After Darth Ratzenberg it's nice to have a pontiff who actually emulates Jesus instead of just using his biography to rationalize prejudice.

I think he is actually the Emperor, but otherwise I support your statement.

I kinda view it as my mom have a very long pout that she is not having the life she expected. No wedding of her children when they were young, no bio grand-children - a gay child, a grandchild that is a lot of work. wah wah wah.

This is not in defense of your mother's response to your brother's engagement, msbelle. But I can so understand that feeling of expectations not being what reality is. Grace is not the kid I dreamed of or expected at all. Then there is also the guilt and upset that you even feel disappointed with reality, that it doesn't really detract from the people you love in reality. It's a complicated place to be emotionally.

Oh, I get it. I am living in Texas after all and that was never part of the plan.

I have eaten pastries. And pasta carbonara.

I knew it would be hot, I knew there was no air conditioning (though there will be at our Munich hotel), and I knew that Europeans don't generally believe in ice. It was just...really hot, and we were climbing hills.

As Fiona said, the heat broke today, so the next couple of days will be nice before it gets hot again.

Tomorrow, art, and shopping for Swarovski jewelry.

msbelle, I know that you get it, which doesn't make it suck any less. Is your brother upset by this too?

I have eaten pastries.

::fist pump::

He is less outwardly upset then me, but I think it hurts him.

I think he just wants his family to be happy for him and celebrate with him. But I also think he is at terms that if they will not meet him where he is, that he has made enough of a family for himself that he can just keep visits with them to a minimum and contact to civility.

He is my best friend and you know how emotional I get about crap. My people being hurt just makes me screamy mad.

Internet flame wars? There is a psychological reason for it.

[link]

I can see why it makes you angry, msbelle. Engagement and marriage are things to be celebrated, period. No place in that for parental pouting. Congrats to your brother!

In today's news, the plan for the day is to go check on my sister and take her to a doctor's appointment. We'll likely get the path report finally, and then we'll know what we're dealing with. Meanwhile the housecleaners are here so I haven't been able to get in the kitchen and make myself breakfast yet. I'm starving.

I have eaten pastries. And pasta carbonara.

Yay, delicious foodstuffs!

(I was reading an article this morning and a guy was named John Wren. I spent a few moments thinking how sweet it was that John Reese married one of Harold's aliases.)