The Good, The Bad, and The Funny (the latest GN/BN thread)

Continuing our news from the last thread.

Oh, excellent thread title, Kirby!

Very Good!
Today was our first day back to school after 2 major blizzards back to back. We got to come in 2 hours late and I still get both my planning periods. I won't see my first student until 12:40. I love my job!

BN: It's snowing and I really need to go out today and trek to the store in it.
GN? The mail hasn't come yet, so there's still a chance a check will show up.
GN/BN: If a check does show up, I'll have to trek to the bank (even further) and then the store. Yuk. On the other hand, a check always = good news.

The Funny: On my drive to class today I saw an electronic store sign that read--first screen "Today Only!" scrolls to second screen "21 degrees F"

I think I missed the true first screen. . . I hope the decent temps last more than one day!

BN: Work. Bleh.
BN: I'm getting my wisdom teeth pulled on Friday =/
GN: I'll be on pain meds so it shouldn't be too bad

GN: Mutombu will get to come home early. He was scheduled to return on the 27th but now he will be home on the 23rd. So he has been away for about 4 1/2 weeks. He missed the two snow storms.

BN: Pepper ate chocolate today while i was at work.
GN: I took her to the Animal ER and she is doing fine now.

Weird news: I happened to google "Hermes" and looked at some handbags. After seeing the prices, I feel like I need a shower. It's obscene.

#8 we had a dog who ate chocolate several times, never affecter her.

BN: In the first 30 minutes we were awake this morning, events transpired that resulted in Rex in his third outfit, me in my second, and two loads of laundry.
BN: I don't have a good feeling about how the rest of the day will go.
GN: Rex has turned on the cute defensive strategy.

#11 -- So babies do that too, huh? Sophie always cranks up the cuteness after she's done something she knows I won't like.

#12 - Oh yes, he absolutely cranks it up in response/defense!

Hermes bags *drools*. Donna's kryptonite.

See, if I ever won the lottery, I might spring for a $200 Coach bag or something like that. But hell would freeze over before I'd ever pay $200,000 for a handbag, no matter how much money I had. I can't see spending more for a handbag than a house!

For $200,000 you can hire someone to carry your stuff for you.

The Good: Intense yoga last Monday.

The Bad: The body aches I thought were from yoga are now accompanied by chills and a fever.

The Funny: There has to be something funny here. There usually is.

Bad News: My throat hurts really bad and my head and stomach started hurting while I was at school. And when I got home I had a fever. :(
Good News: I took medicine and I feel somewhat better.
Funny News: I was thinking a couple days ago that it kinda felt like the same way as before I got sick in November.
Bad News: My friend tells me this was how her sickness started out and she's missed this whole week. :/ Several of my friends have been sick. Apparently it went from A-A-K-me lol

Tragic News: One of my other friend's brothers died yesterday :'( She had 2 younger brothers, 3 older brothers, and 1 adopted older brother. It was one of her older biological brothers and what's really sad is that a couple years ago she lost another one of her older brothers. She only has 4 living brothers. :(

Aww how sad. {{{Hugs}}} Chelsea. Feel better soon.

Funny news: One of our cats is in love with a sheepdog puppet. There! I knew I could think of something.

#19 - Photos please.

#20: I'll see what I can do, but I have to warn you, any photos of them together might be considered...indecent.

#17: Hope you will feel better soon, or hope you are now better, jp!

#18: That's really sad, chelsea...*hugs*

GN: I already have an appointment to get an American Visa.
GN/BN: It's sooner than I thought (I was imagining it would be late August or early September, and it's on April 20th)
BN: I am really worried to see if I get it (I have to prove I am not going to stay in the U.S.A.)
BN: I have to pay a lot of money for this appointment (131 $)...and it's not even for sure that I will get it.
GN: For better or for worse, I already have the appointment and I think it all depends on luck.
GN: I am going to the appointment with my whole family.
BN: The appointment is in Caracas (the capital of Venezuela) (5 to 6 hour drive).
GN: I have officially finished 2 subjects from college, 3 more to go.
GN: I don't have any more classes, I just have to go and take tests. (I was celebrating the no more classes part not the taking tests parts ;))

Ron, how long will the visa be good for if (when!) it does come through? Is your family planning a trip to the US at a specific time? Are you maybe going to make it to the Florida meetup?

Good luck!!!

18 Chelsea: Aw that's so sad!!! ((hugs))

22 Ron: Well like you said, at least you have the appointment now! I'll be crossing my fingers for you to get it! Good luck!

BN: I'm sick :o(
GN: Ski trip next week!
BN: Flute recital in 1 hour. :oS
BN: Flute competition next week :oS :oS
GN: My friend's parents are coming over on Sunday to discuss the possibility of letting my family take my friend to Mexico this summer! I really hope they say yes!!!!

GN: I just found out they found the money to give me a raise to go with my promotion!

25: YAY!!!!!!

Go for you, Bib!

Congrats, bib!! Are you feeling better, too?

#23: I have no idea, sometimes they give it for 6 months, 5 years, 10 years or sometimes they allow you just one visit ...and thanks I'll need all the luck I can get.

#24: Thanks pico, Drink lots of fluid and I'll be sending healing vibes your way!

#25: Congrats bib! You must be very happy!

ETA: Ejj I am planning on traveling during December (dates are still unsure) but maybe I will get to see you guys at the meet-up!

#28: Much better, thanks!

#19 Thanks.
That would be interesting to see. :)

#22 Thank you. Good luck on the visa!

#24 *hugs* Good luck on your flute competition!

#25 That's great news! :D

Good News: I'm going to Chicago from April 7-11! :D
Bad News: It cost $825.
Good News: We paid it off all from fundraising.
Bad News: My friend can't go because they need to pay for a funeral. :(
Good News: My best friends can most likely go.

Huzzah, Bib! That's awesome!!

GN: I got to see The Lightning Thief tonight! I didn't expect to get to see it in the theater. :)

BN: I lost my job at the daycare.
GN: I have a couple of opportunities on the horizon.

Ron: good luck with the visa appointment!

Bib: yay for raises!

Bella: I'm sorry to hear you lost your job, but hopefully the opportunities will turn into realities. Hang in there!

GN: Rex and I are finally on the mend.
BN: We aren't going to my grandmother's this weekend as planned, as we're still not 100% and may still be germy.
GN: No one thinks we're in town, so we should be able to lay low.

34> Glad to hear it!

33> sorry you lost your job

32> I want to see the Lightening Thief! Must talk Jim into it

GN: I finished The Lovely Bones just now. It was so good!
GN: My mouth doesn't hurt too bad... just a little pain.

Bib, whoopee!! Celebration party at Bib's.

GN/BN: I fly home tomorrow. I'll be sorry to leave my parents, but I have missed the US.
BN: I start out going through foreign security, which is a little worrisome to me.
GN: My only major airline change happens when I'm back in the US.
BN: I'm going straight back to work on Monday meaning I'll be dealing with clients while jet lagged.
GN: Hopefully they won't slam me as I told all my regulars to come in on Tuesday instead of Monday.

I'm sorry for everyones bad news and happy to hear some good news.

BN:
*cough*
*cough*
*cough*

Is that my lung?

GN: I have finished putting the first coat of paint on the back bedroom (Espy's old room).
BN: It's going to take at least two more coats before it is even, I'm afraid.
GN: I think I have enough paint, even if it does take two more coats.
BN: I'm at that "What was I thinking?!?" stage of painting. I'm afraid I'm going to hate the color. I'm going to wait and see how I feel about it when I'm done -- if I really do hate it, I may be able to put a glaze over it to soften it a bit. It's also possible that, once I get even coverage and it dries to its actual color, I will like it better. I also have a stencil I want to try on it, which will make it more visually interesting . . . I hope.

It will be lovely foggi. I have faith in you redecorating abilities. Nothing looks great when it's half finished.

#18 Chelsea:
That sounds exactly like what I just had. I'm very sorry about your friend's brother. *Hugs*

#25 bib:
Congratulations!

#33 bella:
I'm sorry to hear it. With luck you'll find another job soon. :(

#39 jp:
Oh, dear. You'd better keep those lungs and not cough them up!

B/G news: I've been sick most of the week but the worst of it's gone. I took some medicine for a cold that ended up making me feel nauseous for a few days. (Eat well when you take sudafed!) I then caught a fever. My luck has been at zero in more ways than one this week, but tomorrow is the start of a new week.

Good news: I have a project at work for which I've just come up with the most clever idea. I can't wait to put it together and present it. It comes with puns and I hope no one will chuck a lotion or anything at me. ;)

BN: My husband is now sick.
GN: Rex and I are continuing to improve.
GN: It's going to be sunny and warm (60 F!) today, so Rex and I should be able to get out for a walk again!!

GN: I'm here! My computer has not liked LT the past week or so, and it's been tricky to get on.

GN: I'm caught up on the GN/BN/FN, and share in all of your....GN/BN/FN.

GN: I have been baking cupcakes.

BN: I set the temperature wrong on the oven. Fortunately it was too low and not too high!

eta:

I nearly forgot!

GN: I now have an iPhone
BN: ...I know I'm gonna love it, but as yet I have no idea what I'm doing with it!!

GN: I'm having a relatively fast recovery from my wisdom teeth extraction.
GN: I have plenty of time to read =)

Make sure that you don't recover too fast; you want to make the most of "requiring" milkshakes. That was my favorite part. Pain pills were another interesting discovery. I tried to tough it out for a few days, being a grownup college student. Then I tried one dose and discovered that freedom from discomfort wasn't a bad thing and made the milkshakes go down more easily. :D Although one dose would keep me on the couch for a bit.

Grk, I am so jealous of your 60*! I was thrilled that it was 35* today. :/

GN: Husband, Miles (the pup), and I got out for a 12 mile run despite the yucky weather. Thankfully it was above freezing so it was drizzling instead of icing.

GN: It was a good run! Miles was happy as a lark and not at all tired or sore afterwards, which is encouraging because I'm hoping he'll run his first full marathon in April. It'll be my 19th marathon.

GN: Husband, my parents, and I went to see Bebo Norman tonight! I've never seen him perform but love his music so it was great. Husband has seen him before but quite a few years ago.

Oh, I almost forgot!

More GN: USA men's hockey beat Canada! :D It was a very exciting ending too.

GN: Espy is home.
BN: I got less than three hours of sleep last night -- his plane was delayed, so I had a long drive to the airport, a long wait at the airport, and a long drive home.

BN: Kirby and Finnegan got into it yesterday. Finnegan got a hold of Kirby's ear and it bled for a little while. Finnegan has never hurt anyone or anything. It was over crumbs.
GN: Kirby was fine after we got the bleeding to stop.

BN: My credit card has been compromised. I got online last night to pay my bill and noticed a strange city in GA as my location. I checked my profile and sure enough someone had changed the address and phone numbers in my account.
GN: I called the company immedietly and they closed the account. They could see that someone had changed it on the 19th. I didn't really notice any big purchases, but they blocked the account before I could check the online statement.
BN: I've been up most of the night sick because of this. I maybe had about 2 hours of sleep. I'm going to the bank to make sure everything is okay. I'm sure it is, but it's just something to make you worry.

@50 Sounds like you caught this before much could happen. These days it is especially scary when this happens. Years ago, I had a card stolen from the mail, but the company was very helpful and accepted anything I identified as "not mine". It is still possible this is isolated to just that card. Good luck with the bank!

#30 Kirby:
Thank goodness it was caught early! I hope the person is caught.

Good news: Slinky just crawled onto my mother's lap. We're so shocked.

Bad news: Aloft took a claw to her right eye and it appears infected. We need a visit to the vet asap. Trouble is, I think it can't be afforded until Friday. I don't want her to wait because she hurts and I don't want her eyesight to go bad permanently. Do any pet/cat owners have advice of something to apply to her poor eye?

Was the scratch on the eye itself, or the eyelid?
When we got Knick Knack from my father, she had an eye infection that the vet gave us some ophthalmic ointment for. I don't know if it's only sold at the vet's or if you can find it in a pet store. You could find out. I would still take her to the vet when you can afford it, since eye infections are nothing to mess with.

#53 jp

I was hoping you'd read this, jp! Thank you.

None of us actually saw it happen. The edges of the eyelid itself are reddened, more so toward the side of her eye where the tear duct is. Her eye isn't water as with gooby eyes. Her wincing varies but isn't a great deal of an amount, and her face isn't swollen at all. This makes me think it may be her eyelid that was scratched.

I'm going to look into the ophthalmic ointment but also call to see if the vet can tell us anything over the phone. I'm upset about the situation. We're trying to find some way to get her to the vet tomorrow. I'm worried of what waiting until Friday would do to her.

It's strange as this is happening my co-worker is calling me for cat advice. Her own hasn't eaten or drank anything in a day. By the way, jp! I have a (different) co-worker with twelve cats! If you think six is bad... ;)

I've read through all the posts, but am so far behind it would take a really long post to reply! I'm happy for all the happy people. sad for all the bad news and I am totally jealous of anyone with 60 degree plus weather!

BN: All three of the kiddles are sick.
GN: Thankfully it's just a really bad cold germ and nothing more...gushy.
BN:My ear canal is swollen shut and I had to visit the Devil's Minion doctor.
GN: After spending several minutes explaining to the secretary that I REALLY wasn't THAT other person with my name nor did I now/have I ever lived at the address and no that isn't a phone number I ever have had, It took the doctor all of two minutes to tell me I had swimmer's ear even though I don't swim. LOL (I guess this proves I bath! woot)
GN: Between getting my info wrong and not graciously accepting that they had like I graciously told them two weeks ago that maybe I had gotten Theo's appointment time wrong, even though I knew I hadn't (bonus- As I stood at the counter making a brand new appointment for him because they couldn't squeeze him in that day, the lady seriously had to write me three different time/date cards. She kept writing the wrong info.) I have decided to find a new family doctor.
BN: I hate doctor shopping.
BN: My porch roof collapsed beneath the weight of snow, ice and rain exposing the attic.
GN: I don't own this house and am hopefully closing on my own house soon!
indecisive thoughts: As much as I hate the squirrels in my attic, I hope they don't freeze to death but I hope they find a new home for my remaining time here. If they don't they may dig into the walls deeper to stay warm and it might drive me insane, er, at least more insane than I may be at this moment. 8)

Kerian- I hope the kitty is ok. Maybe it will heal overnight, eyes heal quickly.

#46 littleshell, I actually haven't used any of the prescription pain meds. I've gotten by with alternating Ibuprofen and Tylenol every 2 hours.

GN: I took the day off from school today.
BN: I will probably still have to work.
GN: Work shouldn't be too bad. As long as I stay on some pain meds I should be okay.
BN: Make up work. ew.

#54: I could deal much better with the six cats if we had a screened porch where I could keep the cat who is afraid of other cats and shows her fear by peeing on our shoes. We throw her out a lot, but I just know if the local coyote gets her, I'll feel bad. Life...

#55: MEM, I know it can be a pain to shop for a good doctor, but it is so worth it. I stuck it out with a practice I didn't like until they threatened to put catbastet on cortisone for her month-long ear infection when she was a baby. That was how I ended up at the doctor we've used for 15 years and how I started learning to use alternative remedies. I don't learn as quickly for myself, though. It was when I was pregnant with my youngest. My pulmonary specialist back then had taken me off all of my asthma medications and told me I had to come in monthly while I was pregnant. Bonus, every time I went in he asked me if my obstetrician was OK with all the weight I had gained. I finally went looking for a new doctor when they waited until after my appointment to tell me that my insurance would not cover that appointment so I would need to go back to my primary to get approval for more visits and pay for that one out of pocket. ***Caution! Sarcasm ahead***Private insurance is the best!

K > try gently washing the eye with salt water several times a day, salt water will reduce swelling encourage any pus to drain and relieve some of her pain.

GN: I'm home safe and sound. It was a harrowing experience at times.
BN: I'm dead tired because, as Foggi said, my 1:30 layover in Chicago turned into a 3:30 layover in Chicago. It was a huge pain.
GN: I called in sick today because I was feeling so tired, and my boss understood and was fine with it.
BN: That means I'm not getting paid today, and I may need to put more hours in doing filing and such to make up for the day I missed. I might even have to go in on Saturday.

GN: I'm really glad to be home.

#60 :

#55/56 MEM:
Thanks, MEM. I'm sorry you have to go doctor shopping and when the kiddies aren't well.

#58 jp:
Screened in porches sound like wonders when it comes to having either as many cats as you have or I have. I'm wishing for one now. I'm getting a funny picture of some climbing the screens though, of course. ;)

#59 polly:
Have you applied that method to cats or humans? I'm wondering because it sounds surprising. When Aloft was a kitten I was eating salted crackers, she got curious and checked them out, got salt in an eye, and it hurt her enough that she dug her head under my arm while crying. (I felt so incredibly horrible!)

Good news:
My mother thinks we can manage the bill so Aloft has a vet appointment first thing tomorrow morning.

Bad news:
Her eye looks worse now than it did before I went to work today.

More good news:
My friend's cat got taken to the vet today and is okay.

K. salt water is different from salt crystals. I'm glad you can take her to the vet tho!

Kerian, you might try saline solution (usually in stores near the contact lens stuff) -- since it has about the salinity of human tears, it would probably be fine. I'm glad you can get her to the vet, though!

GN: Interview today at 10. Crossing my fingers it works out.

BN: Got a call from Delta telling me Mutombu's flight from Detroit to Philly had been canceled.
GN: They rerouted him through Minneapolis so he will be in about 1 1/2 hours later then scheduled.
BN: We will hit rush hour.
GN: Mutombu will finally be home after 4 1/2 weeks.

sad news> Jims Grandma died today. She was ninety something and in a nursing home until they moved her to hospice. She loved to read but lost her eyesight a few years ago and couldn't walk. She couldn't eat or sleep well unless on meds. earlier this week she seemed to just slip into a light coma and today she passed. Jim and I are glad we went to see her at Christmastime because shortly thereafter she began to not recognise people.
She was always very kind to me and said I was the best thing ever for Jim. He was her favorite grandson and she told everyone that.

#33, 65: I am really sorry about you losing your job, Bella. On the other hand, I wish you a lot of luck on the new job hunt!

#45: I am glad you are healing fast from the wisdom teeth extraction, mindy!

#49: I hope you get the rest you deserve soon, foggi. And glad that Espy is home safe and sound.

#50: I hope kirby is fine now. And thank god you noticed the thing on your credit card on time, kirby.

# 55: Wishing your kids a fast recovery and good luck on your doctor shopping, MEM.

#62: I am happy you are able to afford taking Aloft to the vet, K.

#67: I am really sorry about Jim's grandma, polly. *hugs*

GN: I have lots of free time.
BN: It's because some of my classes cancelled.
BN: No classes=no money.
GN: I have enough time to study for the 2 remaining finals at college.
GN: I have time to read, which I haven't had in a while.

BN: The voice in my head is screaming, what am I going to do, what am I going to do, what am I going to do?

GN: There is a tiny, tiny little flicker of hope that somehow I'll survive the latest crisis. If I can believe one of the two lawyers giving me advice.

ETA: My problems are financial, not criminal!

GN: I got the job I interviewed for yesterday! I start today!
BN: We are supposed to get more snow and I am worried about getting out of my parking lot for work tomorrow and Friday. I am hoping that they will let me know about snow procedures when I go in today.

BN: The garage door has not been opening normally lately and last night it got stuck about 2 inches from all the way down and would not go up or down. Both cars were in the garage.

GN: I took apart the pulleys on either side and was able to get it working properly again! I love being able to fix something without calling a service. :)

#63 polly & #64 foggi:
Oh, okay. Thank you for the suggestion! Sometimes even if appointments can be afforded, it's not easy getting cats to the vet because I don't drive. I'm happy to have the information to store away. :)

#66 Kasongo:
I'm glad you can see him again at last!

#67 polly (& Jim):
I'm so sorry.

#70 Bella:
Congratulations!

Good news: Aloft has been given an eye cream that seems to be doing well. Her eye looks better already.

Bad news: Since she's a senior cat the vet was concerned because Aloft's lost three pounds since her last visit, though it was quite a while back. We're to make sure her weight stays steady.

BN: I am at the sleepy part of the afternoon, where I can't seem to get anything done. I only have 2 hours and 20 minutes of work left today, but if I am yawning and drooping the whole time, I am sure they will seem like forever!

#72 Hopefully, Aloft well be all healed soon. 8)

#71 It's a good thing you are handy! Are you paranoid to park in there, now? I would be.

#70 YAY! I hope this job is a better fit for you!

#69 Don't worry I have voices screaming in my head all day long! ;)~

#68 Good luck with all that studying!

#66 I hope he got home okay!

#61 too cute!

#60 Glad you're back, safe and sound. That must of been one heck commute home. 8)

#58 Thanks for the encouragement! I'm going to need it! Wow- I wonder if that doctor ever got punched by a pregnant woman? If he would have said something like that to me, yeah, I would have hit him.

#57 Ouch, hopefully you're not in too much pain while working!

GN: the card that Jason's tax return is going on arrived
BN: the money won't go on it for another 2 days
GN: we're thinking we'll switch to cloth diapers
BN: it's a lot of money up front
GN: we won't have to buy diapers again

Rissa, you can make some very professional diapers, yourself. The patterns are all over the 'net. 8) I researched them heavily before Theo was born but couldn't get Rob on board.

ETA: I'm having grammar problems today. Please ignore! 8)

Bad News: If I don't stop coughing soon, I will have to kill someone.
Good News: For the most part, I am over the worst of this.

MEM, all three of mine wore cloth to some degree. My youngest was rarely in a disposable diaper and she trained the earliest, around 28 months, all of them were trained by age 3. For my kids, I think the fact that they could feel the discomfort of a wet diaper, and that we changed them to a dry diaper quickly, helped speed the toilet training process.

my first son wore cloth because Disposables were to expensive. My second wore cloth because he was allergic to the disposables. My third son and Mary wore the disposables because by then they were the "In" way to do it. I never minded the cloth ones, just the smell of the diaper pail.But there is something very satisfying about a stack of fresh clean cloth diapers.

JP- Augh, there is nothing worse than a stubborn cough!
If it was only my descision, Theo would be in cloth. Honestly, they weren't even on my radar with Missie. With Cole I was working 60+ hours a week and couldn't even keep up with regular laundry so I only gave cloth a tiny bit of thought before dismissing it. Missie started training herself at 19 months and finally had it down pat right at 24 months. Cole wasn't really interested (though he could do it, darn it!) until he was over three. I was in despair with him. Oddly, that's the way both of them seem to learn now. Missie, as soon and as quickly as possible. Cole, not really interested until he simply decides to learn it. There is no pushing, prodding or bribing him. It's an adjustment after Lil' Miss Want to Know it ALL . 8)
Anyway, I really wanted Theo in cloth, saves money, saves trees, happy happy. Rob, not into the whole 'poo in the washer' issue. It doesn't help to explain dunking, wet buckets, dry buckets or the fact that with babies it goes into the washer off their clothes, anyway. The idea just makes him go 'Blagh". 8) Since Rob almost never says 'No!' to me hehehe sometimes I just have to let an issue go. Maybe with the next baby, I'll have him worn down.

Hey, you need to both be on board for it to work. We never had any problem with poop in the wash. You shake any solids in the toilet and throw it in a diaper pail with vinegar and baking soda. No problems. We also used a diaper service with our first two for about 6 months to a year before we went DIY.

I still use some of our raggedy old diapers for clean up around the house. I swear it soaks up spilled liquids better than a sponge.

HA! I use them for burp cloths and then for rags, too! 8)

Rom and I got to see Neil Gaiman read tonight - We got a chapter from Good Omens, all of The Wolves in the Walls and all of Instructions with slides of the art. The book isn't out until the end of April so that was very cool. The drive home was icky and snow covered though.

Maren that is fantastic! When is he coming to New York? :o)

MEM I think we're going to try out gDiapers with cloth inserts, wich is a little more complex then anything I could make myself. we're going to get a couple and try them out before making the switch permanently.

Missy. You are ridiculous but I love you.

BN: last night I stayed up late to do a study guide. Today my friend informed me that it's not due today. Awesome.

But it's done! You don't have to stay up late to finish it tonight. Look on the bright side.... *walks off humming.....*

Great. Now I'm going to have that song in my head all day.

GN: I cut my own hair today and it turned out well enough that I don't need to go get it fixed. :)

I think it looks great.

It's beautiful! Very flattering.

BN: my husband had a late Valentines dinner/theater date planned for tonight (local theater doing "One Night of Queen")...he had everyone on board to fool me into canceling my quilting group...so many people told me last week they wouldn't be at the meeting that I just canceled it; sneaky of them to make them think it was my idea, huh? Anyway, the theater canceled the show at the last minute, and b/c of money issues has closed its doors indefinitly. We probably won't get our money back either ($39 each!). It's the lead story right now on the local news!
GN: he gets points for trying...I really had no idea what he'd planned.

#91: How sweet! Definitely give him points for trying. My husband doesn't even try to surprise me anymore. He knows I'll figure out he's up to something. The curse of being observant. ;o)

I think it the haircut looks great. 91 agreed at least he tried. . . sorry about the theater company though and your tickets. . .

#91 He gets full credit for effort! That was pretty good that he got your whole quilting group in on it and no one spilled the beans!

Thanks for the encouragement on the haircut, guys!

GN: I ordered a copy of The Lost Conspiracy with some Borders bucks I had and it has arrived! I started it and I am enjoying it very much. It's creepier than Fly by Night but very good so far. I love getting books in the mail! It makes me think the mail is still worthwhile.

GN: It was sunny all day!! And it's supposed to get up to 40 beginning of next week! I can't wait!

GN: Mandy, Pepper and Bib made it down to Holly's for sister weekend. They decided to leave last night instead of today, though it was apparently a very windy drive.

BN: I woke up with a headache and extremely unruly hair. This is not a good way to start a day.
GN: It's Friday!
BN: The next week is going to be frenetic.

#88 Very nice! You have very shiny hair and I am jealous 8)

#91 That's too bad. It's the thought that counts the most, I guess. 8)

#94 I miss the sun.

#95 That's good! Have a safe weekend!

In my district, we have a snow day. How 'bout u guys?

BN- ugh, So whoever had the home we are trying to buy took some things with them when they left. I mean beyond the furniture. They took the hot water heater! So we have to redo our loan type because the house, without hot water, is considered 'unlivable.' We are also our asking for a lower price now since we have to modify our loan and put up more money for it. We haven't heard whether or not the seller will accept our amended offer and it's driving me crazy. The really insane thing is we could have put a hot water heater in for less than a thousand dollars! But since we don't own the house, we can't do it and we can't buy it without the darn heater!
BN- Theo is really pushing my limits today. 8( Right now he is crying from his car seat because I had to take a little bit of a break.
BN- Theo REALLY hates his car seat. *sigh(

#98 Nope, the school kids here are all going to school. Probably a happy thing for them, too, since some districts here are utilizing Saturdays to make up snow days!

MEM that's horrible, but typical.
Right before we did our closing on this house, we did a walk through and discovered that the previous owner, while "cleaning up" had broken one of the knobs on the stove. We later had to replace the whole stove, which the previous owner had insisted was only five years old. Our plumber told me, "Five years old...maybe when she was born."

I do remember we had to make stipulations in our contract about what was staying (refrigerator, stove, etc.) Now I know why.

#101 I'm trying to tell myself that maybe the house they were going to go to needed a new heater, and baseboards, and light fixtures... 8) We knew we were going to have to do some cosmetic stuff but not the heater!! Blagh! But Honestly as big as the house is for it's price, I'm willing to jump around a little bit. Just a bit! *knock on wood*

MEM, how incredibly aggravating! Taking lightbulbs and such is bad enough, but this starts to make you wonder about the emotional/mental capacity of the owners! Did they really take baseboards, too?

Questionable decorating style has previously been mentioned about houses for sale. Perhaps we should probably take warning from that, lol.

I hope that getting the home is more than worth it and that you get a good price break after all the paperwork is cleared up. Making it *your* home will be such a special thing for you and your family.

Gn: I just read all 103 previous posts. Since it would take too long to comment yay, boo, good luck, & hugs where appropriate.

Polly: I took the kids to see Lightning Thief when it first came out, it was actually a pretty good movie. I hope you talk Jim into seeing it!

GN: This time next week I will be in Texas! Yay!
BN: it's only a friday-Sunday trip, which is nowhere near long enough. =(

#104 ditto

+ Love your hair lefty = I'm so tempted to try to cut my own.

Hope everyone is felling better, financially and physically.

GN: I'm doing Yoga and meditation twice a week now :) Apparently yoga is meant to earth you not get you high :(
GN: My manager has agreed that I can work from home as required :)
BN: I have to do some work :O

*waves to MsD* I'm so glad you are getting more yoga in! It's so beneficial for you!

Bad News: We had no power from 5:30pm to 3am. This was not good for helping me get over my cold. I didn't want to try to leave since the roads were treacherous from the snow.

Good News: We have a gas stove, so no problem making tea during the outage and I had just finished getting dinner ready, so we had a warm meal. We played an "offline" version of our quotes game, taught my youngest how to play solitaire and listened to Beatles music on our battery powered radio.

#88 You have such pretty hair, lefty!

MEM - I hope you get the house problems cleared up soon.

Good News: It's the weekend!
Bad News: When I woke up I couldn't feel my left hand probably cause I was sleeping on it weird. But being half asleep and not able to feel my hand does not make for a good start to a morning. ;)
Good News: I'm going to my friend's house today to play with her puppy! :D

Bad News: I got a 136 on the LSAT. I'm disappointed because I kept getting 150 on my practice tests.

#108 I feel for you, I put off my medical school application for a year because of my MCAT scores. I need to retake them soonish.

GN: I'm being productive today.
GN: I found my lost copy of Inkheart.

GN- My husband talked me into buying one of those new fancy pancy flat screen TVs that all the younguns' are talkin' about. Wow, is he over the moon. I think it might take the place of the kids in his heart.

GN? BN? This will take our video game playing to a whole new level. This is a mixed blessing. LOL

Rob actually moaned when he turned it on for the first time. 8)

Good News: I got a lot done on LT today.
Good News: I read the first chapter of Huckleberry Finn last night. (all 3 pages!)
Bad News: I'm confused and I feel like I should have read Tom Sawyer first. :(

#112 Jason asked for one for his birthday. the biggest reason being that most of the games he plays you can't read the lettering in a non-HD-TV.

GN: I had a fun weekend!
BN: I did not get the stuff done than needed to get done. So now I will be working on that stuff for the rest of the evening.
GN: At least I got caught up on LT before getting to work.

#114 Rissa- I have to say, that was a huge push to do it today. Rob got me a new PS3 game and I couldn't read most of the lettering on our 15 year old TV. Worse, all the PS3 games are like that. They expect you to have HD. Well, WOW! The games are so crisp and bright now! TEN million times better! Seriously, my eyes actually hurt from the sword fight lighting effects! That's what I want out of a TV! PAIN and the potential for blindness. SQUEE! Be the best GF ever and get him one!

GN: I'm feeling better today.
BN: I had a rough evening Friday night. A parent made a comment to another teacher about me. It made me cry big time. I was fine right after I heard the comment, but then got to thinking about it and letting it stew. I've been having problems with this parent this past week. It was just very hurtful. Another teacher found me in the copy room crying (I was copying tests for our grade level) and talked to me about it. She then left and my principal came up. She hugged me and asked me what she could do. GN is that I have full support of my colleagues and principal. The comment was just really mean. This is the 2nd time I've ever cried in my career, and I actually think this was worse (the 1st time was in my 1st year of teaching and a parent pulled a student out of my class because she didn't want him with a 1st year teacher).

GN: Mom came up to the classroom yesterday and helped me begin to get ready for summer. Since we have to pack up everything our goal was to clean the closet. I also packed up 3 boxes of books (very large boxes) that I've noticed no one getting to read. I think they're more of boy geared books, so I'll make sure those boxes are labeled to put out next year when I have all boys. At the end of the year I'll pack up the rest. Really I still have 3 bookshelves crammed full of books, so it won't really affect the girls selections. They'll just come in and see 2 bookshelves empty of books that were available to them.
I'm also making labels for next year. I think the labels will make it easier for the students to put the books up correctly. I already had basket labels (which I have done for 3 years and have helped a lot), but the kids are still having trouble putting back several genres in the right box (i.e., Non-Fiction, random Fiction, Sports, Biographies, Poems, etc...). The series books are a lot easier for them to get back in the right bins.

GN? This makes a new summer project on LT. Tagging books by label. I had planned on tagging for my teaching use more, but this will add another tag.

BN: I have a cold.
GN: Rex is down, so I can go to bed early and hopefully sleep most of it off.

GN: I got to order my steam mop today.

Kirby, I'm sure you are a wonderful teacher! Don't let one parent get you down!

BN: Tomorrow is Monday, so I have to go to work.
GN: It's a 3 day work week for me!

BN: Interview tomorrow
GN: I'm pretty sure I'm going to be hired
BN: it's working in a call center doing customer service
GN: at least it's a pay check

#117: You are an excellent teacher kirby, some parents are just mean and too touchy with their kids. *hugs* Don't you let them get to you!

GN: There's nothing like snuggling a freshly cleaned puppy.

GN: I have decided to sell my house, move across the country, and change my life completely.
BN: I decided this because my life currently sucks.
GN: I'm finally doing something about it. Well, assuming my house *does* sell.

ejj, I'm sorry you are having problems ((((hugs))))

so Jason asked me for a TV again right after I got done with my interview yesterday. he really shouldn't ask me for things when I'm in a good mood. so...
GN/BN: we got an HD-TV, a pretty good one, it makes the games really pretty, but it was a large amount of money

GN: Today is going great (It's our 3rd annual Seuss-a-thon). The mayor came this morning and presented us with a proclamation, read on the intercom, and took pictures with my class. Our pod (group fo 5 teachers/classes) is watching Horton Hears a Who in the Science Lab. We watched 1/2 this morning and then when to specials. When we got back from specials we did our read-a-thon part of the Seuss-a-thon (1,904 seconds). After that we did rotations. Each teacher chose a book to read and a fun activity to do with it. Then we went to lunch, came back and finished our rotations, and now are finishing the movie. This has been a fun day. Now I have to teach remediation classes after school. Yah!

BN: My hair keeps getting caught in my Thing 1 circle on my back. It's annoying.

Bad News, which might also count as Funny News:
My washing machine killed my pillow. There was polyfill everywhere. *sob* It was my favorite pillow!

#128 JP, lol! Sorry if you're still distraught, but it really is funny. I'm picturing opening the washer to a puff of fluff. I do hope you can find a pillow you like at least as much.

Man! It's a pillow assassin! Careful not to get any stuffed toys in it too.

Lefty: That was exactly what it looked like when I opened it. I can't believe there was that much stuffing in one pillow. It just keeps expanding.

Kirby: It hasn't eaten a stuffed animal...yet. *eyes washer nervously*

I'm handing out hugs, especially to ejj and kirby.

Good news: I had an extreme improvement in how I do on my responsibilities at work last week. It wasn't even imaginable. I just about lost it. (Tears, that is.) I'm excited for my DM to hear about it. If she didn't yesterday she should be soon.

More good news: I was put on the fixed schedule for April, which I'm hoping means the DM has already made her decision about me. (It's been about one hundred days for trial.)

Bad news: If a cat doesn't live with you but sleeps and gets food and water in your house at any time of day or night, what does it mean?

GN? BN? Tim's new feature CoverGuess is seriously addictive.

GN: JKR updated her Twitter.
BN: Pen and paper are her priority for the moment, according to her Tweet. We still have to wait for something from her.

Foggi, you just had to share the link! It is fun though. Good thing I wasn't busy right now anyway.

124--> Good luck with the house, ejj!

(can't remember the #) JP that sucks! Finding a pillow that is comfy, supporting, soothing, refreshing, with just the right softness/firmness factor, is tough business, I feel you pain. But come, you will rally yourself, and get a new WONDERFUL pillow. My washer is this old cantankerous thing like the one the Weasleys own in the CoS video game, I can't tell you the casualties of laundry I've had to mourn.

GN: HBO has green lit A Game of Thrones! They've ordered 9 episodes in addition to the pilot, starring the likes of Sean Bean, Peter Dinklage, Jennifer Ehle, Lena Heady, Mark Addy and Henry Lloyd (he played the creepy leader in the Doctor Who episode with the straw men.)
BN: They've only done the pilot so far, and it will be next spring before the series premieres.

136: It's the agitator, suge. It's been snagging lots of my clothes lately and taking them into a deathroll. I've dubbed it the agi-gator. I've had to unwind a lot of pants and shirts from it's grip, but I've never had trouble with washing the pillows before. I'm afraid to stick my hand in there now.

Weird. I read "It's the aligator suge. It's meen snagging lots of my clothes lately and taking them into a deathroll." Then I read on. My mind must be prereading before I read. I was wondering when you got an alligator jp.

LOL! It's been living here for years!

ejj - I'm sending you positive house-selling vibes, and hugs of course.

And hugs to all others in need or want of them!

GN: I have a casting tomorrow morning for a commercial.
BN: I don't hold out too much hope, but you nevver know - they've got to choose someone right?!

thats right LadyN, It might as well be you!

Certainly, we would like it to be you, LadyN. Please tell them that you already have an international fan base ;-)

Thanks to all for hugs and vibes: I'm actually pretty excited to finally being doing something that might really solve some problems and change my circumstances for the better.

GN: One of my goals is to practice extreme decluttering and get rid of as much stuff as I can bear to part with--including books. Scary as this is, I know that I could get a Kindle (it's inevitable, really) and have many of the same books in a lot less space, plus I'll be moving to someplace with a bigger/better library (though the library is just about the only bright spot in this town). I'm not parting with any of the TBR books. Or mysteries, sci fi, reference . . . it's the other books that will go.

Ha! Thanks ejj, I'll pass it on to the casting directors.

GN: our new TV is all set up, and the video games are pretty (and you can read everything)

GN: we rented a carpet cleaner yesterday and cleaned the livingroom furnature and carpet, plus the hall carpet
BN: it took 8 hours and a bottle of cleaned fluid that's supposed to clean 2-4 rooms
MBN: everything could still use 3-4 more passes with the carpet cleaner.
GN: at least it's a lot cleaner then it was
MGN: it's my birthday!

#145 rissa:
Happy birthday! I'm glad you didn't spend today cleaning the carpets. :) We have one of those carpet cleaners. We tend to use a lot more of the cleaner than it says it takes per room, though we do have to take in consideration how many cats we own.

How far across the country are you thinking of, ejj?

B/G news: It's raining like mad and it soaked through my shoes, but we probably really needed the rain.

A little north of you, K! I'm thinking of Seattle or Portland or perhaps a smaller city in that general area.

ejj, a days drive from me. we might move to that area in a couple years.

ejj when you declutter don't forget to pack away personal items. It can be distracting to buyers if there are personal pictures around. Best of luck to you.

JP, so you do have an alligator! That explains so much! I can't visit you anymore. I don't do scary reptiles. I woke the whole of Santo Domingo one morning with an all mighty screech. I was helping my Granny move her furniture around and a small lizard was hiding behind a figurine. My screech was so powerful that it made Granny drop her teapot (she runs a small, but wildly popular tea shop from her porch).


Can you blame me for raising the dead? I FELT ITS EYES ON ME!!

N, they would be crazy not to cast you!!

Mention "shark" and Suge is in the water telling everyone what kind it is and if it's safe. Call "tiny lizard" and Suge is running for high ground. Things are so much more fun with you here, girl! :)

He he he! Look at that thing, lefty! Can you blame me? I can still feel its eyes on me!

Thank You, L. You guys are the best pals a girl can have.

Heck, I feel its eyes on me!

They have this red thing that comes out of their necks. It's terrifying, C. Should I just take the pic off? Is it creeping anyone else out?

Aww, I think it's cute! ;-)

LOL! It's great to have you here suge!

I like it, it adds a "snakey" feeling to the group. It's kinda like the basilisk, except a cuter and less dangerous version. :o)

BN: I haven't been able to be on a lot because I've been really really busy. :o(
GN: The ski trip went well, our whole team placed... actually I don't really know, but the jr girls team placed 8th outta 20 teams from the whole province, so it was great!
GN: I'm over my cold.
GN: I got a debit card!!!!!!
BN: I have a science unit test on electricity tomorrow... I get the stuff we're talking about alright, but I still don't like unit tests.
GN: I get to see The Princess and the Frog with my friends after school tomorrow!!! :o)
VBN: I lost my cell phone! :o( I don't remember where it is!!! :o(

*Edited to add the very bad news.*

#154: Geez, suge, how did you survive coming over here with Sierra's pet anole lizard?
Poor little thing has passed on now. My little daughter was heartbroken. Lizzie was a good little lizard.

BTW, you need to come over, but after I have survived this sickness from hell. Every notice how when you get sick, everyone likes to bring up worse case scenarios? A couple of people have now freaked me out that I might have walking pneumonia. I've been suffering for over two weeks now. Tomorrow I talk with the doctor.

BN: I have to write a 2 pages paper for tomorrow.
GN: It shouldn't be too difficult.
GN: I treated myself today by buying "The Myserious Benedict Society" and The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey. I've read the first one, so I'm excited for the second.

--Touchstone isn't working for Mysterious Benedict Society for some reason.

I NEVER SAW A LIZZARD!! I NEVER SAW THE LIZZARD!! WHERE WAS IT?? I'm sorry it passed on. Tell S. I'm sorry but her friend would have scared me more than Merlin. Ok, I'm hyperventilating. WHERE WAS THE LIZZARD WHILE I WAS THERE?? IS THERE A NEW LIZZARD??

LOL! No new lizard. The old lizard was in a tank in the living room. Unfortunately she went blind in one eye after Merlin snatched her from Sierra's hands (the second time she'd been in a cat's mouth). We hand-fed her baby food bananas for about two weeks before she started refusing food altogether.

Oh! That's so sad, JP! I kinda feel like a tool for being scairt of your lizzard now. I have a blind pet too. Its heart breaking. And not to be insensitive, but I TOLD you Merlin was dangerous! You remember the way he was looking at me? You all thought I was being paranoid. Now I kinda know what he was thinking....

I like lizards! When we went to St Thomas there were Iguanas everywhere! and those cute little ones that are so quick! I hate snakes but I like lizards so I'm not a total retile hater

Well suge, that's why we call him the ninja cat. ;o)

OK, I'm taking foggi's jp's advice and reading a thread to try to overcome my long thread phobia. I miss you guys.

Comments:

Espy moved out?!
Chuck a lotion at me? huh?
Hahahaha, Lumberg kitty!
I officially skipped the diaper comments.
Yay for ejj! Although I would prefer she moved here to Santa Cruz, the PNW is cool. And yes, get a Kindle.
JP, condolences on your pillow.
#137 That's it, I'm getting HBO. Between AGOT and Treme, I must have it.
I like lizards, better than sharks, even.

My GN: Seeing Johnny tonight!!! Woot!
BN: I miss the Olympics. I'm having curling withdrawal.

LG, I'd move to Santa Cruz if I thought I could afford it!

But:

GN: This means I'll be around for PacNW HE and GD get-togethers, I think.

GN: A friend whose book I just edited promised to buy us each Kindles if her book gets published. So far she's had two requests for partials in response to query letters. Thumbs being held.

MGN: The same friend, from Seattle, sent me a gift pack of coffee, tea, pears, apples, and smoked salmon. Methinks she is trying to influence me. It is working beautifully.

#165: Good for you facing your fears, LG! In answer to your first query, Espy's not moved out. He was just on vacation in Russia and foggi moved him to a different room. I did that when my brother went away to college. In my defense, he shouldn't have left home if he wanted to keep the biggest room. :oP

And thanks for the pillow condolences!

vacation in Russia? Are there pictures?

Never mind, found them. Why hasn't Espy friended me on fb?

#168 -- Good question. He doesn't use FB a lot; he does most of his social networking on Twitter. However, you can find him in my friend list if you look. (I can even give you a hint on the name if you can't recall it!)

GN: I am done with work for today, the weather is lovely, and it is payday!
BN: I have to work tomorrow morning, my house is still a horrendous mess, and my paycheck is pretty much already spoken for.

I think the good news outweighs the bad here, though. :-)

VBN: My grandma's been sick for a while now and my parents told me this morning that she might have cancer. :o( The doctors aren't sure yet, but we're just crossing our fingers and praying she doesn't.

GN: I'M PREGNANT!!!! Due early October. :D

#171: CONGRATULATIONS LEFTY!! I saw what you posted in the what are you eating thread and I couldn't remember you mentioning you were pregnant! You must be so excited!!

I've almost posted accidentally about it lots of times (especially during the diaper conversations earlier). When I started typing it in the other thread, I decided it's been long enough to start telling people anyway so I went with it. We are very excited!

#171 -- SQUEEEEE! Congratulations!

Woo hoo! congrats, lefty! yay more baby pics coming soon.

"The happiest days are when babies come!"

Congrats, Lefty!

>170 picolina: (((Hugs))), Pico. I hope it turns out not to be cancer or, if it is, that it responds to treatment.

Baby! Baby! Baby! *Snoopy happy dance!*

SQUEEEEEEEE!!!!! Congratulations Lefty!!!

:D Thanks guys!! It's really been torture not saying anything. I can't count how many times I've had to erase messages. This is much more fun than secrets!

#170 I'm sorry, Alina. *hugs* I hope that your grandma is cancer free.

#171 Congratulations!!!! How exciting! :D (hmm last time this happened to 3 people...) ;)

Pico, I'm sorry that your Grandmother isn't doing well. I hope everything works out for her.

Lefty!!! Congrats!! I'm so happy for you!! You're gonna look funny running with a mellon down your shirt! lol just make sure you stay in your lane, dude!

YAY LEFTY!!!!!!!!!!!! wishing you much baby fun

Congratulations lefty!!!! I'm so happy for you!!

CONGRATS LEFTY!!! That is so exciting!!

#176, 180, 181: Thanks. :o)

Yayy congrats Lefty!!!!!! That's so exciting I'm so happy for you!!!!!! :oD

!!CONGRATS LEFTY!! I"m so excited for you! Oh, and October is when all the really cool people are born. ;)

Congratulations, Lefty! I wish you a healthy pregnancy.

#165 This may have been answered already, but I'm still here, I'm just moving into a new room because I have trouble sleeping in the room I was in. Also, I just friended a couple of HE people on Facebook including JP and Suge. If anyone who has already friended me on Facebook wants to suggest other HE people, I'll probably add them, but I kind of got burnt out on Facebook after college. And don't let the number of status updates fool you. I just have that many because I linked my Twitter account.

GN: It's my day off!
BN: I didn't sleep in as late as I wanted to.
GN: I enjoyed Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland

Yes October is definately a cool Birthday month! Hope Baby comes on the 3rd!

Congratulations lefty!!! How exciting!

WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! Congratulations Lefty!!!!!! WONDERFUL news!!!!!! YIPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

I was wondering when you were going to post it Missy!! =D I can't wait to be an aunt!

I'm glad to hear all the cool people are born in October. Now I'm guaranteed an awesome kid with no effort whatsoever. :P~~

Thanks for all the congrats, everyone! You guys are the best!

Chelsea, yes you're right! So who are the second and third going to be this time? Or you can count me as the fourth of the last round of babies if no one wants any pressure. ;)

Suge, there is still a marathon on the schedule for April! But I won't be huge yet, thankfully. I'm sure at some point running will become impossible, but not yet!

Actually I'm quite partial to September myself, but I don't want to jinx it.

GN: Finally going through and sorting the stuff in the garage so I can be done with it and tell her she needs to come pick up her stuff.
BN: It's very stressful to go through all that stuff and try and figure out who gets what.
GN: Foggi is helping, which is very… helpful.
BN: We had to stop for the day because it's getting dark, and there's still a lot to sort.

GN: Today I got to go to a book signing with Scott Mebus (The author of the Gods of Manhattan series). He was really funny, and read an excerpt from his second book. It was lots of fun, and I actually managed to get over my usual shyness and asked him questions about the books.

#192: I don't suppose you can hold out till December? Maybe? :o)

BN: I did not get to meet Scott Mebus.
GN: My son took pictures and video so I could feel like I was there.
Extra GN: I got to spend some one on one time with my youngest while everyone else was gone.

#192 & 195 How about November? :)

Good News: I got a lot of sleep last night and today I was just hanging around the house.
Bad News: Homework :/

BN: My legs hurt... I guess going on runs one day after the other after a winter of no running isn't great.
GN: I discovered my cardio got better because of x-country skiing though!
GN: I went to the hospital to get an application to do my volunteer hours there.
BN: They told me they didn't have any and I had to call on monday so they could email it to me.

Do you work in the bank?

Who me? No... it's just that my school requires you to do 40 volunteer/community hours in order for you to get your diploma by the end of grade 12 (or grade 13 if you choose to stay) and I wanna help out at the hospital in order to get volunteer hours.

Bad News: One of my good friends used to live a few blocks away from the lake where the 17-year-old girl's body was found on Tuesday. :( And her mom used to walk in the park where the girl disappeared. It's scary to think this could have happened to her.
Good News: She moved here and is safe. I'm so grateful.

#147 ejj:
A lot north of me. Well, you will be that much closer! :)

#150 suge:
Really? From a lizard? ;) I hope her tea pot wasn't broken!

#158 jp:
Still sick. I'm sending you healing vibes! :(

#165 LG:
Miss you!! I think the lotion was regarding one of my posts, in which I was praying that my friends at work who love to say "...or I'll beat you up in the stock room" wouldn't abuse me by hitting me upside the head with one. ;)

#166 ejj:
I'm so glad you have such a sweet friend where you may be moving near. I hope her book is published and that you may get a kindle!

#170 pico:
If your grandmother has cancer I'm very sorry. One of my grandmothers has cancer. I hope your grandmother doesn't have it, too. *Hugs*

#171 lefty:
Hurrah! Congratulations!! :)

RE #196 Chelsea:
I second November.

#200 Chelsea:
Living near crime scenes can be scary. I'm glad your friend has movied.

Good news: By some lucky mistake part of my shift at work was cut today without anyone calling to tell me so I got there quite early and was able to complete a project for one of the two main things I'm in charge of. I'm very relieved to have it finished.

More good/bad news: I've been invited to a birthday celebration for one of my friends. I can only go if another of my friends who lives nearby is planning on going.

I worry about MEM when she goes walking in a nearby park. She goes at prime times when there's lots of other people on the trail but still.....I worry because I'm a mother.

Bad News: Can't watch the Oscars tonight because my cable company is fighting with Disney (the owner of ABC).

Good News! ABC just realized that denying viewers the Oscars might bite them in the A$$. And I do mean $$$.

I have similar bad news. I can't get ABC because it's the one local station that just doesn't come in.

GN: I went to a really fun singing workshop today.
BN: I can't talk.
GN: I can't talk.

I feel for you espy. I spent an hour trying to find a way to watch online. There was nothing.

GN: I'm not really interested in watching the Oscars. (This is GN because of Espy's BN above.)
GN: I am one step closer to being done with the back room -- I removed all of the staples and tack strips from the old carpet, so now all that is there is the nice hardwood floor.
BN: The nice hardwood floor badly needs waxing.
BN: After pulling up those tack strips, I am going to be sore tomorrow. Heck, I'm sore now.

#206 LG:
Ouch. I hope you're drinking plenty of liquids.

Fun news: I get to go shopping with a friend this week! I've never really gotten to do that much so I'm really looking forward to it.

Ooo, Foggi, great find to have a hardwood floor under the carpet!! My parents got lucky like their in their house. They had to sand the floors and refinish them but after that the floors looked great! How can people cover hardwood floors with carpet!? I'll never understand.

K, have fun! I've probably only gone shopping with friends like twice so I understand your excitement! :)

Tea and honey, LG!

GN: We participated in the Predict the Oscars contest at our movie theater again this year and the odds are looking good for us! We only missed one category of the 11 they do in the contest but we did get foreign film right which will help us a lot.

Congrats (again) lefty!!!

GN: I am very excited about the structure for the info lit course I'm co-teaching starting next week: we're dividing the class into four groups, and each group will watch a documentary film, the focal issue of which will become their research topic for all course assignments. The four films are Maxed Out, Food Inc., Big Bucks Big Pharma, and The Union: The Business Behind Getting High.
BN: After spending the weekend at an environmental stewardship conference, and today watching doc films about multiple problems we are all facing, I am rather despondent and pessimistic because I want these problems fixed when no easy solutions are possible. I've also realized that all of these problems - debt, healthcare, food, the environment - are tied to social justice issues, and until we correct those issues, these others can't be corrected either.
GN: At least I am aware, and can make life decisions in accordance. And hopefully our class structure will open our students' eyes as well.

I love documentaries. I can't think of a better way to educate people on the manifold issues our society is plagued with. Your class sounds great, G.

Oh, lefty, I was kidding of course! I've known many women who don't show until like their fifth or sixth month. I 2nd you having the baby in Dec. how's your calendar looking for the 15th, L? *smile*

I don't really have bad news other than having California Dreamin' stuck in my head. It's one of those slightly creepy songs of yore, that sound like they should have been sung on the original The Wicker Man. That movie gives me the heebgb's.

I'm almost done with packing, or at least that's what I'm telling myself. I really HAVE made a lot of progress. I just hope that everything arrives ok. I would be heartbroken if something were to happen to any of my things en route. My shelves look sooooo sad! Empty and dusty~ They are a testament to what a crappy housekeeper I am. I guess you are meant to remove the books and dust behind them as well, not just half arse it in the front.

#212 -- "I guess you are meant to remove the books and dust behind them as well, not just half arse it in the front."

This is news to me! ;-)

BN: I'm awake much earlier than I would like to be. I'm working an afternoon/evening shift today, so could have slept for a few more hours. Unfortunately, Sophie thinks we should get up as soon as it is light outside, or possibly before.
GN: Today it is supposed to be sunny and warm, so I hung my laundry out on the clothesline.
GN: Since I am awake, I'm going to finish polishing the floor in the back room, and if it dries fast I will put the area rug down and start moving stuff back in there. Yay!

Wow! That's a busy day foggi. Don't wear yourself out before you have to go to work.

GN: Semi-field trip today. We're going to a local church to watch the 1st graders practice for their performance tonight. So essentially 325 2nd graders are going to watch 300 1st graders sing. This should be fun. ;)
BN: Thunderstorms again today. It's not raining yet. Hopefully it can hold off until after we all get back.
GN: It's not Monday.
BN: Lots to do today and no planning period. I will probably have to stay really late today.

foggi, are you happy with the colors? When you first painted one of the rooms, you started to doubt your choice, but I don't remember seeing what the final verdict was. And what are the colors?

#215 -- Thanks for asking! I'm pretty happy with the color. I'm never buying that brand of paint again, whatever it was . . . even with primer, it took me three coats to get it to where it should have been. The color is a dark burgundy, but the first coat of paint I put on looked like I had splashed cranberry juice on the walls. The second coat was a little better, and the third coat brought it down to what I wanted. Boy, was I sick of painting by then! But it looks nice with the hardwood floor. I got an area rug in a neutral color for the center of the room. Once I get everything put in and straightened up, I will take some pictures. I have already moved the plant stand in there, and the green of the plants is very striking against the wall color, so I think I will be very happy with it when everything else is moved in to the room.

ETA: My original plan was to do a design on the wall with a stencil, but I decided against that in the end, partially because I was so very sick of painting!

GN: I finally got my dance jacket!!!!
GN: My parents bought our tickets to go to Mexico for 3 weeks this summer and I'm bringing my friend along!!!!!
GN: The snow's finally going away.
GN: No bad news today!

Horrible news: A friend of mine has a seizure disorder. She felt a seizure coming on while at the market. She went out to her car until it passed, but forgot to lock the car doors. She woke up many miles away and had been kidnapped, raped, and robbed.
Semi-good news: They recovered her wallet and a fingerprint (the frakwad left a beverage behind) and some "physical evidence" from her person.
The moral: Be careful out there, even if you're not as vulnerable as my friend.

#218: How terrifying! Your friend will be in my thoughts, I hope she's able to get some counseling, I'm sure she's in for a rough patch.

That is horrible! LG, I hope your friend will be okay! and I hope that terrible person is punished!

That is so awful, LG, we'll all be hoping she can deal with this. And that the guy is caught and punished.

Omg that's horrible lg!! Your friend will be in my prayers, I really hope she gets through this ok and that the guy gets caught.

That is just horrible! I am so sorry for her and will also keep her in my prayers.

Holy crap, LG! what a nightmare!! You have to be a real son of a bitch to do something like that... I hope they find him and... I don't know... burn him at the stake. Why did that ever go out of fashion? He deserves to burn! they burned witches when people like that should have been the ones being persecuted.

#210 lefty:
Aside from shopping with LTers I can say about the same. Tomorrow's going to be awesome.

#216 foggi:
I can't wait to see how it looks. :)

#218 LG:
Your friend's story hurts me much with my own sister having seizures. The cruelty angers and scars me very much. I'm so sorry! Please offer her a hug from a stranger for me. I have a *hug* for you, too.

LG, I am so sad about your friend. I hope she'll be able to get the help she needs - physical, psychological, spiritual - to move forward with her life. Thoughts and prayers coming her way, and yours.

Congrats Lefty!!!!

Pico... *hugs* I hope your grandmother doesn't have cancer

ejj... good luck with the house selling. bake some bread or cookies right before a showing I've heard that helps!

LadyN... good luck!

GN: I got an ER!
MGN: Texas was great!
BN: I'm super homesick and can't move back til next June!! =(

LG I'm so, so sorry. Words aren't enough to respond to news like that, but please know that your friend is in my thoughts. x

BN: Oh, guys! I am doomed! Dooooomed! DOOOOMED! I don't know why I shop so much. I think I have a real problem. I have more clothes than I know what to do with and yet, I still shop!!! Whaaaa! I've been stalking the gorgest romper at Anthropologie all week, so I got that. And then (OH GODDDD!) I went to their sister company Urban Outfitters, just to look and... *sob* THEY WERE HAVING A BLOWOUT SALE!!... and well, they did have free shipping for orders over $150, so I was being frugal because I love shopping online but I HATE paying for shipping.... and I did re-do my cart a few times and got rid of the stuff I really, really didn't need.... I feel so baaaaad now! Awwwwful! But you always forget that right before you hit "Checkout". *sob* There's no hope for me guys.

At least every single item I got was on sale at a drastically, drastically reduced price. Maybe I'll feel better when my stuff gets here.

Lg, I am sorry about your friend, she is in my thoughts.

Suge, of course you will feel better when it arrives :)

GN: It is getting warmer :)
GN: I start another job today... wish me luck, I am hoping this one works out.
BN; I haven't been around much, mostly lurking....
GN: I have been using my time off from work to get my query letters out to people. Hopefully someone will pick up my book.
GN: I have also bee using my spare time to dig deeper into Wicca, I have learned loads but there is always more to learn.

I hope everyone is doing well and hugs for those who need them.

LG, I am so sorry for your friend. How horrifying. What is wrong with some people?

Suge, shaking my head for you. Please remember anything you buy now you will have to pack. ;o)

MsB: Good luck with the new job.

Good news: I am finally feeling better. Nothing like dosing yourself with garlic, honey, vinegar and cayenne to force a cough out of your system. :oP

Bad news: When my husband was trying to watch the Oscars online, he managed to inflict several Trojans on my poor unsuspecting computer.

Good news: I think he finally got them all off. They did this weird thing where they redirected my Google searches. I've never seen anything like it. I don't want to buy anything online until I'm sure they're all gone.

GN: I have an extra hour this morning to do planning. My mentee had her PRAXIS III observation this morning and is done, so I have a sub until 11:30 (my time).
BN: I can't go to my room because I have a sub.
GN: No one was in the Science Lab, so I'm using the computer in here.
BN: This computer is sooo slllloooooowww.

#229 suge:
Sorry for your financial loss. Focus on the gain. I second JP's words of advice.

#230 Bella:
Good luck today!

#231 jp:
I'm glad you're feeling better! I hope your computer will feel like itself again soon, too.

Bad news: I don't get to go the party this weekend. Not driving can be crummy. This might cancel my shopping trip with my friend today, too. We were going to go dress shopping.

LG, That is absolutely horrible. It amazes me how horrible people can be. She is in my thoughts.

Thanks for the kind thoughts for my friend, all. I have hooked her up with another friend of mine who is excellent at energy work. At least it's something. And there is a good chance her attacker will be caught. My blood boils about people like that, and I then I think he's probably mentally ill. We have many unmedicated mentally ill people running wild here in SC.

Suge, I have a weakness for Anthrologie, too. Good thing the nearest one is in SF, or I would be in trouble.

After bringin the whole thread down, I feel compelled to tell a funny email exchange story between me & the hubby.

Me: I ordered the HBO John Adams miniseries from amazon.
Him: But it doesn't have any campy ice skaters in it! What's the point?
Me: Founding Fathers...On Ice!

(btw, he's referring to my Johnny Weir obsession.)

GN: Miles and I are officially signed up for a trail marathon in April! My OB said the marathon should be fine, especially since it shouldn't be too hot. And I'm never worried about my time so I'll be fine with being even slower than usual. I'm kind of excited that baby will get to "run" a marathon! Also awesome, this marathon is very dog-friendly so Miles will get to run his first full marathon.

That sounds cool lefty. Kudos to you for running marathons, I only run when scared or being chased! I never could find that groove, my husband on the other hand could run all day!

GN: I'm getting a new phone! A Droid Eris
BN: I have succumbed to locking myself into a cell phone provider contract, something I thought I'd never do.
GN: atleast I get a great discount and no activation fees since I'm a Staples employee

#238 Tell me if you like it! I'm due for an update in June so I've been looking at new phones.

GN: I recently changed my relationship status to "In a relationship".
BN: He leaves for Iraq on the 18th.
GN: We'll still talk as much as possible.

LG- That is horrific. Humanity scares me sometimes!
Suge- I feel your pain! I'm in the middle of packing my house, too. I am now almost certain toys are breeding armies at night and the boxes are planning a violent take over! I refuse to even talk about all the dust I am finding. 8( LOL

lefty33- Just listen to your body, it'll tell you if you are doing something it doesn't like or if you're pushing too hard. 8) Maybe you should pin a number for on your belly for Babylefty LOL

I'm sorry I 'm behind again, guys. So much is going on! We have finally made it out on the other side of the home buying process and are trying to get all the inspections done! (Now that there is a hotwater heater back in the house LOL)

LG- That is horrific. Humanity scares me sometimes!
Suge- I feel your pain! I'm in the middle of packing my house, too. I am now almost certain toys are breeding armies at night and the boxes are planning a violent take over! I refuse to even talk about all the dust I am finding. 8( LOL

lefty33- Just listen to your body, it'll tell you if you are doing something it doesn't like or if you're pushing too hard. 8) Maybe you should pin a number over your belly on your shirt for Babylefty LOL

I'm sorry I 'm behind again, guys. So much is going on! We have finally made it out on the other side of the home buying process and are trying to get all the inspections done! (Now that there is a hotwater heater back in the house LOL)

BN: Today was an incredibly long day at work. The time crawled.
GN: It's over!
BN: To quote Scarlett O'Hara and my mother, "Tomorrow is another day."
GN: My best friend from my teen years just friended me on Facebook! I was thinking of her the other day, but since she has a fairly common name, I had no good way of tracking her down. I don't do a lot on Facebook (can never think up good status updates, for one thing), but I do appreciate it at times like these. We even chatted on FB Chat, and it was only weird and wonky once, which is some sort of record, I am sure.

Good News: Tomorrow is Friday!!!
Bad News: Our DVR died on Tuesday. All the recorded shows are lost. :(
Bad News: We weren't able to record shows like American Idol.
Good News: I watched them in real time.
Bad News: Our regular TV doesn't get USA!! So no Psych. I'll have to watch it online.
Good News: We should be getting some new recording thing soon, it might be the same one.

Chelsea, I love Psych! My husband got me hooked on it.

GN: This weekend is the FBLA State Leadership Conference!
GN: I get to hang out with my friends for the entire weekend =D

232-->*hangs head* I know JP, I'm terrible.

233-->K you sound like a fortune cookie. He he he. I must be really hungry I'm thinking sauted green beans in brown garlic sauce and steamed white rice.... mmmmm.

235--> LG, isn't Anthro the best?? They've often taken my breathaway with their exquisite merchandise.

237--> GO LEFTY! GO LEFTY!

241--> Mem, LOL I think its the shoes and books that are doing the breeding in my house--They are EVERYWHERE.

Foggi the samething happened to me. I was able to catch up to people I hadn't seen in years! This weekend I'm meeting a very good Army friend I met again on FB.

BN> MEM'S hubby, Rob, and Missie have come down with a stomach bug. MEM said she wasn't feeling so hot either, last night. We were shopping in Target when Missie said she thought she was going to be sick and then...she was!

GN> this morning, everyone feels better

BN: My uncle is in ICU with a pulmonary embolism blocking 3 of 5 pulmonary arteries and PCP (a form of pneumonia that only hits people w/ suppressed immune systems, i.e. cancer, transplants & AIDS patients). He has glioblastoma (terminal brain cancer, the same kind Sen. Kennedy had), and has had extremely poor quality of life for months now (significant loss of vision, hearing and cognitive abilities), yet steps are being taken to keep him alive instead of letting him die and find peace. While I cannot imagine the stress his wife must be under, I seriously question the wisdom of trying to save him, as he was clearly unhappy before and if he manages to survive this, will have an even harder life ahead (at least for the short term). While I don't pretend to have all the answers, I can't help but fear that if he comes out of this current crisis/threat, he will only face a more difficult death down the road.
GN: His daughter and I have had some of the most honest conversations we've had in 15 years, and are beginning to heal some of the hurts inflicted in the past, so that is a blessing.

grkmwk~ (((((hugs))))) for you your uncle, his wife, and daughter. Quality of life versus quantity of life how do we decide? I'm sure he is miserable of what he's aware of, but many people still feel that all steps must be taken to preserve the spark. I don't know the answer either. I am glad for the comfort you and your cousin are finding in each other.

Grkmwk, (((hugs))), also. My family went through something similar recently and my niece was eventually taken off a ventilator. It's a hard decision.

This is why I'm so glad my mother made a living will so that there was no doubt whatsoever about what to do when she had a stroke. I'm not sure that otherwise we would have been able to tell the hospital to remove the feeding tube.

And yet I still have not made a living will myself. I know it's something I really need to do.

GN: The snow is almost gone. It will not be missed.

#247 polly:
I hope everyone's feeling better and is over the stomache bug soon!

#248 grmwk:
I'm so sorry to hear how your uncle is and the ordeals he is being placed in. *Hugs*

Good news:
I managed to find a ride to and from my friend's birthday celebration tonight so I get to go after all.

Adding to the {{hugs}} for grk and her family.
Polly, I hope everyone is healthy soon. Stomach bugs are the worst.

BN: My computer is still unclean.

Scary news: Very blustery day here. A bit scary. I don't like wind.

Good news: I'm feeling better. The wind must have scared the cough out of me.

grk...**hugs** I'll keep you and your family in my thoughts. Whether to pull the plug is a hard decision, we were faced with a similar decision last October with my uncle, he unfortunately didn't have a will but he did have a DNR. Keep strong and I hope your family figures out the best decision for your uncle.

BN> Now I've got the stomach bug. I haven't felt this way for a looooong time, bleah....:(

GN> Everone else got over it in twelve hours! That'll be about nine oclock tonight!

Spring break, spring break, spring break!
*Doing happy dance*

Tomorrow, hubby & I will take a little mini-vacation to Jefferson, Texas...a town known for B&Bs, antique stores, and being the most haunted town in Texas. Basically, I did the Internet version of throwing a dart at a map by clicking on a Texas tourism map. Got a sweet deal on a B&B for 3 nights.

BN: we have made NO plans for Thursday-Saturday...we plan to just tool around east Texas and stop wherever... We are going to try "sponteanity" (spelling/??), which for a couple of anal-retentive, plan-everything ahead, make a list, do the research people that we are, is WAYYYYYY out of our comfort zone. But this could be GN; we'll see at the end of the week!

GN: My books are all on shelves, and better organized than they were before!
BN: The rest of my house is still a mess. I had such good intentions this weekend, but you know where those can lead. . . .

#255. Have a great time, that sounds like fun! The hubby & I are planning on moving back to Central TX in a little over a year, we'll have to check that place out! I'm fascinated by haunted places!

grk, that's rough. sending good thoughts to your family.

GN: I got my TBR down considerably by getting rid of books I'm not really going to read or finish. I feel so much better now!

BN: I'm getting really bored with my studio apartment and I still have 6 months on my lease.
GN: I talked to my property manager today and will be able to move into a one-bedroom in a nearby building at the end of the month without incurring any penalties, putting down a new deposit, or changing my rent.
BN: I have to pack.
GN: I'm going to get the keys early, so I should be able to move some things (like books) over slowly over the next 2 weeks.

Wow,Bib! You have a nice property manager! Good for you!

#259 -- Good deal! Have fun setting up your new space!

GN: It's March Break this week!
BN: I'm stuck in my little 5000 people town.
GN: That's ok because lots of my friends are too. :oP

GN: My new phone came today
BN: I have to learn how to use it.

GN: I have a box at the post office.
GN: It's books!
BN: Can't go pick it up until...? don't know! I have parent/teacher conferences, so I don't know if I can get there when office hours are.

#254 polly:
I hope you're feeling better soon!

#259 bib:
What a great propert manager. Have fun reshelving your books!

Great news: My 21-year-old sister found a job! Some of you might remember that she was let go from her last job early on in 2009 when her company had to cut a lot of positions.

BN: Boyfriend leaves for Iraq in 2 days
GN: He loves what he does.
GN: Only 9 more weeks of high school.

GN: We got a new microwave. The light bulb on the old one burned out, so we thought why not get a new one. Well that, and the plastic frame around it was slowly falling off. And it seemed slower, and it was 17 years old.

I think a new microwave was definately called for!

Mindy, I know you will miss him.

K, I am feeling better Thank you!

Wow Lefty !!! Congratulations!!! That is fantastic news.

Hugs to you and Hugs to mindylou and grkmwk.

Good news: We have 3 personal days this year instead of 2.
Good News: I decided I should use one to go skiing, since I am always scrambling to use my two before the end of the school year (we can carry them over to sick days, but I have 120 of those accumulated).
Bad News: The snow is going fast.
Good News: So I decided to take today off! I am playing hookie!

Good for you! I wish I could take off this week. No luck because of conferences. 3 more days, 3 more days, 3 more days...

grk - I'm sorry about your uncle. You are all in my thoughts.

Hugs to all who need them.

I'm just feeling generally "meh" at the moment.... Hrmph.

>272 LadyN: Sorry for the "meh". But weren't you about to make a life plan, or something like that? Go ahead--think big! Think Borneo!

GN: Today is my furlough day!
GN: We went to the Disney Family Museum. Then we wandered around the Presidio for a while. A lovely day in the Bay Area.

Bad News: Because of a nasty nor'easter last weekend, the library catbastet works for has been without power all week. This means she missed work on Monday.

Good News: We only lost power for two days.

Better News: My husband managed to get the last of the Trojans and viruses out of my computer. This computer is clean!

Sidetracked News: Why isn't the plural of virus viri?

275--> Isn't it? Maybe its been stricken from conversation because viri sounds soooooo scary.

I'm sending out good thoughts, vibes, hugs and kisses to all of you who need them, who aren't doing well or are going through a rough patch.

:( news: the other day my 1 month old nephew had to be hospitalized and needed emergency surgery.

:) news: They were able to do the procedure laparoscopically, everything went fine, the baby is out of the hospital, and he is doing really really great!

>275 jugglingpaynes:, 276

Wikipedia has an article on this question (of course!):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plural_form_of_words_ending_in_-us

GN: Have had two really lovely days, with book club and grocery shopping (I enjoy it, what can I say?), and two meals out.
BN: A local Italian restaurant is under new management. It's better, but it's not really good.

Thanks for all the hugs and thoughts.

BN: My uncle passed away yesterday evening after a week in ICU.
GN: He passed peacefully, surrounded by his family.

grkmwk, I am sooo very sorry for your loss. I know you must be going through a terrible time, but as you said, if you have to go, then peacefully and surrounded by family is the way to do it. I'm really sorry. BIG hug and good wishes for you and all your family. Stay strong, dear.

grk, I am really sorry for your loss. I am sure he is in a better place and not suffering anymore. *hugs*

So sorry, Grkmwk, for your loss. (((Hugs)))

grkmwk-I'm also sorry for your loss.

grkmwk, I am so sorry. My thoughts are with you and your family.

grkmwk, I am so sorry, please accept my condolences

I'm so sorry for your loss grk. {{{more hugs}}}

GN: I was finally able to watch "The Lovely Bones"
BN: It made me sad.
BN: My friend's grandpa died today, which also made me sad.
BN: Boyfriend leaves tomorrow. Also sad.
GN: I made my friend a "thinking of you" card since her grandpa died. It put me in a better mood. Crafts = good

grmwk- Sorry about your uncle.
Mindy- crafts are always good :)

GN: Work is going really well.
GN: It's friday and tomorrow is tom and my 3 yr anniversary!

GN: I got the keys to my apartment yesterday and Kasongo and Mutombu came over to check it out.
GN: I get to start moving over this weekend.
BN: I'll be doing most of it myself, I'm estimating 15-20 trips of books and then like 10 more of other things. :)

Sorry for your loss, grkmwk.

And hugs all around for those that need or want them!

GN: I am off work today! I worked long days all week, so my weekend started a day early.
BN: I plan to spend the day cleaning and organizing -- my house is in a disgraceful state; I still haven't gotten the back room completely organized to my liking, and meanwhile the kitchen and bathroom both need a good scrubbing, and the laundry is piling up.
GN: It looks like a beautiful day outside. I'm going to hang my wash out on the clothesline, and if I get the other stuff done quickly, then I can work on getting my garden ready for planting.

GN: Today is Friday. It's been a super long week.
GN: Next week is Spring Break! I'm so ready for it. Plans are to redo my storage building and bedroom. Dad is making me a shelving unit to put my scrapbooking stuff on. I'm taking out a huge dresser and moving it to my storage building. Hence having to work on my storage building. I have some things for a garage sale for this summer. I'm going to sort and price so it's all ready.
BN: It's supposed to get really cold and maybe snow 2-5 inches. That doesn't help with my plans.
GN: I do get to sleep in! That starts tomorrow!
GN: I'm going to see Alice tomorrow (sometime), and I have a free ticket!

grkmwk- I'm so sorry for your loss. 8(

GN- Still chugging along on the house buying home front. I knew it was going to be a stressful process but this is crazy!
BN- I keep waking up in the middle of the night thinking about going into huge amounts of debt (30 years 30 YEARS!)
GN- A grandmother down the road from us set out a free Power Wheel Corvette and Rob came home from work and snagged it. Cole is beside himself with excitement since HIS Power Wheel Jeep got crushed when our porch roof caved in.
Guilty news- The boys next door came over to admire it and told Cole that their Dad had been going to get it and that they had been going to paint it green. But Rob came home and got it first. 8(
Less guilty news- The boys are Missie's age and really are too big it so I don't feel too bad. I don't think they would have had much fun with it.
Funny news- Cole keeps looking out our back door and saying, so very contently, "Yep, there's my car."

>291 MEM82: It only feels like a huge amount of debt, but really isn't. Here's why: otherwise you'd be paying rent and never seeing any of it again. But when you pay a mortgage, you get a huge tax break on the interest, which is the first great thing.

I know the real estate market has been crazy, but buying now, there's a very good chance that in a few years your house will be worth more than you paid for it. And if you look around, you'll find that your mortgage is actually less than you would pay in rent for a similar house.

As an example of a longer-term benefit, I bought a house, sold it eight years later, paid off the mortgage, and bought another house (in a much cheaper location, admittedly, but a bigger/better house) outright.

You are doing the right thing!!

And seriously, MEM, those years fly by. I can't believe we've already live here ten years.

Bad News: I backed into a high curb the other day and the car has been making a weird noise. I figured out that the tailpipe was partly stuck under the rear bumper.

Good News: My dad is going to take a look at it to see if the muffler is damaged.

Bad News: Looking doesn't mean fixed.

Funny News: I'm filling out the census form and accidentally combined my info with my husband's. He is now Puerto Rican. I shouldn't try to fill out forms when I'm tired.

JP, do you have any white-out?

Yes. But at this rate, I may need to buy more!

grk, I am very sorry for your loss... ***hugs**

GN: I got out of work a half an hour early tonight!
GN: We have a wedding to go to tomorrow

VVGN: ABC Family is having a 4 day Harry Potter weekend and they are showing scenes from DH, it looks like it's going to be awesome so far!

GN: Just got back from grocery shopping -- saved over $25 with coupons and judicious use of the store discount card.
BN: Didn't get as much done around the house and garden as I wanted to today.
GN: Tomorrow is also supposed to be a nice day; I can get more done then!

Hugs for everyone who needs them, yippeeee for everyone who is happy, I swear I have read all of the posts above but I am just too lazy to answer them individually, I know you guys understand this :P....

GN: Today (it's Saturday now according to my clock) is my dad's 60th Birthday Party!
GN: My mom went has outdone herself in the kitchen preparing the food for the party!
BN: Lots to do tomorrow today.
GN: We divided the things my mom asked from me between my brother, my dad and me so I don't have to do that much.
On completely unrelated news...
BN: In my country the president has been talking about controling on what is being said on the internet, so we are all waiting to see what kind of laws and rules they are going to impose here...just worried about the future my country is taking....

GN: Noah has finally shown up! He's my great-great-nephew, arrived 12:54 this morning, weighs 9 lbs. 13 oz. What a big boy! I'll get to see him tomorrow.

Phew.

LOL ejj and JP. If I could just get my subconscious to believe it! It's not like we picked a house we couldn't afford or anything. I just don't know what the problem is at this point. I just really want to sleep! One night! That's all I ask! 8)

Renald- Honestly, it's hard to imagine living in a place that would censor so much stuff. 8( I mean, here, there really isn't much you CAN'T say, at least to other adults ;) and actually get in legal trouble for it. I hope that that law isn't passed.

ejj- SQUEES FOR YOU! A new baby! How exciting. And he does sound like a big, healthy boy! *looks over at her little baby who isn't so little anymore* *sniffle* *looks over at her other two formerly little babies* *sniffle sniffle sniffle*

ejj> congrats to you and the new parents and welcome little (big?) Noah!

Ron, that would be scary to me always thinking about what I wanted to say and wether it would pass the censors.

happy Birthday to all who are celebrating!

MEM> you never told me Coles jeep was crushed! I knew about the corvette because Lord that boy is just like his daddy when it comes to cars, but here I was envisioning him and Theo tooling around the yard in their vehicles!

#300: My brother-in-law just posted a picture on Facebook of my nephew on his first tricycle, pedaling along perfectly. It totally freaked me out!

GN: I've started moving.
BN: I'm doing it by myself.
GN: The weather is nice.
BN: It's actually a bit hot for what I'm doing.
GN: I've moved over almost an entire bookcase worth of books.
BN: There's still four bookcases to go and I've strained a bicep.
GN: I have plenty of "light stuff" I can concentrate on moving and sifting through.

#299: Congratulations ejj! I am just happy he is a healthy little boy and everything was fine!

GN> I have just ordered some rose bushes from jackson and perkins. Don't tell MEM but once she gets moved I am planning to give her some as well...shhhhhh

polly, you are so nice! I'm terrible with roses. The only ones I have are the ones that managed to survive my neglect.

Good News: My dad managed to shift my muffler so that the tailpipe is in the right place. I love my daddy.

JP roses can be tricky, Some need all kinds of care and coddling and others seem to thrive on neglect. Mostly getting them planted deep enough with good drainage and keeping them watered is all it takes. Mary read this and called me all excited. I told her that as soon as she's ready she can choose the kind and color and I will purchase them. and thanks!

"Roses will fair thrive on neglect, if the soil is wick enough." "Wick, I've heard Ben say wick..."

Who else went there reading polly's post? Who now has that song stuck in their head?

I've never seen the musical, but now I really want to reread the book. In fact, despite the piles of books waiting to be read, I think I will read that next.

GN: Boyfriend made it safely to Ireland. He should be arriving in Iraq in about an hour.

GN: Hubby is HOME!!!!!

307> I don't know what you are referring too? Musical?

The Secret Garden written by Carly Simon's sister. It was on Broadway about 18 years ago. Beautiful music. Kennett High did it in 2000.

GN: My computer has let me on LT!! Whoop!!!

BN: I'm ill. THere's been a horribly flu bug at work, and it finally got me....

Join the club lady N. Hope you feel better soon.

You too polly!

I'm beginning to wonder if mine is allergy rather then cold or flu. Thanks!

Ah, Bib! I'd come and help you move, I'm quite useful when I'm not being useless... but I'm sure you never want to see me again. Don't blame you.

side note: I've just spent a bewildering few seconds trying to unscrew a bottle cap that I had already unscrewed. Which negates my claims of being usefull, I think. Also, earlier today, someone BBMed me (Blackberry Messenger thingie) and it woke me up from my nap and I couldn't remember who, what or where I was and I knew someone had sent me a message, but I couldn't remember how I communicated with others... then it came to me... oh, my cell phone... that little thing over there... it was terrifying... now I know how Leopold felt in Kate and Leopold.

BN: Weird weekend. It started it off great, sushi, good friends and lively conversation... but a few sakes and a lychee martini and a REVOLTING shot of mamajuana later, I suffered a freak head injury running from my friend's 5 pound dog..... But it's ok, I bared it out even to the edge of doom.... Then I wake up the next day, right? And my hair, my pride and glory, my one feature I kinda like... had mysteriously tangled itself into a sort of beaver dam/birds sanctuary. There is no explanation for this. Yes, there were high jinks, spontanious kariokee, drunken japes, frolicking and marauding, but HOW? HOW? How do these things happen to me? To make a short story long, there was nothing for it, it was beyond anyone's art to untangle it and I had to get my tresses trossed, or cut, as someone normal would say... we all know I'm not all there.. we all know I'm a shameless alchie... but I've never sunk this low before.

Don't judge me, I'm 30, and depressed, and bald.

>317 suge:

About time to get out of town, Suge. Hit the reset button!

OH NO! Missie is at the end of Book 5. They just arrived at the Dept. of Mysteries! Sirius is going to die and she doesn't know it! Ack! I am resisting yelling, "HE DIES! QUIT READING! QUIT READING!"

Huh?

#317 I'm sure you look marvelous, darling, simply marvelous!
But, um, I'm 27. Is that what I have to look forward to? LOL

me, huh? or ejj huh?
I'm not on my A game today. 8)

no. I'm sure its just me.

Pardone moi. LOL I'm not on any game on any given day... the huh was for ejj. I'm like what reset button?

ejj any news on Noah?

Missie will handle it fine, MEM, We all have

Nah-uh, Polly. I was never the same after that.

We all have to grow, sugey dear!

Oh, dear, Suge, I'm sorry. I meant, moving means you can metaphorically hit the reset button for your life, as the entire beaver dam/bird sanctuary/hair incident did not sound as though things were going well . . . and it will soon be a new day, new country, new life!

Noah arrived finally yesterday at 12:54 a.m.; pictures of him are posted on FaceBook. He is a big boy: 9 lbs. 13 oz., though he didn't seem so big when I met him ;-) He should be well socialized at the age of almost 2 days, as best as I can figure, about 30 or 40 friends and family have visited and held him by now.

#317: Don't be stupid, of course I want to see you before you leave! I'm going to call you now in fact, though I'm going to use my home phone, because my cell is almost dead and I accidentally moved my charger to the other apartment already.

I know she will handle it, Mother. I just feel bad because I was so shocked by it when I read it and I am not an eight year old girl. Hmm Now she has retreated to her room WITH THE DOOR SHUT! *duh duh duuuuuhhh* Maybe I'll go listen to see if I hear any crying. Once again I ask you, Why didn't these children thingies come with manuals?!

Fortunately or otherwise, they are all completely different. So the manual would always be for a model different than the one you have!

Mem, there is a Simpsons episode that mimics HP with the dying characters. Homer makes a big deal out of shielding Lisa from reading about the deaths in case she is traumatized. When she does read it, she just shrugs and moves on. :)

To tell the truth, I was never on the Sirius bandwagon and his death didn't upset me that much. I was worried (and would have been much more upset) that it was going to be one of the kids that accompanied Harry into the Department of Mysteries. When Sirius died I was so relieved that it wasn't going to be Ginny, Neville, or Luna. You never know how people will take it. What did she think about Cedric's death?

327-->Polly grow up you say? NEVER!!

328--> LOL ejj! I'm such a spaz, of course that is what you meant! It makes so much sense now. Yes, a reset button is exactly what I need, but between you and me, I have to say, Dominicans are a bunch of lushes so, I don't see how much of a change this move will do for any future inibriated hair emergency senarios. They are bound to get worse. I might accidentally set myself on fire next... oh, wait! I've already done that... twice!

Sirius hit me hard. I was devastated. I was soooo shocked because all the fighting was over when he went through the veil. But nothing compares to the heartbreak I felt in HBP. I cried so much my poor mother thought I was going through some catastrophic personal calamity. She wanted to slap me when she found out I was "crying over a book".

334> re: 327 LOL I plan to never grow up! Ever! and you can't make me,so there! *Foot Stomp*

I cried when Cedric died because he never had a chance, I cried when Fred died, because well because he was Fred
I *puts up shields* never liked Sirius and did not feel he was good for Harry.
I've cried at other books but can't think of any right now

You know what book makes me cry like a colicky baby? Anne of Green Gables!!! Total waterworks meltdown! I try to read it every year or so and its always the same.... I'm crying a little now just thnking about it.... *sob* "My girl I am so proud of..." Ohhhhhhh!

*sob* Suge, why did you have to bring up Anne of Green Gables? Why?!?

I don't remember if I cried when Sirius died. It's so sudden and shocking in the book, it took a while to set in. I didn't cry over Cedric; for one thing, the press made a big deal that Somebody Dies in Book Four, so I was a little relieved it wasn't a character I cared about. I did cry about Dumbledore -- actually, the whole end of the sixth book, from the Lightning-Struck Tower on, is one big sob-fest for me.

Oh, yeah, this is the GN/BN thread!

BN: It's Monday.

There there, foggi, there, there. *hugs foggi* There, there.

GN: Found yummy recepie for ramen noodles

BN: Too lazy to chop up the veggies and ingredients...

Hey ya'll.

I was a bit lazy with my news yesterday.

In addition to the illness, I have the following to report:

GN: I'm back in touch with the voice over casting guy - he might have some animations for me in a couple of weeks. Hurrah! we're having coffee next week.

BN: I may need new flatmates again. I can't face it. Not again. But my current flatmate found out that her father has just had a massive heart attack, so they're both heading back to New Zealand - possibly for good.

GN: If I do need to start the search again, at least it's not as bad timing as last time.

GN: Back on LT two days in a row!

Oh yes - SUGE!! sorry about the hair.... But it makes for a very funny story, if that helps. Which it probably doesn't...

Sirius' death didn't make me cry, Harry's reaction to it did. The hurt and anger were so visceral, and exactly how they should have been. And DD accepting all the blame and being so loving and calm...yep, I'm tearing up just thinking about it.

I'm still not over Dobby....

I'm still not over Hedwig...

I'm still not over Sev...

BN> I just got back from Urgent Care (my doc couldn't see me today but told me to go there) I have bronchitis

GN> (Am I bad?) I have to stay home tomorrow which means someone else will have to put away the food order!

339--> Yep, it was pretty funny actually. I was crying and laughing through the whole snip, snip thing. It was pretty funny. There just isn't any logical explanation for what happened. I've been trying to reconstruct the night forensically. I got nothing.

btw N, just let me know. All my stuff is packed already... he he he.

#278 grmwk:
I'm so sorry. *Hugs*

#299 ejj:
Congrats! I'm glad you got to meet Noah yesterday. :)

#313 LadyN:
I hope you and your computer are both feeling better soon.

#344 polly:
Take care and heal quickly!

Bad news: My grandfather's been a little sick lately and was taken to the emergency room yesterday before being admitted to the ICU. He has pneumonia and a flu and is expected to be in the hospital for a few days.

Good news: Slinky disappeared for a couple days last week but returned home.

More good news: My eyes finally feel better and I also now own a pair of sunglasses.

#344 - Poor polly! Get better soon xx

#345 - Sugey baby, come on over! THat goes for everyone else too!

#346 - Thanks for the well wishes ,K. Healing thoughts to your grandfather. xx

I'm in my flat, all alone, not knowing if my flatmates are coming back or not... It's strange not knowing whether or not to panic.

#340 Bib, yes! Exactly! Though I did like Sirius, Harry's reaction and the scene with DD was what did it for me. I am also always very moved that Lupin, of all people, Lupin, who was even closer to Sirius than Harry, is the one who holds Harry back from trying to follow Sirius.

G & BN: I am so hungry! All the time! This is good because for once in my life I am hungry more than twice a day and I'm allowed to gain weight. Bad because I'm the only cook in the house and it's hard to think up 4-6 meals a day! Like now ... I am out of ideas. Suge's picture made me think Ramen is a good idea. Normally that thought would not enter my head. :P~~

UGH! It's been a tough day!
9 am- Theo gets his shots and hates everyone.
3 pm - Rush Cole to the ER because he busted his nose on the entertainment center. Four hours and several X rays later, I am happy to report that he busted the cartilage(sp?) not the bone. His poor nostril is swollen shut and on side is swollen about four times it's normal size. Interestingly enough, he hit the corner and he has a perfect cut outline of it on his nose. Very straight and clean.
BLAH!

and guess who had to drag herself up and babysit the other two! I'm just glad I could and that my Cole Cole is okay!

Oh no!!! Poor Cole! Give him a careful hug for us. :o(

Goodness, there has been a lot happening! I hope K's grandfather, LadyN's flatmate's father, and Cole's nose all get better fast!

I think we all need to post to the "what are you eating?" (is there one for March?) to give Lefty ideas. I just had a yummy BLT.

BN: Had a frustrating day trying to get stuff done at the civic center (where the town offices, DMV, etc., are). Failure, failure.

GN: One of my friends reminded me that even when it seems like I'm taking one step forward and two steps back, the reality is that I'm taking steps forward. She's good for the positive perspective.

I don't cry much, hardly ever over books (though I did when Bonnie died in Gone with the Wind, but I was about eight the first time I read it). On the other hand, I sobbed and sobbed over "Marley and Me." That's one movie I'll never watch again.

Wow....many posts too answer....

K, hope your grandpa heals quickly!

LadyN, I wish for your flatmate not to have to move, I remember how long it took to find one the last time.

MEM I am glad Cole's nose is fine!

suge, I am so sorry about the tangle of your hair....

The one that really got to me was Dobby's...even when I reread it last year, I cried with his death and laughed because I knew it was coming and still cried.

GN: My father's birthday party was a huge success!
GN: Apparently the president has backed from controlling the internet thanks to everything the international press and community said about him. (He wants a good international image, which I doubt he will ever have)
GN/BN: The date for my visa appointment is getting nearer.

#347 LadyN:
Thank you. Every heart attack can be different. With my father's one year ago, he was home within the week. I seriously hope your flatmates' father/father-in-law is alright, and that your flatmates may return home to your home.

#349 MEM:
Poor Cole! I hope the pain eases and that he may feel much better soon!

#352 ejj and #353 ron:
Thanks. He's improved somewhat.

RE Marley and Me:
I couldn't watch. It was too close to home, even with just cats in my life versus dogs.

Good news: My grandfather can breath much better. His oxygen had been down to 60% but it's at an almost healthy 97% now. He's also only on one antibiotic now.
Bad news: For at least tonight he will still be in the ICU. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Sweet news: I just got my best baking compliment. One of my friends called me just to tell me how good the cookies I baked for a meeting were and that they'd pay me for more. (As if payment would ever be excepted!) She said both my co-workers and her's (our two stores are connected) were going crazy over the cookies today.

Thanks for the good thoughts everyone!
K- I'm glad your grandpa is getting better. 8)
Ron- I'm crossing my fingers for a good visa appointment for you. 8)

Wishing everyone who needs it well! I'm behind once again. 8(

Oh and a Sirius update. Missie went in her room and read it. When she came out she was a little red eyed but that was all. She started book six right away. I'm glad she took it so well. It's only going to get harder from here on out. I think I'll tell her there are a lot more deaths but I don't think I'll tell her who. 8(

I think I would go ahead and tell her Dumbledore dies, so it doesn't hit as hard. When I asked her last night about Sirius dying she just shrugged which means in eight year old parlance that she didn't want to talk about it.

She was so sweet and worried about Cole that when I told her his nose wasn't broken She clasped her hands and said "Oh Thank Goodness!"

BN: I woke up with my right eye red and hurting; the school nurse diagnosed a stye, ick.
BN/GN: Book Fair started yesterday...I have a love/hate relationship w/ book fairs...I like getting books into the hands of students who mostly have little access to book store. I like the money we raise and think of all the lovely new books I can buy w/ it. I hate the junky stuff the company sends that of course the kids want to waste their money on instead of a book. I hate that essentially it's just me running it, as we have no parent volunteers, and that I must try to be a book seller as well as a librarian at the same time...This morning, there were 5 kids in line to check out books, and a dozen or so in line to buy stuff--and just little old me trying to be in 2 places at one time. But it's slowed down now, the students are mostly back in class, and I can catch my breath!

BN: WOE IS ME!!! Oh, me is very woe... My beautiful blue Le Creuset casserole exploded. I am sooooooooooooooooooo sad!!!! It was part of a gift set of iron and stone ware Le Creuset pots which my cousins clubbed together for to give me for my 30th. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!! It's my own stoopid uninformed fault though. I had no idea that the stone pots shouldn't be used on the hob, because....well they explode if you do. WOE IS ME!!!!

GN: the rest of the set is still in tact, and for around £40 I can replace the one which has passed on.

BN: Last week I worked 30 hours... on top of school.
GN: I made money.
BN: I'm tired.
BN: No time to read =(

GN: Just got my hair cut, and am very pleased with how it turned out.
BN: Now it's back to cleaning the kitchen, which is my project for the afternoon.

What's a hob? Truly sorry for your loss, LadyN. It is heartbreaking to have good pots and such die.

Foggi, it's sunny and 65* here. My kitchen will have to wait until the sun goes down. ;) For now, Miles and I are going to the park.

the hob is the top of the oven....the gas/electric rings... What do you guys call it?

We call it a stove (or stove top).

Ohhhhhhhhhhh... Cool! Another thing learnt today :-)

We also call it the range

We call it the burner

Or the individual rings are called burners--that is, my stove has four burners.

Sorry for your loss, LadyN!

GN: I have just had someone come to my house and buy my stereo system and most of my ~300 vinyl record albums. It is the first positive step toward my new life as a minimalist (still have a long, long, long way to go!). He also bought the record cabinet.

BN: Must dust the area where that cabinet was . . .

GN: I still have a nice stack of the very best LPs to send to Suge . . . must go look for a box.

ejj - you're inspiring me to get my clearout going. I'm procrastinating...

This is sheer desperation, LadyN. I'm planning to move (should my house ever sell) from a three-bedroom, two-bath house to a one-bedroom, one-bath apartment. If I don't get rid of things, I will be weaving my way through stacks and piles of stuff like those scary TV programs on hoarders.

And I don't need this stuff.

And the house will show better if it's emptier, should anyone ever request a showing!

#367 -- Congratulations on selling your stuff! I'm planning to do a yard sale later this spring . . . need to do more straightening and sorting through stuff before that happens, though.

GN: The dishes are done -- or at least, the pots and pans are done, and the rest are in the dishwasher getting done.
BN: Still a lot of stuff to clean up. *sigh*

BN: Tom is leaving for Korea on the 3rd of April
GN: He will be back on the 23rd so it is only 3 weeks instead of 2 months

Really Really GN: Suge and I are planning a meet up for the 9th 10th and 11th of April since tom is going to be gone and I will be home alone! That definately brightens up my look on April! Any one who is near is welcome to come and say hi!

I'm glad for your good news, Bella

So fun, Bella! Have you met Suge before? If not, she's great and I'm jealous!

I agree with lefty, Suge is fun.

#355 MEM:
Thank you. :)

#356 polly:
What a sweet sister!

#358 LadyN:
*Hugs* I'm sorry.

#371 Bella:
I'm so glad he'll only be gone for three weeks instead of two months! I hope you and suge have a fun meet up.

Good news: My grandfather's supposed to be taken out of ICU to a regular room today.

More good news: Christopher Moore's new book came out a whole week sooner than I'd expected.

Funny news- Theo got weighed yesterday and he's 23lbs. My friend's two year old weighs 26lbs. Plus the Doctor told me his head was larger than normal. *giggle* It must be his big brain. 8) At least his head is proportionate to the rest of his body. lol

Thanks everyone. No I haven;t met suge before so this should be a blast! K, I am thrilled that it is only going to be 3 weeks! And I am very glad your grandpa is getting out of ICU!

Thanks, Bella. Our family is very relieved about it. My relatives away from here have been going crazy with worry.

Sorry for being lazy, but there are too many posts to respond to individually,
so hugs, congrats, sorries, and yays where necessary.

BN: Our furnace went out
GN: we rent so we didn't have to pay for a new one.
GN: Douglas got to keep the box so we spent Monday afternoon making a cool playhouse, I'll post a pic on the crafts thread.

You guys! I am bluuuuushing!! Thank you Lefty and Kasongo!! I loved meeting you both. In fact, I adore every single LTer I've ever met. I am pretty great aren't I? La la la la li la! Everyone loves me!! La li la la la! And I love everyone!! *happy dance*

BELLA I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU!! WHOOHOOO!!

K, I'm glad your grandpa is doing better!

Mondo GN: My loving mother came over with my sister yesterday and they helped me pack. I am now mostly mostly except for some laundry I have to do, PACKED!!! I AM PACKED!!! DID YOU HEAR ME??? I, SUGE, PROCRASTINATOR EXTRAORDINAIRE, AM PAAAACKED!!!!! I only have some food, my DVD player and a few keepsake boxes to throw in a box. which I will, I WILL, do on Friday... And I only have a few books set aside to read in the mean time, I can just throw those in a box at the last minute and send them. Mother tried to make me pack them too, when she saw them, but after pretending that the books were her imagination, and pretending I had NO IDEA what she was talking about, and a fierce tug of war, followed by a tantrum, I put my foot down and kept the books. HA!!

ETA:
#367 Ejj EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! You are the very tiptopity best!!! I can't wait! I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!! LP'S LP'S LP'S!! I can only imagine what gems you are sending me!!! Thank you!!!! Thank you!! I still can't BELIEVE you are sending me your classic vinyl! WOWIE!! I know the guy that came to buy the rest HATES me!! Nananinana, VINYL GUY NANANINANA!!! EEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

Lady N, I'm soooo sorry about your pot! Tres desole, mon ami! It sounds like a true disaster! I hope that you can replace it soon, dahling.

MEM, thanks...I need as many positive vibes as I can get

ejj, congrats on selling your stuff!

LadyN, sorry for the loss of your amazing pot...but I am glad you can replace it and not buy the whole set again

K, I am glad your grandpa is feeling better

GN: I worked out a schedule for my next semester where all my subjects are in the morning.
BN: I will be taking 6 subjects this semester.
GN: 5 subjects are from the 3rd semester (the one I am really at) and 1 is from the 5th, so I am actually advancing faster in my career.

GN: That gerbil I got for Gobi so he could eat (which he didn't) is still alive.
BN: It was female. It was pregnant. I have baby gerbils in a cage, in my room.
BN: I don't know what to do with them.
GN: The mom seems to be caring for them.

((P.S.)) My parents don't know. shhhh

Who is Gobi? Never mind if he eats gerbils, I don't want to know.

Once the babies are old enough to eat gerbil food, They can be sold or given away. You can't keep them in the same cage as their mama or together very long in one or you will have more baby gerbils

Or, you could keep them all together, and never have to buy food for Gobi again. Of course, the trade-off is that you would have to buy gerbil food. . . .

Ummm that all sounds like insest to me... wont they become interbred? Maybe you can take the gerbils on play dates with other gerbils Mindy. Hint, hint

lol, suge, interbreeding isn't as big a deal with less-developed species. Eventually you'll start to get genetic problems (i.e. hip dysplasia in purebred dogs is largely because of the small gene pool that was necessary to make a specific breed ... this is why the strangest breeds have the most problems, like bulldogs). But if the gerbils are going to be fed to a snake, the incest probably won't matter much. The gerbils certainly don't care.

Mindy, you should perhaps contact the pet store and see if they'll take surplus gerbils. Oh, and don't buy females for Gobi-food anymore either, maybe. ;)

Whoa, Lefty! I'm not used to people taking me seriously! Of course the gerbils don't care, those frisky, fuzzy faced little rodents! Of course they don't!

lol -- sorry, I'm just crazy. I know you're never serious.

Thanks for the sypathy every one! It was a very special pot.... *sigh*

Ah well!

BN: My day has been ridiculous. You know how bad stuff comes in threes? Well, number one was the flatmate situation. Today bad news two reared it's ugly head....One of our sketch group has decided to leave. We have a gig next week, have just paid £800 in various costs for Edinburgh, and £200 for Camden. And he's decided to leave. By email. and is now not answering calls. MARVELLOUS! so now there are two of us. We are determined not to be beaten by this, but really, talk about timing....

#389: Maybe you could turn it into a sketch. Just a thought. :o)

#390 - I'm sure we will! Argh....

I can just see the interviews. "First, do a comedy sketch. Then, tell me why you would make a great flatmate . . ."

"You're hired! Here's your key!"

LadyN, what horrible news! Keep your head up!

Ron, Wow 6 classes and all in the morning! Kudos to you!

hhmmm, I don't think I really have any news other than my foot still hurts, from a fall way back in August. I'm hoping the adjustments the podiatrist made to my orthodic yesterday start working soon. BN

Good god, Lady N! That is sooo not gorgeous fish pie!! I hope that a) you can find someone brilliant in time for the gig, or b) you are able to re-do the skit for just two people. Hey... Now that I think of it I'm free for both of the places you mentioned.... Do I have time to learn my lines? *flutters lashes very becomingly (NOT)*

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!! I'd completely forgotten about the gorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgeous fish pie!! Ha ha ha!!! Sure, come on over, fill the spot, take the room. Done!

ejj - several people have suggested posting an ad that reads "HOMELESS AND FUNNY? Call this number...."

PollyAnna - Thanks! I'm trying!

Oh, N! My London trip was full of nothing but the best! I was just remembering the very first morning I was there, and you came and to pick me up from Heathrow? And we took the tube? And we got on the Picadilly line??? Oh, how I laughed!! It makes my mouth twitch just remembering. I tried soooo hard not to laugh, I really, really did, but every time the lady said "This is the Piccadilly Line to Cockfosters. The next stop is..." I would dissolve again. The man sitting across from me must have been thinking "Oy! Look at this Amercian twit."

Ahhhhhhh one day!! I will return, gorgeous London!! I am not done with you!! I wish I could move there! My stuff is all packed and ready to go!

I am slightly nervous because there were a few small earthquakes in the DR this week. I have this little voice in my head sounding the alarm (In a dalek voice): UNPACK!!! UNPACK!!! UNPACK!!! DON'T BE A FOOL!!! UNPACK!!! UNPACK!!!


LOL I would love to hear the calls you'd get N, if you post that in the classifieds.

GN: I just met one of my new neighbors and he seemed nice. He works at one of the restaurants on the block and told me to make sure I stop by.
BN: It's the least vegetarian friendly restaurant on the block and my foyer (where he stood) now smells like smoke.
GN: Got a decent amount of stuff moved over yesterday and today.
BN: Could have done more today but the coming storm has my knee aching and I thought better not to risk injuring it before the big move on Saturday.
GN: I still have plenty of stuff to do here.

GN: I just got hired at the dog park! :D It's twice a week for a few hours each time so I'm still doing all my usual sewing, but it means Miles gets to come with me and play for free and I get a discount at the vet. Huzzah!

GN: Good weather is only happening more frequently at this point and I'll get to be outside playing with pups for all of it.

WOW LEFTY!!! That sounds fantastic!!! How fun!!!

#398: That sounds awesome! Congratulations!

Lefty...how fun!!

#398: Is that like being the puppy playground monitor. Sounds fun! And great benefits!

Bad News: Pollen is killing me.

Good News: It's supposed to rain, so hopefully that will get some of the allergens out of the air.

Fun job lefty!!!!

Suge, if it helps make your decision, we have verrrrrrry few earthquakes in London....

Lefty, that sounds perfect! exercise for Miles, being out for you and discounts at the vet! Nice

BN: Woke up at 5 this morning with a horrible toothache and a stye in my eye. (Sounds like a doctor Suess book huh?)
VBN: I have no clue how to get rid of it and it makes me look like someone punched me.
GN: It's friday.

Thanks everyone! I'm pretty excited about it. JP, yes it is exactly like being puppy playground monitor. :)

Bella, mouth pains are the most horrible thing to me. I hope it's nothing too serious that is expensive to fix!

Oy! Still packing.
GN: If everything goes right today, we'll be able to close on Wednesday!
BN: I have little hope of things going right today, considering how insane this entire process has been. 8(

Gn it's Friday
Bn I'm really not liking my job anymore.
Gn I can get on LT with my phone yay

Bella, salt water will help the stye

The toothache is more difficult, have you taken a pain reliever? Tried Ora gel? Vanilla Extract?

GN>I went to work and managed to get thru the day and now I'm going to take a nap.

GNBN> If Mem gets the word on her ho use thats Good news but if she calls and wakes me up AGAIN! I'll probably congratulate her and then hang up and go back to sleep

Ms Bella, there's medication just for styes; I'm pretty sure you can get it at the drugstore without a prescription.

Hope it and the tooth are better soon.

GN: Getting lots of books organized for the used book seller to come see on the 31st. I hope he buys them all!
GN: Still have hundreds and hundreds of books of my own, plenty of them TBR.

GN: Mom just inspired me to call and wake her up even though I haven't heard anything yet!

GN: I'll be able to quit my job in a couple weeks (I've gotten sick of being there lately.)
GN: Senior year is almost over! (I know... I should be enjoying this time and whatnot).
GN: Momma Gerbil seems to be caring for her babies well so I haven't had to interfere.
BN: Several projects/homework assignments to do before spring break (Spring break starts in a week).
GN: I think I'm going to get a Macbook Pro for graduation (I'll probably have to help pay for it a little, but it'll be worth it).

BN: The stye has gotten worse since this morning. Polly, what do I do with the salt water? Do I rinse out the eye or just dab it on? I am open to any suggestions on the eye it is killing me and has gotten these little white thingys on it.
GN: The toothache has almost gone away.
Thanks everyone for the well wishes. I was told a stye can take anywhere from 4 days to 2 weeks to get better. I am voting for now.

I googled home treatment for styes and the best suggestion I found was to make tea and let the tea bag cool a bit, then hold it over your eye.

There are a number of other suggestions, such as using water that has had cloves or alum soaked/mixed in it, but the tea bag seemed the easiest (plus you can have a cup of tea, which is often soothing in itself).

You can use a warm wet washcloth to soothe your eye, also. Most sites caution that you should not squeeze the stye or try to break it.

My salt water remedy is to hold a clean rag soaked in salt water to the eye for as long as you can anytime until the sty is gone. (Use warm water but not hot)

We've done the tea bag remedy here. It usually works.

Thanks everyone. I did both the tea bag and the salt water and it popped on its own! Thank you all very much for the help. I appriciate it!

Ms. Bella, I hope your sty is better soon, it sounds quite horrible and painful!

Mindy, macbook pro, how exciting! we have 4 macs (desktops) and love them! well atleast the hubby and kids love them, i still haven't messed with them much.

Mindy - I know what it's like to have unexpected baby rodents. Haha, I hope you are able to find something to do with them.

Ms Bella - I'm glad your eye feels better!

Good News: It's the WEEKEND!!!
Bad News: I have a huuuuge history project due on Monday. I'm feeling really overwhelmed...
Good News: Spring break is coming...April 3!

GN: The big and hopefully final move happens today, Kasongo, Mutombu, Mandy and both brother-in-laws are coming to help.
BN: Starting tonight, no internet at home until Monday afternoon.
GN: If I get desperate, there's two coffee shops with wi-fi within half a block of my apartment.

Happy moving day bib!!

Yay Bib! moving is fun with so much help!

Thanks for all the hugs and thoughts. It's been a rough couple of weeks, and last weekend was very, very hard, but there have been some bright spots too: seeing extended family, storytelling and remembering, sitting on my grandmother's porch enjoying the nice early spring weather.

Hugs, congrats, and sympathies to all who need them!

BN: I caught a second round of the GI bug that's been circulating.
GN: I stayed home yesterday and rested, and am feeling much better today, which is good both because I like feeling well, and because we have tickets to a bands, beer & BBQ fundraiser for Habitat tonight.
BN:Rex has been super fussy/needy the past two days, and I don't know whether he's working on a tooth and his gums are hurting, or if he's upset that, because I don't have much energy, I've kept him contained in the pack 'n play rather than on the floor. He is on the verge of officially crawling, and is getting quite adept at scoot-crawling, so not having freedom to explore is quickly becoming frustrating.

BN: Haven't been on in what, 1 or 2 weeks maybe? :oS
GN: So first of all, remember how I lost my phone? Turns out it was in my friend's backpack. She swore she didn't steal it, and I believe her cuz she's a goody-two-shoes kinda girl, but I find it quite ironic that me and her looked for it everywhere when we were sitting at the library, except in her backpack. :oP
BN: My dad says that the docs haven't found out if the tumor my grandma has in her stomach is cancerous or not, but that they're still probably gonna do surgery on her to remove it. :oS My dad's going to Mexico in May to be with her when they do the surgery.

Pico, did you think of just calling your number when you were looking for the phone? Seems like the easiest way to find it if it's around you at all . . . but glad you got it back finally.

GN: Just sitting here thinking about how the good news/bad news threads are one of the best ways to know what's really going on with people here. Gives little peeks into everyone's life.

Glad you found your phone pico! I hope your dad has a safe trip and your grandma does okay.

#425 ejj: Yeah I thought of that and I did try it, except I guess the battery died cuz it said "the customer you are calling is unavailable." I also think that even if it wasn't dead, I would've probably not been able to hear it because I always keep my phone on vibrate only, and the house would've had to have been really really quiet.

GN: The gerbil babies seem to be healthy and growing. They are becoming more active and have started growing hair (right now it just looks like their skin is turning black though).

GN: I got to talk to the boyfriend today. He's safe. I haven't really talked to him all weekend so it was great to talk to him again.

BN: Tomorrow is Monday.

GN: I only have a 4 day week! Then spring breakk =D Lots of reading should get done over my week off

GN: Both stye have succesfully gone away! for the most part. I'm still a lil swollen.
GN: It is going to get into the 80s this weekend!
BN: Tom leaves this friday
RBN: I have to take him to the airport at 300 am.
GN: only 2 weeks til Suge comes to visit!

BN: I've been working on a sewing project, but managed to completely and totally ruin it beyond repair.
BN: Which means I have nothing nice to wear for Easter.
BN: Espy keeps cracking jokes and giving me a hard time about it, and Sophie keeps trying to get me to play. I know they're both trying to cheer me up, in their own ways, but it's only making me feel irritated.

foggi, I feel your pain. I am more of a wannabe than an actual sewing amateur, but part of that is the discouragement of projects that "got away". It's especially tough when it's something you wanted to wear for a special occasion. 8P~~

I'm afraid that Sophie's on the right track. (Brothers are often less than helpful/useful for such situations.) You must walk away from the sewing disaster for a day or so and pretend it didn't happen.

Dogs can be an excellent distraction since they love you no matter what—unless they were directly involved in the disaster! Even then, walking away is the best answer.

Usually a day or so is all you need to forgive yourself or otherwise get over the mess and move on. Or start over?

I used to sew alot and I have ruined many a garment so I feel for you too, foggi!

The thing to do is put it away, and make quilt scraps out of it. Then start all over. Been there, done that. I have made several quilts which contain "oopsies" from sewing projects.

#430: Sorry about your sewing project, foggi...I am sure Espy means well, I use the same technique when my mom or friends are in a bad mood.

BN: Everything is closed (see rants 6 I think for more information)
GN: My niece and nephew are coming over this morning so I will play with them.
GN: In the afternoon some friends are coming over to play board games since there isn't anything better to do anyway....

Foggi ... I feel your frustration I used to sew a lot too especially when the girls were younger.

GN: I have the rest of the week off work so Friday we're going to the Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago to see the Science Storms exhibit.

GN: It's *beautiful* here today, and the weather is only going to improve throughout the week, hitting the low 80s by the weekend!
BN: I have to move offices, and when I do, I'll lose my lovely view of the campus chapel.
GN: I don't have to move until early May, I'll still have my own office, and I learned about this now, not say the week before.

GN: I don't work tonight.
BN: I have to do calc homework.

GN: I have, to my amazement, snagged another ER! Now I'm getting nervous, since I haven't yet received the first one...And of course, the world must be coming to an end if I managed to get two ERs in two months!

GN: The weather's beautiful!
GN: No clouds in the sky.... this is a really good thing actually because I have a stargazing science lab due on Thursday where I have to get out and look at the stars 3 different nights... I started it yesterday, so if it's cloudy today or tomorrow night, i'm kinda screwed....
GN: No bad news today!

GN: Now that I'm (almost) completely unpacked, I'm back to my Harry Potter blog. New post up today and if you haven't checked it out yet, it won't take long to catch up. :)

Bn: my youngest daughter had her consult for braces this afternoon ...my wallet ran away screaming !

GN: My smoke detector works.
BN: I did not have toasted walnuts on my dinner.

#438 JP the same thing happened to me! I still need to finish my ER book from last month too.

GN: I got to take a nap today.
BN: I ended up sleeping for about 4 hours (I woke up a couple times but when I didn't move I fell back asleep rather quickly).
BN: I'm not tired and it's almost midnight.
BN: I've spent the past 3 hours doing calc and I still have some left.
GN: I'm going to read rather than do calc. A fair trade.

GN> my niece and nephew are going to come stay with us over Easter!

BN> I don't have much money to entertain them so we have to do cheapy things

GN> Those are the best times!

GN: I is supposed to be gorgeous out for the next week!
BN: Tom leaves in three day (counting today)

BN: I have spent days sorting books for the used book seller guy to come take a look at them, hoping he'd take loads and loads of them. And now he's here and most of them he doesn't want. Oh, crap. Woe is me. I need the space, I need to not be thinking about these books, and I need the money. Doesn't look as though I'm going to meet any of those goals.

ejj- Try boxing them in groups of, say, twenty and selling them on Craigslist for a flat rate. Like $10 a pop- that's 50 cents a book. Not bad even if they get a few duds. LOL 8)

bad bad bad news- Today was supposed to be our closing date BUT because of some stupid politics Congress didn't renew FEMA before they went on Easter break. Which means no one can buy flood insurance and if I can't buy flood insurance I can't have a government backed house loan where we want to buy. So we have to wait until Congress gets back in session before we can close. STUPID STUPID POLITICS!!!! *insert horrible dirty nasty words that nice young ladies shouldn't know*/rant

good news- It IS the first item on the agenda when they reconvene. *crosses fingers*

good news- We will also have more money as a cushion in two weeks which is always a plus. God works in mysterious ways, maybe? *hopes He didn't notice the dirty nasty words*

bad news- I feel bad for any other people that got caught in the limbo and maybe aren't in as secure of a position as we are in right now. 8(

more good news- Missie finished book six this morning. She handled Dumbledore's death pretty good, very stiff upper lip. I warned her that someone important would die and I think that maybe she had guessed it by the last chapters. It was funny because she kept telling me where she was at in the book. "OK, wow they're at this cave." "Oh, now he's in this boat in this really scary lake." LOL Missie is the only person I know who isn't quiet even while she is reading. 8)

Thanks, Mem, I just posted a Craigslist ad for the lot. Really I need a used book seller who wants to beef up his/her stock. We'll see if this works any. It's frustrating . . .

This guy is going to take maybe a hundred or so, which is something. Not what I'd hoped for, obviously.

GN: New thread!