from the bag did not leach into the soup and turn it poisonous. Cause if it is not safe, that is a one dish meal I made for the next three days I would have to throw away.

I think the key is to hang out with different family factions separately rather than in one huge dysfunctional group.

Brilliant. I approve. Hope all the family stuff works out as well as possible.

Good luck with the food, Cass! And the gathering, too.

I have been away socializing all over the damn place. I saw dance friends, NC-istas (woot!), my two non-judgmental mother figures, my favorite bartender (and owner) and a passel of other folks. I ate mac and cheese, a burger, red velvet pancakes, and drank two Whipping Boys (hot cocoa with peppermint schnapps and whipped cream vodka)(did I mention the favorite bartender?). Frankie saw old friends and made new ones all over town.

It was super great to see so many people, and I wouldn't change much about it, but I am nearly hoarse from talking, and totally worn out. Thankfully, our family dinner out tonight was delightful and relaxed and involved a bottle of wine. In a bit, I have to go pack and organize, as I am leaving with much more crap than I had when I came. Yay?

Tomorrow I'm back on the road, and I get to see Ginger! Yay! She is kind enough to put Frankie and me up for the night.

I think you'd be okay Typo Boy. If you are really worried you might want to call poison control.

But, um, one year at Easter when it was just me and Mom she accidentally baked the ham with the plastic on it. It didn't melt so we just cut the plastic off and at the ham. We didn't get sick or anything from it.

Typo Boy, you should be fine. On Christmas Day TCG's stepbrother made mudslides and accidentally blended the small plastic cap from the blender with the rest of the ingredients. We all took a few sips before we figured out what happened, and we're all fine.

If accidentally having bits of various food packaging end up in food were that bad,I'd be dead MANY times over by now.

You're fine, Typo.

askye, that's kind of funny.

Strix, did you get a lot done today?

meara, I hope you stay healthy.

Frankie is getting so spoiled for walks. He's gonna be sad and lonely at home, though maybe thankful for a little peace and routine.

Had dinner. Nobody is dead.

That's the spirit. (I'd have eaten it anyway as well so long as there wasn't any odor or flavor. Not that those are bulletproof, just I know myself.) Not that I'd recommend plasticizing all of your food but one dish will likely not change much in the grand scheme of what we've ingested.

t waves at Bitches

Hi! ND and I are in Florida in my dad's gorgeous new house just outside Fort Lauderdale. It's been so nice spending time with him (despite the fact we have to fight him or he will pay for everything, including coffee). Today we drove down to Key Largo and went out on a glass bottom boat to Molasses Reef. This made me want to go diving like whoa. I have promised myself that the next time we visit, I will bring my scuba gear and take a day to see the reef up close and personal.

I've also had several delicious seafood meals...nom nom nom...and am loving the beautiful weather. Tomorrow I will get to hang out with Laura and her DH, which tops off a great trip with Buffista frosting. Or something.

I've barely been online since we got here, which has actually been a nice change. I do need to write five college recommendations before Tuesday, so I may start to tackle that tomorrow. I know ND has some work to do too.

So I'm behind, but hi! Hope everyone is having a nice week and is looking forward to the weekend.

For those interested in seeing the family portrait commission DW got for me: [link] Still love it so much!

Best. Thing. Evar.