You are holding it together pretty damn well, far as I can tell.

Steph, given your severance package, could the job hunt go on pause until the weddding's over (except for anything already in motion) or would that not help your stress level? I'm so sorry you're so stressed. Seriously, is there anything you can outsource to Buffistas? I'd love to participate in your wedding in some small way. I have three day weekends, so I could make calls or research things. Sometimes it can help just to have someone to review your to do list and help prioritize.

Don't apologize, Teppy, that's an awful lot to deal with.

My headache is on its second day and is about to turn my face inside out. I already had the unstoppable monthly two-day headache, three days ago! Two in one month is no fair!

Laura, my heart goes out to you, it really does.

My fervent hope for StY when he was young was that some older woman would fall hard for him and his excellent domestic, nurturing ways, take him on as arm candy and be willing to manage his calendar and his finances in return. Alas, never happened. But he was never cut out to be self-sufficient. Though he has many friends who appreciate his very many fine qualities and love him dearly, no special someone has come forward to take him on for life.

Realities are often not what society and culture lead us to expect. And I've learned to be okay with that.

My fervent hope for StY when he was young was that some older woman would fall hard for him and his excellent domestic, nurturing ways, take him on as arm candy and be willing to manage his calendar and his finances in return

Hah--this is basically what happened with my cousin. We all shook our heads and wondered what she saw in him (he was a bartender who liked to work out, so we kinda knew, ahem. She is a lawyer), but basically said "good for him"...now he's a cop, and apparently doing well (they've got two kids I got to meet at the family wedding a few weeks ago, which was fun, they were adorable!)

Laura, if YOU'D feel better with his phone on it might be worth considering. I know a number of people who've been comfortable with drawing that line with a incompetent relative -- its a relatively minor expense and it eliminates a lot of bullshit.

Teppy, I think it is in the nature of cysts to be a bitch and take two or three tries. YCMV.

Man, I'm just FULL of advice today. Sorry.

I looked at myself in the mirror this morning after my ablutions and thought "Too much hurts too much. Go back to bed." Last night was tossing and turning, so I made an ortho appointment, emailed my boss, and tried to sleep.

But it's lunchtime now! I only said I was taking the morning off! Fuck.

Nothing stopped hurting--I just had some time off due to unconsciousness.

Teppy, I'm sorry there is so much on your plate. I hope you can block out some hours to give your head some relief.

Oh my, what an eventful day. It took a few hours but B's court stuff is done. He just has to pay more $$ again. The girl is someone he went to school with. She is a year younger, just financially more secure!

We go and pick her up after court to bring her back here to get B's car and so forth. He knows her dad, but has never met mom. She hasn't answered her phone so he knocks on the door and mom comes out. Tells him to go away. He hangs outside leaning on the fence waiting for the girl. Mom comes out with a paring knife! Yells at him to go away; she is calling the cops. Okay. Girl texts that she is sorry that mom is a nutjob and that she will be right out. Mom comes storming out with a laptop in her arms and takes a picture of my license tag with her phone, calls ME a bunch of names and drives away. Okay. Then girl comes out and the cops show up all vested up and stuff. Girl says, don't worry I know these guys. She walks up to cops. Hugs all round. Says, "oh you know my mom, she freaked out on my boyfriend for no reason." Hugs all round and they leave.

I bring girl and boy to his car and bid them farewell. Then my SIL calls and says they can't get her blood pressure under control so she has to go to the hospital to be induced. Then she says she will be leaving shortly to drive to the hospital. I explain why this is not the best plan since she sure as heck won't be driving home. So now I am leaving to go help bring a new nephew into the world.

Woot! Today has not been boring.

And at least I have the girl's phone number now and have kept B advised as to the arrival of his new cousin. He is going to the hospital too because he is crazy excited. SIL and her DH are his favorites.

After I posted, my mom called and said, "I'm in [next neighborhood over] -- want to have lunch?" So I cried all over her, ate lunch, debated going to urgent care for my head, got some Aleve (because it's the only OTC drug I haven't tried), decided to give the Aleve a few hours to work, and took Mom to the tailor to see the dress (she hadn't seen it on me yet; only a picture) and check the length before the tiny Greek woman shortens it.

Head still hurts. There are still Too Many Things Happening all at once. But I can cross the dress off the list, and I had lunch. I don't have a lot of faith in the Aleve, but I'm trying anything to avoid urgent care. My entire right trigeminal nerve is inflamed -- my teeth (upper and lower) hurt on the right side, my right eye is made out of pain, and what hurts the most is my fucking right ear. It's this relentless burny stabby pressure.

Steph, given your severance package, could the job hunt go on pause until the weddding's over (except for anything already in motion) or would that not help your stress level?

I thought about that. I didn't actually expect the 3 places who've contacted me to contact me so quickly, and respond positively. I might do that -- take the editing tests for these 3 places and then hold off on pursuing anything else until after the wedding. But it makes me feel like a deadbeat.

I'm so sorry you're so stressed. Seriously, is there anything you can outsource to Buffistas? I'd love to participate in your wedding in some small way. I have three day weekends, so I could make calls or research things. Sometimes it can help just to have someone to review your to do list and help prioritize.

It's mostly stuff like: write vows, write ceremony, get marriage license, make playlists. Not really outsourceable stuff (although I may be crowdsourcing the playlists here, because DANCE PARTY).

Teppy, I think it is in the nature of cysts to be a bitch and take two or three tries. YCMV.

I'll do the warm compress thing, but I'm really disinclined to call the OB/GYN back. Maybe the Aleve will help that pain, too. Fingers crossed.