Very cool. Thanks, Brenda!

So, I'm turning 50 in June.

I'm turning 50 on Friday. Last year during my covid birthday party we talked big plans about how next year when I turn 50 it will be a big deal and a big party and all of that.

looks around at country

Yeah.

I fear I will fall into a single-childless-nobody-loves-me hole of DOOM depression.

Ugh. I hear you on that I’ve definitely been there in the past (though as I told my doctor the other day I’ve been very impressed at the heavy lifting my antidepressant has been doing in this pandemic, I’ve not had this feeling nearly as much as I’d expect otherwise!)

I hear you ND. My big 50 vacation is on indefinite hold.

There was a ... TikTok, I think ... of a young woman reading her 2020 New Year's plans. She read them and commented on how each went - get a new job that pays more (was laid off), travel more and so on. It was hard to tell if she was laughing or crying at them.

I fear I will fall into a single-childless-nobody-loves-me hole of DOOM depression.

Ugh. I hear you on that I’ve definitely been there in the past (though as I told my doctor the other day I’ve been very impressed at the heavy lifting my antidepressant has been doing in this pandemic, I’ve not had this feeling nearly as much as I’d expect otherwise!)

I'm still unmedicated - my depression is mild enough (and sporadic enough) that I've just been dealing. To be SUPER-cliched, I'm also PMSing this week, I think (that's also pretty sporadic these days), and I've always been Depression rather than Rage with PMS. Unlike you, I'm way introverted, so the pandemic hasn't been a trial to me in that way. I just think the milestone-ness of a birthday year that ends in zero will be a PROBLEM if I don't do something to make it an OCCASION. I was largely OK with the low-key (no-key?) 49, but 50? I foresee it being an issue.

I also tend not to ask for help. I forget how much I live in my own head and forget to reach out. So, yay me for being proactive this year? And yay you guys for trying to help!

It was hard to tell if she was laughing or crying at them.

I identify with this feel.

Yeah, the time around my birthday always tends to be a little melancholy since I'm 4/16 and my dad was 4/20, so missing him is always wrapped up in things. I'm in more of a funk about still being under Covid restrictions as another birthday rolls around than I really expected to be.

Yeah, I still remember packing up my desk in March of last year, sure I'd be back well before my birthday. The fact that we're still here, over a year later....it really does weigh on you. I mean, I'm glad we've finally got light at the end of the tunnel, but it's been a long-ass tunnel.

But hey, allow me to be the first to say, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY EVE, ND!!"

On Friday - 4/16 - DC is celebrating Emancipation Day, for what that's worth. In previous years, it would fall on 4/15 and give everyone an extra day to file their taxes.

Does anyone have any experience of the US side of the falls? Other than my friends in PA choosing to take me to the Canadian side instead and, uh, Wonderfalls, I know nothing about it.

I went when I was attending a wedding in Buffalo. I mostly remember it being crowded and the little rain jackets being really warm (you get/buy a cheap slicker that is not much more than a garbage bag to keep you dry at the falls)