Actually when I think about it, most of the recent cases of whooping cough in my friendship circle have been among the parents, not the kids. That's probably due to vaccination of the kids. One friend had it when she was pregnant and said it was agony.

1991

I always think of myself as being about 26 years old. Then I see stuff like this and am hit with reality: "Bitch, you're 42!" I graduated high school in 1988. Oy. And yes, I had the 80s spiral perm, though my hair was longer then than I have kept it as an adult.

The anti-vax thing drives me insane. We have one at Shane's pre-school (the family is also vegan, no sugar, no tv, etc, etc).

I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but the no tv, no sugar thing has zero effects on my life. Failure to vaccinate - not so much.

When I thought Sammy had chicken pox (turns out is was roseola, I think), all I could think about was what if he had a truly dangerous but preventable virus.

So remember the prospective student with whom I was supposed to meet last month? He stood me up and said "oopsie, I am getting married this weekend! I forgot about our appointment."

We rescheduled for this morning at 9. That's a little early for me - especially since I have not been sleeping well for a couple of weeks. But hey, I am ambulatory. I was running late and thought it would be a good idea to get some caffeine prior to the meeting, so I emailed him at 8:45 to tell him I was running a bit late, but would be there at 5 after.

He emails me back telling me he has to go to the emergency room for his daughter who had been sick all night and needs to reschedule. That's fine, but I question whether I would have received that email if I hadn't emailed him first.

Also, something that I found mildly irritating: in rescheduling the 2nd meeting he said "sorry I had to cancel." Doesn't cancellation mean you let someone know ahead of time you will not be at an appt? If I email you after 30-45 minutes, I think the meeting wasn't "cancelled."

I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but the no tv, no sugar thing has zero effects on my life. Failure to vaccinate - not so much.

Agreed, though we are at a co-op school where parents rotate bringing in snack. The vegan thing is difficult when you yourself are not vegan and don't know all the rules.

Dropped off dog. Now feel like horrible dog murderer. Cried all the way home.

There's no way we could have kept him, and even if we wanted a dog right now, he's not the right kind for us. He's got too much energy. He needs a family to run around with.

But he's going to be scared and confused about why I left him, and I'm afraid that fearfulness will turn into snapping at people.

Animal Control was a little grim.

And I'm so pissed at his family. Either he was dumped, or he got out and it's a day later and they haven't bothered calling Animal Control. God, the human race is so shitty.

Oh no Dana.

You did the best you could. Know that.

Aw, Dana. That's hard. You are good people. You did everything you could for him. Since he's already been really lucky to have run into you, I'm gonna hold out hope that he'll continue his lucky streak and end up back with his people or in a new, fabulous home.

The vegan thing is difficult when you yourself are not vegan and don't know all the rules.

And frankly, if the parents are antivax AND vegan AND no sugar AND no gluten, it's unlikely that their kids' dietary rules will follow any logical or commonly accepted definitions of the words "vegan" "gluten-free" or "sugar-free." And there will probably be other restrictions in there that no sane person would even think to ask about.

Huh, that's weird. I don't remember climbing up on this soapbox...