Timelies all!

Thank you for checking in, Shir, and for letting us know Nilly and family are ok.

Yesterday we went to visit Mr. S. Took him to a place called Hyperkids to run around the indoor playground for a while. (It was raining all morning, so outdoor activities were a no go) Then lunch and a trip to a nearby arboretum to walk around a bit.

We didn’t have him do an overnight visit because we had tickets to the Billy Joel/ Stevie Nicks concert in Baltimore. Good concert, if a little cold. (It was held in the football stadium)

Tomorrow Mr. S gets discharged from the center. Let the adventure begin.

Oh Shir, I'm so glad you let us know you and Nilly are okay. I'm hoping we hear from our team over there today. We have an office in Tel Aviv, and I work directly with some of the people in it and have been worrying about them (and you, and Nilly) since the news broke.

Tomorrow Mr. S gets discharged from the center. Let the adventure begin.

I do hope some progress has been made in his ability to control his emotions. Hoping for the best for your family.

The news is very bleak. Trying to distract myself with work. Which I have plenty of, so there is that.

Checking in to say that Nilly and I are still OK. Also, I apologize for logging in just for this and not reading other posts. I love you all, but the war takes a serious time and attention toll.

Work told us that they're not really expecting us to work today, so I went to donate blood. There were thousands with me there, so a 30 minute long process took just over 9 hours (I knew there would be long queues - I only expected them to last 4-5 hours).

The news is unfathomable. I'm limiting myself to only several stories and updates per day and it is still too much. There is an entire political and military level that needs to resign, effective yesterday. So many were left to our own devices. I very much doubt if this will be over before we'll reach 1,800 dead (we're now at 700 confirmed).

And with every jet I hear above my head I wish for a malfunction in the bomb releasing mechanism so that no more innocent lives will be lost in Gaza, and for every solider I see outside I wish a quick and safe return.

I'll try to understand what else can I do tomorrow. It's almost 1:00am, so I better get some sleep.

Buffistas, thank you for listening.

Sheryl, good wishes for a smooth transition.

Hec, my heart goes out to those poor girls. I hope they can find a more permanent solution soon.

Also, I apologize for logging in just for this and not reading other posts. I love you all, but the war takes a serious time and attention toll.

There is no need to apologize. I am just glad when I see your pixels.

apologize for logging in just for this and not reading other posts. I love you all, but the war takes a serious time and attention toll.

We appreciate so much that you take the time to check in. Sending love and wishes for something right to happen.

I apologize for logging in just for this and not reading other posts. I love you all, but the war takes a serious time and attention toll.

I'm just so glad to see your messages and know y'all are still OK.

Hec, is there anything folks can do to help those girls? Money, gift cards for Target or DoorDash, etc.?

Fashion question, of a sort: Next week I'm flying down to Georgia for a week that will include visiting family, a luxurious personal writing retreat up in the mountains, and then back to Atlanta for Multiverse Con the weekend of the 21st. What I would like to do at the con is wear my dinosaur dresses, of which I have three. Here is one for a sample: [link]

The problem is my feet. Ordinarily when I'm wearing a dress like that for a few hours, say a church service, a party, or a dinner date, I wear it with sandals or ankle boots. The problem is that for an all day event with a lot of walking and standing around, the only way for me to avoid foot pain and probably a sciatica flare to go with, is to wear sneakers, and not cute fashiony ones, but my running shoes. The current pair is almost plain black, chosen in large part to be unobtrusive because I do wear them for almost every occasion, but they're still obviously athletic shoes.

So do I wear my fun dinosaur dresses with my running shoes, or will that just look too utterly stupid and gauche, so I should stick to jeans and geeky t-shirts?

Wear your sneakers and be happy.

Liking Dana’s post 1000 times.

Shir, I am so glad you are safe and Nilly &family also. Thank you so much for checking in. This is just awful.