Belated Happy Birthday, Beverly; B's birthday twin. He turned 21 yesterday, if you can believe that.

Fiona that cannot possibly be true! What?! Full grown adult??

I am awake in the middle of the night again but this time because I had friends over for dinner and a movie and ended up with an awful migraine in the middle of it and had to be like “sorry do your think I’m going to bed”. They were lovely and cleaned up and left me leftovers in the fridge. I was trying to avoid taking my migraine meds because I have some testing on Tuesday and i think they might mess that up but eventually I gave in. Wish I’d given in sooner.

Yay for dresses! It must be so exciting to have this new freedom.

Turns out J has landed with one of the best foster parents that a kid can get. And he is going to school (he hadn't been) and he is actually communicating again with my mom and my aunt.

That is very good news, askye.

I hope you are feeling much better today, Hil.

There are books, and unscented goats milk soap, and a tiny carrot cake--on fire! It's been lovely.

As it should be! Happy belated wishes, although the wishes for your happiness never expire.

He turned 21 yesterday, if you can believe that.

What!! Dang people, I am feeling old here.

I hope the head is better today, meara.

We were away for the weekend. My cousins, and various kids, spouses, and others were gathering in Homosassa Springs (nearish to Tampa) so last moment I decided to join them. My cousins moved away when we were kids and we are all in our 60s and 70s now, but it was as comfy as if we were together all the time. 4 of us spent varying amounts of time working on a big jigsaw puzzle on the coffee table. (I have to say I was a rockstar with the pieces). There was fishing from the dock, and manatees, and large cranes and other birds in abundance. It was just lovely and complete relaxation. One of the cousins and his girlfriend will come this way and stay with me for a while starting next weekend.

One of the really lovely parts of visiting with this crew is that they are my most politically liberal branch of the family. Our mothers were very active Democrats and they raised us all to be involved. One of the next-generation cousins had his girlfriend with him and she was an attorney working on abortion rights. They are mostly from Ohio so as Floridians there was much commiseration in our discussions of the state level scene. My NY cousins expressed their regret that their state screwed things up so badly with the House seats turning over. It just was a weekend of feeling the joy of being with my people. There were a dozen of us and much of the time we were each just doing our own thing, reading a book on the porch, kayaking, bird watching. Drifting in and out of joint and group activities with ease and no formal plan.

It just was a weekend of feeling the joy of being with my people. There were a dozen of us and much of the time we were each just doing our own thing, reading a book on the porch, kayaking, bird watching. Drifting in and out of joint and group activities with ease and no formal plan.

Oh that does sound ideal. How lovely to reconnect with them all and feel immediately at home.

That does sound lovely!

Y’all I am having zero motivation to work today. I know I have some things that need to get done, and maybe when I’m trying to get through meetings in a bit it’ll add some fire under me but at the moment I’m just….ugh.

oh my fucking god, fuck health insurance in this country forever. I'm fine, everything is fine, but why is it a fucking obstacle course trying to figure out how anything works! And once you have figured it out, they change it on you.

In this case, my plan year is July-June (I don't know why, because it's a pain in my ass, but that's what my company does), but the deductible is calendar year. Or it was, because they're telling me now that it's plan year. Which, frankly, is in my favor because they're counting stuff against my deductible from the end of last year, so we'll reach the deductible faster, but there's got to be some way this is going to screw me.

I have been on hold for 12 minutes while this dude tries to figure things out, and I have nothing against him personally, but I know he's going to come back with something that makes no sense, and I will have to do another round of calling pharmacies and doctors and insurance to figure out what the fuck I'm supposed to be doing.

Laura, that sounds lovely. So glad you decided to go!

Dana, that does not. Good luck.

I just got back from an appointment, and now I need to buckle down to work. Oh, crap, I forgot my laptop screen isn't working -- Matt says it's the video chip (I think that's what he said), so I have to send it in for repair. I hope it's still under warranty.

I have another one, and it's hooked up to my desk monitor, so I can work. I just love my little, light one that I run around with. Oh, well.

Back from 4 days with my parents. Aging parents, man. They’re fine, but dad’s in chronic pain and won’t even take alleve daily, much less get on something stronger. Mom is a little wobbly and has a mysterious spot on her that they just biopsied, so fingers crossed it is nothing.

Tomorrow is my colonoscopy, so I started clear liquids last night and start the clear out cocktail in 5 hours. Bleargh

Yikes, msbelle.

I went on a 3-day hiking trip this weekend: with 5 other people I walked from the Sunset District to Stinson Beach, with overnight stops in Sausalito and Muir Beach. Much altitude was gained (and lost!), and I intend to never hike the Dipsea Trail again, those stairs are a bitch. But we could not have gotten better weather for it, and the staff at the Pelican Inn were lovely (although the food was mostly only ok).

34-ish miles, about 4,000 feet of elevation gain, and no blisters to show for it (at least for me). And my power came back on at my at the very instant we pulled into the driveway, which was great (there was a big power outage in the East Bay from a fire at a substation in East Oakland).

{{msbelle}} I'm not sure which is more stressful, dealing with parent issues, or kid issues. Clear out cocktail, blech!