Yeah, I am at the weddings and funerals only point with Mass. Of course, that would be kinda in the nothing changes category, except when I was in Catholic school it was in Latin.

I'm applying to 2 study-away courses (January in Cuba and spring break in DC) and each of them requires a 500-word essay and now I remember how much I hate writing cover letters. What unique attributes do I bring to the program? I'M A FUCKING ADULT AND I WANT TO GO TO CUBA, THAT'S WHAT.

Cannot help with anything cover letter like, but I wanted to thank you, Jessica, for reminding me about the rumble jar. I finally used mine to make coffee and it is very nice indeed.

That might be a unique attribute you bring to a program? Somehow? I am bad at this.

Timelies all!

Well, Mr. S got suspended again. They want us to bring in an aide for him, so we need to find that.

Sigh...this plus another night where he woke up and wanted to sleep in our bed, plus spending most of the afternoon at the car dealer for routine maintenance has left me rather stressed and unhappy.

I'm so sorry, Sheryl.

I am feeling pleased with myself for making a deal to do a short podcast's worth of housework -- 25 minutes and I did the vacuuming and gave the kitchen and bathroom floors a lick and a promise each! (NB: Not an actual lick.)

I'm sorry, Sheryl.

Gold star, Jesse!

I'd like to thank my neighbor for choosing tonight to blast his music (which vaguely sounds like crappy jazz), as if he waited until I was a week and a half into an intractable migraine.

The other possibility is that he's practicing on his own stupid guitar.

I saw the Forbidden Floors of the convent yesterday! Although, since they've been converted into classrooms and offices, it was less exciting than I expected.

The class party part of the reunion was not as awkward as I feared. The funniest part was when one of my classmates came back to the party room from the bathroom in the main bar -- our party was at a bar -- and said "I walked past this guy who looked at me and said 'Go cougars!' And my kids' school mascot is Cougars, so I was excited for a minute, until I realized he was a stranger, so he wasn't talking about my kids' school -- he was talking about US!" [pause] "Should I go back out there and throw a beer on him?"

I told her that she was obligated to throw a beer on him to defend our collective honor. And then I got sidetracked by wondering what makes someone stereotype a woman as a cougar -- it's not *just* being a certain age, right? It's that the woman has a much younger partner that leads to the "cougar" classification. And none of us had partners with us, so therefore it was a nomenclature error. (Literally, at my 30-year high school reunion, I said the phrase "nomenclature error" out loud in response to being [collectively] referred to as cougars. My best friend was like "THAT'S the part you're focusing on?" And I said "Yes! Precision is important!")

SPOILER: my classmate did not go throw a beer on the guy, although I really REALLY encouraged her to do it.

The weird -- and kind of cool part -- about it being our 30-year reunion is that we talked about kids, but also aging parents. And about spouses, but also about menopause (a group of 30 women who are in their late 40s is an excellent way to crowdsource ways to deal with menopause).

A cougar could also be on the prowl for younger partners. Perhaps he thought y'all were hunting as a pack.

That sounds pretty great, glad to hear it!

Perhaps he thought y'all were hunting as a pack.

I didn't even consider that -- that's hilarious!