It's Sunday!
As you can see by Itzl's concerned look, this group is for us to check in at to let people know we are alive, doing OK, and not affected by such things as heat, blizzards, floods, wild fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, power outages, or other such things that could keep us off DKos. It's also so we can find other Kossacks nearby for in-person checks when other methods of communication fail - a buddy system. Members come here to check in. If you're not here, or anywhere else on DKos, and there are adverse conditions in your area (floods, heatwaves, hurricanes, etc.), we and your buddy are going to check up on you. If you are going to be away from your computer for a day or a week, let us know here. We care!
We have split up the publishing duties, but we welcome everyone in IAN to do daily diaries for the group! Every member is an editor, so anyone can take a turn when they have something to say, photos and music to share, a cause to promote or news!
If you would like to fill in, either post in thread or send FloridaSNMom a Kosmail with the date. If you need someone to fill in, ditto. FSNMom is here on and off through the day usually from around 9:30 or 10 am eastern to around 11 pm eastern.
If you'd like to be part of the Itzl Alert Network, please leave a comment asking to join, or send us a message asking to join. We'd love to have you. The bigger our network, the less likely someone will be stranded all alone.
Follow me over the orange decorative feature, if you like.
My firstborn and I had both promised that we would visit my parents this summer, and this weekend worked out as possible for both of us.
I took Friday off, in part because I needed to take Squatty in for a repair since I could finally afford it. My daughter took Friday off because it was available for her to do so and she wanted to see her grandmother. And whoever else happened to turn up - visitors are fairly frequent in my mother's household.
We drove up after the repair was done (well, my daughter drove - it's easier all around that way). My mother has got caught up a little in the muffin tin cuisine craze. The little frittatas she fed us when we arrived were delicious.
My middle nephew got married a little over a year ago and his wife is now pregnant - and they live in Bellevue, which is across Lake Washington from Seattle. My nephew and my sister-in-law, his stepmother (who is visiting for the baby shower), came for dinner on Friday. The pregnant wife had to work and wasn't off till 8:00 PM (Nordstrom). My sister-in-law brought the birthday card my brother had got me (my birthday is in April) - the front said "Growing up in the shadow of mommy's little star was very difficult"; inside it said, "You handled it very well." When I stopped laughing, I asked her to tell him that I was delighted somebody had noticed.
My nephew and I had a good conversation on the subject of becoming a parental unit. He has had a very good example of what it is to be a good father, and he knows it.
This being the first weekend of the month, we spent a few hours on Saturday working in the local park - my stepfather and mother being more-or-less in charge of the particular group since the park is only about half a block from their house. Another 10 or 20 points toward keeping my cheap insurance and getting $100 extra on my period 25 paycheck this year.
The baby shower is today (Sunday) and my mother and daughter are going. My stepfather and I are going to babysit, and we will head home shortly after they get back.