Thank you, Katie, for the lovely comment. It's so nice to feel that one has fans.

I don't know - I go back and forth on the "not wanting kids" issue. At this point, practically (and medically) speaking, I'd either have to find someone jolly quick (and at that, probably need some medical enhancement), become a stepmom, or else consider adopting. And I don't think I could do the single-mother thing. (I know a woman who, realizing she was 40 & single & unlikely to marry & wanted a child to raise who did an international adoption. It works well for her but she has a lot of family/empty-nester friend support to help her out. Not so for me.) There are things I'd love to do - my heart cracks a little when I walk by a rack of baby dresses in a store and realize I'll never be picking them out for one of my own, and I would love to be able to share all the kid's books I loved with a new generation, and bake silly birthday cakes in the shape of SpongeBob or a train or a kitty, stuff like that.

But then again - I don't do well with tantrums or with the constant petitioning for something that some kids do. I have patience but it has a definite limit. And I like my free time. And I'm a chronic worrier; I'd probably worry about the kid from the moment they were born until I took my final breath (and even then, beyond, if worrying in the Afterlife isn't forbidden).

I think, perhaps, I should try out a cat or a dog first, just to make sure I remember to actually FEED the thing... (I'm bad about remembering to water my plants regularly. But then again a plant doesn't come and yowl at you in the middle of the night because it needs water).

Put out a lot of fires today; called a lot of people that I needed to call. (I still hate using the phone). Revised the paper - and you know, as I read it over, I thought, "Damn, this is one of my better efforts. This is really a pretty fine paper." So now, I just have one meeting to deal with, then home. That's a good feeling; looking at the List of Things I Have To Do (including a few items I dreaded doing) and realizing you've checked everything off.

Then tomorrow at 8 am, I hit the ground running for a new year of class. I'm ready for it, I think. It's starting to feel more like fall here - been raining like a banshee for the past couple of days and it's a lot cooler.