Birth-ma to Jon and wife.

Thanks for the well wishes everyone.

~ma for your mother, Frank. Is she living on her own, and if so, is there someone who lives close to her who can check in on her regularly?

Yes and yes to both, but the former may be changing soon. It's been under discussion in the family to get her into a managed care situation. She has been sounding positive about it, which is nice surprise.

Congrats Vortex on exciting new changes!

And congrats Jon and FAQWife on exciting new baby!

And OOIAMSOJEALOUS ~ma to Perkins on the awesome vacation filled with morning snorkels!

As for me? Life fairly unexciting, although I have a student writing her paper on Harry Potter fanfic. That'll be fun.

Ugh, Frank. I can't stress thorough testing enough. My mother was sick for two years before she got a correct diagnosis. TWO YEARS after her first visit with a gastroenterologist.

Yeah, my brother said he wasn't impressed by her last gastroenterologist. I think they did do a colonscopy, though, so there has been some testing.

I have the dumbest question ever: on a stove top, what do you call the bowl-like thingies under the burners, that catch the crap that spills over?

I seriously am blanking on what in the hell they're called.

t edit Drip pans? Basins of nastiness?

Perkins is a taunting taunter.

It appears that the electronics on my dishwasher have gone out for the third time in six years, and about six months after the last $100 service call. I wish there was an appliance lemon law.

Frank, I x-posted with you. I hope your mom's doctors can work out what's going on. Have they run, or will they run, any blood tests to see if she has gluten or lactose issues?

If she's willing to change her diet, she doesn't even need to have tests -- she just needs to cut out gluten and/or lactose for a week or 2, and if one (or both) is the culprit, it's pretty obvious.

But it's got to be really hard to change how you eat when you're 89. It's not fun at any age, but really, 89 is lifetime of eating one way, and it would be really jarring to suddenly make a massive change.

Yeah, the changing of ways is not going to be an easy thing for her, especially given she's been complaining about how "nothing tastes right anymore" for a few years now. Anything that limits her diet more is just going to make her misearable.

ION - congrats Vortex!! You'll have to make the trip to Boston or Providence (or Worcester) sometime once you're settled!

I have the dumbest question ever: on a stove top, what do you call the bowl-like thingies under the burners, that catch the crap that spills over?

The only thing that comes to mind is "drip pans", but that's more for oven roasters.

Drip pans, Tep.

And yay! to Vortex, and Jon and FAQWife!!

Frankenbuddha, I'm sending health-ma.

I have cat on lap. Sorry, cat. I'ma going to dye my hair and work on a resume for a while, so you're gonna have to move.

Jilli, it might amuse to know I will be sitting working on stuff for you with Manic Panic on my head wrapped in plastic for several hours (after the permanent dye). It seems appropriate, somehow.

And I'm excited for your tat! Post pix!

The only thing that comes to mind is "drip pans", but that's more for oven roasters.

I think they're also called burner pans.

The only thing that comes to mind is "drip pans", but that's more for oven roasters.

I think they're also called burner pans.

So...how do you clean them when they're nastified after not being cleaned, ever, for an amount of time I'm ashamed to even type? Steel wool not cutting it.

Just buy new ones? They're probably cheap, huh?

I blame goddamn FlyLady. (I also want a Rubba Sweepa now. A LOT.)