Got a lot to catch you lot up on, as I haven't been up on the forum, relegating myself to lurker status until I had some really meaty content to feed you folks.
Firstly, some bad news of varying degrees. Around February 12, two days before my 39th birthday, I learn my mother has passed away. Before the waterworks begin, know that I myself made my peace with the idea some 2 years ago when she went into a care facility for her COPD, the result of years of smoking. What tears I would cry, I shed then. I am saddened, but also relieved, now that she isn't struggling to breathe in a bed any