Velvet shirt alert: [link]

meara, I had some sticker shock when I bought tickets this year, too. I really hope I can find work closer to family soon, so I never have to be in an airport within a month of Christmas.

Your mom might kinda like the idea of being in a more manageable space, but the thought of getting there could be intimidating. Perhaps if you and your sister offered to come by and help them sort through their things and handle the actual moving part, that would be useful?

I have one of these on the way to me [link]

meara, the kids did the bulk of the work getting my folks moved. There is also a national chain called "Caring Transitions" that will help sort through stuff and get elders moved into smaller spaces.

But you and your sister are going to have to step up if you want to make it happen. I'm on my way to work now, but if you want to chat about it, drop me an email.

My desk is lowered, hooray!

Everything that was on my desk is in a different place, of course. I guess I know what my first task today should be.

She was very satisfied with them, and whenever there was something to fix they were easy to reach and came promptly.

That's good to know!

also frustrating: buying tickets to get home for Christmas. $750, oy!

Word.

Hahahahaha now that my desk is the correct height, the skylight is leaking (at a rate of about 6 drops/hour) onto my document holder and one suggested solution is to temporarily move me to another cubicle for the day. Joy.

My Internet choices are Time-Warner or AT&T. Google Fiber almost reaches, but not quite.

Thanks Consuela—I may email you. My sister has been helping them and is trying to help mom get rid of a lot of stuff, but while she's not a hoarder she is a bit of "child of a depression era parent" and has a LOT of crap (they've lived in the house over 30 years) and has a hard time getting rid of it. Last Christmas we talked about moving (they've toured a bunch of places locally) and she was like "it just seems like so much effort!" And we were like "it will never be any LESS effort??" And lo and behold now Dad has been sick for 9 months and she's stressed. We think she's basically waiting for him to die and then move but that still won't really be easier...we also want her to get some help for dad and are working on that too. We are willing to do lots, but can't without agreement...

My sister said last week she was like "ok. Let's tackle one corner of the kitchen. You have 11 vests you use when walking the dogs, on the coat rack. Can we narrow that down to say 4?" And mom started crying about how stressful her year has been—and brought up my sister losing her foster daughter. Which I was like "way to make it all about you, mom—[sister] gets to be the inner circle of that "only complain out" ring, not you!!"

I think I may be getting my dad a sous vide immersion cooker.

Nice. I love mine.