September was a quiet month here on the boards. I know that school has started back up for some of our students and teachers (and parents ). I know that Hollywood has rolled out its new season of shows. What's been keeping you busy this past month?

I'll start:

• Kids went back to school (still I love 'em, but enjoy my sanity too)
• Seriously searching for a RL job that pays more than fanfic (although, I can't say "better"), preferably in an office (but not realistically since I've been a stay-at-home mom for 10 years, so apparently my brain is now mush, and my skills nil. Has office life really changed that much? )
• Catching up on all the new seasons of shows (i.e. last year's season) which are *finally* reaching Netflix's instant list (as many of you know I gave up cable's high cost several years ago)
• *Finally* getting to all those things I said I'd finish this summer /although, painting my office has been put on hold. My husband's just switched jobs so income is more iffy, and painting is more discretionary/

So, what's keeping you busy and off the boards? Are there any new shows (or old ones) worth checking out? (Please watch spoilers, though.)

For me:

• Work
• A sick son. (We're awaiting the results of XRays for confirmation, but pneumonia is suspected)
• Work
• A washer and dryer that both died and needed to be replaced. The new washer came about ten days after the old one broke, and the new dryer is coming on Sunday. Since I can't go to a laundromat (because of my son), I have had to do hand-washing for a while, and still need to hang up to dry newly-cleaned laundry
• Did I mention, "Work"?

Joy,
Lynn

Oh, Lynn, my heart goes out to you. I'm sorry that your son is sick. My daughter caught (developed?) pneumonia several years ago (and spent her 6th birthday in the hospital). I wish him a speedy recovery. I understand your frustration regarding your washer and dryer. Many hugs and may October be a better month for you both.

Hi Virginia,

Thanks for the well wishes. It has been confirmed that my son does have a touch of pneumonia; we just got back from the pharmacy.

Thank God for antibiotics.

Joy,
Lynn

Watching the usual contingent of shows (Once upon a time, Castle, Agents of shield right now, Grimm when it starts up next month). Just really busy with the two kids. One justturned one when I found out that I am pregnant again. It's not that I didn't want a third, I just didn't want them to be LESS than two years apart a piece! After this I'll have to seriously consider what I'm going to do about BP.

I'm also going to do sound and lights (for the first time) on a play in a community theater I'm involved with. It's "Dracula" (with a female Van Helsing) so it's going to be fun. It will be a learning experience though, Never done tech stuff with regards to theater before.

Also in the planning stages of a costume for my eldest. He wanted to be a lion (again. He was it last year) until I convinced him he should be Daniel Tiger instead. There's a pre-made costumeout there but it's horrible. Instead we've found a red sweater jacket on EBay and we're going to get some orange sweats to stripe up with duct tape. After that there will be makeup and make our own headband of ears and voila

I myself need to do some final tweaking on the UltraWoman costume,which I'll wear for Halloween this year. It will be the final time I'll get to wear it until after April (which means I won't be wearing it for my local con because I'll be too pregnant to fit in the unitard ).

I'm not sure what I've been doing. I'm not teaching this semester but with two kids in high school doing multiple activities (football, band, gymnastics, show choir...), it keeps me busy. I'm also making quilted table runners for a Show Choir fundraiser. I hope I can finish them in time.

Joan

Two words:

1. Ashley
2. Kayla

The girls turned one on August 22 and are super active, happy little girls. Which means, by the time they are in bed for the night, this momma is exhausted. I've been doing some writing, but that eats up my spare time (fic is turning out WAY longer than I ever thought it would) and sometimes taking the night off to play games with my husband (we have an Xbox One and PS4 which are both fairly new).

Lynn--sorry to hear about your son's pneumonia. Sending 'get well' wishes his way ...

For me, being busy has been centered around:

*Kiddos (Ava just turned 5 and Eli is 3)
*Houses (see below )
*Family time (related to above, but see below )

The kiddos always keep me busy--and it seems like even busier the older they get, but the big 'thing' is that we've had some changes for our family going on over the last few months...

We had been living in North Dakota for the last few years (based on my husband's job relocation). Well, I grew up in Iowa, all my family and friends are in Iowa, we were living in Iowa before ND, and well...Iowa is 'home'. I had been really hoping to move back to Iowa. And now...(insert drum-roll )...we are! New job exactly where I was hoping we'd get to move back to! Woo-hoo!!!

So 'Houses' refers to our home in ND being in the market--which is a project --and also refers to finding our new home in Iowa (which has also been a bit of a project ).

'Family time' is a direct result of being able to go back 'home'. We are now getting a chance to make up for a few years of missing out--on birthdays, holidays, celebrations, and on heartbreaks (we've had a few major health situations regarding extended family members come up since we've been away--which was so hard not to be around for...but also, some likewise bad health situations recently that now we've been able to be a support system for). We're really close to our family...and yeah, it feels just amazing to be back .

Great idea for a thread, by the way, Virginia!
Laura

Hmm. I mean, I guess I check on here when I can, but besides my one story that I've posted, I've felt pretty much absent from you guys for *months*. The rundown?

Graduation.

Vacation.

Best Friend's Wedding (and everything to prepare for said wedding-- we're the type of friends where I'm not the "have-a-nice-time" bridesmaid and more like the "lol-get-your-butt-on-these-invitations-cuz-you're-family" bridesmaid. But I loved it!)

(From Mid August - End of September):

Family up the wazoo. I have had at least four different groups of family come out and visit us, all in the span of a month. One of my mom's cousins is a truck driver from Missouri and he keeps bringing out peoples that are related that I kinda/sorta know.

My grandparents' 50th anniversary (and all ensuing other family chaos).

My other friends' wedding, which was less work (not a bridesmaid) but still a stress to get ready for. But lots of fun!

My brother bought a car as-is from someone on craigslist, which promptly broke down three blocks away. That was a bad week.

More Missouri family in the last week.

And on top of that, new shows (CASTLE, everybody!!! ) and work and just day-to-day stresses. However, hopefully things will be starting to settle down soon and I swear I'm getting back to writing again because I miss it and all of you too much.

Whew. I didn't realize how much that was until I got it all out in a list!

EDIT: Oh, and the King Fire. Forgot to mention that. It didn't hit us, but we were scary-close. The smoke was killing us-- major headaches and difficulty breathing. The smoke was bad enough that they cancelled my brother's school for it (and we got nine inches of snow last year, and they didn't cancel a day). It's crazy when you have to go into the city to get some fresher air.

Hmm. Not sure. I'm at home recovering still, I'm checking the boards all the time ...

But I must say, actually, I'm finding stuff to do. Going shopping with hubby, reading archive stories ... oh and I did get bitten by a muse so that will be coming, hopefully, soon.

Congratulations on your big news, Christina! Wow, you sure do have your hands full (and then some). I'm not familiar with that lion character, but I'm sure War'n'peace will be adorable. My son has decided to be Luke Skywalker (from A New Hope) for Halloween, because he has the perfect hair for it and we can piece together an outfit from clothes already in his wardrobe. Correction: That's why *I* suggested the costume. He agreed because he doesn't want to get his hair cut. (Yes, his stubborn procrastination streak comes from his mother; why do you ask?) My daughter is nine so slowly losing interest in dressing up. She was going to go with her usual themed witch costume, but now seems to be leaning towards a Moaning Myrtal (from Harry Potter) costume, despite Hermione fitting her personality better.

Lynn, I hope your son is feeling better. I agree with you on the antibiotics, especially whenever watching or reading any period piece where they weren't available.

Joan, . Don't forget adding that you're out-reading LabRat on 50 books / year list. It seems the only books I read these days are to my children. How is your writing going? /nudge, nudge/

Deadly Chakram, congratulations on surviving the first year with twins. So have they started running off in opposite directions on you yet, or is that their goal for 2015? Excited to hear about your new story.

Laura, your welcome. I know there are lurkers out there and sometimes people need a little nudge to remind the rest of us that they're still around. Congratulations on finishing your move... with two children. It's one of the reasons I *never* want to move again. At least, you finished before your oldest started school.

Mouse, wow, that's some busy summer. Did you forget to add job search after graduation or have your luckily already found something? I'm glad you're doing fine despite the fires and smoke.

KK! New story! We accept! /not that I'm excited, or dying with anticipation, or anything / I happy to hear your recovery is still going well.

I've got some news , too! I've been called in for my first job interview in 10 years, tomorrow. Wish me luck, poise, and lack of usual tongue-tied-ness (I'll need it). Off to go buy something to wear that doesn't scream "Mom!"

Virginia, congratulations on the job interview. I hope it goes smoothly. Remember, there's no such thing as a bad interview outcome. If you don't get the job, you will at least have gotten some experience with interviewing so that the next interview will go better. If you can go into the interview with this attitude, you'll be a lot more relaxed and will give a better interview than you would if you were instead to think that the only possible good that could come of the interview would be getting a job.

MouseRocks, Congratulations on graduation! Did you graduate early, or were you already in college when you joined the boards? It doesn't seem like four years.

Christina, congratulations on your FoLC-to-be. May the pregnancy and delivery be smooth and may your little one prove healthy and happy.

Laura, I'm exhausted just thinking about the logistics that such a move would entail, but it sounds like it will be well worth it once you are finally able to settle down back home. Congratulations.

My son seems like he is feeling better. I, on the other hand, have a head cold complete with a splitting sinus headache... I'm glad that because I am home for my son, I don't have to be at work right now.

Joy,
Lynn

Daniel Tiger's not a Lion! I suspect this could be a case of a VERY specific demographic (it's for ages 2-4 from my recollection). Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood is an emotional development show based on Mister Roger's Neighborhood's Land of Make-believe. Daniel Tiger wears a red sweater jacket that zips up (believe me, this is where we were having a hard time. Unless it was $50 we couldn't find one that was red until we found one off of Ebay) just like Mister Rogers. He's also the son of Daniel Striped Tiger.

Mouse so glad you were not affected by the fire!

Work.

Multiple knitting projects. One, a pair of green socks, is for my mother-in-law.

Catching up on my reading, finally finished Titan, the bio of John D. Rockefeller.

Work.

Getting the back yard ready for winter. Lots of weed pulling.

Responding to the call of the muse and in the process of writing - even at work. One of these days the boss is going to catch me.

TV? What is that?

Hope to see new stories on the boards soon!

I assist in running a fansite for an actress, which consists of a main site, forum and gallery. Other than the technical aspects pretty much all of the work falls to me. It keeps me pretty busy.

I moderate the forum, making sure things run smoothly and take care of spammers. I also have to keep the forum and main site up-to-date with any news regarding projects, photoshoots, events, etc... involving the actress. That requires doing a check multiple times a day, every day.

When the actress in starring in a show or movie is when I have the most work to do. There is always a lot of news to report, plus I'm expected to give personal reviews of everything, in addition to creating the screencaps, which is by far the most difficult and time-consuming duty. With screencap duty I have no time for anything else.

I just finished three months of that a couple months ago and then two days ago news came out that the actress landed a new series to start mid-season, which means I have another massive workload heading my way very soon. I'm excited for the new show, but not all the work it entails. But no one else is capable of doing the screencap work, so I'm stuck. Too many people count on me to do that job.

Which actress, Lady Loisette?

Yvonne Strahovski. She was in Chuck, then she guest starred in the last two seasons of Dexter and she was just in the 24: Live Another Day miniseries. Her casting in The Astronaut Wives Club was just announced on Tuesday. She's also done a few movies in between in her TV projects, both in the US and her home country of Australia.

I've been doing work for one of her fansites since 2011 and my responsibilities there keep growing.

Thank you. I'm trying to go in well prepared.

Yes, I had that one last week. It has fallen into my chest, so now I'm not trying to cough on people. Loads of fun. (sarcasm.)

Sorry, Christina. You mentioned the lion costume from last year and that's what my mind stuck on.

Well, it's been more than just the past month... More like the past four years... but I basically blame NaNoWriMo for it. No sooner had I started posting my first story here, back in '10 (literally, just the first chapter!), than NaNo came around, and my Babylon 5 muse apparently found Kryptonite and killed my L&C muse. I've done NaNo every year since then, but other muses (Castle, SVU, Doctor Who) have consistently been more vocal. But last year, for one of the Camp NaNo sessions (which allow flexible word count goals), I actually went back to my L&C fic and finished writing it, and this year for NaNo I'm writing its sequel. So I'm hoping to stay active this time!

(Also, work basically ate my brain this year - one project lasted for five full months, when they're usually only 4-6 weeks! And I also have several shows I'm trying to keep up with: Castle, Doctor Who, SVU, Once Upon a Time, and Agents of SHIELD.)

Thanks, Virginia! Not quite running in opposite directions. Ashley can just about run (she's been walking since 7 months - eep!) and Kayla crawls at super speed (she's only just starting to experiment with taking steps).

Yep, new, long story in the works and a few ideas brewing. I know I've missed a couple of yours - sorry!

Christina - congrats on the awesome news!

What's keeping me busy?

• Work
• Personal crises (plural) - some resolved, some not
• Getting older - it sure ain't for sissies
• Non-serious but recurring illnesses (may be related to previous item)
• Did I mention work?
• Preparing for my niece's out-of-state wedding this month (she asked me to play piano and I couldn't decline
• Getting older - wait, yeah, that, along with loss of short-term memory
• What are we talking about again? Oh, right.
• Legal problems brought on by our younger son

On the whole, it could be worse. I'm still looking down at the grass instead of up at it.

Mouserocks: So glad that you were safe in the fire . And yes!!!! Castle is back on--Woo hoo!!! I totally credit and thank you for talking about it here--it's the reason I'm a big fan now .

Christina: Congrats on your amazing news

Virginia: Hope the job interview went wonderfully!

DC: Excited about the story! And love hearing news on the kid front. Growing up fast!

Morgana: Your story on the boards is still on the top of my reading list. Can't wait to start it (and hopefully soon !)

KK: Bitten by your muse! Yes!!!

Lynn: Hope that you are feeling better?

Lady Loisette: Sound really busy with your work--I know from experience (see avatar ) how talented you are. Thanks again for all your amazing work

Virginia posted:

And Lynn posted:

Thanks, guys! We are getting together an offer for a house down in Iowa--finally, we think, we have found 'the house' . We've been sort of floating between the two states since August--thank goodness for family in Iowa . Still need to sell our house in ND, but things are definitely starting to happen overall. Yikes, yeah...this process has definitely been a process, but thankful no one is school-age yet. And the end result? So excited to settle back into life in Iowa sometime soon

Have a good week all!
Laura

Family.
Work.
Getting more insulation put in the attic.
Dealing with a huge plumbing leak (not to worry, it went away when I threw a boatload of money at it. Aargh. )
Having all the bedrooms painted which meant removing rather a lot of books + a ton of other junk + furniture from rooms.
Going through all the books and junk after rooms painted.
Getting rid of a lot of stuff after going through it.
Slowly working on home inventory for insurance purposes on the stuff that's left over.

Long overdue, but it's been a job that has taken months.

Morgana: To answer your question, TV is what we all watched at night roughly 20 years ago before the Internet took Elvis's crown and, by the sound of everyone's posts, the workweek got bumped up to 60 hours/wk.

Lady Loisette: I have to say it sounds like you have a really fun job. Can I be envious?

IncompleteSong: yea! Another work in progress!

Deadly Chakram: Don't worry about missing some of my stories; Wrong Clark will be posting for many, many months to come. I will be posting my short 3-part auction piece for KK in a couple of weeks for those of you with not enough hours in the day for my soap opera.

Terry: I'm sorry to hear that you're being bogged down with crises. Well, at least, it's fodder for your next story, right? /starts singing along with Lex and Nigel about grey clouds having a silver lining/ That's sweet that your niece wanted you to be such a large part of her special day. Take it for the compliment that it is.

Laura: I didn't feel as if the interview went well. Perhaps I just got that vibe because, and I'm quoting here, "shy and introverted people wouldn't do well in this position because they can't talk to people." Wow, that's ignorance and pretty darn insulting. I didn't describe myself as shy or introverted (I'm smarter than that), but I do have over 10 years of customer service experience and it hasn't held me back, yet. Well, 9 more tortuous interviews like that and my self-confidence shall liquid sludge on the floor. Let's hope I get a new job before I have to suffer through that. Only two more months until my husband's new 60+hr/week job is over, so no pressure.

Lynn: I hope you've been able to recover from your cold. The one I caught from my kids (which lasted 48 hours for them) is still stuck in my chest, leaving me with hacking coughs several weeks later. Joy. Then, again, it may be a holdover of the cold I caught in June (yes, JUNE), which has been plaguing me all summer with runny nose and cough.

IolantheAlias: Wow, you've gotten a lot accomplished (albeit, some of it unwillingly) this year. Isn't that what money is for? To put in a new boat for your contractor and/or plumber to use on his holidays? I'm envious of your completed painting job. Paint is now discretionary money, so my puce brown office (stating it kindly) will remain so for the foreseeable future. My husband also doesn't want me to change the trim color from natural (walnut?) brown to almond, so now I have to find another color than maroon to use. Sigh. So much for my dream of a red room.

The screencapping part of it is definitely no fun at all. It takes a very long time and parts of the process are very tedious.

I timed myself when capping one particular episode and I ended up clicking the mouse button in rapid-fire motion, non-stop without slowing down or stopping (because if you do that you've just messed up and have to scrap your work and start again) for 7-and-a-half hours. My poor arm was begging for mercy, but I had to keep going.

That takes forever to do and it is also the easy and "fast" part of the job. I then I have to sort through the thousands of pictures (sometimes more than 10,000) and narrow that down to the best 100 or so, sometimes even less. That is extremely difficult to do.

After that each picture must be renamed individually. Then each picture must have a watermark added to it then renamed yet again. Once all of that is done the files/folders have to be created on the website and the pictures loaded up to it, either individually or in small groups.

The whole process takes quite a lot of time and work to do. Usually around 6-8 hours the night the show airs, working until the early morning hours. Then sleep for a few hours, wake up and immediately get back to work on it and then work all day and night again until the early morning hours. On occasion it can take even longer than that. I was stuck working one a set of double episode screencaps day and night for weeks.

I also don't get anything for any of the stuff I do for the site. I'm lucky if I get one thanks of appreciation on occasion. Basically I was just asked if I could do all these things and I agreed, knowing that if I didn't there wasn't anyone else who could do it and the site would greatly suffer.

No! Don't do that! That is *precisely* how I earned myself a permanent repetitive stress injury decades ago. To this day, I use a mouse left-handed because my right, dominant wrist hurts if I mouse for more than a minute or two at a time with it. Please don't do yourself a permanent injury in the name of dedication. Listen to your body; it is trying to save you from having pains *FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE*!!! (Sorry about shouting; I just want to emphasize that what starts as temporary pain can become chronic quite quickly.) I really wish someone had given me this advice years ago.

Joy,
Lynn

Ditto to everything Lynn posted, Lady Loisette. It sounds as if you need some help managing that site. Being a perfectionist at your job isn't worth your health or well-being. It sounds as if you need a vacation to re-evaluate your needs. If you don't soon, you'll no longer be a fan because you (will) no longer love what you do. Anyone else who doesn't understand that can get their own repetitive stress injury doing it for you. Good luck, Lady Loisette. We're rooting for you!

Virginia, being ill for so long must be extremely frustrating. I hope you are finally able to shake your cold soon.

I've actually been diagnosed with the flu and with the start of a secondary, bacterial infection. I've been given antibiotics to treat the latter, and given a note off from work for this so that I can rest and let time deal with the former. I'm doing a little better than I had been, but I've a long ways to go.

Terry, wow. It sounds like your being overwhelmed. You definitely have a lot on your plate. I wish there were some way I could help.

Take care,
Lynn

I'm careful when doing the actual capping part and haven't caused myself any pain while doing it, only tiredness and if one arm gets too tired, I'll switch it up for a while. I've also since manged to rig it to make the caps without using the mouse at all and instead use the 0 key on the number pad and can easily alternate which finger I use to push the button. Mostly it's just a time-consuming tedious job. I do end up getting pretty pictures at the end though.

My next sceencapping job won't be until at least January, so I'll have had about a six month break by then. The other parts of the job I do for the site aren't so bad.

Just checking in with an fyi... because I was planning on finishing up a story and posting it tomorrow... I might be busy again because there's a chance I will be evacuated due to ANOTHER fire that some idiot started this afternoon. Literally, a guy drove up I-80 tossing flaming papers (or something) out his car window, starting five fires which has now turned into one big fire... now the highway's closed and we're just hoping it doesn't jump to our side of 80. So, I'm gonna be doing some just-in-case emergency packing, but they probably won't let it cross the highway. Right now it's heading away from us, and hopefully they'll get it under control. But it's certainly frightening! This is the closest we've ever been to a fire!

I'll check back in when I can.

Yikes, Mouse! I hope that they caught that vandal. I wish you luck and heavy rains with no wind. Keep safe.

Stay safe, Mouse!!!

3 months into the fire season and CA has already spent its yearly fire budget! Hope this recent fire stays away from structures, Mouserocks.

Quarter grades are due Friday. Just had to grade a class worth of essays trying to prove to me that states couldn't deal with the problems caused by the Articles of Confederation, necessitating the creation of the U.S. Constitution. A little rebellion now and then is a good thing...

Driving to Las Vegas this weekend...big road trip for my brother's 40th birthday party. Tons of people flying in or driving out there. It's only a four hour drive for me (assuming good traffic on the 15...NEVER assume there will be good traffic!).

Currently working on the sequel to Distant Closeness, since people seemed interested in knowing what Lois and Clark might be doing in that nice, big bed at Smiley's camp. I'm up to 37 pages at this point and I'm maybe half done. This will easily be the longest story I've ever written. But you nfic readers will enjoy it!

Mouse: How are you and your family doing?

Groobie: How did the 40th b-day weekend go?

Groobie posted:

YES. WE. WILL.

So very excited--and am loving that it is your longest work yet. It will be amazing!


Offer accepted on the new home in Iowa, and barring any craziness in these final stages, we should close mid November and have a 'home' again. Woo-hoo!

Have a great week!
Laura

Congratulations!

Working -- those 8 hours a day seem to spill over at times.

Getting the garden ready for fall planting. I picked all the apples, pomegranates, and olives and am working on processing them (olives take a while to become edible; I'm not sure what would happen if they were eaten fresh, and I don't aim to find out). There are lots of pomegranates this year, so lots of pomegranate jelly (so of course I need to bake bread to go with it). The apples will theoretically keep in a cool place, but the daytime temperatures are still in the 80's and 90's (or hotter), and there's no space in the refrigerator for them, so they are being made into dried apples and canned apple pie filling, but not applesauce -- these are baking apples and they're too dense to make good applesauce. I pulled out the summer vegetable plants and dug fresh compost into the planting beds, so now I'm waiting for it to be a little cooler before I plant the seeds (lettuce, spinach, chard, beets, snow peas, carrots, and onions), plus I already put in the potatoes and garlic I'm growing from potatoes and garlic cloves that I sprouted in the windowsill. I'm also picking lots of strawberries from plants I grow in the semi-shade of a pitiful looking juniper, though most don't make it into the house before I eat them.

Politics. I agreed to help a former student run for city council, and soon thereafter remembered why I don't get involved in politics. I hate phone banking and precinct walking, and dealing with some of the present city council members makes my patience and my internal censor disappear. I can deal with over-excited teenagers just fine; it's adults who drive me nuts.

Oooh! I like this thread! I can secretly catch up with everyone's lives while pretending I've been here all along. *inset evil giggle*

Lovely to hear about babies walking and kids and teachers going off to school again! September is always so exciting! Sorry to hear that some of you aren't having the best of times right now & I hope it turns around soon for you all!

I'm only 192 days away from graduating college with an advanced diploma in biotechnology, so basically (aside from this lovely long weekend for Canadian Thanksgiving), I'll probably just check in with you all again in a 192 days...

Congratulations, Mrs. L! What great news!

MrsLuthor - So awesome to hear that! Congrats!

Congratulations Mrs. Luthor!

Okay. So just another fyi, the fire's been put out and my family and I are all doing well (besides the fact that I'm not feeling well this week). So I'm getting back into normal schedule and I'll probably post within the week. Thanks for the concern everyone!

Glad to hear you're okay, Mouse.

Hey Mrs. L! So glad to know school is almost complete. Please feel free to check in with us whenever. Your comments are quite welcome ... not to mention fun!

AnnieB Hope school elections are done soon and RL returns to a sembalance of normal.

I've heard that graduation tends to cure most cases of exams. Good luck!

Hello LWhite, and welcome to the MB.

Good luck with your studies, and when you are between courses or just have a few minutes to spare, we're here. Please do join us as time permits.

Joy,
Lynn

Welcome !!!

Good luck on the exams--and when you need a break, come and say "hi" and chat again.

I lurked for about a year before signing up and posting...you'll love it here

Laura

Wow, you all have very busy lives. Feel like a slacker:)

Um, I stay busy by working (live off regular hours, family has fun off overtime. Gotta get that o/t). Then union work, looking after fellow employees...then family stuff. Making sure wife doesn't over work herself between takinh care of the kids and her going back to school.

Did we find out if exams end? Wife would like to know. Lots of time spent lurking on this site in between all activities. (Well, this and castle reruns...and the new flash show.)

Um, if you all don't mind, prayers to all that need it. Hopefully I'm not the only one who finds joy reading all these stories.

Goodnight. (Yay SF Giants!)

Tailee, I, for one, am very grateful for any prayers made on my or my son's behalf. Thank you.

And do exams end? Not for me -- at least not until I retire. I went from taking exams to writing, proctoring, and grading them. And having been on both sides of them, I must admit that it is indeed better to give than to receive.

But for you, LWhite, there probably will come an end to them. Hang in there.

Joy,
Lynn

Props to Lynn and lwhite and everyone else who keep educating themselves. That drive is pretty amazing.

Just two more days until the silly season (aka election season) is over. I'm sick of politics. The candidates act like second-graders on the playground, except with more money and less maturity. (I actually heard one candidate tell another: "I know you are, but what am I?")

The silly season is mostly over, my garden is planted (and well-watered, thanks to a nice storm), and my boss is an idiot, so I am occupying myself with writing. Hopefully, I will soon have another chapter of Panem ready for posting.