Good News/ Bad News VI

The other thread was getting a little bit long...

GN: I have plans to get together with my friends and watch the Golden Globes. Yayy
BN: I have a day full of work tomorrow.
GN: My best friend returned from a trip yesterday.
BN: I have to return the Nintendo Wii to her :(

Good News: I was able to sell my old sewing machine =)

GN: I found this website!
BN: I don't know what to do now.

GN: I can wear my pajamas all day.
BN: Tomorrow I have to go back to school.

GN: There will be cherry muffins to eat soon!
BN: I have to go make them first. :(

Hi HCBookworm!

Welcome!

Good News: I gave blood.
Better News: I can use it as an excuse to be lazy today. :o)

#3 HCBookworm:
Welcome to LibraryThing and the Hogwarts Express! We just love it here and hope you will, too. I see you've cataloged some books already. You could give them tag labels, ratings, reviews, or talk on any of the threads about them. :)

Good news: One of my sisters brought over a bag full of books she was going to toss out because she knows I'm on book swapping sites.

More good news: She doesn't want any books for the points these ones will earn so I get to use them myself.

Bad news: This thread is reminding me that I wanted to bake blueberry muffins but I haven't been able to because of a fruit fly problem.

The best good news: I found what attracted the fruit flies. It was a jar of jam someone received as a Christmas gift and left in a box in the kitchen. With luck the problem will be gone soon.

Welcome HCBookworm!!! I really hope you like it around here....you'll soon find that our discussions aren't all based on Harry Potter, but being random is part of our group lol! ;P

GN: I got a cell phone.
GN: I got new x-country skis.
GN: My friend got Skype.
BN: I have to write a speech for Wednesday :(
BN: I have to go soon.

GN: I got offered a ticket to the UNC/Wake Forest college basketball game tonight!
BN: There's only one ticket, so my husband has to stay home.
GN: I'm a UNC fan and he's a Wake fan (and the game is at Wake), so we won't spend the entire game yelling at the tv/each other and scaring the dog.

Bad news: I have been up since 6am. Someone shoot me now.

Good news: I have a slew of new books on the way... And actually have shelf space for them!

Congrat on the book news, laia! I haven't shelved any books on my newest bookshelf yet and am crossing my fingers all the books will actually fit.

Good News: My friend Chloie will be joining LT soonish.

Bad News: I have homework to do.

Bad news: My co-workers left me out of last week's meeting when I was there. I'm over it now, but it's a good deal of why I was so upset last Monday.
Good news: That would mean they don't want me to be at tonight's meeting so I don't have to be there.
Bad news: I'm still going to remain very anxious over the next half hour in case they should call and demand to know why I'm not there right now. (Reason being, I'm assuming they don't see reason for me to be part of the meetings from now on since the holidays are over.)
Good news: Maybe this stress is all over nothing. *crosses fingers, then knocks on the wooden desk*

Oh K, petal.

I would let them get on with it, and not worry yourself. If it transpires they wanted you there, then you have every right to tell them that you would have been available had they told you about it.

Hugs for you - try not to worry.

See you all tomorrow - I'm off to be fed by my London family! (GN!)

GN/BN: The online database I use at work is having server troubles. This is both good and bad because, the only things I have left to do today require the database. It gives me an excuse to LT, but this stuff really needs to get done!

Thanks, LadyN! *hugs back*

GN: I got to go to B&N today and I ordered a book!

BN: I had to order it, so that means I don't have a new book in my hands.

BN: I am tired... I have only been sleeping a couple hours at a time for the past week or so.
GN: My books for school will be here tomorrow
GN: I recieved Faerie Wars is the mail yesterday!

GN: No work tomorrow because there is a religious festivity involving a procession here in my city(if you are interested you can read about it Here)

BN: I think I won't be able to get out of my house till late afternoon because I'm right next to where the procession starts.

GN: I really didn't want to leave my house coz I want to get some reading done. Yayy!

BN: I still don't have Tales Of Beddle The Bard in my hands....And I really want to read it...

GN: I had fun at school until 5th.

BN: During 5th I heard that my friend had a seizur.

Ohh I'm sorry MrsG Is your friend ok now?

I dont really know. Im pretty scared.

*hugs for MrsG* I'm very sorry about your friend and hope they're okay. My kid sister has seizures, too, and I know it scares her friends also. They text me and our mother to see how she's doing on bad days. Maybe you or another of your friends could contact one of their family members to learn how they are. Don't necessarily be scared when you don't see them in school tomorrow. They're probably going to take the next couple of days easy and rest besides seeing a doctor. The doctor my sister went to actually gave her a medicine to help prevent her seizures. Maybe your friend will get medicine, too! I wish them much good luck! Hang in there.

MrsG: Let us know when you get knews about it.

GN/BN: I'm not sure which one out wieghs the other. Remember that I stopped in B&N on the way to my conference? Well I stopped in on the way back too.

Bad news: Someone ran over and killed one of the kitties on our street yesterday. It didn't die instantly, either. :(

Good news: I am only a little happy to know it wasn't one of the ones we take care of, but all the same...

More bad news: Every store gets customers who steal things and then try to return them for cash, but since we don't give cash in every case and they're without a receipt, a particular set of women have begun threatening to harm us after we're off our shifts when we leave work. They show up about every two days.

Good news: So far, they haven't showed up after closing and no one has seen them when we leave. Whoever closes uses the buddy system and everyone leaves together as a group. There's also mall security, though we have our own security people.

Good News: No work today!
Bad News: It's snowy and slippery outside.

BN: I'm eating the last piece of chocolate fudge that Lefty sent in my gift exchange gift.

GN: I still have all the peanut-butter fudge left.

ETA: I'm also wearing the pajama pants, I love them.

Sorry Rissa, I sent it before the whole fudge-for-all thing so I didn't know you preferred chocolate or I'd have sent all chocolate. :)

I'm thinking of trying the peanut-butter fudge dipped in nutella, it sounds really good.

It was the chocolate fudge that took longer to be eaten here. I was surprised by that, but I guess it makes sense. My family loves peanut butter.

I only ate all the chocolate first because I thought it would be better to keep one flavor sealed until the other was gone. less risk of it drying out that way.

Good news: I discovered a new kind of skittles. It has two flavors for every skittle: one for the shell and another for the inside.

Bad news: After trying them I don't know if I should say yum or eww.

More bad news: While sharing them with my kid sister today she asked, "You got Wednesday off for my concert, right?" She never told me the date for it!

Good news: The schedule isn't up online yet, so there's a possibility I might happen to have the time off. I might also be able to say something tomorrow morning and have some strings magically pulled so I can make it to her choir concert.

Bad news: It's 11:30pm, my cell bill is due today, and I forgot about it. Yikes! Time to leave LT to pay online.

Rissa, I've melted chocolate chips to have chocolate-dipped PB fudge. I'm sure nutella would equally lovely!

GN: No school!!

BN: It's -5 today with the wind chill somewhere around -30 and this is as warm as it's getting all day. I do hate the cold.

GN: Who cares if it's horribly cold when you get to stay at home all day!!

BN: I have the stomach flu :(
GN: It looks like it's going away..yesterday was way worse.
GN: I get to stay at home :)
GN: That means I get to snuggle up with a book.
GN: My hunger is slowly coming back.

Good News: School is cancelled for tomorrow!
Good News: I have a four day weekend! Thank you Martin Luther King Jr.!
Good News: I got my paycheck on Tuesday.

#33 picolina:
I'm sorry you aren't feeling well. Hope you're better soon!

Good news: It's the day the house is supposed to be silent and I get it to myself.
Bad news: I'm starting to get a little worried about what the house is going to look like tonight. These kids weird. Are they're trying to beat me up. Oi!

#35 that's what wardrobes are for. You get them in by telling them Narnia is on the other side.

KIK. If only we had a wardrobe! Maybe I can trap them in the attic or crawl space under the house. ;)

GN: I'm off work for the next three days!
GN: One of my best friends from college is coming Saturday for a visit!
BN: That means I have to clean the house tomorrow.
BN: It is f-r-r-r-r-eezing! The temperature is only supposed to get up in the teens tomorrow. And, though the thermostat says our house is as warm as it usually is, just knowing that it's that cold outside makes it feel even colder.

GN: I just ate chocolate cake for breakfast! (After a bowl of sensible Cheerios, mind you...)
GN: I'm heading off to the state capital for a behind-the-scenes tour of the state's natural science museum as part of a conference I'm attending tomorrow.
BN: A bluebird flew into one of the windows on our sun porch and now I have to go retrieve her body from the yard before the dog gets her. I hate how often birds fly into the windows...they usually do so with enough force that they don't survive. :o(

GN: I'm wearing my Ravens Jersey to work today.
BN: My husbands cousin is coming to spend the weekend with us. I'm not a fan.
GN: He's not coming till Saturday!
BN: He is allergic to our cat so we have to leave her in the basement until he leaves.
GN: I don't wake up with cat but in my face.
BN: My vaccum is broke, I sucked up a screw :(
GN: The vaccum company is sending us a new vaccum free of charge!

BN: My oven is broken.
GN: The repair guy came today, first thing so I didn't have to spend the whole day waiting around for him.
BN: It's going to be expensive to fix the problem. Not quite as expensive as buying a new oven, but close.
BN: I have to wait a week for the part to come in, so I do not have use of an oven during that time.

Ah, the joys of home ownership.

Ooh foggi - you have a perfect excuse for take-out every day!! Quite jealous myself ;-)

Yeah, LadyN, but I am on the same diet as you -- and maybe in London this is not a problem, but in my little town, there's a limited amount of take-out food that I can actually eat. Most of it involves some form of bread, pasta, or sauces with sugar hidden in them somehow.

(Re #43 -- Sorry if that came out as sounding snappish. The amount presented to me by the oven repair guy ruined any good mood I might have had this morning.)

That didn't sound snappish foggi. I thought it sound frustrated-ish. frustratish. frustisherated.

It sounded like you wished they had better take-out food. :o)

GN: I got 2 large, heavy boxes from Scholastic yesterday. One was the HP hardcover boxed set that I ordered for me! The other was filled with the kid's order and the books that I ordered for the classroom.

BN: I can't remember if I put the payment envelope in the mail bin or not. I'm going to have to spend some time looking for it. It's not in the drawer that I would have put it in if I didn't mail it off, but I don't remember walking it down to the mail bin in the office.

GN: I got a little more sleep last night. I didn't wake up until 6 this morning (usually I wake up at 3 or 4 and take the dogs out).
BN: Didn't put the short leash on Finnegan so I could feel him move if he did at night. When I woke up this morning, he had moved from the head of my bed to the foot of my bed.
GN: Luckily, I know he didn't get down because he wouldn't have been able to get back up.

GN: I was on the news last night. Our regional news station did a piece on our school's language camp, which is an after school program for ESL students. A few parents also come to work on the program. I was involved because I run one of the computer labs after school.
BN: I didn't see it because our clocks were a little off, and it was on first thing.

Not snappish foggi!

Sorry for your traumas.

I forgot you were on the no-carb thing too. You're right, it's pretty rubbish where takout is concerned!

I find I can get an indian, if I have no rice or naan, and go for something like prawns with spinach, and some sort of tikka.

Let's start a global atkins friendly take out place!!

Foggi do you have a toaster oven? If not you might consider investing in one for such times. You won't be able to cook large amounts of food, but you could get some homecooking done.

I'm sorry Foggi! hmmm now that I think of it, I can't think of any take out close to me that would work for a low carb diet.

GN: Went to the doctor's and got to hear the baby's heart beat which is always fun.
GN: I've lost 5 pounds in a few weeks
BN: I'm pregnant, therefore should not be losing weight
GN: I am not worried because it seems to be all coming off my thighs which could use the help 8)

#49: Congrats on the ultrasound MEM and I wouldn't worry about losing weight, when my sister was pregnant with her second baby she lost weight (3 kilograms) instead of putting on some, and that was because my niece had and still has very little apetite.

GN: It's Friday!!!
GN: I always get off work early
BN: I have to go right now to work :(
GN: I got paid yesterday. yayy

GN: My nephew knows me! I always knew that he recognized me when he saw me, but I just got a call from my mom and I'm very excited at this new development. My dad does the headshots for the show that are displayed in the lobby and he was working on mounting them, about 9 per card. He was showing Holly mine (with the 8 others on the board) and Holly asked Zach "Where's Aunt Heather?" and Zach pointed right at me! They thought it could be a fluke so they tried it again a little later and he pointed right at me again. It's very exciting that he doesn't just think "oh there's the lady that looks like mom" but that he knows that I'm Aunt Heather! I'm beyond excited right now!

#51 - Oh bib, that's lovely!! hurrah for being recognisably Aunt Heather!!

#50 Thanks Renald! 8)

#51 Oh how cute! 8) Kids have a way of making someone feel so wonderful. Well until they hit that pesky blunt truth stage where they tell you that your shirt is ugly or your hair is fuzzy. LOL

MEM, what was the heart-rate?

I'm a little worried for when I go to the Doc next week. as of a week and a half ago I still hadn't gained anything, and since I started out underweight I'm to the point where I should be gaining 1.5-2 pounds a week.

It was just a Dopler this time around so I just heard it but originally I saw the heartbeat on ultrasound and it was 169. I wouldn't worry about your weight gain. The baby is basically a parasite and will take it's nutrients first. (LOL that's what my doctor told me today 8) )
With Missie, I was sick and lost 25 lbs by month 6 but my belly just kept getting bigger and bigger. Then I gained it all back in a rush and had a 8lb 4oz baby. As long as the baby is growing try not to worry ( I know easier said than done). 8) You'll gain weight at the end probably.

it's not the baby I'm worried about. I can tell that my arms and legs have gotten thinner though, and as I said, I was underwieght to start out with, so if this keeps going I'll end up getting sick, which isn't good for either of us.

Are you sick to your stomach or are you just not gaining weight? My first doctor told me that I should eat whatever I could to help with my weight loss. I believe she told me that I should eat mash potatoes all day long if that was all I could stand. 8)

I haven't been sick to my stomach other that a week and a half of nausea early on. I'm just not gaining. I'm eating more than I normally do too.

I imagine being a full time student doesn't help. 8)

ETA but not in a bad way. I just saw that that comment seemed kinda mean. What I meant was that classes and homework take a lot of time up and make it hard to make room to eat big meals. 8)

hmm well as long as food is going in you I wouldn't worry too much. If it comes down to it your OBGYN can have you get daily vitamin IV's for a week or two to help. My niece was and is small and she did have to have that for about two weeks.

*hugs for foggi*

#46 kirby:
Wow, kirby! Wait a couple days more. Perhaps someone you know got excited and recorded it. :)

#49 MEM:
That must sound so cool! Did your kids get to hear it, too? :)

#51 bib:
My kid sister's other grandfather died when she was two. Her father was really happy a year or two later when she mentioned him out of the blue since he thought she'd never remember him. It's always sweet when little kiddies can point people out. :)

#54 rissa:
I'll have to ask my mother for you when she started to gain weight with her pregnancies. Like you, she was thin and underweight. I think she was about 95 to 110 to begin with for her first three pregnancies. After baby number three she might have been 120 though only for a short while. I was almost five then and don't remember ever seeing her pregnant. All of a sudden she was gone one Halloween and there was my new sister.

Good news: I went through shipment today at work. It's so exciting to see new stuff arriving!
Bad news: I cut my hand at work. I figure it would be silly to have two bandaids on the same hand so it's not covered. The other cut is from Tumble slicing my hand during a game of tag.
Other bad news: My left foot is asleep.
Good news: It's still beautiful outside so I don't have to walk off my sleeping foot around the house.

#61 Nope. I'm a not a fan of bringing kids into an adult doctor's office. Though I might take Missie in with me to see an ultrasound. Today when I told her that I heard the heartbeat she said, "Oh, so it's gonna survive?" So maybe she needs that as much as I did since the badness this past summer. 8( I thought she was kinda ignoring the whole mom being pregnant thing but I assumed it wasn't interesting to her until I got fat and the baby starting moving. 8)

Is it nice weather there, K? It is -3 out here today with a wind chill of 'up to -30' according to the news. 8)

*hug or handshake for MEM, her choice*

She might enjoy listening to the heartbeat or seeing a picture when you have one. My mother liked to be silly and play games with us during pregnancies by setting our small toys on her stomache and seeing which could balance there. I remember Nala won, paws down. ;)

Beautiful weather here, MEM. It's 71 and sunny. It's been great weather all week. My, that is cold there! Still, can you imagine being the one whose weather seems to be the opposite of everyone else? It has me really curious what a real winter is like and how it would be to experience one.

LOL Missie was interested in her new brother but I don't think she understood it completely. Cole was one of those babies that would become absolutely still if anyone other than my hand pressed my belly. So I think Missie didn't understand that the baby was alive. When Mom brought her to the hospital she thought it was kind of cool until Mom told her it was time to go back to grandma's house. She asked mom in the car if she was going to have to live with her now. LOL Missie thought I had gotten a replacement child.

#65 I tell you what. I'll come stay in your room and you can come stay in my house. That way you'll get to fully appreciate winter weather. I would hate for you to be without this experience. LOL

KIK. You are so kind! I hope you don't mind sharing the bed with cats. Beware Tumble bites when under the covers and knocks around the blinds in the window all morning. Don't worry about taking care of them, though - others will. Tag is enough and they don't ask. They make it happen. ;)

Hugs for little Missie! That would be scary! Just as much as the time I thought I read a note on the fridge as a child that said, "Put children (chicken!) in crock pot."

Oh Poor little Missie! She was in tears! "Grandma, are you and papa going to be my p..p..parents now?" I still tear up when I remember it! She loves her Grandma, make no mistake, but she thought she had been replaced! the poor thing!

Bad news: My 20-year-old sister lost her job today. They cut 10% of their employees without any notice, giving them two weeks of pay following this day.
More bad news: She bought a car two days ago.

She reads our horoscope everyday. Today's had made her nervous when she saw them making the rounds letting go of people. This is what it said:

"Whether you have an awareness of it or not, your career's going through good change...It's kind of hard for you to figure out what to do next, do put off the big decision for a little while longer, if that's possible. If not, you may need to seek someone wise for advise."

#68 Cats, easy. Eh, have you ever shared a bed with a wiggling four year old? They can instinctively kick you in your kidneys every twenty two minutes. I think that's a medical fact. JP? Can you back me up on that? LOL

*sigh* I miss having a cat, though. I love Gracie the dog but I like cats. Very soothing...when they want to be!

Oh No! Your poor sister! Maybe she can hurry up and find a new job? How's the job market out there?

#71- It is a well known that any child you share your bed with must sleep perpendicular to you, forcing you to keep moving over until your husband falls off the other side of the bed. I think it might be a physics law.

MEM, we still have a spare cat if you need one. Her name is Knick Knack. She's orange and likes to hang out on shelves and stare lovingly at everyone. :o)

MEM,

Ah, non-happy memories. I have indeed. There was a time my kid sister would come in my room every night asking to sleep in my bed. Our lucky mother was never asked a single time. That girl can punch and kick in her sleep something awful. She still sleeps that way. It makes me nervous because I have the room next to hers and am supposed to listen just in case she has another seizure and I wonder, how in the world would I know with the way that girl sleeps?

The job market....Very bad. There aren't any jobs here. Only people getting cut. She'll probably contact the temp agency that had placed her there in the first place. It's the best way to get jobs here without a degree unless you work retail. She was only supposed to be at her work for a month originally but the short story is that they ended up hiring her and she worked for them for a year and a half.

#73 There were three in the bed and the little one said, "Roll over! Roll over!" So they all roll over and one fell out..
for some reason that popped into my head. hehehehe

My hubby is very allergic to cats so it's a no go. *sigh*

#74 8( I have no idea how you would be able to tell except maybe the length of time the noise is going on...
LOL Your mattress must have been more comfortable than your mom's!

Maybe your sister could get a job at the same mall you work at and then you guys can car pool!

aww! Your poor sister! I hope she finds a job soon!

I hope your sister good job hunting K!

Good luck to your sister finding a new job!

sleeping with younger siblings> my younger brother slept with me almost every night for years, he was and still is very obsessive/compulsive, he had to sleep with socks on and the seam had to be straight across his toes he had to be able to to stretch his fingers out to both sides and not touch anything including me. the covers had to be straight and tight. May I add that I had an old fashioned narrow bed. I learned to sleep clinging to the edge of the mattress. When I was twelve and he was six I finally put my foot down and told him and my parents, no more! My father sided with me and after several nights of listening to him sob in the next room he finally learned to sleep in his own bed.

GN: A friend visited me yesterday and gave me the books I asked her to bring me from the states (The Tales Of Beedle The Bard and Marley And Me)

GN: After six months they finally approved the use of dollars on my credit card (it usually doesn't take that long but there was a problem with my form in the bank) YAYYYYY....

GN/BN: I already finished The Tales Of Beedle The Bard (LOVED IT!) and it left me wanting more...

GN: I will finally be able to have a lifetime account here at LT...Yayyy

GN: I went running and went for a swim.
BN: Now I'm tired.
GN: I think we're having pizza for supper.
BN: Tomorrow's Monday.

GN> tommorrows Monday and I'm off! Off Tuesday too! yay!

Good News: Tomorrow is Monday and I don't have school =D

Bad News: Someone just announced that they don't have school tomorrow to my homeschooled children.

LOL Jp. Tell your kids that I don't have off school tomorrow!

GN: Tom starts his new job tomorrow!
BN: It is in New Jersey
GN: He got his own vehicle yesterday
BN: It cost us about 1000 dollars that we don't really have to spend. But it was an emergency because...
GN: I might be starting a job this week!!!!! *crosses fingers and anything else that can be crossed* I am hoping! They are supposed to call me back wither Monday or Tuesday!
GN: I would be working with the toddlers, either ones or twos!!!!!!!

#76 MEM:
She'll never go back to retail! We used to both work at the mall, though. I sometimes brought her coffee for her break right before my shift would start.

#77 - 79:
Thank you! She's checking all the local hospitals tomorrow. She's going to school for a degree in nursing and gets extra credits for working closer to her field of study.

#79 polly:
Little siblings can really hog the bed!

#80 Ron:
Congrats for your new books and getting a paid LT account.

#84 jp:
It's too bad your kids are too smart to know it's not for a staff development day. ;)

#85 Bella:
My fingers are crossed for you as well, Bella! :)

Good news: All the crazy weekend events are over. Huzzah!
More good news: I was supposed to still be at work for a floorset for the next hour. We finished early.

Bad news: this semester is going to be a lot more difficult than last; I can tell after a single meeting of each class. Mercury is in retrograde, which makes it near impossible for me to have interpersonal relationships NOT involve some sort of miscommunication, and both of our new-to-us Wii games are faulty, one of which is really hard to find.
And, I don't get tomorrow off, either.

Good news: Um, I know I must have some around here somewhere... Hmph. Guess I'll have to come back to that another time...

*hugs laia*

Much good luck to you! I hope things look brighter soon.

Big GN: Husband and I have had an offer accepted on a house. Our getting it is still pending things like inspections, of course. Closing is February 16. I am super excited, but also afraid to be excited in case something goes wrong. (Normally I'm quite optimistic too.)

Lefty, buying a house is so exciting! I am wishing you good luck that all goes well! (Closes eyes and concentrates hard on lefty getting her house)

Good luck with the inspections lefty. We had three different houses inspected before we bought this one. The first, the seller changed her mind about accepting our offer after the inspection because she wanted more money. Never have the inspection until you get something in writing that your offer was accepted. The second, the seller didn't actually have another home lined up when she accepted our offer and she decided not to sell when the agent showed her what was available. The third was the house we moved into.

You probably will have better luck since it's a buyers' market again.

GN: gpwts is back! (I can't tell you how much that just made my day.)
BN: I have a headache. (Yes, I took something for it.)
GN: I'm having a short, busy work week, because . . .
GN: I'm going to an exciting fun conference this weekend!

GN: It's past noon and I'm still on the couch in my pjs
BN: My increasing hunger will soon require me to abandon the couch in favor of finding food
GN: We have lots of yummy lunch options

BN: my phone is acting wonky today...
GN: I am still in my PJ's
BN: it is becuase the weather is horrible and I don't wanna go out and get my letters of recommendation for my interview.
BN: THey haven't called me back yet.
GN: I am giving them til tomorrow to call me back.. they said either monday or tuesday

GN:My mom hasnt found out (killed me yet)
BN:She will eventually
BN:Post 93 is making me hungry
BN:We have nothing to eat
BN: I havent eaten since 10:00 am yesterday.
GN:G is back.

GN: There's all this pretty snow outside
BN: It's not so pretty when you fall in it
GN: The pretty snow means I didn't have school
BN: Because my mother is paranoid i'm going to die if I drive in snow so I can't go anywhere
GN: My LT family still loves me
...there's no BN there!

#89 lefty:
How exciting! Good luck getting the house!

#92 foggi:
I hope you have a great time at your conference!

#95 MrsG:
Do you feel okay? I hope you've eaten something if you do.

#96 gpwts:
Of course we stil love you! :)

Bad news: Tumbledore is missing this morning. I saw her just an hour and a half ago, but she missed breakfast and wouldn't do that. Her sister is nervous and running around looking for her. It's sad to watch. Wherever she is it is time to show herself because no one can find her hiding place. I hope she's not outside!

ETA: Good news: GRRR! Blasted kitten! She's found!

bad news: our internet is down
good news: i have free internet for a month on my phone
bad news: it is kind of difficult to navigate LT. If something is messed up on a post, blame my phone =)

97> I feel ok. There is absolutly nothing to eat at my house. :P

96> We will always love you silly.

GN: My mother is still oblivious MUHAHAHAH
BN: Still hungry. (Dont worry I dont have an eating disorder or anyhting)
GN: Goin' to Disneyland today!!

#95/99 -- I missed it: what is your mom going to be upset about?

Oh I didnt say. Well I didnt exactly behave by the rules lets just say.

GN: Day's almost over.
BN: After a very charged and bad week (well, ever since last Monday) I didn't manage to snag in some flute practice except on Tuesday night so....I won't get some super good comments from my flute teacher later on :S

GN: Im going to go eat something now.

Bad news: I still haven't heard about my history textbook that I ordered to replace the wrong volume sent by another site (do NOT do business with www.textbooksRus.com - they don't honor their return/exchange policy, and you get cut-and-paste repeated replies when you call them on it).

Good news: I went on a book shopping spree! It started out as just a mission to find Ella Minnow Pea, but resulted in multiple purchases in multiple shops, including - get this - hardcover HP1 and HP4 for... $1 each!!!!!!!

Nice find laia! I can't wait for another booksale so I might be able to find hardcover HP books. I only have HP7 in a nice hardcover with the slipcover. The others are either softcover or have bad binding.

I think I want to hang onto my paperbacks for reading copies, but the hardcovers are needed for display purposes; certain series must have uniformity :)

Indeed. My HP series doesn't look very pretty on the shelf.

GN: I signed on after not being on LT all weekend to see that G IS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!

GN: I just heard from my coworker and she is at the inauguaration!
GN: She was just standing in line with Larry David.
GN: Her brother got them into one of the Balls too!
BN: I'm not her. :(

Wow Bib thats pretty cool for your friend

109: LUCKY!

GN: my cast is off and my arm is healed
GN: I had my first 'proper' shower for 6 weeks (everything got clean!)

BN: I got a migraine at the hospital and had to call in sick from work
BN: I have a feeling my boss is going to be really cross with me tomorrow :(

GN: I only have 7 more working days there

#112 luna:
Congrats on having your arm free at last! I'm sorry about your migraine, though!

Good news: I have today off work.
Bad news: I think I have to admit that I'm fighting something off. My head is all disoriented today. Head cold.

#112 luna: Oooh! Congrats having no cast on! You must be happy bout that. Hope your migraine gets better and you boss isn't too cranky ;)

GN/BN: I got a "female thing" for the first time today.

Congrats, picolina. Something no one told me for years was how you can actually take pain killers for pain from it so I am telling you now. Just be sure you check what amount for your age on the back of the bottle!

Congrats picolina! I remember my first visit. I was in Florida, on vacation with my aunt and uncle.

#116 kirby:
Not fun! I can't remember that specifically, just that I kept it a secret for a couple of months.

Good news: I just got three books in the mail! One of the packages has painter's tape on it - kik.

*drum roll*

Book #1: Dead Until Dark. Book #2: Needs scissors to open. *hunts for scissors* Coraline. Book #3: Mistress Bradstreet: The Untold Life of America's First Poet.

More good news: My kid sister wants to see Coraline and was surprised to find out it's a book. She's eager to read it.

*sits by eagerly awaiting MrA and espy's discovery of the fem talk.*

mine came during supper one night when I wailed for my mother after discovering it in my panties

Hey Espy, how's your prostate holding up?

Bad news: If you haven't seen the 'Stick up for LT thread' yet, Good Reads is kicking LT's behind.

Good news: We were only nineteen points behind as of when I voted.

Okay I just voted and we are 7 behind!

Huzzah! :)

We are only one vote behind!! MrA and Espy let's talk about beer and sports....

Ok, I just voted and we're 23 votes ahead!!! Yay!!!!!!! *Does happee dance*

oh yeah!

Good News: Work is more fun.

Bad News: Homework. and its 10:30pm

Just voted. 45 votes ahead. Man, we're good.

BN: I've been feeling bad (snotty nose, headache, earache, etc...)

I voted too! And we are still ahead. :)

GN/BN: House inspection tomorrow! Good because I won't have to be worried anymore that something will go wrong and mean no house, bad because if something is wrong, no house!

GN: There is someone interested in taking husband and my place at our current residence, meaning we can completely move. (We do some barn work in the mornings, so of course someone has to do it. Our moving completely is slightly dependent on someone taking our place.) Oh -- the good part about getting up early and cleaning stalls is that it is free rent.

Bad news: I'm more sick that I thought. I can't walk right. I ran into walls, found a little funny. Yep. I'm just staying in this chair. Not moving till my head is right.
Worse yet, work tomorrow morning. i think not of that.

Get well soon K! *hugs*

I've voted too, and we're still ahead. :-)

GN: My insurance company sent me the pregnancy guide I've been contemplating buying without knowing that I even wanted this book!
GN: It snowed Monday night, and although much of it melted yesterday, our backyard is still pretty
BN: Southerners flip out when there's snow, no matter how much or how little

Oh yeah! LT rules!!!

Our trees are are frosted white! It would be pretty if the sky was blue instead of gray!

GN/BN: I feel much better now that I've thrown up.
TMI?

BN: My sister-in-law was taken to the hospital last night. She had been having contractions all day yesterday. She's not due until the first of April. Last I heard, the doctors were giving her something to stop the contractions.

BN: It's cold, and I have recess duty today. So that means we will have outside recess today. We always do on my day.

gotta go-kids are arriving.

GN: I am now on snow day number THREE
BN: My mother is now leaving a list of chores as long as I am to do while I'm off
GN: Three days of no school is always a good thing
BN: Mom hasn't gone grocery shopping in ages so I'm now wayyy outta food

#135 - In that case you have the perfect excuse not to do the chores - you're too weak from the lack of food!

lol! What a perfect excuse!

GN: I went to the doctor today, and I've gained 8lbs.

#138: Yay, rissa!! Do you feel like you have a pleasant pregnant shape yet, or are you like me in wanting to wear a t-shirt that declares "I'm not just getting fat." I stepped on the scales at lunch and was rather alarmed to see that I've gained 5lbs in one week...yikes! Perhaps that explains my desire for a t-shirt declaration...

ETA - BN: I've gained 5 lbs
GN: At least I'm expecting and not just rapidly undoing all my weight loss of 2008

well, considering I didn't start gaining until after I had started showing, it's always looked like a baby

Good News: I have had 2 books requested from me on paperbackswap.com! Yay credits!

#131 --> Thanks, LadyN. I'm doing better now.

#134 kirby:
*careful hugs* I know how you feel. I was fighting nausea half the night. I hope your sister-in-law and the baby are okay!

#135 G:
Order delivery?

#138 riss:
Congratulations!

#139 grmwk:
Do you want congrats, too? You said it was bad news. :)

Good news: I made it to my room last night.
Bad news: I couldn't get up from the foot of the bed and was miserable from feeling sick.
Good news: I managed to fall asleep and even though I didn't have blankets on me I stayed warm because three of the cats curled up around me. This is one of the reasons I love them. They know when you don't feel well. That was so sweet!
Good news: I'm a little unsteady on my feet today but am seeming alright and certainly feeling incredibly better than last night.
Bad news: I still need to figure out what to do for my ear. Apparently it's what caused all of this.

GN: 7 minutes to the season premier of Lost!

Aw, I hope you feel better soon K! It must be horrible to be that sick....*hugs* get well soon!

GN: I managed to catch up in my dance lessons after I missed 4 of them.
BN: I was still a little lost.

#140: Well, rissa, while I know there was some concern about you not gaining weight at the beginning, I'm glad for you that you skipped the feeling chubby stage in favor of looking preggers sooner rather than later! And of course the important thing is that you're now gaining!!

#142: I appreciate the offer of congrats, K, but given that I'm only supposed to be gaining approx. 1lb a week, I'm not thinking that 5 should at all be celebrated! Too many cupcakes last week... ;o)

Thanks, picolina. *hugs back* I hope you can catch up in dance class soon!

Grkmwk, have there been any weeks that you didn't gain that you were supposed to yet? Make-up pounds. I don't know if that makes you feel any better, but I hope it does a little. :)

Good news: My sister had another choir concert today. This time all the classes participated in it. (She's in the advanced class.)
More good news: Someone bought ear drops for me.

Belated bad news: One of my kid sister's friends was in a car accident on the way home from the choir concert tonight. Her hip is dislocated and her nose is bashed into her face. That's all I know. It was the first rain after weeks of none - always makes for slippery roads.

Oh gosh, that's awful news, K. I wish your sister's friend a speedy recovery.

Glad you got your ear drops - hope they help.

Thanks. I was trying to find out more to know if this was a slight or larger accident. 'Bashed in' could mean only light or something much worse. My kid sister and her other friends were talking more about glass.
I hope the eardrops work, too. I didn't use them last night because those don't stay in my ears well. I have small ear canals or something. It's part of the reason why I get ear infections so easily. Apparently my father's the same way.

Bad news: My boss is still out sick after a week; it's going to be a mess for a while when he gets back in.

GoodGREAT news: I just found out that my work's concierge program has tickets to Wicked, which is sold out for the entire run - we're going right after Spring semester lets out! Woohoo!

I hope you have a good time, Laia! :)

Why are they still showing those commercials if it's sold out! Guess I'm not going to check it out.

Good News: I mailed my books for paperbackswap.com
Good News: I'm going ice skating on Saturday
Good News: I'm going to visit my best friend tomorrow. I haven't seen her in over 2 weeks (she lives about an hour away)

Fun, Laia!

GN: The house inspection went really well! The guy kept saying how well things were kept up.

GN: There is someone interested in taking our place at the barn so that we wouldn't have to live in both places at once.

GN: It's almost Friday!

GN: No bad news!

K, I just checked and it looks like they may have withheld some seats for late purchase; don't give up! They're also doing nightly raffles for the opportunity to purchase $25 seats (singles or pairs only, cash only) 2.5 hours prior to each performance.

#147 K: Wow K, that's terrible. I hope your sister's friend heals quickly!

GN: Tomorrow's Friday!
GN: Inkheart comes out tomorrow!!!!
BN: I think I'm not gonna see it until Saturday.
GN: I think my friends and I might go shopping on Sunday.

Bad news: All afternoon, I thought it was Friday already.

Good news: That means I have another weekday to get rid of this stupid headache.

GN: Im going out to eat.
BN: My sister keeps bugging me and wants me to get off.

#153 lefty:
Huzzah for good house inspections and people interested in buying your place! :)

#154 laia:
Thanks!

#156 jp:
Ouch! I hope your headaches goes away soon!

#155 picolina:
Ah ...

Good news: Silly girls that my kid sister and her friends are, they mixed up the girl in the accident with another girl completely!
Bad news: That still happened to one of their classmates. Poor girl!

I feel like I should ignore half of what my sister says. Text messaging makes teens very different from when I was a teenager. Her group of friends are always making incredible stories up. Drama, drama. I am tired of it.

Very Bad News: While I was working out at the gym, my wallet was stollen from my pants in a locker. I didn't have a lot in there, just my driver's liscence, my school ID (which has to be replaced), a credit card (which I've already cancelled), and just a few miscellanious items. Grr.

BN: I still have homework to do tonight

GN: at least I'm done with the 7 hours of lab I had today.

GN: I leave for my fun conference tomorrow morning!
BN: I am not packed yet.

Very bad news: my dad's health insurance (which I'm on) won't cover the baby. and I don't know how we're going to get insurance for the baby.

#159 wingert:
So sorry about your wallet! That makes me sick that someone would do that. :(

#161 foggi:
Have a safe trip! :)

#162 riss:
Is insurence through your mother an option? I typically got insurence through my mother but knew I could get it through my father as well, though I never used his. Good luck!

nwing: That's annoying. :(

foggi, packing is the fun part! It's unpacking you want to put off.

rissa, when I first got married I bought insurance through my university. Perhaps yours has some kind of student insurance? Unfortunately all health insurance is ridiculously expensive though. :/

k, my mom's insurance is through her union, not her employer, so I don't think it even covers her children.

my school has insurance, but the insurance sucks and I don't think it will cover what I need covered and the deadline for applying for spring/summer is tomorrow.

I can apply for free or low-cost health insurance through the state, but again, the coverage sucks and most good doctors won't accept it.

I've heard of WIC but just checked online and they don't offer insurance. :(

My mother works in a children's hospital so I asked her about it, though she doesn't work with anything insurance-related, just test results and blood-drawing. At first she told me any children's hospital you go to can find a county or federal insurance for your baby, but she didn't understand it's not born yet. She says social services or Blue Cross might be able to help. Blue Cross is supposed to have some sort of program.

ETA:

Good news: Obama is left-handed. :)

rissa: Does your state have any children's insurance programs? PA has a program where any child can get coverage regardless of the parent's income or status.

Rissa: Ohio has something called Care Source that covers people up to 21 maybe if you fit into the age requirements you'll be able to get the equivalent there.
Also, most hospitals will allow you to pay in increments or even on a sliding scale depending on your household income. And if worse comes to worse, having a baby usually costs (here in Columbus, at least) $3200 all together. That's a lot of money, I know, but not unattainable. If your boyfriend has insurance then the baby should be able to be covered at birth even if it doesn't cover you.

edited to make sense LOL

NY also has health coverage for children and uninsured mothers-to-be. Unless Gov. Patterson is cutting that...

rissa, I feel for you. I worked a job I hated while pregnant with cat because it was the only way we had health insurance. My husband was a temp at the time. And when I decided to have my youngest at home we had to fight to have any of it covered. Insurance companies don't approve of homebirths.

Do check if there are any insurance programs in your area.

I'm probably eligible for either medicaid or the children's health insurance program. The big problem is that many doctors won't accept the insurance that is provided by these programs, which means I may not be able to find someone to be the baby's pediatrician.

#159 wingert: :( I'm so sorry that happened to you. Not only is it a violation of you, but just an absolute pain. {hugs}

rissa: {hugs} Lots of good suggestions from those above. Even if you can't find insurance that is exactly perfect, insurance that offers some coverage is better than none. I hope you find what you need.

BN/Confusing News: I got a letter in the mail today from Scholastic. It stated: Dear Customer, We have tried to contact you about your balance on your account....blah, blah, blah.....something else, blah, blah, We are putting a hold on your account until this matter is taken care of. Blah, blah, blah, collection agency.
Whoa! What? Had to read that again. I haven't gotten any letters from Scholastic regarding my account. And my account is in good standing. The amount looked very suspicious. It was the exact amount of my parent checks that I mailed in. I knew something was up right then. I checked the date on the letter. January 16th. When I got back to my computer, I immediatly logged on to my account. Balance: $0
That's what it's supposed to be. Looking at the letter again....Huh? Looking at my payment history I see a payment on January 15th for the exact amount in the letter. I understand it takes a little while for the parent checks to make it to their offices in the mail, but the payment was posted on January 15th, and they send me a letter on January 16th? Who's got their thumb..... never mind.
Another funny thing: I just placed another order yesterday. So how is my account on hold?
*banging head on desk* I DON'T UNDERSTAND!

once again, I typed more than expected. Maybe this should be in the rant thread

I understand (but don't agree with the concept) that you wouldn't be able to get insurance before the baby is born, but why wouldn't an insurer insure the baby after it's been born?

riss I did a search for health insurance for kids. I didn't find anything to cover having the baby but I did find this website for after the baby is born... http://www.ca-insurancefinder.com/children-health-insurance.asp I hope that helps. I know here we have the CHIP program... i'm not sure if they have that in CA it insures kids from birth to 21 i believe.

kirby, they send those letters out automatically. Just call them up (I always prefer the phone about accounting problems) and they'll probably tell you that their letter crossed your payment in the mail. And get the name of the person you spoke to, just in case.

172 THe problem is that most people recieve medical insurance through their employer, who negociates a rate for the entire company. the health insurance I have now is through my dad's work, and they'll cover the spous and children of an employee, (the children only up to the age of 19 unless they are in school full-time, in which case it's 24) but they won't cover the dependents of dependents. so the option would be for me to get insurance as an individual. the problem with that is that it is insanely expensive to do so, and I can't afford it, and it still wouldn't cover everything.

GN: It is a long weekend in Australia *yay*
BN: no bad news on a long weekend
GN: the weather forecast says that it will be sunny today...

#175 - now I understand.

K, are you really sure the letter is from Scholastic and not someone pretending to be Scholastic?

#171 kiby:
It's probably something to do with timing. I'm sure your account isn't actually on hold. Is there a phone number you can call? It was or probably will be straightened out very soon! *hugs for frustration*

#178 lefty:
You sure confused me! I scroll down to type as I read threads instead of reading the whole thing first. I thought you were talking to me. ;)

Bad news:
I just got word that my grandmother in Utah, who was battling with cancer this summer, is much worse. It's in her lungs and stomach. She's starting chemo next week. Today she will find out if it's in her brain.

GN: I started my new job today and it was easy peasy!
BN: I'm on my own there tomorrow and won't have a clue what I'm doing and will be much harder!
BN: I worked sun-thurs this week at old job, worked today and tomorrow at new job, then working sun-thurs again at new job
GN: I'm not starting new job full time until Mon 2nd Feb which means I get a three day weekend. YAY!!!

K, I am so sorry about your grandmother. I hope you and your family are okay, sending nothing but good thoughts your way.

Kirby, I hope everything with scholastic works out, I am sorry for your frusteration.

GN:I have my working interview at my (hopefully) new job on monday... I am super excited.
BN: I am tired.
GN: I have dinner all planned out tonight
BN: I have to do dishes and vacuum my apartment
GN: I have a good supply of soda and coffee to keep me going.

#180 luna:
I hope you enjoy your three day break coming up! It sounds like you will really enjoy it.

#181 Bella:
Thank you. Good luck at your interview on Monday!

RE: Scholastic
*Yes, it's definitly Scholastic. I think everything is fine. I was able to put in an order yesterday, and wouldn't have been able to if there was a hold on my account. I do everything online, except for sending in the parent checks. Those seem to take forever to get there. About 1/2 my parents pay by check, and the other 1/2 pay online.
*I know that a lot of teachers around the US have had trouble with Scholastic in the past couple of months. They misused some codes for free books and bonus points. Lots of drama over that. I've been staying away from those discussions though. I don't agree with the teachers that misused the codes, but I don't agree with how Scholastic reacted as well. But that's a completely different story.
*I just think it's weird that they would send me that specific message, when I hadn't received any other message.
*Heaven knows (and my tax guy) that I spend tons of money at Scholastic every year for my classroom. All of my student orders for the last 2 years have been between $150-$250 each time (I do orders once a month). That is just what my students spend. My purchases are on top of that.

K: Cancer is not fun. It's tough to watch a loved one going through it. I'll be praying for your grandmother and your family. {{hugs}}

#183 kirby:
Scholastic orders must have come a long way. I remember people paying by cash or check when I was a kid. It must be nice to have online as an option now. I think it's great that your students can order so many books to read. I'm also still impressed with how you get them books as well. That's very sweet! :)

#184 kirby --> Thank you! My father asked me to pray and it's so hard because I gave up on things like praying years ago. I am trying to keep positive and good thoughts toward her. Prayers are very much appreciated. It really upsets me how incredibly sweet a woman she is to be fighting for her life the way she is. She has already lost my grandfather in a sense because he isn't quite there any more after a head accident, a man who was a genius, and she has lost a son already. My father isn't doing well either and I fear what will happen to him when she is gone. Our relationship is poor but I feel for him like crazy. Loosing his brother had weighed heavy on him and while my uncle was a stranger to me I had cried so much for my father's loss.

((hugs)) for Kerian.

Thanks, Donna. *hugs back*

I hope your grandmother gets better, Kerian. 8)

*hugs for K too* I'm sorry about your grandmother and I'm sending positive thoughts toward you and your family during this time (I gave up praying too) but I'm sure the big guy will listen to you if you just talk to him and not necesarily through prayers...

GN: It's Friday.
GN: I don't have any obligations during this weekend so I can do whatever I like.
GN: I may go out with some friends tonight.
GN: I quitted to the position of children's coordinator in the english academy I work for, because the position was very underpayed for the responsability that comes with it, so I took a huge load of my back. Yayy

rissa: can you remain insured under your dad's company's insurance throughout your pregnancy, delivery and after, and pick up insurance only for your child one he/she is born? I know this doesn't solve the problem of having less-than-desirable insurance that will make it hard to find a pediatrician, but it might ease finances some, which hopefully would enable you to get better insurance for your baby.

K: so sad to hear about your grandmother. I'm sending good thoughts to Utah and CA!

GN: It's Friday! I know this has been stated by others already, but I'm still happy about it. :o)
BN: My back has really been hurting this week due to weight change issues.

I don't think there are any insurance providers that provide "dependent only" insurance other than the government programs.

Hmm, that's tough. I know we don't live in the same state, so insurance programs will be different, but if I hear of anything through my doctor or others I know who are expecting or new parents, I'll let you know. Hang in there!

->190 grkmwk: About your back, what kind of shoe do you wear? It always helped me to wear a shoe that had a platform or chunky heel about 1 or so high. I guess it is supposed to help tilt your pelvis or align your back or something. But I do know it really helped me with my last two kids and probably with this one when I get a bit farther along. 8)

*massive hug for K* I'm really sorry about your grandma K. I know it must be a hard time.....but stay strong and hope for the best. I'm sending positive vibes your way and hope she'll pull out of it. Good luck for you and your family.

GN: It's Friday.
BN: I have a speech to memorize, a coat of arms to finish, a book report to finish, and what else? Ya, I think that's it, but they're all for Monday. I think homework on weekend should be made illegal.
GN: My mom's b-day is tomorrow and we might go to Ottawa.
GN: I may be filming with my friends this weekend!

good news: My headache went away
more good news: I heard from suge tonight. She said to say hi to everyone! She's been very busy and hasn't been able to come onto LT.

I'm thinking we need to talk to the bosses of our HE friends and make them understand how important it is for our friends to LT during work. You know, for their mental health. Happy workers are productive workers! ;o)

#188 - 190, 194:
Thank you. *hugs back*

#189 Ron:
Hopefully you will have some ease of stress now. :)

#190 grkmwk:
I've never been pregnant but I agree with MEM that different shoes may help your poor feet. MEM's advice sounds very good. I hope your feet feel better soon!

#194 picolina:
What kind of coat of arms? Happy birthday to your mother! Good luck with your homework.

#195 jp:
I'm so glad you're feeling better! :) Hi back to suge if you hear from her again soon.

Bad news: I want to strangle some teenagers. Who are these idiots bringing drugs and alcohol into the life of my baby sister and what happened to the sweet innocent children that I once knew those people to be?! Sorry, that's a bit of a rant. Stupid, though! So very . . . *grumbles*

#179 K, I saw "Kirby" and typed "K." Sorry! And *hugs* for you and your family. I'll be praying for strength for you all.

#194 Pico, how about homework made illegal all the time? ;)

#195 JP, we should talk to bosses to make them understand the importance of LT time! Tell Suge she is missed if you talk to her again (but she probably knows she is).

GN: House stuff is still moving along well.
BN: Can't move in yet. Feb 16 can't come fast enough!!

#193 MEM - I've been wearing mostly Dansko clogs, which puts my heel slightly higher than the ball of my foot, but probably not a full inch. I quit wearing slender-heeled shoes after college, which was about the same time I stopped trying to dress like all the other females my age and embraced my own style, which includes wearing primarily clogs and Birkenstocks. I'm going shopping this afternoon so I might see what clog-type shoes I can find that elevate my heel more. Thanks for the tip!!

#196 K - I'm so sorry to hear your sister's friends have proven to be a bad influence. Hopefully you and your family can help her see how horrible drugs and drinking are. Thank goodness she has a caring older sister!!

GN:Its the weekend!
BN: Im still am little sick from my Taco Bell challenge.

Bad News: I don't want to go to work.

#196 Kerian you might want to consider getting your sister the following book Go Ask Alice. It is about a young girl who gets involved in drugs.

It had a huge impact on the path I took when I was growing up.

#197 lefty:
Thank you. *hugs back* RE 194, I suspect my kid sister would love whoever would pass that one. I hope February speeds along so we may be at the sixteenth for you soon!

#198 grkmwk:
Thank you. She's having an ongoing fight with her friends right now but I am hoping she will know to make the right decisions when faced with some things. Her medication should not be mixed with either and she will have to take it all her life.

#201 Donna:
Thanks! I have the book in another tab and it looks very good. *hugs*

Good news: I'm starting a project for my grandmother.
Bad news: I couldn't find the movie for today's group movie watch at Target.

GN> my husband has found a job.

BN> it requires him to travel almost every week

GN> it gives us time apart which is nice

BN> it keeps us apart which worries me that I may get to like it to much!

BN> I'm already jealous because his second assignment is taking him this week to Austin Texas for two weeks!

BN> he doesn't really have free time to sightsee and stuff, but he's promised to send pics if he sees something neat and historical

GN> he's finally helping to bring in money!

#203: Congrats polly those are excellent news indeed!!

Congrats Polly!

Yay! Polly!

GN: I have all day to read
BN: Tom was sick yesterday
GN: He is better now...
GN: Tomorrow is my working interview and I get to play with the Kiddies!!!

#203 polly:
Congrats to your hubby for the new job! :)

#206 Bella:
Best of luck to you! Remember to relax and have fun when you're playing with the kiddies. :)

Good news: I'm working a floorset tonight which I always think are fun, and am going to be given the honor of having the front table as my own to work on.
Bad news: Still anxious of finding a way home tonight should we finish early.

Bad News: There is some family drama right now between my sister (not lefty) and I.

Good News: I have books to distract me =)

#208 Yeah, the words "drama" and "lefty" don't go together. Dramatic is just not my style. ;)

*hug to mindy, and lefty if she'd like one :)*
I'm not a fan of family drama, either. We've had a lot in my family. I'm glad your books can bring you comfort, mindy!

Good news: I've felt much better today! I fell once but was low to the ground to begin with. (I think I've said I use hair dryer with my head upside down? That's when I fell.) The only time I was dizzy was when I was at work tonight either walking back and forth or walking too quickly. So that's what I'm very happy about right now. However . . .

Bad news: I'm feeling very bummed out thanks to my co-workers. They spent the whole night planning this big thing they have happening Tuesday night and invited everyone except me and our boss who was gone tonight. It happens all the time. I wish they would be more discreet instead of being hurtful. This leads me to believe they are simply pretenders. Pretenders that they don't like me at all. Low self esteem right now, sorry!

Kerian - I wouldn't worry too much, it generally says a lot more about them than the person they have excluded. It sounds like they are the type of people you wouldn't want to be too friendly with outside of the workplace anyway.

If you think they were doing it on purpose make sure you inquire whether they had a good time next time you see them, just so they don't think they have gotten to you.

Thanks, Donna. Sadly, I think so, too. I'm very glad to have tomorrow off so I don't have to see any of them.

Big hugs to Kerian. Bunch of losers if you ask me. I'd rather go for a night out with you any time!

Big hugs to you too mindy xx

Definitely losers not to hang out with K. Let's have a party on HE Tuesday and exclude all of them. :D

GN: Yesterday, I accidentally discovered a library book sale and ended up bringing home 2 bags full of books, including a collection of Shakespeare plays (not complete, but still, about 20 of them!)

BN: My arms hurt a lot from carrying around two bags full of books.

Weather News
Ice storms are coming through. They should begin around noon today, and last until 6 a.m. on Wednesday. This is BN because we are at school, and we want to get home safely. This could be GN, if we get to stay home tomorrow and Wednesday.

Clutz News
Well, you all know I'm gracefully challenged. This morning I was coming back in from taking Finnegan out and tripped. Normal. I trip all the time. I tripped up our cement stairs.
I am veeerrrrryyyyyy lucky, because I was able to stop myself in time not to wack my head on the brick that is on our house. I managed only to scrape my eyebrow.
Bad news because I have a big scrape on my knee, and I broke a toe.

#210-They didn't invite you or your boss? Are you still in a supervisory position K? Because when my husband was a manager, the dynamic really changed between him and the other employees. He was much happier when he was returned to an equal level with the other employees. (his department was phased out and he returned to tech support, which I think is much better for him)

Not that I'm excusing the others for not inviting you. But in this case, it might have been that they wanted to hang out with employees on the same level as they are. :o)

#210: Don't let them bum you K! They're the ones missing on your company. At work I treat all my co-workers in a nice friendly way and they are always making plans in front of me and not inviting me and I really don't care coz I've got my friends to hang out with, maybe you can do something else to entertain you....if only we had a hobby that could distract us from the problems of the real world? ;)

#216: I'm glad it wasn't that serious and that you didn't bump your head, kirby. But then again I'm sorry for your toe :(

-> 8( Family drama sucks. Hopefully it gets resolved soon.

Kerian- How about TPing and then putting shaving cream on their cars? Putting paint in their apron pockets? Heavy breathing prank phone calls? If they want to be seventh graders again, you should at least get to enjoy it and get down on their level! 8) We'll all take turns calling pizza places from long distance and having them deliver 20 pies to each girl's house. I could totally get into this. LOL

Kirby- I'm glad you protected your head! I sympathize as only a fellow clutz can.

#216 ow

#219 - Roflmao

GN: We're getting out an hour early! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!

BN: My toe really hurts!

Make sure you rest when you get home. Do you have the toe taped or anything? That's all I know to do for a broken toe. *hugs*

Oh, and be careful of the dogs. For some reason, whenever I hurt any part of my foot, pets are magnetically attracted to the injured area and step on it.

#213 LadyN:
Thanks, ladyN! You're very sweet. *hugs back*

#214 lefty:
KIK! I will picture L's on their foreheads. ;)

#215 bib:
Wow, I love when I find one of those great sales! Was it a library book sale? When I went to one last, I filled a bag full of Shakespeare alone. I hope your hands feel better soon!

#216 kirby:
Ouch! *hugs* I'm so sorry your toe is broken! Most people I know who've broken a toe never have it looked at, but I think it would be a good idea. Be safe during the storm!

#217 jp:
I have one week left of being a supervisor. The dynamic has changed somewhat, but it wasn't those I was on even ground with before who planned the event. It was the co-manager and two year-round supervisors, who then invited regular associates. Our boss is the only male, so I see why they would do somethings without him, like everyone having their nails done last weekend. (I wasn't invited for that, either.) I don't need those people anyways. I'm happy things worked out nicer for your husband when he switched back!

#218 Ron:
Thanks. That would be the difference, though. It gets to me because I don't have people to hang out with. Just the cats, which in my opinion, are turning out to be much better company. I'm doomed to be a crazy cat lady. I should just go get that action figure, right? ;)

#219 MEM:
KIK! Thanks, MEM. You have made my day. :)

You have us, K! If I lived closer I would come and kidnap you for a girls' night out. You as a crazy cat lady is fun for the imagination. I'm picturing the Simpsons version.

K - you're sooooooooooooooooooooooo a better person than any one of those doofusses (sp?)

GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGN: SUGE IS COMING TO LONDON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

BN: How can there be bad news?? Did you see my good news????

#224 lefty:
Thank you, lefty! *hugs* Hmm, should I be happy I'm not sure what the Simpsons crazy cat lady was like? ;)

#225 LadyN:
Thanks.
How exciting!! You guys will have the best time! She didn't even tell me. You can tell her this for me: :P~~~

That is exciting! You will have to post pictures and whatnot of your visit with her. When will she be going?

#226 - K, are you coing too? come, come!!

#227 - The plan is for the middle chunk of May. I'm too excited!!

Oh K, can you come too??????

Oh, there won't be pictures. Suge wouldn't let me show pictures. She wouldn't let me take pictures. *lightbulb idea* JP!

I have some pictures from when I was in NYC.... I think they're on the flickr account...

how do you work this 'flickr' that you speak of? I have heard of it's wonder but dared not enter it's (web) domain. 8)

Yikes... I can't remember the password... I'll just check, and then private message you...

ohhh thank you! YAY! pictures 8)

#228 LadyN:
Oh, how I so wish I could, dear!! I so want to meet you! I would absolutely love to go, but I can't afford it. You would laugh at my income if you knew what it was. Suge paid for some many things we did in NY. I am forever in debt to her. She is an amazing person. Getting there and back in itself cost five months of only paying for transportation and cutting out on food. Visiting you someday is so very certain on my list! It's not something I can do soon, unfortunately.

Good news:
I am laughing so much right now! My kid sister has a staff development day today. I don't think there is any school on Mondays in January in California between those and observed holidays. Our mother just took her and a friend to the mall, and my work just called wanting to know what time school gets out today because they saw her in our store. Ratting her out for if she was cutting school! I am so surprised by the call, though. My co-workers leave me never knowing what to expect.

GN: we're supposed to get alot more snow over the next day or so
BN: And possibly some ice which is bad for driving and for power lines 8(
GN: My husband closes both days which means he'll be driving to work in low traffic and day light and driving home in almost no traffic and on salted roads, hopefully
BN: between the wind storm this past fall and ALL the snow we've been getting schools are having to have Saturday schools and add on days at the end of the year
GN: I don't have to worry about that with Missie

I never knew schools to have classes on Saturdays! I've heard the French do, that is, but the US! I am glad Missie will not have a longer school year.

Oh K, I'm sorry. I know what you mean, it's taking all I have and working two jobs to save for my trip to Borneo in October.

Just know that you will always be so welcome over here, whenever you are able to come.

We will meet, I know we will!!

Well, a high school I went to used them ( Sat. school) as a form of punishment but beyond that it's definitely not the norm but the wind storm earlier this year used all 5 of almost all the schools' calamity days here. That was before winter even began and then this year Ohio has gotten a ton more snow than usual. I can think of only maybe one year in my entire school career where we got this much snow. Ohio is much more of an 'inch or two every week with it melting off fairly quickly in between snowfalls' kind of place. This year we've been getting inches and inches and then it stays bitter cold so it doesn't melt. Now, mind you, we don't get as much, as say, New York State does but we've just gotten more than our street crews can handle quickly. So the schools have resorted to all sorts of stuff to get back the time. The poor teachers here in our district have lost all of their in-school teacher days.

#237 LadyN:
I cannot wait for that day!

#238 MEM:
I have heard of those kind of Saturday schools. ;) Snow....Why don't any of you share it with me?

LOL ahem not that I EVER EVER had to attend Saturday School as punishment *straightens halo, fluffs hair to hide horns*

Bad news:
I just received the most embarrasing and horrible phone call. The same co-worker who called earlier saw my sister and her friend in another store...being taken by security. She thinks it might be for stealing. *bangs her head*

Or she could be messing with you! Don't get upset until you know for sure. Plus it could have been your sister's friend.

Heaven help me, Missie is watching Rachel Ray again and Cole is acting like it's killing him!

My co-worker thought it was my sister's friend who was in trouble. She was wearing my sister's mini back pack. I am so going insane waiting to hear what's going on. I called my mother from work who is handling it because she is the mother. I guess I would react worse to this than my other sisters. They actually stole things, clothes in particular that I know of. I stole a candy bar when I was four-years-old. That's it. It makes this situation seem more extreme to me than it would to them if they knew. Thanks, though, MEM! My head was just screaming the word grounded before. You've helped calm me down some.

What cute kids, MEM! They seem adorable. :)

LadyN: Wow! I knew suge was planning to go to London. I guess that's why she's been working so hard!

Kerian: Deep breaths. Until you know what's going on, don't assume anything. And it's good that you recognize that you're not the mom. I have to remind cat about that from time to time. :o)
As for your co-workers, who needs 'em? Unfortunately, there are a lot of people out there that need to grow up, and many of them are over the age of 21. If you feel your self-esteem lowering, just remind yourself that you wouldn't want to hang out with them anyway. Don't allow them any space in your head.

Good news: cat had a successful first day of work. And I didn't even follow her around with a camera. :o)

Bad news: I know what went on now. I'm not going to bother with details. I'm disappointed. I'll say that.

Thanks, jp!
Congratulations to cat for her first day on the job! I hope we will hear more about it later, though I know she is busy learning Italian. *hugs to cat* :)

*hug for K!*

My younger sister did some extremely disappointing stuff too, so I can sympathize. Oh the joys and heartaches of being an older sister! Hang in there!!

8 I've been a extreme disappointment to my brother ever since I went liberal when I was 14 or so. LOL Us crazy younger siblings.

Good luck K, it all sounds rough.

Good News: I held a first grade Teach Your Parents Computers night and it went great. The lab was full, the kids did a great job, and the parents seemed to like it! Whew!

#247 grkmwk:
Thanks. *hugs back*

#248 MEM:
That is just crazy! Everyone has their own mind. Tell this to your brother from HE: :P~~

#249 compski:
Thank you!
It sounds like it was a long night! I'm glad everything worked out well. :)

Good News: I'm ahead of schedule for the 50-book challenge =)
Bad News: Family drama isn't over yet. My sister refuses to speak with me.

K, I am sorry that your sister dissapointed you... how old is she?

Mindy: don't worry I am sure she will start talking to you again soon. My brother and I decide not to speak to eachother about once or twice every 6 months... but we can never hold out for long.

GN: I believe I got the job!
BN: I won't really know until thursday becuase they have to recall all of my references.
BN: That means we can't get Tom's advair until wednesday because it costs 200 something dollars
BN: H ekinda needs that.
GN: He has his rescue inhaler.
GN: I have the rest of the week to clean up my house, do my homework and read!
GN: I am starting to write my second book next week. Putting myself on a writing schedule while I wait to hear from an agent and/or publisher!

#251 Mindy:
Congrats for your book challenge! :)
I would be incredibly rich if I got a penny every time one of my sisters and I have been on non-speaking terms. It's never lasted more than a week and often can't go beyond one day. I hope things look up soon! *hugs*

#252 Bella:
She is thirteen.
YEY! Oh, I hope so, Bella! I hope Tom is doing okay and that his asthma and allergies aren't acting up right now. My fingers will stay crossed for you both. What amazing progress you are making with your writing!

K, tell your sister that you are dissapointed in her, but leave it at that and let your mom deal with it.

I agree with rissa. And I am sorry K, but do remember that some kids just need to test.

#254 riss:
I was asked to not say anything and I am going to honor that. I haven't seen her at all yet. She's out with her dad.

#255 jp:
Yes, I must remember the paintings in which artists illustrate children and teenagers as miniature adults. They are not adults and shouldn't be expected to behave as such.

What terrible spelling! It's corrected now.

Kerian: I know you must be disappointed. {hugs}

Lady N/Suge: YEAH! How fun!

Bella: Keeping my fingers and toes (except for one) crossed for you. You'll do a great job!

compski: It's so exciting when those things work out. Especially when those involved are excited.

Congrats to cat on a great 1st day!

K, I'm sorry about your sister. Hopefully this is just one of those things that some youngsters do. My sister was the rebellious one in our family, but she turned out just fine :-)

Well done cat! What's the job?

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!

Love to every single one of you lovely people :-)

thankfully none of my freinds were into shoplifting when i was in school, neither were my kids, generally,altho my boys were asked not to come back to the drugstore without a parent when they were caught pocketing snuff. That was embarressing because the clerk/manager who told me was someone I went to church with!

258- I'm a library page at our local library! Mainly I do a lot of shelving and organizing. I also help people find books. My first day turned out really well!

Just checking in. Our power has been off most of the morning. It's been on for the last hour, but is just now starting to flicker in and out again. It will probably go off pretty soon. So far we have about 1 1/2 inches of ice accumulated. No school today, and probably none tomorrow. Several trees down. Luckily all of ours are in our wooded area. Lots of huge limbs down on the trees in our yard. I'll check in again when I have a chance.

Stay safe kirby! I think that storm might be heading our way, but we're supposed to get snow.

BN: I had a hard time falling asleep last night because someone is already protesting bedtime. seriously, she moves about five or six times as much when it's bedtime compared to any other part of the day.

LOL! rissa, if I were you, I would ask for one of those glider rockers with the footstool. Sounds like the baby will need movement to sleep. We spent a good portion of my youngest child's infancy trying to sleep standing up, because she could only sleep if you held her and paced. If you tried to even sit while you were holding her, she would wake up and scream. It must have been something about the altitude shift. She hate elevators, too.

The only time that I'm still and she isn't moving seems to be when I'm in class. apparently science lectures put her to sleep too.

LOL! Maybe you could tape some of the lectures to use as lullabies later. :o)

BN: My best friend is really ill
BN: I accidentally pulled the 's' key off my laptop and can't get it back on

GN: I only have 2 days of my job left
GN: Its hot cross bun season again so I am having 4 for my tea. Yummmmmm

LOL! I think science lectures will put anyone to sleep...

Good News: I just drank some chocolate milk.
Good News: I work 5:30-8 tonight.

Bad News: I got a book assigned in English. Unfortunately, that means it has to go straight to the top of my TBR pile. Anyone ever read Escape from Slavery?

Bad News: For precalc we are doing this project where we draw something on a graphing calculator program on the computer. Unfortunately, I don't know what I want to draw but I was wanting to do a book cover maybe. Anyone have any books with cool covers? (but somewhat simple since I'll be graphing it).

Good News: I forgot to mention that I discovered my school doesn't block LT! YAY!

Mindy, I've never read Escape from Slavery but LT has a low certainty that I'll love it.

BN: We had some big problems with a student today.
GN: I am getting a blizzard from DQ now.

#258 LadyN:
Thank you. I would probably call it that.

#259 polly:
Neither were the friends I had.

#261 kirby:
Stay safe and away from those falling trees!

#263 riss:
I hope you can sleep better soon.

#264 jp:
I've babysat a three-month-old like that, minus not being able to rock her. She would only sleep when I was holding her and rocking or moving around.

#267 luna:
I'm so sorry your friend isn't well! I hope they get well soon. Perhaps some glue for your keyboard letter?

#268 mindy:
I haven't heard of that one but I hope you will like it.

Well, according to someone's review on LT, it seem's interesting. There are only a couple people who rated it, but it's average is 4.5 stars. So it should be good hopefully.
Bad News: Along with this book I have to answer 25 questions about the book. I hate analyzing books. Why can't we just read for enjoyment in English classes?

EDIT: So I realized that LT has a scale to give a prediction if you will like a book or not. I'm guessing it goes by your library.
LT says:
LibraryThing thinks you won't like Escape from Slavery: The True Story of My Ten Years in Captivity and My Journey to Freedom in America (certainty: very low)

Ok... so I was messing with the scale. I looked up a book that I really didn't like to see what it said. LT said I would LOVE the book. Yeah... not really. lol

Yes, 'Will You Like It' is based on what books you have cataloged. It ignores your ratings and reviews, instead paying more attention to if others with the same books as you have it.

BN: I'm sick :(

GN: As a result, I'm staying home today. Which is just as well because the roads are bad. Snow everywhere!

rissa, a friend of mine also had her baby become super-active at bedtime, so she started getting into bed to read, do crossword puzzles, watch tv, etc. a couple of hours before she wanted to actually go to sleep to give the baby time to be active while she was still before she wanted both of them to be still to sleep. It didn't always work, but it did help. Not sure if that would work for you, but if you have homework that could be done in bed, might be worth a shot.

GN: We're too far south for the massive winter storm to have hit us.
BN: It's hit many of you. Hope everyone is staying safe and warm!!

gn: we didn't get as much snow as they were predicting as of yet
bn: we got a lot more ice than we were supposed to and that's causing a lot of problems
bn: my husband still has to go to work
bn: we may very well lose power
gn: if we do he'll have to come home and get the kids and I because we sold my truck last week and haven't bought a new one yet 8)
bn: the weather report says we're still going to get several more inches of snow before this is over

GN: I finally got the 42 books I got at the book sale cataloged, more than half of which are Shakespeare plays!

GN: I should also have the time today to rearrange my bookshelves and get them put away.

Good News: School was cancelled!
Bad News: Since I'll be home all day my mom wants me to clean the house =/

GN: I am caught up on HE threads!
BN: The weather, which I have complained about elsewhere.
GN: I get to stay home today and (I hope) tomorrow as well (unless my coworkers can't make it and I have to go fill in).

good news: I felt like slacking off, so I let the kids enjoy a sort of snow day. We watched It Happened One Night and drank hot chocolate.

bad news: The snow is turning to ice. Good thing I accidentally shopped for groceries on Monday. I don't like driving on ice.

BN: The weather is horrible...
BN: It is yucky out
GN: I am home
GN: Tom got to work alright today...
GN: I slept in today!

#274 lefty:
I hope it's a short illness and that you feel better soon!

#276 MEM:
Stay safe!

#278 mindy:
I always cleaned to ABBA. It was my ex step-father's choice. Guess what? I hate ABBA. It's been hard to enjoy their songs. ;)

#279 foggi:
I hope you enjoy your two days off! :)

Bad news:
I have horrible work hours next week. It's also the drop in my pay because my temporary position ends Saturday night.
More bad news:
I'm washing clothes for work and it's taking too long because someone didn't put their clothes in the dryer earlier. (The dryer takes longer than the washer.) I won't make it to work by bus and have to get a ride there instead.
Good news:
It's cold outside anyways, or so I think.

#196 K: Well in history we were looking at the Canadian coat of arms and our teacher told us that we had to do a coat of arms that represents us. So like our origins, our likes/dislikes, who's the head of the family and stuff.

#197 lefty: Yes, definitely!!!

BN: I've been having lots of work so I haven't been able to be on as much.
GN: My homework's finished.
BN: We got about 20cm of snow today and I had to shovel it all.
GN: My back hurt but dance lesson got cancelled due to the bad weather....
GN/BN: I'm gonna be in a festival in February playing the flute, and tomorrow I'm practicing with the piano accompanist (sp?) who's gonna accompany me.

GN> I'm home
BN> I and one other person were the only ones who showed up for work today
We were finally given permission to close the deli at four oclock because everyone else called off.
GBN> I got nine and a half hours of work
BN> No overtime allowed
GN> Instead of working at 5 am friday I don't have to go in now till seven!
GN> I'm home!

bad news: my tooth extraction was perhaps the single most traumatic experience of my life to date.

good news: retail therapy afterwards resulting in a slew of new books, including an unexpected find - signed first edition of War of Gifts. Super exciting.

bad news: root canal next week.

good news: i have vicodin. lots and lots of vicodin.

285> LOL

285- Ouch! At least you got books afterward. And vicodin. ;)

Oh, Laia, you poor girl! You definitely needed the retail therapy (which, by the way, is the best term I have ever heard of)!

GN: Our closing date got bumped up so we get to move in on the 13th instead of 16th of February! :D

GN: I had cake for dinner (sorry JP).

It must be epidemic. I fully intended to make soup for dinner, but I got caught up in my book and my plans have now devolved to the piece of chocolate cake sitting in my fridge.

Hey Missy... I might be *sick* on your closing date and be able to help you move in =D
dad gave me permission to be *sick*

For all those dealing with snow and ice, hang in there!

Laia, I survived college in large part thanks to retail therapy. In fact, my mom once ordered me to treat myself to an afternoon of retail therapy when I called her after a particularly difficult rocky class presentation in tears. I am a firm believer that retail therapy is a much better option than real therapy, especially since I've tried both! In all seriousness, though, I hope you don't feel too awful. :o)

GN: I've got two busy days of work coming up, so hopefully they'll fly by.
BN: I've got two busy days of work coming up and I still have so much to do! Ah, so it goes...

BN: SICK

GN: NO SCHOOL

Grkmwk, I am in absolute agreement with you! Retail therapy is also good for the economy (if you shop small business) so everyone, do your part! :-D

#283 picolina:
What an interesting assignment. Are you nervous about the festival? It sounds very exciting. :)

#285 laia:
*hugs*
One of my sisters had a tooth extract, too. I'm glad you were treated to books after! That was very nice. I hope you have time to rest and that the vicodin is doing it's job by now. I'll keep your root canal in my thoughts next week. I've had one myself. I won't share the experience, but this is why: Each of my teeth has an extra root. (Family trait.) It makes it more complicated and difficult, aka, more painful than necessary.

#288 lefty:
I can only imagine why you had ate for dinner. ;) Yey for an earlier move-in day!

#292 MrsG:
Get well soon!

#293 laia:
I did way too much shopping today. Can I blame you? ;)

Good news: I went used bookstore shopping and came home with seven books for $36.
Bad news: Yikes. My TBR pile is an estimated 167 books.
Good news: I can feel better by wearing aromatherapy body care I bought earlier today which will make me feel optimistic about all the horrible spending I did today.
Other good news: My sister was over a few minutes ago and I pulled up the book she's reading, Bitten, on LT. We discovered it's a series of ten plus books so she's very excited.
Bad news: She's also miserable because she can't buy any of the other books until she finds a new job. I looked on BM to see if I could get some for her there and none are available.

I'm taking the advice above and I'm going to indulge in some retail therapy myself this afternoon. There is a shirt I want to buy that is going to solve all my problems. I know my life is going to be better once that top is in my hands. I also know it is going to become my new favourite shirt. *I'm full of hope for the future now*

Jasper Fforde fans:

Good news:
Book six of the Thursday Next series has a publication date listed at last.

Bad news:
It's for August of 2010. You can read a little about the book here.

What happened to two books in 2009? :(

I was originally intending to reread the whole series this year in anticipation of this book, but now I think I'll only reread book five and save a series reread for 2010.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Why do you people get me hooked on series that haven't been completely written yet? *sob*

I need some retail therapy.

BN: I still have to much work to do
GN: my load has lightened up a bit, which is why i'm on LT this morning!!!

GreatN: tomorrow begins SISTER WEEKEND!!!!!!

JP, you made it through the years of HP. Where did all that hard-earned patience go? ;)

Mandy, I am jealous of your sister weekend! I want a sister weekend with my sisters! But I'm very happy for you -- have loads of fun!

I'm looking forward to it too. Holly, who makes all of our important decisions, decided we're going to have quarterly sister weekends as long as we all live close enough to do so. Hopefully this will be the start of a great tradition!

(Added bonus, we get to see the nephew and Holly will have homemade donuts ready when we get there Sat. morning!)

#299-Ah! When I started HP, four books were out already and I was a young homeschooling mom. The years went much faster. :o)

GN: I may just end up reading Pride and Prejudice yet...kinda!

ETA: If you haven't read the LT blog today, click the link, you won't be disappointed!

#297 jp:
*hugs*

#299 lefty:
Good point. ;)

Sister weekends:

I agree with lefty. Have a great time, bib and mandy! Holly's determination sounds excellent. It's a very good idea.

My sisters are near, and yet it's also like they're far. I'd love to spend more time with the ones I barely see.

#302 bib:
Oh my goodness! That picture!
*screams*

More GN....no Great News....no, I'm completely freaking out at the AWESOMENESS news.

I waited until it had been fully confirmed and I was sure it was for real, but the publisher of my most recent ER saw the review I posted today and then checked out my blog. The book is going to print tomorrow and a quote from my review is going on the back cover! Also, a full copy of my review is being included in publicity packets! Also, he was impressed with my blog and wants to include me in a select group of "bloggers who's opinions I respect" and allowing me access to the publishing company's catalog of forthcoming publications so I can choose other books I would be interested in reviewing!

There could be bad news, but I'm too high to notice!

WOW!! That is so WONDERFUL! Great job bib! :)

bib, we're so proud of you!

*throws confetti everywhere*

Bib!! That's incredible news! I'm jumping with happiness for you. :)

Wow!!! Good job bib!!!! That is sooooo COOOOOL!!!!!!

Thats fricken' awesom!!!!!!!!

Thanks everyone! I'm completely giddy with excitement. I can't seem to settle down to do anything. The most recent email from him was the confirmation that three of the five books I requested will go in the mail tomorrow. The other two don't have galley's yet, but I'll get them when they do.

I can't sit still!

bib, that's AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well done you!!! Very excited for you!

Yay Bib!!!

BN: Tom's truck broke down this morning and we spent a good four hours this morning trying to fix it...
BN: On the way to get him I got lost In New Jersey a good 3 or 4 times...
BN: I spent the enitire morning on the side of route 195...
GN: We did eventually fix it and he went to work.
BN: It broke down again on his way home
GN: We fixed it again
GN: We are both home now, safe, and in two whole pieces.(One piece being him, the other being me.)

bella, glad you are both safe and hope you get your vehicle fixed soon

bib, thats wonderful news, what an honor!

Bib, that's so popcorn! (okay, inside joke. My friend noticed that "cool beans" means awesome and that there are other foods that mean "awesome". So she made up her own)

Good News: Tomorrow is Friday =D
Good News: Best friend is coming over tomorrow! (she lives an hour away)
Good News: The book I'm reading for school is good so far (I'm only a chapter into it). Unfortunately, it's depressing because it has to do with the issues in Sudan =( For example, the author wrote about how people were slaughtered and a girl saw her family get killed and she lost her leg. Sad stuff.

true mindy, sad indeed, but it happens and the world needs to know. Its the only way to reduce these kind of atrocities for unfortunately we will never eradicate such brutality completely

Congratulations Bib that is such and honor and such great news!!!

GN: Tomorrow is Friday!
BN: I have a whole long day of work tomorrow.
GN: I get paid tomorrow.

GN: Tomarrow is Friday!!! (I think we have all established that)
GN: I have no school!!!
BN: Im giving up on Inkdeath.
BN: I feel like a quitter.
GN: I get to start a new book.

Bib, that's SOOO AWESOME! A quote on the back cover and everything! You deserve a congrats present! Go buy yourself a book! Or I can make you some socks before it becomes illegal to mail them and we can call them your awesome reviewer socks! Here's a few more of these!!!!!! :D

ROFL! Better hurry lefty! The fun starts Feb. 10.

I better get knitting then!

Yes, but I'm not a child and the socks won't be meant for a child, so it's all good, right?

Bib is on fire lately huh? Being in plays, getting her qoutes put on the back of books. SO COOL!

Double post.

Good point bib! Just don't let your nephew pull at them.

Thanks Grinchy!

Yeah, I'm starting to think that my thirties might not suck as bad as my twenties. I mean, yes I've still got a few weeks to go until I'm officially 30 but we're in the year where I'll turn 30 so same difference!

No thanks needed. Just stating the truth.

Grinch, don't give up on Inkdeath! It's so wonderful!

Bib, that's the most awesomely awesome news EVAR!!! Way to go!

Wow Bib - make sure you tell us the name of the book.

This isn't nearly as exciting as Bib's GN, but...

GN: I had a paperbackswap book come in the mail yesterday -- Eats, Shoots and Leaves. :)
GN: It's Friday!

More GN: I called my cousin last night to tell her about it and she actually answered the phone! She never does that.

GN: She also finally got around to reading HP and is hooked. She says she now understands why I'm so obsessed and even though she just finished the series she's thinking about starting over at the beginning.

Cackles evilly.

Oh Yeah and...
GN: Mandy will be here early tonight
BN: It's because we're going to a viewing that's not a viewing
GN: Then it's dinner and a movie
GN: We'll see Holly and the kid tomorrow!

Life is exceedingly good right now. Even the bad news isn't all that bad, as the deceased was 83 and had been suffering from Alzheimers for the last few years.

YAY FOR MY SISTER!!! Is it any wonder I had so many issues as a kid about being stupid and inadequate. Good thing I got over that and now think I'm fabulous!

GN: Seeing my sister and my mom tonight
GN: I'm getting out of work early today!
BN: Same as bib's bad news.
GN: Tomorrow morning I get homemade donuts
GN: I'm almost done matching what my apartment manager says everyone owns to what I say everyone owes. You think it'd be easy to keep track of but she's not very good at math or computers

WOW BIB! That's awesome!! Do you know the exact quote they are going to put on there?

Thanks. I do, it's going to be the last couple sentences of my review. Here's the link for anyone who didn't see it on the other thread.

BN: My oven is pretty much completely dead. The repair guy came to install the new part, and it still doesn't work, which means that I'm going to have to buy a new one -- or spend another $280 on yet another new part, not to mention whatever they might charge for labor.

More BN: I learned today that two people who were at the same conference as me died in a car crash on their way to the airport at the end of the conference. While I didn't know them personally, it's still very sad.

I can't think of any good news right now.

Awww... foggi I am sorry about your oven and the car accident. I hope everything with the oven turns out ok...

BN: THe job I interviewed for on Monday was supposed to call me yesterday and didn't :(

Just News: I hope they call me today

GN: I am getting a very early birthday present... My grandpops getting me a new phone next week, (my birthday is in may lol) But he said that I need it now because everytime I talk to him my phone shuts itself off...

GN: Tom got to work without incident this morning.

GN: I have the whole day to relax

327 Mindy> I just have had enough of the depressingness. Its just too much of despair and like barely any getting better.I like depressing books,but this one just seems to feep dragging on and on. Just switching between characters saying how bad things are. I probably will pick it up again later.

GN: I feel a little better.
GN: I have a day off today.

hi

Hey. Whats up? (Nice thread to put that on by the way;) )

You new?

GN: New news in the Saga of the Broken Oven -- I will not have to replace the thing. Apparently the self-clean feature is broken, but I have no problem with cleaning the oven by hand when it needs it, at least until I can afford to replace it. At least we can use it now. Yay!

You're going to clean your oven...*gasp*...by hand?
Scandalous!

Ovens need cleaning?

I clean my ovens when I move house, and not before.

Which is harder LadyN, cleaning the oven or moving the house?

cleaning the oven.... At least it was, until I discoverd Oven Pride. I swear that stuff is made of actual magic.

She's going to clean!! what a waste of time!!

This is going back all the way to 225 (years in LT time): EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I still can't believe it!! When I say that my trip to London is all that I can think about, it is all I can think about. We are going to have such a jolly time!!!

224--> K I didn't know about it either. When I bought my ticket I was just checking out prices and the price was sooooo good I knew I needed to book NOW!!

Mem, the dates are May 14 - 24th!!! I am absolutely estatic.

245-->JP I'm just as surprised as everyone else. Like I said, it was an impulse buy. I didn't know I was going until that moment. Kismet. Things just work sometimes.

WOW BIB!! You have a gift for reviewing books!! I am so please and happy for you!!! Congrats! and the biggest hug ever!!! I will buy the book just for that, even if I never read it. So give us details in private if you can.

Oh I do have some BN: I OD'ed on travel guides today. I bought three. But wait! They were completely justified purchases! One is for England, right? one for London, and the other is called "Savon Fare LONDON: Stylish Dining for under $25". How fabulous is that?? I just had to buy it. And don't worry N. I plan to memorize these so I don't have to carry them around. I am sooooo not doing the openly tourist thing, so no I wont be caught dead with one of those. OOOOOH I CAN'T CAN'T CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!! YEEPEE!!!!

cleaning ovens - yucky job!

Huzzah for impulse trip planners!!!!!
suge! You must take a side trip to Bath! And Stonehenge! And you need to see a show. We saw a production of Midsummer Night Dream that was so bizarre, but we can still say we went to the theater in London. :o)

You don't mind if I plan your trip, do you?

depends on what you charge her for your service JP

Ha ha! I've been doing plenty of that!

Don't worry sugey-pie, every Londoner secretly has an A-Z in their bag, just in case. But yeah, don't wave them about!

SO EXCITED!! *looks up to see that there are no falling pianos, so turns down the volume*

I'm so excited!!

*from under piano proof umbrella*
EEEEEEEE! If people want to plan my trip that would be a great help. I am a poor planner. Just ask K. How many times did we attempt to visit the statue of liberty, K? three? And we never made it to liberty island!! I am open to any and all suggestions.

*happy dance*

Good News: I finally semi-finished my room. Ok, its just more organized... but it still looks messy. I know where everything is though.
Good News: My Eiffel Tower project I did for Art first semester (Its the Eiffel Tower at night, with a rose. I'll post pictures when I get it back) is going to be in the spring show. I can't wait to get it back =DD

#337 Grinch, I understand. It does get a little slow. Pick up a happy, quick read =)

#330 lefty:
Glad your book came! I'm still waiting on the one you suggested and am also getting it from PBS. :)

#334 bib:
I just read your review. We already know it's great, but I will say it anyways: Fantastic review!

#335 foggi:
*hug for you* I'm sorry about your oven and the two people who died.

#336 bella:
I'm glad the truck wasn't having problems today. I had worried about it. My fingers are still crossed for your job interview. Congrats on the early birthday present. That was so sweet of your grandfather!

#340 foggi:
Yey! I'm so glad your oven works! We've had that problem before with the auto-clean. The installer kind of freaked me out about using it with the cats in the house, though. He said something about people should be outdoors for a while with ours when it's in use?? So we try to avoid using the feature and clean it ourselves whenever we can.

RE #346:
LadyN!!!
If suge so much as goes anywhere near a map, we want pictures of it! Comprende? So serious!

#348 jp:
Why did you have to go naming those places? I could have just pretended that we're all missing them except LadyN and suge. You made it real by saying it. ;)

#351 suge:
Too many times failed times, that's how many. ;) We got pretty close to it, though! I was happy. The statue of liberty never felt like something real to me until then. It had always felt like something you read about or only see in movies.
Listen to jp about Stonehenge. If I were going to England, that would be a must on my list of places to go. Fabulous and oh so amazing!

#352 mindy:
Your Eiffel Tower project sounds amazing. What kind of art class were you in? I can't wait to see pictures of your project. Congratulations on it getting in the spring show! I spent all of high school setting art gallery shows up and watching over them during brunch and lunch. Those were so much fun! :)

Bad news: I think my usual bus has had a schedule change. I missed it by thirty seconds...and waited an entire hour before catching a different bus route all together. It's supposed to be every half hour on weekdays.

Worse news: Tomorrow's the last day of my temporary advanced placement at work. :( I'm scheduled for a full day and then have to turn in my lovely keys. I'm going to miss them terribly. Okay, I will miss more than just the keys. I'm silly. It's going to be a sad day.

Good news: There will be A Series of Unfortunate Events as the group movie watch which can cheer me up.

Aww K, I am sorry about you having to turn in your keys... I can't get the movie but I will try and stop in and say hi! and make sure your cheering up is going good lol. Hope tomorrow works out okay, I will be sending happy thoughts your way, but they may take a while to get across country!

Thank you, Bella! Guess what I'm thinking of now? I had attached my work keys to a Twilight key chain. Edward is on one side and Bella on the other, Bella. ;) You're very sweet! I appreciate it.

I'm kind of glad the last day will be a long one. I really wish the position had come with all the responsibilities I was supposed to get with it. I'm one of those weird people who can get a pay raise and yet are unhappy for not getting an increase in their work load. My mother's been teasing me about that. (Can you imagine how bummed out I've been? I was shooting 'Give me tasks!' darts at my boss.) A lot of things about the job position didn't go right because of poor management but it's been fun to have what little I did have of it.

K, I was in a drawing class. I had to draw it with charcoal and other pastels

353 & 355> Oh K. So sorry. *hugs*

GN: We're safe.

BN: Lot's of it.
Our county/city was declared a natural disaster zone.

We're still out of power. We had lost power again right after I had posted on Tuesday. It's not looking good for us to get power any time soon. Right now I'm at a friends' house doing laundry, drying my hair, checking on messages. It's been a rough few days. We weren't able to get out of the house until yesterday evening. First we had to clear the streets of trees. Then we had to wait until it was safe to get out. We even had to fight for someone to come out to put sand on the road. The county told us they would not be coming out because we're in city limits. Well, we are not in city limits. It ended up with us calling the judge's office and speaking to his secretary. She was very nice. After speaking with her it took the trucks about 3 hours to get out here to put sand on the road. Now the roads are mostly free of ice, but they still have lots of limbs down.

We had several trees down in the backyard. For the past 3 days you could just stand outside and hear trees/limbs fall every 2 seconds. Our huge pine tree in the front yard is now down. We built the house around it over 20 years ago. Several large limbs hit the house, but we can't see any damage right now. We called a tree service to have them come by and give us an estimate for cutting the tree down. He was already in the neighborhood working at someone elses' house, and cut the whole tree down then. We weren't expecting that. At least it's done. When all the ice is melted we'll have lots of work to do clearing things.

GN: At least we had hot water. We were able to take warm baths/showers. We also cooked on the wood stove (beans & hot water for tea). Our neighbors lost power to their pump, so they didn't have water. We're on city water, so we've made sure to keep them in with what they need. They're an elderly couple in their 80's.

Well, I'm going to go eat some soup. Yum... real food, other than beans.
Is it weird I checked in here first?

Wow, I'm so sorry Kirby. That sounds awful, for you and for those around you. I hope everyone got through it without too much damage, and with no physical harm.

I'm glad that you are safe and well though.

I'm sorry for your news too kirby I had no idea, but at least you and your family are all in one piece, safe and sound.

I'm glad you and your family are ok Kirby. What type of storm does that type of damage?

*offers an extra long extension cord to kirby from jp's electrical outlet* Will it reach?

I believe she had an ice storm MsD. A really awful one.

I am glad you are safe kirby. I'll send some warm, ice-melting thoughts your way.

Yes, an ice storm. We had about 2 1/2 inches of ice accumulate. I really don't want to go home. This is nice sitting in a warm house with electricity.

Stay safe, kirby! We got the same storm but we had a lot more snow which is actually easier to deal with than ice so we were lucky. 8) I hope your power comes on soon. Any time estimates?

Maybe mid next week? We don't know.

Wow! I hope you guys get a bit of a warm up to help speed things along. 8)

Huzzah! Dad just called and said power was back on! Who would have thunk it? (yes I know my grammar isn't correct). They told us not until Tuesday or Wednesday.

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'M SO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOOK!!!!! APPARENTLY MY CAPS AND EXCLAMATION KEYS ARE STUCK!!!!!!

LOL It was the collective wishing of all of us here on LT for you...we're magical creatures.

No wonder we haven't seen you around lately, Kirby! I'm glad to hear you're safe!

Everyone wish for an early spring now. Maybe that will work too. :D

YEAH KIRBY!!!!!!! *wishes for early spring*

Yay Kirby!

Good News: I don't work tomorrow or Monday.
Bad News: I guess a friend of the owners of the place I work at (does that make sense?) had a stroke and she also had a seizure today =/

Yay Kirby! I am soooo happy you and your family are okay! And that you now have electricity!

BN: Tom and I are having serious money issues. I am hoping this clears up soon and that I will find a job
GN: We are healthy and together

#256 mindy:
I didn't get to use pastels until college! :)

#257 MrsG:
Thank you. *hugs back*

#358 kirby:
*big hugs* I'm so happy you and your family are safe!! I'm sorry about your pine tree. You guys are good neighbors. I hope Kirby and Finnegan are able to feel a little better with less sound spooking them from outside. I'm sure they must have not liked it.

#367 kirby:
That is great news! :)

#370 lefty:
What are you talking about? It's practicially spring already. ;)

#372 mindy:
I hope their friend turns out okay!

#373 Bella:
*hugs*

Ha, ha, K. :P~

Every day at work I am supposed to say, "Blah blah blah chapped winter skin blah blah blah moisturizer." I've been trying to not roll my eyes because we've just been seeing too much sun. Next week won't be as awkward to say that during. We're getting rain. ;)

WHooooo!
GN: Heat wave! We're going to hit 40 degrees today! 8)
BN: It is a one day only heatwave before we go back into the 20's. 8(
BN: I woke up this morning to watch a electric transformer blow on the pole in my neighbors back yard.
GN: Our power just blinked
BN: The neighbors have all lost power
GN: 40 is a much better temperature to lose power in than the 9 degrees it was yesterday morning.
BN: We also had a water main break on our street.
GN I can't do the dishes until we have clean water again.
BN: I put off doing the dishes yesterday and now have a kitchen full of non washable dirty dishes

GN: It actually looks like we'll be in the mid thirties all week! Yay!

GN: I might be seeing Inkheart today.
GN: I'm going to a superbowl party.
BN: My team probably wont win.

BN: I learned last night that you shouldn't make any quick movements that involve stretching your abs when having a braxton hicks. my muscles still really hurt from rolling over in bed last night

oh dear rissa!

GN: It's snowing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BN:.....can't think of any right now.

Ooh, more GN: I went to a party last night hosted by the Great Orangutan Project, so I got to meet a lot of peopl who@ve been and done it already. It sounds like it might be even more amazing than I'd even been prepared for. I'm now even more super excited!!

I'm blessed - I have so much to look forward to!

Bad news: I slept horrible last night. It was full of bad dreams. The one about a rat was the last one before I woke up to Tumble growling and looking around the room. Ekk! That was the first time I've heard her growl.

Good news: She decided everything was safe after exploring and checking under the bed twice, then returned to go back to sleep. It made me sleep better, too.

More good news: I only had a meeting this morning and am free to spend the rest of the day however I want.

GN: I saw Inkheart
GN: It was better than I thought it was going to be.
BN: Still wasn't great.
Really GN: There was a HBP trailor!!!!!!!!

#382-Wow. Sounds like a scene from Coraline.

BN-I had to go to a funeral yesterday and it was bitter cold. AND I had a headache. Death, frigid weather, and pain. What a combination.

GN- Headache is finally ebbing and it was warmer today, 48 degrees. Some of the ice actually melted. Just in time for another storm! Yay!

#384 jp:
*hugs for you*

#380 Ouch! Just take it as a good sign that you move quickly at this point. 8)

#381 What is the Great Orangutan Project?

#382 8( I hope you sleep better tonight! Maybe take a nap this afternoon?

#383 How was the trailer?

#384 It sounds like a rotten day all the way around. 8(

#386 MEM:
Thank you. I don't nap, but I'm going to try to get to bed earlier. Maybe it was from reading Coraline one night previous. ;)

Kirby I'm sorry for your troubles.

Good News: I finished all the books I had gotten from the library, so I can go and get a new stack soon =D
Bad News: The Cardinals lost the Superbowl =/
Good News: I loved Throne of Jade and Crispin: At The Edge of the World.

BN:The Cardinals lost the Superbowl.
GN: I am full

Who won?

The Steelers >:(

YES! Sorry!

This means my sister's boyfriend isn't going to be cranky. He's a pretty frequent visitor because he loves our cats. I'm pretty sure he loves the Steelers more, though.

*ducks for safety*

#386 - Mem
The Great Orangutan Project is a volunteer programme I'm doing in October, working at a wildlife centre in Borneo where orangutans are rehabilitated and released back into the rainforest. It's been a dream of mine for years, and I finally bit the bullet last year and applied. It was fantastic to go and meet folk who've already done it. can't wait!!

GN: I can't get to work today because of snow! I know it's nothing like the leveles some of you guys get, but this country has no idea how to cope, so everything comes to a complete standstill.
So farI have built a snowman, made a snow angel and had cooked breakfast. Yay!!

Will put up pictures later. I took some great ones this morning which will make great Christmas cards this year - Post boxes and phone boxes under snow. Very British!

Hooray for Snow Days LadyN!

GN: I had a great weekend with my sisters and we've planned the rest of our "sister weekends" for the year.
BN: There's a ton of posts to catch up on.

The steelers won? yaaaaay! sorry cardinal fans

GN: No work today!
BN. It's all for the wrong reasons (maybe I'll post the reasons in the rants thread...if anyone is interested)
GN: I may finish Inkspell today! and start on Coraline (since I heard so much about it), Marley and Me and Inkdeath

Oh Ron, Marley and Me is wonderful. Get your tissues ready though.

Good News: I went and got Black Powder War, The Secret Life of Bees, The Mysterious Benedict Society, and Coraline at the library today.
Bad News: Some of the books I wanted I either couldn't find or they were already being borrowed by someone else =/

BN: my toe is infected.
GN: I have antibiotics to make it better.
BN: they won't take care of the wart, which is how the infection got in in the first place.

GN: im home
BN: im home SICK
BN: im bord half to death
GN: sister just informed me that i dont have math homework (hardest subject for me)

GN: I'm home and I feel like its the first chance I've had to relax since Thursday! Don't get me wrong, I had a great weekend, but I like my alone time too, it refreshes me.

GN: Just got back from the grocery store where they have been renovating and working hard to join the 21st century (self-checkout was installed last week!)

GN: In line with the renovations, their vegetarian, organic and natural foods assortment has greatly improved, they actually had most of the available Morningstar Products.

Off to what are you eating...

that is very good news about the morningstar, happy eating.

VBN> my cars driveshaft went out on me today:(
BN> I can't fix it till thursday
BN> MEM and Missie and I were stuck at Walmart for two hours
GN> At least we aren't stuck on the side of the road

AAH! Too. Many. Posts!

If it's this bad when I can't get on LT for a few days, I shudder to think of how far behind I'll be when I haven't been able to get on for 10 days!

399>Mindy The Mysterious Benedict Society is a great book!!

#400 rissa:
Have you tried spraying deoderant from a can on it?

#404 polly:
I'm sorry about your car!

Good news: I'm adoring the books I'm reading right now. :)
Bad news: We need to figure out a way to get Slinky into a cat carrier so we can take her to a vet. She's sick, though it's nothing serious.

GN: My husband and I finally sat down last night and planned out our Scotland trip!
BN: Doesn't look like we'll be able to go to London or Ireland like originally hoped for
BN: We also had a chance for a little while that we'd be able to move to Amsterdam for a bit. That's not looking to possible right now...stupid economy.
GN: We should be able to start really looking to buy a house. That'll be fun.

good luck Mandy! and happy house hunting!

One person's bad news is another person's good news, so:

GN: My sister's not moving to Amsterdam!

I'm happy for you Bib!

Happy house hunting, Mandy, whenever you get to start! I've really enjoyed the process!

Don't get too too excited yet sister...there is still a slight chance, but it'll probably be more like 6 months instead of 2+years, if it's possible, we should find out this week for sure.

407 unfortunately, my immune system isn't quite normal right now due to the pregnancy, so most home remedies have almost no chance of working. I'll be talking to my OB about it when I next have an appointment.

GN: I just got 3 ARCs in the mail.

Wow, Bib! 3!

#415: Wow bib congrats on the ARCs, are those the ones that you ordered from the catalog the puiblisher showed you?

GN: I helped a friend with a short film she was doing for college, I helped with the music and it turned out perfect.
GN: I'm happy with the way the film turned out.
BN: I'm a little scared about the political situation of my country.
BN: Some of the people I teach at the institute are preparing everything to leave the country just in case something happens here...
BN/GN: I have to get to work and I'll try not to worry to much about politics...

#417: Yep, that's them. :)

GN: I know the city London inside out.

BN: its slushing!! I hate winter!

GN: I got Euros for cat today.

BN: The place I went charged me $11 and I don't think I got a good rate of exchange. I'm going to have my husband get her a prepaid gift card to use as well. I'm not good at sorting out anything financial.

Good Idea. I know when I went to Europe (before the Euro) we got some cash in the various currency and some Travelers Checks. My parents also got me a MAC card, but it wasn't a debit and the ATMs in Europe wouldn't accept it. I had to do some mooching at the end of the trip!

GN:I just remembered that I have 50 Euros stashed away.... somewhere....

BN: I can't remember where I stashed them away since they are left over from a trip a few years ago :(

You have until May, right suge? Plenty of time to find them. Me, I suddenly had a week left to take care of this.

I don't know how that happens.

That's easy. Procrastination is being the answer.

I was under the impression that they don't use Euros in England. LadyN? Lunacat?

425--> Crap!

GN: My kids were sharing their 101 day collections (this is those that forgot their 100 day collections yesterday) and one gave me theirs. It is a handmade pin cushion with 101 pins in it. How unique! It was accompanied by a thank you note from his mom. I don't have my camera with me, but I'll post a picture later.

#425

Correct, no Euro's in England. We're still the pound £. Euro's MIGHT be accepted if you went somewhere like Dover (port and entrance to Channel Tunnel to France) and very maybe in London, somewhere like Harrods?????? ( I might be talking complete nonsense though!)

But we definitely don't use Euro's. And with the exchange rate how it is, you'd be better off hanging onto your Euro's and not changing them to pounds £. You would NOT get a good rate at all.

427> how very nice!

#408 Mandy:
I'm sorry about the trips you won't be able to go on but excited about your one to Scotland for you. Buying a house is pretty exciting, too! :)

#415 bib:
Ooo! Congrats on your ARCs! :)

#417 Ron:
I don't know what's going on but hope things improve! Stay safe, Ron.

Good news:
I received my ER book today after receiving two books in the mail yesterday! :)

Bad news:
Apostrophes are being banned on street signs in England. What would the author of Eats, Shoots and Leaves say to this?

417 Ren, that would be scary. Good luck and be careful!

Good luck house hunting Mandy!

Bad News: Physics homework. bleh.

Good News: Books to read instead =)

GN: Looks like the weather's getting warmer (yeah, right.)
BN: Means we'll probably get more snow still.
BN: I didn't make the basketball team.
BN: I think I pulled a muscle in my thigh cuz it's hurting.
GN: The fact that I didn't make the team means I'll be able to sleep 1 hour more.
GN: No homework except a science project and my friend's coming over for that.
GN: I love projects.

Dog bath night. Take it for whatever it is.

From the dogs' perspective or your nose's?

#430, 431: Thanks compski and Kerian, and yes I'm scared but I'll try to keep my thoughts positive...

BN: I don't feel well, I have a sore throat and a little bit of fire.
GN: I already took something for it.
GN: I'm already home.
GN: I think I will go to bed early.

Feel better Renald! We'll send some positive energy your way.

GN: I am making progress in Eragon.
BN: I am not making progress in my history reading.

GN: I got to see some friends over the weekend that I haven't seen in months.
BN: Now I am sick.

GN: I actually got a whole nights sleep last night
GN: I am going out today to interview at a temp agency though I am still hoping for my daycare position.
GN: I am hoping that if the daycare doesn't call me I will start a receptionist position on Monday.
GN: Apparently once I get out of my parking lot the roads are clear of snow and slush.

Although we don't technically use Euros over here, a lot of shops in London do accept them. So it's worth bringing them sugey, just in case!

GN: We have clean dogs! It's been 2 weeks since their last bath (we give them one every Tuesday). We didn't have power last week, and couldn't give them one. They really needed it. Instead of baths, we gave showers! Kirby loves showers, and Finnegan is okay with them. This is only his 2nd one.

GN/BN: I survived getting to work today. It has been one of those mornings.

Good News: No homework!
Good News: I just found the bobby pin I lost in my hair! (it's curly today, which is part of the problem)
Good News: In physics today we got to play with fire. I love fire. I'm now known as the pyromaniac to my teacher.
Good News: I'm free all night! Looks like I'll be reading =)

BN- I'm so far behind in the threads that I will never catch up! I hope everyone who is having badness has a change of luck. 8) And everyone who is having good luck, I hope it stays with you! 8) LOL

I'm half good news- half bad news today...

GN: I washed my dishes, picked up my floor, and did laundry.
BN: I need to put the dishes away, vacuum and fold the laundry.

GN: I pulled all my baby stuff out of deep storage (outside shed and garage).
BN: My pantry and 2 bedroom closets are stuffed with baby stuff that I need to go through, wash, repack or arrange better.

GN: I got Cole's bedroom dresser reorganized and better suited for him to start dressing himself.
BN: There is an even bigger dresser in his room filled with Cole's seasonal items and his outgrown stuff that I was too lazy to pack away. I need that dresser cleaned out for baby stuff.

BN: I'm out of energy!
GN: I'm going to take a nap soon! YAY!

BN: I'm still sick and I have a midterm tomorrow.
GN: It's not a Chemistry midterm.

BN: I want to go shopping for clothes but don't have money.
GN: I will be getting a raise at work soon.

GN: I might also take a nap, MEM.

MEM, sounds like you've made progress at least. I on the other hand have almost no baby stuff. a few outfits, a bib, a baby moniter, and two partially completed blankets which are in the possesion of those who are making them. so you're way ahead of me.

I suggest everyone nap, MissTess, I try to every day 8) Try being the operative word. LOL

Rissa- Yeah, I have quite a bit of stuff (ex. I have four Pack n Play playpens). I was the first of my friends to have kids and a lot of my baby stuff has went through several friends' children so I've not had to store much of it which would have caused me to maybe get rid of it. Some of it is getting a bit worn looking but I'll either fix it up with a new fabric or I'll use it as is. It'll be puked on everyday so it won't matter too much! LOL An added bonus with this baby is now that I can mooch off other friends, too! YAY free stuff. The only thing I HAVE to buy is a crib because by the time Cole gave his crib up at the ripe age of 3 (he never climbed out either, he liked the thing) he had pretty much destroyed it and my husband threw it out. I think I'm going to indulge in a new stroller, also. Mine is getting way to rag tag to take out in public. 8)
Just wait until your baby shower. You'll get a ton of stuff! Then you won't know where to put it. 8) You'll trip over it until the baby get's there and then you'll realize you forgot something really simple like newborn size diapers or something. LOL

GN: I ordered Husband-coached childbirth and natural childbirth the bradley way on amazon.

BN: I have no idea when I'll have time to read them.

Are you going to go natural or are you just collecting information at this point?

planning on natural. I'd rather not miss out on the bonding experience it provides, as well as the fact that any drugs the mother is given remain in the baby's system for a couple of weeks.

I know someone who did it natural and she really felt it was a great experience. Good Luck! 8)

my mom had all four of us naturally. letta and I at home. the only problem she ever had was that Reena was born too fast and didn't get all the fluid squeezed out of her lungs. there's also the factor that if I follow in my mom's footsteps, by the time I could get to the hospital and have the drugs administered, they wouldn't take full effect until after I reached stage two labor, and it's the last sub-stage of stage one labor that's considered the most painful. besides the fact that getting the drugs greatly increases your chance of needing an Episiotomy and forceps or vacuum extraction. frankly, those scare me way more than the pain of labor.

my mother had a section on me and my twin. she said u dont feel anything. (then again, we are twins, double the pain!)

but natural birth sounds good too like MEM said, great expericance.

c-sections are sometimes medically necesary (and more likely to be so with a multiple birth) but have their own set of issues. for one thing, it's major surgery for the mother, and surgery always has some inherent risk.

yea, i no. But like u said, better for mutiple babys

Ooh, I love it when the expectant mommies have a little catch up on progress. It makes me go all mushy! :-) I'm so excited!

Yayy babies!

OK BACK ON THE GN BN SUBJECT! i love babies too, but isent this supposed to b a good news/ bad news subject? go to "Rissas having a baby" thread :)

As you so aptly noticed in your first thread, we don't stick to the subject here. We all consider each other friends and let conversations evolve organically. If you have GN/BN to post, by all means do. Others will join in with their own, or comment on it, or continue to comment on other posts before. That's how we roll! :)

ture that, ture that!

BN: There is no water in my house.
GN: I had a good dinner.

Bad News: I'm thirsty. And upstairs =/ FAIL

GN: I finished Inkspell and really liked it.
GN: I can now move on to other books.
BN: I'm not feeling completely well and I have a full day of work tomorrow :(....

GN: We're getting our grad pics taken tomorrow.
GN: I got a hair straightener and I'll be able to straighten my hair before leaving.
BN: Weather's crappy.

rissa - I wanted to do a natural "home" birth at a birthing center nearby but it closed at the end of last year. It really appealed to me because it was one block from the hospital, so if something went wrong, mother and baby would have prompt medical attention. Unfortunately, since it has closed, I have decided just to have our baby at the local hospital, as home births in my state are illegal, and there's the risk that insurance wouldn't cover post-home birth hospitalization should that be necessary. I am going to try and go drug-free though.

GN: I'm *finally* catching up on LT threads.
BN: I have time to do this because I'm home sick fighting a cold.
GN: After catching up on LT, I can go curl up in bed with Inkheart, which I'm LOVING so far!

ALL MOMS TO BE :

hospitals really do their best anymore to make Moms comfortable and make the birthing experience as natural and easy for both mom and baby. Please trust your pediatric teams to do the best for you. Oh and drug free childbirth isn't as difficult as you may think.

Now, mom, why would you think a doctor would medically know more than myself? whatever 8)

yes dear
GN> Its payday! I will go shortly to get my money pay bills buy food
BN> when I come home I will be broke again, (sigh)

GN> Journey is playing on every radio station I tune to
GN> I like most of Journey *Don't stop be-liev-in' whoa whoa ooohhhh*
BN> I have a sneaking suspicion that makes me a dork

mommy I wanna go! As long as you aren't dragging extra baggage along come pick up me and Cole *little girl voice*

GN: Husband got me Deathly Hallows UK edition! Now I have them all in US and UK printings! :D

BN: I am at work. I think it should be policy at all workplaces to get a paid day off on your birthday.

alright dear, I'll be leaving here in about twenty

Lefty> I agree! It should be a law! Lets appeal to the President!
Oh and great gift from your hubby!

Lefty- that sucks! Most workplaces do let you have it off. Too bad yours won't 8(

It's a school. I don't expect much. ;)

8)

GN: We are buying me a new car. I was driving a quad cab truck that sat several feet above the ground but the realization that I would not be able to actually get in it in a few months made us realize how much we needed another car.

GN: The truck sold within a week of our posting it!

BN: We are now having problems finding another vehicle to buy!

BN: My husband takes the car and I stay at home without transportation. Which is bad news for mom, also. On her days off I harass her to take me places 8)

#468: How could liking Journey be dorky? He's just a small town boy, born and raised in South Detroit, he took a midnight train going anywhere

I completely agree birthdays should be an extra holiday. In the past I've used a personal day or floating holiday for mine. This year it's on a Saturday, so I'm thinking I'll take the Monday afterward off.

kik! I must agree that having a birthday on Saturday shouldn't mean missing out on a day off!

Oh, and there's a new one of there here.

#464-465: sheesh, I knew I would regret not responding before I left this morning.

I've had a hospital birth, birthing center birth, and a homebirth, all non-medicated. I think the key is in what polly said. You need to trust whoever is giving you your obstetrical care. I chose nurse midwives for all. My experience with one obstetrician during my first pregnancy was not a good one. Because I have asthma and I had "an untried pelvis" he refused to allow me to have a birth at the birthing center. The midwives were fine with it, as long as I was not taking any harmful meds. Ironically, the only time I had trouble with my asthma during pregnancy is when my respiratory specialist decided to take me off of everything "just to be safe." This was during my third pregnancy. Apparently, he thought it was better for me to spend a pregnancy without asthma meds for the first time in my life than to just leave me on medication that I had used successfully since my second pregnancy.

I used a book on creative visualization during pregnancy that was very helpful. It's called Mind Over Labor. I have no idea whether it is still available. I truly believe that the more relaxed you are about your body, the easier time you will have. Too late for the current LT pregnancies, but I would strongly recommend to anyone who is thinking about having children to take up yoga. Just for the breathing exercises it is an immense help.

JP~ Just out of curiosity I looked up birthing centers in Columbus. Amazingly enough there isn't a single one here in the largest city in Ohio. 8)
edited for spelling 8)

in WA, home births are legal, but only direct-entry midwives do them, and insurance won't cover direct-entry midwives. the only birthing center around here is staffed with direct-entry midwives too, so also not covered. and as far as trusting your medical staff, that depends if you can find someone who's supportive of natural birth and actually understands how to make it work. most of the medical community around here is not natural-birth friendly. frankly, the doctors and nurse midwives are still trained to view birth as a disaster waiting to happen. The hospitals I have the option of giving birth at routinely do IVs, constant fetal monitoring, and constant blood pressure checks for the mom. That means you're basically forced to lie on your back. I refuse to do that, it's normally the worst position to give birth in.

479> why am I not surprised?

I'm really intrigued as to what a "direct entry midwife" is. Please tell me it's not what I'm picturing...!

468: I LOVE JOUNRNEY! That does NOT make ya a dork! The new singer sounds JUST like the old one, huh?

rissa, start writing up a birth plan. I used that for my hospital birth. I told them I wanted as little intervention as possible. I made copies for the midwife and the hospital. It might help if you have someone there (not your husband) that can speak out for you, also.

Our area looks down on homebirths. We ended up paying a lot of the expenses on our own that time. Still worth it in my opinion, since they had closed the birth center where I had my second child when I was pregnant with the third. My only other option would have been to return to a hospital birth, and I couldn't stomach that.

GN: I put our TV antenna up in the attic, and now we get more channels than just PBS including Fox!
GN: The new season of Hell's Kitchen started last week, and now I'm able to watch it.
BN: It's still 3 hours 20 minutes until the next episode...

#482 a Direct-entry midwife is one that doesn't have a nursing degree. as opposed to a nurse midwife who does. In my area, direct-entry midwives attend home births, and can run a birthing center, nurse-midwives and obstetricians attend hospital births.

#484 I'm definitely going to have a birth plan made. I can't decide if I want my mom there to be my advocate or not. The thing is that I'm a fairly private person, and I don't want any extra people there. (I have a feeling the nurse will be told to go away a few times)