sj, it might as well have been. You're a mom. A mom who derives a lot from your online interactions. So while it is generally mom shaming, it's very much relevant to you. Please don't think you have to explain it away.

(Sorry, my indig-no meter has been broken by the last few days.)

OK, Constance, you need to eat, there's hours left in the day, your brain will only get more unhappy if you keep putting off getting food. Even the Puritans in your head need to eat.

OK, Constance, you need to eat, there's hours left in the day, your brain will only get more unhappy if you keep putting off getting food.

I've been terrible about eating breakfast and even lunch over the past 2 weeks or so, which I recognize is a big depression symptom for me. But I made and ate my normal oatmeal-y breakfast today and had a big salad and then a tuna salad sandwich for lunch.

To sum up: eat the food! Join me!

I am in clean and somewhat presentable sloungewear for when peapod shows up.

Thanks, Maria.

I've been eating but only what I can grab with minimal effort.

Leg~ma for Daniel, Andi.

sj, I hope you get your equilibrium back, soon. Those kind of FB interactions always leave me shaking afterwards. Ugh.

Leg ~ma for Daniel.

I am in clean and somewhat presentable sloungewear

sj, (1) that's just ridiculous, and (2) it might as well have been aimed at you and that's infuriating. How dare she give you any shit at all.

WS and Daniel, I had a blood clot in a leg once. Given that it's caught early, I bet that's easier to deal with than cellulitis. Best outcome for the leg ~ma, either way!

Good ~ma all around to all who could use it.

It's so good to see you people again.

Leg~ma, Daniel!

Timelies all. My mom had cataract surgery this morning and I'm in nova for a couple more days ostensibly taking care of her (at least doing the driving) till she can see again.

My catchup: still living in the PNW, still working for emergeny services (tho actively looking for alternative employment as the high stress, low staffing, staggeringly high call volume and constant forced overtime has me worn down, exhausted, and constantly rethinking what I want to be when I grow up. Then I remember that I'm 40 and not likely to get much more grown up. And I already had a midlife crisis at 30 when I quit theatre and moved to a new city with nothing but housing lined up in advance. So that's odd.

Relatively new is that I actually met a really wonderful guy (on okcupid, ftr, so it's not all a huge waste of time, tho it sure as hell felt like a waste for a seriously long time) and he moved in almost a year ago with his big dog and he's marvelous and fantastic and loves Buffy and Angel and Firefly and carrots. I kinda wish he were more into housecleaning because now with a big dog and two cats and me there is always hair everything. Not dust bunnies anymore, not even dust kittens, we have dust puppies and dust hippos and a couple months ago I had a full on meltdown about work stuff and life stuff and sobbed while cleaning for a good three hours before he got home and listened to me blubber about how we live in filth and I just couldn't deal with it anymore. Then he found an old roomba on Craigslist and got it working....but the poor thing can't handle all the hair and fur much better than I can (and all three animals really hated the thing) so he found a stick vacuum that can almost handle the fur. Almost. But still an improvement over my swifter/DustBuster combo that worked fine when it was just me and two cats but really wasn't up to adding the dog fur on top of that.

And I'm starting to suspect that the air in Portland is literally choking me (or at least filling my lungs with crap they can't absorb or expell) and not loving having to carry and regularly use an inhaler again after almost three decades asthma-free. On the bright side, my PCP hasn't told me to lose weight even tho that scale just keeps climbing.

Hello, erin! Good to hear you're doing well despite the pet hair and the stressful job. Eye ~ma for your mom.

Having pets makes it SO much harder to keep a place clean! Good lord. I replaced the carpet in half my house with vinyl and it's so much better, easier to clean and better for my asthma too. I have trouble with asthma on the East Coast, but West Coast I can breathe like a normal person. Funny it's just the opposite for you, erin, maybe we should trade places?