Took the rest of the week off and am looking forward to it. Well, looking forward to it being over. Tomorrow we pack all the things, (at least the things we haven't yet packed) and Thursday, the moving van comes. Friday, J leaves with the animals to spend a week with family and then to drive to Michigan with his brother. I move in with my friend Heather for two weeks. I am nervous about every one of those things.

Move ~ma, Scrappy.

My 8 year old would like a purple or blue stripe in her hair - does someone like me, with no experience dying hair, do this with the right product, or should I just take her to my salon (where I got my purple stripe, which may very well be the reason she wants one but heaven forbid anyone tells her she's "just like mom")?

I just had to break up a ball of weirdness where my sister's bf decided the hill he really wanted to die on was yelling at a (Jewish, fwiw) friend to look up nazi in the dictionary because WTF DUDE DOES THAT EVEN MEAN ANYTHING AS AN ARGUMENT

I was wondering what the shit that was about.

Sparky, how about something temporary? I've seen things in the drugstore - temporary haircolor and the chalks (which may not come out easily but still ....) which would let her play but not stay around too long. And won't school be starting soon? I know some schools have rules about "unnatural" hair colors, so that might be an issue.

For those who've sympathized - I spent almost an hour on the phone with tech support. They've worked out a couple of problems - one was with the email setup, one was with the Chrome setup (why didn't the guy do it while he was here Monday? these are known problems but I guess he didn't think it was important?) so I may survive this.

I'm still hoping someone steals the damn thing.

And Hil - Godwin himself (originator of the rule) says it's perfectly OK to call them Nazis ... they ARE.

I was wondering what the shit that was about.

Sis was mortified to an extent that I'm pretty sure means he spent last night getting edumacated rather forcefully.

Today I have both a mammogram and a pelvic ultrasound scheduled, and the latter means that they want me to drink 32 ounces of water 1 hour before.

I am staring at the water in front of me. I think it might be winning.

amych, I missed the whole thing but it sounds like he needed a talking to.

Dana, show that water who's boss!

I have talked to the office person for my landlord. At this point I am planning to watch it until after my vacation and then will type up a letter and leave it for my roommate since he won't let me finish a sentence. I will ask him to move out, which I assume he will refuse to do, and then offer to flip a coin, which I am also assuming he will refuse to do, and then lay out what will happen when one of us gives notice. Assuming he refuses to leave or I lose the coin toss, I will give notice at the end of September and leave at the end of October. God, the thousands of dollars I have lost in pet deposits and paying two rents so I can move at my leisure and the safety deposit from my last place I never got back… it really sucks. I hate being financially shaky and having to rely on the generosity of friends and family so often. I know I'm lucky to have that support, but it's not a good feeling.

Anyway! Back to those damn interminable shutters.

Ugh, smonster, I am enraged on your behalf. I wish there was something we could do. But you know where we are if/when it's time to move!

If I had the money I would totally do crazy colored hair, but I also don't have the patience to keep it up, either.

Toddson, may it al l be resolved to your satisfaction. And a pox on that IT guy.

I went to Pilates, taught by a friend who's been out of town, and caught up with her a bit after. And then I went to Pete's and had a couple of drinks, and all is right with the world. My roommate can't even look me in the eyes. I feel sorry for his sad little life, full of imagined trauma and pineapple vodka. Right now I'm at peace with what is. Remind me of that when I'm in moving hell, please.

Nine days to vacation, bitches.

I have an army behind me of Buffistas and family and friends, and with that I can keep moving. Tipsy, me? Maybe. Now to feed neighborfam cats and go to bed.

Lake Tahoe has stolen my heart yet again. I love it up here. I'm glad I decided to stay up here tonight and tomorrow before heading home on Friday.

This morning, I woke up, listened for voices and then went back to sleep a few times before I finally looked at the time. I ended up sleeping until 10:30am. Ahhhh, vacation. I drove up to Tahoe to meet up with the rest of my cousins and all the kids. There are 20 people staying in the rented house and it was barely managed chaos. I got to snuggle a 3 month old and a 10 month old, tickle the 3 year old, and then have deep conversations with the sweetest 5 year old. There are also 5 boys from 3 - 8 who were running all over the house and the yard. Not sure if they ever really noticed I was there. I also got to chat with my cousin and her adult kids.

For anyone trying to keep track - my aunt had 3 girls who are all older than me and are the closest I've ever had to having siblings. They had 11 kids between them. Now all but two of those 11 are married. They have 15 kids between them with another three on due to arrive in January. Not everyone in here but it has been years since I've seen many of the folks who are here.