Took my BFF to the doctor's for an upper GI thing. They knocked her out, so she needed a driver. We are back at her place. My 12 year old...ummm...daughter's boyfriend's daughter and my BFF's 12 year old son have been hanging out and actually been excellent about letting her sleep and me try to work.

BFF's boyfriend is here, but he is kinda a jerk and he can't drive her if something comes up (no license), so I'm hanging until she wakes up.

You're a good friend, Suzi.

Good luck smonster! It's ok to not see him immediately again if you don't want. Once a week can be plenty...

Hahaha. Well, as it turns out, twice a week is not enough for him and it's unfair of me to ask. Dude, are you 34 or 13? We can't hold hands after school every day, and I don't want to anyway. I have a life, and its busy and full, and I am not looking for someone to monopolize my time and attention. So I shan't be seeing him again. He kept saying he'd respect my boundaries but then thought it was cute to push them. Not cute.

Yeah, that is no good, smonster. I'm sorry.

Blergh. Yeah, best bet is being done with him.

Ugh, gross, smonster.

Tep, that list of things to deal with made me want to hide under the bed just reading it. You are so totally not being selfish. I hope you are able to get some space and some relief very soon.

Strix, all ~ma for you and D and family. It's good to see your pixels here.

Zen, your blood and internal organs need to stay inside your body. I'm prepared to be firm about this if necessary.

Jessica, Divorced Dad here sounds like, shall we say, a real piece of work. Trying to rope your kid in on his side just adds an extra layer of creepy and thoughtless to the mix. Block early, block often, I say.

smonster, my wish for you is to find someone (or someones, if that's your preference) who will appreciate your many sterling qualities and also be interpersonally-aware enough to give you space when you want/need it.

Bev, I hope you get the most out of having the house to yourself for a while, and that you and H celebrate being re-united in a glorious and silly fashion when it happens.

Everybody else, I'm still here and still reading. I'm terribly fond of all of you. Thank you for taking such good care of one another; it's a balm to the soul to come in and read some of my favourite people supporting one another.

Lovely to see you, Karl. I hope you and yours are doing well.

The bestest part of H being away for a bit is that Buffistas get to see more of Beverly. Yes, I am that selfish!

So I have a tentative plan for leaving FL and heading to NY for the summer. Leaving early on the 24th and stopping to stay with my niece in Charlotte that evening. (maybe 9-10 hours) Then the next day either driving 12-13 hours and getting to my bed, or possibly stopping around Harrisburg, PA and finishing off the next morning. I really won't know how I am holding out with the long drive until I do it. Also my sons are making noises that they should help me, or DH, but I haven't made a decision on that yet. I have done it on my own a few times. I can drive from sun up to sun down. I won't drive at night.

Hi, Karl!

Strix, ~ma for D and his family, and you.

Sorry about INTENSE guy, smonster.

Jess, if someone emailed my kid without first clearing it with me, and dragged them into some whiny bullshit drama, I'd go ballistic on them.

I cringed in sympathy/empathy reading your post.

Me too, Steph. That schedule would make me cry even if I didn't have any Other Stuff going on. Also? Actual friends will understand if you say, I love y'all but family's priority and in the middle of all this I just need some quiet downtime at home. Friends don't expect you to put a party above your own mental and physical health. They might be disappointed but they'll still love you.

And remember that being disappointed not to see you is not the same as being disappointed with you.

Edit: Also kudos for bringing it here. I'm just realizing how much I shut down and retreat into my own head when I'm getting overwhelmed.

Thanks for making that point, Epic. I do the same thing, and I've been doing it the last week. I was managing okay with the broken leg, but the hospital visit and everything around that about did me in. I finally had a tearful breakdown in the hospital. It was just too much all at once. I'm trying to stay optimistic and cheerful, but damn I'm ready for this mess to be over with. I'm ready to go back to my normal regular life. Tomorrow I have a follow-up with the hemotologist to check where my iron levels are, and as of today the bleeding seems to have finally stopped (shhh don't jinx it) after bleeding for a solid 48 days without pause. I've been just retreating into the internet to get away from it all. Luckily (?) there's a real-life House of Cards going on to keep me distracted.

Hi Karl! Thanks for the wishes.