"I do have super powers. Super shedding and super naps. I have the powers of a cat."

The cat super powers should stand him in good stead. Vikings and cats go way back.

erika, there is part of me wondering how old I was when I became mature enough to realize that something like that is the opposite of cute and fearing the truth might be "older than I'd care to admit".

bonny, I hope that the fostering goes well for you, that you and Cagney get more joy than fuss and bother or heartache out of it.

I think some of us may appreciate this: The NASCAR fan at work indicated to me that he loves Valentines's Day because it means racing season starts again in a couple weeks.

More important than that, 10 days till first Spring Training game. It's almost baseball season!!!

What Omnis said. To me the start of baseball season means there is an end in sight to winter.

It's snowing again. Which means I probably ought to wait until it stops snowing, and they've plowed the roads, before going to get my car, which will then be under even more snow.

So, Ryan was feeling brave today, and we watched an episode of Planet Dinosaur. This one featured Spinosaurus, the largest dino predator known, and Carcharodontosaurus, a shark-toothed carnivore larger than Tyrannosaurus rex. Remarkable having two such apex predators coexisting in one environment. Ryan enjoyed it a lot, and spent the rest of the day telling me he was baby Spinosaurus and I was daddy Spinosaurus.

In addition to these two giants, the program also showed a third theropod. This one was still big by our standards, but at 6 metres long was less than half the length of its two neighbours. Its skull was also weak for subduing prey, so it's assumed to have been a scavenger.

Ryan asked me at this point:

"What's that dinosaur, Daddy?"
"Oh, that one is called Rugops."
"Rugops? ...Oh! [starts singing] RUGOPS THE RED-NOSED REINDEER, HAD A VERY SHINY NOSE..."

And so, to the board I bequeath the image of Santa's sleigh being pulled by a bevy of these beauties: [link]

Yeah, it's just stupid, not a hate crime or anything, so I don't feel like eating his lunch over it(it's tiring, explaining all the time, and also? I already feel like a rotten-toothed spinster already this month. Nothing picks up the spirits like "Ableism Whack-A_Mole.)

This world is all the better for having such a Ryan in it. Sadly I was not able to fully enjoy the riches of his imagination as the link did not work, but I can look it up on my own in a few minutes.

Yeah, erika, this time of year can mightily suck for feeling like one's essential fortitude sucked away. Anybody else's idea of what is appropriate and/or cute doesn't have to be the tall building for your advocacy super powers to leap.

Good gravy, I hope that tortured metaphor worked out to something supportive of what you are actually thinking and feeling. It kind of got away from me, and now I'm not even sure what it means.

This link might work better.

[link]

It's fine, thanks anyway.