HOW DID THEY KNOW??!

Yeah, and I can't help wondering why, if they were so bored with the game, they bothered to stick around? Looks like they would have had waaaaaay more fun at a bar (as would I).

I'm wondering if/hoping that the person/people who abandoned this cat had to leave in a hurry (maybe they were getting evicted, maybe there was domestic violence etc.) and either didn't have time to call or just didn't know they were able to do this. Like someone said above, dropping the cat off with two tins of cat…

And so early in the year, too! Impressive work.

Thank you so much! I will email this to my dad (I don't have a smartphone) in case he needs it.

I hope everything goes well for the both of you!

Me too! I was pretty damn upset that I had to cancel a trip home over Christmas, and then we found out my sister wouldn't be able to take time off to come over for the wedding...at this point I'm getting to the "Can someone, anyone, from Britain please come and stand with me in the courthouse?" stage.

Yep, the forecast is pretty promising after tonight. They're flying United Airlines, which I have had mixed experiences with in the past. The weather has been pretty settled here in Iowa, so my hope is that as long as Chicago sorts out we should be okay. My dad, being a bit of a travel pro, booked on Thursday…

I'm really worried about this right now. My parents are meant to be flying from the UK to the US, with a transfer at Chicago on Thursday to be at my wedding this weekend. At the moment it looks like they'll be able to fly into Chicago, but if things continue the way they've been for the last few days they'll be stuck…

Yep. I have no idea who in the hell actually buys half the "edgy" crap UO likes to carry. I assume the store is run exclusively for the benefit of stroppy teenagers, but even the uber stroppy teenager I was once would have thought this thing was hideous.

Agreed. I should point out this particular festival is really small and known for having a very mellow and family-friendly atmosphere (they have a kid's tent in the daytime that has events and activities specifically for children), but I think festivals of any kind are times when people want to cut a little loose. I'm…

I tend to agree. This particular festival is a small one, and they're known for being family-friendly, in that they have a specific children's tent in the daytime with music/craft events orientated towards children. But that lets out at 6pm, because, you know, that's when kids are supposed to be in bed!

Hah, yes! The other day I was skyping with my family in the UK when they saw the snow through the window and were all "Oh, but it's so pretty!" at which point I basically told them to stop being morons.

Yeah, at the start of this winter my SO was laughing at me for buying long underwear. I'm from a typically very temperate part of the world (coastal Wales, which I am given to understand is very like like Seattle- damp and a bit cool no matter what time of year it is) and it was all "We hearty Midwest folk do not…

So this seems like an appropriate place to ask...what do people think of taking young children to music festivals? I think it's fine so long as you properly supervise them and get them those ear protecting headmuffler deelies, but then I remember seeing a family at a music festival with kids aged about 7 and 5 asleep…

Agreed on all counts. It's so much easier to say "you shouldn't spend that unexpected $ on that bottle of red wine when you have bills to pay" than it is to actually do it; I am mortally afraid of going into debt in the US but even I spend more than I should on treats.

Yeah, I was very pleased with myself for not crying in the nurses' office, even though she said it apparently happens a lot.

Good point. Coming from a country with a centralized government, I find the discontinuities between some state and federal legislation to be a bit perplexing.

And now I'm going to live here!

Thank you! It really wasn't so bad, though I am terrible with needles!