First, let's celebrate the birth of flea! May you have a day filled with delight and a most wonderful year.

Good to hear that Matilda will have some friend time. It is also good for you, David, to have some alone time to regroup your flood of emotions before making this trip. Sending waves of love your way.

New house! So much unpacking! Congrats, Atropa, and whatever on the boxes, all will find a place in time.

Rotten deal, Calli. Grrr.

The breakfast bar has a much more extensive selection than anticipated. And they have a pancake making machine. I don't eat pancakes, but my son is going to enjoy that, and the French toast sticks. I am the early bird. Already ate much earlier and have been at work since 7:30 before heading to Alexandria Bay. DH is snoring.

Matilda and I both woke up early because it's her first day back. She's feeling anxious so she's already gobbled down some Tums.

Her first class back is Spanish 3 so she's been walking around saying, "I'm nervous and I'm tired" in Spanish.

My niece reports that they're bringing in a hospital bed and my sister is sleeping more and starting to get disordered thoughts ("I need to pay my bills!"). So I think I missed the window for longer cozy chats, but I will still get to see her and love on my niece, who I'm close with. (When she was 13 and 14 she flew out to stay with me and EM for week long stays in San Francisco.)

Today is TomW's birthday too, though he hasn't been around these parts for quite some time.

Covid is on the rise in Austin, and though I'm pretty sure my Covid-ish symptoms are the physical results from back to back to back show travels, I figure it's time for a PCR, just in case.

It's forecasted to hit 102 today, 104 tomorrow, and 106 on Friday. Actual temps, not heat index.

Texas does seem to be evolving into a hellscape both literally and metaphorically. At least my mortgage interest rate is low, lol.

Hi Nora! Please wish Tom a happy birthday from me.

Waves from hellscape next door. We finally have a bit of a break from the heat dome and have been getting some much needed rain, but I’m still not turning on the hot water in the shower. And there’s a burn ban statewide that includes outdoor cooking.

Yikes, peeps. Stay cool. And HBD to TomW.

Good first day to Matilda. All kinds of pulling for her.

Waiting for DH to get back so I can hit the library to work. Home is so distracting these days. Or, I am so distractible? Either way, the library is better.

Ha! Have you ever responded to a comment somewhere thinking you were responding to a buffista, then realizing you were mistaken? I have a friend with a similar name to Fay. Is AIFG universal? I guess I'll find out...

I think it's a private joke, but that doesn't mean nobody else could find it funny. Also, good wishes for Hec and Matilda.

Ha! Have you ever responded to a comment somewhere thinking you were responding to a buffista, then realizing you were mistaken? I have a friend with a similar name to Fay. Is AIFG universal?

I've told a friend before (unintentionally) that the lurkers support them in email.

Timelies all!

Happy birthday flea and TomW!

Ugh, I’m so tired of this hotel. Due to various miscommunications and/or bad communications, no work has been done on the house in about two weeks. The next thing is for the asbestos mitigation team to start working on the tile floors, but because of said issues, they won’t be able to start work until next week. Bleah.

Is it a universal truth that HR departments (excuse me, PeopleOps) must make promotion document templates as incomprehensible and uneditable as possible? JUST LET ME PROMOTE MY KICKASS WRITER, EVERYONE AGREES SHE SHOULD BE.

People? I'm great at managing people. Meetings? I'm great at running those. Dealing with fiddly paperwork? Or PowerPoint? Please no.

(I can do it, I just hate it.)