Silently apologizes once again to my mother for all the teenage angst she endured. 4 of us, 3 girls and 1 boy were teenagers at the same time. She was truly a saint. {{parental units}}

And yet in the middle of her rage she wouldn't cross the street alone, but waited for me every single time. Horrifiadorable.

Sorry, but that really is adorable. I am dreading ltc's teenage years. She is already the most stubborn child that I have ever met, and sadly, I know where she gets it from.

Tom, I'm sorry you had anxiety because that's painful.

But you didn't fail at anything. You weren't having fun, so you left. That's a perfectly logical response to a lack of fun and it's good self-care.

I'm only seeing success here, man.

Going to the party was a good choice - and by definition was you being social. It turned out to be a drag so you changed plans. The most social people you'll ever know do just that.

All of what Trudy said. You went to the party, you didn't have fun, so you left.

I finished the genealogy course with an A-. I'll get a certificate!

Yay, Hil!

That's great, Hil!

Result!

So, it transpires that John Kerry was in Melbourne today, giving a speech on climate change: [link] I found this out because Biyi was in the audience! She was interpreting for one of the attendees. Apparently he's quite an impressive speaker. I'm feeling a bit jealous.

me too. I feel like Kerry got a bad rap. Tom, sorry it sucked, but that's not a failing of yours. (although I can relate, because most socializing requires so much arranging, between logistical hurdles and homebody-mom-as-driver...although, at least she knows what I mean when I say "Mom, I'm like a day and a half from running my Warren glasses against the door and shouting "attica!") that anything less than a transcendent event can seem like a huge disappointment. and most things aren't that awesome here.

I went to the dentist today. I have to drive back to Brevard because my dentist is awesome and it's worth the drive. Although I've been procrastinating and haven't found a doctor down here and it's September. Anyway I was running late and they accommodated me. I didn't see my regular dentist but saw his brother who assured me my teeth are good, except the one that we all know about but it should be next year before I have to do anything.

I forgot my night guard and it needs to be filed down a bit. So he gave me the blue strips to make a bite mark and told me how to use an emery board to file the spot down. Or he said to call them and let them know I need a few minutes next time I'm in town and they will work me in.

We bitched about United Healthcare/dental care for awhile. United sucks. He said that United is the only insurance that won't pay for a crown when a crown has come off. It's the only way to replace it and they still balk. Last year I had United and they wouldn't pay for my crown because I had several small, deep cracks in my tooth and not 1 big one. The down side was my blood pressure was really really high. High enough the hygienist asked if I had seen a doctor recently.

But I chalked it up to the stress of being late etc. Although it's worrying that my blood pressure got that high. I checked it again at Wal Mart's pharmacy and it was in an ok range but still it's higher than it's been before and I can't act like I don't know why (my weight, lack of exercise, bad diet). I've been doing some yoga but I need to figure out low impact cardio because my feet have been bothering me and I don't need the extra stress on them