Me? Confusing?

I try to keep my naming scheme mostly transparent. I often fail. So I'll happily make a list to make things easier for an anonymous new reader.

Here @ Home
Katie - That's me.
Chienne - She's the dog. I've had her for five years now and she's a hound/pit bull/other mix.
Sprout - He's the stripey cat. He moved in a couple of years ago when I found him in my front flower bed.

Friend - She deserves a category all her own, I'm sure. I met her about two years ago when she sent me an email because she read my blog and realized we likely worked in the same spot. Despite a few random problems, we've been very close ever since.

Family
Dad - Recently retired, Dad will turn 60 soon. He had a heart attack when I was in college, but has since been relatively healthy. He loves us all dearly and also feels compelled to point out even the smallest errors we make. Then he looks confused when we get frustrated.
Mom - She's historically been one of my closest friends and we've missed each other a lot in the three years I've been away to do this post-doc.* She's incredibly loving and generous and funny, has always been smart and healthy and strong. She had both knees replaced last summer and suffered a number of problems afterward. I was home a lot and terrified that those stays in the hospital revealed her frailty. She's fine now, but I still want to be closer. Just in case.

Brother - I have one sibling, younger than me by about 5 years. He's very smart and attractive and funny. He's doing very well professionally and less than beautifully personally right now.
Brother's Wife - He married a woman, um, three years ago? She's not so smart and very egotistical and I don't like her. She takes advantage of my parents but is a good mother. We have an uneasy peace right now, but only because I glare instead of scold lately.
Little One - My oldest niece is almost 4. She's a brilliant and beautiful and creative and spirited and exquisite girl. She watches movies and reads books, plays dolls and goes to day care. She starts pre-school soon.
Smallest One - My youngest niece is nearly 1. She's also brilliant and beautiful, good natured and giggly. She loves to play peek-a-boo and thinks it's absolutely hysterical when you play along - I can smile just thinking of her.

Aunt is Mom's sister. Uncle is her husband. They have two daughters - Oldest Cousin and Cousin.
Cousin lives fairly near my current location. She's married to Jay, has a daughter (age 3, Little Cousin) and a bunch of animals. Said animals include two puppies (!!) I absolutely adore.

Friends
Apart from Friend - who likely plays the largest role in what I write here (and who is blessedly gracious about what I write. She's never asked me to censor stories that include her and allows me to take liberties with dialogue to make a point. I love her for many reasons, but that's one that comes to mind.) - there are a few important people.

Elle (who became Anna when she found the blog and started to read) - Likely my first true friend ever. I met her upon moving into the dorms in college, found her smart and quirky and delightful and have adored her ever since.
Rachel - Elle's roommate in the dorms and the other of my beloved college friends. We're both introverted so it took us time to get closer and we have more trouble staying in touch. But she definitely counts in the friends list and, should I move north, we should get closer again.
M - My best friend from grad school. We were inseparable. She currently lives in Hawaii and I see her far too rarely.
Carrie - My best friend from my graduate research group. We continue to collaborate and it's due in large part to her that I have a CV as long as mine is.

Work
This list will overlap with the Friends one. I do love a vast majority of the people I see at work.
Boss - My postdoctoral mentor. He's wonderful.
Jill - Boss's longtime secretary and a dear friend.
Ken - Sits next to me in a shared office.
Marlie - Sits diagonal from me in our shared office and is relatively new to this post-doc. I like and worry over her in equal (and large) amounts.
Dr. Icing - One of my main collaborators. Works clinically.
Penguin - One of Dr. Icing's colleagues and a collaborator of mine.
Quiet Mentor - We're co-mentored on the training grant and Quiet Mentor pairs with Boss for me. I rarely see him, hence the Quiet, but he's been very helpful and supportive.

Work To Come
I've been dealing with job search issues for about a year. I can summarize the interviews and outcomes at some point, but it's basically come down to two choices at this point.
Industry is a job I've interviewed for twice. Said interviews were separated by 3 years and the second one was eventually successful. Adam would be my boss in Industry, and the job is located in the Midwest, north of where I currently live and closer to my parents.

Eve would be my boss should I choose the job at Drug Company in California.

What'd I miss? If someone needs to be on the list, leave a comment and I'll add him/her. Random people do pop up. IncompetentIdiot annoyed me a couple weeks ago with travel stuff, but she's hardly worth mentioning otherwise. I used to try to link back to where stories started, but then I wondered who in the world would care about what I wrote before. It seemed a little vain, so I stopped. (But I can start again!)

A Little More Confusing
I've decided not to take Chienne home. She's my dog and she's staying with me. This is likely selfish and wrong. But 16 hours in the car is just too much. So she stays. (This is such a bad idea, but Boss asked if I'd attend a meeting tomorrow. And I don't want to deal with the separation/sickness issue at home either. I'm a terrible person.)

*The Wordle link was seen at BH. You can click on my image to make your own!