OMGosh that is one FAT squirrel!

I'm sorry about the sad things, Jan. I'm sure that George would be glad that you are happy today, and I don't think that your joy is cause for and guilt.

1. Happy: Tomorrow is the last day of South Beach diet Phase 1. Lost a little weight, not much. Pizza here I come!

2. Sad: My mom is very needy during the holidays, and I can't oblige her (often exaggerated) requests because I need to take care of myself first.

3. Sad: cute guy at work is definitely acting interested, but blatantly told me that he doesn't want to do anything outside of work due to raising his son. I blatantly told him a week ago that I would like to see him outside of work, and was met with stone silence at the time, yet since then he continues to act interested.

1. Sad: Miko's cat's gone and I'm the only other person she ever bonded with. I miss her like anything and feel totally sick and slack inside.

2. Sad: There's a part of my life that's missing now because of it, and going home is like going to a cave.

3. Happy: She went quickly at the vet's and is happy now.

1. Happy/Stressful: I had three phone interviews this week and have at least two on-site interviews next week. Obviously, I'm happy to get the interest but I just hate those six hour interview/torture on-sites.

2. Sad: I blew an easy question on one phone interview about virtual functions in C++. Ironically, I clearly remember blowing that same question in an interview in 1998, clearly I haven't progressed much in the last ten years.

3. Happy/Sad: Going to California the week of T-giving too see my inlaws who I like a lot. The non-happy part of that is explaining that I'm laid-off to my various aunt and uncle in-laws.

1. Happy? Today I will drive three hours, to my home town, to attend a LAN party at my old college. I'm not sure if it's changed for the good or the lame. (I remember it going from awesome to lame after a few years) I'm also picking up my old ibook which, after about three years of convoluted circumstances, is finally working again after I sent it off to be fixed about....a year ago. He doesn't want to ship it because "excessive" bumping might damage it some more.

2. I am behind on my NaNoWriMo novel, by the end of the 15th I should have 25 hundred words, i am at 18K right now and struck with writer's block.

3. My butt hurts, I'm worried it could be a medical condition, but it's ungoogleable and I'm too chicken to use ask-mefi (since the last time I did it turned into a real mess, complete with a MetaTalk thread!)

1. Happy: my best friend and her husband are coming down for two days to attend a wedding and be tourists. They are staying with us - it's been exhausting but my APARTMENT IS SPOTLESS AND GROOVY.

2. Happy: I've decided on Udon for lunch. This couldn't come at a better time as Udon is amazing! However, I wish I could find a nice cold soba noodle take out place around here.

3. My mom is having her first kidney removed today and they suspect cancer. Finger's crossed everyone!

1. Sad: I just found out that Duanna Johnson was murdered last week.

2. Happy/stressed: we're having a dinner party on Saturday, but we'll be at a protest all afternoon and the house is a mess.

3. There's not really a number three - I'm tired and it's lunchtime.

1. Sad but not too sad: My kitchen is a wreck. It's as dark as a dungeon in most of the house because I have the blinds closed. I'm babysitting my nephew. My eldest is home from school today. He was up all night with GI distress and a bad headache. He had himself so worked up that he was hyperventilating. We were doing yoga breathing at 3am.

2. Very bad: I had two hunks of birthday cake this morning. I have a function tonight. I have nothing to wear. I do not want to go. Happy because it was husband's birthday yesterday and we had a great family dinner and he loved his gifts (From Russia With Love and a soft and luxurious ivory blanket.)

3. Sad and crazy: I have a lot of bad memories, anger and stress and every year or so it all comes to the forefront and I am disabled into a big ball of nerves and depression. Oddly, the two glasses of Chardonnay I had last night seemed to change my thought patterns from angry and sad to neutral and accepting.

1. I am sad about Miko's cat, which doesn't do a damn bit of good from a distance. Also still sad about Porkchop and feeling bad for Chickpea, whom I haven't seen all week, since I'm getting home after dark these days. Am still not sure whether to get her a friend.

2. Sad about the current living arrangements. GF spends several days a week in the Bay Area so she doesn't have to commute to school. Lately she's been down there more than usual because she's been working some cooking jobs. It's hard and I don't like it, but I know it's got to be this way for a while. However, HAPPY because she moved out of her crappy, bedbug-infested apartment in SF and is now living in a nice little studio in Berkeley. No roommates; no dealing with other people's bathroom grime; no dealing with Stompy the Amazing Weirdo Freak; no more bedbugs; no more cold, dim shithole. Plus, it's closer and is an easy train ride from here, for when she's not around and I need to get down there.

3. Happy that Thanksgiving is coming up. We're going to the coast with her parents (whom I've not yet met). So, happy, but trepidatious too. Also happy because I'll get a big, fat paycheck right after Thanksgiving, and next month I'll be able to afford a haircut!

1. Sad: Life generally sucks right now. I need a job, a new city, and someone in my life.

2. Happy: My boss wanted me to go to the coast and do some field work. And it's a gorgeous day here
that camera is at a bad angle

3. Sad: The holidays are always stressful for me. More so this year because of 1.

Happy: Just spent half an hour playing "baby in the mirror" with Miss M. We stand in the bathroom and I tilt the mirrors around so she sees three babies and three Mommies. It blows her little mind. And she grins constantly.

Happy: My friend Dave (my PhD mentor from NZ) was in town last night and stayed with us. He just got made full professor. He's good people. He's off to DC today for a conference that I would also be attending if not for point #1.

Sad: Only 2 more weeks of maternity leave. It's gonna be rough leaving the kidlet. Rough on me, I'm sure she won't be too fazed.

1. I am sad everyone is so sad. Sad that the world seems so awful right now. Sad for all the losses around me right now.
2. I am happy because I have shiny red boots on my feet and a new shiny red washing machine coming to Mr Blandings' Dreamhouse tomorrow because Mr B is the sort of man everyone dreams of having in life and because the current washing machine doesn't wash anything.
3. I am happy because the holidays make me happy. The winter weather makes me happy. Gaspode's baby and the Obama's puppy and pretty girls walking down the street smiling and young men wearing fedoras make me happy. My job is shit; my life is meaningless and I can't rent my condo to save my soul, but for the first time since I was 8 years old, when I wake up in the morning, my first thought is "but are you happy?" and the answer without hesitation is "yes".

1) happy: My hair looks fantastic today and I even found a red pencil at work that accents my outfit. I am wearing my Buddy Holly glasses and argyle tights with a cute green corduroy skirt, and I feel like a nerd goddess.

2) stressed: I interview to land (for reals) the job I have been doing for the last 8 months in *checks watch* 1:05 omgomgomgeeeek!

3) sad: family-related holiday weirdness has really been getting me down recently. Also: an awesome dude in the maintenance department at work is retiring today.

So I also feel guilty, too, that I am happy today, as if it somehow sullies his memory and the remembrance of the time we had together.

I'm sure that if he could see you now he would be so happy that you are happy. Wouldn't that be what you would want for him?

Happy: I'm happy for my sister that she seems to be having a healthy pregnancy after her miscarriage.

Sad: Well, not sad. Just stressed and annoyed. I hate showers and I hate entertaining. So the prospect of having to entertain a house full of strangers for her baby shower tomorrow fills me with dread. Plus, our neighbors get totally wigged out if anyone parks in front of their houses, so I had to put an "OMG...only park in front of my house!" note on the invitations and put up "OMG! Only park here!" signs in front of the house and send out "OMG! Company's coming! Stake your lawns if you don't want a wheel to touch that precious patch of grass along the street!" notes to all the neighbors. But it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow and I know damn well that the loony tunes my sister is friends with will ignore all that and park wherever is closest and I'll have to deal with the high-strung, stick-up-her-ass woman next door.

Happy: But my baby sister is flying in from California for the shower! And college has made her ever-so lovely. She busts her ass for children's charities and went crazy for Obama and kicked herself for not registering in CA so she could vote down Prop 8. Such a change from the small town girl she used to be. I am so, so proud of her.

Sad: About my cat, of course.

Happy: That we got to have a very sweet last night of sleeping cuddled on the bed, more cuddling this morning, that it was so clear it was time to let her go, and that she is now comfortable and free of troubles. Happy that so many people can relate to the sadness of loss of a pet and have shared caring words about it.

Happy, too, looking farther ahead, that the holidays are coming, that I get to see my family and celebrate, that we are going to see "White Christmas" on Broadway, that LT is coming with.

Tired: Ready to put everything down for a while. The endless chaos of work, the constant list of things to do, the worries about getting by and what's just around the corner. Tired and wanting to just snuggle in a blanket and sleep the sleep of a secure kid while the grownups, who have everything under control, are in the kitchen making dinner and chatting comfortably.

pup: so it was bedbugs after all? Glad that's over. Hope chickpea is rebounding.

ej: I agree that people who have passed on want nothing more than for their loved ones to live and be happy. I don't know if you've ever seen the movie Truly, Madly, Deeply -- it is wonderful -- definitely a three- or four-hankie film but very life-affirming and all about love after loss.

special-k: that is a nice place to go to work...

Happy: My boy gets out of the hospital this evening! Hooray! There hasn't been anything seriously wrong with him, he just got a nasty infection from a dog bite received on Tuesday. He HATES being in the hospital, so he overjoyed to get out of the hospital.
Sad: I wish I could go back in time to be at Muse's HAARP Wembley Stadium show. That show freaking ROCKS.

oh, and eatdonuts, fingers are crossed!

This is for HelloJed. Many of my friends with high-pressure jobs have had these and if you're stressed out, I bet it's what you have too. It's fixable with a quick little surgery.

Happy: The thing last weekend was definitely a date and things seem to be going well so far. I shouldn't kiss and tell but I find it soooo hard to keep my trap shut when I am excited about things.

Sad: I am falling way behind on a personal project and I totally have time to catch up a little today but now it's become a chore so I keep putting it off.

Happy/Sad: I'm having lunch tomorrow with family friends, the kids of my mom's best friend who died last year.

1. happy/sad: I feel like I'm finally figuring out all these amazing things I want to do with my life (which is a nice change from not being able to visualize being alive in 6 months, but that's neither here or there) and while I've made my decision to go backpacking, that does mean that I'll obviously be burning bridges and might not be able to DO said amazing things and I just wish I had some sort of crystal ball to know what I'm doing is right, because I've never been able to make a solid decision without all sorts of mourning about what could've been the right decision, but wasn't chosen. GAH.

2. sad: I had to put up with my mother being pissy this afternoon because I rolled out of bed at 2 after I heard her picking the lock on my door. She said she wanted to make sure I wasn't dead. Thanks mom. My brother then called me and said 'I need you to get a $200 money order and bring it to me in Bethesda.' Yeah, go fuck yourself for your poor planning, Alex.

3. happy/sad: My first LibSci class is almost over (3 classes left!) and while I'm excited because I really feel like this is exactly what I'm meant to be doing, this means time is really flying by and I feel completely unprepared for the next steps.

Anal Fissures?

I have a new name for a punk band.

Actually, I think they're Lipomas. I'd really like them to be removed, because they're kind of painful.

Huh, I can't believe I'm talking about my ass, instead of talking out of my ass.

happy: It's the weekend
sad: I'm on day 1 of a cold
happy: I can self-medicate all weekend

Happy: The bf is going to be here in approximately one hour, and he's staying till early Monday morning.

Happy: just got a prescription to help with the waking up at two am and staying awake for hours problem I've been having.

Happy: The dentist said I have fabulous teeth even though I don't floss.

Sad: Nothing's sad today. Lots of stress in my life but I'm putting it aside for the weekend and just enjoying being with the bf.

(((Hugs))) to all who have sad things going on.

Sad: I'm so sorry that Miko and LT's cat passed away. That is such an unbelievable pain and such a feeling of loss. It eases with time, but time doesn't pass fast enough.

Sadish: I've got my fingers crossed for eatdonuts's mom. Not for nothing, Mr. V has kidney cancer, if you have any questions, eatdonuts.

Happy: What I just wrote made me smile "If you have any questions, eat donuts."

Happy: It's the weekend. So, so happy it's the weekend. Was up at 4:30 this morning entering first marking period grades. Comment #21 was very popular: Is Developing Good Skills. As were #28: Poor/Missing Homework and #18: Distracting Influence in Class. A few #11's: Special Aptitude in the Field. (My God, I've got them memorized.)

Sad: My foot hurts. My left heel's been so off and on sore I can barely walk sometimes. I'm wondering if it might be gout.

Sad: I defrosted chicken and I'm too motherfucking tired to cook it.

Happy (I guess): We're going up for my brother-the-doctor's 70th birthday brunch on Sunday. Glad to see mom and brothers. Extended cousins et. al. not so much. But there will likely be lox.

Happy: Did I mention it's the weekend?