Getting laid off is never really fun, but that sounds like an excellent circumstance for you, lisah. Wishing you leg-ma and a good break from the workaday world.

Little side note about Matilda's birthday: Since we weren't hosting a party or anything, and she was just meeting up with twelve friends I gave Matilda $60 and told her to treat her friends to ice cream.

Because they're San Francisco kids, they opted instead to get Dim Sum pork dumplings which they ate in GG Park.

Good (take your time) luck, lisah!

Askye, I'm sorry.

We have no countries that will take us based on ancestry. On my mother's side, we go back to the 1600's, and on the side hippocampus and I share, the immigrant is a sketchy character who arrived, fathered a son and promptly died in Andersonville, having ditched the wife and leaving the son with people he may, or may not have been related to. Post Civil War, Hippocampus and I didn't have a male relative over the age of 13 who survived, as my father begins a lecture well known to his daughters.

Work really stinks lately, so I have been filling my brain with thoughts of early retirement.

Timelies all!

Mr. S had a meltdown at school this morning and Gary had to go pick him up. Luckily, he had taken the day off work. Mr. S had been doing really well so far this school year, so hopefully it was just a bad day.

Heh. The Civil War is a good example of the obscurity of my ancestors - my mom was sure she would find some kind of military record for some relative or other because there were certainly family members around at the time but no, they all escaped (being documented, anyway).

My grandfather's mother, possibly pregnant with my grandfather, left her children with a neighbor when she left her first husband. First husband is listed on my grandfather's birth certificate as the father, which has become the official accepted truth, but I don't find that super convincing. This is the same accepted truth that holds that great-grandma and her second husband never lived together unmarried although first husband did not immediately die and they were never divorced and she certainly went directly to second husband (who adopted my grandfather, so it's just a question of how exactly to draw the family tree) so how does that work? Anyway, Grandpa was born in California, the generation before him in Italy, which I think is too far back to benefit me.

Aside from constantly needing to ask myself "is this my account? Is this something I need to know? Is this something I need to do?" about everything that comes up, work has not been too bad today. I'll take that as a win.

Thanks everyone. I briefly spoke to the HR manager and she said they'd make things work out and make adjustments as needed.

I'm tired, Sunday was another day with a lot of lifting and moving things. But this morning various managers were walking around , I guess our store manager is looking at moving things or making changes for Xmas (I'm not sure) and I was going to get some stuff and one of the assistant managers I was helping yesterday and she made a comment to the store manager about how I was her MVP for yesterday.

I’m glad they want to work with you on any time off you will need, askye, and so pleased they appreciate your work!

Update on 15: Matilda has been on FaceTime with a boy for the last two hours. We are not permitted in her room, but we can hear her talking and talking and laughing like a loon.

Oooh a BOY. She should be glad this is no longer the era of corded phones and having to talk in the kitchen or whatever where your whole family could hear (and also yell at you to hang up so they could use the phone)

My power is supposed to go out today. They said 9-5, but so far 1030 and I still have power. But I see a truck behind my house so I’m guessing this time it’ll actually happen, unlike last time.

Aw, Matilda has me all sentimental about high school phone calls now

I hope your outage is not actually that long, meara!

Fun! Wish we had FaceTime when I was her age.

Well, the vaccine booster was a bust. Although they let me register and make an appointment for my booster as an old lady, when I got there they said to come back after November 4th. Well, they asked if I was severely immunocompromised, then said no. I wanted to get it before I travel back to Florida with all the rest stops and hotels, but they promised me the Moderna was good for 8 months and I had to wait. I would call it a waisted trip, but the Fall leaves are spectacular so it's all good.

My #1 son and girlfriend left this morning on a road trip to Nashville to see Harry Styles. His girlfriend is celebrating having her job by buying concert tickets. They see Billie Eilish in February. I'm excited for them.