Whoa, Consuela. That sounds....extreme.

Because he is a federal employee, mr. flea is fairly unlikely to be fired, but he hates everything at work so much right now I'm afraid he'll quit. Quit his "dream job" that we moved to Ohio for. ARGH.

Oh god, flea.

I think I was lucky enough to have my BFF in the same class all through elementary school.

I was just talking about this last weekend -- I think my best friend and I were in different second grade classes, but together aside from that. Granted, there were only two classes per grade in my school, but I wondered if it ever actually came up to either keep us together or separate us?

Of course! I know I've seen your dishes but I don't remember, what do you have?

At this point, the pieces from three different sets that have survived both me and all of my moving.

I should maybe do something about that.

I'm sorry, Dana. How sucktastic.

Flea, could you find your own dream job somewhere, move the family for it, and have your DH wrassle the kid stuff?

With the exception of the wee but beautifully growing boy, this Friday is fucking up royally, and hurting people I love, and I DO NOT LIKE IT.

I am so sorry, Dana, and I sincerely hope that karma devours your husband's shitty now-ex-boss from beneath, or eats her starting from her bottom. She fully deserves both.

Oh, flea, I feel both your pain and your DH's.

I can barely even think about Matilda and how lonely and disappointed she's feeling, or I'll start bawling at work.

Poor Matilda.

Suela, I am also in the "omg how do these people get hired?!!" place

And just had a two and a half hour phone call with someone who can talk around an issue all day but not answer it. Jesus. At least my boss was on and understands it's NOT just me having issues with this man.

That's awful, flea. I'm sorry that your husband is hating his "dream job", and really sorry you are in such a demanding role of emotional caretaker on top of everything else you do.

Lee, if you like any of these [link] I can get them for you at a better price than that shows. (Probably. If they are on very deep discount already maybe not) Also, 3.5 months to the outlet sale

I was mostly not in classes with my bestest friends in elementary school. Or high school, for that matter. 5th grade, yes, but I met her in that class and then she went to a different school for 6th.

Minor triumph of the day - I noticed while watching Mr. Holmes that their saucers were more bowl-shaped than plate-shaped and thought I should use one of my little shallow bowls as a saucer for my Chinese teacup that didn't come with a saucer but needs one (I have previously used a saucer from my tea set but the little indentation for holding cups is not quite the right size so it's almost worse than having no indentation, and then a little plate I bought for the purpose which is okay) and the little bowl works great! Easier to hold while drinking, catches any dripping tea in a more final way, more stable while carrying the cup back from the water cooler, generally yay.

my big issue is I am having so much trouble running a family and working full-time. I simply don't have enough energy at the end of the day to manage the emotions of everyone in my family (about to be 12, going to high school, hormones; 9, stubborn as fuck and makes brushing teeth into an hour long fight every night; 46, stubborn as fuck and wants to complain about work nonstop) as well as do the things that need doing like feeding and clothing everyone.

Ugh, this is what I am dreading about going back to work. Too many demands on me, physically, logistically, and emotionally. I went in yesterday to say hi to folks, meet my maternity leave replacement, and show off the baby, and my boss literally could not say a single nice thing about the school or what's been going on there over the summer. I know she gets frustrated easily and doesn't have a lot of people to vent to, but I don't know if I can take another year of being her sounding board for all the stuff she hates.

Oh, poor Matilda. Does she have many other opportunities to see her friends? Can she eat lunch with them, or see them at recess?

Sheryl, glad to hear the little guy is doing well!

You have some real prize coworkers, Consuela.

JFC, I just discovered that people (who should know) think that Monday is fine for an "August 15" deadline. I've been trying to get it done today!

At least I have a beer, thanks to someone's going away party. It's nice how literally two sips of beer in the office makes me more relaxed.

ION, I have a hankering for tuna casserole. The highly-rated ones on allrecipes.com have many comments about blandness and dryness. Does anyone here have a tuna casserole recipe they like?