Hang in there, askye. I always mess up when being watched, too. Proud of you for managing your anxiety.

Hil, so sorry that you are in pain.

Love to all.

Oh Hil, have you looked into another physician type for pain management? Other than your PCP or joint doctor I mean. This could be anything from a pain management MD to acupuncturist, or some other option. There are a lot of different paths that people take for pain management, but if one path doesn't work another might.

I'm seeing the new rheumatologist in a couple weeks. I'll see if she recommends anything.

It will also help a lot that, next semester, all of my classes will be online. Online teaching isn't my favorite thing, but it means a whole lot less time on my feet, and being able to sleep late if I need to.

I had a lovely day out yesterday with my daughter and her bf, C. We went to a big craft fair at the Denver Convention center. Kelly and I have gone each year but somehow the vibe was different this year - not sure what it was, just off. I found a few goodies, but not my usual haul.

Then we had a great lunch out that included duck and fig pizza. OMG, delicious. At lunch I had mentioned a great restaurant/dessert place that we used to go to but that had moved and I had lost track of where it was now. Well, Kelly and C conspired together and we ended up there for some dessert. D Bar is the creation of Chef Keegan from the Food Network. Their new location is GREAT, lots of room - a full bar, tons more tables, and a larger dessert counter where you can enjoy your meal/dessert and watch the dessert chef at work.

We did 90% of our T-Day food shopping and then the kids went off to dog sit for the night. I was able to just relax, do some crafting, and have a nice quiet evening. I really needed a day like that.

Today - I have a paper due that I haven't started and need to participate in this week's school discussion. I also need to clean the house in prep for the maids and then prep the house for C's daughter who is coming Tuesday night. Plus I really need to do some budgeting.

My good day killed the thread.

And my paper still isn't done. This is supposed to be a short one, but there is no way to cover all the points in 2-3 pages. Accckkk.

Edit, chop, chop, chop. My issue is always the opposite. I am way concise.

Yay for good days! It is good to read that things are nice, comfortable, and relaxed with the kids.

I'm about to leave for work.

Checked the fire news...one of the South Carolina fires has made it to North Carolina and is only 9 miles from here. So that is a new anxiety. No evacuations that I know of but theven fire spread because it jumped a fire break.

We need rain so bad. It's been alost a month since we've had anythingone more than a brief sprinkle of rain.

Yikes, askye! We're smelling smoke from the fire over here in the Triangle. I hope you get rain soon.

Fire bad. Stay safe and I am hoping for rain soon!

The maids are coming today and it is too cold to sit on the back porch with Jack. The current plan is to keep him calm downstairs while they work upstairs and then go run some errands with him when they come downstairs.

Jack is doing a lot better with people - a new to him friend came over yesterday and while Jack did the initial aggressive show as he sniffed Marc, by the time Marc left he was able to give Jack under the chin scritches. Totally blowing the old 3-visit rule out of the water. Which we hope is a great sign. Kelly's bf C's daughter, H, is flying in tomorrow night for the long Thanksgiving weekend. My job when they get back from the airport is to help introduce H to Jack. She will be here through Sunday, so we REALLY need Jack to accept H in the house.

Maids are here and I have been able to get Jack to sit on the couch with me and stay 95% calm. He certainly isn't sure about all the bumping and thumping and that darned vacuum cleaner. But I have been petting him and reassuring him that I'm ok with what they are doing. Once they come down to clean the living room, we are going to get Jack a pedicure.

Good luck, Suzi.

ltc will only take one nap. No matter how tired she is. It's a long nap, which is good, but the question for me becomes, do I want her to take a morning nap and deal with a cranky baby from 4-6 or have her take an afternoon nap and deal with a cranky baby from 11-1.