My neighbors did not set fire to my couch.

My long-anticipated wine & cheese party with my neighbors was last night, and if I may say so myself it was an unqualified success. Five of the ten units in the building were represented, and about half the booze and food got consumed. They're pretty cool.

In fact, the folks across the courtyard invited me over to their place right afterward where they showed me their recording studio (!), and to their football party today. I hope I can make their party; I have a bit of work to do today. The couple upstairs - yeah, the ones with the stationary bike who have all the sex - are young, from Ohio, and thoroughly adorable. And there's an actual kid living in the building, about my son's age! She and her parents did a drive-by.

Two or three people thanked me for making it happen. I feel warm and fuzzy in a way that doesn't require electrolysis. (Speaking of electrolysis, I left zappy an hour early because Ms. Zappy found out that I-5 was clogged and I needed to get my party started. Much thanks to her.)

I just got chilled bottle of nice white wine hung on my doorknob from somebody who didn't come to the party. Aw.

of sisters good and evil

I just got off the phone with my mom, as usual, followed by a chat with my Good Sister, aka Brunette Sister. Says GS, when Mom got her meds trapped in her luggage on the way to see me, Evil Sister, aka Strawberry Blond Sister, said something about telling Mom's doctor that Mom can't take care of herself anymore.

ES is, as GS puts it, a drama queen and has been saying stuff like that for years without following through. Isn't that what the shrinks call borderline personality disorder? In fact, GS says ES claimed she was going to write my SRS surgeon (Dr. Snip, if you'll recall, aka Dr. Marci Bowers) to try and stop my surgery. This was the first I remember hearing of that. ES could never touch me, but she might do real harm to Mom.

Mom has designated ES as the one to make her medical decisions for her, probably because ES still lives in town with her, and the next nearest child, GS, is hundreds of miles away. To make matters worse, ES erroneously thinks Mom is made of money, and ES has always had a Texas-sized sense of entitlement.

GS wants to make sure that Mom's doctor(s) consult with at least one of GS & me before doing anything major, and I think that's a fine idea. If I need to be in Florida physically, so be it. I was hoping we'd have a few more years before having to deal with this - GS points out that Mom's in pretty good shape, considering her age - but as has happened so often, Evil Sister is forcing the issue.