I am not sure what I think about this wine. I don't hate it, which is a little surprising, but I don't know that I would go so far as to say I like it. But maybe I would? Maybe I need to try it with some food.

Do you have cheese? Maybe a strong cheese? They balance the sweetness of a gewurztraminer.

The majority of my friends are still single, more than half of my college friends, so all my age and many of them have never bought homes. Together with pooled resources we could buy where alone we could not. I am mulling over that as an idea. Also mulling over traveling around for an extended period before moving, but not sure how that would play out with regard to getting a job. All of that has me seriously looking at money saving options for the next 4-5 years. How m

Those are very interesting thoughts, msbelle. What year is mac going into right now?

My ideal would be for some friends to move into my triplex, or like, next door/across the alley. That would be awesome.

I had a shiner prickly pear tonight--I made some asparagus and onion and chicken sausages on the grill and my next door neighbor brought over salad and the beer. And then ate lots of watermelon.

mac starts 9th grade next year.

sara, Baltimore is still very high on the list and it is the most affordable by far. In fact, since I have openly talked about the fact that I will move out of Texas barring a disaster, my parents are taking a trip this summer to Annapolis to have a look around that area. In August they should get a good feel for the humidity.

Thanks, Jesse, I'll check on those things. Especially soothing Nature sounds.

Why are your cats yowling?

They were upset because I was acting oddly.

My ideal would be for some friends to move into my triplex, or like, next door/across the alley. That would be awesome

I want my friends to move in to the houses on my little street. Or pool our resources and buy a big house where we all can live without killing each other.

Sail, I am not trying to like it, I am genuinely not sure if I do or not. I expected to clearly and unambiguously not care for it at all.

Cheese is a good thought. The salad I am about to have has chunks of blue cheese in it, maybe that will help clarify my opinion.

Walter talked me into a short walk. There is no way my heart rate truly averaged 188 bpm ambling leisurely around the neighborhood.

They were upset because I was acting oddly.

I guess I'm lucky that none of my animals have ever taken me seriously.

I wish I lived somewhere with more Buffistas and fewer degrees above 90.

In August they should get a good feel for the humidity.

Ahahah! Yes, they will. My parents complain about the humidity at 50% when it was 75.

My windows are open and I'm rejoicing then!

But I get it.

Oh, Zen, I'm so sorry you had to go through that, but also so glad that your sister called and could be with you and love you, even if she didn't altogether understand. Sometimes the withness is enough.

msbelle, you are doing monumental life and home work. If I could afford it, I'd fly you out here to Etsy/Craigslist our place and life-plan me up.

ION, I am feeling unsettled and discomfited... found out yesterday that Rage!Nurse, the bane of my existence a few years ago, is retiring due to the return of a cancer that had been mostly in remission for the last decade. Found out today that she's been in the hospital all week, and is being discharged in the next couple of days to go home to die.

I don't hate her anymore, but I'm not sure that I forgive her, and it makes me uneasy to be still holding onto this grievance about someone on her actual, imminent deathbed. But what does she need my forgiveness for? I don't think she thinks she ever did anything that merits forgiveness. I was looking at old LJ entries a few weeks ago and they were unreal -- the abusiveness, the fury, the venom, the total unpredictableness of each explosion and my own abject hopeless suicidal self-loathing. It was fucking insane, and not one person stepped in even though multiple people all over our end of the building had heard many instances of it, and it kind of broke me. And since I left she's been nothing but sunny and sweet and doting, and I really think she doesn't remember any of it.

But it did happen, and I know just enough about her life to know that she's a pretty miserable human, and now she has to face death in all her misery. I feel morally obligated to at least try to forgive her (not forget, but at least let go and let the rage die with her), but all I can manage is a sick sort of pity. It doesn't feel good.

when I first moved here I would have loved for people to move near me, but I don't want to stay here now. If I had to stay in Texas I would probably want to move to Austin, but Austin is a young city and the only people I really know there are my married cousins who are 10 - 12 years younger than me. Plus the allergies I suffer from here each winter are worse there.

I am going to be a single 50 year old empty nester when I move, I am having a hard time recognizing myself in that sentence.

I want a city, not the burbs, and not a small town. I want some culture, some food, some uniqueness. I would love some walkability and/or public transportation even if only in my immediate neighborhood. I want community.

Sorry for the rough night, Zen. Glad you're feeling better.

JZ, it'll probably take some time for you to come to terms with things.