unless there's a lottery or unknown ancestral inheritance.

Still waiting for that long European car to pull up out front and the dignified gentleperson to get out and say, "Ah, Mrs. Neil, you're a difficult woman to find. I have news about your third cousin five times removed." Or it could be someone saying "Herr Neil, your relatives in Germany have been looking for you.

OOh, Connie, me too.

I've always avoided searching--or being sought by--birth family. Unless it was by the lawyer of the fabulously rich dead relative, whose only beneficiary I am.

we're also trusted (highly! expert!) sources of "no need to worry, Miss" on those fronts. Indulge yourself for a week or a month. Lounge, swoon, eat bon bons (the s is important) and cuddle the pets (I don't know, some people like them). You'll still be cool, and you'll also still snap back to working lady mode unless there's a lottery or unknown ancestral inheritance.

I'ma trust you on that one. Especially the bon bons part. I'm very good at lounging.

Bet you.

I wouldn't bet against that. I'm no fool. (At least, not THAT much of a fool!)

Zen, you may want to look into Alexander Technique. It may like carrots, that's how much I love it right now. It is super duper gentle and focuses on relearning proper posture and movement to relieve muscle strain. Here's my instructor doing a short demo on local tv - [link] The goal is that eventually you learn how to relax on your own by being aware of your habits of tension. I swear, after my first session I felt like I'd had a massage and a nap.

And here's a study on it linked from her page - [link]

Seconding smonster - Alexander Technique is utterly amazing -- gentle, and easy, and you'll find yourself moving and carrying yourself differently and thinking about it differently after the first class.

Okay, that sounds like something I need to look into. Thanks!

Preteen niece and nephew are awesome and fun! But also exhausting. They are now safely back with their grandparents.

Someone at work just told me I had the "calmest demeanor of anyone there". Funny how other people see you differently than you see yourself, sometimes. I see myself as a roiling ball of anxiety, anger, and frustration.

I had to take PEnny to get her rabies vaccine. She meowed the whole way to the vet (about 20 minute drive) handled the actual shot well. Then on the way back, I don't know if she was mad, scared, or just really had to go but she used the carrier for a litter box. And then meowed even louder. Longest trip back.

She weighs 10.5 lbs on the verge of being overweight. The vet suggested I switch to a canned cat food.

All the interview~ma, Maria.