Various things have kept me offline for a while, mostly related to manuscript edits, although we did spend some time attending Rick's 25th college reunion. It was quite the intimate affair; mine promises to have about 20 times the attendance of Rick's, which will be a very different experience.

Two events made today potentially memorable. One is that, even as I fuss with edits to my second manuscript, the first has been accepted by a major genetics journal with only minuscule revisions required. Rick was complaining last night that we had two bottles of champagne taking up space in the refrigerator and no occasion on which to drink it. I expect to make some fridge room tonight. Hell, we can drink it outside and hope that some Euodynerus foraminatus stop by to sip from our glasses too.

The other milestone is that, three months having passed since my total spaying in March, I was finally cleared to get my prescription for ethinyl estradiol filled today. (Note to worried friends: No, it's not the estrogen-progestin combination HRT that has been getting such bad press lately. Yes, I'm well under 65. Yes, even if I tolerate it well, I promise to go back off it before I get that old.) While I was waiting for the pharmacist to hand over the goods, I realized that I was standing next to a shelf full of disposable cameras. The brand on display behind me (I'm not kidding): FLASH 400. First thought: Yep, that's me. Second thought: As Inspector Clouseau would say, "Nit inny muure."

Third thought: Y'know, my relatives really are pretty old. My youngest aunt is now 75. I've got exactly one younger first cousin, and he's going to turn 41 later this month. It hasn't been all that long since I was permitted to leave the children's table, so to speak; we really do have a different time scale of life's milestones than do families living through the wee hours of the genealogical clock. I just keep picturing my mother getting all sentimental about this. "Just yesterday my daughter was a little girl; today she's picking up her first prescription for HRT. They grow up so fast ...."