The knocking things over part is one of the reasons I am dubious about getting a cat. The part where they purr is a positive.

holy crap the madness at the mall in Nairobi.

So trying to not think about that. Not asking my sister if her friends are okay or if that's where we shopped when we were there (I guess every country's malls tend to look the same in the end), because that would mean processing, and I'm not.

Matt, can you get Dustbunny inside yet? Don't wait, okay? He might disappear.

No, Molly picks on him pretty fiercely and I don't want to put him in a situation where he's in an enclosed space with her and can't get away or run to his mother for safety (she usually sticks pretty close to him). He's not really to the point where I could snatch him up anyway, Molly and Jackson were consistently following me around before I wrangled them inside.

I wondered about that myself, Matt! I should have expected you'd have it under control.

I've been to Home Depot and back, they didn't give any problem with returned the bulbs despite an open package, and even directly credited my ATM card. That's pretty slick.

Getting Ben through college fills me with terror and dread, financially anyway.

I can't even think about the incident in the Nairobi mall. How is that the world we live in?

I also need to get serious about quitting smoking, but that fills me with terror and dread, too. It will sound stupid to non-smokers, but it's hard to think about quitting when you're convinced every day is going to be awful without cigarettes.

Ugh, Amy, I hear you. Try the gum or e-cig? When I fake-quit once, I used the gum, and it helped a lot. It's not cheap, but I didn't use as many pieces as they thought I would need.

I think the e-cig would help some, behaviorally, but I'm worried about the actual nicotine withdrawal. I've been a smoker for a LONG time.

I've also realized how much I use it as a crutch just to get away for a few minutes. When you smoke, you can head outside by yourself, and no one wants to go with (unless they smoke, too). And a lot of the time, it's not even about the cigarette, it's just about a quick breather.

I have a lot of friends who like the e cigs. You can make your own stuff to put in it and work down the nicotine until its just flavor and no nicotine.

Oh, absolutely. Maybe a bigger school is easier? My freshman year college roommate was Prep-for-Prep at Andover, and she did OK. Of course, she found a cohort to the extent that she couldn't talk to me for a big chunk of the year, due to her sorority's pledging rules.

Eh, I went to a big public school and also found freshman year easier than senior year (fewer classes and more free time!). Though later that changed, it was all my own slacker fault. (I mean, yes, my public school had international baccalaureate, but also metal detectors and a nursery)

When you smoke, you can head outside by yourself, and no one wants to go with (unless they smoke, too). And a lot of the time, it's not even about the cigarette, it's just about a quick breather.

Yeah, I had a boss once who only smoked when she was really stressed out, so she wasn't addicted at all, and finally just realized she could for a five-minute walk without actually smoking.

I've also realized how much I use it as a crutch just to get away for a few minutes. When you smoke, you can head outside by yourself, and no one wants to go with (unless they smoke, too). And a lot of the time, it's not even about the cigarette, it's just about a quick breather.

That was the hardest thing for me when I quit, especially since my boss smoked and so needing a break every two hours to go have a cigarette was totally understandable, but just taking a break to take a break was weird.

Withdrawal (for me anyway) was like having a the flu for about a week, bad for the first three days and then not so bad, and that was it for the physical effects. Psychologically, well, that was 15 years ago and I still have those maybe-a-cigarette-would-help instincts even though I am pretty sure that actually taking a puff would just make me cough and generally feel awful at this point.