I remember a time in which the Great Birthday Coincidence was a novelty, a source of joking amongst Jeff's family. "What, Jeff's birthday is the 16th, his sister's [Lori's] is the 18th, and this new girl's birthday is the 20th? All in October? That's convenient. Guess you'll just have one big cake then."(Yes, once, I was "the new girl.")

I'd just like to note that if you search for "cat abuse" on answers.com, domesticat.net is the fourth result.If you like, see the original post. It contains a truly graphic photo (which you can click on to get an even larger version of the graphic abuse they undergo here at this house).

Yes. Abused severely. I suppose someone should rescue them and … uh … ok, I'm out of ideas here … anyone want two obscenely large cats? They're friendly, really, except when they're not.

Take the bait, baby. No, bite a little deeper, honey; sink that hook allllllllllll the way in. Yes, show me your pustulent little orifice. I don't have all night, and I want to get back to my knitting.

The lesson is simple: the time that you close off and draw away from your friends is the time that you probably need them the most.There have been no gym stories for a while, and that should be a tip-off that I'm struggling. The month before dragon*con is always a wash for me when it comes to workouts, because my brain gets eaten by the twin towers of tech and DCTV. Coming on top of May's pneumonia diagnosis, things have sputtered for months. What had started off terribly well ended up in a major disappointment for me; the costume I had spent a year and a half researching was one I could not fit into when it came time for dragon*con 2005.

I put it away for another year. Not without tears, though.

Occasionally, a phrase uttered in complete seriousness comes back to bite you in the ass. Occasionally, phrases uttered in complete innocence result in anything but.I offer my current example: "Hey, I want a birthday party this year! Why don't we do a big group birthday party for all of the October birthday folks, and maybe send out an invitation to tech staff to see if anyone will want to drive up from Atlanta?"

Misty gets the best auntie birthday present of all: a nephew born on her birthday … the newest bald member of the Granade family.(*ducks*)

Congratulations to Andrew and Joy, whose first child Samuel Nathan was born today. We're still trying to figure out how someone as small as Joy managed to gestate an eight-pound child without, uh, exploding. (Does the C-section count?)

Of course, it turns out that little Sam scored a 9/10 on his Apgars. Nothing like starting a pattern of high achievement from the start.