vw, I know who you mean. Rosemary, who's never met her, is severely uncomfortable with the idea of a stranger staying with us. I've only met her in person a handful of times, so I can't fairly vouch for her, either.

Sounds fun, Sue.

I like mustard. Maybe as a hallway color? Not sure.

Speaking of fun - today's Google doodle could eat up a lot of my time if I let it, I suspect.

That's really tough, but I hope the friend figures out a solution quickly.

Less tough, in the grander scheme of things:

Let's say someone stashed a bottle of water in her purse next to her iPad, Kindle and iPhone and said bottle was NOT in fact fully closed.

Anyone have preferences/recommendations for tablets these days? The other two appear to have survived, but the iPad may be kaput. It's an iPad 2, and used mostly for email, internetting and stupid games. Also recently a bit of streaming video through Amazon Prime. The ability to do a little more with work stuff would not be a bad thing eg WebEx, PPT, etc. - my vague understanding is that other companies are better than Apple at that stuff.

Do you want a 10' or a 7'? The 7' Nexus is pretty slick. As for other tablets, I'm a Samsung zealot. It'd need to be verified, but they're also making noises of being more professional tools.

Of course, there's always the Microsoft Surface.

I've never used a 7". Part of me thinks that might be on the small side for usability, especially if I was actually able to do work stuff, but it would certainly be more portable. I'll take a look at those.

Speaking of fun - today's Google doodle could eat up a lot of my time if I let it, I suspect.

Oh man, that is fun.

So I am going to see Hamlet in London on my friend's 30th birthday next year.

Ha! I was at my doctor Thursday, and she was talking about how she got tickets for that show when she goes to London next year! So you might be at the show with my Midwestern GP!

I lust after a Surface SOOOO bad. Right now, my "If D gets a really good job' dreams are a Surface, a Roomba, a really nice pair of mid-heel leather boots, a 90 minute massage, and a brow wax. (I'd like to finally have a wedding ring and a honeymoon, too, but I'm not going to get all crazy with my wishlist.)

Ugh, summer needs to be over SOON. I have, in fact, broken, and my poor kids are just stuck with me. And I'm a bitch, really.

Today I am trying to tread lightly as there is too much to do and we won't get to the end by pushing everyone through it. Starts with a dental appointment in an hour, and I need to drive the broken down van. Wish me safe travels! And then later I need to take the kids to DH's work so I can meet with a lawyer for about an hour, then take everyone up to the boy's school for a meeting there.

Good luck with your day, Burrell.

Erin, we have tickets for mid-September.

I don't think I've mentioned it here, but I spent thurs-sun at my parents helping to take care of my dad. He's due for a hip replacement in....9 days, but in the meantime, his hip has kind of given out. He can't stand on it without excruciating pain, and we've been with him pretty much around the clock. We can't really let my mom take care of him, either. (She's given him alcohol, even though he's on dilaudid, at least twice that we know of.) my sister has also had to battle with his jerk of a doctor for proper pain meds. He was only permitting Tylenol for this pain...they had to take him to the ER For stronger meds. Anyway, I have today and tomorrow off, which is nice, but I feel slightly guilty about not being home to help out. I didn't realize how much pain he was in when I booked my travel. I'm hoping that they'll hire someone to help out, but it will depend on my parents agreeing, which isn't likely. Ah, aging parents are tough.

Oof, that sounds rough, Sue. Good luck to all of you with everything. I hear great things about hip replacements, at least. And you have that trip to look forward to!

Good luck making it through, Burrell.