Bodies politic

There's a stereotype that you can't really be a good little conservative if you're not able-bodied. I don't really know how true it is. I've never much tried to be a good little conservative.

It's obvious, on the other hand, that you can't be a good little liberal if you're not able-bodied. Fortunately, I don't particularly care to be a good little liberal either.

Perfect fit?

Word is going around the office that I'm leaving high tech for (hopefully) vet med, and almost every single person who has commented about it has said some form of "that's perfect for you". They can totally see me doing that, they think it's really right for me, they think I'd be great at it, they can't imagine a more perfect fit than me being a vet (that last is a direct quote with the pronoun changed). One even said she thought it was such a good idea for me that she can't understand why I didn't do it when I went to school the first time.

Wow. One or two people might be being nice, but nearly all of them? Maybe there's something to this.

(Also: if it's so obvious, dang!, I wish someone had told me fifteen or twenty years ago.)

Bridal shower etiquette

One of the vet techs at the clinic where I work is getting married soon, and I'm invited to her bridal shower.

I have no idea what gift, if any, to bring. If she is registered on any wedding gift list thingy, I don't know about it. She has mentioned, once, that rather than any material gift she'd rather have help setting up / cleaning up for the party -- but I think she meant the one after the wedding, not the shower. I can't attend the wedding; I'm working (at the clinic!) that day.

I also have no idea what to wear. Keep in mind that there are no pants in the world that fit me except one specific brand of jeans, so that's what I own, and if I'm to wear a dress or skirt, it is going to go with unshaved legs, white ankle socks, and these shoes.

Ideas? Thoughts? Is either of these the kind of question one asks the maid of honor?